"If we fight, the tactics are very simple. Fight head-on and wait for our reinforcements to attack the rebels from behind."
In the Tang army's tent, Xue Bai handed a letter to Guo Ziyi and said: "This is the news that came from Yunzhou half a month ago. Feng Changqing defeated Li Guiren's Tongluo soldiers in Xiongwucheng and quickly
Go eastward and agree to appear in Fanyang within twenty days."
Now that the Tang army is stationed on the south bank of the Hutuo River, if it is according to the wishes of Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, Xue Bai does not need to follow him and stays in Luoyang to take charge. After all, with their two famous generals commanding, there is really no need for a nominal marshal to cause trouble.
Xue Bai did not interfere much in military affairs. He supervised the transportation of some firearms, grain and grass, and spent the rest of the time motivating the soldiers to win people's hearts in the name of boosting morale.
His disobedience is clearly revealed.
The intelligence that Xue Bai brought today is very crucial. He sent a group of troops to capture Fan Yang. This was the counter-insurgency idea proposed by Li Mi a long time ago. Xue Bai made some changes in time, using Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to contain Shi Siming's main force.
At the beginning of the war, Feng Changqing and Zhang Guangsheng were sent to take a detour to Sanshou and surrender to the city to attack Fan Yang.
Feng Changqing's march was not smooth. If he wanted to continue eastward after passing Sanshou surrender city, he had to pass through Xiongwu city. He did not dare to attack rashly, but waited for the right opportunity to make a surprise attack.
Xue Bai has been waiting for his information for a long time.
At this time, Guo Ziyi finished reading the letter and stared at the map and thought for a long time.
"I think Shi Siming will get the news soon."
"Feng Changqing can send the news here, and naturally there will be rebels who will send the information to Shi Siming." Xue Bai said, "But we are delivering it through the post horse, so it will definitely be faster than Shi Siming."
Guo Ziyi said: "The difference is about two or three days."
Li Guangbi said: "If the war starts too early and Feng Changqing cannot arrive in time, it will give the thieves a chance to defeat each other; but if the war starts too late, Shi Siming will be prepared after receiving the news."
Guo Ziyi said: "To destroy the thieves, capturing Fan Yang is more critical than defeating Shi Siming. You and I must not throw in the trap and worry about it. We would rather lose the battle than allow Shi Siming to withdraw his troops and return to Fan Yang."
When the two of them were discussing, Xue Bai didn't interrupt much and stayed quietly in the tent.
As long as he stays like this, he can give the soldiers the feeling that "Yong Wang fought with Guo Jieshuai and Li Jieshuai at the same level", which is enough to establish his prestige in the army.
Finally, Guo Ziyi advocated fighting Shi Siming as soon as possible to ensure that Feng Changqing could capture Fan Yang.
This kind of broad-mindedness alone is very extraordinary.
Another rare thing is that Xue Bai and Li Guangbi did not question Guo Ziyi's views because of his position, and were willing to follow his command despite their higher status.
As a result, military orders were sent one after another, and the whole battalion was prepared.
Soon it was the fourth watch day three days later.
The starry plains are vast, and both sides of the Hutuo River are still shrouded in darkness. Only the bonfires in the camp correspond to the stars in the sky.
"Send the order, call the soldiers to stand up!"
Li Siye put on his armor early, and after giving the military order, he was the first to sit down cross-legged by the bonfire.
Going into battle today, he might not have a chance to eat all day long. He needed to eat a lot. The roast mutton had been cut and the rice porridge was still cooking. He sat there with his mouth pursed and waited until the soldiers sat down one by one.
.
"At the fourth watch, if there are still those who have not arrived, they will be dealt with by military law!"
"Report to the general, everyone is here."
"Feast!"
The reason why we say "feast" is to invite the soldiers to enjoy wine and food. According to Li Siye's habit when he was in Anxi, he would let his soldiers take a sip of wine before going to battle. Because the weather there was cold, wine could not only strengthen their courage but also keep out the cold.
They were also afraid that the soldiers would die in battle, and they wanted to say farewell to each other.
They are all big men in the military, so there is no risk of getting drunk in one bite.
Although he is fighting in Hebei now, he still retains this tradition.
Xue Xin watched eagerly as his colleagues' lips completely wrapped the mouth of the wine bag. After taking a swig, he handed it to him. He took it and drank. Brothers who share life and death, even gave their lives to each other, dirty
There is nothing objectionable about it.
But because he admired Xue Bai, he followed Xue Bai's example when it came to drinking. He rarely drank alcohol in the past few years. After one gulp, heat surged up, and his head felt dizzy.
