Since the departure of the Tang general Pei Xingjian, this is the third time that Ashina Duzhi has led his troops to attack Qiuci City. The first two times made him want to eat the young man on the city wall alive!

He knew that the Tang army was brave and good at fighting, and it would be difficult to attack the defense line they formed. As for siege, Ashina Duzhi never thought that he could succeed in one try.

He came here again and again just to put some psychological pressure on the young general who was now guarding the city of Qiuci, hoping to paralyze his opponent and then attack the city by surprise.

Or the young general might lose his composure because of the huge pressure from the enemy troops at the gates.

But what he didn't expect was that the previous two times the troops came to the city of Qiuci, he was so angry and fled back to the grassland in panic, not to mention that his strategic goal had been shattered.

Every time he felt that he was standing outside the range of the Tang Dynasty's bows and arrows, but every time an arrow would hit someone around him, bringing out a handful of gorgeous blood flowers.

He was about 150 steps away from the city gate and was hit by a Tang Dynasty bow and arrow. It can be said that he underestimated the brave soldiers in the enemy's formation.

So he retreated to a distance of two hundred steps from the city gate, but he did not expect that the situation was still exactly the same as the first time. Several warriors around him were shot and killed by him. This made him grit his teeth, but he had no choice but to continue retreating.

A distance of two hundred and fifty steps is a distance at which even the strongest warrior cannot kill effectively.

...

...

When shooting an arrow from such a distance, it can only fly here with difficulty. You don't even need to draw your weapon, you can easily block the flying arrow with your hands.

But this time he obviously underestimated the young general in Qiuci City. This time the young general actually stood on the city wall in full armor, holding something like a wooden stick in his hand, measuring in front of his eyes.

Li Hong put down the telescope and asked Fang Zhan beside him: "Are you sure he is Ashina Duzhi?"

"Reporting to the Grand Protector, yes, the one with a black cloak on half of his body is Ashina Duzhi. I have sent people to follow them twice. Each time their retreat route was inconsistent and difficult to grasp. Obviously they are also afraid that we will set an ambush on the road." Fang Zhan said after putting down another telescope.

"Okay, let's try it today. I just don't believe it. They can't have the final say on the grassland. Are Quan Yi and Lawless ready?" Li Hong handed the telescope in his hand to Hua Meng next to him, and then took a big loudspeaker from Xia Zhi.

Wufawutan and Quan Yi each led a thousand cavalrymen and had set up an ambush five miles in front of Qiuci City. This time, Li Hong planned not to let Ashina Duzhi go back.

"Hey, who is Ashina Duzhi? Come out and speak. You have been surrounded by us. I now order you to lay down your weapons and surrender immediately." Li Hong shouted to Ashina Duzhi outside with a loudspeaker made of tree bark.

Ashina Duzhi looked at the generals around him, then looked back at the 30,000 troops he led, snorted, and motioned a general next to him to stand out and talk.

"Fang Zhan, prepare to fire the flare." Li Hong said excitedly as he watched a figure slowly walk out from inside.

"Yes, Grand Protector." Fang Zhan took the flare that had been prepared long ago, and waited for the sniper crossbow to be fired. He immediately fired the flare, ordering Quan Yi and Wufawutian, who were ambushing on both sides behind Ashina Duzhi, five miles away, to attack.

Li Hong looked at the figure that slowly walked out with some excitement, then asked Hua Meng to pass the telescope to the crossbowman next to him and said, "Ignore the figure that came out, it is definitely not Ashina Duzhi, use the telescope to see for yourself."

After Li Hong finished speaking, he was still worried, so he picked up a crossbow from under his feet. This crossbow was the same as the one placed on the city wall, but it had the longest range and the greatest lethality. Li Zhi specially gave him twenty of them for him to use during this expedition to the Western Regions.

A cold arrow with a thread was placed into the slot. As Li Hong cranked the handle with one hand, the gears on the crossbow made a slight clicking sound, and the pulley controlled the bowstring to slowly move back until it was locked in the slot.

After placing it on the battlement, he began to aim. Ashina Duzhi's position had already been locked by him, but because of the obstruction of other soldiers, Li Hong could only wait for the man to come out and create a gap before shooting.

"Report..." A scout suddenly jumped onto the top of the city wall and shouted loudly.

Li Hong continued to aim and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"

"Reporting to the Grand Protector, we have just received news that several small towns including Wenlu were attacked by Ashina Duzhi cavalry." The scout said loudly.

"Okay, got it." Li Hong remained unmoved and continued to aim at Ashina Duzhi, who was 150 steps outside the city, and said lightly.

"Grand Protector, do you want me to lead the troops immediately..." Fang Zhan asked nervously.

