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Chapter 921: Battle of Lingzhou (Part )

Just after the hour of Hai, Li Daozon had finished arranging the defenses in various places and had just returned home and fallen asleep when there were hurried knocks on the door of the Grand Marshal's Mansion.

Li Shun was on duty in the gatehouse. His master's late return caused him to go to bed very late. He was woken up just as he lay down and got up cursing.

Just after opening the side door and before asking questions, I saw a group of soldiers holding torches outside the gate. The leading general said anxiously, "Quick, inform the prince, something has happened. There is an important enemy situation outside the city. The Turks are making unusual movements."

Upon hearing that it was a military matter, Li Shun did not dare to delay. He asked someone to invite the soldier who reported the news into the mansion while running towards the mansion.

Not long after, Li Daozon got up from his bedroom. When he heard that the war had begun, he was shocked and washed his face with cold water. He asked his butler to help him get dressed. In the front hall, he saw soldiers in helmets and armor.

Ma Tian, ​​deputy general of Lingzhou City, raised his hands and said in a sonorous voice, "Your Majesty, a large group of cavalry appeared outside the city, and their movements are unknown."

Li Daozon's expression tightened. There were only 100,000 soldiers in Lingzhou City, but there were 300,000 Xueyantuo outside the city. The news from the court before was that Yi Nan could be the left wing of the Tang army and attack the Turkic army together. With such strong support, Li Daozon still felt that Lingzhou was as stable as a rock.

But two days ago, Li Ji sent someone to inform Hou Junji that he had discovered Yi Nan's messenger in the tent of the Right Wise King, who was secretly communicating with the Turks and wanted to join forces with the Turks to attack the Tang Dynasty, especially to first break through Lingzhou, kill into the Guannei Road, and then attack the Yellow River defense line.

This made Li Daozon nervous, and the original 300,000 strong reinforcements immediately became an external threat.

Don’t be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of what happens.

Li Daozon urgently adjusted the defense and strengthened the cities along the Yellow River defense line, including Gaolan, Lingwu, Anjing, Huaiyuan, and Dingyuan under Lingzhou, and the main defense target was also turned to Xueyantuo.

As they were talking, some generals hurriedly came to the Grand Commandery. Li Dao Zong waved his hand and said, "Let's go to the city wall and take a look."

Everyone walked out of the mansion, mounted their horses and galloped westward.

The sound of hurried horse hooves on the streets of the deep wilderness was like thunder, waking up many people who had already fallen asleep. Everyone began to guess what had happened.

When everyone arrived at the west city wall and looked out across the Yellow River, they were all stunned. They saw countless black cavalrymen appearing in the northern part of the wilderness on the west bank of the Yellow River, each holding a torch in their hands, and the end of the line was endless.

The two large camps of the Xueyantuo tribe in the south also began to boil with people shouting and horses fighting. Teams of cavalry from the northern camp drove out of the camp gate and assembled outside the tents.

Li Daozon knew that the two main camps of Xueyantuo each had 150,000 troops.

Looking at the cavalry coming from the north, in the dark night, the long dragon of torches that stretched across the sky and the earth looked like a river of stars falling from the sky, continuously emerging from the edge of the horizon. The scale of their approaching force seemed to be no less powerful than that of the Xueyantuo troops.

God!

Li Daozon and many generals standing on the top of Lingzhou City had their legs trembling slightly and their hearts in their throats. The number of Xueyantuo's troops was already beyond the capability of Lingzhou to contend with. If hundreds of thousands more people came, Lingzhou would not be able to defend itself at all.

All the soldiers at all levels in the city were urged to rush to the top of the city wall. Even the civilians were recruited to transport supplies to the top of the city wall.

Just when everyone was worried, the army from the north arrived at the northern camp outside the city and took advantage of the chaos of the Xueyantuo army.

He immediately made a decision and launched a charge on Beidaying.

"My Lord, look."

Deputy General Ma Tian suddenly shouted excitedly: "It seems that these people are not coming to attack our Lingzhou, but to attack the Xueyantuo tribe."

The generals on the city wall all looked at each other with great excitement, feeling relieved. No matter what, it would rather die than let a friend die.

The army coming from the north was obviously Turkic. The only ones who could appear here were the Right Wise King's tribe in the Yinshan and Yellow River areas. As for why they attacked each other, Li Daozong didn't understand. However, as long as Lingzhou was not attacked, it would be fine.

Putting aside their worries, everyone began to watch the battle outside the city.

Lingzhou City was separated from the camp outside by the Yellow River. The short distance gave it a good view, and it was high up, overlooking the entire battlefield. The torches of the Turks illuminated half of the sky outside the city like daylight. The sounds of fighting between the two sides were endless, and the offensive and defensive situation was clear at a glance.
"Your Majesty, the Turks are all cavalry and are not good at defensive warfare."

One of the generals commented: "The northern army came prepared, and Xueyantuo's northern camp was hastily fighting. I just checked and saw that in such a hurry, they only had 50,000 to 60,000 cavalrymen leaving the camp, and most of them are still trapped in the camp."

"The terrain outside the city is open. If the attacking force exceeds 200,000, the North Camp will surely be defeated." Another general also said: "Also, you see, the Xueyantuo's command is obviously problematic. Using 50,000 to 60,000 people to resist the Turkic army and then rushing to buy time for the follow-up cavalry is obviously a wrong tactic."

