As the sound spread, amidst the sounds of horns and war drums, the Li Jiajun tribe troops on both wings finally discovered through the cheers of the Tornado Battalion that one of their own troops was actually escaping back from the direction of the Chinese army.
In shock, the generals on both sides of the Li family's army suddenly suspected that Li Shentong wanted them to block the Far Eastern Army, but Li Shentong himself and Pei Ji ran away instead.
Thinking like this, the generals of the Li family army on both wings could no longer take care of other things, and immediately started to escape with their own troops. The smart general knew that sending a group of dead soldiers to break up the rear would make the situation slightly better. But most of the generals
However, because he thought that the coach Li Shentong was leading the Chinese army to escape, he felt panic and resentment. He only focused on leading the people to escape, but instead plunged himself into a situation of no return.
This sudden and strange situation caught Li Shentong off guard. He couldn't even figure out why Pei Ji would do such a stupid thing. He also ordered the soldiers around him to shout loudly to express that he was still on the battlefield, but unfortunately
It is easy to prejudge this kind of thing. The morale of the Li family army has been exhausted, and the morale of the army has been completely shaken, which is difficult to recover. What's more, many generals of the Li family army on both sides have already ordered a retreat, and it is too late to turn around.
In addition, the battlefield was huge and it was clearly already evening, making it even more chaotic.
Wang Junlin ordered the soldiers nearby to blow the horns for pursuit.
More than 40,000 whirlwind battalion cavalry rushed straight down towards the Li family's army who were frantically fleeing for their lives!
A rout like a tide began to appear on both sides of the Li family's army.
Li Shentong, who was extremely angry, led his cavalry to cross from the flanks, trying to block the Far Eastern Army's attack. However, the collapse had already taken place.
Li Shentong's main formation rushed towards this side. At the same time, he issued orders, trying to distance the central army from the defeated troops on both wings, and reorganized a tight defense, but it was still too late. They were defeated.
The military situation and the troops of the Chinese army have formed a situation where you are surrounded by me, and I am surrounded by you.
The collapse of a mountain cliff gradually turned into the collapse of half a mountain.
Countless corpses flowed down the Fen River, firelight flowed through the night sky, and what was left was the continuous formation of the army and continuous fighting.
On the opposite side, the Far East Army, which had been fighting fiercely for a day, once again resumed its raging offensive, crushing the half of the Li family's army that had not yet collapsed. Li Shentong just subconsciously held back the chaotic formation and led the army towards Taiyuan City in defeat.
, because he knew that Linhe County could not be defended at all, and it could not accommodate so many of them.
Li Shentong had always been worried that he would not be able to stop the Far Eastern Army's frontal offensive, but he never thought that it would be his Army Sima Pei Ji who would give him the fatal blow...
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At dawn, countless defeated troops poured into the gate of Taiyuan City. Li Jiancheng, who had just been sent by Li Yuan from Chang'an City to Taiyuan to supervise the army to promote the war, stood on the wall that was higher than the ordinary city wall and watched this scene. His whole body became cold.
, as the Duanhou army led by Li Shentong from the rear entered the city gate, the Far Eastern Army came like a tide and rushed towards the capital of Hedong, which Li Yuan had managed for more than seven years.
Although Taiyuan cannot compare with Chang'an City, it is still an ancient capital with a long history. It "controls the mountains and rivers and sits on the shoulders of the world" and "is the fortress of the four fortresses and controls the capital of the five plains".
Taiyuan City is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the Fenhe River, the second largest tributary of the Yellow River, flows from north to south. It has been known as the "Splendid Taiyuan City" since ancient times. Moreover, Taiyuan was named Jizhou in ancient times, and it was one of the nine states in China. It was even
It is the leader of Kyushu.
Taiyuan City was originally a majestic city, and after Li Yuan became the lord of Taiyuan, he has built Taiyuan City into one of the most majestic cities in the world.
, even more difficult to attack than Chang'an and Luoyang City.
