Could it be that those generals had collectively betrayed him at this crucial moment, wanting him to die at the hands of the Turkic people? No, it couldn’t be. Those people were all his subjects—he believed they wouldn’t do such a thing. Perhaps they were already on their way. All he needed to do was make the people before him hold on!
Just at this moment, a general covered in blood rushed in, saying frantically, “Your Majesty, we can’t hold on anymore! The city may be breached at any moment. Please prepare to leave the city immediately. This subject will have all officers and soldiers fight to the death to escort Your Majesty to escape the Turkic pursuit.”
Yang Guang’s face turned deathly pale. Leave the city? What a joke! The Turkic forces had a full one hundred thousand troops completely surrounding Yanmen Pass. Once the city was breached, he had no chance of escaping under the noses of so many Turkic people. Even if the remaining officers and soldiers fought to the death to escort him, it would be useless—he would certainly be captured by the Turkic forces. The only way to survive was to desperately defend Yanmen Pass!
Thinking of this, he suddenly stood up and walked toward the city gate he had always been afraid to approach. That place was truly like hell on earth—arrows flew everywhere, with stones and boiling oil and water constantly raining down. Almost every moment, someone was dying.
After days of fierce city defense, Yanmen Pass’s soldiers had suffered massive casualties. Most critically, the soldiers were gradually losing morale, their movements noticeably slower, their eyes showing more numbness than anything else.
This situation greatly alarmed Yang Guang, who hastily shouted, “Everyone hold your positions! Those who perform meritorious service in defending the city—soldiers will be directly promoted to sixth-rank officials and rewarded with one hundred bolts of cloth; officials will be promoted one rank and similarly rewarded with one hundred bolts of cloth!”
Under great rewards, there must be brave men—this saying applies wherever you go. His command made those numb soldiers regain their spirits, quickening their movements as they withstood wave after wave of Turkic attacks.
Yang Guang was so nervous his hands were covered in sweat. Although they were temporarily holding on, he knew in his heart that the city’s defenders couldn’t last much longer. He hoped reinforcements would arrive before Yanmen Pass’s garrison completely collapsed!
Meanwhile, the reinforcements led by Yun Dingxing and the Li Shimin brothers had reached the vicinity of Yanmen Pass, close enough to even see the Turkic army fiercely attacking the city. But they had yet to advance further.
It wasn’t that Yun Dingxing didn’t want to break the siege of Yanmen Pass, but rather… he only had ten thousand troops. Even adding the defenders inside Yanmen Pass (not counting the wounded), they only had fifty thousand, while the Turkic army had one hundred thousand. This battle couldn’t be fought.
All Yun Dingxing could do now was retreat to a safe area, wait for reinforcements from other places to arrive, then jointly attack the Turkic army. But… could Yanmen Pass hold until then?
No one had confidence in this. After all, Yanmen Pass had already held out for a long time. No matter how much encouragement there was, they couldn’t surpass physical limits. Continuing would mean collapse was just a matter of time.
Yun Dingxing understood this principle, but he was outnumbered and truly couldn’t break Yanmen Pass’s siege. Helplessly, he could only order his troops to retreat to a safe area, set up camp on the spot, and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
Li Yuanji quite disagreed with Yun Dingxing’s decision, requesting to lead three thousand troops in a surprise attack on the Turkic army to take the vanguard. Naturally, Yun Dingxing disagreed: “This general knows the Fourth Young Master is exceptionally brave, but Turkic soldiers always carry bows and arrows and are extremely skilled in battle. If you go, it would be like throwing an egg against a stone—absolutely not!”
Li Yuanji, young and impetuous, wouldn’t listen to this and instead said, “How can the general boost others’ morale while destroying our own prestige? How formidable can barbarians be? Besides, these ten thousand soldiers were all personally selected by Father—each can handle ten enemies. How could we fear them?”
Yun Dingxing smiled bitterly: “If they weren’t formidable, His Majesty wouldn’t be trapped defending Yanmen Pass right now.”
“But…” Li Yuanji was about to say more when Li Shimin said, “Fourth Brother, you’ve never fought the Turkic people and don’t know their fierceness. They’re far from comparable to those rabble under Mu Duan’er back then.”
Li Yuanji said unwillingly, “According to Second Brother’s words, we rushed all this way just to stand here and watch?”
He then said somewhat petulantly, “If so, it would be better not to have come!”
Li Shimin shook his head: “Where are you going with this? It’s not that we won’t fight, just that we won’t move for now.”
“That’s still the same thing—really boring.” Li Yuanji muttered, then waved his hand: “I’ll take a walk nearby and return later.”
Watching Li Yuanji’s departing figure, Li Shimin secretly shook his head and said to Yun Dingxing, “Fourth Brother just has a straightforward nature and says whatever he thinks. He means no harm—please don’t take offense, General.”
“This general understands.” Yun Dingxing sighed: “How could this general not want to quickly break Yanmen Pass’s siege and rescue His Majesty? It’s just…” He sighed again: “I hope reinforcements arrive soon!”
Right now, is there truly no solution?
Li Shimin lowered his head in thought. After a long while, he said, “General, this humble officer has thought of a strategy that might break Yanmen Pass’s siege.”
Yun Dingxing’s spirits lifted, and he quickly said, “Please speak, Second Young Master.”
Li Shimin said slowly, “Shibi Khan dares to bring one hundred thousand troops to besiege Yanmen Pass for two reasons: first, he knows His Majesty brought few troops on this expedition; second, he’s certain reinforcements from various places can’t arrive in time, so he’s this audacious. If our army displays formations and waves the banners of reinforcements from all places, then sounds gongs and beats drums while all officers and soldiers shout loudly, Shibi Khan will think all our reinforcements have arrived and won’t dare continue fighting.”
Li Shimin’s words made Yun Dingxing’s eyes light up: “You want to use a strategy of deception with false troops?”
Li Shimin nodded: “Correct. If this strategy succeeds, we can delay the Turkic army or even make them retreat. It’s the same principle as the Empty Fort Strategy that Zhuge Liang used during the Three Kingdoms period.” He then said, “If the general thinks this strategy is feasible, this humble officer will go down and arrange it.”
Facing Li Shimin’s words, Yun Dingxing pondered deeply for a long time, then nodded heavily: “Good! We’ll do as you say!”
Watching Li Shimin rush off to give orders to the soldiers, Yun Dingxing felt emotional. If he remembered correctly, this Second Young Master was only around twenty years old and this was his first time on a battlefield, yet he could so quickly assess the battlefield situation and think of the best response strategy. This young man… will surely achieve great things in the future.
To have such an heir, Duke Li truly has great fortune!
Following Li Shimin’s instructions, the soldiers worked through the night to hastily create banners for reinforcements from various places. Though somewhat crude, the Turkic army was so far away they probably wouldn’t notice.
That night, the ten thousand officers and soldiers sounded gongs, beat drums, and shouted loudly, indeed fooling Shibi Khan. However, they didn’t withdraw their troops—they only temporarily stopped besieging Yanmen Pass and remained stationed in place. Presumably, Shibi Khan was also somewhat suspicious and wanted to investigate the truth before taking action.