Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

The next day.

It was just dawn and Baiyan City was already bustling with activity.

Especially where the firemen were, hundreds of people were busy slaughtering horses and sheep.

Wisps of smoke rising up add a touch of worldly flavor to this mountain city.

At the gate of the City Lord’s Mansion.

Zhang Jian, with his hands bound, saw that the door was still tightly closed. He frowned and asked the guard at the gate.

"Is your Highness not up yet?"

"General Zhang, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has not yet gotten up."

"Hey~"

Zhang Jian sighed and then left with mixed feelings.

Time passed slowly in agony, and the sun climbed above my head without me noticing when.

Zhang Jian once again came to the gate of the City Lord's Mansion, but the tall vermilion gate was still tightly closed, and his heart sank to the bottom.

It's already noon, it's impossible that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince hasn't gotten up yet.

Zhang Jian said to the guard at the gate: "Little brother, please go in and report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and tell him that I am here to plead guilty!"

The guard said with an embarrassed look on his face: "General Zhang, the gate has not been opened yet. I dare not disturb His Royal Highness the Crown Prince rashly."

"How about you go back and rest first, and wait for the summons from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

In just this morning, General Zhang has come no less than 30 times. Doesn't he know that the Crown Prince doesn't want to see him?

Zhang Jian's heart sank, and he asked, "Has Prince Consort Du gotten up?"

"Please go in and tell Prince Consort Du that the criminal general Zhang Jian wants to see you!"

Although Li Chengqian was unwilling to see him, as long as Du He was willing to speak well of him, the prince would definitely not punish him severely.

After all, Du He holds a very high position in the prince's heart.

The guard shook his head and then lowered his voice and said, "General Zhang, I'm afraid Prince Consort Du is not convenient to see anyone. You should go back and wait."

Now that things have come to this, Zhang Jian understands what is going on.

I'm afraid he won't be able to see the prince and Du He before Hou Junji comes back.

Zhang Jian nodded to the guard and said, "Thank you, little brother."

Inside the city lord's palace.

Du He and Li Chengqian sat together and made tea.

"Your Highness, Zhang Jian has come here so many times, why don't you go see him?"

Hearing Du He's words, Li Chengqian pouted and said.

"When I asked you to decide how to deal with Zhang Jian, you kept making excuses."

"I haven't even figured out how to deal with Zhang Jian, so what can I do when I meet him now?"

"Let's wait for Hou Junji to come back."

...

The sun is westward.

Hou Junji finally led the army back with the captured spoils.

In order to welcome this great hero, Li Chengqian specially led a group of soldiers in the city and went out of the city 3 miles to welcome him.

Gave Hou Junji enough face.

After the army had eaten and drunk their fill, Li Chengqian handed over all the generals to the City Lord's Mansion.

Li Chengqian asked with a smile: "General Hou, how is your battle record? Tell everyone about it!"

Hou Junji nodded and immediately reported: "In this battle, our troops annihilated 42995 enemy troops, beheaded Gao Yanshou, the general of Nuosa, and 41 enemy generals of varying sizes."

"We seized 7925 war horses, 21021 sets of armor, 44168 weapons of all kinds, and 2 shi of grain and grass..."

Listening to the numbers read out by Hou Junji, Li Chengqian, Du He and others all showed excited expressions on their faces.

But when Zhang Jian heard that Hou Junji had won a great victory, he was not happy at all, and his old face was wrinkled.

Comparing their two battles, even Zhang Jian himself thought that he would not be able to escape death this time.

After Hou Junji finished reading, Li Chengqian clapped his hands and sighed.

"This battle was well fought!"

"General Hou is worthy of being the great general of the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Chengqian then asked in confusion: "General Hou, Huailiang came back last night and said that he had only annihilated more than 3 people. How come there are more than more people?"

"Have you been chasing the enemy's fleeing army and killing them all night long?"

Hou Junji nodded and said, "Your Highness, we chased the enemy for dozens of miles."

"It's a pity that we had too few people, so thousands of enemy soldiers escaped into the deep mountains and forests, and we couldn't chase them because it was too dark."

The enemy army they encountered yesterday, except for a few people wearing armor who were still able to fight, most of the others were not wearing armor and their combat effectiveness was very poor.

