Chapter 49: The War Will Begin Again

---------

---------

Yang Xi announced the arrangements of the generals: Li Fu and Li Chengguang led 45,000 men and horses to guard Tongguan, and Li Fude was temporarily appointed as the envoy of Tongguan soldiers and horses, and Li Chengguang was appointed as the deputy. The remaining 100,000 horses were personally led by him and prepared to quickly attack Shaanxi County. With Pang Zhong as the vanguard, he led 30,000 horses first, Wang Sili led 20,000 horses to the palace, and he and Gao Shi, Tian Liangqiu, Liu Guangting, Lu Chongben and other generals led the Chinese army to follow behind Pang Zhong, and the front, middle and rear armies marched five miles apart. A baggage, mainly gunpowder and other weapons, was carried by the front army, and most of them were escorted by the rear army's Wang Sili department.

In terms of the arrangement of the generals, Yang Xi did not discuss with many generals, he only discussed this matter with Sima Gao Shi of the march, and asked Gao Shi's opinion, but Gao Shi's opinion was only for reference, and how to arrange the generals was his own idea.

Ling Pang Zhong led the vanguard of the people, this is his conclusion after careful consideration.

Although it is said that in the battle of Lingbao, the 100,000 horses led by Pang Zhong were almost wiped out, but in the defensive battle of Tongguan, this general showed great courage, strategy, and uprightness, compared with Wang Sili and other generals, Yang Xi trusted him more, and Yang Xi also handed over the responsibility of fighting the vanguard to him.

And Wang Sili, who was most interested in Li Heng's wooing performance, Yang Xi only ordered him to lead the rear army.

It's not that he doesn't trust him because of this, but when Lingbao was defeated, the 50,000 forward army led by Wang Sili didn't do anything, and Wang Sili was not too young to be less aggressive, Yang Xi thought about it again and again and decided to let him lead the rear army.

He himself led 50,000 Chinese troops, and his plan was to prepare to press the whole line and capture Shaanxi County as soon as possible when Pang Zhong's troops began to attack the city.

After the order was given, Yang Xi immediately ordered the horses to be pulled out, and strictly ordered that the last group of men and horses must leave Tongguan City at night. When he returned to Chang'an, Yang Xi had already received an order in front of Emperor Li Longji to launch an attack on Shaanxi County as soon as the opportunity was right. Therefore, he did not ask for instructions in advance, but only reported the matter to the imperial court when the order was issued and Pang Zhong's vanguard had already driven out of the city.

Since Yang Xi returned from Chang'an, the soldiers and horses of Tongguan have been preparing for the initiative to attack, and most of the preparations have been made for the men and horses to go out to fight, and the military supplies are also neatly prepared.

This is also thanks to the large-scale military training in the past few months, the soldiers have done the order from top to bottom, and no one dares not to take Yang Xi's order seriously. As soon as Yang Xi's order was issued, the whole army immediately entered a wartime state. For a time, the entire Tongguan City was full of chickens flying and dogs jumping, countless soldiers were constantly busy back and forth, and the sound of people shouting and neighing horses almost overshadowed the rumbling sound of the huge war drums on the city.

In the early afternoon, the forwards led by Pang Zhong took the lead and left Tongguan.

Pang Zhong walked at the front with dozens of personal guards, and his heart was full of emotion.

A few months ago, he led 100,000 horses out of Tongguan, but in the end only a few thousand people were brought back. This time, he only had 30,000 men under his command, and he didn't know how many would be able to return to Tongguan in the end. But there is one thing Pang Zhong believes very much, that is, the tragedy of Lingbao is impossible.

What he couldn't be sure of was whether their 100,000 men would be able to capture Shaanxi County.

Because he was still burdened with the huge psychological burden of Lingbao's defeat, Pang Zhong could only comfort himself in the end, with Yang Xi, a young and energetic marshal to command the war, and the army was equipped with extremely powerful weapons, Shaanxi County would definitely be able to capture it. Containing his thoughts, Pang Zhong also hurried up, and led the sergeants behind him to pass through the newly repaired Hantong Pass, and quickly entered the narrow mountain road between the Yellow River and Huashan.

