Chapter 35 Killing the General
At this time, Li Xuan saw the wolf-head banner of the Turkic cavalry standing in the dark night.

Under the moonlight, the Turkic Dagan in iron armor stood out.

"The enemy's wing was broken, and the soldiers fought hard and defeated them in one fell swoop."

Although the impact force of the warhorse had decreased, Li Xuan shouted loudly and led Luo Xing to ride into the denser Turkic cavalry and attack the Turkic Dagan directly.

The spear shot out like a dragon, and the armor was stained with blood.

When the Turkic Dagan saw Li Xuan's sudden attack, he knocked off the cavalrymen who blocked his way one by one, and no one could stop him. He was shocked and asked, "When did the Feng'an Army have such a fierce general?"

Although he was frightened, the Turkic Dagan was the bravest warrior in the Dulu tribe and was confident of his superior military strength.

He knew that he had to kill Li Xuan in order to stabilize the formation, so he took his personal guards and rode forward to meet Li Xuan.

In the blink of an eye, both sides reached the charging range.

Earlier, two of the Turkic Dagan's personal guards tried to show themselves in front of Dagan, so they took the lead in riding and charging head-on.

"clang!"

Li Xuan held the gun in one hand, blocked a spear, turned around and stabbed, killing one of his bodyguards.

The other spear was caught under Li Xuan's armpit when he dodged.

He turned around and the guard was thrown off the horse by the huge force.

Before he could even stand up, he was stabbed to death by Luo Xing.

Li Xuan threw the spear he had obtained again, and another guard of the Turkic Dagan was knocked away.

At this time, seeing Li Xuan's bravery, the Turkic Dagan became frightened.

But it was too late to turn the horse around at this time, so he could only grit his teeth and fight to the death.

Both sides are close.

The Turkic Dagan glared and held his spear, taking the initiative to attack.

"clang!"

Li Xuan faced forward with his spear.

When the spears collided, Li Xuan suddenly raised his spear.

"call out……"

The enormous force made the Turkic Dagan unable to control the spear in his hand, and it slipped out of his hand.

"clang……"

"Pfft!"

Having lost his weapon, at the moment when the two horses crossed, Li Xuan stabbed the Turkic Dagan's neck at a weak point in his armor.

The iron piece of the neck guard was torn into pieces, and the spear blade pierced through the throat of the Turkic Dagan.

His eyes widened in disbelief. He was invincible in the tribe, yet he was killed in one blow.

When Li Xuan retracted his spear, the Turkic Dagan fell straight off his horse.

The remaining guards became frightened and turned their horses around and fled.

Li Xuan chased after them with a gun and shot a Turkic cavalryman through the back. He lifted him up high on the tip of the gun and threw him to an area where there were many Turkic cavalrymen to intimidate them.

"Ah... Dagan is dead... Dagan is dead..."

Many Turkic cavalrymen witnessed Dagan being stabbed to death by Li Xuan. They were terrified and shouted in Turkic.

The left wing of the Turkic cavalry was scattered by Li Xuan and was already in chaos.

The death of the Turkic leader Daghan was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, and the team was defeated immediately.

Those surviving Turkic cavalry turned their horses and fled north.

This also indirectly caused the right wing of the Turkic cavalry, which was still able to resist, to become disorganized.

When Li Xuan led the cavalry to this side, nearly a thousand Turkic cavalry officially collapsed and scattered.

"General Ashina, you go and rescue the abducted people of the Tang Dynasty. I will continue the pursuit. You must rush over as quickly as possible."

After Li Xuan met Ashina Fuwen, he gave him some instructions.

The Turks still have hundreds of cavalry ahead.

Li Xuan asked Ashina Fuwen to spare no effort in riding because he was afraid that the Turkic cavalry would become desperate and make desperate moves.

"As ordered!"

After receiving the order, Ashina Fuwen immediately gathered the two cavalry teams and galloped forward.

At this time, Ashina Fuwen was full of admiration for Li Xuan.

He led 300 cavalrymen to attack the right wing, and while the battle was still going on, Li Xuan led 200 cavalrymen to disperse the left wing.

He speaks Turkic and can hear cries of "Dagan is dead".

……

The horses on both sides had consumed a lot of energy and slowed down after running at full speed for a short time.

After Li Xuan killed more than a dozen Turkic cavalrymen along the way, he could no longer see any trace of the Turkic cavalrymen, so he ordered the soldiers to control the speed of their horses and slow down their pace.

At this time, he expected that the Turkish cavalry would gallop desperately and the horses would not be able to hold on sooner or later.

