Gao Xianzhi's retreat saved Chang'an, but it also meant giving up Shaanxi County, giving up Luoyang, and giving up the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains in the Central Plains, and Tang Xuanzong would never forgive him. The pen and the fun and the pavilion www.biquge.info thought that this retreat was ridiculous, Gao Xianzhi should fight, should repel An Lushan, Gao Xianzhi's army could not defeat An Lushan, Tang Xuanzong did not understand this at all. Tang Xuanzong never personally led troops to fight, but he could decide the life and death of any general.

Just a few days after the Tang army retreated into Tongguan, Gao Xianzhi heard that an envoy had come with a holy decree, and he hurriedly returned to the hall from outside to receive the decree, and at this time he saw a terrible scene. Feng Changqing has turned into a corpse, this person who fought five bloody battles in Luoyang and brought the army into Tongguan turned into a corpse.

The corpse was covered in blood, lying on a reed mat, and a eunuch stood beside it, surrounded by more than a hundred Mo knife hands. The eunuch said, "There is also a decree for you." ”

Gao Xianzhi's face turned pale and he accepted the order, which was a death warrant, which listed Gao Xianzhi's two major crimes: "Withdraw the army and abandon the land, and withhold food and salary." ”

It's too late to say anything now, Gao Xianzhi didn't resist and was directly escorted to the execution ground. By this time, the soldiers had already known the news, and many people gathered around the execution ground, silent, looking at the commander who was surrounded by swords and axes.

Gao Xianzhi walked into the execution ground, looked at the black-pressed soldiers in front of him, and said loudly: "It's not bad to say that I withdraw my army and abandon the land!" But to say that I deduct food and salary, there is heaven and land, there is absolutely no such thing!"

The eunuch looked at him lightly, without saying a word, Gao Xianzhi stood for a moment, and suddenly shouted loudly: "Am I wronged?"

Suddenly, hundreds of throats in front of them let out the same cry: "Wrong!" The shout echoed and reverberated in the cold air. Everywhere the sword flashed, the blood of a Korean spurted into the sky.

Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing died, and Tang Xuanzong only had the last card, the envoy of the two towns and the king of Xiping County, Brother Shuhan.

This Turkic general surpassed Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing in prestige, and was the only general who could keep pace with An Lushan. Ge Shuhan was originally the best choice to fight against An Lushan, but he was old, and he was paralyzed by a stroke in the bathroom not long ago, and has been recuperating in Chang'an since then. He is no longer the famous general who carried a knife at night in Qinghai and took a purple robe from the West Slaughter Stone Fort, he was just a decrepit old man.

Tang Xuanzong killed two generals with a holy decree, and also forced himself to a dead end, he had to choose this old man. Ge Shuhan was appointed as the generalissimo of the soldiers and horses, commanding the Tongguan army, and during this time, Chang'an recruited another 80,000 troops and handed them over to Ge Shuhan.

The aging Turk led a mighty army to the final journey of his life, and the fate of the entire empire was entrusted to him. Goshuhan rode his horse with great difficulty, and his chest was full of glory and sorrow. In front of him is a thousand-foot sword mountain and a thousand-foot dragon pool, and the flames in his body have gradually weakened, he may be crushed at any time, but he has no choice, he is the same as the empire, there is no second card, and then Ge Shuhan stayed in Tongguan for half a year.

From December to May of the following year, Geshuhan's army never left Tongguan, and An Lushan's army never stepped into Tongguan. An Lushan's eldest son once led an elite attack on Tongguan, but returned with a feather, and no matter how decaying Ge Shuhan was, he still managed to hold the gate, during which the situation on the entire battlefield changed dramatically.

An Lushan's iron cavalry was once invincible, rampaging north and south of the river, but at this moment his weakness was finally revealed. An Lushan's army was strangled outside Tongguan and could not destroy the Chang'an government, and his base camp of Fanyang was two thousand miles away, and his flank was too long, and he quickly fell into trouble.

