Chapter Five Hundred and Fifty Second: The Huya Special Team Makes Dedication
Khalid, Ibn, and Wellid led the remaining soldiers and fled into the nearest city in embarrassment.
After entering the city, Wei Lide ordered people to count the number of soldiers.
The final count made Wei Lide almost vomit blood.
Before the army of King Shu of the Tang Dynasty came, they had 50,000 cavalry and more than 50,000 infantry.
In addition to the 10,000 soldiers guarding Guizi Town, they have a total of more than 110,000 soldiers and horses.
But what now?
There are only 20,000 cavalry left, and only 33,000 infantry left, for a total of only 53,000 left.
More than half of the 110,000 troops were lost!
By now, Wei Lide had to pay great attention to the King of Shu in the Tang Dynasty.
Only now did he feel that perhaps the previous legends about the King of Shu were not just rumors but were actually true.
That night, Wei Lide ordered people to send all the news they had about the King of Shu to his room.
The more Wei Lide looked, the more frightened he became, and the more he looked, the more frightened he became.
It turns out that this King of Shu is really a god-like figure!
It turns out that the Tang Dynasty has developed to this point!
It turns out that in the Tang Dynasty, even incredible things like trains had been created.
If he had known this earlier, Wei Lide would never have made the decision to invade Datang so easily.
But now, it's too late to say anything.
All night long, Wei Lide studied the information about the King of Shu.
At dawn, Wei Lide's eyes were red and full of blood.
Through this night's research, Wei Lide finally figured out why he was defeated so miserably this time.
Not knowing oneself but not knowing the enemy is one of the reasons, and inferior equipment is also another reason.
But these are still not the main reasons.
Wei Lide has fought countless battles in his life, and there have been many more dangerous situations than this, but he has never suffered such a big loss, and he has never even suffered a defeat.
But this time in the confrontation with Datang, they were defeated so miserably.
After a night of research, Wei Lide finally figured out one thing.
The main reason why Dashi was so miserable was that he was defeated by the machinations of King Shu of the Tang Dynasty.
I'm afraid the news I got is all fake news.
First of all, the number of soldiers and horses brought by the King of Shu was definitely not one hundred thousand, and at best it was only a little over fifty thousand.
Secondly, most of the information they obtained was what Datang wanted them to know.
In all the battles, they were led by the Tang Dynasty.
How can we be invincible in such a war?
Wei Lide had never seen such a fighting method before.
Of course he understood the importance of intelligence, but he was far from reaching the level of King Shu of the Tang Dynasty.
The King of Shu of the Tang Dynasty obviously treated intelligence as a war.
And winning the intelligence war is almost equivalent to winning a real battle.
Although the materials required for an intelligence station are terrifying, they are far less than a battle.
Wei Lide had a feeling that if the intelligence information from both sides were exchanged, they would have the same equipment and materials, and the same number of people.
But Dashi can definitely win this war!
And these are the horrors of information warfare, which can completely rewrite the outcome of a war.
But now, their Dashi's intelligence system is in no way comparable to that of the Tang Dynasty.
In the intelligence war, they could only fail miserably.
If the fight continues, Wei Lide guarantees that we will lose every battle.
A general who has been able to win every battle before this relies on his calm mind, analysis and judgment abilities.
But now that it has been judged that if we continue to fight, we will definitely lose, then there is actually no need to continue fighting this battle.
His face was full of exhaustion, but Wei Lide did not rest, but ordered people to summon all his generals together.
"Everyone obeyed the order and secretly prepared for the retreat. However, no news was allowed to leak. Everything was done in secret."
"Next, I will distribute our respective matters. The cavalry will first retreat fifty miles away, and then set up roadblocks on the grounds of building defense."
"The infantry packed up their gear, made a posture to attack, and were ready to evacuate at any time."
After hearing what Wei Lide said, the generals in Dashi could hardly believe their ears.
Are these the words of their general, the Sword of Allah?
We suffered such a huge loss in Datang and we actually quit like this?
How had they ever suffered such a big loss while fighting abroad?
Wei Lide's generals couldn't bear it anymore and couldn't help asking: "General, do we really want to retreat? Or are we pretending to retreat and fight an ambush?"
Pretending to retreat?
Fight an ambush?
Indeed, this is a method of warfare they often use.
In the past, they used various tactics to defeat the weak and the strong, and the few to defeat the many, and they never failed.
But these people, obviously, haven't figured out the strength of their opponents yet!
Will using these small tricks really be useful in fighting against the King of Shu?
Wei Lide shook his head and decisively rejected this tempting idea.
He said directly and decisively: "Execute the order, everyone go down!"
The generals couldn't help but retreat with confusion in their hearts.
