Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

106: If scheming fails, force is the best course of action.

When Su Wen emerged from the secret passage, Cui Lingyu, who had been waiting outside, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Wendao said, "First, carry all the gold ingots out of there, then seal off the secret passage and seal off the entire Linxiang Temple!"

Qin Zhan responded, "Imperial Envoy Su, it's getting late, and you've all been busy until now. Let me take over this place for now; you may all go back and rest!"

Su Wen responded, "After the gold ingots are registered and deposited into the treasury, I will go back to rest. These gold ingots must be presented to the Emperor for the Tang Dynasty's national treasury!"

Qin Zhan nodded and said, "When Imperial Envoy Su meets the Emperor, he must privately report the matter of the gold ingots. Please remember, Imperial Envoy Su, are you loyal to the Emperor, or are you loyal to the Tang Dynasty!"

In response to Qin Zhan's reminder, Su Wen nodded and bowed again, saying, "Thank you for the reminder, Commander Qin. After this place is tidied up, Commander Qin should also get some rest!"

Qin Zhan responded.

Su Wen, Cui Lingyu, Xu Ge, and Xiao Bi left the temple half an hour later.

......

The second quarter of the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

The Tibetan general stood on the observation slope, looking at the vanguard camp. After a whole night of fighting, the five thousand men in the vanguard camp had been reduced to almost nothing by infighting.

The Tibetan general frowned, waved his hand, and said, "Order the soldiers in the camp to slaughter everyone in the vanguard, leave no one alive!"

The adjutant beside him saluted and replied, "Yes, sir!"

Zhang Yi divided his troops into two groups. One group of 600 men rode back to Dunhuang County at full speed to prepare for defense. The other group was guarded by Li Zhong, who led 200 men to ambush the Tibetan army in a valley on one side. They planned to flank the supply troop and wait for the Tibetan army to continue its march.

......

While Su Wen was asleep, he suddenly heard a very urgent knocking on the door.

Su Wen woke up groggily and called out, "Who is it?"

Xu Ge shouted, "Master, get up quickly! Something terrible has happened in the city!"

Su Wen hurriedly put on his clothes, only to see Xu Ge already dressed in full armor, holding a long spear. He said, "Master, you must leave the governor's mansion quickly and find a place to hide. Suddenly, many followers of the Lotus Sect have appeared in the city and are taking advantage of the time of Mao (5-7 AM) when the troops are exhausted to attack military camps and government offices!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen frowned and said, "Yi Tian couldn't hold back any longer and actually chose to take it by force!"

Xu Ge said, "Master, you'd better find a place to hide quickly!"

Su Wen frowned deeply: "Hiding now will only make things worse. Take me to the city wall and order all soldiers inside the city to assemble at the city gate. All reserves must immediately provide support and wipe out the Lotus Sect rebels!"

Xu Ge responded.

Su Wen hurried to a room on the side and knocked on the door several times, saying, "Ling Yu!"

Xiao Bi responded, "Yes!"

After a moment, Xiao Bi opened the door and said, "Imperial Envoy Su, Miss just went to sleep. It's still dark. Is there anything you need?"

Su Wen said, "Quickly take your young lady to find a place to take refuge; Yi Tian has made its move!"

......

barracks.

At this point, the two sides had been fighting fiercely for a long time.

At this time, there were fewer than thirty men in the camp. The rest of the men were all on guard duty at the outer city gate and on the city wall. Only thirty men remained in the camp to guard it.

After all, there are still plenty of warhorses and equipment in the camp, enough to assemble a heavily armored team of one hundred men!

Kang Li looked around and saw that only four or five soldiers remained, and he himself was panting heavily.

Kang Li held a long spear, his body stained with blood.

At that moment, a man dressed in armor arrived on horseback, accompanied by six other bald men also dressed in armor.

Kang Li looked up at the man on horseback, scoffing, "It's you, Zhang Xizhou! You've actually betrayed my Great Tang!"

Zhang Xizhou chuckled a few times, then threw a severed head on the ground. Kang Li looked over and saw that it was none other than Qin Zhan.

