Chapter Fourteen: A Critical Moment

  "Report to General Yang: fifteen miles ahead is Tongguan City!"

  A team of soldiers holding torches galloped quickly in front of Yang Hui and reported loudly.

  "Alright! Order the troops to speed up their march and strive to enter Tongguan City as soon as possible!"

  Yang Kai did not stop his horse and continued to gallop forward after loudly giving orders.

  They are approaching Tongguan City, and the number of defeated soldiers they encounter is increasing, even blocking the official road, directly affecting the speed of Yang Gui's army. He had to order General Liu Guangting to lead 200 cavalrymen to drive away and gather the defeated soldiers and order them to return to Tongguan.

  Nowadays, the number of troops in Tongguan is definitely not many, and there are not a few soldiers who have fled back. If these fleeing soldiers can be organized, comforted and allowed to re-participate in the battle, it will increase the strength of the city's defense.

  As the trusted aide of Yang Guozhong, Liu Guangting's loyalty should not be a problem. Along the way, Yang Hui has also witnessed the military capabilities of this thirty-something Zhonglang general, and Liu Guangting's abilities in all aspects are still quite good.

  The task of gathering scattered soldiers was given to him, and the scattered soldiers were organized. Yang Gui felt that Liu Guangting could complete this task.

  Maybe this will be a lifesaving army!

  Speed was affected a bit, but ultimately still arrived at Tongguan more than an hour earlier than expected. It's still midnight now, the whole world is pitch black, about an hour away from dawn, that's about two hours, roughly around 4 o'clock in summer.

  They can arrive at Tongguan before dawn, and on the way, they only met some defeated soldiers, and did not hear any news about Tongguan being occupied by the rebels. This made Yang Hui's mind much more at ease, and some of the plots from "An Shi Zhi Luan" that he read before crossing over floated in front of him again.

  If he remembered correctly, Geshu Han was eventually taken to the rebel camp by a subordinate general and surrendered willingly after meeting An Lushan. As a result, Tong Pass also fell into the hands of the rebels. With no good news coming from Tong Pass, Emperor Xuanzong knew that things were not going well and fled before the rebels reached Chang'an. Geshu Han was eventually killed by An Qingxu, and his reputation was lost forever.

  While lamenting the original historical event of Geshu Han's late loyalty, Yang Gui also thought of another matter and slowed down his pace. He immediately called upon his attendants to send a signal to Chang'an that all was well.

  The news of Tongguan's safety was transmitted back to Chang'an, and Li Longji would definitely feel more at ease and not escape as quickly as he did in the original historical event. However, just transmitting the news of Tongguan's safety was not enough. Li Longji, who had been startled like a bird from a bowstring, might still escape in the end. So, he changed his mind and transmitted the "even safer" news back, saying that his troops had arrived at Tongguan safely and there was no need to worry too much!

  At the same time as the news was transmitted, Yang Kai once again urged the follow-up army to arrive more quickly in order to defeat the rebel forces attacking the city.

  After ordering the soldiers to rush back through the relay stations at a speed of 600 li to report the news and his request, Yang Gui continued to ride forward, preparing to attack Tongguan City, and strictly ordered the soldiers to advance at the fastest speed, even if it meant running the horses to death.

  Whether the incident of Geshu Han being held hostage would happen now or not, Yang Gui wanted to arrive at Tongguan as soon as possible and take over the defense of Tongguan City from Geshu Han. Arriving earlier could avoid this incident from happening, that barbarian general who was holding Geshu Han hostage, he couldn't think of his name for a moment, but if he heard it, he would know immediately.

  Upon arriving at Tongguan City, apart from taking over the defense and control of Tongguan, these people with ulterior motives must be immediately eliminated or at least controlled. He didn't want to arrive at Tongguan, direct his soldiers in defending the city, only to be stabbed in the back, that would be too unjust a death!

  Riding at top speed, the fifteen-mile journey was soon over, and the lights of Tongguan City were already faintly visible. The joy in Yang Hui's heart grew stronger and stronger.

  "Pass on to the whole army, speed up the advance and enter the city immediately!"

  When they were only fifteen miles away from Tongguan City, Yang Gui had already ordered the soldiers to take the emperor's order and go ahead to call the gate, ordering the guardian of the west city of Tongguan to open the gate and let these three thousand people enter the city! When the lights on the top of Tongguan City were vaguely seen, the scouts came back to report that Pang Zhong, the guardian of the west gate of Tongguan, had opened the gate and personally went out of the city to welcome the rescue of Wang's army.

  Upon hearing the news, Yang Kai was overjoyed once again and ordered his personal bodyguards to proceed with him at top speed, rushing ahead of other soldiers to be the first to enter the city. Soon, the two torch-bearing dragon teams converged outside the open west gate of Tongguan!

  Knowing that the relief troops sent by the imperial court had arrived outside Tongguan City, Pang Zhong, who was disheartened and demoralized after suffering such a great defeat, didn't know how to describe his current joyful mood. "Snow in winter" is probably what describes the situation now? Inside Tongguan City were only remnants of defeated soldiers with low morale. If they heard that the relief troops sent by the imperial court had arrived before dawn, their morale would surely be greatly boosted.

  At least Pang Zhong's current mood is much better than when he escaped back to Tongguan!

  But the good mood only lasted for a moment. When he saw who was riding towards him, his heart sank to the bottom of the water.

