Chapter 77: The Reinforcements Arrive

  Thanks for SN's generous reward!

  "How could this be? My goodness!"

  Watching the mountain flood bursting in the canyon, Cui Qianyou's face turned pale and he muttered painfully. The rain had stopped, the sun came out again, Cui Qianyou's eyes were pierced with pain, he could only close them helplessly, a sense of confusion, even the war knife in his hand slipped down without feeling.

  It was just a while ago that the situation on the battlefield clearly turned in their favor, and the Tang army on the city wall could not hold on. As more soldiers rushed to the top of the city wall, the morale of the Tang army collapsed, and they eventually fled in defeat, leaving the entire south gate at their mercy.

  After capturing the South Gate, the Tang army was unable to defend the city, and Tongguan City was theirs for the taking.

  But he didn't expect that the mountain torrent bursting out of the gorge would destroy the bridge made up of layer upon layer of corpses, and also wash away all his hopes.

  Thousands of soldiers being washed away is a small matter, but the subsequent attacking troops can no longer rush past the moat, and the retreat route of nearly 10,000 soldiers who have rushed to the city has also been cut off. This is the fatal blow. The heavenly danger of the moat reappears, and the Tang army on the city wall can also launch a counterattack against the soldiers under the city without any worries.

  The Tang army just needs to hold onto the city head, and they can ensure that Tongguan City will not be lost.

  Things are going terribly wrong, and all the efforts made by his men today will eventually come to nothing. The more than 8,000 soldiers densely gathered under the city wall also have little chance of retreating safely. It can be said that today's efforts, which came at a great cost, were in vain.

  Choi Gun-woo's pain in his heart really can't be expressed in words.

  "Deputy General, what shall we do?" a deputy general asked Cui Qianyou anxiously.

  Cui Qianyou slowly opened his eyes, took another glance at the intense battle raging below the southern city gate, and finally stammered out a painful order: "Pass down the order to the entire army, stop the siege!"

  Of course, Cui Qiányòu felt that this was the most embarrassing and helpless order he had ever received in his life!

  Perhaps he didn't know that this was also one of the most foolish orders he had ever given, directly leading to his subsequent decline and ultimately being killed.

  As Choi Gon-yo's order was given, the offensive under the East Gate immediately subsided. The soldiers stopped making futile charges and those who had charged up the winding stairs used their shields to cover each other and the terrain to slowly retreat out of range of the archers.

  The corpses were left unattended, and the heavy rain had washed away most of the bloodstains on the ground, but a large amount of fresh blood was still seeping out from the piles of bodies. Outside the East Gate, it was still a scene of blood flowing like rivers.

  The scene at the south gate was even more miserable. After Cui Gan's retreat order was issued, the remaining soldiers under the city had no fighting spirit and scrambled to escape. The only passage for these soldiers to escape was through the Forbidden Moat, but the water flow of the moat showed no signs of slowing down. Many soldiers were swept away by the current and carried downstream. A large number of soldiers drowned, some were injured or killed when they jumped into the moat, and a large number of corpses appeared in the moat, mixed with soldiers escaping in various ways, even blocking half of the water flow at one point.

  In times of crisis, human potential is also infinite. There were not a few soldiers who, under the gaze of the stunned Tang army officers on the city wall, swam across the moat, or after drifting with the current for a while, struggled to swim ashore and climbed up onto the east bank of the moat.

  Thousands of soldiers trapped under the city wall, only over a thousand finally escaped back to the east bank of the Forbidden Channel, while most others were shot dead under the city wall or washed away by the flood in the Forbidden Channel.

  Actually, the mountain flood cannot last for a long time. As long as the rain stops, the water in the ditch will slowly subside. It was Cui Qianyou's order to stop attacking that led to the collapse of the army's morale. If he had ordered the soldiers at the foot of the city to continue their attack and find ways to support the follow-up troops, the rebel soldiers would not have collapsed so quickly.

  About half an hour after Cui Qianyou ordered the retreat, no living rebel soldiers could be seen under the south gate.

  The first battle was a victory, and whether it was Yang Guozhong or Geshu Han and other generals, they all had an ecstatic expression.

  "Who would have thought that Cui Qianyou was so foolish!" This was a thought that Yang Hui had once had, and it also slipped out of Pang Zhong's mouth.

  Pang Zhong reported the situation to Yang Hui, after uttering a scornful remark earlier, and then said fearlessly: "Marshal, if the Ban Gou doesn't release its floodwaters, we might really not be able to hold on!"

