Chapter 346 Coming out of seclusion
An Lushan led an army of 150,000, claiming that 200,000 were sent south. Now, a total of 60,000 have been transferred back to defend Hebei, and 80,000 are stationed in Jianghuai. Of course, he recruited a lot of new soldiers along the way. All together, the maximum number of soldiers he could station in Luoyang is 80,000. These 80,000 soldiers need to be distributed in many places in Luoyang, and it is impossible for them all to be stationed in the Hangu Pass.

Now is the right time to send troops.

Li Heng left Feng Changqing, Zhang Guangsheng and Cen Shen behind, leaving 10,000 elite soldiers to garrison Chang'an, and the rest of the soldiers were divided into three groups and all went to the front line.

Go all the way to Jianghuai, support Tongguan all the way, and go around Hedong to enter the interior.

It was early spring at this time, and the climate was just right for the soldiers of Longyou Road to fight, because in summer, the soldiers of Longyou Road would not be used to the hot climate of Guanzhong.

Li Heng was already prepared to go out, but he still did not give Gao Xianzhi a time limit, but left it to Gao Xianzhi to seize the opportunity on the battlefield.

After receiving Li Heng's order, Gao Xianzhi immediately summoned all the generals to discuss the matter.

The generals had been guarding Tongguan for more than half a year. Every day they saw the rebels showing off their strength in front of the pass, and they were really frustrated. Now when they heard that Li Heng agreed to let them go out of the pass, they were all excited and everyone agreed to go out for a decisive battle.

The generals had no objection, and Gao Xianzhi began to make arrangements.

The Battle of Tongguan was prepared for more than half a year. There were 90,000 Helong soldiers, 60,000 newly recruited soldiers, 10,000 Anxi Beiting troops, and 20,000 support troops from neighboring tribes and various countries, totaling 180,000 people.

Gao Xianzhi left 50,000 soldiers to guard Tongguan, and 120,000 soldiers went out of the pass.

As for the specific arrangement of these 120,000 soldiers, Gao Xianzhi used 2,000 cavalry to explore the way, 50,000 elite infantry to advance in the front, 2,000 cavalry on each side to protect the infantry wings, and 30,000 soldiers to cover the rear.

Of the other 34,000 infantry and cavalry, 17,000 crossed the Yellow River to the north to encircle the rebels from the north, and 17,000 went south, making a detour of more than 200 miles, preparing to encircle the rebels from the south.

On February 754, , spring began to arrive in Tongguan, with weak winds blowing towards the northwest.

The Tongguan gate, which had been closed for more than half a year, was closed, and the government troops marched out in formation and headed for Shanzhou.

Cui Qianyou, the rebel general stationed in Shanzhou, hurried out of the tent when he learned that the government troops had left the border. He closed his eyes and felt the wind direction today, and his expression gradually became lost.

Now An Lushan has transferred some of his elite troops to support Hebei and Jianghuai. In terms of troop numbers, he is far inferior to the government troops.

His only advantage was that he occupied the Qiao-Han Valley Road and could take advantage of the weather and terrain.

The weather refers to the climate and wind direction.

The road in the Qiaohan Valley is narrow. If the wind is from the southeast, he can occupy both sides of the valley, attack the government troops with fire, and use the wind direction to let the fire and smoke cover the government troops.

But now the wind is blowing northwest, and if he dares to set a fire, he will only burn himself.

He lost his timing.

Then the only thing left is geographical advantage.

Cui Qianyou immediately arranged for a large number of troops to ambush in the Xiyuan Gorge of Lingbao, sent elite cavalry to detour on both sides, preparing to raid the flanks of the government troops, and went to lure the enemy himself.

The two armies met about 200 kilometers west of Lingbao. After the meeting, Cui Qianyou pretended to retreat and dropped gold and silver to attract the government troops to chase.

Some soldiers of the government army wanted to pick up gold and silver, but were immediately stopped by Gao Xianzhi.

Gao Xianzhi issued an order: "After the great victory, everyone will be rewarded. During the battle, anyone who abandons the enemy and picks up property will be killed without mercy!"

This military order was not issued urgently by Gao Xianzhi, but was an order that he had strictly abided by for so many years while following Li Heng in commanding the army.

All the soldiers in the four towns of Longyou Road have engraved this military order into their bones.

