The young general did not expect Wu Diao's reaction to be so quick, and it was too late for him to change his moves. He suddenly had an idea and immediately swung his body to the other side. He actually used the strength of his thighs to try to move from the other side of the horse's belly to the horse's back. As his body retreated, the position of his hands naturally left Wu Diao's attack range, and he just avoided Wu Diao's light stab.
Wu Diao was greatly impressed by the young general's skills. This was a type of horsemanship that could only be performed when one had trained riding to perfection. In other words, the young general's martial arts were very strong, but his riding skills were even stronger. It was precisely because of his superb riding skills that he was able to avoid Wu Diao's two attacks in a row.
But the young general didn’t know that Wu Dao’s riding skills had already reached the master level. How could he not know how to deal with this change in his riding skills
Just when the young general's body was swung to the side of the warhorse and had not yet turned over to the horse's back, Wu Diao suddenly kicked the opponent's warhorse on the back. Under his great force, the whole warhorse suddenly fell to the side where the young general was hiding.
By the time the young general finally showed his head, his horse had already fallen to the ground with a bang, crushing him and his gun under the horse's belly, with only his head barely showing.
Wu Diao first grabbed the scholar and pulled him over, knocked him out and threw him to the guard, then rode his horse to the other side of the warhorse that was lying on the ground. At this time, the young general was still struggling to get out from under the horse. Wu Diao was not polite at all. He came in front of him, and without waiting for him to speak, he flipped his double-edged spear and knocked him out with the flat side of it.
The battle between Zhu Li and Xue Atan was almost coming to an end. After all, Xue Atan was a veteran with a lot of experience. Although his strength and speed were not as good as Zhu Li's, he was still able to struggle hard relying on his experience of long-term fighting and his superb martial arts.
As the young general was captured alive by Wu Dao, almost all the people he was protecting were killed. At this time, he no longer had the courage or need to continue fighting with Zhu Li. He instantly lost the will to continue fighting.
While Zhu Li was pulling back his spear, he retreated instead of advancing, and suddenly rushed towards the place where there were many Shatuo guards. After Zhu Li turned his horse around, he had already dived into the crowd. Zhu Li wanted to chase him, but was blocked by the swarming Shatuo soldiers. In anger, he had to vent all his anger on these Shatuo barbarians.
In less than two hours, the Shatuo army of 70,000 to 80,000 people was either killed or surrendered, and the army collapsed. All that remained was to pursue the victory and wipe out the defeated army.
Zhu Li did not rush to pursue the victory, but took Fu Wenda to meet the superiors first.
As for Wu Dao, he was busy collecting prisoners. Although the master and disciple were powerful, they did not capture any prisoners except Fu Wenda and three others.
The captives that Wu Diao was capturing were captured by Zhang Guiba who was guarding the periphery. He captured many Shatuo defeated soldiers. Wu Diao did not kill the captives brought back by Zhang Guiba. He was now organizing auxiliary troops to guard these prisoners.
Zhu Li tied up Fu Wenda and came to Li Keju, Li Tao and others. He saw Fu Wenda tied up at a glance. Li Tao was happy: "Haha, General Mingwei is really extraordinary. He actually captured Fu Wenda, the Eastern Route General of the Shatuo people. I will report to the emperor and ask for credit for the general."
"Humph." Fu Wenda snorted coldly when he heard this.
He was defeated miserably. Until now, he had no idea how the coalition forces had sneaked into his camp. Therefore, he had nothing to say except a cold snort.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Li hurriedly bowed and thanked him, "Thank you for your kindness, Duke."
Li Tao's current positions are Guanglu Dafu, Jianxu Shangshu You Pushe, Yushi Dafu, and the commander of the Wei and Shuo circuit camps. But before that, he was the Jianxu Shangshu, the former Taichang Qing, Shangzhuguo, and the founding duke of Longxi County.
Zhu Li called Li Zhuo Duke because in the Tang Dynasty, it would give people face if they were addressed by their official title in Beijing. Li Keju had called him that before, so Zhu Li naturally took note of it.
After thanking him, Zhu Li came to Li Keju and said, "Lord Li, while I was escorting Fu Wenda here, I suddenly came up with a plan. If it works, it will definitely help Lord Li to replace the state easily."
"Well, there is another good plan. Tell me quickly." Li Keju was very happy. It was Zhu Li who offered the plan to defeat Fu Wenda, and Liu Rengong was responsible for its implementation. Both of them were his people. Now that the plan has been a great success, the credit for the battle of Weizhou must belong to him, Li Keju.
It was precisely because Zhu Li's previous plan was successful that Li Keju had to take his advice seriously, and that's why he urged Zhu Li to speak quickly without hesitation.
Li Keju spoke, and Zhu Li did not hesitate and said, "Mr. Li, at this time, if we pretend to be the defeated Shatuo soldiers and take Fu Wenda to escape to Daizhou, what will happen?"
"Hmm?" Li Keju frowned slightly when he heard this, and speculated along the lines of Zhu Li's thoughts: "If Fu Wenda led the defeated soldiers to flee to Daizhou, the Shatuo people left behind in Daizhou would definitely let you into the city, and then we could cooperate with each other from inside and outside?"
Following Zhu Li's train of thought, Li Keju came to this conclusion naturally and without surprise.
"Mr. Li is wise." Zhu Li took the opportunity to praise the other party.
