Chapter 345 Choice
The gates of Yongqiu City were lowered, and Zhang Xun led his troops to charge out, leading the way and charging directly into the rebel camp. The rebels and their troops panicked and dodged, and had no choice but to retreat.

The next day, the rebels gathered their troops to attack the city again. Because they suffered a loss yesterday, the rebels were on high alert today. They set up stone cannons around the city and fired at the top of the city. The towers and low walls were all destroyed.

Zhang Xun responded quickly and erected wooden fences on the city wall to resist the rebels' attack.

The rebels swarmed onto the city wall. Zhang Xun ordered his soldiers to tie up wormwood, fill it with oil, then set it on fire and throw it at the rebels. The rebels returned in defeat.

Zhang Xun's men, without taking off their armor, launched a surprise attack at night, killing 2,000 enemies and capturing 2,000 rebels.

Linghu Chao suffered a series of losses and broke the defenses. The next day, he led his troops to curse under the city, but Zhang Xun ignored him and just let the soldiers defending the city wave flags and shout.

Linghu Chao failed to scold you, so he tried to win you over, saying: "Brother Zhang, you are very talented. You passed the imperial examination during the Kaiyuan period. You should have been promoted step by step, but why did you become a county magistrate in this remote place? It's because the emperor of the Tang court is incompetent and treacherous ministers are in power, and you are a humble minister and no one can trust you. Since the Tang court has abandoned you, why do you work hard for the Tang court? The Emperor of Dayan loves talented people the most. If you surrender, you will still be given a title and an official position, and the soldiers and civilians in the city will also be saved. Otherwise, on the day the city is captured, I will definitely slaughter all the people in the city!"

Zhang Xun and Linghu Chao were old acquaintances, and he immediately said, "You have always prided yourself on being loyal and righteous, but where is your loyalty and righteousness in what you did today?"

Linghu Chao said nothing and led his troops back.

……

It was February of 754.

Luoyang.

When An Lushan learned that the war situation in the rear was tense, he became extremely worried, so he began to seek pleasure to relieve his worries.

An Lushan's way of making music was also very simple, which was to copy Li Longji.

Li Longji had a hundred horses holding cups and dancing to celebrate his birthday, had rhinos and elephants dance to worship, had palace maids perform the "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat Dance", and had the Hu people and the Jiaofang play musical instruments. An Lushan copied everything.

Yan Zhuangjing waited until An Lushan finished enjoying himself before stepping forward and saying, "Your Majesty, there is danger in the rear now. Should we summon all the ministers to discuss military affairs?"

An Lushan was a little drunk and said, "It was you who made me rebel against the Tang Dynasty. When Hebei was in danger, I wanted to return to Fanyang and live in seclusion. It was you who advised me not to give up Luoyang. I listened to you. What else do you want from me?"

Yan Zhuang said: "Current affairs are changing rapidly. If Your Majesty wants to rule the world, you must constantly change your strategy according to the current situation. I did not expect Li Heng to be so determined and refuse to leave Tongguan. If we wait any longer, we will only become more and more passive."

An Lushan said: "Then call the civil and military officials to discuss the matter."

"Yes." Yan Zhuang accepted the order.

Rebel government hall.

Sun Xiaozhe did not offer any advice first, but said: "Cui Qianyou attacked Tongguan many times in Shanzhou and gained nothing. This is fine, but Tongguan not only did not send troops, but also kept sending people to give Cui Qianyou gifts."

Upon hearing this, An Lushan glanced at Yan Zhuang.

Yan Zhuang and Cui Qianyou were both Han Chinese. Since the 17 counties of Hebei Province submitted to the Tang court, An Lushan had been wary of the Han Chinese.

But An Lushan remained silent and said calmly: "This is a plot by the Tang army to sow discord. Don't pay any attention to it."

Sun Xiaozhe was speechless and embarrassed.

An Shouzhong, who was always silent, stood up and said, "Today we will only discuss military affairs. Don't mention other matters!"

An Lushan smiled slightly and asked An Shouzhong, "What do you think of military affairs?"

An Shouzhong said: "Now the Tang army is surrounding us from all sides. If we delay any longer, we will be trapped. We can only try to break through. I have three strategies for you to choose from."

An Lushan said, "Tell me now."

An Shouzhong said: "The first strategy is the worst strategy, which is to go all out. Completely abandon Hebei and attack Tongguan and Hedong with all our strength in two directions. If we win, we will control the whole world, but if we lose, we will lose everything."

An Lushan said: "This is the behavior of a gambler#, it is not advisable."

An Shouzhong said: "The second strategy is the middle strategy. Give up taking Tongguan, advance to Jianghuai, plunder Jianghuai's property, retreat while fighting, and establish a separatist regime in Hebei Province."

