The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 633

The old man is still selling wine at seventy, thousands of pots and hundreds of urns are spent at the door.

The elm pod next to the road is as clever as money, will you pick it up and buy wine?

——"Ask the Man of Huamen Restaurant" by Cen Shen (Tang Dynasty)

……

The war is imminent, and all forces are mobilizing their troops.

The [-] vanguard cavalry of the Yunzhou rebels took advantage of the dark night to advance quickly, and suddenly plunged into the valley north of Yanmen Pass. Destroyed in one fell swoop.

The rebels, together with more than [-] people from the Xi and Khitan remnants, guarded the three main roads leading from the northern part of the Great Wall to Yanmen Pass, and attacked the Tang army who might come for reinforcements from the surrounding fortresses.Especially to guard against the five thousand cavalry in Anbeiting who disappeared outside the Great Wall.

At the same time, Da Honglin, the prince of Bohai County, personally led an army of [-] troops from the northeast to the south.

In this battle, in order to capture Yanmen Pass as soon as possible and win the Hedong Road in one fell swoop, the main force of Bohai County came out in full force.

After Yanmen was closed, Wang Sili, the Jiedu envoy of Hedong, put on his helmet and armor, stood on the top of the city tower, built a shed with his hands, and watched the enemy's situation.

On the grassland to the north of Yanmen Pass, the rebel army's flags were unfurled, covering the sky and the sun, and there were as many as tens of thousands of troops.

The generals were horrified and fearful.

Wang Sili was quite puzzled: An Lushan rebelled because of his family background as the Jiedushi of Fanyang, Pinglu, and Hedong.

The Anshi rebellion lasted for several years, and there are not many of these troops left now. They should all be under Shi Siming's command and confront Li Guangbi in Heyang and Luoyang.

There are at most 3 or [-] rebels stationed in Yunzhou. Where did the hundreds of thousands of people appearing outside Yanmen Pass come from?

Just when Wang Sili was confused, scouts came to report: After repeated investigations, it was confirmed that among the hundreds of thousands of horses, except for the Yunzhou rebels, the Xi clan, and the rest of the Khitan, the main force was the [-] Mohe cavalry from Bohai County.

"Mohe cavalry?"

Wang Sili was shocked when he heard this.

Since Da Zuorong from Mohe founded the country, Bohai County has always been at odds with Datang, and has been encroaching on the territory of Datang Baishan Heishui:

In the 21st year of Kaiyuan (733) of the Xuanzong Dynasty, the Bohai Commandery sent a navy to invade Dengzhou (now along the northeastern coast of Shandong Province) and kill the governor of Dengzhou.

In March of that year, another naval division of the Bohai Commandery landed in the south of the Liaodong Peninsula, captured Madu Mountain (now northwest of Shanhaiguan), and killed more than [-] Tang soldiers.

But this is the first time that a large army has been mobilized to directly invade the Central Plains.

For the current plan, we can only rely on the natural danger of Yanmen Pass and fight to the death.

"Woo..." The bull horn sounded loudly, and the rebel army was assembled and launched the first wave of offensive.

The drums roared, the horns were loud, and the strong bows and crossbows of the rebels exerted great power. The stormy arrows blocked the crenellations, making it impossible for the soldiers of the Tang army to reach out and fight back.

Under the cover of strong bows and crossbows, [-] rebel soldiers rushed under the city wall holding shields and siege ladders.

Due to the dangerous terrain of Yanmen Pass, the large ladders cannot be advanced, and they can only rely on simple siege ladders to lean on the wall to climb.

In a critical moment, the soldiers of the Tang army could only exchange their lives for their lives, leaned out, and risked a hail of guns and arrows, and threw rolling logs and stones at the rebel soldiers.

Dense rolling logs and stones rolled and fell from the top of the city, and the rebel soldiers who were hit fell upside down, and the bones and tendons were broken at the slightest, and they died at the worst.

Soldiers of the Tang army took the opportunity to break the siege ladder at the waist with rolling wood and rocks, or pushed the siege ladder away from the city wall with steel forks to prevent it from approaching.

A few hours passed, and the corpses of thousands of rebel soldiers were left under the walls of the Great Wall.Yanmen Pass remained motionless.

Seeing that the situation was not going well, the rebels called for gold to withdraw their troops, and tens of thousands of horses retreated like a tide.

After an hour's rest, the rebels launched a second wave of offensive.

In order to save the rolling wood and rocks, Wang Sili ordered that human and livestock excrement and urine be boiled in a large pot, divided into clay pots, and placed neatly under the female wall.The air above the city was suddenly extremely smelly and disgusting.

This kind of defensive weapon is called "golden juice", and it is the most dangerous. Once it is poured on the exposed skin, not only will it cause severe burns, but the wound will fester immediately, causing unbearable pain.Three days later, the fire and poison attacked the heart, and he died.

