Chapter 350: Blackmail

At the beginning of the 12th year of Tianbao, An Lushan officially launched an anti-Tang army on the grounds of seeking justice for his eldest son's death. The 200,000 troops were divided into two groups. One was led by Shi Siming, deputy envoy of the Jiedu of Fan Yang, and went to Hedong to attack Taiyuan. The other was led by him personally, and ordered the general Cui Ganyou to be the vanguard and sent troops to Xiangzhou. The whole journey was as strong as a bamboo shoot. In early February, Cui Ganyou crossed the river in Lingchang, captured Chenliu, and killed the governor Zhang Jieran. At the end of February, he defeated Xingyang and killed the governor Cui Wu'ai. Since then, the gate to the west has opened, and the rebels are heading straight to the eastern capital Luoyang.

At the same time, the court's emergency mechanism began to be launched. Li Longji appointed King of Chu Li Yu as the Grand Marshal of the World, Gao Xianzhi and Changqing as deputy generals, and Bian Lingcheng as military supervisors. He led 300,000 troops out of Tongguan and rushed to Luoyang, hoping to defeat An Lushan's army in a battle.

‘Swish-’ A sharp whistle passed through the tree. Several Tang army scouts who were lying on the grass to rest stood up one after another. They rushed to the edge of the forest and climbed up a big tree.

This is Kuiyuan west of Zhengzhou. Two miles away is the official road. As soon as several Tang soldiers climbed up the tree, the earth began to shake slightly, as if the ground was rolling over muffled thunder. Then a black line appeared in the east. As the black line got closer, the sky began to turn dim. The dust that stirred up covered the sky, and the black line had become a huge dark curtain. The overwhelming Iron Cavalry of Youzhou appeared in front of them. The clothes were brightly coated and the team was neat, and the black line was beyond the edge of the sight, emitting murderous aura. Following the sound of drums, the cavalry was getting faster and faster and was rushing west.

The hearts of several Tang army scouts seemed to fall into the cold cave. These were cavalry with more than 300,000 people, but the murderous aura they burst out was hard to match even the 300,000 Tang army. The enemy was getting closer and closer, and the Tang army scouts could no longer stay there. They rolled down the trees and rode on horses and ran westward.

In Tongguan, 300,000 Tang troops were slowly passing by the city. The baggage truck was mixed with the army and pushed forward creakingly. The road to get off the car was rugged and narrow, and the road was uneven. The wooden wheel of the baggage truck was sometimes damaged by huge rocks that were suddenly blocked. Once a failure occurs, the road will be blocked immediately, and the team behind will stagnate and unable to move forward.

Two days have passed, and only more than 300,000 Tang troops have passed by, and the large army is still behind. Gao Xianzhi looks grim and stands on a high hillside with hundreds of personal guards on the left and right.

In front of him, the Tang army was scattered and moved forward listlessly. They were forced to stop from time to time, cursing and complaining. Although Gao Xianzhi was right on their heads, no one took him seriously. A few soldiers even got into the grass and found a place to sleep.

These soldiers were originally scattered in military governments in various places. They were usually slackened in combat preparations and had not been trained for a long time. Some soldiers didn't even know their own officials. In the past year, they have been transferred to the Jingzhao area one after another. There is no one to supervise it, and the military discipline is even more scattered and no one is in unified command. They each have their own formations, and almost every military government has logistics, which is mixed in the team, which seriously affects the marching.

Gao Xianzhi's brows frowned. He was temporarily appointed. He did not recognize almost all the commander officers, and no one bought his account. The border army was not the same as the Central Plains Army and had always been looked down upon by the soldiers of the palace. What's more, Gao Xianzhi was a demoted border general.

"How can the army fight against An Lushan's elite soldiers in this way?" Gao Xianzhi was extremely worried.

At this time, a team of cavalry rushed to the hill, "Master!" Someone was shouting to Gao Xianzhi.

Gao Xianzhi turned around and saw that the person who came was his old subordinate Feng Changqing. Although the two had worked together for many years, this was the second time that the two had met in the nine years of Tianbao.

He was delighted and rode his horse to meet him.

Feng Changqing had just passed Tongguan. The slow marching made him very anxious. The marching was always about speed. They went to save Luoyang. It was so slow that Luoyang would have been lost long ago without waiting.

"Master, think of a solution! This kind of war is really heartwarming." As soon as we met, Feng Changqing had no time to greet him and reminisce about the past, and his face was filled with worries.

"What do you want me to do? I have no right, do they listen to me?"

Gao Xianzhi sighed deeply, "Chang Qing, I just received a scout report that An Lushan's forward has passed Kuiyuan. In this case, we will not only not be able to save Luoyang, but also Shanzhou will be lost."

