Tang Dynasty Swordsman

Page 50

Li Ji nodded, thinking to himself that this guy wasn't completely muddle-headed and had a very clear understanding of the situation.

Because the geographical conditions around Shancheng were not conducive to defense, the city was built relatively high and sturdy, and it was not something that could be taken by ten or twenty thousand men in a short period of time. Therefore, the Tibetan side wanted to first eliminate the military towns on the north and south sides, and then coordinate with the central route to launch a three-pronged attack, so that they could dispatch a large army to besiege and attack Shancheng for a relatively long period of time.

With only four thousand soldiers and without any external support, it would be very difficult to hold out.

Chapter Three, The Three Respects and One Theory

Seeing that it was still early, Li Ji asked Hu Hao to send a guide to lead him and his hundred cavalrymen out of the city to explore the nearby mountains and terrain.

We first exited from the south gate and looked into the distance. There were layers of mountains, standing like walls. We asked the guide, "What is the name of this mountain?" The guide replied, "It's called Nanshan (South Mountain)."

Li Ji turned around, raised his whip, and pointed north: "Then the mountains north of the city, are they not called North Mountain?"

The guide looked surprised: "Could it be that the commander has been to the Heyuan Army before?"

Li Ji thought to himself, "Do I really need to do this? The mountain south of the city is called South Mountain, and the mountain north of the city is called North Mountain. Looking across the entire Central Plains region, there must be dozens, if not hundreds, of such unoriginal names..."

After consulting the guide, we learned that this relatively open valley near Shancheng—which later became the Xining Basin—is basically oriented northwest to southeast, with slight meandering, resembling a snake. Of the arable land, six-tenths is west of the city and four-tenths is east.

"How much grain is harvested in a normal year?"

"It's always around 200,000 bushels."

Li Ji mentally calculated with his fingers—a skill he learned after transmigrating, as it was inconvenient to write out calculations in front of everyone—enough to feed 50,000 to 60,000 people for a year… If, as Yang Yan said, Li Tan could quickly expand his army to around 50,000, then the output of Shancheng alone could supply the military needs, without having to ask the court for more or transport supplies from other prefectures or even Hexi.

However, if the Tibetan troops were to reach the city, even if Shancheng could be held firmly, the fields west of the city would likely be abandoned, and the income would be cut in half... But the east of the city could still yield nearly 100,000 bushels of grain and fodder. It would be a real pain to give up such a large amount of income.

Moreover, if Shancheng is abandoned, the grain production within Shanzhou itself will be extremely limited, and it will have to be transferred from Qin and Long. The mountains are high and the rivers are long, the roads are difficult to travel, and the losses will be severe. By the time the grain is transported to Shanzhou, will it still be able to supply the needs of 50,000 troops?

Therefore, it would be best to hold Shancheng.

However, Shancheng is located almost in the center of the basin, about three miles away from both the north and south mountains. It seems that it wouldn't be difficult for the Tibetan troops to surround the city from three sides, let alone for them to use mobile troops to sneak up along the mountains to the west of the city, trample the fields, and kill the people. Unless a strong mobile cavalry force is stationed in Xiaoxia, which is more than thirty miles away, they can reach the city in less than an hour and drive them out.

So, if we set up camps on the southern and northern routes and fortified the mountains on the south and north, could we at least delay or hinder the Tibetan army's siege of Shancheng to some extent?

Shancheng is nestled among mountains, its location resembling a crossroads. The east and west roads are relatively wide—about six or seven li apart—while the north and south roads are relatively narrow. So Li Ji first rode his horse south, following the guide's report, meandering southeast along the mountain path. About seventy li away was Suihe Garrison, currently garrisoned by no more than three hundred troops.

Although the city is built against the mountain and has a relatively dangerous terrain, with the nearby Shibao city already captured by the barbarian army, tens of thousands of enemies could attack. It is estimated that the defense of Suihe will not be able to hold out for long.

