Tibet.

Chapter 1234 Life on the line

Li Na urgently ordered Wu Yuanji to lead 5,000 cavalrymen to fight. In just a moment, more than half of the 5,000 cavalrymen were killed or wounded. One of his men came to report, "My lord, more than 40% of our men have been killed or wounded. General Wu unfortunately died in battle. We can't hold on any longer!"

Looking at the overwhelming cavalry coming at him, Li Na was immediately frightened and heartbroken. Only then did he understand that Guo Ziyi's intention of leading 50,000 troops to Qizhou was to lure him out of the city.

At this time, tens of thousands of Tang cavalry were within a mile. He had no time to think carefully. He had to make a decision immediately. Either send more troops to fight to the death, or withdraw immediately to preserve his strength.

Li Na decisively ordered, "The entire army retreat northward!"

"Woo——"

The retreat horn sounded, and 16,000 cavalrymen left the battlefield like a whirlwind and fled quickly to the north.

These cavalrymen were all experienced. When they saw the tens of thousands of Tang army reinforcements arriving, they knew that the situation was hopeless. When the retreat horns sounded, they fled faster than each other.

The retreat of the cavalry also led to the escape of the infantry. The morale of the Zibo-Qingdao army collapsed and they were defeated.

Guo Ziyi gave the order: "The whole army will pursue and kill them. Those who surrender will be spared, but those who resist will be killed without mercy!"

A spectacular scene appeared in the wilderness. Countless soldiers threw away their armor and weapons and fled for their lives. Behind them were cavalrymen chasing them. When they caught up with them, they would kill them with a knife, severing their carotid arteries at the back of their necks and causing them to fall to the ground and die.

The soldiers who reacted raised their hands and knelt down to surrender. The cavalry galloped past the surrenderers, and the infantry behind them came over to accept the surrender.

The army chased the enemy for more than forty miles, killing people everywhere and leaving blood flowing like a river.

Of the 80,000 enemy troops, except for 15,000 cavalrymen who followed Li Na to flee north, the other 65,000 were either killed in battle or surrendered. Not a single one escaped.

Guo Ziyi immediately led a large army to the city of Licheng County. There were only 5,000 troops in the city, led by military advisor Jia Shen. Jia Shen knew that he could not defend the city, so he ordered the city to be opened and surrendered.

Guo Ziyi appeased Jia Shen and ordered the army to enter the city. The largest city on the Shandong Peninsula fell into the hands of the Tang army, including a large amount of food and supplies.

Yidu County was surrounded by 80,000 Tang troops, with Nan Jiyun as the main general and Li Fei Yuanli as the deputy general.

According to Li Ye's idea, it would be best for Yidu to surrender voluntarily, which would serve as a model for resolving the Hebei vassal state.

Of course, Li Ye’s surrender was not the same as the surrender of the imperial court. Historically, these vassal states had repeatedly surrendered to the imperial court, but this surrender was only a strategy of the vassal states. They nominally submitted to the imperial court, but in fact continued to maintain their own military power, and their territory became increasingly larger.

The surrender that Li Ye demanded was a real surrender, handing over the army and all the territories in exchange for sparing their lives.

At this time, the Ziqing Army in the city and the Tang Army outside the city almost simultaneously received the news that Li Na's army was defeated and fled north, and his 80,000-strong army was completely wiped out.

Li Zheng had received a pigeon letter. This news made him feel heartbroken. He said "good! good! good!" three times in a row.

He immediately spurted blood and fell to the ground unconscious.

The eldest son Li Jing urgently ordered a famous doctor to save his father, but his father had not woken up by night, which made Li Jing extremely anxious.

Li Jingnian was about thirty years old. He was completely different from his brother Li Na who was strong and fierce. He was fat, liked women and food, and was also relatively generous. Li Zhengyi handed over the government affairs to him.

He lowered agricultural taxes and tried not to disturb the people. At the same time, he vigorously developed commerce and improved the treatment of merchants. Business prospered and the Jiedufu also received generous tax revenues. At the same time, he vigorously promoted salt drying, and their salt was supplied to Hebei and other parts of the Central Plains, earning extremely high profits.

