One day after the Spring Festival, the white luxury tent of the Tatar chieftain was crowded with onlookers. The 10,000 Tatars lined up and were ready to go, and their weapons were of two kinds: a scimitar (a bit curved, not as curved as the Arabic sword). The second is the bow and arrow. The chief and Li Keyong stood at the front of the queue where a brief handover ceremony was taking place.

First of all, the chief spoke: "Warriors of the Tatars, from today onwards, you will follow Li Daxia, oh no, follow Li Dashuai south, to where the warriors should go." It is always the eagle that soars in the storm, and only the crow hides under the eaves and shivers (Li Keyong couldn't help but laugh). Go, children, and use your sharp scimitars to cut off the heads of all your enemies! Don't disgrace the Tatars. You have to be as loyal to me as you are to Li Dashuai, understand? ”

"Hehe, it's not loyal to me, it's loyal to the Tang Dynasty, loyal to everyone (everyone is one of the emperor's titles)."

"Yes, yes, finally Datang, loyal to everyone."

"Datang! Datang! Datang—"

"Long live Datang!"

"Long live everyone!"

The Tatar soldiers held their scimitars aloft, and the cheers thundered and endured.

This was followed by Like's speech: "Brothers Tatar, well done! I am very touched that you are willing to follow me. From now on, in my troops, whether they are Tatars, Shatuos, or Han Chinese, they are all one family. Blessings are shared, and difficulties are shared! I'm not afraid of everyone's jokes, my nickname is 'Crow'er', and my former unit was called Crow's Army. Because they went the wrong way, the Raven Army was all gone. Now that I'm on the right path, I must rebuild the Raven Army. Make it an invincible iron army. This iron army starts with you! Now I order: Go to Yanmen Pass and set off—"

Li Keyong, Gaiyu, Kang Junli, Xue Zhiqin, Li Cunzhang and others rode horses at the front of the team......

Let's talk about Li Kerang, and the group will stay overnight. After a long journey of 3,000 miles, he arrived in Chang'an after 10 days. I haven't caught my breath yet. The imperial court gave him a new appointment: the envoy of the Taining Festival. Because the original Jiedu made Li Department transfer to the Hunan Observation Envoy and the deputy commander of the southern camp, Li Kerang was sent to Taining to fill this vacancy.

Regarding the candidate to succeed the Li family, there are two theories in the history books, most of the official histories record Qi Kerang, and only the "History of the Old Five Dynasties" is written about Li Kerang. Is it Zikerjeng or Lee Kerang? On this issue, I personally believe in Xue Juzheng's statement. Hehe!

In the city of Yangzhou, after receiving the edict (i.e., the appointment of the commander-in-chief of the bandits), Gao Biao, the envoy of Huainan Jiedu, sent the brave general Zhang Lan to lead the troops to cross the Yangtze River to the south in March after the Spring Festival. Zhang Luan was like a broken bamboo, and the grass army was defeated and retreated. From Hangzhou, Xuanzhou, Chizhou and other places to Raozhou (now Boyang, Jiangxi). In May, he retreated to Xinzhou (now Shangrao, Jiangxi).

At this time, the northern soldiers had arrived in Huainan one after another. Huang Chao was shocked when he learned this information, which means that within a few days, the government army will form a siege of Shinshu.

Huang Chao was pondering the trick of fake surrender again, and the difference between this fake surrender and the previous ones was that he did not mention the request of "being a festival envoy", and made a very sincere appearance.

He first bribed Zhang Lan with a lot of money, and said pitifully: "Please raise your noble hand and suspend the attack, can't I surrender?" And took out a letter of surrender and asked Zhang Lan to forward it to Gao Dashuai.

After Gao Biao received the surrender letter. The court said: "Under the heavy blow of our army, the nest thieves have faced a land of exhaustion, and they will not be at peace, and they will not bother the soldiers. Please repatriate them all. ”

The northern soldiers are gone, and Gao Yu is in Yangzhou City, dreaming of peace in the world. He did this because he was afraid that his allies would take credit for him. Or is he afraid that his allies will take over his territory? While the party requesting surrender has not yet disarmed, the party accepting the surrender has driven away its own friendly forces first. Is there a more mentally retarded player in the world? Even his subordinates whispered: our tall and handsome must be suffering from Alzheimer's.

Huang Chao seized the opportunity to sneak attack the unsuspecting Huainan army, and bravely killed Zhang Luan. His death. It can be said that it is a major loss for the Tang army, and no one under Huang Chao has won against him before.

The rebels picked up the bargain and their morale skyrocketed! An army of 200,000 crossed the Yangtze River, followed by the Huai River in September. Li Hanzhi, the general of the grass army, successively broke through Shen, Ying, Song, Xu, and Yan prefectures to enter the border of Henan, and everywhere he went, officials fled in all directions. Huang Chao personally led a large army to attack Ruzhou

Tongguan is in a hurry!

The black clouds crushed the city and wanted to destroy it, and the armor light opened to the sun.

