From a distance, it looks like a giant beast in the dark night, quietly lurking, grinding its teeth and sucking blood, ready to devour people.

Cai Xide pressed the knife on his waist and leaned over to inspect the city, and after a while, he turned around and said to the general beside him: "Good guards, don't lose the city." ”

"Yes!" The general responded, and then laughed: "Don't worry, the Tang army in Luoyang is only twenty or thirty thousand people, and we have 10,000 elite soldiers guarding Tongguan. ”

"Even so, you must be cautious and not careless, if you fail, you and I will lose our heads." Cai Xide said.

The general's expression turned solemn and said no more.

After the coup, they were sent to seize Tongguan and stop an attack that might come from the east. However, some news from Gyeonggi also came from time to time, especially the news about An Lushan's temperament changed drastically and killed him in anger, which was not a secret to them.

If Tongguan is guarded, with An Lushan's current character, there is a chance that he will cut off the heads of Cai Xide and others.

"General, over there, the beacon!"

After inspecting the guards, Cai Xide was about to go down to the city, when suddenly, someone shouted. Cai Xide looked to the east, only to see that on the top of the stretching mountain peaks, the beacon towers suddenly ignited wolf smoke.

The whole Tongguan is a defense system, and the beacon towers on the surrounding mountains are also an important part of the Tongguan defense system. In each beacon tower, Cai Xide has arranged scout sentries with more than ten people and as few as three or five people, and if there is any movement, the beacon smoke will be lit, and the police message can be transmitted back in a very short time.

"It's coming!"

Looking at these wolf smoke, Cai Xide said solemnly: "Close the city defense tightly, and order the whole army to fight!" ”

About another hour later, the first batch of scouts returned to Guanzhong, Cai Xide inquired carefully, it turned out that more than 20,000 Tang troops in Luoyang City entered Tongguan!

"Who is the enemy general?" Cai Xide asked.

"Xin Jinggao."

This name is very unfamiliar to Cai Xide, and he secretly sighed in his heart that Ye Chang is used to cultivating talents, and he thinks that this Xin Jinggao should also be one of the talents he has cultivated.

"Do you know who this Xin Jinggao is?" He asked, looking around left and right.

"I know that he should be the queen of Jiangmen, his brother Xin Yunqing used to be Taichangqing, he has not been under Ye Chang's account for too long, and he has made great achievements in the battle of Dugi Road in the old years...... Very young. ”

"Ye Chang is good-minded, what kind of character, he has it in his bag." Cai Xide secretly praised in his heart, but said with a smile in his mouth: "It turned out to be a nameless junior, he is not a veteran general in the army, he is just a brave man, I will slowly consume his sharpness, and then capture him in one fell swoop when he is anxious!" ”

Everyone laughed when they heard his words, and the smarter ones understood what Cai Xide meant. In this battle, Cai Xide did not seek merit, but sought no fault, compared to Xin Jinggao, he had fewer troops, so he was not ready to go out of the city to fight with him, but to defend the Xiongguan.

Anyway, the task given to them by An Lushan was only to hold Tongguan and not let the Tang army break through.

"Shi Siming has entered Chang'an to join the An Guild, I think Ye Chang will not be able to support it for long, after defeating Ye Chang, he will return to the army to sweep Luoyang, Henan, and Dingding Central Plains, by that time, we are all founding princes, maybe we will also paint a portrait on Lingyan Pavilion!" Cai Xide inspired everyone again.

"I heard that the king is preparing to ascend the throne and weigh the system, change the dynasty, the generals are highly meritorious, what is the prince, maybe the prince, the king of the county and the like have a share!" The subordinates complimented him playfully.

Cai Xide Ha Lu laughed, as if he really didn't care about Xin Jinggao in front of him.

In the Tang Army, Xin Jinggao stared at the embers of the beacon smoke that had not disappeared, and pouted: "This Cai Xide is a cautious person, it seems that it is impossible to win the pass in one fell swoop." ”

The young man next to him had a flickering gaze and smiled silently.

"Yue Langjun, why don't you speak, I have spent a lot of time and I haven't gotten any news from you-since Ye Gong asked you to come to support me, didn't you let you be this stuffy gourd?" Xin Jinggao glanced at him dissatisfied: "It's all at this time, what else do you have to hide?" ”

"It's not that I deliberately want to hide it, it's the general that you're too anxious." Yue Xi said with a smile: "Anyway, I promise, it won't be long before the gate of this Tongguan will be open to you!" ”

"General Xin, our army has reached outside the forbidden ditch, do you want to attack?" Xin Jinggao was still thinking about how to come up with a strategy to break through Tongguan from Yue Xi's mouth, and his subordinates ran to ask first.

