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Chapter 299: Generals in the An Lushan Rebellion

Soon, Guo Ziyi led the Tang army to launch a counterattack. Due to the brutality of the rebels, the people of Hedong had been secretly supporting the Tang army. With the help of internal and external forces, Cui Qianyou, who was stationed in Hedong, was defeated by Guo Ziyi and had no choice but to surrender to An Qingxu.

Afterwards, Guo Ziyi defeated the An-Shi rebels again and recovered Chang'an and Luoyang, which made the situation of the Tang army very good. An Qingxu had no choice but to lead the remaining troops to retreat to Yecheng, and Cui Qianyou followed him.

At this time, An Qingxu was in a state of extreme embarrassment. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, he appointed Cui Qianyou, who had made great military achievements, as the commander-in-chief of the rebel army. At this time, Cui Qianyou's military career undoubtedly reached its peak.

However, everything that goes up must come down, and death was gradually approaching. In September 758 AD, the Tang army sent nine military governors, including Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, to lead an army of 9 to launch a powerful offensive against the An Lushan rebels.

An Qingxu had no choice but to lead the remnants of his army to retreat into Yecheng and defend it. In the critical moment, An Qingxu promised to give up the position of Emperor of Great Yan to Shi Siming in exchange for Shi Siming's support.

In March 759 AD, the Tang army was defeated by Shi Siming's army in Xiangzhou due to the lack of unified command and encountered strong winds, thus lifting the siege of Yecheng.

An Qingxu wanted to break his promise just when his predicament was relieved. His move was opposed by many generals. After careful consideration, An Qingxu led Cui Qianyou, Sun Xiaozhe and others to meet with Shi Siming, hoping to divide the world equally and live in peace.

However, this was actually a Hongmen Banquet, and Shi Siming had already set up an ambush. When An Qingxu was meeting with Shi Siming, the ambush troops suddenly rushed out.

An Qingxu fled in panic, and Cui Qianyou, as An Qingxu's confidant, was also killed by Shi Siming. In this way, Cui Qianyou, a famous general of his generation, ended his life.

Throughout Cui Qianyou's life, there were successes and failures. However, it is undeniable that he was indeed a military genius. The Battle of Lingbao was enough to make him a brilliant success, because not everyone can command an ambush battle where a small force defeats a large one, and he was facing Geshu Han, who was known as the "God of War".

Without a certain amount of courage and ability, he would not have been able to win the battle. Unfortunately, although he had a lot of skills, he went to the dark and worked for the rebels. In the end, he was killed because of the internal strife of the rebels. It is a pity.

[Understand in one breath the history of An Shouzhong, the first general of the An Lushan Rebellion who defeated Guo Ziyi, and the Tang Dynasty]

He was a famous general of the Xiao family who defeated Guo Ziyi, and was also the commander of the rebels in the Battle of Xiangji Temple. He experienced the battle of Xiangzhou. Guo Ziyi was famous all over the world, but he was gradually forgotten.

He had repeatedly defeated many powerful generals of the Tang Dynasty, including Guo Ziyi, and was considered a nightmare for the Tang army. However, he was eventually killed by a villain in an internal conflict. He was the brave general An Shouzhong.

Speaking of An Shouzhong, in terms of military achievements, he is considered by many to be the best general of the rebel army. The Book of Tang says: "He holds the whole world in his hands, and he is a traitor."

This also shows that the Tang Dynasty officials highly valued his ability. As the main villain of the An-Shi Rebellion, due to political correctness, there are very few records of him in history books, and his background and early life are unknown.

It is obvious that the Tang Dynasty hoped that this famous rebel general would be forgotten in the long river of history.

However, his brilliant military record could not be covered up by historians. He almost single-handedly withstood the repeated attacks of Guo Ziyi and other Tang army generals in Guanzhong, and was in no way inferior to other famous Tang generals such as Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi.

When Cui Xianyou defeated Geshu Han in the Battle of Lingbao, the rebels successfully captured Chang'an, and the two capitals of the Tang Empire fell into the hands of the rebels, and the rebels' momentum reached its peak. It was at this time that An Shouzhong came to the center of the stage of this turmoil.

After Tang Suzong ascended the throne in Lingwu, he forcibly promoted his father Tang Xuanzong to the position of the Supreme Emperor. It was precisely because Tang Suzong came to power through abnormal means that the legitimacy of his throne had always been a concern for him.

In addition, he encountered his younger brother Li Lin's rebellion in Jiangnan just after he ascended the throne, so recovering the two capitals was a political task that had to be completed. This is also the reason why the famous general Li Mi once proposed a perfect strategy to completely annihilate the rebels, but it was not adopted.

Perhaps the Tang Dynasty did not expect that the road to recovering the two capitals would be so difficult, and An Shouzhong's task at the time was to defend Chang'an.

As the Tang army, which had superior military strength, counterattacked Chang'an time and time again, An Shouzhong repeatedly forced the Tang army, which had superior military strength, into desperate situations in the subsequent battles of Chen Taoxie, Wugong, Qingqu and Xiangzhou.