Then the soldiers were mobilized and various preparations began.
…
At the same time, Datang's army had assembled and made preparations for war.
Of course, they came in a hurry and didn't even prepare siege equipment.
If the opponent eats too much, be on guard and guard to the death.
They really don't have a good solution.
After all, siege engines can be improvised.
However, the strength of both sides is equal, so it is tantamount to wishful thinking to use the same number of people to fight a siege.
If you want to break the city, you must find another way.
Li Min ordered Li Yuanfang to dispatch a large number of Huya special forces.
In the previous battles, the Huya Special Forces had made great achievements, and Li Min directly reported the first contribution to them.
In this regard, Xue Rengui and Xi Junmai were both sincerely convinced and had no complaints at all.
In this battle, they really felt the importance of intelligence.
Without a series of intelligence deceptions, they would never have been able to win so easily.
It was even more impossible to win a big victory. They only lost less than a hundred killed.
If they can guarantee such a big victory, why not give up their top spot?
The members of the special operations team, because they had finally achieved their first success, were full of energy and continued to engage in intelligence work.
Li Min himself sent an unmanned reconnaissance plane to investigate the situation of Dashi.
In fact, Li Min is now confident that he can capture a city in the Dashi War overnight.
All you need to do is send out the Huya Special Forces. In the middle of the night, you can easily climb into the city, open the city gates, and let the troops outside the city enter.
Of course, this method can only be used once.
If it doesn't work next time, people must take precautions.
Therefore, Li Min is not in a hurry to use this trick now. He will wait until the most critical moment to use this trump card.
Through the unmanned reconnaissance drone, Li Min quickly discovered every move of the Dashi army.
First of all, in those cities, some soldiers were getting ready to go.
He was ready to fight at any time.
Seeing this, Li Min couldn't help but be a little confused.
He didn't quite believe that at this time, Dashi's generals would choose to take the initiative.
Although the Tang army easily defeated the Dashi army and annihilated almost 50,000 of their troops.
But Dashi's army is actually not weak, and their generals are definitely not short-sighted.
Their paleness is due to various factors.
It can only be said that Datang is stronger, not that they are weak.
How could they make such a mistake?
Li Min was a little confused and couldn't help but move the automatic reconnaissance plane and start investigating other places.
Soon Li Min discovered that some Dashi soldiers were secretly preparing vegetable oil.
And the prepared vegetable oil was secretly distributed in various cities.
Seeing this scene, Li Min couldn't help but frown.
Is Dashi planning to attack with fire?
But, do they really have a chance to attack with fire?
Li Min couldn't help but shook his head, feeling that he didn't understand Dashi's intention.
Then, Li Min continued to let the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft conduct reconnaissance.
Soon, it was almost time to reach the edge of unmanned reconnaissance drone reconnaissance.
Li Min discovered that all of Dashi's cavalry were actually here and building defenses.
This is strange. Building defenses ten miles behind the city?
And still use cavalry to build defense?
No matter how you look at it, this thing is weird.
Moreover, these precautions are not like precautions at all.
Basically, they are blocking the road, and the blockage is not tight.
The infantry can easily pass through, but the cavalry cannot even think about passing through.
What is the meaning of these cavalry blocking the road in front of me?
Didn't you block yourself by yourself?
The commander of Dashi actually issued such an order. Could it be that he was a pig?
Li Min began to feel confused.
How could the commander of Dashi be so stupid?
If their leader wasn't stupid, he must have had his own intentions in doing so.
So, what exactly does he want to do?
After pondering for a long time, Li Min finally realized it!
Dashi, this is the time to withdraw!
Li Min didn't expect that the commander of Dashi would be so decisive!
Those cavalry were not building defenses at all, but just to block the road.
It would be better for them to retreat and not block their own way.
With Dashi's infantry behind them, the infantry can pass through these simple roadblocks.
As for Datang's steam tricycle fleet, it would be impossible to pass unless these roadblocks were cleared.
Along the way, they would constantly set up roadblocks to hinder Datang's steam tricycle fleet.
This is equivalent to abolishing Datang's steam tricycle fleet, and they can evacuate with confidence.
And, in order to be more calm, but also to bring a heavier blow to Datang.
They decided to burn all the nearby cities before leaving.
Li Min now finally understood that the fire oil they arranged was not for a fire attack, but to burn the city.
In fact, Wei Lide did have this wishful thinking.
Except for his two confidants, not even the other generals knew about his plan.
Wei Lide has realized that there is a problem with their intelligence, and now he is doing his best to prevent the information from leaking.
…
Li Min, on the other hand, quickly called Xue Rengui, Xi Junmai and Li Yuanfang in.
