 However, as Guo had been of the same rank as Xue, he viewed serving as Xue's deputy as a dishonor and often disobeyed Xue's orders.Xue's initial strategy was to take some troops ahead toward, with Guo remaining behind at Qinghai Lake with the military supplies—and once Xue had cleared the pass, he would then signal for Guo to proceed.Guo, however, disobeyed the order and did not wait for Xue's signal, but proceeded after Xue departed, and he was intercepted and defeated by a 200,000-men Tibetan army.