Tibet

After capturing Luyang Pass, the Yan Army immediately conducted a comprehensive search inside the pass. Soon, the Yan Army search team captured a thin man without military uniform from the cellar.

The thin man was so frightened that he knelt down and begged: "I'm just a groom, don't kill me!"

Only this one living person was found in the entire Guancheng. Of course, the Yan army would not kill him. Several soldiers dragged him to An Qingxu.

"Your Highness, we searched the whole city and only found one alive!"

The thin man knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to beg for mercy.

An Qingxu smiled and said: "I won't kill you, just answer my questions honestly."

The thin man said tremblingly: "The villain must be honest!"

"Why aren't you wearing armor? Did you take it off?"

"Reporting back to the general, the villain is a groom. He fell asleep. When he woke up, he found that everyone had run away. The villain couldn't escape, so he had to hide in the cellar."

An Qingxu nodded and asked: "What happened to our generals? I mean Li Ye."

"In the past few days, people in Guancheng have been talking about this matter. I heard that he was captured by the emperor's army. People in Guancheng are panicked. Some people escaped at night."

An Qingxu perked up and asked, "Is it true that someone escaped?"

"Yes! The villain is a groom, and he spends most of his time feeding the horses in the grass at night. The villain saw many soldiers escaping over the wall from the warehouse at night, and they didn't stop all night."

An Qingxu asked some more questions, but the groom didn't know much. An Qingxu was bored, so he waved his hand and the groom was taken away.

An Qingxu hesitated and said to Zhang Tongru: "The soldiers retreated so quickly, I am a little suspicious."

Zhang Tongru smiled slightly and said: "It's not a problem that the soldiers retreated quickly. It shows that they are not interested in fighting. Your Highness, morale is a very delicate thing and cannot be faked. More importantly, we are going to capture Luyang Pass. What should we do next?" Just go as you please, no need to worry about whether Tang Jun has any tricks up his sleeve!"

An Qingxu suddenly woke up and said with a smile: "The military advisor is right. Regardless of whether Li Ye is arrested or not, we will just implement it according to the established plan!"

An Qingxu immediately left 3,000 men to guard Luyang Pass. He led 37,000 troops in three groups and attacked Nanyang County.

The first general above, Li Chengfu, led the front army with 10,000 cavalry and rushed to Nanyang. If the Tang army abandoned Nanyang, the front army would immediately occupy it.

The second group, An Qingxu, personally led 15,000 troops as the main force of the central army, with cavalry and infantry mixed in, with infantry as the main force. They set out in the afternoon of the same day and also fought towards Nanyang.

On the third route, Tian Chengsi led 12,000 troops as the rear army, escorting the baggage and moving slowly in the rear.

Although Nanyang County is not the state government of Dengzhou, its strategic location is extremely important. It is mainly located on the Pingchuan River from Luyang Pass. The surrounding area is rich in grain. It occupies Nanyang. It can be attacked when advancing and defended when retreating. It leads directly to Shangluo Road to the west, which is particularly suitable for The army going south used it as a logistical center.

In contrast, Dengzhou's prefecture-controlled Rang County is more focused on defense. It is relatively close to Xiangyang and can be said to be the north gate of Xiangyang.

An Qingxu's army moved all the way south. They had escaped from the mountainous areas in the north and entered a basin. Although there were still some low hills in the basin, most of them were farmland and woods, as well as cottages, county towns, etc. Compared with the north, That kind of endless mountains and ridges, this is Jiangnan.

There is a distance of about two hundred miles from Luyang Pass to Nanyang. The cavalry can reach it in two days of running. However, the mixed infantry and cavalry troops are much slower, taking three days at the fastest, and the logistics team is even slower, at least It takes more than five days.

This marching method that combines three sections of fast, medium and slow is very classic, taking into account both speed and caution. Almost all armies will adopt this marching mode.

However, any mode has its pros and cons, and this three-stage mode is no exception. Because the distance is relatively long and the teams are scattered, it is easy for the enemy to concentrate their forces and defeat them individually, especially the front and rear armies with fewer troops.

Therefore, this kind of march usually does not occur in areas where the two armies are fighting, but often in their own territory, or when pursuing victory.

