Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 586 Make a decision and then act

Bai Xiaode and Guo Xi were both among the generals who were most familiar with the Qin-Long War, but Xue Bai lived in Chang'an and had a much better understanding of intelligence and grasp of timing than them, so he must have had the help of an expert.

The commander on the Qin-Long battlefield had to be in charge of placing spies in the Tubo army and finding out Dazalugong's route.

Which commander is that?

When Guo Xi thought of this, his mind moved and he had a vague guess.

Bai Xiaode asked first, "Could it be that Marshal Guo informed His Majesty of the information?"

Guo Xi raised his eyebrows and hurried to look at Xue Bai's expression.

Previously, Guo Ziyi had been defeated, and everyone was talking about his faults. Even his son Guo Xi suspected that he had deliberately let Dazhalugong enter the country on the orders of the retired emperor.

However, if Guo Ziyi had contacted Xue Bai in advance and plotted against Dazhalugong, the situation would be very different.

Xue Bai nodded and said, "Yes, it is Marshal Guo."

He walked to the map, pointed at the location of Yuanzhou twice, and spoke slowly.

"The Tang Dynasty has just emerged from the chaos of war and is temporarily unable to recover the lost territories in Hexi and Longyou. We are in a passive position in this battle with Tubo. The enemy can come and go as they please. Even if we defeat Dazalugong temporarily, he will come back to attack us in the autumn."

"Some time ago, the army found out that someone was secretly colluding with Tubo. Marshal Guo investigated and learned that Dazalugong was planning to invade Chang'an, so he sent someone to report to me and made a plan to defeat the enemy, 'luring the enemy deep into our territory, surrounding and annihilating them.' He deliberately leaked the news and let Gao Hui go, letting him lead Dazalugong to Pingliang and Bingzhou. At the same time, he planted spies around Gao Hui."

At this point, Xue Bai smiled at Guo Xi and said, "So I said, the spy is Gao Hui, doesn't that mean he is familiar with General Guo?"

Guo Xi was overjoyed.

Although all recent remarks and consequences are directed at Guo Ziyi, as a son, Guo Xi has also been under too much pressure during this period.

In order to turn the tide of the war, we have been chasing all the way here, and we are exhausted both physically and mentally. Now we know that it turns out that my grandfather had already made arrangements, and was even a great contributor to your majesty's ascension to the throne. Isn't this more long-term and stable than supporting the emperor emeritus?

He thought to himself, yes, this is my grandfather's style, to plan ahead, to be able to defeat foreign enemies on the battlefield, to protect himself and build achievements.

As a result, Guo Xi also developed strong confidence in Xue Bai and was full of admiration for the newly enthroned emperor.

In his opinion, with his grandfather's vision, the person he supports must be right. With his grandfather's support, Your Majesty will surely be successful.

Guo Xi then bowed his head and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty has foresight and foresight, I admire you!"

Xue Bai did not try to win him over blindly, nor did he rush to call Guo Xi up, but instead gave him a few words of advice.

"Now you know how to admire me. Before, when you allowed your soldiers to bully the people, I'm afraid you never thought about my strict laws."

When Guo Xi was feeling happy and full of admiration, he was suddenly suppressed and felt terrified.

In fact, the perpetrators of the previous cases had already been dealt with by Xue Bai's men. The problem was that Guo Xi was not convinced at the time. Although he stayed in Duan Xueshi's tent for a night, he admired Duan Xueshi rather than the court's laws, and he still had a lot of criticisms about Xue Bai afterwards.

When Han Huang left, Guo Xi told the soldiers in the army that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was meddling too much in other people's affairs and was deliberately using him to establish his authority.

At this moment, he couldn't help but worry that these words had fallen into Xue Bai's ears.

As soon as this thought came to his mind, he felt that this must be the case, and he was so scared that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"I know I was wrong!"

Guo Xi knocked his head on the ground without saying a word. Because he knocked too hard, the helmet made his head buzz.

"In the past, I was arrogant and ignorant, and committed great sins. Now I have come to my senses and turned back. I beg Your Majesty to give me a chance to reform. I will do my best and go through fire and water for Your Majesty!"

Bai Xiaode was unwilling to be outdone, so he also knelt down to show his loyalty.

His causing trouble at this time only brought more pressure to Guo Xi, so he had to quickly express that he was more loyal.

