Chapter 366 Flying to Tongguan

Li Qing'an led a cavalry team to run on Zhuque Street, with horse hooves sounding like thunder. Cavalry had already set off the road in front and shouted loudly: "People in front of you will disperse quickly, and the army has an emergency mission to leave the city!"

The pedestrians on Zhuque Street dodged to both sides. They watched the wind-like Anxi Army fly past in front of them. The earth-shaking momentum scared the pedestrians to cover their faces and dare not look at them. When the army left, they were talking about it, wondering what was wrong?

The cavalry team rushed to the city gate before slowly slowing down and passed through the city gate one by one. When Li Qing'an appeared, Cui Guangyuan, who had already been waiting by the city gate, immediately shouted: "General, please leave a step!"

Li Qing'an slowed down the reins and stepped forward and smiled, "Brother Guangyuan, what can I find out?"

Cui Guangyuan stepped forward and bowed, "Time is tight, so I just got a rough idea of ​​the situation. An Lushan has about seven or eight manors in Guanzhong, each of which covers a large area, ranging from hundreds to thousands of employees and slaves. Now there is only so much information I know. I will continue to collect it, and it may be detailed tomorrow."

"Very good! If you collect detailed information, you can contact General Nan Jiyun, and he will transmit the information to me as quickly as possible."

"Abide by the orders!"

Seeing that he wanted to speak but stopped, Li Qingan smiled and said, "Is there anything else?"

Cui Guangyuan shook his head, "No more, I wish the general a good journey."

"Okay, I hope to hear the news of your success."

Li Qing'an clasped his fists, turned his horse's head, and rushed out of the city gate. Cui Guangyuan looked at the backs of the Anxi cavalrymen who were leaving, and couldn't help but say to himself: "The yellow sand is wearing golden armor for hundreds of battles, and will never return until Loulan is destroyed. I wonder when I, Cui Guangyuan, will put on the golden armor?"

An hour later, the Zhengshi Hall held an emergency meeting at the suggestion of Li Yu. The meeting was located in the East Palace, and all the members of the Zhengshi Hall rushed to the East Palace.

Several eunuchs were nervously setting up the venue. Li Yu was a little nervous and paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. Today's meeting was very important to him. The Eastern Palace General had his own army for the first time. In the Tang Dynasty military system, the Liuru Mansion of the Eastern Palace was also the corresponding military institution, with corresponding soldiers and obeying the command of the Eastern Palace.

But in fact, Li Longji was extremely afraid of the Eastern Palace's military, so that the Eastern Palace's Sixth Reign Mansion was just a false name. Not only did there be no soldiers or soldiers, but there was no corresponding general even. Even if there was an army, it was under the strict control of Li Longji.

Today, Li Qing'an proposed to recruit 20,000 soldiers in the name of the East Palace, which means that Li Yu has another solid foundation on the road to the throne.

Today he will set an unprecedented precedent in the Tang Dynasty and make the East Palace officially own an army for the first time. At this time, a guard hurriedly walked into the East Palace with Nan Jiyun.

It is not that simple for Li Yu to have his own army. Just like holding water, he first needs a container. This container not only needs to be legitimate, but also needs to be guaranteed for the money and food for recruiting soldiers. More importantly, he has the ability to command the army. Although Li Yu is a state-controller, he does not have these three conditions.

To be justified, you must first get the permission of the emperor. Of course, if the emperor is in a coma, then the passage of the Political Affairs Hall is important. Once the Political Affairs Hall is passed, it will be a legitimate, and the money and food for recruiting soldiers are also a problem. The Ministry of Revenue is controlled by Zhang Yun. Even if the Political Affairs Hall passes the resolution in front of you, the Ministry of Revenue will not approve it in vain. Fortunately, Li Qing'an has promised that Anxi will be responsible for the money and food required. In this way, even if the Ministry of Revenue reports that there is insufficient money and food under the pretext of not approving funds, the recruitment of soldiers can be maintained.

At this time, Nan Jiyun hurried forward, knelt down on one knee and said, "I am the envoy of the Hanhai Army, and the General Nan Jiyun of the Central Army will meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Li Yu quickly helped him up and looked him up and down. Seeing that he was tall and majestic, he couldn't help but smile happily: "I have heard of General Nan's reputation for him. When we met today, we were indeed powerful and well-deserved."

Li Yu was most worried that he was not able to command the newly recruited army. Although he was full of talents, there was no one who could fight on behalf of the army. Although there were many famous civil servants in the Tang Dynasty, there were no one here. Li Qing'an left Nan Jiyun, and his intention was very clear. Since he paid the money and grain, he naturally wanted to let Nan Jiyun be responsible for recruiting and commanding the new army in the East Palace.

