Chapter 137 Impeached by the Censor

Li Xuan personally arranged the soldiers to take turns on night duty. He ate some cold beef and went to sleep in the tent very early.

Although there were many people, the tents they brought were still enough for them.

When Li Xuan woke up, it was already dawn and he had regained his energy.

The mutton was cooked in the military camp all night, and the aroma covered up the bloody smell.

Li Xuan ate two kilograms of mutton and drank two large bowls of soup. He also joked to the soldiers who were drinking soup with him that it would be better if there were bread.

He also told the soldiers to have a good meal of yokan when they returned.

When the soldiers saw Li Xuan, it was as if they had seen a magic needle that could stabilize the sea.

They are looking forward to returning this time, hoping there will be more rewards so that their families can live a good life.

Many soldiers come from poor families and join the army mostly for wealth and fame.

The battlefield had been cleaned up and Li Xuan ordered the army to continue marching.

Nan Jiyun was still leading the light cavalry at the front to explore the way.

Li Xuan was in the rear army.

The bodies of the soldiers who died in the battle were placed on horses and brought back to the country.

All of the Tibetan war horses were also taken away and escorted by Tibetan captives.

In this battle, more than 4,000 Tibetans were killed, in addition to those killed by Li Xuan and his personal guards.

On average, each person killed two soldiers, which is an exaggerated number.

Of course, the cavalry and archery troops under Nan Jiyun killed the most enemies.

Two hundred light cavalry killed a total of seven or eight hundred Tibetan cavalry.

Several Tibetan captives tried to be clever and escape on horseback, but they were all shot dead by Nan Jiyun's light cavalry.

This made the other Tibetan captives dare not escape again, and they could only obediently drive horses for the Tang army.

They travelled for two days without incident.

On the third day, Tibetan cavalry came to harass again.

Li Xuan was sure that they were the Tibetan cavalry that had been defeated before, but as if they had received new orders, they followed closely behind the Tang army.

In the next two days, Li Xuan and Nan Jiyun each led cavalry and engaged in more than twenty pursuit battles with them.

Each time, he could kill many Tubo soldiers with only minor losses.

A total of thousands of riders were killed.

The Tibetan cavalry were afraid of Li Xuan like a tiger. When they saw Li Xuan rushing towards them, they fled madly and could only passively take the beating.

Li Xuan felt that these cavalrymen had received orders from Moluqiongsang Woermang and wanted to encircle him together with the Tibetan infantry.

How could he allow him to fulfill his wish?

Li Xuan set up an ambush, let the main force go first, and led 800 cavalrymen to hide secretly, waiting for the main force of Tibetan cavalry to pass by and then rush down from the high slope.

The Tibetan cavalry fought in panic and fled as soon as the battle began.

Thousands of cavalry were killed.

That night, Li Xuan's scouts found the Tibetan cavalry's camp, and Li Xuan led 800 cavalrymen to intercept the camp.

The Tibetan cavalry did not expect Li Xuan to come. In fear, they ran around like headless flies. The first thing they thought of was not to resist, but to go to the stable to take the horses and escape.

After the massacre, only one in ten people in the camp survived.

Another three hundred riders surrendered.

It was obvious that they wanted to harass and torture the Tang army, but they were tortured by the Tang army instead.

Out of the mighty force of 10,000 cavalrymen, only over 1,000 were left in the end, and they retreated dejectedly towards Fuqi City.

In the guerrilla warfare, they were completely defeated. Even with the order from Dalun, they dared not pursue the enemy any further.

"This... Li Xuan is so amazing!"

Meiluqiongsang Woermang had already arrived in Fuqi City. He clenched his fists and looked solemn.

It is ridiculous that Tubo, which had an army said to be "600,000 strong", actually had a shortage of cavalry in its core area of ​​Qinghai.

Even the soldiers who confronted the Tang army in the east of Qinghai were all infantry.

