Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

Seeing Li Ji's expression, Li Ding realized it wasn't just a casual remark, so he granted his request. Even if he didn't consider the country and its people, he still had to consider his own position. If the Tibetan army were to break into the Fengxiang military governor's territory and seize cities and towns, Li Ding's position would certainly be in jeopardy.

So Li Ji selected a thousand or so soldiers who were somewhat capable from the garrison and led them out of Fengxiang Prefecture, heading west. He basically followed the main road on the north bank of the Wei River, because if the Tibetan army wanted to penetrate deep into Tang territory, a large army would have to take the main roads.

However, after leaving Longzhou and entering Qinzhou, he crossed the Wei River and headed south because several important cities ahead, such as Qinling, Shanggui, and Fuqiang, were all located on the south bank of the Wei River. The furthest westward region under the jurisdiction of the Fengxiang Military Governor was Qinzhou, and the westernmost county of Qinzhou was Fuqiang. But Li Ding had already made his promise, and although Li Ji also had his own ulterior motives, he could not go against his word.

Therefore, upon finally arriving at Shanggui, they temporarily rested their horses within the city, only sending their subordinates westward to Fuqiang to investigate the city's defenses, draw maps of mountains and roads, and report back to him.

This journey covered over three hundred li, after which the army was stationed at Shanggui to inquire about the situation in Longyou. The wild winds grew colder, and winter was gradually approaching. Fast horses from Shanzhou frequently traveled west to report on the battle situation at the front. Li Ji would meet them on the way. They all said that the defense of Xiaoxia was quite difficult, and Li Tan had committed almost all of his troops there, leaving Shanzhou practically an empty city.

It is said that Yang Yan and others had repeatedly advised Li Tan to temporarily leave Shanzhou and go to Lanzhou to take refuge. Hun Shizhi also said, "With someone stationed in Shanzhou, it is acceptable to perish with the city. Your Highness is of noble status and should not reside in a dangerous place." However, Li Tan gritted his teeth and resolutely refused to leave, saying, "I will share life and death with you all and will never retreat first!"

Li Ji couldn't help but secretly applaud Li Tan—this was more like the descendant of Li Yuan and Li Shimin! Li Heng and his ilk were nothing but pigs and dogs!

However, before he could receive news of the fall of Xiaoxia or the retreat of the Tibetan army, he received an urgent order from Li Ding to return immediately—because the Dangxiang and other Hu tribes had attacked again!

Upon hearing the report, Li Ji was greatly surprised—"These ungrateful wolves! I've already promised to supply you with salt, and they still dare to harass me! If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have allowed a single grain of salt to be transported into Qingzhou!"

He hastily led his troops back, and upon entering Longzhou territory, he found the villages desolate, often with no sign of human habitation for dozens of miles—the people had either been taken away by the chaotic barbarians or had fled their homes earlier. However, the several county towns along the way showed no signs of attack.

When they returned to Fengxiang, they learned that tens of thousands of barbarian tribes had marched south from Jingzhou, looting and pillaging along the way. They had already broken through Longzhou and Fengxiang, burned down Dasanguan Pass, and were heading straight for Fengzhou.

Li Ding was ultimately different from Cui Guangyuan. He didn't spend his days idly in the government office. He constantly sent people to investigate the movements of the Hu people and planned the defense of the cities within his territory. Therefore, during this Hu uprising, although he entered Longzhou and Fengxiang, he dared not attack the already defended counties, and he plundered very little in the wilderness. It was only then that he was forced to take a risk and head south to Fengzhou.

The crucial point is that Fengzhou is now under the jurisdiction of the Fengxiang military governor, but Li Ding never expected that Fengzhou, which originally belonged to the Shannan West Circuit, would encounter the enemy...

Li Ji apologized to Li Ding, saying that it was because he had been far from Fengxiang Prefecture that he was unable to stop the rebels' advance, allowing the barbarians to penetrate deep into the territory. Li Ding shook his head: "It's not Erlang's fault. Even if Erlang were here, these several thousand troops could only defend the city, with no hope of defeating the rebels in open battle..." He then sighed: "It's all because we fed them too much!"

Ban Hong hurriedly rose from his seat to apologize: "It was truly the fault of this lowly official..."