Seeing the Taiyuan City Gate slamming shut, Wang Junlin and his army did not approach Taiyuan City rashly, but stopped at the mouth of a canyon a few miles outside Taiyuan City.
Seeing that his own troops had been fighting for a whole day, and had been chasing for more than a hundred miles without a moment's rest, Wang Junlin ordered the camp to be set up on the same spot, and sent out guards, secret sentries, and cavalry to prevent the Li army from sending troops to attack the camp.
Wang Junlin's eyes scanned the surrounding terrain, and finally settled on a steep hillside. Then he dismounted and led a group of soldiers to climb to the top of the hillside.
He looked around and saw a high mountain rising from the ground.
Shanxi faces the Fen River in three directions: south and north. It is like a huge blue snail floating on the water. The mountains are deep and beautiful. At the west foot is a cliff that juts out of the river. To the northwest, there is a low place facing the river, which is called Wangda.
Wa, the northern ridge is called Huangmawei, and the mountain is steep; the southern foot is lush with trees and faint pavilions.
It is said that this mountain is the territory of the Wang family of Taiyuan. There is a library of the Wang family of Taiyuan on the mountain, which is very famous among scholars all over the world. Climb up the Wang family's library and look far away, facing the mighty Fen River and green mountains on the back.
The beautiful scenery, even in winter, makes the environment feel elegant and refreshing.
Wang Junlin looked around and realized that the Fenhe River in the north was turbulent and the waterway was difficult to attack. The south, where the Far East Army was at the gorge at this time, was equally easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Li family's army in Taiyuan Prefecture could defeat the enemy by taking advantage of the danger.
There were tens of thousands of enemies, not to mention that the city walls were extremely tall and strong. It was obvious that even explosives would be difficult to blow them up. I couldn't help but be secretly frightened, frowning and thinking about ways to break the city.
In Taiyuan City, after the city gate was closed, Li Jiancheng ran down and found Li Shentong in the chaotic military formation. He saw the latter wearing a large cloak, holding a steel knife, half covered with blood, and his eyes were bloodshot, as if he was choosing someone.
The devouring tiger.
Although Li Jiancheng was the eldest son of the Tang Dynasty, he was Li Shentong's nephew. He did not dare to have any accountability or complaint against Li Shentong. After saluting, he briefly explained the purpose of his visit and said repeatedly: "It will be good if my uncle comes back handsome.
It'll be great if uncle comes back. As long as uncle is here, we can stop the Far Eastern Army..."
Li Shentong had already dismounted from his horse. Remembering that Pei Ji could become his army commander and Li Jiancheng seemed to have contributed a lot, he turned to look at him: "Hold the Far Eastern Army... Humph! Don't you ask me why I lost?"
"No matter why we failed, as long as we can learn a lesson..."
"But I really want to know why I lost!" Li Shentong roared, "Follow me! Let's go find that old man Pei Ji and ask!"
He suddenly turned around and led the generals who followed him towards the inner city. The generals below did not need any further instructions from Li Shentong and had already begun to consciously direct the soldiers to guard the city wall. Seeing that the Far Eastern Army outside the city wall did not immediately attack the military stronghold,
Li Jiajun also breathed a sigh of relief.
Just now, the Li family's army was fleeing for their lives, and the Far East Army was chasing them. The Li family's army suffered a lot of casualties. In addition to the casualties and casualties during the previous confrontation between the two armies, as well as those who were scattered and fled along the way, the number of people who entered the stronghold just now was only about 40,000. In addition, at the same time, there were also people who came from the waterway.
The nearly 10,000 sailors who withdrew and the more than 30,000 garrison troops in the city totaled 80,000 people, which was quite a lot of troops.
Li Jiancheng followed Li Shentong forward, sighing repeatedly in his heart. After a while,
"Where is Pei Ji now?" When he arrived outside the Pei family's mansion in Taiyuan City, Li Shentong asked the guard at the door.
"Returning to the general, the second master has just returned to the mansion and has already rested."
