At the beginning of the twelfth year of Bao, An Lushan sought justice for the death of the chief, and the official 200,000 soldiers were divided into two routes, one was led by Shi Siming, the deputy envoy of Fanyang Jiedu, and attacked Taiyuan by Hedong, and the other road was led by himself, and ordered the general Cui Qianyou to be the vanguard, and sent troops to Xiangzhou, all the way was like a broken embroidery, at the beginning of February, Cui Qianyou crossed the river in Lingchang, captured Chen Liu, and assassinated Shi Zhang Jieran, at the end of February, broke the sun, killed and assassinated Shi Cui Wuxuan, since then, the door to the west was opened, and the rebel soldiers pointed directly to Luoyang, the eastern capital.

At the same time, the emergency mechanism of the imperial court began to be activated, Li Longji named Li Yu, the king of Chu, as the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, with Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing as the deputy generals, and Bian Lingcheng as the supervising army, leading 300,000 troops out of Tongguan and rushing to Luoyang, wanting to defeat An Lushan's army in a battle.

A sharp whistle swept across the trees, and several Tang Army scouts who were resting on the grass stood up one after another, and they galloped to the edge of the forest, each climbing a big tree.

This is the Kwai Garden in the west of Zhengzhou, two miles away is the official road, a few Tang soldiers just climbed the tree, the earth began to shake slightly, as if the flat ground rolled over the thunder, and then a black line appeared in the east, as the black line got closer and closer, the sky began to become yellow, that is the stirred up dust covered the sky, the black line has become a huge black curtain, the overwhelming Youzhou Iron Horse appeared in front of them, the armor is distinct, the team is neat, the black pressure is not visible at a glance, exuding a murderous aura in the sky, followed by bursts of drums, The cavalry was getting faster and faster, and was rushing westward.

The hearts of several Tang army scouts seemed to have fallen into a cold cave, this is more than 30,000 cavalry, but their murderous aura is difficult to match even the 300,000 Tang army, the enemy army is getting closer and closer, and the Tang army scouts can no longer stay. They climbed down the trees and rode westward.

Tongguan, 300,000 Tang troops are slowly passing under the city, the baggage vehicles are mixed in the army, creaking forward, the road to get off is rugged and narrow, the road surface is uneven, the wooden wheels of the baggage vehicles are broken by the boulders that are abrupt from time to time, once there is a failure, the road is immediately blocked. The teams behind them came to a standstill and could not move forward.

Two full days have passed, and the 300,000 Tang army has only passed through more than 100,000 people. The large army was still behind, and Gao Xianzhi's face was grim. Standing on a high hillside on horseback, hundreds of personal guards around him,

In front of his eyes, the ranks of the Tang army were scattered. Moving forward listlessly, they were forced to stop from time to time, their mouths were scolding and full of complaints, although Gao Xianzhi was on their heads, but no one paid him to them, and a few soldiers and even cats got into the grass. I went to find a place to sleep.

Originally, these soldiers were scattered in various military offices. Peacetime combat readiness is lax. After a long time of training, some soldiers did not even know their own commanders. In the past year, they have been successively transferred to the Jingzhao area, with no one to supervise, military discipline to become more lax, and no one to command in a unified manner.

Gao Xianzhi's brows furrowed, he was temporarily appointed, he didn't know almost all the lieutenant officers, and no one bought his account, the border army was not the same system as the original army, and he was always looked down upon by the government soldiers, not to mention that Gao Xianzhi was a degraded border general.

"How can such an army fight with An Lushan's elite soldiers!" Dot.

At this time, a group of cavalry galloped up the hill, "Great handsome! Someone was shouting at Gao Xianzhi.

Gao Xianzhi turned around, only to see that the person who came was his old subordinate Feng Changqing, although the two had worked together for many years, but this was the second time the two had met since Tianbao.

He was overjoyed, and rode up to meet him.

Feng Changqing has just passed Tongguan, the slow march makes him anxious, the march has always paid attention to the speed of soldiers, they are going to save Luoyang, so slow, not waiting to catch up, I am afraid that Luoyang will be lost long ago.

"Dashuai, you have to think of a way! It's really heartwarming to fight like this. As soon as they met, Feng Changqing didn't have time to greet him, and worry filled his face.

