Chapter 192 A clever victory
While the people of Jinyang City were rejoicing, they did not forget the threat from the Turks and began to discuss strategies again the next day. In fact, there was nothing much to discuss. The two generals Zhang Huli and Qin Shubao led 80,000 troops to the north to first take the two counties of Loufan and Mayi.

If the Turks and the Liang army from Shuofang do not come to support or hesitate, then we will first deal with Liu Wuzhou, and then use Mayi and Yanmen as defenses to resist possible attacks from the Turks. If there are no Turks, we will send troops to take Shuofang.

Even though Liu Wuzhou and Liang Shi both had more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, there would not be much difference between their troops and Wei Daoer’s motley crowd. They might even be worse due to the short time.

All the problems lie with the Turks. To what extent will they fight, regardless of the cost, or will they abandon their tentacles after testing them? If the Turks are willing to fight at all costs, how will they respond?

To be honest, if the Turks were to move south at all costs, it would be impossible for the strength of just a few counties in Taiyuan to resist them.

But the Turks would not be able to last long and would retreat in autumn and winter. During this period of time, the Turks would not be able to gain much by marching southward. Therefore, Shibi Khan always advocated supporting Liu Wuzhou and others instead of occupying Mayi and Shuofang himself.

……

In April, the army marched out of Jinyang and defeated Loufan. When fighting with Liu Wuzhou in Mayi, Liang Shidu and the Turks came to support in time. The three parties combined more than 200,000 troops to confront Li Jiancheng’s 80,000 troops.

Shibi Khan personally led the army, but Qin Shubao and Zhang Huli defended the city tightly, and the army’s high morale managed to hold off the Turkic advance.

At this time, Li Jing and Shan Xiongxin had already crossed Yanmen from Boling County and led 50,000 elite troops to provide support. They first raided the flank of Shibi Khan, and then joined forces with Qin Shubao.

Li Jing took over the army with Li Jiancheng’s tiger talisman. He had more than 100,000 soldiers under his command. Although they were not as numerous as the enemy, they were all elite soldiers. In addition, there were three fierce generals, Qin Shubao, Zhang Huli and Shan Xiongxin, as vanguards.

Li Jing was a steady commander of his troops. He used miraculous deployment of troops on the front battlefield to accumulate small victories. At night, he would launch surprise attacks to disrupt the enemy or constantly divide the enemy from within, making Shibi Khan like an old cow stuck in a quagmire, with only brute force but nowhere to exert his strength.

Li Jiancheng did not show any sign of it. While Shibi Khan was away from Dali City, he used his wealth and former Turkic nobles to release the imprisoned Ashina Duobi.

Princess Yicheng also helped him pass the message to Shibi, telling him that the remnants of Tiele had joined forces with Ashina Duobi and wanted to seize Dali City, and asked him to return to the grassland as soon as possible.

Then he settled Xiao Chanyan before leaving for Wang Mayi. He wanted Shi Bi to retreat and not to disturb him in the next few years, so he had to meet him in person.

When Li Jiancheng arrived in Mayi, he met Li Jing and Shan Xiongxin, whom he had not seen for a long time. Both of them congratulated him on having a successor.

Li Jiancheng sat down and said with a smile: “Master, is this what you wish for?”

Li Jing looked radiant, as if he was even younger than when they first met. He bowed to him solemnly and said, “It’s all thanks to you, my lord. Otherwise, I would have to stay in Chang’an for the rest of my life.”

Shan Xiongxin also came forward excitedly, and Li Jiancheng patted his shoulder armor and said, “It took only ten days to capture Xindu County. After hearing the news, I drank three jars of Western wine before I gave up. I brought you the remaining dozens of jars.”

Shan Xiongxin immediately said: “After this victory, I will get drunk with the Lord!”

In the next few days, the two armies won and lost alternately, but it was obvious that the initiative had been seized by them. Liu Wuzhou and Liang Shidu could no longer withstand Shibi Khan’s wanton use of their troops to consume them.

