The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 804: Surrounded on All Sides
Cheng Yaojin smiled bitterly. There was another meaning he didn't tell Xue Rengui. Tomorrow Ashina Simo would attack Eyangling, and it was too late to ask for instructions from the court. Marshal Li Jing, who was on the way, would not be able to catch up.

He can only rely on his own judgment on what to choose this time.

If he missed this opportunity to annihilate Jie Li's strongest force, and the court knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had made arrangements in advance, he would probably be despised by all the civil and military officials in the court, who would think that he had no courage and dared not make decisions.

He can't seize the opportunity when it comes, and he can't even be taught step by step. He is a mediocre person.

The most important thing is that if I disobey the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I am afraid that the Crown Prince will never accept me again in the future.

Xue Rengui didn't have so many thoughts about gains and losses: "If we follow the deputy commander's judgment, what are the chances of success of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's plan?"

"At least 60% or more."

"If we mobilize the army overnight, and Jie Li discovers this and attacks from other directions, what are the chances that our army will suffer a disastrous defeat?"

Cheng Yaojin was stunned for a moment, then thought about it carefully: "Less than 30%."

"In that case, then the deputy commander should not hesitate. With a 60% chance of winning and a 30% chance of failing, no matter how you look at it, our chances are greater. Besides, this is the intelligence that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince obtained for us at the risk of his life as a hostage to Xueyantuo. If we miss it, we will be sinners of the Tang Dynasty."

Cheng Yaojin was embarrassed: "But, what if..."

At this moment, Xue Rengui suddenly remembered the words Li Yan had solemnly told him before they parted, and then looked at the current situation.

Suddenly he said, "Oh, deputy commander, I suddenly remembered that when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said goodbye to me, he looked particularly solemn and told me to deploy the troops according to the military intelligence. If there is any mistake, he will bear all the consequences."

"Oh, is there such a thing?" Cheng Yaojin was greatly excited.

Xue Rengui nodded and said, "And since Your Highness gave the deputy commander a personal letter, you are actually taking the responsibility on yourself. I think Your Highness means that if we win this battle, this letter will be regarded as nothing, and all the credit will go to the deputy commander."

"If we lose this battle, the deputy commander can take this letter and report to the higher-ups. With the Crown Prince's guarantee, neither the Emperor nor the commander-in-chief will blame the deputy commander after reading this letter."

At this point, Xue Rengui's eyes were filled with deep reverence. He suddenly turned his head and looked towards the deep night in the north, as if looking at his own beliefs. He said in a resounding voice: "This is the responsibility of His Highness the eldest son. The generals lead with merit, and His Highness bears the responsibility for the mistakes."

"If this is the case, and the general still doesn't dare to let go, how can he face His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the future? I believe that even if the emperor knew the current situation, he would sigh with regret."

Cheng Yaojin's old face, covered with whiskers, turned red, and he was immediately filled with shame. He clenched his right hand, slammed it hard on the table, and stood up angrily, saying, "Humph, Your Highness really underestimated me. Cheng Yaojin has been a soldier all his life, how could he not have this little sense of responsibility?"

"Xue Rengui!"

Xue Rengui bowed his hands solemnly and said: "I am here..."

"Follow me out of the city and into the military camp. Beat the drums and go up to the tent. This time, the battle of Evil Sheep Ridge will be carried out according to the arrangements made by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I will bear all the consequences."

"Yes, Deputy Commander!" Xue Rengui's blood immediately boiled, his eyes full of admiration.

Afterwards, Cheng Yaojin and his guards left the city in the dark and arrived at the military camp outside the city in the wind and snow.

Not long after, the rumbling sound of drums was heard near the general's tent and spread throughout the camp. The guards of the generals at all levels in the camp rushed into the tents, woke up their own generals, and went to the general's tent to discuss matters.

After three drum beats, several important generals of the Tang army gathered in the brightly lit tent.

Cheng Yaojin, wearing the majestic Ming Guang armor, stood on the stage, and with a serious look on his face, he scanned the faces of the generals one by one and said decisively: "Everyone, the battle of Dingxiang will start from now on."

"I will now start arranging military affairs. Do you have any objections?"

After Cheng Yaojin finished speaking, all the generals in helmets and armor looked at each other in bewilderment. Zhang Baoxiang, who was standing in the front, asked tentatively, "Deputy commander, the emperor has appointed the Duke of Weiguo as the commander-in-chief. He will be here in two days. What's so urgent? Should we wait a little longer?"

"Let's wait until Marshal Li arrives before we move. If we make arrangements now, and the Marshal is not satisfied when he arrives, the soldiers will have to be mobilized. Isn't this a hassle?"

Zhang Baoxiang was a loyal subordinate of Li Jing and was dedicated to protecting Li Jing. He believed that Cheng Yaojin wanted to take advantage of Li Jing's absence to steal his credit and seize the position of commander-in-chief that belonged to Li Jing.

Implicit in his words reminds everyone that Cheng Yaojin has selfish motives.

"Yes, deputy commander, you are a cautious person. Did something urgent happen? Did Jie Li attack? If it is not such an emergency, there is no need to be so anxious and need to arrange military intelligence overnight."

Chai Shao and Cheng Yaojin had a pretty good relationship, and on the surface they were questioning each other.

In fact, he was reminding everyone that Cheng Yaojin was a calm person and would not have gone to the camp overnight if the military situation was not urgent.

Cheng Yaojin's eyes shone, and he took out the imperial edict of Li Shimin appointing him as deputy commander, and said decisively: "As the deputy commander appointed by the emperor, I have the power to command all the frontline troops in the absence of the commander-in-chief."

