Tang Dynasty Swordsman

Page 51

"When drawing a bow, draw a strong one; when using an arrow, use a long one. To shoot a man, shoot his horse first; to capture a thief, capture his king first."

Li Ji immediately applauded, saying, "This poem is excellent! I never knew you, Tiechui, were such a literary youth!" Yi Tiechui blushed and smiled, saying, "How could I possibly write poetry? I heard it was written by an official surnamed Du..."

Therefore, Li Ji's strategy today was "to capture the king first," utilizing his strength and taking advantage of the enemy's disorganized formation to directly strike at the enemy general. He thought to himself, "The ancient 'enemy of ten thousand men' is said to be able to take the head of a general from among ten thousand horses as easily as taking something out of a bag." Even if I am not as good as them, I should still have a chance to take the head of a general from among these few hundred cavalrymen.

The key issue is that he has never truly commanded a battle. If he waits until the Tibetan army is ready, the odds of winning against a superior force are extremely slim. There is only one way to achieve victory: decapitation!

If he hadn't felt he had a chance to carry out a small-scale "decapitation strike," he would have led his troops away from behind the woods long ago. In those few breaths, countless heroic figures flashed through Li Ji's mind... oh, actually there was only one, and that was—Nan Ba.

Unfortunately, after Zhang Xun was escorted back to Chang'an, he volunteered to lead an expedition again within a few months, joining Guo Ziyi in Luoyang to prepare for crossing the Yellow River to the north. Nan Jiyun naturally followed him, and Li Ji had no chance to reunite with him after returning to Chang'an. However, Nan Jiyun's valiant and heroic demeanor had already left a deep impression on Li Ji's heart. His statement that he would take Li Guang as his role model was merely a spur-of-the-moment remark; in reality, he took Nan Jiyun as his life's goal.

So one general, relying on his bravery, beheaded the chieftain in battle, and tens of thousands of cavalrymen fled. The Tibetan army lost its commander, and its morale was thrown into chaos. They scattered and fled after a short time—in fact, they should have fled long ago, but they had to grab the body of their commander first.

The Tang army won a great victory, the only pity being that they failed to capture any prisoners, only beheading more than thirty people, and hanging the first ten or so bloodied heads under the saddles. The Tang army also suffered more than ten casualties. Li Ji ordered all the bodies to be taken away, and the wounded were quickly bandaged and their bleeding stopped before being carried onto horses and evacuated from the battlefield as soon as possible.

Who knows if the enemy has reinforcements?

At the end of the day, the group returned to Shancheng. Li Ji ordered his soldiers to carry all the heads of the barbarian bandits on the tips of their spears and raise them high to encourage the soldiers and civilians in the city.

At the same time, they shouted in unison: "Inspector Li has led us to defeat over a thousand barbarian bandits and returned!"

Chapter 5, Public Support Can Be Used

Sometimes, it's necessary to boast a little.

On the way back, Yi Tiechui asked Li Ji, "Before we went out of the forest to fight the enemy, why did you shoot a whistling arrow first, Changwei?"

The whistling arrow is used for military communication, but we only have about a hundred men in total. If you open your mouth, most of them can hear you; if you raise your hand, everyone can see you. So why do you need to fire the whistling arrow?

Before Li Ji could answer, Chen Fu interjected, "It's to sow discord among the enemy."

Li Ji nodded and explained to Yi Tiechui, "Didn't I tell you the story of General Li leading a hundred cavalry against several thousand Xiongnu? The Xiongnu, outnumbered, dared not advance, precisely because they were worried that these few Han soldiers would not flee upon seeing them, but instead would come forward to meet them. Could it be that they were bait, and the main army was lying in ambush behind them?"

"If we had rushed forward like General Li, the barbarian bandits would probably have had the same idea. But I don't have General Li's reputation, and hiding in the forest beforehand would have been a show of cowardice, so this tactic wouldn't have worked."

"Therefore, I first fired a whistling arrow, as if summoning reinforcements from the vicinity, to confuse and disturb the enemy, and shake their resolve. However, this trick cannot last long, and the enemy soldiers will soon be able to react. That is why General Li shot and killed the Xiongnu general on the white horse to frighten the enemy, so that the Xiongnu never dared to attack the Han army when they dismounted. Now I am going straight for the enemy general, which can be considered as following General Li's old trick."

