Tibet

Just as Li Ye led his men out of the Longwu Army camp, 10,000 Hezhong troops surrounded 3,000 Longwu Army from all directions.

A general shouted: "If the Tang army does not attack the Tang army, put down your weapons and let the brothers go home!"

The three thousand Longwu Army soldiers were panicked and at a loss. Previously, Li Ye led a hundred cavalry into the camp, beheaded their general Li Guoxuan, and then walked away. They were so powerful that they really frightened the Longwu Army soldiers. There is no morale.

The generals did not want to lose their lives, so they gathered together to discuss for a while. Since the general Li Guoxuan was dead, they could just pass the responsibility to him. They then recommended the deputy general Geng Huaizhong to negotiate with Li Ye.

This is the reason why Li Ye wanted to kill the leader of the Longwu Army, not only to intimidate the Longwu Army soldiers, but also to urge the Longwu Army to surrender as soon as possible.

Generally, it is the general who bears the responsibility. If the general is there, the general will not choose to surrender. He cannot bear the responsibility of surrender. But if the general dies, then he will become the last person to take the blame. No matter what choice the general makes, it will be much easier. , anyway, the responsibility belongs to the general.

Geng Huaizhong found Li Ye, stepped forward and saluted: "The humble post is Geng Huaizhong, the lieutenant general of the Longwu Army. See His Royal Highness King Lu!"

Li Ye looked him over and asked, "Are you the general representative recommended by everyone?"

Geng Huaizhong smiled and said, "It's just a humble job!"

Li Ye said slowly: "My request is not high. Hand over all your weapons and armor. My army will send you to Wuguan as a gift."

This request is not excessive and is completely acceptable. Geng Huaizhong thought that Li Ye would incorporate the Longwu Army soldiers into his team, but now it seems that he is indeed allowed to go back.

Geng Huaizhong nodded, "We can do it, but"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said, "General Geng, is there anything else you want to say?"

Geng Huaizhong sighed and said, "How will I explain to the emperor when I go back?"

Li Ye said in a deep voice: "Tell the emperor that I am leading an army to fight against a hundred thousand rebels at Luyang Pass. If I fail, the rebels will capture Jingxiang, go north from Shangluo Road into Guanzhong, and go west to occupy Bashu. Go east along the Yangtze River and occupy the entire south of the Yangtze River. Then the Tang Dynasty will be finished. Now the fate of the entire Tang Dynasty depends on whether I can withstand the enemy's invasion of Jingxiang. If he has any opinions about me, please wait until this Let’s talk after this fierce battle is over!”

Geng Huaizhong cupped his fists and saluted, "I understand my humble position, and I will report it truthfully to the emperor!"

Geng Huaizhong immediately ordered the three armies to put down their weapons, take off their armor, and retreat toward Wuguan on horseback. Li Ye sent a thousand cavalry to follow them until they entered Wuguan.

The equipment of the Longwu Army is said to be the best in the world, including Mingguang armor, standard spears, steel swords, bows and arrows, and large shields. With a complete set of armor, Li Ye can build an elite cavalry team.

Li Ye immediately wrote two letters and sent them to Li Mi of Luyang Pass and Guan Pei of Xiangyang respectively.

In Xiangyang, a grand parade is being held. Ten thousand troops are marching in the street. People watching the excitement are standing on both sides of the street. In the middle of the parade, there is a very ornately decorated roofless carriage, which is escorted by hundreds of cavalry. Go slowly.

Obviously, this carriage is the protagonist today. In the carriage stands King Xiang Li Huan, wearing a golden crown, royal clothes, and a jade belt. He is proudly waving to the people on both sides. Next to him stands Chang Shi Liu Xun.

Jin Nan watched for a long time, squeezed out of the crowd, and returned to the silk shop. Not long after, the county magistrate Chen Zhu also came.

The two sat down in the back hall, and Chen Zhu sighed and said, "You saw it! King Xiang Li Huan has begun to take full power. He has issued an order requiring officials from all states and county magistrates and above to come to Xiangyang before the end of September."

"How are Li Dai and his son doing now?" Jin Nan asked.

"As we expected, they chose the wisest strategy and returned to Chang'an before the Longwu Army. Now the Longwu Army has also received the news and is chasing towards Wuguan."

Speaking of this, Chen Zhu sighed and said: "Li Ye is so strong, but in front of the powerful imperial power, he is nothing. If he resists, he will only be crushed."

"What about the army?"

Jin Nan asked: "Have you pledged your allegiance to Li Huan?"

"Almost! I heard that Li Huan is going to Dengzhou to receive the army tomorrow. Didn't you notice? The flags have changed."

