Treatise on Armament Technology, Volume 29: Strategic Analysis (Tang III)

[Li Xiaode] offered to capture the man personally. Li Guangbi was moved by his brave resolve and asked what he required for the task. He replied, "I wish to select fifty cavalrymen to follow as my support, and I request that the main army shout and beat their drums to boost our morale." Li Guangbi patted him on the back and sent him off.

Xiaode gripped two spears and spurred his horse forward through the turbulent river currents. When he was halfway across the crossing, [Pugu] Huaien Pugu Huaien was a prominent general of the Tang who served under Li Guangbi offered his congratulations, saying, "He will succeed!" Li Guangbi asked, "How do you know?" He replied, "I observe how calmly he holds the reins; that is how I know."

The rebel general [Zhou] Longxian made light of him, continuing his insults just as before. Suddenly, Xiaode glared with wide eyes and gave a great shout; he brandished his spears and leaped his horse forward to strike him. From atop the city walls, the drums and shouting thundered, and the fifty cavalrymen pressed forward in pursuit. Longxian fled toward the embankment, but Xiaode caught up to him, decapitated him, and returned to the city with the head.

Shi Siming possessed over a thousand fine horses. Every day, he sent them out to the islets south of the river to be bathed, following a constant, unending cycle.

Li Guangbi ordered a search for mares within the army and obtained five hundred head. He had their foals tied up [within the city walls] and sent the mares out [to the riverbank]. When Shi Siming’s horses saw the mares, they all swam across the river toward them. The Tang forces then drove the entire herd into the city. This was a classic psychological tactic: the foals remained in the city and cried out for their mothers; the mares, hearing them, would stay close or try to return, and the enemy stallions were naturally drawn to follow the mares across the river.