An Shouzhong made his debut in October 756 AD. Emperor Suzong of Tang, who had just secured the throne, recruited soldiers and launched the first military operation to recapture Chang'an.

For An Shouzhong, his debut battle was like a bully because the commander of this military operation was neither Guo Ziyi nor Li Guangbi, but Prime Minister Fang Guan.

However, the old man Fang Guan was a nerd who had never fought a war in his life. However, he actually used the tactics of the Spring and Autumn Period to recruit more than 2000 oxen to form an ox cart formation to attack the rebels.

This operation also made An Shouzhong dumbfounded, thinking that in what era is this old-fashioned tactic still being used? Seeing such a rookie commander, An Shouzhong did not show mercy and directly used fire attack tactics to scatter the ox carts and the Tang army was defeated.

In this battle, An Shouzhong directly annihilated more than 4 Tang troops. The poet Du Fu, who was trapped in Chang'an at the time, was heartbroken when he heard that the Tang army was defeated. He left behind a poem that reads "Chen Tao slanted by Xinling Jun, Meng Dong's 10 good family sons sank into the water of Tao Ze, the wilderness was clear and there was no sound of war, 4 Tang troops died on the same day."

The tragic defeat in the Battle of Chentao also completely shattered the Tang army's fantasy of quickly recovering the two capitals.

In the first month of 757 AD, An Lushan was killed by his son An Qingxu. Taking advantage of the unstable morale of the rebels, the Tang army decided to launch another counterattack.

On the one hand, troops were gathered in Wugong to the west of Chang'an. On the other hand, Guo Ziyi led the Shuofang Army in the east, preparing to pass through Puban from Hedong, thus forming a two-pronged force to encircle Chang'an.

However, An Shouzhong predicted the Tang army's prediction. Before the Tang army launched the attack, An Shouzhong launched an attack first and rushed directly to the Tang army in Wugong in the west, killing and defeating the Tang army.

The eastern part, led by Guo Ziyi, fought quite well at the beginning and defeated Cui Xianyou at one point. After pacifying Hedong, they quickly captured Tongguan.

However, this victory did not improve the situation on the battlefield. Facing Guo Ziyi's attack, An Shouzhong, who was considered the elite of the rebels, immediately led his troops from the western battlefield to support him. The two sides fought fiercely in Yongfeng Warehouse for two days.

The Tang army led by Guo Ziyi was badly defeated in this battle, not only did the Tang army lose many senior generals, but even Guo Ziyi's son Guo Gan died on the battlefield. Historical records show that more than 10,000 Tang soldiers died, and only half survived.

After being defeated, the famous general Pu Gu Huai En managed to escape by riding a horse across the river. In the battle of Yongfeng Warehouse, facing the Tang army led by Guo Ziyi, An Shouzhong's swiftness also allowed the Tang army to see the strength of this brave rebel general.

After that, the Tang army completely abandoned the idea of ​​two-way attack and decided to concentrate its superior forces to attack Chang'an. In April 757 AD, Guo Ziyi led his army to join forces with Wang Sili to attack Chang'an. The Tang army set up an ambush in Qingqu, west of Chang'an.

This battle was quite interesting. The two sides confronted each other for a few days, and then An Shouzhong suddenly led his troops to retreat. Guo Ziyi thought that the opportunity had come, so he led his troops to pursue.

After the entire army crossed the Qingqu Canal, the Tang army did not see the defeated rebels, but saw the rebels lined up in neat formation with their backs to Chang'an.

An Shouzhong arranged the cavalry to attack the Tang army in a long snake formation, and when approaching the Tang army, they suddenly changed into two teams and attacked the two wings of the Tang army. At this time, the rebels hiding in the city wall and the rebels' central army infantry also began to charge.

The morale of the Tang army was greatly damaged and they began to disintegrate. In the end, the battle ended with a tragic defeat for the Tang army. This was a relatively embarrassing defeat for Guo Ziyi in his career. The abandoned camp equipment, armor and weapons of the Tang army piled up like a mountain on the Qingqu Canal alone.

The Battle of Qingqu was also An Shouzhong's greatest victory under his sole command. Relying on a sudden counterattack after a feigned retreat and flanking the two wings, he defeated Guo Ziyi and Wang Sili cleanly and neatly.

In the nearly half a year that followed, in the face of An Shouzhong's military operations, An Shouzhong undoubtedly became an insurmountable wall for the Tang army in Guanzhong to recapture the two capitals.

Faced with the fierce defeat, the Tang army no longer dared to fight with its superior forces and began to seriously consider how to deal with the rebel cavalry.

Under Guo Ziyi's proposal, the final solution was to ask for foreign aid and lure the Uighur cavalry south. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and the price paid by the Tang Dynasty was also huge.

At that time, the Tang Dynasty promised that after the recovery of Chang'an, the land, people, and official residences would belong to the Tang Dynasty, while the property, men, women, and children would all belong to the Huihe. It was undoubtedly a huge shame that the great Tang Dynasty allowed the Huihe people to plunder their own capital.

