Chapter 493 King Wu’s first battle

Facts have proved that General Su Dingfang's prediction was also correct. Ten days after he said these words, the latest battle report came from the front line. His Royal Highness the King of Wu divided his troops into three groups, including the left army and the right army. The middle route army led by His Highness Wang personally faced Xue Yantuo's main force.

The King of Wu led 15,000 elite troops, and Xue Yantuo had 30,000 cavalry. The two sides met near the Turkic Royal Court. The so-called enemies were extremely jealous when they met, and without any prelude, the armies of both sides launched a direct attack.

Although the Datang army is relatively small in number, the 12,000 Datang frontier troops are not afraid of death. They also know the consequences of encountering enemies on the grassland. If you dare to expose your back, then wait When being chased to death by the enemy, no matter how many enemies there are in front of you, you must rush forward. As long as we are brave, we will definitely have a bloody path.

As for the three thousand forbidden troops that King Wu brought from Chang'an City, they did not have any fear. They guarded around King Wu and followed King Wu into the center of Xue Yantuo's army.

This battle can be said to be a brutal one. Both sides were fighting the main force, and on an open grassland, there was no room for opportunism. In the end, Xue Yantuo's army could not hold on, and deserters appeared three hours after the battle began. The most feared thing is the appearance of deserters. When the first deserter appears, it will be like a domino, and it will soon implicate others.

Although Xue Yantuo's three thousand reinforcements came from the left, Xue Yantuo's main army had already begun to flee. No matter how hard Xue Yantuo Khan tried to stop it, there was no way to stop the deserters. Four hours after the battle began, Xue Yantuo's army retreated north.

However, at this moment, Wu King Li Ke no longer has the power to pursue. Although we have won the victory, we have also suffered a lot of casualties. The number of casualties has exceeded one-third. If we continue to pursue, it will be extremely harmful to our soldiers. It was unfavorable, so when King Wu Li Ke saw the enemy fleeing, he chased them for twenty miles in a symbolic manner and hurried back to rescue the wounded.

According to the statement sent by the imperial court, a total of 15,000 Xue Yantuo's troops were annihilated this time. However, for these news in the imperial court, everyone has to subtract some of the water. Li Xiang is also a person who often leads troops on the battlefield. Of course we know how big this moisture is. Even if part of the moisture is subtracted, we will still have brilliant results and kill at least 8,000 of their elite soldiers.

When they heard Su Dingfang's analysis of this number, many young generals in the camp had expressions of disdain on their faces. This was mainly because they had been following Li Xiang for a long time. To defeat eight thousand of the opponent's men in one battle was simply unbelievable. There is no need to bring it to the table for discussion.

Seeing how arrogant they all were, Su Dingfang had to teach them a lesson. If they went to the battlefield with this idea, they would definitely suffer big losses in the future.

"You guys, don't look down on others. Your wars are different from others' wars. Before you fight, you use artillery to clear the way, and then all kinds of bows and arrows. When you step onto the battlefield, the enemy is gone. How much strength there is, but the soldiers led by King Wu are not equipped with such equipment, they all rely on the swords in their own hands to fight, not to mention Xue Yantuo's elite cavalry is by no means comparable to Goguryeo's cavalry."

Li Xiang did not object to what Su Dingfang said. These people under his command were indeed a little distracted. If they continued to drift like this, the safety of Datang in the future could not be placed on them.

"Didn't the imperial court equip them with gunpowder?"

Li Xiang thought of another thing. He had already contributed the formula. Even the least powerful black powder, the court should equip them with it.

"The troops were sent out too quickly this time. The imperial court did not produce much gunpowder at all. Most of the gunpowder was supplied to Goguryeo. According to many ministers of the imperial court, it is not suitable to send troops now. We should have accumulated more than two months before we should send troops. , but the emperor..."

Su Dingfang didn't finish what he said, but everyone understood what was going on. What the emperor was thinking was different from what we thought. We must listen to what the emperor wants to do. If we save two Months later, the emperor was afraid that Li Xiang was causing trouble. Maybe Li Xiang had already set off from Goguryeo with his people. If you go there, it will save time than Chang'an City.

Li Xiang looked at the time and it was getting late, so he asked everyone to go back and rest. Those who should conduct night training should conduct night training. We can't exert much effort here. We can only continue to wait for news from the front line. Although there was gunpowder in Li Xiang's military camp, he still had to look at the two southern countries. In addition, bandits were still being suppressed in Goguryeo, so Li Xiang could not care about the grassland.

What's more, even if Li Xiang sends someone to send it, it is very likely that it will not be used there. If people want a pure credit, they must not mix any factors of Li Xiang.

After the battle, both sides were recuperating, and the Tang army began to gather. Both the Eastern and Western armies sent their own spies, but the grassland was too big, and it was not easy to find the other side.

Although King Wu wanted to copy Li Xiang's fighting method on the Tuyuhun grassland, running thousands of miles to attack the opponent's camp, he had no choice but to do so without a sounding balloon, so he had no idea of ​​the surrounding situation. Relying on the spies in his hands for detection was really time-consuming and laborious. The most important thing is that the effect is not that good. If you are not careful, you may let the other party discover you. If the other party gathers an army, the King of Wu is likely to fall into a tight siege. After all, this is the hinterland of Xue Yantuo.

The war has dragged on for more than a month. Everything on Li Xiang's side is progressing smoothly. The people from Chang'an City have settled down in various places. Their houses have been built and various public facilities have been opened. Now that it’s built, we’re just waiting to sow the seeds next month, and we’ll have a harvest in May next year.

But the King of Wu who was on the grassland did not have such a good life. They stayed on the grassland for more than a month. During this month, they were looking for people to fight. Khan Xue Yantuo was not a fool. After the last defeat, he They have realized that they cannot fight head-on with Tang Jun. The strength gap between the two sides is obvious. If they have to fight Tang Jun head-on, there will be no good results for them.

So this guy is going to drag it on. Anyway, they have adapted to life on the grassland. Every grain of rice for the Tang Dynasty army has to be transported from Chang'an. They can afford to wait...