Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 532 Fighting for Credit
There were nearly 100,000 rebels, like a huge dark cloud in the sky. The part facing the Tang army in the south was still condensed, as if it could drip rain, but as soon as it started to collapse, the edges kept spreading outwards.

If so many soldiers were to become scattered and deserters were to rob and plunder everywhere, it would inevitably bring disaster to the people.

Trying to control the situation is like trying to gather the clouds drifting in the sky.

Guo Ziyi is trying to do this.

Military orders came one after another from near the central army flag, ordering the various Tang troops to drive out, appease, and kill the rebels from different directions, as if they were controlled by several huge hands of gods.

This is what is meant by “as if one were using one’s own arm.”

It has been less than two years since An Lushan launched his rebellion, and the deep awe of the Fanyang soldiers towards the Tang court has not yet completely dissipated.

Therefore, when the news of the fall of Fan Yang came and the army was defeated, many soldiers were at a loss. However, when they heard the shouts of "Those who surrender will not be killed", they stopped and raised their hands in a rush to surrender.

"Do not kill me."

"Step aside!"

Xue Zhan stared at Shi Siming's banner and rushed into the enemy camp, but was blocked by the rebels who refused to surrender. He raised his knife to attack again, but was stopped by Li Siye's loud shout.

"Get on the horse and chase after him."

Xue Zhan then grabbed a horse, kicked it hard and chased after it.

He looked back and found that the military order Li Siye received was actually to gather the surrendered soldiers.

However, although the Anxi general usually enforced military laws very strictly, he made an exception for him today and allowed him to compete for the credit.

I guess you must be feeling angry too?
"General, I will definitely make you proud!"

Xue Zhan shouted in his heart, lowered his body, and sped up his horse again and again.

His wounds were broken and it was very painful, but he was getting closer and closer to Shi Siming's banner.

On the road, rebel soldiers were constantly seen surrendering or fleeing, with few resisting. Instead, more Tang knights caught up with them, wanting to capture and kill the leader of the rebels.

"Mine, it's mine."

Xue Zhan remained firm in his belief and recalled the army's description of Shi Siming.

He was thin, of medium build, with kite shoulders and a hunched back, bulging eyes like a hawk, a pointed nose like an eagle, sparse reddish-yellow hair and beard, and a bald head.

The setting sun was blood-red as Shi Siming's banner entered Hengzhou City.

A cavalry unit of the Tang army quickly pursued them, intending to catch the rebels before they could close the city gates.

Bai Xiaode, a general under Li Guangbi, was chasing in the front, waving his command flag and dividing his troops to block the gates of Hengzhou City.

"Shut up!"

Xue Zhan pulled the reins hard.

He was not Bai Xiaode's subordinate, so he disobeyed his orders and had no chance to step forward to claim credit, so he reached into his bosom and pulled out a telescope.

This item is still a rare thing nowadays, and only high-ranking generals in the army have it. The reason he can have it is, of course, because he is Xue Bai's man.

Xue Zhan skillfully scanned the front with a telescope and soon saw Shi Siming's eye-catching armor and cloak heading towards the city gate.

In this way, the great achievement of capturing and killing the bandit leader went to Bai Xiaode's troops.

But Xue Zhan changed his mind and suddenly realized that Shi Siming had been defeated like this. What was the point of hiding in Hengzhou City instead of rushing back to Pinglu as soon as possible?

Although he was young and had little combat experience, he was often around Xue Bai and had a clearer understanding of the general situation than the average general.

So Xue Zhan turned the telescope and scanned the small groups of rebels fleeing in all directions. Finally, a small group of cavalry caught his attention.

That cavalry unit had just recently broken away from Shi Siming's personal army and escaped on its own. There were not many people, only a dozen or so, but each man had three horses, and all the horses were very majestic.

Thinking that Shi Siming was a horse lover, Xue Zhan did not hesitate and rode his horse to chase him.

At the same time, he shouted, "The thief leader is over there! Follow me!"

Although he wanted to win the credit, it was impossible for him to defeat more than ten of Shi Siming's personal guards by himself. In the end, everyone had to work together.

As the sky gradually darkened, the group of people kept running tirelessly towards the northeast of the battlefield.

~~
As early as when Xue Bai was in Chang'an, he had planned to have Feng Changqing take Fanyang directly, and he also asked Li Mi about this. In short, he had anticipated Shi Siming's defeat.

But it was unexpected that the Khitan Khan would lead his troops personally.

This incident almost cost Xue Bai's life. It was an unexpected shock, but now it is an unexpected surprise.

