Li Zhi, don't be a coward

Chapter 598
Accustomed to the thinking of a big country that is self-centered, since the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Turks, the national personality of the subjects has risen to the point of arrogance in the past few decades.

The wars initiated by the Tang Dynasty in these years are all about destroying enemy cities and destroying enemy countries. The flames of war have always been only ignited in foreign countries. For decades, I have never heard of any enemy country daring to invade Datang's territory.

So when Xu Yanbo heard that Tubo dared to encircle Shanzhou, his first reaction was stunned and unbelievable.

How much courage do you have to do this? Is Lu Dongzan crazy?
Then Xu Yanbo got another news from the people.

Li Qinzai, the emperor's envoy, led thousands of elite soldiers and flew hundreds of miles to rescue Shanzhou. After a big battle outside the city, he beheaded nearly [-] enemy heads before the battle, breaking the siege of Shanzhou.

These people all escaped from the city after the siege of Shanzhou was resolved. There were originally only two thousand defenders in Shanzhou. After the city was besieged, they could not resist the attack of [-] Tubo troops. The siege saved tens of thousands of people in the city from a catastrophe.

Xu Yanbo immediately felt relieved, looked up to the sky and laughed.

As expected of my respected brother Jing Chu, the emperor's most respected minister, he really lived up to expectations.

This is the demeanor of my big Tang Erlang, let me show you off!
Xu Yanbo was very happy, and while worshiping Li Qinzai more and more, Fengliu was not willing to be left behind by others, so he ordered the caravan to take out the dry food they carried to help those people who fled the city in a hurry and had no food to eat.

Continued westward with a happy mood, and walked for a while, and still met many people who had escaped from Shanzhou City.

Xu Yanbo looked at the crowds of people and said with emotion: "This is all the merit of brother Jingchu. The bodhisattva shook his head in fear for the grace of saving thousands of people. What kind of birth will he have in his next life to be worthy of the merit he has accumulated in this life?" , I am worried about Hades..."

Suddenly, a middle-aged couple with a child in their arms stopped in front of Xu Yanbo's horse. Xu Yanbo subconsciously turned the horse's head to get out of the way, but the middle-aged couple still stood motionless in front of the horse.

,

Xu Yanbo frowned: "Why stop my horse?"

The middle-aged couple looked ordinary and wore ordinary clothes. The child in their arms was about six or seven years old, blinking in his father's arms, looking innocently at Xu Yanbo.

The middle-aged man handed the child to his wife, then bowed to Xu Yanbo, and said, "May I ask if you have an official position? I see that the guards in the caravan are all capable men. They used to be men in the army, so the villain I risk my life to stop you, and I ask you to lend a helping hand."

Xu Yanbo raised his eyebrows: "It's interesting that someone with no relatives and no reason actually asks me for help. Tell me, what do you want me to do for you?"

"The villain doesn't need help. The one who needs help is Li Qinzai, the emperor's envoy."

Xu Yanbo was taken aback, and immediately flew off his horse, walked up to the middle-aged man, and said seriously, "Li Qinzai? What's going on?"

"Li Xianbo broke the siege of Shanzhou and saved tens of thousands of people, but he and his soldiers were besieged by the Tubo army. The situation is at stake. The villain sees that you are dressed in luxurious clothes and there are military men in the caravan, so you are bold. , please send troops to rescue County Uncle Li."

Xu Yanbo was taken aback, and his face suddenly turned ugly: "Brother Jingchu was surrounded by the Tubo army? When did it happen?"

"After the siege of Shanzhou was relieved, Li Xianbo led his troops to leave. Along the way, the villain met people who had escaped from other cities. After inquiring, I found out that the Tubo army mobilized troops at the border and surrounded the vicinity of Shanzhou. There are at least [-] to [-] soldiers and horses, but Li Xianbo only has a few thousand, and the situation is critical!"

Xu Yanbo's body shook, staring at the middle-aged man, he said: "Who are you? Do you know Li Xianbo?"

