Five miles outside the city of Yingzhou, the military tents are dense, and more than 50,000 Khitan cavalry and 10,000 Dongxi Shulu cavalry led by Yelu Abaoji are stationed here.

Nearly 10,000 tents stretched endlessly, and the enemy's scalp tingled just by seeing this scene.

Invaded Lulong, and Yelu Abaoji split the army in two.

The Khitan cavalry and Shulu cavalry led by him personally besieged Yingzhou City, while Yelu Huolu led the allied forces of the various tribes of Dongxi and Li Siyuan's Shatuo tribe with a total of 40,000 people to besiege Pingzhou.

Since the fall of the old Yingzhou Prefecture and the withdrawal of the Andong Protectorate, Yingzhou has become the most northeastern state in the Tang Dynasty.

Yingzhou and Pingzhou also became the northeastern salient of the Tang Dynasty, which actually defended the Khitan and Xi people.

However, the strength of the two states is not strong, because they border the Khitan and Xi people, and the latter two enter and plunder from time to time, and the population loss is relatively serious, so naturally the entire military strength will not be too strong.

With the strength of Yelu Abaoji, the two states will definitely not send troops to stop it.

The total strength of the two states is only more than 10,000 people, and it is still difficult to protect themselves, so how can they take the initiative to attack.

Yelu Abaoji's idea was very simple, with Yelu Holu's 40,000 soldiers and horses in Pingzhou to be responsible for containing the Tang army, and he led 70,000 troops to attack Yingzhou.

It's just a simple plunder, which can't satisfy Yelu Abaoji's ambitions, and what he wants is to break through Yingzhou. Even if you can't occupy Yingzhou, you can still loot the people and property in Yingzhou City, which is much better than simple looting.

Yelu Abaoji walked out of the tent and looked at the fortified city that stood on the earth from miles away.

He knew that there were not many Tang troops stationed in the city in front of him, but he didn't expect to besiege the city for several days and launch several attacks, but they couldn't get in.

The Tang army must have received the news that if he could not break through Yingzhou and retreat as soon as possible, then he would have to fight with the main force of the Tang army.

He was not ready to engage the main forces of the Don Army.

"Brother, we haven't been able to break through this camp for several days, so let's retreat." Yelu Abaoji's brother-in-law Xiao Dilu was a little worried.

Xiao Dilu is very young, younger than Shu Luping, he is only 16 years old this year, but he follows Yelu Abaoji to do things.

"Big brother, you can't withdraw." On the side, Yelu Abaoji's younger brother Yelu Tingge objected, "We have paid thousands of casualties of the clan, if we retreat like this, it will damage the morale of the army, and it will also affect the prestige of the eldest brother in the clan." ”

Originally, Xiao Dilu's words made Yelu Abaoji hesitate a little, but after listening to Yelu Tingge's words, he strengthened his determination.

If he returns in vain, the other seven tribes or other people in his own tribe will definitely use this to belittle him, so how can he still compete for the power of the tribe and the position of khan?

"Five days, no matter what, Yingzhou City must be taken within five days."

"Boom! Boom! Boom! ”

The cowhide drum was beaten again, and under the earth-shattering drum, the army of 20,000 Khitan and Shulu clans was like a tide, covering hundreds of siege ladders and killing towards the city wall of Yingzhou City.

Of course, the Khitan soldiers of the non-Diera tribe and the soldiers of the Shulu clan rushed to the front, because Yelu Abaoji would definitely not let the Diera tribe rush to the front.

It was certainly only the warriors of other tribes who would take the lead.

Hundreds of ladders lined up on the city wall were a spectacular sight, and outside the city wall, 20,000 soldiers in leather armor and armed with shields and weapons swarmed up.

The Great War has broken out again in this cold winter!

。。。。。。

Daming Palace, inside the Yanying Palace.

Li Ye came to the window with his hands behind his back, looking at the north, his eyes full of worry.

He didn't expect that since he ascended the throne, the first battle with the Khitan actually started under this circumstances. I don't know if this battle can play the prestige of the Tang Dynasty and deter all ethnic groups outside the country.

According to his plan, he originally wanted to wait for the civil strife to settle down before solving the Khitan problem, and for the time being, only Dongxi and Heichezi Murowei were used to contain the Khitan.

As a result, who knew that the Khitan would actually attack Dongxi at this time, and the king of Dongxi was directly disabled by the Khitan taking the opportunity, and his vitality was greatly damaged, and the Khitan army took the opportunity to invade Lulong.

There was no way, Li Ye could only let Li Hong find a way to calm down the matter.

Now that the imperial court is not prepared to fight the Khitan at all, and the elite army has not been mobilized to the border areas, Li Ye cannot count on anyone other than the armies of Li Hong and Wang Jian.

And the enemy has already attacked, so it's impossible not to react at all, right? It's not his style either.

But if he fails, not to mention the loss of troops, and the loss of the city and land, the prestige of him, the emperor and the court, will be affected.

The Central Plains and Jiangnan land, which could have been suppressed, would definitely make a lot of trouble, and as for Lu Long, he would not obey the management.

It can be said that if this battle is lost, it will affect many of Li Ye's layouts, and some plans will have to be temporarily shelved or postponed.

"Zhang Wei, do you think Li Hong can help me drive away the Khitan?" Li Ye turned his head and asked Zhang Wei, who was standing respectfully behind him.

Zhang Wei's expression froze, and he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Li Duhu is loyal to Your Majesty, and he will definitely not disappoint Your Majesty." ”

"That's right, in terms of loyalty, he thinks he can send the top three!" Li Ye nodded, then looked out the window and muttered, "Li Hong, I hope you won't disappoint me, if you can defeat the Khitan, I will give you a duke." ”

Zhang Wei raised his head in some surprise, fortunately, there are no outsiders here, even if the saint does not honor it in the end, no one knows.

Because if Li Hong knows about this, it means that it is him Zhang Wei who informant.

In fact, Li Hong, as the earliest group of people who followed Li Ye, was earlier than Liu Kui, and the reason why he was not able to be crowned the Duke of the Kingdom was also because his military exploits were somewhat insufficient.

The Duke of the State cannot be lightly sealed, especially the military generals, without extraordinary military exploits, it is impossible to seal the Duke of the State.

Zheng Congyan don't talk about it, Liu Kui is also a great fighter and his identity as a concubine, but Li Hong is a step slower.

But if this battle is won, Li Ye will make him the prince of the country, and there will not be too many voices of opposition.

"Your Majesty, it's windy by the window, let's go into the inner room to rest!" Zhang Wei said respectfully.

"It's good!" Li Ye nodded, then stopped, "What did you say about the envoy to Khotan?" ”

"Your Majesty, it should go well. Zhao Langzhong thought that he would not disappoint His Majesty, and maybe he could bring back a big gift to His Majesty. Zhang Wei hesitated for a moment and said with a smile.

Zhao Changhan's mission has already left Yangguan, but there is no news from behind, after all, the Western Regions west of Yangguan do not belong to the Tang Dynasty at this time, and the news transmission is not convenient.

"Hopefully!"

Li Ye nodded, then glared at Zhang Wei again before turning to leave.

was stared at by the saint, Zhang Wei was also puzzled, did he say something wrong? He thought about it carefully, and didn't say anything!

With an inexplicable expression, he looked at the saint who had already walked away, and hurriedly chased him out.