The decision to exchange salt for cattle and sheep from the Tanguts was originally Li Ding's, but he entrusted the specific implementation to Ban Hong. Because the granaries in the prefecture were empty and the people needed relief, Ban Hong had made several transactions with the Tuoba tribe and found them to be quite honest, so he opened up the supply, only hoping to get more cattle and sheep to make up for the deficit in the prefecture's treasury.

In fact, the supply should have been adjusted according to the needs of the Hu people, with a slight reduction, and a gradual, long-term approach, so as not to nurture a tiger that could later cause trouble. However, this cannot be blamed on Ban Hong. Firstly, the exact number of the various Hu peoples was a murky matter for the Tang Dynasty, which had always implemented a policy of appeasement and extensive management; no one could possibly calculate it accurately. Secondly, Ban Hong was ultimately considering the grain reserves in the government and the livelihood of the people.

Therefore, Li Dingyi waved his hand and said, "Please get up, Mr. Ban. I have no intention of blaming you."

Li Ji felt that this Commander Li was truly a good superior, willing to consult with his subordinates on matters—even though it was only Li Ji and Ban Hong, his right-hand men—and never shifting blame when things went wrong. In a sense, he was even more worthy of serving under Li Tan than Li Tan. Li Tan, after all, couldn't shake off his playboy ways; in both military and political affairs, he was somewhat ambitious but incompetent, a mere armchair strategist—though after several years of experience, he should be better now—while Li Ding, at least, possessed considerable maturity in military strategy.

Li Ding's wise opinion was: "The rebels are currently very powerful and cannot be stopped." If they went out to chase and fight now, the soldiers in Fengxiang Prefecture could be wiped out in a heartbeat.

But the barbarians eventually have their own strongholds. Once they've plundered enough, they'll want to go home. When they're dressed in silk and tucked with copper coins at their waists, they'll think the Tang army won't dare to stop them. Everyone will be thinking of returning home and will have no will to fight.

Li Ding then said, "We should avoid their morning's sharp edge and strike when they are exhausted and retreating!"

He ordered Li Ji to lead troops south to garrison north of Dasanguan Pass and guard Chencang City, a strategic pass between the mountains and the river. At the same time, he sent a letter to Binning, ordering Sang Rugui, the deputy military governor of Binning, to send troops to Fengxiang Prefecture. He said, "When the previous dynasty ordered you to rescue Fengxiang, you suffered a defeat and had to turn back halfway. Then the Hu bandits marched south again, passing right next to your defense zone, and you couldn't stop them. How are you going to explain this to the court, Mr. Sang?"

Don't think that the civil war in Fengxiang Town has nothing to do with you. Come to our aid quickly, and I will be able to speak well of your Binning Town in the future when I report to the imperial court.

Li Ding's plan was to wait until the Hu tribesmen turned back, then Li Ji would send troops from Chencang to pursue them, while the Binning army would send troops from Fengxiang to intercept them from the waist, thus ensuring a great victory.

Li Ji was ordered to march south to Chencang. Before the rebellious Hu tribes had even returned north, he received news of the fall of Xiaoxia... Li Ji felt as if he were being attacked by two masters, one punch barely finished before the other came, leaving him clumsy and unable to defend himself. Although he couldn't really help with the war in Longyou, and he couldn't possibly engage the Hu tribes in a decisive battle beforehand, he was still anxious and frustrated.

With the loss of Xiaoxia, the barbarian army marched straight to the walls of Shanzhou. Li Tan and Hun Shizhi rallied their defeated troops and held on desperately. Meanwhile, urgent memorials were sent to Chang'an, but unfortunately, Chang'an could not send a single soldier to the west to provide relief.

This was also related to the internal war in Fengxiang Prefecture. The barbarian tribes were rampant and approaching the heartland. The Tang Dynasty dared not mobilize the armies of Fuyan, Binning, and Fengxiang to go far away to rescue Longyou. Besides, a large army needs enough food and supplies to move out, right? After the autumn harvest, the price of grain in the capital dropped slightly, but it still cost two thousand coins to buy a bushel of rice. Where was there any surplus to mobilize troops?

This crisis was not relieved until after the New Year – the Tibetan army was away and supplies were not readily available. Ma Chongying besieged Shanzhou for nearly three months. Hun Shizhi's defenses were very strong, and seeing that it would be difficult to capture the city, he was finally forced to retreat in late January.