Moluqiongsang Woermang was very worried that the main force of the Tang army's Longyou cavalry would suddenly attack the infantry in eastern Qinghai. He specifically ordered Mojie Sangdongzebu to transfer the cavalry in Jiuqu to eastern Qinghai.

Then, from within the border, the various thousand households slowly transferred their cavalry to Jiuqu.

"Alas! I shouldn't have ordered the cavalry to harass the Tang army! After Xie Qu's death, the cavalry lost their courage and dared not face Li Xuan again, so they were defeated repeatedly."

Meiluqiongsangwoermang realized his mistake.

He was extremely angry when he heard the news of Meilu Xiequ's death. Although he was much older than her, Meilu Xiequ was his cousin in terms of seniority.

"Da Lun, the infantry of the Hahe Qianhu Suo has already made a detour to the Qiancha Kongdao, which is the only way for the Tang army to pass. But there are only 4,000 infantrymen, and I don't know if they can stop the more than 1,000 cavalry of the Tang army."

That bag Shang Jie Si Xiu Ting (Shang Ye Xi) said to Mo Lu Qiong Sang Wo Er Mang.

"We can hold our ground, but there's no chance of us taking the initiative to fight the cavalry!"

Meiluqiongsangwoermang shook his head helplessly.

He already knew that it was extremely difficult to kill Li Xuan. At worst, Li Xuan could abandon women and children and lead his cavalry to escape by a long way.

"Li Xuan entered our country as if he were entering an empty land. This is a shame for our generation. I swear here that I will definitely attack Helong to avenge today's hatred!"

Nang Shang Jie Si Xiu Ting knelt on the ground and swore an oath to the sky.

"The country still needs you young people! If Qiancha Kongdao's infantry can't stop the Tang army, I will persuade the Zamp to send an envoy to the Tang to request a ceasefire and rest. Li Xuan dares to trample on us like this. Next year he will definitely attack our Tubo fiercely and even try to seize Tieren City. So we must not fight him in the next one or two years!"

Meiluqiongsang Woermang helped Nanang Shangjiesi Xiuting to rise to prominence. He was very optimistic about this young man from the Nanang family, so he always kept him by his side to broaden his horizons.

He felt that this young man's vision could not even be compared to that of Meilu Xiequ who conquered Iron Blade City, except that he did not have the blessing of military merit.

If we really want to compare an up-and-coming star to Nang Shang Jie Si Xiu Ting, it can only be Nlanda Zha Lu Gong.

At this time, Meiluqiongsang Woermang thought that if he bowed again, he could use the "uncle-nephew relationship" to stop the war and delay time.

……

Two days later...

"General Li, we have found a large number of Tibetan infantrymen at Qiancha Pass. They are guarding the passage with large shields and spears, making it almost impossible for our cavalry to pass through."

Nan Jiyun came over to report to Li Xuan.

"To bypass Qianchakong Road, we would have to either cross mountains and ridges or take ten more days to travel. Our army definitely cannot do that."

Li Xuan looked at the map and thought that if he delayed too long, it would give Tubo time to mobilize its troops.

It was obvious that the Tibetan infantry were defending the important roads and did not dare to come out to confront the Tang army.

"According to the itinerary, we can reach Qiancha Pass by noon. Our army will pretend to bypass Qiancha Pass to make the Tibetan soldiers in the passage relax their guard. We will drive the cattle over at night and use the fire bull formation. If the fire bull breaks through the formation, our cavalry will kill them."

Li Xuan formulated a battle plan.

Then the army began to prepare.

They deliberately did not go to Qianchakongdao, but took a detour to the west.

Let the Tibetan cavalry detect their tracks.

"We are well defended. Although Li Xuan is brave, he is not a fool. He will not charge us with cavalry!"

Qian Hu Changbai was excited for a while, but when he saw Li Xuan taking a detour, he was relieved and immediately sent a rider to inform Da Lun.

But the captain still stationed his troops in Qiancha Kongdao, waiting for the order from Dalun.

