Chapter 993 Tongguan Is Lost, Your Majesty, Run!

On the ninth day of November in the fourteenth year of Tianbao, An Lushan, who was also the envoy of Fanyang, Pinglu, and Hedong, mobilized 150,000 soldiers from Tang, Tongluo, Xi, Khitan, and Shiwei, claiming 200,000 troops. He raised troops in Fanyang under the pretext of "worrying about the danger of the country" and following the secret edict to attack Yang Guozhong.

Mount Anlu rode on iron yu, and his subordinates rode elite smoke and dust for thousands of miles, and the sound of drumming shook the ground.

There has been peace in the country for a long time, and the common people have not seen war for several generations. When they heard that Fan Yang's army rose up, they were shocked far and near. Hebei was under the jurisdiction of Anlu Mountain. The prefectures and counties where the rebels passed by were disintegrated. The local magistrates either opened their doors to welcome the rebels, or abandoned the city to escape, or were captured and killed by the rebels. The rebels soon took control of Hebei.

On November 15th, Tang Xuanzong appointed Feng Changqing, the envoy of Anxi Jiedu, to concurrently serve as Fan Yang and Pinlu Jiedu envoy to defend Luoyang, and then appointed Rong Wang Li Wan as the marshal, and General Gao Xianzhi of You Jinwu as the deputy marshal. Make Bi Sichen go to Luoyang, the eastern capital, to recruit troops for defense.

Most of the elite frontier troops of the Tang Dynasty had not rushed back yet. Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi temporarily recruited troops in Chang'an and Luoyang, but the recruits they got were all street children with little combat experience and no training.

Although An Lushan's army encountered obstacles, it still invaded Luoyang on December 12.

Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi, who had retreated to Tongguan, took a defensive position and stuck to Tongguan to get out. However, Tang Xuanzong listened to the false accusation of the eunuch who supervised the army, and punished Chang Qing and Gao Xianzhi for the crime of "lost the law and lost his teacher".

On the first day of the first lunar month in the fifteenth year of Tianbao, An Lushan was called Emperor Dayan in Luoyang and changed to Yuan Shengwu.

After Tang Xuanzong beheaded the two generals Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi, he appointed Ge Shuhan, the Jiedu envoy of Longyou, who was sick at home, as the deputy marshal of the army and horses, and ordered him to lead an army of 200,000 to guard Tongguan. The terrain of Tongguan is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. After Ge Shuhan entered Tongguan, he immediately strengthened the city defense, with deep ditches and high fortifications, and retreated and defended.

In the first month of the fifteenth year of Tianbao, An Lushan ordered his son An Qingxu to lead his troops to attack Tongguan, but was repelled by Ge Shuhan. The main force of An's army was blocked in Tongguan for several months and could not go west.

An Lushan saw that a strong attack would not work, so he ordered Cui Qianyou to garrison the old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers in Shan County, and concealed the elite troops, trying to induce Ge Shuhan to abandon the danger and fight.

In May, Tang Xuanzong received information from the rebel general Cui Qianyou in Shan County that "the soldiers were less than 4,000, and all of them were weak and unprepared", and sent his envoy Ge Shuhan to send troops to recover Shanluo.

Ge Shuhan immediately wrote to Emperor Xuanzong, "Anlu Mountain has been accustomed to using troops for a long time, and now it will be rebellious, and it will not be unprepared. It must be used to lure us with weak troops and weak soldiers. If we enter the army, it will be just right. Besides, the rebel army will work hard and go on an expedition. Quickly. The officers and soldiers rely on the natural danger of Tongguan to resist them, and they are standing firm. Moreover, the rebels are tyrannical, lose popular support, and gradually decline. Civil strife will soon occur, and if they attack again, they will be captured without a fight."

At the same time, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi attacked the rebel general Shi Siming in Hebei, and won several big victories, and the progress was very smooth. The two generals Guo and Li also believed that Tongguan should only be held firmly and should not be taken lightly. They advocated leading the Shuofang army to take Fanyang from the north, covering the rebel lair, and prompting the rebel army to collapse.

