Chapter 650 When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.
Just as the wolf-faced prince was about to lead his men away from the battlefield, the white-clad man standing on the earthen slope, facing the wind carrying a strong stench of blood, and quietly watching the carnage before him, raised his hand.
"Stop them!"
"yes!"
At his command, the soldiers behind him, who had been itching for a good fight, were filled with murderous intent. They roared and charged down the earthen slope, their thunderous hoofbeats echoing as they plunged into the ranks of the Western Turks.
Although the Western Turkic soldiers were brave, they had already experienced a fierce battle, and even though it was an almost overwhelming victory, their physical strength was greatly depleted.
At this moment, the sudden appearance of the troops had already disturbed their minds. In addition, these people were as fierce as tigers and charged in suddenly, which made them even more helpless. Even the invincible heavy cavalry panicked at this moment and hurriedly followed the wolf-faced prince to the west-facing path. They heard screams coming from behind them.
The archers on the earthen slope, still dressed in dark blue, who had previously ambushed them, were now drawing their bows and firing arrows at the retreating Western Turkic soldiers.
Immediately, a volley of arrows rained down.
The wind whistled, and many people screamed as they fell to the ground, wounded by arrows. The cavalry that followed seized the opportunity to charge forward, and in the ensuing flurry of swords and spears, many were cut down, adding another layer of crimson to the already blood-stained grassland.
On the other side, the group of men who had already been ravaged by the Western Turkic cavalry and were powerless to fight back were now in a panic. Without understanding what was happening, they immediately retreated, leaving behind countless corpses and wounded soldiers who were still screaming in agony. They were about to retreat from the mountain pass at the foot of the mountain where they had come from.
Just then, a rider suddenly rushed out of the woods and came to the side of the man in white.
"Crane Heart!"
The man on horseback slowly turned his head and glanced at the woman who walked up to him. She was beautiful and even somewhat domineering.
This person is Yu Mingyue, who is accompanying the army on this expedition.
The person she was urgently calling for was Yuwen Qian, the Prince of Han, of the newly established Dasheng Dynasty.
They marched north from the western front, originally intending to cross the Zhiguan Pass, first strike Taiyuan directly, then hold the city and defend it against the Western Turkic reinforcements sent from Jingxing Pass, and the troops that were about to enter the Taihang Mountains from the Zhiguan Pass.
However, that very night, Yuwen Qian received a set of clothes.
Although he didn't know who sent it, it was a dark blue military uniform that he was very familiar with. It had been used by the Daye Dynasty but was no longer used by the Dasheng Dynasty.
The soldiers under his command, including the troops led by Yuwen Ye this time, all wore khaki uniforms. This was because after Yuwen Yuan ascended the throne, in order to conform to the earth element revered by the Great Sheng Dynasty and to change the beliefs of the soldiers, he ordered the uniforms to be changed to khaki. However, due to the urgency of the situation, and even before he ascended the throne, he had already decided to send troops to Taiyuan. There was no time to alter the tens of thousands of sets of clothes, so he had them temporarily covered with a layer of yellow fabric.
However, the lining of their uniforms was still dark blue.
This point also served as a reminder to Yuwen Qian.
This garment, sent by an unknown sender, was telling him that the force entering Taihang from Zhiguan Pass was not Liang Shide's army, the one that had captured Luoyang, the eastern capital, as they had previously anticipated. Liang's soldiers wore red uniforms, and the fact that they were still using this dark blue uniform and heading towards Taihang meant there was only one type of person—
The former subordinates of the Daye Dynasty.
Yuwen Qian speculated that this force was likely a split of the Wang brothers' troops. One group conspired with the Western Turks to take Taiyuan, while the other group slowed down their advance. Taiyuan was the birthplace of Yuwen Yuan, and the Great Sheng Dynasty would definitely send people to reclaim it. By entering through Zhiguan Pass, they could launch a pincer attack on the Yuwen family's forces sent to attack Taiyuan from the rear.
This situation is practically a dead end.
But, only—almost.
Yuwen Qian looked at the dark blue military uniform that had been sent by someone, then glanced at the clothes worn by the soldiers around him, and immediately devised a plan.
He still ignored the troops coming from outside Zhiguan Pass, and instead broke camp overnight. He traveled day and night for several days and finally arrived in Shouyang County before the Western Turkic reinforcements reached him.
Then he ordered his soldiers to turn their clothes inside out.
Although these clothes had an outer layer of earth-yellow fabric to distinguish them from the old-style military uniforms, the inner lining was still dark blue. So, at first glance, they still looked like soldiers from the Daye Dynasty.
So, they timed it perfectly and sent archers dressed inside out to ambush the Western Turks in the grasslands of Shouyang, luring them into the fir forest. However, before that, they had already laid an ambush in the ditches on both sides of the forest. After the archers led the Western Turks into the forest, they immediately retreated to both sides. The Western Turks rushed straight out of the forest and happened to meet Wang Shao and his troops, who had entered through Zhiguan Pass and were heading north to reach Taiyuan.
