Tang Dynasty Swordsman

Page 165

Li Ji smiled and said, "What the deputy commander said is all true. In the past few years, through the Zhaoyi Army, I have purchased three thousand fine horses from Heng and Ding prefectures, which are grazed between Guanshi and Tangyi, forming four cavalry battalions. As for siege equipment, much has been made, and the Hebei Plain is convenient for transportation, so there is no need to worry."

Li Ji had discussed his strategic plans privately with Lei Wanchun several times, and they had also discussed them further during his trip north to meet with Qin Rui. All three of them were seasoned veterans, so theoretically there shouldn't be any major oversights. However, although Tian Qianzhen couldn't fill in the gaps, his few words were all spot on, which made Li Ji look at him with new respect.

It is said that Tian Qian was once the most intelligent general under An Lushan, but unfortunately he was resented by his colleagues. That's why he was forced to cover the rear after escaping Chang'an and fell into my hands... It seems that the rumors are true. I may be able to use his talents as an advisor - but I must never let him lead troops alone.

Several days later, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the imperial court finally issued an official edict, with urgent dispatches flying back and forth, ordering the towns of Weibo, Zhaoyi, Wushun, and Hedong to join forces to attack Tianxiong Army and suppress the rebellion of Tian Chengsi. In addition, it was specifically declared that about 600,000 shi of grain and about one million strings of cash and silk collected in the Jianghuai region this autumn would be transported to Hebei via the Yongji Canal for military use.

Upon receiving the imperial edict, Li Ji immediately convened a meeting to assess the troops. He ordered Lei Wanchun, the Commander of the Army, to lead four battalions of cavalry as the vanguard, while he himself led twenty battalions of garrison troops in the center. Commander Nie Feng led five battalions of troops to the rear, protecting the supply lines. Sima Yan Zhenqing was left to defend Weibo, while his deputy, Tian Qianzhen, accompanied him. Instructions were also issued to Nan Jiyun regarding Bozhou.

The next day, he personally went to the drill ground to inspect the troops. Li Ji ordered people to bring out 300,000 strings of cash to reward the soldiers as funds for their departure—half of it was silk, and the other half was copper coins that had been painstakingly collected. If the silk reward was too excessive, Yan Sima might jump out to stop him again.

Sitting atop the high platform, Li Ji gazed upon the dozens of battalions of soldiers, numbering in the tens of thousands, arrayed neatly before him, and couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. In the years since he had been stationed in the city, whenever he was in Yuancheng, he had devoted almost all his energy to training his troops. He considered the Weizhou Defense Army to be a formidable force, second to none in the land. While their armor and weaponry might not match the elite Imperial Guards, they were not far off; in fact, their morale and organizational skills were likely even superior.

The Northern Garrison was always composed of elite troops selected from the outer armies—at least that was the case when Li Ji was still the general of Baoying Army—but being kept in the glamorous world of Chang'an for so long, they inevitably became corrupt. Moreover, with their duties of guarding the palace and serving as ceremonial guards, they had less time to train their combat skills than the Weizhou Defense Army in front of them.

Li Ji couldn't help but think: It's a pity there are only a little over ten thousand. If I could get a hundred thousand such elite troops, I could indeed roam the world freely. Not to mention anything else, even if An Lushan and Shi Siming attacked with twice the number of troops when they were at their peak, I would not be afraid! The problem is that such a hundred thousand strong troops, let alone the two prefectures of Wei and Bo, probably even half of Hebei would be difficult to supply... If they were placed on the western front, without the court providing additional money and food, it would probably take the combined forces of Fengxiang, Jingyuan, Binning, Fufang, Tongguan, plus the towns of Shuofang, to barely be able to supply them.

This also shows that Hebei's wealth has already surpassed that of Guanzhong. If it were to form its own separatist regime and cut off the Yangtze and Huai River water transport, the Tang Dynasty would undoubtedly be overthrown!

Oh, this seems to be the same thinking An Lushan had back then... Fortunately, Zhang Xun was there to defend Suiyang.

Without realizing it, he glanced at Lei Wanchun beside him.

Lei Wanchun, still thinking Li Ji was urging him with his eyes, hurriedly said, "This humble general will lead the vanguard and we can set off immediately—please give instructions, General."

