Chapter 369: Blocking Hedong

Guo Ziyi smiled slightly and said, “When Prince Rong’s army was still in Luojiao County, I sent people to evacuate all the inhabitants of Fulu County, leaving not a single grain behind. Prince Rong no longer has any provisions. Last night, my scouts heard the cries of warhorses in Hedong, indicating that the Hedong army had resorted to eating horses for food. Since Prince Rong has decided to do this, it means he has no intention of moving north anymore. He now has only one path left: crossing the river back to Hedong. This is precisely the opportunity I’ve been waiting for.”
Guo Ziyi pointed at Menshan County with a wooden stick and continued, “This is the nearest and largest crossing point to Fulu County. Scouts have reported that an army from Hedong is heading there—likely to secure ferries. When the Hedong army crosses the river, that will be the moment for us to launch a full-scale attack. By then, their morale will be shattered, and no one will want to fight. We might even be able to bring the entire Hedong army under Your Highness’s control without losing a single soldier. After all, they are all Tang soldiers. Wouldn’t that be the best outcome?”
Only then did Li Heng understand Guo Ziyi’s strategy. He sighed and said, “You anticipate the enemy’s moves at every step—truly ingenious. Moreover, you are kind and righteous. It is my fortune to have such an experienced general!”
“Whereas! Whereas! I merely employ simple tactics. It is Your Highness who possesses truly brilliant strategies. It is Guo Ziyi’s fortune to serve you.”
…
As Guo Ziyi had predicted, Li Wan’s army indeed ran out of food. He had planned to replenish his supplies in Fulu County, but to his surprise, it had become an empty city with not a single grain left. With no other choice, Li Wan was forced to slaughter horses for food.
In the Hedong army’s camp, Li Wan was extremely depressed. He finally realized he had made a strategic mistake. During the more than ten days of confrontation, why hadn’t he sent an army to Chang’an to seize control of the court? Instead, he had wasted time foolishly clashing with Li Heng. It wasn’t until Li Guoliang’s army blocked his path southward that he woke up—only to find it too late.
Now, Li Wan sat alone in his tent, drinking in sorrow, heartbroken with regret. Heaven had given him a chance, but he failed to seize it. One wrong move might doom him forever. He could only cross the river back to Hedong, but he heard that Hedong had already been taken by An Lushan, leaving no place for him. Li Wan thought of using Hedong as a route to Henan, especially regions like Yanzhou and Xuzhou in Qi and Lu, where the land was fertile and the population large—places that had always been prosperous. He could at least become the King of Qi. His only concern now was being intercepted by An Lushan.

At that moment, the sound of running came from outside the door. A scout arrived, out of breath, and reported, “Your Highness, there are news from Hedong.” Li Wan perked up and asked urgently, “Hurry and tell me, what news from Hedong?” “The first piece of news is that the King of Bian and the King of Xiliang, along with three thousand defeated soldiers, crossed the Yellow River this morning from Yanshui County and have already gone to Hedong.” “Those two bastards ran away fast,” Li Wan cursed. Then he suddenly realized something was wrong—where was An Lushan? There should be news about him. He asked urgently, “What about An Lushan? Is there any news of him?” “An Lushan led his army to Tongguan several days ago. Now Hedong is unguarded.” “What?” Li Wan was shocked. Was An Lushan about to enter Guanzhong? If so, wouldn’t the Tang Dynasty be doomed? That thought flashed through his mind, but what he thought more about was Hedong. With Hedong unguarded, wasn’t this his chance? At this point, he no longer cared about the dangers of crossing the river. Without hesitation, he ordered, “Pass my command: the army must immediately head to Menshan to cross the river. Tell the soldiers that we are returning to Hedong.” The 40,000 troops from Hedong set out overnight. They had few horses when they crossed the river, and most of those were now used to carry military provisions, leaving less than 500 horses, all ridden by Li Wan’s 500 personal guards. They escorted Li Wan, leading the way as they rushed toward Menshan County, 60 li away. Meanwhile, Guo Ziyi also received the news. Unhurried, he ordered the Tang army to set out as well, following the troops from Hedong eastward from a distance. Menshan County was a medium-sized county under Yanzhou, with 2,000 households, most of whom made a living through farming and trade along the Yellow River. It was the last crossing point in the northern part of the Yellow River Gorge. Further south, it was impossible to cross the river for hundreds of miles, so this crossing point was extremely important. There were constant streams of merchants and people coming and going, with hundreds of ferries operating on both sides of the Yellow River. The scouts from the Hedong army reported that Li Qian and Li Qi had crossed the river in Yanshui County in the north half a day earlier, disturbing the ferries along the Yellow River. Most of the ferries hid, so Li Wan’s vanguard couldn’t secure many boats, only seizing a dozen or so. As a result, the large army from Hedong couldn’t cross all at once and had to cross in batches. Li Wan was anxious and angry, but he had no choice but to order an immediate crossing, hoping to find more boats on the other side. Otherwise, the 40,000 troops wouldn’t be able to cross all at once.