Li Ji discussed with Chen Fu, Yi Tiechui, and others whether they could temporarily abandon the three armies south of the Yellow River—Weisheng, Ningbian, and Jishi—and concentrate all their forces in Suihe Shouzhuo, thereby closing the southern gate of Shancheng. Chen Fu said, "The three armies are guarding the gateway to Kuozhou. If we withdraw, Kuozhou may be in grave danger."

Li Ji smiled bitterly, "This is a helpless situation. Now we can only rob Peter to pay Paul... Moreover, the three armies are all on the border, far away from the Ning Sai Army in Kuo Prefecture. If we encounter an alarm, we may not be able to respond. The reason why the barbarian bandits have not yet attacked is firstly because they are focused on Shancheng, and secondly because they are just outnumbered and do not need to be paid too much attention to. We might as well temporarily halt the attack and divide the three armies into two groups. One group will go north to Suihe to defend and capture, and the other group will go east to defend Dahua, serving as a shield for the Ning Sai Army."

The key issue is that Kuozhou is barren, so even if it were all lost, the impact on the overall situation wouldn't be significant. Li Ji personally would be very willing to exchange the entire Kuozhou for the rich Xining Basin.

They discussed and drew pictures of mountains and rivers until they had traveled ten miles south before stopping. In truth, Li Ji really wanted to visit Suihe Garrison Commander, but the journey was simply too far—at least two days round trip—and he couldn't afford to delay.

Before it got dark, they returned to Shancheng, where Hu Hao slaughtered chickens and sheep to treat them well.

Li Ji wasn't being coy. Since no matter how you looked at it, the grain and fodder in Longyou were insufficient, he didn't mind eating one or two more sheep... Besides, he wasn't alone. He was leading a hundred cavalrymen and wanted to win their hearts, so he might as well use this opportunity to his advantage.

Even while eating and drinking, he didn't remain idle, but asked Hu Hao to find someone familiar with the situation of the barbarians for consultation. Unexpectedly, Hu Hao said, "As for the situation of the barbarians, I am very familiar with it. If Inspector Li has any doubts, he can just ask me."

In terms of rank, he was far superior to Li Ji, but he was a military officer while Li Ji was a civil officer. Moreover, since Li Ji was an inspector, he must be a confidant of the King of Qi. How could Hu Hao not be humble and subservient to him?

Li Ji was still somewhat skeptical, so he first asked, "What is the name of the current Tibetan king, and what kind of person is he?"

"The current king is named Sassilong Lazan, the son of the previous king, Sulong Lazan..."

Li Ji thought to himself, "How come you can remember that!"

Li Ji had already seen the names of these two successive Tibetan kings in relevant documents, but just pronouncing their names fluently had already taken a toll on his brain.

"...In the fourteenth year of the Tianbao era, Qili Sulonglazan was murdered by his minister Supi. Soon after, the ministers attacked and destroyed Supi. Supi's son, Xinuoluo, returned to Tang and was enfeoffed as the King of Huaiyi..."

Hu Hao's knowledge was somewhat inaccurate. The truth is that Qili Sulonglazan, also known as Chidai Danzhu, was killed by his ministers Langmeise and Modongzebu. Taking advantage of this, the Tibetan vassal state of Supi launched a rebellion, but the Tibetan army soon attacked Supi, killed its king Meluzan, and Meluzan's son Xinuoluo surrendered to the Tang Dynasty...

Of course, Hu Hao was absolutely certain of his own understanding, while Li Ji, Chen Fu, and the others had no idea what the truth was, so they could only let him say what he wanted.

"The Tibetan general Ma Chongying and others then supported the succession of the former Zanpu's son, who was given the title Saxilongla Zan, and was only thirteen years old..."

Li Ji did some mental calculations: "So, the current Tibetan king is only sixteen or seventeen years old, not yet an adult?" He paused, then asked Hu Hao: "It's rumored that this Sosi... the current king is the son of Princess Jincheng, is that true?"

Hu Hao smiled and replied, "There are indeed such rumors, but Princess Jincheng died at the end of the Kaiyuan era, so the timeline doesn't quite match up... Since the current Zanpu is still young, I really don't know what kind of person he is."

