Chapter 131 one thirty

Chai Shao, the old son-in-law and the marching chief of the Jinhe Army, served as the former enemy commander in the battle for Eiyang Ridge. Under his command, countless soldiers of the Tang Army continued to attack bravely, and were repelled time and time again by arrowheads like locusts.Ashina Simo stood on the arrow stack, Tang Jun's arrows fell to his side one after another, he remained motionless, observing the battlefield with his eyes.Finally found out the opponent's weakness, their left wing was much weaker than the right wing, Ashina Simo ordered a counterattack.After a group of crossbowmen fired a volley, a long-prepared cavalry rushed out of the gate of the village, and the Tang army's formation was immediately torn open.Gao Zengsheng, the governor of Minzhou in Tang Dynasty, who was sitting on the left wing, shouted desperately: "Don't retreat, don't retreat!" But the soldiers had retreated like a flood.

The first defensive operation failed, and Eyang Ridge was lost; the first offensive operation failed again.When the battle report reached Chang'an, it took so long to prepare for the Northern Expedition to start like this.Li Shimin's heart was very heavy, Fang Xuanling advised him not to be too anxious, after all the battle has just begun, there is still room for redemption.Li Shimin said to Fang Xuanling: "I don't care about the gains and losses of a city or a place. What makes me sad is that as the emperor, I don't know people! Among all the frontline generals in the cloud, only Li Shi made the request before the battle. Send heavy troops to defend Eyang Ridge, and you have long recommended Li Shi to be the deputy commander, but I have not listened to it!"

Fang Xuanling comforted the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, don't blame yourself too much, Yuchi Jingde also has his strengths!" Li Shimin said with a face of regret: "This incident has taught me a lesson! Cen Wenwen and Changsun Wuji don't know how to fight. He will use the method of using officials to use generals. This method of using officials pays attention to roundness. Even if a person is not very capable, as long as he can take care of all aspects, he can stabilize the situation. Using generals is different. On the battlefield, real swords and guns cannot be fought. Victory is all empty talk." Fang Xuanling nodded and said, "Your Majesty is right." Li Shimin said sternly, "Xuanling, it's not too late to make amends, so you should draw up an order and change Li Shi as deputy commander in chief." .”

Fang Xuanling was startled: "This—— Your Majesty, after all, Yuchi Jingde is an old general of the Qin Palace. He has shared joys and sorrows with the Emperor for so many years. Who would not value dignity more than his life when he is a general? His treatment like this is worse than killing him." Yuchi Jingde still wants to make him feel uncomfortable, how should His Majesty face him in the future?" Li Shimin said: "Jingde almost lost his life for me at least three times. During the Xuanwu Gate, if he hadn't shot Yuanji to death with an arrow, I wouldn't be alive today! However, if I don't owe Jingde now, I will betray the world." , I am the Son of Heaven, even if he wants to hate me for the rest of his life, this is the only way he can do it!"

Fang Xuanling showed emotion on his face, and silently picked up the pen. While Li Shimin was worried about the war situation, Xieli received two good news in one day: one was from Eyangling, and the other was from the west.After Tuli Baying retreated westward, Jieli sent Shi Luodie to lead an army of 30,000 to set up an ambush at the mouth of the Qingshi Gorge with the Yinan tribe, attacking from both sides, and defeated Tuli. Thousands of strong. It is Jieli's established policy to use the Yinan tribe to deal with the Tuli and Qibiheli tribes. The land he promised Ashina Simo to Tuli Longxi is actually just a bowl of ecstasy soup. lured him out of his stronghold, that he might deal with him in the wilderness.His original plan was to eat Tuli in one bite at Qingshi Gorge, but he didn't expect that the other party seemed to have taken precautions and escaped Shi Luodie's 30,000 elite riders. He only had a fight with Yi Nan, so he didn't suffer any harm. However, this still made Xieli very happy, because in this way, Yinan and Tuli fought again. "Since the two dogs have already seen blood, there is no fear that they will not bite to the end!" he thought to himself.

