The news of the great victory at Hanguguan reached Jing'an Town. Ling Hu Yan heard a fast horse galloping at the counter, and stopped outside the inn and neighed, a sergeant turned over and dismounted and went straight to the inn, the guard stopped him, and he blurted out: "Let me see the young marshal, Hanguguan lost seven or eight hundred people in the first battle." ”

The guard was so frightened that he let him in without even looking at the token, and the sergeant hurried up the stairs. After a while, the young marshal hurriedly descended downstairs, turned over and galloped away with a group of people.

Nangong Han, who was in the kitchen, came out with a bowl of wild rice porridge and was about to present it, so Ling Hu Yan signaled that he didn't need to send it. He was wondering, he didn't believe that Ling Hu Yan took it upstairs, and the guards upstairs really asked him to take it down, so he had no choice but to come down, and Ling Hu Yan smiled proudly at him.

Soon, Ling Huyan walked to the kitchen and whispered to him: "Hangu Pass is a great victory, the rebels have killed seven or eight hundred people, and the young handsome man is in a hurry to go to the camp." ”

"Then what about Nalan's casualties?"

"I didn't hear this. Brother Nangong, what do you say about Nalan and them? There were only a hundred of them, and they killed seven or eight hundred rebels, and they must have suffered many casualties themselves. When Ling Huyan heard Nalan's name, she asked with some concern.

"Rest assured, Cuihan has deployed 10,000 people. It's okay. ”

But in the next few days, they received information from the Guannei one after another, and the seven or eight people in front of Hangu Pass were really killed by more than 100 people from Nalan with rolling logs and fire.

The three of them were all rejoicing in their hearts.

Ling Huzhao asked him how to get the information transmission, could it be that there were any secret channels, Nangong Han always prevaricated.

The next day, he was chopping wood in the courtyard when he saw a gray dove flying in the distance, standing on the courtyard wall. The wings seemed to be wounded, and the dove seemed to be not afraid of people, staring at him and purring. He gently walked over and grabbed the pigeon, which did not struggle. But seeing a few wounds on the pigeon's body, it looked like it had been attacked by an eagle. The pigeon was dying, so Hu Zhao poured some cold rice soup on the pigeon, and found gold sore medicine to put it on the pigeon.

The man who passed through the battlefield loved life, and he hoped that this would save the wounded and helpless pigeon. He stroked the pigeon gently, hoping to relieve its pain, when he touched the foot, he found a hard object on the foot, picked it up and saw that it was a very small bamboo tube, and wondered who would tie a bamboo tube to the pigeon? So I took it down and saw what was carefully wrapped in the bamboo tube with oiled paper? After pulling it out, it turned out to be a note, and when I opened it, I said, "I want to send troops to Luoyang, recover the eastern capital, and wait for the opportunity to move." ”

Ling Hu Zhao only understood at this time that Nangong Han's communication channel actually relied on these pigeons, no wonder he didn't know what to do when he went to the house all day, he was really a little unaware.

But secretly thinking about the content of the letter, it can't help but be a little shocking. Although he was only a charging sergeant in Anthy, he also knew some basic art of war. Now the rebels have conquered hundreds of cities, Hedong and the Central Plains have fallen, and the morale is booming, if you confront it head-on at this time, it is difficult to have a chance of winning, and once you get out of Tongguan, if there is no reinforcement, you may lose the natural danger of Tongguan. In that case, Chang'an will have no danger to defend, and the rebels will drive straight in, and it will be dangerous.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel his blood stirring, if the Son of Heaven insisted on going his own way, it would put the country and the people in danger.

It has been a mistake to connive at An Lushan and raise tigers for trouble, resulting in today's situation. If you insist on going your own way, without elite and superior troops, it is really stupid to go out of Tongguan and fight to the death with the rebels.

Slightly similar to what Ling Huzhao saw was Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, the two generals, Feng Shuai was stripped of his powers by the imperial court due to the loss of Luoyang, and temporarily served under Gao Shuai's account. The two were originally old from Anxi, and they experienced many battles side by side, and they were brave and good generals in Anxi.

