Chapter Fifty-Nine: Stunned

  At this time, another Zhonglang General named Wang Fei was preparing to charge outside the east gate of Hantang Pass.

  After Cheng Wei and Li Qian led their troops to attack the city head of Hantanguan, and sent back news that the Tang army inside Hantanguan had fled overnight, Wang Fei wanted to lead his men to rush into the city immediately, taking the lead in occupying this already battered old city of Tongguan, and then attacking towards the new city of Tongguan.

  The Tang army abandoned the city and fled, with most people thinking that the Tang army was fleeing in a state of collapse. The Tang army fled, and the Hantonguan City could be easily occupied. After several months of failed attempts to capture it, the fall of Hantonguan City was a great achievement, whether the Tang army abandoned it voluntarily or not.

  The first general who rushes into the city and controls it will definitely have the greatest military achievement.

  King Fei, eager to make a name for himself, had already forgotten Tang Jun's heroic resistance on the city wall of Hantanguan yesterday afternoon. Seeing the city gate collapse with a loud crash, he didn't care if there were people crushed under it or if anyone was still alive. What he needed to do most was to rush into Hantanguan City as soon as possible and grab the credit for himself first. He also ordered his soldiers to rush to the city at the fastest speed, find ways to control other city gates, clear out any remaining enemies inside the city, and collect useful supplies.

  But unexpectedly, the collapse of the city gate caused many oil lamps and candles on the gate and outside the wall to fall over, igniting a fire. The substance that Li Gui and others had trampled on but couldn't see clearly earlier was oil, about an inch high. The oil lamps and candles fell over, immediately igniting the oil, and the small bundles of dry grass on both sides of the gate also quickly caught fire, causing the flames to spread rapidly.

  The oil in the barrels under the city wall inside the city gate was also flammable, and most of it had leaked out and seeped into the messy piles of dry hay, which immediately burst into a raging fire.

  Many of the rebel soldiers who rushed in quickly couldn't stop their feet and charged directly into the fire, with Wang Fei, the vanguard Zhonglang general, being one of the "lucky ones". His horse was the first to charge into the fire, and the raging flames ignited both Wang Fei and his companions, who were unable to pull their feet back in time. As they fell off the startled horses and tumbled into the fire, they let out continuous wails, "dancing" in the flames, clearly doomed to perish.

  But people who didn't know what was happening continued to rush into the city.

  The big fire inside the city spread further, and more soldiers were burned or killed by the fire. The soldiers who had rushed into the gatehouse desperately tried to escape outward, while the uninformed soldiers outside kept rushing inward. The horses and men from both directions crowded together, trampling each other and causing a considerable number of casualties.

  Not only the east gate, but also the south and north gates suffered similar situations. The fire burned in a similar way, swallowing many rebel soldiers' lives. Rebel soldiers who tried to rush into the city encountered another major casualty, with countless soldiers losing their lives in the sea of flames! Near several city gates of Tongguan, there was an extremely unpleasant smell of charred flesh and skin, making people feel nauseous and want to vomit.

  Inside the city, the horse path and stairs leading to the city head were all covered with oil, which soon ignited and set fire to the bed crossbows and wooden buildings on the city head, and even the city gate tower was quickly burned. Li Qian and Cheng Wei, who did not expect such a situation, were stunned and could only order the soldiers to put out the fire immediately and think of ways to escape the flames. However, there was not much water in Tongguan City, but there was plenty of hay and oil. These things were originally used to defend against enemies, preparing to burn them hot and pour them down when the enemy attacked the city, or use fire to block the enemy.

  Hay was set on fire in many places, the oil in the wooden barrels also burned, and there were explosions. The fire in the city of Hantang Pass grew bigger and bigger, even some rebel soldiers on the city wall were burned to death or injured by the fire. Soldiers scrambled to escape, and some soldiers jumped off the city wall in a panic to avoid being burned.

  The city wall of Hantangguan is several zhang high, and below it are rocks. Jumping from such a height would almost certainly be fatal, unless one was "lucky" enough to land on the corpses at the foot of the wall.

  Under and above the city walls, everywhere were rebel soldiers wailing, the raging fire burning more and more fiercely, as if it was a hell on earth.

  In this critical situation, even the last few Tang soldiers hiding in the city escaped from the west gate, and no one noticed.

  Whether it was the Tang army or the rebel army, seeing such a situation on top of Hangu Pass Castle, they were all stunned.

  One side is surprised and the other side is terrified.

  "Pass down General's order, immediately withdraw the soldiers from the city head!" Standing on the hillside where he stood yesterday, Cui Qianyou saw the miserable situation on the city head and repeatedly gave orders to temporarily retreat.

  The soldiers under his command quickly passed on his orders, which reached the hands of Li Qian and Cheng Wei, two Zhonglang generals who were frantically directing soldiers to put out fires and avoid flames on the city wall. However, with chaos reigning on the city wall and several city gates engulfed in raging fires, it was no easy task to withdraw the over 2,000 soldiers who wanted to rush onto the city wall.

  Although the cloud ladder is still there, the difficulty of going up and down the cloud ladder is different. It's easy to go up, but it's hard to come down. Not to mention that many soldiers are in a hurry and don't choose their route. Many soldiers can't stand firm when they get on the cloud ladder and prepare to come down, and they fall directly from the cloud ladder. Some soldiers are anxious and slide down directly from the cloud ladder, resulting in colliding with the soldiers below, and they all fall down together. The scene is chaotic.

  Looking at this miserable situation, Cui Qianyou was so angry that he couldn't speak. This battle was too embarrassing, the enemy couldn't be seen anywhere, but their own troops were deeply trapped in a hell-like situation, with heavy casualties. The city of Hantonguan was already empty and uninhabited, but they couldn't occupy or pass through it. Most of the soldiers who attacked were killed or injured. What could be more embarrassing than this battle situation? Cui Qianyou even doubted whether the Lingbao War that took place two days ago was an illusion. Those 200,000 Tang troops weren't as brave as they are now. After being surrounded by them, they only fled for their lives and didn't even have much organized resistance.

  But little did they think that two days later, their fortunes would be reversed, and it would be their turn to be unlucky.

  How could such a situation happen?

  There were only over 2,000 soldiers who rushed to the top of the city, and those who rushed in from the east gate, south gate, and north direction were only a few hundred. The casualties were not great. If there were thousands of people suffering losses, even if he successfully attacked the city of Tongguan, he would be punished by Crown Prince An Qingxu, or even Emperor Yan An Lushan. Even if he was not punished, his previous military achievements would be erased.

  However, Cui Qianyou also believed that the big fire in Hantangguan City would not burn forever and would eventually be extinguished.

  The flames had subsided, and they charged over the city, directly attacking Su Tongguan City. As soon as he arrived at Su Tongguan City, he would use all his strength to attack the city, no matter what, he must take down Su Tongguan City today, thoroughly opening the gateway to Chang'an.

  Chui Kien-yu vowed that if he captured the city of Tongguan, he would slaughter everyone inside, including the Tang soldiers and civilians, to vent his anger accumulated over the past two days.