Just as Liu Ziyu had predicted, Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an tasted the sweetness of "persuasion to surrender" in Youzhou City. After capturing the city without fighting, he immediately decided to do the same, leading a large army out of Juyong Pass to Guizhou and Tanzhou to persuade the enemy to surrender, thus resolving the rebellion without bloodshed.
Ultimately, Chen Huai'an still felt pity for the soldiers from various prefectures of Youyun who participated in the rebellion. He only wanted to punish the arrogant and fierce generals led by Liu Ziyu, and did not intend to massacre the soldiers at the grassroots level who obeyed orders.
After all, they were all meritorious officials who had followed Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin in raising an army to quell the rebellion and conquer the country, and the blood of the people of the Tang Dynasty flowed in their veins.
Therefore, Chen Huai'an only rested for two days in Youzhou City before continuing to lead 20,000 light and heavy cavalry on the northward journey to quell the rebellion.
Next stop, Guizhou City.
Inside Guizhou City, at the Garrison General's Residence.
General Zhao Xiaofei, the garrison commander stationed here, received an urgent message from Wuzhou City overnight, ordering him to lead 20,000 troops from Guizhou City out of the city to join forces with the Youzhou garrison and annihilate the vanguard of the imperial army that appeared outside Youzhou City.
When Zhao Xiaofei received this military order, he was still a little puzzled. Based on his many years of experience in commanding troops and fighting battles, even if he wanted to launch a counterattack against the heavy army of the imperial court, shouldn't he concentrate all his forces together and attack in one place?
How can we expect to see a general from each state leading all the troops in their respective cities to gather at the location where the enemy is besieging Youzhou? Isn't this just a "piecemeal tactic"?
This is a cardinal sin in military strategy!
In fact, how could Liu Ziyu, as the commander of the rebel army, not know that the "adding fuel to the fire" tactic is a major taboo in military strategy?
He had no choice but to do this!
The sudden fall of Youzhou City and the unexpected appearance of Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an completely disrupted Liu Ziyu's previously planned battle strategy, forcing him to resort to this desperate measure.
The military orders Liu Ziyu issued to the generals of Guizhou, Shunzhou, and Tanzhou (excluding Wuzhou, Xinzhou, Weizhou, and Ruzhou) were all instructing them to lead their troops to abandon their cities, ostensibly to reinforce Youzhou, but in reality to become pawns on the tactical board to lure the enemy deeper into their territory.
He himself gathered all the troops from the remaining four prefectures, along with 30,000 Turkic cavalry who came to help, forming an army of 100,000 men. He was ready to strike a fatal blow against the 20,000 vanguard led by Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, in a manner reminiscent of the mantis stalking the cicada unaware of the oriole behind.
Liu Ziyu's idea was that the troops from Guizhou, Shunzhou, and Tanzhou, while receiving orders to assemble in Youzhou City, would inevitably encounter the imperial troops heading north to recapture the city and quell the rebellion at some point outside Juyong Pass.
If the two armies encounter each other in the field, they will most likely engage in a direct melee, thus denying Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an the opportunity or possibility to sow discord among the troops.
Meanwhile, his 100,000-strong army rushed towards Juyong Pass without stopping, aiming to weaken the imperial vanguard army by weakening the troops in Guizhou, Shunzhou, and Tanzhou, before launching a surprise attack to annihilate the imperial vanguard army.
It must be said that Liu Ziyu's plan was quite clever.
As he predicted and deduced, the two armies encountered each other in reality. Sure enough, a few days later, Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an's 20,000-strong army encountered the 20,000-strong rebel army that had marched from Guizhou City outside Juyong Pass. The two sides fought fiercely at Juyong Pass for a day and a night.
Subsequently, two rebel armies totaling 30,000 men, which had come from Shunzhou and Tanzhou, arrived at the battlefield of Juyong Pass and joined forces with the rebel army from Guizhou, and a fierce battle broke out again.
It is worth mentioning that both the 20,000 Imperial Guards personally led by Chen Huai'an and the rebel army that marched from Guizhou, Shunzhou, and Tanzhou were the most powerful armies in the entire Tang Dynasty. The two sides fought fiercely on the battlefield and were evenly matched. The Imperial Guards, which were outnumbered, did not establish an overwhelming advantage.
Even more strangely, both the commanders and the soldiers on both sides believed that the other side was the rebel army, while their own side was the righteous army that was upholding the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, when the two sides fought on the battlefield, they all thought they were fighting for their country and shedding blood for their nation, and they were incredibly brave and fearless.
