Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

In November of the first year of the Qianyuan reign, the cold wind from the Yellow River basin, carrying dead grass and dust, howled on the plains outside Yecheng.

The 200,000-strong army under the command of the Jiedushi of Jiuzhen was like a steel barrier stretching for hundreds of miles, surrounding the isolated city occupied by An Qingxu.

In the camp, the glow of the bonfires merged into one in the night, echoing the torches of the rebels on the city wall. The air was filled with the mixed aroma of food, horses, and weapons, but it lacked the solemnity and unity that a strong army should have. This army, which assembled the most elite forces of the empire, had been bound by an absurd decree since the day it was sent to the front line.

Emperor Suzong Li Heng believed the slander of the eunuchs and refused to appoint a commander-in-chief. He only sent Yu Chaoen, who knew nothing about military affairs, as the "military supervisor", overcoming famous generals such as Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi.

At this time, although the Tang Dynasty had been severely damaged by the Anshi Rebellion, it was still able to mobilize the elite troops from various towns: Guo Ziyi, the governor of Shuofang, led 50,000 elite troops, Li Guangbi, the governor of Hedong, led 40,000 elite troops, plus the troops under the command of the governors of Guannei, Zelu, Huaixi, Yongping, Bianhua, Xiangdeng, Weizhou, and Huapu, totaling 200,000 people, with an additional 3,000 Shen Ce troops as supplements, and food and grass were continuously transported from the Jianghuai region.

In terms of manpower, supplies, and morale, the Tang army had an absolute advantage, and it seemed that it was only a matter of time before the rebellion was quelled.

However, this advantage gradually vanished from the decision made by Emperor Suzong Li Heng in the Daming Palace in Chang'an.

After the Mawei Rebellion, Li Heng ascended the throne in Lingwu. Although he had the ambition to quell the rebellion, he was always entangled in the fear of "the power of military generals".

An Lushan was once the military governor of Fanyang, Pinglu and Hedong. He rebelled after gaining control of a large army. This shadow made Li Heng full of suspicion towards his generals.

At this time, the eunuch Yu Chaoen was enjoying favor in the palace. He was an old acquaintance of Emperor Suzong's private residence and had climbed to high office through flattery. Seeing that Li Heng was suspicious of the military commanders, he whispered in his ear day and night: "Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi are both experienced generals with elite soldiers. If they are given the power of marshal, they might become the second An Lushan."

"It would be better to send a military supervisor to control the troops. This would not only help us control the war situation but also prevent disasters before they occur."

These words hit Li Heng's sore spot.

He remembered the lesson of the autocratic power of the military governors during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, and was worried that the generals would become more powerful than their own, so he actually adopted Yu Chaoen's suggestion.

In October of the first year of the Qianyuan reign, on the eve of the Tang army's assembly, Li Heng issued an edict: "The troops of the nine garrisons will attack Yecheng together. There will be no commander-in-chief. Yu Chaoen will be appointed as the envoy to inspect the troops and comfort them, and to supervise the troops."

When the decree reached the front line, all the generals were shocked.

Guo Ziyi was organizing his troops in the Shuofang Army camp at the time. After receiving the imperial edict, the command flag in his hand almost fell to the ground.

He and Li Guangbi exchanged a glance, and both saw helplessness in each other's eyes. Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, every time a large army went out to war, there must be a commander-in-chief to unify the orders. Now there are 200,000 soldiers and horses but no commander-in-chief, and a eunuch who can only flatter in the palace is supervising the army. This is not a war at all, it is clearly treating military and national affairs as a joke.

But I cannot disobey your orders.

In early November, the armies of the nine towns arrived at the outskirts of Yecheng one after another. According to Yu Chaoen's "deployment", Guo Ziyi's Shuofang army was stationed in the east of the city, Li Guangbi's Hedong army was stationed in the south of the city, and the troops of the remaining towns were stationed in the west and north, forming a siege.

However, Yu Chaoen did not understand military affairs. He neither formulated siege strategies nor coordinated the cooperation of various armies. He just drank and had fun in the central military tent every day. Occasionally, when he felt like it, he would send people to "inspect" each camp and give orders to the generals on their tactical suggestions.

Guo Ziyi once proposed the plan of "cutting off the food supply first and then slowing down the attack on the city" - all the food and grass in Yecheng were transported from Mingzhou. If a team of elite troops was sent to harass Mingzhou and cut off the rebels' supplies, Yecheng would be captured within a month.

But Yu Chaoen considered this a cowardly act and slammed the table, angrily rebuking, "With two hundred thousand troops approaching, are you still worried you can't take a single city? If we delay too long and our food and fodder run out, who will be held responsible?"

He forced the troops to attack the city with all their might the next day. Guo Ziyi had no choice but to order the Shuofang troops to set up ladders and launch a fierce attack on the east city.

But the troops of other towns were hesitant to move. Li Guangbi, the governor of Hedong, believed that the time for attacking the city was not right, so he kept his troops in place.

