Chapter 28: The Feeling of Raising an Eyebrow and Exhaling
The fourth update is done! Thank you to book friend 100316092328971 for the reward! Tomorrow will have three updates, and the subsequent update times will be adjusted slightly to 12:00 noon, 6:00 pm, and 10:00 pm.
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Yang Hui, standing on the city gate tower and looking out, saw a raging fire rising about five or six miles away from Tongguan City. His hanging heart also slightly put down a bit, he knew that the rebel army must have been ambushed. Li Fude's troops were indeed elite cavalry, and they had successfully launched several ambushes in a row.
Yang Jie originally wanted to lead his men out of the city to set up an ambush. He thought that with his understanding and familiarity with special operations, he could set up a perfect ambush, even if they got close, the rebels wouldn't notice anything unusual. This was his specialty. However, doing so would be inconsistent with his identity, and these soldiers weren't the fierce and specially trained troops he had brought out in later years, so they couldn't fully understand his intentions.
After much consideration, Li Fude was finally assigned to carry out this task.
From Chang'an to Tongguan, the three thousand soldiers led by Li Fude and Liu Guangting rushed along the way, with hardly anyone falling behind or showing signs of exhaustion. Moreover, after continuous running, the formation could still maintain its basic integrity. From this point on, Yang Hui could feel that this was an elite army with good military discipline, which would definitely perform well in battle. That's why he assigned the task of setting up an ambush to Li Fude's men.
Yang Kai finally didn't disappoint, Li Fude brought him a surprise.
It was almost noon, and the sun was scorching hot. The heat was intense, but the raging fire in the distant valley made it feel even hotter! However, despite giving off a warm feeling, the distant fire somehow felt comfortable.
The soldiers guarding the city gate were already the fourth batch to be replaced, and many people felt a sense of inexplicable fear when they saw the big fire in the distance, because yesterday they had encountered the rebel army's fire attack, resulting in a tragic loss of life. Especially for those military leaders, even Geshu Han, the fire that burned in the mountain pass yesterday was something they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
But today's big fire has brought them a sense of relief and relaxation.
The continuous miserable cries of men and horses in the midst of the great fire proved that many rebel soldiers were trapped in the sea of flames.
"An eye for an eye", today's big fire is a kind of revenge for yesterday's big fire, although this revenge is not proportional, but at least it has dealt a certain degree of blow to the other side, the success of the ambush has given the generals on the city wall a kind of indescribable pleasure.
Yang Kai, who had not experienced the disastrous defeat of yesterday, did not have the same fear of fire as other generals. The constant cries of agony made him feel a sense of accomplishment, a sense of achievement in slaughtering his enemies. Although he knew it was cruel, those soldiers who were burned to death or injured six months ago were also part of the Tang army, but now they were the enemy of the Tang, and unless they surrendered, they could only be greeted with death.
On the battlefield, there can be no room for pity; otherwise, it may be you who dies and your beautiful country that is destroyed.
Because he knew the cruelty of life and death in war, Yang Hui would not be reluctant to hear the enemy's miserable cries, and he even wanted to deliver a fatal blow. He was happy to see any scene that was beneficial to his side, and he also watched intently as the two teams clashed in a fierce battle on this side of the great fire, it could be said that it was the first time he saw the killing scene of the cold weapon era. Although it was a bit far away, he could still vaguely see clearly.
Li Fude has led his troops to annihilate those several hundred rebel soldiers who were blocked by the big fire in the direction of Tongguan at this end of the valley.
Judging from what can be vaguely seen, our side has gained an overwhelming victory.
The rebel army that was blocked by fire on its way back was being attacked and killed by Li Fude and his deputy general Wang Yaguang, the situation of the battle was one-sided.
Because the big fire had already blocked the rebel army's path, no action needed to be hidden anymore. Whether it was the Hantangguan City or the Suiguan City where Yang Kai stood, the war drums were beating frantically to cheer on their own soldiers.
Although it was a scorching sun, the half-naked drumming soldiers still beat with great enthusiasm, and the thunderous drumbeats echoed tens of miles away, mixed with the sounds of fierce fighting and shouting, constantly reverberating between the valleys and mountain peaks, and further amplified!
At this time, Li Fude and his men had reached the peak of morale. Two consecutive ambushes were successful, and they didn't have to worry about the rebel army's follow-up troops, so they could focus on annihilating the part of the rebel army that was blocked by the big fire. With high morale, they launched an annihilation operation against this vanguard of the rebel army in a slightly wider valley outside the canyon.
The morale of the two teams is completely incomparable, and the outcome can already be predicted.
Not to mention morale, in terms of numbers, Li Fude and Wang Yaguang's troops also had the upper hand. The rebel vanguard had only over 800 cavalry, while the Tang army had around 1,500 cavalry on both sides that flanked them, nearly twice as many. Not to mention that the rebels' retreat route was cut off by the great fire, they had already lost their will to fight, and after a brief clash, during which one of the rebel officers was killed, the remaining rebels dismounted and surrendered.
The rebel forces were also originally part of the Tang army, they just followed An Lushan in his rebellion.
Having lost the wind, surrender is the royal way. Except for more than 100 people being killed or wounded, all other rebel soldiers were captured.
At this time, Yang Hui, who had observed the general trend of the war, had sent someone to fly and let Li Fude and Wang Yaguang lead the army to withdraw into Hantonguan City, together with Pang Zhong, to defend Hantonguan City.
Pang Zhong witnessed Li Fude's two brilliant ambushes in a short period of time, achieving remarkable results at a minimal cost. He couldn't help but feel admiration for him. As Li Fude's troops marched back with their captives, Pang Zhong opened the east gate of the city ahead of schedule and welcomed them into the city, expressing his respect and admiration through a respectful ceremony.
Pang Zhong is already regretful. When Yang Guozhong was assigning tasks, he did not volunteer to lead the army in an ambush. Otherwise, the military merit that Li Fuguo wears would be his. The defeat of Lingbao was mainly the responsibility of Ge Shuhan, but these subordinate generals also had a share of the blame. If they could win a battle immediately, it would not only have the effect of redeeming their past mistakes, but also make themselves feel better and less depressed.
However, the continuous victories of Li Fude's unit were still very morale-boosting. The Pang Zhong unit, which had just suffered a defeat yesterday, was also greatly shocked, and the depression on the faces of the soldiers was largely eliminated, and the lost fighting spirit was restored to some extent.
If Li Fude's unit hadn't held out just now, Pang Zhong might have been able to lead his troops in a swift rescue.
Li Fuguo's army entered the city and immediately sent a battle report to Yang Hui, who was guarding Tongguan, and Ge Shuhan.
Yang Jie immediately ordered that the battle report be transmitted to Chang'an at the fastest speed of 600 li.
Such a battle report was more reassuring to Li Longji than any "Peaceful Fire" or the like.
