In the autumn of the eighth year of Yuanshuo, Guo Ziyi finally reluctantly agreed to leave Xiangyang City after many of his generals knelt down to remonstrate with them. He handed over the responsibility of defending the city to General Zhang Xun, and looked back at these sallow and thin soldiers from the top of the city.
, couldn't help sighing, and burst into tears.
Zhang Xun suggested that he take away the three thousand sons of the Guo family army, but Guo Ziyi wanted his eldest grandson Quanxu to lead more than two thousand men to stay. The two argued hard and their voices became hoarse.
"The situation is critical now and the soldiers are weak. If I leave you some more men, Xiangyang City may be able to hold on for a few more days."
Zhang Xun smiled bitterly and shook his head: "You can deceive yourself or me with this. There is no food in the city and the soldiers are hungry. No matter how many people are left behind, they will die without a burial place, let alone prolong the defense of the city.
Time. If you ask the Duke to take more people away, they can also escape. Just enough people can be left in the city to defend the city wall, and the pressure of food shortage can also be alleviated."
His words were just a kind of comfort to his heart. A few hundred stones of food would be like a drop of dew on a dry field for ten thousand people. It would have no effect. These remaining food and grass were the last resort for the soldiers when the enemy attacked the city.
Going on the road to fill my stomach.
Guo Ziyi also proposed to take some people away, but the plan was to break out at night. Zhang Xun was worried that the team he was bringing was too large and would not be able to escape, so he only allowed him to take away 2,000 people. As a result, the two had another disagreement.
Zhang Xun knelt on one knee, folded his hands in front of his chest, and said calmly: "It is already a great merit that your Lord can bring a small number of people out of the city. Taking more people away will only make it impossible for everyone to escape."
Only a few generals knew about Guo Ziyi's plan to leave. They asked the soldiers to go from house to house to find the people and lie to them that they were organizing a stretcher team for both men and women. The decision between life and death happened without their knowledge.
.
At midnight the next day, the Tang Army organized a force of 5,000 troops to break out. In order to avoid attracting the attention of the enemy, everyone extinguished their torches and wrapped rags around the hooves of the thin horses. The skinny men and the weak old people were holding arms in their hands.
With wooden sticks, the ladies coaxed the children to sleep, wrapped them in swaddling clothes and hunched over, barely keeping up with the team.
In order to encircle Xiangyang City, the Yong Army built company camps on all sides of the city. Even in the passage between the two camps, trenches were dug and horses were deployed. However, due to terrain constraints, only the Han River and the Han River connected to the moat in the south of the city were
Yanshan is not connected to the camp. Because there are two bridges on the river, as long as Yong's army holds these two bridges, no one can fly across the river.
Many of the Guo family's personal guards were local generals and were very familiar with the terrain outside the city. Their advice to Guo Ziyi was to climb over Yanshan Mountain because it was in the middle of the two camps. Do not cross diagonally across Yanshan Mountain.
Instead of walking across the two bridges, we walked downstream along the river bank. Although the journey was a bit longer, we could still reach Jiangcheng in the end.
The only difficulty in executing this escape plan is not to let Yong's army notice it, otherwise the two sides of the Han River are flat. If the opponent pursues them with cavalry, the five thousand thin people and hungry soldiers will be lambs to be slaughtered.
In order to prevent the common people from falling behind, Guo Ziyi specially ordered some people to prepare some hemp ropes and let them tie them around his waist. Several generals who were familiar with the terrain in front groped and led the people forward. Guo Ziyi rode back from the Yanshan Mountain.
Turning around and looking at the Xiangyang City in the distance, the lights on the city are still shining, but after a few days, this gateway to the Yangtze River and Huaihe River will eventually change hands.
After they climbed down Yanshan Mountain, the Han River was like a green ribbon, and the team slowly marched down the river beach. The patrol of the Yong Army suddenly passed by here, and their bustling footsteps suddenly stopped.
The string of beating torches was marching on the slope a hundred feet away.
The soldiers surrounded the people in the center, slowly opened the long bows in their hands, and stared quietly above. Guo Ziyi leaned on the horse, wrapped his arms around the horse's face, and did not even dare to make a sound.
The infant child in the arms of a woman in the crowd woke up from hunger in the middle of the night and let out a wail. The woman hurriedly covered the child's mouth, but the beating torches not far away had been alarmed and ran towards them.
Shout out: "There are so many people by the river!"
