Chapter 233: Li Erlang Is Here~

Mingzhou, Xia Wang Gong.

"Who did you say is coming?"

Dou Jiande, slightly flushed from wine, shook his head. "Who is heading for Mingzhou City?"

Liu Bin, a Scholar Official of the Tree Planting, stumbled into the palace interior, drenched in sweat, shouting, "Xia King! Li Erlang is coming!"

"His forces are already fifty li from Mingzhou City and will arrive by noon tomorrow!"

"What did you say?" The music inside the palace interior was loud, and Dou Jiande had drunk quite a bit. He asked again in disbelief, "Who~ fifty li, speak clearly!"

"Xia King!"

Liu Bin was nearly driven mad with anxiety. "Li Erlang Li Shimin of Tang, leading a great army, is marching here!"

Dou Jiande shook his head hard and took a deep breath.

He raised his hand, grabbed a wine bowl, and smashed it hard beside him.

He roared in anger.

"Stop~~~"

The music finally stopped, and the dancing songstresses finally ended their dance, gathering together, at a loss.

Everyone's gaze turned toward them.

Dou Jiande rose from the desk, leaning on it, and raised a finger toward Liu Bin.

"You~"

"Say! It! A! Gain!"

"Xia King," Liu Bin reported. "A fast horse brought the report: Li Shimin of Tang is leading a great army straight for Mingzhou City, already fifty li away, and will arrive by noon tomorrow!"

Everyone inside the palace interior held their breath in unison.

Li Shentong, Wei Zheng, and others all lowered their heads, their eyes flickering.

"How is he coming?"

Dou Jiande's voice was low and heavy, with not a trace of drunkenness left on his face. "Why did no one report it?"

"There was indeed a military report mentioning this matter two days ago."

"But the wording was vague and unclear."

"Your subject~ your subject~~"

Liu Bin was the one responsible for receiving military reports.

He had glanced at the warning military report from two days ago and thrown it away, not believing it at all.

Li Erlang had only just taken Luoyang City a few days ago.

He was too busy taking over Wang Shichong's territory; how could he possibly travel a thousand miles to come here to die?

Until today, fast horses had arrived one after another from all along the route, bringing accurate and detailed military reports, and only then did he begin to panic.

Dou Jiande glared at him fiercely and temporarily set the matter aside.

Now was not the time to punish this fool; the most important thing was to respond to the sudden crisis.

He asked in a deep voice, "How many troops and horses?"

"At least five thousand, possibly over ten thousand."

"Are you sure it's Li Erlang?"

"Certain. The scouts saw Li Erlang's great banner with their own eyes."

"Over ten thousand? Is Li Erlang bringing all of Tang's elite cavalry?"

"Xia King," Liu Bin said hesitantly. "The urgent report says many Tang troops are coming on two-wheeled carts."

"Hmm?"

Dou Jiande frowned. "What two-wheeled carts?"

"The urgent report says people sit on them, the wheels spin like the wind, and they pedal with their legs."

"What in the world is that." Dou Jiande thought carefully but could not imagine it at all.

"Xia King!"

Ling Jing, Military Chaplain of the Guozijian, stepped forward and saluted. "What matters now is not those two-wheeled carts, but to move and leave Mingzhou as quickly as possible."

Everyone inside the palace interior erupted in an uproar upon hearing this.

Liu Heita, who had drunk a lot, shouted loudly, "What are you talking about?"

"Mingzhou is so strong; Li Erlang has at most ten thousand men."

"Even if he really came with the courage of a bear and a leopard, could he possibly take Mingzhou City?"

Ling Jing, on his side, simply said coldly one sentence.

"Luoyang City fell in one day!"

The palace interior fell silent in an instant.

Even Luoyang City, so strong, was shattered by Li Erlang in a single battle.

What about Mingzhou?

The Military Chaplain of the Guozijian was mainly responsible for education.

Ling Jing held this position, but his work was to devise strategies for Dou Jiande; he was an important advisor under his command.