The Turks are now scattered across the wilderness; they know the way and will gather in one direction.

He walked slowly, allowing the horse to recover its strength, and then combined fast and slow steps to pursue the enemy, which would ensure that most of the enemies would be left behind.

The Tang army was in pursuit all night long.

The Turkic cavalry that fell behind rarely escaped being killed. At dawn, when the sky was slightly bright, Li Xuan encountered the exhausted Turkic cavalry in the west of Helan Mountain.

"The Tang army is chasing us!"

The Turkic cavalry mounted their horses and whipped them to speed up the overloaded horses.

Li Xuan took the opportunity to order a quick pursuit.

At this point, horse archery can already play a role.

In order to escape, many Turkic cavalrymen abandoned their bows and weapons and did not even have a chance to fight back.

"Boom!"

Li Xuan rode his horse in front, drew his bow and shot arrows, and whoever was hit would fall down. All the thirty arrows in the bag were shot.

Every sound of the bowstring made the fleeing Turkic cavalry tremble, fearing that they would become the victims of Li Xuan's arrows.

But the Turkic cavalry did not surrender because they were about to reach the sphere of influence of the Dulu tribe.

There is hope of survival.

On the contrary, once they surrender, they will become slaves of the Tang people.

"stop!"

After chasing and shooting for an hour, another 300 Turkic cavalrymen fell off their horses. Li Xuan stretched out his hand, signaling the Tang army to stop pursuing.

After a night of pursuit, only less than fifty of the one thousand Turkic cavalry escaped.

This is the Helan Mountains. If we chase them any further we will reach the territory of the Turks.

Our side was also very tired, and was supported entirely by the will to win a great victory.

Next comes the stage of harvesting the spoils.

If the arrow is shot and not damaged, it will be returned to the quiver.

The Turkic war horses were gathered by the soldiers.

Unfortunately, some war horses could not withstand the high-intensity combat and have been scrapped.

The bows and spears of the Turkic soldiers were piled on the idle horses.

The soldiers were rewarded based on their achievements.

聝 means the left ear.

This bloody method is the most direct way to record military achievements.

In the heat of battle, when this was not possible, enemy bodies were counted after the battle.

Military merit is then judged based on the number of enemies killed reported by the soldiers.

Falsely claiming military merit is a very serious crime in the army. If one uses the corpses of civilians or his comrades to claim military merit, he will be beheaded in public.

Of course, there are many battles where it is impossible to determine the number of enemies killed, and we can only estimate it, or attribute the military achievements to the group.

The dead Tang soldiers were placed on horseback and taken back to the military city.

This made Li Xuan very sad, but having served in the army for two lifetimes, he was mentally prepared.

More comrades will leave him in the future.

Soldiers who died in battles on the frontiers cannot “return to their roots” unless they are generals.

According to Tang Dynasty system, dead soldiers were buried on the spot.

Then a list will be made and reported to the local community, and different preferential treatment will be given to the families of the soldiers based on their merits.

After a short rest, they returned victorious.

There was no rush to return, and the horses usually walked back at a walk.

It was not until the next afternoon that Li Xuan returned to the ranch inside the ruins of the Han Great Wall in Feng'an.

After rescuing the abducted people, Ashina Fuwen drove the cattle and sheep back first.

Before the Feng'an cavalry launched an attack, Lu Yu rode quickly as usual to inform Wang Zhongsi, the governor of Shuofang.

Wang Zhongsi immediately ordered Gao Lanzhou to send a thousand cavalrymen across the Yellow River to provide assistance.

Gaolanzhou is the closest to Feng'an, only about a hundred miles away.

"The General is finally back!"

When the scouts learned that Li Xuan had returned with the cavalry, Ashina Fuwen rode alone for ten miles to greet him.

"The invading enemy has been almost completely wiped out. The civilians and brothers who died in battle in the Tang Dynasty can now rest in peace."

Li Xuan said quietly after seeing Ashina Fuwen.

"General, you are so brave, unprecedented in history! You are the first to achieve this victory!"

Until now, Ashina Fuwen still marvels at Li Xuan's bravery.

"This is a joint achievement with all of you. After we return to the city, we will reward you according to your merits."

Li Xuan spoke to Ashina Fuwen and looked at all the soldiers.

After hearing this, the soldiers were very happy and were willing to fight with a general like Li Xuan.

"General, the cavalry from Gaolan Prefecture came to support our Feng'an Army. After learning that our army had defeated the enemy, they refused to leave..."

After the greetings, Ashina Fuwen reported to Li Xuan with an embarrassed look on his face.

(End of this chapter)