Li Ji slowly stood up, his armor plates clattering and rattling. He looked around at the soldiers of the various camps, where there had been a slight murmur of voices, but now all was quiet.

Li Ji coughed lightly, then raised his voice and said loudly, "Tian Chengsi is a wolf in sheep's clothing, prone to fickleness, acting arbitrarily, and defying the king's orders. Therefore, the court has issued an edict ordering the various towns in Hebei to punish him!" With his loud voice, he didn't need a megaphone; even the soldiers in the last row could hear him clearly.

After uttering those two official sentences, Li Ji suddenly took a deep breath and changed to plain language: "Our Tang Dynasty was originally a unified empire. The Eastern barbarians and foreign traitors dared not even glance at us. The barbarians all considered it an honor to be Chinese. So why were the Chinese people so proud? For the prosperity and peace of the country, for decades there was no turmoil or war within our borders, and farmers could cultivate and weave in peace. But then An Lushan and Shi Siming raised troops in rebellion, first plundering Hebei, then ravaging Henan. The court expended a great deal of effort, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers shed their blood on the battlefield, before it was finally quelled."

“You are all from good families in Hebei. Many of you have been farmers for generations, and some of you have served as officials. Your livelihood may be difficult, but you have managed to keep your relatives safe. During the An Lushan Rebellion, the fighting was constant, and the taxes were ever-increasing. Friends and relatives who were just around the corner yesterday are now dust tomorrow. Is there anyone in the camp who has not lost friends and relatives during the eight years of chaos? If so, please step forward!”

After waiting a moment, no one responded—it makes sense, even those who are determined to join the army and fight for wealth and status would not want their relatives and friends to suffer the ravages of war.

Li Ji continued, “An Lushan and Shi Siming are truly the greatest traitors in the world, and the deep-seated enemies of all good people! However, Tian Chengsi pretended to return to the Tang Dynasty, but built shrines and temples for An and Shi. He cannot bear to see peace in Hebei and hopes to further afflict you and enslave you. How can you tolerate this?”

"I am acting on the Emperor's decree and the court's orders to lead you to attack Tian Chengsi and eliminate this wicked scoundrel, so that Hebei may enjoy lasting peace and stability, and everyone may live as peaceful citizens, not as dogs of chaos! However, the Tian family's evil deeds are their own fault, but the people of Ji and Ying prefectures are still our compatriots. Once we enter their territory, we must not plunder, let alone kill innocent people."

“The soldiers in other towns are mistreated by their superiors, lacking food and clothing, and their military orders are not obeyed. There are even cases of robbery and murder. You must not imitate them! Have I not treated you well? Have I lacked food and clothing in my daily life? Have I not repeatedly emphasized military discipline?”

Lei Wanchun quickly chimed in, "The commander treats us very well, providing us with ample food and clothing, and rewarding us frequently. Moreover, we have memorized every single military law."

Li Ji agreed, took a spear from a guard beside him, drew an iron mace from his back with his right hand, and snapped it in half with a "crack": "Anyone who disobeys orders to rob or kill will not be spared, and this is the spear I have!"

He then raised his arms and shouted, "Wei Bo is a powerful army, the strongest in the world. Wherever we go, we will not offend anyone, and we will be invincible. We will destroy the Tian family and wipe out all the stubborn villains!"

The soldiers responded with shouts: "Weibo is a strong army, the most powerful in the world..." Their voices were like a tidal wave, resounding throughout the sky.

Chapter Fifteen: Disunity

Lei Wanchun first led four battalions of two thousand cavalrymen out of Yuancheng, heading north at breakneck speed. He expected to arrive at the pre-arranged warehouse between Qiankou and Guantao that very night to retrieve money and provisions. Four battalions of auxiliary troops were already stationed there, and two battalions would be dispatched to transport the provisions and accompany them on their journey.

Because after passing Guantao, they would soon be in the territory of Beizhou. Although they were going to join forces, Li Ji really didn't think Qin Rui would be willing to give up money and grain to supply the troops of Weibo. Besides, even if that guy had the intention, he might not have enough money and grain.

After the cavalry departed, the infantry followed, with tens of thousands of troops leaving the camp in quick succession. It was impossible to complete the task in a short time. Li Ji estimated that by the time it was his turn to set off, the sun would probably be high in the sky. Therefore, he sat down again to rest for a while.