For a time, on the mountain road from Tongguan to Lingbao, there were the figures of the Tang Army soldiers everywhere, and countless hunting and fluttering flags were mixed with green mountains and green waters, which was very eye-catching. The rumbling war drums in Tongguan City loudly conveyed to the sergeants the determination to win.

After all Pang Zhong's troops left Tongguan City, Yang Xi led the Chinese army and horses to make great strides towards the journey to Shaanxi County.

After leaving the Hantong Pass City, Yang Xi also stopped on a hillside to look back at the Tong Pass City, and after sighing again, he didn't look back and rode his horse quickly. It is believed that when he returned to Tongguan City, he came back with the glory of conquering Shaanxi County.

---------

One part of the special training team pursued and killed Cui Qianyou under the leadership of Li Han, and the other part of the special training team, after receiving Yang Xi's order, returned to the vicinity of Lingbao and used their best efforts to clear the scout cavalry sent by the rebels.

Cui Qianyou contracted his defense along the whole line, and did not set up ambushes along the way, but only sent a large number of reconnaissance cavalry to prevent the Tang army's sneak attack.

There were no ambushes along the way, and the forwards commanded by Pang Zhong did not need too many scruples, so they could drive out of Tongguan in great strides and march in the direction of Shaanxi County. To the west of Lingbao, there are basically no rebel reconnaissance and cavalry activities, and a few have already been wiped out by the special training team and the scouts sent from Tongguan City.

After receiving Yang Xi's follow-up order, the special training team concentrated all their efforts to clear the road for the army and eliminate the rebels' scouts and scouts.

In a five-day period, they uprooted 15 rebel scouts, eliminated a total of 170 rebel scouts and scouts, mistakenly killed and injured five scouts, lost two of their own, and wounded five of them.

Yang Xi was very appreciative of such a record, and it seemed that the combat effectiveness of the sergeants selected from the army of a hundred battles was stronger than that of the recruits.

The 100,000 people who set out from Tongguan traveled day and night, and it took them one night and one day to pass through the pass west of Lingbao, which had suffered a crushing defeat at the last exit. Pang Zhong, Wang Sili, Tian Liangqiu, Lu Chongben and other generals who suffered great humiliation here swore with blood that they would definitely break through Shaanxi County, and after breaking through Shaanxi County, they would kill happily to avenge this revenge.

Maybe before leaving the customs, the generals had different thoughts, and some people were a little uncomfortable because of Yang Xi's arrangement, but after this place that humiliated them and made countless Tang Army soldiers lose their lives, everyone's minds changed, and an atmosphere of common hatred and hatred shrouded the officers and men of the whole army, whether it was a general or an ordinary sergeant, they all hoped to wash away the shame in their hearts with a big victory.

"Report to the marshal, the forward General Pang is here, the vanguard has arrived seventy miles outside the city of Shaanxi County, and it is expected to arrive at the city of Shaanxi County tomorrow afternoon or evening, and the rebels in the city have not found any trace of our army!"

On the night of the second day after leaving Tongguan, after the whole army set up camp, Yang Xi received a report from the forward Pang Zhong.

Shaanxi County is near Sanmen Shaanxi City in later generations, about 200 miles away from Tongguan, and the army can basically reach it in two days and two nights if it marches quickly. After Yang Xi left Tongguan City, he repeatedly ordered Pang Zhong to arrive in Shaanxi County after nightfall on the third day and attack at night.

Pang Zhong's troops are now about ten miles away from the Chinese army led by Yang Xi, and according to the current report, they will definitely arrive in Shaanxi County tomorrow night.

The speed of the men and horses under his command was not slow, and it basically met expectations, and Yang Xi felt good in his heart. Gunpowder will be used in large quantities during the siege of the city, and the effect of gunpowder attacks under the cover of night will be very good, and the loud explosions, as well as the flames and smoke that soar into the sky, will make the rebels guarding the city tremble and quickly rout.

Yang Xi believed that the first time gunpowder was used in war, it would definitely have miraculous results.