Chapter 547: The Situation in Hedong

Guo Ziyi was a man of utmost integrity. He personally promised Li Qingan in the Zichen Hall that he would lead the main forces to Hedong. He immediately returned to Shuofang to organize his troops for an eastward advance. The moment Li Qingan left Tongguan, Guo Ziyi’s 80,000-strong army crossed the Yellow River as well.

The Shuofang army crossed the river at Mengmen Pass in Dinghu County, which was part of Shizhou and under Li Qingan’s control. A force of about a thousand soldiers was stationed in Shizhou. Currently, Li Qingan controlled one prefecture and eight states, with a total of 15,000 troops under the command of General Lei Wanchun.

Although the number of troops was small, Lei Wanchun had trained militia forces of 100,000 people, which was his main task assigned by Li Qingan—to conceal troops among the civilian population.

Lei Wanchun had already received Li Qingan’s orders to follow Guo Ziyi’s military plans. That afternoon, he led 5,000 troops from Taiyuan at full speed to Wenshui County, southwest of Taiyuan Prefecture.

“General Lei, look!” a soldier shouted, pointing at the road in the distance.

Lei Wanchun stopped his warhorse, lifted the curtain, and looked west. In the distance, along the road, stood a massive camp stretching for miles. Judging by its size, at least 100,000 troops were stationed there—this must be Guo Ziyi’s main force.

At that moment, a group of cavalry came rushing from the opposite direction and stopped in front of them. The leading officer bowed from afar and asked, “Are you General Lei?”

Lei Wanchun dismounted and stepped forward. “I am. Where is General Guo?”

“General Guo is waiting in the main camp. Please follow us.”

Lei Wanchun understood Guo Ziyi’s intention. By sending someone to greet him, Guo did not want his own cavalry to get too close to the camp. He turned to his cavalry and ordered, “Everyone, stay where you are. Do not slack off!”

Then, a trusted general stepped forward and whispered to him, “Be careful—Guo Ziyi might be plotting something. It’s better for you not to go to his camp. It would be safer to meet somewhere else.”

Lei Wanchun pondered for a moment. Though he appeared rough-skinned, he was extremely careful and shrewd. How could he not think of this? He shook his head and said to his subordinates, “Since the great general has ordered me to follow Guo Ziyi’s plans, we shouldn’t have any doubts. We still need to meet, but it’s wise to be cautious. You take the cavalry ten miles back. If I don’t return within half a day, immediately lead the troops back to Taiyuan, close the city gates, and send a message to the general. Understood?”

“I understand, sir!”

After giving these orders, Lei Wanchun rushed toward Guo Ziyi’s camp with a dozen of his closest followers. His 5,000 cavalry retreated ten miles away and sent many scouts to monitor activities at the Shuofang army’s camp.

In front of the Shuofang army’s camp, Guo Ziyi had already led hundreds of men out of the camp. Fully armored and carrying a battle sword at his waist, with his white hair and silver beard, he appeared even more vigorous in his old age. Although Guo Ziyi knew he had been tricked into leaving Guannei Road by Li Qing’an, he held no resentment. In fact, the Anxi army was not strong enough and needed his troops to support them. From a broader perspective, Guo Ziyi was willing to set aside personal grudges and work with Li Qing’an to deal with An Lushan. On the other hand, Li Qing’an ordered Lei Wanchun to follow his plans, meaning he had given up Hedong in exchange for Guannei Road. Strategically speaking, Guo Ziyi understood Li Qing’an’s intentions—after all, Shuofang’s strategic location was too sensitive for Anxi. If he were in Li Qing’an’s shoes, he would also not want an enemy army stationed near his own territory. Though Guo Ziyi did not support Li Qing’an, he was loyal to the Tang court. He was deeply devoted to the Tang dynasty and could tolerate no rebels like An Lushan. This was the real reason he decided to send troops to Hedong—to prevent An Lushan from advancing further. It was his duty. “Old general, he’s here!” A group of cavalry rushed in from afar. The leading general was tall and robust, riding a fine horse from Dayuan. Clad in black armor and helmet, his imposing presence was like a black tower descending from the sky, earning Guo Ziyi’s silent admiration—truly a fierce warrior. “Disperse!” he ordered softly before riding forward. By then, Lei Wanchun was already three zhang away. At a glance, he recognized the old general Guo Ziyi and bowed with clasped hands, saying, “Lei Wanchun, governor of Yunchou and military commander of Datong, pays his respects to Old General Guo!” His voice was like thunder, reminiscent of Zhang Fei reborn. Many of Guo Ziyi’s personal guards felt fear and instinctively placed their hands on their sword hilts. But Guo Ziyi remained calm. With a slight smile, he bowed in return and said, “I’ve long heard that General Lei is the greatest warrior in Anxi. Seeing him today, I confirm his reputation is well-deserved.” Lei Wanchun grinned and said, “What am I compared to my great general’s divine archery? From two hundred paces away, he can kill me with a single arrow.” Hearing him still boast about Li Qing’an’s bravery, the Shuofang generals felt slight disdain—clearly a reckless warrior who didn’t even understand the basics of leadership. But Guo Ziyi gave him a deep look, stroked his beard, and said with a smile, “Everyone knows General Li’s divine archery. But General Lei, who can defeat tens of thousands of enemies, earns my even greater respect.” Lei Wanchun laughed heartily and bowed, saying, “Old general, you flatter me. My great general has ordered me to follow Old General Guo’s commands without question. Please give your orders; I will obey them all!”

