Chapter 121: As You Said, Teach the Turks a Lesson!

"What? The troops were defeated? But they only had a thousand or so men!"

Upon hearing the report brought back by the scout, Liang Xuanru, Cai Ran, Dou Lichuan, and the others in the command tent all wore expressions of sheer disbelief.

If the previous encirclement of Li Shimin had ended with him breaking through and escaping, and if the garrison at Jinyang had been caught off guard by Fu Zihou's night raid, this time the enemy had merely a thousand-odd soldiers and had engaged them in a direct, head-on confrontation.

A force numbering nearly ten thousand had actually been defeated by those thousand-plus cavalrymen...

"We must never let them return to Jinyang!"

Chu Bo looked toward Zhen Dier and said in a low voice.

"The two tens of thousands of troops previously left behind to garrison Jinyang, along with those three thousand elite soldiers, are either dead or have fled. If that Fu Zihou is allowed to return to Jinyang once more, it will inevitably require drafting fresh troops to garrison the city, and the number of troops must by no means be small!"

Chu Bo's expression was grave.

Drawing forces from the armies attacking other cities would inevitably lead to a shortage of manpower elsewhere, disrupting all previous strategic plans. More crucially, how many tens of thousands would need to be pulled from the garrison forces left behind in Jinyang—two or three tens of thousands?

Who could guarantee that continuing to split the forces like this would not lead to them being defeated in detail by that Fu Zihou once again, marching straight toward their own destruction?

"Now, there is also Li Shimin to contend with!"

Dou Lichuan added at this moment.

During these past days, everyone had witnessed firsthand just how formidable Li Shimin truly was. A single Fu Zihou was already enough to cause alarm, and now, coupled with Li Shimin...

The mere thought of these two returning to Jinyang sent a chill down their spines.

"They will not return to Jinyang!"

Zhen Dier said with a gloomy expression.

Studying the tactical map of Taiyuan, Zhen Dier had previously anticipated that Fu Zihou and Li Shimin might break through Tang Zhenhao's lines, but he had never imagined that Tang Zhenhao would suffer a defeat—even to the extent of having his head severed by Li Shimin.

The thought lingered that if Fu Zihou had not led the Jinyang cavalry to rescue Li Shimin, Li Shimin would surely have died.

"Huaiyan, I regret... not following your advice from the beginning!"

On Zhen Dier's once composed and calm face, his eyes now revealed deep regret as he looked up at Chu Bo.

Had he heeded Chu Bo's suggestion in the first place to capture the East City of Jinyang and eliminate Fu Zihou, none of this would have happened today.

Without Fu Zihou, those junior officers in Jinyang would not have dared to step outside the city gates, even given ten times their courage.

Right now, it was precisely because of Fu Zihou that the garrison left behind in Jinyang had been defeated and Yang Boyue captured. It was also because of Fu Zihou that Li Shimin, who had shattered the army's morale, managed to escape, and even Tang Zhenhao had perished at Li Shimin's hands.

All of this was because of Fu Zihou!

Zhen Dier's heart was filled with regret. He should have listened to Chu Bo back then, eliminated Fu Zihou first, and only then marched south.

"Great General, as long as Fu Zihou and Li Shimin cannot return to Jinyang, there is still room to maneuver in our grand enterprise!"

Chu Bo raised his hands in a salute to Zhen Dier, speaking as though confidence in the Duke of Wei's hegemony remained intact, provided Fu Zihou was removed.

"I have already deployed troops; Fu Zihou will certainly not be able to return to Jinyang this time! However, with Tang Zhenhao's defeat, I am concerned about the Queque Valley..."

Zhen Dier said while staring at the map, then looked directly at Chu Bo before the gathered assembly.

"Huaiyan! You shall go to garrison Queque Valley! All the army's grain and provisions are stored there. I am worried something might go wrong, and I do not trust anyone else!"

This time, Zhen Dier did not choose to entrust this heavy responsibility to Liang Xuanru or any of the others, but instead chose Chu Bo.

Without a doubt, Chu Bo was the only one among them who had never once underestimated Fu Zihou from the very beginning, consistently treating him as a formidable enemy. It was because the rest of the army—and he himself—had failed to listen to Chu Bo that this grave disaster had been brewed.

Now, Queque Valley not only concerned blocking the Sui forces from Heyi in the south, but it was also the primary granary for the entire army. In this critical juncture, Chu Bo's capability and steadfastness gave Zhen Dier peace of mind far surpassing anyone else in the camp.

"Understood!"

Hearing Zhen Dier's command, Chu Bo did not refuse. He raised his hands and accepted the order from Zhen Dier.

Inside the commander's tent, upon hearing Zhen Dier's decision, neither the other generals, nor Cai Ran, Dou Lichuan, nor even Liang Xuanru voiced any objection.

With Chu Bo stationed at Queque Valley, everyone felt at ease.

Five days later.

Within Taiyuan Commandery, ten li outside the walls of Jinyang City, inside the vast rebel encampment, scout parties continually rode in and out through the gates.

Rebel soldiers, gripping long spears, patrolled the interior of the camp.

