Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Upon hearing that the army had suffered heavy losses, Li Chengqian's face suddenly changed.

He frowned tightly and asked in a deep voice: "General Zhang, what are the specific casualties of your troops?"

Zhang Jian put down the wooden stick in his hand, then took out the battle report recording the casualties from his sleeve and handed it to Li Chengqian.

After delivering the battle report, he returned to his original position and continued to kneel, then picked up the wooden stick on the ground and held it high.

When Li Chengqian spread out the battle report, his brows suddenly raised and he stood up.

He read out in horror: "4125 killed! 6012 wounded!"

Hearing that the loss was so severe, even Du He could no longer sit still.

According to his initial idea, Zhang Jian's troops would suffer at most three to four thousand casualties, but he didn't expect the casualties to be over ten thousand!

Such huge casualties have seriously affected the subsequent combat deployment.

Li Chengqian asked in a cold voice: "Zhang Jian, tell me the story of the battle!"

"promise!"

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Zhang Jian's forehead, and he reported in a trembling voice.

The course of the battle he reported was not much different from what Hou Junji said. The reason why they were defeated and killed was entirely the result of underestimating the enemy.

Zhang Jian was busy commanding the army to attack the soldiers sent from Huaiyuan City, and was completely unprepared for the enemy forces in Anshi City.

It was already very rare that they were able to escape unscathed from the surprise attack by tens of thousands of elite enemy troops.

After Zhang Jian finished speaking, he shouted again: "Your Highness, please punish me!"

"Humph!" Li Chengqian snorted heavily. He pointed at Zhang Jian and roared, "Punish! Can punishing you save the lives of the soldiers?"

"It's only the second battle and already more than half of my soldiers have been killed or wounded!"

"Tell me how to fight the next battle!"

Faced with Li Chengqian's scolding, Zhang Jian, the old general who was over fifty years old, looked ashamed and lowered his head deeply.

Li Chengqian was so angry that he shouted to the outside of the hall: "Come here, lock up Zhang Jian! Send him back to Chang'an on a certain day for my father to judge him!"

Although Li Chengqian wanted to kill Zhang Jian with a single blow, Zhang Jian had not committed any crime such as deserting the battlefield, so he did not have the power to execute him.

Soon, several of the prince's guards rushed into the hall. They quickly walked up behind Zhang Jian and detained him.

Zhang Jian looked as pale as death. He allowed himself to be detained by the guards without struggling.

Just when the prince's guards were about to carry Zhang Jian out, Du He suddenly spoke.

"and many more."

When several of the prince's guards heard Du He's words, they stopped instantly.

Du He stood up, walked to Li Chengqian and bowed to him.

"Your Highness, if you execute the commander right at the beginning of the battle, it will have a huge impact on morale."

"Although General Zhang suffered a great defeat in this battle because he underestimated the enemy, in the previous battle, General Zhang killed more than 3000 enemies and captured more than 8000 enemy soldiers and civilians."

"The battle is not over yet. We still need General Zhang, who has rich combat experience, to lead the troops in the battle."

"It would be better to let General Zhang make up for his crime with meritorious service. If he fails to win the next battle..."

Before Du He could finish his words, Zhang Jian shouted at him.

"Your Highness, if I fail to win the next battle, I will bring my head to you!"

Li Chengqian and Du He looked at each other and then nodded.

"Zhang Jian, since Deputy Chief Steward Du pleads for you, I will let you go this time."

"You must remember what you said today. If you can't fight well in the next battle, don't blame me for being heartless!"

"You step back first!"

Hearing what Li Chengqian said, several of the prince's guards quickly put Zhang Jian down.

Zhang Jian clasped his fists and bowed to Li Chengqian gratefully, saying, "I will be grateful for your forgiveness, Your Highness!"

Then he clasped his fists towards Du He and said, "Thank you, Deputy Chief Steward Du, for your plea."

After saying this, he looked as if he had survived a calamity and strode out of the hall.

The casualties in this battle were so heavy. If he is taken back to Chang'an, I'm afraid Your Majesty will have no choice but to execute him.

Otherwise, there would be no way to explain to the families of thousands of soldiers.

After Zhang Jian walked away, Li Chengqian frowned and asked in a deep voice: "Du He, can Zhang Jian still be trusted?"

Du He shook his head and said, "Your Highness, Zhang Jian's loyalty to the Tang Dynasty is beyond doubt. As for whether he can still lead his soldiers to victory, I can't say for sure."

"However, Zhang Jian has been stationed in Yingzhou for many years. He is most familiar with the Goguryeo, Khitan, Xi, Xun, and Mohe tribes."

"Keeping him will be more useful than disposing of him."

Among all the generals of the Tang Dynasty, there were only a few people like Li Ji and Zhang Jian who were stationed in the border areas all year round.

Moreover, Zhang Jian was the great-grandson of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, and was a minister of the imperial family.

Li Chengqian nodded and continued, "Then let's see how Hou Junji's battle results are. I hope we can win a battle!"

...

An hour later.

Xi Junmai, Xue Rengui and Qin Huaidao led their subordinates back.

Upon hearing that his three trusted generals had returned, Li Chengqian quickly asked someone to invite them to the main hall of the City Lord's Mansion.

"How was the battle? Was it a victory?"

As soon as Li Chengqian saw Xi Junmai, Xue Rengui and Qin Huaidao, he hurriedly asked.

As he spoke, Li Chengqian clenched his hands into fists and his face showed a hint of nervousness.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and to Deputy Chief Steward Du."

Xi Junmai, Xue Rengui and Qin Huaidao first bowed to Li Chengqian and Du He.

Then Xi Junmai, as the representative, reported to Li Chengqian.

"Your Highness, we successfully ambushed the enemy midway and defeated the Goguryeo army!"

"We have been chasing the enemy for more than 20 miles. General Hou was afraid that something might happen in Huaiyuan City, so he called back the troops."

"We need to wait until the general manager has completed the statistics to know the specific results of the battle."

After hearing the good news, Li Chengqian and Du He finally smiled.

It’s good to win the battle!

Du He asked with a smile: "How did you three perform? Did you tarnish the reputation of the East Palace's Qianniu Guards?"

"Hehe." Xi Junmai chuckled and pointed at Xue Rengui and said loudly: "Rengui killed hundreds of enemies and beheaded 8 enemy generals."

"Now there are many brothers in the army who say that Rengui is the white-robed god of war!"

Afterwards, Xi Junmai patted Qin Huaidao's shoulder gently and said, "Duke Hu killed 25 enemies and beheaded one enemy general."

Hearing Xi Junmai's praise, Qin Huaidao's face showed a bit of shyness.

He also pointed at Xi Junmai and reported to Li Chengqian: "Your Highness, General Xi also killed a hundred enemies, and he also killed 11 enemy generals!"

"The contribution I have made cannot be compared with those two."

Seeing that his three generals had achieved great military exploits, Li Chengqian smiled even more.

Li Chengqian first said to Qin Huaidao: "Huaidao, you are only 18 years old this year and you have achieved such a great feat. You have a promising future!"

"When fighting on the battlefield, you must pay attention to safety and never get injured for the sake of military merit."

People in their teens are most likely to get carried away. Li Chengqian was afraid that Qin Huaidao would make a mistake on the battlefield in his attempt to gain merit.

Qin Huaidao said quickly: "Thank you for your reminder, Your Highness. I will be more careful."

"kindness."

Li Chengqian nodded.

He then turned to look at Xi Junmai and Xue Rengui and praised them generously.

"You performed very well in this battle. When you return to the court, you two will be promoted and given titles by your father!"