In response to Chi Qiyong's request for surrender, An Shouzhong wrote a letter in his own hand, promising the former that as long as the other party could offer his artillery manufacturing techniques, he would be rewarded with generous salary and high-ranking officials.
After this letter was sent, An Shouzhong sat anxiously in the hall every day, waiting for Chi Qiyong's reply.
Finally, one day, Chi Qiyong received a secret message.
An Shouzhong couldn't wait to open the letter and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he saw the content inside.
The letter did not mention the craftsmanship of artillery and gunpowder, but attached a map.
The map marked the location of the Tang Army's artillery camp and also drew the surrounding defenses.
Chi Qiyong wrote in the letter that only the generals in the army could freely enter and exit the artillery camp. If he wanted to obtain the artillery manufacturing technology, he was really powerless. He could only raid the Tang army's camp and capture the artillery craftsmen.
Although An Shouzhong was disappointed, Chi Qiyong's words were reasonable. Artillery was the top secret in the Tang army's armament. The defense must be tight. How could ordinary people get close?
Chi Qiyong said in the letter that the artillery camp was located at the rear of the Tang Army's camp, to the west of Fufeng County, about three miles away from the Tang Army's center formation.
If the Yan army wanted to make a surprise attack on the rear camp, they could only succeed by sending a partial army to the rear of the Tang army and attack it in one go.
If General An is interested, Chi Qiyong is willing to act as an internal agent, open the gate of the rear camp when the Yan army arrives, and assist him in obtaining artillery and craftsmen.
Seeing this, An Shouzhong fell into deep thought.
Guo Ziyi has not recovered from his serious illness, Li Siye has been seriously injured, and the morale of the Tang army is low. On the other hand, on our side, we not only have the defense plan of the Tang army's camp, but also have Chi Qiyong as an internal agent. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if we give up, then
But I can't meet him again.
With his thoughts at this point, An Shouzhong no longer hesitated. He called in several of his close generals and began to arrange a surprise attack on the Tang army's rear camp to capture the artillery craftsman.
An Shouzhong planned to send three thousand fine cavalry out of the city at night, first to the north, then to the west, to the Tang Army's rear camp in Fufeng County.
An Shouzhong himself, with the main force of the Yan army, stayed in Chang'an City.
Once the surprise attack is successful and the Tang army's rear camp is in chaos, An Shouzhong will lead the main force of the Yan army and immediately set off from the city to attack the Tang army's center. Firstly, he is to take advantage of the chaos to attack the Tang army and expand the results of the battle. Secondly, it is to attract the attention of the Tang army.
force to create opportunities for the partial troops to leave.
An Shouzhong looked around at the glorious task of attacking the Tang Army's rear camp at night, and finally set his sights on Xie Guiwen.
Xie Guiwen was responsible for the internal response from beginning to end, and performed outstandingly on the battlefield in Xuzhou. In An Shouzhong's opinion, although his nephew had some bad habits, he was still a blessed general with both wisdom and courage.
When Xie Guiwen heard this, his legs trembled with fear, but he pretended to be embarrassed, saying only that he had been ill recently and that he might not be able to go on the expedition.
An Shouzhong saw at a glance that Xie Guiwen was evading, and shouted angrily on the spot.
The latter had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the job.
On the day of the expedition, the sun had just set and the sky was getting darker.
Xie Guiwen led three thousand fine cavalry and sped away from the north gate of Chang'an, then disappeared into the vast night.
An Shouzhong stood on the city tower, holding tightly to the wall stacks with both hands, looking in the direction of the Tang army's camp, and said in a deep voice: "Success or failure depends on this one move."
When the time came to midnight, An Shouzhong saw that there was still no movement in the Tang army's rear camp. He couldn't help but feel anxious and paced back and forth on the city wall.
He asked the general next to him: "It has been so long and there is still no news from the front. Could it be that this is a trap?"
The generals of the Yan army were all worried, and for a moment, the city wall fell into silence.
