The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 189 No Ambush
Li Heng himself led Gao Xianzhi and others to march into the north in order to better "make a feint to the east."

As the commander-in-chief of this army, Li Heng only needs to lead Gao Xianzhi and his men to launch a feint attack on the north, and the enemy will surely believe it.

After making the arrangements, Li Heng discussed the details with his generals and then they took action separately.

……

Li Heng led his army all the way to the northwest with great fanfare and set up camp sixty miles away from the capital of Lishi State.

In the main tent of the army.

Li Ying asked, "How many enemy troops are stationed in Takuzhe City? Who is leading them?"

Gao Xianzhi replied: "When the Arabs learned that the central route was defeated, the enemy troops in Baishui City retreated to Tuozhe City. The Arabs had about 10,000 soldiers, and their commander was Asad. The Shi Kingdom had more than 10,000 soldiers, and their commander was their king, Biszterer."

The combined strength of the two enemy armies was more than 20,000, and the number of soldiers led by Li Heng was also 20,000. No matter how strong the Tang army was, it would be difficult to defeat the same number of defenders.

Li Heng pondered for a moment and asked, "What are the personalities of these two commanders?"

Fu Menglingcha, who had just joined Li Heng, had fought with Asad many times and was familiar with him. He stepped forward and replied, "Your Highness, Asad is a brave general, but he has a violent and suspicious temperament."

Bukhara and Shiguo had a lot of grievances. Aqisi knew Bishitler quite well and added: "Bishitler is cautious and familiar with the affairs of the Tang Dynasty."

"Oh?" Li Heng became interested and asked, "What are the capabilities of their scouts?"

"Not as good as the Tang Dynasty." Fu Menglingcha replied.

Li Heng nodded, thought for a while, and said, "Shiguo is next to the Xieer River. General Gao will take people to see if they can divert water to flood the city."

After that, he turned to Ayisi and said, "I promise to go to the Cher River with you. Let's go tomorrow."

"Okay." Aqisi agreed happily.

……

The next day.

The shore of the Cher River.

As promised, Li Heng and Aqisi traveled west along the river.

The water of the Xieer River in July is clear, and the sand content is far less than that in later generations. The banks of the river are covered with short trees and flowers, and the scenery is pleasant.

Li Ying and Aqisi rode their horses slowly forward, while Li Siye and Zhang Guangsheng led the guard behind them.

Aqisi was riding a horse, and suddenly she got off the horse, picked up the fallen petals on the ground, and said, "No matter how beautiful the flower is, it will change its order."

"It's withering." Li Heng corrected, glanced at Aqisi, and said with a smile: "Fallen petals are not heartless, they turn into spring mud to protect flowers."

Aqisi tried to understand what Li Heng meant. After thinking for a while, she said, "Life is indeed very easy to pass away, but from another perspective, it turns into spring mud, which can be considered another new life."

After saying this, he mounted his horse again and rode side by side with Li Heng.

The morning sunshine shines on my body, bringing me indescribable comfort.

Aqisi suddenly hoped that this road would never end, so that she and Li Heng could continue walking together forever.

Aqisi was still thinking, and asked, "Your Highness, do you know how long the Cher River is?"

Li Ying said, "About four thousand miles."

Aqisi said: "If we travel a hundred miles a day, that's forty days."

"Almost." Li Heng nodded.

Aqisi exclaimed: "It's so short!"

Li Heng didn't know why Aqisi suddenly had such a feeling, and smiled and said, "It depends on what standard you use to measure it."

"That's right." Aqisi nodded, looked up and said, "Ten miles ahead is the capital of the Stone Kingdom, Tuozhe City."

Li Ying said, "I'm going to go for a walk around the city. Do you want to come with me?" "Of course." Aqisi laughed, "I've never done anything so adventurous, but I've always wanted to try it."

"Yes." Li Heng responded, called Li Siye and Zhang Guangsheng forward, and said: "Two generals, how about we go to the capital of Shiguo to investigate?"

Li Siye was overjoyed and said, "I have had this idea for a long time."

Zhang Guangsheng had no objection either.

After they agreed, they rode their horses to Tuozhe City.

When they reached the city, Li Heng stepped forward and said, "I am the Shou Wang of the Tang Dynasty. I want your Khan to come forward and answer my question."

This sound frightened the defenders on the city.

After a while, the Great Khan of the Stone Kingdom, Steller, and the commander of the Arab army, Assad, appeared on the city wall.

When Asad saw Li Heng coming to the tower with a hundred men to provoke him, he angrily said, "That's great. I'll go down and kill him!"

"General, you must not do that." Bi Shitler hurriedly stopped him. "General, you don't know that when Prince Shou fought against Tubo before, he also shouted at the city. Tubo sent out troops to fight and was ambushed. This time he must be using the same trick again!"

"Is this true?" Assad quickly calmed down and said, "He is a royal noble, and he is very courageous to lure the enemy with his own body."

As the two were talking, Li Heng's voice came over again, saying, "Great Khan Bisitler, I have received your letter. You said that the Shi Kingdom has always been a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, but was forced to surrender to the Arabs because of the coercion of the Arabs. As long as I send troops to rescue you, you will open the city gates to welcome me. Now that I am here, why don't you open the city gates quickly!"

After hearing what Li Heng said, Assad glared at Steller.

Bischtler quickly explained, "General, this is a plot to sow discord. You must not believe it!"

Assad said: "Unless you send troops to fight, you can't prove it."

"No, Prince Shou must have an ambush." ​​Bischtler took a step back and rejected Assad's proposal without hesitation.

Li Heng watched the two people on the tower discussing fiercely from a distance, and whispered to Aqisi, "You say something."

"Yes." Aqisi took the order, reined in her horse and said, "Since you don't open the city gates to welcome me, then come out and fight me. Are you afraid of a woman like me? There are thousands of soldiers and horses in the Shi Kingdom and the Arab Empire, but not a single one of them is a man!"

Assad was mocked by a woman, and he was so angry that his eyebrows and beard were squeezed together and he was breathing heavily.

But as a veteran general, although he was angry, he remained rational.

He was indeed afraid that Li Heng had an ambush.

Moreover, if it is true as Li Heng said, Bischofler and Li Heng have been in contact for a long time. Once he sends out troops, he will be attacked from both sides and will surely die.

Assad couldn't fight, but he couldn't bear to retreat, so he urged Steller again, saying, "Go down and fight, otherwise you will be colluding with the Tang army."

Bi Shitler said: "General, please stay calm! He is trying to sow discord and lure the enemy at the same time."

After Bisztler finished speaking to Assad, he immediately shouted a bunch of words to Li Heng that Li Heng could not understand.

Li Ying asked Aqisi curiously, "What did he mean?"

Aqisi said: "He said that the Shi Kingdom and the Arabs have a very good relationship and will not fall into your Highness's scheme."

"In that case, let's go."

Li Heng did not linger for long and left quickly with his men.

Half a day after Li Heng left, the Arab scouts entered the city.

Assad personally found the scout and asked, "Does the Tang army have an ambush outside the city?"

"No, the Tang prince Shou and Bakhtinian princess Aqisi went to travel along the Sher River first, and then came to Tuozhe City on the way." The scout told the news he had learned with great difficulty, and then said: "The Tang army is stationed sixty miles away, with tight defense. I dare not go forward, and I don't know how many troops there are."

Assad didn't pay any attention to the second half of the scout's words. He only cared about the fact that the Tang army did not set an ambush this time.

There was no ambush!

(End of this chapter)