Chapter 29: The Rebel Army Withdraws

  Thanks for lao dao's consecutive rewards!

  "Report to Deputy Commander, the Tang army has set up a heavy ambush in front, our army has suffered heavy losses!" A deputy general rushed over and loudly reported the battle situation to Cui Qianyou, who had a worried look on his face.

  "Understood, investigate further!" Chui Qianyou, with furrowed brows, impatiently waved his hand and gave the order.

  "Yes! Vice General!" The deputy general shouted, turning his horse's head and running away.

  Cui Gan-yu had already ordered the vanguard to halt its advance, and in this place they encountered an even larger-scale ambush by the Tang army, which was something he had never thought of. To be honest, this place was not very suitable for an ambush, small-scale or large-scale, neither in terms of terrain nor topography, but the Tang army had set up an ambush here, and with a large amount of hay blocked the mountain valley, then ignited the hay to seal off the valley path, and also set fire to the trees, shrubs, and grass on both sides of the mountain, isolating nearly a thousand vanguard soldiers from the rear troops. More than a thousand soldiers in the valley were trapped in a sea of flames, and it seemed that they would not be saved.

  Fortunately, the Tang army did not attack from the sides or rear; otherwise, these tens of thousands of cavalry would have collapsed quickly.

  The terrain is treacherous and prone to ambushes, but it's also difficult for the enemy to outflank them, heaven still favors them somewhat.

  At this time, Cui Gan-yu was no longer clear whether the Tang army's ambush action was just to slow down their attack speed, or to inflict a certain degree of damage on them through continuous small-scale ambushes, causing their morale to be damaged; or to paralyze them with a small number of troops, making them think that this was only a harassment strategy by the Tang army, and not taking it seriously, then deploying heavy troops in a certain place and giving them a full-force blow.

  Chui Gan-yu couldn't quite understand! The main reason was that the big fire had caused huge losses to the vanguard, making Chui Gan-yu, who had just won a great victory in the Lingbao War and felt invincible, suffer a blow and lose his judgment.

  He has reported to An Qingxu that the vanguard suffered heavy losses in the ambush and is waiting for An Qingxu's decision. At the same time, he ordered the whole army to prepare for battle, if the Tang army dares to attack again, they will be annihilated at all costs.

  Cui Gan-yu knew very well that the morale of his troops could not withstand such continuous blows. If they encountered another large-scale ambush by the Tang army, it was likely that the vanguard would collapse. He knew how great an impact a collapse of the vanguard in this treacherous terrain would have on the rear guard. The thought made him break out in a cold sweat. If the entire army were to collapse and the Tang army took advantage of the situation to launch a fierce attack, it would be another Battle of Lingbao, with the Tang army emerging victorious, not the "Great Yan" army!

  At this time, Cui Qianyou had completely believed that the reinforcements of the Tang army had already arrived at Tongguan, but the scale was relatively small and not enough to counterattack them. Otherwise, several ambushes would have been set up, and more troops from the Tang army would have definitely rushed over and driven them back to Shaanxi Province.

  The fire on the mountain showed no signs of abating, but instead seemed to be burning more fiercely. While ordering his soldiers to prepare for a potential surprise attack, Cui Gan-yu also instructed a group of soldiers to create a firebreak as quickly as possible to prevent the wildfire from spreading to a larger area of the mountain.

  If it sets off a mountain fire on the entire Mount Hua, these tens of thousands of people will either be burned to death or roasted to death.

  Just as Cui Gan-yu had ordered the soldiers to cut a firebreak, An Qingxu's order arrived, instructing the army to retreat ten li and set up camp at today's vanguard army's starting point, and ordering Cui Gan-yu to be prepared for defense, preventing the Tang army from launching a surprise attack at night.

  As An Qingxu's order was given, the rebel army slowly began to retreat!

  Li Fude's department threw out dry hay which ignited a mountain fire, this is something that many people had not thought of beforehand.

  The raging mountain fire severely damaged the rebel vanguard and forced them to retreat with unprecedented might, which was even more unexpected. Even Yang Hui, who was gazing out at a distance from the top of Tongguan City, did not anticipate such a situation would occur.

  Yang Jiong had only intended to use the ambush to slow down the rebel army's advance, but he hadn't expected Li Fude to not only complete his task perfectly, but also come up with a plan of his own to deal a heavy blow to the rebels, trapping thousands of them in a huge fire and capturing hundreds of prisoners. It seems that this general from Shu had earned Yang Guozhong's trust for good reason, and was indeed capable!

  The place where Tongguan is located is where Mount Hua is, and the place where the mountain fire was set is also considered a branch of Mount Hua. However, the vegetation on Mount Hua is not very rich, with many peaks being bare. The large fire that broke out in this area will definitely not burn down the entire Mount Hua.

  However, if we can set the entire Mount Hua on fire, I estimate that we can burn half of the rebel army into human jerky. If we can do this, it's actually quite a good deal.

  The rebels began to withdraw slowly, the mountain fire was still burning fiercely, and everyone understood that the crisis of Tongguan City had been temporarily alleviated.

  At an unknown time, Gao Shi returned to the city gate tower and looked at everything that was happening in the distance. He couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion as he said to Yang Hui: "Yang Bingmashi, I really didn't expect it, but the ambush troops you sent out played such a huge role, heavily damaging the rebel army's vanguard and stopping their offensive! In my humble opinion, at least for these two days, the rebels won't come to attack Tongguan again!"

  "I hope the rebels won't come to attack Tongguan City again in the next two days!" Yang Hui said, following Gao Shi's words, but shook his head and continued: "But this is just our wishful thinking. The rebels know that our army suffered heavy losses after the defeat at Lingbao, it's hard to defend Tongguan City, and the reinforcements from Chang'an can't arrive quickly. Even if some troops do arrive, they will only be a small force, as we can see from our several ambushes that didn't take advantage of the momentum to launch a fierce attack. They won't miss the best opportunity to attack Tongguan. If my prediction is correct, once the mountain fire is extinguished and the road is passable, they will definitely come back, at the latest by tomorrow morning, they will reappear in our sight, and a fierce battle is inevitable! General Gao, don't be careless!"

  The feeling of being the first to enter is very important, and with Gao Shi's great reputation in history, Yang Kai had a good impression of this commander who was probably between 40 and 50 years old. From several encounters, he felt that this person was also quite good, doing things with a clear head and acting decisively, which naturally gave him a sense of trust. As a result, their conversation became more intimate.

  Gao Shi also had a good impression of Yang Hui, and if Yang Hui were not the son of Yang Guozhong but rather the offspring of some other noble family, his favorable feelings might have been even stronger. After arriving at Tongguan, everything Yang Hui did was almost flawless, and the arrangements he made achieved extremely good results, astonishing people.

  Gao Shi was once again puzzled, Yang Guozhong's youngest son performed so well, who trained him?

  At this time, a soldier from the north gate came to report that a general named Liu Guangting had arrived outside the city with a team of horses and men, claiming to be collecting defeated soldiers under Yang Hui's orders. When Yang Hui heard that Liu Guangting had just arrived at Tongguan, he was somewhat annoyed.

  I thought Liu Guangting was quite capable and should have completed the task and entered Tongguan City long ago, but I didn't expect him to arrive at Tongguan City only now.

  Fortunately, only Liu Guangting was allowed to lead a hundred or so men to gather the defeated soldiers, and did not affect the combat effectiveness of this army he brought from Chang'an.

  "Immediately have General Liu lead his troops into the city, and then summon General Liu to see me at the East Gate!" Yang Hui's emotionless command was passed down.

  The soldiers who came to report rushed away to convey Yang Hui's order.