Chapter 246 Pioneer
The armies of Jie Li and Tong Yehu were blocked by Xu Shiji, and they were allowed to plunder the local areas, but they only managed to grab a small amount of food.

After a long battle with no victory and no gains from looting, the Turkic soldiers had begun to become tired of the war and wanted to return home.

The two Khans also had to take their attitude into consideration and thus formally prepared to withdraw their troops.

Tong Yehu was most happy to see success. Although Jie Li was unwilling, he had no choice. He could not use his own property to motivate the soldiers. There was no such rule on the grassland.

Li Mi was the first to notice the perfunctory nature of the Turkic offensive, and he immediately went to discuss with Xu Shiji. The order given to them by His Majesty was to hold back the Turks and not allow them to withdraw.

Now the Turks intend to withdraw their troops. If we cannot stop them in time, it will be too late to chase after the Turkish troops who come and go like the wind.

In Xu Shiji's tent, Wang Shichong, Du Fuwei, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others were all there. After Li Mi entered the tent, he did not waste any words and told the story directly.

No one was surprised. The battle had been going on till now and the two sides were in a stalemate. After all, they only had the city to rely on, while the Turks lacked siege equipment. Seeing that they had already built a strong defense and had no way to snatch food, fodder, and young men, it was understandable that they wanted to retreat.

Fang Xuanling said: "We don't know where the Duke of Wei is, but I think he must have gone behind the Turks, but he is waiting for the right opportunity because he has few soldiers.

The Duke of Hongnong and Wang Bo, the Marquis of Zouping, each led several thousand soldiers and horses and had already circled to the rear through the mountain valleys, but they were still far short of a lot of soldiers and horses to encircle the Turks. "

Wang Long said: "We need to be careful in deploying troops in order to avoid scaring off the Turks. But if the Turks are about to withdraw, we don't need to be so embarrassed. The key is how to prevent the Turks from escaping."

The key now is not to capture the Turkic soldiers. What Your Majesty wants most is Tong Yehu and Jie Li. If these two run away, you can still reward them according to their merits in the court, but in Your Majesty's heart, all that's left is Yu.

Wang Shichong suddenly said: "I had some dealings with the Turks in the past, so perhaps we can use the strategy of feigning surrender."

Du Fuwei nodded upon hearing this. Back then, as long as most of the rebellious leaders had tens of thousands of soldiers under their command, the Turks would take the initiative to come to them.

Du Ruhui thought for a moment and said, "If we want to use this strategy to approach the Turkic Khan's central army, there is not much hope, but if we use this strategy to make the Turks hesitate and delay for a few more days, there is still a good chance that we can do so.

In the past few days, we have been organizing troops and preparing food, and assigning horses to elite troops, with one person riding two or even three horses, in preparation for long-distance pursuit and interception."

Li Mi said: "The key is that we must defeat the Turkic army and force them to flee. In this way, even if there are thousands of soldiers and horses, as long as they hide in the mountains and valleys, set up trees and wave flags to pretend to be powerful, it will be enough to scare them into taking a detour.

If they go around in circles, their march will be slow, and we can surround and destroy them!"

Du Fuwei led his adopted sons Kan Ling and Wang Xiongdan out of the line and said, "I am willing to be the vanguard!"

Wang Shichong and other generals were not willing to be outdone, but Xu Shiji still appointed Du Fuwei as the vanguard. This was because Du Fuwei and his two adopted sons were extremely brave and were the best candidates for the vanguard.

So the generals followed the plan. Zhai Rang concentrated on preparing food and feeding horses, Li Mi coordinated logistics, and the rest of the generals prepared for a bloody battle.

This time they were not going to refuse to defend, but would take the initiative to engage in a field battle with the Turks. Xu Shiji also sent the news back to Chang'an.

The emperor immediately ordered Shan Xiongxin to lead 30,000 elite troops to provide support, and ordered Hejian King Li Xiaogong to lead his troops north immediately.

