In the fifteenth year of Tianbao, at the end of May, Bachuan Villa.
"Kong joined the army, a letter from Hua Qionglou."
Kong You, who was sitting in the study, saw his servant bring a small tube made of bamboo tubes. He nodded and said, "I understand, put it down first."
After the servants left, Kong You picked up the bamboo tube and carefully checked the fire seal. After confirming that it was correct, he opened the seal and read out the content of the letter: "It is reported that Cui Qianyou, the general under An Lushan's command, only brought four thousand people with him." The old, weak, sick and disabled are guarding Shaanxi County. The palace urges Ge Shuhan to go out to kill the enemy and regain Shaanxi County."
Putting the letter on the candlelight and burning it slowly, Kong You whispered to himself: "It's exactly as expected by the master."
Kong You brought a piece of letter paper and wrote quickly.
After finishing the letter, Kong You blew out the still wet ink stains, put it back into the bamboo tube, sealed it with wax, and whispered: "It's time to pull up the net to collect the fish."
At this time, Ge Shuhan, who was in Tongguan, received the imperial edict to go out and kill the enemy. He was shocked at first, then furious, and finally sad.
Ge Shuhan immediately wrote a memorial, which said: An Lushan is good at using troops, and the weak soldiers in Shaanxi County must be bait, just to lure me into fighting. If I really send troops to attack, I will definitely fall into the trap. The traitors are coming from far away. The advantage is to fight quickly. Our army occupies a dangerous position, and the advantage is to hold on. Moreover, many of the troops recruited from all over the country have not yet reached Tongguan. They should wait for a while before leaving the pass to fight.
Two days after this memorial was sent, Li Longji issued an edict to refute Ge Shuhan, and sent several angels in succession to urge him to go to war.
Ge Shuhan was completely desperate at this time. In front of all the soldiers in Tongguan, he said this: "Your Majesty would rather trust Yang Guozhong than trust the old minister. This is an insult to Han!"
A general stood up at this time and advised Ge Shuhan: "There are 200,000 troops stationed at Tongguan, including many elite troops from Hexi and Longyou. Even if the rebels set up an ambush, our army will still have the advantage... Wouldn't the commander-in-chief I heard the saying goes, one force can bring down ten people?"
Ge Shuhan asked: "Your Majesty's close confidant Yang Guozhong, what if I go out to kill the enemy and the latter takes the opportunity to enter the pass and seize power?"
The general suggested: "How about sending out all the 200,000 troops? Firstly, with more soldiers, there will be a better chance of victory; secondly, if all the soldiers are sent out, even if Yang Guozhong wants to seize power, he will have no soldiers to use."
After hearing this, Ge Shuhan thought it was reasonable, and immediately ordered that all the 200,000 troops in Tongguanzhong go out to attack Shaanxi County.
Five days later, the 200,000 troops from Tongguan arrived at Lingbao Xiyuan in front of Shaanxi County.
Lingbao Xiyuan was the location of Hangu Pass during the Qin and Han Dynasties. It was bordered by the Yellow River to the north and high mountains to the south. There was only a narrow strip of seventy miles in the middle that could pass through. It can be said that one man can pass the pass and no one can open it.
When they arrived at Lingbao Xiyuan, Ge Shuhan took a boat to the middle of the Yellow River to inspect the enemy's situation. He saw Cui Qianyou's soldiers scattered in twos and threes on the plain, with only ten thousand at most, and there was no place to hide troops around.
Ge Shuhan, who mistakenly thought that the rebels were weak, immediately ordered Wang Sili to lead 50,000 elite troops to open the way in the front, and Pang Zhong to lead an army of 100,000 to support him from behind. He himself led 30,000 people to the hills on the north bank of the Yellow River. , while beating drums to cheer, and at the same time commanding the battle.
After the two armies fought, Cui Qianyou once again sent the old, weak, sick and disabled as the vanguard. Before he could fight a few times, he pretended to fail and ran into the canyon.
The forwards of the Tang army were fooled and rushed in regardless of the flag order of the Chinese army.
As a result, just halfway through the rush, there were numerous hiding caves in the mountains on both sides of the canyon. The soldiers of the Yan army took off their disguises and got out one after another. Rolling logs and stones were like rain, and they hit the heads of the Tang army.
Due to the narrow road and the large number of soldiers, the Tang army had no room for maneuver and could only passively defend in place.
If Ge Shuhan had the courage to survive by cutting off his arm and abandoning the front army at this time, then the Battle of Lingbao would still have a chance to turn around.
However, Ge Shuhan was in a hurry and issued a wrong order - to let the army pass through the canyon quickly.
Facing the Tang army rushing towards the mouth of the canyon, Cui Qianyou was well prepared. The latter lit dozens of chariots filled with hay and blocked them at the intersection of the canyon, forming a suspicious formation.
Thick smoke from the hay spread into the canyon along with the strong wind.
