Chapter 33 Besieged on all sides: Fear in An Lushan

Ever since the fall of Changshan and the death of Yan Gaoqing, Yan Zhenqing, who still sticks to Pingyuan County, has a feeling of being alone. At that time, Li Guangbi's reinforcements from Hedong had not yet entered Hebei, and the Yan army including Shi Siming and Cai Xide was sweeping across the land of Yanzhao. At this time, a young man named Li E came from nearby Qinghe County. He intends to borrow troops from Yan Zhenqing. Qinghe County is located in the southwest of Pingyuan County, only about 200 miles away from Pingyuan County, so it can be said that they are closely related.Although this county is still in the hands of the Tang army, once it falls, the plain will be in danger.In addition, it is especially important that the imperial court set up a super-large combat readiness storehouse in Qinghe very early on, which stored money, grain, cloth and silk confiscated from Jianghuai, Henan and other places every year, and also stored a large amount of military equipment. Known as the "Tianxia Beiku", its purpose is to provide sufficient combat readiness resources for the northern frontier armies.By the time Li E came to see Yan Zhenqing, there were still more than 3 million pieces of cloth, more than 800,000 pieces of silk, more than 300,000 pieces of money, more than 300,000 dendrobium of grain, and more than 500,000 sets of weapons and armor in the military supply warehouse.It is conceivable that Yan Jun must be salivating for such a large piece of fat hanging in Qinghe.Whether it is Shi Siming in the north, or Yuan Zhitai, the prefect of Wei County appointed by An Lushan in the south, they may send troops to attack Qinghe at any time.

Therefore, the gentry and elders of Qinghe entrusted Li E to borrow troops from Yan Zhenqing. Li E is just in his early twenties, he is young, but he speaks in a serious tone.He first complimented Yan Zhenqing, such as "the first song of righteousness, and the counties in Hebei think that the Great Wall is the Great Wall", etc., and then told Yan Zhenqing the amount of materials stored in the Beiku, and then said: "Even if it is It is conservatively estimated that Qinghe’s wealth is at least three times that of Pingyuan’s, and its military supplies are at least twice that of Pingyuan’s.” After saying this, Li E explained his intention: “If Duke Yan can allocate some troops to Qinghe to appease the local elders, Qinghe and Pingyuan’s two counties , can be your heart, and the surrounding counties will be like your limbs, completely obeying your command."

In fact, even if Li E didn't tell him this, Yan Zhenqing knew the importance of Qinghe very well. But the problem is - he really has more than enough energy. After pondering for a long while, Yan Zhenqing said with a look of embarrassment: "All the troops in Pingyuan County are recruits who have just been recruited not long ago. They have almost no military training. I am afraid that they will have difficulties in self-protection. How can we help Qinghe?" Having said that, Yan Zhenqing Suddenly, he changed the subject again, "However, we might as well assume that if I really lend you troops, what are you going to do?"

After all, organizing forces to fight back against the Yan army has always been what Yan Zhenqing thinks about day and night. If the young man in front of him is really capable, he may not be unable to consider joining forces with him. However, facing Yan Zhenqing's temptation, Li E seemed very unhappy.He said: "The Qinghe elders entrusted me to find you, not because I have no strength and want to rely on your army to resist the rebels, but because I admire your high righteousness and hope to work with you to achieve a great cause. Now you are not even a quasi-truster." How can I easily tell my plan if I dare not give it to me?"

Hearing these words, Yan Zhenqing immediately looked at Li E with admiration. Because, the city of this young man is obviously much deeper than that of ordinary people. In Yan Zhenqing's view, those who can hide things in their hearts are likely to be the ones who can do things. Unfortunately, this is only Yan Zhenqing's own idea.All the generals and officials around him are extremely disgusted with this young and frivolous Li E.They told Yan Zhenqing in unison - don't pay attention to this kid, is Yan Jun so easy to deal with?Allocating troops to him can only weaken our own strength in vain, and in the end nothing can be achieved!

Under the unanimous opposition of everyone, Yan Zhenqing had no choice but to reject Li E. Li E went back to the hotel angrily, and immediately wrote a fierce and threatening letter to Yan Zhenqing.He said: "Qinghe did not take refuge in the rebel army, and has always insisted on standing with the court. Now he voluntarily donates money, food, cloth, silk and military equipment to your army, but you not only refused, but also suspicious. Now let me make my words clear. After I go back, it will be difficult for Qinghe to remain isolated between the two powers for a long time, and he can only take refuge in one side in the end. At that time, Qinghe will become a strong enemy under Pingyuan's nose, don't you regret today's decision?"

