Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 529 Lair
"If we fight, the tactics are simple. Fight head-on and wait for our reinforcements to attack the rebels from behind."

In the Tang army tent, Xue Bai handed a letter to Guo Ziyi and said, "This is the news from Yunzhou half a month ago. Feng Changqing defeated Li Guiren's Tongluo troops in Xiongwu City and quickly marched eastward. He agreed to appear in Fanyang within 20 days."

Now the Tang army was stationed on the south bank of the Hutuo River. If Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi had their way, Xue Bai would not have to follow them and would have stayed in Luoyang. After all, with these two famous generals in command, there was no need for a nominal marshal to cause trouble.

Xue Bai did not interfere much in military affairs. He supervised the transportation of some firearms and food supplies. The rest of the time he encouraged the soldiers, in the name of boosting morale but in fact winning people's hearts.

His disloyal intentions were obvious.

The intelligence Xue Bai brought today was crucial. Sending a group of troops to take Fanyang was an idea Li Mi had proposed long ago to suppress the rebellion. Xue Bai made some changes at the right time, using Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to contain Shi Siming's main force, and at the beginning of the war, he sent Feng Changqing and Zhang Guangsheng to attack Fanyang via the three surrendered cities.

Feng Changqing's progress was not smooth. After passing through the Three Surrender Cities, if he wanted to continue eastward, he had to pass through Xiongwu City. He did not dare to attack rashly, but waited for the right opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Xue Bai has been waiting for his information for a long time.

At this time, Guo Ziyi finished reading the letter and stared at the map for a long time in thought.

"I guess Shi Siming will get the news soon."

"Since Feng Changqing could deliver the news here, there must be rebels who would pass the information to Shi Siming." Xue Bai said, "But we are delivering it via post horses, so it is bound to be faster than Shi Siming."

Guo Ziyi said, "It will take about two or three days."

Li Guangbi said: "If we start the battle too early, Feng Changqing will not be able to arrive in time, which will give the enemy generals a chance to defeat them one by one; but if we start the battle too late, Shi Siming will get the news and be prepared."

Guo Ziyi said: "If we want to destroy the bandits, it is more important to capture Fanyang than to defeat Shi Siming. You and I must not be cautious and have concerns. We would rather fight and not win than let Shi Siming withdraw his troops to Fanyang."

While the two of them were discussing, Xue Bai did not interrupt much and stayed quietly in the tent.

As long as he stayed like this, he could give the soldiers the feeling that "Prince Yong's fighting skills were similar to those of General Guo and General Li", and this would be enough to establish his prestige in the army.

Finally, Guo Ziyi advocated a battle with Shi Siming as soon as possible to ensure that Feng Changqing could capture Fan Yang.

This kind of mind alone is very extraordinary.

Another rare thing is that Xue Bai and Li Guangbi did not question Guo Ziyi's opinions just because of the issue of his side. Even though they were in a higher position, they were still willing to follow his command.

Then, military orders were sent down one after another, and the entire camp was prepared.

Soon it was four o'clock in the morning three days later.

The stars hang low over the vast plain. Both banks of the Hutuo River are still shrouded in darkness. Only the campfires in the camp correspond to the starry sky.

"Send the order, call the soldiers to get up!"

Li Siye put on his armor early, and after issuing the military order, he was the first to sit cross-legged by the campfire.

Going into battle today, he might not have a chance to eat all day, so he needed to eat a lot. The roasted lamb had been cut, and the rice porridge was still cooking. He sat there with his lips pursed, waiting for the soldiers to sit down one by one.

"If anyone still hasn't arrived at 4:15 p.m., they will be punished by military law!"

"Report to the general, all the personnel have it."

"Feast!"

The reason why it is called "Xiang" is to invite the soldiers to enjoy wine and food. According to Li Siye's habit when he was in Anxi, he would let his soldiers drink a sip of wine before each battle, because the weather there was cold and wine could both boost courage and keep out the cold. He was also afraid that the soldiers would die in the battle, so he wanted to bid farewell to life and death.

They are all big men in the army, so there is no risk of them getting drunk after just one sip.

Even though he is now fighting in Hebei, he still retains this tradition.

Xue Zhan watched eagerly as his comrades' lips completely covered the mouth of the wine bag, took a swig and then handed it to him, and he took it and drank it. Brothers who share life and death, even giving their lives to each other, why should they be disgusted by it being a little dirty.

But because he admired Xue Bai, he followed his example in drinking and rarely drank in recent years. After taking a sip, heat surged up and his head felt a little dizzy.