Xue Bai held up a telescope and scanned the battlefield, and quickly discovered a favorable situation - Shi Siming was suddenly defeated, and the defeated army might block the retreat of the Khitan cavalry.

Of course, the situation on the battlefield needs to be actively controlled.

Only he knew that this small Khitan tribe would one day become a powerful enemy of the Central Plains dynasty.

"Pass the order down... Follow me to kill the enemy!"

Xue Bai originally wanted to appoint a general, but found that everyone around him had been sent out, so he simply led the army to fight himself.

He did not cross the river, but went back to the east, blocking the Khitan cavalry's retreat route to the east, forcing them to wade across the river. However, after crossing the river, there were fleeing soldiers everywhere, which made it difficult for the Khitans' horses to speed up.

In this way, it may be possible to capture and kill Li Huaixiu.

"Send the order to Hun Yu, surround three and leave one."

The horns sounded urgently and the flags waved, and the military orders reached Hun Yu. He quickly understood Xue Bai's intention and felt both admiration and envy.

He was envious because he knew that Xue Bai was able to make a decision so quickly because he had such a powerful military weapon as the telescope.

He had been coveting a telescope for a long time and dreamed of having one.

But when Xue Bai wanted to give him one at the beginning, he curled his lips and said that he could not be bought with small favors, so Xue Bai gave up that idea.

Later, he saw Xue Zhan also had one in the military camp, and he regretted it so much that his intestines turned green.

For now, all he had to do was listen to Xue Bai's command. Hun Yu still trusted this prince's ability to control the situation.

He deliberately allowed the Khitan cavalry to wade across the river as ordered, and the water covered their saddles and soaked their bowstrings.

But not everyone is so lucky. This is not a good place to cross the river. There are several dangerous deep water areas. Once you step in, both you and your horse will be swept downstream. Xue Bai ordered his men to shoot arrows without hesitation to kill the people in the water.

Hun Yu kept a close eye on Li Huaixiu's main force wading through the water, and at the same time ordered all his generals to take off their armor and pursue them along the route they had waded through.

On the north bank, the Tang army was pursuing the rebels. A small cavalry unit received the flag order from the south bank and quickly intercepted Li Huaixiu.

"Stop the Khitan Khan!"

The shouts made more people realize that in addition to Shi Siming, there was another great achievement waiting for them today. All of a sudden, more people rushed over here, and even the rebels who had just surrendered joined in the pursuit of Li Huaixiu.

The Khitans' bowstrings were wet, their horses could not speed up, and they could not use their best horse archery, and they immediately fell into panic.

"Protect the Khan!"

Seeing enemies everywhere, Li Huaixiu turned around and looked at the big flag that symbolized the glory of his Khan, struggling in his heart.

In order to revive his tribe, he killed his wife who was betrothed to him by the Tang court. He fought all his life, and made alliances with the Tang, Turks, Xi, Huihe, and Dayan. He finally saw some results, but now he can only...

"Throw it away!"

Li Huaixiu gritted his teeth, threw away the flag, and also threw away his heroic spirit, and led only a dozen riders to escape.

He didn't look back, but he could hear the Tang army cheering for capturing his flag.

Another group of Tang troops came charging forward, and more than ten of his brave warriors fought desperately to protect them, and finally he was able to break out. At this time, there were only four people left around him.

"Whoosh."

A sharp arrow shot over and shot down another person, but Hun Yu was still chasing him.

~~
The night is getting darker.

The moonlight outlined the majestic Taihang Mountains in the distance.

In the silent forest, there were a few sounds of horse hooves, followed by a horse neigh.

Xue Zhan saw a huge creature on the rugged mountain path. He dismounted and checked, and found that it was a horse corpse.

It can be seen that the dead horse was extremely majestic. Although it died with foam at the mouth, its huge muscles still looked very energetic. Only such a majestic horse could run so far in the middle of the night and shake off countless pursuers.

It must be Shi Siming's horse, he is in front.

Xue Zhan looked back, but could not see any of his comrades. As for how he could catch up, firstly, he was a good rider, and secondly, he had a telescope, which allowed him to always detect Shi Siming's movements and chase him directly without taking any detours.

He didn't know where this place was, but it was obviously far away from Hengzhou.

Ahead was a path leading deep into the forest. He gripped his knife tightly and walked along the path.

"Shi Siming was very good at escaping. Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi defeated him several times, but each time he managed to escape with his life."

Thinking of this sentence in his mind, Xue Zhan no longer held out hope of catching up with Shi Siming.

