Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

Almost immediately after Yinan ordered troops to pursue Ashina Lushun, within two days, a rumor spread like wildfire throughout the entire northern desert.

The sound reached Yinan's ears.

Even now, as he sits atop his warhorse under the blazing sun, he feels as if he has fallen into an ice cellar.

"Chief, this must be a treacherous scheme by Changsun Wuji! Ashina Lushun's troops aren't particularly strong, yet they were able to conquer several tribes so quickly. If it weren't for those despicable Tang people causing trouble, I..."

Before a tribal chief could finish speaking, a flash of cold light swept across his neck.

"Pfft..."

Watching him fall from his horse, convulsing and splattering blood.

Everyone was shocked.

However, the barbarian man, his eyes bloodshot, glared fiercely at the crowd, showing no fear of the mutiny under this man's command, and began to curse through gritted teeth.

"If anyone dares to utter such disloyal words in the future, don't blame me for cutting off their head with my sword as I have today! Ashina Lushun was never of one mind with us, and his betrayal proves it!"

"We are now trying to make amends for our past mistakes. We must capture the thieves and escort them to Chang'an!"

"Understand?!"

He scolded.

Although everyone felt distressed, they all agreed and echoed the sentiment.

Yinan was still dissatisfied, and his gaze fell on his son, Dadushe, with a cold look that showed no trace of paternal affection for him.

"Even if you are my son, I do not wish for such words to come out of your mouth. If you dare to disrupt the morale of my army and spread rumors again... I will kill you with my own hands!"

His chilling tone and his expression, which didn't seem like acting at all, startled Da Du She into nodding repeatedly.

He didn't dare to look Yi Nan in the eye at that moment.

......

Chaos has broken out in the northern desert!

Or rather, the Xueyantuo tribe was in chaos.

The internal divisions and discord between the two factions spread rapidly among the other tribes, large and small, almost immediately after Ashina Lushun made his move.

Even those who intermarried between the two tribes were arrested on the orders of Yi Nan.

Children born between the remnants of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and the Xueyantuo tribe were also not spared.

Both the Northern Circuit of the Tang Dynasty and Princess Gaoyang's forces tacitly chose to wait and see.

In less than a month, Ashina Lushun and Yinan engaged in several fierce battles. Although the remnants of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate were outnumbered and outgunned by Yinan's forces, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate was still fighting fiercely.

But they all already knew that their fate would be either death or being captured by the Tang Dynasty and enslaved to dig waterways.

Work until you die.

Ashina Lushun is said to be a young son of Tuli. When Tuli and Jieli launched a full-scale war against the Tang Dynasty, they suffered repeated defeats and their armies surrendered one after another.

Even their sons died on the battlefield.

This person, however, was young at the time and remained in the Tuliya tent. He was later able to escape north and join the Xueyantuo tribe.

At this moment, he was holding a scimitar and leading more than 10,000 Turkic cavalry in a fierce battle against the army led by Xueyantuo Yinan.

“Shoot! Shoot!!!”

He brandished his scimitar and roared.

A dense swarm of arrows flew overhead in an instant, like a heavy rain, heading straight for the oncoming Xueyantuo troops.

At almost the same time, the Xueyantuo tribe also drew their bows and nocked their arrows.

On the lush, tender grass below, the two sides began to approach each other at an extremely fast pace.

The arrows overhead were either falling or colliding with each other...

"what!"

"Fear not! Charge with me!"

"Kill all these despicable Turks!"

The screams and shrill cries were almost easily drowned out by the thunderous hooves and shouts of battle.

Yinan commanded approximately 30,000 cavalry, which was at least twice the number of the remnants of the Eastern Turkic forces on the other side.

Even so, both sides fought with cold weapons and were nomadic tribes.

A fierce battle raged from day to night, leaving behind a trail of corpses and stray warhorses left untamed.

Both sides were exhausted, but they looked like they were in a bloodthirsty frenzy.

As dusk fell, Yi Nan was panting heavily. He had been struck in the shoulder and chest by arrows, and if it weren't for the breastplate protecting his chest, the arrows would have killed him.

But he didn't care about any of that. He hastily wiped the blood and grime from his face and looked at his troops.

My heart was filled with anxiety.

If he suffers heavy losses this time, those two old bastards, Changsun Wuji and Ashina Quli, will probably not hesitate to break their promise and swallow them and the remnants of the Eastern Turkic tribes in one fell swoop.

"Yes, everyone... we can't let them get away..."

He swallowed hard, his throat feeling like it was on fire; the water bag on the side of the horse had already ruptured during the fight.

Da Du gritted his teeth. Although he lacked emotional intelligence, his limbs were strong enough. He used the strip of cloth to tighten the scabbard on his hand, and then gulped down the last mouthful of water from the water bag.

"Hiss...whoosh!"

Sweat and blood mingled on the warhorse's mane, emitting a strong stench.

But this completely unleashed the ferocity of these nomadic cavalrymen. Apart from leaders like Yi Nan and the tribal chiefs who needed to consider their own casualties and fear being surrounded by the Tang Dynasty, almost everyone had only one thought in their minds... to kill everyone on the other side.

While Da Dushe and the others were waiting for the order from Yinan to attack.

A deep, resonant bugle call suddenly came from the northwest.

"Whoosh—!"

The rumbling of hooves, which started faintly and gradually grew into a violent, shaking sound, sent a chill down the spines of both Yinan and Ashina Lushun's forces, as if they had regained their senses.

Under the setting sun, which was almost halfway below the horizon, a group of cavalrymen, whose identities were unclear and remained hidden in darkness, suddenly emerged from the horizon.

With a dry throat, the Yi man tried to control his restless warhorse while nervously looking up into the distance.

He was trying hard to make out the words on the cavalry banner.

"That's... Gao... they're Princess Gaoyang's cavalry from the Tang Dynasty!"

Da Dushe had excellent eyesight and recognized the flag. Upon hearing this, Yinan stared at the approaching cavalry with a complex and tense expression, his heart filled with resentment and anger.

This same cavalry unit attacked their salt route at the beginning of this year, cutting off the salt supply to the Xueyantuo tribe.

Otherwise, their situation wouldn't have been forced to this point.

The newcomers were none other than the elite young men of the various small and medium-sized tribes under Gao Yang's command, who, like the Xueyantuo tribe, belonged to the Tiele tribe.

Upon seeing the scattered corpses, Qibi Zhang, the cavalry commander in charge, charged towards Ashina Lushun's troops without hesitation.

"kill!!!"

Yi Nan felt relieved and, seeing this, quickly raised his scimitar as well, roaring as he led his army to join forces and attack.

When the battle ended, Ashina Lushun, who had survived with several arrows, was bound hand and foot. Yinan, however, did not dare to relax and ordered his men to clean up the battlefield.

He quickly walked up to Qibi Zhang.

In the past, although the two were both from the Tiele tribe, their statuses were worlds apart.

However, at this moment, Yinan did not dare to put on airs as the leader of Xueyantuo, and bowed to the other party with his hands clasped in gratitude.

"Thank you to these generals, and thank you to Princess Gaoyang for your help..."

Qi Bizhang raised his hand, interrupting the other party's flattery.

"Chief Yi, if you wish to express your gratitude, please thank our Princess directly. However, Princess Gaoyang has a message for you to convey..."

Yinan quickly adopted a posture of listening attentively.

"Princess Gaoyang said that if they don't want their clan to be exterminated, they should think carefully about who to surrender to..."