Xue Bai said calmly: "The military situation is urgent right now, let's make amends for our crimes and see what happens next."

"Yes, I will defeat the enemy for your majesty!"

~~
There were many more campfires on the river bank, reflected in the sparkling water.

It was not until a bright moon slowly sank into the river and it was late at night and time to go to bed that a team of cavalry led their horses to the river to get water.

They ran for too long during the day and stopped very late. Because horses can only use their nostrils, they can easily choke to death if they drink water after running and panting hard, so they had to wait until now to feed the horses. In addition, they had to set up camp after returning, which shows how tired they were.

Morale is low and there are complaints.

"Ever since the imperial court sent imperial envoys to kill our people, life has become increasingly difficult."

"I'm afraid the imperial court wants to suppress Marshal Guo and use us as a target."

"I just checked, there are only so many troops in the camp. It is said that the emperor will lead the army in person, but I am afraid that he will have to leave some troops to protect the saint. How can he defeat the Tubo?"

He complained all the way, and when he returned to the camp, he saw that Guo Xi had not slept yet and had called all the soldiers to the campfire.

The soldiers were distressed to see their general's haggard appearance and started shouting.

Then a deputy general advised Guo Xi: "General, we only have 200 knights. Although we are the elite of the army, we are few in number and it is easy for us to be defeated here. Moreover, we have to obey Bai Xiaode's orders. He will definitely give us the task of sending ourselves to death. Why don't you shirk responsibility by saying that the soldiers are tired after marching for many days and wait for the situation to arrive until the reinforcements arrive?"

"Roll the ball!"

Guo Xi cursed loudly and walked among the soldiers with a proud look on his face.

"Brothers, I know you have been traveling for days and are exhausted. But our hard work has not been in vain. We have now taken the credit for being the first to serve the king, and everyone will be rewarded handsomely!"

When it comes to rewards in the army, the generals usually withhold most of the money and distribute the rest to the soldiers. Although Guo Xi indulges the soldiers, he is considered to be good in this regard, usually only withholding half. This time, he was excited and eager to make achievements, so he did not take a penny and distributed it all.

As soon as the rewards of real money and silver were announced, the soldiers were overjoyed.

"Now that the country is in danger, it is the time for us men to make achievements on the battlefield. Moreover, a wise ruler has been born, and Your Majesty is mighty and will personally fight against the foreign invaders. We will serve you, and should we not seek to be granted the title of Marquis and be listed in the Lingyan Pavilion? Tomorrow we will meet the enemy, and I ask you to be brave!"

Guo Xi was very excited.

The brave soldiers under his command could all feel his excitement, and their morale was greatly boosted.

~~
The Chinese military tent.

After Bai Xiaode and Guo Xi left, they came back alone to meet Xue Bai at night.

"Your Majesty, I just passed by Guo Xi's camp. He was encouraging his soldiers and their morale was very high."

"That's good." Xue Bai said, "Immediately report this matter to Guo Ziyi's army."

"Yes." Bai Xiaode said, "Since Your Majesty has made Guo Xi serve you wholeheartedly, there is no need to worry that Guo Ziyi will not come to support you."

"I hope so."

"Your Majesty, rest assured. Although Guo Xi brought a small number of troops this time, he has a high prestige in the army due to his status. He can be a role model for other generals. With him leading the way, reinforcements will arrive soon. He also said that this battle was planned by Guo Ziyi and Your Majesty. Our army's morale is high and we will win. It won't be difficult to hold out until the main force arrives."

Xue Bai said: "This time, it's all thanks to General Bai."

"I can share your majesty's worries, even if I die a thousand times!"

Xue Bai also sent Han Huang to supervise the army, and only then did he notice Bai Xiaode and Duan Xueshi, two generals who were both capable of both civil and military affairs. Duan Xueshi was dispatched to follow Feng Changqing in the western expedition, and Bai Xiaode was then reused by Xue Bai.

Guo Ziyi was the target of all forces in the power struggle. Therefore, it was Bai Xiaode who caught the Tubo spy and took advantage of the situation.

It was because of Bai Xiaode that he could mobilize limited troops, which allowed Dazalugong to break into Bingzhou. If it was really Guo Ziyi's plan, Xue Bai would have defeated Dazalugong long ago without his personal expedition.