An Lushan was a little hesitant.

An Shouzhong continued: "The third strategy is to let the Tang army out of the pass."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and they all looked at An Shouzhong. An Shouzhong said calmly: "The reason why the Tang army did not leave Tongguan is because General Cui Qianyou has a large number of troops occupying the Xiaohangu Pass, and the Tang army is worried about being ambushed. But in the current situation, if the Tang army does not leave the pass, we cannot get in. If we continue to be deadlocked, we will be completely surrounded sooner or later. Therefore, it is better to let the Tang army out and fight in the field. If we win, we will consume the enemy's manpower, and then it will be easy to enter Tongguan. If we lose, we will retreat to Hebei and eliminate the Tang army forces in Hebei to try to secede."

An Lushan asked, "Is there no other plan?"

An Shouzhong said: "In the current situation, I can only think of these three strategies."

An Lushan turned to the rebels and asked, "What other plans do you have?"

The civil and military officials looked at each other, at a loss for a moment.

An Lushan said: "The Helong soldiers in Tongguan are also elite troops. If we fight in the field, we only have a 50% chance of winning. Besides, it's not that we let the Tang army out of the pass, and they will be willing to go out."

An Shouzhong said: "Having a 50% chance of winning is already pretty good. As for the Tang army, if they don't come out, we can take Hebei and Jianghuai, which is a good thing!"

An Lushan completely understood what An Shouzhong meant.

An Shouzhong saw the situation clearly and knew that he could not and did not want to station his entire army in Tongguan.

An Lushan sighed and said, "I will think about it again. You can leave first."

"Yes." Everyone obeyed.

……

Changan.

Reports from the front line continued to be delivered to Li Heng.

Li Ying read them and approved them one by one.

In response to the surrender of Pinglu and other generals, Li Heng appointed Liu Kenu as the governor of Pinglu and gave him the name Zhengchen. He also appointed Wang Xuanzhi as the deputy governor of Andong and Dong Qin as the military commander of Pinglu.

People who made contributions, such as Li Guangbi, Yan Zhenqing, and Zhang Xun, were also rewarded one by one.

Then, there was the Tongguan front.

An Lushan ultimately did not agree with An Shouzhong's strategy and still refused to withdraw his heavy troops from the Hangu Pass, but he had to send troops to support the wars in Hebei and Jianghuai.

An Lushan asked Tian Chengsi to lead 30,000 troops to support Hebei, and asked Yin Ziqi to lead 50,000 troops to support Jianghuai, with the determination to capture Yongqiu.

The reason why An Lushan did this was that he believed that Li Heng's strategic determination on Tongguan was too strong. In a short period of time, Li Heng would still not let Gao Xianzhi go out of the pass. He could take advantage of the time difference to stabilize the situation in Hebei and open up Jianghuai.

However, he misjudged Li Heng.

Since Li Heng was stationed in Tongguan, he and Gao Xianzhi have been planning how to leave the pass.

Historically, Geshu Han was indeed defeated when he left Tongguan, and destroyed an army of 200,000 of the imperial court. Li Longji had to take the blame for this, but Geshu Han was also to blame.

While the strength of the troops and elite troops on both sides was not much different, Geshu Han, as the commander, made at least four mistakes.

First, two hundred thousand elite troops went out in full force, leaving no one to garrison the city.

Second, they were careless. As soon as Cui Qianyou pretended to be defeated, Geshu Han could not wait to pursue him, and led his army into the Xiao-Han Valley Road and rushed into Cui Qianyou's encirclement.

Third, no troops were sent to protect the two wings, allowing Cui Qianyou to easily attack the flanks and even drive the government troops on the flanks to destroy the central army.

Fourth, the generals were alienated due to the improper use of personnel. Li Chengguang and Wang Sili fought for power, and the infantry and cavalry were separated. Pang Zhong, the commander of the rear army, was incompetent. When the front army was defeated, the 100,000 rear army not only did not fight back, but also lost its composure and fled first.

Logically speaking, Geshu Han was a veteran of the battlefield and it was impossible for him to make so many mistakes, but historically, he did so. Li Heng could only speculate that Geshu Han was really sick and fainted at that time, and was also forced unconscious by Li Longji.

At the very beginning, Li Heng had the case of Geshu Han's failure as a reference, as well as the successful case of Guo Ziyi, and had made countless simulations on sending troops to Tongguan, so even if he went out early, he would not suffer a major defeat.

But he still dragged his feet.

Because he didn't want to engage in a head-on confrontation with the elite rebels and only get a miserable victory, he was waiting for an opportunity.

(End of this chapter)