After all, all the warlords who came to Chang'an to support the king did so for an official position and reputation, so that their future ideas and measures could be implemented more legitimately. Zhu Li knew this very well, and everyone else also knew it.
With Zhu Li's assurance, Li Keyong looked very happy and said with a smile, "Of course, of course. However, no matter how many armies I defeat, my contribution will not be as great as the commander-in-chief's planning and leading the army to defeat Chang'an. Therefore, I dare to ask the commander-in-chief again to assist him in defeating Chang'an."
As soon as these words came out, Li Keyong looked at Zhu Li with burning eyes, fearing that the word "no" would suddenly come out of his mouth, which would make things difficult.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Li looked at Li Keyong thoughtfully, but in his heart he thought of those bastards Li Xiaochang, Wang Chongrong, Song Wentong, and Dong Chang. After they invaded Chang'an, they immediately forgot about him, the nominal commander-in-chief. It was like they had collective amnesia and forgot the original agreement. The warlords nowadays really cannot be trusted. However, even so, they cannot ignore the overall situation.
Forget it, it is better to speed up the attack on Chang'an. As for whether the father and son of the Li family can establish the Later Tang regime in the future, it is obviously inappropriate to suppress them at this time. Having made up his mind, Zhu Li said suddenly: "Okay, Zhu wants to see how brave the Shatuo warriors of Daizhou are. Since the envoy is willing to contribute to the recovery of Chang'an, Zhu naturally has no reason to refuse."
Zhu Li agreed. Li Keyong and the three generals behind him all showed ecstasy on their faces. If they worked together to capture Chang'an, they would always get some credit. In addition, with their merit in defeating Huang Ye and Shang Rang, this credit would be no less than the first credit for capturing Chang'an, the four of them thought secretly with joy.
Not to mention that Li Keyong and others had wild imaginations, since Zhu Li agreed to their request, he would naturally not do it without any instructions.
"Li Keyong, obey my orders." Zhu Li said immediately.
"I'm here." Li Keyong, Li Cunxiao and the other three hurriedly bowed in response.
"I order you to lead the Shatuo warriors to attack Zhongwei Bridge. As a sudden fresh force, I hope you can assist Envoy Yang and defeat Meng Kai's Weinan army. Whether our northern coalition army can attack Chang'an today depends on whether you are truly united." Zhu Li looked solemn and thoughtfully looked at Li Cunxiao behind Li Keyong and gave a stern order.
"Yes," Li Keyong responded without hesitation.
Now the Northern Army of the Allied Forces is fighting a bloody battle with Meng Kai's Cao Army. It is a face-to-face, unskilled fight. When it comes to fighting this kind of battle, Li Keyong and his men have never been afraid of anyone, because the Shatuo warriors have never let him down.
After bidding farewell to Zhu Li, Li Keyong immediately led Li Cunxiao, Xue Atan, An Xiuxiu and others to retreat from the high platform and rushed to the Zhongqiao Bridge on the Weishui River. He also received news that Li Xiaochang's Western Allied Forces and Wang Chongrong's Eastern Allied Forces had already broken through the six gates of Chang'an. If they did not break through the Cao army in the north of Chang'an City as soon as possible, by the time they entered Chang'an, it would be too late.
The allied camp was not far from Zhongwei Bridge. Li Keyong, leading the army, quickly arrived near the battlefield.
It was the Xuzhou army that attacked Zhongwei Bridge. Yang Fuguang, the governor of Xuzhou, was on a high platform, concentrating on directing the army to attack Cao's army. In order to prevent Meng Kai from breaking the bridge, Yang Fuguang
Guang dispatched a dozen tower ships to patrol in the middle of the Wei River. Each tower ship carried hundreds of guards equipped with strong bows and crossbows. In addition to shooting and killing the Cao army approaching the bridge, the most important thing for these archers and crossbowmen was to prevent the Cao army from breaking the Wei Bridge.
This approach allowed the passage of three Wei Bridges, which had a very effective suppression on the Cao Army. Although the bridges were saved and countless guards from Xuzhou were able to cross the Wei Bridges and launch an attack on the Cao Army on the south bank, they have not been able to break through Meng Kai's defense so far.
Meng Kai, the commander of the Grass Army on the south bank, organized the Grass Army into a defensive posture like a big pocket, waiting for the Xuzhou guards to attack, as if no matter how many guards Yang Fuguang threw in, the pocket could hold them all. Although the Grass Army could not cause damage to the tower ships on the water, it also effectively blocked the Xuzhou Army near the bridgehead on the south bank.
"Report, Commander-in-Chief, Li Keyong, the governor of Daizhou, is leading his troops to help in the battle." A messenger suddenly appeared on the high platform and reported loudly. This sudden news immediately caught Yang Fuguang's attention. He looked surprised and slightly disdainful.
He thought to himself that these Shatuo Di people were fickle and often rebelled. They would flee when defeated or surrender. However, once the imperial court agreed to their request, they would recuperate for a few years and then come to the Central Plains to plunder again. They were really despicable and hateful to the extreme.
Li Keyong was defeated and fled to Tatar just last year. If Chen Jingsi had not been incompetent and unable to rule the Shatuo people, the court would never have shown leniency to Li Guochang and Li Keyong, father and son. Now there is no Li Keyong, the governor of Daizhou. He is really a piece of dog-skin plaster that cannot be thrown away.