Everything became hazy, eating, putting on armor, and marching in formation with horses.

At five o'clock in the morning, he was already standing on the bank of the Hutuo River, his cheeks still a little red.

"I'm not a child anymore!"

Nineteen-year-old Xue Zhan suddenly said something.

He is usually calm and stern, but today he is full of restlessness and is eager to prove something.

The last wisp of night wind blew by, and a glimmer of light gradually appeared in the east. At the same time, the sound of war drums began.

"Cross the river!"

This is the shallowest part of the river that the scout horse found, only reaching the thighs.

The team began to cross the river.

If you look from a distance, the teams of soldiers are like countless ants, and the scene is huge. The place where the central army's flag stands tall is several miles away from the soldiers in the front. The horses shuttle back and forth among them, busy maintaining the operation of the entire army.

Finally, Xue Zhan led the horse to the river and stepped into it. The cold water covered his calves, making him shiver.

His fighting spirit became even stronger and he walked forward resolutely.

~~
The cold water of the Sanggan River reached up to Zhang Guangsheng's waist.

As soon as he reached the middle of the river, the horse neighed and was unwilling to move forward.

"Walk."

Zhang Guangsheng shouted, pulled the reins hard, took another step forward, and did not fall down for the time being.

"General," a soldier behind him said, "the water is getting deeper and deeper."

"I promise we can cross the river!" Zhang Guangsheng said sternly without even turning his head. "If it were my former soldiers, they would have reached the other side of the river by now!"

But this time it was a forced march, and he did not send out any scouts to check in advance whether they could cross the river.

They defeated the rebels in Xiongwu City, went down along the Sanggan River, crossed many mountains, and now have reached Fanyang.

Li Guiren's defeated army was in front of them, and they were fast and fled all the way. If they were allowed to enter Youzhou City first, the city would surely be heavily guarded, and it would be difficult for the Tang army to capture Youzhou.

Zhang Guangsheng then asked Feng Changqing to lead the army as normal, while he led a thousand light cavalry in pursuit, and finally found traces of Li Guiren crossing the river here.

The horse manure left by the rebels was still slightly warm, indicating that they had just crossed to the other side of the river. There was no sign of a floating bridge or felled trees nearby. Therefore, Zhang Guangsheng concluded that Li Guiren had waded across the river directly from here and decisively pursued him.

In fact, this does not rule out the possibility that Li Guiren's rebels crossed the river on rafts or even deliberately discovered that there were pursuers. But Zhang Guangsheng never had these concerns when fighting. He dared to gamble and risk his life to achieve unprecedented achievements.

As we moved forward step by step, the river water once reached below the saddle.

"Raise the flag high." This was the only thing Zhang Guangsheng gave.

Finally, he waded to the other side. Without bothering to wring out his clothes, he searched for horse manure on the ground like an eagle. He picked it up, touched it, and smelled it, and judged that Li Guiren was not far ahead.

"General." Suddenly a soldier raised his hand and pointed.

Zhang Guangsheng looked up and saw a wisp of smoke rising above the woods in the distance.

His eyes lit up and murderous intent flashed across them. When he looked back at the river, he saw that only more than a hundred people had crossed the river.

"Follow me and chase!"

There was no road in the woods ahead, so he ordered his soldiers not to ride horses but to lead their horses forward. When it was almost dark, he raised his hand, climbed up a big tree, took out a telescope and looked for a while.

"The enemy is setting up camp and cooking. Kill them and have a good meal."

So, under Zhang Guangsheng's command, the Tang army mounted their horses, took out their bows and swords, and suddenly launched a charge.

They were pursuing the victory, and with high morale, they charged into Li Guiren's camp. After a fierce battle, the camp was finally turned into a river of blood. The rebels were either dead, disabled, scattered, or fled.

But what Zhang Guangsheng did not tell the Tang army was that the rebels actually numbered 700. He deliberately concealed this battle situation, forcing them to use their momentary courage to defeat an enemy that was seven times their size.

"General, we got Li Guiren!"

All the soldiers were very excited, thinking that they had easily captured a general of the rebel army, who was an important figure as famous as Shi Siming.

This is what it was like to fight with Zhang Guangsheng. If you didn’t die during the adventure, you would often achieve great achievements.

This is almost a life-threatening way of fighting.

"What's the point of attacking me by surprise?!" Li Guiren was still cursing when he was brought here, and he was very unconvinced.

His eyes fell on Zhang Guangsheng's face full of scars, and he said disdainfully: "What kind of unknown person are you?"

