Chapter 107: The Prodigy Li Mi, a Being Beyond Zhang Liang
[At this time, Guo Ziyi held the military power, and his road to suppressing the rebellion became wider.]

[If Guo Ziyi is equivalent to Han Xin in the An-Shi Rebellion, then the next person to appear is equivalent to or even surpasses Zhang Liang.]

[This person also came to Lingwu with a super strategy to quell the An-Shi Rebellion. This person is the god-man Li Mi. ]

[Li Mi was called a child prodigy when he was six years old. He became more knowledgeable when he grew up. He was good at Zhouyi and respected Laozi. He was able to help the country and was good at strategy. ]

[When Li Mi was young, Li Longji recruited him into the palace because of his fame. At a young age, Li Bi could talk about everything with Prime Minister Zhang Shuo and Zhang Jiuling.]

【Zhang Jiuling and others admired Li Mi very much and called him "little friend". 】

[Li Heng, who was still the crown prince at the time, rode with Li Mi on the same bridle and slept on the same bed. The two had a very good relationship. Unfortunately, Li Mi's ambition was not to pursue a career in politics, but to enjoy the mountains and rivers.]

……

"hiss……"

"It sounds impressive just by listening to it." Zhang Fei said with a sigh.

Ever since they witnessed the power of the two military strategists, Crouching Dragon and Phoenix, the originally unruly Zhang Fei and Guan Yu have always had respect for such civil servants.

When I first heard Li Mi's story, I felt that he was a talented person and couldn't help but look forward to what he would do next.

Celebrities from all dynasties are also looking forward to it.

Everyone wanted to see what kind of abilities this man, who was praised by Tianmu as comparable to Zhang Liang, had to deserve such an honor.

……

【When he grew up, Li Mi traveled around the world. 】

[After Li Heng ascended the throne, he immediately sent people to look for his old friend.]

[Li Mi's ancestor was Li Bi, one of the Eight Pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty, who was on par with Li Shimin's ancestors.]

[Li Mi, the leader of Wagangzhai, was Li Mi's great-uncle. Li Mi's life was very legendary, so I won't go into details here. We will only talk about the super strategy he formulated for Li Heng that could completely put down the Anshi Rebellion within two years.]

[In fact, the core of this strategy is two words: tire the enemy. ]

[Li Mi said to Li Heng, let's let Guo Ziyi take over Hedong County and threaten the eastern capital Luoyang, send Li Guangbi from Hebei to threaten the rebels' hometown Fanyang, and your majesty will stay in Fengxiang and threaten Chang'an.]

[Pay special attention, do not capture Huayin, which is between the two armies.]

[This will keep the rebels' support routes open at all times, and then your majesty, Guo Ziyi, and Li Guangbi will send out troops in turns. Facing our three armies, the enemy must provide support back and forth.]

【What about us? When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy stays, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue.】

[If he tries to save his head, strike his tail; if he tries to save his tail, strike his head.]

【Just play with the monkey. 】

[The rebels will soon get tired after traveling thousands of miles. At that time, we will not care about Chang'an and Luoyang, but directly send a large army to attack the enemy's hometown Fanyang and destroy their lair. When the rebels have no way to retreat, we will wipe out the rebels in the two capitals, and there will be no thieves in the world from now on.]

……

"The enemy is gaining momentum, so it would be a good idea to avoid them for the time being."

Han Xin commented.

An Lushan came with great force and a strong army, while the imperial army had been at peace for a long time and had no fighting power at all.

It will be a protracted battle to quell the rebellion.

Li Mi's method of tiring the enemy out, playing to their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses, if it can be implemented steadily, the bandits will surely be defeated.

Of course, this is because there is no one like Han Xin in the world.

If Han Xin were present, there would be no need to go through so much trouble.

"Since Tianmu said that Guo Ziyi is as good as me, let me see how he leads the troops!"

……

【Li Heng highly approves of Li Mi's plan and says he will do as he says, and then sends Guo Ziyi to send troops to Hedong County.】

[Guo Ziyi successfully captured Hedong County and was about to implement the second step of the plan to tire out the enemy when something unexpected happened. Emperor Li Heng changed his mind.] [Why?]

