Chapter 58: Trap

  This situation was something that no one in the rebel army had thought of, and no one would have predicted that the Tang army would destroy a large section of the stairs leading down from the city or pour oil on them, making them slippery to the point of being deadly. As a result, hundreds of soldiers from several directions fell off the city walls and lost their lives or were seriously injured.

  The thick fog blinded the soldiers' eyes, and if there hadn't been such a heavy fog, things might have turned out better.

  When Li Qian and Cheng Wei heard that the Tang army might have already escaped, and there were no soldiers guarding the city wall, they also led their personal troops to rush up to the city wall. Upon learning of this situation, they scolded loudly. It was now clear to them that the Tang army had used some straw men or wooden men as decoys and withdrew under cover of night, leaving an empty city for them. Before withdrawing, the Tang army had sabotaged the city walls of Hantong Pass, setting up traps such as piling up logs or stones on the battlements. When Li Qian's troops climbed up the ladders to ascend the wall, they encountered piles of stones or logs that rolled down due to the height and slope of the wall, causing hundreds of soldiers to be injured or killed.

  The Tang army's destruction of the lower city's stairs and horse path, as well as pouring oil, also resulted in hundreds of soldiers being wounded or killed.

  This made Li Qian and Cheng Wei, who were in charge of defending the city, furious.

  Facing an empty city, without any living person resisting, they actually suffered such heavy casualties, how can one not be furious to death.

  But now is not the time to scold or vent, neither Li Qian nor Cheng Wei knew that what's most important now is to open the Tongguan City gate and let in the continuous influx of soldiers, through the Han Tongguan City to reach under the Sui Tongguan City, and launch an attack on the Sui Tongguan City.

  The stairs and horse roads were destroyed and poured with oil. The two commanders, Ma Lang and Cheng Wei, ordered the soldiers to descend to the bottom of the city wall by rope and open the city gate as soon as possible. However, neither Li Qian nor Cheng Wei knew that they thought they could easily occupy Hantangguan City, but it was full of mechanisms, bringing great trouble to them who were about to enter the city.

  The sun has risen above the horizon, and the fog has also dispersed slightly. The soldiers who have descended to the foot of the city can see the situation in the distance, and they are rushing towards the city gate. But the soldiers who are anxious to find the opening of the city gate are one after another transmitting miserable cries, either being cut by the blades on the ground or being struck by sharp objects or wooden beams hanging above their heads.

  Many of the things they collided with were not even noticed by them, and they couldn't see them when running past, but still got hit. As one of the core defense areas of Tongguan City as a whole, whether it was Hantongguan City or Suotongguan City, there must be many mechanisms and traps set up inside the city. If you are not familiar with the situation inside, you may fall into the trap. The traps encountered by these soldiers were still elementary.

  At last some of the luckier soldiers ran to the edge of the city gate tunnel, ready to rush over and open the city gate.

  But inside the city gate, there were many stacks of hay, and next to the hay were large barrels. The soldiers who saw this situation rushed forward immediately, pushing open the stacks of hay in front of the city gate, but what surprised them was that under the hay was a lot of mud.

  To rush to the city gate and open it, these muds must be removed.

  The soldiers who rushed to the city gate also quickly found tools and worked hard to clear the mud. Fortunately, the commanders on the city wall received the news and used ropes to lower hundreds of soldiers down. These soldiers also joined in the work of clearing the mud. But no one noticed that the wooden barrels had begun to leak, and the ** inside had flowed into the piles of dry hay that they had randomly thrown around. The soldiers' top priority now was to clear the mud near the city gate so that they could enter and open the gate, allowing the people and horses waiting outside to rush in.

  Fortunately, there were many oil lamps and candles lit inside and around the city gate, otherwise they would not have been able to see clearly and their work progress would have been affected.

  The soil near several city gates was cleaned up quickly, and it didn't take long before people could enter and exit. Soon, soldiers rushed into the city gate tunnel to prepare for opening the gate, while other soldiers continued to clean up to make it more convenient for people and horses to pass through.

  Li Gui was a Lang Jiang under Cheng Wei, he was also from Fanyang, and was recruited by An Lushan in Fanyang. Due to his bravery in battle, he achieved many military merits and was promoted to Xiao Wei. This time, following Cheng Wei, who was also from Fanyang, they killed their way to Luoyang, then to Tongguan, achieving more military merits, and Li Gui was promoted to Lang Jiang, while the original Lang Jiang Cheng Wei was promoted to Zhong Lang Jiang. They looked forward to achieving even more military merits in order to gain even greater promotions.

  Li Gui was a cautious man. Just now, when a group of soldiers rushed to open the city gate, he didn't rush forward with them because he suspected there might be some trickery involved.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, the Tang army made a move on the city wall, and many soldiers who were eager to make achievements lost their lives or suffered serious injuries.

  However, after this situation, everyone has already determined that the Tang army had abandoned the city and fled, only doing some handwork before escaping. Under Cheng Wei's order, the soldiers were hung under the city wall with ropes, opening the city gate to allow the large troops to enter and exit. Li Gui, who felt he could make another achievement, volunteered to lead his soldiers to kill their way down to the city and open the East Gate of Tongguan for the main army. As a fellow countryman, Cheng Wei naturally agreed.

  Li Gui also quickly led dozens of his men to sneak to the bottom of the city, and indeed did not encounter any resistance. He was a bit more cunning than others, fortunately avoiding some small mechanisms. After directing his soldiers to clear away the mud on the edge of the city gate tunnel, he finally ran to the city gate with many soldiers.

  "Brothers, let's work together to open the city gate!" Li Gui loudly commanded his companions.

  The gate tunnel was very dark, although there were some oil lamps and candles hanging on the top, but the situation inside was still unclear. Li Gui could feel that there seemed to be water flowing near the gate tunnel while advancing in the dark, and it felt sticky when stepping forward. But now it's too late to think about it, the Tang army has abandoned the city and fled, and Hantangguan City has become an empty city. Opening the gate and letting in the companions outside, everything is safe and sound.

  Under Li Gui's command, a dozen or so soldiers rushed to the front of the city gate and together lifted the large door bar, preparing to join forces to open the heavy city gate.

  But just as they were lifting the city gate together, unexpectedly, the thick and heavy city gate fell down, Li Gui and his companions didn't have time to react, and were crushed under the gate.

  After letting out a painful scream, Li Gui's internal organs were squeezed out and he died. Before his death, he could never have imagined that despite being extremely careful, he would still die in the scramble for military merit.

  The city gate collapsed, and the gate was naturally open. The rebel army outside the city gate immediately rushed in from the gate, trampling over the fallen city gate to pass through. Poor Li Gui and his companions were crushed under the city gate, their bodies already mangled and internal organs spilled out, but unexpectedly, due to being trampled by their companions, they all turned into a pile of flesh and blood, with their bodily fluids mingling together.

  But neither the deceased Li Gui nor the living soldiers had thought of another situation that occurred!