Chapter 636: An Unexpected Incident

Fucheng Pass was a fortress built at the entrance of a valley. It was neither sturdy nor tall, lacking the steepness and defensibility of Niangziguan. Its city walls were about three li long, resembling more of a town, with walls three zhang high. It had no moat or drawbridge, as it was located within the Hedong region, and no one considered it a strategic stronghold against enemies. After a hundred years, it had not been repaired, leaving it in a dilapidated state and easily susceptible to enemy attack during battles.

Nevertheless, Fucheng Pass had one significant advantage: it was located near the Qin River. The rushing waters of the Qin River flowed right beside the pass, narrowing the area in front of it, making it difficult for the enemy to deploy their forces. Li Siyeh established two lines of defense: six thousand troops were stationed on the banks of the Qin River for defense. If An Lushan’s army broke through the first line, those six thousand troops could retreat inside the pass to form a second line of defense.

It was dusk, with the setting sun glowing like blood. A dark red sun was about to sink below the horizon, casting a purplish-red light over the sky and the ruined city walls. Li Siyeh stood on the city wall, hands behind his back, gazing across the Fen River. On the other side, Li Guiren’s vanguard had already set up camp, seemingly as a mockery and provocation. The Anxi army had intended to encircle and annihilate Li Guiren’s forces, but circumstances took a sharp turn. Not only did they fail, but they were also forced to retreat west of the Fen River, which filled Li Siyeh with anger.

Nan Jiyun’s analysis was correct. Li Siyeh was naturally proud and had never taken An Lushan’s army seriously from the start. If not for Li Qingan’s timely orders, he would have launched a decisive battle against Li Guiren right after assembling his troops, aiming to avenge the crushing defeat suffered by Wei Boyu’s forces.

Yet Li Siyeh was not foolish or reckless. When Wei Boyu told him that he was at a one-to-ten disadvantage and would be defeated by the Yeluo River cavalry, Li Siyeh began to realize that the Yan army was not as weak as he had thought. As the Yan troops from Taiyuan Prefecture continued to advance south, Li Siyeh understood that this would be a major battle. He finally abandoned the idea of attacking Li Guiren’s forces and focused on defending Fucheng Pass, waiting for reinforcements.

At that moment, Wei Boyu slowly approached Li Siyeh and asked in a low voice, “Does the deputy commander feel unwilling?”

Wei Boyu was around thirty-six or thirty-seven years old. He had served in Anxi for many years, starting as a deputy officer with a halberd. He had participated in the Battle of Talas and, through his merits, rose to the rank of military commander. For years, he had followed Li Siyeh closely, together with General Tian Zhen, becoming his right-hand men. After Tian Zhen followed Li Qingdong to the east, Wei Boyu became Li Siyeh’s most trusted general. He had only been promoted to general at the beginning of this year. Li Siyeh placed great trust in him. In this campaign to Hedong, Li Siyeh was the main commander, while Wei Boyu served as his deputy.

Seeing Li Siyeh’s heavy mood, Wei Boyu understood his disappointment. This was a battle Li Siyeh had long awaited, yet he still couldn’t command it independently.

Li Siyeh shook his head and said solemnly, “I’m not dissatisfied. I’m just a bit fearful.”

“Fearful? General, this was your chance to become famous throughout the land, yet you failed to seize it. I feel sorry for you.”

“Boyu, you’re completely wrong!”

Li Siyeh turned to look at him intently and said, “Do you think it’s because the great general didn’t give me this chance? It’s because you failed to see the significance of this battle. An Lushan already regards it as the key battle to seize Hedong—he even abandoned Taiyuan. With an army of 180,000, An Lushan has invested heavily. Even if the Anxi army is strong, it’s hard to defeat an enemy three times their number. If the Anxi army loses, not only will Hedong be lost, but it will also severely damage the great general’s reputation. It could even reverse the entire war situation, putting Northern Tang at a disadvantage. In the worst case, it could even affect the great general’s rise to power. I can’t bear such responsibility!”

