Guo Ziyi - An Shi Rebellion

An Shi Rebellion

First victories

Limited records exist about Guo Ziyi before the An Shi Rebellion; it was during the rebellion that he earned his fame. When the rebellion began in 755, Guo Ziyi was assigned to protect the Tong Pass, a strategic location on the Chinese frontier. A large force of a ten thousand rebels were marching toward the Pass. Guo Ziyi took advantage of the situation by luring the rebels onto the plains in front of the pass where there were only scarce settlements. The rebels saw little to loot and were discouraged, while the Tang troops were prepared to fight hard, motivated by the desire to protect their families in the Tong Pass and the capital of Chang'an. In a matter of days, Guo eliminated seven thousand rebels at the Battle of Qingbi and scattered the rest while suffering few casualties to his own force, winning his first victory.

By the following year, 756, the capital fell due to the ineptitude and corruption of the chancellor Yang Guozhong and his eunuchs. The emperor, Xuanzong, fled the city, accompanied by his personal guard and members of the Yang family, including his consort Yang Guifei. Members of the entourage, including the troops, resented Yang Guozhong, holding him responsible for the failed strategy that led to the fall of Chang'an. Yang Guozhong was denounced and executed. Following this, the emperor's own troops also forced him to execute his beloved Yang Guifei. The emperor then fled with the remainder of the entourage under difficult conditions, ultimately reaching the city of Chengdu.

Meanwile, Guo Ziyi confronted a great force of one hundred thousand led by rebel commander Shi Siming. Although Guo had only ten thousand men, he decided to stall for time until reinforcements could arrive. He managed to trick Shi Siming into thinking he would be ambushed if he moved against Guo, and was able to hold him off for forty days. By then, the commander of Tang, Li Guangbi, came to Guo's relief with ninety thousand men. The opposing forces clashed, resulting in few Tang losses, but leaving ten thousand rebels dead. Shi Siming quickly gathered up what was left of his force and retreated back to Fanyang, the rebels' stronghold. Li recommended Guo to Emperor Xuanzong, and Guo quickly asked the emperor for permission to launch an immediate counter-attack to destroy the remaining rebels, but Xuanzong refused him.

Change of Emperor and the Shaanxi campaign

In the meantime, Xuanzong's son, Suzong, seized his throne and began organizing a counter-attack against advancing rebels. From this time on, Xuanzong was known as the "Retired Emperor", and after the retaking of Chang'an from the rebels he returned there, where he lived until his death in 761.

The crisis spawned by the rebellion decreased the power of the Imperial Court. Thus, after assuming power, Suzong's authority was weak and many Tang generals cared little about orders from the emperor. There were few generals of Chinese descent remaining in the Tang army and Guo was one of the these. Guo was given the post of Imperial Commander and Suzong provided support for his military operations. This was rewarded with great successes. By 757, Guo Ziyi had entered the Shaanxi battlefront, and many locals supported him against the rebels; Guo's force may have increased twice in size at this time. The rebels suffered dramatic losses, including the deaths of many notable rebel generals, and Guo declared victory on the Shaanxi front.

Chang'an victory and rebel collapse

Guo Ziyi then immediately turned his attention to retaking Chang'an. He attacked with fifteen thousand men, where the rebels were able to assemble only ten thousand men. The result was a great victory for the Tang, with many historians noting that the number of rebels corpses was so great that they covered the battlefield. Guo's devastating victories in Shaanxi and at Chang'an contributed to in-fighting among the rebel ranks. The leader of the rebels, An Lushan, was killed by his son, An Qingxu, who gathered up what was left of the rebels and retreated to Luoyang. When Suzong arrived at Chang'an, it is said that he shed tears and said to Guo, "This may be my country, but it is recreated by your hand." 「雖吾之家國，實由卿再造。」

In 758, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, and other Jiedushi were ordered to eliminate the last remaining rebels in Yi. However, Emperor Suzong was worried about the growing power of the Jiedushi and placed his eunuchs in charge of the campaign. This was once again a disaster, but Guo Ziyi managed to make the best out of the situation by convincing his fellow Jiedushi that they could have one easy victory if they laid siege to the rebel city. All of them agreed to this strategy and the rebel's supplies were depleted during the siege. When the time came to assault the city, however, there were no commander-in-chief to coordinate the attack since all the Jiedushi were of equal rank, and it proved ineffective. In the meantime, reinforcements under Shi Siming arrived to reinforce An Qingxu. The Tang forces missed the opportunity to eliminate the rebels once and for all. A bloody battle followed in 759, fought in poor weather and again with no central command for the Tang. Although a victory for the Tang, both sides suffered a tremendous losses (the rebel leader Shi Siming himself was killed, as were most of the Mongolian rebels) and the result of the battle was unacceptable to the emperor, since the Tang army had been known to win battles while suffering relatively few casualties. The many Jiedushi began to blame one another, and many of them targeted Guo, placing much of the blame on him. In fact, Guo Ziyi was the only Jiedushi that the Chinese population would have followed other than the Emperor himself. Suzong, worried by Guo's popularity, used this as a pretense to decrease Guo's power, demoting him while generously rewarding the other Jiedushi.