Chapter 353 Siege
Li Heng was afraid that the two would start arguing again, so he interrupted and said, "The most urgent task is how to deploy the next battle plan. There is no point in discussing who was at fault."

Wei Jiansu and Feng Changqing both claimed it.

Li Heng continued, "I have already made a strategy to encircle the rebels and slowly consume their manpower, but General Guo and General Gao are eager to recover the lost territory and are eager to find the main force of the rebels for a decisive battle. As General Feng said, the rebels are also an elite force, and a decisive battle with the main force of the rebels will inevitably result in wins and losses."

Feng Changqing suddenly realized, and said, "Your Majesty means to gradually reduce the rebels' sphere of influence and trap them to death?"

Li Ying nodded and said, "In the early Tang Dynasty, Dou Jiande occupied Hebei and Wang Shichong occupied Henan. How was it that Emperor Taizong was able to capture both kings in one battle?"

Feng Changqing said: "When Emperor Taizong marched east, he was not in a hurry to fight Wang Shichong in Luoyang. Instead, he first captured the cities around Luoyang and trapped Wang Shichong in Luoyang. Wang Shichong almost ran out of arrows and food. Dou Jiande went on a long expedition to rescue Wang Shichong, but was captured by Emperor Taizong in one battle."

Li Heng said: "That's right. If the rebels want to defend Raoyang and Heyang, let them do so. We will take over other counties in Hebei first."

Feng Changqing said: "I understand."

After talking about military affairs, Wei Jiansu changed the topic and asked, "Your Majesty, after you ascended the throne, the deposed crown prince and Li Lin did not submit a congratulatory letter. Should I send someone to urge them to do so?"

Li Heng thought for a moment and said, "No, I will go meet them in person some other day. Have the congratulatory letters from Prince Ying and Prince Rong been delivered?"

"Prince Ying's is still on the way, and Prince Rong's has just arrived." Wei Jiansu said as he presented Li Wan's congratulatory letter to Li Heng.

Li Heng took it and read it carefully.

……

Li Heng's edict was quickly sent to various places on the front line. The front-line generals were all great teammates and immediately understood what Li Heng meant.

Hebei.

Guo Ziyi gave up attacking Raoyang, left Yan Zhenqing to guard Lucheng, and personally led the army south.

Guo Ziyi set out from Lucheng, first taking Zhaojun and then advancing to Xingzhou.

Xingzhou was controlled by Tian Chengsi at this time.

Tian Chengsi did not have good military talent, but he was a good hand in politics and could be called the king of the Anshi Rebellion.

In the early days of An Lushan's rebellion, Tian Chengsi was a general under An Lushan. After An Qingxu killed his father, he followed An Qingxu. After Shi Siming killed An Qingxu, he followed Shi Siming.

After Shi Chaoyi killed Shi Siming, he realized that both the government troops and the rebels were no longer viable, so he surrendered to the court by offering Shi Chaoyi's family, while secretly developing himself.

The so-called secret development was to worship the four Anshi thieves as great sages and teachers, and erect statues everywhere in Hebei to commemorate them. At the same time, in Weizhou, all the people were mobilized to become soldiers, the old and the weak were required to farm, and the young men were required to serve in the army. Within a few years, the number of people reached 100,000.

In addition, Tian Chengsi also selected 10,000 elite soldiers to serve as guards, called yabing.

Yabing, also known as guards.

Other military governors followed Tian Chengsi's example, but not all of them had the ability to command the guards.

During the Guangde and Qianfu years, there were a total of 170 rebellions among the feudal lords, 80% of which were internal rebellions against their superiors.

Of course, Guo Ziyi didn't know about Tian Chengsi at the moment. He only knew that Li Heng didn't punish him because of the defeat and treated him well. He wanted to kill Tian Chengsi.

Tian Chengsi stationed his troops in Shahe County, Xingzhou, to fight against Guo Ziyi.

The reason why Shahe County is called this name is that there is a river called Shahe next to it.

Guo Ziyi first ordered his soldiers to dismantle other bridges on Shahe River, leaving only one bridge, and then led his troops to attack Shahe County.

The troops led by Tian Chengsi were all elite troops under An Lushan, including 5,000 elite cavalry from Tongluo.

Guo Ziyi pretended to be defeated in the siege and dropped a large amount of gold and silver, pretending that his army was defeated and attracted the rebels to pursue him.

