Chapter 360 Mawei Slope (III)

The night is deep, half a moon is like a mirror, and a silver star hangs alone in the west.

Li Qing immediately looked at the official road two miles away on a hill. Behind him, more than a hundred personal soldiers and commanders were arranged in sequence, silently looking at their commander. His waist was straight. For half an hour, he had not moved. His years of life in guarding the border had baptized him into a real soldier.

In another half an hour, Li Qing had been waiting for nearly two years. This was a gambling that bets with heaven and earth. If he lost, he would be the sinner of the Tang Dynasty; but if he won, he would regain the future of the Tang Dynasty. He would use iron and blood to rewrite his reforms in Tianbao for five years. That time he failed and fell in front of a huge interest group.

A night wind blew, and the black pine forest seemed to be rolling waves, pushing up the hillside layer by layer, making a strange roar, as if reminding those walking on the night to pay attention to the dangers hidden in the darkness.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came vaguely, appearing scattered and chaotic, and then there was a faint noise and laughter. More than a dozen cavalry rebel cavalry slowly rode past the small hills. They were Cui Qianyou's scouts, but at this moment they no longer had the vigilance that the scouts should have, but they were like idle people coming out to wander. They were talking about the women in Chang'an and laughed wildly from time to time. Indeed, they were qualified to be so arrogant. Six hundred thousand Tang troops were wiped out twice in their hands. The weakness of the Tang army filled them with too much contempt. There was no army in Guanzhong. Chang'an was just a clean woman in their eyes. Now it was time for them to enjoy.

The scout team passed quickly, and more than 5,000 Anxi Bow and Crossbow Army immediately entered the Black Pine Forest silently. All the bird's nests and birds in the Black Pine Forest were cleaned up in advance. They took every detail into consideration. This ambush was of great importance and they could not neglect them at all.

The ambush was chosen in a crescent-shaped valley, about three miles long, but the widest was only fifty feet, about three hundred steps away from the Black Pine Forest. There was a ridge between the official road and the Black Pine Forest, which was covered with weeds. Below the official road was a slope, about hundreds of feet deep, with thorns and bushes.

In the black pine forest, five thousand crossbowmen were treated solemnly. In addition to them, there were also ten thousand sword soldiers. They were the second ambush and would block the cavalry's way back.

A night owl screamed strangely on the top of the hillside, flapping his wings and flew towards the moon. This was a signal that the target was about to enter the ambush circle, and a murderous aura suddenly appeared in the black pine forest.

Li Qing's eyes immediately became sharper, and his lips were tightly tense, as if a string that could play the strongest sound. He had already heard the rumbling sound of horse hooves, which was not fast, but the rhythmic dull sound of horse hooves hitting the ground was enough to make people three miles away frightened.

Gradually, his eyes narrowed into a slit. He had seen the Youzhou Iron Cavalry arranged in five columns appear at the easternmost end of the valley, getting closer and closer. The first row had already passed by Li Qing. Although they were not as casual as the scouts, their expressions were relaxed and filled with the joy of victory.

Li Qing's hand was slowly lifted up, and his sharp eyes were staring at the densest place of a group of cavalry in the middle. It was like a scar on a tree trunk, and a sudden piece appeared in the slender team. It should be where the coach Cui Qianyou was, and he was waiting for Cui Qianyou's arrival.

Although he won two major victories in a row, Cui Ganyou was not happy at the moment, and even a little worried. His popularity was too strong, which made An Lushan feel uneasy. His winning streak of a series of victories and the repeated defeats of Hedong were in sharp contrast. Everyone was silent and no one praised him. This was a silent protest.

Before leaving, he received a letter from Yan Zhuang, suggesting that he start a massacre in Chang'an and rob the soldiers. Although he did not want to do this, he also understood that Yan Zhuang was right. Only by destroying his reputation can An Lushan's suspicion be relieved. It is not difficult to imagine that if he was respectful to the wise and the poor in Chang'an and treat the people well, then his fate could be imagined.

"What is Cui Shuai thinking? It seems that he is not excited to enter Chang'an!" Deputy General Tian Ganzhen saw Cui Ganyou frowned and couldn't help but smile: "Cui Shuai defeated the Tang army with both defeats the Tang army with less and has achieved such an impressive record. Why are he still depressed? Are he worried that he can't beat those Yulin soldiers?"