Wei Boyu lowered his head in shame. “The general is far-sighted. I was too shortsighted.”

Li Siyeh shook his head and said with a bitter smile, “Actually, I was also shortsighted at first. I always thought Li Guiren was greedy and reckless, so I wanted to cut off his escape route. Now I realize that An Lushan has been aiming to destroy our Anxi army from the start. The great general, even while in Chang’an, could see their intentions, yet I, being right there, failed to see it. Then there’s Li Guangbi’s 70,000 reinforcements—he might not obey my commands. If each side fights on its own, they’ll be defeated one by one. That’s why only the great general can command this battle, coordinating all the troops and ensuring we remain invincible.”

“What should we do now?”

“All we need to do now is one thing: defend the city gates and wait for the great general’s arrival!”

With that, Li Siyeh pointed ahead with his horsewhip toward Qinshui and said, “Let’s go! We’ll check out the defenses of Qinshui.”

Pujin Ferry was located between Tongzhou in Gyeonggi Province and Puzhou in Hedong Province, and it was a famous ferry in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. During the Kaiyuan era, Emperor Li Longji inspected the northern capital of Taiyuan several times, always crossing the river via this ferry. Tens of thousands of imperial guards built a floating bridge overnight, allowing Li Longji to cross on horseback.

Li Qingan led 30,000 cavalry from Chang’an, riding day and night. In just two days and nights, the army reached Pujin Ferry. By then, Wang Sili had already assembled 20,000 troops from Tongguan to build a floating bridge by connecting thousands of civilian boats with iron chains and adding wooden planks between them.

The 30,000 cavalry arrived at Pujin Ferry almost without pause and crossed directly via the floating bridge. At that moment, Wang Sili approached Li Qingan, bowed deeply, and said, “I pay my respects to the great general!”

Li Qingan replied with a smile, “Thank you, General Wang, for building the floating bridge. You’ve worked hard.”

Wang Sili said sincerely, “It is my fortune to serve the great general in this campaign. If not for my duty to defend Tongguan, I would gladly be just a common soldier under the great general, striving to achieve great feats!”

After pondering for a moment, Li Qingan said, “By keeping Tongguan secure, General Wang is protecting Guanzhong. Perhaps An Lushan will find it difficult to attack Guanzhong, but the Southern Tang might. I hope General Wang will remain vigilant in defending the city and send more scouts south to Jingxiang to gather information about the Southern Tang army and gain the upper hand in intelligence—this is also part of defense.”

Wang Sili had never thought that defending Tongguan required sending scouts south to Jingxiang. Li Qingan’s advice seemed to open a new window for him, broadening his thinking. Defense was not just about holding firm; actively gathering information about the enemy was also a form of attack—and the most sophisticated form of defense. He was deeply moved and bowed deeply, saying, “I will keep the great general’s teachings firmly in mind!”

“General Wang, please take care. I’ll be on my way first.”

Li Qingan waved his hand from his horse, turned it around, and whipped his warhorse, which rushed toward the ferry.

An hour later, all 30,000 cavalry had crossed the Yellow River and entered Puzhou territory. They rested on the east bank for two hours, then regrouped and rushed toward Jinzhou, hundreds of miles away.

……

At the same moment Li Qingan crossed the Yellow River, Li Huaixian’s 80,000-strong army also arrived in Luzhou and joined forces with Li Guiren’s main army. But just then, something unexpected happened.

As the saying goes, every family has its own troubles. An Lushan’s Yan army, like Li Qing’an’s Anxi army, was also made up of numerous factions. Shi Siming, Li Huaixian, Li Guiren, Tian Chengsi, Cai Xide, and others were all powerful generals each controlling their own territory. They resented one another. Li Huaixian, having been stationed in Youzhou for a long time, reaped the most benefits—out of forty thousand cavalry in Youzhou, he alone had thirty thousand, yet his contributions were not significant, so the other generals were constantly dissatisfied with him.