The middle-aged man bowed his head and said: "The villain was once favored by Li Xianbo in Shanzhou City. He wanted to die with Li Xianbo, but his wife and children were by his side, so he couldn't bear to abandon him. I am ashamed that I can't repay my kindness. I have no choice but to tell the nobleman the news, if the nobleman has spare power, please be generous to help."

Xu Yanbo's eyelids twitched, and he asked the caravan guards to invite a few more civilians over without giving up. After inquiring, it was consistent with what the middle-aged man said.

Xu Yanbo stomped his feet heavily: "Why didn't you say it sooner! Quickly, the caravan sent a fast horse to turn around and tell Su Dingfang's army to report the details of what happened here, and ask General Su Dingfang to lead his troops to help!"

The middle-aged man was immediately relieved when he heard the words.

Xu Yanbo pondered for a moment, and said: "All the caravan guards are assembled, looking for the specific place where Brother Jing Chu is trapped, and finding out the route for General Su Dingfang in advance."

"Soldiers are precious and fast, brother Jingchu's life hangs by a thread, don't delay, hurry up!"

A group of caravan guards rode on the horses and held their fists to accept orders, then turned the horses' heads and galloped away in different directions.

The middle-aged man bowed again, and said: "The villain would like to do his best to contact the fleeing people on the road, collect dried cow and horse manure along the way, light the beacon fire, and lead the way for the army."

"All the people on the road are grateful for Li Xianbo's life. If they can do something for Li Xianbo, they will be willing."

Xu Yanbo praised: "Okay, at least a few hours can be saved in this way. Every moment here and now is extremely precious. Be careful!"

The middle-aged man's eyes turned red, and he knelt in front of Xu Yanbo, choked with sobs and said, "Thank you for your help, I hope Li Xianbo is safe and sound."

Xu Yanbo helped him up, patted him on the shoulder, and sighed: "Your step is a true righteous man, I thank you on behalf of Brother Jingchu."

"The villain didn't do his best, and he failed to relieve Li Xianbo's worries and dangers. He can't afford the word 'righteous man'." The middle-aged man said shamelessly.

"No, you did what you were supposed to do, and it was perfect."

After discussing, the two said goodbye to each other.

The middle-aged man entrusted his wife and children to his trusted neighbors, and then turned around and walked the way he came from.

A hunchbacked figure crushed by life disappears in the crowd, and finally disappears from all sentient beings.

Xu Yanbo suddenly realized that he didn't even have time to ask the man's name.

The only shining light in this life of this unnamed hero may be at this moment. In his future life, he will still be mediocre.

…………

On the unknown mountain, there are dead bodies everywhere.

There are enemy troops, and there are also those with their own robes.

Li Qinzai's troops had successfully withstood no less than ten attacks by the Tubo army here, relying on the super long range and intensive shooting of the three-eyed blunderbuss to barely hold the position.

But the situation at this time became more and more pessimistic. The barbaric charge of the Tubo army made Li Qinzai's thousands of soldiers feel heavy pressure. With wave after wave of attacks, more than a thousand soldiers of the Tang army were killed.

Fortunately, the trenches dug in advance resisted countless arrows and knives for the Tang army, which avoided greater casualties for the Tang army.

Those who are good at keeping are hidden under the Nine Lands, and Li Qinzai used the word "shou" to the extreme.

In contrast, the Tubo army dropped nearly [-] corpses on the position, but the final result was only to occupy the Tang army's position at the foot of the mountain.

Tang Jun retreated to the mountainside.

Five miles away from the hilltop where the two armies fought and fought, in the commander's tent of the Tubo army, Lu Dongzan was deeply shocked by the tenacious resistance of the Tang army.

He did not expect that the Tang army, which consisted of thousands of people, would resist so fiercely and tenaciously.

After painstakingly planning and mobilizing almost all the troops of the Tubo army, when the army finally surrounded Li Qinzai, Lu Dongzan did not expect that the battle to annihilate these thousands of people would be so difficult.

The Tubo army sacrificed nearly [-] people in front of the battle to break through the foot of the mountain. If the siege continues, what tragic casualties will it pay?
As the commander-in-chief of the first army, Lu Dongzan's ability to judge the situation is of course extraordinary.