"But how do we explain to the emperor? He also asked us to wipe out An Lushan's army in Luoyang and take An Lushan back to Chang'an." Feng Changqing looked left and right, and whispered to Gao Xianzhi: "Master, I think there is a lot of danger in this trip, so we have to make plans early."

Gao Xianzhi glanced at him and said, "I know if I don't say it, but you and I are not the commander, and I can't command the army. Whatever plan can I make, I can only do my best."

He was melancholy in his heart, hoping to lead the army one day, but when this day came, the situation was really not optimistic. At this time, a loud trumpet sound echoed among the mountains. Gao Xianzhi immediately leaned out to look at the gate of Tongguan. He saw flags waving, teams of people coming out. This was a sign of the outgoing of the head coach Li Yu. He thought of something and immediately said to Feng Changqing: "I guess after the end of this battle, the King of Chu will be appointed as the crown prince, so the bottom line between you and me is not Luoyang, but to protect the safety of the King of Chu. If he makes any mistakes, even if he cuts the head of An Lushan to see you, you and I will still not be able to survive."

As soon as he finished speaking, a messenger rushed over, "Two generals, Your Highness, please invite me!"

"Let's go! He also found that something was wrong."

Gao Xianzhi turned his horse's head and rode his horse towards the gate of Tongguan. Feng Changqing followed closely. At this time, a round of blood sun slowly fell to the west, and the towering Tongguan was dyed red by the sunset glow.

"We have been leaving Chang'an for seven days, but the army has not even finished Tongguan. If this continues, when will we arrive in Luoyang? Both of them are the generals who have been through the battlefield for a long time? What are the best solutions?"

Li Yu was welcomed back to Chang'an by the Yulin Army sent by Li Longji on the third day of the Lantern Festival. Due to An Lushan's rebellion, Li Longji only appointed him as the King of Chu, intending to let him preside over the suppression of the rebellion and establish authority before making him the crown prince. In this way, the kings had nothing to say.

After a month of intense preparation, the mobilization of 300,000 troops was completed, and Li Yu immediately took charge and led his army to the east. At first, he was full of confidence and imagined that he could defeat An Lushan in one battle and show his power in the world. However, the rebels had not seen it yet. With the difficulty of the march, he gradually began to realize that something was wrong. He had participated in the Battle of Talas, where the Tang army was vigorous and vigorous, and the marching was very fast, which was a world of difference from now.

When passing Tongguan, Li Yu finally couldn't bear it anymore and had a high life, so they often came to see each other.

"Your Highness, I just received the news that the rebel vanguard has passed the Kuiyuan, and they are cavalry again, so I can't do anything about it." Gao Xianzhi spread his hands helplessly and said that he had no choice.

"Where is General Feng?" Li Yu's eyes turned to Feng Changqing again. In his eyes, Li Yu saw a hint of hesitation. He immediately had hope in his heart. He grabbed his hand and said sincerely: "Speaking of this, I can be considered to be from Anxi. We are all our own people. Don't let us see each other, help the orphan king."

Feng Changqing sighed softly. He glanced at Gao Xianzhi secretly. Seeing that his face was solemn and expressionless, he bowed to Li Yu and said, "Your Highness, Gao Magistrate is definitely not a false reputation. It is not that he has no choice but to command these troops, so he has no choice."

Li Yu turned his head suddenly, stared at Gao Xianzhi and said, "General Gao, is this true?"

Gao Xianzhi secretly scolded Feng Changqing for talking too much, but he could no longer refuse, so he had to nod his head.

Li Yu was overjoyed. He immediately took the sword of Emperor Tai Sword on the upper side, held it to Gao Xianzhi in both hands, and said solemnly: "I will hand over this sword to you. From now on, everything in the army will be subject to your orders. If anyone does not obey the order, he will be killed without mercy!"

"I am obeying your order!"

Gao Xianzhi took the Emperor's Sword, and he immediately ordered: "Tell me my order, all the supplies and vehicles will be pushed down the cliff. Those who violate the order will be killed!"

Although he ordered, the effect was not obvious. There were still many baggage chariots walking slowly on the mountain road without taking his orders in his heart. Gao Xianzhi was furious and ordered the executioners to execute all the soldiers in charge of more than a dozen or so carriages on the spot. He also killed two generals who did not obey the orders and ordered people to carry their heads to show them to the army.

