"Niu Lu, what's going on? Why are you still cowering at the foot of the mountain?”
Li Ke arrived at the foot of Dadun Mountain and asked loudly as he looked at the third echelon that was still waiting.
Niu Lu smiled bitterly." Big brother, it was Chumo and Huaiyu's idea. They hoped to show weakness to the enemy and lure out all the enemy troops in the General Castle."”
"According to the report from the front, 1,000 people have already come out of the military fortress one after another. There are still 1,000 people left. Chumo and the others are now blocked halfway up the mountain.”
"Big brother, our people have sneaked near the military fortress during the chaos. This military fortress is too difficult to attack. Even if there are only 1,000 people, it's impossible for us to take it down in a short time!”
As he spoke, Niu Lu handed Li Ke the sketch of the military fortress drawn by the scout.
Li Ke couldn't help but frown.
He had not been able to find out what the military fortress looked like hidden in the forest.
They could only get close when it was chaotic.
This military fortress was a circular stone fortress. It was divided into four floors, and the rotating walls formed a spiral staircase that led to the top.
There were still many holes on the fortress.
If nothing unexpected happened, the military fort could hide soldiers.
With such an entrance at the top and a military fortress with soldiers hidden inside, 1,000 people could indeed defend it.
"You stay here. I'll go up."
"Big brother…big brother…"
Niu Lu stomped his feet and immediately ordered the general beside him,"Take 300 men and protect His Highness!"
He immediately went up and did not encounter any attacks.
When he found the second echelon, they were blocked by the enemy.
"Big Brother, why are you up here?" Cheng Chuliang saw Li Ke and quickly led his 100-man team to Li Ke's side, asking anxiously.
"Don't worry about me. Where are your people?" Li Ke ordered.”
"According to your instructions, half of them are behind us. The enemies are surrounding and annihilating the first echelon. I wanted to rush in but was stopped.”
"No need, we can't show our trump cards now. We need to shout for His Highness Ke to lead the troops to rescue us.”Li Ke ordered.
Cheng Chuliang and Li Ke understood that their big brother wanted to use his identity to attract the enemy!
"Don't hesitate, do it quickly!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Brothers, hold on. His Highness Ke will lead the troops to rescue them!”
……
Shouts sounded.
In the fortress.
Helian Hua pricked up his ears and tried to hear it clearly. He asked suspiciously,"Your Highness Ke? Is the King of Wu, Li Ke, really going to personally rescue them?"
" Your Highness, you're still keeping him here. According to the report, there aren't many enemies in the second wave, only seven or eight hundred men. We've already fought for so long, so I'm afraid that three or four hundred men will be good enough. Let them be surrounded, and we'll take another five hundred men from the fortress to wipe them out. If we can capture or kill the King of Wu of the Tang Empire, how glorious would that be?"”
Helian Hua could not help but rub his hands. The temptation was indeed great.
A Prince of a Dynasty!
"Pass down the order to let them enter the encirclement. Then, pass the order to capture the high-ranking generals of the Tang army as much as possible. Our Helian tribe cannot form a deadly hatred with the Tang army. If there is really King Wu Li Ke, we must ensure that he is captured alive!”
"Yes, sir!"
After his subordinate gave the order, Helian Hua said excitedly,"As long as we capture this Wu Wangke alive, our Helian Tribe will have enough bargaining chips! With the support of the Tang Dynasty, it might not be impossible to obtain Tuyuhun!”
"What's going on? Aren't we just putting in a few hundred people? I've already sent 500 people to support them, but why are the sounds of battle approaching the fortress so quickly?”Not long after, Helian Hua heard the shouts coming from the hillside and asked angrily.
"General, general…"
A general rushed in excitedly." It must be the King of Wu, Li Ke. The other party led 500 men into the encirclement. The remaining 500 Tang soldiers in the encirclement suddenly went crazy. With a total of 1,000 soldiers, they actually pressed us and kept attacking!”
"I was worried that Li Ke would pretend to attack and then turn around to escape. I had no choice but to draw my troops around them and set up a formation behind them. Firstly, to block the reinforcements, and secondly, to cut off their retreat!”
Helian Hua patted his subordinate's shoulder in satisfaction."Well done. Even if the enemy is not Li Ke, he must be an important figure in the Tang army.”
"Otherwise, the morale of the Tang army wouldn't have been so boosted. You must capture him alive!”
"Yes, sir!"
However, Helian Hua's excitement did not last long. After about fifteen minutes, the shouting and fighting at the foot of the mountain suddenly became more agitated and intense.
"General, general, bad news! Reinforcements! The enemy's reinforcements are blocking us from both sides, and there are more enemies charging up from the foot of the mountain. There are about two thousand of them!”
A general, covered in blood, scrambled to Helian Hua's feet and hugged Helian Hua's leg as he shouted in panic.
Helian Hua's face turned pale instantly and he shouted,""Get ready to meet the enemy and order our brothers to retreat to the military fortress!”
This order was obviously too late.
Not long after the horn sounded for the withdrawal of troops.
Helian Hua saw the Tang army rushing up, running over their own messy soldiers.
The spiral stone stairs of this fortress only allowed two people to walk side by side. It was impossible to rush up like a swarm of bees.
His face turned pale and he turned to run up.
He was worried that he would be blocked if he stayed down there.
When Helian Hua reached the top of the fortress, he saw his soldiers swarming around the steps and being mercilessly slaughtered by the Tang army.
"Release the arrows! Release the arrows!"
Helian Hua shouted with a pale face.
Two hundred people released arrows, but the effect was too small for the thousands of Tang soldiers who rushed up.
They couldn't hold it anymore!
Helian Hua watched as the Tang army killed all the soldiers on his side and then began to attack along the stone stairs.