However, the soldiers became much more lax, and only a small number of soldiers were left behind at night.

However, Tubo sent cavalry scouts to monitor the Tang army.

Until midnight, Tubo scouts continued to appear.

Li Xuan asked Li Sheng to ride on a Ferghana horse and cooperate with Nan Jiyun to shoot and kill the Tibetan scouts.

An hour later, a total of 800 elite Tang troops, driving a thousand yaks, approached Qiancha Kongdao.

Li Xuan tied up the Tibetan captives with ropes and left some soldiers to guard them.

In order not to alert the enemy, Li Xuan's cavalry dismounted and led the horses and yaks as they approached.

At five quarters past the hour of Yin, when the yaks were nearly a mile away from the Qianchakong Pass, the sleepy Tibetan soldiers heard the occasional mooing of the yaks and realized something was wrong.

When they looked closely, they saw a large group of yaks slowly walking towards them.

Just when I was wondering, I suddenly saw a human figure among the yak group.

A Tibetan soldier went out to investigate, and when he got closer and took a look, his hair stood on end.

These yaks have blades fixed on their horns.

Around them were Tang soldiers wearing bright armor.

"Enemy attack!"

The Tibetan infantrymen ran back and shouted, waking up the other Tibetan soldiers on duty.

"Woooooooo..."

At the same time, cow horns sounded intermittently.

Li Xuan was not panicked at all now. It was too late to discover them at this distance.

He also drove a yak and ordered it to speed up, arriving a hundred steps in front of the Tubo formation.

Hundreds of yaks were lined up in a row, their tails wrapped with cloth soaked in grease. The surrounding Tang soldiers held spears to prevent the yaks from retreating.

"ignition!"

A hundred soldiers took out the fire from behind the yak.

Although the yak's tail is not long, it has lush hair.

"Wow..."

Once the fire was lit, it caught fire instantly.

"Snapped!"

While the yak was not obviously in pain, the soldiers whipped its buttocks with a whip.

"Roar……"

The yak let out an angry cry and immediately ran forward.

Some yaks feel pain after running for dozens of steps, and their tempers become even more violent, so they run forward desperately.

When some yaks were halfway through their run, their hair was so thick that their entire bodies quickly caught fire, making them look like a "fire bull".

The Tibetan soldiers finally managed to raise their shields, but not every position had a spearman.

The mad bull's brute force was incredible, and the barricades in front were smashed to pieces one by one.

Some yaks died from the barbs, and more yaks rushed forward.

Some shields were knocked down with fewer people supporting them.

This allowed the yaks to see a passage and they poured in like a flood breaking through a dam.

It's not just this wave.

The second wave of one hundred yaks and the third wave of one hundred yaks were released one after another.

By the sixth wave, all the shields of the Tibetan soldiers in the front line fell down due to being caught off guard.

Li Xuan did not stop until the tenth wave of yaks were all released. Then he ordered the cavalry to mount their horses and prepare for a charge.

The thousands of tunnels were filled with the screams of yaks and Tibetans.

Some of the Tibetan tents were hit by yaks and caught fire.

Some were directly killed by yaks, and some were injured by the sharp blades fixed on the yaks' horns.

"Captain, leave quickly, the Tang cavalry is about to charge!"

The Tibetan generals quickly protected the captain and prepared to escape from the other end of the passage.

In this situation, everyone knows that there is no chance of winning.

"The Tang army is despicable and shameless. They actually used our yaks to fight us!"

The captain was so angry that his lungs were about to explode.

Even at this time, I didn’t expect the Tang army to be so cunning.

The tunnel, which was several miles long, was filled with ferocious fire bulls.

In the dark night, the passage is as bright as day!
Some clever Tibetan soldiers were able to avoid being hit by the fire bulls by sticking to the wall, but they had no way to face the following Tang cavalry.

