Chapter 641: Shangdang Battle (III)

Shangdang County, Ashina Congli has returned from Changzi County and is reporting the results of the rescue to more than a dozen senior officials including An Qingxu, Li Guiren, Li Huaixian, etc. An Qingxu just arrived in Shangdang County today. When An Lushan's order had been passed to Hedong two days ago, everything must be obeyed by An Qingxu's command, which means that the commander is no longer Li Guiren, but An Qingxu.

An Lushan also knew that his son had some shortcomings in combat experience and power, so he asked the military advisor Gao Shang to follow An Qingxu. Gao Shang sat behind An Qingxu. He had a high status in the Yan army. Sitting behind An Qingxu was undoubtedly to encourage An Qingxu's authority.

Li Huaixian also came, which was to give An Qingxu a face. As long as he was not under the command of Li Guiren, he could accept it. Li Huaixian sat at the edge with a gloomy face and said nothing. An Qingxu had warned him that if he wanted to leave the military camp alive, he would shut up obediently.

Li Guiren sat on the other side with a crutch. His face was also ugly. It was not because Li Huaixian was there, but because An Qingxu replaced his position as the head coach of the southern line. It was obvious that An Lushan did not trust him. He was dissatisfied, but he did not dare to say anything. An Qingxu was the prince after all, and Gao Shang brought An Lushan's killing sword. Whoever dared not accept it, he could kill first and then report.

Ashina told Li in detail about what he saw and heard, and then asked the surviving team to tell everyone again. The tent was quiet and revenge. Everyone understood that this was revenge. No prisoners of war were left and all killed. This was revenge on Li Guiren's killing of the wounded soldiers of the Anxi Army.

Li Huaixian glanced at Li Guiren with great dissatisfaction. The surrendered soldiers did not kill them. This was the usual rule on the battlefield, but it was destroyed by Li Guiren. Now it was their turn. Let's see what Li Guiren said.

Li Huaixian was angry with another thing, that is, Li Guiren killed too many people, and he didn't care after the killing. In order to prevent the plague from happening, he now had to send 3,000 people to participate in burying the body, and these 3,000 people could not return to the army. Li Guiren did something that both the gods and the gods were angry, but asked him to participate in wiping his butt. Fortunately, the plague did not break out, otherwise more than 100,000 people would die. Li Huaixian hated him to the core. If he were in his military camp, he would have arrested Li Guiren and cut him off.

At this time, An Qingxu finally spoke, "Li Qing'an's strategy is very clear, that is, to defeat each one, and now we can't stop scattering and stationing."

He glanced at Li Huaixian and Li Guiren, and then slowly said: "We can only be divided into two major garrisons, one is General Li Guiren's Nandaying, the garrison of Shangdang, and the other is General Li Huaixian's Beidaying, the garrison of the troops, and no troops are stationed in the rest of the small cities."

Li Guiren said angrily: "If you have the ability, fight a war openly. What kind of hero is this sneak attack?"

Li Huaixian had just spoken sarcastically, Gao Shang was prepared for it, and he reached out and pressed him down, not allowing him to speak. Li Huaixian had to swallow the words and looked at Li Guiren coldly, his heart full of contempt.

Gao Shangjie smiled and said, "Li Qing'an has always been famous for his conspiracy and tricks. If you don't let him go, then he is not Li Qing'an. I have studied his combat characteristics. He likes to test first, then attack the edge, and then attack the main force. This time his routine is the same. Sneak attack on Changzi County can be regarded as a test, so his next step must be to fight the edge. Now the key is where our edge is? Have you thought of it?"

The noble analysis aroused everyone's interest, and everyone pondered. Li Huaixian said first: "Is it the 40,000 Yin Ziqi Army who besieged Taiyuan?"

Gao Shang shook his head and smiled, "Yin Ziqi's army has little to do with the southern front. Even if Yin Ziqi's army is killed, Guo Ziyi will still defend Taiyuan. He is cautious and will not go south easily, so we don't have to worry too much about him."

An Qingxu also smiled and said, "Guo Ziyi's patience is amazing. Yin Ziqi has only 40,000 troops, but he has 80,000 troops. Yin Ziqi stationed troops twenty miles away from Taiyuan City to provoke. Guo Ziyi just kept his troops still, which is really puzzling."

"Young Marshal, it's easy to understand."

Gao Shang smiled and said, "Guo Ziyi only has these 80,000 troops. He wants to save it no matter what. Rather than defending Taiyuan, it is better to say that he is protecting his last little strength. The court has to rely on strength to speak. Without strength, he is nothing. It's ridiculous that Guo Ziyi thought he could protect Li Shimin's descendants?"