"No need. This is Ashina Duzhi's strategy to lure the tiger away from the mountain. He is waiting for us to lose our composure so that he can take advantage of the opportunity to attack Qiuci." Li Hong pulled the trigger decisively while speaking.

As the arrow made a sound of breaking through the air, a black afterimage of the arrow seemed to have torn through the air, and with a slight vibration, it shot towards Ashina Duzhi's throat in the blink of an eye.

Before the sound of the arrow breaking through the air faded, the sound of a flaring arrow was immediately heard in the sky.

"Missed!" Li Hong grabbed the telescope and saw that the Western Turkic cavalry was in a panic. The figure who was walking out slowly fell to the ground from the horse's back. He was shot by another crossbowman.

Li Hong observed again and again and saw that his arrow hit Ashina Duzhi's collarbone and did not kill him.

"What a spoils the fun." Li Hong cursed in annoyance, and then looked at the Western Turkic cavalry, which had not yet completely fallen into panic.

But it was not until he saw smoke and dust gradually rising on both sides behind the Turkic cavalry that someone's brows slowly relaxed. At this time, the shaking of the earth naturally disturbed the Turkic cavalry.

The Khan's injury had already made their military morale unstable. Now with the Tang soldiers surrounding them from behind, the Western Turkic cavalry suddenly became distracted and the entire team became loose.

Ashina Duzhi glanced at the city wall of Qiuci City with hatred. Even at such a long distance, they could still shoot such powerful arrows. It was obvious that the other party had intentionally lured him in the previous times in order to find out his retreat direction, or to set up an ambush in the rear.

But he actually fell for it! His men had bandaged his wound with white cloth, and he had pulled the arrow out himself: "Retreat."

"Surrender quickly, Ashina Duzhi, otherwise if you are caught, I will not be so polite." Because of the thing on his mouth, Ashina Duzhi could hear the voice of the old man on the city wall very clearly, as if he was speaking not far away from him.

Ashina Duzhi had no time to pay attention to Li Hong's ridicule and provocation. Under the escort of his own soldiers, he led his troops to retreat from the side of Qiuci City.

"Open the city gates, Iron Pagoda pursue them." Li Hong looked at the Western Turkic cavalry that was already in chaos and gave a loud order.

The first two times he showed weakness was just to paralyze Ashina Duzhi. When the distance was 150 steps, he only shot at 150 steps and would not shoot at any more than one step.

When the target is at a distance of 200 steps, they will naturally only shoot at a distance of 200 steps. This plan is to allow Ashina Duzhi to conclude according to common sense that no arrow can kill a target beyond 200 steps.

The thousand cavalrymen led by Wufawutian and Quan Yi were now like a column of wolves on the grassland. There was no noise in the entire column. The silent fighting spirit and the soldiers aiming with bows and crossbows in their hands exuded a sharp and ruthless aura of iron-blooded killing, and they were quickly chasing after Ashina Duzhi's cavalry.

In terms of cavalry, the Western Turkic cavalry was naturally very powerful, but the Tang Dynasty's cavalry was not bad either. Years of war had made the Tang people adapt to life on horseback, so when they were chasing, they were not at all inferior.

In addition, Li Hong has always been protective of his own troops and likes to equip his own troops with the best equipment first, so these war horses are all top-quality war horses obtained from Tuyuhun. Whether it is endurance, physical strength, or explosive power, they have certain advantages compared to the war horses of the Western Turks.

What's more, today's war horses are all wearing iron shoes. If Li Hong can't catch up with Ashina Duzhi's war horse, then he can find a piece of tofu and think about when it is appropriate to die on it.

Li Hong, who had been reincarnated nine times and ten times, had once fought under the butcher Bai Qi. Seeing Ashina Duzhi's defeated army leading the remnants towards Wenlu, he was so excited that he wanted to mount his horse and chase them out of the city immediately.

"Your Highness, you can't do that." Xiaoxue cried out tenderly. Before he could keep an eye on it, someone rode his food coupon out of the city gate, followed closely by two hundred cavalrymen on both sides.

Li Hong ignored the shouts of the four women and two eunuchs behind him and rode madly on his horse, with the two hundred cavalrymen on both sides following him silently.

Their mission on the battlefield was simple, which was to protect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince from harm, no matter where he was. Moreover, they only obeyed the orders of Li Hong, and no one else could control them, not even Bai Chun and the others.

After a pursuit of forty or fifty miles, Ashina Duzhi had no choice but to run for his life. The two wealthy villages in the Wenlu area were naturally looted by them, and even some old people, children, women and children died tragically in their hands.

Li Hong rode on his horse with a gloomy look, looking at the small town of Wenlu, which once served as the governor's office of the Tang Dynasty. Now, it has become a ruin because of Ashina Duzhi's indiscriminate killing.

"These people should all be their tribesmen." After inspecting the small town, Li Hong muttered to himself as he looked at the many crying people.