Prosperous Tang Dynasty

Chapter 244 The Battle of Xiangzhou
Feng Changqing set off for Luoyang, the eastern capital, to preside over the recruitment of soldiers.

As for the imperial court, of course, it is not only a strategy to send Feng Changqing to Dongdu alone, but also has many deployments.

For example, Tang Xuanzong ordered Guanzhong, Henan and other places to recruit soldiers in large numbers.At the same time, Zhang Jieran was appointed as the Jiedu envoy of Henan Province to command Chenliu and other thirteen states.In addition, the Shuofang Jiedu Envoy was established, and Guo Ziyi, the prefect of Jiuyuan, was appointed as the Shuofang Jiedu Envoy. He presided over the recruitment of soldiers in Shuofang, and waited for an opportunity to go east from Shuofang to attack Hedong Road, one of the old lairs of Anlu Mountain.

Tang Xuanzong also ordered Gao Xianzhi, the governor of Hexi, to come to Chang'an City to stand by.

After some arrangements, Tang Xuanzong vented his anger on An Qingzong, the eldest son of An Lushan in Chang'an City.

An Lushan rebelled, and as the son of a rebel, he would naturally be punished.

As early as the day when the news of An Lushan's rebellion came, An Qingzong was put under house arrest.

When the soldiers rushed in with Tang Xuanzong's imperial decree, An Qingzong closed his eyes, knowing that he was finished.

Sure enough, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang decreed to behead An Qingzong, and also ordered Princess Rongyi, who had just married An Qingzong, to commit suicide.

Taken to the execution ground, An Qingzong lamented why his father, An Lushan, disregarded his life and death, gave up on him without even informing him, and raised the flag to rebel.

An Qingzong's mourning could not change his identity as the eldest son of An Lushan, let alone his fate of being beheaded.

To say that the most innocent one is Princess Rongyi.

As a daughter of the royal family and a member of the Li family, marrying An Qingzong was not an option for her, but when An Lushan rebelled, Tang Xuanzong punished An Qingzong, but he also punished her and ordered her to commit suicide. What a mistake!
The emperor's order was irresistible, and in the end, the leader of Rongyi County hanged himself with tears.

When An Qingzong and Princess Rongyi died, Feng Changqing also arrived in Luoyang, the eastern capital, in a hurry day and night.

At this time, the armies from all walks of life in Anlu Mountain had also swept across the north of the Yellow River, and regrouped their troops under the city of Xiangzhou.

Xiangzhou is one of the important towns north of the Yellow River. As long as Anlu Mountain breaks through Xiangzhou again, the entire north of the Yellow River will become the territory of Anlu Mountain.At that time, An Lushan will lead his army across the Yellow River without any worries, attack the eastern capital Luoyang, and point his sword at Chang'an City.

With no soldiers in hand, Feng Changqing was helpless in the battle of Xiangzhou, so he could only step up the recruitment of soldiers in Luoyang, the eastern capital.

Let’s say that although the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty is already ostentatious, there are still three catties of nails on the rotten ship. When the treasury is fully opened, at least the weapons and armor are completely sufficient, and the first wave of recruitment can also issue enough military pay. The speed of recruitment soon.

"Kill!" Under the city of Xiangzhou, An Lushan's army stormed Xiangzhou.

"Boom! Boom!" The catapult capable of throwing hundreds of catties kept throwing boulders towards Xiangzhou City.

Huge boulders hit the city wall, cracking the bricks and stones continuously, and a large number of broken bricks and stones fell from the top of the city.

A boulder weighing hundreds of catties hit the pavilion of the city tower, and with a bang, the entire pavilion collapsed.

Such a powerful catapult, I don't know how much resources An Lushan spent, and it was made with the blueprint of Datang's most advanced catapult.After all, he used to be Tang Xuanzong's favorite adopted son and general. Over the years, he has obtained too many advanced technologies, and the powerful catapult is just one of them.

