The most embarrassing battle for Guo Ziyi, where hundreds of thousands of troops could not defeat tens of thousands of people

The principle that when the moon is full, there is a shortage, and when the water is full, there is overflow, is an ancient and modern truth. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, the development of the Tang Dynasty reached its peak. Li Longji was immersed in the colorful “Kaiyuan Prosperous Age” and felt proud of himself. He never dreamed that a disaster was approaching step by step, almost destroying the Tang Dynasty. In November of the 14th year of the Tianbao reign, An Lushan, who was the commander-in-chief of Fanyang, Pinglu, and Hedong towns, rose up in rebellion and plunged the Tang Dynasty into the terrifying waves of the “An Lushan Rebellion”.
According to the Old Book of Tang, during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty, the national military forces were controlled by ten military governors, namely Fanyang, Pinglu, Hedong, Hexi, Longyou, Jiannan, Anxi, Beiting, Shuofang, and Lingnan, with a total of about 490000 troops. An Lushan alone controlled the three northern towns, with over 180000 troops in his hands, accounting for nearly one-third of the total military strength of the Tang Dynasty. It can be imagined that the rebellion of An Lushan was so strong and powerful that the Tang Dynasty faced its biggest crisis since its founding.
In the early stage of the An Lushan Rebellion, the army of An Lushan was unstoppable. The main force of the western front captured the Tang Dynasty’s important city of Luoyang and the capital city of Chang’an, while the main force of the southern front once drank horses from the Yangtze River. Almost all of the Tang Dynasty’s Central Plains, Jianghuai, and Guanzhong were occupied. Fortunately, less than a year after the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion, An Lushan was killed in internal strife, and the rebel forces were divided into two factions, An Qingxu and Shi Siming, greatly weakening their strength. And the confused Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was also replaced by the more enlightened Emperor Suzong of Tang. A group of good generals and talents, such as the military god Guo Ziyi, were promoted and reused, and the situation gradually developed in a direction favorable to the Tang Dynasty.
In the second year of Zhide, with the efforts of the generals led by Vice Marshal Guo Ziyi, the Tang army won consecutive victories and achieved great victories in recapturing Chang’an and Luoyang. However, the morale of the rebel army was low and they suffered consecutive defeats. They saw that the Tang Dynasty was about to achieve great success in quelling the “An Lushan Rebellion”. In September of the first year of Qianyuan, Tang Suzong and Guo Ziyi planned a total offensive against the rebels, attempting to annihilate the main force of the rebels in World War I, and the Battle of Ye City broke out as a result.
The Tang Dynasty spared no expense for this battle, unleashing all its elite. The “Old Book of Tang” records that “Emperor Suzong sent Guo Ziyi to lead a force of 200000 infantry and cavalry at Jiujiedu to attack.” At the beginning of the war, the total military strength of the Tang Dynasty was only 310000. After suffering from war injuries and losses, as well as the indispensable border defense forces stationed at the border, 200000 troops were already the maximum force that the Tang Dynasty could mobilize at that time. This shows the great determination of Tang Suzong.
Guo Ziyi first targeted An Qingxu, the son of An Lushan, for the assault. Compared to his father An Lushan, An Qingxu’s abilities are not inferior at all. Faced with Guo Ziyi’s attack, An Qingxu had no resistance and retreated to Ye City in defeat. Guo Ziyi immediately commanded the army and surrounded Ye City heavily, striving to achieve his goal in one battle and completely annihilate the troops of An Qingxu.
At that time, the situation was extremely favorable for the Tang Dynasty. Anqing Xu only had a few thousand remaining soldiers who were defeated and stationed in Ye City, with no food or aid, barely surviving. On the other hand, the Tang Dynasty had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength, logistics, and morale, with a 200000 strong army besieging Ye City to the point of no return. “The grandeur of the army was unprecedented in ancient times.
However, an unbelievable scene occurred. Despite having an absolute advantage, the extraordinary military god Guo Ziyi was at a loss when facing a small city of Ye. The siege began in September of the first year of Qianyuan and lasted until early March of the second year of Qianyuan, lasting for more than half a year. Anqing Xu in the city had completely run out of food, even to the point where “people eat each other, rice costs more than 70000 yuan per bushel, and a rat is worth thousands”. The Tang army spared no effort, whether it was a strong attack or flooding Ye City with the Zhang River, they could never break through the city.