Zhang Guangsheng did not answer.

He was once famous throughout the world, and his achievements were praised by people all over the world. He was in great glory.

Now he no longer cares about these things. He survived under the name of a soldier who died for him. He was by no means an unknown person, but he didn't need to let every snake, insect, rat or ant know about it.

Seeing the stern look in the eyes of the Tang general, Li Guiren was a little scared and said, "I still have my old subordinates in Fanyang. If the court is willing to surrender me, I am willing to raise my flag and submit to the court."

At the beginning of the rebellion, these rebel generals had already made plans that if things didn't go well, they would use their military strength to threaten the imperial court to surrender.

As long as they are promised high positions and wealth, it doesn't matter who they serve as their master.

Today, if another general had captured Li Guiren, perhaps his wish would have come true.

But Zhang Guangsheng was different. He would never forget his disastrous defeat in Luoyang and the injustice he suffered in Tongguan. There was still a fire of anger burning in his heart.

"No need."

After saying this, Zhang Guangsheng took the knife and chopped it down fiercely.

"puff."

A head rolled down, and a famous rebel general died so hastily at the hands of an unknown person.

Zhang Guangsheng threw down his knife and ordered, "Kill all the wounded prisoners and bring the rest over."

He used to like to show off his achievements, but now he doesn't even look at Li Guiren lying on the ground.

Soon, all the prisoners were brought up and arranged according to their positions in the Yan army.

"I want to capture Youzhou City."

Zhang Guangsheng stated his purpose straight away, wiping the blood off his hands as he said, "Whoever is willing to be my insider, I will give him a chance to reform."

"The court's lackey..."

"puff."

Zhang Guangsheng showed no mercy to any rebel general who dared to disobey him, and soon killed more than ten people. The remaining captives then scrambled to tell him the information about Youzhou City.

"The one guarding the city now is Shi Chaoqing, who has been appointed crown prince."

"go on."

"Prince, oh, Shi Chaoqing is a ruthless man."

"A ruthless person?" Zhang Guangsheng's eyes flashed with disdain after hearing this.

~~
Fan Yang, Youzhou City.

Now this place has been renamed Yanjing, the capital of the Great Yan Kingdom.

In the evening, more than a dozen cavalrymen came galloping from the west and entered the city gate. They soon arrived in front of Liu Xiangchang, the governor of Yanjing, and reported that a Tang army was attacking Xiongwu City. Li Guiren hoped that the prince could send a reinforcement to help defend the city.

"The saint is confronting the Tang army in Hengzhou. How can Dayan have any military support?" Liu Xiangchang said, and thought that it was not his place to refuse this matter, so he said, "Let me report to the prince for the decision." Speaking of the prince, Liu Xiangchang's eyes showed some awe.

The current Crown Prince of Dayan, Shi Chaoqing, and the King Huai, Shi Chaoyi, have completely different personalities. The King Huai is kind and righteous while the Crown Prince is fierce and violent.

He held the documents sent by Li Guiren and took the messengers to the Dayan Palace.

The imperial palace is actually the Fanyang Jiedu Mansion built by An Lushan in the past. It has been extensively renovated and is very magnificent.

Because Shi Siming has been fighting outside and Empress Xin is not very involved in affairs, the palace is now entirely controlled by the Crown Prince, and it is a chaotic place.

As soon as he arrived outside the palace gate, Liu Xiangchang could already hear the ministers having a banquet in the main hall. It was not a very elegant banquet either. Generals, Hu people, Zoroastrians, and people from all walks of life were all summoned into the palace. They jumped and shouted, shaking the heavens and the earth.

"go in."

Liu Xiangchang sighed and entered the palace with the messenger. In front of the main hall, he could see countless girls kneeling on the ground. At a glance, there were probably hundreds or even thousands of them, with black hair like clouds.

These were all decent women that the Yan army had captured from various places since the uprising. Shi Chaoqing asked them to come every day for him to choose, and also rewarded them to those who could please him as playmates.

"Prince, the garrison officer is here."

"Haha, call me!"

Walking through a group of women, Liu Xiangchang saw a carnival scene.

Men and women gathered in the hall, disheveled and dancing. Shi Chaoqing was wearing only an outer robe, completely naked underneath, his crotch dangling, his bare feet stepping on the backs of two bare-chested men lying prone, towering over the crowd.

"Guess who was the first one to lose control?"

"Haha, the officer who stayed behind is also here to place a bet."

