This time, the emperor not only sent him Li Shimin, but also sent 5,000 men and horses of the black-clothed iron guard of the Praetorian Guard to the north to reconnoiter the movements of the Turks. Now that the black-clothed iron guard was found to be seriously wounded, doesn't that mean that there are already Turkic soldiers and horses nearby?

At this time, he didn't care that he was only half of the bath, Li Shimin picked up a towel and quickly dried the water on his body, and hurriedly changed his clothes.

"Where are the people, take me quickly" As soon as he went out, Li Shimin frowned and said hurriedly.

Li Xiaogong led the way, "The person is in the hall now, and he has been examined by the doctor, and he has multiple stab wounds all over his body. Now I have lost a lot of blood, but the doctor has already taken the medicine, and said that it can last for a while. ”

It wasn't until the hall that Li Shimin found at a glance that the wounded cavalryman was indeed a black-clothed iron guard. Although the black-clothed Iron Guards are also ostensibly a part of the Praetorian Guard's Xiaoguo Army, their armor and equipment have special symbols. Anyone who is clothed in black will have a black shield on the breastplate of their armor, and on the cuffs of their clothes, there will also be a sign of two horizontal knives crossed. This emblem was exclusive to the black-clad guard, and the wounded soldier now had a small round shield on his torn breastplate, and on his cuffs, there was also a cross sword.

After confirming his identity, Li Shimin's expression became even more serious, "This general is Li Shimin, the general of Zuotunwei, what happened, I need you to tell me immediately." ”

The black-clad guard coughed a few times, coughed up a large lump of blood, and struggled to sit up, but in vain. Several guards helped him up and put a few cushions under his back to get him up.

"The Turks, the Turks, the Turks went south," the iron guard looked excited, stretched out his finger and pointed to the north and said hard.

Li Shimin's face sank suddenly, although the black-clothed iron guard was the elite of the forbidden army, he only set off not long before him. But now, the black-clothed iron guard has been seriously injured by the Turks heading south, so it is clear that the Turks have broken through the Great Wall pass, and they are near here.

The doctor brought a bowl of ginseng soup and fed it to the guard. After a bowl of ginseng soup, the guard really returned to his light all of a sudden, and he was much more energetic.

"General Sima led us north, and divided the 5,000 men and horses into ten groups in the county town of Mayi, and inquired about the movements of the Turks in different directions. The small one followed the one that went to the White Wolf Fortress, but as soon as we arrived there, we were confronted by the Turks. ”

"How many Turks have attacked you? Under what banner? Li Shimin hurriedly asked.

"Boundless, our five hundred people were surrounded as soon as they discovered this Turkic army, and in less than half a pillar of incense, five hundred people were already annihilated. At that time, he jumped into love and fell into the river with serious injuries, only to barely escape. I went ashore from the other side of the river, found a horse in a village, and after driving for dozens of miles, finally fell off the horse. I don't know how many Turks there are, but as far as I can see, there are at least five thousand, and not all. I only remember that their flag was a wolf, and one of them had a golden wolf on it. The black-clothed guard struggled to recall the scene, his face pale.

Hearing this information, Li Shimin was completely silent. He originally thought that they had not received any urgent reports or beacons so far, so the Turkic army should still be on the border of Dingxiang. Even when he saw the wounded black-clad guard, he only thought that it was the work of the Turkic scouts who had infiltrated Mayi. But he didn't expect that the black-clothed iron guard actually said that the Turks who attacked them were boundless, and there were more than 5,000 people.

And what made Li Shimin even more shocked was that there was actually a golden wolf head banner in the Turkic banner. The golden wolf is the symbol of the Turkic Khanate, but ordinary soldiers and horses are not qualified to play this banner. And in addition to the golden wolf banner representing the Great Khan, only the Turkic Ashina family can play this banner. Because the golden wolf head is the symbol of the Ashina family that has inherited the throne of the Great Khan for generations. The appearance of the Golden Wolf Head banner either means that the Great Khan has arrived, or that a clan leader representing the Ashina family has arrived.

The only difference between the two is the size of the banner, the Golden Wolf Banner of the Great Khan is the Golden Wolf Daxu, while the Golden Wolf Banner of the other Ashina clan leaders is much smaller. But no matter which one it is, at least the clan leader of the Ashina family has arrived. As a royal clan, the cavalry of the Ashina tribe appeared in the hinterland of Hedong, which is enough to show that what Princess Yicheng said before is true. …,

Li Shimin was still a little unwilling, and turned his head to ask the doctor to see if the iron guard was too seriously injured, and what he said just now was nonsense. Before the doctor could answer, there was a sudden rush of "bells and bells" from the head of the city.

