Li Siye gave an order, Tian Zhen held the Mo knife in his hand and drove away the surrendering Shuofang army and Youzhou soldiers pushing ladder trucks to attack the city. Yan Xiaosi ordered the artillery battalion to light the Xuanwu cannon and bombard the city to cover the surrendering army's attack.
city.
Guo Ziyi quickly ran to the top of the city and glared at the two eunuchs with disappointment. They were so smart that they ignored their own prohibitions. This was equivalent to exposing the entire situation inside the pass to each other.
Guo Xi calmly directed the crossbowmen at the top of the city to collect arrows, and then ordered people to throw rocks downwards to hit them. He used hammers and cannon stones in turn. The two sides fought for half a day at the top of the city, leaving nearly a thousand people at the base of the city wall.
It was not until evening that Li Siye ordered the soldiers to withdraw their troops and retreat to the Lingbao camp.
Li Siye sat alone and silently in the big tent in the camp. Duan Xiushi, Tian Zhen, Bai Xiaode and other generals were waiting outside the tent. In fact, the anger in his heart had already been suppressed, and he was thinking carefully about the current war situation and what to do.
Discover changes in the stalemate.
When everyone was worried about the leader's mood, Xu Bin opened the curtain and entered the tent. As a confidant who had been following him for many years, he believed that the lord was not someone who would be easily swayed by emotions.
"My lord, please don't get angry. The imperial court's move is just to disturb our minds. The most important thing now is to conquer Tongguan as soon as possible."
"I know." Li Siye turned to look at him and said, "Only incompetent people can be angry."
"Now the people guarding Tongguan have changed, but Li Guangbi's flag is still hanging on the city wall. Guo Ziyi did not expect that Yu Chaoen and other eunuchs would reveal his true identity."
Xu Bin seemed to have some realization and asked: "With the change of Guo Ziyi in the court, will the strategy change?"
"Of course there will be changes. Guo Ziyi is thoughtful and considers every detail. He will definitely be able to think of anything we can think of. He will definitely make the imperial court send people to recruit Shi Siming to surrender again, and will also order Nanyang Lu Jiong to go north, and even the Hedong Army will also send troops to surrender.
The area around Puzhou is gathering, and the road from Pujin to Guanzhong is feared to be very difficult."
Xu Bin advised him: "The surrendered general Cui Qianyou once conquered Tongguan and fought in Hedong. Why doesn't the lord call him to ask for countermeasures?"
"Cui Ganyou?"
Since An Qingxu surrendered to him in the Battle of Yecheng, the dignified and noble Cui Qianyou and others under his command have been put aside by Li Siye. Now if he can employ people in an eclectic way, he can ask him for countermeasures.
"Okay, please invite General Cui over."
Xu Bin crossed his hands and exited the tent. After a while, Cui Qianyou walked in, knelt on one knee in front of him and crossed his hands and said: "Cui Qianyou, a humble servant, comes to see my lord."
"Please get up quickly." Li Siye leaned over to help him up, and asked in a friendly manner: "Our army was blocked at Tongguan, and I want to ask the general for advice on how to defeat the enemy and enter the pass?"
Cui Qianyou pondered for a moment, crossed his hands and said: "Tongguan is no different from other places. It is the lifeblood of the Tang court and the emperor. The pressure on the general guarding the pass can be imagined. My lord should know that the emperor is very suspicious of the general. Why don't you take action?"
A plan to alienate."
Li Siye shook his head and smiled: "How could they be tripped up by the same thing twice? Moreover, the alienation plan may be effective against Li Guangbi, but Guo Ziyi... This man has always been foolish and loyal, and has tied his life and property to the emperor.
Even if the court digs out his ancestral graves, he will not change his ways."
Cui Qianyou followed his words and said: "My lord is right. There are many generals who are loyal to the emperor, but there are very few people who truly believe in the emperor. Nowadays, there are not only emperors, military generals, but also eunuchs in the court.
When they encounter a crisis, they can naturally work together as a team, but when the crisis is resolved, they will all reveal their true colors."
After he raised his head and saw Li Siye's increasingly clear eyes, he quickly lowered his head and said, "This is a stupid opinion from a humble position, and is only for your reference, my lord."
Li Siye understood clearly, nodded and said to Xu Bin beside him: "Call in Cen Shen, Yan Zhuang, Gao Shang, Duan Xiushi, Yan Xiaosi, Bai Xiaode, and Tian Zhen."
