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

When the soldiers learned that they had to attack the city on an empty stomach, their morale was completely broken.

Many people secretly discussed: "We fought to the death, but the military supervisor only wanted to take credit. What's the point of continuing this battle?"

At night, more and more soldiers fled from the Tang army camp. Guo Ziyi sent people to hunt them down, but only caught a few. More people had already fled into the nearby mountains and forests.

Shi Siming soon learned of the chaos in the Tang army.

He sent spies to infiltrate the Tang army camp and spread rumors: "General Shi has led an army of 100,000 and captured the Tang army's rear camp. Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi have been captured alive!"

"An Qingxu has sent people to ask for help from the Turks. Soon a hundred thousand cavalry will arrive!"

Rumors spread rapidly in the Tang army camp like a plague.

The soldiers, whose morale was already unstable, became even more panicked after hearing the news.

Some soldiers even dreamed of rebels charging into the camp at night, and were so frightened that they could not sleep the whole night.

On February 18th, the second year of Qianyuan, just after dawn, a drizzle began to fall over Yecheng. The cold wind mixed with raindrops hit the soldiers' faces, making them bitterly cold.

Shi Siming personally led 30,000 elite troops and lined up on the plain south of the Tang army camp. Another 20,000 rebels ambushed in the woods on both sides, waiting for the opportunity.

On the Tang side, Yu Chaoen ordered the troops to form a battle array to meet the enemy. However, the troops were mobilized in disarray: Guo Ziyi's Shuofang Army had formed a battle array on time, but due to a shortage of food and fodder, the soldiers were pale and thin, and they could hardly hold their weapons.

Li Guangbi's Hedong Army was being mobilized, the ranks were in disarray, and many soldiers were still complaining in low voices.

The soldiers of the Shen Ce Army were even more demoralized, and some even secretly took off their armor, ready to escape at any time.

Yu Chaoen sat on a high platform in the central military tent, looking at the chaotic battle below. He feigned composure and said to the eunuch beside him, "There are only 50,000 rebels. Once our army charges, we will surely defeat them."

He ordered the drums to be beaten, urging the troops to attack.

When the drums sounded, Guo Ziyi had no choice but to order the vanguard of the Shuofang army to attack.

Although the soldiers of the Shuofang Army were hungry and tired, they were still the elite of the Tang Dynasty. When they heard the command flag waving, they immediately rushed towards the rebel camp with spears in hand and shouting.

The vanguard of the rebels was the "Yeluohe" (elite Khitan cavalry) under Shi Siming. When they saw the Tang army rushing towards them, they immediately urged their horses and waved their sabers to meet the attack.

The two sides fought together instantly.

The "swish" sound of spears piercing armor, the "crack" sound of sabers chopping bones, the screams of soldiers, and the neighing of war horses, mixed with the sound of rain, echoed across the plain.

The soldiers of the Shuofang Army fought bravely and pushed back the rebel vanguard for several miles. But at this moment, chaos suddenly broke out in the Tang army. The general of the Shen Ce Army was afraid of the rebels, and seeing that the Shuofang Army and the rebels were fighting hard, he ordered his soldiers to retreat.

As soon as the Shen Ce Army retreated, a gap hundreds of steps wide immediately appeared in the Tang army's formation.

Shi Siming saw it clearly from behind and immediately ordered: "Cavalry attack, break into the enemy formation!"

The 20,000 rebel cavalrymen who were ambushed in the woods rushed into the Tang army formation through the gap like arrows, waving their sabers and killing the scattered Tang soldiers.

The rebel cavalry's surprise attack completely disrupted the Tang army's formation.

The Hedong Army soldiers who were still resisting suddenly panicked when they saw the rebel cavalry rushing towards them. Some of them began to run backwards, and then they were defeated in large numbers.

Seeing this, Shi Siming ordered the entire army to attack. 30,000 elite rebels followed the cavalry and launched a general attack on the Tang army.

"The Tang army is defeated!"

"Run!"

Shouts echoed throughout the Tang army. The 200,000-strong army was like a flood bursting through a dam, and the soldiers were only concerned with escaping, paying no attention to their comrades.

The cavalry ran wildly, stepping on the corpses of the infantry. Many soldiers were pushed to the ground by their own people and were trampled to death in an instant.

Some soldiers wanted to jump into the trenches nearby to take shelter, but they found that the trenches were already crowded with people, and the people behind them kept pushing forward, and many people were drowned in the trenches.

Guo Ziyi was extremely anxious when he saw the army was defeated. He personally took up his spear and led his personal soldiers to charge at the rebels, hoping to stop the rebels' offensive and stabilize the morale of the army.

But the number of rebels increased, and soon more than half of his personal soldiers were killed or wounded. The generals around him advised: "Jiedushi, the situation is hopeless. If we don't leave now, it will be too late!"

Guo Ziyi looked at the soldiers fleeing in all directions, his eyes full of despair. He knew that the battle had already been lost, and if he persisted, he would only die in vain.

