Chapter 260 Death of Guo Xiaoke
"Qibi Heli, the deputy commander of the Kunqiu Road Army and the general of the Right Guard, will follow me to pursue Halibusibi and Nali." Ashina She'er said.
"Yes!" Qibi Heli accepted the order.
Leaving Guo Xiaoke to guard the city to guard the prisoners and appease the people of Guizi, Ashina She'er divided his troops to pursue Halibusibi and Nali.
"King! The Tang army is catching up!" A cavalryman reported to King Guizi.
"What?" King Guizi was shocked. He did not expect that the Tang army would catch up so quickly. He
thought that the Tang army was not familiar with the terrain here, and it would be difficult to catch up with him. Although he fled all the way to the west, there were more than one way to go to Western Turkestan.
They thought they could use the terrain here to shake off the pursuit of the Tang army, but who knew that the Tang army would be able to hold on to them.
It was precisely because they were unfamiliar with the environment here that Ashina She'er dispersed the more than 100,000 coalition forces to search for the whereabouts of King Guizi.
As long as a team of soldiers can find the whereabouts of King Guizi, they can contact nearby friendly forces through signals to rush over, and King Guizi will definitely be unable to escape.
"Prime Minister, what should we do now?" King Guizi Helibusi asked Nali beside him.
"Now we have no choice but to split up! And leave a team of soldiers to stop the pursuers behind, we may still have a glimmer of hope." Nali said, this is also a helpless solution.
It's better than everyone gathering together and waiting to die. If everyone escapes together, they have a bigger target and can be easily tracked by the other party.
The scattered targets are small and difficult to be discovered by the Tang army. Now is no different than when they just broke through. They need to concentrate all their strength to make a breakthrough at one point.
"Okay! This is all we can do now!" said King Helib of Qiuci.
He left a group of soldiers and horses behind, separated from Nali, and ran away for their lives. Who can escape depends on their luck.
The goddess of luck did not favor King Helibushibi, and in the end he unfortunately fell into the hands of Ashina Sheer and became a prisoner of the Tang army.
Since King Qiuci was captured, Ashina Sheer thought that the matter was over successfully and did not continue to pursue Nali. Therefore, Nali escaped.
Ashina She'er ordered his men to escort Helibusi back to Chang'an to report to Li Er, and still let Guo Xiaoke stay in the capital of Guizi to wait for the next instructions from the court.
"Although the King of Guizi has been captured alive and escorted back to the capital, the remnants of Guizi have not been completely eliminated! I decided to lead the troops out of the city and set up camp." Guo Xiaoke said to his generals.
"Yes!" The generals naturally had no meaning, but the representative of the Guizi people did not think so.
"General! Absolutely not! Now Nali is missing. If he leads the troops of the Western Turks, the capital will be in danger! Please be more cautious, general." The representative of Guizi said.
After hearing this, Guo Xiaoke said disapprovingly: "What's so special about Nali? How could the Western Turks do such a treacherous thing when they are allied with the Tang Dynasty?"
"You are really worrying too much. Can Nali be against 100,000 soldiers? I have made up my mind, no need to say more!"
Guo Xiaoke walked away after saying this, and took his troops out of the city to set up camp, not taking Nali seriously at all.
Nali has been the prime minister of Guizi for so many years, how could he not have his own confidants in the Guizi army.
As long as he invites reinforcements from the Western Turks and unites with the surrendered troops in the city, it will be easy to take back the capital.
Moreover, Guo Xiaoke believed that the Western Turks did not dare to break off relations with the Tang Dynasty, but he did not know that Chebi Khan had been making small moves in secret.
On the surface, they were on good terms with the Li Tang Dynasty, but secretly, they were at loggerheads, and would not give in at all in terms of interests.
At night, Nali appeared near the capital with 10,000 reinforcements from the Western Turks, and quietly sneaked into the city to contact the leader of the surrendered army in the city, Biao Li.
Biao Li agreed to cooperate with Nali to attack Guo Xiaoke's troops. That night, Biao Li and others made a loud noise in the city.
Guo Xiaoke then noticed something, so he led more than a thousand of his troops into the city to fight with the enemy.
The surrendered soldiers in the city responded to Nali's call and attacked the Tang army, firing arrows at the same time. Guo Xiaoke led the Tang army in a desperate battle.
The city was ablaze with flames, and shouts of killing echoed in the quiet night.
Outside the city, the Western Turkic army looked at the war-torn city of Guizi in front of them, motionless.
A cavalryman came running, stopped in front of the commander of the Western Turkic cavalry and said, "General, Nali asked us to send troops quickly to wipe out the Tang army together, they can't hold on any longer!"
Although Guo Xiaoke only had a few thousand soldiers, he was more than enough to suppress the surrendered troops in the city, and the surrendered troops of Guizi were no match for him.
If the Western Turkic army did not take action, Nali's rebellion would be completely suppressed, and by then, it would be useless for the Western Turkic army to send more troops.
The Western Turkic general did not delay and directly ordered an attack. Ten thousand Western Turkic cavalrymen attacked Guo Xiaoke's troops.
Guo Xiaoke was immediately shocked when he learned that the Western Turkic army was attacking. He immediately ordered to retreat from the city, but he was shot and killed at the west gate.
The capital of Guizi fell and fell into the hands of Nali. Ashina She'er ordered General Cao Jishu to send troops to capture Huancheng. Cao Jishu regained control of the capital of Guizi from Nali. Ashina
She'er wrote a battle report on the situation and sent it to Chang'an at full speed. It arrived in Chang'an a few days later.
Ashina She'er stayed and continued to fight the Western Turkic and Guizi coalition forces and clean up the aftermath.
Ashina She'er then conquered five more large cities, and more than 700 cities acceded to the Tang Dynasty, gaining tens of thousands of people. It was not until the 22nd year of Zhenguan that Ashina She'er finally pacified Guize.
Finally, Ashina She'er made Guize's brother Yehu the new Guize King, and after engraving his merits on a stone, he returned to Chang'an.
In Chang'an, Li Er and his ministers were discussing matters in the Taiji Hall when they received the battle report from Ashina She'er.
"It's simply his own fault!" Li Er was furious after reading the battle report.
Everyone didn't understand what was going on. Zhangsun Wuji asked, "Your Majesty! What happened to the army that was attacking Guizi?" "
Guo Xiaoke acted on his own will, refused to listen to advice, was arrogant and conceited, and was not vigilant. In the end, he was shot and killed by the enemy army, and even his eldest son Guo Daizhao died in the battle." Li Er was indignant and told the ministers about the matter.
Everyone was speechless about this matter. Guo Xiaoke was looking for death, and it was really his own fault. He could not blame others.
"Issue an imperial decree! Strip Guo Xiaoke of all his official positions, but considering that he died on the battlefield for the Tang Dynasty, I cannot let the soldiers feel disheartened. Hold a memorial for him!" Li Er said.
Although Guo Xiaoke was wrong, he also received the punishment he deserved. After all, he died on the battlefield for the Tang Dynasty, so it was not excessive to hold a funeral for him.
Later, after Li Chengqian ascended the throne, he posthumously awarded Guo Xiaoke the title of Anxi Duhu and Yangzhai County Duke.