Reason told him that the troops must be withdrawn.

What is more important now is the land of Tuyuhun. The war has progressed to this point, it is impossible to completely swallow Tuyuhun, and Lu Dongzan is not sure about fighting the upcoming Su Dingfang army.

The only thing that can be done is to negotiate with Tang State, divide and eat with Tang State.

However, negotiations must have leverage.

Lu Dongzan had no bargaining chip. I heard that Su Dingfang had [-] soldiers and horses armed with that strange new weapon, and Tubo had no power to resist in the face of such a powerful force.

Once Su Dingfang's army arrives, Tubo can only give up all the land in Tuyuhun, so what's the point of the land that the Tubo army paid a huge price to conquer in the past few months?
Therefore, Lu Dongzan decided to change the tactical purpose.

His only bargaining chip is Li Qinzai.

If Li Qinzai can be captured alive in this battle, won't the bargaining chip come?

An important minister whom the emperor of the Tang Dynasty trusted very much, Tuyuhun made great achievements as an envoy. If such an important figure was in the hands of Talu Dongzan, would Tang Guo be willing to negotiate?Are you willing to give half of Tuyuhun's land to Tubo?
It may not be possible to negotiate, but it is at least a bargaining chip to make Tubo invincible, and it weighs a lot.

Inside the commander's tent, Lu Dongzan suddenly stood up and said in a deep voice, "Order the warriors to stop attacking, and send word to Li Qinzai that the old man wants to see him before going to the battle."

Tang Jun's mountainside position.

There were waves of mournful and painful wailing one after another.

They struggled to defend the mountain, but the soldiers suffered too many casualties. In less than half a day, one-third of the more than [-] soldiers were killed, and most of the rest were injured.

Li Qinzai had cloth strips wrapped around his arms, and there were faint blood oozing from the cloth strips.

During Tubo's attack just now, the enemy shot a cold arrow at him. Fortunately, old Wei quickly grabbed him with his sharp eyes, and the cold arrow shot at the chest deviated from an angle and hit his arm.

Zi Nu squatted on the ground and kept bandaging the wounds of the wounded soldiers. For those seriously injured who could not be saved, Zi Nu could only give up with tears and turned to save another one.

In this tragic war, some people died and some people grew up.

"Injured and uninjured, hurry up and take out dry food to eat, hurry up! The enemy is about to attack again!" Li Qinzai shouted loudly as he shuttled across the battlefield.

Everyone silently took out the dry food and gnawed with numb expressions.

In the ditch of the position, the soldiers sitting on the ground were eating dry food, and occasionally there was a burst of mournful crying.

The trenches were full of wounded soldiers lying everywhere, some of them groaning weakly on the verge of dying, and some of them had turned into corpses.

The yellow land under the feet has been stained red with blood, like the other shore flowers blooming beside the Wangchuan River, silently telling the meaning of life beyond life and death.

Li Qinzai walked in the trench, watching the groans of the wounded soldiers with grief.

A wounded soldier was at his feet, blood gushing from his abdomen unstoppably.

Li Qinzai knelt down and covered his wound with all his strength, but blood was still gurgling from his fingers.

"Be patient, be patient..." Li Qinzai said with red eyes.

The wounded soldier knew he was hopeless, so he smiled miserably at him, and said weakly, "Uncle Li, do we... have any reinforcements?"

"Yes, there are reinforcements, the reinforcements will arrive soon, trust me."

The wounded soldier bared his teeth and smiled: "You are a big shot... No, don't lie to us small soldiers, where did the reinforcements come from?"

Li Qinzai said with tears in his eyes: "If you persist for a while, you will be able to see the reinforcements with your own eyes. General Su Dingfang sent a letter, and his army will arrive soon."

The wounded soldier shook his head with difficulty: "It doesn't matter anymore, County Uncle Li... I beg you for one thing."

"You said."

"Take my... dead body and go back to my hometown. I... don't want to be buried here. I can't enter the ancestral grave. It can only be... a lonely ghost!"

"You...you must live, live, and take me home."

(End of this chapter)