The only goal was not to capture cities and territories, but to annihilate the enemy's vitality. This was Li Hong's only goal after entering Tubo.
The pursuit was relentless, the fight must be fought to annihilate, the force was as fierce as a tiger, the speed was as fast as the wind, the strong sensory difference between movement and stillness made Nie Chizan dizzy, and before he could react, bursts of arrows were shot out mercilessly from the night.
The black armor was shrouded in layers of murderous intent, which had surrounded his two flanks before the rain of arrows subsided. If he wanted to retreat, he could only go back the same way.
But only then did he realize that the trench that was easily crossed when they came had become an insurmountable chasm due to the panic of the troops.
Black armor, short war horses, and bright blades seemed to descend from the sky like gods and demons. The huge horse lances were deadly and soul-steeding, like a string of candied haws, enough to take the lives of several soldiers at a time.
Nie Chizan's pupils were shrinking drastically. He encountered an enemy as cruel as the wind. The cruel and ruthless momentum and fierce and brave killing had instantly defeated the troops that he had always been proud of.
Before his messenger could beat the gong to retreat, the troops on the right flank had already begun to scatter, and they began to flee in all directions, crying and shouting, all over the mountains and plains.
Li Zhi was in the Penglai Palace in the Daming Palace, with red feather secret letters in his hand one after another.
Among them were those submitted by Pei Xingjian, as well as those submitted by Xue Rengui, Heichi Changzhi, Yuan Shuji and others.
...
...
What he was most concerned about, of course, was the movements of that little bastard Li Hong, who had already deployed his troops under the city of Zedang in Tubo.
Yuan Shuji and Pei Xingjian are attacking Dafeichuan at the same time!
Xue Rengui moved his troops to Khotan City, Heichi Changzhi guarded Shule City in the Western Regions, and Wang Fangyi rushed to support the Persian Governor's Office.
The gates of Yumen Pass are wide open!
The memorial from the Ministry of War was quickly submitted, and the Grand Protector of Anxi Protectorate and the Deputy Protector Pei Xingjian jointly requested that Li Jingxuan be appointed as the commander of Yumen Pass.
Wu Mei has been in a bad mood these days and has had several quarrels with Li Zhi. The reason for the quarrel is naturally inseparable from Li Hong, who is now turning the world around in Tubo like the wind.
Not only did he lead 20,000 troops into the territory of Tubo, but he also stationed troops outside the city, ready to fight against the enemy.
Li Zhi ignored Wu Mei's whining, knowing that she was worried about that little bastard Li Hong.
But how could he not be worried? After the little bastard went to the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty's control over the Anxi Protectorate had completely lost its effectiveness.
Because of his and the queen's indulgence, all matters, big and small, became decided by Li Hong alone.
Now that one of them was not watched carefully, the man ran away to Tibet and went crazy.
Wencheng himself wrote the letter, but was still refuted by Wu Mei.
"In this way, wouldn't it be announced to Tubo that it was the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty who led the cavalry into Tubo? Can Li Hong come back safely?" Wu Mei's face turned pale and she snorted coldly.
"I have my own decision. In this way, even if Li Hong is defeated in Tubo, at least his life can be saved." Li Zhi also groaned.
At the feet of the two men were kneeling eunuchs and palace maids of all sizes, even though the ancestor from the Western Regions had been gone for several years.
But the Majesty and the Queen in the palace quarreled even more fiercely because of him.
When our ancestors were alive, no matter whether Your Majesty or the Queen was in a bad mood, or when they quarreled because of our ancestors, the situation was not as tense as it is today.
Wu Mei's face turned pale, and she continued to hum, "As the emperor, you should not allow him to leave the Anxi Protectorate. Now that he is in Tubo, you should send more troops to help Li Hong."
Li Zhi looked at her speechlessly, bit his lip, and finally said: "The Tang army is not good at fighting against Tubo, and there has been peace for many years. When Tuyuhun was invaded, I did not help Nuohebo to restore his country because of this. Sending more troops now is already too much to put out a nearby fire."
Wu Mei also stood up and waved her sleeves, frightening the palace maids and eunuchs. Her jade-white brows knitted tightly as she looked at the tree at the door and said slowly, "Saving Li Hong is secondary. I am only afraid that Li Hong will be defeated, and Tubo will use this as an excuse to send troops to the Western Regions."
Wu Mei turned around and looked at Li Zhi with her bright and beautiful eyes. She continued calmly, "Pei Xingjian and Yuan Shuji are now stationed in Dafeichuan, just to put pressure on Tubo and attract Tubo's troops, so that Tubo will be stretched thin. But if Pei Xingjian and Yuan Shuji cannot take Dafeichuan, then Li Hong will give the Tubo troops in the Pamirs an excuse to send troops to the Western Regions. The first to be hit will naturally be Yutian City. Xue Rengui is brave but lacks strategy. It is easy for the Tubo soldiers to lure him into Tubo territory under the guise of Li Hong and then annihilate him while he is guarding Yutian."
Li Zhi looked at Wu Mei in astonishment, but a huge wave of emotion was surging in his heart.
He knew better than anyone whether Li Hong was Wu Mei's beloved one. But the Queen's words now seemed to indicate that she was planning to give up on Li Hong and retreat to the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate to prevent a counterattack from Tubo.
"How are you going to deal with Li Hong?" Li Zhi asked in a muffled voice.
