Chapter 21: It's More Complicated Than I Thought

  Thanks for another reward from Lao Dao!

  "Carry out the order at once and burn the corpses in the trench!" Geshu Han gave the command again, shouting to the stunned generals.

  Yang Kai also immediately understood Geshu Han's meaning, and he also understood some other generals' meanings that were temporarily unclear.

  At this time, Ge Shuhan issued the order to burn the bodies in the forbidden ditch with fire, which was to take on the "guilt" of burning the bodies of the dead soldiers and not let his new soldier go. Such an order was issued by Ge Shuhan, and the executing soldiers would definitely have less resistance. If he, the new soldier, gave such an order, it might cause a commotion, and it would be difficult to control, even leading to a military mutiny!

  After all, the corpses in the moat were not those of the rebels, but of Tang army officers! These dead Tang army officers may have been relatives, friends, or brothers of the surviving soldiers inside Tongguan City. It would be unacceptable for many people to burn the bodies of their relatives, brothers, and friends with one fire, and some might even oppose it. The effect of this order was completely different from that of Ge Shuhan's.

  Ge Shuhan ordered the burning of corpses within Guangzhi Gou, considering it from a military perspective, to make Guangzhi Gou play its role in defense against enemies. Although the soldiers were reluctant at heart, they eventually accepted it. But this new soldier definitely didn't have such ability!

  Yang Jie knew that, under the current circumstances, even if Geshu Han was willing to follow his orders and make him the commander-in-chief of the Tongguan army, more than half of the generals would not submit to his leadership. They only pretended to respect him because Geshu Han had expressed support for him. However, if he did something that enraged people, such as ordering the burning of the bodies of soldiers who died in the battle at Jingyuan, some people might take advantage of the situation and oppose him.

  Although he was eager to order the burning of the corpses of the soldiers in the forbidden ditch, so as to restore its function as a natural barrier, he hoped that Geshu Han would take the initiative to suggest it. Now things were indeed developing in the direction he had hoped for, and Geshu Han took the initiative to do so, how could Yang Guifei not be delighted?

  Yang Kai also understood that in the following time, he had to take advantage of every opportunity to establish his prestige, show off his abilities, and make the generals willing to follow his command, until they finally respected and admired him.

  Yang Jie was also somewhat resentful in his heart, it was all because of his detestable old father Yang Guozhong that he had taken the post of Tongguan Army Commander, and was unable to effectively command the various generals, everything had to be done through Geshu Han.

  It's fortunate that his father was Yang Guozhong, otherwise at this time he wouldn't have been able to lead the army to rescue Tong Pass and replace Geshu Han in commanding all the troops. Heaven or history gave him such an opportunity, allowing him to do what ordinary people can't do, so he must do his best to change the course of events, thoroughly alter the fate of the Tang Dynasty and that of himself and his family.

  "Each of you will quickly go and execute the order, immediately burning the corpses in the forbidden ditch!" Yang Jie loudly commanded, seeing many generals in a state of astonishment.

  "Yes!" The generals all responded in unison and quickly ran out.

  Yang Kai's majesty naturally overflowed, making all the generals feel a bit of pressure. This young man really had an extraordinary aura.

  Yang Kai felt very satisfied with this point himself!

  "General Geshu, I'll also go to the city head to inspect it once, in order to quickly familiarize myself with the situation and military affairs of Tongguan, so that when the rebel army comes to attack, I can respond at any time!" Now it's not yet bright, almost the darkest moment before dawn, Yang Hui thought he would take this opportunity to go to the city head for an inspection, then come back to rest for a while, fill his stomach, and have ample energy to command the battle when the rebel army comes to attack the city.

  Ge Shuhan already has his own guards taking care of him, they were left by Pang Zhong, Yang Xi believes these people will take good care of Ge Shuhan.

  Of course he would rather have Ge Shuhan accompany him on a tour of inspection around the city walls!

  But just as Yang Gui was expecting Ge Shuhan to react, Ge Shuhan stopped him, "Yang Bingmashi, the sky is not yet bright, the rebels will not come to attack for now, the various generals have already received orders to make preparations. Taking advantage of this brief interval, I still have some things to tell you! Once you understand these things, it will be much smoother to command the various generals in the future!"

  Yang Kai immediately understood the meaning of Ge Shuhan's words and immediately withdrew his steps, walking to Ge Shuhan's front, respectfully saluting: "General Ge has something to instruct, please speak freely, this general will definitely follow your instructions!"

  Yang Jie didn't know what Geshu Han wanted to say to him, but he knew it wasn't ordinary talk, it must be something very important. Yang Jie certainly didn't think that his actions after arriving at Tongguan had won over Geshu Han, causing the old general to obey him and assist him wholeheartedly. He knew that Geshu Han's actions were most likely due to feeling guilty about the defeat of the troops at Tongguan, fearing a series of bad consequences that would put Chang'an in danger, and also fearing severe punishment from the imperial court, so he temporarily put aside their past differences and joined forces with him to resist the enemy, while privately or publicly expressing his support for him.

  If the danger of Tongguan is eliminated, it may be the time when everyone shows their true face.

  He quietly waited for Geshu Han to say something else to him!

  "Yang Bing, you must have heard about the struggles between some of the ministers in the court, but you may not know that there are also struggles among the generals at Tongguan. Some of them are sworn enemies and have been fighting each other for a while now. Alas... this is also one of the main reasons why Lingbao's army was defeated! The conflict between Li Chengguang, the infantry commander, and Wang Silie, the cavalry commander, is particularly sharp, even I couldn't intervene!"