Gao Ying leaned closer to him and whispered, "The commander's last few four words really boosted the morale of the troops..."

Even when going out to war, paperwork was still indispensable, and Gao Ying, as the "chief secretary," was bound to do it.

Li Ji rarely heard Gao Gongchu praise him, and he was somewhat proud. But Gao Ying suddenly changed the subject—"It's just a pity that it doesn't rhyme."

Li Ji chuckled awkwardly, then pointed to the soldiers below the stage: "It doesn't matter. How many of these soldiers can understand the rhyme?"

Gao Ying, however, was not offended, and continued in a low voice, "The commander has strictly enforced military orders, prohibiting looting. Our army truly has the bearing of a royal army. However, I am still somewhat worried about the supply of provisions, and I fear that we will not have enough manpower..."

Normally, when marching and fighting, people are conscripted from various counties to transport grain. However, Li Ji only ordered the auxiliary troops to do so. The reason is simple: the climate in Hebei is slightly colder than in Guanzhong and Henan, and the autumn harvest is later. There is still a lot of millet and wheat that has not been harvested and stored. If people are forcibly conscripted, it will definitely delay the farming season.

The court's original plan was that after the imperial edict arrived, each garrison would prepare provisions and mobilize soldiers, and it would take at least ten days to half a month before they could set off. By then, the autumn harvest would have been mostly stored and ready for conscription. The problem was that Li Ji intended to send troops ahead of time and take Xindu with lightning speed. Therefore, he acted immediately upon receiving the edict, which meant that for the time being, only auxiliary troops could be used to transport provisions—and only a portion of them, because the auxiliary troops also had military farms to harvest.

Gao Ying was worried that if the grain supply was insufficient and Wu Shun's army refused to provide it, and you forbade looting, what would happen if the army ran out of food and morale was shaken?

Li Ji comforted him, saying, "With Yan Sima and Du Zunsu in charge, you don't need to worry." Those two are outstanding individuals of their time, and they are known for their sense of responsibility. If they couldn't fill this gap in time and ensure that the front lines had enough food, how could they have dared to promise me this task?

However, despite all his calculations, Li Ji still failed to anticipate the problem of his incompetent ally... Meanwhile, Lei Wanchun entered Beizhou territory the following morning and approached Linqing County that night. Upon hearing the news, the magistrate of Linqing County panicked and hurriedly ordered the city gates to be closed. He also sent the county clerk to inquire: Why has your army crossed the border to come here?

Lei Wanchun replied that he had been ordered to lead an expedition north to suppress the Tianxiong Army, leaving the county magistrate completely bewildered: "This county has not received any such notification..."

Li Ji asked Qin Rui to prepare for the troop deployment in advance, and Qin Rui did indeed do so. However, he thought that after receiving the imperial edict, it would take at least three to five days to coordinate the deployment before the army could advance. "If I wait for the Weibo army, it will take at least six or seven days..." Unexpectedly, Li Ji mobilized the troops the day after receiving the imperial edict, while he was still having a meeting with his advisors.

Furthermore, it's impossible for the imperial edict of conquest to be sent to the military supervisor's office by carrier pigeon before being read aloud by the supervisor. Qinghe is farther from Chang'an than Yuancheng, so Qin Rui received the edict two full days later than Li Ji. How could he possibly have time to issue orders to the counties under his jurisdiction so soon after receiving the edict?

Thus, Lei Wanchun was forced to stay in Linqing County for another day, waiting for the county magistrate to send a fast horse to Qinghe to request instructions from Qin Jiedu. However, before the official document from the county arrived, a scout reported that the Jiedushi himself had led a large army and had already passed Guantao. Lei Wanchun thought to himself, "If I stay another day, the Jiedushi might arrive. What's the point of this vanguard? Anyway, the troops in Linqing wouldn't dare to cut off my rear, so I might as well continue forward."

It wasn't until they reached the outskirts of Qinghe that Qin Rui sent Judge Guo Mo to greet them, offering a small amount of beef and wine, and inviting General Lei into the city for a meal. Lei Wanchun, impatient with dealing with officials from other towns, said, "I was already a day late in Linqing as I was leading the way. I fear my husband, Commander Li, will punish me, so I cannot delay any longer. Please convey my regards to Commander Qin. Once we have quelled the bandits and won this battle, I will then take his wine—but I wonder if the pontoon bridge over Nanzhang has been completed?"

