The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 170 Reorganization
Shang Zangrela didn't expect that Li Siye would dare to rush out rashly, and immediately organized his soldiers to resist.

Li Siye took the lead and rushed into the enemy's camp, holding a Mo Dao, charging back and forth as if he was in an empty space.

Before long, Li Siye's elbows were covered in blood from the killing, but his courage was undiminished.

The Tang army on the city wall and the Tibetan army under the city were all stunned by such a powerful general.

The Tang soldiers on the city wall had not seen the Tubo army being beaten without any chance to fight back for a long time, so they shouted and cheered for Li Siye to vent their anger.

The Tibetan troops under the city were horrified and retreated step by step.

Seeing that the enemy was defeated, Li Siye rode his horse and broke through the enemy's rearguard troops, and chased after Shang Zanrela.

Shang Zanrela was riding his horse to escape quickly. Li Siye drew his bow and shot an arrow at Shang Zanrela's back, knocking him off his horse.

Shang Zangrela's personal guards quickly pulled up the injured Shang Zangrela and fled in a hurry.

Li Siye chased after him, seized Shang Zangrela's horse, and chased Shang Zangrela all the way back to Dingrong City before returning.

Li Siye led Shang Zangrela's horse back to the city and presented it to Li Heng.

Li Heng touched the blood on Li Siye's body, looked at the horse and said: "The bones of the horse drink from the long river, and the running water sprinkles the tassels. The fine lines are sprayed together, and the water chestnuts are entangled around the hooves. The water shines on the side of the saddle, and the horse's shadow slides across. It is like turning in the Tianchi Lake, and the waves are full of dragons."

What Li Ying was talking about was Li Shimin's poem about horses.

Li Shimin loved horses. Wang Shichong's nephew Wang Wan rode Emperor Yang of Sui's blue horse to show off in the enemy's camp, which attracted Li Shimin's attention. Yuchi Gong then asked for permission to go into battle and captured the horse and man and gave them to Li Shimin.

So although Li Ying was talking about Li Shimin's poem about horses, he was actually expressing Li Siye's bravery, which was no less than that of Yuchi Gong.

Li Siye chuckled and said, "It's a pity that we only captured the horse this time, but not the person. When we enter Luoshui City one day, I will select a good horse for Your Highness."

"Okay." Li Heng nodded happily, patted Li Siye on the shoulder, and said, "General Li, you have made great contributions in this battle. I will record your merits and we will have a feast together later."

"Yes." Li Siye took the order and stepped aside.

Li Ying stood on the city wall and looked around. He saw only barren mountains and few people, and the city was already in ruins.

If there were peace between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty, Suirong City and Dingrong City could still trade with Tubo. Some merchants are now hostile, and only soldiers are left in Suirong City.

The Anren Army had to guard the deserted city alone for a long time and could not even cultivate land. All their military expenses had to be provided by the court. Once the court defaulted on food and wages, they would not be able to survive.

Even if the imperial court did not delay the payment of food and wages, their lives were still not easy.

When Li Heng went to the Chishui Army, the Chishui Army's commander Lu could get drunk because the Chishui Army was adjacent to Liangzhou. Liangzhou was prosperous and there were many Huji wine shops. The Chishui Army was also rich and they would go around the city to have fun whenever they wanted.

However, the Anren Army had nothing on their side and had been isolated for a long time, with their physical and psychological needs not being met. The only thing that could arouse their interest was the iron hoof of Tubo.

In such a difficult environment, if the imperial court fails to handle it properly, mutiny will be extremely likely.

Li Heng understood them, but he had to take action against them.

The Tang Dynasty has not yet reached the end of its life, and we cannot really ignore the act of surrendering to the enemy, otherwise other military towns will inevitably follow suit.

Li Heng sighed silently and returned to the city.

After completing the deployment in the city, Li Heng left Zhang Guangsheng in Suirong City and took Mu Chengyun back to Shanzhou. When they arrived in Shanzhou, Li Heng summoned Mu Chengyun and said to him, "General Mu, there is something I need to discuss with you."

Mu Chengyun said: "Your Highness, please give your instructions."

Li Heng said, "Since I have promised not to pursue the crimes of the Anren Army, I will keep my word. But I cannot be in charge of Longyou for a long time. If one day I leave Longyou and someone else takes over, they will inevitably bring up the old matter for other purposes."

Mu Chengyun was startled when he heard this, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "What should we do? Please give us some advice, Your Highness."

Li Heng said: "In my opinion, it is better to disband the Anren Army, assign everyone to other military towns, and reorganize the units. In this way, even if people want to bring up the past again, they will have no target."

The Longyou Army is divided into many mountain strongholds. During normal combat, each military leader will do his own thing based on his understanding of the situation.

If Li Heng had time, he might choose to slowly win over the hearts of the people, but he doesn't have much time now.

Li Longji's time limit and the changing situation were like a shadow, chasing after him, making his recent actions and decisions seem particularly hasty.

But there was no other way. He had to consolidate his power in a hurry and ensure that his orders were well executed.

So before entering Longyou, he adopted Gao Xianzhi's suggestion to reorganize the Longyou army.

Reorganizing the army can break the original network of relationships and allow each military town to have unfamiliar forces, so that military leaders will not dare to act recklessly.

The disadvantage of doing this is that the cohesion of the original military town will be slightly worse and its combat effectiveness will decrease, but the advantage is that his orders can be executed quickly.

Mu Chengyun could probably guess Li Heng's intentions, but Li Heng's proposal was indeed for the sake of the Anren Army, and he had no reason to refuse.

Mu Chengyun was stunned for a moment, then bowed and said, "Your Highness is so kind and generous that he not only did not pursue the matter of the Anren Army surrendering to the enemy, but also found a way out for the Anren Army soldiers. I really admire you. I agree with your proposal and am willing to appease the army and take the lead in disbanding the Anren Army."

"Well, thank you very much, General." Li Ying smiled knowingly and praised, "General, you are indeed very righteous."

"Your Highness, you are too kind." Mu Chengyun also smiled.

But there was some bitterness in his smile.

The conditions in the Anren Army are difficult. They may complain about it or even think about escaping, but no matter what, after staying there for a long time, the Anren Army will feel like home.

Now that his family has broken up and his family members are scattered, he can't help feeling sad.

Li Heng could understand Mu Chengyun's emotions, but there was nothing he could do. After sighing silently, he summoned Gao Xianzhi and other generals into the hall to discuss the specific matters of disbanding and reorganizing the Anren Army.

First of all, there was the issue of food and grass. Li Heng had already "borrowed" some from the He family and was distributing them first. Only after the food and grass were distributed would the Longyou Army have the patience to let you do whatever you want.

Secondly, the question is where the Anren Army is going.

The general policy was very simple, which was to disrupt everything and assign them to various military garrisons to garrison and capture. However, how to assign positions to those people who were to be captured in each military garrison was a very detailed matter, so Li Heng gave it to Gao Xianzhi to do.

Finally, the Anren Army was disbanded, and the question was how to make up for its previous defense function.

Gao Xianzhi suggested: "Your Highness, I think there are two feasible strategies. The first is to withdraw soldiers from various armies and reorganize them. The second is to increase the strength of the Heyuan Army and move the Heyuan Army forward to garrison."

The two options mentioned by Gao Xianzhi are based on the overall long-term situation. If Li Heng can stay in Longyou for a long time, he might choose one of them.

(End of this chapter)