His words carried great weight.

Dou Jiande, who was easily influenced by others, was now wavering.

"Xia King."

Dou Jiande's wife, Lady Cao, spoke up. "Are we to abandon all the grain, wealth, craftsmen, and women inside Mingzhou City?"

Just one sentence made the perpetually indecisive Dou Jiande make up his mind.

"We can't leave!"

Mingzhou City stores vast quantities of supplies, grain, and fodder, as well as the families of the civil and military meritorious nobles.

These supplies and people cannot all be gone in a single night.

Losing these would be, for Dou Jiande, not merely cutting flesh, but shaving the bone itself.

"Your Majesty."

Ling Jing spoke again: "If so, we should mobilize the soldiers and civilians inside and outside the city, reinforce the city walls, and hold the city firmly."

"Send fast horses flying to all places to summon reinforcements from all sides to surround them, gather the troops and annihilate them."

"It would be best to send a letter to the Turkic Khan, asking him to send troops to aid us."

In terms of strategic arrangement, this is indeed a good suggestion.

Fully exerting our side's strength, with an army of one or two hundred thousand surrounding them, plus the Turkic iron cavalry, it would be enough to drown Li Erlang.

Dou Jiande nodded, about to speak.

Liu Heita roared: "What kind of talk is this!"

"There are tens of thousands of troops inside Mingzhou City."

"Send orders to the nearby prefectures and counties; one or two thousand more can arrive by noon tomorrow."

"There are several thousand private soldiers and household retainers from the various families within the city."

"With so many heroes, are they to be frightened by Li Er's tens of thousands of troops into hiding in the city like turtles shrinking their heads?"

"In my opinion, we should take advantage of the good opportunity while Li Er is on a distant expedition, his troops weary and horses exhausted, to go out of the city and break them in one battle!"

Scholar Official Liu Bin of the Secretariat also spoke up in agreement.

"General Liu is absolutely right."

"Your Majesty."

"Holding the city and awaiting reinforcements, I fear it will damage Your Majesty's prestige~~~"

Soldiers fight with practicality as the main concern, seeking victory, or at least not defeat.

But Dou Jiande is not a soldier; he is a political organism.

What he considers first is not military gains and losses, but weighing the pros and cons of political gains and losses.

Frightened by Li Erlang's surprise attack force, they dare not leave the city gates.

They still need to ask the Turkic people to come help with the rescue.

If this matter spreads, the blow to his prestige would be extremely severe.

Dou Jiande nodded repeatedly.

"Exactly so."

"That Li Erlang brings several thousand to tens of thousands of troops, rushing a thousand miles to launch a surprise attack."

"If I am frightened into not daring to go out, would I not be laughed at by the heroes of the world?"

"If so, then gather the troops, and tomorrow properly go meet that Li Erlang!"

"I want to see if he has three heads and six arms!"

"Your Majesty!" Ling Jing hurriedly advised, "No~~~"

"Li Erlang broke Luoyang City in one day; he absolutely has something up his sleeve."

"This man moves freely north and south, looking down on all, often defeating large armies with few soldiers."

"Stability should come first!"

This made him seem unable to speak; even when advising, one cannot so bluntly exaggerate the enemy, which would amount to belittling one's own lord.

Indeed, Dou Jiande's expression changed.

"My decision is made!"

"Tomorrow, send the great army out of the city to meet them in battle!"

After speaking, he turned and left, leaving only Ling Jing stamping his feet and sighing repeatedly.

Pei Ju, serving as Right Pushe under Dou Jiande, rose and walked toward the hall's exterior, muttering under his breath.

"Blockhead~~~"

The next morning, more than twenty li south of Mingzhou City.

Lin Dao lifted his leg and kicked away a stone on the road.

His gaze swept over this pothole-ridden so-called official road, full of footprints and wheel tracks.

"And this is still an official road."

"Fortunately, I got a bicycle with inflatable tires."

"If they were solid, the jolts of over a thousand li of road would be unbearable, and one's buttocks would rot."

