Tibet

Tian Yue led 8,000 cavalrymen to rush through the woods, but found that the woods were on fire. The entire several-mile-long woods were burning rapidly. It was obvious that the enemy had arranged a fire trap long ago. It seemed that the thousands of people trapped in the woods were in danger.

Tian Yue was very anxious, but there was no way. He could only shout, "Follow me!"

Tian Yue led 8,000 cavalrymen to rush east along the burning woods. The only way was to bypass the woods.

The 8,000 cavalrymen ran for more than ten miles in one breath and finally bypassed the woods. Unexpectedly, there were shouts and arrows in the dark. They avoided the trap of the woods, but fell into the encirclement of the Tang army. Tens of thousands of cavalrymen surrounded and killed them from all directions.

Tian Yue tried his best to break out, but the encirclement of the Tang army was like a copper wall and iron wall. He could not get out even if he rushed left and right. The soldiers behind him were getting fewer and fewer. More than half of his 8,000 men had been killed, and the remaining thousands were also cut into pieces by the Tang cavalry.

Tian Yue was in a state of panic. Suddenly, he found that there seemed to be few enemy troops in the northeast. He didn't care whether it was a trap or not, and shouted: "Follow me to break through!"

There were 300 cavalrymen behind him, following Tian Yue to break through. At this moment, an arrow shot from the front with a "whoosh!" The arrow was so fast that Tian Yue just saw it, and the arrow was already in front of him. No! Tian Yue had no time to dodge.

"Puff!" The arrow hit Tian Yue's eyebrows, and the arrow force penetrated his head, and the arrow tip came out from the back of his head.

Tian Yue opened his mouth and fell off his horse and died.

A hundred steps away, Li Ye put away his bow and ordered coldly: "Kill them all, don't leave any!"

Two thousand Tang cavalry rushed up and surrounded hundreds of enemy cavalry. In just a moment, hundreds of cavalry were all killed, not one was left.

Eight thousand people fell into the ambush of 30,000 Tang cavalry. Not a single one escaped, including the main general Tian Yue.

The 5,800 cavalrymen who rushed through the woods were intercepted by 6,000 heavily armored infantrymen and 10,000 cavalrymen of the Tang army. Most of the 5,800 cavalrymen were killed by the heavily armored infantrymen, and the remaining 1,000 people did not escape. They were all surrounded and annihilated by 10,000 cavalrymen of the Tang army.

At this point, the 30,000 cavalrymen brought by Tian Yue were completely destroyed. No one left alive, including the wounded soldiers who were shot by arrows. They were all ordered to be beheaded by Li Ye, leaving no one alive.

This also means that the hundreds of thousands of Donghu soldiers who followed Shi Siming and Cai Xide to slaughter Hebei were completely destroyed, ending their sinful lives. Of course, Tian Chengsi still had thousands of Donghu cavalrymen around him, but the main force had been completely eliminated.

Wuqiang County is the northernmost county in Jizhou. The Zhang River passes through the county, and another river, the Jiang River, also runs through Wuqiang County, intersecting with the Zhang River in Wuqiang County, and flows northward through Hejian County.

At five o'clock in the evening, more than a thousand flat-bottomed tugboats loaded with food and supplies came from the north, and ten thousand infantrymen guarded the more than a thousand cargo ships on both sides of the Zhang River.

At this time, they had left Changlu County for two hundred miles, and Wuqiang County was ten miles ahead. In the east of Wuqiang County, the fleet would enter the Jiangshui River and continue to go north.

The fleet was moving, but it slowly stopped. The chief guard on the shore was called Pan Xi. He was stunned when he received the report, and hurriedly ordered: "Go and check quickly, why did it stop?"

Before the soldiers went to investigate, someone from the front army came to report, "There is a fleet on the river, blocking our fleet's way."

Pan Xi's heart suddenly became nervous. What's going on? Did they encounter bandits?

At this time, the army in front was in chaos, and countless soldiers were seen fleeing this way, and the soldiers on the other side were also fleeing desperately.