Banners bearing insurgent emblems fluttered and swayed atop the towering wooden stockades in the gentle breeze.

Inside the commander's tent, Zhen Dier, Liang Xuanru, Chu Bo, and various other generals and commandants were gathered around a map, continuously listening to reports from incoming scouts.

After a long while.

"Where are they?"

Zhen Dier, usually so composed and calm, grabbed a small wooden block from the sand table and slammed it down hard upon the terrain model. His flushed face and fierce, glaring eyes made him appear terrifyingly intimidating.

Both the reporting scout and the other commandants, generals, as well as Liang Xuanru and Cai Ran, were startled by Zhen Dier's sudden outburst.

Gazing at the enraged Zhen Dier, Liang Xuanru, Cai Ran, and the others exchanged bewildered glances, completely at a loss.

They, too, were deeply curious.

Where on earth were they?

Why had none of the dispatched scouts managed to track down any intelligence regarding that Sui cavalry force?

Where on earth had Fu Zihou and Li Shimin gone? Why had those thousand-odd men neither returned to Jinyang nor headed toward any other cities in Taiyuan Commandery, as if they had simply vanished without leaving a trace?

"Where could they be hiding?"

Zhen Dier's flushed, furious face remained fixed on the terrain model of Taiyuan Commandery, deep in thought as he pondered where Fu Zihou and Li Shimin could have led that cavalry force.

And furthermore...

Why had Fu Zihou not returned to Jinyang after rescuing Li Shimin?

It simply defied reason!

Throughout Taiyuan Commandery, his own forces were attacking cities on all fronts; once Fu Zihou rescued Li Shimin, he ought to have headed straight back to Jinyang immediately.

Spies? Internal traitors?

Impossible!

When Tang Zhenhao led his cavalry in pursuit of Li Shimin, he had only then issued the order for the entire army to abandon its heavy baggage and press on toward Jinyang at full speed. It was utterly impossible for Fu Zihou to have received advance intelligence.

Then why, after so many days had passed, was there still no sign of Fu Zihou and his cavalry?

"Send out all the scouts to search! Even if you have to turn the entirety of Taiyuan Commandery upside down, you must find the tracks of this Jinyang cavalry force!"

Zhen Dier pointed toward the south, issuing a command to everyone inside the command tent.

The prolonged failure to locate Fu Zihou and his cavalry had left Zhen Dier gripped by a deep, lingering unease.

His understanding of Fu Zihou and Li Shimin only heightened his growing panic.

When unusual things happen, there is bound to be a demon behind them!

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

The various commandants and junior officers shouted in unison, raising their hands in acknowledgment before hastily turning to leave and dispatching their respective scouts to scour the region.

...

Having emerged from the mountain ranges, Li Shimin and Fu Zihou led their cavalry force into Yanmen Commandery.

Having arrived in Yanmen Commandery for the very first time, Fu Zihou sat atop his warhorse, gazing at the sparsely populated and heavily scarred landscape along their route, unable to utter a word for a long time.

"A year ago, the Tujue invaded Yanmen. Out of forty-one cities, only Yanmen City and Guo County managed to survive. The population and grain of all the other towns were thoroughly plundered and burned by the Tujue, and even those who managed to survive were left to starve to death!"

Witnessing Fu Zihou's expression, Li Shimin spoke in a soft voice.

As he looked upon this scene, Li Shimin's heart was similarly heavy; the southward incursions of the Tujue were nothing short of a catastrophe for the people of the Central Plains.

As he spoke, Li Shimin could not help but cast a glance at Fu Zihou. At present, Fu Zihou held the rank of a Martial-Inspiring Lieutenant of the Sui dynasty, yet the root cause behind all this devastation, aside from the Tujue themselves, lay with one other individual.

Fu Zihou must surely know who that person was!

Li Shimin wished to observe whether Fu Zihou's expression would change upon witnessing these scenes before him.

After all, back in Luoyang, his father had already made up his mind...

And now, having commanded troops in Jinyang and won the deep devotion of his soldiers, Fu Zihou's meritorious service would undoubtedly earn him an even higher post.

Noticing what appeared to be a flicker of helplessness in Fu Zihou's eyes, a trace of joy surfaced in Li Shimin's heart, though he restrained himself and let none of it show on his face.

"This time, shall we kill a few more Tujue?"

Fu Zihou looked toward Li Shimin.

Hearing these words, Li Shimin turned his gaze toward the distant horizon.

"If the opportunity arises, how could I not wish to teach the Tujue a lesson!"

Li Shimin said softly, looking into the distance.

The implication was clear: if there was a way to make the Tujue suffer, how could Li Shimin not desire it? Yet the Tujue were powerful, well-armed, and infinitely more familiar with the terrain; even when Li Shimin had previously marched alongside the massive Sui armies, it had been exceedingly difficult to gain any advantage.

Hearing Li Shimin's response, Fu Zihou inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

In history, after Li Yuan raised his forces in revolt, his deep-seated apprehension regarding the formidable power of the Tujue had compelled him to continually offer them concessions and gifts—a relationship that persisted for over a decade.

Now, with Li Shimin's words, Fu Zihou no longer needed to concern himself with preserving future ties with the Tujue.