Chapter 369: Killing the general to establish his power

In October of the 12th year of Tianbao, the Minister of the Tang Dynasty, the Right Prime Minister, Li Qing, the Grand Marshal of the World, personally led an army of 150,000 to besiege Luoyang. At the same time, Shuofang, Hedong Jiedushi, and the Minister of War Guo Ziyi led 50,000 troops to cross the Yellow River from Lingbao Xiyuan, and also joined the battle to besiege Luoyang.

Luoyang is called the meaning of the Central Plains map in Feng Shui geography. Those who get Luoyang can enter Guanzhong west, go north to Hedong, go south to Jingxiang, go east to Chenliu, and go east to south. They are all flat and can sweep away wealthy places such as the Jianghuai River.

But its disadvantage is also obvious, that is, there is no danger to rely on. A Yellow River crosses the north and south. Although it is not afraid of the iron cavalry coming from the north, its east, west and south sides have no danger to block the attacking enemy. Historical rulers are also well aware of this weakness. Therefore, Luoyang's city is extremely strong and tall, and the moat is deep and wide, making it extremely difficult to attack.

Li Qingzheng took advantage of the opportunity of An Lushan and his son's terror, and launched a large-scale attack on Luoyang, without showing weakness and luring the enemy, nor sieging the city to attack reinforcements. This was a real battle, paving the ladder of victory with the blood and skeletons of the soldiers.

If it wins, its impact on morale and the entire battle situation will be decisive, which means that An Lushan's rebellion is coming to an end.

The battle has reached the twilight of the tenth day, which is the bloodiest and most intense moment. The tentative competition between the two sides has ended. Both of them have shown their talents and devoted themselves to the fierce battle.

An Qingxu's army was obviously smaller than expected, with only 70,000 or 80,000 people. The uncontrollable demand and squandering made them lose their troops, but they occupied the defensive position, which was much more beneficial than the attacking party.

"Dong! -Dong! -Dong!" The slow and low sound of skin drum echoed in the field. It was so shocking and powerful, as if it had alarmed the world. With every knock, the Tang army pushed forward more than ten steps. The black Tang army held a shield and a sword and launched an attack on Luoyang City from the west and south. The flames flew into the sky, reflecting the cold faces of groups of Tang soldiers red.

The moats in the eastern and southern sections have been filled. Hundreds of huge cloud ladders and nest cars were slowly pushed by the soldiers, rolling towards the city walls. The rumbling sounds resounded through the sky, and the overwhelming arrows intertwined in the air. The two-foot-long bed crossbow was as dense as raindrops, hitting the cloud ladders, making crackling sounds. The city was filled with wreckage and corpses.

"Woo~" A rock with a sharp roar was thrown out from the high city wall, rolling in the air, drawing an arc to smash towards the dense Tang army under the city.

Where it hit, the Tang army shouted desperately to dodge, but more than a dozen people were hit by the huge rock, and their muscles were broken and bloody. The air was filled with blood. The huge rocks flew out of the city wall one after another, as dark as the god of death, and kept hitting the crowd, like waves splashing in the sea, smashing a little bit of space, and then being flooded by the crowd. Fortunately, some nest carts were even hit. The skeleton of the towering nest carts broke and fell down with a bang. The Tang army above them either screamed or screamed, and fell from the air.

However, the war was cruel and ruthless. The rebels' desperate resistance failed to stop the Tang army's attack. The cloud ladder of the Anxi Army in the western section was the first to set up the city. General Helou Yurunjing was naked and led five thousand fierce Western Region warriors to move forward bravely against the rolling wooden stones. They didn't care about guns and arrows. One died, and the other rushed up, or the ladder was broken. Another cloud ladder followed. The soldiers rushed up regardless of life and death under the cover of the rain of arrows from the nest cart behind.

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The rebels stationed at the west wall were nearly 20,000 subordinates of general Cai Xide. The Tang army's continuous fierce attacks put great pressure on him. More than half of his subordinates were killed or injured. Twenty huge stone throwers were either hit by the Tang army's flying crossbow, or had been damaged by excessive use. The defense for ten days and ten nights of continuous defense made his soldiers extremely tired. However, An Qingxu used the excuse that there were not many Tang troops in the east and ordered him to defend to death and not allow him to retreat and rest. Cai Xide was extremely angry about this. He even suspected that An Qingxu was deliberately consuming his strength because he had publicly accused An Qingxu's father of the faults.