Xieli didn't know that when he was plotting against others, others were plotting against him.Yi Nan had already contacted Tuli, and the so-called bloody battle at Qingshi Gorge was just a play for him.But the conceited Xieli was deceived by this scene. He asked Yi Nan to stay and continue to confront Tuli, and recalled Shi Luodie to Dingxiang, ready to deal a fatal blow to the attacking Tang army. Ashina Simo, who was cleaning the battlefield, was very shocked when he heard the news. He came to Xieli's big tent full of betrayal and asked why he did this.Jieli put on a serious face, stood up and reprimanded: "Presumptuous! Don't think that you can say anything after you win the battle!" Ashina Simo said angrily: "Khan, I once sacrificed my wealth and life. I promised Er Khan, wouldn’t you betray my trust by doing this? How will I face him in the future?”

Jieli said bitterly: "But Tuli has already betrayed his promise! That Chang'an businessman Mu Yikuan got it from Tuli's camp, and this time Botie saw the princess of the Tang Dynasty going in and out of his house casually in Chang'an. Isn't this enough to prove the relationship between Tuli and Li Shimin?" Ashina Simo was anxious, and blurted out: "I have been to Tuli camp, so I have an affair with Li Shimin too?" Jie With sharp eyes, he patted the table and said: "Ashina Simo! Are you protesting against me? You have fought hard these days. I don't blame you. I see what happened in Eiyangling. Don't worry about it, leave it to Zhishi Sili, you go back to Suibei, and you can rest for a while!"

Ashina Simo couldn't believe his ears, he remembered what Tuli said to himself, and then he realized what the other person said was right, this person in front of him would never trust others, and others should not trust him.Ashina Simo felt a sense of sorrow and resentment in his heart, he turned and walked out of the tent, when he got to the door, he looked back at Jieli, and sighed up to the sky.The wind blew the curtains in the tent.Botie looked at Ashina Simo's back, then at Jieli, and said cautiously: "Khan, if you don't use Ashina Simo for a place as critical as Eyang Ridge, I'm afraid you won't be able to defend it." ah!"

Jie Li looked at the roof of the tent and said, "It is precisely because this place is critical that we must choose a loyal general to guard it! Without the worries of Tu Li, perseverance is enough!" The deputy commander of the front line in Yunzhong was replaced by Li Shiji, and Li Shiji also took over the front line command of the attack on Eiyangling. Tang Jun launched a more violent offensive.The sound of war drums resounded through the sky, and on the hillside where corpses lay all over the place, the sound of metal crashing and screams intertwined and could be heard endlessly.

Unable to hold back his arrows and thinking force, he personally went to Jieli's big tent to fetch reinforcements.Jie used his horsewhip to point at Zhishi Sili, who was covered in mud and bloodshot eyes, and reprimanded him: "Ashi Nasimo can hold it, why do you say you can't?" The Tang general was replaced by Li Shiji, who personally supervised the troops to attack day and night at any cost. The corpses of the Tang army were almost full of evil Yangling.Jieli said decisively: "Even if Li Shimin comes up, you must defend Eyang Ridge for me. Once this critical pass is lost, the Tang army on the east and west wings will be united, and the battle will be impossible."

Zhishi Sili hugged Jieli's leg and begged: "Khan! There are 60,000 to 70,000 Tang troops attacking Eyang Ridge, and only 30,000 ministers! The casualties are too great! Can you ask Dahan to increase the number of ministers?" Send 20,000 people?" Jieli scolded: "What a waste. 30,000 people are already a lot! If I send you troops, what am I going to use to attack the Tang army? If you must rescue the soldiers, then I have to send someone to replace them. You are going to guard Eyang Ridge." Zhi Shili panicked and asked, "Does the Great Khan still want to call Ashina Simo back?"