Shi Siming, who was retreating from Handan City, looked at the people beside him and asked: "How many people have escaped?"
Liu Jincheng, who was disgraced, ran up and said: "Commander, there has been a mutiny in Meng Shibin of the left wing army. Many soldiers fled in all directions. The general is now missing among the rebellious army. Zhai Zuo, the general of the right wing army, is here.
Fighting with the Tang army, both sides..."
Shi Siming stretched out his hand to stop Liu Jincheng: "Give me the order to assemble the army at Fukou, collect the remaining soldiers, and stop the Tang army."
Liu Jincheng: "Commander, if Tang Jun uses magic again..."
Hearing this, Shi Siming became angry and kicked Liu Jincheng to the ground: "If the Tang army does what they do and the front line cannot hold it, I will tie you and those monks and Taoists together and use them to withstand the thunder!"
Liu Jincheng rolled and crawled, shouted repeatedly, and ran away quickly.
Shi Siming's eldest son, Shi Chaoyi, said: "Father, Handan has been captured by the Tang army, and Mingzhou, Xiangzhou, and Weizhou can no longer be defended. The immediate plan is to cross the river as soon as possible and go to Qizhou, where we can use the natural dangers of the Yellow River to stop the Tang army.
"
Shi Siming was silent for a moment and asked with furrowed brows: "Li Guangbi confronted me with Ming Shui. He clearly had demonic magic like Zhentian Lei in his hands, but he refused to start the war and delayed until now to launch a large-scale attack. Why?
?”
Shi Chaoyi was stunned for a moment, then frowned.
Shi Siming thought for a while, and finally shook his head and said: "This is not the time to think about this now. Take your troops and go to the pass to set up an ambush. If the Tang army comes after you, kill him by surprise."
Shi Chaoyi looked at Shi Siming and asked, "Father, are you planning to regroup the army and take back Handan?"
Shi Siming: "What nonsense! How can we recapture the city after the battle is like this? The purpose of setting up an ambush for the Tang army is of course to facilitate their march south!"
Shi Chaoyi stopped talking and bowed in greeting.
After Shi Siming walked away, Shi Chaoyi's subordinates came closer and asked: "General, are we really going to ambush the Tang army?"
Shi Chaoyi snorted coldly: "Setting up an ambush? That's nice to say, but it's just to let me stay in the rear and delay the enemy... Earlier in Mu Daogou, I was captured once after breaking the rear. I was finally released by the Tang army. I went back to see my father. Not only did I
There was no praise, and I was scolded a lot. Whoever wants to do this kind of errand can do it! Let’s pack our bags and leave quickly!”
After saying that, Shi Chaoyi led his men, left the official road, and walked along the path in the direction of the Yellow River.
Half a month later, Shi Siming gathered the remaining troops and arrived at Baima Crossing on the north bank of the Yellow River.
The original 80,000 elite soldiers died and fled, but now there are only less than 30,000 left.
Fortunately, Shi Siming was prepared in advance and had a large number of ships at the ferry to transport the troops to the south bank as soon as possible.
Before the crossing of the river had begun, a messenger came from the south bank of the Yellow River and brought Shi Siming an urgent military report.
Shi Siming, who was riding a horse, unfolded the military report and took just one glance. His face turned red at first, then bluish, and finally turned pale.
"Damn it!" General Shi Siming crumpled his newspaper into a ball, threw it to the ground, and shouted loudly: "A bunch of idiots! They all deserve to die!"
After cursing these words, Shi Siming's body was shaky, staggered, and fell directly from the horse.
Everyone rushed to help the commander.
Shi Chaoyi picked up the military newspaper on the ground and opened it to read. His whole body suddenly froze on the spot.
Someone went up to ask what happened.
