Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 545 It’s easy to ask God but hard to send him away

When the sun rose the next day as usual, the Yongji Canal near Baiqiao Town was still shining with red waves, looking very magnificent.

However, the soldiers of the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army had no time to appreciate such a beautiful scenery.

After a night of fierce fighting, those who survived were stunned by the cruel scenes on the battlefield.

Many people were skewered like meat skewers by the crossbow arrows shot from the winch crossbow. They had terrified expressions on their faces and could not close their eyes until they died.

From time to time, you can see two people being skewered on a short spear, nailed to the ground and unable to move.

It is hard to imagine the pain these people went through before they died.

And those corpses that were chopped into two pieces by the Mo Dao and died in a horrible way would always appear before his eyes suddenly.

There were people and horses, most of whom were concentrated in the camp surrounded by flatbed carts.

Flatbed trucks were the last line of defense, which was even more terrible. Corpses were piled up like a pyramid, taller than a person. It was common to see people with crossbow arrows in the neck, pierced bellies, missing heads, and missing arms and legs.

They were lying in all kinds of strange positions. The camp surrounded by flatbed trucks was completely dyed red by blood.

Not only that, there were actually quite a few injured people wailing on the ground, but without exception, they were all killed with a single sword by the sharp soldiers led by Che Guangqian who were cleaning up the battlefield, without any mercy.

This is the battlefield, a fight of life and death, bloody and cruel.

The soldiers went to the battlefield with such a fearless attitude, it was a matter of life or death, they were extremely free and easy.

Precisely because they take such great risks, they are gradually gaining a position that cannot be shaken without the use of force.

"Ok?"

Che Guangqian, who was walking at the front of the team, suddenly saw out of the corner of her eye a familiar-looking person "crawl" cautiously on the ground, slowly moving away with imperceptible movements.

He seemed to have only minor injuries such as a broken leg or foot, or even a sprained ankle.

The man hid under a pile of corpses, apparently trying to slip away when no one was paying attention.

Unexpectedly, Che Guangqian saw it.

"Hey, isn't this Gele Khan?"

Che Guangqian walked up to the man, squatted down and carefully looked at his face, and suddenly she realized what was going on.

The mole on this person's face is in a very unique position, which makes people unforgettable. Considering that there couldn't be many Uighur Khans, and it's impossible for them to appear on different people's faces by coincidence, the answer is obvious.

Che Guangqian quickly ordered his guards to move the pile of corpses away. Several of his guards joined the battle and soon dragged Gele Khan out and controlled him.

"General Che, is this guy really the Uighur Khan? He doesn't look like one. He looks like a beggar."

A personal soldier came over and asked in a low voice.

"Last night, the Huihe people used all their strength to try to break through the Queyue formation set up by the commander.

If the Uighur Khan was not there, the other generals would definitely conserve their strength and retreat immediately if they encountered any difficulties.

So conversely, the Uighur Khan must be in the team, it just depends on whether he escapes or not. "

Che Guangqian gave a brief analysis, which was concise and logically rigorous.

If it weren't for the Uighur Khan personally supervising the battle, who would risk their lives to charge into the battle? In fact, this kind of thing will be clear if you think about it a little bit.

"You guys, continue to clean up the battlefield, finish off those who need to be killed, and leave no Huihe people alive.

This general will take Gele Khan with him to ask for your merits from the commander-in-chief."

Che Guangqian laughed loudly, patted the face of "Gerle Khan" with her palm and teased: "Do you know why it is your turn to come and fight us instead of others?"

"why?"

Gele Khan suddenly asked.

Che Guangqian was stunned. He thought this guy didn't understand Chinese, but it turned out that he could understand it.

"That's because you are the dumbest! They are all afraid of being beaten, but you are not."

Che Guangqian rolled her eyes and was too lazy to talk nonsense with this Khan.

They have died once, but they still don't understand the cause and effect. It seems that the leader of the Huihe is not very smart.

No wonder he was used as a gun.

Half an hour later, Geluk Khan was brought to the ship. At this moment, Fang Zhongyong was reading an account book, which recorded how much food, arrows, spears, Mo Dao, horizontal swords and other items were in the fleet.

Even though the battle last night did not last long, the consumption of various consumables was shocking, and Fang Zhongyong's eyelids twitched wildly.

If he didn't trust Duan Xueshi's character, he would have suspected that this guy was reselling military supplies.

If we continue to fight like last night, we can only support one more battle at most, and then we will run out of crossbow support. If we fight two more battles, we will even run out of arrows for the horn crossbow.

It seems that this "Northern Expedition" has come to an end, and we have to find a way to escape.

"Eh? Who is this cripple?"

Glancing at Gele Khan who was supported by his personal soldiers behind Che Guangqian, Fang Zhongyong asked without raising his head.

