Tang Dynasty: The Holy Prince, the Dragon that Reigns Over the World

The next day, Li Chengqian woke up drunk and rubbed his aching head. He said bitterly, "Damn, I really shouldn't have drunk so much. This crappy wine has a strong aftereffect."

"Hmph, you still know that you can't drink." Li Shimin said dissatisfiedly while sitting behind the table next to the bed.

"Aye, why are you here?" Li Chengqian was surprised to see Li Shimin. After a closer look, he found that Li Shimin's eyes were red, as if he had not slept all night.

"Father, you kept watch over me all night?" Li Chengqian asked.

"Rebellious son, you were drunk last night and spoke incoherently. I was worried that you would be harmed by alcohol at such a young age, so I stayed with you all night. Rebellious son, you are so greedy for alcohol at such a young age, how can you achieve anything great in the future?" Li Shimin scolded with a stern face.

Li Chengqian was moved to tears when he saw Li Shimin guarding him all night. Li Shimin was a little flustered when he saw Li Chengqian crying.

"Don't cry, Dalang. Why are you crying for no reason? Yesterday, you fought bloody battles on the battlefield, but you didn't show any emotion. Why are you crying when your father says a few words to you?"

"Father, I drank too much and ended up tiring you. I know I was wrong and hope you will punish me." Li Chengqian walked up to Li Shimin, knelt down and cried.

"Da Lang, get up. I know you are still young, yet you have to fight on the battlefield and share the worries of the country. It is really hard for you. I teach you because I am afraid that you, as a child, will hurt yourself by drinking too much." Li Shimin helped Li Chengqian up and said gently.

The father and son smiled at each other, their affection for each other overflowing. Li Shimin then ordered the prince to have his meal in his tent.

"Dalang, what do you think will happen to the Turks next?" Li Shimin asked after taking a bite of the cake.

"The day before yesterday, I killed five Turkic generals in battle and smashed the strongest Turkic warrior to pieces with one blow. In addition, yesterday, the Flying Dragon Army defeated the Turkic bandits, and the enemy's courage was broken and their morale was low, so they had to avoid fighting. Moreover, although old Jie Li will not openly pursue the drama we performed with Tuli and Qibi Heli yesterday, there is already a rift between us, and we will definitely not fight to the death together. In addition, the Turkic food and grass should be running out.

So I guess that in order to protect his own strength, Jie Li should prepare to withdraw his army. But if he withdraws like this, firstly, he is afraid that my army will follow him and secretly join forces with Tuli and Qibi Heli to swallow him. Secondly, the pride of the grassland, the Turkic Khan, was defeated by the army led by his young son, and then fled in disgrace. How can he save his face as the Khan of the Eastern Turkic Khan? Since he can't beat my Feilong Army, he will take it out on my Xuanwu Army.

Therefore, I think Jie Li should be prepared to fight with our army for another ten feet before withdrawing, and the best choice is Yinshan. After all, Jie Li has experienced the reputation of my uncle Dao Zong. "Li Chengqian said.

"Hehe, if Jie Li really leaves for Yinshan, he will probably be disappointed." Li Shimin sneered.

"If you treat my Xuanwu Army as a soft persimmon, be careful or you might break old Jie Li's own teeth." Li Chengqian also sneered.

The Turkic central army tent.

"Shibobi (name of Tuli Khan) and Qibi Heli, these two evil wolves of the grassland, are treacherous. Changshengtian will not let you go." Jie Li said hatefully.

"Khan, calm down. These two thieves have evil ambitions and will be dealt with sooner or later. But now, we still need their strength. Khan, please be patient for a while." An old man with his face hidden in a black robe advised.

"Imperial Master, do you have any good advice for me?" said Jie Li.

"Khan, Tang army reinforcements are about to arrive. We are about to lose our advantage, let's retreat." The old man sighed.

"No, I am the descendant of the great Ashina clan and the king of the grassland. I cannot tolerate being defeated by a child." Jie Li said angrily.

"Alas! Great Khan, the reinforcements of the Tang army are not far away. Shibobi and Qibi Heli are ambitious and wicked beside us. Even if the Khan defeats Li Chengqian, the Khan will be on the verge of destruction. Why should the Khan fall into an irretrievable situation because of a momentary anger? Let us retreat now, go back to regroup, and plan to attack the Central Plains tomorrow." The old man advised.

"Okay, the Imperial Master is right. You people in the Central Plains have a saying, 'It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge.' Let's retreat, but our army is now short of food and grass. The best retreat routes are Lingzhou and Yinshan. Lingzhou is guarded by Li Daozon, who is no easy task. Yinshan is guarded by 5000 Xuanwu troops under the command of Li Chengqian. How should we choose?" Jie Li asked.

"Yinshan! Li Daozon is a famous general of the time and he cannot be easily defeated. There are 5000 infantry stationed in Yinshan. We have a great advantage over cavalry over infantry. Moreover, the Khan was defeated by his weapons. But I don't believe that the Tang Dynasty can build a second army like the Flying Dragon Army with its national strength. Moreover, if the Khan defeats this army, he can save face." The old man smiled.

"What the Imperial Master said is very true! Well, I will immediately order two teams of 2 people to rush to Yinshan Mountain to defeat these 5000 infantrymen. This will avenge my shame." Jie Li said with a smile.

On the second day, in front of Yinshan Mountain, a Tang army scout rode towards Xue Wanche on a fast horse.

"Report! General, we have spotted two Turkic armies of 10 men 2 miles away, heading this way."

"Okay, just as His Royal Highness expected. You really think I'm a weakling. Everyone, prepare for battle." Xue Wanche sat on the grass and gave the order with a sneer. The Xuanwu Army immediately divided into five rows and lined up to meet the enemy.

