The rebels encountered little substantial resistance in the Hebei region. The Yellow River undoubtedly became a barrier to the rebels' southward movement. Li Longji hoped that the rebels would be delayed north of the Yellow River to buy him enough time to mobilize his troops.

Li Longji worked non-stop to build the defense line of the empire, and appointed Zhang Jieran, the secretary of Weiqing, as the envoy of Henan Jiedu. This was the first time that the Jiedu envoys extended from the frontier areas to the interior, and since then, the empire's great rivers have been widely set up in the north and south. The knots make the white blood cells in the human body act like fighting off bacteria, but eventually they deteriorate into cancer cells. The Tang Empire, a giant who once shook the world, was finally tortured to death by cancer cells all over his body.

Write spring and autumn with blood

Just when Li Longji was at a loss for a major general, the envoy of the Anxi Jiedu and the envoy of the Beiting Jiedu Feng Changqing entered the capital to face the saint.

Looking at Li Longji, who was getting haggard day by day, Feng Changqing volunteered and said: "The minister requests to go to Luoyang, Tokyo, open the treasury, recruit strong men, and within a few days, the head of An Lushan will be presented to Your Majesty." ”

Feng Changqing's impassioned words made a warm current swell in Li Longji's cold heart.

Feng Changqing has been criticized by historians for his unrealistic rhetoric and empty words, but when we analyze the urgent situation at that time, we will arrive at another interpretation.

As a veteran who has been on the battlefield for decades, and as a famous general who has mighty in the Western Regions, his judgment of the battlefield situation should not be so biased. The reason why he described the already dire situation so optimistically was actually to boost the confidence of the rulers of the empire.

If Li Longji is discouraged, then this war will be completely hopeless.

Li Longji immediately appointed Feng Changqing as the envoy of Fan Yang and Pinglu Jiedu. Ordered him to rush to Luoyang, open the treasury, and recruit new soldiers. Prepare to take on the rebels.

Because all the elite soldiers under Feng Changqing's command were far away in the Western Regions, Feng Changqing was like a tiger with his teeth pulled out, but he still shouldered the heavy responsibility of defending the eastern capital Luoyang without hesitation. He knew he couldn't do it. This can't help but remind us of Lin Zexu's famous saying: "If the country lives and dies for profit, how can it be avoided because of misfortune and fortune." ”

Li Longji appointed Li Wan, the king of Rong, as the marshal, and Gao Xianzhi, the general of the right Jinwu, as the deputy marshal, and led the defenders of the capital and the temporarily recruited more than 50,000 people to enter Shaanxi County (west of present-day Sanmenxia City, Henan).

Li Longji hastily built three lines of defense in Henan from east to west, Zhang Jieran, Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi.

Feng Changqing felt the urgency of time. Every tick of the hourglass is like the pulse of the empire.

He rushed to Luoyang day and night, and temporarily recruited more than 60,000 recruits within 10 days. Among these people are farmers working in the fields and traders wandering the streets. There are craftsmen who are proficient in their crafts, and there are street gangsters who have nothing to do.

Feng Changqing ordered the demolition of the Heyang Bridge over the Yellow River north of Luoyang (southwest of present-day Mengzhou, Henan) to prevent the rebels from attacking Luoyang from the north.

Feng Changqing personally led his army to enter the gateway tiger prison in Luoyang (located in the west of Bishui Town, Xingyang County, Henan Province). One of the harshest wars of his military career awaited him.

At this time. Heaven had little time left for him, because the rebels were marching too fast!

An Lushan's troops soon reached the banks of the Yellow River, which became the only barrier that could slightly slow down the rebels' southward advance, but at a critical moment of life and death for the Tang Empire. The scales in God's hands were once again tilted in favor of An Lushan.

Just as the rebels were gathering boats and grass to prepare to cross the Yellow River. Overnight, "thousands of miles of ice, thousands of miles of snow drifting". The cold weather turned out to be a "thoroughfare".

The rebels whipped their whips and galloped across the ice, and nothing could stop the advance of this unstoppable force.

On the second day of December, the rebels successfully crossed the Yellow River, and the vast land of the Central Plains became a stage for them to gallop freely. Lingchang County soon fell under the hooves of the rebels.

Chenliujun (now Kaifeng, Henan) became the next target of the rebels.

The Henan Jiedu, which had only been in office for a few days, forced Zhang Jieran to rush into battle. Of course, there is no suspense about the outcome of this battle, the only suspense is how long Zhang Jieran can hold on!

In the face of the rebels' frantic attack, Zhang Jieran led his troops to resist stubbornly. However, he did not think that the fortress was the easiest to attack from within.

In the moment of life and death, all faith and loyalty become fragile. Chen Liutai guarded Guo Na and secretly opened the city gate. I want to open a door of hope for myself to continue living.