"Fortunately, the enemy general was killed, and the rebels collapsed. Otherwise, the best outcome would have been like General Li back then, having to hold out until nightfall before daring to withdraw..."

Li Ji was luckier than Li Guang, mainly because the enemy had only a few hundred cavalry, not thousands. Among those few hundred, the number of generals was limited, which is why, after the commander's death, the situation became uncontrollable, and morale completely collapsed. When Li Guang encountered those thousands of Xiongnu cavalry, he certainly didn't need his commander to be on the front lines—so the white-horse general Li Guang shot was most likely not the commander—which is why he held out against the Han army for most of the day before finally ceasing hostilities after dark.

Furthermore, if there truly were tens of thousands of troops, could Li Ji so easily reach the enemy commander? He was basically certain that the claim of "taking the head of a general from among ten thousand horses as easily as taking something out of a bag" was definitely an exaggeration, and not just by a fraction of a percent...

But when it's time to exaggerate, you have to exaggerate. Otherwise, how can you intimidate the enemy and scare away the thieves?

Thinking of this, Li Ji instructed Chen, Yi, and the others that when they entered Shancheng later, they should all raise the severed heads high and shout, "Inspector Li has led us to defeat over a thousand barbarian bandits and is returning!"

This wasn't exaggerating military achievements—Li Ji intended to tell the truth in his report to Li Tan—it was merely political propaganda. Since he had arrived in Shancheng yesterday, although he hadn't yet had time to interact with ordinary soldiers and civilians, the pervasive atmosphere of despondency throughout the city was palpable.

Although the Tang-Tibet Wars lasted for a century, with both sides experiencing victories and defeats, the Tang army generally had a higher winning rate. The Tibetans frequently sent envoys to Chang'an to sue for peace. It's believed that if it weren't for the extreme difficulty of fighting deep in the highlands and the near-complete lack of logistical support, the Tibetans, if they had lived on the plains, would have been wiped out by the Tang army long ago. The crucial point was that the attacks were mostly initiated by the Tibetans, forcing the Tang army to fight defensive counter-offensives, and even then, the counter-offensives couldn't penetrate too deeply…

In short, according to Chen Fu, Yi Tiechui, and even Lao Jing, the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the front-line town was extremely high. Many even hoped that the Tibetans would come to kill them, so they could get merit, be promoted, and receive rewards. However, since the main force was transferred eastward, the Tibetan army penetrated deep into the enemy territory on multiple fronts last winter, breaking through the military towns one after another. The originally high morale was gradually crushed to the bottom.

The key issue is that Shancheng, as a military stronghold and the agricultural center of Shanzhou and even half of Longyou Road, has never seen any high-ranking officials from the shogunate come to inspect the defenses and reassure the people. Even when the barbarian army ravaged the north of the city, Hu Hao did not dare to open the city gates to fight.

It's not fair to be too harsh on Hu Hao; after all, he was just a battalion commander. Entrusting him with the responsibility of guarding this crucial western outpost with a thousand men was already a heavy burden, especially considering the scarcity of warhorses. If the roles were reversed, Li Ji believed he wouldn't have been as conservative as Hu Hao, but whether he would have dared to venture out and fight every time the Tibetan army came... was another matter entirely.

Therefore, it's no wonder that a sense of despondency and despair permeated Shancheng. With such low morale in the army and among the people, how long could Shancheng hold out even with reinforcements?

Li Ji wasn't sure whether to ultimately abandon Shancheng, and besides, he wasn't the one who could make the decision. But since he was here and had the opportunity, he should at least plan ahead—having just beheaded dozens of Tibetans, he might as well try to use that to boost morale.

As expected, after entering the city, their boasting and shouting attracted countless people from both sides of the main streets to watch, even if not the entire city. Many of them cheered along with the shouts of the Shence Army soldiers, while some elderly, weak, women and children prostrated themselves on the ground and even cried out loud—presumably because some of their relatives had died in the barbarian calamity and they had finally seen a glimmer of hope for revenge, so they wept with joy.

Li Ji observed the reactions of the people around him as he spurred his horse forward. Suddenly, an old man rushed forward and grabbed the reins. Yi Tiechui raised his whip, ready to drive the old man away, but the old man immediately knelt down.

Seeing that the other party seemed to have no ill intentions, Li Ji reined in his horse and waved for Yi Tiechui to step back. He then jumped off his horse, helped Yi Tiechui up with both hands, and asked gently, "Please rise, sir. Is there anything you wish to say?"

