Chapter 66: Bloody Battle on Gaopo

The Turkic soldiers realized that Li Xuan had superb archery skills, so they rushed towards the gaps between the military formations regardless of the danger.

Li Xuan stepped back immediately.

The long spears of the two teams of Tang troops pierced each other, killing more than a dozen Turkic soldiers in an instant.

When the Tang army deployed their troops, the gaps between teams were the most fatal.

Even the cavalry didn't dare to charge in on the plains, let alone the infantry.

In this formation, each team is like the scales of a fish, responding to each other from front to back, lined up in rows, and full of murderous intent. However, after being improved and perfected by generations of famous generals, it is different from the fish scale formation.

The Turkic soldiers didn't care about this, and more and more gaps in the formation were forced into by the Turkic soldiers.

On average, it took the lives of ten Turkic soldiers to exchange for one Tang soldier casualty.

Because they were facing a wall of shields and spears stabbing back and forth.

At the end of the gap, the crossbow bolts are easier to hit.

The opening was blocked, Li Xuan put down his bow, and he led his personal guards holding spears to the front row.

A Turkic soldier had just jumped onto the car when he was pierced by Li Xuan's spear.

He did not retract his spear, but lifted the body of the Turkic soldier high up.

Then he exerted force suddenly and threw it more than two meters away.

When the body fell to the ground, it knocked down two Turkic soldiers.

"General Kamui."

The Tang army was greatly encouraged by the sight of their commander's extraordinary prowess, and they thrust their spears out with greater force.

The Turkic soldiers were terrified.

It was the first time they saw people being thrown around like rabbits.

Li Xuan followed the same method. Every time he killed a Turkic soldier, he would pick him up and throw him away, causing a huge impact on the Turkic soldiers' hearts.

He alone blocked a large group of Turkic soldiers from advancing.

"General, be careful!"

Li Xuan was so conspicuous that he naturally attracted the attention of the Turkish archers.

A skilled archer came near Li Xuan and secretly bent his bow.

Xue Cuo and Luo Xing had been guarding Li Xuan on both sides. Xue Cuo held an iron shield in one hand and stood in front of Li Xuan.

"clang!"

The flying arrows were blocked by the iron shield.

"You guys hold on first."

Li Xuan asked Luo Xing to guard with the spear, and he turned around and took out his strong bow made of one stone.

"Boom!"

Just as the two armies were fighting back and forth with spears, Li Xuan drew his bow and drew his arrow.

The Turkic archer, who was fifty steps away, subconsciously took out the wooden shield at his waist to block.

"Crack!"

But his wooden shield was pierced in an instant, and the arrow still had force and pierced the chest of the Turkish archer.

Li Xuan also realized that among the tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry, there must be many good archers.

He immediately ordered Ashina Fuwen to select the best archers in the army and send them to the front to fight back against the Turkic archers.

If there is someone holding a bow in the charging team, he must be a good archer.

After making the arrangements, Li Xuan went to various places to cheer up the soldiers.

The Tang army's formation was still as solid as a rock, and the Turkic soldiers were unable to shake it at all.

As more and more Turkic soldiers gathered, the Tang army began to suffer significant casualties.

Corpses and wounded soldiers were carried to the center of the slope.

"what……"

A soldier had an arrow piercing his shoulder and his face looked grim.

"Bite the cloth and don't hurt your tongue."

When the military doctor was removing the arrow from the soldier's body, Li Xuan stuffed a piece of cloth into his mouth and gently comforted him: "It will be fine. You just rest here. The brothers will definitely defeat the enemy."

"Don't worry. I, Li Xuan, swear that as long as I am alive, I will bring you back home."

Li Xuan also made promises to other injured people.

The soldiers' eyes were filled with tears.

They truly felt Li Xuan's care for them.

What more could one ask for than to be able to fight under a general like this?

Some lightly wounded soldiers even stood up to help carry the bodies and the wounded.

"Do your best to treat every injured soldier."

Li Xuan also gave orders to the doctor accompanying the army.

"As ordered."

The doctors also admired Li Xuan. They had been military doctors for many years, but they had never seen a general like Li Xuan, who was charging bravely one moment and showing tenderness the next.

With such a general, the entire army, whether it is the clerks, craftsmen, military doctors, drummers, cooks, or the soldiers fighting in the battle, all share the same hatred of the enemy and believe that victory will be achieved in the end.

