Liu Heita commanded and appeared to be very calm. This battle was within his expectations, so Liu Heita wasn't anxious at all. His face was gentle as he watched quietly.
When Liu Heita saw Xue Wanche's army preparing to break out from the left, his lips curled up into a cold smile.
Wanting to break out now, it was too late!
Liu Heita once again gave the order to blow the horn. Along with the sound of the horn, the long sound carried a unique rhythm. After this sound rang out, there were already cavalry charging out from the direction of Xue Wanche's army.
Another two thousand Turkic cavalry charging over.
On the vast grassland, the cavalry was menacing. At the start, there was only the rumbling of horse hooves. In a short while, on the distant horizon, there were surging cavalry.
Two thousand Turkic cavalry charged forward, and in a short while, they met the Tang army that was breaking out.
This head-on attack instantly killed countless Tang soldiers.
Countless Tang soldiers were dumbfounded.
They were ambushed again.
Xue Wanche's expression became extremely ugly. Because in this battle, he had fallen into an ambush and would most likely suffer heavy losses. Xue Wanche had already given up on thinking about how to face Li Jiancheng. What he needed to think about now was how to break out.
If he couldn't break out, then there was only one word — death!
He had to break out.
"Kill, kill for me."
Xue Wanche ordered loudly as he urged his horse to gallop. At this moment, Xue Wanche only thought of retreating quickly. Because once he delayed time, it would be difficult for him to leave.
Unfortunately, this idea was extremely good.
But reality was cruel.
Xue Wanche's army was attacked by two thousand Turkic cavalry. In a moment, they fell into chaos, unable to break out. Instead, it was the soldiers at the front that suffered heavy casualties.
Feng Yousan followed beside Xue Wanche. His expression was solemn as he said seriously, "General Xue, we can only try our best to break out. But looking at the current situation, these Turkic cavalry still have a backup plan. If we try our best to break out from this direction, we will most likely be ambushed again. What I mean is to immediately give the order for a portion of the soldiers to break out from the right. I think there might be an ambush on the right. Only by luring this group of cavalry out will we be able to break out of the encirclement and leave. "
"Ok!"
Xue Wanche also agreed.
Immediately, Xue Wanche issued the order to break out from the right. A portion of the soldiers quickly turned to the right. Because there were enemies on the left, the back, and the front, they could only break through to the right.
As this group of soldiers broke through the encirclement, a horn blared, and another group of Turkic cavalry charged in from the right, still numbering more than two thousand.
The surrounding area had already formed an encirclement.
The Tang army had suffered countless losses.
The expression on Xue Wanche's face became increasingly solemn. Their current situation was becoming increasingly difficult. However, Xue Wanche also knew that now was not the time to give up. He had to go all out.
He had to break out of the encirclement with all his might.
"Let's kill our way out and break through the encirclement."
"All soldiers, break out of the encirclement and return to Mingshui County on your own."
Xue Wanche gave another order.
He no longer cared about the structure of the army and whether or not the army would come together. The most important thing right now was to break away from the pursuit of Liu Heita and the Turkic cavalry and escape back.
Following the implementation of Xue Wanche's orders, everyone went their own way, breaking out of the encirclement continuously.
Xue Wanche led Feng Yousan and the rest to charge out continuously.
In the end, they still charged out.
Unfortunately, there were not many soldiers left by Xue Wanche's side. Xue Wanche retreated more than ten miles. At this time, there were no more pursuers coming from behind.
In fact, Liu Heita was an extremely shrewd person. He knew that the Tang army still had Li Shimin's elites, and other elites of the Tang dynasty. Even if Liu Heita and the Turkic cavalry came, they would not be able to gain any advantage. Therefore, after a while, Liu Heita had already retreated and did not confront the Tang army head-on.
Xue Wanche stopped to rest and let Feng Yousan count the losses.
Soon, Feng Yousan finished counting. He looked uneasy and said, "General Xue, now there are only about four thousand soldiers left. Even among these four thousand soldiers, each and every one of them is battered and exhausted, and many of them are even injured. "
Boom!!
