Chapter 603: Retreating to Hedong

Li Qing’an learned of the fall of Xiangzhou three days later. By then, he was no longer in Luoyang but on his way back to Chang’an. A major incident had also occurred there: the Right Prime Minister Pei Zunqing had been assassinated, and the murderer committed suicide out of fear of punishment; the mastermind remained unknown.
Pei Zunqing’s sudden death plunged the court into chaos and disrupted Li Qing’an’s political plans. He was forced to rush back to Chang’an to handle government affairs.
At night, Li Qing’an and his entourage stopped at Xiting Inn in Shanzhou. On this return to Chang’an, he did not take Yang Yuhuan with him but left her in Luoyang.
The soft light filled the room, accompanied by a faint scent of sandalwood. Li Qing’an sat at the table, writing furiously. From time to time, he paused to ponder or let out a soft sigh. If Cheng Qianli had been his mortal enemy during his time in Anxi, now, with Cheng Qianli’s death, all discord between them had vanished. All that remained in Li Qing’an’s heart was respect for the martyr.
He intended to submit a memorial to the court to grant this loyal Tang official who had defended Xiangzhou with his life proper posthumous honors—appointing him as Grand Marshal and granting him the title of Governor of Youzhou. He also wanted to provide the Tang soldiers who died in battle with the same compensation as those in Anxi.
Li Qing’an was also filled with regret. Although he had long seen An Lushan’s strategic intentions and repeatedly warned Guo Ziyi and Cheng Qianli, even issuing orders in his capacity as the Supreme Commander of the army, they never heeded him, responding only with silence.
Of course, Li Qing’an understood that Guo Ziyi was trying to relocate more people from Hebei. Morally, his actions were indefensible, but militarily, they were extremely unwise. Not only were 50,000 elite soldiers lost needlessly, but the Shuofang Army also found itself in a strategic disadvantage. Now, Guo Ziyi’s 150,000 troops were tied up in Hebei, leaving Hedong defenseless with only a few tens of thousands of militia soldiers who had recently been turned into regular troops—weak forces indeed. Already, one of An Lushan’s armies had entered Hedong through Fukou Pass and was heading straight for Taiyuan. If Taiyuan fell, Guo Ziyi’s retreat would be cut off, and his entire army might be annihilated.
Li Qing’an stood up and slowly walked to the window. He pushed it open. Outside, heavy snow was falling, covering the land in white. His expression was complex. Deep down, he somewhat hoped Guo Ziyi’s army would suffer a crushing defeat, allowing An Lushan to eliminate his only military rival in the court. Yet on the other hand, he did not want the Tang army to be massacred and become political sacrifices.

It was precisely this complex psychology of fear and anxiety that made him unable to resist reminding Guo Ziyi to avoid risks several times. Worried about Taiyuan falling, he had already ordered Lei Wanchun, the governor of Yunchou, and Xin Yunjing, the prefect of Daizhou, to lead 20,000 troops to Taiyuan at full speed to seize it before Li Guiren’s army.

Li Qingan sighed. He hoped Guo Ziyi could retreat to Hedong in time after learning of the fall of Xiangzhou; otherwise, the consequences would be unpredictable. Suddenly, he heard hurried footsteps outside the room and turned in surprise. A personal guard rushed in to report, “General, urgent news from Hengzhou!”

“Come in!”

Li Qingan’s heart sank. What had happened in Hengzhou again? A guard entered and knelt on one knee, saying, “Urgent news from Hebei: Guo Ziyi has dealt a crushing defeat to Shi Siming at Zhending, killing over 40,000 enemies. Shi Siming’s army has retreated to Tangchang County in Dingzhou. Guo Ziyi’s army is pursuing them, having already passed Wujie County.”

“Ah!” Li Qingan was shocked. He quickly walked to the table and unrolled the map. Tangchang County was about 300 li from Zhending, while Wujie County was at least 250 li away. Li Qingan inwardly groaned—Shi Siming must have learned that Li Guiren’s troops were entering Hedong and feigned defeat to lure Guo Ziyi’s army deeper. If Shi Siming sent another force to enter Zhending via Zhaozhou and cut off Guo Ziyi’s retreat, even if Guo Ziyi’s army held Tumen Pass, it would be useless. With his rear blocked, An Lushan’s army could advance northward, and Guo Ziyi’s army might be completely annihilated.