In November 757 AD, Guo Ziyi led 11 soldiers and 15 Huihe cavalry, claiming to have 4000 troops, to march into Chang'an. History also came to that moment, the burial place of many Tang army soldiers - Xiangji Temple.

In the Battle of Xiangji Temple, the Tang army, with Guo Ziyi's Shuofang Army and Li Siye's Anxi Army as the core, was the last elite of the Tang Dynasty. The Huihe mercenaries led by Huai En were also the Tang Dynasty's biggest investment.

The rebels were led by An Shouzhong, with Li Guiren leading the cavalry as their main force.

The decisive battle north of Xiangji Temple began. At the beginning of the battle, the rebel Li Guiren went out to challenge. The Tang army pursued him, and the result was the same as the Battle of Qingqu. The pursuing Tang army fell into the rebels' premeditated plan.

After the large Tang army was defeated, they even rushed back to their own army formation, which directly caused chaos and instability in the army. This also shows the strength of the rebels, and the Tang army was in danger at this time.

Suddenly, a fierce man stood up and shouted "Give me my life", and he killed dozens of rebels by himself. Then he led the sharpening team to continue the counterattack and successfully stabilized the position. This man was the reckless general Li Siye.

At the same time, Pugu Huai'en led the Huihe cavalry to suppress the rebel cavalry's sneak attack on the right wing. As the trump card of the rebels, the cavalry was suppressed, and the war situation finally began to favor the Tang army.

The two sides fought until dusk, and the balance of victory finally tipped towards the Tang army, which had more troops. The rebels, who were outnumbered, finally couldn't hold on, and An Shouzhong led more than 2 rebels to retreat. The battle of Xiangji Temple ended with the defeat of the rebels.

Although the rebels were defeated in the end, the rebels led by An Shouzhong once threw the Tang army into chaos. If it were not for Li Siye's outstanding performance and the foreign aid of the Uighur cavalry, the Tang army would have collapsed completely.

The rebels’ defeat in the Battle of Xiangji Temple was actually inevitable.

The rebels initially made several strategic mistakes and gave up the pursuit, which gave the Tang Dynasty the opportunity to gain a foothold.

Although the Tang army suffered repeated defeats and heavy losses before the war, it was able to mobilize troops and supplies with its strong mobilization capabilities and launch counterattacks many times. The addition of the Uighur cavalry further weakened the rebels' advantage, and the Tang army was able to win in the end.

After the Battle of Xiangji Temple, the internally divided rebels were also defeated.

After An Lushan was assassinated, the rebels quickly split into two groups, An Qingxu and Shi Siming. It is a pity that An Shouzhong also died in the internal fighting of the rebels and was killed by Shi Siming.

Looking back on An Shouzhong's life, although he is not well known, he came from a humble background and gradually grew from a small soldier to a famous rebel general. He overwhelmed a number of famous Tang Dynasty generals such as Guo Ziyi and Wang Sili, and single-handedly blocked many attacks of the Tang army. He can be described as a brave general in troubled times.

However, he lost his job and eventually died in internal strife, which might have been his fate.

[Read all the historical facts about the Tang Dynasty, the first feudal separatist regime, in one go]

In the Tang Dynasty after the An-Shi Rebellion, there was always such an army, called the Chang'an Emperor's Guard Army. The local army dared to be on par with the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, which shows the Jianghan Chengbu of Wei Bo Yabin at that time.

The protagonist we are going to talk about today is the founder of this army. He was originally just a not very famous rebel general of An Lushan Rebellion, but he successfully cleaned himself up and became the biggest winner of the An Lushan Rebellion.

He was a man of great foresight and cunning, who played with the Tang Dynasty six times in his life and became the first person to establish a separatist regime in the Tang Dynasty. In this video, let's talk about the legendary hero Tian Chengsi.

Tian Chengsi was born into a military family in Liaodong. Influenced by his family tradition, he showed extraordinary bravery and fighting talent since childhood. With the passion of youth, he resolutely joined An Lushan's army and served as a vanguard commander, and began to make a name for himself on the battlefield of conquering the Khitan and Xi tribes.

During those war-torn years, Tian Chengsi always led the troops and was the bravest among the three armies. However, it would be a big misunderstanding to regard Tian Chengsi as a warrior who only knew how to wield a sword.

He was as wise and cunning as Sima Yi, and his scheming was breathtaking. In addition to his military talents, he was also very adept at politics, using his cunning mind to weave a web of political schemes, making him a true hero in troubled times.

But the storm outside the dark room swept across the country. As the vanguard of the rebellion, Tian Chengsi was unstoppable and captured Luoyang in one fell swoop, which impressed An Lushan. Afterwards, An Lushan reassigned him to guard Yingzhou.

However, Tian Chengsi was erratic and had no loyalty. When An Lushan was killed by his son An Qingxu and the Tang Dynasty took the opportunity to counterattack and won a great victory, he immediately changed his position and raised the white flag to surrender to the Tang Dynasty.