First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 208 Ambush Again
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It has to be said that Li Shimin made a quick decision and was extremely decisive. After hearing that Yuchi Gong had fled to the west of Puzhou, he immediately led his troops to intercept him. Under the leadership of the local soldiers, he rushed all night to the small town of Anyi from a small road.

In a dense forest on a hillside in the north of Anyi City, Li Shimin licked his chapped lips, feeling the cold winter wind, and said bluntly: "If the bandit army is not stopped by noon, return immediately."

Although Li Shimin likes to take risks with soldiers, he is not blindly taking risks. Li Shimin knows that at this time, he only leads [-] light cavalry, and the army is far away from the army alone, without carrying food and grass. good.

Zheng Rentai, the commander of the personal guards, and Cheng Zhijie, the third commander of the Qin Palace, responded to the words, and Cheng Zhijie said bluntly: "What the king said is the most secure, the commander should not be away for a long time."

After Li Mi's defeat, Cheng Zhijie originally surrendered to Wang Shichong along with Qin Qiong and others, but since Wang Shichong became emperor at the beginning of the year, Luoyang was in chaos.

Moreover, Wang Shichong is extremely domineering, and handles all government affairs by himself. He once said to the outside world: "In the past, the emperors were high above and could not understand the situation of the people, but I, Wang Shichong, are not greedy for power and position. My original intention is to save the crisis. , fully understand the gains and losses of the people."

Wang Shichong has indeed done a good job on the surface, but he did not expect that what he wants to do is the emperor, not the county magistrate.

Now occupying vast lands such as Henan and Shandong, the daily memorials are so complicated, and even Wang Shichong has to personally handle the cases of stealing chickens and dogs from his neighbors, resulting in very chaotic government affairs and complaints from all officials.

Until May, Minister of Rites Pei Renji, General Zuo Fu General Pei Xingyan, Minister Zuo Cheng Yuwen Rutong and others couldn't take it anymore, and they discussed killing Wang Shichong and supporting Yang Tong to succeed him again, but they didn't expect that Luoyang today Big things and small things can't be hidden from Wang Shichong's eyes and ears. When the matter was revealed, Wang Shichong wiped out several people from the three clans.

Pei Xingyan had a deep friendship with Cheng Zhijie and others. After Pei Xingyan died, Cheng Zhijie was unhappy, but the person who pushed Cheng Zhijie to vote for Tang Dynasty was his fellow villager and good brother Luo Shixin.

Luo Shixin was only twenty years old, but he was brave enough to meet a rare opponent. He was a well-known hero in Wagang. However, after Bing Yuanzhen returned to Wang Shichong, Wang Shichong despised this young brave general.

Wang Shichong was all officials and generals to Cheng Zhijie, Qin Qiong, Bing Yuanzhen and others, but he ignored Luo Shixin, which made the young and vigorous Luo Shixin ashamed of it.

It was Wang Shichong's nephew Zhao Wang Daoxun who prompted Luo Shixin to vote for the Tang Dynasty.

The war horse is the cavalier's loyal partner, Luo Shixin refused to hand it over, but Wang Daoxun went to sue Wang Shichong, Wang Shichong actually ordered Luo Shixin's war horse to be taken away and given to Wang Daoxun, Luo Shixin hated him greatly.

Soon after, Wang Shichong ordered Luo Shixin to lead the army to attack Guzhou. In a fit of anger, Luo Shixin directly led the army to join the Tang Dynasty.

Good brother Pei Xingyan was killed, Luo Shixin was forced to leave, Cheng Zhijie couldn't hold back any longer, and went straight to find Qin Qiong, "Wang Shichong has little talent and knowledge, prefers false fame, and likes divination and swearing on weekdays. This is obviously the trick of an old witch. How can he look like a Mingjun, Shoujing is dead, Shixin is gone, what are we still doing here?"