Thinking this, Li Qingan ordered, “Send an urgent message to Li Guangbi—his army must enter Hebei and hold off An Lushan’s forces at all costs.”

He also ordered, “Send a messenger to Guo Ziyi immediately, ordering him to retreat to Hedong right away!”

……

The battle in Hengzhou was full of twists and turns, filled with strangeness and coincidence. One thing Li Qingan had guessed wrong: Guo Ziyi’s crushing defeat of Shi Siming wasn’t due to Shi Siming feigning defeat, but because Guo Ziyi launched an attack in the snowy night, catching Shi Siming off guard. Shi Siming’s army was utterly defeated—over 40,000 soldiers were killed or trampled to death. They abandoned their armor, tents, and supplies as they retreated, and it wasn’t until they reached Dingzhou that Shi Siming managed to gather his remaining forces.

Guo Ziyi’s army stopped pursuing after reaching Wujie County in Dingzhou. His soldiers were too exhausted and needed proper rest before continuing to attack Shi Siming’s reinforcements.

That night, Guo Ziyi’s army camped in Wujie County. After a day and night of fighting, the soldiers were utterly exhausted and fell asleep as soon as they lay down. Everything was silent around them, with hundreds of sentries patrolling the city walls. Yet Guo Ziyi couldn’t sleep. With his hands behind his back, he went to the top of the city wall and gazed into the dark night, lost in thought.

Xiangzhou held back An Lushan’s main force of 300,000 troops, giving him an opportunity to fight in the north. With Shi Siming’s forces suffering a crushing defeat, Li Huaixian would surely send troops to reinforce them. Although Li Huaixian claimed to have 100,000 troops guarding Youzhou, Guo Ziyi knew in reality there were only 60,000, and he still had to defend Youzhou. The reinforcements would not be numerous, allowing Guo Ziyi to defeat them one by one before launching a final attack on An Lushan’s stronghold, cutting off his supplies and undermining his base. An Lushan would be forced to withdraw from Xiangzhou.

This was Guo Ziyi’s strategy. He knew that if Cai Xide’s 100,000 troops captured Xiangzhou, An Lushan would surely send a large force southward. Xiangzhou could thus hold back most of An Lushan’s troops, while Guo Ziyi’s main force could enter Hebei via Jingxing and turn the tide there.

Guo Ziyi’s strategy was sound. The key now was time— whoever could gain the upper hand in timing would control the course of the war.

A sudden rush of horse hooves snapped Guo Ziyi out of his thoughts. He peeked down from the city wall and saw two cavalry riders approaching quickly, one in front of the other, heading toward the city gates. They were messengers.

“What happened?” Guo Ziyi asked loudly. In the darkness, he saw the two riders looking panicked, which gave him a bad feeling.

The rider in front reported first, “Old general, news from Xiangzhou: An Lushan’s army has captured Xiangzhou. Most of the 50,000 defenders have died, and General Cheng committed suicide.”

“Cheng Qianli…” Guo Ziyi closed his eyes in pain. He focused his mind and asked, “What else?”

“There’s also news from Hedong. Li Guiren’s forces defeated Wang Chengye’s 30,000 troops in Taigu County. 60,000 rebel troops are marching toward Taiyuan!”

If the loss of Xiangzhou caused Guo Ziyi pain, the arrival of Li Guiren’s rebel forces at Taiyuan filled him with shock.

Guo Ziyi had considered the possibility of Xiangzhou falling. If that happened, he would retreat to Hedong immediately. But he never expected An Lushan to actually send troops to attack Hedong. Li Qingan’s warning had unfortunately come true.

Guo Ziyi felt the agony of failing just short of success. With just two more days, he could have turned the tide of the war.

Just then, another messenger rushed over from afar, shouting, “Old general, something terrible has happened!”

“What happened now?”

“An Qingxu’s forces have suddenly turned back and have reached Luancheng County in Zhaozhou. They are being held off by Governor Yan and his 2,000 militia. The situation is critical! Old general, retreat quickly!”

