Chapter 501: Return to the Righteous King with You

Snow is falling all over the sky at the foot of Liupan Mountain.

The various Tang troops fought bravely and chased the fugitives all the way.

The fierce generals of the Tang army, such as Xue Renmei, Zhai Sixun, Yuwen Xiao, Qin Bogui, Qin Zhongyu, etc., all led their elite cavalry to charge into the enemy's formation, like tigers into a flock of sheep, killing the Turks in pieces and causing rivers of blood.

But the flying snow in the sky continued to cover the blood on the ground, and gradually slowed down the speed of the horses.

When Jili Khan chose to turn around and flee, Yang Kan knew that something was wrong, and he immediately ordered more than 10,000 Han cavalry to gather eastward instead of fleeing northward with the Turks.

It was Yang Kan's prompt decision that saved the Han army. The various Turkic tribes were fleeing and had no organization at all.

Chai Rong commanded a left army of more than 10,000 men, including 5,000 Weifu troops, 2,000 Qinzhou border troops and 3,000 border troops led by Hou Jun, the governor of Xiazhou.

Hou Jun was in the front and did not lead his troops directly into the battle. Instead, he kept running forward along the Liupan Mountain until the wind and snow had a huge impact on the progress of the war horses and the accumulated snow was almost above the horses' calves. Only then did Hou Jun order all his troops to dismount and then launch an assault in the form of infantry fighting.

Hou Jun was holding a spear in front, and all the cavalry behind him gave up their bows and crossbows, and followed Hou Jun with spears or swords in hand, charging directly into the Turkic formation. The Turkish cavalry's horses were all slow in movement due to the accumulated snow, and naturally lost their impact and speed. Such cavalry were sitting ducks for the infantry.

The Tang army stabbed the Turks on horseback with spears and swords, or attacked their horses directly, while Hou Jun shouted, "Kill the enemy and leave the horse, kill the enemy and leave the horse."

Almost at the same time, Li Er also issued an order for the entire army to dismount and fight on foot while marching.

On such a snowy day, two-legged horses have a greater speed advantage than four-legged horses. Countless Turkic soldiers were stabbed off their horses by the Han army's spears and halberds, or were directly pulled off their horses.

The Turks who were originally at the end of the team could naturally flee forward without hindrance, but the Turkish army in the rear became lambs to be slaughtered.

Li Er looked at the snow and laughed, "God has sent me to do something great! I will wipe out the Turks today! Pass my order, capture Jili alive!"

"Prince's order, wipe out the Turks and capture Jili alive!"

"Prince's order, wipe out the Turks and capture Jili alive!"

The prince's oral instructions continued to spread on the battlefield as the guards around him repeated them loudly.

After hearing the prince's oral instructions, all the Tang army soldiers repeated them aloud, which once again pushed the morale of the soldiers to the peak.

Zhao Da of the right army also dismounted and led his troops to fight on foot.

After hearing the central army's order, he also laughed and said, "Comrades, if you can capture Jili alive, you will be remembered in history, and it won't be a problem to be awarded a title of nobility and a general. Do you hear the prince's order?"

"Join me and make great achievements! Sweep away the Turks and capture Jili alive!"

After saying that, he attacked fiercely with a long sword in hand, and dozens of his personal guards followed closely behind him. The rest of the Qinzhou border troops and Weifu troops under the command of Zhao Da were also ignited with fighting spirit and all rushed forward bravely.

"Sweep away the Turks and capture Jili alive"

The Turks began to kneel down and surrender on a large scale. Although the morale of the Tang army was high, they did not continue to massacre the prisoners because of the strict military discipline. Instead, they kept moving forward. In the Tang army's military merit system that Li Yuanhui helped to customize, capturing prisoners alive and beheading them were both merits. Therefore, the Tang army was now thinking about capturing as many prisoners as possible. There was even Jili himself in front of them. Where could he run in such a heavy snowstorm? If they could capture the Turkic Khan, what a great achievement that would be!
Therefore, each Tang army had only one target: the Turkic Khan.

At this time, Jili's heart was filled with fear. If there had not been such heavy snow, the Turkic army would have been able to remain mostly intact even if it was defeated, and would not have lost too badly. What was the point of being defeated?

But in such bad weather, the Turkic army lost its most important mobility and was reduced from wolves on the grassland to lambs to be slaughtered.

Although the Turks were a nomadic people, because they came from the forging slave tribe, their armor and weapons were actually quite sophisticated, and their bows and arrows were even better.

