The winter wind and snow were biting and painful, and the second lady staggered on the road, swaying and drifting away.
Zhang Xun, who was currently in the hut, was shivering occasionally due to the cold, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted. He was not ashamed to ask questions and continued to ask Mo Sheng about the situation after the Anlushan rebels. Of course, I didn’t know that someone would brave the freezing cold wind to give me warm clothes.
"Mr. Mo, I have a question, why didn't Shi Siming lead his army back to Luoyang immediately after the counties in Hebei were captured by the rebels? Didn't An Lushan want to capture Tongguan as soon as possible? Didn't Mr. Mo say before that An Lushan had already decided He personally led the army to Tongguan, but was restrained by Yan Gaoqing, so he had to return to Luoyang. It is said that the trouble in Changshan has been resolved, but the first priority is to conquer Tongguan City? Why did it take more than six months to do so? Attack Tongguan again. Although I am not good at using soldiers, I also know the value of soldiers and their speed. How can a man like An Lushan be inferior to me?"
Mo Sheng was not in a hurry. He knew that Zhang Xun had been sticking to Yongqiu, and the news was inconvenient. Many war reports could not be known until several months after they happened, so he had to explain to Zhang Xun slowly.
"It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't. The traitor An Lushan dreamed of taking Tongguan immediately, so that he could attack Chang'an. He also knew the principle of long nights and many dreams. However, although he allowed Shi Siming and others to temporarily resolve the chaos in Changshan, But I didn’t expect that Raoyang City would pop up halfway.”
"Raoyang? It's a small town. As far as I know, it's not as good as Changshan County. How could it attract Shi Siming's tens of thousands of rebels?"
"Raoyang is indeed a small city. It is not as big as Changshan. However, due to its special geographical location and the fact that Raoyang's prefect Lu Quancheng is very good at using troops, Raoyang has also prepared for rainy days over the years. As a result, Yangcheng was like a nail. It was besieged by Shi Siming's tens of thousands of people for twenty-nine days and could not be broken. It was firmly rooted in the land of Hebei! In fact, having said that, it is not that Yan Gaoqing is not smart, it is more that Lu Quancheng is better than Yan Gaoqing was too lucky. Although he faced Shi Siming's army, Lu Quancheng first had Hejian Justice Li Huan lead an army of 7,000 to come to the rescue, and later Jingcheng Chief Shi Li Wei sent his son Li Si to lead an army of 8,000. Although Xiang Gang was defeated by Shi Siming, this undoubtedly enhanced the momentum and determination of Raoyang's city-defending sergeants, and also restrained part of Shi Siming's military strength, making them unable to go all out like attacking Changshan, and they had to always be on guard against the rear. Someone stabbed me hard in the back. In addition to the help from these counties, there was also a response from the elite army of the imperial court. If Yan Changshan had such help, the victory or defeat would be another matter. It is a shame!"
Zhang Xun was still asking for advice humbly, and asked a few questions from time to time. When he heard that the soldiers and civilians of Raoyang were stubbornly resisting the rebels, the Tang Dynasty court also made up its mind to fight An Lushan in Luoyang. It is of great significance both politically and in terms of the war situation. More importantly, my Tian family's face is almost gone. In order to regain Tokyo Luoyang as soon as possible, he ordered Guo Ziyi, who was besieging Yunzhong County, to withdraw his troops, return to Shuofang's hometown, reintegrate more troops, and lead Shuofang's army to launch an all-out attack on Hebei, hoping to eat Shi Siming's troops as soon as possible. Later, on the recommendation of Guo Ziyi, the emperor appointed a little-known general as the governor of Hedong. He led more than 10,000 Fan-Han infantry and cavalry and more than 3,000 Taiyuan archers to send troops to Jingxing Pass to pacify Hebei, then advance to Luoyang. Unexpectedly, when this man rushed to Changshan, which had become a purgatory, he could regain Changshan County without a fight. Shi Siming, who was still besieging Raoyang at that time, was also shocked after hearing the news. He quickly withdrew his troops from Raoyang County and attacked. Changshan County restarted the attack.