The Tang army attacking the southern section was 15,000 people from Wang Sili's army, but he suffered heavy losses. This section was defended by the rebel general Li Guiren. He captured a large number of civilians and men to assist in defense. In addition, the military supplies he prepared were sufficient, which made the Tang army pay a huge price for every step forward.

The afternoon battle has been going on for nearly three hours. Seeing the blood-red setting sun in the sky gradually set, the sky is dim and night is about to fall, Li Qing, under the escort of hundreds of personal guards, was watching the battle on a hill two miles away, behind him was the veteran Guo Ziyi. At this time, he was looking at Li Qing in front of him with complicated eyes.

Guo Ziyi was a martial artist. He joined the army for a long time, but he was not appreciated. It was not until Wang Zhongsi became the governor of Shuofang that he gradually showed his talents. However, his true ability was during the Anshi Rebellion, especially when he was good at coordinating various relationships and getting along well with the eunuchs in the army, which made him repeatedly valued by the court and defeated the Tang Dynasty with Li Guangbi.

Of course, under the current situation, he can no longer shine like in history. He also sees the fighter jets that exist in Luoyang now.

He personally led the Hedong army across Henan and went south to prepare to lead the Luoyang Battle, which was related to the overall situation, thus establishing his position in the military. However, he never expected that the right prime minister Li Qing saw through his purpose and took away the dominance of the battle with the honor of the prime minister, making him a wedding dress for Li Qing instead.

Although he had the title of Minister of War, it was just a false title and had no practical significance. It was more than one level away from Li Qing, who held the power of the court. Therefore, although he was the deputy general of this battle, he almost dared not refute Li Qing's decision. His 50,000 troops were also taken away from command by Li Qing in a dignified manner.

Li Qing did not seem to notice Guo Ziyi's complex mentality. He was staring at the battlefield with a monopoly expression. Although the city of Luoyang was tall and strong, the combat power of the defenders was obviously weak. It was obviously a new army that had just been recruited. An Qingxu had the most elite 20,000 Tiger Guards and did not enter the battle.

This is the fighter opportunity that Li Qing seized. An Qingxushi's father's independence did not receive the support of all the generals. Before Li Qing's army arrived, Xue Song, the general stationed on the periphery, had already led 10,000 subordinates to Luoyang. The remaining generals, such as An Shouzhong, Niu Tingjie, Cai Xide, and Li Guiren, all of them had their own ulterior motives. An Lushan could shock them in his life. Now that An Lushan died, the situation was not good, they all planned to protect themselves, and the army in their hands was their strength to protect themselves.

It is precisely this delicate mentality that they fight on their own, do not support each other, and even secretly destroy the troops. This makes the rebels even though they have a strong city like Luoyang, Luoyang's defense is already in danger just ten days after the war begins.

At this time, Li Qing frowned. He sent a total of 40,000 people to siege Xicheng and Nancheng, and let the rebels escape.

He Lou Yurun and Xi Yuanqing each led 5,000 Anxi troops to attack Xicheng. The advance and retreat were well-founded, and the losses were not large. However, the Hedong troops in the south city suffered heavy losses and have not yet relied on the city. The reason is that Pugu Huai'en's 150,000 troops did not seem to have entered the battle, which made it difficult for Wang Sili to hold on.

"Come!" Li Qing shouted, and two personal guards came up immediately. He took out a golden command arrow and handed it to the personal guards. He said in a sequel: "I ordered my servant Gu Huai'en to press it on me. If there is no movement within a quarter of an hour, I will kill you immediately!"

"Master General, Pugu Huai'en is probably sympathetic to the soldiers, and his soldiers are also very tired!" Guo Ziyi said to Li Qing nervously. Exhaustion was just an excuse. He knew that Pugu Huai'en's true thought was that he did not want to work hard for Li Qing and preserve the strength of the Hedong Army. He came to him last night and complained, saying that Li Qing used the Hedong Army to charge, but did not use the Anxi Army. It was obviously intentional, and today he began to deliberately slacke in the army.

"General Guo, you are also a veteran. Don't you know that the military order is like a mountain? I ordered him to support Wang Sili to attack Nancheng together, but where is his soldiers? It has been almost an hour, but his soldiers have not seen any shadows. Isn't this openly disobeying my military order?"

"This..." Guo Ziyi was speechless. Li Qing was the Grand Marshal of the World. He could not say that he had no right to command the Hedong Army!