Tian Chengsi was fooled and led his troops to pursue Guo Ziyi. He chased him to the Shahe Bridge and still refused to give up. He crossed the bridge and pursued Guo Ziyi. Guo Ziyi had Pugu Huai'en ambush on both sides of the bridge. When the rebels were halfway across the bridge, Pugu Huai'en took advantage of the situation and launched a fierce attack.

The Shuofang Army led by Puguo Huai'en was also elite. The only thing that was inferior to the rebels was their cavalry strength.

But now the rebel cavalry were all blocked on the bridge, unable to play their advantage. Pugu Huai'en led the elite infantry to surround them, firing bows and crossbows at them, and the rebel infantry and cavalry trampled on each other, causing the army to be defeated.

The two sides fought for two hours in Heyang, and the government army won a great victory, basically annihilating the Tongluo cavalry led by Tian Chengsi.

During the melee, Tian Chengsi jumped into the river and escaped, all the way to Mingzhou, where he reunited with An Lushan.

Guo Ziyi led his troops to recapture Xingzhou and joined forces with Li Guangbi in Weizhou to encircle Mingzhou.

On the other hand, Gao Xianzhi also gave up attacking Heyang. On the one hand, he chose to defend Luoyang, and on the other hand, he sent troops to join Li Qi, Zhang Xun and others in Yongqiu to attack Bianzhou.

The rebels did not expect that Gao Xianzhi would not attack Heyang, which was close by and threatening Luoyang, but instead sent a large army to attack Bianzhou. The rebels were caught off guard and Bianzhou was captured by the government troops.

At this point, except for Heyang, the areas of Henan and Luoyang were all occupied by government troops. In southern Hebei, the rebels only had two places left, Xiangzhou and Mingzhou.

Shi Siming, who was in northern Hebei, also wanted to rescue An Lushan, but after Yan Zhenqing retreated to Lucheng, he held his ground and refused to come out. Shi Siming was unable to take the city for a while and could do nothing but worry.

……

In Mingzhou city.

An Lushan looked at the embarrassed Tian Chengsi and had the urge to chop him to pieces, but he finally held back and only let him make amends for his crime and summoned civil and military officials to discuss matters.

An Lushan glanced at the civil and military officials, and his eyes swept over Yan Zhuang, Gao Shang, Zhang Tongru and other civil and military officials who had instigated him to rebel, and he felt extremely regretful.

He regretted that he should not have rebelled.

Yan Zhuang saw An Lushan's displeasure and immediately spoke up, "Your Majesty, being trapped is not a solution. We still have elite troops. Since the Tang army will not fight against our main force, why not let General An Shouzhong take the initiative to find an opportunity to fight."

An Lushan looked at Gao Shang and Zhang Tongru and asked, "What do you think?"

Gao Shang said: "I agree with Prime Minister Yan's words."

Zhang Tongru said: "Shahe has been lost, and the Tang army is very close to Mingzhou. If General An Shouzhong does not fight a decisive battle, I am afraid we will not be able to hold Mingzhou for long."

An Lushan unconsciously clenched his fists, and after a long time, he slowly released them and said calmly, "Then pass the order."

……

In Heyang city.

An Shouzhong received An Lushan's order, closed his eyes, and said helplessly: "If we go out of the city to fight, I only have a 30% chance of winning. Doesn't the Great Yan Kingdom have any capable people who can stop the attack of Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi?"

Li Guiren said: "I only knew that Li Heng, Wang Zhongsi, Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing and others were good at fighting, but I never thought that Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi would appear. These two were only defeated by Shi Siming once in Hebei, but they were like entering an empty land in other places."

An Shouzhong asked: "Liu Heita's uprising lasted for a year and a half. How long have we been in the army?"

Li Guiren calculated and said, "One year."

"We can't be weaker than Liu Heita. We have to hold out for at least another half a year." An Shouzhong stood up and said, "Write back to my foster father. Going out of the city to fight is not the best strategy. I beg him to hold on to Mingzhou. I will find a chance to defeat the enemy!"

Li Guiren said: "If you disobey orders like this, I'm afraid His Majesty will punish you!"

"The worst that can happen is I'll be dismissed from my post and beheaded. I'll accept it." An Shouzhong got up and left.

After going out, An Shouzhong rarely went to the city wall for inspection, but returned to the inner palace.

(End of this chapter)