This state of "fake versus real" continued until Emperor Zhaowu, Chen Huai'an, disregarded advice and personally donned armor and rode into battle to fight the enemy, which finally brought relief.
Among the rebels in Gui, Shun, and Tan prefectures, some sensible soldiers finally realized that things were not as simple as when General Liu Ziyu issued the "Proclamation to Punish the Rebels," calling on the soldiers of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun to raise troops to quell the rebellion and purge the court of corrupt officials.
They even began to wonder if they had been caught up in a huge conspiracy from the very beginning.
After another day of fierce fighting, the two sides outside Juyong Pass sounded the retreat and regrouped to prepare for another battle.
Inside the central command tent of the rebel army camp.
General Zhao Xiaofei of Gui Prefecture, General Yang Ke of Shun Prefecture, and General Lei Li of Tan Prefecture gathered together to discuss the appearance of Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, on the battlefield today.
These rebel generals all seemed a little downcast, their eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment. None of them spoke first; they simply sat around in the central command tent, drinking alone while eating roasted meat.
Finally, it was Yang Ke, the commander of Shunzhou, who lost his temper first. After taking a big gulp of strong liquor, he slammed the liquor jar heavily on the table in front of him and said in a low voice:
"Gentlemen, I am certain that the man clad in golden armor who appeared on the battlefield of Juyong Pass today is none other than His Majesty!"
"Looking across the entire Tang Dynasty, apart from the current Emperor and His Highness Prince Jin, I'm afraid there's no other person who would dare to overstep their bounds and wear golden armor!"
It turns out that today, when Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an disregarded the advice of the accompanying Jinwu Guard generals and went to the Juyong Pass battlefield, he happened to arrive just as both sides were sounding the retreat.
Therefore, Chen Huai'an did not ride his horse into the battlefield to shout and reveal his identity. In the chaotic battlefield, it seemed inappropriate to announce his identity like he had when he knocked on the door of Youzhou City.
However, the golden figure clad in golden armor was clearly and distinctly seen by the rebel soldiers on the northern side of Juyong Pass.
Considering the performance of the imperial troops on the battlefield in the past few days, as well as the righteous and vehement words of the general surnamed Zhao who commanded the troops, the rebel soldiers immediately began to have endless imagination about the identity of the person wearing golden armor, and his true identity was about to be revealed.
This is why the rebel soldiers began to doubt the legitimacy and righteousness of their military campaign, launched under the call of General Liu Ziyu to "rise up in rebellion to quell the rebellion and purge the court of corrupt officials."
As the saying goes, if the name is not correct, the words will not be proper, and the matter will not be accomplished.
Previously, when General Liu Ziyu rallied the generals of Youyun Prefecture to rise up and quell the rebellion, he told everyone that there were treacherous ministers around the emperor who deceived him with slander, which led to the emperor's many futile actions in handling state affairs and military matters.
For example, the deliberate suppression of the Youyun faction generals during the conferment ceremony after the founding of the Tang Dynasty;
For example, in deciding the outcome of the Liaodong war, the generals of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, who were originally guarding the border for the Tang Dynasty, were sent to Liaodong to fight in rotation. This left the defenses of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun undefended, creating an opportunity for barbarians to invade the border and wreak havoc on the people.
Under the righteous and eloquent "brainwashing" of General Liu Ziyu, and with the support of the strategist He Kuan's succinct "Proclamation to Punish the Rebels," these soldiers from the sixteen prefectures of Youyun at the grassroots level naturally chose to believe their superior, Liu Ziyu, and subsequently began to raise troops against the imperial court.
Furthermore, this action was seen as a righteous act, aimed at upholding the Tang Dynasty and eliminating treacherous officials for the country and the nation. It was a righteous cause, and even when facing the elite imperial guards, it was able to maintain its formidable fighting strength without being at a disadvantage.
Besides the soldiers' own bravery, morale and the army's spirit also played a significant role.
Unexpectedly, His Majesty himself appeared on the battlefield of Juyong Pass today.
This left the soldiers of Gui, Shun, and Tan prefectures in the Youyun region, who prided themselves on being a "righteous army sent to quell the rebellion," completely bewildered.
What a joke! The current emperor has personally led the troops to quell the rebellion. Whose troubles are they going to quell, and whose cronies are they going to eliminate?
Standing on the opposite side of the emperor, they were no longer some kind of kingly army or the Jingnan Army, but a rebel army!
Although none of the three commanders said it aloud, they all understood that when the figure of Chen Huai'an, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, appeared at Juyong Pass today, the morale of their soldiers clearly wavered, and their spirits visibly declined.