"In just one or two days, the food army will evacuate. Therefore, you must be prepared."
"When the Dashi army evacuates, they will set fire to these cities. Li Yuanfang, I leave this matter to you. Start the deployment from now on, and be sure not to let them really burn the city."
If the city is really burned, it will seriously damage the life and property safety of the people in the city.
Li Min will never allow this to happen.
"As for Xue Rengui, Xi Junmai, and General Xi, when the food army is in the car, they will inevitably set up various obstacles along the way."
"Your army will follow the steam tricycle fleet and help clear the road when encountering obstacles."
"General Xue, your mission is to stick behind them and put enough pressure on them to prevent them from sabotaging along the way."
"If you have the chance, kill as many of them as possible!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Li Min nodded, and the three people retreated.
After going out, Xi Junmai couldn't help but asked curiously: "By the way, how did His Highness know that the Dashi army would retreat?"
Hearing Xi Junmai's question, Xue Rengui couldn't help rolling his eyes and asked: "I'm not His Highness, how do I know?"
Xi Junmai asked differently: "You don't know either? Then you were in the big tent, why didn't you ask just now? I thought you knew!"
Next to him, Li Yuanfang rolled his eyes and asked: "Then let me ask you, was there ever a time when the information that His Highness speculated about and the orders that he arranged were inaccurate? Is there any?"
After thinking about it, Xi Junmai couldn't help but shook his head and said, "That's not true."
Li Yuanfang said speechlessly: "Isn't that the end? Whatever orders His Highness gives you, just carry them out! Do you still need to ask the reason?"
Um, that seems to be the truth!
It seems that I will have to follow them and learn more from now on.
After the three of them went down, they quickly fell into busyness.
…
On the second day, Wei Lide issued an order for a full retreat.
As soon as this order was issued, except for a few generals who knew the order, the others couldn't help but burst into an uproar.
However, the military orders were overwhelming, and even though the soldiers who were eating a lot did not understand the order, they quickly packed up and prepared to retreat.
By noon, everything had been cleaned up and the formal retreat began.
At the same time, after the army left the city, they specially sent people to prepare for lighting the fire.
These bandits poured the oil they had hidden in advance into government offices in the city and into shops in the busy city.
Burning down the entire city is impossible due to time constraints.
In pursuit of maximizing damage, they decided to set fires where the buildings were most densely packed.
The people who were hiding at home were trembling with fear.
When I found out that the soldiers outside were trying to set fire, I was immediately frightened to death.
Some people came out and knelt down to beg for mercy.
But these bandits stepped forward with their swords drawn and scared these people away.
After pouring the oil, start the fire.
call out!
Phew! Phew!
At this moment, the sound of short crossbows piercing the air suddenly sounded one after another, and these Daushi soldiers fell into a pool of blood one after another.
It turns out that the soldiers of the Huya Special Forces had been hiding in the city for a long time.
The reason why we put off taking action until the end is to delay time.
If we take action early, Dashi may send more soldiers over, and they may not be able to resist.
And now, some of them have gone to open the city gate.
The Tang Dynasty's army will soon enter the city, so don't worry about them sending people over again.
There were not many Dashi soldiers left to set fire.
Where are the opponents of the Huya Special Forces members?
Within a matter of seconds, all these people were killed.
Some brave people were hiding at the door. When they heard that it was the Tang Dynasty army, they walked out in surprise.
The members of the Huya Special Forces immediately organized the people to deal with all the areas where oil had been poured.
A large amount of water was prepared around the area, a fire isolation zone was set up, and fire prevention measures were actively taken.
Over there, the unguarded city gate had been opened by members of the Huya Special Forces, and the Tang army entered the city.
At this point, even if Dashi knew something had happened in the city, they would not dare to send anyone into the city again.
Because of the presence of the Huya Special Forces, more than a dozen cities were protected from fires.
But those who entered the city were actually only a very small number of troops.
Li Min had to leave people behind to control the public security and order in the city.
The other people all sat in the steam tricycle convoy and chased away in the direction where the food army left.
Wei Lide's plan is actually very perfect.
A retreat without warning, and after the retreat, they also chose to set fire to multiple cities.
As a result, the Tang army had to organize manpower to put out the fire and had no time to pursue them.
They can then evacuate calmly.
Then they constantly set up roadblocks on the road to delay the pursuit of the Tang army.
In this way, they can exit Datang's territory unscathed.
But it's a pity that Li Min saw through all of Wei Li De's intentions.
Not only did they know their intention to evacuate long ago, but they also knew their intention to set fire to it, and successfully cracked it.
This leaves almost no room for buffering.
Datang's steam tricycle fleet soon caught up with Dashi's retreating 30,000 infantrymen.
