Li Cunxu considered, pursuant to some officers' request, lifting the siege on Zhao's capital Zhen Prefecture () and withdrawing. Li Sizhao pointed out that doing so would merely cause the army to collapse. Li Cunxu therefore resolved to engage the Khitan army head-on, and defeated the Khitan army in a battle in which Li Sizhao led successful Jin cavalry maneuvers to save Li Cunxu when Li Cunxu was, at one point, surrounded by Khitan's Xi soldiers. Meanwhile, Li Cunxu had put Yan Bao in command of the siege of Zhen Prefecture, but after Yan suffered a defeat by Zhang Wenli's son and successor Zhang Chujin (Zhang Wenli's having died at the start of the siege), Li Cunxu sent Li Sizhao to replace Yan. Li Sizhao initially had success against raids by Zhang Chujin's soldiers, but during one encounter, a Zhao soldier fired an arrow and hit Li Sizhao in his head. Li Sizhao, who was out of arrows at that point, pulled the arrow off his own head and fired it at the soldier, killing the soldier. However, that night, he died from the wound. Under his final order, the Zhaoyi soldiers at the siege remained under the command of his secretary Ren Huan, and the Zhao army did not find out about Li Sizhao's death. Meanwhile, Li Cunxu, who was mourning Li Sizhao's death, ordered that Li Sizhao's sons escort Li Sizhao's escort back to Taiyuan for burial. Li Sizhao's son Li Jineng (), however, disobeyed the order, took several thousand Zhaoyi soldiers, and headed back to Lu Prefecture with Li Sizhao's casket. When Li Cunxu sent his brother Li Cunwo () after Li Jineng to get him to change his mind, Li Jineng and his brothers not only refused but threatened to kill Li Cunwo, causing Li Cunwo to flee. Subsequently, Li Sizhao's son Li Jitao took control of Zhaoyi Circuit. After Li Cunxu later declared himself emperor of a new Later Tang (as Emperor Zhuangzong), he posthumously created Li Sizhao the Prince of Longxi. Yet later, after Li Siyuan succeeded Li Cunxu (as Emperor Mingzong), he ordered that Li Sizhao be worshipped at the temple for Emperor Zhuangzong. Notes and references History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 52. New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 36. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271. 9th-century births 922 deaths 9th-century Chinese adoptees