Insufficient balance

  From the half-dead and interrogated rebel vanguard lieutenant, I received a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. The good news is that after the main forces of the rebels entered Guanzhong, they were busy plundering wealth and ignored the order to continue advancing from the nominal Western Expeditionary Army Commander-in-Chief Cui Yuanding. Cui Yuanding himself was unable to spare troops from his own department, so the entire Western Expedition's offensive came to a halt. The bad news is that there is a large rebel army in front of us right now. According to convention, scouts would not exceed one-tenth of the total military strength, so this vanguard camp has at least 800 people. By inference, we are indeed in big trouble. Moreover, from the previous few scattered escapes, the enemy also knew that there were cruel and formidable figures (I hope it's not me) in the Tang army marching west, so they were extra cautious and sent an entire battalion as a vanguard.

  Those captives confessed so quickly because of an unexpected incident. A guy, yawning, said "If we can't get it out, the old man will eat me" and accidentally let the captives think of some terrible rumors, which scared them to death. Although some people are not afraid of death, no one wants to become someone else's meal before they die. They would rather confess everything and be done with it. (Of course, what I didn't expect was that some unscrupulous people discovered this point and, without considering others' reputations, shamelessly took advantage of it during interrogations, resulting in some frightening rumors spreading further.)

  According to the intermittent details, the captives belonged to the troops currently ordered to capture the fugitives, the left route of the rebel army, and Sun Xiaozhe, the adopted son of An Lushan.

  The rebel army's troops attacking the Western Capital were mainly infantry, with only a certain number of cavalry assigned to each unit (some had already been dispatched to pursue the fleeing emperor), and having suffered significant losses in the great war, they urgently needed rest. Only Sun's horseback riding department was numerous and intact as the reserve. However, it was not expected that after the loss of Tongguan, the Tang army would retreat so quickly. The massive preparations made for the siege became a burden.

  Therefore, according to the deployment of Gao Xiang, the military advisor and Shangshu Ling of An Lushan, Sun's troops were the vanguard, quickly circling around and inserting themselves into the rear of Chang'an. They should have blocked the important roads leading northwest from Chang'an and waited for an opportunity to intercept reinforcements from the northwest. However, they encountered a strange and unexpected change in fortune while pursuing the enemy - a sudden and unexplained fireball fell from the sky, causing hundreds of casualties among Sun's troops, including Sun himself, who was burned by the remaining flames. The entire army became suspicious that it was a sign from heaven, morale plummeted, and they were forced to retreat 100 li to regroup. They killed many frightened and restless soldiers before resuming their advance, but this delay ultimately made them the last group to enter Chang'an. All the benefits and merits were taken by others.

  Moreover, as the vanguard of the Left Route Army, Sun Xiaozhe missed the opportunity to attack due to delays on the road, allowing Emperor Xuanzong and other important officials to escape. He was rebuked by Commander-in-Chief Cui Guangyuan, and if not for his status as An Lushan's adopted son, the army's long history suggested that he should first report to An Lushan in Luoyang for a decision, and he almost lost his position and was put on trial.

  Originally, Sun's troops had not achieved any merit in the battle of Tongguan, and the opportunity to achieve a meritorious deed that they had finally obtained was lost. The days were not easy for Sun Xiaozhe, the rebellious general who was recovering from his wounds in Qiu County. Therefore, when the news of the defeat of the pursuing troops arrived, he wanted to take advantage of the situation to make up for his past mistakes. He took advantage of this opportunity to lead a large-scale search for Wang Gong and other officials, avoiding the attention of General-in-Chief Cui Yuanding. He gathered all the cavalry under his command and put them under the leadership of his trusted general and cousin, Sun Yanshou. They pursued the enemy day and night without stopping, following their tracks. The vanguard battalion that was annihilated by our rear army was only responsible for tracking the Emperor's route and had come to scout out the area. Our main force is still over a hundred miles away from them. This distance is neither long nor short, but if we ride at full speed, it won't take half a day. The key is whether the enemy has discovered our existence. If I were in their shoes, I would definitely launch a surprise attack on us when we are off guard.

  No matter what, I had to prepare for battle urgently, and I kept sending orders down, each army changing positions, arranging the vanguard to march hastily, the rear army dispatching scouts, the left and right armies dispersing crowds, the central army preparing on the spot. Unfortunately, the means of military intelligence in this era were really too limited, especially when fleeing, efficiency was greatly discounted, I had to disperse my precious cavalry squadrons, strengthening the power of forward reconnaissance.

  The enemy's patience is also too good, or it can be said that they have become cautious after knowing the vanguard was destroyed. It has been at least a day and night, and the scouts have changed shifts more than 20 times, but still no signs of their approach. Let us waste our morale and spirit in a long period of tense vigilance. Fortunately, I let the soldiers take turns resting and strictly forbade discussing this matter. We are tightening up internally while appearing relaxed externally, just doing general battle preparations. Otherwise, those refugees would be frightened and flee everywhere, purely causing trouble for ourselves.

