Chapter 327: The Fall of Luoyang
Yang Yuhuan said: "So my dear, you have made such a careful arrangement. If that's the case, we should go."

Li Ying said: "After arriving in Chang'an, everyone will obey the princess' orders."

Zhang Mujin and the others said in unison: "Yes!"

Li Ying said to Yang Yuhuan: "Shi Shouyi will also obey your orders."

Yang Yuhuan smiled and said, "I was the matchmaker for his wife."

Li Heng smiled dotingly, but only for a moment, then said worriedly: "In order to avoid returning to Chang'an over the years, we have tried all the methods we could. The only time we returned to Chang'an, you got a rheumatoid arthritis. Now we have no other methods to use, otherwise it will only backfire. We can only endure it."

Yang Yuhuan smiled and said, "I already have three children, and I am no longer young."

Li Ying looked at Yang Yuhuan affectionately and said, "She is still in her prime."

Yang Yuhuan said: "Don't worry, Your Highness. I will adapt to the situation and wait for Your Highness to enter Chang'an."

Li Heng wanted to say something else when a servant came to report that Gao Xianzhi wanted to see him.

Li Heng's thoughts were interrupted, so he could only say, "You guys prepare the food first, and we'll eat together later."

"Yes." Several people responded.

Li Heng went out and just arrived in the courtyard, he saw Gao Xianzhi, who looked anxious. Gao Xianzhi held the imperial edict and said angrily: "Your Highness, since the saint has decided to let us lead the army to quell the rebellion, why did he use our families as hostages? I really don't understand."

Li Ying motioned Gao Xianzhi to take a seat, then sat down and said, "Taking family members as hostages is a common practice. This is not difficult to understand. What is difficult for General Gao to understand is that at this juncture, the emperor still wants to be on guard against us, right?"

Gao Xianzhi nodded and said, "It is just as your highness said."

Li Heng asked, "Will General Gao obey your orders?"

Gao Xianzhi hesitated for a while and said, "I will follow Your Highness for my whole life. I will do whatever Your Highness does."

Li Ying said, "I have already made an agreement with the princess and the others to follow their orders."

Gao Xianzhi said: "Then I will also follow your orders."

"Don't think about it anymore?" Li Heng looked at Gao Xianzhi.

Gao Xianzhi said: "I will follow Your Highness and it won't be wrong."

Li Heng smiled and said, "Let's do this first. General Gao will go spend the next two days with his family. When we have enough soldiers, we will go to the camp."

"Yes." Gao Xianzhi accepted the order, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Who do you plan to leave behind to guard the rear?"

Li Heng said: "Leave Gao Shi in charge of Longyou, An Sishun in charge of Hexi, Wang Zhongsi to guard the Tubo front line, and leave Laizhen, Cen Shen, Li Chengguang, Bai Xiaode, An Zhongzhang, and An Baozhen as deputy generals. The rest, Li Siye, Ma Lin, Ma Sui, Li Sheng, Hun Yu, etc., will follow the army back to provide support."

Gao Xianzhi seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "Your Highness has made careful arrangements. I will take my leave first."

Li Ying nodded and watched Gao Xianzhi leave.

……

After An Lushan occupied Chenliu, he learned that his son was dead, so he went into a rampage mode, fighting and looting along the way, and soon reached the city of Xingyang.

Cui Wuwei, the prefect of Xingyang, led his officers and soldiers to defend the city. When the officers and soldiers of Xingyang climbed up the city wall and heard the drums of the rebels, they were so scared that they turned around and ran away. Some even fell off the city wall and died on the spot.

On June 18, An Lushan easily captured Xingyang, killed the prefect Cui Wuwei, and allowed his troops to burn, kill and loot.

At this time, the rebels were only 270 miles away from the eastern capital Luoyang.

Upon learning that Xingyang had fallen, Wang Sili, who was guarding Luoyang, was very anxious and personally led his troops to Hulao Pass in the east of Luoyang to resist the rebels. An Lushan led Li Guiren as the vanguard and led the cavalry to launch a fierce attack on Hulao Pass.

Due to the erosion of the Yellow River, Hulao Pass was no longer the majestic and steep pass it had been during the reign of Emperor Li Shimin, and was therefore completely unable to hinder the rebels.

