The old man still sells wine in his seventies, and there are thousands of pots and jars of flowers at the door.
The elm pods along the road are as clever as money. Are you willing to pick them and sell them for wine?
——"Asking the Master of Huamen Restaurant" Cen Shen (Tang Dynasty)
…
The war is about to begin, and all forces are mobilizing their troops.
The 30,000 forward cavalry of the Yunzhou rebels took advantage of the dim night to advance at full speed, suddenly inserted into the valley north of Yanmen Pass, and launched a surprise attack. They overran three fortresses overnight and defeated the 10,000 defenders stationed north of Yanmen Pass.
The army was defeated in one fell swoop.
The rebels joined forces, and more than 50,000 Khitan remnants guarded the three main roads leading to Yanmen Pass in the north of the Great Wall, sniping at the Tang army who might come for reinforcements from surrounding fortresses. In particular, they guarded against the 5,000 Anxi Ting cavalry who disappeared outside the Great Wall.
At the same time, Dahonglin, the prince of Bohai County, personally led an army of 100,000 people from the northeast to the south.
In this battle, in order to capture Yanmen Pass as soon as possible and capture Hedong Road in one fell swoop, the main forces of Bohai County came out in full force.
After Yanmen was closed, Wang Sili, the governor of Hedong Jiedu, stood on the tower with his helmet pierced, building a pergola with his hands, and watching the enemy's situation.
On the grassland north of Yanmen Pass, the rebel flags were fluttering, covering the sky and the sun, and there were hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses.
The generals were horrified and filled with fear.
Wang Sili was quite puzzled: An Lushan rebelled because he was the military governor of Fanyang, Pinglu and Hedong towns.
The Anshi Rebellion lasted for several years, and there are not many of these troops left now. They should all be under Shi Siming's command, confronting Li Guangbi in Heyang and Luoyang.
There are at most 20,000 to 30,000 rebels stationed in Yunzhou. Where did the hundreds of thousands of troops appearing outside Yanmen Pass come from?
Just when Wang Sili was confused, a scout came to report: After repeated investigations, it was confirmed that the main force of these hundreds of thousands of horses, except for the Yunzhou rebels, the Xi tribe and the remaining Khitan tribes, were the 100,000 Mohe cavalry from the Bohai County.
"Mohe Iron Cavalry?"
Wang Sili was shocked when he heard this.
This Bohai County has always been at odds with the Tang Dynasty since the founding of the country by Da Zuorong, a Mohe man, and has continuously encroached on the territory of Baishan and Heishui of the Tang Dynasty:
In the 21st year of Kaiyuan of the Xuanzong Dynasty (733), Bohai County sent a navy to invade Dengzhou (today's northeast coast of Shandong) and killed the governor of Dengzhou.
In the leap month of that year, another naval force from the Bohai Commandery landed in the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula and captured Madu Mountain (now northwest of Shanhaiguan), killing more than 10,000 Tang soldiers.
But this is the first time that a large army has been mobilized to directly invade the Central Plains.
For the current plan, we can only rely on the natural danger of Yanmen Pass and fight to the death.
"Woo..." The bull horn sounded loudly, and the rebels gathered and launched the first wave of offensive.
War drums roared, horns blared, and the rebels' strong bows and crossbows exerted great power. A storm of arrows blocked the tooth-shaped battlements, making the Tang soldiers unable to fight back.
Under the cover of strong bows and crossbows, 30,000 rebel soldiers armed with shields and siege ladders rushed to the bottom of the city wall.
Due to the dangerous terrain of Yanmen Pass, large scale ladders cannot be advanced, so simple siege ladders can only be relied on to lean on the wall for climbing.
At the critical moment, the soldiers of the Tang army had no choice but to trade their lives, leaning out and risking a hail of bullets and arrows to throw rolling logs and rocks at the rebel soldiers.
The dense rolling logs and stones rolled down from the top of the city, and the rebel soldiers who were hit fell upside down. Their bones and tendons were broken at worst, and they died at worst.
The soldiers of the Tang army took the opportunity to smash the siege ladder in half with rolling logs and rocks, or used steel forks to push the siege ladder away from the city wall to prevent it from approaching.
Several hours passed, and thousands of corpses of rebel soldiers were left under the walls of the Great Wall. Yanmen Pass remained unmoved.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the rebels called for gold and retreated. Tens of thousands of troops retreated like a tide.
After resting for an hour, the rebels launched a second wave of offensive.
In order to save rolling wood and stones, Wang Sili ordered the human and animal excrement to be boiled in a large pot, divided into clay pots, and placed together under the parapet wall. The stench above the city suddenly became extremely disgusting and disgusting.
This weapon for defending the city is called "golden juice", and it is the most dangerous. Once poured on the exposed skin, it will not only cause severe burns, but the wound will immediately fester and the pain will be unbearable. Three days later, the poison of fire will attack the heart and he will die.