  "If the heavy rain continues, and the flood in the moat gets a bit bigger, the rebels won't even be able to cross the moat, let alone attack the city!" Wang Silie, standing on the other side of Yang Hui, also breathed a sigh of relief and said with some complacency: "If the water in the moat keeps rising, the defense of Tongguan City will be as solid as gold, and the rebels won't even think about taking Tongguan City!"

  Facing the two generals' respective emotions, Yang Hui simply smiled and remained silent.

  If a reservoir is built in the Tongguan area and the water from the reservoir is diverted into the Jin Gou, then the flow of water in the Jin Gou may be continuous.

  "After the war has subsided, we can go and inspect whether a reservoir can be built nearby!" This was the idea that suddenly occurred to Yang Hui.

  But whether or not a reservoir can be built nearby is not something to consider now.

  Next is to consider how to defend against the rebel army's possible follow-up attacks.

  "Heaven is still blessing the Great Tang, helping me Yang Gui!" Yang Gui looked up at the sky and said with emotion, facing the sun that was slightly softer in light. Now he no longer worried about Tongguan City being occupied by the rebels.

  The rebel's large-scale attack was repelled, the sun was about to set, and reinforcements were also arriving. The situation further developed in a direction favorable to the Great Tang army. Yang Gui's heart was filled with confidence in victory. He immediately ordered each general to gather their troops, take stock of casualties, and rectify military discipline.

  There were still many casualties in various departments, and it was necessary to make a statistical analysis. More importantly, military discipline must be strictly enforced. During the intense battle earlier, many soldiers were afraid to advance, which Yang could not tolerate. He did not want similar situations to occur again in future battles.

  The soldiers on the city wall were nervously cleaning up and reorganizing under the command of their respective officers, preparing for another battle. Those who had deserted in the face of the enemy were being led away by military police to await punishment.

  Many soldiers fled in fear of the enemy, and Geshu Han, Wang Silie, Tian Liangqiu and others were also furious. This made them lose face in front of Yang Gui, and almost led to serious consequences. How can we not be strict with military discipline? Besides, Yang Gui had already announced before the battle that he would severely punish those who fled or failed to fight. Nearly 200 soldiers who fled or failed to fight were tied up together, waiting for punishment.

  "Report to General Yang, there are 180 soldiers who were afraid of battle and fled in the face of the enemy, all have been arrested and await your disposition!" Wang Silie stepped forward to request orders from Yang Gui.

  Yang Kai looked at the more than 100 soldiers being taken away, and his eyes revealed a shocking gaze, but in his heart, he was somewhat hesitant.

  But facing the gaze of many generals including Geshuhan and Wang Silie, as well as thousands of soldiers, Yang Gui still immediately gave the order to dispose of him.

  "Deserters will be killed without pardon! Those who fear the enemy and do not advance, I will give them another chance to live. If they show bravery in subsequent battles, I can forgive them. Otherwise, they will still be severely punished!" Yang Hui could not possibly order the execution of all 180 soldiers, as the number was too large. He could only select a few with serious offenses and make an example of them, killing one to warn a hundred!

  The law does not blame the masses!

  "Marshal, I will surely fight bravely and kill the enemy, never again fearing to advance!" One of the soldiers, upon hearing that he would not be executed on the spot but instead had a chance to redeem himself, knelt down with a thud. The other soldiers who were lucky enough to have escaped with their lives also followed suit and knelt on the city wall.

  More than twenty of those who had thrown down their arms and fled in disarray also knelt down, but their pleas did not move anyone.

  The situation of military unrest has emerged, and some people must have paid the price with their lives.

  Under Yang Kai's order, Wang Silie personally led the execution of military discipline, beheading more than 20 soldiers who threw down their weapons and fled in front of everyone, and repeated Yang Kai's order again: if anyone else deserted or retreated in battle, they would be killed without pardon!

  Just as Wang Silie and others had finished tidying up the soldiers and were about to go to Yang Hui's side to receive orders, a soldier rushed to Yang Hui's side and loudly reported: "Report to General Yang, Duan Hua sent someone to report that the three thousand soldiers he led are approaching Tongguan City!"

  "The reinforcements have finally arrived!" Yang Hui was overjoyed and said to Wang Silie, Tian Liangqiu, Pang Zhong and Li Fude with a smile: "They must have timed it just right, knowing that the enemy had stopped attacking the city, before they were willing to enter the city!"

  Yang Hui's words with a hint of humor left the crowd in stunned silence!