Cui Ganyou shook his head and sighed: "I don't take the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty seriously. What I am worried about is the Emperor of Dayan. When Wang Jian destroyed Chu, he asked the King of Qin for countless fertile land and beautiful houses. Later, Xiao He was the prime minister and then committed evil deeds and destroyed his own feathers. Both of them were to protect themselves. But today I led troops into Guanzhong, but the emperor appointed me as the King of Tang. Does he really care?"

Tian Ganzhen was silent for a while and suddenly whispered: "Those who are in Guanzhong will win the world. Didn't Cui Shuai think about being independent?

Cui Ganyou didn't speak for a long time, and finally he shook his head slowly and said, "The Tang Dynasty has not yet been exhausted. You can only see the people's hearts and backs of An Shuai's emperor. If I stand alone, my descendants will die without a place to bury them. If possible, I hope the emperor will grant me the King of Goryeo, stay away from the Central Plains, and create my own country."

Cui Ganyou saw a lot, and his thinking was also correct, but people who saw too far often would not notice the crisis in front of him. After Ge Shuhan was captured alive and surrendered, although the troops in Guanzhong were empty, Cui Ganyou would never have thought that there was a person who could see further than him and was less than five hundred steps away from him.

Suddenly, a sharp roar came from the sky, and almost all the cavalry looked up to the sky. There were dense black dots in the sky, with strange light spots flashing on the black dots, which looked extremely strange under a blood-red half moon. All the cavalry exclaimed at the same time. These black dots were flying towards their heads. Although there were many, the speed was not fast. It seemed to be some jars. Everyone instinctively dropped their horses' heads to avoid them. However, something they could not imagine happened. Just above their heads, the black pot exploded violently, bursting out dazzling light, accompanied by black smoke that soared into the sky. Then a huge explosion and the neighing of the war horses resounded throughout the official road. The official road was in chaos, and the war horses were frightened. Some raised their front hooves and neighed desperately, some were spinning around, and some even rolled down the slope with their cavalry.

But sound and light were not a fatal blow. Thousands of iron pieces were shot out from the red flames. Each piece of iron was harshly poisoned. The Youzhou cavalry did not even have time to be shocked, and then there were scattered cavalry and war horses falling to the ground and rolling in pain on the ground.

"The whole team! No chaos!" Cui Ganyou shouted desperately, but the sudden loud noise and dazzling fire scared the war horses. The cavalry team was in chaos and could not maintain its formation at all.

At this moment, two iron pieces shot into the hind legs of Cui Ganyou's mount. His war horse whined and sat down to the ground, lifting Cui Ganyou off the horse. More than a dozen personal soldiers immediately protected him with their bodies, allowing him to escape the disaster.

Cui Ganyou was shocked. He still didn't know what the flames were. The Battle of Talas was too far away after all. Although he had seen gunpowder, he didn't know that it would burst out with such a huge force.

"I've been trapped!" Just as a thought jumped out of his mind, he heard another sound of chum. Cui Ganyou was immediately frightened. Maybe he was unfamiliar with gunpowder, but he was more familiar with bows and arrows than anyone else.

"Roar out!" Cui Ganyou shouted with a desperate voice. Several personal soldiers held shields to protect him and ran back desperately. At this time, arrows in the sky covered the moon like a dark cloud. Blood mist suddenly appeared on the narrow official road, and screams were endless. At the same time, when the explosion sounded, nearly a hundred giant trees had been abandoned, blocking the official road. There was only one retreating path. The cavalry trampled on each other and even slashed each other with swords to seek escape. Some soldiers abandoned their war horses and rolled down the slope. This seemed to be a shortcut. More soldiers also began to imitate and rolled down with their heads. But what awaited them were the cavalry of the Anxi Army, surrounded them into iron barrels, and wanted to kill these unarmed deserters.

Cui Ganyou's eyes were red in anger. Under the desperate escort of hundreds of personal soldiers, he finally rushed to the intersection, but his heart was cold. He saw that the black cavalry in front was full of his own, but no one could get through. Hundreds of giant trees blocked the road, and the front and back of this official road were blocked.

