Chapter 62: The Cruel Blood Battle Is About to Begin

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  Because of the lesson learned from Zhong Lang Jiang Wang Fei's death in the fire, when Li Qian and Cheng Wei led their troops into Hantong City again, they did not charge forward on horseback, but instead ordered ordinary soldiers to charge forward while they themselves brought up the rear.

  Such an arrangement allowed them to escape a disaster, with only some of the impatient soldiers who rushed forward losing their lives.

  The number of soldiers who fell into the trap was not large, with only about 40 or 50 in total from the three city gates, but the blow to the morale of the rebel army was extraordinary. The soldiers whose bodies were pierced by wood or bamboo, still alive but on the verge of death, let out painful and mournful cries, while others exposed their internal organs, making other soldiers feel chilled to the bone. Even Li Qian and Cheng Wei felt the same way.

  The situation is not good, the Tang army abandoned Tongguan City and fled, but left so many traps for them, causing such heavy casualties, seriously affecting the morale of the vanguard soldiers. I don't know how many soldiers will have the courage to charge when they arrive at Tongguan City.

  Li Qian and Cheng Wei could only order the soldiers not to bother with those who had fallen into the pitfalls, for everyone knew that even if they were pulled out, their lives would not be saved, but rather hastened towards death. However, the miserable cries of those soldiers were so chilling that in the end, the two Zhonglang generals could only order the soldiers to shoot and kill those who were still crying out in agony after falling into the pitfalls.

  Let them die sooner, it's a kind of relief, let them suffer less.

  These pitfalls should have been dug long ago, and they were dug not far from the city gate. If you want to enter the city from the direction of the city gate, the position of several pitfalls is almost unavoidable. Li Qian and Cheng Wei can only order soldiers to search around or cut down trees and bamboo, put them on the pitfalls, and then lay some wooden boards or doors that have not been burned by fire for later people and horses to pass through.

  However, after stepping over the trap near the city gate, people and horses dare not speed up immediately and gallop wildly in the city. The traps will definitely not be dug only in such a place, and there should be others elsewhere.

  There may be more traps, so we need to search slowly to avoid being caught again. As expected, at the intersection of several main roads in the city, several well-hidden traps were found one after another, and these traps were discovered at the cost of soldiers' lives, with several soldiers falling into them before discovering their existence. Both Li Qian and Cheng Wei learned from the lesson earlier and did not let the soldiers rush forward in formation, but instead had them scatter and search slowly, otherwise there would be more casualties.

  After spending more than half a day, the people and horses entering the city finally controlled most of the areas inside the city and marked all the traps they could find. The two Zhonglang generals reported the situation to Cui Qianyou again, who was anxiously waiting behind.

  Cui Gan-yu immediately relayed the news to An Qingxu, who had already been enraged several times.

  When An Qingxu heard the news that the Tang army had repelled their "Great Yan" troops' attack but escaped under the cover of night, he was furious and repeatedly blamed Cui Jianyu for not investigating the situation in time, so that they were tricked by the Tang army's empty city strategy and wasted a whole evening. The enraged "Great Yan" prince almost summoned Cui Jianyu to scold him face-to-face.

  An Qingxu also ordered Cui Gan to quickly occupy the strategic Hantongguan Castle and immediately attack the nearby Suiguan Castle a few miles away.

  Cui Gan-yu received the order and immediately ordered Li Qian and Cheng Wei to lead their troops, commanded by Zhong Lang Jiang, to launch a swift attack and prepare for a rotational assault on the city of Tongguan.

  Li Qian and Cheng Wei did not dare to delay, after searching for a while the situation inside Hantong Pass City, reported the situation in the city to Cui Qianyou, and immediately gathered his men, preparing to leave from the west gate towards Suizhou.

  Ximen, Pang Zhong, the Tang general who led the last withdrawal of troops, would not leave a intact city gate for the rebels. As the soldiers were about to open the gate, it suddenly collapsed with a loud crash. However, because the soldiers had made sufficient preparations, only two soldiers were injured and no one was killed. The two injured soldiers were also pulled out by their companions. But this was enough to intimidate people, making the subsequent troops dare not pass through with confidence.

  Outside the west gate, there were still traps, but because they had been anticipated, no soldiers fell in, only two poor war horses became the sacrifices to test the trap, falling into it as they galloped forward and whinnying incessantly. The traps were again filled with stones and earth, and covered with wood, bamboo and door boards, before the west gate could be opened up for passage, allowing the large army to pass through.

  However, at this time the rebel scouts had become startled birds, and all along the way they were nervous and afraid to speed up, fearing that there would be more traps and ambushes by Tang soldiers. Fortunately, they did not encounter any terrifying situations again, but this greatly affected their marching speed.

  When the vanguard cavalry arrived at the battlefield outside Jinggou, it was already past noon, during the hottest part of the day.

  Today's weather is abnormally sultry, not even a breeze, and at the horizon there are mountain-like clouds slowly gathering, with white tips and a slightly black base. Such thick and heavy clouds make people feel even more oppressive and sultry, and the entire Huashan seems to have become a huge steamer. Some soldiers, due to continuous exertion and heavy hearts, couldn't withstand the scorching sun and fell off their horses. They had heatstroke.

  Heatstroke caused the deaths of soldiers, which appeared one after another. Not only were there slow arrivals at Tongguan City, but also among the rebel troops gathering outside the range of crossbow arrows and the Great Tang army waiting in formation on the city walls.

  After noon, the rebels emerged one after another from outside the west gate of Hantanguan. Yang Hui and Geshu Han gave orders one after another, and all the soldiers who were resting in the shade rushed to the city head to prepare for battle. Fortunately, the sun was already slightly western, and the tall city gate tower and some mountain peaks could leave a shadow on the city head, allowing some lucky soldiers to avoid the scorching sun, but there were still soldiers who fell down due to heatstroke!

  But the whole world seemed to have solidified, there was no wind, heat couldn't be dissipated, the atmosphere of war was very thick, the smell of blood was hidden, and under tension, soldiers felt even hotter, with many people's sweat flowing like a small river.

  Yang Kai stood on the city gate tower, with his upright posture standing proudly in front of the generals and soldiers, with a confident and heroic expression on his face. Even when he saw the rebel army's troops slowly approaching and gathering outside the Tongguan City, he didn't show any fear. His calmness and composure also infected his subordinates, whether they were commanders directing battles or ordinary soldiers, none of them showed any signs of panic. The generals and soldiers followed their respective commanders' arrangements, waiting at their posts for the rebels to approach before launching an attack.

  "Fourth Master, the rebels are about to attack the city!" Yang Zheng, standing beside Yang Hui, felt his legs trembling.

  "Stand up straight and show the same arrogance you use to bully the common people! The rebel army, which has just suffered a heavy defeat, will not be able to take the head of Tongguan City!" Yang Hui didn't turn his head to look at Yang Zheng's embarrassed expression, but he could sense that his attendant was trembling with fear. He coldly ordered, "If you can't even draw your bow in a moment, don't blame me for not showing mercy!"

  His threat was met with silence, and he still didn't turn around, but instead coldly stared at the rebel army that continued to gather.

  A cruel and bloody battle is about to erupt, but Yang Hui has become even calmer than before!