Li Ji nodded, thinking to himself that this guy was indeed quite intelligent. Let alone knowing the inner workings of Tibet, just remembering the difficult-to-pronounce names of two successive Zanpu (Tibetan kings) was quite an achievement. He then asked, "Then Ma Chongying, who supported the current Zanpu, should rightfully hold the reins of power—but this man's surname is Ma, could he be a surrendered Tang official?"

Hu Hao shook his head and said, "No. This man's real name is Langdaza. It is said that his Tang name was given to him by Princess Jincheng—Langdaza's name is really hard to pronounce, so we usually call him Ma Chongying. This man did indeed hold a high position in Tibet, serving as both a Grand Master and a General..."

"Was he born into the Lun family? What is meant by 'Three Shangs and One Lun'?"

“In Tibetan, ‘Shang’ means ‘A Shang’, referring to the mother clan of the Zanpu; ‘Lun’ means minister, and ‘Da Lun’ is prime minister. Since the time of Qizong Nongzan, the Zanpu has been assisted by three A Shang and one Da Lun, just like the prime ministers in our dynasty’s Council of State.”

Upon hearing this, Li Ji couldn't help but blush. He thought to himself, "I didn't have much access to information before, and I hadn't been to the front lines to consult with people familiar with the situation in Tibet. Therefore, I misunderstood. In the 'Strategy for Defending Against the Tibetans,' there was supposedly a family called the 'Lun' clan, whose members had served as prime ministers of Tibet for generations… Luckily, Li Yu and Li Tan were also confused and didn't point out this major error on the spot…"

"Who are the 'Three Admirations and One Theory' of today?"

"Shang Jiexi, Shang Xidongzan, and Shang Xizanmo are the three Shangs, and Ma Chongying is the first. It is said that the four of them each commanded 10,000 cavalry, each with four horses, and were the elite of the barbarian bandits... Last year, they ravaged the border and attacked and plundered military towns. This was done by Ma Chongying. In addition to his own troops, he often commanded separate troops of 5,000 or 20,000."

“If the three Shang and one Lun were to come out in full force, they would have at least 40,000 elite troops, and there would probably be even more followers…” Li Ji frowned deeply, unable to find a way out.

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Before going to bed that night, Li Ji made a copy of the mountain and terrain survey he had conducted over the past two days, and suggested shrinking the defense line, holding the Suihe garrison, and drafting an official document to send to Shanzhou by fast horse.

The Tibetan army could launch a full-scale attack at any time, and what the Tang Dynasty lacked most right now was preparation time—he wondered what Gao Sheng and the others had been doing these past two years—therefore Li Ji dared not delay even for a single night, and immediately reported any gains he made. He didn't know if Li Tan could seize the opportunity, but he hoped that even if things went wrong, it wouldn't be because of him.

The next morning, I got up and went out of the north gate of Shancheng to take a walk. The situation in the north of the city was different from that in the south. Although both were crisscrossed by ditches and fields, as far as the eye could see, the fields were mostly overgrown with weeds and there were few crops. This was because the Tibetan soldiers had ravaged the land, delaying the farming season, and most of the farmland had to be abandoned temporarily.

Along the way, they saw many dilapidated and deserted villages, with only wild dogs roaming about... Li Ji asked the guide, "Have all the people north of the city been captured by the Tibetan bandits?" The guide replied that since the end of last year, the Tibetan army had seized Xuanwei Army and stationed troops there. They frequently sent out cavalry from the direction of Xuanwei to burn and plunder villages and fields north of the city, and had gradually abducted thousands of people. Most of the remaining people dared not live in peace anymore and were forced to abandon their homes and flee into the city. Hu Hao could not manage them, so he simply drove them all to Shanzhou.

He then pointed to the distant mountains and explained to Li Ji, "Xuanwei Army is only about thirty li away from Shancheng, separated by Tulou Mountain. The barbarian bandits come and go like the wind, sometimes making four or five round trips in a single day. It's really impossible to defend against them."

It is suggested that Li Ji stop at Beishan and not venture deeper into the mountain path as he did yesterday, lest he encounter Tibetan cavalry head-on.

