Li Jue also felt that the war was becoming increasingly difficult.
The people of the grasslands are inherently brave and fearless. If their equipment deficiencies are addressed, in this era of sword-to-sword melee, killing them would be quite difficult.
Therefore, after scattering the Xueyantuo cavalry in front of him, Li Jue led several thousand men and fled towards Xia Prefecture.
However, after only a few days of running, they were overtaken by the Xueyantuo cavalry. When Li Jue saw that the enemy's numbers were almost five times his own, he knew that this battle was inevitable and he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.
"Brothers, our lives depend on this!"
"If we don't kill these bastards, we'll have to return all the cattle, sheep, and women we've stolen!"
Upon hearing this, the Xiazhou soldiers' eyes turned red. They had been poor for so many years and were terrified of poverty. Now, hearing that their cattle, sheep, and women would be returned, they all roared and wanted to kill the enemy.
Seeing that the morale of his troops was high, Li Jue immediately deployed his troops in a goose-shaped formation to meet the incoming enemy.
The Xueyantuo cavalry were also extremely fierce, for no other reason than that Li Jue and his men had robbed them of their women and livestock.
If they can't get these back, they might not even last ten days, let alone this winter.
Therefore, it exhibited its highest intensity after the war began.
On one side were the poor wretches of the Tang Dynasty, and on the other side were the beggars of the Xueyantuo.
The two sides engaged in a life-or-death struggle on the grassland.
Li Jue stood at the rear of the army, not because he was afraid of death, but because as the commander-in-chief, he had to keep a close eye on everything and give the thousands of men under his command the most accurate guidance.
Overall, the losses on the Tang side were not too great; the casualty ratio was roughly one to five.
Although this casualty ratio was considered a good result even in the Tang Dynasty, it was still not satisfactory for Li Jue.
Because if this continues, all of his thousands of men will perish here!
But now it's very difficult to escape. The Xueyantuo people are really fighting with all their might. If their knives break, they bite with their teeth. Even if they can't bite through the armor of the Tang soldiers, they will still try to take a bite out of places like the ears.
Just as the two sides were locked in a stalemate, a rapid drumbeat came from afar.
Upon hearing the drumbeats, Li Jue knew that they were the marching drums of the Tang Dynasty!
"Tang army?"
"Brothers, our reinforcements have arrived!"
The Tang soldiers who were fighting on the battlefield were stunned when they heard this, wondering when they would receive reinforcements.
Although the crowd was not entirely convinced, when they saw the Tang army's banners coming towards them, they were still filled with fervor and roared as they fought desperately against the Xueyantuo.
In contrast, the morale of the Xueyantuo forces plummeted. Seeing that they could gain no advantage, their commander, Yebuhua, immediately led all his mobile forces to retreat and then look for an opportunity to break out.
It was too late for them to leave now; Li Jing's 30,000-strong army had already blocked their retreat.
Left with no other choice, Yebuhua led his few thousand remaining troops northward, only managing to escape the Tang army's pursuit when they reached the endless desert.
Li Jing arrived by carriage, not to show off, but because his legs simply couldn't withstand the jolting of the warhorse.
However, in Li Jue's opinion, the bumpy road on the grassland was not necessarily comfortable to travel by car.
"Master Li!"
Li Jing, seeing Li Jue whom he hadn't seen for a long time, excitedly stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
"Good boy!"
"You did a great job, you've really shown the might of our Great Tang Dynasty!"
Li Jue smiled shyly upon hearing this.
"Master Li, the results could have been even greater, but the Xueyantuo's weapons and armor improved too quickly, causing me considerable trouble..."
Li Jing smiled indifferently upon hearing this.
"This is normal."
"Goguryeo was destroyed, but the Goguryeo nobles were not all wiped out. They would naturally collude with the Xueyantuo to plot the restoration of the kingdom."
"But your grandfather and I are already very pleased that you were able to perform like this!"
"By the way, have all the prisoners been taken back?"
Li Jue nodded upon hearing this.
"Yes, I've already had General Zhishi Sili take it back. It should be arriving in Xiazhou City soon."
Upon hearing this, Li Jing laughed heartily, then put his arm around Li Jue's shoulder.
"Don't go back to Xia Prefecture, come back to Shuo Prefecture with me."
Li Jue snorted coldly upon hearing this.
"I'm not going!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jing chuckled strangely.
"You don't know, your grandfather is in Shuozhou..."
Li Jue was still unhappy upon hearing this.
"I know!"
"Uncle Jiu has caused such a huge disaster, His Majesty will definitely have to personally lead the expedition!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jing immediately understood that the little fellow was still angry with His Majesty.
“Li Jue, don’t be angry with your grandfather. He’s actually protecting you and doesn’t want you to get involved in the court struggles.”
"oh?"
Li Jue had also thought about these things, but he couldn't understand why throwing him into hard labor at the imperial mausoleum would protect him.
Seeing that Li Jue was listening attentively, Li Jing immediately gave him a thorough explanation.
You don't understand!
“Back then, your father never intended to rebel, and your fourth uncle never thought of fighting for anything.”
"But since they were both in Chang'an, there were naturally ministers who would fight for them and rebel on their behalf..."
“Take your father for example. He doesn’t want to rebel, but Du Ruhui’s son Du He, Hou Junji and others are not. They are eager to become his loyal subjects.”
"And then there's your fourth uncle. He was a good kid when he was young and never even thought about vying for the position of crown prince. But he was too favored and had such a good reputation that a group of people naturally gathered around him."
"For example, Fang Xuanling's youngest son, Fang Yi'ai..."
"If you stay in Chang'an, you will gather a group of people like this around you!"
"In fact, such prototypes already exist around you. For example, Li Yifu, Lu Zhaolin, Su Dingfang, and others."
"If your grandfather hadn't called Xue Rengui away, Xue Rengui would have made you into someone like your grandfather, clearing all obstacles for you!"
"this……"
Li Jue lowered his head and thought about it; the people around him really might be the case.
Xue Rengui was all muscle and no brains. If he had Xue Rengui by my side, he could really become the next Yuchi Jingde.
As for Li Yifu...
This kid is a born bad seed, full of wicked schemes.
Relatively speaking, Lu Zhaolin was a bit better; he was just a slightly cunning child.
Su Dingfang...
This is a promising future general, whose achievements are second only to Li Jing.
With such a group of people assisting him, he could easily pull off a simplified version of the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
Seeing that Li Jue had taken his words to heart, Li Jing smiled slightly.
"I haven't finished speaking yet..."
"If you include me, your Master Yuchi, and Master Cheng Zhijie, do you think your strength is terrifying?"
"ah?"
Li Jue was stunned upon hearing this and looked at Li Jing with some confusion.
"Master Li, you're not trying to scare me, are you?"
"I've always considered you and Master Yuchi as my grandfather's people, and I never expected you to help me..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