Although this expedition failed to capture all of Shanzhou, it inflicted heavy losses on the Tang Dynasty's Longxi army and seized all the key passes west of Shanzhou. It was believed that after a year of preparation, a return next year would surely secure victory. Indeed, after the battle, Li Tan was forced to move the military governor's residence eastward to Longzhi, a hundred miles away from Shanzhou and south of the Huangshui River.

As for the Hu people in Longshang, they looted and plundered Fengzhou, captured the prefecture government, killed the governor Xiao Zhai, and then drove a large group of Tang people northward in a clamor.

Standing atop the walls of Chencang, Li Ji watched the chaotic, unruly mob passing by in droves. His hand pressed against the city walls, his teeth clenched, and his eyes widened in fury.

Chapter 8, Killing the Bandits and Eating Their Flesh

At this time, they had received definite news that the southern invaders in Fengzhou, although a mixed group of tribes, were not mainly of the Dangxiang or other Qiang ethnic groups, but rather of the Nuci.

The Nuci were originally a subordinate tribe of the Tuyuhun, but after the Tuyuhun's former territory was conquered by the Tubo and most of its people migrated eastward, the Nuci gradually became more powerful and subtly surpassed the Murong clan, the main tribe. Most of the Nuci lived in Jingzhou, with some also residing in Qing, Yuan, Hui, and Liang.

Li Chaoguang, the chieftain of the Dangxiang Qiang, had previously established a salt trade route with Fengxiang Prefecture, obtaining several thousand bushels of salt. He distributed this salt to various tribes to win their hearts and minds, attempting to gradually annex them. However, he refused to sell it to Nurhaci. When Nurhaci's chieftain went to plead with him, Li Chaoguang said, "The salt I obtained from the Tang Dynasty is limited. I have no surplus to give to your tribe. If your tribe needs salt, why don't you go and ask for it yourselves?"

Lord Nurla sent an envoy to Fengxiang, but was ambushed and killed by Li Chaoguang on the way. Nurla suspected that the attack was carried out by the Tang people, so he angrily gathered the surrounding tribes and went south to plunder.

Upon hearing the inside story, Li Ji couldn't help but exclaim angrily, "The slave's crime is heinous, but the Tuoba clan is also unforgivable!"

At the same time, he wondered to himself, with both Tanguts and Tuyuhuns involved, just how many Hu people were being harbored in these various prefectures of Longxi? With all these Hu people so close at hand, how could the man in Chang'an still be sleeping soundly?

When the Hu barbarians had ravaged Fengzhou and finally returned north in February of the second year of the Shangyuan era, Li Ji stood on the city wall of Chencang and looked out into the distance. He saw that the Hu soldiers were all in groups of several hundred, swarming past each other. There was no clear command or coordination between them, and there was no formation at all.

Logically speaking, if one were to travel along the main road and be less than five li from Chencang City, one should have already organized one's troops, ready to switch to a defensive formation at any time, and deployed a sufficient number of scouts in all directions.

"The barbarian invaders are truly deceiving the Tang Dynasty. Do they think the Tang Dynasty has no one to rely on?!"

According to the pre-arranged plan, Li Ji let the vanguard and central ranks of the Hu rebels pass, observing their arrival before inspecting the soldiers within the city. He climbed to a high place to review the troops and boosted morale, saying:

"Though the barbarians are numerous, they all have the will to submit and have no desire to fight; defeating them will not be difficult. Besides, who do you regard me as?"

The soldiers shouted in unison, "Li Erlang! Li Erlang!"

After the shouts subsided, Li Ji waved his hand and said, "Back in Longyou, I wasn't even afraid of the barbarian bandits, let alone these chaotic barbarians. Just follow my orders, fight bravely to kill the enemy, and I will ensure your triumphant return. Those who retreat will die, those who hesitate will die, those who break formation will die, only those who advance will live, and those who kill the enemy will be rewarded!"

"I have already informed the commander that half of the spoils will go to the prefecture and the other half will be divided equally among you all. However, anyone who fights over the spoils and delays military operations, or who secretly hides the spoils and violates military orders, will be executed!"

Ordinary people in this era lack sufficient education and have little concept of nation or ethnicity; they cannot be reasoned with by grand principles. Li Ji had been training this Fengxiang Army for several months and knew that in this era, there were only three ways to make soldiers fight to the death: first, sufficient food; second, strict discipline; and third, leading by example.