"Reply to the commander, he is Geluk Khan."

Che Guangqian said softly.

"Which Khan?"

Fang Zhongyong is a noble man who tends to forget things. The small tribal leaders in the north call themselves "Khan" from time to time, and Li Erfeng is also called "Heavenly Khan".

Who the hell knows who this cripple in front of me is?

"General Jie, he is the leader of the Huihe tribal alliance, and he has the final say.

Earlier in Shuofang, you shot his mount to death with one arrow, that one."

Che Guangqian continued to remind.

This time Fang Zhongyong suddenly realized and remembered the embarrassing incident.

That time on the floating bridge, he originally wanted to stage a "whoever is shot by an arrow will die" scene, and nailed the bow and arrows to the wooden boards of the floating bridge.

Unexpectedly, he shot Gele Khan's mount in the head with an arrow!

If it weren't for this scene, the Huihe people wouldn't hate Fang Zhongyong so much, especially the person involved, Geluk Khan. As long as he couldn't get back at his own game, he would be the laughing stock of the entire Huihe people.

"What price did Huangfu Weiming offer you?"

Fang Zhongyong handed the account book in his hand to Duan Xueshi and asked while looking at Gele Khan's face.

"The five states of Hexi and Shuofang."

Geluk Khan uttered a few words sparingly.

Although this sentence is very short, it contains rich content.

To put it simply, in order to reward the Uighurs, Huangfu Weiming gave them the defense zones of the Hexi Jiedushi and Shuofang Jiedushi.

I have to say that Huangfu Weiming's strategy of "driving the tiger to devour the wolf" is still acceptable and quite insidious and vicious.

By gaining control of the Hexi Corridor, the Uighurs apparently gained a great advantage, but they would inevitably become mortal enemies of the Tibetans who coveted the Hehuang Valley.

There is no room for reconciliation between the two, and they can only fight to the death until one of them surrenders.

So although Huangfu Weiming's move seems generous, it actually harbors evil intentions.

Of course, using the enemy's strength to buy time to restore national strength is not a bad strategy. However, Huangfu Weiming still overestimated the Huihe people.

In the past, when the Huihe fought against the Tubo, if there was no external intervention, no matter how many times they fought, the Huihe would always be the loser.

Therefore, no matter whether Huangfu Weiming's move succeeds or fails, it will eventually become a joke.

Fang Chongyong sneered, "You have a big appetite, but are you worthy of it? The Tubo army is more than ten times stronger than ours. You were defeated miserably in this battle, and you still want to occupy Hexi and Shuofang. Aren't you afraid that the wind will flutter your tongue?" Fang Chongyong sneered, making Gele Khan's face turn red and white.

This is indeed the truth. How can a defeated general talk about courage?

But Geluk Khan didn't want to lose the battle after losing the battle, so he tried to make a false excuse:
"You installed crossbows on the boats and surrounded the enemy with boxcars!
This is cheating, and it's not a fair victory! If we fight in an honest way, you may not win!"

Gele Khan looked unconvinced and retorted to Fang Chongyong.

After hearing the words of the Uighur Khan, Fang Zhongyong, Che Guangqian, Duan Xueshi and others looked at each other in disbelief, totally unable to believe that a person could be so stubborn.

"You say we are cheating, but I will say you have horses!

Why don't you abandon your horses and fight us?"

Fang Chongyong looked at Gele Khan with eyes that showed concern for the mentally retarded and asked.

"Horses are a gift from Changshengtian, why don't we use them?"

Geluk Khan continued to quibble.

Fang Zhongyong understood that you can't wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep. This kind of verbal dispute is meaningless.

"Bind him up and throw him into the river, hanging him on a boat to prevent him from drowning. Let the Khan cool down in the river.

Once he calms down and thinks things through, it won’t be too late to pull him up.”

Fang Zhongyong waved his hands impatiently, too lazy to argue with this Geluk Khan.

"Marshal Fang, wait a minute..."

Gelu Khan wanted to say more but was dragged away by his personal guards. Fang Zhongyong didn't want to waste time talking to him at all.

After Gele Khan was taken away, Duan Xueshi reported to Fang Zhongyong with a serious face: "General, our army has consumed a lot of supplies such as arrows, and it is not convenient to replenish them. We should leave Hebei as soon as possible."

Duan Xueshi spoke the truth.

No matter where you go, it's never wrong to leave quickly.

They can still afford food and fodder, but they can no longer afford armaments.

"Wait a day, and leave tomorrow.

The Huihe people's actions are very strange. I will have to interrogate this Geluk Khan later."

Fang Chongyong said to the generals.

He thought to himself: The Huihe people's attack was very hasty, and it was a bit hard to figure out the situation. In addition to wanting revenge, these people must have other reasons.

