Chapter 26: An Qingxu's Command

  Thanks to Brother Scarecrow for the reward! Following a friend's suggestion, in order to increase clicks, I'll reduce the number of words per chapter and update more chapters every day! This week, at least three updates per day!

  Around the time Yang Guozhong received the news, An Qingxu, who was leading the imperial army, also received the news from Cui Jianyun that they had been ambushed.

  He immediately ordered the whole army to stop advancing, strengthen its vigilance and order the rear army to change direction, strictly preventing the government army from surrounding them from behind.

  In the Battle of Lingbao, their troops ambushed the government army and then sent elite soldiers to attack the Tang army from behind, ultimately leading to the swift defeat of 200,000 government troops. An Qingxu did not want to suffer a similar defeat, even though this section of the road was not suitable for large-scale ambushes and encirclements.

  The army was stationed under the city of Tongguan for six months, with numerous small and large battles, but An Qingxu, who had not won many victories, knew well that the terrain outside Tongguan was treacherous. If they were not careful, the entire army would be defeated, and even trampling each other could lead to countless deaths among the soldiers, directly triggering a rout of the entire army.

  An Qingxu immediately ordered someone to summon Cui Qianyou over for a discussion after issuing the consecutive orders.

  Cui Gan-yu didn't dare to delay, so he ordered his deputy to take charge of the situation and then led a group of close followers to hurry back to discuss matters with An Qingxu.

  The sun had slowly risen, and the scorching heat followed. An Qingxu's personal soldiers had set up a large tent in an open area by the road, and the summoned generals all entered the shaded tent to discuss matters.

  Cui Gan-yu hastily rushed into the tent, where more than a dozen generals had already gathered. Without wiping away the sweat on his face, Cui Gan-yu stepped forward and saluted An Qingxu: "Your Highness, our vanguard troops encountered an ambush by the Tang army and suffered some losses, causing chaos among the soldiers. I fear there may be more Tang troops lying in wait, so I have ordered a temporary halt to our advance and dispatched scouts to reconnoiter."

  Without waiting for An Qingxu to ask, he reported the events that had just occurred in detail, and finally said: "Your Highness, I believe that the Tang army's relief troops must have arrived inside Tongguan City!"

  "Hmm, you said the leader is holding a banner with the character 'Yang' on it?" An Qingxu stroked his mustache under his forehead and asked with furrowed eyebrows.

  "Yes!" Choe Gun-woo hesitated for a moment and swallowed back what he was going to say next.

  At this time, another general under An Qingxu's command, Tian Gan Zhen, stepped forward and said: "Your Highness, I think this is just a ruse by Ge Shuhan. He wants to use a small force to set up ambushes along the way, slow down our attack speed, and wait for the reinforcements sent by the Tang court to arrive! Our army should not stop advancing, but continue to press on, straight to Tongguan City!"

  "The Tang army has suffered a new defeat, and the 200,000-strong army is on the verge of collapse. If it weren't for the rescue of the Tang court, they wouldn't be able to withstand our siege. Geshu Han was forced to resort to this tactic, with the intention of making us believe that the Tang court's reinforcements have arrived, and that they have the ability to set up an ambush outside the pass, in order to slow down our advance! Your Highness, you must not fall for Geshu Han's trick. We should temporarily halt our advance, and ignore any harassment from the Tang army. We should continue to press on, until we reach the city of Tongguan! I believe that as soon as our great Tang army reaches the city of Tongguan, we can take it immediately. I have heard reports from scouts that the Jinxiangou has already been filled with the bodies of fleeing Tang soldiers, and we can directly cross over and climb the walls!"

  An Qingxu listened to Tian Gan's words, and his tightly knitted eyebrows quickly relaxed, but he didn't make a decision immediately. Instead, he asked Cui Gan'you, who was about to speak but hesitated: "General Cui, what do you think?"

