(Xie: Reward for reading books in birds, moshaocong, thanks: playmoonhw, 100 maybes, running around and toiling v, sand shattered, a leaf of green bamboo, Jianshan Qingzhilian and other brothers.) Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info)

A few days earlier, the news that Xuanzong had left Chang'an overnight was known to the courtiers the next morning. This news is no less shocking than the fall of Luoyang and Tongguan. Everyone understands that the so-called 'Western Tour' is just the words of the crown, in fact, His Majesty has escaped from Chang'an.

After learning the news, the courtiers were terrified, and soon, the courtiers began to pack up their belongings and prepare to flee Chang'an. Your Majesty has run away, Chang'an City must not be able to hold it, if you don't run away at this time, when will you stay?

Soon after, the hasty behavior of the officials caused a great panic in the whole city, and the news of His Majesty's escape from Chang'an soon spread throughout the city, and the subtext of this news was that Chang'an could not stand it and the rebels were coming. The people were panicked and depressed, and at the same time had a feeling of being deceived by His Majesty. A few days ago, he also posted a public announcement, swearing that Chang'an was as stable as Mount Tai, warning the people not to panic, saying that His Majesty and Chang'an coexisted and died, and asked the army and the people to defend Chang'an wholeheartedly, and the next moment, His Majesty himself ran away with the prince and concubine.

But now, the people have no time to scold and care about these, and there are only two ways in front of them, escape from Chang'an or stay in Chang'an. The answer is obvious, after the tragedy in Luoyang City was brought to the capital by the survivors, no one believed that the rebels in An Lushan would not commit any crimes to the people, and no one wanted to stay in Chang'an, which was about to be occupied by the rebels, and wait for the fate of being trampled and killed by the rebels, and they wanted to flee here.

So, in just one morning, every household in the streets and alleys of Chang'an City began to pack up their things and began to flee with their children and daughters. The panicked people crowded the wide, barely visible streets of Chang'an, and crowded the dozen squares at the gates of the four cities. The population of Chang'an City already exceeded one million, and together with the hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled from Luoyang and other places, they gathered into an army of millions of refugees who filled every street. They crowded and shouted and crowded on the roads, at the entrances of the streets, and in front of the city gates, and the cries and lamentations were incessant, and they looked like the end was coming.

However, it was not without standing up in the court to preside over the situation. For example, Zuo Xiangchen, who usually only seems to have no opinions, and even His Majesty has escaped from Chang'an. Xilie, at the moment he is the highest official in Chang'an City, he has become the backbone of some officials who are unwilling to flee.

Old. Xilie was also stubborn, and after learning the news, he first summoned more than a dozen generals of the Chang'an Forbidden Army to the political hall and told them that anyone could go, but they couldn't go. Although His Majesty left Chang'an, it did not mean that he gave up Chang'an, and asked these forbidden army generals to restrain the soldiers, strengthen the fortifications and defend Chang'an, and never think about escaping like the people.

The generals of the Forbidden Army generally had a strong self-confidence, and many of them did not actually take the rebels seriously at all. In addition, there were still nearly 60,000 forbidden soldiers and horses in the city, enough time to defend the city, so they patted their chests and promised that they would definitely defend Chang'an City and would never allow the rebels to attack Chang'an.

Old. Xilie was very pleased, and in order to further stabilize the people's hearts, he ordered the closure of more than a dozen gates in Chang'an City, refusing to let the people and officials flee. And sent people to preach at the gate of the city, saying that the news circulating was a lie, hoping that the people would go home with peace of mind, and Chang'an City would not be broken.

Where could the people hear these nonsense, millions of people crowded the city gates, shouting and shouting and demanding that the city gates be opened. Many radicals began to throw stones at the defenders, and many began to set fire to the streets, and the situation was about to fall into an uncontrollable situation. Old. Reluctantly, Xilie ordered the city gates to be opened and the people were allowed to leave the city. So, like lambs out of the cage, the people who poured out of the city gate like ants instantly covered the snowfields around Chang'an City, and the black pressure of millions of refugees was as terrifying as a moving dark cloud.

When the refugees left the city, they were confused about where to go, but soon they decided where to flee. That is to flee westward. First, this is the opposite direction of the rebels' advance, second, this is the direction of His Majesty's escape, and third, to the west is where Wang Jiedu's Jiannan Longyou is located, and Wang Jiedu's envoy has an army of 100,000, which is also the only soldier and horse in the Tang Dynasty at present. These three are safer to go west from which one, so the black-pressed fleeing army dragged their children and daughters to the west in unison against the cold wind.

The frenzied flight of the people lasted for two days, and most of the timid ran on the first day, leaving behind those who had families and jobs and could not leave their homeland, or people who did not believe that Chang'an would fall into the hands of the rebels. However, reality forced them to leave, because in the afternoon of the next day, the vanguard of the rebel cavalry had already arrived at the foot of Chang'an.