At this moment, a trace of fire suddenly flashed out from the rear camp of the Tang Army in the distance.
Then, the fire grew bigger and bigger, gradually taking on the potential of a prairie fire, spreading slowly, dyeing half of the sky crimson.
When An Shouzhong saw this scene, he was so excited that it was hard to express in words.
He laughed loudly on the top of the city: "It's done! The great thing is done!"
Tian Chengsi, the general left behind in Chang'an, stood up and asked: "Should our army attack now to meet General Xie?"
Hearing this, An Shouzhong patted his forehead and quickly ordered his generals: "Attack the entire army! Attack the Tang Army's camp!"
When the Tang army's camp was attacked at night and fell into chaos, the Yan army's 60,000-strong army was dispatched in almost full force.
Countless torches, like a long river, flow from the city of Chang'an to the outside of the city.
An Shouzhong personally led the troops and attacked the Tang army's camp at full speed.
The beacon towers and corner towers on the outer edge of the Tang army did not raise any decent resistance in the face of the Yan army's attack, and they all fled.
When An Shouzhong saw this, he felt even more determined.
In his opinion, Guo Ziyi was ill and ignored military affairs. Although the Tang army was powerful, it must have been leaderless and scattered.
In fact, just as An Shouzhong expected, the Yan army swept everything and captured all the fortifications of the Tang army's front camp almost effortlessly.
When An Shouzhong led his army into the camp of the Tang Army's front camp, he began to realize that something was wrong.
The huge front camp of the Tang Army was actually deserted, with no trace of human or horse activity anywhere.
Just when An Shouzhong was in shock, gunpowder barrels pre-buried underground in the camp suddenly exploded one after another.
The huge blast of air turned almost the entire camp's ground over, and the strong flames impacted all the buildings in the front camp into ruins.
Half of the Yan army's troops were in the front camp. In this explosion, almost all of them were caught in it, causing heavy casualties and blood and flesh flying everywhere.
After the explosion, An Shouzhong, who was lucky enough to escape, stood up in disgrace and looked around.
I saw the Yan army and horses, corpses scattered all over the field, and those who were left alive, most of them had missing limbs, bleeding from all five holes, and screaming in agony.
"How could this happen?" An Shouzhong stood there blankly, looking at everything in front of him in disbelief, and murmured: "What went wrong?"
At this moment, Guo Ziyi, riding on a horse and leading the soldiers of the Tang army, walked out of the dissipating smoke and appeared on the battlefield.
An Shouzhong looked at Guo Ziyi, his eyes widened, and asked in a trembling voice: "You...how could you...?"
Guo Ziyi stroked his beard and smiled and said: "In order to lure you out of the city, I have tried my best. Fortunately, the emperor has paid off."
The Tang army's shouts of killing could be heard in his ears, but An Shouzhong turned a deaf ear and stood motionless. He looked at Guo Ziyi and asked: "Showing weakness through illness, beating subordinates with sticks, and then ambushing troops in an empty city today, is this all a ploy?"
Guo Ziyi nodded slightly.
An Shouzhong trembled: "What about the fire in the Tang Army's rear camp?"
Guo Ziyi: "I lit the fire myself. Your cavalry that came to attack the camp has probably been defeated by Li Siye."
An Shouzhong: "Li Siye? Isn't he seriously injured in bed?!"
Guo Ziyi: "He was born like a strong bull. His daily appetite is five times that of an ordinary person. A few minor injuries have long been fine. Li Siye deliberately said that he was seriously injured and hid in his tent without seeing anyone else.
It’s just a matter of avenging shame today.”
An Shouzhong had a bad feeling in his heart: "Now Li Siye..."
Guo Ziyi nodded and said: "Li Siye defeated the cavalry army, pretended to be the Yan army, and rushed to Chang'an to deceive the city."
When An Shouzhong heard this, he was furious, a mouthful of blood welled up in his throat, and he fainted in an instant.