"More anxious than I am...... But it's still early, so you have to try, maybe Cai Xide was scared by me and abandoned the city instead of defending it. ”

Xin Jinggao said this, but the march was still very cautious, he understood Ye Chang's intention to summon Yue Xilai, helping him break the city was only one of them, and there was another purpose, which should be to supervise his actions. After all, this time Ye Chang handed over to him all the manpower that could be mobilized in the entire east of Tongguan, and there were only more than 20,000 people outside Tongguan now, this is just the forward, and the real big army is still behind.

Since Ye Chang can organize the road construction workers in Kansai to recruit as sergeants, he can naturally do the same for the road construction workers in Kanto. Moreover, as early as the rebellion of the Yuan brothers, Ye Chang gave Yue Xi a secret order, telling him to be ready to mobilize at any time, so the road construction workers in Kanto were organized earlier than in Kansai. This is also one of the bases for Ye Chang's confidence in annihilating An Lushan and Shi Siming in one fell swoop, the total number of road construction workers in Kanto is more than 300,000, and Yue Xi can recruit at least 150,000!

There is a forbidden ditch about six miles to the east of Tongguan, and a lot of city platforms are erected on both sides of the forbidden ditch, and Tongguan forms a defense system. If you want to attack Tongguan, you have to attack these cities first. Xin Jinggao hugged the troops to the front of the city platform, looked at it from a distance, saw the flags on the city platform, the soldiers were bright and bright, and each city platform was less than a hundred or more than hundreds of people, echoing each other from afar, and couldn't help but shake their heads.

"There's no need to try, this kind of defense can't be broken, and it will hurt the lives of the soldiers in vain." He was a little sorry.

The army settled down outside Tongguan, and Cai Xide was also a little surprised when he heard the news: "This Xin Jinggao didn't even do a tentative attack, and went straight to gather troops outside the pass, could it be that he didn't plan for a decisive battle here, just to deal with errands?" ”

However, the news that came the next day made him understand that Xin Jinggao had his own plans.

"Really, the Tang Army has reinforcements here?"

The scout's face was a little pale, obviously frightened by the size of the Tang army: "It's not reinforcements, it's the main force, the villain is watching from afar, the number is more than that outside the city, there are thirty or forty thousand people!" ”

"How could the Tang Army have so many troops, and if it had so many troops, how could it give a few mud-legged peasants last year and make Dugi Province and Henan Province shake and uneasy?" When Cai Xide heard this report, he still didn't believe it.

The villain also wanted to investigate, but the Tang army was very guarded, and the villain couldn't get close...... But the number of people is right, in order to confirm this news, the villain also deliberately went east, to the place where the Tang army passed, and counted the stoves where they buried pots and made rice! ”

Cai Xide frowned, and after a while, he muttered a curse.

There is nothing wrong with Tongguan being dangerous, but Tongguan is not the kind of dangerous pass that cannot be opened by one man, but a group of garrisons that require a large number of troops to defend. He had 100,000 soldiers and horses, which could ensure that Tongguan was not lost, but he only had more than 20,000 men, some of whom were guards of the old Tongguan who were not necessarily loyal to An Lushan.

In addition, Tongguan is fixed, but people are mobile, although Tongguan is solid, but it is not impossible to bypass. If the Tang army left one part here to contain him, and the other crossed the Yellow River from the ferry, the Tongguan natural danger would become an ornament, and the biggest effect would be to let the Tang army go farther away.

"Look again, look at ...... again"

The main force of the Tang army arrived, but still did not start the attack, Cai Xide was suspicious, and suddenly heard the news that Pujin Pass had fallen into the hands of the Tang army!

"How is this possible?" Cai Xide was shocked: "Isn't Pujin Pass guarded by Shi Siming's subordinates, why did Shi Siming just pass and fall into the hands of the Tang Army?" ”

Shi Siming's troops entered the customs, that is, the Pujin Pass, which was originally defended by Cai Xide, but because of Shi Siming's arrival, in order to facilitate logistics and supply, it was handed over to Shi Siming's generals.

"General Shi only left more than 2,000 people in Pujin Pass, the Tang army crossed the Yellow River on a pontoon bridge, came suddenly, broke in, and now Pujin Pass has been lost, how can our army guard Tongguan, please take an idea quickly!"

Pujin Pass was lost, and the door of the pass was not said to be open to the Tang Army, but at least half of it was opened. And Cai Xide is facing a very embarrassing problem, his troops are insufficient, and it is simply not enough to hold the entire Tongguan defense system. In order to prevent the Tang army from attacking him from behind, his only choice was to abandon the periphery and shrink his forces. As long as he keeps the city of Tongguan, then his task is half completed.