Anyway, the royal army has already won a great victory. Once Yingzhou is recaptured, it is very likely that a surrendered general will offer Shi Siming to them.

Suddenly, Xue Zhan stopped, pricked up his ears, and heard a cry for help from the front.

The mountain road was steep, so he loosened the reins and climbed up quickly. Finally, he saw a simple wooden house in the forest, which must be the residence of a hunter.

In the moonlight, two rebels were chasing out and chopping a thin man to the ground.

Xue Zhan was like a newborn calf who was not afraid of a tiger. He rushed forward with the crossbow in hand, steadied his elbow, aimed at one of the rebels and shot.

"puff."

"Who?!"

The distance was rapidly shortened. Xue Zhan threw away his crossbow and rushed towards another rebel with his knife in hand.

These rebels were ruthless, the kind of ruthlessness that desperate criminals are, while Xue Zhan's ruthlessness was such that he would kill the rebels at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing his own life.

Both of them stabbed their knives into each other's bodies. The rebel turned the knife and stabbed Xue Zhan, but Xue Zhan suddenly let go and gouged out the other's eyeballs.

"what!"

"Pfft, pfft, pfft."

The rebel lost his strength due to the pain, and Xue Zhan simply picked up the knife and stabbed him four times.

Xue Zhan was also exhausted and fell to the ground, gasping for breath, muttering to the corpse: "If you fight me, I will kill my grandfather too..."

"call--"

A sound of breaking wind was heard, and Xue Zhan rolled on the ground. He looked up and saw a thin man with an eagle-like face and sparse hair in the moonlight.

"Shi Siming!"

Shi Siming stared at the young Tang army in front of him, and because of the words he just heard, he thought of his son Shi Chaoyi who wanted to kill his father.

Nowadays, morality has declined, people’s hearts are no longer as they used to be, and there are too many unfilial sons and daughters.

"die!"

~~
There was a clanging sound in the woods, the sound of swords clashing, and then there was a series of light sounds as spears pierced flesh.

Hun Yu caught up with Li Huaixiu and fought one against four. He killed three Khitan warriors first, then stabbed Li Huaixiu's shoulder with his spear and nailed him to a big tree.

Li Huaixiu knew he was no match for his opponent, so he closed his eyes in sorrow and finally surrendered.

He stopped struggling, lest he become too embarrassed and damage the Khan's dignity. However, he didn't know that his greatest honor might be to die in battle.

"I give up." Hun Yu wiped the blood off his face and whistled loudly. Soon, some Tang soldiers came riding on horses. Seeing him capture the Khitan Khan alone, they were filled with admiration and praised his bravery.

They tied up Li Huaixiu and said, "Let's go and take him to see General Guo Jie."

"Wait!"

Hun Yu knocked his spear on the ground and said loudly: "King Yong has the highest title, and he was the one who commanded us to defeat the Khitan. Of course, we should go to see King Yong!"

Although it was impossible for him to support Prince Yong's plot to usurp the throne, he was transferred to the battlefield in Hebei by Xue Bai in the name of a personal guard. If he made military achievements, of course they should be credited to this personal guard. Otherwise, when it came to rewarding the merits later, it would be his comrades who would suffer.

As a general, he has a strong sense of collective honor.

It was indeed a great honor to capture the Khitan Khan.

"Ten thousand enemies! Ten thousand enemies!"

When Li Huaixiu was escorted back to the camp, there were cheers in the camp. Hun Yu finally became like Li Sheng and won the title of a match for ten thousand men at a young age.

Whenever the generals returned to the camp to report on their affairs, they would invariably ask, "Who is Hun Yu, the fierce general under the command of King Yong?"

His fellow soldiers surrounded him and kept boasting and asking for advice, and the noise never stopped.

"You don't know that the Khitan suddenly attacked and the army was almost defeated. Hun Yu alone fought his way into the crowd of thousands of cavalrymen..."

The atmosphere was lively until dawn. Hun Yu suddenly noticed that Xue Bai looked worried after listening to a report, so he quickly ran forward to wait for orders.

"Prince Yong, I can still fight."

"There is no war, go and rest."

Hun Yu felt that this was not a military order, so he did not rest and continued to stand by the side waiting for orders. He was so excited at the moment, how could he sleep?

After listening for a while, he finally understood what was going on.

It turned out that it was Xue Zhan, the younger brother of Prince Yong before he returned to his ancestral home, who disobeyed military orders and went to pursue Shi Siming without authorization. He has not returned after a night and it is feared that he is in great danger.