Everything became hazy, eating, putting on armor, and marching in line with the horses.
At five o'clock in the morning, he was already standing by the Hutuo River, his cheeks still a little red.
"I'm not a child anymore!"
Nineteen-year-old Xue Xin suddenly said something.
He was usually calm and cold, but today his heart was full of restlessness, eager to prove something.
The last ray of night wind blew through, and a glimmer of light gradually appeared in the east. At the same time, the sound of war drums sounded.
"Cross the river!"
This is the shallowest part of the river the sentry horse found, only reaching the top of his thigh.
The team began to cross the river.
If you look at it from a distance, the groups of soldiers are like countless ants, and the scene is huge. The Chinese army's flag is erected several miles away from the soldiers at the front. Horses and horses shuttle among them, busy maintaining a whole
Only the operation of the army.
Finally, Xue Xin led the horse to the river and stepped into the river. The cold river water covered his calves, making him shiver.
His fighting spirit became even higher, and he walked forward resolutely.
~~
The cold water of Sanggan River covered Zhang Guangsheng's waist.
As soon as he reached the middle of the river, the horse neighed and refused to move forward.
"Walk."
Zhang Guangsheng scolded, pulled the reins hard, and took another step forward, but he did not fall yet.
"General," said a soldier behind him, "the water is getting deeper and deeper."
"I guarantee that I can cross the river!" Zhang Guangsheng didn't look back, but his tone became stern, "If it were my former soldiers, they would have reached the other side of the river now!"
But this time it was a rapid march, and he did not send any sentinels to detect whether they could cross the river in advance.
They defeated the rebels in Xiongwu City, went all the way down the Sanggan River, passed through many mountains, and now reached the boundary of Fanyang.
Li Guiren's defeated army was just ahead. They were running fast and fled all the way. If they were allowed to enter Youzhou City first, the city would be heavily guarded and it would be very difficult for the Tang army to conquer Youzhou.
Zhang Guangsheng then asked Feng Changqing to lead the army to march normally, while he led a thousand light cavalry in pursuit, and finally found traces of Li Guiren crossing the river here.
The horse dung left by the rebels was still slightly warm, indicating that they had just crossed to the other side of the river. There were no pontoons or traces of felled trees found nearby. Therefore, Zhang Guangsheng concluded that Li Guiren crossed the river directly from here, and decisively
pursuit.
In fact, this does not rule out that Li Guiren's rebels crossed the river on a small raft, or even discovered that there was a deliberate plot by the pursuers. However, Zhang Guangsheng never had these concerns in a battle. He dared to bet and risk his life to achieve unparalleled achievements.
Step by step, the river water once flooded under the saddle.
"Raise the flag high." Zhang Guangsheng only ordered this sentence.
Finally, he waded to the other side. He did not bother to wring out his clothes, but looked for the horse dung on the ground like a hawk. He picked it up, touched it, smelled it, and judged that Li Guiren was not far ahead.
"General." Suddenly a soldier raised his hand and pointed.
Zhang Guangsheng looked up and saw a wisp of smoke rising above the woods in the distance.
His eyes lit up, murderous intent flashed through him, and he looked towards the river again. The team only crossed over a hundred people.
"Follow me and pursue!"
There was no road in the woods ahead, so he ordered his soldiers not to ride horses but to lead their horses forward. When it was almost dark, he raised his hand, climbed up a big tree, and took out his telescope to look at it for a while.
"The enemy is setting up camp and cooking. Kill them and have a feast."
So, under Zhang Guangsheng's order, the Tang troops mounted their horses, took out their bows and swords, and suddenly launched a charge.
Taking advantage of their victory, they pursued Li Guiren with high morale and rushed into Li Guiren's formation. After a fierce battle, the camp was filled with blood. The rebels were either dead or disabled, dispersed or fled.
But what Zhang Guangsheng did not tell these Tang troops was that there were actually 700 rebels. He deliberately concealed the situation of the battle, forcing them to use a moment of courage to defeat seven times the enemy.
"General, we got Li Guiren!"
All the soldiers were very excited, thinking that they had easily captured a general in the rebel army, who was also an important figure as famous as Shi Siming.
That's what it's like to fight with Zhang Guangsheng. If you don't die during the adventure, it's often easy to make unforgettable achievements.
This is almost a life-threatening battle method.
"How can you sneak up on me?" Li Guiren was still yelling when he was escorted, and he was very unconvinced.
His eyes fell on Zhang Guangsheng's face that was full of scars, and he said disdainfully: "What kind of unknown person are you?"