"Who is this general sent by the imperial court? How could he make the arrogant Shi Siming suffer such a big loss!"
"This person's surname is Li and his given name is Guangbi!"
"Li Guangbi? Li Guangbi? The national surname, could it be some prince or a royal descendant?"
"No, this man is a general. It is said that he was born in the Li family of Liucheng, Yingzhou, and is of the Khitan clan. His father is the Khitan king Li Kailuo. He came from the Khitan during the Wu Zhou Dynasty. He was appointed deputy envoy to Shuofang Jiedu and was granted the title of Duke of Ji. Li Kailuo was famous for his bravery and prowess in battle. He was known as the Khitan's best master at the time. Later, he died violently in the war against the Turks and was awarded the governorship of Yingzhou, with the posthumous title of "Zhonglie". Li Guangbi was the fourth son of General Zuo Yulin. This son has been calm and resolute since he was a child, good at riding and shooting, and likes to read "Han Shu". Although he has a rich family background, he is not a dandy and extravagant, and he is not willing to waste his years. Later, he relied on the influence of his ancestors and entered the Han Dynasty at a young age. In the army, the superiors appointed him as Zuolang General of the Zuowei family. It was originally just a leisurely job to appease him, but they did not expect that although his family tradition was martial, he could run the army with great strictness and strategy. In the fifth year of Tianbao, Shuofang was still at the height of his power. Jiedushi Army God Wang Zhongsi was transferred to Hexi and Longyou Jiedushi. He had a keen eye and liked the young, capable, brave and resourceful general Hou very much. He did not despise him because of his foreign origin, and taught him There were many military strategies, and later he promoted Li Guangbi to the rank of military envoy against all objections, and also served as the Chishui military envoy. Wang Zhongsi valued him very much, and even the courtesy received by the nephew of a veteran general could not compare with it. Wang Zhongsi once As I said, the one who will get our troops in the future is Guangbi. Soon after, Li Guangbi attacked his father Jijun Gong. Later, he was promoted to General Yunhui for his contribution to defeating Tubo and Tuyuhun. After eight years of Tianbao, after the An Sishun, the military envoy of Shuofang, is the non-blood cousin of An Lushan, who is now rebelling. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty appointed Li Guangbi as the deputy envoy of Shuofang, who was responsible for the funeral affairs. He was actually the envoy of Shuofang. An Sishun had a vicious vision. He liked Li Guangbi's talents and wanted to marry his daughter to him. After hearing the news, Li Guangbi didn't know whether he was disgusted or frightened, so he resigned and ran away because of illness. At that time, he was serving as the military governor of Longyou. After hearing about this, his brother Shuhan felt that it was a pity for such a young talent. Secondly, he also wanted to expose An Sishun's shortcomings, so he petitioned Emperor Xuanzong to recall Li Guangbi to the capital Chang'an. Later, he held a funeral for his father. At that time, Li Guangbi strictly abided by etiquette, and the emperor liked his virtues and appointed him as the leader of Zuo Qingdao and the protector of Anbei. It was not until now, when Anlu Mountain rebelled, that Li Guangbi was recommended by Guo Ziyi and became a true general leading troops in wars again. Come to think of it. , the successor chosen by the military god Wang Zhongsi must be the best among men, no, as soon as he appeared on the scene, as you said, he really made the famous Shi Siming suffer a big loss!"
"It turns out that he is the junior favored by General Zhongsi, the God of War. He must be a thousand times better than us. He won a great victory as soon as he left the army. He is indeed a queen from a famous family and has the style of a general!"
Mo Sheng smiled slightly, rather noncommittally, and continued:
"Actually, Li Guangbi's ability to take Chang Shan has nothing to do with him!"
"Oh? Why is this?"