The noble words aroused Li Huaixian's sympathy, and he also smiled and said, "This Guo Ziyi is really ignorant of the current affairs. Li Qing'an already has a 500,000 army. What can his 80,000 army do? Can he still rebel against the court? I think Li Qing'an doesn't take him to heart either...."

Before Li Huaixian could finish his words, he was interrupted coldly by Li Guiren, "Mr. Gao, go around, where are you talking about Li Qing'an's beating? I'm still listening attentively!"

"Oh! I forgot the point."

Gao Shang smiled apologetically and said to everyone: "I said that Li Qing'an's attack on the border does not refer to Taiyuan, but should be Mingzhou, Hebei, and cut off our grain route."

Everyone suddenly realized it, and Li Guiren frowned and said, "But how could he go around behind us?"

"He can't, but Li Guangbi can!" Li Huaixian replied coldly.

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From Changping Pass to Zhaozhou, Hebei, you still have to go to Baixing and directly enter Gongcheng County, Weizhou from Bailu Mountain, which is today Huixian in Henan, and then enter Xiangzhou and go directly to Mingzhou. Mingzhou is the location of Handan, Hebei today, and is named after a large river, Mingshui.

The territory controlled by Li Guiren was Mingzhou, Xingzhou and Zhaozhou. His main granaries were located in Linming County, Mingzhou. They were heavily defended and were heavily guarded. The grain needed for this southern expedition was first transported from Youzhou to Linming granaries, and then transported south through Wukou Xing to Luzhou.

If you want to cut off the Yan Army’s ration road, the best location is the section from Handan to Fanyang County. The official road is about fifty miles long, with dense forests along the way, and there are many excellent hiding places.

Tian Chengsi's army was mainly concentrated in Weizhou and Bozhou. There were also a small number of troops stationed in Xiangzhou, with only a few thousand people, mainly concentrated in major cities such as Xiangzhou City and Ye County. There were almost no troops stationed in Weizhou to the south. After Li Guangbi entered Hedong, in order to occupy Baixing, in order to occupy Baixing, he sent 5,000 troops, occupying Gongcheng County, Weizhou, which is the entrance to Hebei Road in Baixing.

That night, a cavalry of two thousand people ran rapidly on the land of Hebei. The leader was Li Guangbi. He came to cut off the Yan army's food route under the order of Li Qing'an. Of course, the food route was blocked, but it could take the opportunity to destroy several grain transport teams and shake the morale of the Yan army, no less than Li Siye's great achievements in attacking Changzi County.

The two thousand soldiers selected by Li Guangbi were extremely elite, all of whom were veterans of Anxi who had been in the army for more than five years. Most of them followed him to attack Tubo people in Tocharo and Longyou. They were all experienced many battles, and the horses they rode were all the best Dayuan horses, tall and majestic, and good at long-distance raids.

Two thousand cavalrymen ran in the dark night, their horses wrapped in Anxi cotton cloth, galloping between the forest and the grass, without the deafening sound of horses' hooves, like a group of ghosts galloping under the moonlight.

The cavalry teams were far away from Xiangzhou and Ye County, heading north, and there was no rooster crowing thousands of miles away. Although the time had reached the vibrant early summer, there were no one wherever they passed. There were dilapidated villages and empty counties, just like ghost areas. After the Anshi Rebellion, the land of Hebei was already in decline and ruin.

Li Guangbi's heart was heavy. Only then did he realize Li Qing'an's good intentions for several large-scale immigration and the strategic bottom line of preventing An Lushan's army from entering Hedong. An Lushan's army was like locusts, and everywhere he passed was wiped out by them.

The cavalry team hiked in the morning and night for two days and nights. On that night, the cavalry team came to a small place called Zhaoyi Town on the south bank of the Fushui River. This is the junction of the Taihang Mountains and the plains, a hilly and mountainous area that stretches for dozens of miles. The Fusou Town opposite the river is the entrance to Fusou Pass.

The mountains in this area are low and densely forested. Since the population is mainly concentrated in the eastern part of Fuyang County, the area has very few populations and the environment has not been damaged. It has a vast forest of hundreds of miles.

All this is clearly reflected on Li Guangbi's small sand tray. He has a special sand tray, which was a gift Li Qing'an gave him last winter. The reason why it is special is that this sand tray is made of a small sand tray that is 100 pieces per foot square. If necessary, he can only take away a part of it. For example, now, he has only brought four sand trays, including all his marching routes.

