Chapter Fifteen: Decisive Disposal

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  Seeing a group of people carrying an old man with white hair and beard hastily heading towards the south gate, Yang Gui naturally understood what was going on. A kind of fortunate feeling arose: repeatedly ordering his soldiers to speed up their pace was indeed a very correct decision. If Geshu Han had been taken away by Huo Biren, the leaderless Tongguan would have become even more chaotic. Even if Huo Biren only took Geshu Han out of the pass and defected to the enemy without welcoming the rebel army into the city, Tongguan City would still be unable to defend itself.

  Not to mention Geshu Han's prestige in Tongguan, which no one can replace, just the fact that he was taken captive and defected to the enemy has enough power to make the already disintegrating military morale collapse.

  The morale of the army has completely collapsed, and even if there are still people with prestige, they cannot gather their strength to defeat the enemy.

  Not to mention the loss of Tongguan City, there is no one who can command these nearly ten thousand defeated soldiers and generals. Even if he came with an imperial edict, it would be impossible for him to succeed without going through Geshu Han. There is simply no general who will obey this son of Yang Guozhong.

  It's possible that someone will take advantage of the situation and attack him, maybe even kill him.

  If they had lingered on the road a little longer or he had not urged his soldiers to hurry, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

  Yang Hui was also fortunate that he didn't get entangled with Pang Zhong at the city gate for too long, and after hearing the news, he led his troops to rush into the city. If he had argued with Pang Zhong a few more sentences, it might have been too late. Man proposes, God disposes, now it seems that heaven is still quite benevolent towards him.

  The three hundred personal soldiers under his command, as well as the troops led by Li Fude and several hundred soldiers led by Pang Zhong, had already rushed to this place, surrounding Huo Buren and his men with bows and arrows fully drawn.

  Yang Kai knew that he could turn the tide of battle now, and even if Huo Bao was brave again, he would not be able to withstand the close-range shooting of several hundred arrows.

  As long as Pang Zhong is not like Huo Bajun who is preparing to surrender to the enemy.

  If Pang Zhong had such thoughts, he might have failed.

  But definitely better than Ge Shuhan being successfully taken out of the city by Huo Yuhao!

  A group of soldiers holding torches surrounded them at a very fast speed, Huo Bao Rui Ren was greatly shocked, unexpectedly all of Geshu Han's personal soldiers were killed, and there were still people who went to inform the news, this time trouble is big.

  After seeing clearly the young general who was blocking his way, Huo Bao Gui Ren was even more shocked.

  Because he saw that the leader was actually Yang Guozhong's youngest son, Yang Hui.

  Yang Guozhong's current status is one person under and millions of people above, he acts high-profile after gaining power, his several sons are also not low-key, almost every son has done several things that shocked the world at some point, Yang Hui's imperial examination event had become a laughing stock among all the scholars in Chang'an, Yang Gui was no exception, only that what he did before was not as sensational as his older brothers, the Yang family's young masters were well-known in the aristocratic circles of Chang'an, and Huo Baozhen, the king of Yanshan, naturally knew all of Yang Guozhong's sons.

  Yang Guozhong's son will appear here, Huo Bao immediately understood that this must be the rescue troops sent by the imperial court, and his heart is even more bitter. If he knew that the imperial court would send out rescue troops so quickly, he wouldn't have had to resort to such a desperate trick, holding Geshu Han hostage and defecting.

  The court sent troops to reinforce Tongguan at such a rapid speed, and it should be possible to hold on to the strategic location of Tongguan. Huo Bao and Gui Ren did not expect in their dreams that after they retreated back to Tongguan in disarray yesterday evening, before dawn this morning, the reinforcements from the court had already arrived at Tongguan!

  According to his thoughts, even if the imperial court wanted to send troops to rescue them, it would take at least until noon or even evening of the next day for them to arrive. By that time, Tongguan would have already been breached by An Lushan's army. It was precisely because of this pessimistic conclusion that he made such a decision and, after convening with some trusted individuals in secret for half the night, finally took action in the second half of the night, just before dawn, to seize Geshu Han.

  After controlling Geshu Han, use his name to summon other generals to discuss matters and control them all at once, thereby grasping Tongguan City. Offer Tongguan City and hold Geshu Han and his generals hostage to surrender, which will definitely receive a rich reward from An Lushan.

  But at this time, Huo Bao's intestines were all regretful, regretting that he shouldn't have made such a hasty decision!

  But now it's a situation of riding a tiger, and I'll make a response right away. Drawing the long sword in my hand, I point it at Geshu Han and shout loudly: "You quickly disperse, put down your weapons, otherwise I will kill Geshu Han with one sword!"

  As Huo Bao's order was given, his generals and soldiers also drew their weapons and formed a circle.

  Yang Hui ignored Huo Bao's threat, drew out the long sword from his waist with a "clang", pointed it at Huo Bao and others, and shouted: "His Majesty ordered me to lead the army to reinforce Tongguan, resist the rebels, you actually hold Geshu Yuan Shuai hostage and surrender to the enemy, collude with the rebels, quickly put down your weapons and surrender! If anyone dares to harm Geshu Yuan Shuai, they will be killed without pardon! Those who put down their weapons, I can spare your lives!"