Guo Mo smiled somewhat awkwardly: "Construction is underway."

Lei Wanchun led four battalions of cavalry around Qinghe City and went straight to the banks of the Nanzhang River, only to find that the so-called "construction" was just a few wooden stakes driven into the riverbank...

Qin Rui was worried that building the pontoon bridge too early might alert the Tianxiong Army and give them pause for thought. Besides, if the imperial court didn't ultimately issue an edict to attack, wouldn't all the pontoon bridge have been built in vain? Would Li Ji reimburse him for the cost of building the bridge? Therefore, it wasn't until he received news of Lei Wanchun's entry into the country that he ordered people to build the bridge, and he only mobilized half a battalion of soldiers and forcibly conscripted more than three hundred farmers from the nearby countryside.

How could that speed possibly be fast?

Although Lei Wanchun was anxious, he also had his own pride—we are the elite cavalry of Weizhou, how can we do hard labor? Therefore, he did not order his soldiers to help, but sent his general Yang Shigu to urge the people of Beizhou to speed up the construction.

Although Yang Shigu had a political blemish, Li Ji had no concrete evidence and therefore did not punish him, only warning Lei Wanchun to be wary of him. In Lei Wanchun's view, inciting a mob and coercing superiors was a serious crime deserving execution! There was no evidence that Yang Shigu had instigated the rebellion; on the contrary, his leadership in suppressing the rebellion was undeniable—the other minor offenses were insignificant. He summoned Yang Shigu for a brief examination and found him to be indeed a top soldier in the old Weizhou army, skilled in archery and horsemanship, shrewd, and seemingly obedient. Therefore, he appointed Yang Shigu to command a battalion of cavalry.

This time, accompanying Lei Wanchun to the banks of the Nanzhang River, Lei Wanchun instructed Yang Shigu: "Go and urge the Wushun Army and the people of Beizhou to quickly build a pontoon bridge so that we can cross. Don't wait until the general's army arrives and we are still lingering on the south bank, unable to enter the enemy territory. That would be bad for both sides."

Yang Shigu accepted the order and led a dozen or so cavalrymen to the construction site to inspect it—among them his cousin Yang Shiyan.

Yang Shiyan originally had no intention of joining the army, but he had previously given a bad suggestion that almost gave Yan Zhenqing a handle against Yang Shigu. Yang Shigu then manipulated the situation, dividing his uncle's land among the clansmen, but deliberately excluding Yang Shiyan. When Yang Shiyan came to Yang Shigu for help, Yang Shigu rolled his eyes and said, "I've been busy for months, and in the end, I haven't received a single acre myself."

He then put his arm around Yang Shiyan's and persuaded him, "I know you are strong enough to draw a bow and ride a horse. Are you really willing to toil on dozens of acres of land? This time, under the command of Commander Yan and with the approval of the General, the land confiscated from large households will be distributed to small farmers according to the equal land distribution system. Each farmer will only have a maximum of sixty or seventy acres. So, if you still want to hire laborers and live off the land, that's just a pipe dream. Why not join the army? With your brother's help, you'll surely receive more rewards and accumulate wealth."

Yang Shiyan had no choice but to join the army and was dragged by Yang Shigu to serve as his personal guard.

As they left the camp, he whispered to Yang Shigu, "General Lei has assigned my brother a task that will offend people."

Yang Shigu smiled and said, "The people of Beizhou, so what if we offend them? What is there to fear?"

But when they arrived near the construction site, he didn't speak at first, but carefully observed the half-camp of Beizhou soldiers. He saw that most of the soldiers' clothes were old and worn, their weapons were not good, and their appearance was even worse. Some were sitting or lying down, just shouting at the laborers to work, and not one of them was willing to come forward to help.

Yang Shigu couldn't help but sneer: "With Wu Shun's army being so lazy and negligent, General Nan might just take our four battalions of cavalry and head straight for Qinghe, and capture Commander Qin along the way."

Yang Shiyan warned him, "Brother, don't underestimate Wu Shun's army. The Qin general probably didn't send the elite troops. I heard he has several thousand personal guards; they shouldn't be so weak. Besides, Wu Shun's army is a friend, not an enemy..."

