Chapter Forty-six

  Logically speaking, these two should also be people who have seen the world and shouldn't be so overwhelmed by a fierce battle, but after getting in touch with them more, I finally understood.

  The Crown Prince was once considered to have led troops, but it turned out that he had only nominally held the position. In the past, when the Khitan leader Kedun wanted to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, he killed the pro-Tang Khitan king Shaoguo and replaced him with a new king from the Kui Lie tribe, forcing the Xi tribes to surrender to the Turks. Shaoguo's wife Chen and the Xi king Li Rusu fled to the Tang court, where Emperor Xuanzong ordered Zhao Hanzhang, the governor of Youzhou, to lead troops to quell the rebellion. He also appointed Pei Kuan and Xue Kan to recruit brave soldiers from within the passes and along the Yellow River. The Crown Prince was then appointed as the Grand Marshal of the Northern Expeditionary Force, with Li Chaoyin and Pei Xun as his deputies, leading 18 generals to attack the Xi and Khitan tribes. However, after being dissuaded by Zhang Yue, one of the three great ministers of the Kaiyuan era, he was replaced by Xin'an Wang, who led the troops out of the passes and defeated Kedun, capturing many prisoners. After this, the Crown Prince was not allowed to have any further contact with the military, so his experience as a commander-in-chief was merely nominal. It's no wonder that he reacted in such a way.

  The old emperor didn't need to be mentioned, although he held the position of Weiwei Qing and commanded a cavalry of 10,000 soldiers back then. At that time, it was all about internal court struggles within the ruling class, and no matter how cruel and intense they were, there would never be scenes of large-scale battles or massacres. Those who died in defeat were always slaughtered by one-sided forces. If he really wanted to lead an army against someone, there would be others to take care of it for him, and he wouldn't need to take action himself. Of course, such an exciting scene would never happen. It's no wonder that his emotions were stirred up at the time.

  It was a clever person who quickly took advantage of the situation and presented the enemy general's head, the man's face still had the expression of being unwilling to die, but it triggered a burst of cold and shrill laughter. "It turned out to be this guy"

  I was momentarily perplexed, and the Emperor didn't think much of it either. It wasn't until someone explained it to me in detail, adding some supplementary information from others, as well as some statements from the captured prisoners, that I began to get a rough outline of what had happened. The name of this enemy general is Xiong Lei, who was also a famous figure within An Lushan's rebel army and ranked relatively high among the thirty-six generals who were closest to An Lushan. As one of the four elite bodyguards known as the "Wind, Clouds, Thunder, and Lightning" who served as An Lushan's personal armor-bearers, it was said that if this general weren't so hot-tempered and hadn't offended many people, his position in the army would be even higher.

  He followed An Lushan from the beginning when he was appointed as the commander of the expedition against the rebels, and in the Battle of the Tufa River, he fought bravely to protect An Lushan and escaped with his life despite being wounded hundreds of times. He was then promoted by An Lushan as a personal bodyguard general and was known as the "Unkillable Bear General". In terms of closeness to An Lushan, he was even more trusted than Cui Yuanjing, who held the nominal title of Commander-in-Chief of the Western Expedition Army. He was skilled in using a pair of iron maces and was extremely fierce. That year, when following An Lushan to Chang'an to report for duty, he became famous for killing several skilled fighters from the capital during a fight with Yang Guozhong's men at the prime minister's residence. The emperor himself had to intervene to mediate between the two powerful ministers, and after reprimanding and comforting them, many people still remembered him.

  Under his leadership, what we later faced was the emergence of the mighty Yelü River. The Yelü River is not unfamiliar to everyone; it was formed during An Lushan's management of the three major Jiedushi periods, with the strongest prisoners, war captives, and slaves repeatedly eliminated through intense battles, resulting in an extremely high casualty rate. An Lushan had no choice but to purchase prisoners and slaves from foreign tribes at a high price and replenish his losses by launching wars against the Khitan tribe and plundering their strong men. After many years of operation, he barely managed to gather 8,000 troops. Unlike other personal guard units that followed An Lushan through life and death, this was a purely elite troop composed of fierce warriors, who were so brave and powerful that even the most courageous nomadic tribes on the border had to show respect (in the Khitan language, "Yelü" means "brave warrior" or "evil spirit"). When An Lushan entered the capital to report for duty, the kings and nobles left a deep impression of the Yelü River's majestic appearance, and the emperor even praised them highly.

  But what really made Xue Song's name shake the world was during the campaign to conquer Dongdu Luoyang, where Xue Song and another general, He Dian, each led 800 soldiers as vanguard, strongly attacking the famous pass of Tianxia - Tiger Pass, killing tens of thousands of Guanluo Xinjun guards, who abandoned their armor and fled in disarray. The defeated army was chased all the way to Luoyang, with most of the officials and generals being captured before they could even react. The thunderous reputation of Xue Song's double killings shook the Central Plains, and the imperial court, in its anger, executed the veteran general Gao Xianzhi and others as an apology to the people. This led to Ge Shuhan, who was originally recovering from illness, taking charge of the situation. Unexpectedly, this campaign ended in defeat on a nameless mountain slope.

  I was so shocked that I broke out in a cold sweat, and exchanged astonished glances with the generals behind me, who were also pale-faced. It's no wonder that later on, when those people were surrounded, the fewer they killed, the more ferocious they became. They were terrified, but their faces didn't change color as they stabbed and slashed at us. Even after being stabbed multiple times, they could still summon up the strength to bite back at us a few times.