Therefore, after sounding the retreat, the three generals gathered in the central command tent to discuss how to deal with the enemy next.
However, Yang Ke, the commander of Shunzhou, immediately broke through the tacit understanding between the three.
Knowing that the opposing side was the Imperial Guard, led by the current emperor, who was tasked with suppressing the rebellion, no one knew how the battle would proceed.
After a long silence, Lei Li, the commander of Tanzhou, also took a swig of wine and said in a deep voice, "The Emperor's identity can almost be confirmed."
"If it weren't for the sudden downpour today, which forced both sides to call a retreat early, our morale and fighting spirit would have collapsed in an instant had His Majesty ridden into battle to reveal his identity!"
After a pause, Lei Li continued, "Gentlemen, the problem we face now is not to guess and speculate about the identity of the person clad in golden armor, but rather, after confirming that the other party is indeed the current emperor, how should we proceed with the battle of Juyong Pass?"
"Can we still hold high the banner of 'raising troops to quell the rebellion and purge the emperor's inner circle'? Can we still ensure that the soldiers under our command can maintain the same morale and fighting spirit as before?"
"In my view, from the moment we accepted General Liu Ziyu's order to raise an army, things began to develop beyond our expectations."
"In particular, the battle of Juyong Pass has confirmed our fact of raising an army in rebellion, and the current situation is very unfavorable for us!"
Eh—
After saying this, Lei Li, the commander of Tanzhou, sighed and couldn't help but drink another mouthful of wine in silence.
Two of the three rebel commanders, emboldened by alcohol, expressed their opinions, while only Zhao Xiaofei, the commander of Guizhou, remained silent, continuing to focus intently on cutting the roasted meat in front of him with his short knife, stuffing evenly sized pieces into his mouth and chewing.
Back then, when Zhao Xiaofei attended the emergency war meeting held by General Liu Ziyu at the Earl's Mansion in Wuzhou City before the uprising, he noticed many clues about the uprising and had a lot of doubts at the time.
Ultimately, however, he could not resist the pressure from General Liu Ziyu and chose to obey his orders.
In retrospect, his suspicions at the time were correct. This uprising was indeed a trap, and the real story was probably not as General Liu Ziyu described, much less as grand and righteous as written in the "Proclamation to Punish the Rebels".
However, regardless of the truth, Zhao Xiaofei and his 20,000 soldiers from Guizhou have now been branded as rebels.
After the war ended, they were all purged and their entire families were exterminated.
They couldn't win by fighting, and they couldn't surrender either.
For a moment, Zhao Xiaofei felt extremely uneasy, as if he were sitting on pins and needles, caught in a dilemma!
"General Zhao, please share your thoughts!"
At this moment, seeing that Zhao Xiaofei remained silent, Yang Ke, the commander of Shunzhou sitting to his left, finally couldn't help but ask Zhao Xiaofei a question.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaofei, who had been burying his head in his food, finally looked up and gave the two rebel generals a smile that looked more like a grimace.
After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke, "Generals, to be honest, I am also completely baffled and don't know what to do next."
"But one thing I'm very clear about—"
Then, Zhao Xiaofei's tone shifted sharply, and he said sternly, "We absolutely cannot continue down this path of rebellion. As the commander-in-chief, we can disregard our own interests, and even our families;"
"But we must consider the brothers under our command, the brothers who have followed us in countless battles, rising from the ashes of countless deaths, and their entire families."
"The battle of Juyong Pass truly cannot continue!"
call--
After expressing his opinion, Zhao Xiaofei let out a long breath, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders.
Upon hearing his opinion, Yang Ke, the commander of Shunzhou, and Lei Li, the commander of Tanzhou, both sighed and then lowered their heads.
It's not hard to see that although these two didn't express their opinions, they probably shared the same thoughts as Zhao Xiaofei deep down.
Having been tricked into embarking on this path of rebellion by General Liu Ziyu, I certainly can't go all the way down this dark road!
"Report—"
"Reporting to the three generals, the Great General has an urgent report!"
Suddenly, just as the three remained silent, the voice of a messenger rang out outside the central command tent. It was General Liu Ziyu's latest order!
Seeing this, Zhao Xiaofei shook his head vigorously, then ordered, "What are your instructions, General?"
The messenger reported, "Reporting to the general, the Grand General has sent an urgent message: the commanders of Gui, Shun, and Tan prefectures are ordered to launch an attack on the vanguard of the imperial army at dawn tomorrow. They must be fully alert and cooperate with the Grand General to annihilate the imperial vanguard at Juyong Pass in one fell swoop. There must be no mistakes!"
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