The Tibetan infantrymen all knew that the person coming was Li Xuan, the chief general of Longyou. With only more than a thousand cavalrymen, he almost wiped out their ten thousand cavalrymen from Qinghai.

Since they were no match for their opponent head-on, they chose to defend themselves in a dangerous place.

"Soldiers, charge!"

Li Xuan observed that the fire bulls had almost charged forward before he ordered his soldiers to enter the tunnel.

The smell of barbecue was everywhere.

The Tibetan soldiers clinging to the wall were so scared when they saw the Tang army that they wet their pants.

If they organized a little resistance, they would either be shot or killed by the Tang army.

More Tibetan soldiers surrendered directly!
They are already scared.

The Tang army fought their way through, and by daybreak, they had already broken through the passage.

The captain of the Ha River had already slipped away.

"Li Shuai, what a pity for these yaks!"

Looking at the mess in the tunnel, Nan Jiyun sighed.

Most of the yaks were burned to death or stabbed to death by Tibetan soldiers.

"Fewer soldiers should be sacrificed. Losing a thousand yaks is nothing!"

Li Xuan felt that this time the Fire Bull Formation had the right timing, location and people.

Qiancha Cave is in the shape of an hourglass, narrow on the south side and wide on the north side.

It is just right for the Fire Bull Formation to work.

Moreover, the Tibetan soldiers were paralyzed by the information that Li Xuan had taken a detour, and their scouts on night patrol did not provide timely feedback.

In addition, they were afraid of the cavalry under Li Xuan's command, which led to their complete defeat.

If Li Xuan faced this situation, he would form a formation in the open area in the center of the passage to face the Fire Bull before the Fire Bull arrived.

At least this way we won't fail so miserably.

More than a thousand Tibetan soldiers were killed or wounded, and more than a thousand Tibetan soldiers were captured. The remaining Tibetan infantry fled.

Those infantrymen could no longer stop Li Xuan's advance.

Li Xuan ordered Gao Shi to bring a large army to inspect the passage.

Arrived at night.

After investigating the passage, the soldiers rested for a night and boiled and grilled the beef and enjoyed it to their heart's content.

When you leave, try to take all the beef with you. More than 6,000 war horses have been captured during this period.

Although there were more than a thousand Tibetan captives, they could only drive the horses obediently.

Those who resist will be killed without hesitation to deter others.

……

"He is truly a god!"

When Moluqiongsang Woermang learned that Li Xuan had used the Fire Bull Formation to defeat the infantry of the Hahe Qianhu Suo, he once again sighed like Molu Xiequ: "If this boy is not dead, how can our army enter the Helong area?"

"Da Lun, although we have to seek peace with the Tang Dynasty, both sides can break the alliance at any time. In order to prevent Li Xuan from attacking Qinghai, Shibaocheng, Jiuqu and other places next year, we must draw troops from the Qianhu to provide timely support. Li Xuan's military operations are as swift as the wind. If we don't prepare early, we may be short of troops like today!"

That Nang Shang Jie Si Xiu Ting suggested to Mo Lu Qiong Sang Woer Mang.

If they had another 10,000 cavalrymen in Fuqi City, guarded by a general to boost morale, they would not have suffered such a defeat.

"I will ask the Zanpu to transfer two thousand-household units of the imperial guards to Qinghai to prevent Li Xuan from attacking Shibao City!"

Meiluqiongsangwoermang said slowly.

Tubo had only four thousand-household units of the imperial guards, which were equipped with Tubo's most sophisticated weapons and armor.

The heavy cavalry, both men and horses wearing chain mail, are in these four thousand-household units of the imperial guards.

Since the Thousand Households of the Imperial Guards are divided into four garrisons, they will not be mobilized unless it is absolutely necessary.

Now Li Xuan is like a tiger, we must defend ourselves.

"Great theory, wise!"

A young tribute said with a bow.

The Battle of Ji Shi, the Battle of Li Shui, and the invasion of thousands of cavalry to rescue Han slaves shocked the entire Tubo nation.