This incident made it very difficult for the generals at all levels in Li Guangbi's army. They didn't know whether to give him a credit or a demerit.

Xue Bai's statement was somewhat inhumane. He asked the army to deal with Xue Zhan according to military law. Since Xue Zhan disobeyed military orders, if he did not return within two days, he would be treated as a deserter.

When Hun Yu saw this, the excitement in his heart suddenly disappeared a lot.

Although he made great contributions, King Yong lost a close brother in this battle. Moreover, not only could he not be rewarded for his military achievements, but he was also held accountable.

On that day, the Tang army was busy cleaning up the battlefield and counting the results of the battle, and the pursuing troops returned to the camp one after another.

Thanks to Guo Ziyi's effective command, the intrusion of the fleeing rebels to the surrounding areas was reduced to a minimum.

At this point, a rebellion that had lasted for almost two years was almost put down.

The reason why we say "almost" is that there are indeed some variables. For example, Yingzhou has not yet surrendered. Assuming Shi Siming escapes back to Yingzhou, there is a possibility that he will make a comeback.

After another busy night, the captured weapons and armor were counted and stored, and the prisoners were also properly settled.

In Beiying, Guo Ziyi finally got time to meet and discuss with Li Guangbi.

"Prince Yong was the first to achieve this victory. I'm afraid he can't deny it."

Li Guangbi said: "The plan to suppress the rebellion was decided by Prince Yong. Feng Changqing traveled thousands of miles to attack the enemy because of Prince Yong's approval and his guarantee to the court. In addition, he defeated the Khitan reinforcements, so he deserves the first credit."

Guo Ziyi said helplessly: "The Khitan Khan he captured is worth the tens of thousands of prisoners you and I have captured."

"Are you talking about the surrender of prisoners?"

"Yes, if we offer the captives, our reputation will spread all over the world..."

He had only said half of his words when there was a sudden commotion outside the tent.

Guo Ziyi was a vigilant person. He immediately stopped talking, lifted the curtain and went out to see what was happening.

"What's the fuss about?"

"General Jie, capture Shi Siming!"

"Really?"

Guo Ziyi had no hope of capturing and killing Shi Siming. As the commander-in-chief of the three armies, he was more concerned about the overall situation rather than the life of the bandit leader. He also knew that Shi Siming was cunning and had many fine horses in his army, so he could escape every time he was defeated.

Of course, it would be a great thing if Shi Siming could be captured.

When reporting the achievements to the saints, officials, and people of the world, not everyone understands the overall situation. They only care about whether the leader of the thief has been brought to justice.

"Take it as it is!"

"Where are people?"

Guo Ziyi was about to go see Shi Siming, but he heard an answer that surprised him greatly.

"Report to the commander-in-chief, the leader of the bandits is in the southern camp, under the command of Prince Yong."

"How did he get to the other side of the river?" Guo Ziyi laughed dumbly. "I saw the bandit leader fleeing to the north with my own eyes. Could it be that they captured a fake one and reported it to me?"

"It was Xue Zhan who captured Shi Siming. When he was returning to the camp, he was stopped by others. In a rage, he took him to see the King of Yong."

Guo Ziyi was silent for a while, then turned around and looked at Li Guangbi, with surprise and helplessness in his eyes.

In this battle, did both major victories go to Prince Yong?
~~
Xue Bai sat at the top and drank a sip of water leisurely.

In the tent, two prisoners who were tied up were staring at each other.

As soon as Li Huaixiu saw Shi Siming, he became angry and started cursing.

"Waste, I should have known you were a waste! Back then, I defeated An Lushan so badly that you threw away your weapons and fled into the valley alone. I regret that I should not have listened to the words of a defeated general like you and led an army to invade the Tang Dynasty... Your Highness Prince Yong, it was Shi Siming who deceived me. In fact, I am a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty!"

After venting it like this, there is no need to check to know that Shi Siming is the real one.

When Hun Yu saw this, his eyes fell on Shi Siming and did not move away.

Shi Siming suffered several injuries, but even after the defeat he still had a fierce and tough spirit.

When he heard what Li Huaixiu said, he immediately became angry.

The reason why he was defeated by Li Huaixiu that year was because An Lushan gave improper command and was too eager for success. He had already realized that something was wrong, so how could he be a waste?
Besides, as for this defeat, if Li Huaixiu could have attacked the Tang army camp in half an hour, they would have had a chance of winning. The defeat was due to Li Huaixiu's mistake!

But Shi Siming did not open his mouth to refute Li Huaixiu, there was no point. Li Huaixiu said this because the Khitans still had a chance to be pacified by the Tang court, but he was doomed to die.