This is a poem in the Tang Dynasty poet Li He's "Yanmen Tai Shou Xing", he passionately depicted the majestic momentum of Yanmen Pass, and praised the spirit of Tang officers and soldiers to stick to the dangerous city, resist Hu Qi, and serve the country loyally.

Yanmen Pass is located in the main peak of the towering North Yue Heng Mountain, there are "nine stops in the world, Yanmen is the head." "That's it. There is a city gate in the east and west of the pass, and the plaques of the words "natural danger" and "terrain" are carved on the forehead of the gate. According to the "Geographical Chronicles of the New Tang Dynasty", "the east and west mountains are steep and rocky, with roads in the middle, circling and rugged. The top of the pass, called the West Pass, also known as the Yanmen Pass. ”

Yanmen Pass was built in the reign of Tang Wude and was a military project to defend against the Turks. In the Tang Hui Coalition Army (in fact, the Hui soldiers also belong to the category of the Tang Army. For more than 100 years after the destruction of the post-Turkic regime, Yanmen Pass was rarely war-like, overgrown, overgrown, and barren. Compared with the Central Plains, where rebellions occur frequently, this place is more like a large rear. So for many years, there was no army stationed at Yanmen Pass.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, a steady stream of people and horses entered the west gate of Yanmen Pass, and more than ten horsemen walked at the front of the team, which was exactly what Li Ke used them for. They entered through the west gate and exited the east gate, and walked more than 20 miles south on the mountain road until they arrived at Daizhou City. The general of Daizhou had already received the emperor's edict conveyed by Wang Chucun, and had already greeted the new leader at the gate of the city. After the team entered the city, Li Keyong set up the headquarters of the Yanmen camp in the yamen of the Daizhou Municipal Government according to the predetermined plan.

Since the day he entered Daizhou, Li Keyong and the personnel of the headquarters have been very busy. They have so much to do that you have to ask how busy they really are? Take a look at the list below.

First, the first is to recruit troops and buy horses, accumulate grass and store grain. A total of four conscription points were set up in Daizhou, Xinzhou, Ulzhou, and Shuozhou, and Kang Junli, Xue Zhiqin, and Li Cunzhang were sent to the other three points to take charge of conscription and other work. Li Keyong personally grasped the part of Daizhou, and he planned with Gaiyu and other staff every day in the secret room, visited the grassroots, and haunted the people.

2. Order the craftsmen of all states and counties. According to the design requirements, work was started day and night, and a large number of weapons were manufactured. Such as: bows, crossbows, lances, halberds, horizontal knives, shields, etc. Especially consumable arrows. And even more.

3. Prepare tens of thousands of sets of armor, Li Keyong has more demanding requirements for this: it must be beautiful, have good protective performance, and be uniform. It must also be red and black armor, which is said to highlight the characteristics of the Raven Army.

Fourth, hundreds of flags were purchased, and two colors were stipulated: one was a red flag, with a black "Tang" character in the middle. The other is the black flag, that is, the military flag of the Raven Army.

5. Hoarding grain and grass, and allocating vehicles, horses, tents, cooking utensils and other logistical materials.

6. Rectify military discipline, refer to the military system of the early Tang Dynasty, and formulate 17 prohibitions, 24 beheadings, and other regulations for punishment and reward.

Busy for almost a month. Initial results have been achieved. More than 20,000 people were recruited from the four conscription points, and about 5,000 Shatuo people who had been scattered during the rebellion were reinstated. In this way, with the addition of 10,000 Tatar soldiers, the total strength reached more than 35,000 men. Due to the lack of horses, Li Ke used 5,000 Shatuo people as cavalry, and the other 30,000 had to be aggrieved as infantry.

At this point, the last remaining task is military training. Li Keyong himself is the coach. With his staff, he got up early and worked late every day to train soldiers on the school grounds.

Another busy month has passed, and all work is basically ready. Li Keyong finally breathed a sigh of relief, it was time, it was time to go.

One day in November of the first year of Guangming (880). It was an extraordinary day in the history of the state. Today is the day when the Raven Army goes out, and Li Keyong is going to hold a grand military parade. After the parade. The troops will go directly to the battlefield. (It's a bit like Stalin's military parade on Red Square during World War II.) ）

30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry lined up in a neat phalanx on the school grounds. Ready to go. The parade platform was set up next to the gate of Daizhou, and early in the morning, Li Keyong sat on the parade platform wearing bright light armor, majestic style, and pressing his sword. To the left and right are the staff, and behind them are the guards.

Xue Zhiqin, who served as the commander-in-chief of the parade, walked up to Li Keyong in high spirits, stood upright, and raised his hand with a dignified salute: "Report to the commander, the troops are ready, please instruct!" ”

Li Ke nodded with a smile and said, "Let's get started." ”

Xue Zhiqin turned around and took a few steps, pulled out a horizontal knife with a flickering cold light, and pointed high to the south. Suddenly, one chirping, two, three - flew into the sky, and the firelight flashed, making three crisp sounds, "horn, horn, horn." Immediately afterwards, hundreds of horns and dozens of drums sounded at the same time under the parade platform.

