Chapter 63: Interception

Chapter 63: Interception

Li Jing pursued the Sui and Tang defector army known as the Xiaoguo Army, charging straight into Dingxiang. The Xiaoguo Army fled in a panic, scrambling blindly, making them look more like the vanguard of Li Jing's own forces than fleeing enemies.

Illig Khagan had never anticipated that the Xiaoguo Army he had dispatched would turn into a flock of sheep under Li Jing, driven however the Tang general pleased. When they poured back into the city of Dingxiang, they triggered an even larger scale of chaos.

The soldiers throughout the entire city of Dingxiang were dumbfounded in that instant. Had they not already been sent to reinforce Eyang Ridge? Why were the Tang troops here already?

In the blink of an eye, the morale of the Tujue soldiers inside Dingxiang evaporated completely. The situation became completely uncontrollable, especially when the Xiaoguo Army—who possessed Han Chinese faces but were now acting as routed soldiers destroying their own side’s organization—drew their blades and injured others in their desperate scramble for survival.

Realizing the situation was irretrievable and harboring the intention to preserve his strength, Illig Khagan hastily notified his personal guards, drew out a contingent of elite cavalry, abandoned Dingxiang, and led his remaining forces in a decisive retreat.

Because he simply could not believe that a single isolated Tang army could capture Eyang Ridge, rout the Xiaoguo Army, and now arrive at Dingxiang where his main garrison was stationed, he assumed the main force of the Tang army must have arrived.

Therefore, Illig Khagan deduced that the main force of the Tang army must have reached this place by some unknown means, and that he had undoubtedly been surrounded by them. Otherwise, how could his Tujue warriors be so utterly useless? Illig Khagan refused to believe it.

Thus, Illig Khagan decisively chose to evacuate with a fraction of his Tujue elite first.

However, with his departure, the entire city of Dingxiang was completely left without a figurehead in charge, plunging it into even greater chaos.

When Li Jing and his personal cavalry guard charged into Dingxiang, they had never expected to conquer it with such ease, and immediately sealed the four gates to mop up the remaining resistance.

During this process, Li Jing unexpectedly stumbled upon a grand prize second only to Illig Khagan himself.

Because Li Jing acted swiftly, the great chieftain Kang Sumi had no time to escape and was caught like a turtle in a jar.

Yet Kang Sumi sought life amidst certain death, directly turning on Princess Yicheng by having his confidants capture Empress Xiao of the former Sui dynasty and Yang Zhengdao.

Princess Yicheng had lost her source of power when Yang Yan’s Xiaoguo Army was completely annihilated, and she never expected that Kang Sumi, a trusted confidant of Illig Khagan, would betray her without the slightest hesitation.

Although several loyal guards were still holding out fiercely in a residential courtyard, attempting to fight their way out was nothing short of a pipe dream.

"This way, General Li, please. That poisonous woman is right inside this courtyard."

"They are using the courtyard walls for cover and possess powerful crossbows, so we were unable to capture them immediately. Please forgive us, General Li!"

Kang Sumi said to Li Jing with a fawning smile.

"Chief Kang, you have delivered Empress Xiao and the puppet emperor of the Sui; you have done very well!" Li Jing replied with a rare pleasant demeanor as he looked at Kang Sumi.

Hearing Li Jing’s words, Kang Sumi beamed with a smile as brilliant as a full-blown chrysanthemum.

At that moment, his gaze flicked toward the direction of Princess Yicheng, while deep down he understood that although he had trapped Princess Yicheng here, he had not truly captured her himself. This merit of submission still had a few flaws.

Otherwise, he might have caught the eye of the Great Tang and become its proxy for interests on the grasslands.

Li Jing, however, paid no attention to Kang Sumi at this moment. The Hu people respected might and cared nothing for virtue; Li Jing would simply treat him like a useful dog.

He truly did not hold Kang Sumi in high regard. Right now, Li Jing’s focus was entirely on the interior of that courtyard wall.

The Great Sui’s Princess Yicheng was inside this compound. Compared to Illig Khagan, she was perhaps the one who hated the Great Tang the most.

"Knock down the wall and breach it from both sides!" Li Jing swept his gaze over the structure of the residential compound and gave a decisive command.

