Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Seeing Du He's excited expression, Li Chengqian suddenly became interested. He frowned and asked in confusion.

"Du He, Shou Yue went to Baekje as an envoy. Is there any good news?"

Du He handed the secret report to Li Chengqian and said with a smile: "Shou Yue has successfully persuaded Baekje to send troops to attack Pyongyang City of Goguryeo!"

"Great!"

Li Chengqian's eyes lit up, then he held up the secret report and looked at it, and his mood became excited again.

This is such a pleasant surprise!

Because Pei Xingjian had just started his official career, he was sent as an envoy to Goguryeo. At first, he was not optimistic about Pei Xingjian's success.

After all, persuading the weak Baekje to attack the powerful Goguryeo might not be successful even if experienced diplomatic envoys such as Tang Jian, Cui Dunli and Xiangli Xuanjiang were sent.

Moreover, the army was about to attack Liaodong City. If Baekje were to hold back the enemy troops in Pyongyang City at this time and not send troops north to support them.

The pressure on their side of the battle will be much less.

Du He smiled and said, "Shou Yue and 1 naval forces have arrived in Beisha City to rest. Your Highness can write a handwritten order to let Shou Yue and these 1 naval forces go to Anshi City."

"Zhang Liang has 3 infantrymen under his command, so we are more confident about the upcoming battle!"

Li Chengqian was not vague either. He immediately picked up the pen on the table, dipped it in ink and started writing.

Soon he wrote a simple handwritten note and a new letter of appointment, and stamped them with his own seal.

Li Chengqian asked his personal guards to seal the imperial edict, and then handed it to the young soldier, and instructed him.

"Go back and tell Liu Yingxing and Pang Xiaotai, the two marching commanders, to lead their 1 infantrymen to Anshi City and have them obey Zhang Liang's orders."

"Tell Pei Xingjian that I have appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the Canghai Road Army and have him serve under Zhang Liang."

Pei Xingjian is currently only an official of the Prince's Chief Justice. If he is not appointed as the Chief of the Army, Li Chengqian is afraid that Zhang Liang will ignore him.

The young soldier said respectfully: "Yes, sir!"

Li Chengqian waved at them and said, "You guys should leave first."

"promise."

The royal guards and young soldiers bowed and left quickly.

After they left, Li Chengqian's expression changed instantly. He stared at Du He and asked seriously.

"Du He, can you tell a person's talent?"

"Not to mention Su Dingfang and Xi Junmai, the two you recommended, I didn't expect Xue Rengui and Pei Xingjian to be super talents too!"

"All the civil and military officials under my command are now capable of taking charge!"

Li Chengqian particularly admired Xue Rengui, this super brave general. In the past few days, he had killed no less than 15 enemy generals in front of the battlefield.

He is so handsome and good at fighting!

Judging from the current statistics of military merit, Xue Rengui, who killed the general and captured the flag, is much more meritorious than Su Dingfang, who was the first to break into the enemy line.

Du He smiled slightly and deliberately said, "Your Highness, could it be that you also know about my opening of the third eye?"

"What is the third eye?"

Li Chengqian looked confused.

Before Du He could answer, the guards rushed in again.

"Your Highness, General Li Ji has sent someone to deliver the battle report!"

finally come!

Li Chengqian stood up directly this time.

He waved to his guards and said, "Call in the soldier who brought the military report!"

Not long after, a middle-aged soldier with sweat all over his forehead walked in. After saluting respectfully, he handed the battle report to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian opened the military newspaper and quickly browsed it, then raised his head and spoke to Du He excitedly.

"Du He, Li Ji and his men have successfully captured Gaimu City!"

"We killed 11050 enemies, captured more than 2 soldiers and civilians, and seized more than 17 dan of grain!"

"In the next six months, we won't have to worry about food for our army!"

Du He quickly took the military newspaper and read it carefully.

Half a cup of tea passed.

"Whoo~"

Du He let out a long breath.

Unexpectedly, Li Ji's troops captured Gaimu City, a fortified city built on the mountain, at the cost of 500 casualties.

He is worthy of being the second-ranked military god of the Tang Dynasty. His combat command ability is much stronger than that of Zhang Liang and Zhang Jian.

Du He put down the military report and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, General Li Ji and his men left 5000 infantrymen to garrison Gaimu City and guard the prisoners."

"Subtracting the 5000 soldiers stationed in Tongding, Xincheng, and Xuantu, they now have less than 3 soldiers available to besiege Liaodong City."

"There are also several thousand personnel responsible for logistics, so the estimated number of infantry and cavalry capable of fighting is around 2."

"If we take a few more cities, we may not have enough troops to attack Pyongyang!"

Li Chengqian understood what Du He meant. After he waved his hand to let his personal guards and the soldiers who were delivering the battle reports leave, he frowned and said.

"Du He, do you want me to write a secret report to Li Ji, asking him not to surrender so many prisoners and civilians?"

Li Chengqian felt very unsure.

Because Li Ji was a general who was loyal to the Tang Dynasty and his father, and he was a very upright person like Li Jing.

I don't know whether he is willing to implement the plan to annihilate more enemies!

Du He shook his head slightly and said, "Your Highness, we are not in a hurry. Let's wait until we meet up with Li Ji and his army."

Li Chengqian had previously written a large number of letters of treason with Hou Junji, and was almost stabbed in the back by Hou Junji's former son-in-law Helan Chushi. Unexpectedly, he still didn't learn his lesson.

Because once you leave a letter, it's like having a handle on someone, so it's safer to say it in person.

For example, at the beginning of last year, when Du He was still serving as Shangcheng Fengyu, he heard a piece of gossip coming from the palace.

After Hou Junji destroyed Gaochang Kingdom, he privately exiled some innocent people without reporting to Li Shimin, and also took the treasures in the Gaochang Kingdom's palace for himself.

Because of this incident, Hou Junji was impeached after returning to the court, and was eventually imprisoned by the Dali Temple.

Zhang Liang, who happened to be the Minister of Personnel, was sent by Li Shimin to serve as the Governor of Luoyang.

Hou Junji believed that Zhang Liang was exiled because he was excluded, so he found Zhang Liang and complained to him.

"We two meritorious officials have been excluded for no reason. Your Majesty's actions are too disheartening. Do you dare to rebel?"

"If you dare to rebel, I will join you!"

Unexpectedly, Hou Junji's words of venting his dissatisfaction were heard by Zhang Liang, who then turned around and complained to Li Shimin.

Fortunately, Hou Junji only spoke verbally and did not leave any written letters, so Li Shimin did not pursue Hou Junji's fault.

Du He thought that this rumor was probably true. After all, Hou Junji was not a broad-minded person.

Hearing what Du He said, Li Chengqian, who had almost suffered a loss, nodded.

"That's fine. We are leaving for Liaodong City tomorrow anyway, so we can meet up with Li Ji and his army the day after tomorrow."

...

the next morning.

Li Chengqian and Du He left Huaiyuan City under the escort of the Xuanjia Army and Yuchi Huan.

In the afternoon they arrived at the Tang army camp outside Liaodong city.

Seeing Hou Junji sending a large army to surround Liaodong City, Li Chengqian nodded with satisfaction.

"General Hou, now everything is ready except for the east wind. We are just waiting for General Li Ji and his men to come!"