Zhang Guangsheng did not answer.
He was once famous all over the world, his achievements were sung by the world, and he was a man of infinite glory.
Now he no longer cares about this. He lives in the name of a soldier who died for him. He is by no means an unknown person, but he does not need to be known to all snakes, insects, rats, and ants.
Seeing the Tang general's stern eyes, Li Guiren became a little scared and said: "I still have my old troops in Fan Yang. If the imperial court is willing to recruit me, I am willing to raise my flag and surrender to the imperial court."
At the beginning of the rebellion, these rebel generals had already planned that if things went wrong, they would use their military strength to blackmail the imperial court for appeasement.
As long as they are high-ranking officials and rich, it doesn't matter who they serve as their master.
Today, if other generals had captured Li Guiren, it might have been as he wished.
But Zhang Guangsheng is different. He will not forget his disastrous defeat in Luoyang and his injustice in Tongguan. There is a ball of anger still burning in his heart.
"No need."
Following these words, Zhang Guangsheng took the knife and chopped it off hard.
"puff."
A human head rolled down, and a generation of famous rebel generals died so hastily in the hands of an unknown person.
Zhang Guangsheng casually dropped the knife and ordered: "Kill all the injured prisoners and pull the rest over."
He used to like to offer his services, but now he doesn't even look at Li Guiren on the ground.
Soon, all the prisoners were brought up and arranged according to their positions in the Yan army.
"I want to capture Youzhou City."
Zhang Guangsheng stated his purpose straight to the point. While wiping the blood on his hands, he said: "Whoever is willing to be my internal collaborator, I will give him a chance to change his ways."
"The court lackey..."
"puff."
Whenever any rebel general dared to disobey, Zhang Guangsheng showed no mercy and killed more than ten people with a raised sword. The remaining prisoners then rushed to tell the intelligence about Youzhou City.
"The person guarding the city now is Shi Chaoqing, and he has been appointed as the crown prince."
"Keep talking."
"Prince, oh, Shi Chaoqing is a cruel man."
"Ruthless person?" After hearing this, Zhang Guangsheng's eyes flashed with disdain.
~~
Fan Yang, Youzhou City.
Now this place has been renamed Yanjing, which is the capital of the Yan Kingdom.
In the evening, more than ten cavalrymen rushed from the west and entered the city gate. Soon they arrived in front of Liu Xiangchang, who was left behind in Yanjing, and reported that a Tang army was attacking Xiongwu City. Li Guiren hoped that the prince could send a supporting army to help defend the city.
.
"The saint is confronting the Tang army in Hengzhou. How can Dayan still have troops to support him?" Liu Xiangchang said, thinking that he should not refuse this matter, so he said: "I will tell the prince to make a decision."
Speaking of the prince, Liu Xiangchang had a look of awe in his eyes.
Today's Prince Shi Chaoqing of Dayan and Prince Huai Shi Chaoyi have completely different temperaments. Prince Huai is generous and benevolent, while the crown prince is fierce and violent.
He held the documents sent by Li Guiren and took the emissaries to the Dayan Palace.
The imperial palace is actually the Fanyang Jiedu Mansion built before Anlu Mountain. Now it has been extensively renovated and is very grand.
Because Shi Siming has been fighting outside, and Empress Xin is not too busy, now the prince is in charge of everything in the palace, and the palace is full of chaos.
Just outside the palace gate, Liu Xiangchang could already hear the officials having a banquet in the main hall. The banquet was not a very elegant banquet. Generals, barbarians, Zoroastrian believers, and people from all three religions and nine streams were all summoned into the palace, jumping and shouting, and the sound was loud. world.
"Go in."
Liu Xiangchang sighed and entered the palace with the messenger. In front of the main hall, he could see countless girls kneeling on the ground. At a glance, there were probably hundreds or thousands of them, with their black hair like clouds.
These were women from good families that the Yan army had kidnapped from various places since the start of the war. Shi Chaoqing asked them to come here every day for him to choose from, and also rewarded them to playmates who could please him.
"Prince, the left-behind officer is here."
"Haha, summon me!"
Passing through the crowd of women, Liu Xiangchang saw a scene of carnival.
I saw men and women gathered in the hall, disheveled and dancing. Shi Chaoqing only wore a robe, and was naked under the robe. He was dangling under it, and stepped on the backs of two naked men lying down with his bare feet. Standing high in the crowd.
"The left-behind officer, guess who they are who can't help themselves first."
"Haha, the left-behind officer also came to place bets."