The old man stood up shakily, then asked in a deep voice, "May I ask, sir, is the Inspector Li you mentioned a trusted figure under the command of the military governor?"

Li Ji nodded: "You could say that."

The old man then asked, "When will the General personally lead the troops to the front lines and come to Shancheng to defend it?"

Li Ji thought to himself that Li Tan probably wouldn't come... After all, it was a dangerous place, and who would let the King of Qi come here? But he couldn't tell him directly, lest he chill the old man's heart, so he said, "The commander-in-chief sent me to Shancheng first to inspect the situation. After I return and report, we will decide on our next course of action."

The old man asked three more times: "I've heard that the general intends to abandon Shancheng. Is this true or false?"

Li Ji's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, "Where did you hear this, sir?"

The old man replied, “It’s widely rumored that those in the Yun family who have family members in Shancheng were all taken away in the spring. They say that Judge Gao reported to the commander that Shancheng is indefensible and it would be better to abandon it and retreat to Shanzhou instead. Is this true or false, sir? Would you be so kind as to tell me?”

Li Ji frowned slightly and asked in return, "The barbarian bandits have already captured Xuanwei and other armies, and Shancheng is now facing the enemy—otherwise, we wouldn't have encountered the barbarian bandits and been able to kill them just a few miles outside the city. You must know that war is dangerous and the outcome is uncertain. Even at your advanced age, do you not want to retreat to the safety of Shanzhou? Do you think Shancheng should be abandoned?"

The old man's eyes were slightly red as he replied, "My family, though not native, has lived in Shancheng since the reign of Emperor Sisheng. Of the twelve members of our clan who served in the army, more than half died in service to the king. Our huts and graves are all outside the city. How can we bear to abandon them? Since we are old and frail, if the barbarian invaders come, we are willing to die with them! I am not knowledgeable about military affairs, but I implore you, sir, to report to the commander-in-chief that Shancheng must not be abandoned—abandoning Shancheng is tantamount to abandoning the tens of thousands of people within its walls!"

"A tree can only flourish with roots, and so can a person. If a person leaves their hometown and wanders to another place, it is like being cut off from the roots, which is no different from death. Even if the court is willing to provide relief to these tens of thousands of people, or even grant them land equal to what their ancestors left them, can their burial mounds be moved to another place?"

Hearing the old man's impassioned yet poignant words, Li Ji felt a lump in his throat. He was about to offer some words of comfort when he changed his mind and instead put on a stern face, scolding, "Old man, you are mistaken." He raised his whip and pointed to the street: "Old man, your days are numbered, yet you wish to die with the city. I wonder how many people in this city share your thoughts?"

The old man, with his neck stiff, said, "The people of Shancheng are all willing to fight to the death against the barbarian bandits, but it's a pity there's no one to lead them!"

"Times rise and fall, wars have victories and defeats. If Shancheng cannot be defended, must all the people of the city be forced to give their lives to the barbarian invaders? The old man may not fear death, and the able-bodied may be willing to fight bitterly, but what about the women and children? If the old man dies, the clan and the surname remain. But if the women and children all die, the clan and the surname will be wiped out. Who will take care of the ancestral lands and the graves of the relatives? How different is that from abandoning the city and perishing?!"

After being reprimanded, the old man was stunned and speechless for a long time.

Seeing this, Li Ji softened his tone slightly and said, "We seek victory, not death. Even if we lose our people and territory, we will eventually have a chance to reclaim it. However, I have remembered your words, and I will present the sentiments of the soldiers and civilians of Shancheng to the commander-in-chief for his decision. As long as all the soldiers and civilians in the city are of one mind and work together to resist the barbarian invaders and protect our ancestral lands and the graves of our loved ones, we will have a chance of winning the battle. I believe that the commander-in-chief will be able to follow the will of Heaven and the hearts of the people and do his utmost to ensure that our Tang territory is not lost—rest assured, sir."

After mounting their horses again, they hadn't gone far when Chen Fu leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "Changwei, you could have just said a few words of comfort to that old man, why did you have to scold him?"

Li Ji replied in a deep voice, "It's easy to offer words of comfort, but if I can't keep my promise, I'm afraid he'll hate me for the rest of his life..." He never actually followed up on his words, nor did he say whether the shogunate truly intended to abandon Shancheng, nor did he promise that as long as he reported it, Li Tan would definitely not abandon it.

