Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 425 Tumen Pass

With the sound of a bang, more and more people in the camp gathered around the storyteller.

"But it was said that the saint and Concubine Wu Hui had a son, who was named the King of Shou. The concubine's name was Yang Yuhuan, who was unrivaled in beauty and grace. After Concubine Wu Hui's death, none of the tens of thousands of beauties in the harem could make the saint fall in love. He was the only one who fell in love with this daughter-in-law. I was moved, so I ignored etiquette and snatched her into the palace..."

"Wow."

The soldiers all exclaimed.

If they hadn't heard about it today, they really wouldn't have known about these secrets in the palace.

This was the first time for the storyteller to have such a large audience. He spoke with great interest and was stunned. He continued: "Since the saint had Concubine Yang, he has become more and more extravagant, extravagant and extravagant. There are 700 people in the palace who cut clothes for Concubine Yang. In order to let her eat lychees, thousands of miles of tribute roads from Chang'an to Lingnan were opened; in order to build the bathhouse of Huaqing Palace, the emperor was ordered to carve fish, dragons, ducks, geese, and stone lotuses out of white jade in Fan Yang. The noble concubine, you have gone to great lengths to please her, and the trend of luxury is getting more and more popular..."

Several groups of people gathered in the camp, all telling such stories, which stimulated the soldiers to become more and more excited and to despise the aloof Holy Son of Heaven.

It turns out that saints have the same emotions and desires as mortals, and they are worse than mortals when they rob their daughter-in-law.

Cai Xide strode away from the school grounds, quite satisfied with the warm atmosphere.

Since he has raised troops to rebel, he must first make the soldiers have no fear of the imperial court. So far, it seems that he has made a good start.

He is the chief general of the rebels along the Hedong Road. He is as famous as Shi Siming, An Shouzhong, and Li Guiren. He is a general under An Lushan. His rank and power are higher than those of Cui Qianyou and Tian Chengsi.

If Shi Siming is like a snake, An Shouzhong is like a wild boar, Li Guiren is like a bear, Cai Xide is like an ape. First of all, he looks similar. His hands and feet are long and have strong muscles, and he also knows how to use strategies to attack.

Taiyuan City was originally a strategic goal that should be completed at the beginning of the rebellion. However, due to the previous defeat at Shiling Pass on Mount Anlu, the rebels were afraid of Taiyuan, so they decided to have Tian Chengsi first attack Luoyang, the eastern capital, and launch an offensive against Luoyang. After launching, Cai Xide attacked Taiyuan again.

Rather than attacking by force, Cai Xide hoped to outwit him. He first invited Wang Nan to Xinzhou under the guise of clarifying the misunderstanding, hoping to detain the opponent, but Wang Nan did not fall into the trap.

So he sent Khitan prisoners to Taiyuan, hoping to deceive Wang Chengye.

The last time An Lushan passed through Taiyuan in the name of being called to Beijing, he failed. This time the generals in the army had no confidence in this plan. However, Cai Xide argued against all opinions and believed that Wang Chengye and Wang Zhongsi were completely different. Wang Zhongsi went to Hedong to resist resolutely against the holy will, while Wang Chengye came to stabilize the situation under orders.

When they arrived at the big tent, someone immediately said with excitement: "General, it's done!"

"how?"

"Wang Chengye fell into the trap!"

Sure enough, Wang Chengye saw the Khitan prisoners and believed that Cai Xide's capture of Yanmen Pass was for state affairs, so he sent someone to invite Cai Xide to meet at Shiling Pass.

This is a manifestation of Cai Xide's wisdom and strategy, so he was compared to an ape among the rebel generals.

He immediately made arrangements, planning to tie up Wang Chengye when he left Shiling Pass and order the Taiyuan garrison to open the city.

The next day, he ordered more than twenty brave men to leave the camp in person. Geng Renzhi, the judge under his command, stopped him, bowed his head and said, "General, you must not take any risks."

"Hahaha." Cai Xide laughed and said: "Wang Chengye doesn't know that we have rebelled, so how dare he act randomly? Aren't you afraid of forcing the prince to rebel? Let me lure him forward and capture him."

"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the worst. After all, it's rare for the king to still be here." Geng Renzhi said: "Why not send a strong man to go on behalf of the general? To prevent fraud."

After hearing this, Cai Xide thought it made sense, so he recruited a soldier and asked him to put on his own armor and go to capture Wang Chengye? .