  Choi Gun-woo stepped forward and replied, "Your Highness, I think General Tian's words make sense. The number of Tang troops in this ambush is definitely not large, otherwise they would not have retreated immediately after winning. If they had gathered a large force to set up an ambush here, they would have taken advantage of the victory to launch a fierce attack on our army, and even defeated us! Since the Tang army did not do so, it can only be said that their ambush troops were not many, just to create a diversion to slow down our attack speed. I observe that this terrain is extremely rugged and not suitable for large-scale ambushes, so I am convinced that this is just a delaying tactic by the Tang army. I also believe that we should ignore these harassment and continue to advance!"

  Actually, his idea just now was different from what he said. It's only after listening to Tian Qianzhen's words that he felt it made sense and spoke like this.

  Having heard the two most important generals under him say so, and with no dissenting opinions from others, An Qingxu made up his mind and ordered: "Order the entire army to continue advancing, but slow down the pace of advance. Send out more scouts to reconnoiter the surrounding situation, lest we fall into another ambush by the Tang army!"

  The Art of War says, "When you are weak, pretend to be strong; when you are strong, pretend to be weak." Although he had heard similar opinions from the two generals, An Qingxu still thought about it some more. He was afraid that this might be another ploy by the Tang army, so he ordered the troops to slow down their march.

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  "The rebels seem to have stopped advancing!" Standing on the city gate tower, Yang Hui, who had been observing the distant situation despite the scorching sun, finally spoke up with a hint of delight.

  During the Tang Dynasty, the air quality was exceptionally good, with a clear and transparent sky, excellent visibility, and scenes from far away could be seen clearly. The long procession coming from Tongguan City direction, tens of miles away, was also faintly visible. What caught people's attention were the fluttering flags, which, despite being mixed in a gray dragon-like queue, could still be vaguely seen by people on the high Tongguan City wall.

  Yang Ke saw that the originally grey-colored, flag-bearing army moving towards Tongguan had stopped and seemed to have dispersed a bit, allowing him to make a judgment that the rebel army had temporarily halted its advance.

  Yang Hui sighed again, if there was a telescope in his hand, he could clearly see the movements of the rebels with the height advantage of the terrain. The location of Tongguan City is really good, standing on the gate tower, you can see the situation of the road tens or dozens of miles away, which is relatively low in terrain. If there was a high-power telescope, standing on the city head could explore the situation of the only road to Tongguan clearly!

  Li Chengguang and Gao Shi, who had been standing with Yang Jie all along, also vaguely saw the situation. The fake troops arranged by Yang Jie were effective, causing the rebels to stop advancing and retreat completely, allowing them to continue executing their next plan. Li Chengguang and Gao Shi couldn't help but admire him, and they also admired Yang Jie for being able to stand on the gate tower all this time, ignoring the scorching sun.

  They are older and have been physically and mentally exhausted for the past few days, so standing like this is a bit unbearable, of course, it feels a bit suffocating.

  The scorching sun made them feel uncomfortable, and seeing the rebel army's shadow approaching, they knew that the rebels would soon arrive at Tongguan City. They were clear that another extremely arduous battle was ahead, and this waiting anxiety even gave them a feeling of powerlessness surging in their hearts, making it hard for them to bear. Standing under the scorching sun made this anxious feeling even worse, and they really wanted to do something themselves instead of standing there with Yang Hui.

  Yang Kai seemed to have noticed the conflicting psychology of Li Chengguang and Gao Shi, and while continuing to stare at the distance, he whispered to the two generals behind him: "General Li, General Gao, go and order the soldiers to leave a portion at the city gate on guard, and have the rest retreat to a shaded area to avoid heatstroke under the scorching sun, which would affect their combat effectiveness. Also, have someone prepare some cool drinks, water, food, and fruit, and make sure that the generals are not hungry or thirsty, so they can face the enemy with full strength when the rebels attack the city! At the same time, issue orders to each gate to make similar preparations!"

  "Yes, Yang Bing's horse whip!" Li Chengguang and Gao Shi each made a bow and then quickly left as if they had been greatly pardoned.