The frightened and bloodstained remnants of the Holy Tang Army in front of him were all lucky ones who escaped death from the battlefield of Crescent Bay, and Li Jiangyao secretly dripped blood in his heart while listening to their sad and dejected descriptions.

At this moment, he felt an indescribable, indescribable resentment.

Li Jiangyao hated the rebels in Western Xinjiang, hated the Turks, and hated Zhang Sanpi. He didn't understand why the dignified Deputy Duhu Zhang would be so hasty and underestimate the enemy, and he would bury hundreds of thousands of soldiers in vain.

With such an important strategic decisive battle, why didn't he wait for the Pegasus Scout Camp to carefully investigate before launching an operation, and why didn't he wait for He Jingming to protect the overall situation?

Thinking of his teacher, Li Jiangyao's heart suddenly beat a few times inexplicably.

In a way, this is also a foreboding.

He forced himself to suppress the irritability for a moment, banished all the confusion in his mind, and began to seriously think about his next move.

At present, the main force of the Holy Tang Dynasty in the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang has been completely destroyed by the enemy. Next, the Turks and rebels will inevitably continue to sweep away the remaining troops of the Zhenjiang Protectorate in various places, so as to consolidate their victory.

The small Metasequoia City is now one of the few Saint-Tang fortresses. It is like a flat boat in the angry sea, fluttering and turbulent, capsizing at any time.

No matter how fast the action is, it will probably take several months for the imperial court's reinforcements to be fully prepared to carry out a counterattack.

Before that, he and his comrades must do everything they can to keep the important base of Metasequoia City and maintain the power to regain the lost territory.

Li Jiangyao cheered up and ordered his subordinates to settle those comrades who escaped from the battlefield, and at the same time, he dispatched 300 soldiers and divided them into dozens of squads, so that they could search and rescue the surviving remnants of the Holy Tang Army in Crescent Bay.

The rest of the soldiers and horses rushed back to Metasequoia City with him and began to reorganize their armies with all their might.

Due to the urgency of the current situation, Li Jiangyao could no longer care about hiding his whereabouts, and the 200 cavalry galloped along the Silk Road Avenue in western Xinjiang.

On the way back, they repeatedly encountered small groups of Turkic cavalry chasing and killing the Saint Tang army, and fought several encounters in a row that were not too large. Although Li Jiangyao only had about 200 people left in his hands at this time, these warriors were all fierce and brave elites, so when fighting with the Turkic pursuers, they completely occupied the top. By the time they reached Crescent Moon City, there were as many as 2,000 remnants of the defeated army that had been rescued around them.

However, due to the lack of medical care and food, the exhausted remnants of the soldiers continued to fall behind, and the death toll continued to rise. Helpless, Li Jiangyao had no choice but to decide that the team would temporarily settle down in Crescent Moon City, take a short rest, and wait until they found some supplies before setting off again.

The crescent moon is located in Shanshan country, which is a small town.

In this rebellion in the Western Regions, Crescent Moon City was sacked twice by the Iron Pigeon Army and the Loulan Army. Especially the second time, the cruel Loulan soldiers actually slaughtered the city, and almost all the residents who remained in the city were killed.

The crescent moon in front of me was full of fire-burned ruins, wild dogs roaming the streets, listlessly gnawing on the charred corpses, and their eyes were blood-red.

Li Jiangyao and the others rode slowly in the city like a ghost domain, and they were all in a heavy mood.

Who would have imagined that just a few short months ago, this was a prosperous, tranquil and densely populated city in western Xinjiang.

After the soldiers entered the crescent moon, they found a spacious open space and stopped, and they all fell into their saddles to rest. But just as everyone was about to bury the pot and cook rice, they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the direction of the north gate of the town.

The scout soldiers who followed Li Jiangyao showed excellent military quality. They reacted very quickly, immediately showed their weapons, seized the advantageous terrain, and bent their bows and arrows to prepare for battle.

The effort was not great, a horse team quickly approached from the north, and when it was about to enter the range of the scout archers, the horse team hurriedly stopped and looked at Li Jiangyao and them with full vigilance.

Li Jiangyao stood on a high place and took a closer look, and found that the people who came were not Turkic soldiers or rebels in Western Xinjiang, but four or five hundred Shanshan soldiers wearing mud-yellow leather armor. He ordered his men to stay out for a moment, while he walked closer and asked about the identity of the other man.

The look of the Shanshan soldiers was still a little nervous, and the first of them, an old officer in his fifties, sat on his horse and saluted Li Jiangyao respectfully: "My lord, we are the royal court guard of Shanshan Kingdom, and we happen to pass through here, and we have no ill will towards your department. Excuse me, my lord, have you been removed from Crescent Bay? Please hurry up, there are a large number of Turkic ghosts coming this way! ”

Li Jiangyao frowned: "How many of them are there?" ”

"About two or three thousand." The old officer replied seriously. Immediately afterwards, a girl dressed in military uniform beside him said solemnly: "Those people are the regular Turkic army, and they can't fight hard, so you should withdraw quickly." ”

Li Jiangyao wanted to withdraw, but at this time, he was surrounded by either remnants or wounded, and unless he grew wings, he couldn't outrun the Turkic fast horses at all. He pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice: "You guys go, I'm going to find the bad luck of those Turks!" ”