If Li E met someone with a small belly, Li E's words would be tantamount to suicide. Because this letter not only greatly violated the dignity of others, but also openly expressed the enemy's remarks, which is really a bit like playing with fire and self-immolation.In this extraordinary period of turmoil, if people accused him of treason and surrender to the enemy, it would be a matter of course to arrest him casually and kill him with a knife. Fortunately, Li E, who is not afraid of tigers as a newborn calf, meets Yan Zhenqing, who is upright and generous.Therefore, not only would he not be stabbed, but this letter contributed to Yan Zhenqing's determination to lend him troops.

The key point is the last sentence in Li E's letter, which instantly awakened Yan Zhenqing——Qinghe can be Pingyuan's ally, or Pingyuan's enemy!Therefore, Li E's trip was not so much asking for Ping Yuan, but giving Ping Yuan a chance. Whether to form an alliance or make an enemy depends on Yan Zhenqing's current choice. When thinking of this level, Yan Zhenqing was a little startled—he only cared about following everyone's opinions, and almost made a big mistake! Afterwards, Yan Zhenqing immediately rushed to the hotel to meet Li E, and then selected 6,000 soldiers for him, and sent him all the way to the junction of Pingyuan and Qinghe.When shaking hands and saying goodbye, Yan Zhenqing finally asked again: "I have already given it to you, soldier, can you tell me what you plan to do?"

Li E smiled confidently, and said: "I heard that the imperial court has sent Cheng Qianli with a rate of 100,000 elites to march eastward from Naokou (southwest of Linzhou City, Henan Province), but the rebels are defending a dangerous point and trying their best to stop them, so that the official army cannot advance. I plan to lead my troops to attack Wei Commandery (now Daming County, Hebei Province), capture Yuan Zhitai, the prefect appointed by Anlu Mountain, welcome back Sima Chui, the former prefect, and promote him as the leader of the rebel army in southwestern Hebei, and then divide the troops to open Naokou and meet Cheng The Qianli Corps entered Hebei, and then conquered Ji County (now Weihui City, Henan Province) and Ye County (now Anyang City, Henan Province), and finally went north and went straight to Fanyang. At the same time, the two counties of Pingyuan and Qinghe can lead the troops of the alliance counties to gather One hundred thousand people went south to Mengjin (now the crossing of the East Yellow River in Mengjin County, Henan Province), and then marched westward along the river, dividing troops to guard the dangerous points, and cutting off the road back to the north of Anlu Mountain. In short, the strength of the army entering Hebei this time was no less than 200,000 There should be 100,000 volunteer soldiers from Henan going north. As long as Yan Gong goes to the imperial court and asks the Tongguan defenders to fortify the wall and clear the field, and not to fight, I believe that within two months, the rebels will be dispersed, jealous of internal strife, and finally leave Internal collapse."

After listening to Li E's complete and detailed strategic plan, Yan Zhenqing couldn't help shouting: "Good!" It is said that since ancient times heroes come from youth, Yan Zhenqing has seen it today. Although Li E's information was not completely accurate in terms of specific details (it was not Cheng Qianli who was ordered to rescue Hebei, but Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi), his judgment and prediction of the entire subsequent battle situation were surprisingly accurate, especially in the later Hebei The strong psychological pressure caused by the evolution of the situation on Yan Jun is even more evident in his corpus.If Xuanzong's court can finally ensure that Tongguan is not lost, then the outcome of this war will definitely be as Li E expected-the rebel army has no way to return to the north, and finally collapses on its own.However, Tongguan was lost in the end, so the war could only develop in another direction completely.Of course, these are things to come.