Three consecutive bad news items drastically changed Guo Ziyi’s expression. Especially since An Qingxu’s forces, who had already moved south, suddenly turned back and reached Luancheng County, less than a hundred miles from Tumen Pass, if he didn’t retreat now, his rear would be cut off. Once cut off, if An Lushan’s army advanced northward, his entire force would be at risk of destruction.
Guo Ziyi had no choice but to order, “Pass my command: the entire army must retreat immediately.”
……
Guo Ziyi’s army was forced to retreat. Meanwhile, Shi Siming, who had retreated to Tangchang County, also received strong reinforcements. Li Huaixian ordered his general Li Baozhong to defend Youzhou City, while he personally led 40,000 Youzhou cavalry to Dingzhou. Shi Siming immediately organized his troops to launch a counterattack against Guo Ziyi’s army in coordination with Li Huaixian’s elite forces. East of Wuji County, the Yan army defeated Guo Ziyi’s 20,000 rear troops in a battle. General Li Guoliang was wounded in the left eye by an arrow from Shi Siming and fled westward wounded.
Li Huaixian led 40,000 Youzhou cavalry in a rapid pursuit and caught up with General Wei Boyu’s right-wing troops in Jiumen County. After a fierce battle, Wei Boyu’s troops were defeated by the Youzhou cavalry, resulting in a major defeat for the Tang army.
At the same time, bad news also came from Luancheng County. After resisting An Qingxu’s 20,000-strong army for a day, Yan Gaoqing led 2,000 civilian troops, but the city was captured. Jiang Xiaotong and Ma Jun died in battle. Yan Gaoqing, along with his son Yan Jiming, chief secretary Yuan Lüqian, and over a dozen others, were captured but refused to surrender and were brutally killed by An Qingxu. An Qingxu then advanced further, putting Guo Ziyi’s rear in grave danger.
By now, news of Xiangzhou’s fall, the defeat in Hedong, and the cutoff of the rear by An Qingxu had spread throughout the Tang army. The Tang soldiers were demoralized and exhausted. Coupled with the pursuit by Li Huaixian’s 40,000 Youzhou cavalry, the situation was extremely unfavorable for Guo Ziyi, and his army faced a life-or-death crisis.
……
Outside Youzhou City, in the northern barracks, there were more than 200 huge warehouses, key sites where An Lushan stored food and supplies. An Lushan’s most elite 40,000 Youzhou cavalry were also stationed there, and they were tasked with guarding the warehouses.
The warehouses covered a vast area and were surrounded by massive fortifications, divided into eastern and western sections—the eastern part for grain and the western part for forage. Normally, 40,000 cavalry patrolled day and night, ensuring extremely strict security. One of the main reasons An Lushan didn’t bring the Youzhou cavalry south was his concern about the loss of food and supplies.
However, Guo Ziyi’s decisive defeat of Shi Siming’s forces in Hengzhou caused temporary chaos in Youzhou’s defenses. As per Guo Ziyi’s intelligence, Li Huaixian’s garrison in Youzhou actually numbered only 60,000, less than 100,000. This was because two Caidian and Xi armies, each around 40,000 strong, were transporting large amounts of loot from Hebei back to Raole and Songmo. In fact, only 50,000 troops remained in Youzhou, with another 10,000 sent by Li Huaixian to suppress rebel forces in Qiu County and still not back.