Wu Mei sighed deeply, turned around slowly and walked to the entrance of Penglai Palace, looked at the tree that had grown for more than ten years and was still growing well, and whispered: "As the prince of the Tang Dynasty, he entered the Tubo territory alone. His courage is commendable, but he was too impulsive and not enough to accomplish great things. Similarly, as the prince of the Tang Dynasty, he should be aware of the dignity of the Tang Dynasty! The majestic power of the Tang Dynasty cannot be destroyed! In any case, he, Li Hong, has no choice but to flatten Tubo or die in battle in Tubo. This is justice!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Wu Mei turned around and looked at Li Zhi, saying word by word: "The crown prince of the Tang Dynasty should be as upright as the Tang Dynasty. If he is captured and sent back, he will become a joke of the world! And our Tang Dynasty will also be laughed at. How can our Tang Dynasty make all the countries in the world submit to us!"
Li Zhi raised his head to the sky and sighed. With the help of the palace maid, he slowly sat down on the chair and closed his eyes to rest. After a long while, he slowly said, "Summon Liu Rengui, Ren Yaxiang, Pei Yan, Cen Changqian, Zhang Wenguan, and Zhao Renben to the palace and wait in Yanying Hall."
The Purple Palace is the third largest main hall in Daming Palace. To the west of the main hall is the Yanying Hall, where the emperor's daily activities take place. Similarly, the Purple Palace is also the bedroom of the Tang emperor.
Li Zhi sat for a long time, and when he was no longer dizzy, he slowly stood up and said, "I believe Hong'er can give me a surprise, just like everything he has done in these years. This time he is advancing into Tubo alone, I think he will have a perfect plan. With his personality, most of his actions are calculated. Yuan Shuji and Pei Xingjian immediately deployed their troops in Dafeichuan after Li Hong entered Tubo. This memorial also shows that the mobilization of troops in the entire Western Regions was instructed by Li Hong before, I think there will be no major incidents."
Just as the voice fell, the urgent voice of Hong Ling sounded again outside: "Your Highness, Hong Ling is urgently playing."
"Show it up."
"Present it quickly."
Wu Mei and Li Zhi's expressions tensed, with a hint of worry and eagerness on their faces. They naturally hoped that it was good news of a great victory, but they were also worried that it was the little bastard's life-saving call.
Wu Mei took two steps at a time and took the urgent memorial from Yang Wu before Li Zhi could. She took a look at the handwriting on it, handed it to Li Zhi, and sat down with a relaxed expression.
Li Zhi looked at her strangely, took the memorial, and tore it open quickly, only to see that it was Li Hong's handwritten letter.
"When was the last time that little bastard wrote a memorial? He only remembers to submit one now. I will definitely teach him a lesson when he comes back." Li Zhi said to himself as he read the letter.
As I read the memorial paper more, I began to relax.
"The fate of Tubo cannot be decided by a single battle today. From the king to the common people, everyone has god-like worship and loyalty to the previous king, Songtsen Gampo, and the current Mangsong Mangtsen. It will be difficult to shake them in a short period of time. Tubo is like the rising sun. Now the country is stable, the ruler and his subjects are in harmony, and the people are not rich, but they have enough to survive. In recent years, Tubo has had bumper harvests year after year, and with the advanced industries brought by Aunt Wencheng, Tubo is now thriving."
"Why is this little bastard praising others?" Li Zhi frowned and said in dissatisfaction as he listened to Wu Mei's recitation.
Wu Mei ignored his little emotion and continued to read: "It is not my son's intention to advance into Tubo today, but I have noticed that Tubo has long planned to attack the twelve states under the jurisdiction of my Great Tang Dynasty, so I decided to take the initiative to keep the war away from my Great Tang territory and force the war to take place in other countries to ensure peace for the people of my Great Tang. Only in this way can I live up to my father's majesty and my mother's kindness to the people. By the way, my son's order is nothing compared to the prosperity of the Great Tang Dynasty and the peace of the people."
When Wu Mei's flawless eyebrows were as white as jade, they immediately began to be covered with black lines. She gritted her teeth and said, "Li Hong will definitely talk nonsense again in the following words. I don't want to be angry with him. Your Majesty, please read it."
Wu Mei tried her best to calm herself. The little bastard had been using this trick since he was a child, but what he said afterwards was simply nonsense.
As Wu Mei guessed, Li Zhi picked up the letter and read it, "Although my three-year term in Anxi has expired, I am willing to defend the border for the Tang Dynasty until the threat posed by Tubo and the White Arabs to the Tang Dynasty is weakened. Only then will I have the face to return to Chang'an and serve my father and mother. My behavior may be unfilial, but my heart is filial, so... how about extending my return to Chang'an for another year? What's more, I am now in Tubo, fighting fiercely with the Tubo soldiers, and cannot withdraw. If I retreat forcefully, not only will the morale of my Tang soldiers drop greatly, but Tubo will also think that the emperor and empress of the Tang Dynasty are easy to bully. So I will go in and out of Tubo no matter what. I will not say anymore. The Tubo soldiers are coming again. I have to fight, woo woo woo..."
After Li Zhi finished reading with a hoarse voice, he said with a slightly distorted tone: "You little bastard, did you write this whole passage just to stay in Anxi for another year? What does that last woooo mean?"
“……” Wu Mei had a headache and didn’t know how to explain.
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