Zhang Xun was confused by this sentence. Just now he was saying how great this person was, but now he was saying that he was insignificant to recapture Changshan. Isn't it inconsistent? Mo Sheng didn't leave Zhang Xun confused for long. He paused and continued:
"In fact, at that time, Li Guangbi led his troops out of Jingxing Pass and arrived at Changshan County. It was only more than 20 days before Changshan's first city was broken and Yan Gaoqing was captured. On February 3, Li Guangbi's army had just arrived in Changshan. There were three thousand people in Changshan County. Many regiments were training troops. When they heard that the imperial army was coming, they were so unyielding that they killed the remaining rebels and kidnapped the leader, Shi Siyi, out of the city and surrendered the Tang army. In this way, Li Guangbi was able to recapture Changshan without any blood. Thinking about it, the people's support still favored the Tang Dynasty, Yan Gaoqing's loyalty was still there, but he also resented the atrocities committed by the rebels. Taizong once said in the past that water can carry a boat and also capsize it. The officials and people in Changshan who were forced into a desperate situation must also have strong blood and act according to their hearts. Yan Gaoqing used his own blood and life to plant a seed of revenge and perseverance in the hearts of Changshan people. In a short time, that seed sprouted. Yan Gaoqing has a spirit in heaven, which can be somewhat comforting."
Mo Sheng's explanation made Zhang Xun understand. He was saddened by Yan Gaoqing's tragedy for a while, and then Mo Sheng continued to talk.
At that time, after Shi Siming captured Changshan, he burned, killed, and looted, and handed the messy Changshan County to his cousin Shi Siyi. He thought that the Changshan people should be afraid of being killed, so he asked Shi Siyi to guard the city carefully and make sure no more mistakes were made. Unexpectedly, as soon as Shi Siming left with his front foot, Li Guangbi killed him with his rear foot. It was a pity for Shi Siyi that he was tied up by his subordinates before his buttocks were even warm in a short period of time. He was forced to become a defeated general because he was unable to respond to calls every day. Let others slaughter you.
Li Guangbi, who arrived at the gate of Changshan City, was riding on his horse. He looked at Shi Siyi who was kneeling on the ground and said:
"You deserve death for your crime, but you have been in battle for a long time and you can't help it. Let's see if my army and horses can defeat that Shi Siming. Now I pity your talent and ask you to make a plan for me. If your plan is advisable , I will not kill you. How about that?"
Shi Siyi was originally a man who was greedy for life and afraid of death, so Shi Siming had great meaning in using him to garrison Changshan. Shi Siming was always ambitious, and his ambition was no less ambitious than An Lushan. An Lushan rebelled. As the de facto first commander, he controlled most of the rebels' military power. Looking at the world, he had few opponents. He was willing to rely on An Lushan at this moment. It was nothing more than saving the opportunity to lay eggs. seek. An Lushan is the head of the horse in front of him. Shi Siming has to put in some effort himself. If it really succeeds, he will be Liu Bang and An Lushan will be Xiang Yu. If it fails and he is suppressed by the Tang Dynasty, he can also use An Lushan as an excuse to coerce him. If you spend some money to unblock it, you might be able to save your life. Therefore, compared to An Lushan on the bright side, Shi Siming hiding in the dark is more terrifying.
Shi Siming was still willing to gamble on using his life to conquer the world.
So some time ago, An Lushan heard that Yan Gaoqing had rebelled in Changshan, and there was a lot of commotion. When Xingye summoned him to suppress it, Shi Siming was actually very happy. Changshan is located at the throat of the counties in Hebei, and its strategic position is very important. Actually controlling Changshan is equivalent to controlling six or seven counties behind it. This counterinsurgency was nothing short of a God-given opportunity. God specifically wanted to deliver the lamb of Changshan into his arms, so Shi Siming worked extra hard to defeat Changshan. After capturing Changshan, he even massacred it, hoping to frighten the other counties. Before leaving, He purposely kept his cousin Shi Siyi behind. He planned in his mind that his family would be more reliable after all. In the land of Changshan, in the future, the surname could only be Shi, not An.