Li Jing understood that Princess Yicheng could not possibly have many people by her side; if there were many, they would have simply charged out and fought their way through.

Given this, they would undoubtedly treat the main gate as their primary defensive priority.

There was no need for him to engage them in a head-on battle; leveling the city wall and pushing straight through was the way to go.

Things like heavy crossbows were indeed terrifying against ordinary people, but against the elite of the army, it all depended on whether proper preparations had been made.

At that moment, the cavalrymen under Li Jing hooked grappling irons onto the wall, and as their horses pulled back, a dozen horses bolted simultaneously.

Within moments, after the wall was repeatedly gouged and scored, the masonry could no longer sustain itself and finally collapsed with a thunderous crash.

As the building collapsed, Li Jing led his cavalry inside, only to find several personal guards surrounding a middle-aged woman whose beauty was fading.

The woman looked at Li Jing and said, "You must be Li Jing, the commander of the Tang rebels who led this raid!"

"Li Jing, Director of the Dingxiang Circuit for the Great Tang, pays his respects to Princess Yicheng. I ask that the Princess lay down her arms and return to Chang'an with our Tang army!"

Li Jing looked at the woman before him and spoke with a calm expression.

"The Great Tang? How utterly laughable!" Princess Yicheng said upon hearing Li Jing's words.

"A pack of rebels who usurped the throne! I only regret that I was born a woman and could not command troops in battle; otherwise, even if it meant death, I would have done it gladly!"

"I still urge the Princess to lay down her arms and abandon resistance. The four gates have been secured, and you have nowhere left to run, Princess!" Li Jing said.

Upon hearing Li Jing’s words, Princess Yicheng burst out laughing, and as she laughed, blood began to trickle from the corners of her mouth.

With a gaze filled with grief, indignation, and venomous hatred, she glared at Li Jing and roared, "I am a princess of the Great Sui; my bones shall never be buried in Tang territory!"

"Charge!" Seeing the blood at the corner of Princess Yicheng's mouth, Li Jing felt a jolt of shock in his heart. Evidently, while he was demolishing the wall, Princess Yicheng had already ingested poison, and her conversation with him had merely been a way to delay the onset of the poison's effects.

The cavalrymen launched a decisive charge at once. The personal guards protecting Princess Yicheng, seeing that she was dead, showed no intention of fleeing; instead, every single one of them chose to fight to the death, ultimately perishing while protecting her remains.

"General Li?!" Su Dingfang was deeply moved by Princess Yicheng's unyielding spirit and the intense loyalty of her devoted guards. Although they were enemies, now that they were dead, he did not mind granting them the respect they deserved.

"Have the captured officials of the puppet dynasty and the Tujue chieftains come over individually to identify Princess Yicheng's body."

"If her identity is verified without error, cremate her and scatter her ashes into the Zihu River!"

Li Jing sighed and said, "From this moment on, Dingxiang is also Tang territory!"

"Understood!" Su Dingfang listened to Li Jing's words, marveling at how their grand commander truly pulled no punches when a ruthless hand was required.

Regardless of whether Princess Yicheng had faked her death to escape or not, after this entire ordeal, any faked death would surely become a real one.

Li Jing had captured Dingxiang. To be honest, from Li Jing's original perspective, once he captured Dingxiang, he was supposed to halt his advance.

He was meant to wait here for Zhang Gongjin to lead the main army and rendezvous with him. But this time, a minor unexpected variable had occurred.

That was the dried meat prepared by Li Tai specifically for the cavalry to consume, which reignited a blazing fire within Li Jing's heart.

After all, for such compact food that could provide sufficient caloric energy, this was the first time Li Jing had anticipated its use. Therefore, in the actual combat, even though as a military strategist he immediately recognized its importance, he had not utilized these supplies to their absolute maximum limit right away.

Consequently, Li Jing estimated that his remaining military rations could still support his march for at least twenty-some days.

This naturally fueled the fire burning inside Li Jing's chest.

If he could stall the marching speed of the Tujue forces at this juncture, the encircle-and-annihilate formation of the main Tang army would naturally fall into place in the blink of an eye.

Therefore, the moment Li Jing secured the city of Dingxiang, he requisitioned all the warhorses within the entire city.