Qin Qiong, a straightforward and righteous man, heard what his good brother said, and sighed: "As a brother, I can't understand Wang Shichong's treachery. If I stay any longer, I'm afraid none of my brothers will be spared."

Cheng Zhijie nodded hurriedly, and then the two of them led their personal guards to the Tang Dynasty when they were about to fight. Li Yuan was not stingy either. One official was the commander of the horse army, and the other was the official of the Zuo Santong army. Both of them were powerful generals in the army.

Outside Anyi City, Cheng Zhijie stroked the horse in his arms, and said with a smile: "This thief general Yuchi Jingde ran away from Second Brother Qin. If I kill him, doesn't it prove that I am stronger than Second Brother Qin."

Li Shimin was also amused when he heard the words, "Have you two never competed before?"

"Why not?" Cheng Zhijie scratched his head and said straightly, "From childhood to adulthood, I have tried countless times, and I have always been evenly matched. I always feel that I can defeat Brother Qin in a few more rounds, but it is always close."

Hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help laughing, thinking of Qin Qiong's humble and respectful temperament, it was also expected that Qin Qiong must be better than Cheng Zhijie, but he always kept his hand deliberately, and the result was evenly matched.

Just as the two were chatting and laughing, the scouts rushed to report that the enemy had arrived two miles away.

Li Shimin was overjoyed and immediately ordered preparations.

Cheng Zhijie said: "Your Majesty, we are all cavalry. If we ambush here, we will lose the impact of the cavalry. If I lead half of the troops first and charge forward, I will definitely catch the enemy by surprise. Your Majesty will then lead the army to follow." There is absolutely no reason for a flank assault."

Li Shimin's eyes lit up when he heard the words, and he immediately agreed. He was also extremely satisfied with Cheng Zhijie's performance in this first battle. He was not only brave, but also good at using brains.

Cheng Zhijie led [-] light cavalry to rush up the official road, speeding up the horse and rushing straight towards Yuchi Jingde's remnant army. When Cheng Zhijie appeared, Yuchi Jingde's outpost turned back in panic, Cheng Zhijie drew his bow and set an arrow, and shot one person .

Across the distance, Yuchi Jingde exclaimed: "Array, array to meet the enemy".

"Where are the thieves fleeing?" Cheng Zhijie waved his horse and shouted, "Aye from the Cheng family is here, hurry up and die."

Yuchi Jingde was furious, he raised his lance to meet him, there was a sound of "dang", the huge force of the two men bent the lance, Yuchi Jingde asked in surprise: "In the Tang camp, there are so many master lances?"

Seeing the simple bandaging of Yuchi Jingde's ribs, Cheng Zhijie clicked his tongue, "It seems that my second brother Qin's thorn is crooked, let me poke a transparent hole for you."

When Yuchi Jingde heard the words, he suddenly felt a dull pain in his ribs, looked around, and immediately gave the order: "Retreat up the mountain".

When the voice fell, a group of people rushed out from the side, it was Li Shimin, Yuchi Jingde didn't dare to hesitate when he saw this, he tried his best to push Cheng Zhijie back, and then fled to the side of the mountain path, Cheng Zhijie wanted to pursue him, but was caught by Yuchi Jingde De's personal guards stopped him firmly.

Li Shimin opened his bow and set up an arrow, and shot it, Yuchi Jingde was startled, he leaned over hastily, but he was a step too late, and hit his shoulder, Yuchi Jingde let out a cry of pain, and fled quickly.

Yuchi Jingde's seat was a Turkic horse found by Liu Wuzhou, it was very strong, and the puppet Han army crowded together, blocking the road, Li Shimin had no choice but to watch Yuchi Jingde escape.

In this battle, he won another great victory, wiping out more than [-] Yuchi Jingde's remnants, and Yuchi Jingde escaped alone.

"Your Majesty, the last general requests to pursue that thief general," Cheng Zhijie said angrily.

(End of this chapter)