Yang Shigu sneered: "If they are all like this, I would rather they be enemies than friends, so as not to drag our army down on the battlefield!"

He was so engrossed in whispering with his brothers that he failed to notice a junior officer in Wu Shun's army who, upon seeing the Yang brothers approaching from afar, pretended to wipe his sweat, covered his face with his sleeve, and then quietly slipped behind others. Only after Yang Shigu had given a few reprimands to the Wu Shun army general leading the charge, urging them to speed up the construction, and then rode away did he finally breathe a sigh of relief and lower his sleeve.

A colleague asked him, "Why is Old Li avoiding people?"

The junior officer said with a wry smile, "There's an enemy involved..."

A colleague spat and said, "This must be Beizhou, not Weizhou. These Weibo soldiers are so arrogant, treating us like menial laborers. We'll be fighting side by side in the future. Who can trust such allies? They'll probably put us at the forefront... By the way, Old Li, you also came from Weibo. I heard that Commander Li has been on a killing spree in the state, seizing other people's land, causing resentment to boil over. Is that true?"

The junior officer chuckled awkwardly, “When I fled Weizhou, I hadn’t yet started killing indiscriminately, so I don’t know what happened afterward… However, Commander Li and Commander Yan are not necessarily rude and bloodthirsty people. I was deceived by a villain and expelled from the Weibo army…” As he spoke, he gritted his teeth and said hatefully, “If I have the chance on this trip, I will take that bastard’s life with a cold arrow!”

"Old Li, the scoundrel you're talking about is..."

"That's the Weizhou cavalry general who just came running around shouting orders!"

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Wu Shunjun's construction of the pontoon bridge was slow and delayed. Lei Wanchun repeatedly sent people to urge him on, but the progress did not speed up. Finally, he became anxious and went to the construction site himself to disperse Wu Shunjun's soldiers. He ordered Wei Bobing to supervise the labor of the people of Beizhou and gave him several lashes with a whip. With great difficulty, the pontoon bridge was finally built before Li Ji arrived in Qinghe.

So he led his troops into Jizhou territory, sending half a battalion to guard the north bank and the other half west to monitor Nangong County across the old canal. He himself led more than a thousand cavalry along the old canal to investigate the hydrological conditions and find a suitable place to cross to the north.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of Wu Shun, driven away by Lei Wanchun, fled back to Qinghe to complain to Qin Rui. Qin Rui was furious: "How dare that Lei fellow be so rude!" Xu Yu and other advisors, who were already disliking Weibo, seized the opportunity to speak up: "The soldiers of Weizhou are powerful, and the cavalry led by Lei Wanchun are quite brave. Now that they are passing through our territory, what if they take the opportunity to forcibly capture our people, plunder our wealth, or even carry out a 'borrowing a road to destroy Guo' strategy? What should we do? The commander must be on guard."

Qin Rui hesitated, and sent men to investigate. The reply came that the Weibo army had been disciplined and had not committed any offenses since entering the country. Xu Yu and the others then said, "Although we are allies, it is difficult to guarantee that a large army will not plunder or harm people when it passes through the border. However, the Weibo army has not done so. Perhaps they intend to win over the hearts of the people of Beizhou. Li Ji's ambitions are not small. Commander, please be very careful."

Guo Mo, unable to bear listening any longer, spoke up: "What you all think is that we should let Li Ji lead his troops across Bei into Ji, and then I should send troops to cut off their retreat, join forces with Tian Chengsi, and attack them from both the north and south to annihilate them. Then we can advance into Weibo, raise our banner, appoint the General as king and emperor, and divide the Tang territory—is that not right?"

The staff members hurriedly waved their hands, saying, "How could we have such an intention?"

Guo Mo spread his hands: "If that's not the case, what is the purpose of your incessant chatter? My two prefectures, Bei and De, are both south of Tianxiong Army and north of Weibo Army. Having received the imperial order to join forces to suppress the rebels, are we not allowed to allow the Weibo army to pass through our territory? If they are undisciplined and commit plunder, we can still report to the court and impeach Li Ji. But since they have committed no offenses this autumn, is it Weibo's fault? Wu Shun's army has 30,000 men, but Commander Qin is only allowed to send 7,000, leaving the rest to garrison. Does Weibo not have any soldiers left to garrison? If we clash with Commander Li here, or even have a conflict, wouldn't they attack from both the north and south, truly attempting to destroy Guo?"