  I led a group of officers to stand on a small hill overlooking the distance, this place is called Mei Ridge, which is the front station for entering Guanzhong through the Louguan Valley. Turning over the hill is the valley entrance. Along the valley and moving forward can reach the watershed with the Ziwu Ridge as the boundary, there are many roads that can be divided into directions such as Hexi, Longyou, Jianyang, etc., and there is also an ancient Guanzhai mouth left over from the Three Kingdoms and Two Jin periods. If we get there, the enemy's pursuit will not have much advantage. As we move further west, closer to Shu land, the terrain gradually rises, and the road becomes increasingly rugged, those gullies and canyons have already caused us to lose some vehicles and supplies, so under the ridge is where many soldiers are busy sorting out their equipment, dispatching personnel, after entering, in order for the army's smooth progress, we must abandon some cumbersome and easily blocking vehicles, and incidentally create some trouble for the pursuing troops.

  In the valley below, the mountains are as sharp as axes and the walls are like overturned cities. I recall an old poem by Du Fu called "Out of Lü Valley" that describes the danger here: "Twenty-one families entered Shu together, but only one person came out of Lü Valley. When two women bit each other's arms, they turned back to cry towards Qin Yun." However, on this journey down, we've captured and killed all sorts of venomous snakes and ferocious beasts that didn't have a good eye for us. Those mountain bandits and thieves were either killed or surrendered when our army passed through, and those who ran away fled in all directions. It's much cleaner now. As long as we enter Lü Valley, the safety guarantee increases by several points. It's not that I'm afraid of the enemy or hesitant to fight on open plains with a clear view, where cavalry can fully prepare for battle against infantry. The combat power is not simply calculated by doubling the number of people. Once inside, the narrow and winding terrain of the valley path makes it unfavorable for charging, and the cavalry's power is greatly reduced as they cannot spread out. Therefore, if the enemy wants to take action, it will be here. Because before entering the valley entrance, due to the mountainous terrain transitioning from hills to high mountains on both sides, a small open valley is formed. The ridges on both sides are too low, belonging to the situation in military battles where attack is advantageous but defense is not. However, this is also my chosen battlefield. Of course, if the enemy hesitates and doesn't advance, it's fine if we all enter Lü Valley.

  I now have nearly 15,000 people under my command, barely enough to form a regular Left Dragon Guard army. Following the usual practice, I divided them into five divisions: front, rear, left, center, and right, with twenty battalions of soldiers. Although the number seems considerable, the quality of the troops is uneven, and at least six battalions are newly formed from temporary recruits, lacking weapons, armor, and training, not to mention combat effectiveness. The equipment of other units varies greatly depending on their origin, some were even obtained from others, ranging from light leather armor, scale armor, iron plate armor, chain mail, ring armor, and leaf-shaped armor for infantry, to dense ring armor, scale armor, and soft armor with leaves for cavalry, with weapons such as knives, axes, spears, and halberds of varying lengths. Some units only have a single broadsword left after fleeing in haste. Only the original Feathered Forest Army is slightly better off, with uniform half-body golden tiger-striped fine steel plate armor, iron ring shoulder pads, chain mail neck guards, long spears, and narrow knives, but their bows and arrows were lost in Chang'an.

  According to the most basic Fubing organization and equipment, from the Duwei down, each camp has more than 800 soldiers, with two teams and a directly affiliated team, and a personal soldier: three hundred as one team, officer school Wei, leading two teams, 150 as a team (cavalry is 100 people per team), officer team Zheng, leading three partners; fifty people as one fire, officer Huo Zhang, each leading five Shi Chang. Each Shi Chang needs to be equipped with six pack horses, and provided with Wubu curtain, iron horse bucket, cloth slot, chui, kuai, axe, mortar, basket, axe, pliers, saw all one, armor bed two, sickle two; each partner is equipped with fire tong one, chest horse rope one, head halter, foot hobble all three; each person has a bow one, arrow thirty, Hu Lu, horizontal knife, whetstone, big fork, felt hat, felt clothing, travel rattan all one, every ten days given wheat rice nine Dou, rice two Dou, etc. This is only the basic equipment of Fubing. Those Bianjun, Weijun, Jinjun's equipment are more and better, depending on the needs slightly different, our army now is not enough at all.

  Currently, the army is composed of about 4,000 Northern troops. Initially, there were 7,000 Imperial Guards and 2,000 Palace Guards who escorted the Emperor out of Chang'an, but along the way, many deserted due to low morale, and after several days of intense battles, they suffered heavy casualties. As a result, their numbers have decreased, but they are now more elite. The scattered troops gathered and reorganized along the way account for about half of the total number and are still reliable. The rest are new recruits from among the refugees who lack experience and training. Mixed together, they are slightly better than a motley crew, and with a significant numerical advantage, they can still attack a smaller enemy force. However, if they were to face a large cavalry force, it would be very worrying. I would rather have them prepare more traps and obstacles for the time being.

  I just finished an exciting pre-war mobilization speech, which is also my first army-wide speech since taking command. I had been brewing it for a long time and included Paul Kotchkin's thoughts on the value of life at the Martyrs' Cemetery, Wen Tianxiang's classic explanation of "since ancient times, who has not died, leaving behind a red heart to shine on the Han Dynasty", the middle school textbook's discussion of "a person will eventually die, either as heavy as Mount Tai or as light as a feather", and Shakespeare's classic dialogue about dying in bed or on the battlefield. I used all the materials I could think of to make my speech, which was extremely stirring and emotional, although some parts were not well connected. However, it had a great impact on those who were used to my casual style, and they looked at me with a mixture of shock and disbelief in the midst of the thunderous applause from the million soldiers. Even the Northern Army guys present looked serious and solemn, which made me feel very satisfied for a moment.