Chapter 47: The Situation of the Reinforcements

  Reinforcements were rushing towards Tongguan.

  Du Yihua and Zhang Jian of the vanguard had given orders for the troops to advance at top speed.

  "Reporting to General, there are many refugees fleeing in front of us, blocking the official road, and our advance is hindered!"

  A soldier rushed quickly to the front of Tou Hua who was galloping on horseback and loudly reported the situation.

  "Understood!" Dou Hua, who was sitting on his horse, furrowed his brow and gave a loud order without hesitation, "Order, immediately disperse the refugees on the official road. If anyone blocks the way, kill them without pardon!"

  "Yes, General!" The reporting soldier loudly relayed Tou Hua's order.

  As soon as Duan Hua's order was given, the official road suddenly became a scene of chaos, with Tang army officers rushing forward, waving their shiny battle knives and shouting loudly, without regard for whether there were people in front blocking their way, continuing to run at high speed. If anyone who didn't know better was still walking on the official road, blocking the army's advance, then the battle knives in their hands would immediately be swung down.

  These were all refugees fleeing from Tongguan and its vicinity towards Chang'an, occasionally mixed with a small number of defeated soldiers. These people had long been frightened, seeing the distant army rushing quickly, most of them automatically hid on the side of the road, giving way to the road, not daring to compete with the soldiers for the road.

  But some people reacted slowly, or were unable to move quickly, and when the Tang soldiers rushed over, they were unable to dodge. The refugees who reacted slowly or were unable to dodge became victims of the Tang soldiers' swords, either being killed or wounded, and some of those who fell heavily to the ground were trampled by the horses that followed, losing their lives.

  No one came to stop these wretches, the murderous Tang army officers continued to rush forward quickly, hurrying towards Tongguan.

  However, there were still a considerable number of refugees fleeing on the official road, which more or less affected the speed of the army's advance.

  And this damn weather is also having a significant impact on our marching speed.

  The army's advance was not as swift as expected, but Dou Hua, the commander, was anxious and eager to hurry. Before departing, Yang Guozhong's repeated instructions and the imagined scenes of Tongguan Pass kept appearing in his mind, making him wish that he could make these thousands of soldiers grow wings and fly directly into Tongguan City to join the battle against the rebels.

  Du Hua's troops, although belonging to Chen Xuanli's relief army column, set out nearly half a day earlier than Chen Xuanli's main force. As soon as they were assembled and personnel and horses were in place, Yang Guozhong bypassed Chen Xuanli and directly gave the order to depart. Before Du Hua's troops departed, Yang Guozhong had given a stern command that Du Hua was to advance at the fastest speed possible, even if it meant running half of the soldiers to death, he must find a way to reach Tong Pass as soon as possible.

  Under the heavy pressure, Dunhua could only lead the whole army to march at the fastest speed possible, but the refugees who appeared from time to time on the official road and the scorching weather made people feel a sense of having a surplus of heart but not enough strength.

  Both human and horse strength cannot be exhausted, otherwise it will backfire. After running a certain distance, they must slow down or take a temporary rest, otherwise many people and horses will collapse. Although Yang Guozhong gave the order to rush to Tongguan as quickly as possible, even if half of the people and horses died, Dou Hua, who was in charge of leading the army, knew that many times, the faster you go, the less you achieve. To let these three thousand people and horses have the strength to participate in the battle after arriving at Tongguan, they must reasonably allocate their physical strength, take appropriate rest, and maintain a speed that people and horses can bear, otherwise half of the people and horses will really die from exhaustion, and the remaining half will not be able to fight.

  Dou Hua was eager to have enough war horses, so that they could ride in shifts and advance, but because there were not enough horses in Chang'an City, he wanted to emulate Yang Hui's actions without the opportunity to do so. It is worth noting that among Chen Xuanli's 600,000-strong army, nearly 10,000 soldiers had no horses to ride and could only march on foot.

  "Ideals are plump, reality is bony", this may be the sentiment of many people now.

  Dong Hua was also muttering to himself, if he didn't let Geshu Han go out of the pass to fight, there wouldn't be the current Tongguan crisis, and there would be no need for Yang Kai and his subsequent troops to rush to rescue, Lingbao's battle had already exhausted all the soldiers in Tongguan and its surrounding areas.

  After running quickly for a while, Duan Hua also ordered the soldiers to slow down and find ways to replenish food and water for both humans and horses.

  At this time, the urgent telegram for help from Tongguan was sent to Chang'an again through the fast horse of the post station. The three emergency feathers and red streamers inserted on the back of the soldiers were particularly eye-catching, giving people a shocking feeling.

  The military officer rushed past, and whether it was the fleeing civilians or the soldiers led by Duan Hua, they all dodged and did not dare to contend with him for the road.

  This was the third batch of express horses that Dou Hua had encountered since leaving Chang'an. Looking at the soldiers rushing to deliver urgent military reports, Dou Hua's heart felt heavy. He could naturally imagine how critical the situation was at Tongguan Pass.

  "Where are we headed now?" asked Du Hua, panting heavily, to his deputy general beside him.

  "Report to General Dou, we have just left Chang'an for seventy miles and can reach Weinan before dark. If we rush through the night, we can arrive at Tongguan by tomorrow noon or afternoon at the latest!"

  The deputy general's report made Du Hua's mood heavy again, he gazed at the distant marching troops for a while before giving another order, "Pass on to the whole army, rest and replenish water and food at the relay station ahead, after resting, speed up the march, rush through the night, no more rest!"

  He cracked his whip and urged his horse forward. The deputy general quickly passed down Du Hua's order.

  Dou Hua's unit was advancing rapidly, and Zhang Jian, who had left Chang'an an hour later than him, also ordered his troops to proceed at the fastest speed possible.

  Zhang Jian and Dou Hua were also trusted by Yang Guozhong, they were promoted because of Yang Guozhong's appreciation. They had a grateful heart towards Yang Guozhong. This time Yang Guozhong ordered them to lead the army to rescue Tongguan urgently, and instructed them in person. How could they dare to be careless and delay? Of course, they would do their best to complete Yang Guozhong's entrustment, arrive at Tongguan as soon as possible, and provide reinforcements for Yang Hui.

  Zhang Jian, like Dou Hua, had not been in the army for a long or short time, but he still had some experience in leading troops. He knew that in such hot weather, if they ran with all their might, many people and horses would die of exhaustion. Therefore, he did not order his subordinates to run at full speed continuously, but instead made the soldiers advance at a pace where both men and horses could eat and rest, preparing to increase their speed after nightfall when the weather cooled down, without resting, they would make a rapid and continuous advance.

  Unlike Duan Hua and Zhang Jian, who were anxious and flustered, Chen Xuanli, who led the follow-up reinforcements towards Tongguan, was not in a hurry. With his mind set on reaping the benefits without doing much work, he did not order his soldiers to run with all their might. In comparison, the speed of the follow-up reinforcements was much slower than that of Duan Hua and Zhang Jian's troops, let alone those infantrymen who had no horses to ride and were dragging behind.

  Fortunately, Yang Jie did not know about the subsequent reinforcements and was unclear about Chen Xuans mood at this time, otherwise he would have been furious!