Under the moonlight, the soldiers were resting in the forest. Li Guangbi found an open space and sat cross-legged on the grass. Under the moonlight, he stared at the sand table in front of him. According to the information provided to him by Li Qing'an, An Lushan recently transported 500,000 stones of grain from Youzhou to Ming County. During this period, the number of grain transport teams passing through Wukou Xing to Hedong will increase greatly.

The scouts he sent had already gone to investigate the situation. Li Guangbi was thinking about the movements of the Yan army. After being attacked by Changzi County, the Yan army would definitely strengthen its defense. It would not be so easy to successfully attack again. Li Guiren may not be good at using surprise troops, but what about An Qingxu? Especially Gao Shang, the counselor who went south with An Qingxu, would he think that he would attack the food road?

Although Li Guangbi knew the difficulty of another sneak attack, he still had to take this step. He did not want to lose to Li Siye, especially Li Siye said that he came and went on the Yellow River, which deeply stimulated him. Li Siye's ridicule also represented the thoughts of many people. Indeed, no one could understand why he had to retreat after crossing the Yellow River. It was obvious that there was no army in Xiangzhou, why didn't he occupy it? Not only did outsiders not understand, but his own subordinates did not understand. Li Sheng also came from Qizhou to question him.

He was speechless. He was faithfully implementing Li Qing'an's orders. Li Qing'an did not allow him to occupy Xiangzhou or attack Wei Bo. He ordered him to retreat to Henan before the Yellow River thawed, and gave him a reason to be difficult to replenish military rations.

Is this true? As Li Sheng asked, it is possible to store a large amount of grain in Xiangzhou without transporting grain from Henan. Moreover, they also have the only transport fleet on the Yellow River, which can transport tens of thousands of troops across the Yellow River in a day and overnight. In this way, why did they withdraw back to Hedong and hand over Hebei to An Lushan?

Li Guangbi was unable to answer the questions of the soldiers, nor could he explain it to the people of the world, so he got the nickname of "Yellow River Shipman". From the beginning to the end, he only explained it to Li Sheng alone. Even if it was explained, there was only one sentence without a head or a tail, "If An Lushan did not obtain the entire Hebei territory, he would not have divided his troops and would not have formed a warlord separatist in Hebei."

This is Li Qing'an's original words, and Li Guangbi could not fully understand them, but now he understands that the prototype of warlord separatism in Hebei has been formed, including Shi Siming's tribe, Li Huaixian's tribe, Li Guiren's tribe, Cai Xide's tribe, Tian Chengsi's tribe, and An Qingxu's tribe. These military leaders are rebellious and do not buy into each other. They are all maintained by An Lushan's prestige. If something happens to An Lushan, the Yan army will be divided.

Li Guangbi was still pondering, and a wave of footsteps ran over, and a personal soldier came forward to report: "General, the scout has news."

“Bring it up!”

A scout was brought over and he knelt on one knee to report: "Report to the general, we found the information."

"Say! What information?"

"About 50 miles north of Fuyang County, a grain transport team was coming to the south, consisting of about 500 horse-drawn carriages, all transported were fodder, and a total of 1,000 cavalry guards."

Li Guangbi pondered for a moment. This was just a medium-sized food and grass team, and it had no food and was not of high value. However, his purpose was not to intercept much food and grass. As long as there was victory, more importantly, the longer he was here, the easier it was to be exposed.

"General Li..."

The scout hesitated and said, "One of our brothers is missing."

"Are you captured?"

"I don't know!" The scout shook his head, "Maybe he was captured, or maybe he was lost."

The deputy general next to him was very worried and whispered: "General, if we are captured, our whereabouts will be exposed. Why not retreat first!"

"No!"

Li Guangbi resolutely ordered: "Let your brothers get on the horse and prepare to set off!"

The order was like a mountain falling down, and two thousand cavalrymen turned over their horses, waded through the water, galloped northward, and disappeared into the dark night in a moment.

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In a forest on the west side of the official road, An Shouzhong looked up at the moonlight, which was passing through the clouds, sometimes bright and sometimes dark.

"General An, I'm worried that the enemy will not come?" An officer next to him whispered.

An Shouzhong shook his head and smiled, "They should come. As long as they don't find us, don't we catch a scout in the Tang army? Li Guangbi is in the army, so there are not many opportunities like this!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a scout from Yan army ran over and said, "General An, you have discovered the Tang army, about two thousand cavalrymen, and they have arrived twenty miles away."

"good!"
Chapter completed!