Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 539: Nine Heavens of Water and Fire (Part )
"Take off your armor! Run!"

The oncoming flood made the Western Army soldiers at a loss, and someone shouted loudly.

Everyone started to take off their armor at the same time.

However, it was already a little late. The water flowed very fast and arrived in front of them in the blink of an eye.

How could it be so easy to deal with a flood that came down from a height of tens of meters? It was like a black earth dragon, sweeping away everything in front of it.

Whether it is trees, dead branches, or stones, we accept all of them.

In the face of disaster, human power is insignificant.

Floods coming down from the mountains often turn into mudslides, which is a natural disaster more terrible than floods.

At the critical moment, Li Guangbi saw the terraced fields on both sides at a glance. Running to the terraced fields might be a way to survive, but this required a competition of who had the fastest legs!
"Go to the terraced fields! Go to the terraced fields to survive!"

Li Guangbi shouted at the already chaotic formation.

The results were minimal, and those who were running around were still running around.

Li Guangbi didn't care about other people and rode his horse towards the nearest terraced field. The horse seemed to sense the danger and exerted several times its strength to rush towards the terraced field.

Unfortunately, perhaps because the horse was running too fast, it stumbled while going uphill, and its front legs fell to the ground. The huge inertia threw Li Guangbi several meters away.

Li Guangbi rolled and rolled on the terraced fields and stopped only when he hit a mound of earth.

Such a violent impact made him faint instantly and he fell to the ground motionless.

Fortunately, the place where he was lying was on relatively high ground, so he was not in any danger for the time being.

However, the disaster of the Western Army was not over yet! Fang Youde prepared not only floods to break through the battle line, but also wildfires to cut off their retreat!
At the foot of the mountain, in the woods on both sides of the Western Army's mountain road, Li Huaiguang and five hundred soldiers were ready to go.

He saw smoke rising in the distance and immediately realized that it was done. A relieved smile finally appeared on his face.

"Light it up, burn it!"

Li Huaiguang gave instructions to the soldiers around him.

The two guards swallowed their saliva and seemed a little hesitant.

One of them said to Li Huaiguang: "General Li, it's summer now and the forest is very dry. If a fire is lit, it will be impossible to put it out. Are you going to burn the whole mountain?"

That means we have to burn everything. If we don’t, what will happen if the enemy hides in the mountains and forests? This move is to cut off the retreat of tens of thousands of Western troops!

Li Huaiguang sneered, "Either burn the forest or burn you, choose one!"

"Order!"

The two men immediately took people to burn the forest, each leading a team and only responsible for one side of the road.

Seeing that everyone was busy, Li Huaiguang put his hands on his hips and looked intently towards the north.

There will be a huge flood there, blocking the Western Army's advance.

And there will be a continuous fire here, blocking the Western Army's retreat.

It must be said that Fang Youde's methods were so cruel! He fought with a deadly blow and showed no mercy at all.

It can be said that "being kind to the enemy is being cruel to yourself" has been taken to the extreme.

Seeing that the fire had already started, Li Huaiguang hurriedly recruited his troops and went down the mountain to Weishui Town.

……

On the top of Weiyang City, Li Jiaqing stood beside Fang Youde with a complicated expression on his face, quietly watching the diverted Wei River, as if he understood something.

From the top of the city wall, you can clearly see how the Western Army soldiers were trying to avoid the mudslide. It was a funny and ridiculous sight.

It's like watching people struggling in the water from the shore, which is also interesting. But it's not so wonderful if you fall in and struggle yourself.

"General, did you choose Weiyuan County as your base because you had your eyes on this battlefield?"

Li Jiaqing asked in a low voice, his words filled with genuine respect.

"Yes, because only here can we accomplish a counterattack with fewer troops and defeat more enemies. It is impossible to do it in other places in Guanzhong."

Fang Youde said calmly, still in that tone of voice that showed he didn't care much about anything.

"So, in order to make the Western Army act according to your plan, you deliberately gave up Chang'an and deliberately let me lead the troops to pretend to be defeated. You deliberately set up a ridiculous fire bull formation to paralyze the enemy, right?"

Li Jiaqing has come back to his senses at this moment. All of this was Fang Youde's trick.

If the Konghe Army were deployed ahead of time, it might be possible to delay the Western Army's advance, but it might also arouse the enemy's fighting spirit, tense their nerves, and remind them to pay attention to danger.

In this way, Fang Youde's original plan of "water and fire attack" might change.