An Qingxu's use of this three-stage march obviously characterized the current situation as a pursuit of victory.

The front army of 10,000 cavalry has passed through Xiangcheng County in the middle and rushed towards Nanyang. The next morning, the 15,000 Chinese Army also passed through Xiangcheng County and rushed towards Nanyang a hundred miles away.

The soldiers of the Yan army were indeed well-trained. Ten thousand infantrymen were running in formation on the official road, surrounded by cavalry. The marching team was relatively compact, with fifteen thousand men only three miles long.

About thirty miles away from Xiangcheng County, they gradually entered a mountainous area. There is a hilly mountain here called Fengshan. The mountains are not high, they are all hills, with undulating terrain and large forests.

Seeing the complicated terrain in this area, An Qingxu felt a little uneasy and ordered: "Speed ​​up the march!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was only a bang, and thousands of arrows were fired from the woods on both sides. The cavalry on the periphery were caught off guard and fell off their horses. Many of the infantry were also hit by arrows.

At the same time, the official road with thousands of people in front suddenly burst into flames, and thousands of soldiers were engulfed by the fast-burning fire.

The Yan army on the official road was in chaos, and An Qingxu was closely protected by his own soldiers with shields.

"Woo——"

The Tang army's deep horn sounded, and countless cavalrymen, tens of thousands of them, were shot out of the woods on both sides. The leader was none other than Li Ye.

An Qingxu's eyes widened when he saw Li Ye. He immediately realized that they had been fooled.

"Your Highness! The brothers are in too much trouble, retreat!"

An Qingxu drew his sword and shouted: "Whoever dares to retreat will be killed by me. Just blow my trumpet to hold him back!"

"Woo——"

The horns for the Yan army to gather also sounded.

Soon, the Yan troops who were preparing to escape turned back and quickly gathered.

The Tang army's cavalry was like a flood, destroying the opponent's newly assembled formation.

The Yan army was still unable to assemble and began to fight fiercely with the Tang army individually.

Once the army fails to form a large scale or is dispersed by the opponent, they will often face a Tang army several times their size and be wiped out by Tang soldiers in an instant.

This is the importance of formation. Formation is a collective battle. A military formation of thirty people can quickly destroy thirty scattered enemy troops.

Formation also involves the issue of combat efficiency. Fighting in formation is often more structured. A military formation of thirty people can fight twice in ten minutes, while thirty scattered enemy troops may only fight once in ten minutes.

Originally they had the same strength, but due to the difference in combat efficiency, the number of Tang troops was equivalent to doubling.

Therefore, after countless Tang Army cavalry divided the Yan Army and tore it apart, the Yan Army was always at a disadvantage and gradually could no longer support it.

At this moment, Li Ye found An Qingxu in the chaos and crowd, and An Qingxu happened to see Li Ye.

He saw Li Ye galloping towards him on horseback. An Qingxu was so frightened that the sword in his hand dropped to the ground, turned his horse's head and fled, followed closely by dozens of soldiers.

The coach's escape was undoubtedly the straw that broke the camel's back, and the morale of the entire Yan army suddenly collapsed.

"His Highness has run away! His Highness has run away!"

The soldiers shouted and turned around and fled desperately after An Qingxu.

The Yan army's soldiers collapsed across the board, and the cavalry and infantry scrambled for their lives. Ten thousand Hezhong army cavalry covered them up and killed the enemy soldiers with heads rolling and corpses scattered all over the field. After more than ten miles, they reached the plains, and the cavalry became even more dominant.

The infantry could not outrun the cavalry, and they were chased and slaughtered by the cavalry. After nearly thirty miles in this battle, only a thousand cavalry out of 15,000 people were left to follow An Qingxu to escape.

An Qingxu had just fled to Xiangcheng when suddenly a soldier pointed behind him and shouted: "The Tang army is chasing after us!"

When An Qingxu saw the dust flying behind him, blocking the sky and the sun, he suddenly became frightened. He originally planned to go into Xiangcheng County to rest, but now he did not dare to enter the city, so he bypassed Xiangcheng and continued to run north.