He himself changed into a scholar's robe, boarded the observation car and looked out into the distance, looking like he was strategizing.

From a distance, I saw more than 20 riders from both sides running closer and closer. Cai Xide laughed again and said: "It's not what I expected."

The next moment, he saw the Taiyuan Army suddenly attack and attack his knight. The warrior wearing his armor was also hit by two arrows and fell off his horse with his shining golden armor.

"Eat dog intestines! How dare he?!"

Cai Xide's eyes widened, he punched his chest hard, and said, "How dare he make the first move, without fear of forcing us to rebel?"

Geng Renzhi stroked his long beard and said: "It seems that Taiyuan has received news that the prefect has raised his troops."

"How do you know? I have blocked the news."

"Yes." Geng Renzhi turned to look east and said, "In this case, the news can only reach Taiyuan from Hebei."

"Tian Chengsi failed to block the news? He missed my big deal!"

Cai Xide was furious and could not outmaneuver him, so he had to attack by force. He gave an order, and the rebel army approached Taiyuan City in mighty force. It was another scene of "black clouds pressing down on the city, threatening to destroy it, and the light of armor opening towards the golden scales of the sun."

Counting the time, Tian Chengsi must have been attacking Luoyang City.

The eastern and northern capitals of the Tang Dynasty were attacked by large armies at the same time. The rebels no longer concealed their rebellious intentions and wanted to overthrow the Tang Dynasty.

Amid such a raging offensive, Geng Renzhi was a little worried.

"General, Taiyuan relies on Han Mountain to the east and Fenhe River to the west. The terrain in the north and south is undulating, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. Since Wang Chengye knows that we have rebelled, he has more powerful generals such as Li Guangbi and Wang Nan under his command, making it difficult to capture quickly."

Cai Xide said: "Wang Chengye is a mediocre man and is definitely no match for me. I'm afraid that I won't be able to advance even if Tian Chengsi takes Luoyang first."

"In the northern capital of Taiyuan, there is sufficient food and grass. If we remain in a stalemate for a long time, it will be detrimental to our army." Geng Renzhi said: "General, why don't you open up Jingxing first to facilitate the transfer of food and grass?"

"it is good."

Cai Xide looked at the map and traced it with his fingers, planning to follow Geng Renzhi's words and send an elite force to break through Jingxing, then detour to Fengyue Pass, and unexpectedly reach the south of Taiyuan, attacking from both sides.

He is not the foolhardy bear like Li Guiren, he has his own strategy.

~~
Jingxing, Tumenguan.

The soldier on the tower carefully held a telescope and turned his gaze to the west. Suddenly he saw dust and smoke rising above the mountains.

"Reinforcements are coming!"

He immediately shouted out in surprise.

Li Sheng, who was killing the enemy on the top of the city, was overjoyed. He strode over, took the telescope and looked at it. Sure enough, he saw a big flag coming from far to near, which was the banner of Yunzhong Army.

It seems that Wang Ruolan quickly persuaded Li Guangbi and Wang Chengye to send troops, not only to defend Tumen Pass, but also to support Changshan County. By then, the rebel route would be cut off, and the situation in Hebei could be reversed.

"The enemy soldiers are coming to kill us!"

At this time, the rebel offensive in the east became fierce again. Li Sheng didn't care to look anymore, handed back the telescope, picked up the bow and ran towards the battlements, not forgetting to explain.

"Prepare to open the city gate to let reinforcements in."

With a "swish" sound, he shot an arrow at a rebel captain who was shouting below the city.

But now the rebels were on guard against the hidden arrows on the city. The rebel captain only glanced at them and had already retreated behind his shield.

"Siege the city!"

The battle situation was getting urgent. Jiang Hai squatted under the battlements, lit up a pack of explosives, swung his arms and threw it down the city, and threw it on a huge shield.

"boom!"

With this sound, the rebel offensive slowed down.

When he got the news, Jiang Hai quickly ran to the west city wall, looked down, waved to Li Sheng and shouted: "Who is General Wang Nan?"

They all came from Longyou. Who doesn't admire the king who picked up the Tubo prince with a spear?
Li Sheng finished preparing the defense line on the city, and then hurried to Jiang Hai's side. He raised his hand and said, "General Wang is wearing silver..."

As he spoke, his eyes suddenly narrowed, his brows furrowed, and then he shouted loudly: "Close the city gate!"

