At a Shangyuan Festival night banquet, bursts of laughter came from the Tai Chi Palace.
This time at the royal banquet, Prince Hong and King Qi did not get into any tense situations. After the emperor took the elixir, his physical weakness improved a lot, and he even drank a little wine as an exception.
Empress Zhang had just been crowned empress, and she quickly put on the air of being a mother to the world, and many princes and princesses also cooperated.
The only flaw was that the emperor was feeling cold and could not attend the banquet.
Although the people of Chang'an did not see the palace lanterns at the Calyx Tower, they did see the floats parading up and down Zhuque Street.
Although it is far inferior to the previous prosperous times, it can still be regarded as a year.
Chang'an City was still immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the New Year. No one thought that An Qingxu's side would be the first to attack in Xiangzhou.
This year is also the worst Shangyuan Festival that An Qingxu has ever experienced. In the countryside of Xiangzhou, he spent the festival alone in a thatched house.
The Tang army has already begun to carry out the task of strengthening the walls and clearing out the wilderness near Anyang City, because most of the execution orders are from the Tang army in Guanzhong and the northwest.
Xiangzhou also contributed many soldiers to the puppet Yan, and many of the soldiers of the puppet Yan were from Xiangzhou.
Naturally, the official army had a blood feud with the puppet Yan army, and this hatred was also vented on the Tang army against the people of Xiangzhou.
The troops who carried out the task of clearing the country not only prohibited the people from spring plowing, but also burned down the homes of many people whose families had soldiers in the army.
Even some local gentry in Xiangzhou were plundered by the Tang army because of the crime of collaborating with the enemy.
Fires suddenly broke out near Xiangzhou, and people everywhere were wailing.
Li Guangbi, who was in charge of Xiangzhou, was helpless about all this.
Although he is a famous general, the soldiers' anger needs to be vented. If they are suppressed forcibly, one day it will break out in the military camp.
And this time, it was the imperial court's order to fortify the walls and clear the country, and Li Guangbi could not disobey the imperial policy.
The Tang army who was celebrating the New Year in Xiangzhou also wanted to end the civil war quickly and return home early. They hated the people of Xiangzhou who had informed the puppet Yan'an Qingxu and wanted to kill them all.
For a time, the entire vicinity of Anyang City became a hell on earth. An Qingxu was overjoyed after receiving the news and immediately ordered the troops to gather.
Instead, Cui Youqian was discouraged by the Tang army. He said to An Qingxu: "Your Majesty, do you want to wait any longer?"
An Qingxu said categorically: "The Tang army will be defeated now. If we don't send troops now, it will be too late if we wait any longer!"
After saying this, An Qingxu actually put on the golden armor himself and walked out of the thatched house where he was hiding.
After all, An Qingxu was young and did not live a dissolute life in the palace, so his body recovered quickly.
He held the spear in his hand. Back then, he had charged into battle under his father An Lushan and killed the barbarians in the north until they cried.
An Qingxu got on his horse and ordered the soldiers to shout the slogan "The Tang army will massacre all Xiangzhou" and began to advance towards Anyang.
The people of Xiangzhou were very disgusted with the Tang army. Since the Tang army stationed in Anyang, Xiangzhou has become a battlefield.
At the same time, the Tang army also needed huge military supplies, many of which had to be supplied locally.
Xiangzhou has long been impoverished, and the people's resentment towards the Tang army has reached its extreme.
And the rumors spread by An Qingxu were the same as those described by the people fleeing outside Anyang City. Now everyone in Xiangzhou was in danger.
Not every household has served as a soldier for the puppet Yan, but when Xiangzhou was under the control of Anlu Mountain, they all provided grain to the puppet Yan.
If there is really a liquidation, no one in Xiangzhou can escape.
As An Qingxu raised his army, some powerful local landlords in Xiangzhou also followed with their own private soldiers.
The powerful clans in a state are often on the same side, and the experiences of the big families near Anyang City have already reached the ears of these clan leaders.
Xiangzhou was originally anti-Tang, and now these big families have an additional reason to rebel.
As soon as An Qingxu's incident happened, these families brought their own dry food to the army, and soon An Qingxu had gathered an army of 20,000.
Among these soldiers were the old tribe of the puppet Yan who fled from the capital to Xiangzhou, private soldiers from powerful local families in Xiangzhou, and personal guards brought back by An Qingxu and Cui Youqian themselves.
However, in terms of hatred towards the Tang army, all soldiers had the same goal.
An Qingxu was also very decisive. After gathering 20,000 tribesmen, he announced to the outside world 50,000 people and directly attacked Anyang City.
This was beyond Li Guangbi's expectation. He originally thought An Qingxu was just a lost dog, but unexpectedly he turned into a tiger descending from the mountain.
Li Guangbi quickly asked his men to return to Anyang City to garrison, and then asked the court for help.
However, Wang Sili, the military commander under Li Guangbi, underestimated the enemy and thought that An Qingxu was a rabble, so he led part of the Tang army to attack An Qingxu's army.
Unexpectedly, this time An Qingxu commanded bravely and calmly formed a formation to fight back. The Tang army had been attacking for a long time without any results. Instead, An Qingxu caught the flaw in the line and defeated it in one fell swoop!
An Qingxu took the lead and defeated the Tang army wearing golden armor. Wang Sili was so frightened that he didn't know how to respond.
