Chapter 190: The troops are at the gates

After lunch, Bazhuo assembled his troops and marched towards Wantong City.

The main attack this time was led by the army formed by the Uighurs and other large tribes. They would serve as the first echelon to attack Wantong City.

The second echelon was composed of soldiers from various small tribes, and they would follow the first echelon to attack Wantong City.

Bazhuo and his 20,000 troops would retreat as the last echelon, and when the front troops were almost finished, they would advance.

Bazhuo also sent people back to recruit another 200,000 troops.

Bazhuo led 80,000 troops and marched to the gates of Wantong City.

Li Chengqian and others hurriedly climbed to the top of the city wall and looked into the distance, with a dark pressure in front of them.

"Your Highness! It's dangerous here! You'd better not stay here. I'm here. Your Highness should go back to the Governor's Mansion and wait for good news." Tian Renhui advised Li Chengqian, who was still watching from the top of the city, to go back.

"Then why are you here instead of waiting for good news in the Governor's Mansion?" Li Chengqian asked without turning his head.

"It is my duty to defend the land and the border. Now that the enemy is pressing, as a general, I should stick to it, defend the land against the enemy." Tian Renhui said.

"Yes! Your Highness! You are worth a lot of money, how can you take risks? As the saying goes: A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall! How can you just sit there and watch!"

"Please leave this place quickly and return to the Governor's Mansion. That's the best policy." Liu Lan, the governor of Xiazhou, also advised.

"That's right! Your Highness! When the two sides are fighting, swords and knives have no eyes. If Your Highness is injured, it will be our fault for not protecting the emperor. I beg Your Highness to return to the Governor's Mansion." Zhishi Sili also joined in persuading him.

"Alright! The battle hasn't started yet! I, Li Chengqian, am the crown prince! If I go back like this without doing anything, people who don't know me will think I'm afraid of Ba Zhuo."

"My Tang Dynasty is afraid of Xueyantuo. We fled before the battle. If the soldiers knew about it, how could they be encouraged to fight bravely against the enemy?"

"You have all been generals for many years. You should understand these principles without me telling you. Your father was able to lead the army to conquer Goguryeo."

"Don't I even have the courage to stand here and face the enemy? I want to see what Ba Zhuo looks like." Li Chengqian waved his hand.

Since ancient times, leading troops in person can boost morale and make soldiers fight harder.

Even a high-ranking figure like the emperor went to the battlefield to defend his homeland, so why shouldn't they fight bravely?

Although Li Chengqian was not the emperor, he was the prince, and in a sense, he was leading troops in person.

As long as he stood on the top of the city, he could boost morale and make the Tang army more motivated.

On the contrary, if he, as the prince, fled in panic when he saw the enemy appear, it would definitely hit the morale.

Once morale is low, who will fight bravely? At that time, Wantong City will be in danger, and may even be broken by the Xueyantuo army.

Therefore, Li Chengqian will not leave the front line and retreat to the rear unless it is absolutely necessary.

The purpose of his visit this time is to use this opportunity to train the soldiers of the East Palace.

Although Wantong City is said to have 30,000 soldiers and horses, in fact, there are only more than 10,000 soldiers who can fight. The rest are just auxiliary soldiers who are responsible for public security and miscellaneous affairs on weekdays.

Although they are not good at fighting, they have no problem defending the city.

The Xueyantuo army kept a safe distance from Wantong City. The army stopped advancing, but was ready to attack Wantong City as soon as Ba Zhuo gave the order.

Bazhuo was riding on a warhorse, looking at Li Chengqian and others on Wantong City. Due to the distance, he could not see clearly who was standing on the top of the city.

However, Bazhuo could see clearly the dragon flag representing Li Chengqian's status as the crown prince.

Bazhuo held the reins in one hand and the whip in the other, pointing at Wantong City and said to Mengjitai beside him: "It seems that this Tang Dynasty crown prince is also a brave man. Seeing my army coming, he dared to stand on the top of the city."

"Khan! How do you know that the person standing on Wantong City is the Tang Dynasty crown prince? Could it be that Khan knows the Tang Dynasty crown prince?" Mengjitai asked in confusion.

At such a long distance, he could only see the figure of the person on Wantong City, and had no way to see the other person's appearance. What's more, they don't know what the prince of the Tang Dynasty

looks like. Even if he stands in front of them, they don't know who he is. Khan! How can you tell at a glance that the prince of the Tang Dynasty is standing on Wantong City? "Hahaha!" Bazhuo laughed and said, "Of course I don't know the prince of the Tang Dynasty. Even if I do, I can't see him clearly from such a distance." "I know that the prince is on the top of the city through the dragon flag on Wantong City that represents the royal family of the Tang Dynasty." "This style of dragon flag can only be used by the emperor and the crown prince in the Tang Dynasty. Others are not qualified to use such a battle flag." After listening to Bazhuo's words, Mengjitai suddenly realized it! So that's the case, I was thinking! The Khan had never left Mobei, let alone Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty. How could he know what the prince of the Tang Dynasty looked like? "Alright! Send someone to call for the people in Wantong City to open the city and surrender. Otherwise, after our army breaks through Wantong City, we will not stop fighting for three days and will definitely slaughter all the living creatures in Wantong City." Ba Zhuo ordered. "Yes, sir!" The scout took the order and went, passing through the army, and came to the city of Wantong City. He shouted loudly to the city and conveyed Ba Zhuo's intention to the people in the city. "A group of insignificant little idiots dare to bark in front of me. They really overestimate their own abilities." "Fang Yi, shoot this man for me, so that his dirty words will not pollute my ears." Li Chengqian stretched out his hand to the Xueyantuo scout who was shouting under the city, and said to Wang Fangyi. Among these people, Wang Fangyi was the best archer. "Yes!" Wang Fangyi received the order and shouted, "Bring the bow and arrow." An East Palace guard immediately handed a precious bow to Wang Fangyi. Wang Fangyi drew the bow and aimed at the Xueyantuo scout who was still shouting and unaware of the danger. His hand loosened, and the arrow shot out with a whoosh, passing directly through the scout's mouth, and the sound stopped abruptly. The scout's body fell directly from the horse's back to the ground, his eyes were wide open, and it was obvious that he died with his eyes open. "Good!" Immediately, cheers rang out from the top of the city. Wang Fangyi's arrow raised the morale of the soldiers a little.

Bazhuo, who was far away, fell with the scout, and a trace of anger rose in his heart. The other party's behavior was clearly a provocation to him, the Khan.

"Damn it! How dare you shoot and kill the Khan's messenger? Pass the order and immediately launch an attack on Wantong City!" Bazhuo whipped his horse forward, showing his anger.

"Yes! Khan!" Mengjitai saluted and said, "Sound the horn, charge!"