Guo Ziyi grabbed the horn bow and mounted the arrows, and took the lead to shoot towards the patrolling horse team. The arrows in everyone's hands were thrown out one after another. Several torches fell on the ground and flickered sparks, and there were people rolling on the slope, a mixture of light and dark.
Flashing.
The remaining members of the patrol team hurriedly rode their horses to escape into the camp. Two of them had already struck the gong, and the crisp clanging sound spread into the distance.
Guo Ziyi immediately ordered: "We have been exposed, then light the torch and leave quickly!"
The team became chaotic, with the cries of children and the shouts of soldiers one after another, and the team's escape speed seemed slow. Changsun Quanxu suggested to Guo Ziyi: "Women, children, old and weak are all burdens. Your Majesty, why don't you leave them first and take the lead?"
After arriving in Jiangcheng, we will send troops back to search for support."
Guo Ziyi flatly refused and said: "What nonsense are you talking about? The people are the foundation of the country. How can we abandon them at will?"
"But once Yong's army leads a large group of soldiers and horses to pursue us, we will have nowhere to escape."
Guo Ziyi raised his eyes and looked around. He saw a high hill in the distance covered in darkness, like a lush forest. He raised his whip and pointed at the hill and asked, "Who knows where that place is?"
A school captain stepped forward and crossed his hands and said: "Your Majesty, that is Caojia Mountain, with a thousand acres of dense forest on it."
"Quick, everyone follow me to the woods of Caojiashan!"
Guo Ziyi gave the order, and everyone saw the hope of survival. The soldiers supported the old and the young, and the men supported the weak wife, and ran towards Caojiashan without stopping.
As soon as they entered the forest, Guo Ziyi ordered everyone to extinguish the torches and hide in the bushes or crawl on the grass. Looking down from the top of the mountain, the dots of torches had been chased to the riverside with the sound of horse hooves. This was really dangerous.
, as long as they slow down a little bit, their whereabouts will be completely exposed.
General Yong Jun led his troops to chase for five or six miles along the river. He turned his horse's head and asked the patrol soldiers who raised the alarm: "Didn't you say that there are Tang troops here? Why are there not even a shadow of them?"
"How is that possible? Several of our brothers were killed in their hands."
The general sat on his horse and looked around at the surrounding mountains and rivers. He mumbled and said, "If we want to find these people, we need more people to search the area. Besides, it is difficult to move around at night. Let's wait until tomorrow."
After the Yong Army's pursuing troops retreated, Guo Ziyi led everyone out of the dense forest of Caojiashan and headed downstream along the Han River.
In the early morning, Duan Xiushi, Tian Chengsi and Li Huaixian came to Li Siye's Chinese army tent and reported to him that a Tang army escaped from Xiangyang City to the lower reaches of the Han River last night.
Li Siye nodded and smiled: "It must be Guo Ziyi who gave up his promise to live and die with Xiangyang and led his confidants to escape from the desperate situation. Then the ones who really stayed behind were Zhang Xun, Nan Ba, and Lei Wan who were determined to die.
Chun and others."
Li Huaixian stepped forward and said: "Please, my lord, give the last general a group of generals to pursue him. If Guo Ziyi escapes to Jiangcheng, with his appeal, he can quickly mobilize a large army to rescue Xiangyang. It will not be as easy to deal with as Xu Shuji and Helan Jinming."
"
"We should pursue," Li Siye ordered Li Huaixian: "I heard that Li Guozhen, deputy envoy of Jingmen Joint, was once a subordinate of Shi Siming's command with you. You led 10,000 people to go south along the post road to Jingmen. If you can persuade him to surrender, it would be best. If you can't, it would be best."
To persuade him to surrender, he re-captured Jingmen, and then sent people to intercept Guo Ziyi near the Han River."
Duan Xiushi also stepped forward and crossed his hands and said: "My lord, in order to prevent Guo Ziyi from crossing the east bank halfway, the general is willing to lead three thousand troops to pursue him from the east bank. He must not escape."
"good."
Seeing that the generals looked like they were facing a formidable enemy, Li Siye said with confidence: "You don't have to worry, there are many factions in the Southern Tang Army, and there are eunuchs like Yu Chaoen who are holding them back. If Guo Ziyi wants to take charge of Jianghuai again, he must at least first
Obtained permission from the emperor. The southern army's combat effectiveness is weak. Guo Ziyi can't save the tide by himself. Xiangyang is already in my pocket. Once Jiangcheng is captured, I can take advantage of the situation. What else can he do?"