Chapter 549: The Night of the Decisive Battle in the Snowstorm
The sky is gray and people are shivering in the cold.
The Turkic soldiers retreated in embarrassment again, stumbling back all the way. The Tang army on the mountain pursued them for twenty or thirty steps, then stopped and turned around, leaving behind sarcastic laughter and curses.
The defeated soldiers who had lost their fighting spirit were all huddled on the mountainside, like miserable old dogs, despite being beaten with whips by the Prince-in-law Langqi who was supervising the battle.
The wind blew across his face, like a knife across his face, and penetrated every hole, entering through every gap in his collar and sleeves, taking away the little heat from his body and making Tuli feel cold.
This damn weather should not appear here, and it is not suitable for fighting. This kind of weather is only suitable for huddled in a reinforced cowhide tent in a leeward winter pasture, warming up over a fire and drinking hot milk tea, not fighting hard here.
No, this is purely a matter of death.
A group of the Great Khan's consorts came galloping forward on horseback. The leader from afar immediately reprimanded him impatiently, "Little Khan Tuli, the Great Khan asked you why you stopped attacking."
He rode his horse until he was in front of Tuli, reined in the horse, and the maroon horseman stood up. He immediately looked condescending and menacing as he stood up from the wolf cavalry, with a whip pointed at him in his hand.
"The Great Khan orders you to attack immediately without stopping. If you can't attack the badger's mouth before dark, everyone will die. Your clothes and armor will be stripped off, you will be hung in the ice and snow, and you will all freeze to death here!
"
As he said that, he picked up the whip and whipped the guard in front of Tuli, "Come on, damn bastards, are you still thinking about stealing the inside and outside and secretly liaising with the Southern Barbarians?"
The guards of the sharp Silver Wolf Prince Consort were beaten so hard that they could only retreat and dodge. No one dared to resist. Those were the Golden Wolf Prince Consort, and they were the guards of the Great Khan.
Tu Li stood there expressionless, holding the handle of the wolf-headed knife in his hand, with veins bulging under the leather gloves and his knuckles turning white.
He tried his best to restrain himself, "It's too cold, the Tang people have obviously received a lot of reinforcements, their arrows have not stopped, and our bow and arrow support is much worse.
And our soldiers are cold and hungry..."
The leader of the guards interrupted him unceremoniously, "I'm not here to listen to your complaints. I'm here to convey the Great Khan's order. Before the drums of the Chinese army stop beating, you must not stop attacking, let alone retreat.
I warn you again that anyone who dares to stop the attack without authorization or even take a step back will be executed on the spot."
After the knight finished speaking, he reined his horse and led the man away.
"Fuck Jinlang Consort, it's so cold, such a steep and narrow mountain pass, and it's full of ice and snow, how can we attack it?"
King Xi Kedu was also cursing at his mother. The tall and brave warrior leader of the Xi tribe turned to look at Tuli, "Khan, when will we take action?"
Khitan Khan Da Hemohui, who was younger than him, also asked impatiently, "Why is there no signal on the mountain yet?"
"It's getting dark soon." Tuli has been looking at the mountain, but except for the addition of a military flag on the mountain every now and then, the agreed signal has never appeared.
"If we continue to fight like this, all of our people will die." Da Hemohui was a little frustrated. Although they were delaying as much as possible, they did not dare to do it despite Jieli's constant urging and warnings and threats over and over again.
too obvious,
By the end of the day, thousands of people had been killed or injured.
Xi, Khitan, and Xibu each suffered over a thousand casualties, which was unacceptable to those leaders.
Tuli raised his head and looked at the sky again.
"It will be dark in a little while."
"so what?"
"The moon is high and the wind is dark and murderous!" Tu Li said coldly.
The person who could be saved blinked his big eyes and seemed to have a clear understanding.
When it got dark, Tuli brought King Xi Kedu, Khitan Khan Dahemohui and other chiefs to Jieli to plead guilty.
"Please give us one more night, Khan. We will try our best to capture the top of the mountain tonight. Now there are only 500 steps left from the top of the mountain."
One day, under Jie Li's constant urging, Tu Li led more than 20,000 people and advanced another 700 steps to the top of the mountain at the cost of thousands of casualties.
We are now only five hundred steps away from the pass on the mountain.
"Please allow the Great Khan to allow us to pretend to withdraw our troops, return to the camp to rest, and let the brothers have a warm meal. When it gets dark, we can take advantage of the Tang Dynasty's unpreparedness and launch a fierce attack. This time I will personally lead the charge. I will not take down the mountain pass."
See you first!"
After Tuli finished speaking, he knelt on the ground and kissed Jieli's boots again.
Several chiefs, including Keduzhe and Dahemohui, also knelt down in front of Jieli and said that they must take the last five hundred steps tonight.
Jie Li looked at them coldly and did not immediately agree.
Tuli picked up the knife that Jieli used to eat meat and cut his own face. Blood flowed out. He swore to the Immortal God that
"I, Shi Bo Bi, swear an oath to the Changsheng Heaven here, and I will fight to the end in a bloody battle tonight until the death."