When the rebels attacked the city and climbed up the siege ladder, the Tang army soldiers immediately smashed the clay pots against the siege ladder.
The clay pot exploded, and the hot "golden juice" splashed all over the rebel soldiers. In an instant, thick smoke flew up, and screams continued. The rebel soldiers howled like ghosts, fell from the siege ladder to the ground, and suffered unbearable pain.
He stopped rolling and twitching on the ground.
Such a tragic situation made the rebel soldiers shudder.
Two hours later, the rebels again left corpses on the ground and returned without success.
For the next two days, there was no movement in the rebel camp. This silence made Wang Sili feel bad. As an experienced commander, he knew that such strange silence was not a good thing.
Sure enough, that night, the beacon fires stretching in the distance were like a relay, and three beacon fires were lit one after another, indicating that the enemy was coming.
Wang Sili's heart was beating loudly, he knew something big was happening.
Several scouts, stumbling, rolling and crawling, came to report.
"General, something bad has happened. The rebels have captured several passes on the east and west sides of Yanmen Pass, less than ten miles away from here. Now, the rebels are attacking from left and right along the corridor of the Great Wall, encircling them!"
The generals looked at the rolling hills and could vaguely see the rebels, like ants, swarming densely along the corridor on the Great Wall towards Yanmen Pass.
Without the natural barrier of the Great Wall to rely on, the rebels' numerical advantage immediately became apparent.
The passes on the east and west sides of Yanmen Pass were successively breached. In the dark night, the passes on the Great Wall were winding, the watchtowers were blazing into the sky, and the sounds of killing were heard one after another.
All the generals looked at each other in shock and fear.
Wang Sili got on his horse, took out his sword, pointed it straight into the sky, and shouted loudly: "The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty should be wrapped in horse leather and stained with blood on the battlefield!
The time has come to sacrifice your life for the country and glorify the Tang Dynasty! My sons, follow me and fight out!"
After that, he shook the reins of his horse, whipped his horse, and galloped towards the direction of the rebel attack.
The general took the lead, and the soldiers under Wang Sili's command were so excited that they roared and charged away with their troops.
…
After a night of fighting, the Tang army finally recaptured several passes and drove the rebel soldiers down the Great Wall, gaining a temporary victory.
However, the Tang army suffered heavy casualties in this battle, and most of the tens of thousands of defenders were lost.
Wang Sili's robe was stained with blood, and he was leaning on the saddle, dying. In this battle, he suffered more than ten wounds from swords and arrows, and two of his horses were killed in the battle, which shows how tragic the battle was.
Looking at the rebel camps scattered across the mountains and plains, Wang Sili knew that with the same number of casualties, for the rebels, the losses accounted for only one-tenth of the total strength.
As long as the rebels launch two more rounds of fierce attacks, the defenders at Yanmen Pass will definitely be wiped out.
What's even more frightening is that one hundred thousand Mohe cavalry have not taken action yet, they are arrayed in the grassland with eager eyes, waiting to break through Yanmen Pass, like a plague of wolves and locusts, roaring southward!
With the support of his own soldiers, Wang Sili struggled to get up and knelt down tremblingly while looking in the direction of Chang'an!
"I am incompetent, but I am willing to die for the Tang Dynasty! I will cut off my head and die without giving up an inch of Tang Dynasty soil!"
Just when Wang Sili vowed to die for his country, he heard a cheer behind him, and the soldiers shouted loudly: "General, look, the rebels are withdrawing!"
Hearing the horn horn sound in the distance, the Mohe cavalry rose up from camp. Thousands of cavalry formed a team and quickly evacuated. They were like a fleet setting sail on the sea.
After the Yanmen gate was closed, the soldiers of the Tang army waved their swords and jumped for joy, spontaneously celebrating this great victory.
"It's easy to get something, but it's easy to give it up. What's the point of withdrawing troops at this time?"
Come on, pick some elite scouts and go find out quickly!" Wang Sili looked solemn and ordered hurriedly.
An hour later, Tan Ma came to report: "Reporting to the commander, for some reason, all the 100,000 troops from Bohai County have been evacuated.
The Mohe cavalry left in a hurry, leaving behind a large number of golden drums, tents and other luggage in the camp..."
"General, are you pursuing me?" Several generals around him asked hurriedly, eager to achieve success.
Such a strange evacuation left Wang Sili, who had experienced many battles, at a loss to understand.
He pondered for a moment, frowned, and waved his hands and said, "I can't see through the Mohe people's intentions of withdrawing their troops. In order to avoid falling into the rebels' plan to lure the enemy deeper, we'd better be cautious and be prepared.
Come on, send an order to the entire army. Anyone who dares to leave the city to pursue us will be killed!"