Turning to Qin Rui, he cupped his hands and advised, “Our Wushun Army is caught between powerful vassal states, making it difficult for us to survive alone. We should either ally with Weibo to attack Tianxiong, or ally with Tianxiong to attack Weibo. Now that the Commander-in-Chief has decided on a plan for both the Southern and Northern Expeditions and has received an imperial edict, how can we possibly change our allegiance when the time comes? If we attack Tian Chengsi, Li Baochen and Li Huaixian may not be willing to come to his aid; if we attack Li Ji, the imperial court is far away, and I'm afraid the Zhaoyi Army will not be willing to let the Commander-in-Chief off the hook!”

"I implore the General not to heed their words, but to focus on the Northern Expedition, seek opportunities to acquire more wealth, and strengthen the power of my Wushun Army."

Qin Rui nodded repeatedly: "Mr. Guo is right, I have no intention of switching sides." Then he patted his chest: "I am a loyal subject of the court, how could I follow the example of the traitor Tian?!"

The following day, Li Ji led his troops to the outskirts of Qinghe. Qin Rui sent someone to invite Li Ji into the city for a banquet, but Li Ji refused, saying only, "The military situation is urgent and it is inconvenient to delay. Now that the pontoon bridge over Nanzhang is completed, I should immediately charge into enemy territory and take Xindu directly. Why doesn't Commander Qin lead his troops out of the city and go with me?"

Upon receiving the reply, Qin Rui couldn't help but think to himself, "This little guy is also wary of me..." He made up an excuse that the military supplies had not yet been properly prepared and Wu Shun's army might be delayed by a day or two. He asked Commander Li to wait outside the city if he could wait, but if he was unwilling to wait, he might as well send out first and his army would follow.

Gao Ying and Tian Qianzhen both advised Li Ji, "Qin Rui cannot be entirely trusted." Li Ji smiled and said, "Of course I know, these traitors..." Before he could finish speaking, he glanced at Tian Qianzhen and thought to himself, "He's also a traitorous general. I can't just drag him into this too." He quickly changed his words, "These traitorous generals who were heavily relied upon by the Shi family are all untrustworthy!"

When Tian Qianzhen surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, Shi Siming had not yet killed An Qingxu, so he can be ruled out.

Chapter Sixteen, Beneath the City of Xindu

Li Ji rode forward, vaguely sensing a dark cloud looming over his head.

He knew Qin Rui didn't trust him, and of course he didn't trust that guy who habitually patted his chest and proclaimed himself a loyal subject of the Tang Dynasty. This time, the total force ordered to suppress the rebels might reach sixty or seventy thousand, but they were divided among several military commands, their morale was low, and some even harbored their own agendas. It would be difficult for them to work together seamlessly on the battlefield.

It seems we must prepare for the Weibo army to stand alone against a formidable enemy—we can only hope that Xin Yunjing of Hedong will send more troops. Old Xin is, after all, a loyal Tang subject, belonging to the same camp as us, unlike Qin Rui and even Xue Song. However, Hedong is far away, separated from the Tianxiong army by Chengde Town and the treacherous Taihang Mountains. Even if Xin Yunjing sets off immediately upon receiving the imperial edict, traveling at breakneck speed, it will probably take at least half a month before he reaches the battlefield…

In the next two weeks, we must first severely cripple Tian Chengsi's main force. Even if it means letting Qin Yunjing come and reap the rewards for nothing, it's better than having the Hedong army clean up the mess after an unsuccessful advance.

The Hedong army had come from afar and was unfamiliar with the terrain of Hebei. If things went wrong, it might be difficult to clean up the mess.

He waved his hand from horseback, dispelling the ominous premonition in his mind, and ordered the army to speed up. Finally, three days later, they successfully crossed the Gudu River and reached the outskirts of Xindu City. After setting up camp, Lei Wanchun came to report that he had ordered the cavalry to disperse and block all roads, and that in two days they had captured three groups of messengers who had traveled from Xindu to Wuqiang to deliver the news—he believed that Tian Chengsi in Wuqiang City was probably still unconscious.

Li Ji asked, "How many troops are there in Xindu City, and who is in charge?"