In the hall, Li Shimin, Chai Shao and others looked at each other, and really said that Cao Cao and Cao Cao were there. This alarm bell at the head of the city must undoubtedly be the Turks. He didn't care about asking the iron guard, Li Shimin got up and left, and said loudly as he walked, "Immediately send an order to all departments, quickly assemble all troops, and close the four gates immediately." ”

The sound of whining horns sounded everywhere in the city, and the soldiers who had just taken off their armor couldn't help but put on their armor again and find their own team to assemble.

The sky was overcast, and every now and then there was a thunderclap, and the rain that had just stopped began to fall again. Only this time, it was no longer a drizzle, but a heavy rain like beans. As soon as Li Shimin and his generals landed on the top of the northern city, a drenched and muddy cavalry team was running over.

"What happened and why are the alarm bells ringing?" Although he knew that it must be a Turk coming, Li Shimin still asked.

"General, the Turkic cavalry is coming," the ranger said with a trembling voice.

Li Shimin's hand on the horizontal knife couldn't help but tighten, and it was still here that it was time to come.

"When our rangers went out of the city and reconnoitred thirty miles to the north, they sent out the cavalry of the Turks. Just along the Sangan River, it was full of cavalry. As far as we can see, there are fifteen thousand commanders, and their banners are all golden wolf head flags. They had already spotted us when we withdrew, and had been following us closely when we returned, and were now at most five miles away, and we were almost there. ”

Fifteen commander-in-chief flags, which means that there are at least 15,000 men in this army. And the black-clothed iron guard was right, the other party was indeed playing the golden wolf banner, which meant that this cavalry was from the Ashina tribe, the most powerful royal family in the Turks.

At the same time, an even worse fact has been placed in front of Li Shimin, 15,000 Turkic cavalry, this is definitely a large army. From Dingxiang to Dayi, this way through the county, it is absolutely impossible to hide their whereabouts to the situation that they do not know for more than ten days. The only explanation, then, is that it is possible that this Turkic force is only a vanguard force. This Turkic tribe did not sneak in at all, they killed all the way. It's just that they are too strong, and no one in the city defenders on the way to Dingxiang Ma Yi can escape the news.

"They came so fast," Li Shimin said in a deep voice.

Chai Shao and the others were also frowning, they were going north to go to the Great Wall Pass, relying on the Great Wall to block the Turks for a few days, and then the 500,000 troops of the imperial court would go north to attack the Turks. It is precisely because there are 500,000 troops coming up at any time that Li Shimin will not hesitate to take all his belongings and 10,000 people to the north. But now, as soon as I arrived here, I have already encountered the Turks.

"My lord, what now?" Li Xiaogong asked.

"The Turks came too quickly, fifteen thousand cavalry, and it is possible that they were only forwards. I think we will retreat at once at last, and in a day we will be able to retreat into the county town of Mayi, where the city is strong, so that we can rely on it for a while. Chai Shao said.

Li Shimin shook his head, "The Turks are moving south, and we should really avoid them. But instead of retreating now, we have been on the road all day now, and the people are tired. If you return south now, it is very likely that you will be chased and killed by the Turkic cavalry, and by then most of these recruits who have not yet been on the battlefield will most likely break up, and it will be too late for anything. ”

"What will happen in your opinion?" Although Li Xiaogong is young, he is very brave, and he is very happy to hear that Li Shimin does not plan to retreat immediately.

Dozens of generals gathered above the city, and everyone was silent, nervously waiting for Li Shimin's decision. The heavy rain poured down, reducing people's vision to a minimum, and there was no visible object more than ten steps away.

Li Shimin ignored the rain on his armor, frowned and put his hands on the battlements, raising his eyes and staring into the distance. For some reason, at such a moment, Li Shimin's shadow kept appearing in his mind. He also kept thinking in his heart, if Chen Kefu encountered this kind of thing, what would he do?

Thinking of the battles of the Liaodong Army at the beginning, they were basically fought through again and again as in front of them. At this time, he was very similar to the Liaodong Army at the beginning, and the generals and colonels under his command were all brave and resourceful. But although the soldiers and horses under his command are majestic, to put it bluntly, they still haven't seen bloody recruits. Retreating at this time will undoubtedly cause a great drop in morale, and with exhaustion and low morale, he can't imagine that his troops can go back to Mayi.

"Let's gamble that the army of the Turks will not be able to meet the advance in time in such a heavy rain. We bet half a day, and if the Turkic army does not arrive in half a day, we win. Li Shimin said with a firm gaze.

"How to bet?" Li Xiaogong immediately asked.

"Our men have just arrived, and I'm sure the Turkic vanguard must not have known this information either. So, it's not like we don't have a chance to fight this battle. If we can't be defeated, then we will outwit it" A sly smile appeared at the corner of Li Shimin's mouth.

PS: This chapter was delivered, and it was about ten minutes late...... fainted, begged for a ticket, ......,