Chapter 383 Chapter 382 Cut off the food supply

The rebels' food supplies were being consumed quickly, so they had to find a way to transfer food from the rear.

Due to the obstruction of Taihang Mountains, there are only two roads to transfer grain from the rebel rear to Yunzhou, one is Jundu Xing and the other is Feihu Xing.

The main pass of Junduxing is Juyongguan, and the main pass of Feihuxing is Zijingguan. The Zijingguan in the Tang Dynasty was called Baibiguan.

Both routes eventually pass through Weizhou.

Li Guangbi wanted to cut off the enemy's food supply, so he summoned all the generals to discuss the matter. Among the generals was Ma Sui, who was sent by Li Heng.

All the generals gathered.

Li Guangbi said: "The rebels have run out of food and grass. Shi Siming will definitely send food to help. I intend to cut off their food supply. We need two groups of troops to go deep into Weizhou."

Lieutenant General Zhang Yongji said, "General, Weizhou is controlled by the rebels. Is it too risky to go to Weizhou to cut off the food supply? It is better to lead the army to take Weizhou first, and then cut off the food supply."

Li Guangbi said: "The enemy's main force in the west is also in Yunzhou. If our army goes to Weizhou now, the enemy will move south and seize Yanmen Pass. If Yanmen Pass is lost, we will be isolated, and the rebels can move south and besiege our army."

Zhang Yongji said: "But it is too risky to cut off the food supply route to Weizhou. If Mr. Guo were here, he would never use such a risky tactic."

Zhang Yongji was right. Guo Ziyi's style of play tended to be conservative. He was unwilling to do high-risk, high-return things and only sought to make steady progress.

However, Li Guangbi's playing style was relatively radical, and he often used strange tactics.

The two people have different playing styles, and it is difficult to generalize who is better or worse, but the most frightening thing in dealing with people is to compare others with others.

Therefore, Li Guangbi's face turned cold instantly.

Another deputy general, Kang Yuanbao, quickly stepped forward to smooth things over, saying, "Mr. Guo and Marshal Li Jie are both capable and skilled generals. Although their tactics are different, they can both achieve victory. The key is unity. If we all follow Marshal Li Jie's orders, we will surely be able to defeat the enemy."

Li Guangbi's expression softened a little, and he said, "General Kang is right. Water has no fixed shape, and soldiers have no fixed positions. General Zhang thinks that it is too risky for us to go to Weizhou to cut off our food supply, and we should not go lightly. The rebels will also think so. In this way, we can catch them by surprise."

Zhang Yongji was not convinced, but Li Guangbi was always strict in his military discipline, so he did not dare to say anything.

But at this time, a soldier came to report, "General, five hundred cavalrymen have arrived outside the camp."

Li Guangbi was shocked and asked, "Whose subordinates are they?"

The soldier said, "They look like General Ma Sui's subordinates."

Ma Sui was no longer calm, and immediately stood up to explain, "General, I did not order my men to enter Yunzhou City."

Li Guangbi was skeptical.

Ma Sui belonged to the Longyou Army and was considered Li Heng's direct subordinate. When Li Heng's direct troops entered Yunzhou City, Li Guangbi was a little panicked.

Li Guangbi pondered for a moment and said, "Could it be that something happened at their base? Let's go and take a look."

"Yes." Ma Sui took the order and ran out of the tent, followed closely by Li Guangbi.

Ma Sui came to his cavalry and shouted to the general Ma Ning, "Didn't I tell you not to follow me? Why did you disobey my order? Do you know what the punishment for disobeying military orders is?"

Ma Ning dismounted, knelt on one knee, and said, "Since we entered Hedong, we have been following behind in all the battles, big and small. Others have mocked us, saying that our Longyou Army is the emperor's personal army, and we don't fight, but just sit back and enjoy the fruits of victory. When the brothers fought against Tubo, they fought on the battlefield, so how could they listen to such words? This time, no matter what, we have to charge to the front for once."