Li Yu also understood Li Qing'an's intention. Nan Jiyun commanded this army, which means that he was still under Li Qing'an's control. However, after he repeatedly weighed the pros and cons, he finally accepted the result. After all, he is now controlled by others, and his only reliance is Li Qing'an. Letting Nan Jiyun control the army is just relying on Li Qing'an's continuation. After he truly takes power, he can slowly deal with these difficult things, at least let Wang Sililai replace Nan Jiyun.

Thinking of this, Li Yu smiled and said, "General Nan, I plan to start recruiting troops today. I will ask General Nan for everything."

"Your Highness, my general has repeatedly ordered me to obey the command of the crown prince. My ministers will do their best."

"Okay! I'll feel relieved with you."

At this time, a guard ran over and reported: "Your Highness, most of the prime ministers have arrived, but only Secretary Zhang is missing. For some reason, Secretary Zhang has not come."

Li Yu turned around and looked at Nan Jiyun, and Nan Jiyun smiled and said, "Assassin appeared near the Zhang Shangshu's mansion. In order to ensure the safety of Zhang Shangshu's mansion, I have ordered two hundred soldiers to guard around Zhang Shangshu's mansion. I guess he may not be able to come today."

Li Yu was overjoyed. Zhang Yun could not come, which meant that the greatest resistance had disappeared. He immediately ordered: "Time cannot wait long. Since Shangshu Zhang cannot come, we will not wait. The meeting of the Political Affairs Hall will begin immediately."

Due to Zhang Yun's absence, the Zhengshitang successfully passed the recruitment plan and recruited 20,000 troops from hundreds of thousands of refugees in Chang'an. It was once the priority for those in the government. Those who joined the army could not only obtain money and food, but also forgive their crime of escaping.

The news came out that refugees living in the various yards of Chang'an were extremely enthusiastic and rushed to the three recruiting sites in front of the east and west cities and Zhuque Gate to register. The five hundred personal guards left by Li Qing'an were responsible for recruiting. On average, each of them led forty new recruits. The 200,000 stagnation of money required for recruitment was temporarily paid by Juhai Xingguifang. Weiwei Temple provided tens of thousands of sets of weapons and armor. In just two days, an army of 20,000 people had been equipped and was affiliated with the Six Palaces and Liusu Mansions. Nan Jiyun also transformed from the Hanhai Army's military envoy into the General of the Six Palaces and Liusu Mansions.

Tongguan is located in the eastern part of the Guanzhong Plain, and is located in the Guanzhong Plain. It is located in the three key areas of Hedong and Henan. The situation in Tongguan is dangerous, with Qinling Mountains in the south, Qiangu in the south, and 12 Liancheng in the south; Wei River in the north, Luo Erchuan meets the Yellow River and walks down the pass, and is close to Huayue in the west. The surrounding mountains are connected, with peaks and peaks, with deep valleys and narrow cliffs, high mountains and narrow roads, and a narrow road in the middle, with only one cart and one horse. In the old sayings, "The road on the thin road is dangerous and the monkeys are fighting for the dangerous and "the road on earth is dangerous" to compare the situation here. Du Fu also wrote the poem "A father-in-law sees the important place, and the narrow one is in a bicycle, and the hardships are used to fight for a man, and he uses a man forever."

There were originally 15,000 troops stationed in Tongguan, but Li Longji personally conquered Shuofang and took away 12,000 people. There were only 3,000 troops left in Tongguan, led by Wang Sili, deputy marshal of Tongguan.

Wang Sili was about thirty years old, seven feet tall, with a tiger back and a bear waist, and a heavy face. He was a famous tiger general in the middle Tang Dynasty. He was originally the General Qianniu Guard. During the party dispute between the middle Tang Dynasty, Wang Sili belonged to the Prime Minister and was attracted by Li Linfu. After Li Linfu's death, the Prime Minister and the National Party was disbanded. Wang Sili resolutely surrendered to the crown prince Li Yu, but was excluded by the civil servants under Li Yu. He sent out of Beijing to serve as deputy general in Tongguan. Now that the main general has left, he is the guard of Tongguan.

Last night, something strange happened in Tongguan. A cattle and horse team from Hedong requested to pass the customs. The school investigated and reported that there were about 5,000 horses and more than 300 cows. The horse was carrying silk satin and 6,000 grooms, and more than 300 soldiers. The person in charge was Sun Xiaozhe, a general under An Lushan. He sent someone to send a letter saying that it was an order from the court.