In order to make the enemy follow their own routines to the greatest extent possible, they must constantly show weakness in the early stages and constantly paralyze them, making them too lazy to think of clever strategies and tactics.

It's like if goods can grow on the shelves, then the people who take the goods will not care how these goods are produced, and they will form path dependence.

Since the thief is so easy to kill, just attack him directly. Why should I practice my ultimate skill?

People are lazy and prefer leisure to work.

Fang Youde grasped this point. All the previous preparations were for the purpose of completing the final kill in the valley south of Weiyang.

"If I had a choice, I would rather not fight this battle."

Fang Youde sighed, without any trace of excitement or joy after the great victory on his face.

There is only endless loneliness.

These men of the Western Army were the main force against An Lushan in their previous lives! They should not be enemies!
But in this life, Fang Youde had to bury them with his own hands. The world is full of twists and turns, and it is really unbearable to look back.

After destroying this army, Fang Youde still had many tough battles to fight. The troops in Guanzhong were greatly damaged, so Huangfu Weiming was about to lead the troops from Hebei into Guanzhong to fight for the orthodoxy of the world.

So did we win today's game?
It seems like a win, but that's all.

This was not the result Fang Youde wanted, but he created this consequence with his own hands.

At this moment, Fang Youde was not at all happy. In his opinion, it was just another waste of time.

Everything has changed, and is no longer the same as it was in the previous life.

But it seems that nothing has changed.

Brother Ji, who was stupid in his previous life, is even more stupid in this life.

The prosperous Tang Dynasty that fell in the previous life fell faster in this life.

People who deserved to die in the previous life died early in this life, and more people who deserved to die appeared.

Fang Youde felt that he had played the entire game, was busy from morning to night, and had done countless earth-shaking things.

However, the world that should have changed has not changed at all.

"You lead the troops to clean up the battlefield, rescue the trapped Western Army soldiers, and then gather them together for unified custody. I am tired and will go to rest now."

Fang Youde sighed and walked towards the signing room in the city wall, looking a little lonely.

Would Marshal Fang, who is fully armed and equipped with powerful weapons, feel tired so quickly?

He has been eating well and living well recently, so how could he be tired?
In fact, he was just tired.

Li Jiaqing nodded thoughtfully, glanced at the valley outside the city, and felt bored.

This battle should have been a battle of hundreds of rounds, with the outcome difficult to determine.

But it ended so dramatically and so boringly.

A flood destroyed everything the Western Army had.

Even though none of them were drowned, their morale was washed away by the flood, and their organization was dispersed. Drums, armor, flags, and weapons were all lost in the struggle to escape. The soldiers could not find their generals, and the generals could not find their soldiers.

If such an army is not repaired, it will have no combat effectiveness at all.

It's easier to catch them than rabbits.

Li Jiaqing secretly thanked his luck that he was following Fang Youde.

……

"stand up!"

Li Guangbi slowly opened his eyes. He was awakened by someone slapping him in the face.

Several soldiers wearing Tang army uniforms and with white cloth strips tied around their arms had already taken away their armor and weapons.

"Are you from the Crane Control Army?"

Li Guangbi asked in a deep voice, his voice was hoarse and weak. He was hit hard when he fell off his horse, and his head still hurts.

He looked around and found that there were many people like him who had escaped the net, but they were all caught by the soldiers of the Konghe Army and walked towards the mountain dejectedly.

"I am Li Guangbi, the governor of Longyou. Please take me to see Marshal Fang."

Li Guangbi said to these soldiers.

Unfortunately, the other party didn't seem to buy it. One of them said sarcastically, "Marshal Jie, right? Then you wait. Our Marshal Fang is sleeping. We can talk after he wakes up."

Li Guangbi had nothing to say but to endure it. It was because he lost the battle. How could a defeated general talk about courage?

As to whether Fang Youde was really asleep or these soldiers were just showing off, it no longer matters.

It's over, the battle is over, the winner is decided.

Li Guangbi was taken to a camp on the bank of the Wei River, where all the captured prisoners were placed. Without exception, all of them discarded all their armor and weapons, leaving only their military uniforms.

There were not many people guarding the camp, and they didn't seem to be worried about them escaping.

In fact, Li Guangbi really didn't want to escape.

As for the bodies of people drowned in the flood, Li Guangbi saw many along the way, which was really tragic. Perhaps this was the fate of the soldiers, to fight in battle or be killed, that's all.

Suddenly, a well-organized group of Western troops came over, and the leader was Gao Xianzhi!

However, the belongings on them were still there, and it was obvious that something important had happened.

"Why did General Gao come to this point?"

