Chapter 344: Victory on Multiple Fronts
Yang Yuhuan felt warm in her heart when she heard this.

She knew very well that Li Heng had been a soldier for half his life and was good at calculating interests, but when facing her, he always seemed a little naive.

But it is this innocence that makes her willing to give without reservation.

Yang Yuhuan smiled and said, "It is winter now. The winter clothes that His Highness asked He and Yang to prepare have been prepared."

Li Heng said, "Very good. I will send them to the frontline tomorrow. I hope they will live up to my trust."

Yang Yuhuan did not reply and continued to read the memorial with Li Heng.

……

Hebei.

After the Battle of Hengyang, Shi Siming gathered his remaining troops and retreated to Boling, while Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi took advantage of the situation to advance eastward, capturing the remaining counties of Changshan along the way and meeting Yan Zhenqing in Raoyang.

At this point, the government troops on the east and west fronts of Hebei completed their turn, temporarily cutting off the rebels' north-south connection.

In Raoyang City, Guo Ziyi, Yan Zhenqing and Raoyang prefect Lu Quancheng received news from the court at the same time and delivered the imperial edict.

In the imperial edict, Li Heng appointed Yan Zhenqing as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Chief of the Hebei Recruiting and Suppressing Army, and also rewarded the soldiers led by Yan Zhenqing.

Yan Zhenqing read the imperial edict carefully three times and couldn't help but burst into tears.

He started his rebellion from the rear of the rebels and had no way of contacting the imperial court. This was the first time he had seen an official document from the imperial court since he started his rebellion.

Guo Ziyi continued, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince learned about General Yan's cousin Yan Gaoqing and posthumously awarded him the title of Crown Prince's Guardian and the posthumous title of 'Loyalty and Integrity', but his body has not yet been found."

"In this case, he should rest in peace." Yan Zhenqing bowed in the direction of Chang'an and asked, "Where is Taiyuan Yin Wang Chengye?"

When he heard Wang Chengye's name, Li Guangbi's expression changed slightly.

Wang Chengye was greedy for merit and did not send troops to rescue Yan Gaoqing. Many people criticized Wang Chengye.

Li Heng dismissed Wang Chengye from his post and replaced him with Li Guangbi as the prefect of Taiyuan, and asked Li Guangbi to handle Wang Chengye's affairs.

But Li Guangbi did not do anything to Wang Chengye.

Because Li Guangbi felt that although Wang Chengye was wrong to be greedy for merit, it was not wrong to keep his troops in place, because the troops in Taiyuan were not strong at that time. If Wang Chengye failed to rescue Yan Gaoqing, the court would lose Taiyuan, and Hedong would be in danger.

Li Guangbi believed that Li Heng's dismissal of Wang Chengye was just the right punishment and there was no need to investigate further.

Guo Ziyi glanced at Li Guangbi and laughed, saying, "Wang Chengye has been dismissed. We can discuss this matter later. The most urgent task is what we should do next."

"That's right." Yan Zhenqing didn't ask further, and said, "Now that General Guo is here, I am willing to give up my post in Hebei and obey General Guo's orders."

Pugu Huai'en, who was standing by, was now a staunch supporter of Guo Ziyi. He said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has appointed General Guo Jie as the commander-in-chief of Hedong and Hebei, and he will be in charge of the military and political affairs of Hedong and Hebei."

"That's great." Yan Zhenqing didn't think much about it and continued, "Jinan Governor Li Sui, Qinghe Chief Secretary Wang Huaizhong, Ye County Governor Wang Tao and others all led their troops to surrender. Pinglu Youyi Envoy Liu Kenu, Vanguard Envoy Wang Xuanzhi, and Andong General Dong Tai raised troops in Yuyang and killed the rebel Pinglu Jiedushi Lu Zhihai. They sent envoys to inform me that they are willing to capture Fanyang and serve the court. I privately agreed and gave my son Yan Po to Liu Kenu as a hostage."

All the generals of Shuofang were shocked when they heard this.

In order to suppress the rebellion, more than thirty members of the Yan family had been killed by An Lushan, and Yan Po, the only son of Yan Zhenqing, was only six years old.

After a moment of silence, Guo Ziyi said, "After the meeting, this matter should be reported to the court immediately."

Yan Zhenqing nodded and said nothing.

Guo Ziyi continued, "The court said that after we unite our forces, we should split our forces into two groups. One group will go north to launch a feint attack, and the other group will go south to cooperate with the Tongguan army to attack the main force of the rebels."