In this battle, the problem Xue Bai encountered was not anything else but that he had just ascended the throne and could not smoothly command the generals from all sides. He urgently needed a big victory to establish his authority, but he could not win a big victory if he could not command the generals.

As the enemy approached, he was faced with a vicious cycle.

So he used deceptive means to deceive the generals that he had obtained the support of Guo Ziyi, and then in turn made Guo Ziyi fully support him.

Bai Xiaode first tested Guo Xi's attitude, and seeing that he had not completely sided with Li Longji, he brought him to Xue Bai and staged a play to make him believe that the Tang army had formed an encirclement of the Tubo army and that they would surely win the battle.

It is hard for Bai Xiaode to have made great contributions, but he pretends not to know and attributes the credit to others.

But the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty knew his grievances, and that was enough.

After the great victory, the emperor will naturally not forget to compensate him.

~~
Two days later, Dazalugong led his troops to attack as expected.

This was the first battle, and he was still very cautious facing Xue Bai. The purpose of the attack was to test and judge Xue Bai's strength by observing the military appearance, formation, and morale.

As the main force approached, Dazalugong personally observed the Tang army camp and quickly made a preliminary judgment.

Although the camp was located in a strategic location, it was not large and rather messy, and no more baggage was seen entering the camp from the rear.

Xue Bai dispatched his troops in a hurry and brought only a small number of soldiers; this fact could not be concealed from anyone.

Whether the soldiers have confidence in their own strength and whether they are afraid of the enemy can be reflected on the battlefield.

It’s like when two wild beasts meet, they can feel each other’s aura through their posture, eyes, and breath.

At this moment, Dazha Lugong felt like a tiger and Xue Bai was a hare.

He also reminded himself that even if he was fighting a rabbit with a tiger, he had to do his best.

Soon, the Tubo army began to cross the river.

They were not well prepared for this crossing, and before the cavalry for cover arrived, the vanguard had already reached the other side of the river.

Because everyone thought that the Tang army would definitely hold the camp.

When Lang Jiezan waded across the river, half of the main force of today's attack had already crossed. He sat on a rock to dry his wet feet and chatted with others.

He wore a majestic armor today, attracting the attention of his comrades.

"Lang Jiezan, where did you get this armor?"

"I exchanged it with Longbudo."

The Lang family was a Tibetan noble family, but Lang Jiezan's father had chosen the wrong side in the power struggle, and his family had fallen into poverty, so someone asked him, "What did you exchange for?"

"I exchanged it for the best tea. Do you know where my tea comes from?"

"Where did you steal it from?" "A few days ago, a man from the Tang court who was with the general bought a slave from me in exchange for tea. Hey, I exchanged a slave for this set of armor. I am so smart."

"Li Qiwu?"

"Yes." Lang Jiezan said, "He told me that their emperor has regained power."

"Yes, the general said that the enemy is just a prince exiled by the Tang court. You see, they only have that few troops..."

Before he could finish his words, a shout suddenly came from the side.

"The Tang army is coming!"

Lang Jiezan turned around and actually did not see the Tang army at all. He only saw soldiers, slaves, and driven herdsmen shouting and screaming, crowded together, and in a panic.

~~
When the Tibetan army was approaching that day, the Tang army's scouts discovered their movements and reported back to the army. Xue Bai summoned all the generals and said that the Tibetan army would underestimate the enemy because they had few soldiers, and asked who would dare to go and undermine their prestige.

Bai Xiaode immediately stepped out and said, "I am willing to fight and I will definitely defeat Dazalugong."

He was good at launching surprise attacks as a vanguard, and once fought against a general under Shi Siming and won the victory.

Guo Xi was still looking at the sand table. He did not expect Bai Xiaode to react so quickly. He quickly said, "I have elite cavalry with me. They can help Your Majesty defeat the enemy!"

He completely forgot that his deputy general had asked him to shirk his responsibility and go into battle to preserve his strength. Instead, he was scrambling to go to the most dangerous place and make the greatest contribution.

The number of soldiers he brought this time was small, and he was originally going to join forces with Bai Xiaode. Xue Bai then sent the two of them to stop the enemy.

They had already explored the terrain and were familiar with it. According to the plan, they only needed to attack the Tubo army halfway across the river and scare the enemy, and they would have achieved their strategic goal.

But Guo Xi said: "Don't we know the moral character of the Fan army? They always drive away a large number of herdsmen. When we cross the river today, Dazalugong will let these people build a pontoon bridge. You lead your troops to provoke them, and I will use a small group of cavalry to cross the Jing River and launch a surprise attack. The herdsmen will surely flee, and I can take the opportunity to charge."

"Too dangerous."

"Your Majesty was able to take down the Tubo prince with one spear, so why can't you and I do the same? Others only boast that he took the head of the enemy general in the midst of thousands of troops. Although the enemy army is tens of thousands, they are just chickens and dogs!"

Bai Xiaode glanced at Guo Xi and thought to himself that this kid was too arrogant. If he got trapped in the Tubo army, it would delay important strategic matters.

But Guo Xi came from a military family and was arrogant by nature, so Bai Xiaode could not stop him. Besides, Bai Xiaode himself was a ruthless character who dared to charge into the enemy camp alone, so he agreed.

At worst, I can just go and meet Guo Xi in person when the time comes.

After the two men had an agreement, Guo Xi was overjoyed and personally led his army to take a detour upstream and swim to attack the enemy camp.

He was afraid of scaring his horse, so he did not bring any firearms from the army. He only asked for a few telescopes and gave them to the scouts. When he observed that the Tubo army was halfway across the river and Bai Xiaode had already charged into the enemy camp, he kicked his horse's belly and jumped out of the crowd.

"kill!"

Without saying a word, Guo Xi took the lead and charged towards the Tubo army.

The Tubo army had always been poor at formations, and in order to bluff during battles, they often drove a large number of herdsmen and border people, often claiming to have hundreds of thousands of troops. As Guo Xi had expected, these people were the ones who gathered by the river today to build a floating bridge and transport supplies.

The Tang cavalry rushed in, relying on their sophisticated armor and weapons, and charged left and right at the unarmored soldiers, just like trampling on chickens and dogs.

Guo Xi was not only a brave soldier, but also flew the flag of the Shuofang Army, with the word "Guo" written in large letters on the flag, which gave Dazha Lugong a strong sense of familiarity.

As Guo Ziyi's old rival, Dazha Lugong was immediately shocked and worried that he had fallen into Guo Ziyi's trap, so he immediately ordered his troops to retreat.

Guo Xi was killing happily, but he did not expect the Tibetan army to retreat so quickly, so he immediately attacked them.

After chasing for a while, Dazalugong looked back frequently and found that there were only about 200 Tang cavalrymen chasing them, so he dispatched troops to return and encircle them.

However, scouts reported that reinforcements from the Tang army were approaching from more than 30 miles to the south, so he had to give up and ordered the cavalry to hold off the pursuers and retreat calmly.

Guo Xi fought for a while, but seeing that he could not stop Dazalugong, he simply turned around to intercept other Tibetan soldiers.

He looked around the battlefield with a telescope and saw a general in bright armor fleeing in panic under a swaying Lang flag with Tibetan characters written on it. He immediately rushed over to that side.

"Where to go!"

First there was a shout, which frightened the other party.

Then, Guo Xi rode forward, swung the long sword in his hand, and knocked the weapon out of the opponent's hand in one round.

"Bah!"

The two horses crossed each other, and in a flash, Guo Xi grabbed the general with his hand, like an eagle catching a wild beast in an instant, and directly lifted him up, held him tightly under his armpit, and galloped away.

In this situation, if the Tubo general dared to struggle, he would fall off his horse and suffer a bloody head, so he did not dare to move and was obediently captured by Guo Xi and brought back to the army.

"Wan Sheng!"

The Tang army roared and cheered.

Guo Xi returned to the camp in a triumphant mood, only to see a few more large flags in the camp. It turned out that more generals had been summoned and were showing their loyalty to the new emperor.

Unfortunately, those people arrived too late and could not compare to him in terms of the first achievement.

Throwing the captured enemy general to the ground, Guo Xi shouted, "I have accomplished my mission and captured the Tibetan minister of the Lang clan alive!"

There was another round of jubilation in the camp.

Everyone has known the Lang family since they fought against Tubo for so many years, but no one actually knew the names of Lang's ministers or their positions. Anyway, judging from their bright armor, they must be important officials of Tubo, and must be important figures second only to Dazalugong.

"You! What's your name?!"

"Lang...Lang Jiezan."

"He is indeed a big shot!"

Lang Jiezan could understand what the Tang army was saying. He looked up and saw that the Tang soldiers were very excited, pointing at him and talking in a buzzing voice.

"Those with the word 'Zan' in their names are all extraordinary, like our Guo Lang, Li Lang, and Xue Lang."

"Lang Jiezan, I think I've heard of him. He's the Prime Minister of Tubo, right?"

"It must be the Prime Minister."

"Hey, let me ask you...you, the Prime Minister, right?"

Lang Jiezan trembled when he heard this and wanted to explain that he was not an important person.

But he thought that if he really explained it, the Tang soldiers would be so angry that they would chop him into meat paste.

He had no choice but to pretend that he didn't understand. He stared with his eyes wide open, neither nodding nor shaking his head, his neck stiff.

The news soon spread throughout the army, saying that Marshal Guo and His Majesty had set up a plan to besiege Dazalugong. With his unstoppable courage, Major General Guo broke into the Tibetan army of hundreds of thousands and captured the second most important figure in the enemy army, the Tibetan prime minister, alive.

Xue Bai also sent people to inform Chang'an, and at the same time asked the post horses to inform the government troops in various places.

Originally, some state officials had heard that the new emperor had ascended the throne, but the process was not so smooth, so they wanted to wait and see. Now, they heard that the new emperor was so powerful and that Guo Ziyi's son was so at his beck and call, so they did not dare to hesitate any longer and rushed to Bingzhou.

~~
In the following days, the two sides fought again, with both sides winning and losing.

But the Tang army's strength grew day by day, and its morale gradually increased. Dazalugong had obviously lost hope of a great victory.

The situation became more unfavorable to him with every passing day. If it dragged on, he might even have difficulty withdrawing his troops.

When it really came time to withdraw the troops, the thought that the Tang court now had such a young and heroic monarch was that within ten years, the monarch would pose a huge threat to Tubo. It would be a pity to miss the opportunity to defeat him.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Dazalugong decided to turn south, rob Fengtian, threaten Chang'an, mobilize Xue Bai to chase, and force the Tang army to deploy defenses to the east.

At that time, he will suddenly head west, rob Fengxiang, and then return to Longyou.

During the process, if the Tang army made any reckless moves in pursuit, he could suddenly turn around and try to kill them under the dragon flag and capture the Tang emperor alive.

A tree that is moved will die, but a person who moves will live. In the current situation, the Tubo army can only break through by moving.

Of course, unfamiliarity with the terrain was a big problem. Fortunately, Dazalugong had no shortage of guides.

He ordered Li Qiwu and Gao Hui to lead the army.

Li Qiwu, as an important official of the royal family, had been to Fengtian for sacrifices several times. Gao Hui had been in Jingzhou for a long time. Both of them were very familiar with the terrain of the area and quickly drew a map.

They planned a route, and Dazalugong was delighted. He immediately ordered the army to set off the next day.

That night.

Li Qiwu played the Hujia in the tent, and his voice sounded very sad.

Across several tents, Gao Hui listened to the music and sighed softly.

Suddenly, a soldier behind him spoke.

"General, are you worried about the uncertain road ahead?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Gao Hui said.

"The reason why the general joined the Tibetan army was not to betray his country, but to borrow troops for the emperor. But now the emperor has passed away, and the world does not know the general's painstaking efforts, and only calls the general a traitor. Even if he helps the Tibetans rob and return, what future does the general have?"

Gao Hui sighed helplessly and said, "Now that things have come to this, what else can we do?"

"The general is different from Li Qiwu. Li Qiwu has a personal grudge against the new emperor, but the general still has a chance to turn from darkness to light."

Gao Hui turned around, looking displeased at first, then his eyes flickered a few times, and he shook his head and said, "I also want to turn from darkness to light, but unfortunately, there is no chance."

"I dare not hide the truth from you, General. I was sent by General Bai Xiaode."

Gao Hui took two steps back in shock, and said in anger, "What did you say?!"

"The general stuffed the information into the lamb's stomach and asked it to leave the camp to find the ewe. General Bai knew about this a long time ago, and he asked me to follow the general to the Tibetan army to pass on the message. Now, Dazalugong has been surrounded by the royal army. This is the general's last chance to make a contribution."

"..."

That night, a simple map was sent out of the Tubo camp, marking the route of the Tubo army.

Gao Hui promised to lead Dazalugong to a designated ambush location.

(End of this chapter)