Guo Ziyi was secretly anxious. He hoped that Pu Gu Huaien would send troops quickly and not be caught by Li Qing. Time passed by little by little, and the sky was completely dark. The battle situation could not be seen clearly from the hills, but Li Qing still stood motionless immediately. His face was gloomy and his eyes were full of coldness.

At this time, a messenger rushed over, "Report! General Wang Sili can no longer hold on, I hope the general can allow him to retreat temporarily!"

"Can Pugu Huai'en's army go up to fight?"

"When I go back to the general, Pu Gu Huai'en is still watching, and he has not sent troops."

Guo Ziyi's heart suddenly shivered. Half an hour had passed. Pu Gu Huai'en still did not send troops and openly disobeyed Li Qing's order. What should I do?

Li Qing smiled coldly, the opportunity finally came, how could he not seize it?

"Tell me my order, and I will withdraw my troops!" He looked back at Guo Ziyi and apologized: "Elder General, the military strategy is as good as a mountain, I hope you understand!"

Guo Ziyi was very anxious, and he pleaded again: "Can the general spare his life and order him to make meritorious service!"

Li Qing smiled faintly and did not answer. He urged the horse to leave. Gradually, Li Qing's straight back disappeared into the night.

The heavy and shocking drum sound stopped, the Tang army gradually retreated, and the city of Luoyang was swallowed up again by the quiet twilight. Only some ladders that had not yet burned out were flashing with fire, which looked very strange.

"Bang!", Li Qing slapped the King of Arrows on the table and stared coldly at the rebellious general in history. Pu Gu Huaien was about fifty years old. He was tall and thin, with dark skin. His hands and feet were as big as a palm fan. He was as yellow as firewood, as if a layer of skin was directly wrapped in bones.

"Do you know your guilt if you don't obey the order!" Li Qing asked coldly as he stared at his eyes.

"I will obey the orders that make sense! Why should I listen to the orders that are not in a bad mood?"

Pugu Huai'en was appointed as the deputy envoy of Shuofang Jiedushi. In Hedong, he was Guo Ziyi's right-hand man and very capable, but he was very proud. He looked down on anyone except Guo Ziyi, and even Li Guangbi, he ignored him. He only had contempt for Li Qing. A junior in his thirties, who was not a royal family, actually became the marshal of the world's military and horses. He had to listen to him. It was such a big joke.

Seeing Li Qing's indifferent question, he suddenly aroused his anger and said proudly: "You have 150,000 troops in your hands, but you ordered our Hedong Army to fight to the death in everything. In the past ten days, the Hedong Army has suffered more than 10,000 casualties, and your Anxi Army has only suffered less than a thousand casualties. How unfair this is, so why should I listen to you?"

Li Qing snorted coldly on his nose, and laughed instead of anger, "I really don't understand. There are really people like you who are so stupid in the world who seek death. Do you really think I dare not kill you?"

He stopped talking, just swept his eyes to both sides of the tent, and immediately rushed up to five or six personal soldiers, pressing Pu Gu Huaien to the ground, and tied him up firmly.

"Li Qing, you can't kill me!" Pugu Huaien raised his head and shouted sternly: "My Pugu family has an iron coupon issued by the Supreme Emperor, which has been inherited from generation to generation. If you want to kill me, it is the crime of deceiving the king!"

Li Qing smiled coldly, "You idiot, there is no Supreme Emperor here, there is only my military order here. I will be the first, drag it down and behead you!"

More than a dozen swords and axes dragged Pugu Huaien down, and Pugu Huaien was still cursing. At this time, Guo Ziyi stepped forward again and pleaded with mercy: "Master, General Pugu is very good at cavalry and has made outstanding achievements in the battle to recover Hedong. If he dies, it will be a loss for our Tang army. Please let the general go and spare him the death penalty!"

Li Qing shook his head gently, "Gen. Guo, you are also a person who has been leading troops for a long time. You should know that the military orders are the first in the army. As the commander, I cannot command a general below. If I don't kill him, what's the use of military discipline? I have made up my mind, so you don't have to persuade me again!"

After saying that, Li Qing stood up and ordered: "Behead him and show him the public, and order the three armies. If anyone dares not listen to my orders, he will be killed immediately!"

After killing Pugu Huaien, Li Qing ordered the general He Lou Yurun to take over Pugu Huaien's position and start attacking the city as soon as tomorrow dawn.
Chapter completed!