  After listening to Geshuhan's emotional words, Yang Hui also understood what was going on!

  Originally, the imperial court followed Prime Minister Yang Guozhong's suggestion and executed Generals Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing for reasons such as losing discipline and being cowardly in battle. Then they sent Ge Shuhan, who was recovering from illness at home, to Tongguan. However, over the years, Ge Shuhan's chronic illness had worsened, making it difficult for him to even travel, let alone handle a large number of military affairs and train soldiers. After arriving at Tongguan, he could not personally take care of most military matters and had to entrust all administrative tasks to Tian Quliang, who was in charge of the army's logistics. He also put Wang Silie in charge of the cavalry and Li Chengguang in charge of the infantry. However, Wang Silie and Li Chengguang often disagreed and issued conflicting orders, while Tian Quliang could not command respect from the troops. Ge Shuhan found this situation very frustrating but had no effective way to mediate it because it involved power struggles within the imperial court.

  This time out of Tongguan, the battle was originally prepared by Ge Shuhan for the rebel ambush, but because Wang Silie and Li Chengguang did not cooperate well with each other, resulting in Wang Silie's vanguard being surrounded by the rebels after falling into the rebel siege. However, Li Chengguang did not send troops to rescue in time. Later, Li Chengguang's department also suffered a surprise attack by the rebels, and the loss was heavy. Wang Silie and Li Chengguang ultimately failed to effectively control their subordinates and could not organize effective resistance, leading to the occurrence of defeat. If there were no private grievances among the generals, they could cooperate with each other in battle, this Lingbao war would not have been defeated so badly!

  "So that's how it is!" Yang Jiao was stunned after hearing what Ge Shuhan had said. He hadn't expected that there were such grudges between the generals of Tongguan Pass. He also knew that Wang Silie was Ge Shuhan's trusted and favorite general, while Li Chenggui had never been favored by Ge Shuhan and was inclined towards his father Yang Guozhong. Before he led the army out on this campaign, Yang Guozhong had also told him that among the military officials at Tongguan Pass, the supervising eunuch Bian Licheng and Li Chenggui were people who could be trusted.

  It seems that apart from Yang Guozhong's miscalculation, another important reason for the defeat of the Divine Armory was the internal discord among the generals at Tong Pass.

  This is a historical constant!

  However, Yang Jie did not see the supervising eunuch Bian Lingcheng and did not know whether he had died in battle or escaped back to Chang'an.

  Yang Jie now needs the support of his subordinates, whether it is Bian Lingcheng or Li Chengguang, and other generals. If he cannot get the support of these people, how can he defend Tong Pass by fighting internally? Yang Jie was also fortunate that Geshu Han took countermeasures before the battle of Tong Pass, and he would definitely take measures to gain the support of all the generals.

  However, he also heard a clear bias from what Geshu Han said, and Geshu Han's intention was to affirm Wang Silie and deny Li Chengguang. But for him, none of this was very important, because he knew that Wang Silie had once instigated Geshu Han to take Yang Guozhong to Tongguan and kill him quickly. If Wang Silie wasn't Geshu Han's confidant, how could he say such things and make such suggestions? The contradictions between the generals were clear, which was also a good thing, and perhaps they could be used to utilize the contradictions or conflicts of interest among these generals, making them all obey him!

  But this meaning cannot be revealed in front of Geshu Han, Yang Hui only said faintly after listening: "Thank you for reminding me, General Geshu. I will pay attention to it! These people are really reckless and dare to disobey the orders of General Geshu, who has outstanding military achievements, and ignore the great affairs of the country. In times of crisis, they even dare to plot against each other. I hope they won't do this again in the process of resisting the enemy, otherwise, I will report it to the court and punish them! I also know that General Wang Silie suggested to General Geshu to trick my father into coming to Tongguan and kill him with one sword. They all thought that An Lushan's rebellion was an excuse to eliminate my father. If they killed my father, An Lushan's army would have no excuse to advance! Fortunately, General Geshu considered the situation and put the country's interests first, and did not adopt this strategy, which is comforting! However, these are all past events, and I don't want to pursue them anymore. Let's just pretend it didn't happen! I only hope that all the generals under my command will do their best to resist the enemy, defend Tongguan, and not let the rebels occupy this city, which is the gateway to Chang'an! If Tongguan falls, none of us can escape the punishment of the court! If we defend Tongguan, the court will definitely reward everyone heavily, and even General Geshu's defeat will not be pursued!"

  "What?! Gao Shuhan was stunned by Yang Qi's last few words!"

  Isn't this said too bluntly? Not giving anyone any face at all!

  "...Report!" Just as Geshu Han was stunned, a loud report came from outside, and a soldier with a big sweat ran in hastily, kneeling on one knee and reporting loudly: "Report to the commander, the enemy has appeared ten miles east-southeast of Tongguan City!"

  "What?" Geshu Han was shocked again!

  The rebels came too quickly!

  "The order was immediately passed on to all generals, quickly make battle arrangements, prepare to meet the enemy!" Yang Hui immediately gave another order and led the way out!

  Ge Shuhan immediately ordered two soldiers to support him and headed in the direction of the south gate.

  Everyone knows that a big battle is about to break out outside Tongguan City, and the most testing time has arrived!