Zhang Xizhou said coldly, "I started planning this in the first year of the Shenlong era, and it has been a full eleven years until today, the fourth year of the Kaiyuan era. And yet, that Su Wen ruined it all! I'm furious! If I had known, I should have killed him the very day he arrived!"

With that, Zhang Xizhou smiled slightly and said, "But it doesn't matter, there's still time. We can kill you, take your equipment, then capture the city gates and wait for the Tibetan army to arrive. The great cause can still be accomplished!"

At this moment, Kang Li took a deep breath, raised his spear, assumed the "holding the pipa" posture, and prepared to attack!

Zhang Xizhou said, "Do you still want to resist? Surrender to me, and when I achieve my great ambition, I will make you a king!"

Kang Li sneered, "I am the Deputy Commandant of Xuanjie of the Great Tang Dynasty, who once beheaded seventy-three bandits. I am from Dunhuang, Shazhou, Great Tang. How could I surrender to you traitors!"

Zhang Xizhou chuckled and said, "Kill him!"

After saying this, the six men stepped forward.

Kang Li wielded a spear, which was eight feet two inches long with a triangular spearhead. It was a heavy thrusting spear with extremely strong armor-piercing ability. He once killed seventy-three bandits, border soldiers, and Xuanjie Deputy Lieutenant!

The six rebels included two armed with long-handled axes, two with spiked clubs, and two with swords and shields. All of them were wearing heavy armor but no helmets.

Kang Li immediately recognized that these six men were elite Tibetan soldiers. He was initially somewhat disdainful, but upon hearing that Kang Li had killed dozens of people, he decisively sent all six of them out to surround and attack.

One against six, both sides were elite troops, all wearing heavy armor!

After taking a deep breath, Kang Li shouted and took the initiative, and the six Tibetans rushed over immediately.

Kang Li stepped forward and slashed down, but one of the men blocked with a long-handled axe. Kang Li quickly used the "Parting Clouds to See the Sun" technique to the other side, then struck another man in the abdomen with the end of his spear. Seeing the swordsmen and shieldmen approaching, he hurriedly drew his spear and swept across the battlefield.

One of the men on one side suddenly swung his long-handled axe, aiming it at Kang Li's head. The long-handled axe was a heavy weapon with high lethality, but it was slow to return the blow.

Kang Li seized the opportunity, bent down to dodge, and then thrust forward, trying to kill one of them first and neutralize the attack. However, the other party was no fool either, and quickly dodged to the side.

Meanwhile, the swordsman and shieldman seized the opportunity and stepped forward to deliver a powerful blow to Kang Li's abdomen. Although he could not break through the armor, the force of the blow still caused Kang Li pain.

Immediately afterward, the man swiftly stepped forward and delivered an elbow strike to Kang Li's head. Kang Li staggered from the blow, but still managed to grip his spear and launch a counter-attack. The swordsman and shieldman reacted extremely quickly, dodging the attack to the side.

A long-handled axe struck to intercept, followed by a sweeping attack. Kang Li parried with his spear, while another man, wielding the Langya List, struck upwards, attempting to disarm Kang Li.

Kang Li dodged, but the long-handled axe on his right swung down again. Kang Li had no choice but to parry with his spear, while a spiked club slammed into his calf from behind.

They slammed Kang Li to the ground in one blow. Then, the man wielding the spiked club struck Kang Li's chest. Kang Li rolled to the side to dodge, then quickly got up and forced back another swordsman and axeman.

Seeing that he was surrounded by six men and couldn't defeat them for a while, Zhang Xizhou took a deep breath, grabbed the Guan Dao carried by one of the men on his left, and jumped off his horse without hesitation.

It rushed towards Kang Li like an arrow.

He dragged his sword out, and as he was about to reach Kang Li, he swung the sword with one arm, delivering a powerful and heavy blow.

Seeing this, Kang Li quickly raised his gun to block.

"Clang~"

Sparks flew everywhere, and the force of the blow was so great that Kang Li was unable to withstand it, and his legs went weak. Seeing this, Kang Li used both hands to press the gun barrel down on his shoulder, and the blade of the guandao even cut into the flesh of Kang Li's shoulder.