Soon, the Turkic soldiers arrived. The leader of the Turkic soldiers was Jie Li's son Dieluozhi. Dieluozhi saw a group of infantry lined up in front of him and ordered the troops to stop. Dieluozhi observed the troops in front of him and saw that everyone in this army was wearing heavy armor. The three words "Xuanwu Army" were engraved on the left chest of the heavy armor, and Arabic numerals were engraved below. They carried long spears and large shields as high as a person. On one side of their waists hung a one-handed axe. This one-handed axe had a strange shape, with an axe on one end and a hammer on the other. On the other side hung a crossbow and a quiver.

The crossbows used by the Xuanwu Army were made in the style of the Shenbi crossbows, with a maximum range of 340 steps and could penetrate heavy armor. The one-handed axes used by the Xuanwu Army were designed by Li Chengqian based on the tactical axes of mercenaries in his previous life, which could chop light armor or hammer heavy armor.

Die Luozhi raised his whip and asked, "Are those in front of us the Xuanwu Army under Li Chengqian's command?"

"How dare you! You rats cannot call my prince by his title." Xue Wanche said angrily.

"I have 2 Turkic cavalry, so you'd better surrender." Dieluozhi said arrogantly.

"They are just chickens and dogs, so what even if there are 20,000 of them? Stop talking nonsense and fight if you want to. Brothers, tell them, are you afraid?" Xue Wanche said contemptuously.

"Fight to the death, fight to the death." The Xuanwu Army shouted loudly.

"Charge!" Dieluozhi ordered angrily. Twenty thousand Turkic cavalrymen began to line up and attack.

Seeing the enemy lined up, Xue Wanche shouted loudly, "Our army is Xuanwu."

"Build a wall with flesh and blood." The Xuanwu Army shouted collectively.

"The enemy will not retreat." Xue Wanche shouted loudly.

"Fight to the death." The Xuanwu Army shouted collectively.

"The Xuanwu Army must fight to the death." Xue Wanche roared.

"First row, put up shields." Xue Wanche ordered. The first row of Xuanwu soldiers inserted their large shields into the ground. When the Turkish cavalry was 300 steps away from the main formation, Xue Wanche waved the flag and ordered "shoot!". The following four rows of Xuanwu soldiers pointed their crossbows diagonally to the sky and fired at the Turkish army with their crossbows. Crossbow arrows were fired at the Turkish army continuously. The leaders of each row gave orders to adjust the shooting angle at any time according to the distance from the Turks. Arrows shot into the Turkish formation, and screams and the sound of horses falling were heard continuously.

The Turks used horn bows, which had an effective killing range of 100 steps. As a nation of horsemen, the Turks were better at horseback archery than the Tang army. However, they were still not as good as the Shenbi crossbow, which was the most powerful crossbow among single-soldier crossbows. The Song army could compete with the armored cavalry of the Jin Dynasty with the Shenbi crossbow. Unfortunately, the crossbow was lost after it was passed to the Ming Dynasty. If Li Chengqian had not cheated in the system, the Shenbi crossbow would not have appeared in the Tang Dynasty.

The Turkic cavalry finally advanced to 8000 steps after paying the price of more than 100 people being shot dead. Dieluozhi saw that nearly of his own cavalry were shot dead by the Xuanwu Army before they could even draw their bows. He could not help but be extremely angry and immediately ordered to shoot back.

The arrows of the Turkic army shot into the Xuanwu army, and the arrows hit the Xuanwu army's armor and were all bounced off. You should know that the heavy armor of the Xuanwu army is harder and heavier than that of the Feilong army.

Xue Wanche saw that the Turkic cavalry was close at hand, and immediately ordered "Stand up with your spears." The next four rows of the Xuanwu Army quickly hung their crossbows on their waists and took out their spears from their backs. The second row thrust the butts of their spears into the soil, with the tips of their spears resting on their shields. The third row held their spears horizontally, with the tips pointing to the gaps between the shields. The rest stood with their spears in hand.

The Turkish cavalry rushed into the shield wall of the Xuanwu Army like waves, trying to use the impact of the horses to knock the Xuanwu Army away. The horses crashed into the shields, but the Xuanwu Army stood still. The long spears on the shields either pierced the horses or the knights. The third row of Xuanwu Army kept thrusting through the gaps in the shields. The Turks suffered heavy casualties.

"Let them in. A group of light cavalry has lost their speed. In front of my Xuanwu Army, they are just a group of lambs to be slaughtered." Xue Wanche ordered again. The Xuanwu Army quickly abandoned their spears and let the Turkic cavalry in. They raised their shields and axes and moved forward to surround and kill. The Turkic cavalry's sabers chopped at the Xuanwu Army without any reaction, but the Xuanwu Army could cut off the horses' legs and hack or smash the Turkic soldiers who fell off their horses to death.

The melee lasted for an hour, and Dieluozhi saw that all the Turkic troops he brought with him had been killed or wounded, so he had to flee back in embarrassment.

In this battle, the Xuanwu army won a complete victory, killing 2 Turkic cavalrymen, and Jie Li's son Dieluozhi escaped alone.

"The Turkic cavalry is nothing more than that. If Langjun (in the Tang Dynasty, the prince was often called "Langjun" by his entourage) had not ordered me to leave someone back to give Jie Li a message, Dieluozhi would have died here. I sent a pigeon to Langjun, saying that our Xuanwu Army wiped out the 2 invading Turkic cavalry, and Dieluozhi escaped alone. None of my troops were killed in a battle, and those who were slightly injured did not affect the combat." Xue Wanche looked at the fleeing Dieluozhi and smiled contemptuously.