Chapter 524: Water and Fire Nine Heavens (Part Two)

Take off the armor! Run quickly!

The flood rushing toward them left the Western Army soldiers at a loss, and no one knew who shouted.

Everyone simultaneously began to shed their armor.

But it was already a bit too late; the water surged swiftly and in an instant reached them.

The flood, descending from a height of dozens of meters, was not something that could be dealt with so easily. It moved like a black earthen dragon, sweeping away everything before it.

Whether trees, dead branches, or stones, it accepted all without discrimination.

Before disaster, human strength is insignificant.

The flood descending from the mountain often turns into a debris flow as it runs, a natural disaster even more terrifying than a flood.

In the critical moment, Li Guangbi spotted the terraced fields on both sides. Running toward them might offer a way out, and it would come down to whose legs were faster!

Onto the terraces! Onto the terraces to survive!

Li Guangbi shouted at the already chaotic formation.

It had little effect; those running wildly kept running.

Li Guangbi could no longer worry about others; he spurred his horse toward the nearest terrace. The horse seemed to sense the danger, exerting several times its strength, galloping desperately toward the terraces.

Unfortunately, perhaps because the horse ran too fast, it slipped its front hooves on the uphill, its forelegs kneeling on the ground, and the massive inertia flung Li Guangbi several meters away.

Li Guangbi rolled and rolled on the terrace until he hit a mound of earth and stopped.

The violent impact knocked him unconscious instantly, and he lay motionless on the ground.

Fortunately, the spot where he lay was relatively high, so there was no immediate danger.

However, the Western Army's calamity was not over! Fang Youde had prepared not only the charging flood but also a mountain fire that cut off retreat.

At the foot of the mountain, in the woods flanking the Western Army's ascent path, Li Huaiguang led five hundred soldiers, ready to strike.

He saw smoke signals rising in the distance, instantly realizing the situation was set, and a relaxed smile finally appeared on his face.

Ignite it, damn it!

Li Huaiguang ordered his close guards.

The two guards swallowed, seeming hesitant.

One of them said to Li Huaiguang, "General Li, it's summer now and the forest is very dry. If we light a fire, it will be unstoppable. Are we going to burn the whole mountain?"

We do intend to burn it all; if we don't, how will the enemy hide in the woods? This move is to cut off the retreat of those tens of thousands of Western troops!

Li Huaiguang sneered, "Either we burn the forest or we burn you; choose one!"

Understood!

The two immediately led squads to set the forest ablaze, each taking a team and each responsible for one side of the road.

Seeing everyone busy, Li Huaiguang finally placed his hands on his hips, focusing his gaze northward.

There, a sky‑splitting deluge would block the Western Army's advance.

And here, a spreading fire would block the Western Army's retreat.

One must admit, Fang Youde's tactics are ruthless! He fights to the death, showing no mercy.

He truly embodies the maxim that "being merciful to the enemy is cruelty to oneself" to the extreme.

Seeing the fire already blazing, Li Huaiguang hurriedly summoned his subordinates and descended toward Qian Shui Town.

…

On the ramparts of Qianyang City, Li Jiaqing stood beside Fang Youde, his face bearing a complex expression as he quietly watched the diverted Qian River, as if he understood something.

From the city wall, one could clearly see how the Western Army soldiers clumsily evaded the debris flow, looking both comical and ridiculous.

It was like watching people struggling in the water from the shore—there was a certain amusement. But falling in oneself and struggling would not be so pleasant.

"Grand Marshal, did you originally choose Qianyuan County as a foothold because you coveted this battlefield?"

Li Jiaqing asked softly, his words filled with sincere respect.

"Yes, because only here can a few defeat many in a counterattack; elsewhere in Guanzhong, it cannot be done."

Fang Youde said calmly, his tone still indifferent to everything.

"So, to make those Western troops act according to your planned scheme, you deliberately abandoned Chang'an, deliberately let the rear commander lead a feigned defeat at the front. Deliberately set up a laughable fire‑ox formation to lull the enemy, right?"

Li Jiaqing now regained his senses; all of this was Fang Youde's scheme.

If the Kongshe Army were deployed earlier, it might have delayed the Western Army's advance, but it could also have stirred the enemy's fighting spirit, tightening their nerves and warning them of danger.

Thus, Fang Youde's original "water‑fire combined attack" plan could encounter variables.

To make the enemy follow his intended pattern as much as possible, he had to continuously feign weakness early on, constantly numbing them, so they would be too lazy to devise sophisticated strategies.

It's like if goods could grow on a shelf, the shoppers wouldn't care how those goods were produced; they'd develop a path dependence.