“That’s perfect. With both armies united, their strength is unmatched. Come! General Lei, please enter the main tent for a discussion.”
“Please, old general!”
The crowd escorted Lei Wanchun and Guo Ziyi to the main tent. Once inside, they took their seats as host and guest. Guo Ziyi ordered tea to be served along with some snacks. Lei Wanchun seemed hungry; he quickly devoured the snacks and drank all the tea, then wiped his mouth and said, “Old general, please go ahead! Tell me what to do, and I’ll obey without hesitation.”
Guo Ziyi bowed and smiled, “General Lei, there’s no need to rush. I already have a plan and will arrange everything properly. But first, I’d like to ask—has General Lei received any orders from Prince Zhao on how to deal with this Dong Qin? How should we fight?”
Lei Wanchun waved his hand and laughed heartily, “How else? I’ll lead five thousand elite cavalry as the vanguard and smash their enemy’s camp. I’ve been itching to do this all along—just waiting for you, old general.”
“No! No!” Guo Ziyi shook his head. “That’s how we deal with An Lushan’s army. But against Dong Qin’s army, we need to recruit them all—no fighting needed.”
“Well… then fine! I’ll follow your orders. If you tell me to fight, I’ll fight; if you tell me to recruit, I’ll do that.”
Seeing that he was easy to talk to and very cooperative, Guo Ziyi liked him and said, “Then I won’t keep you any longer. Seven li to the northeast from my camp is an earthen city. General Lei, why not station your troops there? If you need anything, just ask me.”
“No problem. Then I’ll take my leave now.”
Lei Wanchun stood up, bowed, and clasped his hands in greeting to the generals inside the tent. “Gentlemen, I’m leaving.”
He strode away, and Guo Ziyi led the generals to see him off to the camp gate before stopping. Watching Lei Wanchun’s imposing figure fade into the distance, the generals of Shuofang shook their heads in disapproval. Deputy general Cheng Qianli sighed, “He’s brave, but sadly lacks strategy!”
“No! You’re all misunderstanding him.”
Guo Ziyi turned to the others and said, “This man may seem rough, but he’s actually extremely shrewd. His troops are stationed ten li away to prevent us from launching a surprise attack after killing them. Just look at their conversation—did he reveal anything? How many troops and supplies does he have? How Taiyuan is defended—he didn’t say a word about any of this. Think about it—would Li Qingan assign such a simple-minded person to guard Taiyuan, the northern capital? He’s just trying to deceive us. You’ve all fallen for it.”
After some thought, they realized he was right. Cheng Qianli frowned again and asked, “But what’s the point of him doing this?”
“One must always be cautious. If I were him, I’d do the same thing.” Guo Ziyi sighed. Why do all the talented people in the world end up with Li Qingan?

“What about that old general? What should we do?”
“Rest for a day, and we’ll set off southward tomorrow!”
……
Guo Ziyi was a prepared man. By southward, he meant Luzhou. In fact, they had been crossing the river for four days, moving slowly the whole time. He needed to understand the situation before taking action. His first piece of intelligence was that Dong Qin’s 20,000 troops were all in Luzhou. He had neither gone north across the border nor retreated eastward to Hebei due to the arrival of the Shuofang army, which indicated he was hesitant and unable to make a decision right away.
Guo Ziyi’s confidence came from his understanding of Dong Qin. This man had joined the army at a young age and had always served in the Fanyang army, following two military governors—Zhang Shougui and An Lushan. Last year, when An Lushan declared himself King of Yan and began to show rebellious intentions, many Han generals and soldiers abandoned him, and Dong Qin was one of them. He fled to Hedong, gathered more than 20,000 displaced Han soldiers from Fanyang, and retreated south to Puzhou, where he was appointed governor by the imperial court. During that time, Lei Wanchun tried several times to recruit him, but he refused. Later, when Li Hen ascended the throne, he sent envoys to win him over, and Dong Qin pledged loyalty to Li Hen and was appointed governor of Puzhou and Jiangzhou.
When Li Hen fled south to Chengdu, Dong Qin failed to enter the pass in time and was left isolated in Hedong. Now that Li Qingan was sending troops to Luoyang and Guo Ziyi was advancing into Hedong, Dong Qin became extremely anxious. He abandoned Puzhou and withdrew his troops to Luzhou to observe the situation.
Dong Qin was also one of the regional warlords during the mid-Tang period. During the An Lushan Rebellion, he fought alongside Guo Ziyi against An Lushan. After being defeated, he pretended to surrender to Shi Siming but soon returned to the Tang dynasty, for which he was granted the name Li Zhongchen.
At that time, Dong Qin led his 20,000 troops at Shihui Pass, located at the northernmost part of Luzhou. This pass was at the northern foot of the Taiyue Mountains, with steep and continuous cliffs. One of the formidable passes, it was built with huge stones and controlled the valley route of the Yuan River in the Taiyue Mountains—such a strategic point that even a single man could hold it against thousands.
For two full days, Dong Qin remained restless. He was extremely fond of women and pleasure, and his confidants brought him dozens of beautiful women from surrounding counties to satisfy his desires day and night. Yet even these women could not calm his mind. He was worried that if his 20,000 troops were defeated, he would have nowhere to go.
Dong Qin was in his forties, tall and robust, and extremely brave—a formidable general. He was partly of Hu descent; his father was a Pinglu Hu, but his mother was Han. His mother died when he was thirteen, and unable to bear the humiliation from his people, he joined the army in Fanyang, beginning a military career that would last nearly thirty years, fighting battles across the country until he became a general.
He had originally thought he would spend his entire life in the Fanyang army, but when An Lushan rebelled, he despised him and led his troops south. The imperial court accepted him, but now he seemed to have no way out again.

Just as he was extremely anxious, his personal guard suddenly came to report, “General, Guo Ziyi is here alone, asking to see you at the pass!”