In terms of factions, Li Huaixian and Tian Chengsi belonged to one group, the native Han general faction, while Shi Siming, Li Guiren, and Cai Xide formed another group, the foreign non-Han general faction. Under An Lushan’s mediation, although there were no major conflicts over interests, the two factions remained clearly separated, avoiding any interference with each other’s affairs.

This time, An Lushan ordered Li Huaixian’s forces and Cai Xide’s forces to jointly attack Hedong, taking into account their different factions and difficulty in working together. Worried that they might clash, he appointed his eldest son, An Qingxu, as the main commander, with the two as deputy commanders.

Although Li Huaixian’s eighty-thousand-strong army arrived in Luzhou, he stationed his troops south of Tunliu County, about forty li away from Li Guiren’s camp. Unlike Li Guiren’s army, which was brutal, Li Huaixian’s forces were mostly Han soldiers, many of them former members of the Fanyang army, with relatively strict discipline. Although there were instances of looting, his troops did not commit atrocities such as massacring entire cities or raping women on a large scale.

Li Huaixian had also heard about the series of atrocities committed by Li Guiren’s forces in Luzhou, where over a hundred thousand people were killed, and the local population was nearly wiped out. This filled him with deep dissatisfaction, as he believed such actions would ruin An Lushan’s political ambitions to seize control of the Tang Dynasty. Additionally, another incident further enraged him against Li Guiren.

Li Huaixian had a fellow villager named Zhou Xun, who served as a squad leader in Li Guiren’s army. Being Han, he was ostracized by the non-Han soldiers. Dissatisfied with Li Guiren’s army’s massacre of Han civilians, he fled and sought refuge with Li Huaixian, who naturally took him in. However, Zhou Xun revealed to Li Huaixian that Li Guiren had recently defeated Wei Boyu’s forces of the Anxi army and captured over two thousand warhorses—high-quality horses from Dayuan, including dozens of horses from the Sassanid Empire.

This greatly tempted Li Huaixian. Their warhorses were all Turkic horses, a breed that was relatively small. Although capable of long-distance travel, they lacked the impact and speed essential for cavalry. Li Huaixian also very much wanted to obtain a dozen or so fine Dayuan warhorses as breeding stock, and ideally, one or two fine Persian horses as well. For this reason, he sent people with a generous gift of 8,000 guan to see Li Guiren, hoping that, out of consideration for their shared affiliation with the Yan army, Li Guiren would satisfy his modest request.

Unexpectedly, Li Guiren was deeply wary of Li Huaixian’s request. There was already competition between their different factions—Li Huaixian had his sharp and elite Youzhou Iron Cavalry, while Li Guiren had his invincible Yeluo River Cavalry. Both sides wanted to poison all of the other side’s horses. How could Li Guiren possibly give him fine horse breeds to improve? Moreover, these warhorses were also treasures to Li Guiren; he had already sent most of them back to the Xi and Khitan tribes, and the remaining few hundred had been given to his own troops. Even if An Lushan ordered him to give them away, he would no longer have any.

Li Guiren immediately rejected Li Huaixian’s request. Not only that, but he also seized the generous gift of 8,000 guan and demanded that Li Huaixian hand over the defector Zhou Xun for his disposal, otherwise the 8,000 guan would serve as compensation for Li Huaixian harboring defectors.

Furious at this, Li Huaixian immediately withdrew his troops northward and camped in Licheng County north of Luzhou, vowing not to march together with Li Guiren’s army. At that time, Cai Xide’s 50,000 troops also arrived in Luzhou and joined forces with Li Guiren’s army. As a result, a split occurred within the Yan army that An Lushan had not anticipated. Li Huaixian’s forces refused to obey Li Guiren’s commands and formed their own faction.

The 180,000 troops split into two groups: Li Guiren’s and Cai Xide’s 100,000-strong armies, forming one faction, while Li Huaixian’s 80,000 troops formed another. The two factions each took their own positions and advanced toward Jinzhou along separate northern and southern routes.