Ma Sui said angrily: "How should we fight? Follow the orders of the commander. If you follow me without permission, you will be punished by military law!"

Li Guangbi saw that Ma Sui was not putting on a show and did not want to offend him, so he laughed and said, "It is not a fault for the soldiers to follow their general and want to make meritorious service to the country. This military law will be recorded first, and when they have made meritorious service, their crime will be atonement."

Ma Sui did not want to disappoint his brothers, so he said to the soldiers, "Hurry up and thank Marshal Li Jie!"

Ma Ning led the way and saluted, "Thank you, Marshal Li Jie!"

Li Guangbi waved his hand and asked someone to prepare a banquet for Ma Sui's subordinates. Then he called Ma Sui back to the tent and said, "Since your soldiers want to make merit, are you willing to go to Weizhou to deal with the food shortage?" Ma Sui said, "I am willing to go!"

"Okay!" Li Guangbi was very happy and said, "I will send you 3,000 people."

Ma Sui said: "Intercepting the grain road depends on the number of people rather than the number of people. The more people there are, the bigger the target will be, and the slower the march will be. I will only take 500 cavalrymen with me. If I cannot complete the mission, I will be punished by military law!"

"Okay." Li Guangbi did not force it, and said, "Then please ask General Ma to cut off the rebels' food supply route at Feihu Pass."

"I obey your command!" said Ma Sui.

Li Guangbi nodded and turned to his most capable subordinate, Hao Tingyu, and said, "General Hao will also bring 500 cavalry to cut off the food supply route of the rebels in Junduxing."

"I obey your command!" said Hao Tingyu.

……

Ma Sui and Hao Tingyu divided their troops into two groups, entered Weizhou, and raided the rebels' food supply routes. The rebels were caught off guard and were severely defeated by Ma Sui and Hao Tingyu. The two men led their subordinates to burn the rebels' food and wages and left.

Gao Xiuyan and Cai Xide, who were in Yunzhong, were terrified when they learned that the food and grass had been burned. They wrote to Shi Siming, asking to retreat to Weizhou.

Shi Siming refused and scolded the two men.

Shi Siming's initial order to Gao Xiuyan and Cai Xide was to have them capture Yanmen Pass and strangle the throat of the northeastern advance of Hedong.

However, the two men only reached Yunzhou before they were stopped by Li Guangbi.

Shi Siming was already very dissatisfied with this, so when he learned that the two men still wanted to retreat, he could not help but scold them and asked them to hold on, and he would find a way to send more food and grass.

However, the rebels' rebellion had no legal basis. Up to now, the rebel soldiers were only interested in fame and fortune. Due to the insufficient supply of food and fodder, more and more deserters appeared.

Gao Xiuyan initially only executed deserters, but as more and more deserters appeared, Gao Xiuyan initiated a system of collective responsibility.

If a soldier runs away, kill the sergeant; if the sergeant runs away, kill the squad leader, and so on.

Gao Xiuyan's order was originally intended to reduce deserters, but it backfired.

A soldier in the squad ran away. The sergeant was afraid of being implicated, so he ran away too. After the sergeant ran away, the squad leader was afraid of being implicated, so he also ran away.

Therefore, after Gao Xiuyan issued the order, the number of deserters not only did not decrease, but increased instead, and finally the general also ran away.

This made Gao Xiuyan very depressed.

In the rebel tent.

Gao Xiuyan called the remaining generals and said, "If we wait any longer, our soldiers will all run away. We should fight now. Only by winning can we stabilize the morale of the army."

The generals looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

So Gao Xiuyan ordered all the generals to prepare for battle and attack the next day.

The next day, all the generals were waiting for Gao Xiuyan's order in the camp, but Gao Xiuyan was nowhere to be seen.

Cai Xide was an impatient person and couldn't wait, so he just went to find her.

However, when Cai Xide came to Gao Xiuyan's room, he found that the room was empty.

It turned out that after Gao Xiuyan gave the order yesterday, he fled with his personal troops overnight.

(End of this chapter)