To be honest, a sufficient amount of food couldn't be guaranteed, because the government's grain reserves were limited. It was considered quite good if ordinary soldiers could have two and a half dry meals a day. However, although Li Ji loved good food, he was willing to grit his teeth and eat the same food as the soldiers while in the army, which prevented the soldiers from resenting him, disobeying him, or even mutiny.

In reality, aside from a few recruits, those who were conscripted, even if they didn't serve in the military and instead farmed in their hometowns, didn't necessarily have better daily food. Especially in the past two years, with frequent wars and the court's poverty, while people might not have a direct sense of it, the unfavorable weather and years of famine were obvious to everyone. As long as everyone was united and ate the same food, those honest and simple soldiers would have absolutely no complaints.

In this respect, conscription is worse than recruitment. The appetite is not large, the desire is limited, and they are relatively easier to manage, or rather, easier to fool.

Based on this, with strict discipline and leaders taking the lead in battle, Li Ji believed that although the Fengxiang Army was far from reaching the level of the elite Fuyan Army he had previously seen, it was still capable of fighting. Especially since it was a pursuit battle, rather than a head-on frontal open battle.

Therefore, he took out the stored grain beforehand, slaughtered chickens and sheep, and let the soldiers have a good meal. Then he issued an order: "From here, head north for thirty miles to Longzhou. Between Wushan and Qianyang, I will make sure you all have a good meal again. Those who want to eat meat, come with me out of the city to kill the bandits!"

So they opened the west gate of Chencang wide, and Li Ji leaped onto his horse, spear in hand, and charged out first.

The Hu barbarians encountered virtually no resistance during their southward raids, except for their final attack on Liangquan, the capital of Fengzhou. The Fengzhou governor, Xiao Zhai, was entirely unaware of this; despite Li Ding's warning, he failed to take any precautions, and the Hu arrived before the city gates could even be closed. He thus underestimated the Tang people, believing that after last year's uproar, Fengxiang was no longer capable of fighting, and that with the Fuyan army retreating, who would dare stop them?

Actually, you've been wandering around for months, Fu Yanjun could easily come again...

Thus, the Hu barbarians passed through the outskirts of Chencang without any precautions. In particular, the vanguard and the main force had already passed safely, and the rearguard became even more relaxed. Everyone was focused on hurrying back to their hometowns so they could show off their loot to their wives and children.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li Ji led his troops in a charge. The Hu barbarians were greatly alarmed, and upon first contact, Li Ji killed two of their generals, causing them to completely collapse. Seeing that the Hu barbarians were nothing special, the courage hidden in the blood of the Fengxiang army was ignited. Each soldier took up weapons and followed Li Ji, fighting bravely against the enemy.

The wild animals scattered all over the mountains and fields, and Li Ji chased after them while secretly regretting his actions.

What a wonderful opportunity! If my troops were all battle-hardened elites, with plenty of cavalry, I could easily divide them into several small squads and scatter to hunt down enemies, surely reaping even greater rewards. The problem is that the Fengxiang army consists mostly of conscripts who have only undergone less than six months of training. Fighting in formation might suppress their fear and maintain discipline, but if they are scattered, and they encounter a tough opponent, they might end up losing more than they gain…

Ignoring the scattered Hu tribesmen for the time being, Li Ji focused on the enemy's main force, pursuing and killing them northward along the road, biting off pieces of the long, serpentine enemy army's tail. Twenty or thirty li passed in the blink of an eye, until he entered Longzhou territory, and finally encountered several thousand Hu tribesmen north of Nanyou County, who lined up to block his way.

However, the battlefield the enemy had planned was quite unfavorable to them—and they had no choice in which one to choose—Nanyou County was located to the northwest of Wushan County, less than five miles away. If the Tang army encountered setbacks, they could retreat into the two county towns to defend at any time, while the Hu people would have to worry about the two cities sending troops to support and encircle them.

Although Li Ji knew very well that the two cities only had a few hundred garrison soldiers, barely able to defend themselves, let alone have the strength to go out and support his army, especially since there had been no prior notice or military order, the county magistrate and the garrison commander dared not act rashly. But Luan Hu didn't understand this. He originally thought that the Tang people wouldn't dare to come out of Chencang City, but so what? Even without extra troops to guard against them, he would still be worried.