"Just obey, all the generals. I will report to the commander-in-chief and the emperor."

"But I have already said that anyone who dares to disobey my orders will be severely punished."

"Yes, we generals will obey the deputy commander's orders." The generals had already fulfilled their duty of reminder, and Cheng Yaojin even brought out the imperial edict, so no one dared to argue anymore. Anyway, everyone followed the orders, and Cheng Yaojin would be the only one to bear the responsibility if anything went wrong.

Afterwards, Cheng Yaojin pulled out a token from the military order tube on the table, and a sonorous voice rang out: "Li Ji, the general manager of the Tonghan Road."

A burly, majestic-looking man stepped forward and clasped his fists, saying, "I am here..."

"I order you to lead 5,000 elite soldiers from my army. Everyone must keep silent and the horses must wrap their hooves. Do not alert the Turkic scouts. Sneak up to Eyang Ridge at night and strengthen the defense. If a large army attacks, you must hold out for a day and a night."

Li Ji was cheered up. He had been worried recently that the strategic location of Eyangling had weak defense. It was not obvious now, but when the weather got colder and the Hunhe River froze, the Turks could wade through the ice, and then they could split the Tang army in two.

I had been looking for an opportunity to make suggestions to the deputy commander, but I didn't expect that the deputy commander had already taken it into consideration and asked me to lead the army to garrison the area personally. Although it was a little short of the 10,000 troops I had expected, there were still 1,000 defenders on the ridge.

In addition, the deputy commander only asked him to guard the place for one day and one night. In this way, even if 100,000 Turkic cavalry came, Li Ji was confident that he could complete the task.

So he took the token excitedly and said, "Don't worry, deputy commander. Even if Jie Li comes in person, Li Ji can defend the city with these 6,000 soldiers for three days. If anything fails, Li Ji will bring his head to me."

"Okay, please, General."

After Cheng Yaojin finished his instructions, he took out another token: "Chai Shao, the commander-in-chief of the Jinhe Road Army."

"The general is here!"

"I order you to gather all 30,000 soldiers and horses and ambush in the mountains 30 miles southeast of Eyangling. Once Eyangling is attacked, you must surround the east of Eyangling as quickly as possible and prevent the enemy soldiers from retreating. Together with other troops, you must encircle and annihilate the invading enemy."

Chai Shao received the order loudly: "I obey your order."

"Minzhou Governor Gao Zongsheng!"

"The general is here!"

"I order you to mobilize all your 30,000 troops to attack."

"."

Military orders were continuously issued under Cheng Yaojin's orderly arrangement. Everyone was very excited and their original worries disappeared. It was obvious that they had received intelligence and were going to bully the minority with their numbers.

Seeing that there was work to be done, everyone put aside their tiredness from the midnight meeting and became energized.

After Cheng Yaojin finished making arrangements, everyone rushed to their own tents and began to mobilize troops.

"Deputy Commander, where is I? Everyone has something to do, why don't you assign me a task?" Zhang Baoxiang, who was the first to raise doubts, asked anxiously when he saw that everyone had left.

"You, you have the heaviest task?"

Cheng Yaojin smiled slightly and said, "Our army is out, and the city of Shuofang is empty. You take your troops and horses to strengthen the defense, block the south bank of the Hun River, and capture and kill the Turkic scouts. Make sure they don't notice that our army has set out."

"We must also create a big scene in the military camp, display many flags, and use drums to confuse Jie Li so as not to expose our army's strengths and weaknesses."

"Uh"

Zhang Baoxiang was startled, and said rather dissatisfiedly: "Yes, deputy commander!"

Three days later, a piece of news spread quickly in the northern part of Guannei Road that Ashina Simo, the first general of the grassland, led Jie Li's 30,000 elite troops to attack Eyangling, but encountered strong resistance.

Ashina Simo led his men to attack desperately. Finally, after suffering nearly 10,000 casualties, he realized something was wrong. When he was about to lead his men to withdraw, he was surrounded by an ambush by the Tang army. After a fierce battle, the 30,000-strong army was finally annihilated by the Tang army.

Ashina Simo and his nephew Ashina Zhong managed to escape at all costs and their whereabouts are unknown, but their 30,000-strong army was completely annihilated.

These 30,000 men were indeed well-trained and were Jie Li's most powerful force. They fought desperately and caused no less than 40,000 casualties to the Tang army.

However, the Tang army was not as brave as the Turks. Usually on the battlefield, three Tang soldiers were needed to kill one Turk.

This time, with only 40,000 troops, the entire army of 30,000 elite troops of Jie Li was annihilated. Everyone in the Tang Dynasty felt that this was a great victory. Even important officials in the court such as Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling were so excited that they could not control themselves.

Afterwards, seeing that he had lost the initiative, Jie Li decisively withdrew from the Dingxiang battlefield, handed over the Guannei area to Li Tang, led his army back to the Yellow River, set up camp near the Yin Mountains, and continued to confront the Tang army, barely getting rid of the previous decline.

Just at this time, Xueyantuo and Biheli instigated the tribes that were dissatisfied with Jie Li to start an internal strife, and took advantage of Jie Li's unstable foothold to attack Jie Li's camp from behind.

At this time, the Tang army that had caught up with them launched an attack without any hesitation, both inside and outside. Under the siege from multiple sides, Jie Li's tent was destroyed by the Flying Tiger Army led by Li Jing. Jie Li hurriedly led his trusted followers and guards to flee to the desert.

(End of this chapter)