Nu Yalang of Tang Dynasty

In the fourteenth year of Tianbao, at the end of November, the Anxi Protectorate.

Nearly two months have passed since An Lushan rebelled against the Tang Dynasty. All the civil and military officials in Anxi stayed behind in Qiuci Town, anxiously waiting for news from the front every day.

Li Siye put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in the meeting hall.

Li Guangbi sat in the side seat, closing his eyes and relaxing.

Feng Changqing looked at the map on the desk and remained silent.

Other officials also looked anxious and felt uneasy.

Li Siye stopped and asked Duan Xiushi beside him: "The Protector summoned us today, but there is something going on in the court?"

Duan Xiushi: "I don't know. We will all come out later and we will know everything."

Li Siye had no choice but to continue pacing.

At this time, Zhou Jun was in the study, reading a secret letter sent by Hai Dongqing.

The sender is Kong You, and the letter is densely packed with small characters.

Zhou Jun finished reading the letter, frowned, thought for a long time, wrote a reply, and asked Sun A to send it to Chang'an with Haidongqing. Then he left the study and came to the meeting hall.

Seeing Zhou Jun coming out, everyone in the hall quickly stood up.

Zhou Jun nodded, and first ordered his servants to hang the map in the center of the meeting hall. Then he came down and said, "The rebels have conquered Chenliu and Hulao Pass."

Chen Liu's garrison was small and he had to recruit new soldiers in a hurry, so the city was lost, which was expected by everyone.

However, Hulao Pass is the last natural barrier to the east of Luoyang. It is said that one man can guard the pass and ten thousand men cannot open it. It has been a battleground for military strategists of all ages.

Li Shimin relied on 3,500 armored troops to defeat Dou Jiande's 130,000-strong army. It was because he occupied the favorable terrain here that he withstood Dou Jiande's attack for more than 30 days and finally killed him with one blow.

Therefore, in the eyes of everyone, it was simply unbelievable that this place was abandoned.

Zhou Jun nodded to Feng Changqing, who stood up, walked to the map again, and said: "Guo Na, the prefect of Chenliu, betrayed the Tang Dynasty and surrendered to the enemy, and Zhang Jieran, the governor of Henan Province, died for his country. After An Lushan entered the city, they massacred the city.

The central defenders. After that, the rebels took a short rest and waited for the reinforcements to arrive before they started to attack Hulao Pass."

Having said this, Feng Changqing pointed at Hulao Pass and said to everyone: "The commander of Hulao Pass is Bi Sichen, the Imperial Guard's Yamen, and the deputy generals are Yulin Weilang General Wu Yukui and others. Under his command are 60,000 recruits recruited from Luoyang."

When Li Siye heard this, he asked with some confusion: "Who is Bi Sichen? Why have I never heard of him?"

Li Guangbi said: "Bi Sichen is a general in the Emperor's honor guard. He has never been on the battlefield, but his eloquence is very good and his appearance is dignified. He is deeply favored by His Majesty and was even given a goldfish in purple... But this man, said

After all, he is just a piece of shit."

Li Siye felt dizzy after hearing this for a while.

Feng Changqing continued: "Bi Sichen selected warriors from the army and placed them in the Hulao Pass. He also stationed most of them behind the pass to serve as reinforcements."

Hulao Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack. There is no fault in Bi Sichen's move. It is a move that any normal person would take.

Feng Changqing: "After the news that Chenliu City was destroyed and nearly ten thousand Tang prisoners were slaughtered reached Hulao Pass, Bi Sichen's soldiers deserted. After that, as the rebels approached Hulao Pass, the Tang army deserted every day.

Pawn appears."

When Duan Xiushi heard this, he couldn't help but sigh: "The people in Chang'an and Luoyang have not experienced war for a long time. They were recruited hastily and without any training. They heard that the rebels were ferocious, so deserters are inevitable."

Feng Changqing nodded and said: "In order to deal with the fleeing soldiers, Bi Sichen pushed the new soldiers forward and issued a military order. If anyone escapes again, he will be killed on the spot."

Feng Changqing: "The rebels came to the city, and the recruits of the Tang army at Hulao Pass had their morale dropped by three points before the battle began. An Lushan ordered the former army to test the city, but the recruits at the pass were nervous and did not wait for the enemy.

When they entered the range of the bow and arrow, they opened their bows and fired arrows. From this, Anlushan judged that the soldiers in Hulao Pass were untrained new soldiers, so he ordered the front troops to attack and attack the city with all their strength."