Although it was only 20,000 cavalry, for Chang'an City, 20,000 soldiers and horses were not enough to break through the strong city, but everyone knew what the arrival of 20,000 troops meant, which meant that the rebel army was about to arrive. And when the 20,000 rebels arrived, the gates of the four cities of Chang'an City would be tightly closed, and no one would be allowed to enter or leave again. So an hour before, many people escaped in time, and the remaining about 100,000 people were all unable to flee and were completely confined to the huge tomb of Chang'an City. Most of these people are old and weak, and they cannot bear the hardships of fleeing in such weather, and they would rather die in the city of Chang'an than suffer from displacement.

Of course, there were still tens of thousands of forbidden soldiers and horses in the city. Although there were nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses, there were still nearly 50,000 remaining soldiers. Led by a small number of officials such as Xilie and seven or eight generals of the forbidden army, they were ready to fight to the death against the rebels, proving that they were fearless loyal ministers of the Tang Dynasty.

On the twenty-eighth day of the first month of the ninth year of Tianbao of the Tang Dynasty, Shi Siming of Anqing Xu led an army of 150,000 to arrive at the city of Chang'an and launched a siege battle against Chang'an at the end of the day. Once again, the combat effectiveness of the forbidden army has been tested, and it is just a group of old soldiers. When the rebels stormed the eastern gates of the city in a swarm, the panic of the forbidden army at the head of the city was obvious. Although the mechanical bow and arrow were blocking the rebels' siege, almost everyone had the intention of fleeing at any time.

Although at first, the forbidden army relied on the tall city wall fortifications to inflict huge casualties on the rebels, but when the rebels sacrificed the Shenwei cannons and thunder shells captured from the Battle of Tongguan and began to bombard the city gates, the situation immediately became out of control. The soldiers of the forbidden army who had only heard of the name of the Shenwei Cannon, but had never seen the Shenwei Cannon firing thunder bullets, never expected that the rebels also possessed this kind of siege weapon. They didn't know that it was just dozens of Shenwei cannons and hundreds of thunder bullets that Wang Yuan gave to Gao Xianzhi, and after the thunder bullets, these Shenwei cannons were just decorations, at most projecting some stones and the like. They also thought that the rebels already had this kind of siege weapon, so the defense of the city head had actually become meaningless, with this siege weapon, the rebels could quickly collapse the city wall or city gate, and Chang'an City could not be defended.

This sentiment soon spread throughout the army, and even the generals who led the army were close to breaking down, and these divine cannons became the last straw that crushed their psychological defenses. After two thunderbolts landed on the city wall and exploded, taking the lives of dozens of forbidden soldiers within a radius of three zhang, I don't know who shouted: "Escape, the city can't be defended, stay just waiting for death." ”

So, after this voice, the soldiers of the forbidden army at the head of the city began a great rout and a great flight. They fled from the city wall with their heads in their hands, ignored the orders of the generals, ran to the city for their lives, grabbed their horses and fled outside the western city. The rout swept through the army like a plague, and the soldiers of the Forbidden Army at the head of the city within half an hour ran clean. Only Chen remained. Xilie and a small number of militias in the capital held the city walls.

At the beginning of the afternoon, the Chang'an city wall, which had lost its forbidden army, was easily broken by the rebels. Heel's hand-to-hand combat with the enemy with a small number of soldiers and horses, but to no avail. Only half an hour later, the gates of the eastern city opened, and the rebels began to swarm into the city. Whereas. Old. Xilie and the thousands of soldiers and horses trained in the capital were also slaughtered. Old. Xilie has been submissive all his life, and only in the battle of Chang'an has drawn a successful end to his life. He introduced the quality of a scholar one by one, insisted on defending the city to the end, and finally died under the rebels' swords. He fulfilled his promise to stick to Chang'an. By contrast, the man to whom he was loyal was fleeing westward.

The rebels can almost be described as taking Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, with little effort. The last holy land of the Tang Dynasty completely fell under the iron heel of the rebels. Although An Qingxu issued an order under Yan Zhuang's suggestion to strictly prohibit burning, killing, looting and harassing the people, An Qingxu's order was obviously not binding on Shi Siming and several soldiers and horses of the Xi people and the (Eastern) Turks. They didn't even have to listen to An Lushan's orders, let alone this incapable little cub in their opinion. So on the day that Chang'an City was forced, the scene after the destruction of Luoyang City was staged again. The rebels carnivaled and plundered the city, killing rivers of blood and looting a lot, one by one like the devil.

An Qingxu had no choice, and after discussing with Yan Zhuang, he could only use his soldiers and horses to protect the important royal palaces such as the imperial city, Daming Palace, Xingqing Palace, and other important royal palaces from the plundering of these guys. This move aroused the dissatisfaction of Shi Siming and others, but An Qingxu used An Lushan's order to protect the important places of the palace as an excuse, which made Shi Siming and other generals die down and not loot several palaces.

The news of the destruction of Chang'an City reached Luoyang, and An Lushan, who enjoyed an emperor-like life in the Luoyang Imperial Palace, laughed a lot. Luoyang Chang'an is all in his own hands, His Majesty fled west in a hurry, and the Tang Dynasty has exhausted. It seems that the time has come for him to become emperor.

An Lushan immediately ordered that Chang'an soldiers and horses be stationed to rest, and summoned Yan Zhuang, An Qingxu, Shi Siming and other generals to Luoyang to discuss the matter of ascending the throne. An Lushan can't wait.