In Xue Wanche's mind, it was as if thunder had exploded.
He was suddenly stunned.
This loss was too great.
It should be known that the soldiers he brought with him to pursue the enemy numbered more than thirty thousand. But now, less than four thousand soldiers came back. This loss was almost less than one out of ten.
Too miserable.
Xue Wanche was very flustered. For a moment, he did not know how to explain to Li Jiancheng.
Feng Yousan said, "General, although we lost this battle, it is not our fault. No one knew that there would be Turkic cavalry lying in ambush at Sanjiangkou. Some time ago when we fought with Liu Heita, from beginning to end, we did not get any information about the Turkic cavalry. It was only today that the news was leaked. This is not our fault. It is Liu Heita's fault for being too cunning. "
Xue Wanche said, "No matter what, we lost. Rest for fifteen minutes, then we will set off. "
"Yes!"
Feng Yousan immediately went to give the order.
Xue Wanche got down from the horse and leaned against a tree to rest. Even Xue Wanche was a little tired after running all the way back. After resting for a while, Xue Wanche recovered a little and gave the order to return.
Mingshui City, inside the city.
Now the military camp had been moved into the city, but all the troops were still stationed outside for the time being.
In the military camp inside the city, in the central tent.
Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji and Li Shentong were drinking and chatting.
Generally speaking, drinking was forbidden in the military. However, in the eyes of Li Jiancheng and the other two, the battle was already over and Liu Heita was undoubtedly defeated. Therefore, they were drinking to celebrate.
Wei Zheng was not used to such a scene. He even tried to persuade Li Jiancheng not to drink in the military camp. However, Li Jiancheng did as he pleased and did not pay attention to Wei Zheng's suggestion.
Wei Zheng was not in the tent.
The situation of Li Jiancheng and the other two was not hidden from Li Shimin.
This news was passed to Li Shimin's tent.
Li Shimin's expression was cold and solemn. He was very dissatisfied with Li Jiancheng openly drinking in the military camp. Li Jiancheng, as the commander-in-chief of the army, took the lead in drinking. Although not many people knew about this, the problem was that this had a bad influence.
Subordinates follow the example of superiors. Once the commander-in-chief of the army started drinking, the atmosphere became chaotic.
This was what Li Shimin was dissatisfied with.
Du Qi sat below. Seeing Li Shimin's expression, he said, "Qin Wang, in my opinion, there is no need to be disappointed or angry because of Li Jiancheng drinking. If you want to destroy people, you must first make them crazy. Now that Li Jiancheng is like this, when the news is sent back to Chang 'an, His Majesty will naturally be disappointed. This is a step that must be taken. "
Li Shimin said, "I just can't bear to see our Tang dynasty's officers and soldiers suffer countless sacrifices because of internal strife."
Du Qi said, "That can't be helped."
"Report!"
Right at this moment, a sentry lifted the curtain and quickly entered.
The sentry kneeled on one knee, cupped his fist and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, the sentry who followed Xue Wanche to inquire about the news has returned. Xue Wanche pursued the enemy and chased them to Sanjiangkou, where he was besieged by Tujue and Liu Heita. Xue Wanche suffered heavy losses. Now, only about 4,000 soldiers have returned. Xue Wanche's pursuit has been a complete failure. "
"I know!"
Li Shimin waved his hand.
The sentry retreated. Li Shimin said with a mournful look, "Erlang, this is caused by Li Jiancheng. This pursuit has caused more than 20,000 Tang soldiers to lose their lives. "
Du Qi said, "I can understand Your Highness's mood. Therefore, what Your Highness needs to do is to strengthen your confidence, to fight steadily and surely, to move forward step by step. Right now, Your Highness has the trust of countless people. "
Li Shimin nodded solemnly.
He clearly understood what Du Qi said. Since he had embarked on the road to seize the throne, Li Shimin would not hesitate and would not turn back.
He would not give up until he reached the Yellow River.
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