At this moment, Yan Zhenqing had been inspired by Li E's strategic conception, and immediately followed his plan, ordering his generals Li Zejiao and Pingyuan County Magistrate Fan Dongfu to lead Pingyuan soldiers with 6,000 soldiers, together with Li E's Qinghe soldiers 4,000, One thousand Boping soldiers immediately stationed in Tangyi (now west of Liaocheng City, Shandong Province), preparing to attack Wei County. Yuan Zhitai, the prefect of Wei County in the Yan Dynasty, heard the report and immediately sent his general Bai Sigong to lead more than 20,000 people to fight.The two sides immediately started a fierce battle in Tangyi.Although the strength of the Tang army was only half of that of the Yan army, and most of them were recruits, their bravery and tenacity still greatly made up for the lack of strength and combat effectiveness.The two armies fought fiercely for a day and a night, and finally the Yan army was defeated.The Tang army killed more than 10,000 people from the Yan army, captured more than a thousand enemies, captured thousands of horses, and countless military equipment. In this battle, Yuan Zhitai's troops were almost all out, and now that he had suffered a disastrous defeat, Wei Jun could not keep it no matter what.Yuan Zhitai hurriedly rubbed the soles of his feet with oil, and fled to Jijun in no time.Tang Jun took advantage of the victory and advanced, conquering Wei Jun without bloodshed, and his reputation was greatly boosted for a while. Later, Yan Zhenqing teamed up with Beihai (now Qingzhou City, Shandong) prefect He Lan Jinming to send troops to recover Xindu County (now Jizhou City, Hebei). So far, the resistance movement in Hebei, which was once at a low ebb, has taken a new turning point.Then, with the arrival of Li Guangbi's reinforcements and the recovery of Changshan, the Tang army became more powerful, while the life of the Yan army in Hebei became more and more sad day by day. Since Changshan's disastrous defeat, Shi Siming has been hiding in Jiumen, not daring to take any major military actions; and Li Guangbi's troops are limited, so he dare not attack Shi Siming rashly.So, the two sides confronted each other for more than forty days.It was not until the beginning of April in the fifteenth year of Tianbao that Shi Siming came up with a way to deal with Li Guangbi. He didn't dare to confront Li Guangbi head-on. Instead, he took advantage of the mobility of the Yan army's cavalry and repeatedly sent small groups of troops to attack the Tang army's transport team. In the end, he completely cut off Changshan's logistics supply line. The food and grass in Changshan City became increasingly scarce, and the soldiers could not eat enough, while the war horses could only eat straw mats and straw mats.Li Guangbi knew that going on like this was not an option, so he immediately sent 500 vehicles to the nearest Shiyi County (now Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province) to transport grain to relieve the urgent need.Shiyi is a county under the jurisdiction of Changshan. At this time, Li Guangbi's general Zhang Fengzhang was stationed. In order to guard against the sneak attack of the Yan army, Li Guangbi specially asked all the coachmen to put on armor, and sent another thousand archers to accompany them, forming a square formation to protect the convoy. The crossbowmen of the Tang army are the nemesis of the cavalry of the Yan army.The Yan army who was ordered to rob grain saw it from a distance, and none of them dared to approach.Shi Siming had no choice but to order Cai Xide to lead his troops to attack Shiyi, but was repelled by Zhang Fengzhang.Finally, five hundred carts of grain and grass arrived in Changshan smoothly. However, this is only a temporary emergency strategy. If you want to keep Changshan and expand the results of the battle, you must completely defeat Shi Siming.For this reason, Li Guangbi immediately sent an envoy to Guo Ziyi of Shuofang to ask him to lead the main force to help Hebei. On April 9th ​​of this year, after obtaining the consent of the imperial court, Guo Ziyi led a total of more than 100,000 people from the Fan and Han cavalry regiments to Changshan. Shi Siming's nightmare came. On April 11th, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, Shi Siming and Cai Xide fought in the south of Jiumen City. This is the largest battle between the official army and the rebels in Hebei since the Anlushan Rebellion.In this battle, the Tang army had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength, and the Shuofang army was a division of hundreds of battles, which was completely different from the local regiment training and volunteer soldiers in Hebei.Therefore, the result of this battle can be imagined.The Tang Army won a complete victory. Zhonglang General Hun Yu shot and killed Yan Army General Li Lijie in the battle. Shi Siming fled to Zhao County (now Zhao County, Hebei) with his remnants, and Cai Xide fled to Julu (now Xingtai City, Hebei) in one breath. . Both Zhaojun and Julu are to the south of the Nine Gates. The purpose of Shi Siming and Cai Xide's escape to the south is obvious, that is, to escape back to Luoyang, the base camp of the Yan Army.But when he ran to Zhaojun, Shi Siming suddenly changed his mind.Because fleeing to Luoyang