Liu Xiangchang looked in the direction where Shi Chaoqing's finger was pointing, and saw two Hu merchants standing there, both with thick, curly golden beards and loose hair.

He didn't know what to do, so he followed everyone else and placed his bet, choosing the stronger Hu merchant standing on the right.

Shi Chaoqing took the two candles with both hands and lit the beards of the two Hu merchants himself. The hall was immediately filled with a burnt smell and everyone laughed.

The next moment, fire spread out, burning from the beard to the hair. Finally, one of the Hu merchants screamed and stuck his head into the large cauldron filled with water next to him, with a loud "sizzle" sound.

The other Hu merchant also screamed and tried to save himself, but before he could reach the cauldron, he fell to the ground, rolled a few times in pain, and died.

"what!"

The screams were still echoing in the hall. Liu Xiangchang was stunned by fear. He stared blankly at the burning head and felt a chill down his spine.

Wild laughter broke out in the hall, and someone patted Liu Xiangchang on the shoulder.

"Officer, you win."

A few gold coins were handed to Liu Xiangchang. He was stunned for a moment, then turned to Shi Chaoqing and said, "Prince, I have something important to report."

But he only opened his mouth slightly, and was so frightened that he became speechless for a moment and could not make any sound.

"Come again! Come again!"

Shi Chaoqing was in high spirits. He waved his hand and had someone hand him a slingshot. He said, "Let's fight for golden balls this time! Whoever is willing to be beaten will get the golden ball."

Then a maid brought up a tray filled with round, golden meatballs.

The Yan army looted countless gold and silver, and Shi Chaoqing spent them freely in this way, and he could not spend them all in his lifetime. If he really wanted to spend money, he would spend it on expanding territory, civil governance, and military achievements.

Seeing Jin Wan at this time, many of the bodyguards came out and were willing to be beaten.

Shi Chaoqing selected five people, had them line up in a row, and said with a smile: "If anyone I hit dares to scream, I will whip them 100 times for every scream!"

"Here."

"Come!"

A golden pill was held on the slingshot, and Shi Chaoqing shot it at the face of a personal guard. His aim was very accurate and his force was great. The golden pill hit the personal guard's head and caused him to bleed. However, he did not say a word, but just bent down to pick up the golden pill and put it in his arms.

"it is good!"

Shi Chaoqing praised and shot directly at the next person.

With a "whoosh" sound, this time, the golden pill actually shot into the eye socket of another guard!

"what!"

The guard screamed in pain and immediately covered his eyes and fell to the ground, twitching, with blood flowing out from between his fingers.

Liu Xiangchang's throat rolled twice, as if he wanted to speak, but he didn't. Everyone shouted, "He lost, he lost!"

It was not the doctor who came at this time, but two whippers. They raised the whips and whipped the blind guard hard.

"Please show mercy, Prince!"

Finally, someone spoke up to plead for mercy. It was the personal guard who had just been beaten to a bloody mess.

"I am Gao Ruzhen, this is my third brother Gao Xiren. We have four brothers. My eldest brother died in battle, and my second brother is following the sage in the southern expedition. We brothers have sacrificed our lives for the Great Yan. Now my mother is ill and needs medicine for a long time. We brothers have risked our lives to earn the reward. Please show mercy, Your Highness..."

By the end of the conversation, Gao Ruzhen was already crying heavily.

Shi Chaoqing was unmoved. He pointed his slingshot at him and said, "If you are willing to accept the loss, don't you brothers know this?!"

Gao Ruzhen said, "I beg the prince to make an exception."

"Make an exception?" Shi Chaoqing thought for a moment, raised his hand, stopped the whipping of Gao Juren, and said, "Okay, you are my personal guard, and I will make an exception for you for your loyalty."

"Thank you, Prince."

"Go outside the palace and pick a beauty. I will give her to you."

Gao Ruzhen kowtowed to express his gratitude, stood up and walked out of the hall. Looking around, the rows of girls raised their heads one after another, making him dizzy. He did not dare to choose for too long, and when he saw one of the girls with a shy smile on her face and a look of hope in her eyes that she was looking forward to his rescue, he chose her.

He took the beautiful woman by the hand and brought her back to the palace to express his gratitude. He saw that Gao Qiren had been helped up and was being treated for his injuries, which made him feel relieved.

But when he just bowed down in front of Shi Chaoqing, Shi Chaoqing said: "I will make an exception for you, what can you do for me?"

"I will die for the prince!"

"Haha, no need, just pick up your beauty and throw her into this big cauldron."