Since Lei Wanchun had captured the messenger, he naturally obtained a lot of information about the city through interrogation. He immediately replied: "The garrison has more than two thousand soldiers and three hundred warhorses. The governor of Jizhou appointed by Tian Chengsi is named Hu E, and the military commander is Yang Guangchao."

Tian Qianzhen suggested, "We can send a letter through arrows into the city, urging Hu E and Yang Guangchao to surrender. If they do not comply, Xindu is a heavily fortified city with tens of thousands of households, and it cannot be captured in just three or five days. If Tian Chengsi hears the news and urgently sends troops, they will cross the Zhang River from the south of Hengshui. We can ambush a detachment of troops and attack them halfway across."

Li Ji nodded and said, "What the deputy commander said makes sense. If Tian Chengsi does not rush to send troops to rescue, I can definitely conquer Xindu; if he does rush to send troops, the number of troops coming will not be large, and we will not need to let them cross the Zhang River. We can let them cross the Zhang River and then ambush them to defeat them."

Tian Qianzhen cupped his hands and said, "I accept this order. With just four battalions of soldiers, I will surely inflict a great defeat on the Tianxiong rebel army."

Li Ji smiled and said, "This is a trivial matter, why bother the deputy commander?" He then ordered Lei Wanchun to lead six battalions of cavalry and infantry, totaling three thousand men, to circle around to the north of the city and set up an ambush.

Gao Ying then wrote a letter on an arrow and shot it into the city, demanding that Hu E and Yang Guangchao surrender. After receiving the letter, the two looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yang Guangchao said, "The Wei Bo army is coming so fast! The imperial edict to conquer them has only just reached our town. Commander Tian has not even had time to make arrangements, and they have already arrived... Xindu has only two thousand men, but there seem to be ten times that number of soldiers outside the city. How should we defend against them?"

Hu E sighed, "I advised Commander Tian long ago not to build a shrine for An Lushan and his son, lest it bring trouble to the court, but Commander Tian refused to listen... The other day I sent a messenger to Wuqiang, and Commander Tian immediately dispatched reinforcements, but they will not arrive for another three to five days. I wonder if Xindu City can withstand three to five days..."

Yang Guangchao said, “I can mobilize the able-bodied men in the city to climb the walls and help defend it. However, the enemy is cunning. They have shot no fewer than ten letters urging surrender into the city from all sides. I’m afraid everyone in the city knows about it by now… If they said that another town had crossed the border and invaded us, we could still win people’s hearts. But now that we know it’s the imperial court that has issued an edict of conquest, people’s hearts will surely be in chaos. If the enemy doesn’t care about casualties and attacks from all sides like ants, I don’t know how many days I can hold out…”

Hu E stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and said, "The best course of action now is to delay as much as possible until Commander Tian's reinforcements arrive..." He then ordered paper and pen to be brought, as he wanted to write a reply to Li Ji himself.

Hu E was from Mingzhou and had long served under Tian Chengsi. He was a diligent student in his youth, mastering the Nine Classics and the Six Arts. He twice traveled to Chang'an to take the imperial examinations, but unfortunately failed both times… He thought he would have a chance in the third year, but then An Lushan raised the banner of rebellion in Fanyang, and his army swept through Hebei. Therefore, overall, he was quite talented in literature. He immediately wrote a reply in parallel prose, tied it to an arrow, and shot it outside the city.

The soldier found it and reported it to Li Ji. Li Ji unfolded it and took a look, then felt a headache coming on—"These two armies are on the battlefield, do you really need to use such literary skills?" He handed it to Gao Ying: "Gongchu, come and see, are they willing to surrender?"

Gao Ying took the document, read it quickly, and explained, "This is a handwritten note from Hu E, the governor of Ji Province. He says that he dares not disobey the imperial edict, but he does not yet know if it is true or not, and wants to wait for confirmation from Wuqiang. He earnestly requests that our army postpone the attack on the city for five days. After five days, regardless of whether we have received the imperial order, we will open the city gates and welcome the royal army."

Upon hearing this, Li Ji burst into laughter, saying, "Does he think I'm Zhuge Ke?! Your delaying tactic is utterly clumsy." He then ordered Gao Ying, "Gongchu, write me another letter. Tomorrow at dawn, I must see the gates of Xindu wide open, with Hu E presenting the seal; otherwise, attack the city immediately!"

