On September 21, Li Shan sat in the Chinese army's tent with a sullen look on his face. On both sides of Dou Rail, Wen Yanbo also looked solemn. It was already the eighth day of the war, and the Turks still had not retreated.
On the first day, Li Shan sent heavy cavalry to break the formation and the Turks suffered heavy casualties. From Li Shan, Dou Gui, Li Daoxuan to the generals below, they all felt that the Turks would choose to retreat. After all, the Turks' organizational system was different from that of the Tang Dynasty, so it was difficult to
To bear such a huge loss for a long time.
Therefore, Li Shan did not continue to send heavy troops to attack fiercely, but slowed down and only conducted repeated tests or small-scale cavalry battles to urge the Turks to retreat as soon as possible.
However, Li Shan did not expect that the Turks did not choose to retreat, but started fighting Tang Qi again and again, and sent out partial troops to test and attack the left and right army's chariot formations again and again.
It is said that the Turks cannot last long, but they did not expect to be so difficult to deal with. They are almost as good as the Tunguska savages of later generations... Li Shan has various speculations in his heart. The direction of the war may develop in the direction of the plan that he has almost given up, but
It may also develop in the direction you least want to see.
If the Turks are unwilling to give up the main road at the border, then Li Shan has no choice but to attack with all his strength to open up the main road and seize the initiative... But in this way, if the Turks still want to fight to the death, the loss of troops will be very large.
In fact, Li Shan had tried it out yesterday and ordered Su Dingfang to lead the cavalry forward. They fought for an hour and killed more than 2,000 Turkic cavalry. However, the Turks still had no intention of retreating. The heavy cavalry acting as the vanguard lost nearly 400 more.
Riding, Li Shanxin is about to bleed.
In a short period of time, one of the heavy cavalry would die, and there would be no way to replenish them.
It is already late September, and there is not much time. If the Turks cannot be driven away, it means that the Tang army will probably build a stronghold at the current station and wait for the Turks to retreat... Judging from the current trends of the Turks, even if they retreat,
It is also very likely that they will use heavy troops to control the key roads, and maybe even let the Liang division take over.
To be honest, Li Shan hopes to face the Turks here more than the Liang army... The Liang divisions all occupy Shuofang County, with the famous Tongwan City in the center, and they are very good at defense.
The main reason why Li Shan was worried was that he couldn't make a choice. He couldn't guess what Ashina Sheer and Tuli Khan were thinking. Did he really want to fight with Tang Jun here?
Is this necessary?
Perhaps, the Turks suffered several major defeats last year, which had shaken their dominance on the grasslands. What could be more convincing than defeating the Tang army?
Or maybe they want to organize people to return the plundered food, property, and people to the grassland?
"Huairen, try again today?" Li Daoxuan suggested: "If someone comes to lead the troops, it is not necessary to use heavy cavalry to break the formation."
Dou Gui nodded in agreement and said: "Let the left and right armies move north, lure the Turks to attack, cover with crossbowmen, and then use cavalry to attack."
Zhang Zhongjian added: "Heavy cavalry, followed by Modao team, the Turks may choose to retreat."
Li Shan was silent for a moment and sighed: "Is there any other choice?"
No matter how distressed he was about the casualties, Li Shan would not allow the current situation to continue forever. If he did not control the main road, he would turn a blind eye to it at night.
Taking a deep breath, Li Shan was about to issue an order when suddenly a guard shouted loudly from outside, "Your Highness, Duke Nanyang, Deputy Chief of the Daizhou Cavalry, and Duke Wu'an, please see me."
"You're here just in time." Li Shan chuckled and stood up to greet him personally.
Zhang Shigui and Xue Wanche, who had not seen each other for a long time, strode over and bowed to the ground, "Greetings to the King of Handan."
"Brother Wu'an and Brother Wanche are here well." Li Shan held up the two sworn brothers who were sworn to Jinlan one by one, and said with a smile: "There is a big war coming, and we need a general to lead the army."