The horse configuration of the Tang cavalry immediately escalated from the original two horses per man to three horses per man, with surplus to spare.

Li Jing rested in the city of Dingxiang for a single day, and on the next day, he led two thousand five hundred men to continue pursuing Illig Khagan.

The remaining soldiers stayed behind to garrison Dingxiang and await the arrival of Zhang Gongjin. Li Jing also left a message for these troops.

He instructed Zhang Gongjin to lead his cavalry in pursuit toward the Baidao Pass and see if Illig Khagan could be intercepted and stopped.

Additionally, Li Jing added an instruction: if there were surplus horses remaining, they could be assigned to the medical battalion to bring them along as well!

To be frank, Zhang Gongjin had no idea why Li Jing wanted to bring the medical battalion along.

However, watching Li Jing capture Eyang Ridge and take the city of Dingxiang with just three thousand men, Zhang Gongjin had no choice but to obey the order!

"Damn it! It was clearly I who submitted the memorial to the Emperor stating we should launch a punitive expedition against the Tujue, so why does Li Jing end up doing all the work?!"

Zhang Gongjin cursed and grumbled, but he had to admit that with a towering figure like Li Jing shouldering the burden, the Tujue did not seem quite so terrifying after all.

Su Dingfang chewed expressionlessly on a piece of dried chicken jerky. The chicken, which had originally been excessively salty, could now be consumed without a flicker of emotion on his face.

For days now, Li Jing had led them, riding three horses per man, clinging tightly to the heels of Illig Khagan.

Compared to the speed granted by three horses per man, even though Illig Khagan had started running first, he had been unable to shake off Li Jing's personal cavalry guard.

Li Jing also exercised exquisite self-restraint, absolutely refusing to launch a proactive assault. Every time, he would halt at a distance of about five hundred to a thousand meters, trailing far behind the fleeing Tujue soldiers—never attacking, yet ready to strike at any moment.

How could Illig Khagan endure such behavior? Because of Li Jing's relentless shadowing, he simply could not travel far. If he failed to reach the Black City and rendezvous with his subordinates, Illig Khagan felt not an ounce of safety.

Yet the Li Jing pursuing closely behind him was as cunning as a fox, yet as fierce as a tiger when unleashed.

The two sides clashed in minor skirmishes several times. Whenever Illig Khagan sent out a large force to drive Li Jing away, Li Jing would decisively retreat.

If Illig Khagan sent a small force, those men would be swiftly devoured by Li Jing's troops. In particular, Li Jing's ability to lead his cavalry to defeat ordinary Tujue units one-on-one within a quarter of an hour completely dashed Illig Khagan's hopes of turning the tables and killing Li Jing's personal guard.

The two-hundred-li journey was one Illig Khagan and his remnants had been fleeing for three days, yet they had not even covered half the distance.

Fortunately, a personal guard pointed ahead and said, "Khagan, ahead is the Baidao Pass! Once we pass Baidao, we are in the territory of the Black City!"

"Good, good, good!" Illig Khagan let out a massive sigh of relief as he looked at the Baidao Pass before him. But before Illig Khagan even had time to relax, countless figures emerged from the Baidao Pass, accompanied by a rain of arrows that descended like a storm.

"Li Shiji, Grand Administrator of the Tongmodao Campaign, is stationed here! How can these Hu dogs dare hope to pass through this place!" Li Shiji shouted loudly.

Li Shiji had not wasted the few days of time bought for him by Li Jing; he had taken his army ahead to occupy the Baidao Pass.

At that moment, the Tang archers rained down volleys of arrows. Taken completely by surprise, the Tujue army realized all too clearly that they had walked into an ambush!

"Khagan, retreat!" Soon, a Tujue warrior rushed to Illig Khagan's side and shouted.

"Retreat?" Illig Khagan shoved the man aside violently and said,

"If we cannot break through this Baidao Pass and return to the Black City, who among us can ever return to the grasslands?!"

"Take my Tujue Tiger Division as the vanguard! Even if you have to pave the road with flesh and blood, carve out a path back for me!"