Thus, Li Ji disregarded the fact that the enemy's formation was complete—actually, it was far from complete, but for the Hu people, such a sparse and crooked formation could be considered a battle array—and pointed his lance forward, shouting to his soldiers: "Do you still have any strength left? If we break through the enemy in front of us, we can set up camp and cook our own food. We can feast on the Hu grain and sheep we just seized!"

For those peasant soldiers, the promise of a thousand pieces of gold was a lie—and certainly no one would believe it—but the promise of a full meal, or even meat, was likely to boost their morale.

Immediately, Li Ji led nearly a hundred recruited cavalrymen to charge into the enemy ranks. Despite a hail of arrows from the barbarians, they could not harm him in the slightest. This small cavalry unit was like a sharp blade, cutting directly into the barbarian formation and heading straight for the banner.

Seeing this, the Hu general under his command hurriedly drew his bow to shoot Li Ji, but both arrows were deflected by his lance. Seeing that the enemy was close, he had no choice but to bite the bullet, pick up his spear, and thrust it at Li Ji.

As their weapons clashed, with a sharp crack, the Hu general staggered on his horse. Realizing he was no match, he immediately turned his horse and fled in disarray. Without a word, Li Ji hurled his lance, striking the Hu general squarely in the back, piercing his chest and pinning him to the ground. Then, Li Ji drew his double maces from his back with a snap, cleaving the banner in two.

With the banner falling, the Hu formation fell into chaos, and the Fengxiang army seized the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack, slaughtering the Hu soldiers who cried out for their fathers and mothers, and their forces collapsed like a mountain collapsing.

After the battle, it was nearly dusk. Li Ji was still in high spirits, but looking at his subordinates, almost all of them looked exhausted. He knew that this was the limit. For such a force, let alone killing bandits on the road, even if there were no alarms around, it was already remarkable that most of them hadn't fallen behind during a forced march of thirty miles.

He then ordered An to prepare food and instructed his subordinates: "Take my order and go to Nanyou and Wushan counties. Order the county magistrates to organize soldiers to come and help guard the prisoners."

Along the way, they had killed no fewer than five hundred Hu people, many of whose bodies lay by the roadside, their heads yet to be severed; they had also captured over a thousand Hu rebels, and diverting too many men to guard them would inevitably deplete their fighting strength. Don't think the battle is over yet; tens of thousands more Hu rebels lie ahead. If the Binning army in Fengxiang Prefecture cannot arrive in time to flank and intercept them, some Hu tribes might even turn back to fight, attempting a counterattack.

—Because the Binning army suffered a major defeat inexplicably during their last campaign against the Hu, Li Ji had little confidence in them.

The barbarians scattered countless supplies along the road, including dozens of sheep that appeared to be of Qingzhou breed. They were probably the sheep that Ban Hong had obtained from the Tuoba tribe and transported south to exchange for rice. Li Ji ordered them all to be slaughtered, boiled into a large pot of mutton soup, and distributed to the soldiers.

Each soldier received an unlimited supply of brown rice or coarse bread, plus a bowl of thick mutton soup, with at least one mutton bone still containing bits of meat. Li Ji received the same rations, but as he drank his soup, he couldn't help but miss Qingluan, who was far away in Chang'an—he used to eat Qingluan's delicious mutton soup, but he had almost forgotten how to make it. He never knew mutton soup could taste so bad…

Yes, the army has salt, but lacks spices and wine; no wonder the smell of mutton is so strong.

The counties of Nanyou and Wushan dared not disobey Li Ji's order, and each sent a county constable with several dozen soldiers and more than a hundred able-bodied men to join and assist them. Li Ji greeted the two county constables: "Have you eaten yet? Come, come, share the army's rations with me."

After dark, the soldiers had eaten and drunk their fill, and the camp was set up quite securely. Li Ji was inspecting the surroundings and assigning guards for the night when Wu Shan County Lieutenant ran over to ask for instructions: "Many of those barbarians are complaining of hunger and hope to be given food—just some coarse, half-full rations will do."

Upon hearing this, Li Ji couldn't help but glare at them: "They dare to ask for food?!"

The county magistrate of Wushan smiled and replied, "I have done a rough screening. There are about thirty nobles and generals from various departments, and half of them are starving. I suppose they saw that the chief clerk did not kill them, and he intended to offer them as prisoners. He would not let them starve to death. They are just being delusional."

