Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 551 Entering the game personally
Huayin City is located at the exit of Tongguan. According to Fang Youde's original plan, he intended to "give" it to Huangfu Weiming directly. Because he calculated the distance, if Huangfu Weiming divided his troops, then the Tongguan route would arrive first, and the Puzhou route would arrive later.

But as luck would have it, Huangfu Weiming took a detour and spent a long time in Tongguan before he could get out, so that Li Guiren's troops arrived first despite taking a long way.

At this moment, Li Guangbi had already entered Huayin with 5,000 elite troops.

Huayin City was built on the mountain and did not directly block the road from Tongguan to Chang'an, but was located on the south side of the road.

To its south is the Qinling Mountains, to its north is a high tableland, and in the middle is a relatively low area, forming a valley.

It is also the main passage from Chang'an to Luoyang.

Similar terrain, when defending, will create an effect for the attacking party of "being able to pass through, but leaving huge hidden dangers behind."

It was feasible to abandon Huayin City and rush directly to Chang'an. But leaving such a big city behind and the passage was narrow, it was unsafe no matter how you looked at it.

Looking up, the mountains behind Huayin City were lush and green. But in Huangfu Weiming's eyes, they were like demons with bared fangs and claws, and he would feel uncomfortable just by looking at them.

He was originally from Guanzhong, and he had been to Huayin more than once or twice. In the past, he just thought the scenery here was beautiful and beautiful, and never felt this kind of restraint.

This city is like a nail embedded in the heel, and you must never ignore it.

Huangfu Weiming decided to deal with it as a priority.

"General, why not besiege this place and then march directly to Chang'an?"

An Shouzhong clasped his fists and bowed to Huangfu Weiming.

"There's no rush yet."

Huangfu Weiming waved his hand, still hesitating in his heart whether to abandon Huayin City and send people to surround it, or to attack the city first.

This kind of city built on the mountain takes advantage of the terrain and is convenient for obtaining stones, so the city walls are relatively high.

Using the "ant siege" method that doesn't care about human life is too inefficient and it is unlikely to be effective against this kind of mountain city.

"Send a messenger to persuade them to surrender. As long as they surrender, they will be rewarded with high positions and generous salaries."

Huangfu Weiming instructed Li Shiyu beside him.

Seeing Li Shiyu was about to leave, Huangfu Weiming quickly stopped him and said, "Don't go. Let someone else run the trip."

Li Shiyu quickly thanked him with tears of gratitude and left.

Huangfu Weiming has always been generous to his subordinates and confidants, so he was able to gather a group of people around him who serve him.

Half an hour later, the body of the messenger was torn apart and thrown off the Huayin Tower! It was truly tragic!
The city garrison commander didn't say a word, nor did he send any letters. It seemed that the Huayin garrison commander didn't want to talk to Huangfu Weiming at all. He directly closed the channel of dialogue.

The towering city walls seemed to be mocking Huangfu Weiming and said:

If you want to fight, then fight! If you don't want to fight, get out!

"General, the commander of Huayin seems unwilling to surrender and wants to live and die with the city."

Li Shiyu said cautiously to Huangfu Weiming.

He kept observing the expression of his own commander. To be honest, Marshal Huangfu's expression was still quite tense at the moment, but compared with his previous confident expression, it was obviously much gloomier.

"General, I think Huayin City must be captured first. Otherwise, if we leave it behind, there will be endless troubles."

Seeing that Huangfu Weiming didn't say anything, An Shouzhong quickly suggested.

This time, Huangfu Weiming nodded to him, obviously expressing his agreement.

I was still hesitating whether to attack Huayin City before, because I didn’t know what the attitude of the Huayin defender was, so there was no need to force the other side into a desperate situation!

Huangfu Weiming started the rebellion with the slogan of eliminating the discontent for the "new emperor" Li Wan and supporting the new emperor to ascend the throne in Chang'an.

Huangfu Weiming did not declare himself emperor, which was legally justifiable. At least it was not to the point where the stench could be felt for 300 miles.

Along the way, many local governors were willing to open their cities and surrender, in fact, it was largely because of this. As long as Huangfu Weiming did not proclaim himself emperor, then this war would be the Li family's family affair, so why would outsiders like them get involved?

Loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness are not used in such places.

Therefore, it should be very likely that the garrison commander of Huayin City would not help either side and pretend that nothing happened. In other words, anyone who was not a die-hard fan of Li Heng would make this choice.

If the other party is willing to play dumb, Huangfu Weiming doesn't mind letting him play dumb, just send some people to surround him. Everyone fights a tacit battle. Once the Hebei rebels enter Chang'an, there is no point in Huayin holding on.

Hello, I'm fine, everyone is fine, why not?
But now, the Huayin City garrison commander was so fierce that he directly killed the messenger and dumped his body! This was clearly a plan to destroy both sides.

