Late Tang

(Thanks to wws19808, Song Bingshu, wang342622, and Zhuang Liang for their support, thank you!)

The hot sun scorched the roads of the mountain city, but it couldn't stop the victors from cheering.Li Jing rode on a horse wearing the golden armor that made him sweat profusely, and slowly walked through the cheering soldiers on both sides of the road down the mountain and the people in the mountain city, waving to the soldiers and civilians from time to time.

As the commander-in-chief of the first army, Li Jing no longer needed to go to the front line in every battle to fight bravely for the first place.But he can't always sit in the rear. At a time like this, he qualifying at the front is the best reward for all the soldiers who have just fought hard and won the battle.

The four generals Zhao Ji, Zeng Yuanyu, Zhang Chengzong, and Liu Shouqian won the honor of walking side by side with Li Jing, and received the cheers and greetings of the soldiers together.Gao Zhaokang and Gao Bing were also able to follow behind by half a horse's head, and went up the mountain together with Li Jing.

After entering the City Lord's Mansion in the West City, Li Jing was finally able to take off the heavy and airtight armor and put on a thin cotton shirt.In the scorching summer, even wearing long robes and overshirts, Li Jing couldn't help but miss wearing vests, short-sleeved T-shirts and beach pants.He would also like to make a few vests and cropped trousers to wear, but with his current status, some things cannot be too casual.

A guard brought cold mountain spring water. Li Jing wore only a pair of shorts and scrubbed and rinsed it twice. She shook her wet and wavy hair and leaned on the cool bamboo couch. Li Jing didn't want to move.

Gongsun Lan changed into a cat's-wing-like pussy gown and put it on, and she could clearly see the aqua-blue tube top inside.The plump and full chest stood tall and straight, making his mouth dry.She had obviously just bathed, and she had a leisurely orchid scent on her body.She went straight to Li Jing's side and poured the ruby-like iced bayberry soup into a pair of crystal clear glass goblets.

"Sanlang, let's have a cup of iced bayberry soup to relieve the heat." She handed him a cup, "Just now we killed more than a hundred soldiers and annihilated six thousand Khitan soldiers. This is a great victory. What, I was thinking again How do we deal with the Khitans next?"

"This battle was really good, but the most critical thing in this battle is Gao Zhaokang's role. If he hadn't swindled surrender, the Khitan people would not have been fooled so easily." The disheveled hair soon dried, but at this time Feeling uncomfortable, Li Jing casually gathered her hair and tied it behind her head with a rope.

Li Jing took a big gulp of the bayberry soup, and a refreshing feeling of coolness went straight to the lungs.

After the attack started, Li Jing found that things were more difficult than he expected.Although the first battle was successful, Gao Dexin of Jili Prefecture was surrendered first, and now he has lured and wiped out [-] Khitan soldiers.There are still [-] Khitan soldiers and horses in Jian'an Prefecture.

But he is not happy, now is not the time to be happy.The further north you go, the worse the road will be, and what makes Li Jing frown even more is that on this road going north, most of the mountain cities have been built along the way.

It is impossible for Li Jing to have such good luck all the time, tricking the enemy out of the city to ambush and annihilate them.The Khitan people have suffered, as long as they stick to the mountain city.It will take a lot of time for Li Jing to leave the city one by one.Especially the poor roads, even if the town [***] dispatched 3 peasants, more than [-] auxiliary troops, and [-] livestock, the logistical pressure is equally huge.

Another problem that worries him is that the letter of persuasion sent to other Goguryeo forces in Liaodong has not received a reply at all.

It is estimated that it will take a long time to capture the Liaodong Peninsula alone.And if the two banks of the Liaohe River were to be taken down, Li Jing reckoned that he would not be too optimistic.

"You met Yelu Dachi before, tell me, what did he tell you?" Gongsun Lan asked, "Sanlang met him personally, did he worship without accepting his head, abandoning the dark and turning to the bright?"

This witty remark finally made Li Jing burst out laughing.

"I told him, surrender or die!" Li Jing took a sip of bayberry soup and put his left hand behind his head, "But he told me to die!"

"You didn't explain the situation to him?"

"I was threatening at first!"

"Then I lure, power, money, beauties!"

"He didn't agree to this?" Gongsun Lan was a little disbelieving.Yelu Dachi was just a rough man, how could he refuse these temptations.

"It's a tough guy!"

Li Jing sighed, "I said everything I could say, but he wasn't moved at all, and I was almost spit on by him."

"If that's the case, then he's useless." Gongsun Lan chuckled, seeing Li Jing holding back, she felt a little excited. "Kill it directly, and kill one to make an example!"

"Can't be killed!" Li Jing shook his head: "Yelu Dachi is a seven-foot man with infinite strength. He is about to rush to repair the roads in Jizhou. Such a man is a good coolie. I have asked Li Liang to take that The more than 3000 Khitan prisoners were all sent to build roads."