Huaixi Jiedushi Lu Jing was worried about heavy casualties, so he only sent a small number of soldiers to bluff.

Li Baoyu, the governor of Zelu, even sent someone to complain directly to Yu Chaoen, saying that his soldiers "cannot adapt to the climate and water and need to rest for three days."

As a result, the Shuofang army attacked the city alone for a day and lost nearly a thousand soldiers, but failed to even tear a gap in the city wall, so they had to withdraw to the camp.

Such chaos was repeated over the next three months.

The Tang army surrounded Yecheng and fought dozens of siege battles, but they were always fighting independently.

Sometimes, when Guo Ziyi's Shuofang Army had just broken through the rebels' outer city defense line and needed support from other troops, Li Guangbi's Hedong Army was carrying out Yu Chaoen's temporary order to "harass the north gate" and missed the opportunity to fight.

Sometimes, when all the troops had finally reached a consensus and were preparing to attack the rebel camp at night, Yu Chaoen, believing the rumors spread by spies that "reinforcements were coming to the rebels", ordered a withdrawal at night, causing the soldiers to make a wasted trip.

The resentment in the military camp was accumulating.

The soldiers braved the severe cold to attack the city, but they died in vain due to the confusion in military orders, and many people began to flee.

The generals watched the good situation being wasted, but could only swallow their anger in front of the military supervisor's envoy.

Guo Ziyi once lamented privately to Li Guangbi: "If this continues, I'm afraid that once Shi Siming arrives, our 200,000-strong army will be destroyed here."

When Shi Siming learned that the Tang army had 200,000 troops but no commander and was supervised by eunuchs, he immediately realized that this was an opportunity to turn the tide of the war - if the Tang army pacified An Qingxu, the next target would be himself. Instead of waiting to die, it would be better to take the initiative to provide support and defeat the Tang army in one fell swoop.

In the first month of the second year of Qianyuan, Shi Siming assembled 50,000 elite troops, claiming to have 100,000 troops to the outside world, and divided the troops into three groups, rushing to the aid of Yecheng overnight.

He knew that although the Tang army was large in number, their command was in disarray. If they fought head-on, they might not gain the upper hand. So he decided on the strategy of "attacking the food supply route, disrupting the army's morale, and then breaking the formation."

The rebels marched very quickly and arrived at the Fuyang River outside Yecheng in late January.

Shi Siming first sent 3,000 light cavalry, disguised as a Tang army food team, to sneak into the food route behind the Tang army.

At that time, the Tang army's food and fodder were all transported from Qinghe and Pingyuan counties, and transported by horse-drawn carriages along the dirt road along the banks of the Yellow River. There were only a few thousand soldiers guarding the food, and they were scattered across various post stations.

The rebel cavalry launched a surprise attack at night, first burning 30,000 shi of grain and fodder shipped from Pingyuan County to the front line, and then setting an ambush at the Fuyang River ferry, sinking the grain ship of Qinghe County, and all the salt, rice and cloth on the ship sank into the river.

When the news of the food supply being cut off reached the Tang army camp, Yu Chaoen was playing chess with several eunuchs in the central military tent.

When the messenger breathlessly reported that "the food and grass were burned and the subsequent supplies were cut off", the chess piece in Yu Chaoen's hand fell "pa" onto the chessboard, and his face turned pale instantly.

He had never experienced war before, and at the moment he was only thinking about how to explain to Emperor Suzong. He had no intention of thinking about countermeasures. Instead, he roared at the messenger: "A bunch of useless people! You can't even take care of the food and fodder, and you still dare to report!"

Upon hearing the news, Guo Ziyi immediately rushed to the central military camp and advised, "Sir, the military's food supply route has been cut off, and the morale of the army is in chaos. The most urgent task is to send a large force to protect the remaining food supplies, and at the same time, send an elite force to counterattack the rebel cavalry and open up the food supply route."

"After securing food and supplies, we can then concentrate our forces to deal with Shi Siming. We must not rush into battle."

But Yu Chaoen was already panicked at this time, and was afraid that he would be blamed by Suzong for "delaying the opportunity to fight", so he rejected Guo Ziyi's suggestion.

He believed that as long as he could capture Yecheng as soon as possible and capture An Qingxu alive, he could still claim credit from the court even if the food supply was cut off.

So he immediately issued an order: "All troops, at dawn tomorrow, attack the city with all your might. If you fail to capture Yecheng within three days, all your generals will be punished!"

When the order reached all the camps, the generals all complained. Li Guangbi sent someone to tell Yu Chaoen, "Now there is a shortage of food and grass. The soldiers can't even eat enough. How can we attack the city?"

"If we force our way into battle, we will undoubtedly be defeated!"

But Yu Chaoen refused to listen. Instead, he sent his personal soldiers with knives to supervise the battles in each camp, claiming that "anyone who dares to disobey orders will be executed immediately."