The entire canyon was suddenly filled with smoke, and the Tang army could not see where the rebels were.
The forward troops of the Tang Army mistakenly thought that there was an enemy ambush in the thick smoke and did not dare to move forward; the rear troops received an order from the commander to pass through the canyon as soon as possible, so they could only squeeze forward as hard as possible.
Suddenly, the canyon was crowded with soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. They lost their command and formed a chaotic formation.
In desperation, the forwards of the Tang army ignored the urging of the rear formations, set up a shield wall in order to prevent the enemy from raiding, and gathered all the crossbowmen to shoot arrows wildly into the smoke ahead.
It was not until late in the evening that the thick smoke dissipated. The Tang army walked carefully toward the mouth of the canyon, only to find that behind the smoke, there was not a single rebel body in sight.
At this moment, a large number of enemy troops suddenly appeared behind the Tang army.
It turned out that Cui Qianyou had already ordered the Yan army to circle to the other end of the canyon and attack the Tang army from the rear while the Tang army focused on the smoke.
As a result, the Yan army took advantage of the favorable geographical location of the canyon to attack from both sides.
The Tang army was like a rat in a bellows, unable to look at each other from the front and the rear, and from the left and right to help each other, so they had no choice but to jump into the Yellow River and swim to the other side.
But among the soldiers wearing armor, a few were able to swim across the Yellow River.
The 150,000-strong army was either killed or drowned, and almost the entire army was wiped out.
Upon seeing this, the 30,000 Tang troops who were standing on the north bank beating drums and cheering panicked and began to flee frantically towards Tongguan before the enemy troops could attack.
In order to prevent rebel raids, the Tang army dug three deep and long trenches in front of Tongguan.
Because the soldiers of the Tang army fled in a hurry and the road was dark after nightfall, a large number of them fell in, and the corpses quickly filled the entire trench.
Seeing that the situation was over, Ge Shuhan quickly joined the fleeing army and fled back to Tongguan in embarrassment with hundreds of cavalry.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! When he returned to Tongguan, he counted the troops again and found that of the 200,000 troops, only 8,000 were left...
The disheveled Ge Shuhan was carried in a sedan chair by the soldiers to the military camp in Tongguan.
Sitting in the main hall, Ge Shuhan listened to the chaotic voices outside the door and closed his eyes in pain.
Just when he was desperate, Gao Shi, the secretary-general who stayed behind, entered the hall.
After Ge Shuhan saw Gao Shi, he smiled miserably at him and said, "Today's defeat is all Han's fault."
Gao Shi: "Commander, the bandit army will attack soon. Let's leave quickly."
Ge Shuhan shook his head and said: "Let's go? Where are we going? Behind us is Chang'an."
After a moment of silence, Ge Shuhan looked into the distance and whispered: "Since he was young, Han has made friends with heroes, fought cocks and dogs, and hung around. An elder in the clan said that Han is by no means a good person. After joining the army, Han
He is fond of war and enjoys success, loves to kill the innocent, and regards human life as nothing. He is often criticized by his colleagues. Until he met Wang Duhu..."
"Wang Duhu often uses the word "ambition" to teach his subordinates. Although Han mostly turns a deaf ear to it, I have always admired Wang Duhu's integrity and character."
Gao Shi heard this and advised again: "Commander, no matter what, let's leave here first."
Ge Shuhan: "Dafu, please listen to what I have to say. Wang Duhu was framed by Li Linfu back then. Although he was finally released, he fell seriously ill. Before he resigned and left, he came to see me.
, and told me something...Zhou Jun once visited him in prison and left another poem."
"There is a lonely pine tree thousands of feet off the cliff, and the crown is hanging high on the pine tree. I have been idle all my life, so I should stop. I have a good reputation. I smile at Cao Cao, but I just think it is a drunken dream in the world..."
Gao Shi read it again and couldn't help but sigh: "Good words."
Ge Shuhan: "Ci is a good word, but it's a pity that I didn't understand it at that time... After experiencing too much, I slowly understood the deep meaning."
Gao Shi sighed.
Ge Shuhan: "Li Guangbi is smarter than me and knows people better. He follows Zhou Jun and can go further than me... Dafu, in the battle of Lingwu Xiyuan, the Tang Dynasty almost exhausted its energy. You and I have known each other for a while."
Please take my official seal with you and vote for Li Guangbi."
Gao Shi opened his mouth and wanted to persuade him again.
Ge Shuhan waved his hand, signaling him to leave quickly.
Gao Shi had no choice but to bow and say goodbye and left the room.
Looking at the sky that was red by the fire outside the window, Ge Shuhan slowly pulled out his sword and whispered softly: "It's just a drunken dream in the world..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ge Shuhan put the sword on his neck and slashed hard.
The sword fell to the ground, and blood was like rain.
A generation of famous generals bid farewell to the stage of history.