The first batch of over a thousand people boarded the ships. Most of the Hedong army had arrived on the shore, with cries and curses filling the air. Li Wan stood on a high point at the dock, anxiously urging the soldiers to board. At that moment, a bodyguard rushed over and shouted, “Your Highness, please board the ship too!”
“I’ll cross the river later!”
“Your Highness!” The bodyguard stepped closer and whispered, “Scouts have reported that cavalry are coming from the southeast—they’ll be here soon.”
“Ah!” Li Wan turned pale with shock. Had Guo Ziyi’s army arrived so quickly?
“How many are there?” he asked urgently.
“It’s unclear, but it’s said they’re countless, advancing with terrifying speed.”
As soon as the bodyguard finished speaking, loud screams erupted from the shore—filled with panic. Flags that covered the sky appeared in the distance, rushing toward the shore at great speed.
The Hedong army on the shore scrambled to board the ships, creating chaos at the boarding points. One ship was overturned and sank, with a hundred soldiers falling into the water and shouting. The shore was in complete turmoil. Seeing the critical situation, Li Wan’s bodyguards lifted him and rushed toward a large ship, boarding it in an instant. They shouted, “Hurry! Set sail now!”
Dozens of ferries left the dock one after another. The dock was packed with tens of thousands of Hedong soldiers, who cried out loudly as they fled in all directions. With no food supplies and fearing Guo Ziyi, their morale was extremely low. They had long forgotten they were soldiers too, forgotten that they numbered forty thousand and could confront any army. Now, including their commanders, seeing that Prince Rong had fled, they knew defeat was inevitable. Their only thought was to save themselves!
But no one expected that those arriving were not Guo Ziyi’s army, but a hidden force—a mere 2,500 Anxi cavalry. Li Qing’an had waited for a day and night. Knowing his forces were insufficient, he waited for the perfect opportunity: when the Hedong army started crossing the river. He also hid most of the ships, ordering men to disguise themselves as fleeing soldiers and plunder the ferries, causing most of them to flee to the other side. This created huge difficulties for the Hedong army to cross.
The Anxi army charged in like a storm, each soldier holding three large flags, creating a terrifying sight of countless flags covering the sky, which terrified the Hedong army into chaos.
In an instant, the Anxi cavalry arrived with a roar. They formed a huge semicircle, surrounding the 40,000 Hedong soldiers. With spears upright and swords drawn, they radiated murderous intent.

At this moment, the Hedong army realized that there were not many cavalry arriving, and they seemed not to be Guo Ziyi’s troops. Some generals recognized that these cavalry might belong to the Anxi army. The chaotic situation of the Hedong army gradually settled down. Then, Li Qing’an rushed forward on horseback, shouting loudly, “I am Li Qing’an from Anxi! Soldiers of the Hedong army, there’s no need to panic!” The dock quickly fell silent. Li Qing’an enjoyed great prestige among the Tang army. His rise to power itself was a legend, and he was an idol admired by countless Tang soldiers. He had fought in numerous battles to defend the Tang borders and achieved remarkable feats. Moreover, he was fair in rewards and punishments, treated his soldiers well, provided land for their families, eradicated corruption within the army, and secured benefits for fallen soldiers. These deeds had long been deeply ingrained in the hearts of every Tang soldier, making Li Qing’an’s reputation comparable to that of Wang Zhongsì. Therefore, when he suddenly appeared before the 40,000 Hedong soldiers, it did not cause chaos. On the contrary, his arrival brought hope to them. As the 40,000 soldiers looked at this renowned governor of Anxi, their eyes were filled with anticipation. “We are all Tang soldiers. There’s no need to kill each other. Rather than being killed by our own people, let’s work together to fight against the invading Uyghurs. I’ve come from Anxi precisely to put an end to this heartbreaking internal strife. Soldiers, follow my orders. Let’s all pledge loyalty to the new Tang emperor and never allow civil war!” Li Qing’an’s voice was loud and clear, and each word carried on the wind to reach the ears of every soldier and officer, carrying great persuasive power. Then, Li Qing’an shouted again, “Generals Du Yifei, Meng Yun, and Luo Zhengyi, are you here?” These three were the main generals of the Hedong army. Hearing Li Qing’an’s call, two of them stepped forward from the army. One bowed and said, “I am Meng Yun, the military commander of Datong Army. I pay my respects to the great general.” The other also bowed and said, “I am Luo Zhengyi, the military commander of Chengtian Army. I pay my respects to the great general.” Li Qing’an replied to them, “Is General Du Yifei here?” Meng Yun pointed at a dark spot gradually disappearing on the river surface and said, “General Du Yifei has already left by boat. His army currently has no commander.” “What about his deputy?” Meng Yun turned around, waved his hand, and shouted, “Please bring General Wu Yong here.” Another general stepped forward from the ranks. He was quite young, seemingly under thirty. He stepped forward and bowed, saying, “I am Wu Yong, the deputy military commander of Taiyuan Army. I pay my respects to the great general.” “Since General Du Yifei is not here, you will take command of the troops for now,” Li Qing’an ordered firmly and without room for refusal. “I shall obey the order!”