Of course, Wang Sili also knew that Hedong had been occupied by An Lushan. Wang Sili himself was extremely indignant about this, but he was just an ordinary general and he was not easy to comment on such major events involving the country.

At this time, Wang Sili stood on the city wall and watched the cattle and horse team slowly enter Tongguan. More than a thousand people had already walked into the city. The defenders of Tongguan all went to the city and looked at the strange cattle and horse team curiously. From the inner city to the outer city, there were only a few hundred steps, crowded with black horses and grooms. The strong wind passed through the city, the flags were flying, and the wind blew, and the flags were thrust, completely covering an officer with iron helmet and armor behind. He saw that he was extremely tall and strong, and he was the leader Sun Xiaozhe. He was the pioneer, and at the end of the cattle and horse team, there was An Qingxu.

Wang Sili looked at Sun Xiaozhe with some confusion. Sun Xiaozhe was eight feet tall and extremely majestic. He held a large iron spear in his hand and even a high-quality Youzhou horse under his crotch. This was obviously a general with thousands of enemies. Unlike the documents, he was just a lieutenant.

If it were normal, Wang Sili would not allow them to enter the pass, but he had just received a letter from the Taipu Temple Minister Da Xixun, saying that the batch of cattle and horses were booked by Taipu Temple and asked him to put them in the pass. At the same time, he received an order from the Ministry of War. The letter of order included the letter of the Ministry of War Chen Xilie's handwritten signature and the seal of the Ministry of War, and ordered him not to stop him and release him into the pass.

With the letter from Taipu Temple and the order from the Ministry of War, Wang Sili had no reason to stop the cattle and horse team again, so he ordered the switch to release it.

Because the mountain road is narrow, one person and one horse can only travel, so the cattle and horse team is slowly entering the pass. It took nearly 300 cattle to enter the pass, and then the people and horses entered the pass, and the speed was significantly accelerated. In two hours, more than a thousand people and horses entered.

"Quick! Speed ​​up!"

When Wang Sili heard a groom urging under the city, he couldn't help but frown slowly. This tone of urging is usually commonly used by the army, short and powerful. Now it actually appears in the groom's mouth, which makes people feel a little weird.

Wang Sili looked at these grooms carefully again. They were all powerful and had agile steps. Most of them carried their waists and held the hilt in one hand, urging the horses to drive away the horses. Wang Sili became suspicious of their holdings. These people were clearly soldiers, and they were elite troops. They were not grooms. At this time, he suddenly discovered that these horses were castrated military horses, not ordinary horses. A bold idea suddenly appeared in his mind. Could this be an army? An Lushan's army.

At this time, several soldiers hurriedly brought a palace guard, and the guards came forward to submit a letter: "General Wang, the crown prince has an urgent letter."

Wang Sili glanced at the horse team below again, then opened Li Yu's letter, and only hurriedly read it. He jumped up in shock and shouted repeatedly: "Quick! Close the city gate, and the horse team will not be allowed to enter the pass!"

The alarm sound of "Dang! Dang!" sounded over Tongguan, and hundreds of soldiers rushed up and forced the retreating team with their spears, "Get out! Get out all."

At this time, the inner city gate began to close creakingly. Sun Xiaozhe, the general who commanded the cattle and horse team, saw that the matter had been exposed, did not hesitate to think, and suddenly waved his gun and shouted: "Roar in and seize Tongguan!"

With a command, the cowherds who drove the cows and the horse-leading grooms disappeared immediately and turned into a murderous army. They tore off their coats, exposed the fine armor in their clothes, pulled out the swords and bows hidden in the cloth, and shouted wildly into the city. The sound of killing was shocking the sky, and the weapons hit them harshly.

Sun Xiaozhe glanced at the whistleman who was ringing the bell. He opened his bow and took an arrow, and a strong arrow shot out from the bow. The arrow penetrated the whistleman's neck. He screamed and fell heavily from the city tower seven or eight feet high. The scream was like a death bell in the dark night, awakening all the soldiers in Tongguan and angering them. The soldiers in the city opened their bows and shot arrows and threw stones down the city. For a moment, the arrows were like dense rain and stones were like hail. The war horses caught in the arrow jumped up, and the neighing sounded through the sky.

An Lushan's army was suppressed with shields and suppressed on the mountain road. However, the 6,000 soldiers sent by An Lushan were the most elite Fan Yang army he carefully selected. They were all skilled in martial arts, brave and good at fighting, and they had already experienced many battles. Although the terrain was not conducive to them, they still had an offensive and launched wave after wave of attacks on the inner city.

