Tiantang

Chapter 362 Taking risks?

Chapter 370 Risky Battle?
Tongguan.

Tongguan Tongguan, in the north of Tongguan County, was a land of Taolinsai in ancient times.It is connected to Huashan Mountain in the west, Qinling Mountains in the south, Yellow River in the north, and mountains in the east. There is only one path through the cliffs and deep valleys.The terrain is dangerous. The so-called "Lianyun Lian battle pattern, birds can't pass. If you come around but defend yourself, you will not worry about the western capital. The father-in-law regards the important place, narrow and narrow for a bicycle. Difficult to fight with a long halberd, and use a man forever." Therefore, there is an ancient saying It is said that "one man guards the pass, and ten thousand men cannot open it", and it is the gate for defense in the pass.This place is the hub of Qin, Jin, and Henan, so there is a saying that "the three provinces are heard by the crowing of the rooster, and the Kyushu is closed by the gate".

The exact time when Tongguan was first built is unknown. It is said that it was called Chongguan at first, because it saw the Yellow River rushing straight from the north, so it was named.

The red sun hangs high and the autumn is crisp.Standing on the gate tower of Tongguan City, Yan Zhenqing looked northward, and saw the Yellow River split through the mountains between Qin and Jin, coming in torrentially, heading south to Huayue, and then turning steeply to the east, with a majestic and majestic momentum.

The scenery is obviously refreshing, but for Yan Zhenqing and his soldiers, the mood is not happy, but very heavy.

Although Yan Zhenqing knew that it would be difficult to truly contend against the heroic Fan Yang rebels in Anlu Mountain with his easy soldiers, the repeated defeats and repeated battles still made people feel depressed and painful.

Successive defeats, losses of soldiers and generals led to the loss of Luoyang in the hands of An Lushan... After all, from Yan Zhenqing down, I knew very well what kind of fate awaited me.

More importantly, the news of the emperor abandoning Chang'an and going north has spread to the army, and the morale of the army is even more chaotic.As a result, many middle and low-level generals under Yan Zhenqing had difficulty controlling the situation, and deserters continued to appear.

Yan Zhenqing had no choice but to be ruthless in military affairs, but even after killing more than a hundred deserters, the atmosphere in the army still could not be stabilized.

Yan Zhenqing knew in his heart that retreating to Tongguan was helpless, not his original intention.For the emperor and the court, they are even more unwilling to have such a result.Before, Li Heng had personally ordered Yan Zhenqing to lead his army to fight the An Lushan rebels outside Luoyang. That is to say, for Li Heng, Luoyang was the final bottom line, and if Luoyang was lost again, the result could be imagined.

But Yan Zhenqing suffered another disastrous defeat in the battle of Luoyang despite his best efforts.The defeat was so hearty that he was ashamed and speechless.He was holding ice in his mouth and couldn't tell how cool he was, and he had no soldiers or brave generals under his command. The Henan army horse of the imperial court who had been lazy for more than ten years was vulnerable to the Fan Yang cavalry in Anlu Mountain. Power, powerless.

Although the imperial court's edict to inquire about crimes has not been issued, Yan Zhenqing has actually made various psychological preparations.After this battle, he had to die in Tongguan to survive. What awaited him must be the butcher's knife that Li Heng raised high.

When Yan Zhenqing retreated to Tongguan, what he valued was the situation that Tongguan was easy to defend but difficult to attack and the significance of the survival of Tongguan to the safety of Chang'an.

The Anlushan rebels are already surrounded on all sides, but as long as the Tang army guards Tongguan to prevent the rebels from advancing westward, and then waits for the Jingyuan army under Zhang Xuan's bid and the troops of King Qin from all over the country to enter Fanyang, cutting off the rebels' return route and logistical supplies, Or go out of Dongxing Pass and go straight to Fanyang; the soldiers and horses of Qin Wang from all over the place will squeeze the rebels in the Luoyang area, and the rebels will become turtles in the urn, and there is a possibility that they will collapse without a fight.

"Marshal, Your Majesty has an order!" A school lieutenant strode forward, followed by a handsome young eunuch.

The little eunuch glanced at Yan Zhenqing and the others, brushed the dust off his robe reservedly, stretched out his slender fingers and flicked a trick, and a thin voice suddenly rang out: "Your Majesty has an order. Yan Zhenqing accepts the order!"

Yan Zhenqing's heart skipped a beat, and he led all the generals to bow down.

After the eunuch finished announcing the decree, he added another sentence in a neither salty nor bland nor yin or yang manner, "Master Yan, Your Majesty still has an oral order: First, Tongguan must be guarded, and Tongguan cannot be lost. If Tongguan is lost, Lord Yan will consider the consequences for himself." Second, the An Lushan rebels are intimidating, and the Henan army and horses have suffered consecutive defeats. If Lord Yan does not win another battle to boost morale, and if he is defeated by An Lushan again, Lord Yan will not have to meet His Majesty again. Just outside Tongguan, fight to the death on the battlefield!"

After the little eunuch finished speaking, he turned his head and left.

For him, Tongguan was under the eyes of the Anlushan rebels, so it was really not safe.After passing the decree, let's leave quickly.

Yan Zhenqing stared at the leaving figure of the little eunuch with a gloomy expression, clenched his fists tightly, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Li Heng's purpose was very clear, he ordered Yan Zhenqing to win a battle with An Lushan to save the court's face, otherwise, even if he defended Tongguan, he would end up in a tragic end of hating Jiuquan in the future.Moreover, Li Heng would even vent his anger on his family and clan for this.

The generals behind Yan Zhenqing didn't look good.

As generals of the defeated army, if Yan Zhenqing was questioned, they would not escape death.