Not long after, He Changqi and Wang Nande, who had been chasing them all the way, also returned and brought back a piece of news that surprised Fang Zhongyong:

The departure point of the Uighur cavalry was most likely near Yecheng, according to information obtained from interrogating prisoners.

It is highly credible because He Changqi and his men chased them for a long distance, but in the end they still failed to catch many of the fleeing Uighurs.

Moreover, the 30,000 cavalrymen led by Gelek Khan were only a small force. Gelek Khan's leadership within the Huihe tribe was now in jeopardy. There were many people in the Huihe tribal alliance who were unwilling to obey him.

Now the Uighur cavalry has arrived at the border between Henan and Hebei.

It is unknown what these people are thinking, whether they are going to Luoyang or Guanzhong, or crossing the river to the south.

In short, the situation in the world is becoming more and more chaotic, and more and more confusing.

Fang Chongyong let out a long sigh.

Those who are sober are in pain. The turmoil in the Tang Dynasty has just begun and is far from reaching the bottom.

The separatist rule of military governors, the Two-Tax System, the great changes in the grassroots structure of society, the demise of the aristocracy and the rise of the guards, all these hard dishes were still cooking in the pot and had not yet been served on the table.

But the fact that these things have not been served does not mean that they do not exist or have not happened. A series of major changes are in the works.

Fang Zhongyong couldn't tell anyone about this, so he could only keep it to himself. As time went on, he felt helpless and miserable.

With all sorts of things in his mind, the day passed quickly. At night, after a day in the canal, Gele Khan calmed down, changed into a dry linen shirt, and was taken to the cabin by his personal guards.

At this moment Fang Chongyong had already ordered people to prepare a sumptuous meal for him.

Tender lamb chops, golden fried date rolls, freshly squeezed grape juice, and Hu pancakes coated with black sesame seeds, layer upon layer of minced meat, and a world of its own.

The other dishes all have their own characteristics and are never repeated.

Fortunately, Baiqiao Town is a trading town and there is no shortage of these ingredients, otherwise it would be difficult to find this table of dishes.

Gele Khan sat down opposite Fang Zhongyong with an embarrassed look on his face, and now he was completely obedient.

No matter how stubborn you are, it will all disappear after being soaked in the river for a day.

When you can no longer bear it, then bear it again!

"Tell me, you led your troops to attack here last night, and you probably ran several hundred miles.

It can't be just for a little personal grudge, right?"

Fang Chongyong asked in a deep voice.

"Huangfu Weiming has already conquered Luoyang."

Geluk Khan said slowly that this news was still top secret to ordinary people, but a high-ranking Uighur official like Geluk Khan would definitely know it at the first time.

"I see. He promised you a lot of extra benefits, right? For example, if you work diligently, he will let you go and seize Chang'an."

Fang Zhongyong held his chin and said thoughtfully.

Now it was Gelek Khan's turn to lose his composure.

It's unbelievable that the other party could guess it before I even said it!
"So you took your own troops and attacked us under cover of night.

On the one hand, it is to give an explanation to Huangfu Weiming and prove that you are not here to just idle away your time.

On the other hand, Huangfu Weiming and his men are planning to march into Guanzhong, and you are worried that you will miss the banquet and that the good things in Chang'an will be snatched away first, right?"

Fang Chongyong continued to attack with another blow.

These words frightened Gele Khan so much that he couldn't help trembling.

I have to say, Fang Chongyong is right again.

These Huihe people originally planned to launch a surprise attack on Fang Chongyong and his men with the idea of ​​"after defeating their old enemy, they will go to Chang'an to reap as much as they can".

The loss of the rice while trying to steal the chicken was just due to an accident, but this long-distance raid tactic was not wrong.

Li Baochen betrayed the Uighurs, naturally with his own selfish motives, so he killed two birds with one stone.

Gele Khan grabbed a roasted lamb chop and started to eat it. After he finished, he took a big gulp of grape juice and stuffed the Hu cake into his mouth and started to eat it.

It is not certain whether this fellow is good at fighting, but the way he eats is really like the roar of a dragon or a tiger, sweeping away everything in his path like a whirlwind.

Before Fang Chongyong even picked up his chopsticks, he had already eaten up most of the food on the table. There was not much left.

Gele Khan ate voraciously for a long time and finally filled his stomach.

He then sighed, stared at Fang Zhongyong with his eyes straight ahead and said, "I will fight you. If I lose, all our past grudges will be written off. If we meet on the battlefield next time, I will take a detour."

"If you lose, you must let me go. Do you dare?"

"Right now?"

Fang Chongyong looked at Gele Khan with a puzzled look. Could it be that this guy regarded him, the governor, as a useless gigolo who could only sleep with women?
This is not the way to go when you want to be beaten!
"Right now."

Gele Khan nodded firmly.

(End of this chapter)