In a few moments, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves could be heard from far and near, and the earth shook......

The first to walk across the parade stand were several cavalry phalanxes of 5,000 cavalrymen, each with two cavalrymen each holding a red flag and a black flag. The iron armor on the soldier's body "tinkles" in motion, crisp and pleasant, and the light refracted is colorful.

After the cavalry, there were several phalanxes of 20,000 men. The infantry phalanxes were also led by red and black flags, and rows of swords, guns, swords, and halberds shone in the sun. From a distance, there was only a bunch of red tassels on the helmet, which seemed to have converged into a prairie fire.

The infantry phalanx was followed by several columns of baggage troops consisting of 10,000 guards and logisticians. Their attire is the same as that of the infantry cavalry, and they are also distinctly armored. The chariots, the horses, and the warriors with bows and arrows at their waists.

When all the phalanxes walked past the parade platform, they all sang the military song of the Ya'er Army in unison (Li Keyong and later Li Cunqiao's troops had the habit of singing military songs. Out of Daishu City. To the south, to Chang'an - forward!

The lyrics were written by Li Keyong:

Tang Yun eighteen leaves, the sun and the moon Mu Beixia.

Listen to the teachings of the sages, and worry about the society at dusk.

Unprovoked fishing and yang disaster, when will the championship be closed?

The Central Plains are all in the atmosphere, who will solve the king's worries?

The game guards the road first, and the land is not a cattle!

The majesty fills the world, and loyalty cannot be lost.

I was ashamed to read it, and I was ashamed to blame myself.

Huanghuang for 300 years, do you sit back and watch the fall?

Yang Miao sued the first emperor, and the teacher was killed.

Shine my sword and cut off the head of the yellow nest!

For a long time, it was customary to call Li Ke's army the Shatuo Army, which is a misunderstanding. Judging from this reorganized Raven Army, there are only more than 5,000 known Shatuo people. The residents around Yanmen Pass are Hu and Han people, Han people account for the majority, and the ethnic minorities are not only the Shatuo people. I estimate that this army of 35,000 people will not exceed 10,000 Shatuo people.

Later, Li Keyong served as the envoy of Hedong Jiedu and was stationed in Jinyang (now Taiyuan City, Shanxi), and the Hedong army grew to hundreds of thousands, of which the proportion of Han Chinese will be greatly increased. Therefore, to be precise, the main component of Li Ke's army is the Han nationality. What's more, even the Shatuo people began to sinicize as early as the early Tang Dynasty, and it has been more than 200 years since they intermarried with the Han people, learned Chinese language, and practiced Chinese customs, where is there any Turkic ancestry?

The imperial edict given to Li Ke was to go south to King Qin, why didn't he specify a specific destination? Because Huang Chao is a rogue, his whereabouts are erratic. And because the late Tang Dynasty had not yet invented radio communication technology, it was even more impossible for Li Keyong, who was far away in the Yinshan (now Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) area, to grasp Huang Chao's whereabouts in time, so Li Keyong decided to go to Chang'an first and then go to Huang Chao to settle accounts.

Just as the crow army was singing: "Shine my sword and cut off the head of the yellow nest!" When the military song walked out of Daizhou City, in Chang'an City, Emperor Li Yi received urgent telegrams from Tongguan one after another: Ruzhou has fallen and the eastern capital Luoyang has fallen......

Tongguan is the gateway to the east of Chang'an, and the loss of Tongguan means that Chang'an will be lost. Li Yi was stupid and had no idea for a while. Some officials persuaded the emperor to take refuge in Shu, but this proposal was rejected by the prime ministers at the time. The prime ministers suggested: mobilize all the Shence army and 150,000 soldiers from various towns in the pass to defend Tongguan, and issue an edict ordering Chen Jingsi, the supervising army of Hedong, to go to Daibei to recruit troops and break thieves (Daibei is known to the people for their fierce style. ）。 The Son of Heaven played one by one, and he was sad and eager to wear it: Li Keyong, has Qing received my edict? Why hasn't there been a response yet?

Watching the army, Tian Lingzi stepped forward, volunteered, and asked to lead the troops to the battle. At the same time, he recommended Zhang Chengfan, the cavalry general of the left army of the Shence Army, Wang Shihui, the infantry general of the right army, and Zhao Ke, the soldier and horse envoy of the left army, to the Son of Heaven, saying that these three people can be of great use.

Emperor Xizong immediately summoned the three of them, said some words of encouragement to them, and conferred the title of Pioneer Envoy of Soldiers and Horses and Commander of the Tongguan System (Garrison Commander).

In fact, judging from the above two points and his later behavior of protecting the Son of Heaven (the central government), although his character is not as good as Zhang Chengye, Yang Fuguang and others, it is not too bad. It's still conscientious, and it's still a small flaw without a big evil. (To be continued......)