In desperation, he could only lead the remaining troops and break out westward along the bank of the Yellow River.

Li Guangbi's situation was equally difficult.

He led the remnants of the Hedong Army in a desperate battle, repelling several waves of rebel attacks. However, the number of soldiers around him was decreasing, and the rebels kept pouring in like a tide.

His deputy general was killed in the battle, and only dozens of his personal soldiers were left. Looking at the defeat of the Tang army in the distance, Li Guangbi sighed and could only break out to the southeast with the remaining troops.

Yu Chaoen, however, had lost his usual arrogance. He watched the Tang army's defeat from the platform, terrified to death. Without waiting for his personal guards to escort him, he leaped from the platform, got into a carriage, and ordered the driver to gallop back.

During his escape, he felt that the carriage was too slow, so he changed to a war horse. He even left the seal of the military supervisor and the token given by Emperor Suzong in the central military tent.

When his personal guards saw the military supervisor fleeing, they also fled in all directions, and the central military camp was soon occupied by the rebels.

The rebels took advantage of the situation and attacked, and the defeat of the Tang army turned into a one-sided massacre.

The road from Yecheng to the bank of the Yellow River, more than a hundred miles long, was littered with the corpses of Tang soldiers.

Some soldiers were tired from running and fell to the side of the road to catch their breath. They were immediately caught up by the rebels and hacked to death.

Some soldiers wanted to escape by crossing the river, but because they had no boats, they could only jump into the icy Yellow River and were soon washed away by the current.

The water of the Yellow River was dyed dark red by blood, with the bodies of soldiers, discarded armor, weapons and food floating on it. Even the birds in the sky dared not approach.

The rout continued until evening.

Seeing that the Tang army had fled far away and that they themselves had suffered casualties, Shi Siming ordered to stop the pursuit.

At this time, the Tang army had lost more than half of its 200,000 troops, with nearly 100,000 soldiers killed in battle, drowned, or trampled to death by their own people. Most of the remaining soldiers were in disarray, and all their weapons and food supplies were lost. Of the 50,000 war horses of the Shuofang army, only less than 8,000 remained.

Almost all of the 20,000 spears of the Hedong Army were discarded; the Shen Ce Army was completely wiped out, with less than 300 people escaping.

The invincible Tang army, which was good at defeating the enemy with fewer troops, was severely defeated by Shi Siming who defeated 200,000 of them with only 50,000!

When the news of the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Yecheng reached Chang'an, Emperor Suzong Li Heng was waiting for news of victory in the Purple Palace of Daming Palace.

When the messenger knelt down to report that "the 200,000-strong army was defeated and Shi Siming has occupied Yecheng", the teacup in Li Heng's hand fell to the ground with a clang. He staggered back a few steps and held onto the dragon throne, barely avoiding falling.

He couldn't believe that the elite troops of the empire he had assembled would suffer such a tragic defeat.

After Yu Chaoen fled back to Chang'an, in order to shirk responsibility, he falsely accused Guo Ziyi to Li Heng of "fighting poorly and deliberately losing the battle."

Li Heng had always been suspicious of Guo Ziyi, and at this moment he actually believed what Yu Chaoen said. He ordered Guo Ziyi to be recalled to Chang'an, removed him from his post as the Jiedushi of Shuofang, and replaced him with Li Guangbi as the Jiedushi of Shuofang.

But such appointments and dismissals can no longer save the war situation.

After Shi Siming defeated the Tang army in Yecheng, his prestige increased greatly. He quickly designed to kill An Qingxu, annexed his 60,000 troops and became the new leader of the rebels.

After that, Shi Siming used Yecheng as a base and continuously sent troops to harass the Tang army. He successively captured Weizhou, Xiangzhou and other places. The Tang Dynasty's Hebei defense line collapsed again.

The Tang army was severely damaged after this defeat.

The military governors of various towns suffered heavy losses and were unable to gather large-scale troops in the short term; the food and fodder in the Jianghuai region was lost too much due to this defeat, and subsequent supplies were unsustainable.

More importantly, the morale of the soldiers had hit rock bottom, many had lost confidence in suppressing the rebellion, and desertion became increasingly serious.

After Guo Ziyi was recalled to Chang'an, although he was not punished, he was left idle in the mansion.

He watched the streets of Chang'an grow increasingly desolate, and thought of the soldiers who had died in the Battle of Yecheng, his heart filled with grief and indignation. Once, he told a visiting general, "If Your Majesty had trusted the generals and appointed a marshal to unify the command, how could we have suffered such a defeat today? The rebels are now so powerful, and I'm afraid the An-Shi Rebellion will drag on for much longer."

There was one thing he kept in his heart and didn't say. The nine Jiedushi were all commanders. Not to mention defeating Shi Siming's rebels, it was only a matter of time before they could win by wasting time and delaying the battle.

But it is absolutely wrong for nine people to lead an army each and let a eunuch who knows nothing about military affairs give orders.

Your Majesty is confused! Confused!