First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 209 Killing the Thieves and Recovering Puzhou

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Seeing that Cheng Zhijie was quite annoyed, Li Shimin patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "The victory in this battle is due to Yizhen's contribution. It is not a problem that the thief will escape alone. It is important to go back to the Baibi camp first."

Cheng Zhijie had no choice but to nod in response, and then Li Shimin rectified his troops and horses, took a small road and rushed back to Baibi.

On the other side, Gao Chong and Qin Qiong led [-] soldiers and horses all the way to Puzhou, but there was no trace of Li Shimin along the way. The two looked at each other with helpless smiles. It seemed that Li Shimin did not pursue this official road. The passer-by must have missed it.

Just when Gao Chong was about to go back to the army at Baibi, a cavalry rushed forward. He saw that the army was about to dodge.

Gao Chong immediately said bluntly: "I am Sima Gao Chong of Prince Qin's residence, who are you?"

The courier had also heard Gao Chong's name before, and he felt relieved at the moment, "It turned out to be the courier under Gao Sima's face, the humble general manager of Qin Wutong", and then verified his identity.

Gao Chong asked directly: "What's the matter with you?" He is the Sima of Prince Qin's Mansion, in charge of military affairs and counseling, and disciplines and public affairs. The right to know.

"General Manager Qin attacked the city for three days, but failed to break through the city. Last night, the bandit army attacked the camp. Our army was defeated, with more than a thousand casualties. General Manager Qin has less than [-] troops and urgently needs reinforcements."The messenger hesitated for a moment before speaking bluntly.

Gao Chong was startled when he heard the words, and immediately asked, "How is the strength of the Puzhou bandit army?"

"The thief general Wang Xingben guarded the city, at least five thousand thieves."Messenger is also an astute person.

Gao Chong thought about it for a while and said directly: "I am rushing to help Puzhou now, you should go back to the Baibi Camp and report the truth to the King of Qin."

The messenger led away, Gao Chong frowned and thought.

Qin Qiong said with a worried face: "The king of Qin only ordered us to intercept the thief general Yuchi Jingde, and didn't let me wait to help Puzhou."

Gao Chong came back to his senses, and said directly: "It is reasonable for us to wait for Yuchi Jingde, the general who pursued the thief, to go all the way to Puzhou. The King of Qin has absolutely no reason to lower his responsibility."

Seeing that Qin Qiong hesitated, Gao Chong smiled and said, "I have a plan to destroy Puzhou."

Qin Qiong was startled when he heard the words, and asked in surprise: "Is this really true?"

Gao Chong smiled confidently, "Wang Xingben defended the city firmly. He didn't lose any soldiers and horses, and the night attack was a great victory. He must have known that Qin Wutong was short of troops. At this time, I sent a message to Qin Wutong to let him fight, and then feigned defeat. Wang Xingben I will definitely pursue, and I will cut off the rear from the flank, how can Puzhou not be broken."

Qin Qiong was overjoyed when he heard this, and said bluntly: "Wang Xingben dared to attack at night when he was trapped in an isolated city, which shows that he dared to take risks and was proud of himself after winning. This strategy is indeed feasible."

The two immediately led the army straight to Puzhou, stationed troops in the mountains several miles away from the city, and then Gao Chong went to Tangying in person at night to discuss with Qin Wutong in secret.

Qin Wutong is a mighty general, he lost troops and broke the city, so he was already worried, after hearing Gao Chong's plan, Qin Wutong immediately agreed.

In the early morning of the next day, Qin Wutong summoned the whole army in a hurry, ignored the dissuasion of his generals, insisted on attacking the city, and attacked the city with 3000 people with 5000 people. Looking at Qin Wutong's desperate appearance, Wang Xingben could only be Qin Wutong's request. Desired to win, I was even more overjoyed.

Half a day after the siege, the Tang army suffered heavy losses. They left hundreds of corpses under the city again and retreated in embarrassment. Wang Xingben saw it clearly.

In the afternoon, Qin Wutong ordered a battle in a hurry, but this time, Wang Xingben no longer stood firm, the city gate was opened wide, and Wang Xingben personally led an army of [-] troops to attack.

Qin Wutong was shocked, and hurriedly ordered the withdrawal of the army, retreating while fighting, and fled all the way north.

Fleeing straight to a mountain forest, there were only a thousand Tang soldiers left. Qin Wutong looked up to the sky and shouted: "Reinforcement, help me."

Wang Xingben rushed to the front, and laughed out loud when he saw this, "Even if you shout your throat out, no one will save you."

After the words fell, only the arrows were heard coming through the air. Wang Xingben looked shocked, but he didn't react quickly. He was hit by an arrow in the chest and fell off the horse.

Gao Chong looked at the bow in his hand, was a little dazed, and then shouted with joy: "The general is dead, brothers, kill me."

Immediately they picked up the horse lance and rushed forward. Seeing that Wang Xingben fell from the horse, Wang Xingben's followers fled in panic.

Then he cut off Wang Xingben's head and came to the city. There were only a few hundred guards left on the city.

In the Bobi Camp, Li Shimin stared at the elder Sun Wuji's words and scolded angrily: "Nonsense, I asked him to intercept Yuchi Jingde, and he will return to the camp after he succeeds. How can he leave the camp without permission."

Not long after, the fast-paced messenger arrived, and after reporting everything, Li Shimin was furious, "Gao Youzhi is so courageous, who gave him the order to rush to help Puzhou? He thought he went to Puzhou If you fail to capture him, you will definitely punish him later.”

Now they are about to lead the army to Puzhou, Changsun Wuji and others are busy trying to dissuade them, there is no reason for the commander to lead his troops away from the camp, Li Shimin has no choice but to dismiss the meeting by cursing.

The next day, the good news from Puzhou arrived, and Sima Gao attacked the thief-killing general Wang Xingben and conquered Puzhou in one fell swoop.

Li Shimin was overjoyed, and clapped his hands and praised: "You are worthy of my humerus arm. It is really amazing. I will ask the saint to ask for credit for it later."

……

"You all look at me like this, why don't you hurry up to collect food? This battle, in Gao Youzhi's words, will be a protracted battle. Our army is running out of food and grass. Song Jingang's army is far away. Food and grass must be more expensive We are even more nervous," Li Shimin shouted at the inexplicable eyes of Changsun Wuji and others.

The eldest grandson Fang Du and the others looked at each other and left together.

"This guy is more daring than me in using troops, that's not okay." In the tent, Li Shimin looked at the location of Puzhou on the map and clicked his tongue.

In Xia County, Yuchi Jingde fled back to Xia County in embarrassment from the Anyi trail and went to Lu Chongmao. At this time, Lu Chongmao had been officially canonized as King of Wei by Liu Wuzhou, Emperor Tianxing of the Han Dynasty. De fled back alone, and couldn't help being shocked.

After some questioning, Lu Chongmao felt uneasy. Li Shimin, king of Tang and Qin, was so amazing. Once he arrived in Hedong, he won consecutive battles and victories. He was really amazing.

Lu Chongmao was originally a hero in Xia County, and he didn't have much courage and talent. Earlier, he saw Li Tang being defeated one after another, losing troops and losing ground, so he gathered the people to join the army.

At the same time, when the news of the Tang army's recovery of Puzhou came, Lu Chongmao felt even more disturbed. Yuchi Jingde was ambushed twice, but only escaped. In Lu Chongmao's heart, Liu Wuzhou's general was nothing more than that. Some worries.

(End of this chapter)