The emperor was very angry that the rebels had been attacking the city and plundering the land for less than a month, but he had no good strategy to defend against the enemy. And I heard that King Qin's Shuofang Jiedu envoy Guo Ziyi led Li Guangbi and other generals to lead troops to cross the Yellow River from the northern line and start the eastward crusade. In addition, after the good news of the first battle of Hanguguan reached him, it was like taking a dose of miracle medicine, and he regained his ambition and domineering as the son of heaven of the Tang Dynasty. Especially when he saw the copy of the mansion in the first battle of Hangu Pass, it was Li Hu Zhonglang of the Li Tang family who led his troops to break the enemy, which made him even more excited, and he even shouted in public: "An Lushan, you were treated well by widows at the beginning, but you have wolf ambitions to subvert my Tang Dynasty, what is the reason?" ”

As a result, he immediately issued an edict, requiring Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing to prepare for the dispatch of troops and recover the eastern capital Luoyang in one fell swoop.

And Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing both understand that the new army recruited now is very weak in combat effectiveness, and fighting against the Hedong rebels is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg, which is not to grow the morale of others and destroy their own prestige, but to see the reality clearly and not to make fearless sacrifices, because the Tongguan Heavy Land cannot be lost, and once it is lost, the Tang Dynasty will be in danger of no return.

The battle of Hangu Pass did boost the morale of the soldiers and civilians on the southern front, and many people thought that An Lushan's army was nothing more than that.

But after Gao Shuai understood the truth of the matter, he was very shocked, in the current situation of the great enemy, when you are alive and dead, there are generals like Li Hu, who do not help when they are fighting, and when they are victorious, they snatch the results of the battle, ask for merit and reward, and in order to cover up the fact that they have not approved the defense garrison, it is really contemptible.

So, Li Hu was ordered to go to Tongguan to describe in detail the ins and outs of the Battle of Hangu. After Li Hu learned of the general's order, he hurried to Tongguan. As soon as he entered the camp, he saw the head of the Tongguan camp, Gao Shuai standing in the hall, and Feng Shuai had been cut off to listen as a cloth cloth.

Gao Dashuai saw Li Hu entering, and said: "Zhonglang will work hard all the way, and the battle of Hangu Pass has achieved remarkable results, and it really gives the rebels a color." ”

"Where! Where! Such a small achievement is not enough to worry about. Just do your duty as a courtier. The young general has long heard of the exploits made by Gao Shuai and Feng Shuai in Anxi, and that is a great achievement. ”

……

At this time, Feng Shuai, who was dressed in cloth and limped on the side, said sharply on the side: "Gossip aside, this time the rebels suffered such a great humiliation in Hangu Pass, how can they give up, they will gather people and horses to attack again, Zhonglang will have a good countermeasure?" ”

Li Hu saw that Feng Changqing had been cut off, a cloth cloth, and he was so arrogant, he was very unhappy in his heart, and the battle of Luoyang, the loss of soldiers and generals, the emperor spared you from dying, and he was still playing prestige in front of Lao Tzu, and he was about to attack. But after thinking about it, in the battle of Hangu Pass, he really picked up a bargain, and used his relationship with the chief manager and the supervising army to get this credit, and showed his face in front of the Son of Heaven. After thinking about it, he said: "Back to Feng Shuai, the contemptible people think that the rebels are just a group of grass bandits, messing with my Tang Dynasty, not to be afraid, we should take the initiative to kill the pass, cut these rebellious ministers and thieves under the horse, and let them know how many eyes the horse prince has?" ”

At this time, the camp manager in the hall coughed lightly, and Gao Xianzhi frowned silently.