At that moment, Illig Khagan personally led the Tiger Division in a fierce charge. Even with a rain of arrows above and sharp blades below, Illig Khagan proved himself worthy of the title of Tujue Khagan at this juncture, daring to lead his soldiers in one desperate, hard-fought gamble.

Watching Illig Khagan personally lead the Tujue Tiger Division in a violent assault, Li Shiji's expression remained serene as he issued one command after another.

The infantry soldiers stood firmly on the ground holding large shields, while the spearmen thrust their long spears out through the gaps between the shields. Meanwhile, the archers rained down uninterrupted volleys of arrows. Having secured the strategic terrain advantage, Li Shiji was clearly putting his command to its absolute utmost use.

The Tujue elite under Illig Khagan's command charged into Li Shiji's military formation without a shred of hesitation.

As they rushed forward, they were already mentally prepared to have their horses destroyed and their bodies shattered. Wave after wave of Tujue elites crashed into Li Shiji's formation as if courting death.

No matter how sturdy the large shields were or how long the spears, facing this suicidal onslaught, even the elite Tang army was forced to yield an opening by the army under Illig Khagan's command.

Seeing this scene, Illig Khagan looked as though he had caught a lifeline, shouting to his troops, "Charge! All of you, follow me and charge!"

In a flash, Illig Khagan charged straight into the gap smashed open by the Tujue Tiger Division, leading his cavalry behind him.

Sensing the hope of survival before them, the Tujue cavalry fought with escalating bravery, and the murderous aura surrounding the Tujue Tiger Division grew increasingly dense.

The entire battlefield within the narrow Baidao Pass transformed into an unimaginably bloody meat grinder. Tujue cavalrymen—and even elite soldiers of the Tujue Tiger Division—fell continuously, while the garrisoned troops commanded by Li Shiji were steadily pushed back under the fierce assault of the Tujue cavalry!

Just then, Li Jing arrived with his personal guard. Seeing the scene before him, he prepared to join the fray to help. But how could Illig Khagan possibly have forgotten Li Jing's force? The Tujue Imperial Guard, which he had kept tightly in reserve the entire time, now took the initiative to meet Li Jing's personal guard head-on.

As the two sides clashed, Li Jing could distinctly feel that this contingent of the Tujue Imperial Guard possessed considerable mettle.

Both the ordinary soldiers and the commanders leading them could be considered exceptional elites. If Li Jing wanted to break away, it wouldn't be difficult; however, breaking through them to execute a pincer movement against the main Tujue force was no simple task either.

After all, when a soldier's numbers dwindled to a certain point and they possessed a heart dedicated to dying in battle, even an ordinary capable general could clash with Li Jing on equal footing.

At most, while engaging them, Li Jing retained the ability to observe the overall situation, knowing precisely when to retreat and when to pursue, giving him superior judgment and choices.

Yet for the elite commander in charge of the Tujue Imperial Guard, his sole objective was to halt Li Jing—and if possible, push further to kill Li Jing outright.

By this point, both sides were locked in desperate, all-out slaughter. One side fought for survival, while the other fought for victory.

The thunderous sounds of battle echoed throughout the entire Baidao Pass.

Right at that moment, the Tujue soldiers who had been fighting their way forward suddenly felt the space ahead clear up, and their hearts surged with joy. They had broken through the Tang army's interception!

Yet the very next second, every single warrior in the front line was met with a scene of utter despair.

A row of heavy crossbow carriages was arrayed on both sides of the exit. In the split second after they believed they had beaten back the Tang army, the Tang forces parted their banners in an orderly fashion, and a volley of heavy crossbow bolts—each roughly as thick as a man's arm—erupted from those engines of war!

The transition from the joy of escaping death to the plunge back into hell took less than fifteen breaths, yet the Tujue forces experienced a chilling terror that pierced straight to their bone marrow!

"Continue!" Li Shiji signaled with the waving of his banners, once again ordering the shield-bearers and spearmen to strike from both flanks. The rain of arrows filling the sky once more inflicted upon the Tujue soldiers the same despair they had felt moments earlier from the crossbow bolts.

That volley of heavy crossbow bolts felt as though destiny, while singing at its highest, triumphant pitch, had been suddenly seized by the throat and choked into silence, unable to utter another half-syllable. The morale of the entire Tujue army plummeted instantly to freezing point!