[It turns out that when Guo Ziyi was attacking Hedong County, troops from Longyou, Hexi, Anxi, and the Western Regions all rushed to Fengxiang where Li Heng was.]

[Since the Jianghuai region had not been occupied, a large amount of supplies and food were transported to Fengxiang. Li Heng had a lot of soldiers and money at this time, so he became a little arrogant.]

[In addition, a mutiny also occurred among the rebels, and the rebel leader An Lushan was killed by his son An Qingxu.]

[An Qingxu seized power and became the new leader of the rebels. The An-Shi Rebellion officially entered the stage dominated by An Qingxu.]

[Li Hengle is dead. We have more soldiers and generals. The rebels have mutinied. It is really a gift from heaven. Why should we attack the enemy's hometown? This is a great opportunity to recapture the two capitals! ]

[Li Heng's sudden change of heart made Li Mi very angry. Didn't we agree to use the tactic of exhausting the enemy at the beginning? You are now attacking Chang'an and Luoyang. Yes, the two capitals can be recovered, that's right.]

[But if the rebels flee back to their hometown in Fanyang, our army will be on a long expedition and it will be their home ground. Can we still defeat them? ]

[Even if we can win, there will be heavy casualties and the price will be a hundred times higher.]

[If we can't defeat them, they will definitely come back in the future. It is not a long-term solution to ignore long-term planning in order to recover the two capitals.]

[Faced with Li Mi's advice, Li Heng said, "I don't believe it. How do you know that we can't defeat the rebels if they return to their hometown?"]

[Besides, we are now strong and powerful, so taking down the rebels would be as easy as taking something from a sack, right?]

[Li Mi said helplessly that our soldiers are all from the northwest, they are not afraid of cold but are afraid of heat.]

[If we attack the two capitals first and then Fanyang, it will be hot by the time we get to Fanyang, and it will be difficult to attack in their home turf.]

[Faced with Li Mi's earnest persuasion, Li Heng was very determined and said, "No, I can't listen to you this time."]

[Li Heng then recalled Guo Ziyi and appointed him as the deputy marshal of the army, letting him lead the entire army and prepare to retake Chang'an City.]

[The subsequent development of the situation was just as Li Mi had expected. Li Heng never recovered Hebei until his death.]

[Even during the Tang Dynasty, the towns in Hebei were always surrounded by powerful enemies and were out of the control of the imperial court for a long time.]

........................

"No, I just don't understand why Li Heng didn't adopt such a good plan?"

"Ignoring the overall situation, you insist on taking back the two capitals. What do you want?"

Zhang Fei spoke in confusion, not understanding why Li Heng was so arrogant.

Doesn’t he understand that you can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry?
Liu Bei also frowned slightly. In his opinion, Li Heng had undoubtedly made a bad move.

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly and said quietly: "The three generals are standing at different angles, so naturally they look at things in different ways."

"From Li Heng's perspective, it's understandable that he wants to recover the two capitals and gain some military achievements. After all, he has just ascended to the throne, and his position was not legitimate, so he urgently needs some achievements to prove his ability."

"So that's how it is." Liu Bei nodded as if suddenly realizing.

If it was true as the military advisor predicted, it would be understandable that Li Heng was so anxious to recover the two capitals.

It just makes the people suffer.

After all this commotion, it is unclear when the rebellion can be completely quelled.

……

[You may be curious about why Li Heng didn't obey. ]

[In fact, Li Heng also has his own plans. ]

[In addition to the An-Shi Rebellion, he had another more important war to fight, which was the struggle for the throne. ]

[Li Heng claimed the throne without authorization in Lingwu. Although Li Longji in Shuzhong later expressed his approval, the criticism that he had obtained the throne illegally never stopped.]

[If he could capture the two capitals and welcome the retired emperor Li Longji back to Beijing, his position as emperor would be completely secure.]

(End of this chapter)