But fate is not as good as fate. Shi Siming, who had won the victory, was originally planning to take over the counties along the way, but he didn't want to get stuck in Raoyang. He couldn't get away for a while. Just like this, Changshan was stolen by Li Guangbi. Got peaches. Li Guangbi knew that he had hard goods in his hands, so Shi Siming hurriedly abandoned Raoyang City and rushed to Changshan County with his men and horses at night. He prayed in his heart that his cousin could hold on for a few days and then attack from both inside and outside. Let’s see what other earth-shaking abilities you, Li Guangbi, have.
If Shi Siming, who was breathing fire on the road, knew that his most trusted brother had betrayed him, a mouthful of old blood would spray out several feet away.
Before Li Guangbi could really torture him to extract a confession, Shi Siyi, who was greedy for life and fearful of death, did all the tricks:
"Your army has come from afar, and the soldiers and horses are tired. If they encounter the rebels suddenly, they may not be able to withstand it. It is better to lead the army into the city, prepare for the attack in advance, check the situation first, and then send out troops. Although the rebel Huqi are elite, they will not be able to hold on for a long time. , when the war situation is unfavorable, and you are depressed and distraught, you can try to get it at that time. Shi Siming is now in Raoyang, which is only two hundred miles away from here. I sent the feather letter last night, and his vanguard will be there tomorrow morning by appointment. He will be followed by Army, you must pay attention.”
Li Guangbi was very happy after hearing this, and then he personally untied Shi Siyi. He was a great benefactor. Then Li Guangbi sent people to take Shi Siyi down and guard him first, so as not to hurt his life. Finally, he led his army into the city. The anxious Shi Siming arrived as promised. Early the next morning, the vanguard army had arrived at Changshan. Shi Siming led the army to follow up, with a total of more than 20,000 cavalry, arriving at the foot of Changshan City.
On Li Guangbi's side, they got Shi Siyi's internal information and acted according to the plan. They stayed in the army and waited for work, but they did not leave the city. Later, Li Guangbi ordered 5,000 infantrymen to fight from the east gate. The rebels guarded the gate and refused to retreat. Li Guangbi then ordered 500 crossbowmen to fire volleys on the city. Under the volley of thousands of arrows, the rebels could not bear the pain and then retreated. Then he sent out a thousand crossbowmen, divided into four teams, and fired continuously. The rebels could not resist and retreated to Daobei. Li Guangbi sent another 5,000 troops to form a spear city formation in the south of the road, flanking the Hutuo River. The rebels used cavalry to fight. Li Guangbi ordered his soldiers to shoot at them. Most of the enemy cavalry were hit by arrows, and then retreated, waiting for the infantry to continue attacking. It happened that at this time, some people from the Rexue Village came to inform them that five thousand rebels had come from Raoyang for reinforcements. They were marching day and night and had now arrived at the southern wall of Jiumen and were resting. Li Guangbi knew that the opportunity was too late and would not come again. He immediately sent two thousand soldiers each to attack. When they arrived at Fengbi, the five thousand rebels were resting and cooking. The Tang army took them by surprise and launched an attack. Poor rebels who had marched for 1,780 miles. As soon as they took off their armor and before they had any food, they went from half-dead to dead. Five thousand rebels were wiped out in this way. Shi Siming heard that the reinforcements had also been wiped out. Knowing that the situation was over, he immediately retreated into Jiumen. At this time, seven of the nine counties in Changshan County surrendered to the Tang army, leaving only Jiumen and Gaocheng occupied by the rebels. Li Guangbi then sent his general Zhang Fengzhang to lead 500 troops to destroy Shiyi, and the remaining counties sent 300 troops to guard.