is tantamount to giving up Hebei, and giving up Hebei is tantamount to admitting failure. This not only means that all his efforts in Hebei for nearly half a year have been in vain, but An Lushan will definitely not let him off lightly. Thinking about this, Shi Siming had no choice but to turn north and flee to Boling (now Dingzhou City, Hebei).At that time, Boling was already in reverse, but there were not many defenders. After Shi Siming attacked the city, in order to vent his anger, he killed all the officials in the city at once. Shi Siming's atrocities aroused the indignation of the counties in Hebei, so the people all over the country organized volunteer troops to fight against the riots. There were as many as 20,000 people and as few as 10,000 people. They built camps and fortresses and attacked the Yan army everywhere. The Yan army in Hebei suddenly fell into the vast ocean of the people's war. On the contrary, wherever Guo Ziyi's and Li Guangbi's troops went, volunteer troops from all over the country fought to serve each other. On April 17th, Guo and Li's armies arrived in Zhao County, and it took only one day to conquer it with ease.After the Shuofang army poured into Zhao County, a considerable number of soldiers ignored military discipline and began to loot their property. Li Guangbi was so annoyed that he sat at the gate of the city in person, caught one by one, confiscated all the property they robbed, and returned them to the people one by one. . When the Tang army conquered Zhaojun, they captured 4,000 soldiers of the Yan army. Guo Ziyi ordered them to be released, but Guo Xianqiu, the prefect of Zhaojun appointed by An Lushan, was beheaded. There is no doubt that Guo and Li's benevolent actions have greatly won the hearts of the people. The reason why Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi have become famous generals praised by future generations is not only because they are good at fighting, but also because they finally quelled the Anshi Rebellion through eight years of bloody fighting, and there is also a very important reason—— They sympathize with the people and respect life. No matter in any era, soldiers should not become bloodthirsty butchers.Because the purpose of war is not to kill, but to stop killing.Therefore, a truly outstanding soldier should hide a compassionate heart under the hard armor. Guo and Li's armies went north to besiege Boling after a short rest in Zhao County.Shi Siming led the crowd to defend to the death. The Tang army failed to succeed in the ten-day continuous attack. The army began to lack food, and Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi had to retreat to Changshan. When the Tang army retreated south, Shi Siming thought that the opportunity to counterattack had come, and immediately led his troops to follow.While Guo Ziyi retreated calmly, he kept sending elite cavalry back to block, but Shi Siming couldn't make any money. Yan Jun followed Tang Jun like this for three days and three nights.When he arrived near Xingtang (now Xingtang County, Hebei Province), Shi Siming saw that the soldiers were exhausted one by one and could no longer pursue them, so he ordered the troops to turn around and return to Boling. Later, something unexpected happened. Shi Siming thought that the Tang army had already retreated south, so he completely relaxed his vigilance.However, when they had just reached Shahe (a tributary of Hutuo River), Guo Ziyi suddenly led his troops to appear behind them. Originally, Yan Jun was chasing Tang Jun, but now Tang Jun is chasing Yan Jun.Shi Siming was caught off guard and was beaten until he threw up his armor and fled in embarrassment. After the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Nine Gates, Cai Xide fled back to Luoyang in one breath and reported the battle situation in Hebei to An Lushan. An Lushan was shocked and worried about the situation in Hebei. On the occasion of employing people, An Lushan didn't bother to pursue Cai Xide's responsibility for the defeat, so he hurriedly allocated 20,000 people on foot and cavalry, and ordered him to return to Hebei immediately to join Shi Siming.At the same time, An Lushan issued an emergency order to Niu Tingjie, who was staying behind in Fanyang, asking him to send more than 10,000 people to the south to help Shi Siming. In May of this year, Shi Siming, who had been defeated several times, cheered up again.Because after the reinforcements from the north and the south arrived, the total strength of his troops had exceeded 50,000. At that time, the Tang army was still on the offensive, and the Guo and Li corps had captured Hengyang (now Quyang County, Hebei Province) in the northwest of Boling.Shi Siming immediately dispatched an army to surround Hengyang.Guo Ziyi adopted the tactics of deep ditches and high fortifications, and avoiding the real situation. During the day, he only ordered the soldiers to stick to the city and refused to fight. Tang Jun did this every day, causing the soldiers of the Yan Army to suffer from neurasthenia and suffering. A few days later, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi knew that the Yan army's morale was already unstable, so they launched a massive counterattack. On May 29, Tang Jun and Yan Jun fought a decisive battle