"The rebels were well-trained and well-equipped. Although the terrain was difficult, they quickly arrived at Hulao Pass. While Anlu Mountain was attacking the city, he sent his men to intimidate the defenders, saying that if they did not surrender, they would be slaughtered.

Leave alive. The soldiers under Bi Sichen only resisted for a few hours, and some soldiers fled to the rear of the pass. After that, more and more soldiers fled, gradually becoming an avalanche."

Li Siye was a little stunned when he heard this: "An army of more than 60,000 people was defeated?"

Feng Changqing looked at the map, and after a moment of silence he said: "In this battle, it seems that the Tang army had the advantage of location and number of soldiers. In fact, due to low morale and lack of training, these two advantages against the rebels became

Disadvantage."

Zhou Jun looked at Feng Changqing and asked, "Tell me, why did the advantage become a disadvantage?"

Feng Changqing cupped his hands and said: "Please see, Protector, Hulao Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Viewed from above, the inside and outside of the pass looks like a funnel. If you want to defend Hulao Pass, the prerequisite is the quality of the soldiers on both sides of the attack and defense."

The same or similar. The Luoyang recruits under Bi Sichen only had a few days of training. Many of them were not from good families, and even a lot of Hebei spies were mixed in. Deserters in the army appeared again and again, and there were even rebels hiding among them. In this kind of situation

Under the circumstances, it will only be a matter of time before Hulao Pass is breached."

"After the war started, once the morale was low and the soldiers fled, the deserters at Hulao Pass would subconsciously flee to the open areas due to the narrow terrain. The funnel terrain of Hulao Pass would instead become a disadvantage for the Tang army. The deserters would turn back and attack the enemy.

Formation, thus leading to more deserters, eventually leading to the collapse of the army."

When Zhou Jun heard this, he couldn't help but recall the history books.

In the old history, the coach stationed at Hulao Pass was not Bi Sichen, but Feng Changqing.

Feng Changqing led an army of 60,000, and gave up the terrain advantage of Hulao Pass. Instead, he sent his troops to Hulao Pass, and chose to confront Anlushan's cavalry head-on on the plain outside the pass. As a result, the thieves trampled them with their iron cavalry.

The army was defeated."

Then, he gathered up the remaining troops and had another head-on confrontation with An Lushan in Kuiyuan (today's Gaoyang Town, Xingyang City, Henan Province), and lost again.

Finally, he gathered the remaining troops and fought a third battle with the rebels at the Shangdong Gate under Luoyang City, but was still defeated.

After these three defeats, many historians are puzzled.

Despite the good terrain advantage of Hulao Pass, why did Feng Changqing insist on using an egg against a stone and choose to have three head-on confrontations with the rebels on the plains?

It is precisely because of this period of history that Feng Changqing's reputation as a famous general has been repeatedly questioned by later generations, and some even say that his name does not match his reality.

Thinking of this, Zhou Jun asked the generals in the hall: "If you were in Bi Sichen's position, how would you fight against the rebels?"

The generals in the hall thought for a moment, and Li Siye stood up first and said: "Protector, if I were to command the battle of Hulao Pass, I would be the first to stand at the top of Hulao Pass and kill the enemy bravely to boost morale. As the saying goes.

It is well said, as long as there is a tiger taking the lead, even the weakest sheep will bite."

Zhou Jun burst out laughing after hearing this. Li Siye's combat strategy was quite suitable for his character.

Seeing Zhou Jun looking at him, Feng Changqing hesitated for a moment, raised his hands and said, "Protector, Chang Qing will choose to abandon Hulao Pass."

Zhou Jun: "Tell me about it."

Feng Changqing: "Before the Hulao Pass battle, Gao Xianzhi had led tens of thousands of elite soldiers from the northern and southern yamen from Chang'an to Luoyang. I have repeatedly calculated the steps. Even with the Hulao Pass, with this group of new soldiers in Luoyang,

, there is simply no way to hold on until reinforcements arrive. In this case, it is better to go out and intercept the rebels in open areas in sections to delay time."

Zhou Jun said: "Trading human life in exchange for time?"

Feng Changqing: "Delaying time is just one of them. Hulao Pass is narrow and difficult to pass. After the soldiers leave the pass, it is extremely difficult to re-enter the pass. This move is like a last-ditch battle, which makes the recruits risk their lives and survive.

There is no longer any possibility of escape."

Duan Xiushi frowned and said: "In the battle after leaving the customs, if the recruits face the Hebei cavalry, they will probably suffer heavy casualties."