If it wasn't for the poor accuracy of the catapult, it would take only half a day to knock down a section of the city wall by dropping hundreds of boulders weighing hundreds of kilograms.

Of course, the accuracy is poor, as long as enough stones can be brought, it will take a few more days to smash down a section of the city wall.

However, An Lushan did not plan to take a few days to capture Xiangzhou City. Moreover, most of the catapults are made of wood. Throwing hundreds of catties of boulders has a service life. Every throw will wear out. , the catapult is also broken.An Lushan will keep these catapults to attack Luoyang and Chang'an City.

The soldiers under An Lushan's command were indeed elites who had experienced many battles. They were indeed fierce, and several of them successfully climbed the city wall.

"Puff! Puff!" Several rebel soldiers who climbed up the city wall kept slashing at the surrounding defenders with their knives, occupying a small area at the top of the city, allowing the people behind to climb up continuously, and finally attacked on a large scale , to occupy more walls.

As more and more anti-army soldiers climbed up the city wall, the pressure on the defenders increased, and they were beaten back and forth.

After all, a group of soldiers who have experienced many battles and a group of soldiers who have experienced war for the first time are like wolves and sheep. It is difficult to reverse the momentum of the city wall being occupied.

"Hahahaha, Xiangzhou City is broken at this moment!" Just looking at the situation on the city wall, An Lushan concluded that it was impossible for the Xiangzhou defenders to drive his soldiers off the city wall again, and Xiangzhou City was broken.

Sure enough, not long after An Lushan's words fell, the top of the city was almost completely captured by the rebel soldiers who climbed up.The rebel soldiers began to kill from the top of the city to the bottom of the city.

About a quarter of an hour later, the gate of Xiangzhou City was opened from the inside, and a large number of rebel soldiers rushed into Xiangzhou City.

"Withdraw!" The prefect of Xiangzhou led the remaining defenders of Xiangzhou and retreated from Xiangzhou.

"Kill—" a large number of anti-army soldiers chased and killed the Xiangzhou prefect and the remaining defenders who were defeated and quit the city.

Xiangzhou City is very close to the Yellow River, and there is a Heyang Bridge across the Yellow River behind Xiangzhou City.This is not only the most important ferry of the Yellow River, but also the only iron cable bridge across the river.

The prefect of Xiangzhou led his soldiers to board the boat at the ferry or cross the river quickly from the Heyang Bridge.

"The battle of Xiangzhou is still defeated, and we are ready to cut the iron chain!" Feng Chang had expected early on that Xiangzhou would not be able to stop the rebels from Anlu Mountain. He had been paying attention to the news of Xiangzhou. The recruited soldiers waited at the bridgehead of Heyang.

After Xiangzhou's defeated troops basically crossed the bridge, Feng Changqing ordered the Heyang Bridge to be cut off.

Several important iron cables were cut off one after another by the big axe. The only bridge over the Yellow River that was built with great difficulty was cut off. The broken bridge hit the surface of the Yellow River, splashing a lot of water.

In order to temporarily prevent Anlu Mountain from crossing the river, Feng Changqing not only cut off the Heyang Bridge, but also confiscated all the ships on the other side of the Yellow River after Xiangzhou fled.

The rebel soldiers chased to the edge of the Yellow River, and the Naihe Bridge was cut off, and there were no boats, so they could only look at the river and stop.

Shi Siming was the first anti-army general to catch up to the Yellow River. Riding on his horse, he could see Feng Changqing on the other side of the Yellow River.Shi Siming pointed at Feng Changqing with the knife in his hand, and sent a message to Feng Changqing. He was not in a hurry, the Yellow River could not stop them, and soon they would cross the Yellow River and attack Luoyang, the eastern capital, and then they would see Feng Changqing again. .

Feng Changqing was expressionless and didn't bother to respond to Shi Siming.

The Yellow River only blocked Anlu Mountain temporarily, and he had to hurry up to recruit soldiers, otherwise it might be difficult to defend Luoyang City.
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(End of this chapter)