"What do you want me to do? I have no power in my hand, do they listen to my land? ”

Gao Xianzhi let out a long sigh, "Chang Qing, I just received a report from the scouts that An Lushan's striker has passed through Kwai Yuan, in this way, not only will we not be able to save Luoyang, I'm afraid even Shaanzhou will be lost." ”

"But how do we explain to the emperor, he also asked us to annihilate An Lushan's army in Luoyang and bring An Lushan back to Chang'an." Feng Changqing looked left and right, and whispered to Gao Xianzhi: "Dashuai, I think this trip is more auspicious and less auspicious, we have to plan early." ”

Gao Xianzhi glanced at him and said, "I know it even if I don't say it, but you and I are not the commanders, and we can't command the army, so what can I do, I can only do my best." ”

He was melancholy, and had hoped that one day he would be able to lead the army again, but when this day came, the situation was really not optimistic, at this time, a loud horn echoed in the mountains, Gao Xianzhi immediately looked at the gate of Tongguan, only to see the banner waving, a team of fish out, this is the harbinger of the coach Li Yu out, he seemed to think of something, and immediately said to Feng Changqing: "I estimate that after the end of this battle, the king of Chu will be established as the prince, so the bottom line of you and me is not to lose Luoyang, but to protect the safety of the king of Chu. If he misses the slightest, even if he cuts off An Lushan's head to see him, you and I will still not be able to live. ”

As soon as the words fell, a herald came galloping, "Two generals, Your Highness is invited!" ”

"Let's go! He also realized that something was wrong. ”

Gao Xianzhi turned the horse's head, galloped towards the gate of Tongguan, and Feng Changqing also followed, at this time, a round of blood yang slowly fell to the western sky, and the towering Tongguan was dyed red by the sunset.

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"We have been leaving Chang'an for seven days, but the army has not even finished Tongguan, if it goes on like this, when will we get to Luoyang, both of them are battle-hardened generals, but what is the best way?"

Li Yu was sent by Li Longji to welcome back to Chang'an on the third day of the Shangyuan Festival, due to An Lushan's rebellion, Li Longji only made him the king of Chu, intending to let him preside over the suppression of the rebellion, and then set him up as a prince after establishing authority, so that the kings had nothing to say.

After a month of intense preparations, the 300,000-strong army was mobilized, and Li Yu immediately took command. Leading the army to the east, at first he was full of ambition, and imagined that he could defeat An Lushan in a battle and rise to prominence in the world, but the rebels had not yet seen it, and as the march was difficult, he slowly began to realize that something was wrong, and he had participated in Rus'

There, the Tang army marched vigorously and quickly. There is a world of difference from now.

When crossing the Tong Pass, Li Yu finally couldn't bear it anymore. The fate is high, and the two often come to see each other.

—

"Your Highness, I just received the news. The rebel vanguard has already passed through the Kwai Garden, and they are cavalry, and I have nothing to do. Gao Xianzhi spread his hands helplessly, indicating that he had no choice.

"What about General Feng?" + After a hint of hesitation, he suddenly had hope in his heart, grabbed his hand and said sincerely: "Speaking of which, I am also from Anxi, and we are all our own people. Then do not see the outside. Give the Lone King a hand. ”

Feng Changqing sighed softly. He secretly glanced at Gao Xianzhi and saw that his face was solemn and expressionless. He bowed down to Li Yu and said: "Your Highness, the tall and handsome man crisscrossing Anxi is by no means a waste of fame, he is not helpless, but he can't command these troops, so he has nothing to do." ”

Li Yu turned his head abruptly, stared at Gao Xianzhi and said, "General Gao, is this true?" ”

Gao Xianzhi secretly scolded Feng Changqing for talking a lot, but the words had already been said to this point, and he couldn't refuse anymore, so he had to nod lightly.

Li Yu was overjoyed, he immediately took the Heavenly Sword above, held it to Gao Xianzhi with both hands, and said solemnly: "This king will transfer this sword to you, from now on, everything in the army will be subject to your orders, if anyone does not obey the order, there will be no forgiveness!" ”

"Your Highness's orders!"

Gao Xianzhi took the Heavenly Sword, and he immediately ordered: "Pass on my order, all baggage vehicles will be pushed down the cliff, and those who violate the order will be killed!" ”

Although he gave the order, but the effect was not obvious, there were still many baggage carts walking slowly on the mountain road, not taking his orders to heart, Gao Xianzhi was furious, and ordered the executioners to execute all the soldiers in charge of a dozen or two carriages on the spot, and beheaded two generals who did not obey the order, and ordered people to carry their heads in the army to show the public.

At this time, the soldiers woke up like a dream, and pushed the baggage carts down the cliff, so that the road was finally unblocked, the marching speed was accelerated, Gao Xianzhi ordered Li Yu to be the rear army, and ordered Feng Changqing to be the vanguard, leading the 10,000 troops to march to Luoyang overnight, all the way to the money and grain warehouse, all at the mercy of the soldiers, just like that, under the influence of Gao Xianzhi's soft and hard hands at the same time, the morale of the Tang soldiers was greatly boosted, and five days later, Feng Changqing's vanguard army and Cui Qianyou's army arrived in Luoyang almost at the same time.

