The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 185 Battle of the Xier River

A large group of soldiers followed closely behind, surrounded Zhou Yi and the other six, and automatically made way for Li Heng to walk in from outside.

When Zhou Yi and his companions saw Li Heng, they showed expressions of disbelief.

"Your Highness, are you...are you okay?" Zhou Yi uttered a few words with difficulty.

Li Heng said: "Yes, I am fine. I am sorry to disappoint you."

Zhou Yi reacted and said, "Your Highness was faking illness."

Li Heng said: "I never said I was sick."

Some things are credible precisely because they are not said.

Zhou Yi didn't dwell on this and asked curiously, "Since Your Highness was faking illness, why didn't you even tell General Li?"

Li Heng asked, "If I told General Li, how could you believe it?"

Zhou Yi was stunned when he heard this.

Li Siye was a straightforward person with a hot temper. Everything would show on his face. If he knew that Li Heng was seriously ill and still showed a stable mood, everyone would suspect that Li Heng was not really sick.

Therefore, only by hiding the truth from Li Siye and letting him join in the trouble would others believe it.

Moreover, if Li Siye joined in the trouble, it would mean that Li Heng would lose a useful confidant, which would make others let down their guard.

"I've heard that Your Highness is resourceful and resourceful, and today I've learned from him." Zhou Yi knew he was doomed, so he sighed and asked, "Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing, and An Sishun are busy training the troops all day long, and they don't have the energy to send people to monitor me. Who did this for Your Highness?"

Li Yan said: "I don't have that much time to explain to you. You still have a chance to say one word. If you have any last words, please say it."

Zhou Yi saluted and said, "Your Highness can forgive the Anren Army for surrendering to the enemy. Please give me a chance and let me atone for my sins!"

"It is God's business to forgive you. Go ask God."

After Li Heng finished speaking, he turned around, left the tent, and mounted his horse.

After reining in their horses and waiting for a moment, Li Siye, Zhang Guangsheng, and three other soldiers came out carrying the heads of Zhou Yi and four others.

One of the "participants" followed behind with his head lowered, looking painful.

Zhang Guangsheng felt the same way when he saw the "participant". He said, "You don't have to feel sad, because you and them are not friends, let alone brothers. You are loyal to the Tang Dynasty, you are worthy of the people, you have no shame in front of the heavens and you have no shame in front of the earth."

"Thank you General Zhang for your teachings." The man saluted Zhang Guangsheng.

……

The shore of the Cher River.

Ziyad ordered his men to secretly repair the bridge, and with Abu Muslim as the vanguard, he led his troops to cross the Sher River quickly.

When half of the people had crossed the river, they suddenly heard the sound of drums and countless torches lit up in an instant.

The soldiers of the Arab Empire were startled and looked carefully. In the light of the fire, they saw that every Tang soldier was wearing armor and on horseback, with high morale, and they were sweeping in like an overwhelming force of heaven.

The Arab soldiers at the front knew they had been tricked and shouted, "There's an ambush! Retreat!"

As soon as this voice was spoken, many Arab soldiers turned around and ran away.

However, no matter how big the bridge was, it could not accommodate so many people passing through at one time, and the Arab soldiers were instantly thrown into chaos.

As the vanguard general, Abu Muslim knew that if the enemy rushed over, many of his men would be killed before they could rush over. So he shouted loudly: "Don't panic, line up to meet the enemy!"

Abu Muslim's voice was very loud, but the team was so chaotic that few people could hear him.

Abu Muslim became anxious and rode his horse to catch up with the soldiers who were running the fastest, killing them one by one with his sword.

The Arab soldiers then lowered their voices and slowed down their pace.

Abu Muslim then shouted loudly: "In the Central Plains, there was a battle where Han Xin fought with his back to the river. Now we are in the same situation. If you flee, you will surely die. Follow me to line up to meet the enemy, and we will surely defeat the enemy!" Upon hearing this, some of the Arab soldiers in the front turned back to line up while cursing.

But the Tang army had already set up an ambush, and before they could form their battle formation, the Tang army's arrows came raining down on them.

After the arrows flew past, Tang generals including Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing, An Sishun, Lai Yao, and Wang Zhengjian, led the Tang army to rush over.

The Arab soldiers had no formation and were defeated at the first blow.

Countless Arab soldiers could not wait to get on the bridge and turned around and jumped into the Cher River.

But as soon as they jumped into the river, Ayis came by boat with the soldiers from Bakhtin.

These ships were not originally suitable for military use, but they were more than enough to defeat the "drowned dogs".

The battle lasted for an hour before Li Heng and his group arrived on horseback.

At this time, the sky was just getting light.

With the help of morning light, Li Heng saw corpses everywhere. On the Xieer River, there were so many floating corpses that it was impossible to see the end.

Most of the Tang army and the coalition forces of the Western Regions had already crossed the river and pursued them.

Only Lai Yao, with a small part of the Tang army, pursued Abu Muslim along the Sher River.

Abu Muslim ran for four or five miles before his horse was shot dead by the Tang army, blocking his way, so he had to turn back.

At this moment, Abu Muslim was covered in blood, but he did not choose to surrender. Instead, like a trapped beast, he held a spear in his hand and continued to kill the chasing Tang army.

Li Siye was feeling a little disappointed at first because he saw the battle was almost over, but when he caught a quick glance and saw Abu Muslim running towards him, he couldn't help but burst into laughter, and without waiting for Li Heng to say anything, he spurred his horse over.

Li Siye came closer, dismounted, and said, "All of you step aside, let me do it!"

The Tang army soldiers all knew how brave Li Siye was, so when they heard what Li Siye said, they all retreated.

Li Siye looked at Abu Muslim and said, "I heard that you are the most courageous warrior in the Arab world. I am not talented enough to be ranked among the top warriors in the Tang Dynasty, but I would like to learn from you."

Abu Muslim looked Li Siye up and down and said in a non-standard Tang dialect: "You have the courage. Tell me your name so that I can explain it to Ahura Mazda when I meet him later."

Ahura Mazda is the greatest god of Zoroastrianism worshipped by the Persians.

Li Siye didn't care about religion and didn't know who Abu Muslim was talking about.

But he didn't care, and replied: "I am Li Siye, it's hard to say who should give an explanation to whom."

"So you are Li Siye!" Abu Muslim pointed his spear and said, "Come on!"

Li Siye did not reply, but picked up his Mo Dao and rushed forward.

Li Siye and Abu Muslim were both brave enough to fight against ten thousand men. One of them used a knife and the other used a spear. When they fought together, they were like a dragon fighting a tiger.

The people around were all praising the performance. Li Heng had rarely seen such a fight, so he watched intently from the back.

The two men fought for a while, and Abu Muslim gradually felt exhausted. Li Siye seized the opportunity and cut off his spear with one sword. The long sword went straight to Abu Muslim's face.

It seemed that Li Siye was about to kill Abu Muslim with this knife, but at the critical moment, Li Siye stopped.

Li Siye said: "You fought hard for a long time and were exhausted, so I won. If you were full of energy, the outcome would be unpredictable."

Abu Muslim said: "In marching and fighting, the winner is the king, and the loser is the loser."

Li Siye said nothing more, and said to the person next to him: "Tie him up!"

After that, he came to Li Ying, saluted and said, "Your Highness, this man is brave and good at fighting. It would be a great thing if he could be used by the Tang Dynasty."

Li Ying said, "Take him back to the city first."

(End of this chapter)