None of the Khitan soldiers were willing to surrender sincerely, and under the current situation, Li Jing did not dare to use these people at all.Simply, let them all build roads.The people in Jili Prefecture were beaten badly by the Khitans last year, and those who were not taken away have almost nothing now.Li Jing had to take out part of the precious military rations and give them to them.But if you eat his food, you have to be under his control.Li Jing has temporarily stopped moving the Goguryeo people in Jizhou to the rear, but let them all participate in road construction.The ten-foot-wide road had to be paved with hardened stones, and a post station had to be built every twenty miles.

The road of ten feet is a bit wide, but in order to ensure the logistics and transportation of the Northern Expedition, Li Jing could only grit his teeth and persist.

"There are still [-] Khitan soldiers in Jian'an Prefecture. If they attack the city, all the Khitan people can be soldiers, and even women can go to battle to defend the city. Such an attack will not only take time, but also cause a lot of casualties and consumption. Over time, the food and grass of the entire Northern Expedition Army will be consumed. The pressure on transportation and transportation has increased again." Li Jing sighed, thinking of any way to make the battle easier.

Originally, Li Jing had a plan, which was to obtain Yelu Dachi's seal letter and ask him to write a letter to Yelu Dachi.He falsely claimed that he had accepted the surrender of Gao Dexin and his son, and had already stationed in various mountain cities in Jili Prefecture.The army of the Tang army has arrived, and the strength of the troops is tight, so Yelu Dali immediately leads the troops to reinforce.

It's just that Yelu Dachi was unwilling to open his mouth, and he couldn't find the seal letter, and he refused to write a letter, and there were no Khitan soldiers who sincerely surrendered to deliver the letter.This plan is also difficult to implement.But let Li Jing really attack the mountain cities one after another, Li Jing is not reconciled.

"What a great problem I think it makes my Saburo so sad. Just leave it to me. It only takes half a day and I will return him to you tomorrow morning." Gongsun Lan slid her finger across Li Jing's face lips, laughing.

"You're not kidding, are you? That Dachi is a tough guy, torture is probably useless." Li Jing said.

"I never joke about business. Doesn't Saburo know that there is a punishment hall in our Plum Blossom Gate? There are so many experts there. Don't say that Da Chi is a tough guy. They change their minds. And, I promise, when you return the man tomorrow, it won't take him to fix the road."

Li Jing was a little moved when he heard that, although he was not always in favor of extorting confessions by torture, especially now that the new procuratorates in various states are now in charge of the judiciary, he has made a special confession that torture should not be used to extract confessions during interrogations.But on the battlefield, being kind to the enemy is being cruel to oneself, and Li Jing can still distinguish the line.

"Well, you can try it."

Early the next morning, Gongsun Lan came with several women wearing veils, and handed another letter from Yelu Dachi to Li Jing.

Li Jing opened the letter and saw that it was a rescue letter written by Yelu Dachi himself, with his autograph and seal at the end.In addition, the Indian signaling symbol, which had not been found before, was also found.After reading the letter, Li Jing looked at the women in Gongsun Lan's body with some admiration.Judging from their figures, they were all charming and middle-aged ladies in their forties, but looking at Yelu Dachi's sluggish face, he knew that last night must be an unforgettable night for Yelu Dachi.

With this letter, the next thing will be easy to handle.

One day later, in Jian'an City, Yelu Dala received this letter of plea for help.

After carefully checking the wax seal and the handwriting and signature of the letter, Feng Duo nodded to Yelu Dali, "This letter is personally written by General Yelu, and there is nothing wrong with the seal."

"I just said that there will be no problem. I can rest assured that Da Chi will handle the matter. I will immediately call up troops and horses, and I will go to reinforce them myself."

"General, I always feel that something is not quite right." Feng Duo said with some worry.

"What's wrong?"

"I just think it went too smoothly." Feng Duo didn't see anything wrong, but he always had a premonition in his heart.

Yelu Dala laughed and said, "You literati have a lot of problems. After taking down Jili Prefecture, Dachi has [-] soldiers and Gao Dexin's troops, and there are [-] people. However, compared with the Tang army, the number is still very different. We are now leading our troops to fight Li Jing on Gaodexin's territory. Using Goguryeo soldiers, Goguryeo people, and Jili Prefecture's money and food to consume the Tang army. When necessary, we can also retreat city by city, as long as each city The city can last for a month or two, and it can last at least half a year when it retreats from Jili Prefecture to Jian'an Prefecture. At that time, even if Li Jing's logistics did not collapse, the reinforcements from our Diela Department would have arrived long ago."

Feng Duo smiled wryly twice, and didn't try to persuade him any more.

Yeludala summoned 3000 troops from Jian'an City, and quickly sent reinforcements to Jili Prefecture. Along the way, he mobilized another 3000 troops from various cities, and finally gathered 6000 troops. In the entire Jian'an Prefecture, only [-] warriors and [-] families were left behind. cities.

Six thousand cavalry rode fast all the way, and after walking for two days, they finally arrived at the Chengshan Pass at the junction of Jili Prefecture and Jian'an Prefecture in the evening of the second day.

"General, the east and west of the city are just ahead!"

Yelu Dali nodded immediately, "Send the order, speed up, and you will be able to reach Chengshan Mountain City in half an hour, and go to the city to rest tonight!" (To be continued.)