Since the bandits are so easy to kill, we can just go straight A; why should I practice a big technique?

People are inherently lazy, preferring ease over effort.

Fang Youde seized this point; all the groundwork before was to achieve a decisive kill in the valley south of Qianyang.

"If I could choose, I'd rather not fight this battle."

Fang Youde let out a long sigh, his face showing no trace of exhilaration after a great victory.

Only endless desolation.

These men of the Western Army were once the main force resisting An Lushan! They shouldn't have been the enemy!

Yet in this life, Fang Youde had to personally see them perished. Fate's twists are unbearable to recall.

Having eliminated this army, Fang Youde still faces many hard battles. With Guanzhong's forces heavily depleted, Huangfu Weiming will lead Hebei troops into Guanzhong to contest the legitimate throne.

So, did we win today's round?

It looks like a win, and that's all.

This is not the outcome Fang Youde wanted, yet he himself brought it about.

At this moment Fang Youde has no reason to be happy; in his view, it's just another exhausting ordeal.

Everything has changed, becoming unlike the previous life.

But it seems nothing has really changed.

The dim‑witted Ji Ge from his past life is even more dim‑witted in this life.

The fallen Sheng Tang of his past life has accelerated his downfall in this life.

The damned ones from his previous life died early this time, and even more damned people have appeared.

Fang Youde feels he has fought across the whole field, busy from dawn to dusk, not knowing how many earth‑shattering deeds he has done.

Yet the world that should have changed has changed nothing at all.

"You lead the troops to sweep the battlefield, rescue the trapped Western Army soldiers, then gather them for unified custody. This commander is tired and is taking a rest."

Fang Youde sighed, walked toward the detention hall inside the city tower, his figure a bit desolate.

Can the steadfast Grand Marshal Fang feel this weary so quickly?

He has been eating well, living well lately; how could his body be tired?

In fact, he is only mentally exhausted.

Li Jiaqing nodded thoughtfully, glanced at the valley outside the city, and felt a sense of boredom.

This battle should have been a clash of formations lasting hundreds of rounds, hard to resolve.

But it ended so dramatically, and so boringly.

A flood swept away everything of the Western Army.

Even if none of them drowned, their morale was carried away by the flood, and their organization was scattered.

Drums, armor, banners, weapons—all were lost in the scramble for survival. Soldiers could not find their commanders, and commanders could not find their soldiers.

Such an army, without reorganization, has no combat capability left.

Catching them is easier than catching rabbits.

Li Jiaqing secretly felt fortunate to have been mixed up with Fang Youde.

…

"Rise!"

Li Guangbi slowly opened his eyes; he had been awakened by a slap.

A few soldiers in Tang army uniforms, with white strips tied around their arms, had already taken his armor and weapons.

"Are you people from the Konghe Army?"

Li Guangbi asked in a hoarse voice, his speech hoarse and weak. The fall from his horse had not been light, and his head still ached.

He looked around and saw many other stragglers like himself, all captured by Konghe soldiers, dejectedly marching toward the mountain.

"I am the Jiedushi of Longyou, Li Guangbi; please take me to see Grand Marshal Fang."

Li Guangbi said to these low‑ranking soldiers.

Unfortunately the other side seemed unconvinced; one of them sneered, "You're a Jiedushi, right? Then wait. Our Grand Marshal Fang is sleeping; we'll talk after he wakes up."

The tiger falling on Pingyang was bullied by dogs; Li Guangbi had nothing to say and could only endure. How could a defeated commander speak of bravery after losing a battle!

As for whether Fang Youde truly fell asleep or these Qiu Ba were just showing off, it no longer mattered.

It is over; the battle has ended, the outcome decided.

Li Guangbi was taken to a camp on the banks of the Qian River, where all the captured prisoners were placed. Every person, without exception, had discarded all their armor and weapons, leaving only their military uniforms.

Few guards watched the camp, as if they were not worried about escape.

In fact, Li Guangbi truly had no intention of escaping.

As for the bodies drowned by the flood, Li Guangbi saw many along the way; they were truly tragic. Perhaps this is Qiu Ba's fate: to charge into battle and kill, or be killed—nothing more.

Suddenly, a fully formed contingent of Western Army troops marched over, led by none other than Gao Xianzhi!

However, their belongings were all still intact, clearly something important had occurred.

"General Gao, how did you come here?"

Li Guangbi shouted at him.

Gao Xianzhi followed the voice, saw Li Guangbi, and gave a helpless wry smile, "The Anxi Beiting troops have already sworn allegiance to the new emperor; I have been sent to supervise the prisoners."