Li Ji waved his hand dismissively. According to the guide, the last time the Tibetan troops from Xuanwei Army harassed the city was in midsummer. They circled around the city, showed off their power, and then returned empty-handed—mainly because there was practically nothing left to loot in the north of the city. So what a coincidence that I would run into the enemy army this time I went out of the city?

Besides, my troops are all cavalry, and elites of the Shence Army. Even if we encounter the Tibetan army, if we can't defeat them, can't we at least escape?

The key issue is that without venturing deep into the mountains, it's difficult to survey the terrain, and without a plan to defend against the barbarian bandits coming from the north. This time, I certainly can't just look at the city's situation or the surrounding environment; I should conduct a thorough investigation in all four directions.

Ignoring the guide's advice, Li Ji led his troops north along an unnamed tributary of the Huangshui River. This tributary was no more than five zhang wide and had a gentle current. Based on the guide's description, Li Ji ordered men to cut down trees and explore the area, and then cross the river to determine that it was fordable and would not significantly hinder military operations.

Between the two mountains, about four or five li apart—it seems to narrow slightly further north—there is a shallow stream, ensuring ample drinking water. This is an excellent condition for the attacking side! Li Ji couldn't help but imagine that if he were Gao Sheng, he would have built fortifications and stationed troops at both the north and south mountain passes in the past two years, and constructed numerous watchtowers and beacon towers on the mountains, enough to withstand an attack from an enemy force three to five times larger... That good-for-nothing Gao Sheng is only thinking about abandoning Shancheng, without making any preparations for a steadfast defense!

Well, two years might be a long time. The main target of the barbarian bandits was Shancheng. We probably won't see that until the end of last year, when Xuanwei, Zhenwu and other armies fell... But as of today, more than half a year has passed. According to Hu Hao last night, Gao Sheng and the senior officials of the shogunate have been holed up in Shanzhou and haven't come to Shancheng at all!

As for now, even if enough manpower and resources could be mobilized, the fortifications envisioned by Li Ji would certainly not be able to be built in less than two or three months—the Tibetan side would definitely not give the Tang army enough time!

As he rode forward, he observed the terrain and adjusted the map as needed. Chen Fu and Yi Tiechui commanded the hundred Tang cavalrymen, dividing them into several small teams, some scouting ahead, some covering the rear, and some providing flanking support, all maintaining order. Around noon, Li Ji finally felt hungry and was about to call for his soldiers to dismount and rest, then set up camp for a rebellion, when a cavalryman suddenly galloped up from the front, shouting upon seeing Li Ji, "We've encountered a scout from the barbarians!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji was somewhat taken aback and hurriedly asked, "How many people?"

The knight said, "About twelve or thirteen riders, probably scouts."

Li Ji immediately spurred his horse on, ordering it to speed up: "Kill them all! Don't let them escape!"

He was lucky. Those dozen or so Tibetan soldiers were indeed scouts sent by the Xuanwei Army. Their target was the southern mountain pass, and their purpose was to investigate the movements of the Tang army. They did not intend to go deep into the basin, for fear of provoking the Tang people too much. If they harvested all the seedlings before they were fully grown, they would surely gain nothing when General Langdaza arrived with his army.

Originally, they set off in the morning, covering more than 30 li, and could return before noon. However, because they scouted every few days, they never saw the Tang army come out of the city to fight. Due to a lack of warhorses, Hu Hao dared not leave the city at all, and was not even aware that the enemy had been patrolling the mountain pass. Therefore, he became lax and hunted along the way. At noon, he would roast his catch near the water and have a good meal.

As a result, they were spotted head-on by the vanguard cavalry led by Yi Tiechui. Yi Tiechui immediately ordered his men to report to Li Ji, and then, with a roar, he took the lead and charged forward...

Chapter Four: The Might of the Flying General

In Yi Tiechui's mind, although Li Ji had been transferred to a civil post, he was still the brave warrior who chased down the traitorous general that night, pounced on him, and captured Tian Qianzhen alive. He believed that if Li Ji were here, he would definitely take action without saying a word. The key was that most of the enemy soldiers had not yet had time to mount their horses, and this opportunity was too rare. Therefore, he did not wait for military orders and went to kill them directly.

