Chapter 310: Soldiers are powerful and fast

Although they were eager to return home, the victorious army walked at a leisurely pace and headed towards Chang'an at their normal daily marching speed.

The Qiaohan Road between Luoyang and Chang'an was actually not easy to travel on, and the roads available for marching in many places were extremely narrow.

Fortunately, all the Jianghuai troops had returned, and Li Yuanhui brought hundreds of cavalry as guards, so he didn't have to worry about the army's camping and marching routes, and just followed the main force.

Although they were marching all day, Li Yuanhui was tense and felt extremely relaxed. He often left the team with his second brother, Lao Zhu, Chang Yanheng, Han Quan, Yuchi Gong and others to hunt in the mountains and forests along the way, or to enjoy the scenery and terrain.

But such relaxing days finally disappeared after arriving in Hongnong County.

After the army arrived at Shan County, the capital of Hongnong County, they set up camp. That day was already the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, and they happened to meet a messenger from Chang'an.

After leaving Chang'an, the messenger changed horses at post stations along the way and had almost no rest. He galloped all the way and finally delivered the news to the army on the fourth night of the palace coup.

Li Yuanhui had already lain down to rest when he was called up, "Sikong, the King of Tang wants you to come over to discuss matters."

After waking up, Li Yuanhui quickly got up, put on his clothes, asked his attendants to help him tidy up his clothes, and then ran to Li Yuan's tent.

The tents of the three brothers were about the same distance from Li Yuan's tent, so they entered the tent one after the other.

Subsequently, Chai Rong, Li Huaizhen, Pei Ji, Dou Cong, Liu Zongxun and other close confidants also arrived one after another.

Li Yuan's face was very ugly. "Something happened in Chang'an. Dalang was seriously injured in the palace and is in critical condition. Murong Chang, that little beast, colluded with the Turks and wanted to seize Chang'an. Now Yun Ning is in charge of Chang'an."

After hearing this, everyone's faces changed color, but before they could say anything, Li Yuan gave the order.

"Erlang, you lead 5,000 cavalry and set out immediately to support Chang'an. Dou Cong, Liu Zongxun, Li Huaizhen, and Pei Ji, the four of you go and gather 5,000 cavalry each, for a total of 20,000 cavalry. Sanlang and I will set out early tomorrow morning. The rest of the army will be handed over to you, Silang, Chai Rong, and Li Sixing. You two will assist Silang."

In just a few words, Li Yuan made contingency arrangements and everyone responded.

Only Li Si raised some objections: "Father, why don't you let Third Brother stay and lead the army, and I will serve you."

Li Yuan's eyes revealed a trace of relief when he heard this, but he shook his head, "No need, you are the most stable one, I feel relieved with you behind me."

Afterwards, Li Erlang selected 5,000 light cavalry from the Lianglong cavalry overnight, each man had two horses, enough to rush to Guanzhong.

Li Yuan and Li Sanlang led 20,000 cavalry troops and set out ahead of the infantry early in the morning of the second day.

The remaining hundreds of thousands of troops, under the command of Li Silang, continued to march according to the plan.

There was actually nothing wrong with Li Yuan's arrangement. Li Er was good at long-distance raids, and letting him go first was undoubtedly to put out a fire. After all, there were not too many troops left in Chang'an, and it was a bit difficult to defend the city.

He brought Li Sanlang and the cavalry behind to provide quick support.

As for Li Si, he is the most steady. If the situation in Guanzhong is really difficult to handle, he can ensure that the army will not make any mistakes, so there is still a chance to clean up the situation.

But overall, the situation is much better than Li Yuan had expected.

On the day the messenger arrived, the Turks retreated. Before leaving, they looted the Forbidden Garden and Hanguang Palace, and all the palace maids in Hanguang Palace were abducted.

Also forced to go north were Murong Chang, Murong Yanqing, He Chang and others, as well as more than 2,000 imperial guards.

However, members of the imperial guards kept fleeing on their way north because no one was willing to abandon their homes and careers and go to the Turks.

In the end, only a few hundred people followed Murong Chang northward.

These are Murong Yanqing and He Chang's cronies. They participated in the murder of Li Xiaoyan. If they go back, they will just die. It is better for them to go down this path till the end.

The retreating Turkic troops moved much more slowly because they carried a lot of property and women.