Although he had this heart, he didn't dare to make up his mind immediately, and immediately sent an urgent envoy to Chang'an to report the emergency. Sure enough, the urgent envoy brought the order of An Lushan in Chang'an City, and the scout came to report that the Tang army that had entered the pass from Pujin Pass had appeared in the west of Tongguan.

"The king ordered me to wait to hold Tongguan, wait for reinforcements, and not let the Tang army enter the pass." After receiving the order, Cai Xide breathed a sigh of relief: "Since this is the case, there is no need to defend Taicheng outside the Guan, and all of them will be withdrawn into the Guannei!" ”

Cai Xide knew very well that there was still something to be done at this time, the number of Tang troops entering the customs from Pujin was not too much, as long as An Lushan recovered Pujin again, these Tang troops would be turtles in the urn. On the contrary, if he loses Tongguan again, the Tang army really pours into the pass, Chang'an City will face the state of being attacked by the enemy, and the situation of An Lushan will be unprecedentedly bad.

"The thief army has abandoned Taicheng, the shell has been peeled off, and now it's up to you." After getting the news that the rebel turtle had retreated into Tongguan, Xin Jinggao said to Yue Xi with a smile.

Yue Xi arched his hand: "Okay, I will open the gate of Tongguan City tonight, and ask the general to attack the city to cover my people!" ”

He secretly admired in his heart that Xin Jinggao could be valued by Lang Jun, selected as a general, and even took charge of the army east of Tongguan at a young age, which was really extraordinary. Attacking Tongguan openly and secretly taking Pujin was very beautiful, and even Yue Xi himself didn't expect that Xin Jinggao would make such a move.

Hearing that the Tang army occupied all the Taicheng on both sides of the forbidden ditch and the army moved here, Cai Xide immediately understood that the Tang army, which had not acted for a long time, was finally going to start attacking the city.

In the evening, the Tang army put out all kinds of siege equipment and lined up outside the range of the eight bull crossbows at the head of the city. After Cai Xide heard the news, he went to the city to watch, and saw that the Tang army was very cautious, and he was obviously very afraid of the various crossbow machines in the city, so he couldn't help laughing.

"Why is the general laughing?"

Seeing that the Tang army was strong and the rebels in the city were a little afraid, at this time, Cai Xide's smile was a little strange, so a general asked him.

"Everyone knows that Ye Chang is resourceful and far-sighted, I wonder what his expression would be if he found out that the things he developed were now used against him." Cai Xide patted a bed crossbow: "These bed crossbows are all improved by Ye Chang, and I remember that five years ago, it was he who wrote to the imperial court and rectified the armament in the inland passes, so that a new bed crossbow would be replaced here...... He certainly didn't expect today! ”

When everyone heard this, they all laughed, and laughed at Ye Changlai one by one.

They laughed at the head of the city, although they couldn't hear the sound, but through the telescope, Xin Jinggao could still see clearly. Xin Jinggao scolded, then turned around and said, "Yue Langjun, are you attacking the city at this time?" ”

Yue Xi nodded, Xin Jinggao immediately ordered, and the armies beat drums and clamour, making a posture to attack the city. Cai Xide, the head of the city, squinted at the movement of the Tang army, and saw that the Tang army was just making noise, but did not make a move, so he sneered at the moment: "Bluff, after all, I don't dare to attack the city." ”

He now also knows that the source of the main force of the Tang army is road construction workers, although its core is also some veterans, but most of them are on the battlefield for the first time, if they really attack the city, there will be many casualties, and they will inevitably be defeated. Judging from Xin Jinggao's capture of Pujin, this is not a person who is willing to suffer heavy casualties in his army, so he must also use tactics.

"If you want to attack my city, there are only a few strategies, either without food, or without water, or from the inside, and beyond that, you have to storm it. Now that my city has enough food and its own water, I have driven away all those who may become inner, so I have no choice but to storm the city with siege equipment. Although Ye Chang is wise, he has never heard of any special siege equipment he invented, how can he break my city? ”

As soon as he thought of this, he suddenly saw that the two wings of the Tang Army were divided, and something that was originally covered by many flags was exposed.

It was a strange number of cars, covered with iron plates above and in front of them, with small holes in the front for people to look at, and there were about twenty sergeants in them.

"Rushing the car?" Cai Xide was stunned for a moment: No!

Before he could figure out what it was, he heard an exclamation from the head of the city, and then countless stones flew up from behind the Tang army's formation.

Stone-throwing machine!

Cai Xide didn't think about the strange iron car anymore, but paid attention to the stone thrower. But after just one glance, he smiled dumbly.

The range of the stone thrower may not be as far as the bed crossbow at the head of the city, but the difference between the accuracy is even greater, and those stones fall out of the city in a mess, and it is impossible to pose a threat to the city walls!