Feng Changqing just smiled to himself, and asked softly: "In this way, Zhonglang will be worthy of being the queen of the royal family, and Ying Yong will be brave." But as far as I know, when the rebels were attacking, Zhonglang was drinking with the woman in the store in Qinglong Town. When the captain Nalan of Hangu Pass was guarding desperately resisting, you saw that the rebels were strong, and not only ordered the 500 sergeants stationed behind the pass not to lend a hand, but also ordered to withdraw to Tongguan. Unbeknownst to him, Captain Nalan had already prepared rolling wood and fire oil to burn the rebels under the pass. After you learned the news, you immediately killed the horse pistol and led the soldiers to rush to the gate tower to snatch the battle merits. Zhonglang General, isn't that so? ”

At this time, Li Hu was ashamed when he heard it, and scolded Feng Changqing: "As soon as you are cut off and sealed as a cripple, dare to accuse the general?" In the battle of Hangu Pass, the general personally commanded, and Nalan's little lieutenant could set off such a skill? You don't see me winning the battle, which sets off the defeat of your eastern capital. ”

Where could Feng Changqing stand such an insult, and shouted: "Ben Shuai is going to kill the guy you are hiding from in this issue today." Wanting to pull out the horizontal knife and slash at Li Hu, Li Hu also took out the horizontal knife and put it aside, shouting: "Feng cripple, you dare to kill me with a cloth, I will kill you first." ”

At this time, I only heard Gao Xianzhi shouting: "Stop!" The great enemy is at present, and now there is some infighting. After speaking, he gave Feng Changqing a look, although Feng Shuai was angry, he was helpless. I had no choice but to put away the horizontal knife and walk behind the tent angrily.

Gao Xianzhi also knows that Li Hu is a relative of the royal family, and now he is popular, and he has become the person that the emperor cares about, so it is best not to mess with him. These people are intertwined, and it is very troublesome to play a book at random. The emperor issued several edicts asking them to send troops to Luoyang and recover Tokyo. And they are also well aware of the stakes, not sending troops is to resist the order, sending troops with these market children, and there is almost no chance of winning against the rebels who are in their prime. Only by holding Tongguan steadily, stepping up military training, and waiting for the enemy to be tired, then go out of Tongguan to recover Luoyang, and form a corner with the Shuofang army, the rebels will be defeated.

But the emperor doesn't think so, what he thinks about may be his face, the brilliant Tang Dynasty was turned upside down by a small festival, how can face exist, how does this make the four seas Diyi look at it? Therefore, he needs victory, he can't care so much anymore, victory, stepping on An Lushan's group of rebels is the style of the Tang Dynasty.

Feng Changqing is his old subordinate for many years, with an upright temperament and uprightness, and he is naturally angry when he sees someone like Li Hu.

After dispersing, he found Feng Changqing again, and the two of them studied and analyzed the situation, Gao Xianzhi said: "The report has been reported to the emperor, if this matter is reversed, it will only give rise to many doubts, and it is meaningless to the war." Li Hu has 10,000 recruited troops under his command, if there is chaos, Cuihan is lost, and if the rebels reach Tongguan, it will be even more chaotic.

Feng Changqing said: "Gao Shuai, I don't know what's at stake. However, it is really despised to be in the company of such people. ”

Gao Xianzhi said: "Your Majesty has repeatedly ordered to send troops to Luoyang, but how can these generals we recruit fight against the rebels?" If this continues, I am worried that not only will my official position be lost, but if the villain is slandered, disaster may come. Therefore, if you can endure it, you can endure it, and Tongguan should not be lost because of us. ”

Listening to Gao Xianzhi's heartfelt words, Feng Changqing deeply felt that the Tang Dynasty was in Tongguan, which had a great relationship with Gao Shuai's decision-making. And because of the defeat of Luoyang, he wore a guilty body and served under the account of Gao Shuai.

Thinking that he was in Anxi Qiuzi, Mao Sui recommended himself to become the attendant of Gao Xianzhi, the commander of the Duzhi soldiers, Gao disliked his ugly appearance and lameness, so he waited for him at Gao's gate every day, Gao really had no choice, so he was hired as an attendant. It wasn't until later that Gao Xianzhi led his troops to quell the Daxi rebellion that his talent was discovered. For many years after that, the two fought side by side, and made great achievements in Anxi, what a heroic spirit.

Gao Xianzhi continued: "In this battle of Hangu Pass, Nalan Yanghe, the captain of the guard, is indeed a rare talent, with a hundred to resist the enemy and a thousand people, brave and strategic. Li Hu won the merit, there must be a complaint in his heart, you go to Qinglong Town in the past few days, talk to him for a long time, and appease the army. According to reliable information, he is also a descendant of the Anxi Army. ”