Seeing that the defeat of the Tang army was inevitable, the generals had no choice but to grab Wang Sili and flee back to Anyang City.
The Tang army lost 3,000 men in this battle, but these 3,000 men were all elites brought by Li Guangbi.
From then on, the Tang army declined greatly, and many newly recruited soldiers were frightened, thinking that the Yiluohe of Anlu Mountain was coming back to kill them again.
An Qingxu's army besieged Anyang City, but Li Guangbi could not hold on.
Originally, relying on the strength of Anyang City, it could have been defended for a long time.
However, An Qingxu sent people to spread rumors in the city that the Tang army was going to draw men from the homes of the people in Anyang, and one man from each family would be taken to die on the battlefield.
He also asked people to spread rumors that the Tang army was going to steal all the food from the people in Anyang City.
Li Guangbi ordered the soldiers to refute the rumors many times, but the sentiment against the Tang army in Anyang City had reached its extreme, and even the soldiers who refuted the rumors clashed with the people.
Li Guangbi was completely passive. Having experienced many battles, he knew that Anyang City could not be defended like this for much longer.
Although the Tang army was a military force, the number of civilians in Anyang was several times that of the Tang army.
But with An Lushan's army besieging it outside and the people's morale inside being turbulent, this kind of city cannot be defended at all.
Just when Li Guangbi was preparing to break out, rumors appeared again in Anyang City, saying that Li Guangbi, Wang Sili and other senior Tang army officials had left the Tang army and fled Anyang!
At this time, even the lower-level soldiers of the Tang Army began to panic, and An Qingxu's troops outside the city also shouted in unison: "Li Guangbi has escaped! Why don't you open the city gate quickly!"
The shouts made Wang Sili, who was guilty in the military camp, rush to Li Guangbi's military camp.
Seeing Li Guangbi's pale face under the candlelight, Wang Sili knelt on the ground and said with tears: "Commander, it was Wang who was greedy for power and rashly advanced, which made the army fall into this situation. Please behead Wang's head to calm the morale of the army!"
Li Guangbi sighed and said: "This battle is Li's fault and has nothing to do with you and others. It's me who underestimated An Qingxu. This man can kill his father and stand on his own, which is quite ruthless."
Wang Sili saw that Li Guangbi didn't mean to blame him, so he quickly asked: "Li Shuai, what should we do?"
Li Guangbi was also decisive. He immediately said: "Gather the elite of the army and break out!"
Wang Sili was stunned for a moment and asked: "Is this Anyang City?"
"Anyang City can no longer be defended. Don't worry, I will plead guilty to the imperial court. The blame for losing Anyang City is mine!"
After saying this, Li Guangbi immediately led his generals to gather the last group of elites in the city, and then led these elites to rush out from the north gate where the siege was relatively weak before dawn.
When daybreak came, an officer in Anyang City killed the Tang army guarding the city gate and opened Anyang City to welcome An Qingxu into the city.
Li Guangbi, who had escaped from Anyang City, had only a hundred riders left. He looked back at Anyang City, sighed deeply, and continued to lead his cronies back to Luoyang. He wanted to tell the court about the defeat in Anyang immediately.
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Five days later, just after the Shangyuan Festival in the imperial court, the Zhengshitang received a military intelligence report from Guo Ziyi, the commander-in-chief of the East Route Army. Li Guangbi was defeated in Anyang, the Tang army stationed in Anyang was defeated, and Anyang City fell to An Qingxu.
in hand.
As good fortune never comes in pairs, misfortunes never come alone. Guo Ziyi's forward army, which invaded Xiangzhou from the direction of Luoyang, also suffered a major defeat just after entering Xiangzhou. It was attacked by a partial division led by Cui Youqian and lost 20,000 horses.
Guo Ziyi's forward army was almost completely wiped out. Guo Ziyi could only retreat to the vicinity of Luoyang with his middle army and rear army. He changed from strategic attack to strategic defense and defended the safety of Luoyang first.
An Qingxu occupied almost all of Xiangzhou. He did not attack Luoyang directly, but began to annex the areas near Xiangzhou, Qizhou, Zizhou, Jezhou and other states in the northern part of Henan Province. These local areas were originally disgusted with the Tang Dynasty. After An Qingxu occupied
After Xiangzhou, the Tang army quickly expelled the Tang army from these areas with a large army, and then reappeared in the northern part of Henan Province.
Just after the New Year, we encountered such a setback that the entire political hall was in chaos.
Prime Minister Pei Mian was not good at military affairs. Prime Minister Cui Yuan suggested: "In the current situation, we can only let Guo Shuai guard Luoyang first."
The prime ministers deliberated for a long time and came up with this result. They could only go to the emperor with this opinion.
I heard that the northern part of Henan Province was defeated, and the emperor was no longer in a good mood for the New Year. He also rarely got angry at the letters from the prime ministers.
What kind of strategy is there to defend Luoyang? Is it possible to let the little thief An Qingxu continue to cause trouble to the Tang Dynasty?
At this time, Prince Hong, King Li Chu and King Qi Li Xi submitted a letter together and proposed a strategy.
Both princes believed that now that Shi Siming from Hedong had joined the Tang Dynasty, but still had a rebellious heart, it would be better to let Shi Siming fight against An Qingxu and let the two groups of traitors bite each other.
In addition, please ask the imperial court to mobilize the Longyou Army to enter the pass and put it under Guo Ziyi's control to attack An Qingxu!