At this time, they were still five or six miles away from the first line of defense set up by their cavalry.
Thus, an inevitable massacre officially kicked off.
Wei Lide, the commander of Dashi, was shocked and angry at this.
It was difficult for him to understand that only a few of his most trusted generals knew about his evacuation and preparations to set fire to the city.
How did the news leak out?
Especially the news that he was going to set fire to the city should not have been leaked out at all!
Is it possible that the news from the Tang Dynasty is already so well-informed?
This made Wei Lide feel frightened.
Now is not the time to think about this.
The Tang Dynasty steam tricycle convoy on the opposite side met their infantry, which can be said to be unscrupulous and rampant.
At the same time, the crossbows on the car were firing continuously.
This short five or six miles has become a purgatory.
If there are cavalry here, they might be able to help a little bit.
But now, their cavalry are isolated from each other in the isolation zone by themselves, which is really a sight to behold.
In a hurry, Wei Lide could only resort to the method of cutting off a strong man's arm, leaving fifteen thousand soldiers behind to cling to Datang's steam tricycle fleet.
The rest dropped everything and ran towards the pass at full speed.
I have to say that the execution ability of the Dashi Army is really strong.
Staying to serve as the rearguard means risking death.
However, the Dashi soldiers who stayed behind were not defeated in a short period of time.
It must be said that Wei Lide's control over the army is astonishing.
Well, this probably has something to do with their beliefs.
People with faith are often not too afraid of death.
This is probably one of the reasons why the Dashi Empire has been able to conquer the north and south, and has always been invincible, right?
The 15,000 Dashi soldiers in the front group lost all their burdens, including their armor.
I even wanted to throw away all my clothes.
Then, he raced all the way at a speed that was so unimaginable that it would put even long-distance runners at the Sixteen Nations Games to shame.
In the end, they managed to escape from the dangerous situation without any danger. The 10,000-odd infantrymen couldn't help but shed tears for the rest of their lives, and they burst into collective tears.
The Tang army, on the other hand, ordered people to quickly clear the road and chased after them.
The chasing army of food never stops.
…
At this time, Chang'an City, inside the imperial palace.
Emperor Li Shimin has been uneasy recently and has been waiting for news from the Anxi Protectorate.
However, the distance from Anxi Protectorate to Chang'an is far.
Moreover, every channel through which Fei Ge passed messages was destroyed with the fall of the Anxi Protectorate.
The delivery of messages is very slow.
So far, Li Min, the king of Shu, has been rushing to the Anxi Protector's Mansion with 50,000 Tang soldiers. It has been more than ten days, but there has been no news.
I don’t know what the battle situation is like. Can Min’er be able to stop the food army?
If you can resist it, then that's it.
If it cannot be resisted, then the western part of the Tang Dynasty will probably rot.
Thinking of this, Li Shimin suddenly laughed at himself.
Zhen'er has only been gone for more than ten days.
According to the normal march, I am afraid that I have just arrived at the Anxi Protectorate. How could the news be conveyed so quickly?
At this moment, a bowl of soup was gently placed on the imperial table.
"Your Majesty, drink this bowl of bird's nest soup to replenish your health. During this period, the Emperor has lost a lot of weight."
Li Shimin turned around and found that it was Concubine Yang.
After the death of Empress Changsun, Concubine Yang was considerate and always by her side, which relieved Li Shimin from a lot of separation pain.
Li Shimin couldn't help but grab Concubine Yang's hand and sighed: "Concubine Yang, thank you for your hard work!"
Concubine Yang smiled slightly and said: "How can I dare to say that I have worked hard? The emperor is the one who has worked hard. This soup is just right, the emperor should drink it while it is hot!"
Li Shimin was agitated and had no appetite to drink the soup, but he was really unwilling to ignore Concubine Yang's kindness and picked up the bowl from the table.
After taking a sip, Li Shimin couldn't help but raise his head and said, "It's delicious! You cooked this soup yourself, right? No one else can cook it with this taste."
Concubine Yang pursed her lips and smiled and said: "It tastes good, then your Majesty, please drink more."
The soup cooked by Concubine Yang gave Li Shimin an appetite, and he drank a bowl of soup in several mouthfuls.
Seeing how sweet Li Shimin drank, Concubine Yang was also happy and couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, it's still simmering in the pot. Can I serve you another bowl?"
Li Shimin waved his hand and said: "You can drink it yourself, I won't use it."
At this moment, a powerful man came to report.
"Your Majesty, the Minister of the Ministry of War has asked to see you, saying that there is news about the Anxi Protectorate."
"What? There is news from the Anxi Protectorate? Let him in quickly!"