When the rebel army attacked the city and climbed up the siege ladder, the soldiers of the Tang army immediately smashed the clay pots on the siege ladder.

The clay pot exploded, and the hot "golden juice" splashed all over the rebel soldiers.In an instant, thick smoke rose and there were screams.The rebel soldiers howled ghostly and fell from the siege ladder to the ground. The pain was unbearable, and they kept rolling and convulsing on the ground.

Such a tragic situation made the rebel soldiers shudder.

Two hours later, the rebels left a pile of corpses again and returned without success.

For the next two days, there was no movement in the rebel camp.This kind of silence made Wang Sili's heart shudder.As an experienced commander, he knew that such a strange silence was not a good thing.

Sure enough, that night, the beacon towers in the distance were like a relay, and three beacon fires were lit one after another, heralding the arrival of the enemy.

Wang Sili's heart was pounding, he knew something big was going to happen.

Several scouts, stumbling, rolling and crawling, came to report.

"General, something is wrong. The rebel army captured several passes on the east and west sides of Yanmen Pass, less than ten miles away from here. Now, the rebel army is attacking from left to right along the corridor of the Great Wall and encircling them!"

Looking at the rolling hills, the generals can vaguely see the rebel army, like a colony of ants, rushing towards Yanmen Pass along the corridor on the Great Wall.

Without the natural danger of the Great Wall to rely on, the numerical advantage of the rebels immediately became apparent.

The passes on the east and west sides of Yanmen Pass were breached one after another.In the dark night, the passes and watchtowers on the winding Great Wall were ablaze, and the shouts and killings kept coming and going.

All the generals looked at each other in blank dismay, terrified.

Wang Sili got on his horse, took out his sword, pointed it straight at the sky, and shouted loudly: "Soldiers of the Tang Dynasty deserve to be shrouded in horse leather and stained with blood on the battlefield!
It's time to sacrifice your life for the country and honor the Tang Dynasty!Boys, kill with me! "

After all, he shook the rein of the horse, raised the whip, and galloped towards the direction of the rebel attack.

The chief general took the lead, and the soldiers under Wang Sili's command were full of enthusiasm, and with a roar, they led their troops to charge away.

……

After a night of fighting, the Tang army finally recaptured several passes and drove the rebel soldiers off the Great Wall in exchange for a temporary victory.

However, the Tang army suffered heavy casualties in this battle, and tens of thousands of defenders lost more than half.

Wang Sili's blood-stained Zheng robe was leaning on the saddle, dying.In this battle, he was wounded by more than ten swords and arrows, and two horses under his crotch were killed in battle, which shows the brutality of the battle.

Looking at the rebel camps all over the mountains, Wang Sili knew that for the same number of casualties, for the rebels, the loss only accounted for one-tenth of the total strength of the rebels.

As long as the rebels launch two more rounds of onslaught, the defenders at Yanmen Pass will be wiped out.

What's even more frightening is that the [-] Mohe cavalry have not made a move yet, and they are lining up on the grassland, waiting to break through the Yanmen Pass. Like a swarm of wolves and locusts, they roar south!
With the support of his own soldiers, Wang Sili struggled to get up, and knelt tremblingly looking in the direction of Chang'an!
"The old minister is incompetent, and he is willing to die for the Great Tang! His head was severed and he died, not giving up an inch of Tang's land!"

Just when Wang Sili swore to die for his country, he heard cheers behind him, and the soldiers yelled loudly: "Look, general, the rebels are withdrawing!"

Hearing the ox horn sounding from afar, the Mohe iron cavalry set up their battalion, a group of thousands of iron cavalry retreated quickly.Like a fleet sailing on the sea.

As the Yanmen closed, the generals of the Tang army waved their weapons, jumped for joy, and spontaneously celebrated the great victory.

"It is at your fingertips, but you give up easily. Withdrawing troops at this time, what is the meaning of this?

Come on, choose an elite scout, and go find out quickly! "Wang Sili looked solemn, and hurriedly ordered.

After an hour, Tan Ma came to report: "Reporting to the commander, for some reason, all the [-] troops of Bohai County have withdrawn.

The Mohe iron cavalry left in a hurry, leaving a lot of golden drums, tents and other luggage in the camp..."

"General, do you want to chase after him?" Several generals beside him were eager to make contributions and asked hurriedly.

Wang Sili, who had experienced many battles, was also puzzled by such a strange retreat.

He pondered for a moment, frowned, waved his hands and said, "This commander also can't see through the intention of the Mohe people to withdraw their troops. In order to avoid being caught by the rebels' plan to lure the enemy in, we'd better be cautious and stay prepared.

Come on, order the whole army, whoever dares to go out of the city to pursue, behead! "

(End of this chapter)