But Shi Siming’s defeat forced Li Huaixian to send troops to help; otherwise, Shi Siming’s entire army would be destroyed, and his Youzhou might not even be preserved. On one hand, Li Huaixian sent people to urge the troops in Qiu County to return immediately. On the other hand, he ordered his trusted general Li Baozhong to lead 10,000 troops to defend Youzhou, while he himself led 40,000 elite cavalry from Youzhou to rush to Dingzhou to support Shi Siming. With only 10,000 troops left to defend the vast area of Youzhou, Li Huaixian assumed he would return within a few days. There were no Tang troops near Youzhou, and the troops sent to Qiu County were on their way back, so 10,000 troops should be enough to hold out for a few days. Of these 10,000 troops, 5,000 were assigned to defend Youzhou City, while 2,000 were stationed at various strategic points—there was a severe shortage of troops. The granary complexes, covering over ten miles and originally guarded by 40,000 elite cavalry, were now defended by only 3,000 men. 3,000 men was already the limit of what could be deployed. These 3,000 men were divided into two groups: 2,000 guarded the granaries, and the other 1,000 guarded the forage stores. They patrolled in two shifts, day and night. Yet no matter how diligently they tried, they couldn’t fill the huge gaps in defense. There were 84 forage stores in total, storing nearly 6 million loads of dry grass—essential for An Lushan’s 400,000 warhorses. On the very night Li Huaixian suffered a crushing defeat at Jiumen County at the hands of Wei Boyu, 22 Tang scouts led by Ji Sheng, who had been hiding in Youzhou for nearly ten days, launched their attack. It was somewhat incredible—Ji Sheng and his men now pretended to be soldiers stationed at Lutai Fort. Originally, Lutai Fort had 30 soldiers, but after they were killed by Ji Sheng’s men, they transformed into part of An Lushan’s elite Yan army. Ji Qing’an had assigned Ji Sheng the crucial task of burning down An Lushan’s forage stores. They had been waiting for an opportunity, and now, with 40,000 elite cavalry gone from Youzhou, their chance had arrived. They didn’t need any disguise—wearing Yan army armor and carrying legitimate identification, they swaggered into Youzhou City. They passed through several checkpoints without any hindrance, claiming, “By General Li’s orders, we are here to reinforce the defense of the granary stores!” Their reason was plausible and legitimate, and as soldiers from Lutai Fort, the checkpoints couldn’t call the city to verify, so they moved unimpeded. At midnight, Ji Sheng and his men reached the forage stores north of Youzhou City. At that time, the entire complex of forage stores, covering nearly ten miles, was guarded by just over 500 soldiers. Of the more than 400 watchtowers in the camp, at least 200 were unguarded—such defense was practically non-existent.

A shadow flashed, and Xiao Xie, who had gone to investigate, rushed back like a swallow. Ji Sheng and the others were hiding in a forest about a hundred steps away from the fodder store. Ji Sheng hurried over and asked, “How did it go?”
Xiao Xie curled his lips and said, “Ji Tou, you’re overthinking it. There’s no one on those dozen or so watchtowers at all. We can just go in directly.”
Ji Sheng was overjoyed and said to Xiao Xie, “Stay behind to watch the horses!”
Xiao Xie was stunned. “Stay behind? Why?”
“There’s no reason. It’s my order! Dare you disobey?”
“I get it, hmph!”
With no choice, Xiao Xie rolled his eyes at his brothers who were making faces at him and sulked as he stayed in the forest.
Ji Sheng waved his hand, and twenty of his men rushed out like arrows. They climbed over the unguarded fences like monkeys and gathered together again.
“Each of you is responsible for one warehouse. If possible, burn as many as you can. Meet back here in fifteen minutes. Remember, if twenty-one of us come in, twenty-one must leave!”
The group dispersed again, bending low as they rushed toward the warehouses. They were all highly skilled scouts, the twenty finest chosen from the First Scout Regiment. Each of them could handle things on their own. In moments, they had infiltrated the warehouses filled with fodder.
Ji Sheng entered Warehouse No. 54, the largest in the group, containing two hundred thousand loads of fodder. Each warehouse was guarded by two soldiers. At that time, they closed the doors and crawled into the warm piles of fodder to sleep.
But Ji Sheng wasn’t lucky. As soon as he sneaked into the fodder store, he heard two soldiers talking.
“Gorou, how much money do you still have? Can you lend me some?”
“Damn it, you still haven’t paid back the two guan you borrowed last time! I don’t have any money to give you.”
“Stop being such a jerk. I’ve been lucky these past few days and will definitely make up for it. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to my sweetheart to compensate you. Just lend me one guan first, okay?”
“Let’s talk about it after seeing a woman tomorrow! I can’t praise your taste.”
……
Ji Sheng hesitated for a moment. The warehouse was huge, like a palace. It wouldn’t hurt to go to the other side, but after thinking it over, he decided to kill those two guards…
“Whoa!” A strange noise came from the pile of fodder.
“Hey! What’s that sound?”
“Who knows? Maybe rats!”
“Rats should be over by the grain store. Let’s go check. Maybe it’s a naked beauty, hehe!”
“Dream on, you idiot. It’s more like a naked snake. I’m going to take a look!”