Jin Nan nodded, "I noticed that it used to be the red, yellow and black dragon flag of the Anxi Army, but now it is the orthodox bright yellow and black dragon flag of the Tang Army. You are right, the Yi flag is a symbol of changing allegiance."

Early the next morning, Jin Nan sent a pigeon letter to Luoyang, informing Luoyang that Li Dai and his son had been taken away by the Longwu Army. King Xiang Li Huan was in full power, and soon, all the armies would be under his control.

At noon, Guan Pei led 300 internal guard soldiers to surround Luji Silk Shop. The soldiers took the lead in controlling the pigeon cage in the backyard. Other soldiers rushed into the shop, pushed the shopkeeper Jin Nan and the five clerks to the ground, and tied them with ropes. Tied up.

Jin Nan shouted: "Your county magistrate Chen Zhu is also our spy!"

Guan Pei sneered and said, "Of course I know, otherwise how could I catch you?"

"He has written a letter of allegiance to the Emperor of Luoyang!"

Guan Pei nodded, "The title at the beginning of his allegiance letter was wrong, and I helped him correct it."

Only then did Jin Nan realize that he had been fooled. Chen Zhu had simply deceived him and given him key wrong information, which would most likely lead to the defeat of the former enemy. For a moment, Jin Nan felt extremely regretful.

At Luyang Pass, the careful Yan Jun discovered an anomaly. The flag of Luyang Pass changed from the original red, yellow and black dragon flag to the bright yellow and black dragon flag. Although it was only a small change in color, it still attracted An Qingxu's great attention. .

He immediately led his counselors and generals to the city wall to identify them with their own eyes. They were all once Tang soldiers, and of course they knew the meaning of the flag changes. The bright yellow and black dragon flags were the flags of the Tang Army. All armies directly under the imperial court used this flag, while the red and yellow flags The Black Dragon Flag is the military flag of the Anxi Army.

An Qingxu had already realized that the Tang army in Xiangyang had changed. He turned back to Niu Jieting and smiled: "Niu Junshi's counterintuitive plan really worked."

Niu Jieting was a little worried and said: "Li Ye has always been cunning. I'm worried that something will happen."

Next to him, Zhang Tongru was quite jealous of Niu Jieting. He couldn't help but said: "Yuan Siyi has confirmed to Liu Luogu that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was furious and sent three thousand Longwu Army to Xiangyang to capture Li Ye. As long as the Longwu Army arrives in Xiangyang, then Li Ye Ye will not be able to escape this disaster. No one in the Tang Dynasty dared to resist the imperial court except our lord."

An Qingxu nodded, "Wait patiently for a few more days, and there should be definite news from Xiangyang!"

A few days later, An Qingxu received intelligence from Luoyang. Li Dai and his son escaped the capture of Longwu Army and rushed to Chang'an in advance. At present, the military and political power in Xiangyang was controlled by Li Huan, and the morale of the Tang army was low.

The emperor An Lushan ordered the Yan army to seize this opportunity to attack with all their strength and be sure to capture Jingxiang.

An Qingxu was overjoyed and ordered the entire army to seize Luyang Pass at all costs.

The 15,000 Yan army attacked in an all-out manner. Although the Tang army guarding the pass also tried their best to fight back, the attacking Yan army soldiers clearly felt the subtle changes in the morale of the Tang army. They were not as high-spirited as before. This subtle change only affected the siege soldiers. Only then can you feel it.

By evening, the Tang army defending the city seemed to feel that the situation was over and began to evacuate quickly.

"Dong——"

Two hundred Yan soldiers held battering rams and hit the closed door. This time, no kerosene was thrown down. The Tang army's kerosene seemed to have been exhausted, and there were no raindrops of rolling wood and rocks falling on the city.

In the distance, An Qingxu looked at Guancheng with squinted eyes. He had a strong premonition that they were about to capture Luyang Pass.

He smiled at the general behind him: "Without Li Ye, the Tang army has obviously lost its soul!"

Everyone agreed, "Your Highness is right. It can be seen that the Tang army no longer has the determination to fight to the end as it did a few days ago, and they began to retreat."

The battering ram at the city gate was reaching its final stage, and the leading general shouted, "One last blow, let's break it open!"

"one two three!"

Two hundred Yan army soldiers shouted in unison, and rushed towards the city gate with the huge tree in their arms. Another strong blow came, "Crack--" The city gate made a huge breaking sound, and the city gate could no longer withstand the weight of ten thousand kilograms. With a powerful impact, it was knocked away with a bang, and thousands of Yan troops rushed into Guancheng.

Thousands of Yan troops outside the city cheered together.

It took 60,000 Yan troops more than 20 days and nearly 20,000 casualties to finally break through Luyang Pass.