Liu Wuzhou and Liang Shidu had a secret meeting: “The situation is not favorable, and there are signs of defeat. We must make plans early. If the troops are exhausted, Shibi can retreat, but how can we survive?” Liang Shidu said: “It’s a pity that Li Jiancheng is so arrogant. Wei Daoer knelt down and surrendered but still couldn’t escape death. If we surrender, we will probably be killed too.”

“We can’t surrender, but we can’t continue with the Turks either.”

Liang Shidu frowned: “We are caught between the Turks and Li Jiancheng. If we try to escape, we will not be accepted by either side, which will be a dead end.”

“Brother Liang, as the saying goes, if a tree is moved, it will die, but if a man is moved, it will live. Now the world is in chaos, and you and I, as brothers, can make a living anywhere. I think Shu is the best place for us to be alone and have no principles.
You and I will lead our trusted followers and recruit soldiers along the way. If we can successfully establish ourselves in Shu, we can sit back and watch the world’s situation. If there is a chance, we can go out of Shu and fight. If there is no chance, we can wait for the new dynasty to issue an order of peace and offer Shu. After all, we will be awarded the title of Duke. “

Master Liang was excited when he heard this. It seemed that any place was better than here.

Just when Li Jiancheng was still waiting for Shibi Khan to withdraw his troops, when the two armies were fighting normally, suddenly more than 10,000 cavalrymen broke away. Li Jing immediately ordered to be on alert.

But the ten thousand cavalry fled without looking back, and even because of their shouting before leaving, many soldiers from Mayi and Shuofang followed them. The enemy’s battle formation was scattered. Shibi Khan was shocked, but he didn’t know the situation, so he could only order his confidants to escort them quickly and sounded the horn to call back the troops.

Li Jing keenly judged that this was not a strategy to lure the enemy, and that the enemy army was indeed in trouble. He immediately ordered the vanguard to charge and entangle the enemy. Zhang Huli and Shan Xiongxin each led the cavalry to attack the central army directly, leaving Qin Shubao’s 5,000 cavalry to guard against the troops that had just withdrawn.

The personal guards brought by Shibi Khan were very brave, but there were not many of them, and they were in the midst of chaos. There were Han soldiers shouting everywhere, and it was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe, so they could not exert much strength at all.

Then the rout began. Shibi Khan, who finally understood what was happening, was furious: “I will kill those two traitors. I will kill all their wives, children and the elderly!”

The Khan’s personal guards beside him didn’t care about anything else. They loudly ordered the other guards in Turkic, then forcibly dragged the Khan’s horse and began to retreat, while the Khan’s wolf flag moved in another direction.

The Turks were clearly divided into two groups. Zhang Huli immediately shouted to Shan Xiongxin who was not far away: “You chase the general’s flag, and I’ll chase the other one!”

Shan Xiongxin responded immediately. The wolf flag of the Turkic Khan was already a great achievement, and if Shi Bi was also there, it would be a complete achievement.

Zhang Huli led his troops to follow closely, took off the iron-backed bow on his back and put on special black-feathered long arrows. He shot down the knights one by one. The Turks who were the best at riding and shooting on horseback were shot by him like pheasants.

The chief of Shibi Khan’s personal guards immediately gave an order, and the last hundred riders reined in their horses and turned around. This made Zhang Huli’s eyes light up. Even if the person among them was not Shibi Khan, he must be an important figure of the Turks.

The soldiers under Zhang Huli’s command were the elite among the elite. They were recruited and trained by him personally in Liaodong City. In those years, they were the Yanyun Iron Cavalry, plundering Goguryeo, the Turkic and Khitan countries, and were invincible.

Naturally, they were not afraid of the Turks. The hundred or so cavalry were quickly dealt with. Zhang Huli led his troops to hold on tightly, with no intention of letting go. On the other side, Shan Xiongxin, in cooperation with the reinforcements, had captured the flag of the Turkish Wolf King.

……………

(End of this chapter)