  The leader was surprisingly Yang Guozhong's fourth son, Yang Hui.

  Pang Zhong was acquainted with several sons of Yang Guozhong, but they were not familiar and had no dealings with each other. However, he knew about the grudges between Yang Guozhong and Ge Shuhan.

  He and Wang Sili had repeatedly advised to lure Yang Guozhong to Tongguan to capture and kill him, but was vetoed by Ge Shuhan. Now that Ge Shuhan's army has been defeated, the court actually sent out Yang Guozhong's son to lead troops to rescue, isn't the meaning very clear? It must be to punish Ge Shuhan's crime and take over the military affairs of Tongguan! The joyful mood is gone, a kind of unspeakable anger and sadness surged up, Pang Zhong had the idea of capturing and killing Yang Hui.

  Yang Hui certainly knew about the contradictions between his "disaster country" father and Ge Shuhan, as well as Ge Shuhan's subordinates. He didn't overlook the part in the book where several of Ge Shuhan's generals advised to lure Yang Guozhong to Tongguan to capture and kill him. He guessed that the general guarding Tongguan would be shocked when he saw Yang Guozhong's son appear, but there was no time to explain now.

  Yang Jie spurred his horse to gallop in front of Pang Zhong, slightly saluted and showed the emperor's order, then loudly commanded: "General Pang, His Majesty has appointed this general as the commander of the Tongguan army, to assist General Geshu in defending Tongguan. Please let this general lead his troops into the city quickly! After dawn, the rebel army may attack the city immediately! General Chen of the Left Dragon Guard is leading the follow-up troops and will arrive soon! Also, General Geshu may be coerced by his subordinates to open the gate and surrender to the rebels. Quickly take this general to see General Geshu!"

  Yang Hui said this, although it made Pang Zhong feel a bit more at ease, but Yang Hui's last words about Geshu Han possibly being held by his subordinates really annoyed him. Just as he was about to argue, a horseman came flying from inside the city and rushed straight to his front. A soldier rolled and crawled to Pang Zhong's face, crying out loudly: "General Pang, Commander-in-Chief Geshu has been taken captive by Huo Bao and is heading towards the south gate!"

  "What?" Pang Zhong was shocked, and he didn't even notice that the whip in his hand had fallen. How could this be possible? Yang Hui had the ability to predict the future! Before they even arrived at Tongguan, he predicted that something like this would happen, and as soon as they arrived at Tongguan, it happened just as he said.

  This feeling made Pang Zhong's hostility towards Yang Kai disappear a bit more, but he suddenly didn't know how to react.

  Upon hearing this news, Yang Hui's good mood vanished instantly. A sense of urgency and anger prompted him to issue an order without any hesitation: "Order all officers and soldiers to follow me into the city immediately and eliminate Fire Bazi and his cohorts who dare to rebel!"

  Huobao Guiren, as soon as he heard the name, he immediately reacted and was indeed the Fan Jiang who held Geshuhan hostage and defected to the enemy in that book.

  Now Geshu Han has been taken hostage, if he doesn't react quickly, it's likely that he will be powerless to return to heaven. He didn't care how Pang Zhong reacted and immediately drove his horse into the city. The 300 personal soldiers also followed closely behind him into the city, and then the 3,000 troops led by him, under Li Fude's leadership, also entered the city.

  Pang Zhong, pale-faced, hesitated for a moment before ordering the soldiers beside him to make way and let Yang Hui's troops rush into the city. He himself led his personal bodyguards in a swift pursuit of Yang Hui.

  Pang Zhong, a seasoned general, quickly regained his composure and ordered the soldiers guarding the city to close the gates immediately after Yang Gui's 3,000 troops entered the city. Without his order, no one was allowed to open the gate or let anyone in or out of the city!

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  "General Geshu, you're not feeling well, let the soldiers carry you away!" Seeing General Geshu struggling to walk, Ge Rong quickly ordered two soldiers to come forward and support him.

  But Ge Shuhan was still unable to move quickly, so he had someone bring a stretcher and carry him away.

  Ge Shuhan, due to many years of war, had a body full of injuries. This time, before being appointed by the imperial court as the Marshal and General Manager of Tongguan military affairs, he was already severely ill with bodily injuries in his residence, recuperating quietly. Riding on horseback was barely manageable, but making him walk would be an extremely painful thing.

  At this moment, he was being led out of the house by soldiers under Huo Yun's command. He almost fell to the ground, but fortunately, two soldiers were holding him up.

  Huobaogui Ren was a bit anxious and immediately ordered the soldiers to carry Geshuhan away. He feared that the night would be long and full of dreams.

  But the night is not long and dreams are many, just as Huo Boren ordered his soldiers to carry Geshu Han, who had been drinking and scolding non-stop, away. Suddenly, from afar came the urgent sound of horse hooves. Huo Boren and his soldiers were all seasoned warriors, and they immediately judged that something was amiss from the urgent sound of the horse hooves. At his command, everyone drew their weapons, ready to do battle!

  The sound of horseshoes was getting closer and closer, a long team of torches came from afar to their side, in the faint light of the fire, Huo Bairen also saw the situation clearly, a young general led hundreds of soldiers rushing over!

  It was the troops led by Yang Kai that, upon hearing the soldier's report, rushed into the city at an extremely fast speed and quickly charged to the side of Huo Bao and Ren Yin under the guard of his personal soldiers. After circling around them half a circle, he blocked their way and surrounded the hundred or so people!