He had already discovered that it was not Wang Ranran who came, but Cai Xide's men.

At this time, the city gate had just opened a little. The soldiers guarding the gate heard the order and hurriedly pushed the door open. At the same time, earth-shattering shouts of killing also rang out from the bottom of the city.

"kill!"

"Beat Tumen Pass, there will be many rewards!"

"..."

In the tower, Li Tengkong heard the noise, stood up and walked around the corridor, looking out from the arrow window, his eyes immediately darkened.

She knew that the rebels had reached Tumen Pass first.

When she thought about it, Xue Bai gave her the opportunity to evacuate first for her safety. As a result, not only did his intention of having Hedong soldiers and horses support Changshan County fail, but the rebels even came first.

As a result, she felt more guilty and painful.

"Vacation?"

Li Jilan hurried over and took Li Tengkong's arm.

Her face was also very pale, both because she was frightened by the movement outside and because she had been worried about Xue Bai.

"Dong dong dong dong!" The rebels' war drums became more and more urgent.

That was when the rebels in the east also heard the news of the attack on the city in the west, their morale was greatly boosted, and they began to cooperate with the two-sided attack.

The terrain advantage of Tumenguan was suddenly lost, like a small boat swaying in a violent storm.

Li Jilan was frightened, tears welled up in her eyes, and she regretted not listening to Xue Bai's words and going south with Yan Yan.

Every cry of killing made her fear deepen. She pulled Li Tengkong and begged: "Stop looking, can we go back to the house?"

Li Tengkong didn't move, just stood there in a daze, muttering something softly.

Li Jilan got closer and heard her saying, "This disciple is willing to trade his long life for his safe return."

For them, only when they see Xue Bai can their uneasy hearts return.

~~
The rebel generals who mainly attacked Tumen Pass in the east were Li Qincuo and Gao Miao.

Both of them are the adopted sons of An Lushan. They stood out from the Eight Thousand Yiluohe due to their military exploits and became independent, which shows their bravery.

Logically speaking, when Tian Chengsi went south, Changshan County surrendered, and Tumen Pass, which belonged to Changshan County, should have surrendered together with the county officials. However, something went wrong when Tian Chengsi was chasing Xue Bai, and Xue Bai occupied Tumen Pass. Gao Miao was very dissatisfied with this. It was just that he came from a humble background and was not used to offending others, so he spoke kindly to Tian Chengsi, and ended up taking on the important task of attacking Tumen Pass.

The attack on the city was not going well that day, and they suddenly heard noise from Guancheng. They sent agile men to climb the mountain to observe the formation. When they learned that Cai Xide's men were attacking the city, they immediately regrouped and continued the fierce attack.

"In one or two days, the gate will be closed."

The fierce battle continued until nightfall, when Li Qincoo ordered the gold medal, but he already gained confidence.

"Yes." Gao Miao said: "I think the morale of the Tang army will soon be unsustainable."

"You and I will drink a whole glass of wine at night." Li Qin said, "After spending so many days attacking the city, we should reward ourselves."

Gao Miao felt that drinking during a war was not good, but he also knew that Li Qin was a good drinker, and it was rare for him to be able to endure it for so many days.

These people raised troops to rebel, and they were not even willing to abide by the rules of the monarch and his ministers, so they didn't care about military regulations.

So the night was more than just a drink. The two of them drank three bottles in total in the big tent. They were not drunk at all. They just woke up a little faint the next day, but it did not delay military affairs.

Amidst the sound of war drums, Li Qincuo was high-spirited, drew his sword and shouted, saying that he would reward the soldiers heavily for their hard work today.

After hearing this, Gao Miao couldn't help but think that it was time for the baggage to arrive. Before noon, the rebels once reached the top of the city. It can be seen that the soldiers in the city were low and the city was about to be broken.

At the same time, there is good news. The baggage has also arrived on time.

Gao Miao did not trust Yuan Luqian, the Changshan prefect newly appointed by Anlushan. This distrust was entirely due to Xue Bai.

I believe that if Xue Bai had not escaped, even if Yuan Luqian sent poisoned wine, Gao Miao would have drank it without any doubt, but now he was extremely vigilant against the soldiers in Changshan County's baggage.

"Every vehicle is inspected, and the license plates are also carefully checked..."

"General Gao." A soldier stepped forward and said, "Dugu Sima and Li Sima are here."

Gao Miao was surprised. He turned around and saw Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu.