He knew that 200 people wouldn't be able to hold it!
"Quick, put the rope from the back, put the rope!”
Helian Hua was ready to escape. As for the tribe in charge of stopping them, he could not be bothered.
Tumen Pass.
"Trash!" Helian Tienan kicked his nephew, who had just escaped, and pulled out his saber."In one night, you lost the stronghold that Helian Clan had been running for decades. You deserve to die!”
"Leader, please calm down…"
"Uncle, the Tang Dynasty's King of Wu, Li Ke, led the army to attack personally. The Tang army has gone crazy and doesn't care about life and death at all!”
"General, it seems that they are indeed the main force of the Tang army.”
"That's right, General. The King of Wu was the bait himself, so Helian Hua was bound to fall for it.”
……
Helian Tienan was stopped by the general beside him.
After calming down, he said with a worried expression,"The Tang army is so brave that they conquered our fortress overnight. With only 120 million left, can we still defend Tumen Pass tomorrow?”
Everyone looked worried.
Dadun Mountain Stronghold was lost, and the Tang army's performance was sharp.
This caused all the Helian Clan members to lose their confidence in guarding Tumen Pass.
Li Ke was currently walking inside the fortress, on the fourth floor.
Each floor was connected by a wooden ladder, and each floor could be sealed with wooden planks.
Even if there was thick smoke on the lower level, it would not affect the upper level much.
"Huaiyu, I want you to lead us up the mountain. The remaining 2,700 soldiers will guard the fort.”Li Ke said to Qin Huaiyu who was beside him.
Qin Huaiyu nodded in agreement and asked,""Big brother, can you tell me your plan now?”
"Next, I plan to divide my forces and quietly seize Wutai Pass along the southwest foothills. Red Cliff Pass?”
"Why? Compared to Tumen Pass, Wutai Pass and Red Cliff Pass were not important at all. According to the intelligence, Helian Tienan had only deployed 500 troops at each of these two passes.”Cheng Chumo was puzzled.
Li Ke decided to reveal his thoughts.
"Our forces are destined to take down the Dadun Mountain Military Fortress, but we won't be able to take down Tumen Pass, which has 12,000 soldiers.”
"Therefore, I plan to seize Wutai Pass and Red Cliff Pass, and at the same time, stay away from Helian Tienan so that he will never be able to figure out the situation of our military forces. It will make it seem like we want to seize all the passes in Jishi Mountain and isolate Tumen Pass.”
"After the pressure is formed, we can send someone to contact Helian Tienan and persuade him to join the imperial court.”
Qin Huaiyu and the others finally understood.
The reason why they attacked Dadun Mountain was to put a lot of pressure on Helian Tienan.
Later on, they would attack the other passes and isolate Tumen Pass. Their goal was the same, to increase the pressure.
"Actually, the key to success lies in Helian Tienan's deep respect for the imperial court.”
"The more Helian Tienan is afraid of the imperial court, the higher the possibility of success!”
"I will leave immediately. Four hours after we leave, shoot a letter at the Earth Gate Pass and tell Helian Tienan that it's not that the imperial court doesn't dare to attack the city, but that they don't want the two sides to fight for no reason.”
" Also, tell him that we've taken the Five Gates Pass and Red Cliff Pass. Give him time to think. If he doesn't make a decision even after the Five Gates Pass and Red Cliff Pass are taken, I won't care about the casualties on my side anymore. Take Tumen Pass, and the Fan He Company's tribes will be wiped out!”
"Alright, I understand, Big Brother!"
"Your place is also very dangerous. If…if things can't be done, then lead the troops and retreat.”
In the end, Li Ke still gave Qin Huaiyu an opening.
"Don't worry, Big Brother," Qin Huaiyu said with a bright smile.”
Li Ke led his troops to retreat north along the southwest foothills of Jishi Mountain before dawn.
Helian Tienan was puzzled.
Until he received a letter from the fortress.
"How credible do you think it is?”Helian Tienan asked.
"It should be credible. The Central Plainsmen care a lot about casualties in war.”
"It should be credible."
"The Central Plainsmen's attack last night was very fierce. It doesn't seem fake.”
……
"Report! The Tibetan messenger requests an audience!"
The Tibetan messenger entered and mocked,"Chief Helian, you've been fooled by a young prince with less than ten thousand soldiers, don't you know?”
"What?! What did you say?" Helian Tienan stood up.
The messenger took out a letter and handed it to Helian Tienan."This is a letter personally written by our Great Minister. Our Tibetan spies have clearly investigated that there are only ten thousand soldiers!”
Helian Tienan looked at the evidence handed over by the Tibetan messenger and gritted his teeth.
"Li Ke still wants to kill my Helian tribe, leaving no one alive. I, Helian Tienan, will definitely kill you!”
"Pass on the order! Gather 7,000 soldiers and follow me in pursuit!”
A hundred miles away from Earth Gate Pass.
The territory that originally belonged to Tuyuhun was taken over by Tubo after the Tang army began to attack.
100,000 Tibetan soldiers and horses are displayed here.
In the commander's tent.
"Wu Wangke is indeed bold, but now that I've exposed his scheme, will he be able to return to his country alive this time?" Songzan sneered.”
Songzan hadn't forgotten the humiliation Li Ke had given him.
"Zanpu, should we attack the Tang army's retreating pontoon bridge on the Great Xia River first?”A general asked.
"We'll see." Songzan waved his hand.”
Attacking now and waiting for Li Ke to retreat, sending troops to take over the pontoon bridge, saving Li Ke, and letting Li Ke fall into his hands were two completely different effects.
Benzanpu really wants to know, when you fall into his hands, he will use your life to exchange for a daughter of the Tang Dynasty's imperial clan. What will His Highness Ke choose?
……
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。