He paused, then continued, “Compassion is not the way to command an army. No matter how pitiful this old man and all the people of the city are, if Shancheng is truly indefensible, we can only drive them away from their homes. How can we allow the situation in Longyou to deteriorate so drastically because of Shancheng? How can we endanger hundreds of thousands of people in Longyou because of the tens of thousands of people in Shancheng?”

But then he whispered to Chen Fu, "If what this old man said is true, the people of Shancheng are of goodwill. After a short rest, send some soldiers out to talk to the garrison and the people, and find out if their will is the same as what this old man said, that they would rather die defending against the enemy than retreat eastward." Chen Fu nodded and accepted the order.

When Li Ji met Hu Hao, Hu Hao was both surprised and delighted. He showered Li Ji with flattery, praising him as having the courage of Xin and Bu, and no less than the founding generals Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong. Fortunately, Li Ji was thick-skinned enough not to refute him and accepted the praise through gritted teeth.

Then a sumptuous feast was served to the Shence Army generals. During the banquet, Hu Hao, with a shameless grin, hinted that he could share a few of the heads of these barbarian bandits with Li Ji. Li Ji smiled and said, "These were all obtained through the bloodshed of our brave soldiers, how can they be shared among us?" Just then, Hu Hao's face darkened, but Li Ji continued, "Of course, General Hu has truly been instrumental in our success in killing the bandits and achieving merit..." He picked up a large piece of meat with his chopsticks—"and for his contribution in supplying the enemy, I will certainly report to the commander-in-chief and reward him accordingly."

Hu Hao was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

Li Ji stuffed the piece of meat into his mouth, chewed it a few times, but his expression gradually darkened. He turned to Hu Hao and asked, "There are rumors within the shogunate that there are discussions about abandoning Shancheng. General Hu, have you heard of this?"

Hu Hao cautiously replied, "These are all unfounded rumors spread by ignorant people... How could I, a mere general, dare to speculate on the policies of the shogunate in private?"

"Oh, so there are quite a few rumors circulating in Shancheng about this matter?"

Hu Hao dared not lie and say that nothing had happened—he had already been informed that an old man had stopped his horse and spoken to Li Ji—but he also dared not admit it directly, and could only chuckle three times in a fake manner.

Li Ji turned to the other side and asked Chen Fu, "Old Chen, do you think there are any spies from the barbarian tribes in Shancheng?"

Chen Fu raised an eyebrow: "How can it be exempted?" Of course, there is an option.

"Since rumors are circulating throughout the city that the shogunate is quite inclined to abandon the city, I'm sure the barbarian bandits... for example, that Ma Chongying, must have heard about it. Do you think he would want our Tang to abandon the city?"

Yi Tiechui, who was a little further away, interjected, "How could one not want to gain a large city out of thin air without losing a single soldier?"

Li Ji pondered for a moment and said, "The key question is whether they want the land or the people..."

He talked with Hu Hao for a long time last night. Hu Hao might not be very good at leading troops, but he was quite diligent in intelligence gathering—perhaps to facilitate his own escape? According to Hu Hao, the Tibetans were quite willing to cultivate the pastoral areas of the Tang territory they occupied, but they mostly just plundered the agricultural areas. While many Tibetans did engage in agriculture, their farming skills were low, and they were not accustomed to cultivating the plains. The captured Tang people were all taken back to be enslaved by the nobles and chieftains, who refused to let them remain in their homeland to farm.

While Shanzhou is located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the agricultural areas around Shancheng, which are relatively developed, are actually not at high altitudes. The farming methods there are probably quite different from those in truly high-altitude areas.

Li Ji attempted to put himself in the shoes of the Tibetan nobles, considering how to attack Longyou to maximize his gains. Although the Tang Dynasty was embroiled in internal strife, it was still a formidable force. To attempt to conquer vast swathes of Tang territory in one fell swoop, or even penetrate deep into Guanzhong and Shu, would undoubtedly be extremely difficult and ultimately counterproductive. The best strategy, as he himself stated in his "Strategy for Defending Against the Tibetans," was to ravage Longyou, weakening the Tang Dynasty's ability to send large armies westward from the central government, and then seize Hexi, Anxi, and even Beiting.

That's why they didn't cultivate the land they acquired, and even took all the captured Tang people into their territory.