He then asked Tian Qianzhen, "Please have the deputy commander forge the weapons and equipment for the attack on the city tomorrow morning."

The Hebei region, having been a frequent battlefield for centuries since the Five Barbarian Invasions, had rarely been ravaged by foreign invasions. This resulted in generally tall cities with relatively well-developed defenses. Therefore, Li Ji had long anticipated that if the field battles went smoothly, he might face multiple fortified cities. To be honest, he was quite skilled in field warfare, and had learned fortification and city defense from Guo Xin, Li Yuanzhong, and others. However, his experience in siege warfare was lacking, so he had already prepared a considerable amount of siege equipment.

For siege weapons such as battering rams, siege towers, and catapults, anything written in military books of this world or that Li Ji had heard of in his previous life, he ordered the craftsmen to attempt to manufacture and improve upon them. Although most siege weapons were very heavy and inconvenient to transport, and usually had to be temporarily built under the walls, Li Ji specifically ordered that many important components be pre-made and then transported by horse-drawn carts—this would make assembly much faster and prevent being caught off guard at the last minute.

Even so, his advance was far too swift, leaving most of his supplies and provisions lagging behind. Therefore, he had to hastily cut down trees to build battering rams and ordered the rear guard to quickly transport the components of the siege ladders up to facilitate scaling the city.

Because the Weibo army arrived so quickly, the Xindu garrison had not yet been able to cut down all the trees around the city, so materials were not in short supply. Tian Qianzhen spent a whole night felling huge trees to make two chariots—using ordinary horse-drawn carriages as bases, with wooden canopies on top, and hanging a huge, sharpened log at one end.

The next morning, the gates were opened, and the army poured out. From the city walls, someone shouted that the governor of the prefecture requested that Commander Li of Weibo come forward for a talk. Li Ji smiled, "With such a loud voice, he can hear me, but I can't hear him." Ignoring him completely, he ordered the drums to be beaten and the troops to advance.

Immediately, several squads of infantry stepped forward, carrying shields to protect themselves from arrows, and soldiers carrying hastily assembled wooden planks on their backs to build trenches and clear paths. When Hu E saw this from the city wall, he couldn't help but stamp his feet repeatedly: "Li Ji won't listen to me, what should we do?" Yang Guangchao said, "What else can we do? We can only defend the city—'My lord, you should go down from the city wall to avoid being injured by stray arrows.'"

Hu E said, "General, how do you intend to defend the city? If you fire arrows down from the city walls now, Weibo will know that I have no intention of surrendering!"

Yang Guangchao spread his hands: "The Wei Bo army has already formed ranks and marched forward, so they naturally know that I have no intention of surrendering. Do you, my lord, still harbor any illusions?" He ordered his men to quickly shove Hu E off the city wall.

In an instant, a fierce battle ensued. Arrows and stones rained down from the city walls, but they could not withstand the fierce fighting of the Weibo soldiers. They quickly laid planks across the moat, paving the way, and then a battering ram rumbled toward the city gate. Yang Guangchao shouted repeatedly from the city walls, "Fire bottles! Quickly make fire bottles to burn the battering ram! Go and get earth and stones to block the south gate, so that not a single Weibo soldier can enter the city!"

As the rammed vehicle was about to enter the city gate, Xindu's fire flasks and other supplies were ready. Several soldiers peeked out from the crenellations, preparing to throw them. Unexpectedly, a hail of arrows suddenly rained down from below the city walls. Screams rang out, and several bodies lay dead on the spot before the crenellations—all riddled with arrows, four or five in the face, so severed that their expressions were unrecognizable…

Weibo had the most complete materials for making bows, so after Li Ji entered the town, he vigorously manufactured bows and arrows. He also repeatedly discussed with Lao Huang and others to improve and make new crossbows, producing 300 powerful crossbows with a speed of 10 dan and 1,000 regular crossbows with a speed of 7 dan. He even developed a giant crossbow with a speed of 12 dan, which required the strength of two people to operate.

However, city walls in those days were generally made of rammed earth and were not very high. Chang'an City was only about three zhang high, and Xindu, which was known as a formidable city, was only a little over two zhang high—just over seven meters. So even if one shot directly at the top of the city wall, as long as one was inside the moat, one could basically reach it with a bow. Li Ji did not intend to use his most powerful weapon.