Li Shentong's eyes showed strong murderous intent, and he sneered: "He didn't hide, isn't he afraid that I will kill him when I come back?"
"The little man has seen the handsome man and the world
Son." At this time, a scholar dressed as an aide walked out of the Pei Mansion, saluted Li Jiancheng and Li Shentong, and then said: "The second master asked me to come down to deliver a message, saying that he was just a civil servant, and he left early on the battlefield to save his life.
, It is not intentional to undermine the morale of the army and affect the morale of the army."
Li Shentong snorted coldly: "Is this his explanation? Pei Ji is a famous scholar in the world, and he should know integrity and righteousness. At the most critical moment on the battlefield, he did not think of sacrificing his life for righteousness. Instead, he led his people to escape in advance, which shook the morale of the army and unanimously
After a complete defeat, what’s the use of keeping such a great Confucian scholar?”
The Pei family's staff then said: "Commander, your son, my second master also said that the commander-in-chief has been hard at war, and the son has come all the way. My second master has hosted a banquet in the mansion, and invited the commander-in-chief and his family to the banquet. He will
At the banquet, I personally explained the reason to the commander and apologized."
Li Shentong lamented: "Only 40,000 of my 100,000 troops have returned. How can I be in the mood to attend a banquet!"
"But I want to ask Pei Ji for a clear answer now." Li Shentong looked at the Pei Mansion expressionlessly, with a sneer on his face, and murderous intent flashed in his eyes. He didn't know what he was thinking.
"If you take over the Pei Mansion, anyone who dares to stop him will be killed without mercy." Li Shentong ordered boldly.
The thousands of troops he brought obeyed the orders and soon took over the entire Pei Mansion.
At the same time, Li Shentong and Li Jiancheng had already entered the Pei Mansion with slow but determined steps.
Although the Pei family's ancestral home in Hedong is in Wenxi County, the mansion in Taiyuan City covers an area of more than 100 acres, which is more grand than some palaces of the Sui Dynasty.
Li Shentong walked through Pei's front yard and glanced inside. He realized that it was already this time and Pei Ji didn't come out to see him, so he snorted even more dissatisfied and continued walking out of Pei's house.
As he continued to walk deeper, Li Shentong suddenly felt a throbbing in his heart. This feeling was very strange, and it came very suddenly and strangely. In any case, this feeling was not good, and it seemed like a premonition of impending disaster.
.
Li Shentong stood there motionless, closed his eyes and thought carefully for a moment, thinking that even if Pei Ji had any ideas, or Pei Mansion had some master guards, the entire Pei Mansion was already under his control, and he had nothing to miss.
place, but he was still worried, turned around and shouted: "Here comes someone!"
A group of soldiers ran over and saluted him with their swords drawn.
Li Shentong waved the knife in his hand and said in a deep voice: "Deploy another thousand people and search the entire Pei Mansion for me. Search every corner, and then let Pei Ji come to see me!"
The personal soldiers took the order and quickly began to implement Li Shentong's order.
Li Shentong's intuition about his own safety has always been very accurate. Often when an unusual thought arises, it means that some unforeseen accident has occurred. If he is more superstitious, an abnormal wind will cause an inexplicable accident.
A sudden burst of rain or a sudden burst of thunder will be regarded as a warning from God.
Of course, there seem to be many great figures in history who seem to have this kind of intuition.
The difference is that some big shots are stubborn and have a vague intuition, but they feel that they can reverse their destiny, so they ignore their intuition. Of course, the endings of countless history books or folklore stories prove that those who do not believe in their intuition will die ugly.
.
Even though Li Shentong suffered a defeat today, he is not a willful person. He has always been cautious. It is precisely because of his caution that he can survive to this day.
Therefore, he was alerted to the inexplicable heart palpitations he had just experienced, so he ordered the Pei Mansion to be searched again, and asked Pei Ji to come see him, without intending to go further into the depths of the Pei Mansion.