Feng Changqing: "The most lacking thing among Luoyang's 60,000 recruits right now is training. They go out to meet the enemy, firstly to delay time, and secondly to train troops. A life-and-death battle is more effective than months of training.

Those soldiers who survive will soon become elite soldiers who can be used."

Only then did Zhou Jun remember that in the history books, out of the 60,000 recruits under Feng Changqing, after three battles with the Anlushan rebels, less than 7,000 survived. But it was these 7,000 who later became

In terms of combat performance, the main force defending Tongguan was even better than many soldiers in the Chang'an Forbidden Army.

Thinking of this, Zhou Jun asked Feng Changqing: "After the defeat of Hulao Pass, what happened to Bi Sichen's remaining soldiers?"

Feng Changqing: "Bi Sichen surrendered to Anlu Mountain, and among the 60,000 Luoyang recruits, excluding those who died in the battle and fled, the remaining 20,000 people also joined the rebels under Bi Sichen's persuasion."

Hearing this, Zhou Jun let out a long sigh.

There was silence in the hall for a long time.

Zhou Jun looked around and saw that Li Guangbi couldn't help shaking his head, so he asked: "Guangbi, do you have any ideas for this battle at Hulao Pass?"

Li Guangbi first bowed to Zhou Jun and then said: "It is the end of November now, when the weather is cold in the Yellow River Basin."

When these words came out, everyone in the hall was confused and didn't know what Li Guangbi meant.

Li Guangbi walked to the map, pointed at Hulao Pass and said: "Hulao Pass has a high terrain, with high loess slopes on both sides. If you want to defend the city, you only need to get water from the top of the city and pour it down. In less than a day, the water will freeze.

If it turns into ice, it becomes ice. If the rebels want to attack the city, they can only burn fire to melt the ice or lay out mats and drive piles. The defenders in the city only need to kill them with bows and arrows, and beware of enemy night attacks."

Upon hearing Li Guangbi's method, all the generals in the hall were shocked.

Li Guangbi added: "It is winter now and the Yellow River has frozen, which is not only conducive to defending the city, but also conducive to attacking."

Zhou Jun: "You mean, you lead 60,000 new troops, not only to defend Hulao Pass, but also to attack the rebels?"

Li Guangbi nodded and said: "Most of Anlu Mountain has crossed the Yellow River, but most of the food, supplies, baggage, etc. are stored in Lingchang on the north bank of the Yellow River. There are only a few thousand rebels guarding the rear. The Tang army can take advantage of the rebellion

When the army's attention was focused on the Gyeonggi area, they sent a group of troops, put on the rebel uniforms, quietly crossed the frozen Yellow River, and then made a long-distance attack on Lingchang, burning the rebels' food, grass and baggage.

."

When Feng Changqing heard this, he was first shocked, then impressed, and finally bowed to Zhou Jun and said: "When it comes to leading troops in war, I am not as good as Guang Bi."

Zhou Jun sighed in his heart when he heard this.

There is indeed a reason why Li Guangbi is rated as the "first person to revive China" during the Anshi Rebellion in history books.

Zhou Jun stood up, walked to the hall and said: "After the fall of Hulao Pass, the imperial court issued an imperial edict against the Anxi Army and the Beiting Army."

Hearing this, everyone was shocked.

Zhou Jun: "The imperial court issued a decree, ordering the Anxi Army and the Beiting Army to mobilize soldiers and set off immediately to defend Chang'an."

When Li Siye heard this, his face showed joy: "It can be said that a battle has been fought!"

Zhou Jun glanced at Li Siye and then said: "The Anxi army will be divided into four groups, and the Beiting army will be divided into two groups, forming a total of 15,000 people. I will be the commander myself, Li Guangbi will be the deputy general of the former army, and Duan Xiushi will be the deputy general of the left wing.

…”

Hearing Zhou Jun read out a long list of names, Li Siye didn't hear his own. He quickly raised his hands and asked, "Protector, where is the last general?"

Zhou Jun asked Li Siye: "Let me ask you, what is your current ministry?"

Li Siye: "The last general... is the guardian of Shule Town..."

Zhou Jun walked over and patted Li Siye on the shoulder: "You and Deputy Envoy Feng will stay in Anxi."

Li Siye felt as though he were mourning his heir: "Ah?"

Zhou Jun smiled and said to Li Siye: "Don't worry, you stay in Anxi, there is a big battle to fight...and I also left some new weapons for you."

Li Siye: "New weapon?"

Zhou Jun: "You will know later."