But Ashina Duobi disagreed. After all, he had asked Murong Chang and others and learned that Li Yuan's army should be in the Yaohan Road at this time. According to the marching speed of the Central Plains army, he should be back to the foot of Yinshan Mountain when they arrived in Luoyang. Li Er led 5,000 cavalrymen and marched day and night. It took less than four days to reach Chang'an.

Seeing this, the Chang'an defenders did not dare to let him enter the city directly. It was not until Li Er revealed his identity under the city and Li Yunning arrived and ordered to let him go that Li Er led his troops into the city.

As soon as the siblings met, Li Yunning couldn't hold back her emotions anymore. She then informed Erlang of her brother's death and told him about the current situation.

Upon hearing this, Li Er became furious.

There is no doubt about his relationship with his eldest brother. At this stage, they have not started to fight for power. There is only gratitude and no resentment between the brothers. All he can think of now is the care his eldest brother gave to his brothers when they were young.

Even after the eldest brother returned from Luoyang, the brothers began to become estranged because they were busy with their official duties, but after all, they were brothers born of the same mother and were connected by blood!
Naturally, he could not bear the anger of seeing his own brother die in this despicable murder. Then he heard from his eldest sister that the Turks had withdrawn three or four days ago, taking the emperor away and robbing the Hanguang Palace.

He immediately realized that the Turks, who had returned with such a full load, would not be able to return quickly.

Moreover, just because of Emperor Murong Chang, the enemy who killed his brother, and the significance he represented, he could not be allowed to go to the Turks.

So he immediately ordered his cavalry to have a good meal, and after a short rest, he said goodbye to his eldest sister and set off again.

Li Er's decisiveness was obviously beyond the Turks' expectations.

The Turks had just passed Qi County and were still dozens of miles away from Linjing, the capital of Anding County.

Li Er's pursuit troops caught up with the Turks.

After changing horses, they immediately launched an attack on the Turks.

Zhai Sixun, Zhang Jin, Cheng Zhijie and Yang Xianguo each led 200 cavalrymen and charged fiercely at the Turkic rearguard.

Ashina Duobi of the central army heard that the rear army was being pursued and felt something was wrong. He was about to lead his troops to turn their horses around. However, when he was about to go to meet the rear army, the 5,000 rear troops at the rear had already become a pile of sand and were fleeing in all directions.

Upon seeing this, Ashina Duobi realized that the enemy had ill intentions, so he ordered the central army to abandon the treasures and women and focus on stopping the enemy behind them.

But who would be willing to give up their spoils of war at this time? You know, the Turks had no military pay, and their biggest income was the spoils of war.

So they reluctantly abandoned the spoils of war, and some Turks even killed the captured women with a single knife in anger.

In short, the time Ashina Duobi needed to assemble his troops was much longer than the time Li Er left him.

The Turks had not yet completed their formation and were still reluctant to leave behind a large amount of money, but Li Er's 5,000 cavalrymen were already driving the defeated soldiers towards them.

All the brave generals fought bravely. Li Er, holding a longbow, charged in the front, chasing and shooting the Turkic cavalry in front, and constantly driving them forward to attack their own army formation. He was guarded on both sides by the Qin brothers.

Li Er's bravery naturally inspired the soldiers. During the seven or eight days, Li Er, as the commander, marched continuously like them, eating, drinking and sleeping on the horse, and finally caught up with them. The commander took the lead again and rushed to the front.

So what else do soldiers have to say? Just do it.

The Turks were scattered and fled by Li Er's cavalry. The Yan army recovered a large number of treasures and women, captured thousands of Turkish cavalry, seized nearly 10,000 war horses, beheaded more than 3,000 people, and intercepted Murong Chang and his entourage.

The Battle of Jinghe, which broke out on the banks of Jinghe River, ended with a great victory for the Yan army.

The young Turkic Khan Ashina Duobi finally escaped Linjing with only a few dozen cavalrymen. Later he gathered thousands of defeated soldiers and returned in a panic.

Almost at the same time, Li Yuan finally returned to Chang'an.

Afterwards, accompanied by his eldest daughter and Sanlang, he rushed into the palace. After seeing his eldest son in the coffin, he burst into tears.

"Da Lang"

(End of this chapter)