But Prime Minister Yang Guozhong suspected that Ge Shuhan was seeking his own interests, so he said to Tang Xuanzong: "Ge Shuhan stands still, and he will miss a good opportunity."

Xuanzong believed in slander, ignored Guo and Li Zhimou, and sent envoys to urge Shuhan to fight.

Ge Shuhan was forced to be helpless, and wept bitterly.

With the lessons learned from Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi being beheaded, Ge Shuhan was forced to lead the troops out of customs on the fourth day of June, and met Cui Qianyou's troops in Lingbao Xiyuan on the seventh day.

Lingbao is surrounded by mountains in the south and the Yellow River in the north, with a narrow mountain road seventy miles long in the middle. Cui Qianyou ambushed the elite soldiers on the south mountain in advance, and led the troops to a decisive battle with the Tang army on the eighth day of the lunar new year.

The Tang army led 50,000 elite soldiers led by Wang Sili, followed by 100,000 troops led by Pang Zhong, and another 30,000 people were sent to beat drums on high places on the north bank of the Yellow River to assist in the attack.

When the two armies met, the Tang army saw that the rebels were in disarray and wanted to escape with their banners lowered, so they drove straight forward, but were lured into a narrow road. The rebel army ambushed and threw rolling logs and stones from the mountain. The soldiers of the Tang army were crowded in the narrow road, making it difficult to deploy, and there were many casualties.

Ge Shuhan hurriedly ordered the felt carts to charge ahead, trying to open an approach, but was blocked by the straw carts set ablaze by the rebels and could not move forward. Tang Jun was blinded by the smoke and couldn't see the target clearly. He thought the rebels were in the thick smoke, so they fired crossbow arrows randomly, and didn't know they had hit the target until the sunset.

At this time, Cui Qianyou and Luo Jingqi ordered to go from the south valley to the back of the officer army and fight out. The Tang army was attacked back and forth, and they were in a mess. The screams were terrifying, and there was a scene of tragedy.

Seeing the defeat of the former army, the rear army of the Tang Dynasty collapsed without fighting. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, the Tang army on the north bank of the Yellow River also collapsed one after another. Of the nearly 200,000 Tang troops, only 8,000 fled back to Tongguan.

On the ninth day of the ninth day, Cui Ganyou captured Tongguan.

Ge Shuhan was coerced by his subordinates and surrendered to Anlu Mountain.

This battle is a typical example of ambush warfare in the history of Chinese warfare. Tang Xuanzong miscalculated the situation and refused to adopt the policy of defending the dangerous position, exhausting the enemy for a long time, and waiting for an opportunity to attack. Take a nosedive.

Cui Ganyou lured the Tang army into the ambush area and lured the Tang army into the ambush area, thus winning a big victory.

Knowing that Tongguan was lost, Chang'an was in chaos. Among the hundred officials, only one or two people went to court. Tang Xuanzong went to the Qinzheng Building to issue a letter saying that he would personally conscript, but everyone didn't believe it.

In the end, Tang Xuanzong fled with his concubine and sisters, princes, grandsons, princesses, concubines, Yang Guozhong, Wei Jiansu, Wei Fangjin, Chen Xuanli and close attendants Yanqiumen, and fled to Shu under the protection of the Six Imperial Guards.

Then there was the Maweiyi mutiny.

The Battle of Tongguan was the most important turning point of the Anzhi Rebellion. If Tongguan existed, Ouyang Shuo would be more than 90% sure to win this battle. If Tongguan is lost, the fun will be great.

…………

Outside Chang'an City, Ouyang Shuo met Feng Qiuhuang, and he heard waves of battle announcements.

"Battle Announcement: A total of eight lords participated in the Anshi Rebellion, with a total force of 450,000. The Tang Dynasty camp had two lords with a total force of 150 million; the Anlu Mountain camp had six lords with a total force of 300,000."

...

"Battle Announcement: Because the Tang Dynasty camp is weaker than the Anlu Mountain camp, according to the battle rules, the Tang Dynasty camp will automatically receive a 50% increase in troop defense."

...

Because the strength of the Tang Dynasty camp is only half of that of the Anlu Mountain camp, the bonus this time is very impressive.