He then stopped caring about the trivial matter of checking or not, went up to him in person, saluted, and asked, "Why are you two gentlemen here?"

Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu looked at each other and said bluntly: "We are here for Xue Bai."

Gao Miao understood immediately, and he also understood that Xue Bai was a very important person, and said: "As far as I know, he is still at Tumen Pass, and General Cai has sent troops to attack the west of Guancheng. Xue Bai is just a turtle in the urn, two people I'll see him soon sir."

"Let's chat in the account."

"please."

Gao Miao raised his hand and noticed that there were several people following Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu. Among them was Yang Qixuan, whom he knew. There was another person who was tall and tall. Although half of his face was covered by a felt hat, he still It also looks extraordinary.

"Speaking of Xue Bai, he has indeed gained such a great reputation in recent years. Now he is going to die in our hands, so we have been fulfilled."

After entering the tent, Gao Miao started talking without waiting for him to sit down.

Tumen Pass has become his treasure, and he talks about Xue Bailai with a somewhat arrogant tone of "the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit".

As he spoke, he noticed that the extraordinary young man had a smile on his face, and seemed to find these words interesting.

"Who is this?" Gao Miao asked politely.

The young man looked calm and replied: "Xue Bai."

Gao Miao was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said: "Young man is just kidding..."

Before he finished speaking, a person behind Xue Bai stepped forward in two steps, raised his hand, and the dagger in his hand had already cut Gao Miao's neck.

Gao Miao was still thinking in his mind, "Xue Bai is clearly still in Tumen Pass." The blood splashing from his neck was already like a curtain covering his eyes. He made two "gurgling" sounds in his throat and fell down.

Diao Geng killed everyone quickly and neatly. Before Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu could react, they looked at the scene in front of them with wide eyes. They were surprised that Xue Bai didn't wait until everything was ready before taking action.

"you……"

Xue Bai pressed his finger on his mouth to make a silent gesture, and said, "Although Cai Xide has sent troops, you two gentlemen do not need to waver."

~~
"kill!"

"The city will be destroyed today."

In front of Tumen Pass, Li Qincuo's banner was still advancing, boosting the morale of the rebels.

The shield bearers guarded him tightly, guarding against the cold arrows shot from time to time on the city top.

Under such circumstances, Li Sheng, known as the "enemy of ten thousand people", had no choice.

A large amount of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he whispered to Jiang Hai: "I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on, so you should be prepared in advance."

After Jiang Hai heard this, he immediately walked to the tower and reminded Li Tengkong to make preparations. If there was no turnaround, he would have to break out.

The original plan was to retreat to Taiyuan if the situation turned unfavorable. But they didn't expect that the road to Taiyuan had been blocked, so now they had no choice but to head east, and if they could break through, they would return to Changshan County to hide.

There was a knock on the door and Jiaonu opened the door.

Li Jilan turned around, saw Jiang Hai's expression, and heard the noises around him. She immediately understood and said, "I can't leave. Give me the knife."

Suddenly, there was a sudden golden sound.

Jiang Hai was about to speak when he heard the sound coming from the east and thought it was Yuan Luqian who was coming.

"I'm here to ask you not to panic, reinforcements are coming." Even a vicious man like him couldn't bear it, so he comforted him first.

"Is it Xue Bai?"

Li Tengkong had already stood up and asked.

She looked very unhappy, but her eyes were full of expectation.

"I'm going to take a look." Jiang Hai said, "Please also be prepared to break out at any time."

Li Tengkong wanted to follow him to have a look, but Jiang Hai refused and was stopped by someone.

She had no choice but to rush to the arrow window high in the tower and look out, only to see that the rebels in the east had begun to retreat slowly after hearing the sound of gold.

She didn't know what the specific situation was, so she could only keep watching and waiting.

After waiting for a long time, the shadow of the city wall gradually lengthened, and she waited like a watch stone, motionless.

Finally, several riders rushed to Tumen Pass. Too far away to see clearly.

"It's him."

"Seventeenth Mother, don't worry, we haven't put it in yet."

"It can't be wrong."

Li Tengkong turned around and ran down the city. The soldiers guarding the city tower came to stop her with a halberd. She ducked under the halberd, as nimble as a hare.

After leaving the city wall, there was a purgatory-like scene in front of them. The ground was covered with blood, corpses were scattered everywhere, stumps, minced meat, and large intestines were dripping out.

Even among the surviving soldiers, some were still gagging.