Shi Siming was very angry after the defeat. He not only lost Changshan this time, but also tens of thousands of elites. It was hard to explain to An Lushan now, let alone himself. Li Guangbi and Shi Siming had known each other for a long time. Before An Lushan's rebellion, Gao Miao, a counselor around him, had analyzed all the generals and civil servants in the Tang Dynasty at that time, and they were both subordinates of Wang Zhongsi. Although Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi were not in high positions, they still had real abilities, but An Lushan at that time Lushan didn't think much of these two people. The Emperor of Dayan, who had a high self-esteem, believed that Guo Ziyi was a martial artist and was six years older than him. After working for most of his life, he was still half a bucket of water, so he was nothing to be afraid of. Although Li Guangbi was highly regarded by Wang Zhongsi, the battles he fought were all small scenes. Gao Miao proposed that he use an official position from Zuo Sima to bribe Li Guangbi, but An Lushan refused. He always felt that he was at a loss. It seems that Shi Siming can definitely fight against Li Guangbi. This long-time friend's battle skills are as good as anyone in the world. Shi Siming is the "number one general in the world" in his mind. It's just that today, Shi Siming, who was defeated in Changshan, doesn't know if An Lushan will regret that he didn't listen to Gao Miao's advice.
Later, Shi Siming couldn't swallow this breath, so he fought with Li Guangbi, surrounding Changshan, Raoyang, and Jiumen. The two sides came and went, you attacked and I defended, and it was a joy. The two armies were in a stalemate for more than forty days. Shi Siming cut off Changshan's food route. The city began to lack food and grass, and the horses had no feed and could not go into battle. Li Guangbi then sent five hundred carts to Shiyi to collect fodder. The soldiers escorting the carts were all wearing thick armor and guarded by thousands of crossbowmen. They formed a square formation and moved at a fast pace. The rebels followed like wolves. However, Suffering from the enemy's strong battle formation, I tried to seize it but couldn't, so I followed him for dozens of miles in vain.
The rebel general Cai Xide led his troops to attack Shiyi, but Zhang Fengzhang was able to repulse them without any danger. At this time, Guo Ziyi had selected more elite troops from Shuofang to march to Daizhou. Li Guangbi got the news, so he sent his first-grade scouts with handwritten letters to meet Guo Ziyi for help. Guo Ziyi immediately decided to lead his troops out of Jingxing to help Li Guangbi.
On April 9, Guo Ziyi's army arrived at Changshan. After the two armies of Guo and Li merged, there were more than 100,000 Fan and Han infantry and cavalry. These were not the rabble Feng Changqing had put together in Luoyang City. These were all veterans who had been on the battlefield. . On April 11, Guo Ziyi, whose morale had greatly increased, and Li Guangbi led his army to fight against the rebel general Shi Siming in the south of Jiumen City. Shi Siming was defeated as expected, and the Tang army's lieutenant general Hun Yao shot and killed the rebel general Li Lijie. Shi Siming and Cai Xide were beaten to a state of disgrace. Shi Siming fled to Zhaojun with the remaining soldiers. Cai Xide fled to Julu. Shi Siming felt unsafe and fled from Zhaojun to Boling. At that time, Boling County had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Shi Siming could not defeat a tiger, but he could bite a rabbit to death. When he was desperate, he jumped over the wall, killed the local county official, and occupied the city to survive.
At that time, the people of Hebei suffered from the brutality of the rebels. They formed separate camps to resist the enemy. There were as many as 20,000 people and as few as more than a thousand people. When Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi's army arrived, they all rose up in response. Suddenly, flowers bloomed all over Hebei, and the momentum was extremely huge. On April 17, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi's army captured Zhao County, and the Tang army killed Guo Xianqiu, the prefect assigned to An Lushan. Li Guangbi entered Boling to besiege, but Shi Siming couldn't retreat, so he adopted bastard tactics. Li Guangbi attacked for ten days but still couldn't take it, so he had to lead his troops back to Hengyang. Shi Siming was able to breathe and save his life.
"Hey, it's such a pity. If we could capture Shi Siming in Boling County in one fell swoop, it would be tantamount to cutting off An Lushan's strongest arm. If I were there at that time, I would definitely urge General Li Guangbi to catch all those rebellious officials and traitors in one go. , to prevent future troubles. Establishing virtues and nourishing the roots of evil will naturally prevent the troubles of raising tigers later."