Leaving such a big hidden danger behind is simply courting death! If he didn't take Huayin City, Huangfu Weiming would be afraid of being chased from behind.

"By the way, what did Li Guiren say?"

Huangfu Weiming asked with a dissatisfied look on his face. Li Shiyu handed him a letter and said, "General Li has already pinned down the garrison of Puzhou. He did not elaborate on other situations."

Hearing this, Huangfu Weiming felt relieved. He was thinking about how to deal a blow to Li Guiren after conquering Chang'an.

The general Huangfu wanted to divide his troops to attack Puzhou, but it was obviously not on the way, as there were mountains to the north. Only after taking down Huayin City would the road ahead be clear, and dividing the troops would be a piece of cake.

"Pass the order down, have the soldiers prepare to attack the city and start after dark."

Huangfu Weiming said to An Shouzhong.

"Understand the order, I will personally command!"

An Shouzhong clasped his fists and saluted, then left. He knew that his chance to turn things around had come.

……

Although on the surface, the resistance will in Huayin City was quite firm, with people "beheading envoys to demonstrate" and not expressing their determination.

But in fact, Hao Tingyu almost fought with Li Guangbi over this matter!

"Junshi (Li Guangbi's courtesy name) ah Junshi! Marshal Fang said that we only needed to hold out for ten days, so why did you bother to execute the envoy sent by Huangfu Weiming?

You can spend more time with them and kill some time, saying that you are willing to consider it, but you still have concerns. Isn't it just a matter of days?

With all this coaxing and deception, the ten days have passed in a flash. Why kill the messenger? You are so stupid! "

In the signing room of the main tower of Huayin city wall, Hao Tingyu was so anxious that he jumped up and down in the room like an ant on hot pan, and kept nagging in Li Guangbi's ear with great distress.

He had a close relationship with Li Guangbi, and he didn't use many taboos when speaking to others. He usually spoke frankly.

Just now, Li Guangbi beheaded the messenger sent by Huangfu Weiming without saying hello to Hao Tingyu. Until the messenger's head was presented to Li Guangbi and others, Hao Tingyu couldn't believe it was true.

Brother, can you please listen to what Huangfu Weiming has to say first? Maybe you can use a counter-espionage tactic?
Being killed just like that, isn't that courting death?

Hao Tingyu didn't understand Li Guangbi's train of thought. He was not the commander-in-chief and could not disobey the other side's military orders. "If I hadn't angered Huangfu Weiming, the other side would have surrounded Huayin and headed straight for Chang'an. We are safe, but how can we implement Marshal Fang's plan?
Only if we show strong hostility and make Huangfu Weiming unable to sleep at night, can he order an attack on Huayin at all costs.

This also delayed the enemy army.

Marshal Fang's intention is actually to have us delay Huangfu Weiming, rather than simply defending the city and calling it a day."

Li Guangbi waved his hand solemnly and said, "If he can't see what Fang Youde wants to do, he doesn't need to mess around. Just look at the terrain between Huayin and Tongguan and you will know that Fang Youde intends to fight to decide the outcome."

Seeing how determined he was, Hao Tingyu had no choice but to nod slightly to show his agreement.

There was nothing much to say. Hao Tingyu also knew that Li Guangbi had understood Fang Youde's intention: to fight a decisive battle in the narrow road between Huayin City and Tongguan!
It's a matter of victory or defeat, and it's also a matter of life and death!
Then, the more Huayin is like an iron wall and impossible to break through, the more Huangfu Weiming will lose his mind.

Li Guangbi was so tough that he even "beheaded the envoy" without any martial ethics. In fact, he was using himself as bait to get into the game.

If you win, you will become famous; if you lose, you will wander in the underworld.

Seeing that Hao Tingyu's mood had stabilized, Li Guangbi sighed and explained: "After all, the new emperor is the crown prince, and the saint has changed from the emperor to the emperor. Based on this, it is not impossible to slowly clean up the country. If Huangfu Weiming led his troops into Chang'an... Alas!"

Li Guangbi expressed his opinion: The Tang Dynasty is now on the brink of chaos and is just hanging on for dear life.

With this spirit, I can still clean up the mess.

If this spirit is gone, there is no need to say anything, the world will enter an era of division where many kings will emerge.

The scene was simply unbearable to watch.

It was for this reason that Li Guangbi decided to take a gamble.

“Huayin City Wall has only three sides, one of which is against the mountain.

You lead the team to guard the mountain, and I will call for reinforcements. If there is any gap that cannot be defended, you will go there to plug the gap.

If the enemy wants to climb over the mountain, you can ambush them and give them a taste of their power!"

Li Guangbi told Hao Tingyu that this time the real motive was revealed and the only option was to fight to the death.

"I understand. I'll go get ready now!"