"Well, Ben Khan is also very touched by your loyalty and bravery. Come and give them some cattle and sheep, and let them withdraw first and have a good meal and then rest for a few hours, so that they can capture the pass in one fell swoop in the middle of the night.
.”
Tuli and others thanked him for his kindness and left.
Zhao Deyan, whose face was still swollen, reminded Jie Li, "Khan, Tuli was obviously delaying during the day today and did not attack with all his strength. Now that he said that he would take down Badger's Mouth at night, it must be just nonsense. Dahan said."
Don’t believe it.”
Jie Li just laughed and said, "Don't you know this, the Great Khan?"
He sighed, "It seems that I really miscalculated this time. I shouldn't have rushed to attack Yehuling. Wu Huaiyu reacted too quickly. This mountain is too dangerous. It was a mistake."
"Then why did the Great Khan agree to attack Tuli again at night?"
"We are going to withdraw anyway. Before withdrawing, let Tuli attack again. What's the harm in using the help of Tang people to consume Tuli, Xiqi and other 18,000 people. By the way, we can also consume some more of Tang's army."
Until now, Jieli is still very conceited, because although it seems that he has suffered 40,000 casualties, his own troops only suffered a few thousand casualties, and the most casualties were in the old troops in the east of Tuli.
And the Xi, Khitan, Ping, Sogdian Hu tribe, etc. he led,
Anyway, those who died were not our own people. Although they were also from the Turkic Khanate, these people had just launched an army to rebel against themselves not long ago.
He captured them and killed them all. Now, by using the help of the Tang army to get rid of some of them, that would also be to eliminate dissidents.
They're all just rebellious officials and traitors.
After two days of fighting at Yehuling, the casualties suffered by his headquarters were not as high as the losses in the battles between Jiujiuquan and Tuli.
Zhao Deyan felt a little cold after hearing this. Jieli Khan was so cold-blooded and ruthless, and he actually used the Tang army to eliminate dissidents.
He originally wanted to persuade him a little more, but he didn't say any more at this time.
"Get ready, we will break camp and return to Dingxiang tomorrow without further delay to avoid a long night and many dreams." Jie Li also had a sense of crisis, but this sense of crisis did not come from Wu Huaiyu in Youzhou opposite, but because he was worried that Li Ji, Zhang Gongjin and others in Hedong would copy
His backyard, or blocking his way back.
Although this is unlikely in this windy and snowy day, we must take precautions just in case.
It is better to withdraw early.
Jieli sat alone in the tent.
There was always an idea swirling in his mind, and he wanted to use Tuli's failure to capture Badger's Mouth to behead Tuli tomorrow morning, and then hand over his remaining tribe to his son to lead.
He granted his son the title of Little Khan in the east, which would eliminate hidden dangers once and for all. However, he was still hesitant. The current situation in the Khanate was not good, and Mobei had been defeated in every battle. At this time, he was afraid that he would attack Tuli.
The Tuli brothers Yu Gushe will also cause trouble, and even Yu Sheshe from Monan will take the opportunity to jump out.
Maybe instead of killing Tuli tomorrow morning, he could be kept in the Khan's court, and his son could be appointed as a commander and gradually take over Tuli's tribe? Or maybe Tuli could be allowed to take his tribe to Mobei and Yugu Commandery.
, Tuo She conquered the rebellion of Xue Yantuo, Uighur and others together, and then let his son take over the eastern part, leaving Tu Li to guard Mobei to defend the Khanate from the rebellious Tiele people.
The firelight flickers,
Jie Li was actually still holding fire in his heart. He could easily defeat Tu Li, but why was he blocked by Wu Huaiyu here? Three years ago, that guy was just one of Li Shimin's bodyguards, a young and unknown person.
people.
The more I thought about it, the more unwilling I became, and my heart began to look forward to Tuli's night attack tonight.
The night is dark and the wind is howling.
Wu Huaiyu is still under the Shantou Army,
Behind him, countless tents, a large number of Youzhou soldiers, including Tuan Lian armed forces, and the city guards with Fan Hu are also stationed here, "Captain, the troops are ready to go."
"Commander, Su Sima has led the Qingyi army and is setting off from other mountain passes,"
"Li Tu Diji and Wu Fuyu are also leading the Mohe cavalry across the mountain pass and detouring behind the Turkic army."
······· It is already midnight,
It's still quiet down the mountain,
Waiting is always stressful, especially when a war is approaching.
"Why hasn't Tuli moved yet?"
"Are they really going to do it?"
Wu Huaiyu ignored the generals and the conjectures and uneasiness of the soldiers. Shetu and An Lushan, as his and Tuli's special envoys, had secretly communicated several times, and the two had communicated their plans very well.
All is ready except for the opportunity.
Tonight will be the decisive battle.