After Zhang Xun heard the story of Li Guangbi and Shi Siming's battle at Changshan, and heard that Shi Siming had escaped disaster, he was very sad that he had lost such a good opportunity to eliminate the thieves. Mo Sheng didn't think so. Compared with governing the people, he might not be as good as Zhang Xun, but when it came to seizing land and defending the city, he didn't need to be modest at all. One of the most remarkable skills of the Mo family is to defend the city. Their clan also analyzed the situation in Boling County at that time. Taking into account various factors, although Li Guangbi withdrew his troops a little too early, the overall strategy was still correct. The battle line surrounding Changshan County If it is too long, the sergeants will begin to feel tired, and the reserves of food and grass will begin to run out, and An Lushan may send a large army to rescue them at any time. Attacking a city is no more difficult than fighting a battle between two armies. The city is only one foot taller. Li Guangbi is also a mortal. He cannot take the city quickly. He cannot sacrifice so much fighting power. Nowadays, every soldier in the army is indispensable. One of them must die. He felt distressed for a long time, so after weighing the matter, Li Guangbi could only return to Changshan first to report to the court and make long-term plans. Feng Changqing's example is right in front of us. People like me can't forget about food and fights!
Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi withdrew their troops and returned to Changshan. Shi Siming was still unwilling to give in and gathered scattered soldiers to follow them, like a wolf, always ready to bite a few bites. Guo Ziyi took advantage of the situation and took advantage of the fact that when the wolves and dogs were tired, they suddenly turned around and pounced, and with one turn, they defeated the rebels in Shahe.
Cai Xide finally escaped back to Luoyang after all the hardships. An Lushan was furious. He whipped the bereaved dog for a long time. He could only grit his teeth and sent 20,000 infantry and cavalry reinforcements to Shi Siming. Feeling that it was inappropriate, he sent another general Niu Tingjie sent more than 10,000 troops from his hometown Fanyang to help Shi Siming, a total of more than 50,000 people, and Tongluo and Yiluohe soldiers each accounted for one of the five. An Lushan personally wrote a secret order, cursing Shi Siming, saying that if he suffered another defeat, , come and see you.
In the days that followed, Guo Ziyi arrived in Hengyang, and Shi Siming also led his troops to Hengyang. Like a follower, Guo Ziyi ordered people to dig deep ditches and build high fortresses to block the enemy soldiers. If the rebels came to attack, they would defend, and if they retreated, they would pursue them. I would hide, and I would chase you when you returned home. I also sent troops to sneak attack on the camp many times at night, so that the rebels could not rest. After several days of stalemate, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi knew that the rebels were physically and mentally exhausted and could go out in force.
On May 29th, General Guo and Li personally led the army to fight the rebels in Jiashan. They defeated the enemy in one battle, killing more than 40,000 enemies and capturing more than a thousand. Shi Siming even threw off his helmet and armor, fell off his horse in fear, fled in panic, and fled back to Boling City. Li Guangbi once again led his troops to surround Boling City, and the Tang army became famous, so Hebei More than ten counties responded one after another, killing the rebel guards and surrendering to the imperial court. The rebel army Fan Yang's return route was cut off, and all those who came and went passed by lightly on horseback. Those who were unlucky were captured by the guarding Tang Dynasty officers and soldiers. At this time, the rebel generals and soldiers who were still in Fan Yang were shaken. They had not done anything just now. For a few months, An Lushan, the emperor, was even more anxious and anxious, with sores breaking out and his eyes getting better and worse. This made An Lushan more cruel. Whenever he didn't go his way, he would whip the people around him to death. People are terrified and stunned.
Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi made Emperor An Lushan of Luoyang sleepless and uneasy, and Emperor Li Longji of Chang'an was overjoyed. An Lushan, who wants to change when he is poor, is always thinking about how to reverse the situation, while Li Longji, who does not think about danger in peace, is always thinking about how to commit suicide.
Misdeeds committed by God can be forgiven, but misdeeds committed by oneself cannot be saved!