In turn, they purchased surplus grain from farmers, thus ensuring military food supply.

Li Zheng was very satisfied with his eldest son, but he was still undecided about who would be his successor. His eldest son was kind and good at governing the country, but his second son was brave and good at fighting, and he wanted to expand his territory for himself.
Intellectually, Li Zheng knew that he should choose the eldest son, but emotionally he preferred the second son.

It was Li Zheng's inability to make up his mind that led to the two brothers fighting openly and secretly. Since Li Na had the help of military strategist Jia Shen, Li Jing was no match for Li Na.

So Li Zhengyi had decided to let Li Na inherit his business, but he didn't expect that Li Na would lead his army out of the city without authorization, and fell into Guo Ziyi's trap, and the 80,000-man army was completely destroyed. What made Li Zhengyi particularly distressed was that his second son did not withdraw to Yidu, but fled to Hebei, which made Li Zhengyi see his second son's intention at once. At the critical moment, his second son Li Na betrayed him.

Filled with remorse, Li Zheng's chronic cerebral hemorrhage was triggered and his condition became extremely critical, with his life hanging by a thread.

Li Jing was standing in the yard. At this time, Chen Fang, who was known as the best doctor in Yidu, came out of the room.

Li Jing quickly stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, sir, how is my father doing?"

Chen Fang sighed and said, "I was lucky to wake up after fainting three years ago. This time he vomited blood, so it must be a severe brain hemorrhage. I can only do my best."

"Ah! Is my father's life in danger?"

Chen Fang nodded, "I don't want to say it, but I have to say it. Young Master, please prepare for the prince's funeral!"

Although he was mentally prepared, Li Jing felt heartbroken, "How long can my father live?"

"I don't know. If I can wake up, maybe I can live for a few months. If I can't wake up, then it will be two days."

After saying that, Chen Fang shook his head and left with a worried look on his face.

Li Jing stood there for a moment and walked into the ward. Inside the ward, four of his father's concubines were sitting beside him, wiping their tears.

Li Jing felt his father's breath and found it very weak and his pulse was intermittent. He was clearly dying.

Li Jing sighed and said to the four concubines: "I will give you one thousand taels of silver each, and you can go back to your parents' homes!"

"Sir, is it the master?"

Li Jing shook his head. "It's not about that. The city will soon be lost. You don't want to be implicated. Go back to your parents' home!"

"What about the prince?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him!"

The four concubines expressed their gratitude and quickly stood up to pay their respects. Li Jing gave each of them a token to withdraw money, and they left in a hurry.

Li Jing stared at his unconscious father for a while, sighed, handed his father to the care of several of his personal soldiers, turned around and left quickly.

At two o'clock in the morning, two large catapults were slowly approaching the western city wall. The soldiers put a wooden ball the size of a basketball into the catapult bag. A soldier lit the fuse, and there was a muffled "bang".

The wooden shell was thrown high up on the top of the city wall. "Bang!" The porcelain mine inside the wooden shell exploded over the top of the city wall, and the wooden shell was blown to pieces. A large number of paper pieces appeared in the sky and fell like snowflakes.

The soldiers on the top of the city wall grabbed the pieces of paper with a letter printed on them. Someone who could read read loudly to the soldiers around him: "A letter to the soldiers and civilians of Yidu County!

Qizhou has been captured by the imperial army, the 80,000 Zibo-Qing army has been completely wiped out, Yidu has become an isolated city, and the 150,000-strong army is about to surround Yidu. The Tang army has the most powerful firearms, and it is easy for it to capture Yidu County.

However, considering the innocence of the people of Yidu and the soldiers, the court could not bear to attack the city. It also hoped that the soldiers of the three armies would consider the overall situation, open the city and revolt, and the soldiers in the city would not be held accountable.

If they are stubborn and refuse to surrender, when the city is captured, all the soldiers, generals and their families will be made slaves and sent to Lingnan to open up wasteland.

Li Ye, the Regent Prince of the Tang Dynasty

After the soldier finished reading, everyone fell silent.

(End of this chapter)