The arrows were like rain, and there was almost no need to aim. Every rain of arrows was like a crowd of people and horses. The official road was filled with desperate cavalry. On the other side of the hill, there were also shouts of killing. This was the rear army that did not enter the valley. They also encountered ambush. At this time, Cui Ganyou saw Tian Ganzhen being carried over by several personal soldiers. He was hit by three arrows in a row, and he seemed to be unable to survive.

"Ship Cui!" Tian Ganzhen said weakly with all his last strength: "It's Anxi Army! I should have thought that they have come long ago..."

After saying that, he closed his eyes and passed away. Cui Ganyou slowly knelt down. He suddenly punched the ground desperately and jumped up suddenly. The anger had already made him lose his mind. He pointed to the top and cursed: "Li Qing! You bastards, if you have sex, come out and fight to the death!"

But at this moment, Nan Jiyun, who was standing by the forest, smiled coldly, and the string that was pulled like a full moon suddenly loosened. A wolf-tooth arrow shot out like lightning. The tip of the arrow flashed with the grim smile of death. An arrow shot into Cui Ganyou's mouth, and blood mist came out from the back of his head.

Cui Ganyou's screams stopped abruptly, and he widened his eyes in disbelief. Slowly, he fell backwards to the ground, just as Hotan Ganzhen fell asleep together.

"Pull it out!" Li Qing gave the last order, and then turned his horse's head and galloped towards the other side of the hillside. At this time, hundreds of wooden barrels rolled out of the pine forest, rolling onto the most densely populated official road of cavalry like rolling wooden stones. Many wooden barrels broke, and a sticky black liquid flowed out of it, and the air was filled with a pungent burnt smell.

Before the rebels could react, hundreds of rockets emerged from the black pine forest, drawing beautiful arcs and falling into these viscous liquids.

The fire ignited a raging sound and spread rapidly. The entire official road immediately became a hell on earth. Nearly ten thousand undead Youzhou iron cavalry rushed to the ground. The desperate cries and screams made the moon closed its eyes unbearably. With the night wind, the fire began to spread to both sides. The thorns and shrubs on the slope were ignited, and slowly the black pine forest was ignited.

Hundreds of rockets were shot out as a signal of the Tang army's retreat. They quickly evacuated the mountain to join the Modao Army, who had already ended the battle in advance. The originally planned tragic battle did not happen due to a nearly perfect ambush. The soldiers of the Anxi Army rushed west silently. After they walked out for several miles, there were still a fire burning behind them, even turning the sky red.

In June of the 12th year of Tianbao, An Lushan's most elite 30,000 Youzhou cavalry were ambushed by the long-awaited Anxi army on his way to take over Chang'an. The 30,000 iron cavalry were wiped out in Huayin County. The commander Cui Ganyou and deputy general Tian Ganzhen were killed. The commander of the Anxi army Li Qing immediately ordered the general Xi Yuanqing and He Lou Yurun to pretend to be defeated soldiers who had escaped and deceived the gate of Tongguan. The Anxi army rushed into Tongguan. The commander of Tongguan Sun Xiaozhe could not resist it. In the end, he led less than a thousand people to escape back to Luoyang. Tongguan returned to the hands of the Tang army again.

The overall situation has been decided. Li Qing ordered Li Siye to lead 15,000 people to station in Tongguan. He personally led 5,000 cavalry to gallop towards Chang'an.

It was already dawn, and all the officials of the Tang Dynasty who had been worried that all night would come to the Daming Palace to inquire about the news. Everyone was worried that the rebels would come last night, but until dawn, nothing happened in Chang'an City.

The sky was getting brighter and brighter, and more and more officials came to Daming Palace to investigate the situation. Danfeng Gate was still closed. Everyone stood under Danfeng Gate and discussed. There were neither eunuchs nor guards opening the door. The situation seemed a bit strange. The emperor did not show up. Some thought that the emperor had gone to the army in person, but more people vaguely guessed that their Emperor of Tang might have already run away.

"Shangshu Pei is here!" Everyone dodged a way out. The old minister Pei Kuan walked quickly. Yang Guozhong disappeared, and Wei Jiansu was gone. Pei Kuan, the Minister of Rites, became the highest-ranking courtier.

Pei Kuan stood in front of the palace gate and waved to everyone, "Everyone, go back to the house first! There is no point in standing here."

He brought more than 100 Dingzhang Street in the middle of the night yesterday, and happened to meet Duan Xiushi leading more than 1,000 soldiers to escort hundreds of princes and princesses out of the city. He learned that the rebels were coming to Chang'an, and Li Qing was also coming from Fengxiang, and Duan Xiushi came to help the royal family evacuate.