The 5 enemy troops were thrown into disarray by a charge from their cavalry.

Especially after Yuchi Huan led his troops to the central army and killed the enemy commander Gao Yanshou, this army that had no fighting will at all was defeated.

For the next few hours, the Tang army chased and slaughtered the Goguryeo enemy.

Who wouldn’t love this kind of military achievement that is equivalent to getting it for free?

Hou Junji saw that Zhang Jian's face looked strange and he just sat there without saying anything, and he suddenly felt something was wrong.

He quickly asked in a low voice: "General Zhang, how is the result of the battle over your side?"

Zhang Jian moved his mouth but didn't say anything.

Hou Junji turned his head and looked at Li Chengqian again, and found a hint of anger on his face.

"Were you defeated?"

Hou Junji asked doubtfully.

Du He said softly: "The Wugu City cavalry that General Zhang is facing is very powerful, and the commander, King Yuanfen, also has some strategies."

"General Zhang's troops faced more than 8153 elite cavalrymen and fought a bloody battle for a whole day. Together with the Black Armor Army, they wiped out enemy troops."

"We also suffered heavy casualties. A total of 6312 brothers were buried here in this battle!"

Hearing Du He's words, Hou Junji and Zhang Jian were both stunned.

Hou Junji was shocked because Zhang Jian's troops suffered heavy casualties, while Zhang Jian was incredulous because Du He spoke up for him.

On the main seat.

Li Chengqian looked at Du He thoughtfully, then turned to ask Hou Junji.

"General Hou, Zhang Jian suffered heavy casualties in this battle. What do you think we should do with him?"

"this..."

, Hou Junji became speechless for a moment.

Because he was the one who strongly advocated fighting in two directions, if Zhang Jian was punished for the great defeat, should he, the commander-in-chief of the army, also be punished?

"Zhang Jian, this old man, is really incompetent!"

"If I had known earlier that Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui and others had been sent over, perhaps the casualties wouldn't have been so great!"

Hou Junji felt extremely regretful.

The feeling of having won a great victory was also gone.

Facing Li Chengqian's sharp gaze, Hou Junji's eyes turned and then asked Du He.

"Du He, how do you think we should deal with General Zhang?"

Inside the hall, all eyes were on Du He.

What the hell?

Why are you all asking me?

Feeling the expectant eyes, Du He couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

Be quiet for a moment.

Du He said seriously, "Although General Zhang suffered heavy casualties in this battle, it was not caused by his personal mistakes, but by the difference in strength between the enemy and our soldiers."

"If we must hold someone responsible, General Hou and I should bear the main responsibility."

"It was because we two failed to accurately analyze the strength of both sides in advance that General Zhang's troops suffered heavy losses."

No one present could have imagined that Du He would actually take the responsibility on himself and Hou Junji.

A tear welled up unconsciously in Zhang Jian's cloudy eyes.

Hou Junji was the first to react. He stood up and said in a deep voice, "Du He is right. It was my suggestion to divide the troops for battle. As the chief commander of the central army, I should bear the main responsibility."

Li Chengqian didn't expect this result.

Since Du He and Hou Junji took the responsibility, he couldn't really punish them.

Li Chengqian said with a serious face: "Since this battle was caused by decision-making, it has nothing to do with General Zhang. Let's just drop the matter."

"I hope to avoid such problems as much as possible in subsequent battles."

Everyone stood up together, clasped their fists and shouted at Li Chengqian.

"His Royal Highness the Prince is wise!"

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "Everyone, sit down."

Just then, the guards stationed at the gate of the City Lord's Mansion rushed in.

"Your Highness, General Li Ji has sent someone to deliver an urgent military report!"

Li Chengqian's face changed and he said quickly, "Please invite him in!"

Not long after, a soldier covered in blood came trotting in.

"Reporting to His Royal Highness, when we were fighting against the 6-man army of Noosa 8?10 Gao Huizhen, the general commander Zhang Junyi led his troops to flee from the battlefield, resulting in our rear defense line being breached by the enemy troops in Anshi City."

"All the food and supplies were burned by the enemy!"

"King Jiangxia Li Dao Zong was surrounded by the enemy. When Zhishisili, Qibi Heli and Ashina Mishe went to rescue him, they were all injured!"