Li Guangbi said, "I agree with this plan. After Shi Siming's defeat, he can't gather a large army to march south in a short time, but defending the city is enough. The main force of the rebels is in Luoyang. We will feint an attack in the north, and An Lushan will definitely come back to support us. When the time comes, we will ambush with a large army and we will definitely gain something." Yan Zhenqing's deputy Li Zejiao said, "The troops will march in two directions, which will consume a lot of resources. I'm afraid that there will be insufficient food and grass."

Yan Zhenqing started his army from the rear of the rebels. He recruited his own soldiers and collected his own grain. Moreover, Hebei was originally a granary, and under the current circumstances, the imperial court could not transfer large amounts of grain from other places.

Yan Zhenqing thought for a moment and said, "We need to find a way to collect grain locally."

Li E, the representative of Qinghe, said: "We can collect salt from Jingcheng and let the counties transfer it to each other to ensure the supply of military funds."

Yan Zhenqing immediately agreed and said, "This is a good idea!"

Guo Ziyi said at the right time: "The court has tightened its belt and collected some winter clothes to send to us."

Yan Zhenqing was delighted when he heard this and said, "Sending troops to counterattack in winter is a good idea!"

Seeing that there was no need to worry, Li Guangbi immediately said to Guo Ziyi: "I am willing to lead the troops south to take the southern part of Hebei."

Yan Zhenqing said: "I am willing to lead the troops northward and feint to attack Boling!"

"Okay, let's do it!" Guo Ziyi agreed and discussed the specific details with the generals.

……

Two days later, Li E returned to Qinghe. Li Guangbi led 20,000 troops southward, bypassing Xindu, which was heavily guarded by the rebels, and went straight to Qinghe. He joined forces with the Qinghe army and the Bozhou troops, totaling 30,000 troops, and launched a fierce attack on Weijun.

The rebel Weijun prefect Yuan Zhitai personally led 20,000 rebels to fight. After a day of bloody fighting, the rebels were defeated. Ten thousand people were killed by the government troops, and two thousand people were captured. There were ten thousand soldiers and horses, and tens of thousands of supplies. Yuan Zhitai fled in a panic.

After taking Weijun, Li Guangbi appointed Sima Chui, the former governor of Weijun, as governor again. After five days of rest, he turned his army back north and besieged the important rebel town of Xindu.

Seeing that the government army was powerful, Beihai Governor Helan Jinming readily surrendered to the government army and personally led 5,000 soldiers to Xindu to support Li Guangbi.

Most of the counties and prefectures in Hebei also submitted.

The morale of the government troops was greatly boosted, Li Guangbi rewarded his subordinates heavily, and captured Xindu on the eve of New Year's Eve.

At this point, seventeen of the twenty-four counties in Hebei were owned by the government army, which was connected to Henan and overlooking Luoyang.

……

When Li Guangbi went south, he visited Jianghuai and Yongqiu.

The rebels Linghu Chao and Zhang Xun had been deadlocked for a month, and An Lushan became anxious, so he ordered the rebel generals Li Huaixian, Yang Chaozong, Xie Yuantong and others to lead troops to support Linghu Chao. Together, they had a total of 40,000 troops, and they swarmed to the city of Yongqiu, preparing to storm the city with a large force.

At this time, Li Heng had already asked all parts of Jianghuai to support Yongqiu, but there were only 5,000 soldiers in Yongqiu City.

The government soldiers were very frightened when they saw how powerful the rebels were, and some even wanted to abandon the city and flee.

Zhang Xun, wearing armor, climbed up the city wall and said in a firm tone: "The rebels are strong and powerful, so they will certainly look down on us. If we take them by surprise and attack them proactively, we will surely cause chaos among the rebels. If they are frustrated, we will be able to defend the city."

Zhang Xun glanced at the soldiers in the cold wind and said, "I need two thousand brave warriors to follow me into the enemy camp. It's a life-threatening journey. Who is willing to go with me?"

Nan Jiyun gritted his teeth and stepped forward, saying: "Since I have dedicated my life to serving my country, why should I fear life or death! I am willing to follow you, General!"

Lei Wanchun said, "Kill one to get back my money, and I'll go with you, big brother."

With these two taking the lead, the rest of the people followed suit and competed to become members of the death squad.

"Dying on the battlefield is the fate of a brave general!" Zhang Xun sighed angrily, and immediately ordered his troops to attack.

(End of this chapter)