Wang Shichong's strategy did work, after all, Jie Li really didn't want to withdraw his troops like this, and a little hope would tempt him. But within a few days, they discovered the actions of the Tang army, so they did not dare to hesitate and prepared to withdraw their troops, but Du Fuwei, who was ready to go, immediately led his troops to attack.

No one knew where Du Fuwei's former troops had been assigned to, but as a surrendered general, and having been granted the title of General of the Sixteen Guards, he at least retained his own personal guards.

These people were all his fellow villagers, and he had always loved them very much. Every time he won a battle, he would reward them with the looted property. If they died in battle, he would bury their property and even their wives and concubines with them.

But the requirements were also very harsh. They had to be the vanguard in every battle. After the battle, the wounds on each person's body would be checked. If the wound was on the back, the person would be executed immediately.

In this way, one will naturally be extremely brave and establish a foundation for success.

And now, we still have to rely on them to gain a firm foothold in the court.

As surrendered generals, they initially held high titles and important positions, but they would inevitably be replaced later. People like Zhai Rang and Wang Bo had already given up and were just waiting for Your Majesty to promote new people. They would then abdicate and ask for an idle position and wealth.

But he was still unwilling to accept this. How could he pass on the title of Marquis of Zhangqiu to his children and grandchildren? He should earn a title of Duke for them while he was still young and strong!
Faced with the fact that the Tang army actually took the initiative to fight, Jie Li and Tong Yehu felt something was not good, but they were not to panic, after all, they still had 170,000 to 180,000 soldiers ready to fight.

Jie Li ordered the vanguard to fight, and the two armies immediately engaged in battle. Kan Leng, who was once known as the most powerful general in Jianghuai, led the charge, holding a ten-foot-long sword with two edges, called Mo Ren. With every move, he killed several people, and there was no one to match him!
Du Fuwei was not to be outdone. Under the protection of Wang Xiongdan, he also led the charge into the battle line to kill the enemy, but was shot in the shoulder and arm by a Turkic general. Du Fuwei used one hand to hold a knife and directly cut off the adopted son who was trying to protect him.

He rode his horse towards the Turkic general who was still aiming his bow not far away, and shouted angrily: "I will not pull out my arrows until I kill you!"

The personal guards were excited and immediately followed. Wang Xiongdan's eyes were bloodshot. He spurred his horse and whipped it to pass his adoptive father, charging forward to lead the way.

But soon Wang Xiongdan was shot and fell off his horse. Du Fuwei showed no fear and was hit by two more arrows, but fortunately they were blocked by his armor and did not penetrate his flesh.

At this time, the distance was very close, and Du Fuwei's bravery had already intimidated the Turks. The cavalry charge was a test of morale.

Du Fuwei swung his left hand and chopped again, rushing to the front of the general and cutting off most of his neck with one stroke, leaving only a little bit of flesh connecting to the head.

Without Du Fuwei's order, his men jumped off their horses and cut off his head.

He beheaded the archer on his horse, and then took the archer's head and killed dozens of people in succession. Du Fuwei laughed and hugged the ugly and ferocious head with his injured arm, and continued to kill the enemy with his other hand. The Tang army was inspired.

Upon seeing this, Xu Shiji immediately ordered Wang Shichong and Xue Wanche to lead troops to attack the left and right Turks.

The first battle was fought with the momentum of a decisive battle, which caught the Turks off guard. For so long, both sides always retreated after a tentative confrontation, and Jie Li thought it would be the same this time.

As a result, they suffered considerable losses. After a day of fierce fighting, the Turkic vanguard was almost destroyed, but the Tang army also suffered heavy casualties.

Du Fuwei was even more seriously injured. When he was dragged back, he was almost dead. Only about a hundred of his personal guards were left. His adopted son Wang Xiongdan was shot in the face, and the arrow almost hit both eyes. Kan Leng fainted due to exhaustion after killing dozens of enemies.

.........

(End of this chapter)