Chapter 19: The Masterful Pen (III)

In a sense, the troops under Yangzhou’s Militia Command were more loyal to Li Kuo personally than to the Tang dynasty. If Li Kuo could seize Tangzhou City through this opportunity, he could unite nearly a hundred miles of land around the twelve surrounding counties, establishing his first stronghold. By then, the Tang dynasty would be preoccupied fighting against An Lushan’s rebels and would surely not pay attention to Li Kuo, who was farming and raising troops near Tangzhou. As long as he focused on development, there was no doubt he could become a regional lord.

As for Li Kuo’s personal feelings, Du Moye wasn’t worried at all. After all, there were many like him who wanted to earn merits by serving the emperor. Everyone following Li Kuo naturally aimed to gain fame and wealth. Even if Li Kuo himself didn’t want to rule independently, once things had progressed so far, could he really refuse? Everything depended on human effort!

“Go! Go!”
Du Moye whipped his horse’s tail fiercely, passing the last ridge and entering the road from north to south leading to Tangzhou. ……

“Report! Report!”
A bodyguard stumbled into the hall of the Tangzhou governor’s office, knelt down, and said to A Lun Can, “General, general! There’s a messenger from Xuzhou City who wants to see you.”

“Hm?”
A Lun Can raised his eyebrows and asked impatiently. He wasn’t in a good mood, mainly due to what he had seen and heard the previous night.

Last night, he had gone to the Guyuan area by the Ling River and found that all the men he had sent, led by Hubier, had been killed brutally. Their bodies and heads were piled up like a spectacle, which made him so enraged that he nearly fainted. Even a fool could guess who had done this—other than those cowardly and cunning Tang people, who else could it be? A Lun Can swore to kill those ignorant Tang people and cleanse the shame of the Great Yan army.

“Send him in.”
A Lun Can still suppressed his anger and waved at the bodyguard.

“As you command!”
The bodyguard nodded and bowed before leaving.

Before long, the messenger from Xuzhou City entered the hall with the bodyguard. He was disheveled, his face covered in mud, and trembling, huddled together in fear.

“Raise your head!”
A Lun Can wasn’t patient. He glared at the messenger and ordered sharply, “I said raise your head!”

The messenger slowly raised his head. His cheeks, frozen red, were covered with deep cracks.

Hmm, a Turk!
A Lun Can nodded. The messenger’s identity immediately won him some goodwill. Although An Lushan’s army had many barbarian soldiers, they were still under the authority of the imperial court, with a significant number of Han soldiers as well.

If the messenger were a Han soldier, no matter what he said, Alen Chuan would naturally doubt him. But if it were a Turk, Alen Chuan would instinctively be more inclined to believe him.
“Speak, what brings you to Tangzhou City?”
“General Alen Chuan, please save Xuzhou City!”
For some reason, the messenger suddenly bowed his head to Alen Chuan.
“What do you mean by this?”
Alen Chuan frowned and said, “Xuzhou City is currently guarded by heavy troops—how could it be in danger?”
Hearing this, the messenger began to sob softly, “General Alen Chuan, you don’t know the full situation. After Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing retreated, they didn’t go far. Unable to lift the siege of Luoyang, they became suspicious in the eyes of the imperial court, so they came up with the idea of seizing Xuzhou City. They devised a scheme, sending soldiers to infiltrate the city and work together with the troops outside to take control of it!”
Alen Chuan was shocked and exclaimed, “Could Xuzhou City fall into the hands of the Tang army?”
“Thanks to General Bahar’s wisdom and bravery, he saw through Gao Xianzhi’s schemes and promptly sent troops to blockade the city, successfully reclaiming the inner city from the Tang forces. As for the barbican, it was captured by that wretch Gao Xianzhi!”
Boom!
Alen Chuan’s mind exploded with confusion; he didn’t know what to do.
If the inner city was the heart of a city, the barbican was its ribs. The heart was indeed important, but the ribs were equally essential. Without the ribs, the heart had no protection and was constantly at risk of being attacked from behind.
“What did Bahar say? Does he have any plans to deal with this?”
The messenger hurriedly replied, “General Bahar can temporarily hold off the attacks, but Gao Xianzhi’s tens of thousands of troops have been attacking the city walls all night. If no reinforcements arrive, Xuzhou City will likely fall back into the hands of the Tang within a few days.”
“Damn it!”
Alen Chuan clenched his fist in anger and said, “I’ll send troops right away to lift the siege of Xuzhou!”
Hearing this, Dong Zhongfu, who had remained silent until then, suddenly spoke up, “General, absolutely not! Be careful—it might be a trick!”
“What trick could there be?”
Alen Chuan glanced at Dong Zhongfu disdainfully and said coldly.
Dong Zhongfu bowed to Alen Chuan and said, “Have you ever thought about this? The Eastern Capital, Luoyang, is much closer to Xuzhou City than Tangzhou is. In terms of troops stationed there, the number in the Eastern Capital is far greater than that in Tangzhou. If Xuzhou were truly under heavy attack by Gao Xianzhi, the people in the Eastern Capital would surely notice. General Bahar’s first reaction should be to ask for reinforcements from the Eastern Capital troops—why would he go the long way to seek help from you?”
“This…”

Upon hearing this, A Lunchan also grew suspicious and suddenly turned to the messenger, shouting, “How do you explain this?”
The messenger replied calmly, “General A Lunchan, you may not be aware, but the military strength in the Eastern Capital is no longer what it was half a month ago. It is said that Yan Gaoqing, the governor of Changshan in Hebei Province, and Yan Zhenqing, the governor of Pingyuan, suddenly rose in rebellion before turning back to support the Tang Dynasty! To ensure absolute safety, General An ordered General Shi to lead 80,000 troops to Hebei Province to suppress the rebellion. Now, only 20,000 troops remain in the Eastern Capital, so General An really doesn’t dare to send troops to aid them lightly!”
He spoke with tears in his eyes, and his words made sense, leaving A Lunchan at a loss for a moment.
“General A Lunchan, if you don’t send troops now, Xuzhou City will be in danger. Once Xuzhou falls, Luoyang will be exposed, and it could be attacked by the Tang forces at any time! If General An later investigates and finds out that you refused to send troops to aid Xuzhou, what will he think?”
Boom!
The messenger’s words struck A Lunchan’s weakest point. He feared nothing in the world—wasn’t his only fear An Lushan’s suspicion?