Twenty-Five Histories of Fallen States (Part 1)

  Tang Jian sat in his own tent, looking at the red and fiery scene outside, as well as the shadow of the Turkic people's anxious and flustered figures printed on the tent. He felt extremely annoyed. He could understand some Turkic language, was quick-witted, and his eyes were not blind, so he naturally understood what was going on...

  Li Jing led the army to launch a surprise attack on the Turkic military camp! And burned the 30,000-strong Turkic army with one fire! With such strong winds tonight, combined with the big fire, it's not surprising that the entire Yin Mountain was burned down! This strategy is ruthless and powerful! The timing, location, and people are all in favor, which is impressive! I also admire Li Jing very much for this clever move. However, does he want to abandon himself as a discarded son?! The emperor's edict has already allowed Qili to surrender, although the emperor also suspects Qili's sincerity and prepares to take action when necessary. But what Li Jing did was an outright refusal to obey the imperial decree!

  He put on his clothes, wore his breastplate, grasped the hilt of his sword, and drew it out. Tang Jian had already decided to leave. If he didn't go, he would be burned to death sooner or later. Since things had come to this pass, and the fire was like this, the Turks were bound to lose. It was unlikely that more than 5,000 people could escape alive from the Yin Mountains. This fire had destroyed a country, a regime that had been quite impressive. The fire was burning fiercely!

  Li Yao Shi, you're cruel!

  Calm and composed, Tang Jian suddenly stood up, grasped the sword in his hand tightly, ready to rush out of the camp. Just as he took two steps, the curtain of the tent was lifted, and a man covered in blood walked in. Tang Jian was shocked, thinking that it was a Turkic person coming to kill him, feeling infinitely sad in his heart, just about to take his own life to apologize to the Emperor, when he heard this man slowly opening his mouth: "Duke of Ju, Su Ning is late by one step, please forgive Duke of Ju!"

  Suning?

  Li Yaoshi recommended that talented person? That San Yuan County son? The 14-year-old viscount? Sun Ning, who is highly valued by Your Majesty?

  "Is that you, Su Ning? How did you end up here? How did you know I was here?" Tang Zhan had met Su Ning a few days ago when he read out the imperial edict in Dingxiang. He saw this white-robed young general attending to Li Jing's side and knew his status wasn't ordinary. Indeed, it was Su Ning, who had been personally enfeoffed as the Count of San Yuan by the Emperor. With the help of the wildly dancing flames, Tang Zhan got a clear look at Su Ning's face and let out a sigh of relief, putting his mind at ease. Now that he was here, he wouldn't be in danger.

  "Before the expedition, General's secret order was to ensure the safety of Lord Ju no matter what. If not, I would take my head to see the general. Now that Lord Ju is safe and sound, my head is also saved; as for how I knew, around the most luxurious and largest camp, there must be a camp that belongs to Lord Ju, I was very lucky to find it immediately, Lord Ju, please follow me, I will take you to a safe place!" Su Ning's words immediately dispelled the knot in Tang Zhan's heart, thinking that Li Yao Shi still had a conscience!

  Su Ning's plan was indeed brilliant. By this time, he knew that Tang Zhan's heart must be filled with extreme sorrow, resentment, and hatred towards Li Jing. At this most critical moment, Su Ning, as Li Jing's disciple, appeared here, claiming to have received Li Jing's order to rescue Tang Zhan and guarantee his safety. Under these circumstances, Tang Zhan's heart was filled with the joy of being reborn after a disaster, and he naturally forgave Li Jing.

  Tang Jian said, "Li Jing this old fellow, still has a few good conscience, when the big fire started, I really thought Li Jing was going to abandon me. Take me to see Li Jing! I'm going to deal with him properly!" Su Ning heard this and let out a sigh of relief. Tang Jian didn't hold a grudge against Li Jing, his plan had succeeded. As for what happened next, as long as he gave Li Jing a heads up, even if he didn't give him a heads up, as long as Tang Jian said something, with Li Jing's brain, he would understand.

  So Suning said: "At present, the general is leading the army to rush over and has not yet arrived at Yingshan. The end will be the deputy vanguard, together with the vanguard general Su Lie, leading 500 troops to rush ahead first. The end will send someone to take you to a safe place, wait for the general to arrive, and the end will go to pursue and kill Helie. Only by capturing or killing him can we be considered to have won a complete victory."

  Tang Jian's face was filled with doubt: "Li Jing hasn't arrived yet, and there are only 500 people here?"

  Suning said: "Yes, when the general decided to attack Yingshan, he didn't decide on a strategy, but sent Su Lie with the end general as the vanguard to explore the road and ensure the safety of Lord Ju. The original plan was to wait for the general to arrive before launching a full-scale attack. Who would have thought that tonight's wind would be so strong? The end general decided to use fire to attack, and launched a surprise attack on the Turkic camp. Don't worry, Lord Ju, let's go quickly, this place is not safe."

  Su Ning said, pulling Tang Jian out of the tent, and ran into three fleeing Turkic soldiers. Su Ning was taken aback for a moment, then reacted quickly, taking the sword from Tang Jian's hand and throwing it to kill one of the Turkic soldiers. Then he thrust his spear and killed another Turkic soldier. Finally, he kicked the last Turkic soldier flying several meters away. The Turkic soldier fell to the ground and lost all sound, dead. Niu Geng rode over on horseback, Su Ning was overjoyed, and immediately called out to Niu Geng: "Gengzi! Come here!"

  Niu Zheng was searching everywhere for Suning, when he suddenly heard Suning's voice and rushed over: "Chang Shi, are you okay?" Suning handed Tang Jian to Niu Zheng: "This is the Duke of Ju, Tang Jian, you immediately take the Duke of Ju to a safe place and wait for the arrival of the main force of the army. If not, come back and see me with your head in hand!"