His clothes bore many charred holes. In fact, it wasn't just him; the personal guards beside Gao Xianzhi, one after another, had faces blackened by smoke, and many had half‑burned braids.

Coupled with that black uniform, it was nothing but black.

"Grand Marshal Fang set fire in the forest on the road he must take down the mountain; the flames are still burning. I was at the rear of the formation; when the flood came, I tried to lead the troops down the mountain, but the rear path was blocked by the fire."

Gao Xianzhi let out a long sigh.

As for how he surrendered and switched allegiance, there is no need to explain the details to Li Guangbi.

In any case, Ji Ge is completely finished, that is absolutely certain.

Why do Fang Youde and Li Jiaqing not worry at all about Gao Xianzhi defecting?

Because in the current situation there is no need to defect; a smooth change of allegiance and mixing with the new emperor is the only way out.

It seemed he sensed Gao Xianzhi's difficulty, and Li Guangbi asked nothing further.

Everyone has their own aspirations. Those who lose and switch allegiance is no big deal.

"The loss is so severe."

Li Guangbi plopped onto the ground, shaking his head in disappointment.

On the way to this camp, he replayed the entire war in his mind. Then he was surprised to discover that from the moment they entered Guanzhong, they had already become the bitter victims of Fang Youde's scheming.

This person will stop at nothing to win.

Giving up Chang'an was for the sake of winning.

Stationing at Qian Source was for the win.

Constantly feigning weakness and playing the fool was likewise done in order to win.

The supreme art of war is to attack by stratagem; from the very beginning, Fang Youde had already declared war. It is not only slaughter on the battlefield that counts as war—in truth, the war had begun long ago.

It was merely that his own level was insufficient, so he had not realized it.

"I heard it from Li Jiaqing—the place where we were flooded was actually the riverbed of an old channel.

Later, after the river changed course to run along higher ground, the land covered by silt in the old riverbed became fertile fields, and then water was drawn from the higher ground for irrigation, making the harvests here quite good.

All of this was right there in plain sight. As long as one made the effort to inquire, it could be deduced."

Gao Xianzhi spoke while sighing; this time, he was convinced and wholeheartedly accepted his defeat.

Because your awareness was insufficient, you simply could not grasp the opponent's brilliant move, and so you felt that others had won "without honor."

In truth, information about astronomy and geography was all laid out right there—it only required people to investigate, to distill, to think, and to study.

What was foolish was never the territory, but the people.

Li Guangbi thought it over and realized that even if the world were turned back once more, what was meant to happen would still inevitably happen.

At the time, they had been advancing triumphantly all along, and the Western Army, from top to bottom, all believed that the troops under Fang Youde's command could not withstand a single blow. In such a state, how could they possibly have acted with caution?

Li Guangbi felt remorse and self-reproach in his heart, yet he also knew that with things having reached this point, what had happened could never be undone, and in life one could only look forward.

Just then, both of them saw a young man wearing a dragon robe walking toward them.

Without needing to ask, they knew that this person must be the new emperor, Li Chang.

Li Guangbi and Gao Xianzhi did not hesitate; they directly clasped their fists in salute to Li Chang and said, "Guilty subjects pay respects to Your Majesty."

"It is of no matter. You two were merely deceived by the Retired Emperor, and were acting against your own will—it is understandable.

I have already pardoned all the officers and soldiers of the Western Army, which naturally includes you. There is no need to blame yourselves."

Li Chang helped Li Guangbi and Gao Xianzhi to their feet and said.

At this moment, his mood was so good he felt he could fly up to the heavens, so naturally he would not make trouble for these captives. Moreover, Gao Xianzhi and Li Guangbi, along with the remnants of the border army under their command, were all people who could be won over.

Li Chang was naturally not stingy with kind words toward them.

"Your Majesty, where is Commander Fang?"

Li Guangbi asked in a low voice. He very much wanted to meet Fang Youde and then seek his instruction face to face.

But he saw Li Chang shake his head and say, "Commander Fang has already led the Crane Control Army to seize cities and capture territory, heading straight for Chang'an. So I do not know where he is either."

Li Chang had originally thought that Fang Youde was joking with him; he never expected that it was actually true!

He had actually truly won, and by an overwhelming margin at that.

It had to be said—when it came to warfare, Fang Youde could truly do what others could not!

In truth, with the failure of this battle, the situation in Guanzhong was already settled. The only variable was when the Hebei rebel army would enter Guanzhong.

"Come into Qianyang City with me."

Li Chang gave this instruction, then turned and departed.

Li Guangbi and Gao Xianzhi exchanged a glance, then followed closely behind.