If the Longyou region, or at least its western prefectures, were entirely scorched earth, devoid of cities and inhabitants, the Tang army would face supply difficulties and would inevitably struggle to recapture it in the short term. Even if it were recaptured, it would likely be unable to hold the position. In that case, the Tibetan army could focus its main forces on the northern front.

If we calculate it this way, then the Tang Dynasty's willingness to voluntarily abandon Shancheng and relocate all the people would be a great thing for the Tibetan side, as they could achieve their strategic goals without losing a single soldier.

But when it comes to the individual tribal chiefs, are they willing to give up the tens of thousands of Tang people they could capture and distribute in the short term for the sake of long-term interests?

That depends on whether the ruler has foresight and the authority to command respect. I really want to meet Ma Chongying and find out what he's really made of.

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." It's just a pity that the level of intelligence gathering and information transmission in this era is really too low.

Chapter Six, Holding Out is Useless

That night, Li Ji wrote a report of victory and a memorial, which he sent urgently to Li Tan. He then stayed in Shancheng for another day before leading a small cavalry unit, which was now short of men, back to Shanzhou in haste.

Without resting after entering the city, he went straight to see Li Tan. Li Tan did not make him wait any longer and immediately ordered someone to summon him.

Upon entering the main hall, Li Tan sat at the head of the table, flanked by Yang Yan and a secretary. To his left and right sat two other men, both dressed as mid-level military officers, but none of them were former officials of the Longyou Military Headquarters—at least none had come with Gao Sheng to pay their respects. The two men were of similar age, in their thirties or forties. The one on the left had a dark face and short beard, and a very sharp appearance; the one on the right had a pale face and long beard, and a rather ordinary appearance, but his eyes were like lightning, radiating a sharp light. Moreover, Li Ji thought, "This man looks familiar...where have I seen him before?"

After bowing, Li Tan asked directly, "Changwei, you've worked hard. I've read through all your reports, but—what is the state of Shancheng? Can it be defended? I haven't seen you make any conclusions."

Li Jixian replied, "Defending Shancheng is of no use."

Li Tan frowned and glanced sideways at Yang Yan. Yang Yan, somewhat anxious, interrupted, "How can you say that guarding it is pointless?"

Whether it is defensible is a military issue, which I do not understand and have no reason to care about; but as for whether it should be defended, I am in charge of logistics and scheduling, but we really cannot do without the grain production of Shancheng!

Li Ji frankly gave an answer to Yang Yan's question:

"The garrison commander of Shancheng said that the harvest in a normal year is 200,000 bushels. If we could harvest them all, it would be of great benefit to our army. But alas—not only can we not harvest them all, but now it seems that not a single grain can be stored."

"Shancheng is situated between two mountains, one to the north and one to the south. Its fields are long and narrow, like a snake, stretching over a hundred li from Linfan City in the west to the Great Gorge in the east. However, the distance between the north and south is only six or seven li. No matter how fertile the land is, how can it yield 200,000 hu? The records in the government registers and the words of the Shancheng garrison commander only include the produce from the many passages between the two mountains, the valleys, and even the mountains themselves. Those fields are fragmented, and it would be easy to collect taxes in peacetime. But now that Shancheng is facing the enemy and is constantly harassed by the barbarian bandits, even if there is some harvest, it is estimated that it will be difficult to turn it into the government treasury."

"Last year, the barbarian bandits captured Xuanwei Army. Their cavalry swept north of Shancheng, causing farmers to scatter and thousands of acres of land to be abandoned. The reason the bandits haven't yet ravaged the south of the city is that the garrison at Suihe has not yet fallen. Once they break through Suihe from the south and attack Suirong City and Linfan City from the west, their three armies will converge at the city walls, and all grain west of Shancheng will be lost. Furthermore, the bandits can even circle around the mountains to the east of the city and trample the fields there..."

"If Shancheng were in the rear, its output would be enough to supply tens of thousands of people. But since it is at the front, once war breaks out, I think that only the four or five thousand acres of land between the small and large gorges can be preserved if it is properly defended—how much grain can that produce?" Twenty thousand bushels at most.

At this point, he spread his hands towards Yang Yan, a wry smile on his face: "I know that Judge Yang is having difficulty raising military funds, but as for the Shancheng Valley, there's really no hope..."

Yang Yan pressed further, "If we can harvest the crops before the barbarian bandits arrive this year, how much can we obtain?"