And they were, coincidentally, still wearing those dark blue military uniforms!
Thus, they met on a narrow path!
However, he did not expect that the prince wearing the wolf head mask would not be blinded by passion. Even after seeing Wang Shaoji's men rushing out from the mountain pass at the foot of the two mountains, he still refused to attack immediately. Fortunately, Yuwen Qian ordered his archers to shoot an arrow in time, hitting Wang Shaoji's men and letting them make the first move.
As a result, the two sides could no longer control themselves and charged into battle.
By the time they realized something was wrong, both sides had already suffered heavy losses, especially Wang Shaoji's troops, who were charged by the heavy cavalry of the Western Turks and killed many of their own. At this moment, Yuwen Qian led his cavalry, which he had prepared in advance, and charged forward.
When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman profits.
But at this moment, Yu Mingyue suddenly appeared.
Her horsemanship was taught by Yuwen Qian and was no worse than that of the soldiers charging below. However, at this moment, perhaps due to nervousness and fear, she spurred her horse erratically and almost tumbled off the earthen slope.
Fortunately, Yuwen Qian reacted quickly, pulling on the reins and using his own horse to block hers, thus preventing a mistake.
Even so, Yu Mingyue rushed to the edge of the earthen slope. Her already somewhat panicked expression turned even paler when she looked over Yuwen Qian's shoulder and saw the bloody battlefield below the slope. Even her usually sharp eyes trembled slightly.
After uttering the name "He Xin," her voice choked up.
Looking at her like this, Yuwen Qian frowned slightly, as if he understood.
Throughout the journey, all they talked about and thought about was the war. Yu Mingyue showed an unprecedented fervor for the Battle of Taiyuan, even more so than for the previous Battle of Fufeng.
But—no matter how you look at it, the word "war" is vague. There are no mountains of corpses and seas of blood before your eyes, no shrill screams of people being hacked to pieces, no tangible smell of blood in the air. It makes you feel that war is an easy and casual thing.
But witnessing it firsthand is a completely different story.
Just now, he had noticed that Yu Mingyue's face was pale and that she began to tremble involuntarily when she smelled the first trace of blood. Therefore, Yuwen Qian had people protect her and keep her hidden in the ditch they had been hiding in before. However, he did not expect that she would still rush up on her own. The tragic scene on the battlefield had indeed shocked her.
Seeing her like this, Yuwen Qian's eyes flickered slightly, and the boiling emotion he had just felt cooled down. He said, "You should retreat to the back first. It's dangerous here."
"...!"
His calm voice seemed to soothe the flustered Yu Mingyue.
Yu Mingyue looked up at him, especially at his clear, bright eyes, which seemed like a ray of sunshine in a scene of carnage and corpses. Yu Mingyue immediately calmed down.
Immediately, her brow furrowed.
She took a deep breath, quickly reined in her equally flustered horse, took two steps back, and then looked at Yuwen Qian, who was blocking her way: "Didn't we already decide that this battle would mainly target Wang Shao and his men? What are you doing now—"
Just as she was speaking, their troops had already scattered the retreating Western Turks. In addition, the wolf-faced prince who was leading them had retreated to the eastward path. The troops behind them could not put up any decent resistance and were slaughtered all the way. In addition, the archers on the earthen slopes shot down a dense rain of arrows, causing countless deaths and injuries.
On the other hand, Wang Shaoji's troops, who had long been defeated by the Western Turks and were powerless to fight back, were now retreating in a panic while the two groups were engaged in a battle and had no time to look after themselves.
Seeing this, Yu Mingyue's brows furrowed even more.
She said in a deep voice, "Let the Western Turks leave. We need to deal with Wang Shaoji!"
Yuwen Qian's eyes narrowed slightly.
If Yuwen Ye were to make this gesture, it would be extremely dangerous and convey a very imposing expression. However, Yuwen Ye turned his head away, not looking at anyone, so no one saw him make that expression. After making that expression, he quickly turned his head back and calmly said, "The Western Turks are also our enemies."
"..."
"In the current situation, we have no way to cross this battlefield to pursue Wang Shaoji's forces; moreover, if we really take a detour, the Western Turks will be right behind us."
"..."
"What if they turn around and chase us? Wouldn't we be caught in a pincer movement?"
What he said makes sense.
But Yu Mingyue clearly didn't want to pay attention. Watching their troops relentlessly pursue the Western Turkic cavalry, her expression grew even more serious. She said, "No matter what, we can't keep chasing the Western Turks. Come back quickly, lest we disrupt things—"
Her voice suddenly stopped at this point.
"...?"
Yuwen Qian's already slightly furrowed brows now showed even deeper wrinkles. He looked at Yu Mingyue and said with a complicated expression, "Mingyue, you seem to really not want us to face this Western Turkic army."
"..."
"Why?"
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