Pei Kuan immediately went to find Yang Guozhong, but was not here! He went to find Gao Lishi, but was not here, and even his family was gone. He finally realized that Li Longji had already run away.

Although Pei Kuan was kind-hearted, his ambiguous words aroused everyone's protests. The Minister of Rites stepped forward and said, "Shangshu Pei, everyone is in panic now. Just make the words clear, why is it meaningless?"

At this moment, a voice came from the top of his head, "Everyone, the emperor has already been lucky enough to come to Jiannan."

Everyone looked up and found that there was a person standing on the city tower, looking lonely. It was King Li Yu of Chu. His words seemed to have stabbed a hornet's nest in an instant. Danfeng Sect suddenly became excited. Some people raised their arms and shouted, "How can the emperor leave us behind and escape alone?"

Some people squatted on the ground and wiped their tears, "It's over! The emperor has taken all his soldiers away, and now we are dead."

There were noises, curses, and shouts, and there was a mess in front of Danfeng's door.

At this time, the small side door beside Danfeng Gate opened, Li Yu slowly walked out, he glanced at everyone and said, "Cui Guangyuan is here?"

Cui Guangyuan is the current Jingzhao Yin, and he was also in the crowd. When he saw Li Yu ask him, he immediately stood up and said, "I'm here!"

At this time, everyone gradually became quiet and looked at the young prince silently. He only heard him say loudly: "I am on your order to stay in Chang'an to supervise the country. Now I will be the one who will take charge of Chang'an. Lord Cui, I will ask you how many yamen runners are available under your command?"

Cui Guangyuan bowed and replied, "There are about twenty or thirty people left."

"Okay! Just take these two or thirty people to various yards to inspect and remind the people not to go out, and let the people know that the court has not abandoned them, and Chang'an is still in the hands of my Tang Dynasty."

Li Yu's words moved the hundreds of officials present. In the face of national crisis, all the princes ran away, and only the eldest grandson of the Tang Dynasty chose to stay.

"Long live the King of Chu!" Someone took the lead and shouted, and then more people shouted, "Long live the King of Chu! Long live the King of Chu!" Although this was a taboo statement, the disaster was coming and no one cared. A large area of ​​knelt down in front of Danfeng's Gate, and even Pei Kuan knelt down. This kneeling means that they finally recognized Li Yu's position as the crown prince.

Li Yu's eyes turned red. He waved his hand quickly and said to everyone: "Xiao Wang appreciates everyone's love, but the rebels are about to enter the city. Everyone should go home to comfort their relatives!"

He said it three times, but no one stood up. Li Yu felt his nose sore, and two lines of tears fell from his face. He slowly took two steps back, 'Plop!' Kneel down on the ground and cried, "Li Yu is engraved in his heart for the care of all the ministers."

At this moment, the people kneeling on the ground had already felt the ground trembled slightly. Everyone immediately stood up straight and looked at each other, with horror in their eyes. What should come, finally came!

Just as everyone was at a loss when they looked around, a rapid sound of horse hooves came from afar. Everyone saw clearly that several Tang soldiers were flying over, and now they could still see Tang soldiers. It was incredible that everyone's hearts were in their throats.

"There is His Highness of the King of Chu here!" The officer led the army strode to the steps.

Li Yu immediately met, "The Lone King is... General Xi!" Li Yu was stunned for a moment. He knew this officer, Xi Yuanqing of the Anxi Army, and his mind was in chaos. Could it be?

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Xi Yuanqing saluted him, stood up and said loudly to everyone: "General Li Qing, the governor of Anxi, led 20,000 Anxi Army's Erlang to fight with the rebels in the middle of the night yesterday, defeated Cui Qianyou, and killed tens of thousands of enemies, and had recaptured Tongguan."

As soon as the news came out, there was silence in front of Danfeng Gate. Suddenly, a shocking cheer broke out from the crowd. People hugged each other tightly, cheered and threw their hats into the sky. Tears of joy flew freely. At their most desperate moment, they heard the most unforgettable good news in their lives, and the situation suddenly reversed.

Li Yu stood there in a daze. He couldn't believe his ears. Really? Did Li Qing finally come?
Chapter completed!