In this way, once the rebel army charged through, the center formation would bear the brunt and become cannon fodder. At this moment, something even more despairing for Wang Wei occurred, as Li Yuan said, “Please have Tiger Guard Captain Wang Wei lead the center army.”

“What did you say?” Wang Wei said with an ugly expression, “Does the General truly want this subordinate to lead these old, weak, sick, and disabled against thirty thousand enemy troops?”

Li Yuan smiled and said, “Brother Wang, rest assured. I’ve already arranged the formation properly. You’ll be fine.”

Wang Wei sneered inwardly and said, “This subordinate has also seen the General’s formation. This subordinate doesn’t believe the General’s formation can defeat those thirty thousand rebels. Forgive this subordinate’s frankness, but if the General withdraws now, there’s still time!”

Li Yuan, who had been amiable and pleasant before, immediately darkened upon hearing this, “Now is the moment when two armies clash. As Tiger Guard Captain, what are your intentions in saying such words that shake military morale?”

Wang Wei was momentarily speechless. After coming to his senses, he said, “This subordinate only wanted to remind the General that the enemy has too many troops. Forcing a confrontation with them might result in heavy losses!”

Li Yuan said solemnly, “I know this in my heart. Captain Wang need only do as I say.”

Usually accustomed to seeing Li Yuan’s agreeable and easy-going manner, his sudden stern expression truly frightened Wang Wei somewhat. He obediently went to the front to lead those utterly useless center troops. While his heart pounded with anxiety, he also hated Li Yuan to death. Hmph, it wouldn’t be so easy to make him die!

Shortly after the formation was set, the rebel army saw the constantly waving banners and charged toward the center army with howls. Zhen Di’er rushed at the very front, shouting loudly, “Whoever captures Li Yuan alive will be richly rewarded with a hundred bolts of cloth!”

This undoubtedly made the rebel soldiers charge even more desperately. Almost as soon as the rebels charged over, Wang Wei shamelessly abandoned the center army and ran to hide in nearby grass, completely ignoring the soldiers behind him.

After one round of attack, those old, weak, and disabled soldiers were routed – those who could flee fled, those who were killed were killed, exposing the supplies behind them. Upon seeing those supplies, the rebels couldn’t move their feet. These things were extremely valuable – if they took them back, they’d be rich!

Although Zhen Di’er desperately shouted and cursed, no one paid attention to him, infuriating him beyond measure. At this moment, the left and right formations previously deployed began attacking the rebels who were single-mindedly collecting supplies. Leading the charge was Li Shimin, truly unstoppable like a single rider charging forward!

Li Shimin’s first target was Zhen Di’er. He deeply understood the principle of shooting the horse before shooting the man, capturing the king before capturing the bandits. Once Zhen Di’er died, the rebels would lose their leader and inevitably fall into chaos!

Zhen Di’er was quite a fierce general – otherwise he couldn’t have consecutively defeated Generals Murong and Pan Changwen. However, caught off guard, he was completely suppressed by Li Shimin and struggled to respond. Just as he was preparing to counterattack, he suddenly felt a chill at the back of his neck. Then he discovered he was flying, seeing the two armies in fierce combat, and also seeing… his own neck spurting blood!

As Zhen Di’er’s head fell, Li Shimin caught it in his hand and shouted loudly, “Zhen Di’er is dead! Will you not surrender?!”

The rebels never expected that just as battle began, their invincible general would die, and by decapitation no less. For a moment, the army that was already in chaos from the sudden attack became even more disorganized, with hearts scattered and people fleeing in all directions.

At this moment, a stray arrow missed its mark and shot into the nearby grass. Wang Wei heard the sound of cutting air and instinctively dodged to the side. Fortunately he dodged in time, avoiding vital areas – the arrow only struck his arm. Had it hit his chest directly, he would have died instantly. Even so, Wang Wei was in such pain that cold sweat poured out, and he tumbled to the ground. Just then, through the grass, he saw someone lowering a bow and arrow, and this person was facing his direction. He recognized that person – it was Li Shimin’s guard Duan Zhihong. Could that arrow have been shot by him? Had Li Yuan and his son sent him to kill himself?

While Wang Wei was both panicked and frightened, Li Yuan’s army saw the rebels completely routed and their morale soared, fighting even more fiercely. With this ebb and flow, the rebels suffered heavy casualties. In the end, Li Yuan not only achieved great victory but also captured over ten thousand prisoners, while their own deaths numbered only about a thousand!

While counting casualties, Li Yuan looked around and said, “Why don’t I see Captain Wang?”

One general sneered, “As soon as fighting started, Captain Wang was nowhere to be seen. He must have hidden somewhere.”

Two other generals frowned and said nothing. They were both dissatisfied with Wang Wei and the other – clearly having no military achievements yet becoming captains, bossing people around was bad enough, but disappearing without a trace as soon as battle began was truly shameful.

Just then, a groaning sound came from the grass. Soldiers parted the grass and saw Wang Wei lying in the grass groaning, with an arrow stuck in his arm.

Seeing this, Li Yuan quickly ordered people to help him up, saying, “What happened? How did Captain Wang get hit by an arrow?”

Wang Wei walked to Li Yuan with the soldiers’ support and said, “Earlier, when this subordinate was desperately fighting the enemy, I was suddenly shot by an arrow and accidentally tumbled into the grass.”

Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, “So that’s what happened. Fortunately Brother Wang’s life wasn’t in danger, otherwise Li would bear great guilt.”

Li Shimin said from the side, “Did Captain Wang see who shot the arrow?”

Wang Wei coldly swept his gaze over him and Duan Zhihong behind him, saying coolly, “The situation was very chaotic at the time, so I didn’t see clearly. However…” He looked at the general who had spoken earlier and said coldly, “I didn’t expect someone would deliberately slander me, saying I hid as soon as battle began!”

That general was an upright person. Upon hearing this, he immediately couldn’t contain himself, “I wasn’t slandering! As soon as fighting started, you were nowhere to be seen. If that’s not hiding, what is it?”

Wang Wei snorted coldly, “The valley is so long and there are so many people. Deputy General Fang, do you think your pair of eyes can see everything?!”

Before the person called Deputy General Fang could speak, Li Yuan had already stepped forward to smooth things over, “I believe Brother Wang is absolutely not someone who would flee from battle. Deputy General Fang must have seen wrong. Besides, if Brother Wang had hidden early on, how would he have been injured?”

“But…” Deputy General Fang was unconvinced and was about to say more when Li Shimin walked over, “Deputy General Fang, you stay here. There’s some trouble over there – go take a look quickly.”

Seeing him say this, Deputy General Fang could only swallow his words and follow him. After walking some distance, Li Shimin said quietly, “Captain Wang is just like that. There’s no point arguing with him.”

Deputy General Fang said angrily, “I just can’t stand his behavior. Fleeing from battle was bad enough, but seeing that we won the fight, he actually came to claim credit. This subordinate has worked under the General for so many years, and this is the first time I’ve encountered such a shameless person. Yet the General actually believes him.”