Vaguely, there seemed to be the sound of a war horse neighing in his ears, and what appeared in front of Li Daoxuan was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
The few soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were surrounded by blood and blood. Li Daoxuan recognized the leader as the leader of his own bodyguards.
No one was willing to surrender, everyone held weapons in hand and marched toward death... The severed heads fell randomly into the blood, and the sound of the weapons falling to the ground made Li Daoxuan's heart tighten violently.
Li Daoxuan knew that this was a dream... because this scene appeared almost every night for more than half a month.
In the first battle of Xiabo, he was captured alive. He saw with his own eyes that his bodyguards were chopped down one by one, and their heads were piled into Jingguan.
He suddenly opened his eyes, seeing darkness in front of him. He opened his leather jacket and ignored the biting chill in the early morning. Li Daoxuan strode out of the tent. The cold and clear air cheered him up... Today is the time for revenge!
The sky is still dark, but looking from a distance, the extreme eastern night sky is already faintly white, and the bonfire at the entrance of the tent has been extinguished, leaving only a pile of ashes.
"Your Highness, the generals are all ready." Fan Laosan, who came back overnight, came over with the Mingguang Armor and put it on for Li Daoxuan. He kept talking, "Manager Cheng came here just now and went back when he saw His Highness sleeping."
"How long have you been sleeping alone?"
"About three-quarters of an hour."
Li Daoxuan stood there motionless, looking around. There was not much noise in the camp, but the soldiers had already stood up and were calming the horses and preparing weapons. Occasionally, they heard a few war horses neighing.
Yuchi Baolin stood not far away, reining in several war horses with his right hand, and taking out bean cakes and other food from his pocket with his left hand to feed them.
At this time, seeing Li Daoxuan leaving the camp, the generals gathered around him.
Liu Jun whispered: "Su Dingfang personally investigated and found out that Liu Heitai's troops actually built a bridge overnight to cross the river to Luozhou."
"The bridge has not yet been completed, so it is a good opportunity to attack at this time." Wang Junkuo said with a smile: "Liu Heitai's troops have already set off and are waiting in formation by the Yongji Canal in the northwest of Yongji County."
"It makes sense." Xue Zhong said: "Liu Heita was born as a cavalry general, and there is no shortage of elite scouts."
Li Daoxuan licked his lips and asked, "Array behind the river?"
"Yes, there are about a few hundred cavalry, but there are two thousand infantry." Xue Zhong replied: "Although our army has a slightly smaller force, the enemy is demoralized and our army's morale is strong. As long as we do not advance rashly, we will win this battle."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Those present were all veterans on the battlefield and had rich experience. There was no suspense about winning this battle. The only question was how much the victory would be. The biggest suspense was whether Liu Heitai would escape again.
At this moment, Cheng Mingzhen, who had been silent all this time, suddenly knelt down on one knee and said, "If Liu Heitai crosses the river and escapes, please ask your highness, General Xu Mo, to pursue him."
Li Daoxuan glanced at Wang Junkuo and then said: "Pursuit must be handled with caution, but we must pursue it, and we should use our reputation as the vanguard."
Cheng Mingzhen did not stand up, but instead knelt on his knees, "If Liu Heitai is captured alive, I ask your highness, Xu Mo, to behead him. I am willing to be driven by the King of Qin in the future."
Li Daoxuan was stunned for a moment. The name Cheng Mingzhen was not well-known in Guanzhong, and his status under Dou Jiande was not high, but he was actually quite prestigious in Shandong and Hebei. He cut off Luoshui at the beginning of the year and led his army eastward to defeat Liu Heita.
Rare talent.
Just as he was about to agree, Xue Zhong on the side gently bumped Li Daoxuan's elbow and said in front of him: "Liu Heitai is famous for his cunning. It is difficult to capture him alive. We will discuss it in detail after he succeeds."
Li Daoxuan picked up Cheng Mingzhen and was wondering in his heart. In fact, most of the people present could smell it.
Cheng Mingzhen joined the Tang Dynasty and served as the magistrate of Yongning County. The only time he displayed his skills was to attack Liu Heita under the command of King Qin Li Shimin... From this perspective, Cheng Mingzhen has been regarded as a general of the lineage of King Qin.
But today Cheng Mingzhen said these words... it means that at least he does not regard himself as a lineage of the King of Qin, and it is more likely that there are other forces behind him.
Who else could it be?
After using some dry food, the Qianwu Cavalry set off in full force, bypassing Yongji County, with a clear goal from east to west, directly targeting the remnants of Liu Heitai's army that had already formed a formation by the Yongji Canal.
As the horse climbed up the hill, Li Daoxuan stretched out his hand to block the strong wind from the southwest. Looking around, in the Yongji Canal, soldiers like ants were building a bridge, using huge trees and stone bags as the base, and wooden planks.
Liu Heita also has seven to eight hundred cavalry and two thousand infantry under his command, all of which have fled from Wei County in various ways... After all, everyone knows that they can only escape north and west.
, go to the grassland, maybe to Luozhou.
"There's no rush." Su Dingfang followed and whispered: "If you wait any longer, the bridge won't be built so quickly."
Wang Junkuo smiled and said: "If it is normal, it will take at least three days. Even if it is simple and only requires infantry to cross the river, it will take at least one day."
"It snowed heavily last night, so Liu Heitai sent his infantry to build the bridge. It was still too early to complete the bridge. Liu Heitai was afraid that our army would attack, so he lined up behind the Yongji Canal." Cheng Mingzhen sneered, "It's just a stalemate. Wait until the bridge is completed.
If we continue to attack, the enemy army will be defeated!"
Su Dingfang listened silently, and suddenly looked up at the sky. Xue Zhong beside him also reacted, "It's snowing again!"
Heavy snow fell, and the entire Tang army, all cavalry, slowly reined in their horses and stopped two miles in front of the enemy's formation.
As time passed, there was a commotion in Liu Heita's army, and then it became quiet under the pressure of the general.
Snowflakes covered the two armies with a thick blanket, and the world was filled with murder. Except for the occasional snort of war horses, no sound seemed to be heard.
Liu Heitai stared at the opposite side with a sullen face. He knew without guessing that in the Tang army's formation two miles away, there must be Huaiyang King Li Daoxuan and Weizhou General Manager Cheng Mingzhen, all of whom were enemies who wanted to kill him before he could.
Forming with his back to the river, Liu Heitai had no hope of making a comeback, but just hoped to delay the attack. After all, with hundreds of direct cavalry and nearly two thousand infantry in formation, it was possible to withstand the Tang army's attack.
But Liu Heitai did not expect that the Tang army did not attack rashly after advancing... Of course he expected that the Tang army was waiting for the moment when the bridge was completed.
This move greatly surprised Liu Heitai, and also made him curse in his heart, it was too poisonous.
He knew that once the bridge was successfully built, he would not be able to control the remaining soldiers under his command, and they would be defeated. There would be chaos in the formation, and the Tang army would attack... It would be a matter of cutting melons and vegetables.
Liu Heitai was greatly hesitant. Now he was in a dilemma. The bridge had not yet been built, but the Tang army was also eyeing it.
While Li Daoxuan and Cheng Mingzhen were waiting silently, Liu Heitai was thinking about whether to take the initiative.
The southwest wind was strong, and more than ten ships came from the upper reaches of Yongji Canal. With the help of the wind, they appeared like galloping horses behind Liu Heitai's army.
Su Dingfang breathed a long sigh of relief, and Cheng Mingzhen, Wang Junkuo and others looked happy.
Xue Zhong shouted: "We must break the situation!"
Li Daoxuan had already raised his horse's bridle high and urged the horse forward.