In addition to being cunning and cunning, he also possesses the courage and strength of a god.

They had never felt such pressure before, as if a knife was hanging over their heads.

Logically speaking, they shouldn't be like this since they own Stone Castle!
"Alas! He is already a powerful figure in the grasslands in the north. We should have taken him seriously long ago!"

Meilu Qiongsang Woerman sighed, the battle of Jishi was nothing. The battle of Lishui had caused them serious injuries.

Now we can only suspend the war and recuperate for a few years.

He had already chosen a candidate to be sent as an envoy to the Tang Dynasty. As long as the Zamp agreed, he would send the envoy to the Tang Dynasty with a letter written by the Zamp himself.

……

Although Li Xuan encountered many dangers, he remained careful. He returned along the same route he came from, passed through seven passages, and returned to Weirong Army after fifteen days.

The judge of Weirong Army was in the Weirong Army City. He told Li Xuan that all the troops were now gathering in front of the Huangshui River.

After Li Xuan arrived at Weirong Army, he first ordered all troops to return to the military town to garrison.

In the north of Weirong Army, Li Xuan buried the brave warriors who died in the battle.

After the funeral, Li Xuan and his party recuperated in Weirong Army.

Four days later, Judge Liu Shan came to Weirong Army.

"Meeting General Li!"

Liu Shan bowed to Li Xuan after seeing him.

"No need to be polite!"

Li Xuan changed into a round-collar robe and asked Liu Dan to take a seat.

"This is your letter from home!"

Liu Dan first handed over a letter.

Li Xuan saw the words on the envelope. This should be a letter from Li Shizhi asking him how he spent the New Year!
His years have been spent on horseback!

"General Li, the censor stationed in Longyou impeached you?"

Seeing that Li Xuan did not open the letter but put it on the table, Liu Dan then said to Li Xuan.

“Why did he impeach me?”

Li Xuan was stunned. The Censors were always rotated and he didn't even know who the Censor of Longyou was.

"He impeached you for being greedy for merit and reckless, and for disregarding the lives of more than a thousand elite cavalry for a few women, children and slaves." Liu Dan said to Li Xuan.

"Do you think so, too?"

Li Xuan's expression remained unchanged as he asked Liu Dan in return.

"I believe that General Li possesses the wisdom, courage, and kindness of a general. This is the behavior of a true man."

Liu Dan already knew the battle situation, and Li Shuai had created another incredible victory.

"It's because I won, so people will think so."

Li Xuan shook his head and smiled.

After all, this world belongs to the literati. In the eyes of the literati, it is not worth exchanging more than a thousand elite cavalry for more than a thousand women and children.

Li Xuan is a soldier reborn from a later generation. If in later generations there were gangsters who robbed several women and children, and the soldiers did not rescue them, they would probably be drowned with spit, denounced, and even the whole nation would lose trust in the army.

In this battle, more than 500 elite cavalrymen were killed, and 45 of Li Xuan's personal guards were killed.

For Li Xuan, this was worth it, not because he captured and killed more than 10,000 enemy soldiers, but because he rescued more than 1,000 women and children.

In addition to the fact that Li Xuan was a soldier in his previous life, this action can also enhance his prestige.

Especially in the Helong area, although the people here have suffered many disasters, they have also developed a tough folk character, and there are many brave warriors who are good at riding and shooting.

Among the Longyou army, Xin Yunjing, Che Shensai, An Zhongzhang, Li Sheng, Li Feiyuanli, Li Feishouyu and others were all from Helong.

As long as Li Xuan wins the hearts of the people here, he can turn this place into a die-hard fan when the opportunity comes. Even when he "risks the world's disapproval", he also has a place to retreat!

In Li Xuan's view, the Western Regions and Helong are easy to control, while Guanzhong, Central Plains, Hebei, Huainan, Jiangnan and other places are difficult to deal with.

The people there are so smart and have so many ideas!
(End of this chapter)