The Shanshan girl was no more than twenty years old, her hair was black and shiny, her skin was a healthy wheat color, and there was a vigorous and heroic spirit between her sword eyebrows and starry eyes. When she heard Li Jiangyao's words, she couldn't help but be stunned, and asked in disbelief: "Go to find the bad luck of the Turks?" Just with your 1,800 wounded soldiers? ”

"Not eight hundred, but two hundred." Li Jiangyao corrected her seriously, then turned around and shouted angrily: "Brothers, I want to seek some justice for the comrades-in-arms who died in Crescent Bay, what do you think?" ”

Without hesitation, the two hundred ironclad cavalrymen shouted in unison: "Swear to follow your lord to the death!" ”

Li Jiangyao nodded, said no more, flew up and jumped on horseback, swept past the female general and Shanshan cavalry like a whirlwind, and galloped in the opposite direction. Two hundred ironclad warriors stepped on horseback one after another, followed closely behind Li Jiangyao, and walked away.

Seeing that the Shengtang army, which was less than half of their own number, rushed straight to the north, Shanshan's soldiers couldn't help but be a little stunned, they held the reins in place, and turned their eyes to the old officer and the girl general.

The girl quietly watched Li Jiangyao's back, and was a little distracted for a while, and the old officer sighed: "Alas, why is this so painful? ”

"I want to ...... They can't help but do it. The girl said faintly, "The shame of Crescent Bay, the wounded soldiers in front of me, if it were me, maybe it would be the same." ”

The old officer shook his head: "But...... Two hundred against two thousand, and the Turkic elite again, this battle is too reckless......"

The girl stopped him: "Uncle Hong, in my opinion, let's not leave for now, let's see the situation." ”

"What do you mean?" The old officer was slightly stunned: "Is it difficult to ......?"

The girl smiled miserably: "To be honest, I'm tired of escaping, so it's better to have a good time with them." Uncle Hong, don't worry, I mean, stay and provide a way back for that Lord of the Holy Tang, in case the battle is unfavorable, it would be good for someone to pick them up, right? ”

The old officer hesitated: "But ...... I mean, but, this war and fight is not complete, once we are involved, not only may we not be able to accept the Shengtang people, but we may not be able to get out. ”

The girl waved her hand: "I'm still the same sentence, I'm bored, don't run away!" In any case, this is also the realm of our Shanshan, and dying here in battle is worthy of my name! Walk! ”

The Shanshan soldiers were all hiding behind the ruined city walls, secretly looking at Li Jiangyao, who was slashing not far outside the city.

At this time, the yellow sand was already rolling in the distance, and seeing that more than 2,000 Turkic cavalry could rush to the front in a blink of an eye, the old officer Shanshan and the heroic young general couldn't help but clench the hilt of their swords at this moment, and secretly pinched a cold sweat in their hearts.

However, the next scene made all the Shanshan soldiers present dumbfounded.

-

Li Jiangyao's mood at this time is actually both nervous and complicated.

He does not regret his decision. First, the fiasco of Crescent Bay has made him suppress a wave of anger in his heart and has nowhere to vent, and second, as the girl said, with a large number of wounded around him, once discovered by the enemy, there is also no way to escape. If he can't win the next battle, he can still lead his men to lead away the pursuers, at least to save the lives of those comrades in the city to the greatest extent.

I want to think like this, but after all, the disparity between the forces of the two sides is too great, and he has no fortifications to rely on. In such an open terrain against a Turkic cavalry ten times his size, it is completely deceptive not to be nervous.

Li Jiangyao couldn't help but laugh in his heart, he who has always boasted of "never suffering", would make such a move, which is really ridiculous.

The Turkic cavalry brigade also discovered Li Jiangyao and his subordinates from a distance at this time, and the Turks, who were experienced in combat, immediately fanned over to this side without saying a word.

When they ran closer, the Turks were surprised to notice that this small group of Saint Tang troops not only did not hug their heads and run away, but also set up a formation, looking like they wanted to compete. Out of vigilance, the Turkic cavalry, under the command of the leading officer, stopped one after another, temporarily separated from Li Jiangyao and them at a distance of 100 paces, and began to pay close attention.

Suddenly, someone in the Turkic ranks shouted: "Oh my God! It's the ghost-faced white-robed army of Metasequoia City! ”

This shout didn't matter, and the hearts of the entire Turkic cavalry team immediately tugged.

The Turkic army in front of him who was responsible for pursuing the Holy Tang Army was none other than the Iron Pigeon Army that had besieged Metasequoia City and fought with Li Jiangyao and them before.

The two Turkic commanders who led the team hurriedly took a closer look: the other party was in blue clothes and black armor, with an iron helmet with a beast face, and a white cloak with piercing eyes on his back...... That's right! It's those vicious devils!

And Li Jiangyao, who was immediately at the front, was still the same as when he led the troops into the camp before, wearing chain armor, not wearing a helmet, only wearing a red hero scarf on his forehead, and his white face was particularly solemn.

Seeing this, a commander subconsciously touched his right arm.

In that terrifying morning, the young Shengtang general in front of him rushed directly in front of him on horseback and slashed down with a sword. The commander only felt a flash of white light, and the iron spear in his hand was immediately broken in two, if it weren't for the hard armor, one of his arms would probably have to be like a spear, and bid farewell to his body forever.