In addition to sending Ge Shuhan to guard Tongguan, the Tang Empire released another lion, the Shuofang Army from the northwest. Shuofang's army crossed the Taihang Mountain, pointing directly at An Lushan's Fan Yang's lair, it won two great victories in three months, killing tens of thousands of enemy troops, Fan Yang was in danger, and An Lushan's empire had been cut off horizontally. An Lushan went from a conqueror to a sick tiger trapped in a cage in the Central Plains.

The Tang Empire has survived the cold winter, and hope is like spring grass, thriving, as long as it holds on for a while, An Lushan will have to make a choice, either retreat or collapse. If this is the case, the future history will be completely rewritten, the Great Rebellion will only be an episode of the empire, and the balance of fate will slowly and firmly tilt towards the Tang Empire.

Then at a certain moment, the god of fate suddenly changed his mind. Chang'an, in the depths of the palace, sounded an angry shout: "Why doesn't he send troops? I want my Luoyang!" followed by a whisper.

This shout will destroy the hundreds of thousands of troops in Tongguan and subvert the national fortunes of the empire. Tang Xuanzong, who is now old and stubborn, believes that An Lushan's strength has dried up. Then why don't you send troops? Why don't you go to recover Luoyang? Why don't you fight with Shuofang's army to attack An Lushan?

Reconnaissance showed that the enemy only had 4,000 soldiers and horses in the direction of Shaanxi County, so why didn't the Tongguan army take the initiative to attack?

Tang Xuanzong asked angrily, "What are you waiting for?"

Ge Shuhan knew what he was waiting for, and Tang Xuanzong's appointment of him to command the army was actually a mistake. Geshuhan was old and sick, and he did not have the energy to command an army of more than 100,000 people, nor did he have the confidence to organize field battles. If Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing were still around, the fate of the empire would be very different.

But Goshuhan still had a clear mind, he knew his weaknesses, and he knew the weaknesses of his army. It is a patchwork army, the cohesion is not enough, and the combat effectiveness is far inferior to An Lushan's iron cavalry, it is more than enough to contain the rebels, but it can't be done in a decisive battle with An Lushan.

So his train of thought is simple: wait. Wait for the Shuofang legion to surround Fanyang, and wait for An Lushan to slowly collapse.

Guo Ziyi, the commander of the Shuofang Army, also thought so, and both he and Ge Shuhan had given many concerts, pointing out that at this critical moment, they must not act rashly. Once Geshuhan goes out of the Eastern Crusade, the entire empire will face unforeseen dangers. If there is no barrier in the eight hundred miles of Qinchuan, the imperial capital Chang'an is bound to overturn, and the current situation will take a sharp turn for the worse. The 4,000 soldiers of Shaanxi County are just bait, and an ambush circle must have been set up there.

Guo Ziyi said categorically: "Tongguan sends troops, and if there is a battle, it will be defeated!"

But Tang Xuanzong didn't listen to it at all, he didn't understand why Gao Xianzhi retreated back then, and now he also doesn't understand why Ge Shuhan didn't send troops. He roared in the palace: "He has been waiting for half a year, how long will he wait?"

His cry spread all the way to Tongguan, and the execution of Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing was the first mistake of Tang Xuanzong. Letting an old man after a stroke take command of the legion was the second mistake he made. Both mistakes can be remedied, but he has to make a third mistake, which is the last and most fatal one.

He sent one messenger after another to Tongguan to convey the same will: "Get out of the customs immediately and recover Luoyang!"

Goshuhan was frightened, and at his feet, the two generals were summarily executed by a holy decree. Tang Xuanzong is now old and faint, who knows what he will do? Will the next holy decree be to take the head of his brother Shuhan?

While he was still making his last stand, he went on to write a recital to the emperor, begging for his life to be retracted. The answer to him was a murderous edict: "No matter how long it is delayed, the law of the country is there, and I will not be able to show favoritism!"

Goshuhan completely collapsed, this letter destroyed the last ray of hope for Goshuhan, and also destroyed the last glimmer of hope for the empire, and the fate of the empire was sealed at this moment.