in Jiashan (northeast of Quyang County).Since the officers and soldiers of the Yan Army had already been dizzy and weak in limbs due to Guo Ziyi's fatigue tactics, they were not energetic enough to walk and ride horses, let alone go into battle. Therefore, in this battle, the Yan Army suffered another disastrous defeat and was beheaded more than 40,000 level, more than a thousand were captured, and almost the entire army was wiped out. Shi Siming was also miserable.His mount was shot to death, his helmet was knocked off, and he didn't even know where his boots were lost, so he fled with disheveled hair and bare feet, leaning on a short gun. An Lushan took great pains to save enough capital for Shi Siming, but he was once again in vain.Shi Siming felt ashamed. The Battle of Jiashan was the most unforgettable humiliation in Shi Siming's life! It was not until four years later, at the foot of Mang Mountain in the north of Luoyang City, that Shi Siming took advantage of the mistakes made by the general Pugu Huai'en of the Tang Army to finally defeat Li Guangbi and wash away the great shame at the foot of Jiashan. After the great victory at Jiashan, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi took advantage of the victory and entered the siege of Boling.Shi Siming remained huddled in the city, only able to parry, and had no power to fight back. With the successive victories of the Tang army in Hebei, people from all over the country revolted and killed the prefect appointed by Anlu Mountain, and more than a dozen counties declared their recovery. At this point, the land of Yanzhao returned to the hands of the Li Tang court, and the connection between Fan Yang and Luoyang was completely severed.In the past, the cavalry of the Yan army who galloped on the official roads disappeared, only one or two messengers were seen sneaking past the path from time to time, but most of them were intercepted and killed by officers and soldiers from all over the country, and they slipped through the net. Very few. The officers and men of the Yan Army stationed in Luoyang were suddenly panicked. Because their family members are all in Fanyang, and now the north and south roads are cut off, and they can't even deliver a letter from home, how can they not make them worry? A hopeless homesickness suddenly spread rapidly among the Yan army in Luoyang like a plague. The state of mind of An Lushan, the emperor of the Yan Dynasty, was not much better than that of the soldiers. As if overnight, An Lushan's ambition to dominate the world quietly shrank. Because these days, the battle reports from all directions really make him sleepless. In the west, his troops were blocked by Tongguan, and he could not advance half a step towards Guanzhong; in the northwest, his party member Gao Xiuyan had never won a battle from the beginning, and could not effectively contain the Tang army at all; , so that his plan of "going down to Nanyang, taking Wuguan, and attacking Chang'an via Lantian" has never succeeded; His hopes of occupying the wealth and wealth towns along the Huaihe River came to naught; and of course Hebei is the worst place. Since Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi entered Hebei, Shi Siming has become a headless fly, beaten again and again, dizzy and full. Looking for teeth everywhere, not only lost all the territory laid down in the early days of the army, but also completely exposed Fan Yang, the old nest, under the eyes of Tang Jun... What is besieged on all sides? This is called besieged on all sides! An Lushan was puzzled - he had only been emperor for a few days, why did the situation turn so bad? ! Had I known this earlier, I might as well have been the Emperor of the Land in Fan Yang for the rest of my life, so that I wouldn’t end up ruined, and would have to bear the infamy of being a traitor and traitor in the underworld... An Lushan regretted it. Since starting the army, he has never regretted it as much as he does now. Tormented by fear, sorrow and remorse, An Lushan had no choice but to call the nobility and dignity who had been driving him to rebel all these years before him, pointing at their noses and yelling: "You have taught me to rebel for several years, thinking that it is safe .I am guarding Tongguan now, I can't enter for several months, the North Road has been cut off, all the armies are united, my owner is Zhibian and Zhengshuzhou, what is the safety? Don't come to see me from now on!" (Volume 218) Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang were so frightened that they didn't dare to enter the court for several days. Subsequently, An Lushan had to start thinking about one thing-withdrawing troops. If the situation still fails to improve, An Lushan can only give up Luoyang and return to Fanyang.In other words, only by hiding in Fan Yang, the lair that has been in business for many years, can he avoid the fate of being defeated. If An Lushan had really implemented this withdrawal plan, then the "Anshi Rebellion" might not have existed. Unfortunately, the plan was not implemented. Because after just ten days, all the fears and worries of An Lushan were gone, replaced by a stronger self-confidence than before. What exactly saved An Lushan? The answer is simple-Tongguan was conquered by the Yan army.