The generals and staff who entered the tent were sitting on both sides. His eyes suddenly opened up and he said: "General Cui's words just now made me suddenly enlightened. Of course, I can't completely alienate the court from Guo Ziyi, but I can add cracks to them and target their actions.
A set of combined boxing. If the imperial court wants to resolve the crisis at Tongguan, it must send an envoy to Youzhou to persuade Shi Siming to surrender. We can take the first step to contact Shi Siming. Who is willing to go?"
After he said these words, he subconsciously turned his eyes to Yan Zhuang, who was sitting on the right. Cen Shen took the initiative to stand up and said: "My lord, I am willing to go to Youzhou again to persuade Shi Siming to join forces with our army."
Yan Zhuang seemed to sense something, and he stood up and crossed his hands and said: "Even though I hold a humble position, I am willing to serve as an envoy. I can persuade Shi Siming to advance and retreat together with his sharp tongue."
"Okay," Li Siye said approvingly: "I believe you two, although there will be difficulties and dangers here, we can put forward generous terms to Shi Siming. Hedong has always been the weak spot of Youyan Land. Only by controlling Hedong can Shi Siming securely occupy the north.
, as long as he is willing to cooperate, I can give up Xiangzhou, Weizhou and other places, which will make it easier for him to enter Hedong from Jingjingkou and Niangziguan in the Taihang Mountains. At Tongguan, I can contain the Guanzhong garrison and induce the main force of the Hedong Army to go south.
Isn't it his God-given opportunity to defend Puzhou at the Yellow River crossing?"
The two of them crossed their hands and said, "What the Lord said is absolutely true. We will definitely take your words to you."
He then said to Xu Bin: "Brother Xu, please go to Nanyang for me to see Lu Jiong. He used to be my old vassal. When he heard about the defeat of Yecheng, his army retreated first. In the process of fleeing south,
Robbing the people, burning, killing, raping and plundering, this is his heartache. You can use this as a breakthrough to persuade him not to go north. You can also forge two memorials in advance to impeach him by the imperial censor."
Xu Bin crossed his hands and agreed: "Please rest assured, my lord, I will definitely do this."
Li Siye rubbed his hands again and said: "Next, it's time to deal with Guo Ziyi. The Guo family took advantage of Tongguan and controlled hundreds of thousands of people in Guanzhong. For example, although Long Xiang's army and Long Wu's army have never participated in the war, they are still the best equipped and armored.
If he persists for three or four months, our army will eventually be exhausted. Cui Qianyou said something very well just now. In times of crisis, when a powerful enemy is present, the military generals, eunuchs and emperors of the imperial court can all be twisted into a rope, but if
After the alarm is lifted, they will soon fall into fighting with each other. Our first step is to use a estrangement strategy to test how sensitive the court is to the generals' attitude and affect the morale of the Tongguan army. The second step is to submit a letter of surrender in the name of surrender.
, negotiate with the imperial court to stabilize Guo Ziyi."
"Only part of the troops were left in front of Tongguan. After Xu Bin Yanzhuang persuaded Shi Siming to attack Hedong, Feihuqi and Han Haijun entered Shangdang County in Hedong from Hukou Guguan Wueryu. I would like to see Hedong Jiedu
Did Deng Jingshan care about Taiyuan in Yunzhong or Puzhou in Shangdang?"
It was impossible to directly alienate Guo Ziyi. The emperor had taken careful precautions in advance. Guo Ziyi took the initiative to hand over the whole family to Li Fuguo for surveillance in Chang'an. This move, which was similar to carrying a coffin into office, was enough to make Li Heng trust him more. However,
Guo Ziyi's ability to gain trust does not mean that others can also gain trust. There was a shortcoming among the generals who retreated to Tongguan, and that was Feng Changqing, who succeeded Anxi Jiedushi.
Li Siye felt very sorry for Feng Changqing. After he entered Weizhou to seize power, Tian Zhen and Li Chongyun took away half of the army, but Feng Changqing insisted on surrendering to the imperial court.
This is because everyone has his own ambitions and there is no need to force others to do something difficult. He did not blame Feng Changqing for his disloyalty. However, Feng Changqing's loyal actions did not move the court. On the contrary, he was always ignored because of his former status. Other Jiedu envoys had their own reasons.
As far as the vassal territory was concerned, the Anxi Army he led could only rely on the Shuofang Army.
Now in order to capture Tongguan and disrupt the enemy's military morale, he had to start with this old subordinate and use his blood to expose the true nature of the imperial court.