Chapter 19: Lying on Ice (I)

The time has come—to gather troops and establish one’s own power!
This was the advice Zhou Wucui gave Li Kuo last night.
Although Li Kuo had more or less thought of such a possibility before, it was the first time he truly considered acting on it.
Now is a time of chaos—the perfect opportunity to gather troops and establish one’s own power. The imperial court is deeply engaged in battle with the rebels and has no extra energy to pay attention to someone as insignificant as him. But if he waits until the rebellion is quelled and the court recovers, trying to establish his own power would be like a moth flying into a flame—without the slightest chance of success.
Traitors!
Li Kuo had never imagined he would one day be so close to such words. Even if he had no choice, raising a rebel flag would likely see him recorded in history as a heinous traitor.
He had always thought that An Lushan rebelled out of ingratitude toward the emperor, but now it seemed he too must have had no choice.
After all, rebellions have existed throughout history, and most of those so-called traitors were forced to rebel.
Should he really take this path?
Even if it was just for self-preservation, such a choice seemed contrary to Li Kuo’s true nature.
But if he didn’t establish his own power, where would his men go? The current emperor was not a magnanimous ruler. If he were later held accountable, his followers would surely be hated by the court.
Could he truly live up to them if he didn’t act?
It was a difficult question to face and even harder to answer.
It wasn’t that Li Kuo couldn’t face it, but that he dared not.
The higher one’s position, the more cautious one must be when making choices. With so much at stake, the slightest mistake could lead to a plunge into darkness, harming all those who followed him.
Li Kuo wasn’t in a hurry to make a decision. At least for now, there was an even more important task waiting for him。……
Sun Xiaozhe had deployed 30,000 troops to besiege Tangzhou City for half a month, yet with no progress.
This wasn’t surprising. After all, under Li Kuo’s fortifications, Tangzhou’s defenses were far stronger than before. Even with 50,000 or 100,000 troops, it would be extremely difficult to capture Tangzhou without heavy siege equipment.
Moreover, Li Kuo had left over 10,000 troops in the Tangzhou area, plus 5,000 able-bodied men in the city, more than enough to resist Sun Xiaozhe’s 30,000 cavalry.
Military strategy dictates that one must have ten times as many troops before besieging a city.
Sun Xiaozhe currently had at most three times as many troops as Tangzhou, so it was understandable that he couldn’t capture the city.

“Or rather, Sun Xiaozhe never intended to capture Tangzhou from the start!”
As soon as he returned to Tangzhou, Li Kuo gathered all the generals defending the city. After learning about Sun Xiaozhe’s actions over the past few days, he came to this absurd conclusion.
Sun Xiaozhe was certainly a skilled general and must have known that capturing a city required overwhelming military strength. The troops under his command were part of the garrison in Chang’an, the capital of the Western Dynasty. Though not weak, they certainly weren’t elite. With such troops, it was impossible to take down a city with ample supplies and strong defenses.
“Commander, then what exactly is Sun Xiaozhe planning?”
Dou Qing was utterly confused and asked in a deep voice. If Sun Xiaozhe didn’t intend to capture Tangzhou, why bring 30,000 cavalry out of Tongguan just to wander around? Wasn’t that sheer nonsense?
After returning from Ningling, they encountered Sun Xiaozhe’s rebel forces outside Tangzhou. That man didn’t even dare shoot an arrow before fleeing ten miles westward—it was utterly baffling.
“Perhaps they’re just trying to draw our troops away.”
Li Kuo sighed. “If I’m not mistaken, An Qingxu is determined to capture Suiyang this year!”
He walked over to the map and marked Suiyang with a charcoal pencil. “Yin Ziqi, Yang Chaozong, and their forces of nearly 100,000 are stationed around Suiyang, blocking all possible routes for reinforcements. Now Suiyang has become an isolated city. An Qingxu has invested so much effort that he certainly doesn’t want any mistakes. That’s why they want to drive our troops away from the Ningling area.”
Li Sheng sighed. “The commander is right. Even Tian Chengsi, who is stationed in Xingyang, has moved his troops north of Ningling. It seems the rebels are determined to open a path to Jianghuai to seize grain supplies.”
“So, they feigned an attack on Tangzhou to lure us back?”
Hearing this, Dou Qing finally understood the rebels’ malicious intentions and was filled with anger.
“Most likely. But in such a situation, we really can’t take risks. After all, most of the experienced soldiers have been taken away by me, and those left to defend the city are mostly new recruits from Jianghuai. Sun Xiaozhe may not have many troops, but they’re all battle-tested. If our men are intimidated by the rebels’ momentum and make mistakes, accidents could indeed happen.”
Li Kuo moved the charcoal pencil about 200 li south of Tangzhou and tapped it. “Beyond Tangzhou is a plain. Once they cross the Tongbai Mountains, they can also enter Jianghuai. It will just be a bit more troublesome.”

Li Sheng nodded and said, “So the rebels have prepared for both scenarios. On one hand, they have moved their main forces to Suiyang, hoping to capture this key city in one fell swoop. On the other hand, they sent Sun Xiaozhe to outside Tangzhou. If we retreat to defend our own positions, they will launch a full-scale attack on Suiyang. If we rush to aid Suiyang, they will attack Tangzhou at the same time. In either case, once one of those cities falls, the Jianghuai region will fall into the rebels’ hands.”
“If that’s the case, won’t Junior Scholar Zhang be in danger when we return?”
Dou Qing was immediately concerned about Zhang Xun’s safety. Junior Scholar Zhang had been on good terms with his general even in Chang’an, and during the siege of Ningling, it was the general who risked his life to rescue him. Unfortunately, Junior Scholar Zhang insisted on going to Suiyang, and the general stayed in Ningling out of concern for his safety until news of Tangzhou’s siege arrived, after which he hurried back.
“The situation for Brother Zhang is indeed not good.”
Li Kuo frowned and said, “But right now, the canals around Suiyang are blocked, so the rebels can’t deliver supplies in time, which is actually good news for Brother Zhang. However, May is approaching. By then, if the rebels harvest the wheat outside Suiyang, things might get difficult.”