Li Tengkong was not frightened. She even stepped on a pool of blood and hurriedly walked down the stone steps to the top of the city.

"Slow down, wait for me."

Li Jilan followed closely, knowing that Li Tengkong wanted to see Xue Bai, and was hoping that Xue Bai would come.

Finally, they ran into Guancheng. A few people who had just entered the city were tying their horses. The leader among them turned around and looked at Li Jilan.

At this moment, Li Jilan was completely stunned.

She recognized the other person as Yang Qixuan, Li Shiniang's husband who had always been in trouble and then abandoned her. She never expected that he would be here.

Taking a closer look, Xue Bai was not among those people, and he was extremely disappointed.

"Xiao Xian."

At this moment, a voice came from behind.

Li Tengkong suddenly looked back, and in the bloody storm, Xue Bai was there, spreading his arms.

Her eyes were sore, she shed tears, and threw herself into his arms.

Li Jilan also turned around and ran two steps towards Xue Bai. Finally, he stopped and looked at the two people hugging each other. He lowered his head and pinched his fingers.

~~
Under the candlelight, the two boxes were opened, containing the heads of Gao Miao and Li Qincuo respectively.

After killing Gao Miao, Dugu Wensu seized the military power from Gao Miao on the charge of "delaying the opportunity to fight", paid gold to withdraw the troops, and then repeated his old trick, summoning Li Qincuo into the tent, and poured two jars of wine into his mouth. After drinking, he cut off the head directly.

Li Sheng stepped forward to take a look and said with emotion: "It's really amazing. How did Xue Lang do it?"

"A piece of cake."

Xue Bai looked serious and really didn't think there was any difficulty in killing these two people.

Anyway, with Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu, Yuan Luqian and others, it is very simple to achieve this small victory. The difficulty lies in the need to mobilize enough troops to protect them.

In fact, he didn't want to be exposed too early, but the situation was not up to anyone.

"Once Changshan County is summoned, there will be many officials from Hebei who are interested in the Tang Dynasty." Xue Bai said: "What I am worried about is Hedong. The deaths of Li Qincuo and Gao Miao will definitely arouse An Lushan's suspicion, leaving Hedong Time is running out to send troops."

All the strategies, instigating rebellion, and sneak attacks will have only a small impact on the overall situation. What really determines the direction of the war is the strength of the troops.

The battle at Tumen Pass exposed Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu in advance. Xue Bai was very worried that officials in Changshan County would end up like Yan Gaoqing in history, so he decided to rush to Taiyuan as soon as possible.

However, Li Sheng frowned and said, "Xue Lang is going to Taiyuan? Aren't you worried?"

"worry about what?"

"The reinforcements coming this time are not our reinforcements, but the rebels. It can be seen that General Wang has not convinced Deputy Commander Li, or they have not been able to take over the military power from Wang Chengye. Can Xue Bai really recruit troops?"

"Anyway, I have to try it."

Having said that, the road from Taiyuan to Jingxing is probably blocked by Cai Xide's troops.

~~
Outside Shiling Pass, there is a rebel camp.

Facing Cai Xide's fierce offensive, Wang Rao had already retreated into Shiling Pass.

At the same time, Cai Xide had ordered a group of light cavalry to prepare and bypass Shiling Pass, making sure to force Wang Nannan to continue retreating.

But it is difficult for both sides to defeat the other quickly, and this confrontation will obviously continue for some time.

In late May, a group of soldiers who attacked Tumen Pass returned and reported their orders to Cai Xide.

"Report to the general that we have captured Tumen Pass!"

Cai Xide was overjoyed, rewarded them, and asked how to capture Guancheng.

"When we arrived, Li Qincuo and Gao Miao were storming Guancheng. When the defenders saw that I was waiting, their morale plummeted. General Niu then ordered an attack on the city, and the city was breached in two days."

"Okay!" Cai Xide clapped his hands and asked again, "The prince is very concerned about Xue Bai, but he has captured this boy."

"Xue Bai was handed over to Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu."

"How did they get to Tumen Pass?"

"I don't know, but they suggested that the general should send half of his troops to bypass Fengyue Pass. There is no need to bring food, grass and baggage. Changshan County will provide it on its own."

Cai Xide was originally a little unhappy about them taking Xue Bai away, but this suggestion coincided with him. He immediately summoned his generals to discuss and decided to go from Jingxing to Fengyue Pass.

(End of this chapter)