Daring not to light a fire, one of the guards came over in the dark. After taking about a dozen steps, finding nothing, he cursed and went to urinate in a corner. The moment he turned around, Ji Sheng pounced like lightning, covered his mouth, and slashed his throat with a knife. The guard collapsed. Another guard asked, “What happened?” “Nothing!” Ji Sheng continued to urinate noisily. The man snapped, “Can’t you go further away to pee? You almost smothered me!” Ji Sheng returned to the pile of grass in the dark and saw someone with his back to him, already snoring. Ji Sheng lay down, covered his mouth, and stabbed him in the back… With a click, a flame appeared in his hand. Without hesitation, he set the pile of grass on fire. It began to burn rapidly, emitting crackling sounds. When the fire had spread over an area of about ten zhang, he turned over, jumped down through the air vent, and rushed to another warehouse. This time, he didn’t even enter the warehouse—he lit a piece of oilcloth and threw it into the pile of fodder through the air vent. Then he moved on to another warehouse. In one go, Ji Sheng set four warehouses on fire. By now, thick smoke was billowing over the warehouse complex, blocking out the sun. Flames shot high into the sky; almost all the warehouses were ablaze. There were cries, shrill bell sounds, the sound of running horses, and soldiers running everywhere… Fifteen minutes later, a group of dark figures gathered again from all directions. Ji Sheng counted them—twenty-one in total, not a single one missing. “Let’s go!” They climbed over the fence and rushed toward the woods… “Ji Tou, what a huge fire!” Xiao Xie came up to him, smiling. “Now even the whole Hebei Road can see it.” “We’ll talk on the way. Let’s go!” They mounted their horses. “Ji Tou!” Xiao Xie called out to him excitedly. “Should we burn the grain warehouses too?” Ji Sheng held back his horse and looked into her eyes. “Remember, the first principle of our scout army is to follow orders. The general’s instructions are clear: burn the fodder warehouses, but even if there’s not a single person in the grain warehouses, we must not burn them. That’s an ironclad rule.” Xiao Xie nodded silently; she understood a bit now. “Let’s go! To Tangxing County.” The twenty-two cavalry riders galloped away. Ji Sheng glanced back at the warehouses. The flames reached thirty or forty zhang high, no less than the explosion before. It could be seen from a hundred li away. He smiled, whipped his horse hard, and it sped off toward the south…

The fire at the forage depot in Youzhou shattered Li Huaixian’s dream of annihilating Guo Ziyi’s forces. In extreme panic, he led his troops back to Youzhou overnight. Shi Siming also dared not pursue Guo Ziyi’s army and halted his troops. Thus, Guo Ziyi’s army escaped disaster. He quickly reorganized his troops and headed for Tumen Pass. At that time, An Qingxu’s army had just captured Shiyi County. Hearing that Li Huaixian had withdrawn and Shi Siming had stopped advancing, he did not dare to intercept Guo Ziyi alone and also withdrew southward. The next afternoon, more than 60,000 of Guo Ziyi’s troops returned to Tumen Pass. By then, orders from Li Qingan arrived. Realizing it would be difficult to achieve anything further in Hebei, Guo Ziyi left 2,000 men to guard Tumen Pass while the main force retreated to Hedong. Soon after, Li Guiren also received orders from An Lushan to withdraw to Hebei. He led his troops on a rampage of burning, killing, and looting as he retreated from Luzhou back to Hebei. At the beginning of November, a violent snowstorm hit Hebei. With ice and snow covering everything, it became difficult for troops to move, and the war temporarily ceased due to the storm. However, panic over a shortage of forage began to spread among An Lushan’s army. More than 80,000 old and weak warhorses died from hunger and cold. An Lushan had no choice but to go to the grasslands personally to seek forage from tribes such as the Turks and Khitans.