Therefore, after the order was issued, almost no soldiers from the four towns of Longyou Road dared to pick up the gold and silver, but continued to advance in formation. As for the reinforcements from other forces and the new recruits, any who wanted to pick up the gold and silver were stopped by the veteran captain in the small square formation.

Cui Qianyou pretended to be defeated all the way and ran to the Xiyuan Canyon of Linggu.

Lingbao Xiyuan Gorge is the location of Qin Hangu Pass. To the north is the Yellow River, to the south is a deep ravine, and there is only a narrow valley seventy miles long in the middle.

Cui Qianyou had already laid ambushes on both sides, ready to bury the government troops here. However, when he arrived at the Xiyuan Gorge in Lingbao, he received an urgent military report from the ambushes.

His ambush was destroyed by the special forces that surrounded him on both wings!
Cui Qianyou was shocked and grabbed the messenger and asked, "Where is Li Guiren? He also went to encircle the flank of the government troops. Why are we being encircled instead?"

The messenger said, "Li Guiren encountered the elite cavalry led by Li Siye and An Zhongzhang, and was defeated and retreated!"

"Fuck!" Cui Qianyou cursed.

After the attack by the government troops, the rebels lost their only advantage in terrain and had no choice but to fight head-on.

On the other hand, the government troops had soldiers as elite as theirs, more in number, and many famous generals.

Cui Qianyou calmed down immediately. He knew that the battle could no longer be fought, so he ordered the entire army to withdraw to the Xiaoshan Mountains in Shanzhou, preparing to use the mountains to block the Tang army.

The government troops charged all the way, killing more than 10,000 enemies and capturing 3,000.
Approaching Shanzhou City, we looked out at the rebels on the Shanzhou Xiaoshan Mountains.

To the east of Mount Xiao in Shanzhou is a continuous mountain range, and to the west is the Yellow River. The rebels are entrenched in Mount Xiao, overlooking and diving over Shanzhou.

Gao Xianzhi was already familiar with the terrain of this area. Seeing Cui Qianyou come up with such a trick after being defeated, he couldn't help but sigh: "Cui Qianyou is really a wise general, but it's a pity that he is disloyal and has joined the rebels."

Li Siye asked: "General, should we pursue the victory?"

Gao Xianzhi shook his head and said, "This place is not favorable for us. Let's rest first, build a defense line, and then make a plan to take it."

The generals take orders.

So the two sides started to fight in Shanzhou.

Cui Qianyou occupied the high mountains and hoped that the government troops would take the initiative to attack, so he was repeatedly provoked by the light cavalry.

Gao Xianzhi lined up his troops to meet the enemy.

After several battles, Gao Xianzhi figured out the strength of the rebels, so he sent Li Siye with 5,000 cavalry to attack from the south, and sent Ma Lin with 3,000 heavy cavalry to stay on the south bank of the Yellow River to protect the northern wing.

The area around Luoyang is mountainous but not dangerous. Li Siye easily went around the rear of the rebels and met Li Guiren who came for inspection.

Li Guiren had just been defeated by Li Siye in Lingbao Xiyuan. When the two met again, they were extremely jealous of each other. Without saying anything more, they drew their swords and attacked.

In terms of bravery alone, Li Siye was the most powerful general of the government army, and Li Guiren was the most powerful general of the rebel army, and both of them were accustomed to using Mo Dao and big stick.

The two men fought with their swords in the mountains and forests for a hundred rounds, but when the swords became blunt, there was no clear winner.

Then it was time for a big stick fight.

After another hundred rounds of fighting, Li Siye began to cherish his talent and said, "You are so brave, why don't you serve the Tang Dynasty and make great achievements?"

Li Guiren said: "I have served the Great Yan Kingdom and made great contributions to it. Why don't you go to the Great Yan Kingdom and share the glory and wealth with me?"

Li Siye said: "There is no Great Yan. An Lushan rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil. Only by joining the Great Tang Dynasty can we turn from darkness to light!"

"Bah!" Li Guiren spat, "How can the corrupt Tang court be worthy of ruling the Central Plains!"

Li Siye was furious and swung the bat with all his might.

Li Guiren gradually fell into a disadvantage, and seeing that his cavalry was outnumbered and could not defeat the government cavalry who were well prepared, he had no choice but to order a retreat.

Li Siye led the cavalry in pursuit.

(End of this chapter)