Li Ji frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "What do you think?"

Wu Shan County Lieutenant bowed with his hands clasped and replied in a low voice, "Those nobles and generals, since they are going to present the captives for entertainment, they should at least give them some food. As for the remaining barbarians, why waste food? We might as well kill them, which would save us some manpower."

He worried that tomorrow, all the thousands of prisoners would be escorted to Fengxiang Prefecture. Since he and his men had taken on the responsibility of guarding them, would they also have to go on a long journey? Although the government army had won, there were still remnants of the barbarians in the prefecture. It was safest to stay in the city.

Li Ji thought for a moment, then sneered, "What are you offering as prisoners? Offering heads will suffice." He ordered the generals following him, "Lead your troops over there, and kill all the captured Hu people, regardless of their status, and bring their heads to me."

Previously, when he saw Cui Guangyuan about to kill prisoners, he had felt a pang of pity and intended to give them a chance to live. However, after months of traveling back and forth and hearing about the devastation suffered by Fengzhou, he gradually erased all the remaining humanitarian thoughts from his previous life. Even prisoners, or even surrendered bandits, if they were useless or not worth supporting, were killed—this was the common practice of this era. Since he had transmigrated to this world, how could he not adapt to local customs and blend in with the crowd?

The key issue is that there's no surplus grain in the manor. Even if I take all those prisoners back to Fengxiang, judging from Li Ding's intentions, they'll still be killed. They'll die sooner or later anyway, so why waste a few more days' worth of food? I'm compassionate, I consider both Tang and Hu people as human beings, and I have humanitarian ideals—that's all fine, but first, I need to have the ability and the strength to do so.

To attempt to lift mountains and take tripods when one's strength is insufficient is to invite certain death!

So in one night, they killed more than a thousand barbarians, cut off their heads, and filled several large carts with them.

The next day, Li Ji turned east and returned to Fengxiang Prefecture. On the way, he learned that the Binning army had not failed this time. They had also gone out of the city to attack the Hu yesterday, capturing and killing thousands of people. The remaining Hu fled back to Jing and Qing.

Li Ding then reported to the court, claiming a great victory. Ban Hong also took advantage of this to sever commercial ties with the Tuoba tribe. Not long after, Li Chaoxian went to Fengxiang Prefecture again, repeatedly pleading with Li Ding, saying that it was Nuci who had previously disturbed the Tang Dynasty, and that it had nothing to do with the Tang people. He begged the commander not to take his anger out on his tribe.

Li Ding did not dare to press him too hard for the time being, so he asked, "I want to avenge Nu Ci, is it possible for the Dangxiang to come to my aid?"

Li Chaoxian readily agreed: "If the commander sends troops to attack, my troops will certainly come out in full to help and together destroy the Nuci!"

In reality, Li Ding was just making a statement. Not only was he powerless to attack Nuci, but Nuci was also located in Jingzhou and Qingzhou, which were not under his jurisdiction. Crossing the border to wage war would certainly require the court's approval first. He was merely expressing his stance. He then instructed Ban Hong to continue doing business with the Tuoba tribe, but to reduce the amount of salt produced, lest they become too fat.

As for Li Ji, he continued to train the Fengxiang Army and hoped for a good harvest next year so that he could increase the number of soldiers and even recruit more soldiers so that he could find an opportunity to go north and wipe out the Nuci—if the situation allowed, it would be best to take the opportunity to wipe out the Dangxiang as well! But who would have thought that only a month later, he was summoned back by imperial decree.

Because Li Guangbi was defeated.

Chapter Nine, Cursed Killing of the Great Thief

In Heyang, Li Guangbi fought against Shi Siming for a long time and gradually regained the upper hand. At the end of last year, he even captured Huaizhou, captured An Taiqing alive, and escorted him to Chang'an to be beheaded.

As a result, the court gradually became complacent about the enemy. Some scoundrel went to persuade Yu Chaoen, saying, "The soldiers in Luoyang are all from Yan. They have been stationed there for a long time and are longing to return home. Their morale is low. We can defeat them if we attack them quickly." Yu Chaoen thought this was a good idea and repeatedly submitted memorials to Li Heng, requesting that the Shaanxi-Guo army and the Tang army in Heyang be sent to attack from the east and west to recapture Luoyang.