"What happened?" Pan Xi stopped a soldier and asked.

"The cavalry is coming!"

"What?"

Pan Xi was shocked and asked anxiously, "Where are the cavalry?"

"I don't know, there are at least a few thousand people!"

Pan Xi's heart sank into the abyss. A few thousand people, needless to say, must be the Tang army.

At this time, the shouting and killing sound came to his eyes. He saw countless cavalry rushing towards him, less than a hundred steps away from him. A few arrows flew over his head. Pan Xi panicked and turned his horse around and fled.

The cavalry they encountered was the 20,000 cavalry led by Xi Wanli. On both sides of the Zhang River, 10,000 cavalry were deployed on each side, killing 10,000 guards and making them cry for their parents. They knelt down and surrendered.

On the river, hundreds of vehicles and ships intercepted the baggage fleet. More than a thousand soldiers on the vehicles and ships jumped onto the cargo ships and controlled more than a thousand baggage ships. The fleet could no longer go north. After reaching Jiangshui, it turned south and entered another branch of Zhangshui after traveling for dozens of miles, heading towards Beizhou.

Li Ye's strategy is called "cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron". He used Wang Lun to persuade Tian Chengsi to go west, so that his logistics and army would inevitably be separated.

Take away Tian Chengsi's food and supplies, and see how long his army can last?

Tian Chengsi's 80,000 troops failed to enter Hejian County. Li Baochen flatly rejected Tian Chengsi's suggestion for cooperation between the two armies. He knew Tian Chengsi too well. This was a weasel paying New Year's greetings to the chicken, and there was no good intention, not to mention that Wang Lun had sent someone to inform him in advance.

The four gates of Hejian County were closed, and the top of the city was full of soldiers, staring at Tian Chengsi's army several miles away.

Although Tian Chengsi had a large number of troops, he did not carry siege weapons, and could only watch the tall and solid Hejian County helplessly.

In order to trick the city gate open, Tian Chengsi promised to return 10,000 people of the Hezong Army to Li Baochen, but Li Baochen did not fall for it.

He just asked these 10,000 people to be stationed in Bowang County, a hundred miles to the west.

What was even more desperate was that there was not a single tree within a radius of fifty miles, as all had been cut down by Li Baochen. There was also not a single house, as all had been demolished.

This was originally intended to clear the country for the Tang Army, but unexpectedly it was used on Tian Chengsi in advance. This shows the importance of intelligence. If it could be predicted in advance, Tian Chengsi might have another countermeasure.

I stayed there from morning until night, still unable to do anything.

Seeing that there were only two days of dry food left, Tian Chengsi had to make a decision.

Tian Qianzhen, a clan brother, suggested: "It is better to go to Dingzhou, get supplies in Dingzhou, then go to Hengzhou, use Hengzhou as the foundation, and then find a way to capture Jingxing, then we can move to Hedong."

Tian Chengsi sighed and said: "I think so too, but our supply fleet has not yet arrived, and Tian Yue's 30,000 cavalry, so let's do it! The army will go south first, and we will consider the plan after receiving the fleet."

This is their only choice. Instead of being stuck here with low morale, it is better to take action and give the soldiers hope.

The 80,000-strong army packed up and set off, marching southward along Jiangshui River.

On the top of the city, Li Baochen watched Tian Chengsi's army retreat. General Xin Zhongyi whispered: "Tian Chengsi is going south, is he going to fight the Tang army?"

"You are overthinking. Tian Chengsi has the courage. He fought decisively in Weizhou. You see he did not carry any baggage. I guess his baggage traveled by water. He went to pick up the baggage."

Xin Zhongyi sighed and said, "I wonder how the situation is in Zhaozhou?"

Li Baochen frowned. He was also most worried about Zhaozhou. He only knew that Lei Wanchun's army was attacking Zhao County. Whether Zhao County was breached or defended, there was no news at all.

Li Baochen's mood suddenly became bad, and he immediately ordered: "No one is allowed to open the city gate without my order. Anyone who violates this will be executed immediately!"