Liu Xiangchang looked along Shi Chaoqing's fingers and saw two Hu businessmen standing there. They both had thick and curly golden beards and their hair was disheveled.
He didn't know what he was going to do, so he followed the others and placed bets, choosing the stronger Hu Shang standing on the right.
Shi Chaoqing took the two candles with both hands and lit the beards of the two Hu merchants himself. The hall was suddenly filled with a burning smell, and everyone laughed.
The next moment, the fire started, burning from his beard to his hair. Finally, a Hu merchant screamed and inserted his head into the big cauldron filled with water next to him, and there was a loud "sizzling" sound.
Another Hu Shang also screamed and wanted to save himself, but before he could reach the tripod, he fell to the ground, rolled several times in pain, and lost his voice.
"ah!"
The screams were still echoing in the hall, and Liu Xiangchang was stunned. He stared blankly at the burning head, with chills running down his spine.
However, wild laughter broke out in the hall, and someone patted Liu Xiangchang on the shoulder.
"Left-behind officer, you win."
Several gold coins were handed into Liu Xiangchang's hands. He was stunned, turned to Shi Chaoqing, and said: "Prince, I have something important to report."
But his mouth only opened slightly, and he was so frightened that he became mute for a moment and could not make any sound.
"Come again! Come again!"
Shi Chaoqing was very excited. He waved and asked someone to hand him a slingshot and said, "This time I'm going to beat the golden pill! Whoever wants to be beaten will get the golden pill."
Then a maid brought up a tray, which was full of round, golden meatballs.
The Yan army brought back countless gold and silver, and Shi Chaoqing spent it in this way. He would spend ten lifetimes without spending it all. Only those who really want to spend money, expand their territory, and do civil and martial arts will spend money.
At this time, when they saw Kanemaru, many personal guards came out and were willing to be beaten.
Shi Chaoqing selected five people, lined them up, and said with a smile: "If the one I hit dares to scream, he will be whipped a hundred times for every scream!"
"Here."
"Come!"
A golden pill was pinched on the slingshot, and Shi Chaoqing shot it at the face of a personal guard. The aim was accurate and the force was strong. The golden pill directly hit the guard's head and blood flowed, but he did not say a word.
He just leaned over to pick up the golden pill and put it into his arms.
"good!"
Shi Chaoqing praised it and shot the next person directly.
With a "swish" sound, this time, the golden pill actually shot hard into the eye socket of another guard!
"ah!"
The screams were loud, and the guard was in pain. He immediately covered his eyes and fell to the ground, twitching, and blood kept flowing out from between his fingers.
Liu Xiangchang's throat rolled twice, and he seemed to want to speak, but did not speak. Everyone shouted: "He lost, lost!"
At this time, it was not the doctor who came, but two whip bearers. They raised their whips and whipped the blind guard hard.
"Please, Prince, have mercy!"
Finally, someone asked for mercy, but it was the bodyguard who had just been beaten to a bloody head.
"The last general is Gao Ruzhen, this is the third brother of the last general, Gao Jiuren. We have four brothers, the eldest brother has died in the battle, the second brother is following the saint on the southern expedition, and several of my brothers have been killed by Dayan. Now my mother is ill.
We have been in need of medicinal soup for many years, so we brothers risked our lives to earn rewards. Please be merciful to the prince..."
After talking about it, Gao Ruzhen burst into tears.
Shi Chaoqing was unmoved. He pointed at him with his slingshot and said, "I'm willing to admit defeat. Don't you brothers know this?"
Gao Ruzhen said: "I beg the prince to make an exception."
"Make an exception?" Shi Chaoqing thought for a moment, raised his hand, stopped flogging Gao Qianren, and said, "Okay, you are my personal guard, and you are so loyal, I will make an exception for you."
"Thank you, Prince."
"Go outside the palace and choose a beauty, and I will give it to you."
Gao Ruzhen kowtowed quickly to thank him, stood up and walked out of the hall. He looked around and saw that the rows of girls raised their heads one after another, which dazzled him. He didn't dare to pick for too long, but when he saw one of the women with a shy mouth and a look in her eyes
Looking forward to the light of hope for his rescue, he chose her.
He picked up the beauty and took her back to the palace to thank her. He saw that Gao Jingren had been helped up and treated for his injuries, which made him feel relieved.
But when he prostrated himself in front of Shi Chaoqing, Shi Chaoqing said: "I will make an exception for you, what can you do for me?"
"I will die for the prince!"
"Haha, no need, just pick up your beauty and throw her into this big cauldron."