Li Ji shook his head and said, "What is planted in Shancheng is mostly wheat and beans. Although they are all harvested in autumn, the exact time depends on the weather, and no one can say for sure. Harvesting is not a one-day task, and collecting and transporting also takes time. How could the barbarian bandits not make preparations in advance? In my opinion, the reason why the barbarian bandits did not set foot on the fields south of the city last year was not because they lacked strength, but because they wanted to wait until this autumn harvest season to advance to the city first and harvest the grain for their own use—why would they leave any for us?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Yan's face darkened, and he remained silent.

Li Tan also looked worried, and after a long while asked, "There's no point in holding out; are we really going to abandon the defense?"

Li Ji replied, "The garrison troops remaining in the city, along with those who fled after the fall of the enemy forces, number about four thousand soldiers, and the civilian population is around thirty thousand. The treasury's grain reserves are sufficient to supply the city for half a year. If we were to reinforce the city to ten thousand, and obtain the autumn harvest between the small and large gorges, with everyone united and a capable general in command, we might not necessarily be unable to hold the city..."

Li Tan asked, "In your official document the other day, you said that the morale and morale of the people in Shancheng are good?"

Li Ji nodded: "That's true. After all, soldiers are soldiers who have fought for a long time, and people are people who are unwilling to leave their homeland. Many of their parents and brothers died in the invasion, and everyone is filled with resentment. They are all happy to die defending against the invaders..."

This is one reason, and there is another reason as well—"Before the Tianbao era, our Tang Dynasty fought against the Tibetans and won more battles than it lost. Therefore, the elders all said that last year's defeat was a temporary setback. They believed that once the chaos in Guandong was quelled and their sons and brothers returned, the blood feud could be avenged and the lost territory could be recovered. As a result, they all harbored the will to fight and had the confidence to win—with soldiers and civilians like these, they should be able to fight."

Li Tan smiled bitterly, "However, since there's no point in guarding it, we can only let them down..."

Li Ji suddenly straightened his back, crossed his arms, and said loudly, "Although defending it is pointless, I fear that abandoning it immediately would result in an even greater loss!"

Li Tan was somewhat surprised and quickly asked, "What is the reason?"

Li Ji said, “I heard that when the rebellion broke out in Guandong, the Tibetans sent an envoy to Chang'an to meet with the Emperor Emeritus, expressing their willingness to send troops to help suppress the rebellion, but the Emperor Emeritus refused. I think that the Tibetans’ move was just a test of our Tang Dynasty. If the court had agreed, it would have meant that the rebellion was very serious and that we could not have quelled it by ourselves. Since the court refused and the two capitals have been recovered, the Tibetans must be worried when they hear the news.”

"This shows that the barbarian bandits fear us! Their reason for taking advantage of our weakness to invade Longyou is probably not to seize land, but to ravage Shan and Kuo prefectures, so that even if our Tang Dynasty quells the rebellion, it will not be able to recover the lost territory for several years. With the transport route between the Yellow River and Longyou cut off, they can then plot to seize the Western Regions. If we give up Shancheng without a fight, it means that we fear the barbarians, and the barbarians no longer fear the Tang Dynasty! If the barbarians do not fear the Tang Dynasty, they will surely send more troops to penetrate deeper and advance down the Huang River. I fear that Longyou will not be safe!"

"Therefore, to fight and then abandon is merely a temporary setback; to abandon without a fight, however, shows that our Tang Dynasty has become cowardly. In my humble opinion, there is no guarantee of victory in battle, and morale cannot be taken away. If a soldier loses his morale, he has no courage to speak of, and how can he possibly have a chance to make a comeback?!"

Upon hearing this, the dark-faced military officer on the left slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Well said! A soldier's spirit must not be broken. If the morale is not low, victory or defeat is possible in a short time; if the morale is low, the army will collapse and be difficult to recover from!"

Li Tan's expression softened slightly, and he immediately looked at the military officer: "So, Yuan Zhong is willing to defend Shancheng for me?"

The military officer did not answer, but instead looked at his companion. The pale-faced officer clasped his hands in a gesture toward Li Tan and said, “What Inspector Li said just now makes sense. However, what is the point of fighting if we cannot win? What is the point of defending a city if we cannot hold it? We are newcomers and know very little about whether Shancheng can be defended. We need to plan carefully.”

