First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 220 Song Jingang flees north in panic

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Queshu Valley, dozens of miles away, is a dangerous valley located in the southwest of Jiezhou. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. Whenever there is a war between Jin and Merger, there must be war in Queshu Valley. Today, Queshu Valley will be the battlefield again.

Li Shimin went all the way north without stopping, and the straggling soldiers were collected by Li Xiaoji, Tang Jian and others from behind, while Li Shimin personally led Gao Chong, Liu Hongji and others to pursue them day and night.

Seeing this, Song Jingang did not dare to detour to take the official road, and plunged into Queshu Valley in a panic, trying to escape to Jiezhou through Queshu Valley.

God's will did not help Liu Wuzhou, Queshu Valley was rough and difficult to navigate, it just happened that there was heavy rain a few days ago, and the mountain road in the valley was muddy. Some even threw away their weapons.

"Your Majesty, the Tang Army is catching up," the rear army scouts rushed to report.

Song Jingang was terrified and furious, and hurriedly ordered to form an array to meet the enemy. It depended on Song Jingang's strict command of the army. Although the soldiers were exhausted, they still struggled to form an array after hearing the order.

"The thieves can't run anymore, soldiers, kill the thieves and make meritorious deeds, just today, kill them."After Song Jingang finished his formation, Li Shimin led his army to pursue him, without hesitation, he immediately raised his troops and shouted.

After the words fell, Li Shimin's horse rushed out like an arrow off the string, and saw that the horse's coat was yellow with white, and the corners of its mouth were slightly black. Since this horse was a gift from Turkic Teller, Li Shimin named it special Lebi.

After Li Shimin rushed out, Gao Chong raised his lance to follow, and the two armies met. Song Jingang's troops were not able to gain a firm footing. , Straight to clear the surrounding area within ten feet.

Li Shimin who is not far away is also very brave, holding a horizontal knife in his hand, lying on his horse's back, chopping from left to right, and when he sat down, he also moved around to dodge, and was hit by several arrows around his body, and his vigor was not weakened.

Seeing that the commander was so brave, the soldiers of the Tang army fought bravely to be the first, their morale was like a rainbow, and the puppet Han soldiers retreated in succession.

Li Shimin wanted to continue chasing, but he sat down and staggered and almost fell to the ground. Looking around, Li Shimin couldn't help being startled, only to see Gao Chong and others dismounted and fought.

Gao Chong sat down on the ground, stroking the fallen white horse, feeling a little sentimental, "Good brother, walk slowly."

Ever since Gao Chong set up an army in Jinyang, he rode this excellent Turkic horse, accompanied Gao Chong through the east of the river, entered the Guanzhong, conquered the Western Qin Dynasty, and destroyed Zhu Can. valley.

"Your Majesty, I can't chase you any more," Liu Hongji staggered forward and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm hungry and thirsty, I'm really powerless."

Hearing the words "hungry and thirsty", Li Shimin licked his chapped lips and reacted. Feeling hungry, he couldn't help grinning and hissing: "I haven't eaten any rice in the past two days, don't you mention me?" Almost forgot."

"For those in the wilderness, we can only pray that King Yong'an and the others will catch up as soon as possible." Gao Chong shook his head and said. Fortunately, Song Jingang's troops were also exhausted at this time, otherwise Song Jingang would turn around and strike at this time. Tang Jun is in danger, Li Shimin is in danger, Gao Chong is in danger.

At this moment, Qiu Xinggong shouted loudly from a distance: "My lord, here are sheep, there are sheep."

Everyone looked around, only to see Qiu Xinggong running over excitedly holding a sheep, "Your Majesty, this must be a sheep left behind by Song thieves, hurry up and eat it."

Seeing this, Li Shimin swallowed again and again, looked at the soldiers with green eyes, and immediately said loudly: "Stew this sheep into soup, and I will share the food."

All the soldiers cheered in unison.

A sheep is stewed into a soft mutton soup by the stream in the valley, and the meat is boiled until it becomes pulpy. The soldiers drink a bowl each. Although there is no meat, a bowl of mutton soup will restore the soldiers' physical strength. Not a lot.

After drinking the mutton soup, he suddenly felt full of energy. Li Shimin stood up awkwardly. Gao Chong instantly understood, and said bluntly: "At this time, if you chase, you will win."

Liu Hongji also cheered up, and echoed: "Catch up now, maybe the enemy army is eating."

Li Shimin immediately ordered to continue the pursuit. Sure enough, after Song Jingang retreated, the scouts reported that the Tang army had not caught up. Under the strong request of all the generals, they made a meal. The hungry and exhausted puppet soldiers immediately cheered.

Just as Song Jingang was eating, Li Shimin killed him suddenly, and a dramatic scene happened. Many puppet Han soldiers fled with their jobs.

Until dark, Li Shimin led the army to pursue, Song Jingang retreated, Li Shimin pursued again, Song Jingang retreated again, and went back and forth five or six times, winning each time. Although the Tang army was exhausted, its morale was high. But Song Jingang was really exhausted physically and mentally.

As night fell and the road in Queshu Valley was rough, Li Shimin didn't dare to take the risk, so he immediately camped on a flat ground to the west. Nothing happened overnight, and both sides took the opportunity to rest.

The next day, until dawn, Li Xiaoji did not see any supplies, so Li Shimin made a decisive decision, stopped waiting, and continued to pursue, driving Song Jingang all the way out of Queshu Valley, and fled into Jiexiu City.

Both sides knew that the other was exhausted, Song Jingang fought his back, and immediately led his troops out of the city, with their backs facing the city, forming a battle formation that lasted five or six miles.

Li Shimin pondered for a long time, and asked directly: "How many cavalry are there?"

It was just counted last night, Gao Chong replied directly: "[-]".

"Enough", Li Shimin clenched the horizontal knife tightly.

Gao Chong suddenly had an idea, he seemed to have guessed Li Shimin's thoughts, and said bluntly: "Body and cavalry coordination?"

Li Shimin laughed loudly when he heard the words, "Those who know me, you know."

Then immediately ordered, "Qiu Xinggong leads the infantry to fight."

Qiu Xinggong cheered up and led the infantry to directly attack Song Jingang's troops, but Song Jingang's troops were already ready for battle. Qiu Xinggong attacked head-on, suffered heavy casualties, and retreated in succession. Song Jingang took the opportunity to counterattack.

It wasn't until this moment that Song Jingang noticed that Li Shimin, the commander of the Tang Army, was gone. He scanned the entire battlefield, but he couldn't see Li Shimin's commander's flag.

Song Jingang looked up, only to see Li Shimin's commander-in-chief flying high, hitting the rear.

It turned out that Li Shimin still used the tactics of infantry containment and cavalry assault, and asked the fierce general Qiu Xinggong to contain the main force of the puppet Han army and break its formation. Then Li Shimin personally led the cavalry to attack from behind. And Qiu Xinggong also acted accordingly, seeing the chaos of the puppet Han army, he immediately led the army to counterattack.

When the army is fighting, if the formation is disordered, the wind has already fallen. Seeing that the situation is not good, Song Jingang immediately gathered the remnant army and fled.

(End of this chapter)