Shi Chaoyi closed his eyes and said in a trembling voice: "Pu Gu Huaien, the general of the Tang army, led three thousand fine cavalry, landed in Laizhou, and headed south. Lu Haiguang, the governor of Laizhou, Kuang Dequan, the governor of Mizhou, surrendered to the enemy, Xianyu Zhengwen, the governor of Qingzhou, fled, Qizhou
The city was besieged for three days. Yu Sui, the governor of Qizhou, was killed by his subordinates, and the Tang army entered Qizhou."
Hearing this, the generals of the Yan army were all horrified.
In Henan Road south of the Yellow River, although the Yan army controlled a large area, it lacked troops and insufficient city defense.
Not only that, due to the natural dangers of the Yellow River, most of the Yan troops in Henan Province thought they could sit back and relax, so they naturally relaxed their vigilance.
They never dreamed that General Pugu Huai'en of the Tang Army could actually bypass the Yellow River by sea, land directly in Laizhou, and launch an attack on the hinterland of the Yan Army.
At this time, Shi Siming had slowly woken up with the help of his subordinates.
Shi Chaoyi led a group of generals and asked Shi Siming: "Commander, what should we do?"
Shi Siming said feebly: "Qizhou has been lost, and our army's foundation in Henan has been taken over by Pugu Huai'en. Now we have pursuers in front and no way to retreat."
When the generals of the Yan army heard this, their faces showed sadness.
Shi Chaoyi suggested: "Father, why don't we go west along the Yellow River?"
Shi Siming: "Go west along the Yellow River? To Luoyang?"
Shi Chaoyi nodded.
Shi Siming: "I have disobeyed His Majesty several times, and the Luoyang court has long regarded me as a thorn in its side. This time Handan was lost and Henan was occupied. If I go to Luoyang, I will definitely be captured by the court."
Shi Chaoyi: "The Tang army in Liangzhou is divided into three groups, attacking Hehuang in the west and Hebei in the east. The middle is led by Guo Ziyi, who is currently attacking Chang'an. I'm afraid it's the time for troops to be deployed at the Luoyang court. If my father goes to seek refuge, not only will he not be able to
It will be taken down, and it may be reused."
Shi Siming's eyes lit up after hearing Shi Chaoyi's words, and he said to himself: "Yes, how can those idiots in Luoyang get a good deal from Guo Ziyi?"
Thinking of this, Shi Siming got up from the ground and shouted to his subordinates: "Generals, listen to the order and change the route to the west. Let's go to Luoyang!"
Shi Siming led 30,000 Yan troops, starting from Baimadu, passing through Xinxiang, Wude, and Sishui to the west, and finally arrived at Heyang, which is only one step away from Luoyang.
Along the way, Shi Siming went around and gathered troops. The number of troops exceeded one hundred thousand, and the situation gradually became more and more popular.
During the march, Shi Siming was not in a hurry to go to the Yan court. Instead, he sent an envoy first, carrying heavy gifts, to Luoyang to explore the situation.
The envoy went to Luoyang and came back and said to Shi Siming: "The Central Route Army of the Northern Tang Dynasty, led by Guo Ziyi, has reached Qiyang with overwhelming force. Luoyang quickly recalled An Shouzhong, who was fighting in the south of the Yangtze River, and asked him to lead the troops to rescue Chang'an as soon as possible.
, stop Guo Ziyi."
Shi Siming asked: "How many people do Guo Ziyi have under his command?"
Envoy: "It is said that there are 200,000 troops."
Shi Siming: "Are there thunders in the army?"
Envoy: "Yes, the Tang army used thunderbolts to attack Ding'an City and Anhua City."
After hearing this, Shi Siming thought for a long time.
Seeing this, Shi Chaoyi asked: "Father, Guo Ziyi is attacking Chang'an. We are going to Luoyang now to ask for military leave. The imperial court will definitely entrust us with important tasks."
Shi Siming touched his chin and said in a deep voice: "Now is not the time to go to Luoyang."
Shi Chaoyi looked puzzled.
Shi Siming: "Sell when the price is right and wait and see what happens."