  As they spoke, the long sword in his hand moved away from Huo Bao and pointed towards the soldiers who were holding Geshu Han.

  The soldiers led by Yang Gui and the troops under Peng Zhong all drew their bows, with arrowheads pointing at Huo Bao and his men surrounded in the middle. The air was filled with a killing aura that anyone could feel. Those soldiers who had taken Geshu Han hostage were intimidated by Yang Gui's momentum, frightened by the threat of countless bows and arrows in the hands of the soldiers, their hands holding knives and feet standing trembling, looking bewildered and scared out of their wits.

  Seeing that the military force had achieved the expected effect, several soldiers who were holding Geshu Han hostage looked at Huo Bao with pleading eyes. Yang Hui shouted again: "You immediately put down your weapons and kneel down to surrender, this general can still spare your lives. If you continue to commit treason and hold General Geshu captive, don't blame this general for not showing mercy, I will have all of you beheaded!"

  Yang Hui's words had a significant impact, and the atmosphere in the room began to shift. The conviction of several generals under Huo Bao's command started to waver, their hands trembling as they held their weapons, and the tips of their swords slowly pointing downwards from their initial target of Yang Hui and his personal guards.

  But Huo Bao had already completely figured it out, he was very clear that Yang Guozhong, who originally wanted to get rid of Geshu Han, would definitely want to borrow a knife to kill him at this time. Yang Hui, who came with orders, had a heavy responsibility for Geshu Han's command. Threatening Yang Hui by holding Geshu Han hostage would definitely not work, and if he dared to resist, Yang Hui would immediately order an attack, shooting them dead with random arrows. He could only adopt other strategies, so he pointed the long sword in his hand at Yang Hui, and shouted at Geshu Han, who was in a state of abandon: "General Geshu, look, the court has sent Yang Guozhong's son to clean you up! Are you going to order your subordinates to capture this little thief? He doesn't care about your life or death at all. This time he came with orders, he must be here to take your life! The court treats you like this, do you still want to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty?"

  "Huo Bairen, now that you know the imperial court is going to hold Geshu Yuan accountable, wouldn't it be a joke if you use his life to threaten me? You can kill Geshu Yuan and complete his reputation, I believe anyone would want you to do so!" Yang Hui pointed his sword at Huo Bairen and said coldly, "I can also tell you that if you kill Geshu Yuan and complete his reputation, but you will be pierced by random arrows and die, all your family members will be executed! The people around you will end up like you, their families will suffer the same fate!"

  "Clang... clang..." The continuous sound of weapons falling to the ground rang out, and many people's weapons were scared out of their hands, some people were so frightened that they fell to the ground. What Yang Hui said was not wrong at all, if they dared to resist, the result would be just as Yang Hui said!

  Hu Bao's hand holding the sword was also trembling constantly, his family was all in Chang'an...

  King Chen's blatant threat not only shocked Huo Bao and his subordinates, but also Ge Shuhan and Pang Zhong, who were being held hostage. Ge Shuhan felt a sense of despair, but then relaxed, even feeling a bit relieved. He let out a long sigh, closed his eyes, and ignored the confrontation between the two groups. On the other hand, Pang Zhong was furious at Yang Hui for disregarding Ge Shuhan's life.

  Just as Pang Zhong had not yet expressed the anger in his heart, Yang Hui made a gesture to Yang Dong, Yang Zheng and several other close guards beside him. Several guards nodded in understanding, relaxed their tight strings, and several arrows shot towards the soldiers holding Geshu Han with a "swish" sound. Along with several mournful cries, the soldiers holding knives and holding Geshu Han fell down.

  Everyone on the scene was shocked, and at this time Yang Dong and Yang Zheng had already led their personal soldiers to encircle from both sides.

  Taking advantage of Huo Bairen's momentary distraction, Yang Hui, who was being guarded by his personal soldiers, suddenly rose up and, with a loud shout, charged towards Huo Bairen on horseback. Amidst everyone's shock and surprise, he swiftly drew his sword and slashed it across Huo Bairen's throat. Huo Bairen only managed to let out half a cry before falling to the ground motionless, blood gushing from his neck as he convulsed a few times before lying still.

  His eyes widened in shock and fear, he must not have thought that Yang Hui would suddenly strike and kill him after only saying a few words. The Emperor Li Longji's appointed Yan Mountain Duke was beheaded, couldn't he see that he was already hesitating?

  But he had no way of figuring out Yang Hui's thoughts anymore!

  At this time, several of Huo Bao's men who were still holding weapons and guarding Geshu Han were also killed by Yang Guozhong's personal guards.

  The soldiers who held Geshu Han were killed instantly, and no one threatened his life. Geshu Han was immediately protected by people.

  "Those who plot rebellion, everyone gets to execute them!" Yang Hui wiped the long sword in his hand on Huo Bao's body several times, wiping off the fresh blood, and instead of returning it to its scabbard, he pointed it at the other accomplices who were surrounded by his personal soldiers, seeing Huo Bao being beheaded and frightened into a daze. "If you do not kneel down and surrender, you will be killed without pardon!"

  "Bang..."

  "Bang..."

  With the crisp sound of several long swords falling to the ground, all those people who had held Geshuhan hostage with Huo Bao Ren knelt down on the ground, abandoning their weapons and not even daring to lift their heads.