  Niu Geng was shocked, Duke of Ju Guo?! Calming his mind, Niu Geng excitedly grabbed Tang Jian's sleeve and helped him onto the war horse. Then he galloped away on horseback. Su Ning saw that Niu Geng had safely taken Tang Jian away and let out a sigh of relief. He mounted Come Fortune and urged the horses forward in the direction of the rear mountain, where Su Dingfang was leading his troops to pursue the large group of fleeing Turkic soldiers.

  Tang Jian, who was sitting on the horseback, finally came to his senses. He looked back at Su Ning, who was galloping away, and felt a wave of emotion. What he had just seen had almost short-circuited his brain - an army of 30,000 soldiers, such a powerful nation, destroyed by a 14-year-old boy and 500 cavalrymen? Oh, plus a big fire and a strong gust of wind! The timing was so excellent, the terrain so advantageous, and the people so harmonious. No wonder Li Jing valued this young man so much! This kid's future is boundless! Come to think of it, this is also a lifesaving favor!

  Su Ning didn't know what Tang Jian was thinking, he galloped along the way, gathering the scattered cavalrymen, and more than 300 cavalrymen gathered around him. It seemed that Su Dingfang had taken less than 200 cavalrymen to pursue Ashina Helu Khan, no wonder Ashina Helu Khan escaped in history, there were too few soldiers! He had specially asked Li Jing for 300 more troops, which was just enough to be used now. The small fish and shrimp here didn't matter, according to Ashina's fleeing character, he didn't have to worry that he would use the tactic of "borrowing a tiger to scare away a monkey".

  Su Ning's guess was correct, and at this time, Ili Khan was indeed fleeing in defeat under Su Dingfang's pursuit. When the first rocket fell into the camp, he was holding Xiao Hou and playing with her recklessly, preparing to show off his prowess. The Tang Emperor allowed himself to surrender, haha, what a foolish thing to do! Now he had another chance to rise again from the east mountain. After going to the north of the desert to rest for a few years, he would come back! Thinking of this, Ili became even more "brave" and prepared to "swallow alive" Xiao Hou.

  Although Keli was a quick draw, it was clear that even if he was fast, he couldn't keep up with the parabolic motion of the arrows, let alone the added factor of strong winds and distance. Before Keli could even raise his gun, 500 fire arrows had already created a sea of flames. When Keli was ready to launch the dragon out to sea, the second round of 500 fire arrows landed inside the camp. With the help of the fierce wind, the Fire God unleashed its power, sweeping through the Turkic camp at a speed that exceeded Keli's silver bottle bursting with water...

  This was originally a welcome and congratulatory matter, Jili avoided the risk of being despised by Xiao Hou again, in exchange, he had to take the risk of being pursued by Su Dingfang and Changsun Chong to save his man's dignity. Obviously, the joint pursuit of Su Dingfang and Changsun Chong was too brave for this exchange condition, Jili felt a bit unprofitable, to ensure his own safety, Jili prepared to follow the example of Liu family's two founding emperors, Liu Bang and Liu Bei, abandon his wife and children...

  Su Ning's arrival was extremely swift. As it turned out, Lai Fu was a gift from Li Jing to Su Ning, who said it was a fine horse. Now it seemed that indeed was the case. Riding on Lai Fu, Su Ning managed to catch up with Su Dingfang and Changsun Chong, who were galloping wildly: "Big brother! Second goods! Your horses are too slow, you can't catch up with Congli, I'll take care of him! You go and capture Princess Yicheng and Empress Xiao! They're in the back!"

  Suning shouted towards Su Dingfang and Changsun Chong, who turned their heads to look back. Suning surpassed himself at a speed visible to the naked eye. The white horse was indeed powerful. The two men looked back and saw the luxurious carriage frame, understanding that Suning would not compete with them for merit. This was obviously the right thing to do. Capturing Princess Yicheng and Xiao Hou's merits were also great, so be it!

  "Second brother! It's up to you now! You must catch Zuo Li!" Su Dingfang shouted loudly, turning his horse around and galloping away towards the back. Long Sun Chong nodded at Su Ning, turned his horse around and rushed off. Su Ning nodded again, urging Lai Fu to speed up once more. Lai Fu did not disappoint Su Ning's expectations, accelerating again, almost exceeding his own limits. Closer, closer, even closer!

  Jie Li Khan was captured, which means the complete destruction of this once prosperous grassland nation. This mighty grassland power, which had forced the heroes of the Central Plains to surrender and had humbled Emperors Gaozu and Taizong of Tang, no longer existed. From this moment on, the Great Tang, as an existence that made surrounding countries and nations around the world feel fearful, would radiate its dazzling brilliance!

  Their own coup de grace will create a brilliant Tang Dynasty!

  "Get him! Where's he going!" Su Ning flipped his spear around, holding the handle in front and the tip at the back. Obviously, catching a live Xunli was much better than catching a dead one. Su Ning gripped his spear tightly and swung it with great force, striking the stout and burly Xunli Khan off his warhorse, sending him flying out with a pained cry. Considering his own strength was insufficient, Su Ning thought that hitting Xunli's waist and back wouldn't have much effect - there was too much flesh, not enough power. So Su Ning decided to strike at his neck instead.

  With a successful shot, Suning immediately pulled the reins to stop Lai Fu, ran to the side of Jili who was holding his neck and groaning, twisted his body, pointed the gun at Jili's large head, looked down on him with an overbearing attitude.

  "Congli, you have the right to remain silent and should remain silent. Anything you say will be used against you! Now, on behalf of the Tang Dynasty, I declare that you are under arrest!"