Start from the thief

Chapter 579 Good Minister

This relatively complete unit was divided into two by Mr. Liu.

The heavily armored soldiers and archers, led by the deputy general, continued to go to Jianmen Pass to await Li Qi's orders, while the cavalry general, with the appointment of the so-called angel Li Qi, personally led more than 20 personal guards, mounted on short horses that were strong and good at mountain trekking, and galloped in one direction.

The order Zhao Yushu gave them was to gather the defeated troops and return to Jianmen Pass immediately. Anyone who disobeyed orders or caused trouble should be killed if possible, or their numbers should be recorded for later punishment if they could not be killed.

This plan was crude and had many loopholes, but Zhao Yushu had no better solution for the time being.

He himself continued to rush towards Songzhou.

Along the way, whenever Zhao Yushu encountered a defeated army, he adopted a similar method. Most of them were frightened by the great monk's terrifying death threats and the title of angel and obeyed his orders obediently. As for the few brainless ones who held completely unrealistic fantasies, Zhao Yushu did not show any mercy.

Those who kill will always be killed.

Until he encountered a truly defeated army.

A defeated army of a thousand men.

Almost every soldier's armor was stained with blood, but it was unclear whether it was the enemy's blood or their own or their comrades' blood.

Although Yizhou is mountainous, the official road is still well built and wide. After all, a large amount of supplies are supplied to Chang'an every day. Emperors of all dynasties also like to take this road from time to time to familiarize themselves with the avenue that their ancestors often used to travel.

However, today, this wide road seemed extremely crowded. The crude stretchers and dispirited soldiers were completely out of formation. The messengers and scouts were yelling at each other frantically, asking the other side to make way first. Zhao Yushu, an idiot in the military system of the Tang Dynasty, couldn't even find the commander in the chaotic team at the first time.

In desperation, Zhao Yushu simply grabbed a few veterans who seemed to be in decent condition, and after squeezing left and right, he finally found the commander whose flag was covered in blood.

"I am Liu Dalin, the recorder of Songzhou in Jiannan Road. I am honored to meet the Immortal. I am wearing armor and cannot give a full greeting. I hope the Immortal will forgive me."

Zhao Yushu looked at the old veteran in front of him whose hair and beard had turned white, feeling a little confused.

I just learned about this brother’s weird behavior, and now I meet him?

The position of registrar and military officer is very important. In previous dynasties, several dynasties completed the transformation from military to civil affairs, but in the current Tang Dynasty, he is still a real military officer.

So it’s not surprising that the old man is wearing armor.

"Old General, I have come all the way from Jianmen Pass. Your name is well known to my ears."

Liu Dalin laughed loudly: "I guess they all mean that I ordered them to flee without a fight."

"They wronged the general?"

"Unfair? Of course not. Every word is true, more real than a pound of gold."

Liu Dalin spoke every word with tears in his eyes.

Zhao Yushu didn't understand. As the second in command of a provincial government, and even the top military official, in a place like Songzhou, his power was even greater than that of the prefect. It was understandable that he would sell out his country for personal gain, but after such a bloody battle, a large number of defenders fled without a fight. Zhao Yushu really couldn't understand.

"Old General, how many soldiers are left behind?"

"No more. I am here to cover the rear. Those who can escape are in the front. We are the last group."

"The Tibetans didn't chase us?"

"They chased them, but I bit them hard. So I retreated temporarily. The scouts are watching them, so I can still bite them a few more times. But their main force didn't chase them. The Tibetans occupied the city. The governor is still resisting with the remaining soldiers, but they won't be able to hold out for much longer. Hehe, but it's still enough for us to retreat safely to Jianmen Pass."

Zhao Yushu became more confused: "But I heard that you said the governor surrendered to Tubo."

Liu Dalin said, "How could the governor surrender if he died for his country? If not, how could these men be willing to leave? If not, will they all be trapped and die together in Songzhou City?!"

Liu Dalin became more and more excited as he spoke. If he had not sent away the surrounding soldiers early on, who knows how much of a commotion this would have caused if it had gotten out.

"Two emergency documents are sent every day, one to the north and one to the south. We are defending an isolated city alone. It would be fine if we didn't see any reinforcements for several days, but the messengers didn't come. It was only two days ago that Yizhou replied to wait for reinforcements. Hey, the city has been breached, what's there to wait for!"

Zhao Yushu understood that the Tubo invasion to the east had been going on for more than a day or two. No one knew what had happened in Chang'an, but all the letters for help from Yizhou were withheld by Du Wu and Cao Zheng because they had not yet decided which side to take.

Liu Dalin probably conspired with the governor of Songzhou and was convinced that without reinforcements, Songzhou would definitely not be able to withstand the attack of Tubo, so he decided to abandon Songzhou City.

But according to the current laws of the Tang Dynasty, if the two of them announced the abandonment of the city together, there was a high probability that their power would be directly seized by lower-level soldiers. So Liu Dalin spread this rumor and tried to fool as many as 6,000 soldiers as possible.

The remaining diehards, led by the prefect, bought time for the defeated army and engaged in street fighting with the Tubo people, and they could be killed in Songzhou at any time.

Dog emperor, how can you be worthy of such a minister?

Zhao Yushu bowed solemnly, then turned around and continued heading north.

Liu Dalin was shocked: "My Lord, the official road to Chang'an has also been cut off. Where are you going?"

"Songzhou."

"Songzhou has been broken!"

"But the governor may not be dead yet, and so many soldiers may still be alive, right?"

Liu Dalin was stunned for a moment: "Wait a minute, Immortal! It's not that I don't trust you, but when Tubo attacked the city, they sent many great monks. Even if you went, I'd still be afraid, afraid! Alas!"

"I understand, old general. At least a thousand of your soldiers have been separated along the way. I believe you know what these soldiers will do. From here to the north, I guarantee that no Tibetans can get through. You can rest assured to call the scouts back and do what needs to be done."

Liu Dalin was bragging. He said that if the Tibetans continued to chase him, he could take a few more bites, but he couldn't.

This rear guard troop is no longer even a spent force. It has no formation, no morale, and even no monks. If two more monks from Tibet attack again, half of the remaining troops will be killed on the spot, and the remaining half will become a new batch of defeated troops.

So Zhao Yushu ordered General Liu to withdraw his scouts and gather the defeated troops to retreat to Jianmen Pass. As for the Tibetan pursuers...

Zhao Yushu stood in the middle of the official road, looking at the billowing smoke and dust in the distance.

Fortunately, this is the only official road.

There are horses on the plateau, but the horse breeds on the plateau are average, so the Tibetan cavalry are also average. Even after annexing several countries in the Western Regions that produced good horses, Tibet still did not attach importance to cavalry.

But that doesn't mean they don't have good cavalry.

With excellent armor technology and carefully selected war horses, this small number of Tubo cavalry are the elite among the elite.

Zhao Yushu looked at a cavalry team that stopped two hundred steps away from him, and couldn't help but sigh that General Liu was indeed fierce. A thousand infantrymen could actually withstand the pursuit of cavalry of such a scale and even bite the enemy hard.

The leading cavalrymen pointed at Zhao Yushu and said something from a distance, but the wind was strong and some of them could not be heard clearly, and even if they could be heard clearly, they could not be understood.

Then the cavalry slowly separated, and a thin monk in a gray robe jumped up from his horse and stabbed Zhao Yushu fiercely with the spear in his hand.