"If the number of enemies coming is small, this strategy is fine, but facing an enemy that is stronger than us, doing this will obviously give the enemy the opportunity to defeat them one by one and annihilate them separately?"

"If I were allowed to take command, I would have the North Camp guard the Yituo Camp fort to resist the cavalry."

"The southern camp is far away and has not been attacked. We can leave the camp at leisure, then go around to the west to harass and contain the enemy troops attacking the camp. After we understand the enemy situation at dawn, we can attack from the east and west together and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop."

Upon hearing this, Li Daozon nodded silently. The cavalry on the grassland were good at attacking but not good at defending. This situation was indeed not conducive to fighting.

Ma Tian suddenly asked, "Your Highness, logically speaking, this Yi Nan is still the Grand Commander of our Jinshan Grand Capital. In general, he is also considered a Tang army. Should we send troops to rescue him?"

In fact, everyone had already considered this, but facing such a strong army, the generals were all a little afraid, so they tacitly did not mention this issue.

But Ma Tian was outspoken, and as soon as he asked the question, all the generals looked at him with indignation. If the king really sent troops to rescue because of his colleagues, wouldn't that be diverting the disaster to others?

Lingzhou has the natural barrier of the Yellow River. The Turkic cavalry is not good at attacking strongholds. Unless there is an unexpected event, they will not forcibly attack Lingzhou City.

Everyone can hide behind the Yellow River and watch the fire from across the river. If they leave the city, no matter how many of them there are, they will not be enough for the cavalry to kill.

Li Dao Zong also glanced at Ma Tian unhappily, and then said calmly: "I am shouldering the emperor's order and have the responsibility to defend the land. If the other party is really a soldier of my Great Tang, I will rescue him even if it means losing soldiers and generals."

"To put it another way, even if it's the southern part of the desert, I can't just sit there and watch. But Yinan's attitude towards the court is unclear. What if he and the Turks are trying to lure our army out of the city?"

"The Emperor has issued a strict order that foreign troops must be approved by the court. Moreover, I heard that the court has sent Hou Junji to negotiate with the Turks, and Li Ji has sent news that the Turkish army has not attacked the city. If we send troops to attack the Turks now."

"What if it affects the court's plans and provokes a war with the Turks? Who can bear the responsibility if the emperor blames us?"

"Besides, our army is composed of infantrymen. Outside Lingzhou City is a vast desert, which is ideal for cavalrymen to gallop. If things go wrong, not only will we fail to save Yi Nan, but we will also lose Lingzhou. Then the Tang Dynasty will be in real danger. Who can bear the consequences?"

The generals finally put their minds at ease and agreed, "Your Highness is right. We would rather fail than make mistakes when defending Lingzhou. Fighting in the middle of the night, the situation is unclear. If we fall into a trap, the consequences will be disastrous. Lingzhou is related to the safety of the Tang Dynasty and must not be lost."

At this time, a soldier came running from the horse road and reported: "Your Majesty, the Yinan of Xueyantuo sent an envoy to ask for help, hoping that our Tang army will send troops to jointly resist the Turks."

Li Daozong thought for a moment and said to Ma Tian, ​​"General Ma, you are the commander of the west city of Lingzhou City. You go and reply. Be kind and say that I went to Xiazhou for an inspection two days ago and have not returned yet. As for the matter of sending troops, none of you can make the decision."

"However, he has already sent a fast horse to inform the king of the military situation, and informed the court of the battle in Lingzhou City at an urgent speed of 800 miles. He is asked to hold the camp and not to go out. When the king returns, or the court gives the order, the Lingzhou army can go out of the city to rescue."

As soon as these words were spoken, the generals on the city wall all smiled and looked at Li Daozon with admiration.

Martin took the order and left, and everyone began to pay attention to the night battle outside the city.

I saw groups of cavalry coming from the northern wilderness, like wild horses running out from the northwest. Their scimitars were shining coldly under the torches, and the sound of their horses' hooves hitting the ground was like thunder, resounding through the sky.

The Turkic wolf riders brandished their spears or swords, and rushed towards the enemy camp like a torrent of steel, accompanied by the neighing of horses and the clanging of metal. Large clouds of dust flew behind them, forming a rolling black smoke screen that seemed to tremble even the earth.

As the cavalry approached the enemy, their speed reached its extreme and their figures became almost blurred shadows, with only their sharp weapons and wolf-like eyes faintly visible.

Xueyantuo's soldiers fought hastily. Many of them didn't even find their horses. Their formation was also extremely chaotic. The hastily organized defense line quickly collapsed under such an all-out attack.

Many soldiers showed expressions of fear on their faces. Some tried to raise their shields to resist, while others turned around and tried to flee.

However, the cavalry's speed and strength were so great that many enemies were pierced through the chest by sharp weapons or knocked away by the powerful impact before they could react.

For a moment, the screams on the battlefield, the neighing of horses, and the collision of metals intertwined together, forming a cruel picture of the struggle between life and death.

As the cavalry advanced deeper, the large group of soldiers and horses rushed through the trenches and entered the camp. Countless torches were thrown into the camp. Tents were set on fire one after another, and the resistance of the northern camp army was torn apart like a rotten wood. The balance of victory began to tilt towards the charging side.

(End of this chapter)