"Hahaha, good, good, it's a good idea." Li Keju's eyes lit up and he laughed loudly.
"Yes, this plan is feasible." Li Tao's eyes lit up and he quickly agreed. Then he said solemnly, "But the key to this plan is speed. If we implement it, we have to compete with the fleeing soldiers and race against time. It's better to act sooner rather than later."
"Yeah." Everyone was not stupid and nodded silently.
"Duke, I am willing to use Fu Wenda as bait and ride on horseback to capture the city." Zhu Mei, the governor of Daizhou, suddenly spoke. After he finished speaking, he glanced at Li Keju and said in a deep voice, "The victory over Fu Wenda this time was all due to the efforts of Li Duhu and his subordinates. We have not made any contribution. Lord Duhu should leave some soup for the brothers while you eat meat. So Lord Duhu should not compete with us for this job. Moreover, as the governor of Daizhou, I have the responsibility to take back the territory. I ask Duke and Li Duhu to help me."
"Yes, this Chanyu has the same idea." Helian Duo of Tuyuhun also quickly echoed. They, Tuyuhun, were trapped in Yunzhou and surrounded by enemies. They could only survive by relying on the Tang court. If they wanted to get more support from the Tang court, they must show some performance.
"We are willing to go with you." Yanzhen generals Li Xiaochang and Li Wenli immediately bowed and agreed.
"Mr. Wang also has this idea." Wang Chongying said unwillingly.
This strategy was proposed by Zhu Li, and Fu Wenda was also captured alive by Zhu Li's Beikou Army. The mission of seizing Daizhou by tricking the city should be best accomplished by Zhu Li, but at this time, Li Tao, the Recruiting Envoy, frowned.
Well, just as Zhu Mei said, Zhu Li has made many outstanding achievements, while others have not achieved anything. If he does not allow them to make achievements, it would not be a big deal for Li Tao himself to be criticized, but he is afraid that these lawless warlords will do bad things secretly, which would be terrible if that happened.
In desperation, Li Tao had to look at Li Keju, as if to seek his opinion.
Seeing Li Tao's eyes, Li Keju felt a little annoyed. He wanted to compete for the credit, but was afraid of arousing public anger and causing adverse consequences. After all, when fighting a favorable battle, the superiors would most fear that their generals would receive unequal merits.
In desperation, he said, "Then you guys go and seize Daizhou, and we will lead the army to support you."
Seeing Li Keju give in, Li Tao breathed a sigh of relief and had to look at Zhu Li apologetically.
Zhu Li remained calm and said, "Lord Li, Duke of Guo, the Shatuo were defeated and countless defeated soldiers are scattered around Weizhou. I request to stay in Weizhou and eliminate these defeated soldiers. This way, not only can the local people be spared from the disaster of war, but we can also obtain some captives for use elsewhere."
Li Keju was silent for a moment after hearing this, then nodded: "Well, you have made a good decision. I will leave it to you to wipe out these defeated soldiers."
Although Fu Wenda has been defeated and most of the Shatuo soldiers have surrendered, many defeated soldiers have still escaped and disappeared. These people are either on their way to Daizhou or hiding near Weizhou. Those who escape back are easy to deal with, but those Shatuo defeated soldiers who are in hiding are the most dangerous to the common people, and someone really needs to be responsible for clearing them out.
After bidding farewell to Li Keju, Li Tao and others, Zhu Li returned to the camp and told Wu Dao the news of the capture of Daizhou. Upon hearing this, Wu Dao frowned slightly and said, "Humph, although it is unexpected, it is reasonable."
"Master, what do you mean?" Zhu Li looked at Wu Diao in surprise.
"You were able to come up with a strategy to take advantage of the situation and already possess the qualities of a commander who can foresee opportunities. This was beyond my expectation. You are growing very fast, and I am very pleased. However, it is understandable that Zhu Mei, Wang Chongying and others are squeezing you out and scrambling to seize Daizhou." Wu Dao said slowly.
Then he patted Zhu Li's shoulder and said meaningfully: "But don't take this matter to heart. Remember, the most critical prerequisite for the growth of a force is population. Therefore, gathering the defeated soldiers and the population is actually more beneficial to us than winning a war."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Li nodded in agreement. Without people, nothing can be accomplished. Even with Wu Dao's ability, he had to bide his time and wait for the opportunity when he was in the Cao army. It can be seen that no matter what, it is easier to accomplish things with talented people.
After a brief conversation between master and disciple, Wu Dao took charge of the camp. Zhu Li, Zhang Guiba, Zhang Guihou and Zhang Guimou were divided into four teams. They started a carpet search and carefully began the journey to suppress the defeated Shatuo army.
In mid-March, Zhu Mei used Fu Wenda as a hostage and successfully captured the city. With the help of Li Keju and Li Tao, the coalition forces easily captured Daizhou and completely cut off Li Keyong's connection with Taiyuan.
In early April, Li Tao paid a large sum of money to bribe Gao Wenjie and others who had captured Shuozhou, and the Shatuo army in Shuozhou surrendered to the court.
In the middle of the month, Li Tao led the coalition forces and fought a fierce battle with the reinforcements of Li Guochang and Li Keyong in the Sanggan River area of Shuozhou. In this battle, several fierce generals emerged in the Shatuo army, resulting in the unfortunate deaths of Helian Duo of Tuyuhun and Li Wenli of Zhou. Li Keyong and his son were defeated and fled to Tatar with the remnants of the army.