Tuli Khan, King Xi Kedu, and Khitan Khan Dahemo will take the lead in launching a surprise attack on Jieli in the middle of the night. When he launches the attack, he will light the beacon.
In fact, as long as the camp at the foot of the mountain is in chaos and Tuli and the others set fire to the camp, it will be the most obvious signal for a general attack.
"fire!"
"Captain, there is fire at the bottom of the mountain."
Wu Huaiyu looked up. There were already a lot of fires in the Turkic camp, like fireflies in this dark night, but now there were more fires.
Moreover, there was a noise floating in the mountain wind, like the sound of gold and iron.
soon,
He saw the signal agreed with Tuli, who sent people to form a circle with torches at the foot of the mountain.
"Send the beacon tower, light five wisps of beacon fire, and the general attack begins!"
"Attack the whole army!" He pulled out his sword and waved it in the air. The sword made a dragon roar when it was unsheathed. Wu Huaiyu's mood was at its peak at this moment.
Young Yuwen Chengdu got a chance to fight tonight as Su Lie's personal soldier. His heart was beating loudly. As the cavalry rushed into the enemy camp, he just threw out a torch, but several Turkic cavalry rushed out from the diagonal thrust.
,
Su Lie directly used his horse to pick one of them away.
Yuwen Chengdu also quickly put down the horse spear in his hand, and used the black lacquer horse spear given by the governor himself to pierce a Turkic man who was wearing cowhide armor inlaid with copper nails and an ox helmet. He stabbed the man off the ground.
, he lifted it hard, and the horse pole was bent a little under the huge impact. Then he used all his strength to throw the Turkic man who was not dead from the horse. He did not look at the man again.
, regardless of whether he was dead or alive, he continued to ride his horse and followed Su Lie forward closely.
The iron hooves are like thunder, and the heartbeat is violent.
An arrow flew towards him. When he heard the sound, he subconsciously raised his left arm, and the buckler on his arm blocked the arrow.
Tang Qi went on a rampage, charging and slashing at every enemy they encountered,
I don’t know how long he rushed. Yuwen Chengdu was so excited that he didn’t even feel that he was shot with several arrows along the way. He just took those few arrows and charged all the way.
He vaguely heard cheers, "Golden Wolf's tent!"
Someone shouted, "Jieli's Golden Wolf Tent, it was originally a very luxurious tent, but now it is in dilapidated condition, and its owner has long been missing. The ground is very muddy and slippery, and there are corpses everywhere."
,
A Turkic man with a white cloth tied on his forehead, arms, and waist came over on horseback, saluted them from a distance, and told them that Jieli had escaped and that Tuli Khan was leading his troops to pursue him.
The Turks were defeated.
Jieli escaped from the camp with only a small number of consorts, and more Turkic soldiers collapsed and scattered.
The entire north of Yehu Ridge is now in chaos.
There were fires everywhere and fighting everywhere,
To be precise, it should be a massacre, a one-sided massacre,
The Tang army, Tuli tribe, Xi, Khitan, Lin, etc. totaled about 50,000, but they were chasing nearly 100,000 Jieli troops who had collapsed. "Long live the Tang Dynasty!"
"Wan Sheng!"
Countless cheers rang out from all over the place, the coalition forces were beating the drowned dogs, and the defeated Turkic army was scurrying around like headless flies in the cold night wind.
The cheers reached the top of Badger Mountain in Yehuling. Wu Huaiyu had already taken off his armor and was sweating profusely while wearing only his military uniform. At this time, when he heard the cheers, he finally put down the drumstick in his hand.
Victory.
Panting heavily, Wu Huaiyu sat under the banner of the Sun, Moon and Stars of the Tang Dynasty. He felt so content and happy that he couldn't help but look up to the sky and roar.
"Congratulations, Governor,"
"Congratulations to your Majesty."
A group of generals and camp soldiers gathered around to congratulate them.
One general's success will cause thousands of bones to wither,
At this time, no one would care about the soldiers who died or were injured. Now everyone just cheers for the victory and congratulates Wu Huaiyu who led everyone to victory.
Such a great achievement will surely shake the world.
This can also be called the first great victory since Zhenguan, a great victory against the Turks, the overlord of the grasslands, and the most proud victory in the Tang Dynasty since the Weiqiao Alliance in the 9th year of Wude.
The commander of this battle, Wu Huaiyu, will also become famous.
Huaiyu just laughed for a while, then returned to the wooden house and fell asleep directly.
"Don't disturb me. I want to have a good sleep first. If you have anything to do, wait until I wake up."
For many days, Wu Huaiyu was nailed to the top of the mountain. From day to night, he didn't sleep much for several nights. Now that the dust has settled, Wu Huaiyu has completely relaxed. Although there are still many follow-up things to do, he only has to do it now.
Want to have a good sleep.
The generals looked at the closed door and looked at each other in confusion.
Mr. Wu's actions are really unpredictable.
How could he sleep during such a huge victory?
But soon, a thunderous sound came from the wooden house! Governor Wu really fell asleep.