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Along the Tianbao Canal in Shaanzhou, the camp of the Tang army was densely packed, stretching for dozens of miles, the night was like water, Gao Xianzhi couldn't sleep, he slowly walked out of the big tent with his hands behind his back, staring at the dark night sky in the east, Feng Changqing has been gone for five days, there is no news, he should be fighting with the rebels at this time, but can his army be able to defeat the Youzhou Iron Cavalry?

Everyone is the same festival envoy, Gao Xianzhi knows very well that the infantry of the Tang Dynasty is dominated by the Anxi Mo sword army, but the cavalry combat power is the best in the world with An Lushan's Youzhou iron cavalry.

And Feng Changqing took the land, but it was the government soldiers with loose military discipline and low combat effectiveness, they had not seen a war for a hundred years, how could they match the perennial border army.

"If there are 10,000 Anxi Mo sword troops in hand, why am I afraid?"

Gao Xianzhi sighed lowly, the only plan now is for Feng Changqing to rush to Luoyang one step earlier, defend the city, not engage the enemy head-on, and wait for the 300,000 troops to arrive, so as to win the outnumber.

"Gao Shuai, don't come to harm?"

A shrill voice interrupted Gao Xianzhi's train of thought, he turned around sharply, several people came in the twilight, a person in front of him with a robe and a high hat, when he approached, Gao Xianzhi's heart suddenly sank, and the person who came turned out to be his old partner, Bian Lingcheng, the superintendent.

He killed the slacking army and robbed the warehouses along the road, can he let himself go?

The other party had already approached, Gao Xianzhi didn't have time to think about it, and hurriedly smiled and said: "Where don't we meet in life, goodbye Grandpa Bian, Xianzhi is overjoyed." ”

Bian Lingcheng set off late, he hurried overnight, just caught up with Gao Xianzhi, all the way he saw, the warehouse was burned, the ruins and the black smoke was not finished, the soldiers all said that it was Gao Shuai's order, Bian Lingcheng secretly sneered, Gao Xianzhi's handle was grabbed by himself, see how he explained this time.

His face immediately sank, and he said coldly: "General Gao, although you and I are old friends, we can't ignore the law, the warehouse is the property of the country, but General Gao has been sacked and burned, can you have the emperor's will?" ”

Gao Xianzhi saw that he grabbed this matter and didn't let go, and knew that he had other plans, so he laughed and said: "The emperor ordered us to go to Luoyang in a hurry, and Father-in-law Bian is also a person who knows the soldiers, how can the current morale of the Tang Army be able to defeat the elite soldiers of An Lushan, so in order to motivate the soldiers, I took the initiative to order the soldiers to go into the warehouse to take things, as for the burning matter, because I don't want to cheapen An Lushan's anti-thief, the emperor also asked Father-in-law Bian to say a lot of good words." ”

"General Gao was defeated before the battle, but it's so interesting!" Bian Lingcheng laughed a few times, he simply went straight to the point, and said in a lengthened tone: "On that day, General Gao went on an expedition to Shiguo and left our family in Qiuzi, and later our family heard that General Gao ransacked Tuozhi City and robbed the treasure house of Shiguo, presumably General Gao is now a rich country!" ”

Gao Xianzhi suddenly realized, it turned out that he was angry about looting the treasure house of Shiguo and not giving him a share, thinking of that incident, he was annoyed, but he didn't dare to show it on his face, and hurriedly bowed to him and said: "Father-in-law Bian should also know that Xianzhi did not return to Qiuzi after going to Shiguo, and at that time he took some property, but it was all used to reward military merits, but later, when the concubine Niangniang celebrated her birthday, Xianzhi left in a hurry, so she didn't bring them back, they were all put in the barracks, and now where they are, the father-in-law should be clear." ”

The implication is that these things are in Li Qingdi's hands, and he has none of them, although he said this, where is Bian Lingcheng willing to believe it, at that time, Gao Xianzhi went back to Qiuzi to extract prisoners of war, even if he didn't take the gold, but he should have those jade and jewelry with him, he only thought that Gao Xianzhi refused to give it to him, his heart was furious, he was just about to threaten again, at this moment, a war horse galloped over, "General Gao, the big thing is not good!" ”

Gao Xianzhi was shocked, he ignored Bian Lingcheng again, walked up quickly, and Jiao Sheng asked, "Is it the Luoyang battle report?" ”

The person on the horse rolled over and dismounted, crawled to Gao Xianzhi with a rolling belt, and said with a crying voice: "General Feng has been defeated, the whole army has been annihilated, Luoyang has fallen, and the rebels are killing this side!" ”