Li Guangbi shouted at him.

Gao Xianzhi walked over to the voice and saw that it was Li Guangbi, so he smiled helplessly and said, "The Anxi Beiting soldiers have sworn allegiance to the new emperor. I was sent to look after the prisoners."

There were many burnt holes on his clothes. In fact, it was not just him. Gao Xianzhi's personal soldiers, one by one, had their faces blackened, and many of them had their braids mostly burned off.

Coupled with the black military uniform, it's just black.

"Marshal Fang set fire to the woods on the way down the mountain, and the fire is still burning. I was behind the army, and when the flood came, I wanted to lead the troops down the mountain, but I didn't expect the road behind me to be blocked by the fire."

Gao Xianzhi sighed.

As for how he surrendered and how he changed his allegiance, there was no need to explain these in detail to Li Guangbi.

Anyway, it is certain that Brother Ji is finished.

Why didn't Fang Youde, Li Jiaqing and others worry at all that Gao Xianzhi would turn against them?
Because of the current situation, there is no need to betray the country. The only way out is to change sides smoothly and follow the new emperor.

As if he had noticed Gao Xianzhi's difficulties, Li Guangbi did not ask any further questions.

Everyone has their own ambitions. It is not a big deal for the loser to change his team.

"What a miserable loss."

Li Guangbi sat down on the ground and shook his head in disappointment.

On the way to the camp, he reviewed the entire process of the war in his mind. Then he was surprised to find that since they entered Guanzhong, they had become a victim of Fang Youde's trap.

This person will do anything to win.

Giving up Chang'an is to win.

The purpose of stationing in Weiyuan is to win.

Constantly showing weakness and pretending to be stupid is also for the purpose of winning.

The best strategy is to attack the enemy's strategy. From the very beginning, Fang Youde declared war. War is not just about fighting on the battlefield. In fact, war has already begun.

It's just that my rank is not high enough to realize it.

“I heard from Li Jiaqing that the place where we were flooded was actually the riverbed of the old river.

Later, after the river was diverted to higher ground, the silt-covered land under the riverbed became fertile farmland. Water was then drawn from higher ground for irrigation, resulting in a good harvest.

These things are all there, and as long as you are willing to inquire, you can figure it out."

Gao Xianzhi sighed as he spoke, and this time he accepted his defeat wholeheartedly.

Because you are not aware enough and cannot comprehend your opponent’s tricks, you feel that others’ victory is “unfair”.

In fact, the information on astronomy and geography is all there, it just needs people to investigate, refine, think about and study it.

What is stupid is never the territory, but the people.

Li Guangbi thought about it and realized that even if the world were to go back again, what was supposed to happen would definitely happen.

At that time, the Western Army had been advancing triumphantly, and everyone from top to bottom believed that Fang Youde's troops were vulnerable. In such a state, how could they act cautiously?

Li Guangbi felt remorseful and blamed himself, but he also knew that things had come to this point and what had happened could no longer be undone, and he could only move forward in life.

At this moment, both of them saw a young man in a dragon robe walking towards them.

Needless to say, this person must be the new emperor Li Heng.

Li Guangbi and Gao Xianzhi did not hesitate, and directly bowed to Li Ying and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"It's alright, you two were just deceived by the emperor, and it's understandable that you had no choice.

I have pardoned all the soldiers of the Western Army, including you, so there is no need to blame yourself."

Li Heng helped Li Guangbi and Gao Xianzhi up and said.

At this moment, he was in such a good mood that he would not trouble these prisoners. Moreover, Gao Xianzhi and Li Guangbi, as well as the remnants of their border troops, were all people who could be won over.

Li Heng naturally did not hesitate to say good things to them.

"Your Majesty, where is Marshal Fang?"

Li Guangbi asked in a low voice. He really wanted to meet Fang Youde and ask for advice in person.

However, Li Heng shook his head and said, "Marshal Fang has already led the Konghe Army to attack cities and territories, with the goal of attacking Chang'an. So I don't know where he is."

Li Ying originally thought that Fang Youde was joking with him, but he didn't expect it to be true!
He actually won, and won by a landslide.

I have to say that when it comes to fighting, Fang Youde is truly capable of doing what no one else can!
In fact, after the failure of this battle, the situation in Guanzhong had already been determined. The only variable was when the Hebei rebels would enter Guanzhong.

"Follow me into Weiyang City."

Li Ying gave some instructions and turned to leave.

Li Guangbi and Gao Xianzhi looked at each other and followed closely.

(End of this chapter)