  Later, it was learned that this team of Ansai River was nominally under the command of Sun Xiaozhe, the adopted son of An Lushan's Youzhou Army, but in reality, they were secretly responsible for supervising and monitoring the various generals. Due to Sun's department being greedy for merit and pursuing the defeated Tang army, they were startled by a fireball from heaven and wasted time, losing the great achievement of taking Chang'an first. They had been resentful about this for a long time, and after receiving the news, they refused to let others take credit, so they sent their cousin Sun Yanshou to lead 6,000 elite cavalry to pursue the escaped Emperor of the Han family. However, the troops were scattered outside and received the news late, and some remnants escaped back from the west, explaining the severity of the situation. Although they didn't think it was a big deal, they still managed to persuade Xiong Lei's department of Ansai River, who was sweeping nearby, to quickly send reinforcements to seize the great achievement of pursuing the escaped Emperor. As a result, we unexpectedly gained over 3,000 more powerful enemies.

  It was this group of people who disguised themselves as refugees, evaded the patrolling cavalry's attention, and launched a surprise attack on the Tiger Guard Camp from behind, staging a pincer movement that caught the enemy off guard. With lightning speed, they surrounded and captured over 800 strong and able-bodied soldiers without exception, not even allowing them to send out distress signals or smoke signals for help.

  So, although we won this battle, it was a narrow victory. As soon as the battle began, the troops of E Liu were at the forefront and were intercepted first in the valley. Although their strength was formidable, they could not withstand the powerful rolling stones and wooden logs, and immediately lost 1,000 men. The commander, Sun Yanshu, was killed on the spot, leading to Xiong Lei taking temporary command of the army. Due to concerns that Sun's troops would not follow orders, he dispersed the remaining E Liu troops for separate commands, which also had the meaning of urging them to fight. Although they could quickly regroup and fight again in a short period, the fearsome combat power of E Liu was also dispersed. If it were just these 3,000 E Liu troops, adopting individual annihilation tactics would be enough to make our numerous but unevenly matched miscellaneous army unable to withstand.

  On the other hand, it was also a self-inflicted wound. There's an old saying that goes well: never fight with an enemy you don't understand. This sentence applies to both sides. I said this war is so chaotic because as soon as they faced each other, their commander Sun Yanxiu rushed forward and got buried under the rolling stones and logs. Although Xiong Lei had a reputation for being fierce and brave, he was also known for his impulsive and aggressive nature, loving to charge forward and fight recklessly. When he encountered an ambush and lost over a thousand of An Lushan's most trusted soldiers for no reason, it was something that had never happened before in the war. His immediate reaction was to furiously charge towards the thickest part of the enemy lines, which ultimately led to this bizarre chaotic situation. Of course, on the other hand, we also have to thank our own hastily assembled troops, most of whom were unaware of the danger and didn't know about the treacherous terrain, with a hint of "ignorance is bliss" in their favor.

  In the midst of a chorus of "Your Majesty's heavenly mandate is clear" and "The overthrow of the rebels is imminent", the emperor was overjoyed, and took off a jade pendant from his body and tossed it to me. The people around us looked on with a mixture of shock, admiration, and envy, apparently it was a valuable treasure. Even the usually calm and composed Crown Prince couldn't help but change his expression for a moment, before quickly recovering his gentle smile. It seems that this thing is not just an ornament, perhaps it has some special meaning.

  All of the above are mostly statements from people on the side of the crown prince, and it is clear that although this crown prince has always been very low-key and was unknown before he became the crown prince, the image that most people have of him is still one of filial piety and loyalty, as exemplified by the character "zhong" in the name of the Loyal King. However, behind the scenes, he was not idle, and at least put a lot of effort into emotional manipulation, so it can be said that he should be the second person after Yang Guozhong to feel threatened by An Lushan and pay close attention to him.

  Besides, there was another thing that made me wonder. At that time, Xiao Bai was reluctant to leave the group with the excuse of imperial order. I was anxious and said a classic sentence in front of many people: "When you are outside, you have some things that you cannot grant, you quickly escort him down, and all responsibilities will be borne by me." They were somewhat surprised and hesitated for a moment, but still did as they were told.

  This sentence itself has no problem, but although this principle is known to everyone, when it comes out in front of the emperor, I'm afraid there's only one person from ancient times to the present. If we don't take measures to eliminate the impact soon, I'm afraid it will leave a sequelae. Whether it's a sign of ambition or a purely innocent heart, it all depends on my performance. But the old emperor's attitude makes me unable to come up with anything and can only be depressed in my stomach.

  Afterwards, I heard that there were indeed people who were not satisfied with the outcome of the matter and intentionally stirred up trouble, pursuing the reasons for the disrespect. In front of the old emperor, it was only a faint smile and a gentle remark: "Talented individuals are hard to come by, but those without private motives are even harder to find." The crown prince, on the other hand, spoke with a pleased expression, "This is a good thing, being able to recognize emotions and adapt to changing circumstances is a rare talent. Although his temperament is eccentric, he is brave and knows what is right. If one doesn't have their own personality, they're not a talented individual, but rather a sycophant. There are already too many of those who only follow orders, but truly capable individuals are extremely hard to find." The Grand Preceptor Wei stroked his beard and added, "This young man is indeed a lucky general," and with that, the matter was dropped.

  On the other hand, the resume I wrote is unverifiable and has too many coincidences. Adding to that, my experiences have been incredibly lucky all along. While others are almost dead, I haven't even gotten a scratch. In the end, I can still kill the enemy general, which led to me being called a Lucky General. Although luck is hard to explain, based on what I've read in many books, it's clear that a lucky general is more troublesome for opponents than any wise or brave general.