Zhonglang General Fan Zheng strode over and clasped his fists and said, "Commander, the final general has received news that the rebel General Cui Qianyou is in Shan County, with only four thousand troops, and his troops are weak and vulnerable. If our army divides up [-] troops and goes to attack Shan County, take Cui Qianyou in one fell swoop, you can win the battle and fulfill His Majesty's will."

"This battle is victorious. We can even recover Shan County and Luoyang from this, and sweep away the decline of our army's retreat. It can be regarded as our victory in suppressing the rebellion for the country, and the crime!"

Yan Zhenqing frowned, and said in a deep voice, "An Lushan is good at using troops. Now that he has just launched a rebellion, how could he be so negligent! Obviously, this must be using Cui Qianyou's troops as bait to lure our army out of the customs. If we send troops , is falling into his trap."

"Besides, the rebel army is coming from far away, and the advantage is to fight quickly. Our army is in danger to restrict its advance, and the advantage is to hold on. Along the way, the bandits and soldiers ravage the people, lose the hearts of the people, and the army is getting weaker. There will be internal changes. Take advantage of it. Internal changes can be captured without a fight. Our goal is to defend Tongguan and hold back the rebels, so as to buy time for the imperial army to suppress the rebellion. We cannot care about the length of the First World War! This is not the time to go to war. When the army of King Yongning in Longshuo arrives, It’s not too late to find an opportunity to fight!”

"Don't care about the pros and cons of the first battle..." Fan Zheng smiled wryly, and said softly, "Commander, our army has suffered successive defeats, lost troops and lost generals, and all of Henan has fallen into the enemy's hands. If we don't win another battle to boost our morale, Don't say that the imperial court can't spare us, even the tens of thousands of soldiers in Tongguan are probably all demoralized and unable to continue."

"Commander, our army is divided into two groups. One way is to defend Tongguan, and the other way is to enter Gongshan County. There is nothing to worry about. If Shan County is not desirable, we will quickly retreat to Tongguan. If Shan County is desirable, Take it like lightning and wait to recover Luoyang."

"Commander, whether it is with the country, the people, or ourselves, we all need to fight the rebels! Please think twice, Commander!"

Fan Zheng fell to his knees and said with emotion.

"Commander, please think twice!" Behind Fan Zheng, all the generals knelt down and bowed to the ground, some of them even cried bitterly because of their emotions.

This large army has been forced to the edge of the cliff, losing troops and generals after losing battles, and the morale of the army is slackened.Coupled with the news that the emperor fled Chang'an, if this continues, the morale of the army will become more and more chaotic, and it may even lead to a mutiny.

If you choose an opportunity to win a battle, you can not only give the court an explanation, but also greatly save the morale of the army and gather the strength of the entire army.Otherwise, with the current situation of the army, defending Tongguan is actually empty talk.

Amidst the mournful shouts of the generals, Yan Zhenqing's expression flickered, and his unswerving heart of guarding Tongguan was gradually shaken a little.

Gradually, he felt that Fan Zheng's words had some truth to them. If they didn't boost their morale, and didn't use the An Lushan rebels to attack, the morale of the army would be broken by itself.Now that the deserters are constantly running, if we wait for the rebels to approach the city, will it be a mess?

Yan Zhenqing's lips trembled, and his complexion became more and more complicated.He slowly raised his hand, and suddenly felt that his hand was as heavy as Mount Tai.

It's a tough decision!

Once he ventured out to fight and divided his troops into two groups, if the An Lushan rebels took advantage of the opportunity to enter Tongguan and fall, he would not be able to escape the blame even if he died. His name, Yan Zhenqing, would probably be infamous forever.

"Don't come again when this opportunity is too late, please make a decision early!" Fan Zheng and the others yelled, Yan Zhenqing felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground.

Seeing that Yan Zhenqing was still unable to make up his mind, Fan Zheng knelt on the ground and cupped his fists and said emotionally, "Commander, I am willing to lead [-] soldiers and horses to fight against Shan County. Whether it is life or death, I will fight here! The general will lead the army to attack Luoyang, and if something unexpected happens, please ask the general to sit in Tongguan, so that Tongguan will not be lost!"

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"Under the command of the Governor of Longshuo", "Women's Army", "Grand General of the Royal Female Army" - several military flags fluttering in the wind appeared in the sight of Chang'an defenders, and immediately reported to Chen Xilie, Zhang Tong, Jianning Wang Li Tan, etc. people.

When Li Tan, the King of Jianning, Chen Xilie, the Prime Minister of the Supervisory State, and Gao Zhangtong, the supreme commander of the garrison of Chang'an, boarded the gate tower of Kaiyuanmen in Chang'an City, a group of thousands of female cavalry with a strict and murderous appearance had already lined up outside Kaiyuanmen.

Li Tan was overjoyed, and pointed at the three heroic and majestic female generals standing under the military flag, and said loudly, "Chen Xiang, General Zhang, the two wives of King Yongning seem to be under the city, and the imperial court has appointed the female generals of the army." Su Hudong and Li Tengkong!"

"Your Highness, these are the two concubines of King Yongning. The one on the left is Princess Huihe Su Hudong, and the one on the right is Li Tengkong, the wife of Yanning County. Your Highness, I did not expect that King Yongning actually built a concubine in Longshuo. Such a female army!" Chen Xilie's voice was very excited.

"Your Highness, what an army of women who are not weak!" Zhang Tong laughed, "Since the two generals of the female army have arrived, the army of King Yongning must not be far away. In this way, the danger of Chang'an is over!"

Zhang Tong's mind was similar to Li Tan's. Li Tan's heart, which had been tense for half a month, finally relaxed at this moment.

Li Tan laughed loudly, "Come here, send an order to open the city gate, and I will lead the remaining officials and Chang'an soldiers and civilians to go out of the city to meet the two female generals!"

(End of this chapter)