Gao Ruzhen was stunned when he heard this. He turned around and found that a raging fire had started under the cauldron filled with water. He felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave and stood there frozen.

"No!"

The beautiful woman who was brought into the hall screamed and tried to escape, but was pinned down as soon as she stood up.

"Gao Ruzhen, don't you want to repay my kindness?" Shi Chaoqing asked, pointing his finger at Gao Ruren's bloody empty eye sockets, and said, "I was moved by your mother's story."

"The last general..."

Gao Ruzhen knew what would happen if he didn't obey the order. He was sweating profusely. He was torn between his conscience and his desires for a long time. He actually heard a "gurgling" sound. It was the water in the cauldron boiling.

He gritted his teeth, almost breaking them, then suddenly turned around, picked up the beauty and threw her into the boiling cauldron.

The screams sounded so loud that they drove his soul away. Soon, when the screams disappeared, he felt that they were still echoing in his ears, and could not be shaken off.

"Hahaha, there will be a huge reward."

Shi Chaoqing laughed heartily, looked around, and asked, "Are you all too afraid to look?!"

Gao Ruzhen had no choice but to look at the big cauldron, but his eyes could not focus, as if he was blind and could not see anything clearly.

The people in the hall were also horrified and no longer as jubilant as before.

Shi Chaoqing felt that everyone else was afraid except himself, so he was satisfied. He asked someone to bring his polo stick, and he went to the cauldron to stir it himself, while observing whether the people were cooked or not, chatting and laughing.

"By the way, Officer Retainer, what brings you here?"

"The officer who stayed behind?"

After being asked several times, Liu Xiangchang finally came to his senses and said, "Prince, I…"

Halfway through his words, his mind went blank and he couldn't remember why he came here today.

Shi Chaoqing didn't blame him and laughed heartily.

At the palace gate, the messengers who came with Liu Xiangchang saw this scene, looked at Gao Ruzhen's figure, and there was a thoughtful look in their eyes.

~~
The next morning, several cavalrymen left Yanjing City and went to report to Li Guiren that the prince would not send troops to support.

They rushed westward and saw Li Guiren's head placed in a box by the Sanggan River.

"General, we have persuaded Gao Ruzhen, one of Shi Chaoqing's personal guards, to rebel. He said that Shi Chaoqing will lead 3,000 men out of the city to hunt tomorrow."

Zhang Guangsheng asked, "Three thousand people? That many?"

"Yes, Shi Chaoqing was loved by Shi Siming because he was skilled in archery and horse riding, and decisive in killing. He had three thousand personal guards under his command, all of whom were brave and fearless. Every time they went out of the city to hunt, they would shoot and kill anyone they saw."

After hearing this, Zhang Guangsheng turned around and looked at the troops he brought with him.

He had only a thousand men and they were exhausted.

"General, I have seen Shi Chaoqing's army. Not to mention that his 3,000 warriors are all very brave, but their war horses are all very majestic. If there is an ambush, Shi Chaoqing will be able to escape back to Yanjing as soon as he hears any movement."

"Extraordinary God?"

"Yes, Shi Qingchao's horses were left by Shi Siming. Every day they were taken to the Sanggan River to drink water and run."

Shi Siming was well-known throughout the world for his love of horses and his skill in raising them, and Zhang Guangsheng also knew it.

As a result, he was not very confident that he could defeat the rebels in the field and win with a smaller force.

In order to defeat Shi Chaoqing's three thousand personal guards, they still need to wait for Feng Changqing's army to arrive.

But given his personality, he would never want to just wait.

……

At dawn, looking through the telescope, one could see the gates of Youzhou city wide open, with dust and smoke billowing. The three thousand cavalrymen had indeed gone out of the city to hunt.

Zhang Guangsheng stood on a high mountain on the other side of the river and looked for a while, then couldn't help but curse.

"Eating dog intestines."

Indeed, even he envied the fine horses owned by the Shi family and his son, which were happily drinking water and eating grass by the Sanggan River.

After a moment, Zhang Guangsheng waved his hand and said, "Let's get started."

A group of mares appeared in the image through his telescope. They neighed at the rebels' horses on the other side of the river and then went upstream along the Sanggan River.

So the horse followed happily and went upstream.

The rebels laughed. It was all hunting anyway, and it didn't matter where they went.

After leading away the three thousand rebels, Zhang Guangsheng put away his telescope, jumped on his horse, and shouted, "Let's go!"

A thousand people then quickly rushed out of the mountains and forests and headed straight for Youzhou City.

(End of this chapter)