Although he had some prejudice against the Shatuo people, it was a fact that the Xuzhou army suffered heavy losses. The most urgent task was to defeat the Cao army. From this point of view, the Shatuo people came at the right time. Perhaps they could be used as cannon fodder to consume Meng Kai's strength. With a determined mind, Yang Fuguang said calmly: "Please welcome Envoy Li."
"promise"
The messenger ran down the platform quickly, and in a moment he climbed up with Li Keyong and a few others. After the messenger handed over the order, Li Keyong bowed and said, "Envoy Yang, I am here to support you under the order of the commander-in-chief. I wonder if you can help me with anything."
Upon hearing this, Yang Fuguang showed no displeasure at all. He laughed and bowed, saying, "Hahaha, Envoy Li, you came at the right time. We don't have to worry about the bridge leading to the south bank, but we have been repeatedly frustrated in the frontal assault. I wonder if you have any tricks to help us?"
He had no intention of being humble. After all, everyone had the same goal, which was to gain merit and improve their reputation in the battle to recapture Chang'an. Since Li Keyong dared to grab the credit, he would have to pay a price.
Li Keyong narrowed his eyes slightly and did not ask for a fight immediately. Instead, he turned his head to look in the direction of the battlefield. He saw shouts of killing, the sound of swords and spears, and flying limbs on the south bank of the Wei River. The Xuzhou army attacked swiftly, while the Cao army held on like a rock. The battle situation was in a stalemate for a while, and it was like a meat grinder.
With Meng Kai's troops stationed on the south bank of the Weishui River, if the Xuzhou army continued to attack like this, the consequences would be imaginable. Even if they won, it would be a miserable victory.
"Envoy Yang, don't worry. I have found that your men are full of fighting spirit and fearless. They have a clear morale. What they lack now is a brave general who can lead the way. Please leave this to me." Li Keyong turned around and looked at Yang Fuguang calmly.
He spoke calmly.
"A fierce general like a sharp arrow?" Yang Fuguang looked at Li Keyong with amusement and repeated the sentence. However, he thought in his heart that this guy seemed to not want to reinforce the troops, but was willing to send out a general to help. He was really cunning.
But since he wants to send out a general, let him send out the general. If there really is a mistake, I hope the other party will not feel sad.
As soon as he made up his mind, Yang Fuguang said happily: "Hahaha, who in the world doesn't know the might of Shatuo warriors? Since Envoy Li is willing to send a brave general to help, Yang is more than happy to do so."
"So Envoy Yang agrees." Li Keyong asked for confirmation.
"Of course we would love to have that. Please, General Li, send your brave generals to charge over immediately. We must not let Wang Chongrong, Li Xiaochang and others have all the glory." Yang Fuguang responded and urged.
"Okay." Li Keyong agreed very readily. He turned around and said to Li Cunxiao, "Cunxiao, pass on my order. You thirteen brothers, together with Fu Cunshen, An Fuqian, An Jinjun, An Xiuxiu, Xue Atan and others, will attack the Cao army immediately. Your father will be here waiting for you to defeat the Cao army and return triumphantly."
"Yes, godfather, don't worry. We will never let you down." Li Cunxiao bowed and accepted the order. Then he looked at Yang Fuguang with a smile, waved to An Xiuxiu and Xue Atan, and the three of them hurried down the platform, apparently preparing to go to battle.
"Such a skinny and short adopted son can be called a fierce general?" Yang Fuguang glanced at Li Cunxiao with a suspicious look.
Upon hearing this, Li Keyong bowed to the sky and said proudly: "Your Excellency, please do not judge a man by his appearance. Cunxiao is the most powerful general under my command. To be disrespectful, although the commander-in-chief is extremely powerful and rarely loses, if he faces my Cunxiao head-on, the outcome is unpredictable."
"Well, this man can actually be compared with the general. Do you know that Meng Juehai, the most powerful general of the Cao army, was captured alive by the general? Could it be that your fake son is more powerful than Meng Juehai?" Yang Fuguang naturally didn't believe it and thought that Li Keyong was just bragging.
Li Keyong did not respond to this, but gave him a look of watching. Everyone said that Zhu Li was brave and invincible, so he naturally knew that there was a truth behind his reputation. He had never seen with his own eyes how brave Zhu Li was, so naturally he had no way to compare Zhu Li with Li Cunxiao, and he did not dare to make rash boasts. However, he never doubted his confidence in Li Cunxiao.
The two men stood on the high platform and looked towards the battlefield. In just half a cup of tea, eighteen fierce Yue cavalry generals flew out from the Daizhou army, led by none other than Li Cunxiao, who was wearing an iron helmet and armor.
After the eighteen warriors were ready, they stopped their horses at the north end of Wei Bridge, as if waiting for something. A cup of tea later, a two-ox cart was seen hurriedly approaching, and along with it were five extremely strong Shatuo men.
As soon as the ox cart stopped, two of the five big men took a peculiarly shaped weapon from the ox cart with great effort, two more big men lifted a long spear from the ox cart, and the last big man took a bow from the ox cart. The five big men carried the weapons with great effort and walked towards the direction of the Shatuo cavalry general.
From their expressions and flushed faces, it can be seen that these three weapons are of great weight.
Can anyone use such a heavy weapon? Yang Fuguang wondered secretly. If this was true, it would be too horrifying.