When Li Ji, Chen Fu, and the others arrived, the ground was littered with the corpses of Tibetan soldiers. Only two or three Tang soldiers were wounded, and none had died. The remaining three Tibetan cavalrymen were still fighting the Tang army. Seeing that reinforcements were coming, they were terrified and immediately turned their horses to flee.

Yi Tiechui, spear in hand, roared and fought fiercely, his body covered in blood—not his own, of course—and in an instant, he stabbed another enemy off his horse; another Tibetan scout was surrounded by three Tang riders, failed to break through, and quickly died on the spot. Only one enemy remained, his horse powerful, and in a short time, he had already galloped nearly a hundred paces away.

Li Ji stepped out from the crowd, spurring his horse into pursuit. As he rode, he drew his bow and arrow, aimed carefully, and fired a powerful shot. By this time, the distance between the two sides was more than a hundred paces, far beyond the reach of an ordinary horse bow. However, Li Ji had carefully selected this bow from the Shanzhou treasury before his departure—in fact, he had even thought it was too soft, but unfortunately, the bow given to him by Pugu Huai'en was too long, making it inconvenient to shoot while riding and affecting his accuracy. In addition, he was extremely strong, so the arrow flew like lightning, its trajectory as smooth as if it had been practiced, piercing the enemy rider's heart from behind with almost no deviation.

The equipment of the Tibetan soldiers was generally inferior to that of the Tang army—perhaps the 40,000 cavalry of the "Three Shangs and One Lun" headquarters were slightly better—less than 30% wore armor, and even among the cavalry, most only wore leather vests. In contrast, the armor rate of the Tang army, even excluding cloth armor, reached an astonishing 60%. Specifically, almost every cavalryman had at least a leather body armor and a metal helmet.

Therefore, although Li Ji's arrow was more than a hundred paces away and its power had weakened, it was still enough to pierce the heart of the fleeing Tibetan scout. The thief immediately fell backward, but his mount seemed oblivious and continued to gallop forward.

—This is exactly the scene at the beginning of this volume.

The Tang army then joyfully cut off the enemy soldiers' heads—all of which could be counted as merit—while Li Ji immediately stood beside the last corpse, shading his eyes with his hand, looking around for a while, before dismounting and taking out paper and pen from his bag. He pondered that when he returned, he should follow the ancients and have someone carve a wooden board to carry with him, so that he could draw maps without dismounting.

Nowadays, all we can do is unfold the paper roll, place it on the saddle, and write or draw on it with charcoal.

As Li Ji was writing, a quick glance caught Chen Fu suddenly frown, then leap off his horse, lay prone on the ground, and listened intently. Li Ji immediately became alert, stopping his work and turning to watch Chen Fu's expression closely. A moment later, Chen Fu rolled over and got up, whispering to Li Ji, "There's the sound of horses' hooves, galloping from the north, and there are more than just a dozen or twenty riders..."

As Li Ji carefully put the paper and pen away, he glanced around and then pointed, "Enter the forest!"

Those coming from the north could only be Tibetan soldiers. They should have turned back immediately and fled back to Shancheng. But Li Ji considered that although they had shaved one Tibetan's head in the recent battle, several Tang soldiers had also been wounded and might not be able to escape easily... Should they abandon their wounded soldiers just to save their own lives?

Besides, it's unclear how many reinforcements the Tibetans have sent. If I turn and run, it will surely demoralize them. He's quite familiar with Chen and Yi, but he's only recently met most of Chen Fu's cavalry brigade. The reason he went out of his way to shoot down the fleeing enemy was to demonstrate his martial prowess and try to win their hearts. If he turns and runs now, he might be forced to abandon the wounded, and wouldn't all his efforts over the past few days have been in vain?

Now, having penetrated deep into the northern route, they were about ten li away. In other words, they were still more than twenty li away from Xuanwei Army. Theoretically, it was impossible for the garrison to come out in full force after hearing the news—it was said that Xuanwei Army had thousands of Tibetan cavalry stationed there. Moreover, the fields north of Shancheng were no longer productive, and given that the Tibetans had not yet captured Suihe Shouzhuo on the southern front, it was unlikely that they would coincidentally be caught in the midst of a large-scale attack.