Hao Tingyu saluted and said to Li Guangbi, then walked down the city wall to inspect the troops.

Li Guangbi walked out of the signing room and came to the city wall, looking down at the city. It was crowded with people, all of them were Hebei rebel soldiers who were preparing to attack the city.

However, the siege equipment they used was very simple. If they wanted to capture the city tonight, they had to climb the mountain and launch a surprise attack from the north side.

Of course, there are many trees around Huayin, and it is not difficult to use these trees to build siege equipment. It will probably take two or three days.

Li Guangbi counted the days on his fingers, secretly resentful Fang Youde for ordering him to defend Huayin for ten days.

According to his prediction, the first five days will be relatively easy, but the last three days will be somewhat dangerous. As for the last two days, we can only leave it to fate and see how the offensive and defensive sides perform.

Li Guangbi actually had no idea whether he could hold on.

I just hope Fang Youde's troops can arrive faster. This time, if the reinforcements are slow to arrive, it will probably be... disastrous.

Li Guangbi secretly prayed that Fang Youde would not fail at the critical moment.

As he expected, late at night, the ants outside the city wall began to attack the city!

An Shouzhong selected some soldiers who were good at climbing from the army and asked them to serve as the suicide squad. They climbed the city wall using hastily made wooden ladders. Since the wooden ladders were not high enough to reach the city wall, the soldiers used iron pickaxes as tools to climb up the last ten feet of the wall through the cracks in the stone.

This kind of quick-success approach is no different from giving away lives. You can't attack, but you insist on forcing it!
The team attacking the city gates also had a difficult time. They were hit by arrows and many people died before they threw in kerosene and torches to burn the gates. Unexpectedly, the city gates were successfully burned down, but the entrances of the three city gates were blocked by piles of stones.

What Huayin lacks the most is big stones. Li Guangbi had already considered this and directly blocked the city gate with stones!

Anyway, it comes down to one thing: If you don’t accept it, just fight it. There is no way you will surrender!
An Shouzhong was furious, but he managed to keep his composure. Because whether it was burning the city gate or attacking the city wall, it was just a feint to attract the enemy's attention.

His real killer move was a commando team of 500 people. These people would quietly climb up the mountain and then lurk on the mountain. When the siege equipment was built three days later and the formal general attack began, this commando team would force its way into Huayin City from the mountain!

By then, we can attack from all sides with the help of siege equipment. Why worry about not being able to capture Huayin City?

However, when it was daybreak, An Shouzhong saw dozens of wounded soldiers running down the mountain, almost all of them were injured. These people said frankly that they were discovered by the defenders who had been ambushed when they sneaked up the mountain last night.

After a siege, only a few dozen of them managed to escape down the mountain, while the rest died.

An Shouzhong felt a tightness in his heart, realizing that he had met an opponent in this siege.

However, it was unknown whether it was God's punishment for them. From that day on, it rained heavily for three consecutive days. The mountains west of Tongguan were washed away by the rain, causing landslides. Hundreds of soldiers under Huangfu Weiming were buried, the morale of the army plummeted, and rumors spread.

……

Boom!

Lightning flashed across the night sky, illuminating Li Heng's pale face.

He stood at the entrance of the Purple Palace, watching the heavy rain falling non-stop, and his mood became gloomy and irritable.

Yan Zhenqing came to the Purple Palace wearing a straw raincoat and holding a bamboo umbrella. His face was not good either. After handing the rainproof item to the eunuch who came forward to serve, he saluted to Li Heng and said, "Your Majesty, I have come to report the war situation in the front."

"How's the situation?"

Li Chen asked with a calm expression.

"Huangfu Weiming is leading tens of thousands of elite soldiers to attack Huayin fiercely, and Marshal Fang's troops... are nowhere to be found."

Yan Zhenqing said with a long sigh.

In order to keep it secret, Fang Youde concealed the whereabouts of his troops. If he told Li Heng about the movements of the troops, who would know if there were any spies in the court?
Huangfu Weiming is an important figure from the Guanzhong family. Would he not have his own spies in Chang'an?
It has to be said that Fang Youde was extremely cautious when it came to fighting.

If Fang Youde didn't say it, Yan Zhenqing naturally wouldn't know, but he was sure that Fang Youde would never surrender to Huangfu Weiming.

"That's it."

Li Ying sighed and said nothing.

"Your Majesty should be prepared to leave Chang'an, either to Liangzhou or Shuofang."

Yan Zhenqing persuaded him that it was not that he did not want to resist, but that he really did not think Fang Youde could win. Huangfu Weiming had too many elite soldiers under his command, and they were eager to enter Chang'an, and their morale was high!

"My dear, please go back and rest. I will not leave Chang'an. I will not go anywhere this time."

There was a gleam of determination in Li Ying's eyes, and he spoke to Yan Zhenqing in a decisive tone.

(End of this chapter)