"Battle Announcement: According to the test results of title and merit, the representative of the alien from the Tang Dynasty camp is Qiyue Wuyi, Wang Jue. The representative of the alien from the Anlu Mountain camp is Di Chen, a first-class marquis."

...

Although he got the [Amulet of Merit], Di Chen should be a little closer to being a Duke, but he doesn't know if Di Chen can be promoted to Duke after the battle is over.

If that is the case, a second dynasty will soon be born in China.

Ouyang Shuo pressed his thoughts, first went to the quartermaster to register as usual, and then asked about the current progress of the battle, "Dare to ask the general, where are the rebels fighting now? Is Tongguan still there?"

"To my two lords, Tongguan has been lost a few days ago, and Xijing is in chaos. It's the right time for the two lords to lead an army to help." The quartermaster's answer made Ouyang Shuo and Feng Qiuhuang's hearts feel cold.

Feng Prisonhuang was half joking, and said half seriously: "Oops, we are really going to lose to Di Chen and the others this time. To be on the safe side, let's quickly lead our troops and flee into the deep mountains until the battle is over."

Hearing this, before Ouyang Shuo said anything, the quartermaster's expression changed drastically.

Ouyang Shuo smiled slightly at the quartermaster, and said: "General, there is no need to worry. Since we have come to help, we will not give up halfway. Tell the palace for me that this king will enter the palace to see His Majesty later."

"promise!"

The quartermaster turned pale, turned and left.

Seeing that Feng Prisonhuang was puzzled, Ouyang Shuo smiled and said, "Let's go to the camp to discuss."

The timing of the battle that Gaia deduced was indeed somewhat beyond Ouyang Shuo's expectations. Yes, in history, after the fall of Chang'an, the Tang Dynasty finally put down the rebellion, but that was a few years later.

The biggest difference between the battle map and the history is that there is a variable called the Alien Legion.

With the 300,000 alien troops of the [Yanhuang League] in the Anlushan camp, will it be swallowed up one by one by the Jiedu envoys from all over the Tang Dynasty like in history? not necessarily.

Moreover, with Di Chen and others present, the scene where An Lushan's son An Qingxu wanted to "kill his father", which led to chaos in the Anlushan camp, would not happen on the battle map.

The entire war situation is extremely unfavorable to the Tang Dynasty camp.

Back in the tent, Ouyang Shuo said to Feng Prison Huang: "Gaia will not arrange a real dead end, it seems to be at a dead end, it's just that we haven't found the key to solve the predicament."

"That being said, Tongguan has already fallen, and the enemy army will soon come to Chang'an, and we don't have much time left." Feng Prisonhuang was still not optimistic.

Ouyang Shuo smiled slightly, and said, "Don't worry, I'll go to meet the legendary Tang Xuanzong Li Longji first, and then I'll make a fuss about it after I get back."

"That's the only way to go."

After Feng Prison Huang left, Ouyang Shuo said to Pang Tong, the accompanying military advisor, "Shi Yuan, how to solve this situation depends on your resourcefulness."

For this expedition, Ouyang Shuo did not bring the usual Jia Xu, but Pang Tong, a "newcomer". Naturally, he wanted to give Pang Tong a chance to display his talents. Fortunately, the Zizheng Pavilion really gained a foothold.

Ouyang Shuo is already very deep in the way of employing people.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, I will not disgrace my mission." Pang Tong was also arrogant. He switched from Shuhan to Daxia and entered the cabinet of counselors, so he naturally wanted to show it.

In Zizheng Pavilion, apart from Zhang Liang, Jia Xu, Ju Shou and Chen Gong were all from his same age.

Before Ouyang Shuo left, Pang Tong suddenly said: "After you go to the palace to meet Xuanzong, you might as well take some time to meet that crown prince Li Xiang again."

Ouyang Shuo was taken aback, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Pang Tong's ability to say such words proved that during the three days of preparation for the battle, he had done a lot of homework for the battle of the Anshi Rebellion, and his loyalty was commendable, which made Ouyang Shuo feel gratified.

"I don't know, will I be able to see the legendary Concubine Yang this time?" Looking at the tall walls of Chang'an City, Ouyang Shuo sighed.