On the sixth day of December, the smoke of war gradually dissipated. An Lushan's public car arrived at Chen Liucheng Beiguo. An Lushan, who was beaming with pride, sat in the car and watched his invincible elite army enter the city, pride and pride filled his heart.

Just when he was beaming with pride, his son An Qingxu hurriedly ran over and told him a thunderbolt news on a sunny day. The list posted in Chen Liucheng wrote that he had a heavy reward for An Lushan's head, and he had already killed An Qingzong in advance

An Lushan, who lost his beloved son, suddenly beat his chest and cried bitterly: "What crime did I have to kill my son!" ”

The reason why he said this is because this drama ordered by the emperor to clear the monarch's side will continue to be performed, although there are fewer and fewer people who really believe it.

Although the play is fake, the pain is real, because after all, the father-son relationship is deep, and it is his ambition that pushes his son to the guillotine step by step.

At this time, nearly 10,000 surrendered Tang Army officers and soldiers were neatly lined up in the sandwich road. An Lushan looked at this group of people who were greedy for life and afraid of death, and a cold word burst out from the depths of his throat: "Kill!" ”

An Lushan's own soldiers brandished butcher knives and slashed at these captives who had lost their ability to resist. With bursts of screams, red blood flowed on the ground,

An Lushan, who was still angry, saw Zhang Jieran, the captured envoy of Henan Jiedu, at the gate of the camp, so Zhang Jieran also became a sacrifice for his son.

An Lushan asked his general Li Tingwang to guard Chenliu, and then killed Xingyang County (now Xingyang, Henan) non-stop

The person in charge of guarding Xingyang County is the Taishou Cui Wuxu. Cui Wuxu's father was Empress Wei's maternal uncle, so Cui Wuxu's family was favored during the Zhongzong period. But the good times did not last long, as Li Longji launched a coup d'état to overthrow Empress Wei, Cui Wuxu, who was implicated, had to serve in remote areas for a long time.

back then. The depressed Cui Wuxu met the even more unambitious Yang Guozhong. Cui Wuxu served as the governor of Yizhou at that time, while Yang Guozhong served as a county lieutenant in Xindu County, which was subordinate to Yizhou. The two fallen people give each other spiritual comfort.

After Yang Guozhong took power, he naturally did not forget this old leader. Cui Wuxu, who has regained his political life, can finally be transferred to the Central Plains region.

This is unfortunate for Cui Wuxu, because the ruthless war has ruthlessly engulfed Cui Wuxu, and if he is still serving in a remote state and county, that peaceful life will continue forever!

However, this is also lucky for Cui Wuxu, Cui Wuxu will get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go down in history with his name, but he needs to pay the price of blood!

This is another battle without suspense.

Hear the sound of war drums that shake your heart. Seeing the weapons shining with cold light, the soldiers defending the city were suddenly enveloped in a boundless fear.

"Riding the city and falling like rain" ("Old Tang Book"). Countless defenders of the city fell from the city in fright, the only difference was the difficulty factor.

Flip backwards for two and a half weeks, turn and bend for one and a half weeks. Difficulty factor 3.3

Turning outward for one and a half weeks and two and a half is arbitrary, with a difficulty coefficient of 3.4

Flipping forward for two and a half weeks, turning three weeks to hug the knees, the difficulty coefficient is 3.7

Flip inward and semi-flex the body around 4.5

The vast majority of people don't care about their posture at all. Hit the ground hard. Splash a lot of blood!

On the eighth day of December, the city of Xingyang (now Xingyang, Henan) fell without suspense under the frantic attack of the Yan army. Taishou Cui Wuxu was brutally killed, and used his blood to show his loyalty to Li Longji, the former enemy.

Tian Chengsi, Zhang Zhongzhi, and Zhang Xiaozhong led the forward troops to gallop towards the eastern capital Luoyang. This is one of the most courageous high-speed mobile units of the rebels.

Tian Chengsi was born into a traditional military officer family, and his ancestors served in the Lu Long Army. Tian Chengsi was famous for his heroism in the Lu Long Army.

A certain snow in a certain year came later than usual.

An Lushan raided the camps. When he walked into the barracks of Tian Chenghe's department, An Lushan was surprised to find that the barracks were silent, so he ordered someone to check the soldiers, and there were many people. It shows that Tian Chenghei is strict in governing the army. As a result, An Lushan is more and more important to inherit the heirs.

Zhang Zhongzhi and Zhang Xiaozhong have too many similarities. Both of them are from the Xi tribe, and they are both marksmen who wear Yang in a hundred steps. Both were selected for the forbidden army because of their outstanding marksmanship. However, instead of becoming the guardians of the empire, they became the destroyers of the empire.

