Chapter 37 In the second quarter, Li Yan made a secret decision

In the first month of the twelfth year of Yuanhe (817 A.D.), Li Yan arrived in Tangzhou to take office.At that time, the morale of the officers and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty was very low after consecutive defeats, and the soldiers were afraid of fighting.In order to stabilize the morale of the army and paralyze Huaixi, Li Yan deliberately said to the people who came out of the city to meet him: "The emperor knows that I am weak and fearful, and can endure humiliation, so he sent me to comfort you. As for the siege and war, it is not my task." .” The sergeants felt at ease when they heard Li Yan say that there was no war at present.Li Yan personally went to the barracks to visit the soldiers, condolences to the wounded and sick, and served soup and medicine, without putting on airs of a high-ranking official.These practices of his soon spread to Huaixi.Wu Yuanji thought that he had defeated several main generals of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Tan's reputation and status had never been high, so he didn't take Li Tan to heart, and he didn't pay attention to defending against Li Tan's attacks.

At this time, the Tang Dynasty’s East Route Army attacking Huaixi was on the front line of Gushi (to the east of Gushi County, Henan Province today), and made little progress; the South Route Army attacked Shenzhou (now Xinyang County, Henan Province), winning first and then losing; only Li Guangyan The Northern Route Army led by him won the battle.Therefore, Wu Yuanji focused on the northern line. He ordered Huaixi general Dong Zhongzhi to lead the main force of Huaixi to station on the front line of Huiqu (now northeast of Yancheng County, Henan Province) to resist the attack of Tang Dynasty officials.As for his hometown of Caizhou, Wu Yuanji believes that Tang Dynasty officials and troops have not been here for more than 30 years, and they still will not be able to come here in the future, so the defense is relatively weak.In response to these circumstances, Li Yan secretly made up his mind to surprise Caizhou and carried out a series of preparations.

Li Yan believes that in order to win Caizhou, there must be an army capable of performing tasks.On the one hand, Li Min mobilized elite troops from Shannan Dongdao (northwest Hubei Province, southwestern Henan Province, and eastern Sichuan Province); Emperor, request to send troops to reinforce him.Tang Xianzong allocated 2,000 infantry and cavalry from other places to command him.The combat effectiveness of the West Route Army commanded by Li Yan gradually increased. Although the Huaixi Army has a certain combat effectiveness, they were organized by Wu's father and son by means of temptation and coercion. The soldiers were not willing to work for the separatist warlords. Some soldiers did not agree with the split in their hearts, and they still hoped that the Tang Dynasty could be unified. .In response to this situation, Li Yan adopted a policy of dividing and disintegrating the enemy army and preferential treatment and reuse of prisoners.In February, the patrol team of the army captured Huaixi brave general Ding Shiliang. Instead of killing him, Li Tan gave him an official position and used him to capture Chen Guangqia, the staff officer of the garrison at Wenchengzha (a stronghold west of Caizhou). Wencheng gate guard Wu Xiulin led 3,000 troops to surrender, thus cutting off Huaixi's "left arm".In May, Li Yan adopted Wu Xiulin's suggestion and captured Li You, the guard of Xingqiaozha and a famous cavalry general in Huaixi.Li Yan personally untied Li You and treated him preferentially like a guest.At that time, Li Yan's Jiedushi Yamen had a guard of 3,000 people, all of whom were elite soldiers drawn from the East Road in Shannan, known as the "Soldiers and Horses of the Sixth Academy". Command this army.Li You was grateful for Li Yan's trust in him, and continued to make suggestions for capturing Caizhou.

Li Yan cared and cared for the families of the captives and surrendered generals in life.He heard that some of the soldiers had parents at home, so he gave them rice and cloth, sent them back, and said to them: "You are all good people, go back to your hometown and reunite with your family and relatives." tears.Li Yan also gave proper arrangements to the poor people and soldiers who fled from Caizhou.Therefore, people from Huaixi came to surrender one after another, more and more day by day, the strength of the enemy army was weakened, and the influence of the Tang army expanded. Li Yan paid special attention to understanding the situation in Huaixi in all aspects. Anyone who came from Huaixi to surrender, Li Yan must personally ask him about the details of the enemy. He has a clear understanding of Yi and other aspects of the situation, which provides a sufficient basis for him to formulate a surprise attack on Caizhou.