Then, the soldiers woke up as if they were dreaming and pushed the baggage carts down the cliff. In this way, the road was finally smooth and the marching speed was accelerated. Gao Xianzhi ordered Li Yu to be the rear army and Feng Changqing was appointed as the vanguard. He led 60,000 troops to march to Luoyang overnight. All the money warehouses were allowed to be taken by the soldiers. In this way, under the influence of Gao Xianzhi's soft and hard hands, the morale of the Tang soldiers was greatly boosted. Five days later, Feng Changqing's vanguard army and Cui Qianyou's army arrived in Luoyang almost at the same time.

Along the coast of Tianbao Canal in Shanzhou, the Tang army camps were densely packed and stretched dozens of miles away. The night was as bright as water. Gao Xianzhi couldn't fall asleep. He walked out of the tent with his hands behind his back and stared at the dark night sky in the east. Feng Changqing had been leaving for five days, and there was no news. He should have fought with the rebels at this time, but can his army beat the Iron Cavalry of Youzhou?

As the governors, Gao Xianzhi knew very well that the infantry of the Tang Dynasty was dominated by the Anxi Mo Dao Army, but the cavalry's combat power was the bravest of the Youzhou cavalry of An Lushan.

What Feng Changqing brought was the government soldiers with poor military discipline and low combat power. They had not seen any war in a century, so how could they compete with the border troops that had been fighting for many years?

"If there were ten thousand Anximo Daojun in hand, why would I be afraid?"

Gao Xianzhi sighed softly. The only trick now is that Feng Changqing could arrive in Luoyang one step earlier, defend the city, and not fight head-on with the enemy. Wait until the 300,000 troops arrive, and win the few.

"Super handsome, are you okay?"

A sharp voice interrupted Gao Xianzhi's thoughts. He turned around quickly and several people walked in the dusk. There was a man in front of him with a long robe and a tall hat. When he approached, Gao Xianzhi's heart suddenly sank. The person who came was his old partner, Bian Lingcheng, the military supervisor.

Can he let himself go if he kills the lazy army and robs the warehouse along the way?

The other party was approaching, and Gao Xianzhi couldn't think about it carefully, and quickly bowed and smiled, "Where is no place in life? When I see Eunuch Bian again, Xianzhi is very happy."

Bian Lingcheng left late, and he rushed to the road overnight. He had just caught up with Gao Xianzhi. All the way he saw, the warehouse was burned, the ruins and the black smoke had not yet been exhausted. The soldiers all said it was the order issued by Gao Zheng. Bian Lingcheng secretly sneered in his heart. Gao Xianzhi's handle was caught by him. Let's see how he explained it today.

His face sank and he said coldly: "General Gao, although you and I are old friends, we cannot ignore the rules. The warehouse is owned by the country, but General Gao ordered his troops to plunder and burn them. Do you have the emperor's will?"

Seeing that he was holding on to this matter, Gao Xianzhi knew that he had other plans, so he smiled and said, "The Emperor ordered us to go to Luoyang urgently. The Bian Eunuch is also a person who knows the military. With the current morale of the Tang army, how can the Tang army defeat An Lushan's elite soldiers? So in order to motivate the soldiers, I ordered the soldiers to enter the warehouse to collect goods. As for the burning, I didn't want to give in to the thief An Lushan, so the emperor asked Bian Eunuch to have more good words."

"General Gao said he would be defeated before the battle, which is very interesting!" Bian Lingcheng laughed several times, and he simply went straight to the point and said in a lengthening voice: "General Gao went to the Shi Kingdom that day and left our family in Kucha. Later, our family heard that General Gao robbed Tuozhe City and robbed the Shi Kingdom's treasure house. I believe General Gao is rich now, right?"

Gao Xianzhi then suddenly realized that he was worried about looting the Treasure House of Stone Kingdom without giving him a share. When he thought of that, he was very angry, but he did not dare to show his face. He hurriedly bowed to him, "Eunuch Bian should also be clear. After Xianzhi went to Shi Kingdom, she did not return to Kucha. She took some property at that time, but they were all for rewarding military merits. However, after the imperial concubine celebrated her birthday, Xianzhi left in a hurry and did not bring them back. They were all placed in the military camp. Now, the father-in-law should be clear in his heart."

The implication was that these things were all in Li Qing's hands, and he had nothing left. Although he said that, Bian Lingcheng was not willing to believe it. At that time, Gao Xianzhi returned to Kucha to collect prisoners of war. Even if he didn't take the gold, he should have carried those jade jewelry with him. He just thought Gao Xianzhi was unwilling to give it to him, and he was furious. He was about to threaten again, and at this moment, a war horse rushed over, "General Gao, something big is not good!"

Gao Xianzhi was shocked. He ignored Bian Lingcheng and quickly met him. Jiao Sheng asked, "Is it the Luoyang war report?"
Chapter completed!