"Greatness is boiled out". At a time when many invincible rebel generals have withdrawn or faded out of the stage of history, these three unremarkable forwards will play an increasingly important role in the historical and political arena in the future.

Feng Changqing, who was stationed in the military prison, was quietly waiting for the arrival of the rebels, as if waiting for the judgment of fate.

The growing rebels marched through the Poop Valley, the sound of horses' hooves echoing for a long time in the empty valley.

Watching the rebels getting closer and closer to him, Feng Changqing led the elite cavalry to take the initiative to fight with weapons, and in an instant the sound of war drums was clearly recognizable, the sound of horse hooves shook the sky, and the sound of shouting and killing resounded through the sky.

In the piercing collision of weapons, hundreds of rebel soldiers suddenly turned their heads in different places, but at this moment, a large army led by Tian Chengsi, An Zhongzhi, and Zhang Xiaozhong arrived, and the formation that the Tang army had just lined up was quickly crushed by the rebel cavalry like a torrent of steel.

Feng Changqing packed up the rest of his troops and fought again in the Kwai Garden in the east of Luoyang City, but was defeated again.

Feng Changqing fought again in Dutingyi and was defeated again.

Feng Changqing retreated to Xuanyang Gate and was defeated again.

Feng Changqing, who had been defeated repeatedly, knew that Luoyang would definitely not be able to hold it, so he ordered people to tear down the west wall of the forbidden garden, cut down big trees on the road, and then retreated westward in a hurry, and went to Shaanxi County (west of present-day Sanmenxia City, Henan) to join his old leader Gao Xianzhi.

On December 12, Luoyang was lost. Henan Yin Da Xixun, who saw through An Lushan's intention of "beheading action", surrendered An Lushan.

The bustling city of Luoyang, Tokyo, was suddenly devastated. Countless rebel soldiers poured into the city of Luoyang like a tide. A catastrophe has turned this bustling cosmopolitan into a living hell in an instant! With the arrival of Feng Changqing, the atmosphere in Shaanxi County suddenly became tense. Gao Xianzhi didn't expect Luoyang to fall so quickly.

"The thief can't be the enemy" is the bloody lesson that Feng Changqing learned after five fierce battles, so it will be difficult for Shaanxi County, which has no danger to defend, to resist the offensive of the rebels.

Tongguan, the gateway to the Guanzhong Plain, was still defenseless at this time. If the rebels bypass Shaanxi County and raid Tongguan, Chang'an will be in danger!

Feng Changqing's incisive and unique analysis persuaded the old leader Gao Xianzhi, because this was undoubtedly the best choice under the current situation, but retreating hundreds of miles for no reason, once Li Longji was angered, the consequences would be unimaginable.

After a painful choice, Gao Xianzhi finally adopted Feng Changqing's suggestion, because the survival of the empire depended on Tongguan, and only this Xiongguan could stop the rebels' crazy attack.

At the critical moment of retreat, Gao Xianzhi, who had experienced a hundred battles, was actually timid!

Perhaps it was the defeat in the Battle of Talas nine years ago that shattered the self-confidence and bravery of this famous general, or perhaps it was the comfortable life of Chang'an for more than five years that completely destroyed his will to fight.

It was because of his cowardice that what should have been an organized retreat turned into an orderly rout.

In fact, An Lushan's troops stopped advancing after capturing Luoyang, and only sent a small force to continue to pursue the fleeing Tang army, but the sudden appearance of this small group of rebels plunged this terrified force into chaos. Countless people did not die by the enemy's sword, but died from the trampling of comrades.

Gao Xianzhi is undoubtedly responsible for this serious non-combat attrition.

Prior to this, Li Longji had ordered that in addition to the garrison troops that had to stay behind the castle, all the soldiers who could be mobilized in Shuofang, Hexi, and Longyou towns should rush to the designated assembly point within 20 days. Since the requisitioned reinforcements had not yet arrived, the arrival of Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing undoubtedly strengthened the military strength of the empty Tongguan.

As Feng Changqing expected, the rebel general Cui Qianyou soon led his army to the city of Tongguan. This "one man is the pass, ten thousand people are difficult to open" Xiongguan made the invincible rebels helplessly stop the pace of advance. It was Feng Changqing's correct and timely assertion that pulled the Tang Empire back from the brink of collapse.

Li Longji did not expect that the three carefully arranged lines of defense would collapse within ten days. Li Longji was furious. When he needed to calm down the most, he was carried away by anger.

Therefore, he immediately made a decision to summon the crown prince Li Hum and declare him the emperor, and the crown prince was enthroned in Lingwu for Suzong,

After the crown prince ascended the throne, he began to suppress the rebellion. (To be continued......)