Shi Siming's eyes fell on Xue Bai and he said, "You are Xue Bai."

"How dare you!" Diao Bing shouted, "The Prince of Yong of the Tang Dynasty is here!"

"I've heard your poems." Shi Siming really liked poetry, and said, "Compared to your status as a member of the Li Tang royal family, I respect you more as a poet."

Such a leisurely tone and ordinary topics made him seem more graceful.

Shi Siming added: "Your and my poetic styles are very similar."

"Maybe." Xue Bai said.

"If it weren't for you, I would have captured Chang'an and overthrown the Tang Dynasty!" Shi Siming became arrogant again.

"you are wrong."

Xue Bai shook his head to decline the compliment and had a rare heart-to-heart talk with Shi Siming.

"Without me, you will still be defeated. The Tang Dynasty is not doomed, the people still have support, and there are countless loyal ministers and generals to support the country. This is power, power lies in the people's hearts. And you have never won the hearts of the people."

Xue Bai lost interest at this point, and continued, "I just followed the general trend and helped guide it a little bit."

Shi Siming sneered and said, "You want to be Tang's obedient subjects and loyal dogs. I am different. I only obey the strong."

There was a barely perceptible gleam in his eyes.

He was not saying this to Xue Bai out of thin air, but had long known about Xue Bai's ambition to usurp the throne.

Then, Xue Bai actually has a chance to cooperate with him. The premise is that Xue Bai needs to be taught some truths about nurturing the enemy and not being too particular about small details when achieving great things.

He just said this to provoke Xue Bai.

But Xue Bai didn't respond at all, and said calmly: "Strong? Times make heroes. In my eyes, there are no strong people, only the people of the world and the thousand-year heritage."

Shi Siming was stunned, and then he looked at Xue Bai with a puzzled look, as if he was looking at a fool.

He originally thought that Xue Bai was a man of great talent and strategy, but now he seemed to be a weak person with a confused mind.

In people's imagination, Xue Bai is like the fierce and brutal Shi Chaoqing, but in reality he seems like the indecisive Shi Chaoyi.

But he was kneeling here and Xue Bai was sitting there. The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. There was nothing to say.

Thinking of this, Shi Siming felt even more sad and couldn't help but sigh.

What was even more difficult for him to accept was that Xue Bai seemed to find it boring to talk to him. He yawned and stood up.

Before Shi Siming could say anything, a soldier came in and reported, "Prince Yong, the two commanders want to see the captives."

"See you."

Xue Bai agreed casually and went to visit Xue Zhan.

Shi Siming saw this and knew that he and Xue Baidao had different ideas and could not work together. All he could ask for was the dignity before death.

~~
Hun Yu followed Xue Bai into the wounded soldiers' camp and looked at the young man of the same age as him lying on the stretcher with some curiosity.

"Brother."

Xue Zhan wanted to struggle to get up, but was stopped by Xue Bai.

"Just lie down. The doctor said you have dozens of wounds. Why are you fighting so hard?"

"I know the thief leader will be of great use to you, brother. I swear to capture him for you!"

Xue Bai did not deny him, but nodded and said: "The soldiers all praise you for your bravery. You will be a famous general in the future."

"real?!"

Xue Zhan was overjoyed and quickly propped himself up, which hurt his wound and made him grimace in pain.

He glanced at Hun Yu standing beside him, and his smile unconsciously faded a little.

Although he would never admit it verbally, in fact, in front of Hun Yu, he privately did not dare to call himself a famous general.

After all, he had heard about how Hun Yu broke through the enemy's formation alone and captured the Khitan Khan alive by fighting against hundreds of enemies.
On the other hand, I almost died fighting Shi Siming alone.

Xue Zhan just looked away, but heard Hun Yu suddenly speak.

"You are truly an amazing person, you were able to capture Shi Siming."

Xue Zhan was stunned at first, and then he couldn't help feeling proud.

Even the people he admired admired him. This feeling made him want to laugh, but he felt a little embarrassed, so he grinned slightly and looked awkward.

He didn't know how to answer Hun Yu, and after a while he whispered what was in his heart.

"One day I will become a famous general stronger than you."

"Don't worry." Hun Yu said, "I won't let you surpass me."

Xue Bai couldn't help but sigh as he listened to the silly conversation between the two young men.

Although the rebellion was about to be quelled, the famous generals of the Tang Dynasty did not die out. Just looking at these young people who were brave enough to fight for the best, we can tell that there will be a brighter future.

(End of this chapter)