Gao Ruzhen was stunned when he heard this, and turned around to look, only to find that a raging fire had been ignited under the big cauldron filled with water. However, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his whole body was frozen there.
"No!"
The beauty who was brought into the palace screamed and wanted to run away, but when she got up she was knocked down.
"Gao Ruzhen, aren't you willing to repay my kindness?" Shi Chaoqing asked, pointing his finger at Gao Tongren's bloody empty eye socket and said, "I was moved by your mother's story."
"The last general..."
Gao Ruzhen knew what would happen if he didn't obey the order. He was sweating like raindrops, and the heaven and man were fighting for a long time in his heart. He could actually hear the sound of "gulu", which was the water in the big cauldron boiling.
He gritted his teeth almost to pieces, suddenly turned around, picked up the beauty and threw her into the boiling cauldron.
When the screams reached his ears, his soul was screamed out at first. Soon, when the screams disappeared, he felt that it was always echoing in his ears and could not go away.
"Hahaha, there are many rewards."
Shi Chaoqing laughed endlessly, looked around and asked: "Don't you dare to look at it?!"
Gao Ruzhen had no choice but to look at the big cauldron, but his eyes couldn't focus, as if he was blind and couldn't see anything clearly.
The people in the hall were also horrified and no longer as cheerful as before.
Shi Chaoqing felt that everyone else was afraid, but he was not afraid, so he was satisfied. He ordered someone to bring his polo stick, and went to the cauldron to stir the food himself. While observing whether the people were cooked, Shi Chaoqing talked and laughed happily.
"By the way, left-behind officer, what brings you here?"
"Remaining officer?"
Liu Xiangchang was asked several times, and finally came to his senses and said: "Prince, minister..."
Halfway through his words, his mind went blank and he couldn't remember why he came today.
Shi Chaoqing didn't blame him and laughed heartily.
At the gate of the palace, the messengers who came with Liu Xiangchang saw this scene and looked at Gao Ruzhen's figure with a look of contemplation in their eyes.
~~
Early the next morning, several cavalrymen left Yanjing City to report to Li Guiren that the prince would not send troops to support him.
They ran all the way west and saw Li Guiren's head placed in a box by the Sanggan River.
"Report to the general that we have incited Gao Ruzhen, the personal guard around Shi Chaoqing, to rebel. He said that tomorrow Shi Chaoqing will take 3,000 people out of the city to hunt."
Zhang Guangsheng said: "Three thousand people? So many?"
"Yes, the reason why Shi Chaoqing was so popular with Shi Siming was because he was skillful with bows and horses and decisive in killing. He had three thousand personal guards under his tent, all of whom were tough and not afraid of death. Every time they went out to hunt in the city, they met people
Then shoot him."
After Zhang Guangsheng heard this, he looked back at the troops and horses he had brought.
He only had a thousand people and was exhausted.
"General, I saw Shi Chaoqing's military appearance. I didn't mention that all of his three thousand dead soldiers were fierce. I only said that their horses were all extraordinary horses. If there was an ambush, Shi Chaoqing would be able to escape back to Yan as soon as he heard the news.
Beijing."
"Is the divine horse extraordinary?"
"Yes, the horses of the Shi Qing Dynasty were left by Shi Siming. They were led to the Sanggan River to drink water and run around every day."
Shi Siming loved horses and was well known in the world for being good at raising horses, and Zhang Guangsheng also knew it.
As a result, he was less confident that he could fight the rebels in the field and win with less.
If you want to defeat Shi Chaoqing's three thousand personal guards, you still need to wait for Feng Changqing's army to arrive.
But with his character, he never wants to just wait.
…
At dawn, looking through the telescope, one could see the gates of Youzhou City wide open, dust and smoke billowing, and indeed three thousand horsemen were out of the city hunting.
Zhang Guangsheng stood on the high mountain on the other side of the river and looked at it for a while, and couldn't help but curse.
"Eating dog intestines."
Indeed, even he envied the horses owned by Shi Jia and his son. They were drinking water happily and eating green grass by the Sanggan River.
After another moment, Zhang Guangsheng waved his hand and said: "Let's do it."
A group of mares appeared in the picture of his telescope. After neighing at the rebel horses on the other side of the river, they headed upstream to the Sanggan River.
So the horse followed happily and headed up the river.
The rebels laughed, it was all hunting anyway, it was the same no matter where they went.
After drawing away the three thousand rebels, Zhang Guangsheng put away his telescope, mounted his horse, and shouted: "Let's go!"
A thousand people then quickly ran out of the forest and headed straight for Youzhou City.