In contrast, most of the defenders of Tongguan selected the remaining old and weak soldiers, and the elite soldiers were taken away by Li Longji, and the number was not large. They could only rely on the favorable terrain of Tongguan to fight against An Lushan's army, but they were far from the opponent of An Lushan's army. Soon, more than half of the hundreds of Tang troops in the urn city were killed.

The key now is the battle for the urncheng. Tongguan consists of three parts: the outer city, the urncheng and the inner city. Only by passing through the inner city gate can it be considered a real entry into the pass. The outer city has been lost. The more than a thousand people that An Lushan's army has entered are concentrated in the urncheng. The urncheng is a flat land covering an area of ​​hundreds of feet, located between the inner city and the outer city. It is surrounded by city walls. It is a place where soldiers usually change their guards and inspect outsiders, but now it has become the key to the two sides' competition for Tongguan.

The inner city gate of Tongguan is a double gate. The gate is made of extremely heavy pig iron. Human power cannot shake it at all. It requires giant siege weapons to break open. An Lushan army did not carry siege weapons. There is only one way to open the inner city gate, which is to rush up to the city tower, seize the winch, and use the winch to open the city gate.

In this way, the core of the competition between the two sides is a narrow upper city corridor, which is the only passage from the urn city to the city tower, and it can only allow two people to pass side by side.

More than a thousand An Lushan Army and more than a thousand Tongguan defenders launched an extremely fierce battle in this corridor that was only five feet long. Dozens of cavalry of the Tang army rushed to the front, and the soldiers behind followed closely. At the same time, more than a thousand An Lushan Army rushed in like a tide. They had no time to line up, waved long swords, held shields in their hands, surging bows and arrows, and rushed forward in the rain of arrows. For a moment, the sword light was cold and the long arrows were sucked to death. Dozens of Tang soldiers in the urn city could not escape and their heads were cut off by the blade.

The smell of blood in the air made An Lushan army extremely violent. Even though the person rushing in front had been killed, the soldiers behind were still rushing up crazily. With the body shield, the powerful impact force actually pushed dozens of cavalry horses in front to the ground, and immediately chopped the landed enemy into meat paste.

Hundreds of Tang soldiers guarded the corridor. They squeezed into a ball with the enemy and could not lift the knife. They bit with their teeth, beat their fists, and stabbed them with daggers. They did not step back. They could only hear the sound of bones breaking and the clamor of their throats before they died. The dead and living people squeezed together, suffocating so much that they could not breathe.

More and more An Lushan's army rushed into the city gate and launched a fierce offensive against the Tang army under the leadership of Sun Xiaozhe. Sun Xiaozhe was known as one of the three powerful generals of Fan Yang's army, Gao Hui, Li Riyue, and Sun Xiaozhe. Among them, Sun Xiaozhe was the envoy of the Iron Cavalry of Youzhou. In history, he led his army to attack Chang'an.

The corpses were everywhere in the urn city. The Tang army fired arrows downwards on the top of the city, and the enemy was constantly being shot and killed. However, the combat effectiveness of the Tang army was far inferior to that of the An Lushan army. There were fewer and fewer Tang army in the corridor, while the An Lushan army was increasing. At this time, Sun Xiaozhe ordered the use of dead horses to build a meat ladder. Although he was still on the wall, he could already attack the corridor from the side.

Seeing that the situation was critical, Wang Sili roared, grabbed the big sword from his personal soldiers, and jumped out of the corridor. He stood on the head and swung the big sword suddenly. Blood light burst out. Seven or eight enemy troops were chopped into two pieces by one knife and rolled down from the ladder.

Wang Sili's fierceness seemed to be contagious to every Tang army, and nearly a hundred Tang army rushed down the corridor. They fought tenaciously and killed the enemy troops that had approached the city.

Sun Xiaozhe was furious. He hid behind a horse secretly, took the bow and arrow, aimed at Wang Sili, who was showing his power. A cold arrow shot at Wang Sili with a "swoosh!". Wang Sili couldn't dodge and hit the back of his shoulder. The strength in his hand disappeared, and the sword flew away.

At this moment, he saw more and more An Lushan troops rushing into Weng City, and the Tang army's eyes showed despair. Wang Sili couldn't help but kneel down on one knee and sighed: "I, Wang Sili, would have become a sinner in the Tang Dynasty!"

Sun Xiaozhe laughed proudly, "Idiot, your death is here!"

He drew out his sword suddenly, and the blade brought a light of fire.
Chapter completed!