However, the soldiers recruited by Wang Sili were all untrained thugs from the market, and their weapons and equipment were incomplete. They were no match for An Lushan's elite border troops. An Lushan won easily and Wang Sili was defeated and fled.

Wang Sili retreated back to Luoyang, gathered the remaining troops, and organized resistance in Luoyang City.

However, Luoyang City was too large and had no strategic locations to defend. An Lushan broke in from four city gates and the government army's ragtag troops found it difficult to resist. Wang Sili fought desperately but was ultimately unable to reverse the situation and was defeated and fled. Deputy Envoy Bi Sichen and Henan Yin Da Xi Xun surrendered to An Lushan.

Li Jian, who stayed behind, wanted to fight to the death, and discussed with the Chief Censor Lu Yi to withdraw his troops and fight again in Luoyang. He finally gathered hundreds of remaining soldiers, but when the soldiers heard that they were going to fight An Lushan, they fled.

Only Li Jian and Lu Yi were wearing official uniforms and sitting in the government office.

An Lushan led his troops into the government office and asked them why they did not flee and whether they wanted to surrender.

Lu Yi replied: "As a man, one should know the difference between obedience and disobedience. I will not lose my integrity even if I die. What is there to hate?"

An Lushan was furious and chopped off the two men's heads.

At the same time, Wang Sili retreated all the way to Shan County and met up with Li Lin and Geshu Han.

Wang Sili sighed, "The rebels are elite and unstoppable. The government troops will never be able to defeat them. Now we should retreat to Tongguan and use the dangerous terrain of Tongguan to resist the enemy."

Li Lin was furious when he heard this and said, "You boasted that you would present An Lushan's head to the emperor in a few days. Now, only a few days have passed and you have led an army of 60,000 to lose Luoyang. Do you still want to escape now?"

Wang Sili said: "Your Highness, Shan County has no strategic location to defend. We can only retreat to the natural barrier of Tongguan to have the strength to fight the rebels! Besides, there are no soldiers in Tongguan. If we lose again, Chang'an will be difficult to defend."

"How come there is no strategic location to defend?" Li Lin sneered, "From Luoyang to Tongguan, there is a nearly 100-mile long Xiaohangu Road. We will defend the Xiaohangu Road! Besides, Shan County has three major granaries, Taiyuan Warehouse, Jijin Warehouse and Yan Warehouse, which are filled with silk and food. Are we going to just hand it over to others? If you want to retreat, do it yourself!"

Wang Sili had no choice but Geshu Han did not dare to refute, so they could only garrison in Shan County for the time being.

Two days later.

An Lushan assembled a large army, with Cui Qianyou leading the infantry and Li Guiren as the vanguard, and led the Yiluo River cavalry to cross the Xiaohan Valley Road and head straight for Shan County.

The rebels' infantry and cavalry worked together and came in a thunderous manner. The government troops were a group of motley crowd and were no match for the elite border troops. The government troops were defeated and suffered more than 30,000 casualties.

Li Lin, Geshu Han and Wang Sili gathered more than 60,000 remaining troops and retreated to Tongguan.

At this point, the rebels' momentum reached its peak, and Hebei, Henan, and Luoyang all fell into the hands of the rebels.

Tongguan is the last natural defense line of Chang'an. If Tongguan is lost, Chang'an will be lost. Therefore, when Li Longji heard the news of Shanjun's defeat, his mood fell to the bottom.

Can the remaining 60,000 mobs defend Tongguan?

Li Longji was very suspicious.

At this time, Li Heng and Gao Xianzhi arrived with the Helong vanguard troops and brought their wives and children to Chang'an.

Li Longji urgently convened a court meeting and summoned Li Heng and Gao Xianzhi.

Now the soldiers of Helong are the only hope to defend Tongguan. Li Heng and Gao Xianzhi sent their wives and children to Chang'an. Li Longji has no doubts for the time being. He appoints Li Heng as the Grand Marshal of the Army and Gao Xianzhi as his deputy, and immediately leads the troops to garrison Tongguan.

At the same time, Ying Wang Li Lu was appointed as the governor of Shannan.

Li Heng and Gao Xianzhi received the order and set out that day.

(End of this chapter)