At that moment, Li Qing’an glanced at the three men again, took out Li Yu’s personal letter. The letter not only ordered the troops guarding Tongguan to follow Li Qing’an’s commands but also those of other armies. He handed the letter to them and said, “This is the crown prince’s personal letter. Now that Hedong has been occupied by An Lushan, if you cross the river, you will be completely annihilated by him. I will report this to the crown prince and arrange something for you. To avoid unnecessary internal strife, I hope you will temporarily follow my commands. Is that possible?”
The three men exchanged the letter written by Li Yu. It clearly ordered the troops in Tongguan, Hedong, and Longyou to follow Li Qing’an’s commands. Considering that Hedong was already under An Lushan’s control and they had no other way out, they exchanged glances. They had long heard that Li Qing’an was a staunch supporter of the crown prince Li Yu, so following him should not be a problem. But more importantly, they had no alternative—either they had to surrender to Li Hen. If they surrendered then, they could do so at the Qinggangling camp; surrendering now would leave them with no leverage for negotiation. Since Li Qing’an was acting as a mediator, entrusted by the crown prince, following him seemed the best option…
Their thoughts converged simultaneously, and they bowed together, saying, “We are willing to follow the commands of the great general.”
Li Qing’an was overjoyed. He had brought too few troops, and subduing the Hedong army carried great risks. His only reliance was his reputation within the Tang army and this personal letter from the crown prince Li Yu. He had bet that the Hedong army’s leaders would not betray the court, and it seemed his bet had paid off. He immediately ordered, “Pass my command: all of the Hedong army must move into Menshan County.”
Once his order was given, several generals went to direct the troops, and the 40,000-strong Hedong army set off in large numbers toward Menshan County.
Menshan was only ten miles from the dock. Just as Li Qing’an arrived with his army at the county town, Guo Ziyi’s troops also arrived, appearing five miles away. Li Qing’an immediately ordered his soldiers to speed up their entry into the city while sending someone to negotiate with Guo Ziyi.

Guo Ziyi had already stopped his army. He had received news from over a dozen miles away—that an Anxi cavalry force of more than 2,000 people had rushed to the port first and seemed to have recruited 40,000 soldiers from Hedong. This really shocked Guo Ziyi, as it was exactly what he wanted to do as well: recruit those soldiers under his command when they had no way out. No general would mind having more troops, and Guo Ziyi was no exception. But when he heard the second piece of news, his anxiety vanished—Li Qing’an had personally gone to recruit those 40,000 Hedong soldiers. This left Guo Ziyi utterly puzzled. To prevent the Anxi and Longyou armies from advancing north, he had deployed numerous scouts along the western Yellow River and set up several lines of defense. How had Li Qing’an arrived without him even knowing? Had he flown there? Guo Ziyi could never imagine that Li Qing’an hadn’t come from Hexi but from Tongguan. Naturally, his scouts were useless.

“General, Li Qing’an sent two letters via someone,” a soldier interrupted Guo Ziyi’s daze. He took the letters somewhat confusedly—one was for him, and the other was for Li Heng. “To General Guo, the Military Governor of Shuofang,” and “To His Highness the Prince of Yong.”