Therefore, Li Ji ordered the Tang cavalry to hide in a sparse grove of trees nearby.

There's a saying, "Never enter a forest," because it's difficult to determine if enemy troops are hiding there, and how many there are. The Tibetan scouts had already been slaughtered by the Tang army; not a single one escaped. Naturally, they wouldn't report the Tang army's situation to the approaching main force. Li Ji guessed that the approaching Tibetan cavalry's intention wasn't to reinforce; they probably encountered escaped warhorses and sped towards them—luckily, animals can't speak.

Therefore, as long as he hides in the forest, the Tibetans will not dare to attack hastily, giving him a moment to plan and prepare. Even if things go wrong, with the trees providing cover, it would be relatively easier to quietly escape from behind the trees.

Before the Tang army had fully entered the forest, the Tibetan army came into view. Li Ji, standing on his saddle, leaned against a large tree that was almost as thick as a person's embrace, gazing into the distance. He heard Yi Tiechui say, "About four or five hundred cavalry, not too many."

Li Ji thought to himself, "Your eyesight is excellent. I haven't even been able to spot the rear of the enemy ranks yet..."

Chen Fu said, "The enemy forces outnumber us five to one. We should not act rashly. It would be better to retreat."

Li Ji sat back down on the saddle bridge, glanced at Chen Fu sideways, and smiled slightly: "Old Chen, you are not a cowardly person. Are you worried about me?"

Chen Fu said solemnly, "Among the generals under your command, only you, Li Changwei, understand military affairs. How can you not cherish your own life? If you were to perish here..."

Li Ji interrupted him and asked, "Old Chen, what do you think of me compared to General Li?"

Chen Fu was bewildered: "Which General Li?"

Li Ji laughed and said, "Naturally, it was Li Guang, the Flying General of the Former Han Dynasty. In the past, General Li also led a hundred cavalry out of the camp to shoot and kill the Xiongnu eagle hunters. Before he could return, he suddenly encountered several thousand enemy cavalry. The hundred cavalry were terrified and wanted to flee, but General Li said, 'I am dozens of miles away from the main army. If we flee, the Xiongnu will pursue and shoot us from behind, and we will only have one way to die! It is better to stay. The Xiongnu will surely use us as bait for their main army and dare not attack.' So instead of retreating, he advanced, and when he was two miles away from the enemy, he dismounted and unsaddled his horse..."

Yi Tiechui chimed in from the side, asking, "What happened to General Li in the end?"

Li Ji said, "The Hu cavalry were indeed suspicious and dared not engage in battle. General Li saw an enemy general on a white horse emerge to supervise the army, so he mounted his horse, led more than ten riders, shot and killed the enemy general, then returned to dismount, and the soldiers all lay down..."

While he was speaking, his eyes remained fixed on the outside of the forest. Sure enough, the Tibetan soldiers, fearing an ambush, hesitated and dared not charge directly. When they were about two arrow-lengths away from the sparse forest, they began to regroup and form ranks.

Seeing this, Li Ji immediately quickened his pace and said, "Aiming for the highest standard, I may not be as good as General Li, but how can I not take General Li as my role model? Gentlemen, are you ready for battle?!"

Yi Tiechui shouted first, "Fight! Kill!"

Li Ji immediately drew a whistling arrow from his quiver, nocked it, and fired it into the sky—a clear, high-pitched "whoosh" startled the Tibetan soldiers outside the forest.

Immediately, Li Ji kicked the horse's flanks and charged out first.

He had already spotted a rider in the enemy ranks whose armor gleamed in the sunlight, likely adorned with metal plates, and who wore a gleaming metal helmet; he assumed the rider was a general. So, as soon as he emerged from the sparse woods, he nocked an arrow and drew his bow. When the distance was about a hundred paces, he released the bowstring without hesitation.

With a "thud," the general dodged to the side, but the arrow missed its mark and wedged into the left shoulder of a cavalryman in front of him.