But in this kind of weather, bows and arrows are useless, and war horses have lost their impact power and are not as fast as two legs. In this situation, they have no ability to fight back against the Tang army, which is more adept at infantry combat.

The most important thing is that if Geely had chosen to fight, it would not have been like this. Although it would not have won, it would not have been defeated so badly.

Once he began to move north as Khan, the golden wolf-head banner began to change direction, and the Turkic army lost the morale to fight against the Tang army.

Thousands of elite Fuli, also known as Wolf Guards, followed Jili Khan. They were the most elite warriors in the entire grassland and the Khan's personal guards. At this time, they also gathered under the golden wolf-head banner.

They escorted Jili and continued to move forward, wanting to take the Khan out of danger. However, under the wind and snow, the marching speed became very slow, and the Tang army was chasing closely behind.

Several troops responsible for the rear guard had been defeated, and the Tang army also discovered the special nature of this team and the golden wolf-head banner.

What was even more terrible was that a group of Tang troops appeared from the front and blocked their way.

This Tang army was the Liangzhou border army that was ordered to rush to the Gaoping battlefield to provide support. They were the most elite border troops of the Tang Dynasty.

Led by Li Xiaojie, the governor of Liangzhou and Prince of Linhuai.

Li Xiaojie was a brave general of the royal family, except for Li Yuan's sons, and his military exploits were second only to those of Li Cang, Prince of Hedong, and Li Huaizhen, Prince of Zhao.

Before Li Er set out from Chang'an for this battle, he ordered him to rush to Gaoping for support and wait for an opportunity to act.

Originally, Li Er planned for the Battle of Gaoping to have Li Xiaojie lead the Liangzhou cavalry to attack the flank of the Turkic army when the two armies were in a stalemate or the Tang army was at a disadvantage.

As a killer move at a critical moment.

But at this time, they became the main force to intercept the Turkic army.

In fact, Li Xiaojie had already let go of many Turkic fleeing soldiers and did not choose to take action, but when he saw the golden wolf-head banner, the blood in his body boiled.

What is that? It is a great cause for all ages.

If he could capture the owner of the banner, his name would be comparable to Wei Huo's in future history books!

Four thousand elite soldiers from Liangzhou formed a battle formation and fought on foot, directly cutting the Turkic army in half. A large number of defeated soldiers began to flee to the west or east.

But Jili, who was protected by the Fuli Wolf Guards, had no chance of escaping.

The Tang army behind, led by Zhai Changsun, Qiu Xinggong and others, had caught up.

Even at this time, the Wolf Guards still maintained extremely high combat effectiveness. Although they lost their warhorses, they proved themselves.

A wolf that has dismounted is still a wolf.

Although the Wolf Guards were ferocious, they had no advantage in this kind of combat. They swarmed towards the Tang Army's tightening formation with scimitars and spears in hand. Although this fierce style of fighting caused certain casualties to the Tang Army, their own side suffered even greater casualties.

The Tang army played to its greatest advantage. The cavalrymen holding horse lances were just like the infantry holding spears. They lined up shoulder to shoulder and advanced like a wall, with their lives one after another.

In the wind and snow, Li Er came to the front line surrounded by the crowd. He looked at the big flag and the formation that was getting tighter and tighter.

"Huh, hahahahaha, pass my order, stop."

Following the order, each unit immediately assassinated the Wolf Guards in front of them, and then maintained their formation and did not advance further.

At this moment, the generals of the Tang army gathered one after another, including Chai Rong, Dou Gui, Zhao Yi, Li Xiaojie, Xue Renmei, Hou Jun, and Zhai Changsun.
Li Er said: "Go tell Jili that as long as he surrenders, the Tang Dynasty will not kill him, but will make him the King of Guiyi."

Immediately, a general who was fluent in the Hu language stepped forward and shouted loudly, "The Crown Prince of the Great Tang ordered that if Jili surrenders quickly, the Great Tang will not kill you, but will make you the King of Yi."

With only a few hundred wolf guards left around him, Jili looked up at the still falling snow and lamented.

This is different from what he thought. He should have suppressed Gaoping and fought his way into Chang'an. How did he end up like this?

This way of going to Chang'an is not what he wants.
The special historian Shu Huxi whispered in his ear: "If you don't want to see the previous lords now, you have to make a decision as soon as possible, Khan."

Jili glanced at him, and then finally lost his temper, "Tell the prince of the Tang Dynasty that I am willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)