An Qingxu in the city was struggling to the death and frequently sent envoys to seek help from another rebel leader, Shi Siming. After the death of An Lushan, An Qingxu and Shi Siming engaged in a fierce battle, and the two were once at odds with each other. But the shrewd Shi Siming understood the principle of losing his lips and teeth, and knew that once An Qingxu died, it would be his turn. Therefore, regardless of past grievances, he sent troops to rescue An Qingxu.
Shi Siming was cunning and deceitful. At that time, he had less than 130000 troops in total. How could he spare all his resources for the sake of An Qingxu? After some hesitation, he finally led only 50000 troops to participate in the Battle of Ye City. Facing Guo Ziyi’s 200000 strong army, Shi Siming was initially quite wary and only dared to wander around the periphery of the battlefield, without directly engaging in battle with the Tang army.
But Shi Siming quickly identified a major flaw in Guo Ziyi. Over 200000 Tang soldiers have been stationed in Ye City for more than half a year, eating in the mountains every day, and the supply of logistics and food has become a major problem. At that time, the Tang Dynasty suffered from the devastation of the “An Lushan Rebellion”, and not only did its treasury be washed away, but also the grain producing areas such as the Central Plains and Guanzhong were severely damaged. The people were displaced and the land was barren, making it difficult to raise enough food. Not only has food become a problem, but even the firewood for cooking within a few dozen miles has been used up, making it very difficult to cut wood and harvest. The Tang army had to dispatch troops and go out day and night to search for firewood to burn.
In order to win this battle, Tang Suzong gritted his teeth and endured hardships. He was forced to travel thousands of miles from Jiangnan, Shanxi, and other places, crossing mountains and rivers to transport food and supplies. “Those who transferred their salaries came from the south from the Yangtze and Huai rivers, and from the west from the Binghe and Fen rivers, and boats and carts came one after another,” in order to barely maintain the Tang soldiers from starving.
Although Shi Siming’s character is not very good, he really has some military talent. After identifying the weakness of the Tang army, he immediately devised a steady and precise tactic: cutting off the Tang army’s food supply route! Shi Siming selected 500 elite cavalry from each camp and formed dozens of cavalry squads to infiltrate the rear of the Tang army, attacking the Tang army’s grain roads, massacring grain transporters, looting and burning the Tang army’s grain supply convoy. The amount of grain stolen alone reached 60-70000 stones. The logistics supply of the Tang army was almost completely cut off. The phenomenon of the Tang army cutting off grain supply has become increasingly severe. “After being stationed for a long time, the wealth and food have been exhausted,” “the armies lack food, and people’s thoughts are collapsing.” The morale of the army is fluctuating, and there are widespread complaints, which are on the brink of collapse.
On the sixth day of the third month in the second year of Qianyuan, Guo Ziyi ordered the Tang army, who were starving, to rush into battle. With confidence, Shi Siming “commanded 50000 elite soldiers to fight against them. Under the premise of such a huge disparity in military strength, the Tang army, with low morale, was on the verge of collapse. The troops were defeated like mountains, with “the official army losing one in every four” and “thousands of war horses, but only three thousand remained; 100000 were abandoned in the first battle”. Guo Ziyi commanded a 200000 strong army, but was unbelievably defeated by Shi Siming’s 50000 soldiers, becoming the most embarrassing battle for this Tang Dynasty military god.
However, the great defeat in the Battle of Ye City during the Tang Dynasty was not only due to Guo Ziyi’s inadequate command, but also an objective factor that cannot be ignored. Although the Tang Dynasty had a large number of troops, the generals were at odds, and the decision-making power of the core was inconsistent, resulting in low efficiency.
Tang Suzong attached great importance to this battle and sent his trusted eunuch Yu Chao’en to the front line to serve as the “Commander in Chief of the Army”, with the words of Tian Xian as if I were personally present, to exercise the function of supervising the army. In this way, there were two bosses in the Tang Dynasty army, and “the armies had no commander and no reports to report back and forth,” and the generals did not know who to listen to, making it difficult for them to advance or retreat.
And the other main general who participated in the war, Li Guangbi, had talent, military achievements, and reputation comparable to Guo Ziyi. “Ziyi and Guangbi are both founding heroes, and it is difficult to unify them.” The two had “different plans” and had a strained appearance and heart. In addition, the Tang army suffered from unfavorable military conditions, with the city unable to descend for a long time and its food supply routes cut off, ultimately leading to the disintegration of the upper and lower levels and a major loss. But no matter what, Guo Ziyi has an undeniable responsibility for the defeat in this battle. If he could quickly capture Ye City with thunderous force at the beginning of the war, or make effective responses to Shi Siming’s attack on the grain road, how could there be such an ending.