Li Ji then threw down his bow and took his lance from his saddle.

Ever since that day outside Suiyang City when he encountered Nan Jiyun and was nearly killed by Nan Bayi's spear, Li Ji had wanted to practice his spear skills diligently, but unfortunately, he hadn't had the opportunity. Finally, he joined the army on the western expedition and wanted to seek instruction from Chen Fu, Yi Tiechui, and others, but unfortunately, those two weren't particularly skilled with the spear either…

The horse lance was popular during the Northern and Southern Dynasties until the early Tang Dynasty. Because it required too much skill from the riders—Li Ji himself met the requirements—it was gradually replaced by the slightly lighter lance or even the spear. In those days, there were probably only a very few brave generals like Nan Ba ​​and Pugu Huai'en who were still proficient in the horse lance.

Therefore, Li Ji had no choice but to carry a lance, which was longer than a spear, about fourteen feet long—or eighteen feet according to the Han dynasty measurement system—but its blade was shorter than a lance. However, it was sufficient to deal with the Tibetan cavalry, who were rarely heavily armored.

Li Ji deliberately chose a moment when most of the Tibetan cavalry had halted, their initial momentum waning and they were still regrouping, not yet fully arrayed. He led his troops out of the forest, charging forward, his lances striking down enemies. The Tibetan soldiers scrambled and circled, unable to mount in time, like stationary targets. Finding his lance too light, Li Ji simply switched to his left hand, drawing his right from his waist with a horizontal sword. He slashed sideways along the horse's momentum, cutting down another enemy, causing blood to splatter on the spot.

However, the Tibetans outnumbered the enemy and quickly surrounded them from both flanks, attempting to launch a combined attack on Li Ji. But Chen Fu, Yi Tiechui, and other Shence Army cavalrymen had also caught up and immediately engaged the enemy in a fierce battle with spears and swords. Their main objective was to protect Li Ji's rear and, through the gap Li Ji had created, to try and completely tear apart the enemy formation.

In reality, the Tibetans were using a cavalry formation, not an infantry formation. The best course of action would have been to quickly disperse, increase horse speed, and then attempt to outflank and encircle the Tang cavalry. The problem was that, given the element of surprise, even if the generals had this idea, they hadn't had time to issue the orders.

Li Ji took "Flying General" Li Guang as his role model, never looking back, and went straight for the enemy general he had been eyeing.

This also stems from his trust in Chen Fu, Yi Tiechui, and others behind him; or rather, he chose to trust these comrades.

As the warhorses galloped, the two hundred paces were covered in the blink of an eye, and the figure of the enemy general became increasingly clear. Knowing that he could not avoid it, the general hurriedly raised his spear, intending to force Li Ji back.

But Li Ji not only didn't retreat, he didn't even try to dodge. He aimed at the incoming spear, raised his right hand, and swung his sword across his chest, barely deflecting it. Almost simultaneously, his lance was already close to the enemy general's chest, and the enemy general instinctively dodged to the side, avoiding it as well.

The two horses then collided directly.

Li Ji was galloping at full speed when the Tibetan cavalry general's horse collided with it before it could even start moving. Both horses neighed loudly at the same time. Li Ji's horse's forward momentum was slightly halted, and the opposing warhorse staggered backward, causing the enemy general to sway violently on his back. If it weren't for the stirrups, he would have almost fallen over.

Li Ji, following the momentum, lifted his hips off the saddle and leaned forward, his right hand wielding a horizontal sword that slashed straight down, striking the general's neck. The general felt a slight tremor in his wrist, his slashing force halted, and he immediately pulled his wrist back—with a "squeak," blood spurted more than a foot high from his neck.

Li Ji thought to himself, "It's settled. Your major artery is damaged. If you can still come back alive, I'll change my surname to yours!"

Tang Dynasty poets were so skilled that even common villagers could recite a few lines—of course, they could only recite, not compose. When Li Ji first transmigrated, he hadn't met many people, which led him to once harbor the delusional thought of copying poems to gain fame. Looking back now, he felt utterly ashamed. Not long before, he had heard Yi Tiechui recite four lines of poetry: