Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 524: Silver Spear Filial Piety
An Shouzhong didn't sleep all night. When the sun rose, the blood color in his eyes was almost the same as the morning sun, looking a bit bloody and scary.

He was very conflicted, because after sitting in the government office study and thinking alone for an hour or two, An Shouzhong discovered an opportunity to turn defeat into victory!

No matter what kind of boat it is, even if it is specially designed to transport livestock, it takes time to load those horses on board.

If the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army was going to load the horses onto the ship in Beizhou, there would definitely be a period of time when the defense was weak. During this period, they would load the captured horses and the existing war horses onto the ship.

Although some modified facilities can be used to facilitate horses getting on board, it will definitely take time.

This period of time is the key to turning defeat into victory, and the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army must have weak defense.

However, there is another situation, that is, the cavalry goes by cavalry, and the canal boat goes by canal boat, and the two arrive at a relatively safe area before carrying out the loading operation. Of course, this safety is also relative safety, not absolute safety.

If An Shouzhong had enough troops now, no matter what the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army did, he would only need one surprise attack.

But now the stables outside the city have been destroyed, and there is a lack of sufficient cavalry. In addition, the army has just suffered a defeat, and morale has fallen to the bottom. There is no money left to gamble anymore.

hateful!

An Shouzhong clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger.

If he was slow in one step, all steps would be slow. Now he felt deeply the humiliation and powerlessness.

At this moment, An Shouzhong kept reviewing yesterday's battle in his mind. He found that Fang Zhongyong's deployment was layered, not a sudden attack;
The opponent's combat goal is not just "success" and "failure", but is phased and gradually improved.

Burning the stables was only the basic goal. If we could handle it properly and not send troops out so hastily, the final result would be the loss of some horses, and that would be the end of it.

It is estimated that by then the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army could not gain any more advantages and would have returned on their own.

Unfortunately, Zhou Zhi fell into a trap and was ambushed by the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army.

In this way, the opponent's secondary goal was achieved, and our side even lost a part of its troops and its morale was completely crushed.

But is this the worst?
An Shouzhong believes that this is not the worst outcome.

The worst result was that the defenders of Qinghe County also participated in the rescue and were eventually wiped out. It should be said that this situation was very likely to happen, but he was just so angry that he fainted and could not command.

Thinking of this, An Shouzhong let out a long sigh and felt a little comforted.

So he issued another military order: open the city gates after an hour, and first send a few scouts down in a hanging basket to conduct reconnaissance.

The soldiers took the order and left.

An hour later, the south gate of Qinghe County opened wide. An Shouzhong looked troubled, as if he had a lot on his mind, his brows were furrowed into the shape of the Chinese character "川".

The scout just came back and told him one good news and one bad news.

The bad news is that Zhou Zhi's body was found. He was killed in the battle last night, and almost all the soldiers in the camp outside the city were killed, with only one in ten surviving.

The good news is that the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army hasn’t run away yet!
Instead, the horses were loaded onto the ship ten miles east of Qinghe County! The fleet of dozens of canal boats looked quite spectacular.

Do you want to take a gamble?

An Shouzhong was torn between his own conscience and his own desires. Although he looked calm on the outside, his inner anxiety and confusion had almost reached a point where he could no longer suppress it.

Zhou Zhi was killed in the battle, the camp was broken, the stables were burned, and more than half of the war horses ran away. Last night's battle was absolutely a great humiliation.

If he can't get back at this point, not only will the morale of the army collapse, but An Shouzhong himself won't know how to command the battle in the future!

However, this time it is not such an easy gamble. Many people watched the battle on the city wall last night and witnessed how Zhou Zhi and others died. Now their hearts are full of shadows and their morale has collapsed.

How can an army like this fight a war if it doesn’t take a good rest?

Of course, if we can turn defeat into victory now, we can save the collapsed morale.

To fight or not to fight?
An Shouzhong kept calculating the chances of winning.

Just as he was hesitating, he caught a glimpse of an army coming from the west and marching along the canal.

In parallel with it, there is also a huge fleet of grain ships!

An Shouzhong took a closer look and saw that the other party was using the flag of the Hebei rebels, so he was immediately overjoyed!

Reinforcements are coming! Reinforcements are finally coming!
An Shouzhong was so excited that he almost cried!

However, what was unexpected was that the team stopped outside the city of Qinghe County, and a general in his thirties came forward with a condescending attitude.

He asked in a deep voice: "General An, long time no see. May I ask how is the battle situation in Beizhou?"

This man was named Zhang Zhongzhi. He was originally the adopted son of Zhang Suogao, a general from Fanyang. Later, he took the initiative to surrender to Huangfu Weiming and became a close confidant of Marshal Huangfu.

An Shouzhong was An Lushan's adopted son and a "remnant of the previous dynasty". He was not very well-liked by Huangfu Weiming on a daily basis.

If it weren't for his outstanding abilities, it would be impossible for him to lead an army alone.

Because of Huangfu Weiming's stance, Zhang Zhongzhi and An Shouzhong have never gotten along well.

Previously, Zhang Zhongzhi was assigned to Liyang to lead an army to cooperate with Li Guiren in the battle. As the vanguard of the march south to Henan, he was obviously more valued than An Shouzhong, who led a small army.

Huangfu Weiming sent Zhang Zhongzhi to express his dissatisfaction with An Shouzhong's unfavorable performance in the battle.

"Hurry, hurry, the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army is loading horses ten miles to the east. General Zhang will lead a surprise attack and we will surely defeat them!

Opportunities never come again! "

An Shouzhong suddenly grabbed Zhang Zhongzhi's arm like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw, his eyes bulged out, and he looked like a gambler who had lost all his money and wanted to make a final comeback.

Zhang Zhongzhi calmly moved his arm away from An Shouzhong's hand. He was not that familiar with the other party, and it was impossible for him to act based on his one-sided words.

Zhang Zhongzhi shook his head and said in an official tone: "General An, the enemy situation is unclear now, so we must not act rashly. Besides, there is one more thing..."

Zhang Zhongzhi waved to Zhang Xiu who was not far away. The latter walked up slowly and said to An Shouzhong: "General An, Marshal Huangfu has established a governorate to fight against bandits. General Zhang is the governor and the chief commander of the army. He controls all the troops participating in the encirclement and suppression of the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army. There are troops from Zhending, Fanyang and other places participating in the encirclement and suppression, including your troops."

Zhang Xiu's tone was very cold. Obviously, when he went back to report last time, Huangfu Weiming also expressed a clear attitude.

An Shouzhong's heart skipped a beat and he thought to himself that something was wrong. He understood that the situation on the battlefield had changed, or rather, that the quantitative change had led to a qualitative change.

Fang Chongyong has repeatedly carried out unexpected actions in Hebei, madly slapping the faces of the Hebei rebels. Now he has become a major concern for Huangfu Weiming!

To put it simply, Fang Zhongyong completely pissed off Huangfu Weiming!
"Greetings to Commander Zhang."

An Shouzhong reluctantly clasped his fists and saluted Zhang Zhongzhi.

He knew trouble was coming.

As expected, Zhang Zhongzhi snorted coldly, pointed at the corpses scattered around him and said, "General An, there must have been a big battle last night. Did we win or lose? How many enemies did we kill? What's that burnt over there? It looks like a stable, right? Could it be that General An burned his own stable to lure the enemy in?"

Zhang Zhongzhi sneered sarcastically.

He was also a battle-hardened general, and he could guess what had happened last night at a glance.

"Last night, the enemy army raided Beizhou and set fire to the stables. General Zhou Zhi of my army led his troops to meet the enemy, but unfortunately he was killed. This general is deeply saddened."

An Shouzhong said something nice and didn't mention a word about how he fainted last night and ignored the soldiers outside the city.

His plan was well-thought-out, since there would be no evidence to prove his mistake.

Unfortunately, Zhang Zhongzhi had come with bad intentions. No matter what answer An Shouzhong gave, Zhang Zhongzhi would find fault in the end.

“This is the first time that I have seen someone dying and yet he did not help. It’s a pity that General An did not become an actor.

Come here, take down this thief!" Zhang Zhongzhi pointed at An Shouzhong and shouted.

Several burly bodyguards behind him pounced on An Shouzhong while he was still in a daze and subdued him in an instant.

An Shouzhong's personal soldiers did not react in time, and by the time their commander was captured, it was too late.

"Commander-in-Chief Zhang, what does this mean?"

An Shouzhong asked back with a look of dissatisfaction, his heart in his throat.

"General An has defeated the enemy troops time and again despite their small number, and has allowed them to grow stronger and wreak havoc in Hebei!
Marshal Huangfu’s plan has been ruined!
General An has been in many battles, but now he can't even follow the enemy. I think you are deliberately fighting a messy battle?

Marshal Huangfu ordered me to come to Beizhou specifically to investigate you!

As expected, last night was another big defeat! An Shouzhong, what else do you have to say?
Judge Zhang, the task of escorting this thief back to Yecheng is now given to you. "

Zhang Zhongzhi said to Zhang Xiu beside him, refusing to listen to An Shouzhong's explanation at all.

"Please rest assured, Commander Zhang."

Zhang Xiu bowed deeply to Zhang Zhongzhi.

Zhang Zhongzhi nodded in satisfaction, looked at An Shouzhong and sneered, "General An, if you have anything to say, go and talk to Marshal Huangfu yourself. I don't have anything to say to you, and I don't want to listen to your noise!"

An Shouzhong had nothing to say. It was easy to find excuses to accuse someone of a crime, so what else could he say?

He was originally An Lushan's adopted son, and when An Lushan died, he was nothing. There are even rumors that An Lushan's death was closely related to Huangfu Weiming, and the key point is hard to think about.

An Shouzhong took off his sword and handed it to Zhang Xiu, then slumped down.

Seeing that An Shouzhong was knowledgeable and sensible, Zhang Zhongzhi didn't want to act like a villain, so he just waved at Zhang Xiu, signaling him to take the man away.

After Zhang Zhongzhi saw Zhang Xiu and the others off, he said to An Shouzhong's personal guards, "If anyone wants to go with him, go with him. I will never stop you!"

No one answered, as if they didn't hear what Zhang Zhongzhi said.

It's obvious to everyone that An Shouzhong is most likely to be finished. What's the point of following him and flattering him?

If loyalty does not bring any benefits, then such loyalty is meaningless.

After dealing with An Shouzhong, Zhang Zhongzhi was not idle either. He immediately sent someone to inquire about the news.

Then the situation that the scouts found out was just as An Shouzhong said: the fleet suspected to be the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army was preparing to set sail and head north along the canal. If we send cavalry to chase them now, we may still be able to catch up, but we will not be able to gain the upper hand.

So Zhang Zhongzhi ordered the army to deploy defenses in the Qinghe County area, control the remaining troops under An Shouzhong, widely deploy cavalry to investigate military intelligence, and let the grain ships coming from Liyang unload their cargo and store grain.

There were still several troops on the way to the siege that had not yet arrived, and Zhang Zhongzhi was not in a hurry to engage the enemy. He would not make the same mistake that An Shouzhong had made.

……

After waiting for a long time, there was no one chasing, only some scouts like flies approaching to scout, which was very annoying.

Fang Chongyong had no choice but to let Che Guangqian lead elite scouts to attack. They shot and killed some scouts of the Hebei rebels. The rest did not dare to approach the fleet any further and fled back to Qinghe County.

"General Jie, An Shouzhong is not fooled. He hasn't come for such a long time."

He Changqi whispered beside Fang Chongyong.

"Yeah, I exposed such a big flaw, but he didn't fall for it. It's not simple."

Fang Zhongyong held up his chin, looking thoughtful.

Taking advantage of the existence of boats and rivers, he had deployed a large number of winch crossbows on the grain ships. He originally intended to imitate Liu Yu's "Que Yue Formation".

Fang Chongyong deliberately ordered to slow down the loading process in order to let An Shouzhong find out about the situation and lure him into making a desperate move.

As a result, this guy didn't even send troops to pursue!
To some extent, it's like winking at a blind man.

"Forget it, let's retreat first."

This is how you use strategies. When you use strategies well, your opponent will not fall for them. When you don't use strategies, your opponent will use strategies against you!

War is a kind of performance art of mutual calculation and life-and-death struggle.

Fang Zhongyong waved his hands helplessly.

"General Jie, could it be that because of your reputation, An Shouzhong is scared and doesn't dare to come?"

Duan Xueshi also echoed. The generals around Fang Zhongyong looked at each other, seeming to agree with this view, but they did not dare to say it in front of Fang Zhongyong.

Fang Chongyong is a brave general, as fierce as a tiger and as cunning as a fox.

The insidious tricks are one after another, making it hard to guard against.

An Shouzhong had suffered so many losses, and even a fool had been tricked into becoming a wise man. If it were them, they would not have rashly pursued him now.

"We are just a handful of people. Aren't we just an easy target for those Hebei bandits to fight over?"

Fang Zhongyong asked back with a puzzled look.

Not knowing how to respond to this, the others just remained silent.

After a while, Che Guangqian came back with a prisoner who was wounded by an arrow.

Fang Chongyong interrogated him casually and found out that he was not a member of An Shouzhong's army, but a member of Zhang Zhongzhi's reinforcements.

This time, Zhang Zhongzhi brought 20,000 people to reinforce Beizhou, or in other words, he replaced An Shouzhong and took charge of the encirclement and suppression.

"We have set up a governor's office to fight against bandits and control several armies."

Upon learning that Zhang Zhongzhi was actually the commander-in-chief of the army, Fang Chongyong looked strange and did not speak for a long time.

Seeing this, He Changqi asked in a low voice: "General Jie, is there anything wrong with Zhang Zhongzhi?"

"There's nothing wrong with that. If anything, he's just a very childish person."

Fang Zhongyong muttered to himself.

In his previous life, he read those boring jokes, including one by Zhang Zhongzhi.

In his later years, this man was bewitched and fooled by alchemists and sorcerers. In the end, he was poisoned by the alchemists and became mute. He died three days later.

Of course, he was no longer called Zhang Zhongzhi at that time, but changed his name to Li Baochen!
This guy has a hole in his brain and is often deceived.

Those who cheated him include but are not limited to Ji Ge, An Lushan, Tian Chengsi, Tang Daizong, etc. He is easy to trust others, and likes to get angry and ashamed because of regret after being cheated. He has a lot of little tricks in his mind, and he is moody, calculating, and suspicious.

He is a controversial figure who is very good at fighting but has many flaws.

It is particularly worth mentioning that Li Baochen seemed to have been labeled as a "fool" by Tian Chengsi, and he was cheated almost every time he met him. It is unknown how many losses he had suffered at the hands of Tian Chengsi.

"Marshal Jie? Do you know this Zhang Zhongzhi?" He Changqi asked doubtfully.

The comment "childish" puzzled everyone present.

"I can't say I know him, but I have thought of a way to give him a warning."

Fang Chongyong's eyes rolled and he had a plan in mind.

(End of this chapter)