Li Xuan commanded the archers to shoot several rounds of arrows at the hillside before going to the battlefield again.

Wherever there was a gap, he would fight with his long spear.

He thrust forward and stabbed straight ahead, and no one could stop him. The tip of his spear was covered in the blood of the Turkic soldiers.

The soldiers were ready to die and refused to retreat, following their general in a bloody battle.

The Golden Crow gradually flew to the high slope, and the time set by Poli had arrived.

There were corpses everywhere in front of the high slope, and blood was flowing down like a river.

The bloody smell of war spread in the wind for dozens of miles.

As a result, the Turkic soldiers who were climbing up had their feet stained with blood before they even started fighting.

Various wailing sounds came one after another. The wounded Turkic soldiers had no time to get down and could only lie there groaning and waiting to die.

From noon to dusk, the sun sets in the west.

The battle became more brutal and the Turkic soldiers were no longer as aggressive as before.

One corpse was pressing down on another corpse.

When they charged, they stepped on the corpses of their own people.

In the close combat, some of them were afraid to move forward. It was the Turkic leader who urged them to move forward.

The Tang army soldiers' robes were all stained with blood and their shouts were heroic and tragic.

"The Feng'an Army is so difficult to defeat!"

Pauli clenched his fists.

He had long known that his opponent was Shuofang's elite Feng'an Army.

He thought he could defeat the Tang army at the latest at 9:00 p.m., but now it is already 3:00 p.m.

Do it all at once, second time tired, third time exhausted.

He could clearly feel that the soldiers' morale was not as high as before.

What he was more worried about was the arrival of Tang army reinforcements.

If that's the case, how can they talk about fighting a decisive battle with the main force of the Tang army?

The Turkic chiefs were also extremely anxious, and they sent people to ask about the matter almost every half a cup of tea.

"Commander, the main force of the Tang army is still eighty miles away."

Just then, the scouts sent out by Boli reported back.

"What! Did you make a mistake? How could the Tang army be so far away from us?" Po Li couldn't believe it.

If the Tang army marched quickly, they should be able to arrive here in two hours at most.

Eighty miles.

At this rate it will take till tomorrow.

"Where are the Tang cavalry?" Poli was more concerned about this.

"It is clear at a glance that the Tang army's cavalry and infantry are traveling together."

The scout replied.

"Haha. The commander of the Tang army must be a mediocre person like Cuan Baobi. God bless us, as long as we defeat the elite Feng'an Army of the Tang army, we will surely win."

Poli laughed loudly and was no longer depressed by the defeat in the battle.

When the Turks first restored their country, a general in the Tang army named Cuan Baobi, who was jealous of Heichi Changzhi's military achievements, wrote a letter requesting to attack the Turks.

After receiving the memorial, Wu Zetian asked Cuan Baobi to discuss the plan with Heichi Changzhi, but Cuan Baobi was stubborn and self-willed. He thought victory was just around the corner and wanted to take all the military credit. So without waiting for Heichi Changzhi's consent, he led 13,000 elite soldiers and marched more than 2,000 miles beyond the border.

In the end, the Tang army was completely wiped out, and the commander, Cuan Baobi, managed to escape with his personal guards.

Cuan Baobi thus became a laughing stock of the Turkic Khanate.

Apparently, Po Li mistakenly thought that Zhang Qiqiu was a fool like Cuan Baobi.

Po Li also sent more scouts to investigate the movements of the main force of the Tang army to ensure that nothing could go wrong.

"Commander, I am going to die in battle, please help me!"

Xi Jiejin, who was standing by, asked Poli for orders. He had always felt guilty for the defeat in the last battle.

This time he decided to be the pioneer himself, and if he failed, he would die.

"I see that the Tang army is weakest in the west, and you still have 500 armored soldiers under your command. I hope you can defeat the enemy in one fell swoop and not let your men bleed again."

Poli stared at Xi Jiejin and said solemnly.

Xi Jiejin was a rare and fierce general in the left wing of the Turkic Khanate, who was able to fight bears and tigers.

There might be a chance to take advantage of the Tang army's fatigue and attack its weak points.

"If you don't tear off the head of the Feng'an Army commander within one hour, I will bring his head to you."

Xi Jie Jin shouted heroically and began to prepare for battle.

(End of this chapter)