Zhang Shigui's eyes turned to Li Daoxuan and Li Keshi, and he said in a deep voice: "I came here with orders, and all of them are under the instructions of His Highness."
"About 7,000 troops." Xue Wanche explained: "Originally there were only 5,000 troops, but later Bingzhou mobilized troops to help. Among them, King Rencheng sent the Marquis of Bishui County to lead 2,000 cavalry to accompany them."
Li Shan turned around and laughed and said: "Zhang Baoxiang is the lucky general of the lonely king. In the battle of Yanmen, it was he who led his troops north to help him defeat the enemy. In the battle of Jizhen, it was Zhang Baoxiang who pursued him so hard that Jie Li was defeated.
It is difficult for the Khan to gather his troops, and the Turks will collapse."
Among them, Su Dingfang, Zhang Zhongjian, Wang Junhao and others were all generals who fought in last year's war. The first two were taciturn, but the latter was a talker, talking endlessly about Zhang Baoxiang's luck.
Indeed, Zhang Baoxiang is indeed a blessed general. Otherwise, when the five armies in space and time destroyed the Eastern Turks, why did he capture Jieli Khan alive?
After thinking for a moment, Li Shan asked: "Do I need to rest?"
Zhang Shigui was startled, are you in such a hurry?
The reinforcements came all the way from Bingzhou or even Daizhou, and they arrived in just seven or eight days. They must be exhausted, and logically they should rest for at least one day.
Xue Wanche patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, we will go to battle immediately and we will definitely break the formation!"
Several generals on the side sneered inwardly. This boast is a bit exaggerated. This time the Turks will not retreat until they fight to the death. So what if you can break the formation?
These days, we have used heavy cavalry as the vanguard to break the formation once or twice. Each time, in the end, we were forced back by the Turks with superior force.
"Take a rest for the time being, and the Duke of Xihe will make proper arrangements." Li Shan shook his head and said slowly: "The seven thousand troops... will be transferred to the right army with two thousand, the left army with two thousand, and four thousand left in the middle army."
"yes."
"Su Dingfang." Li Shan ordered: "Choose two thousand cavalry."
"yes."
Li Shan turned to look at Xue Wanche, "This time we will rely on brother Wanche's bravery to invite battle before the formation."
Dou Gui nodded slightly. He was one of the few people who knew Li Shan's overall plan. When the war had developed to this point, he didn't think there were any loopholes in Li Shan's plan. It was just that Dubu Khan on the opposite side, Tuli Ke,
Khan is probably still hesitating.
There's no harm in trying it again, it will just be a heavy attack at most.
When the arrangements were complete and thousands of infantry poured out from the center and rear of the Tang army, there was a commotion in the Turkic army on the opposite side. Tuli Khan squinted his eyes to take a closer look at Ashina Sheer on the hill.
No Tang troops were seen attacking. Thousands of Tang soldiers divided into two groups, and swarmed towards the left and right sides under the cover of cavalry.
"This is..." Tuli Khan felt a little baffled. The battlefield was narrow. The Tang army had actually completely controlled the left and right wings of the battlefield. Is it necessary to replenish troops?
Ashina Sheer nodded slightly, "Reinforcements should have arrived."
Not long after, two thousand Tang cavalry came rolling in. A general drove his horse out of the battle, waving the horse spear in his hand. There were also warriors in the Turkic army who stepped forward to challenge, but they were stabbed down by the Tang general in two or three rounds. After seven or eight consecutive
, no Turks dared to challenge him anymore.
Ashina Sheer's face was livid, and he pointed his halberd in the distance, "Who is that?"
A quarter of an hour later, the guard's report made Ashina She'er look extremely complicated. While gritting his teeth, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised. It looked quite strange. It turned out to be Xue Wanche, who guarded Guji Town with Li Huairen last year.