Li Tan smiled and then introduced the two men to Li Ji. First was the pale-faced military officer—"This is Guo Xin, the Grand Marshal of the Great Battle Army." He paused, then added, "He is the nephew of Minister Guo."

Guo Xin's uncle was none other than Guo Ziyi, the Deputy Marshal and Duke of Dai, who had recently been granted the honorary title of Grand Minister of Works, a first-rank official, reaching the pinnacle of power. Upon hearing this, Li Ji bowed to Guo Xin, thinking to himself, "No wonder he looks familiar..." He had previously met Guo Ziyi during the military campaign, as well as Guo Ziyi's eldest son, Guo Yao, and second son, Guo Gan, and felt that they did not resemble their father at all. On the contrary, this nephew, Guo Xin, looked exactly like Guo Ziyi, but with a youthful appearance enhanced by a beauty filter, appearing thirty years younger.

As for the dark-faced military officer, he was none other than "Li Yuanzhong, the military commander of Baiting."

Since the imperial edict appointing the military governors of the two towns was issued, Li Tan had begun various preparatory work, such as requesting relevant geographical, tax, and personnel information from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of War. He then compiled a list of the generals and officials stationed in Longyou Circuit and sent it to Yan Wu and Yan Jiying, who were about to leave the capital to take up their posts as the prefect of Mianzhou.

Yan Wu had served as a judge in Geshu Han's staff when Geshu Han was the military governor of Longyou. Later, he was summoned back to the east to serve the emperor. To be honest, Li Tan believed that Yan Wu should be appointed as the acting military governor of Longyou, which was far more qualified than Gao Sheng. Therefore, he was quite familiar with the personnel in Longyou. Li Tan sent someone to deliver a list and asked Yan Wu who among them was suitable. Yan Wu glanced at it, shook his head slightly, but refused to express his opinion.

The envoy understood; it meant that everyone on the list was useless. Out of consideration for his relationship with his colleague, Yan Jiying refused to tell him directly and simply kept quiet.

So a second list was produced, listing the names of the generals and officials left behind in Hexi, and Yan Wu was consulted again. Geshu Han had served as the military governor of Hexi in the fourteenth year of Tianbao. Although he did not go there in person, he was originally from Hexi and was familiar with the geography and people. Yan Wu, as his confidant and serving as the judge of the military governor, should know a little about it.

Yan Wu spoke this time—he glanced at them, then pointed to the names of Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong, saying, “Tell the King of Qi that all the generals in the Hexi army are capable of fighting, but these two are the best.”

Therefore, Li Tan hurriedly summoned the two generals to temporarily resign their posts and go to Shanzhou to join him. "I have Yang Yan in charge of finances, and I also need a brave general to be in charge of the war. Li Ji is ultimately lacking in seniority and experience, and in Yan Jiying's opinion, none of the generals left in charge of Longyou are capable..."

The strongest military force in Hexi was the Chishui Army, stationed at the Jiedushi's residence, with a quota of 33,000 men and 13,000 warhorses—of course, this number is certainly insufficient now—followed by the Dadou Army garrisoned by Guo Xin, with 7,500 soldiers and 2,400 horses; then came the Baiting Army garrisoned by Li Yuanzhong, with 6,500 soldiers and 1,000 warhorses. Therefore, both generals had experience commanding thousands or even tens of thousands of troops. Li Tan's summons of them was sufficient to solve the problem of insufficient, unreliable, and unusable military commanders.

He then introduced two generals to Li Ji and ordered the three of them to hold a working meeting to carefully discuss the situation in Shancheng, whether it could be defended, how long it could be defended, and whether Generals Guo and Li were willing to defend it for him. He was to get a result as soon as possible and report back.

The meeting was arranged in a side hall of the military governor's office. Although Li Ji was a confidant of Li Tan, he was not of high rank. Guo and Li were also familiar comrades, so as soon as they arrived at the side hall, Li Yuanzhong disregarded etiquette and sat down with his legs spread wide. It was only after Guo Xin glared at him that he reluctantly changed to sitting cross-legged.

Li Ji had originally intended to sit cross-legged—after riding horses so much, his legs weren't very close together—but seeing Guo Xin still kneeling properly, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and follow suit. However, once they spread out the map he had drawn himself and began explaining, Guo and Li would occasionally ask questions, which Li Ji answered clearly and in detail. The two generals listened with increasing fascination, gradually moving closer together until they were both squatting.