On the 4th of June, Geshuhan marched with a large army to the East. He had a premonition of a dark future, no victory, no light, only bottomless destruction, and he caressed his chest and wept bitterly.

After six months of closing, the gates of the city were opened, the metal armor glittered in the sunlight, and the banners hunted in the wind. Nearly 200,000 troops rushed out, striding towards death, and behind them was the heart of the empire, the rich Guanzhong, and the most prosperous and magnificent city in the world, Chang'an. Today, the petals of the empire are dazzlingly open, the stamens are revealed in the dark night, and an old Turkic man is crying in the procession.

Every day at dusk, the beacon tower of Tongguan will light the torch, and the light of the fire will be reflected thirty miles away, and the beacon tower there will also light the torch when it sees the fire of Tongguan. In this way, every thirty miles is a station, and the beacon fire extends from Tongguan to Chang'an, like a slender fire dragon in the night.

This is the fire of peace, as long as Chang'an can see the beacon fire in the distance, it means that Tongguan is safe and sound, from the beginning of the war, the fire of peace is transmitted to Chang'an every day, from the beginning. But on June 9, it suddenly disappeared, no one knew what was going on, and the sky was dark in the distance.

Tang Xuanzong stood on the platform and looked at the east for a long time. The purple sun had sunk into the earth, and the moon had risen in the sky like a whirlwind, draped with thousands of stars, but there was no fire.

Tang Xuanzong felt a chill like ice, it was fear, a heavy fear like a stone, Ge Shuhan was out of the customs for five days, and Tongguan was suddenly silent, as if it was swallowed by the earth. For the first time, he vaguely guessed the truth, just as his empire was crumbling. But what happened in the last few days? He doesn't know yet, but he'll know soon.

After leaving the pass, Goshuhan's 200,000-strong army strode into the ambush circle, they were trapped in a ravine, the enemy threw boulders from the mountains, and the Don army fell into confusion. Ge Shuhan desperately launched a charge, but he couldn't break through. In the afternoon, strong winds blew, and An Lushan's troops set fire to dozens of grass carts, blocking the eastern exit of the canyon. Thick smoke billowed towards the Tang army, and the ranks began to rush into each other, killing each other, and the chaos continued until dusk. In the end, An Lushan's cavalry went around the back of the Tang army and launched a charge, so everything was over.

The canyon was littered with vaguely faced corpses, the 200,000 troops had collapsed, and only 8,000 had escaped from the battlefield. The enemy army followed and took Tongguan in one fell swoop, and the iron gate that blocked them for six months no longer exists, this is the truth. An Lushan's troops are about to sprint towards Chang'an, this is the truth.

He had no way of knowing about the future, everything in the future was written into his destiny, about to be revealed to him one by one, but at this moment, he still knew nothing.

Little did he know that Chang'an was about to fall, and a group of humanoid beasts were going to turn it into a huge slaughterhouse. Countless people will be smeared with liver and brain, even babies will not be spared, princesses and grandchildren will be dug out of their hearts and livers, and noble ministers will be chiseled alive to remove their skulls. This autumn, Chang'an will belong to the devil, and he himself will soon flee to Sichuan, and then he will survive six bleak years before finally dying in the deserted Shenlong Temple.

He didn't know that he was about to face a cruel choice in Ma Weipo, whether to save himself or his lover? He chose himself, the person he loved most in his life, and turned into a cold corpse lying in front of him. He spent sleepless nights listening to the rain outside the window, thinking about the moment that broke his heart.

Little did he know that the rebellion in front of him would last for eight years, and the Empire would use all its strength to extinguish it, but the Empire would also be unrecognizable. It never really unified the country again, and the glory of the past is gone.

With it passed not just one empire, but the entire classical imperial era of China, the era of the Han and Tang dynasties, after which China entered another period forever.

But at this moment, Tang Xuanzong didn't know anything, he just stood on the platform, looking at the east in confusion, watching the empire slowly walk into the night.