Solid tires are easy to maintain and wear-resistant.

They are fine on flat roads, but if riding on rugged terrain, the jolting sensation is truly hard to endure.

"Brother Zi Hou."

Li Erfeng, pushing a bicycle, walked over: "Why have you stopped?"

He has a fine horse he won't ride, insisting on riding a bicycle, happy beyond measure all the way, like a grown boy who got his favorite toy.

"Less than thirty li to go."

Lin Dao dragged a box down from the off-road vehicle.

"Dou Jiande will either defend the city or come out to fight."

"If he comes out to fight, he should be leaving the city now; it is time for pre-battle reconnaissance."

Li Erfeng said: "There are naturally scouts sent out ahead to reconnoiter."

He himself liked to personally serve as a scout, understanding the battlefield environment and situation, and was very familiar with this.

"Too slow." Lin Dao took out a drone, installed a battery, and debugged it. "It's easy to startle the snake."

"Detect early, strike first."

"Taking advantage of the opportunity of the enemy's troop mobilization across the way, the main army can kill over there and have a chance to catch them off guard."

Li Erfeng, who was staring at Lin Dao, was thoughtful in his heart.

Lin Zihou must have been on the battlefield!

And he was a commander of troops!

"Hum~~~"

The drone's rotor spun at high speed, flying toward the distant Mingzhou City under the astonished and unbelieving gazes of everyone.

"Brother Zi Hou~"

"Don't speak, just watch."

Li Erfeng lowered his head and saw Lin Dao's control panel, seeing the land rapidly receding on the screen, his mind trembled.

"It's this troublesome even without interference."

Lin Dao reached out and adjusted the signal repeater placed on the vehicle roof.

"Signal strength restored, this thing is indeed useful."

Li Erfeng beside him watched and listened, his thoughts swirling in his mind, urgently wanting to obtain knowledge.

Unfortunately, he truly could not understand it.

Even recalling all the ancient books he had ever read, he had never seen a related description.

Except for the Mo School's Feiluan.

"Dou Jiande is truly bold."

Inside the drone lens, Mingzhou City appeared.

At this time the city gate was wide open, and a large batch of Xia army soldiers, horses, and civilian laborers were setting out from inside the city gate.

"Did you see it?"

Lin Dao handed over the screen. "The opportunity has come."

Li Erfeng nodded heavily, turned around and went to greet the cavalrymen.

Before departure, Lin Dao handed over a walkie-talkie and simply taught how to use it.

"I will report battlefield information to you at all times."

"Go, let this world recover peace as soon as possible!"

Lin Dao inspected Li Erfeng, and even wanted to inspect Li Jiancheng.

But he had never considered Dou Jiande.

There were no messy stories, only one reason.

He, Dou Jiande, submitted to the Turks and accepted the Turks' investiture.

Colluding with barbarian Hu captives was something Lin Dao could not accept.

Li Erfeng, wearing Mingguang Armor with two large lamps hanging on his chest, mounted his horse and nodded heavily toward Lin Dao.

"It is my wish!"

Three or four thousand Tang Army cavalrymen donned armor, feeding water and fodder to their warhorses.

They changed from riding horses to warhorses, eating dry rations and drinking water, riding at a trot forward.

As for the heavy infantry riding bicycles, they followed on bicycles, but they were destined to only clean up the battlefield.

Although the official road was bumpy, the bicycles could still run.

However, the land on both sides of the official road could not be run on at all.

Several thousand bicycle infantry could only form a One-Character Long Snake Array, advancing along the official road to Mingzhou.

Inside Mingzhou City, about twenty to thirty thousand troops were going out to battle.

In addition, there were several thousand private soldiers and household generals from various families.

Dou Jiande's royal procession leaving the city also wasted time.

When they finally got out to the city exterior with great difficulty, and the various parts were dispersing to prepare for marching.

The scouts sent ahead ran back like madmen.

"The Tang Army is coming!"

End of Chapter