Chapter Ninety-two Arrangements for Next

  As the sound of military drums and screams echoed outside, Fan Zhi Cheng finally couldn't bear it and let out a painful cry. Yang Hui's face turned cold, his voice calm as he said: "Now that the country is in danger and the rebel army is strong, Tongguan and Chang'an are both on the brink of collapse. If anyone dares to intentionally delay, show cowardice, or flee from battle, they will be severely punished without mercy!"

  Yang Kai's words made some generals' hearts tremble with fear, and Wang Silie, Pang Zhong and other generals were also shocked. This young marshal has a very strong killing intent!

  No one considers Yang Hui to be just a seventeen or eighteen year old youth anymore. The " vicissitudes" on his face, as well as the calmness and shock, have caused everyone to overlook his age, not to mention his experience.

  Fan Zhi Cheng was beaten to the point where he was on his last breath, his butt completely smashed. Even if he managed to cling onto his life, he would need a long time to rest before he could get back up.

  After Chen Xuanli left, among the 30,000 relief troops that followed, Fan Zhicheng held the highest position. When Yang Hui was discussing military affairs, he suddenly proposed to hold Fan Zhicheng accountable for deliberately delaying the rescue speed by deceiving Chen Xuanli. Everyone knew what Yang Hui's intention was in doing so. This was a warning shot, a stern warning to the generals who arrived later, and if anyone dared to do something similar in the future, challenging his authority, the punishment would be even more severe.

  In the future, obediently listen to what he says, this must be Yang Kai's intention in severely punishing Fan Zhencheng.

  Fan Zhencheng took responsibility, and the other generals did not dare to express dissent again. They all led their troops away, leaving only Geshu Han and Yang Hui in the house.

  "General Yang, I am not worried that you will not be able to control the situation in Tongguan!" Geshu Han said with a chuckle, and then continued with a sigh: "The generals under my command have already submitted to you, and you can lead them well. The generals brought by Chen Xuanli also dare not disobey your orders. As for me, this useless old man, there is no need for me to stay in Tongguan and lose face. Today, I want to request General Yang to let me return to Chang'an! I know that the court will not be able to completely pardon my crime of losing the Lingbao army, but it's just that they are afraid of the military morale floating in Tongguan, so they haven't issued an edict to punish me. Since Tongguan is now secure, I should also return to the capital to ask for punishment!"

  Ge Shuhan smiled self-deprecatingly and, before Yang Jie could respond, intentionally made a joke, "I hope General Yang will forgive me, I also hope General Yang won't blame me for being cowardly in battle, don't go to the imperial court to report that I fled in disarray!"

  Yang Hui originally wanted to retain the words, but because of Ge Shuhan's last two sentences, he was choked in his throat and couldn't spit them out. After staring at the white-haired old general in front of him for a while, he finally nodded, "General Ge Shu said so too, you are injured and should take good care of yourself first. Lingbao was defeated, but Tongguan was still defended under General Ge Shu's efforts. I have already asked for merits for all the generals of Tongguan and requested amnesty for the crimes of defeat in the memorial to the Emperor, allowing all the generals to wear their crimes and make amends. It's just unknown whether the Emperor will agree to my request!"

  Yang Jie also changed his way of addressing Geshu Han, now calling him "Marshal", which was a bit inappropriate.

  "So, General Yang has agreed to let me return to Chang'an and plead for punishment?" Geshu Han was a little surprised and also a little disappointed.

  "General Geshu's request, how could I not agree?" Yang Hui smiled and said: "General, take a good rest for two days, and when you feel refreshed, set out on the journey back to Chang'an! As long as the rebels no longer confront us under Tongguan City, I will also return to Chang'an in a few days to report to His Majesty the Emperor about the battle of Tongguan and explain the follow-up arrangements in detail, so that they can understand and support the strategy of defending but not attacking. I won't hide from you, General, I also want to continue leading the army to fight until the rebellion is completely pacified. I am clear that once the crisis in Tongguan is resolved, there will definitely be people in the court who propose to appoint another general to guard Tongguan, and my father will also ask the Emperor to summon me back to the capital. I will have to request His Majesty and my father to continue leading the army until the rebellion is pacified."

  "Of course, Mo will definitely go in person to the Emperor to ask for rewards for the various generals and beg the Emperor for forgiveness!"

  Geshu Han looked at Yang Kai with a complex expression, and finally nodded, "General Yang said it makes sense, some things are better presented in person. I also believe you have the ability to train well and lead the army well, and make achievements in the battle of suppressing the rebels! Alas, I hope our Great Tang is worry-free!"

  Geshu Han naturally hoped that the rebellion would be quelled quickly and bring peace to the Tang Dynasty. He also believed that Yang Guifei could play a crucial role in the process of quelling the rebellion, as this young man's abilities were not ordinary. However, he was worried that Yang Guozhong's power would swell with Yang Guifei's increasingly outstanding performance, ultimately burying another hidden danger for the Tang Dynasty, but this worry he couldn't express.

  Yang Jie understood Geshu Han's concern, but just smiled and didn't say anything more.

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  Ge Shuhan set out for Chang'an on the third day after Yang Jie memorialized to have him return to Chang'an to apologize.

  Yang Gui sent a team of 500 soldiers to escort him on his way.

  Ge Shuhan's body was weak, and the weather was still very hot. He couldn't travel by fast horse through the post station, and even horses couldn't be ridden for a long time. Many times he had to take a carriage.

  Starting from Tongguan and traveling in this way, it is estimated that it will take at least six or seven days to reach Chang'an.

  On the eve of Gao Shuhan's departure, the subsequent 10,000 troops also arrived at Tongguan.

  This army of ten thousand men, without the help of horses, basically relied on foot to advance, and when they arrived at Tongguan, they were all exhausted to the point of being inhuman. Fortunately, there is no war in Tongguan now, so they can rest assured.

  An Qingxu and Cui Gan led the troops to withdraw from Tongguan, Yang Hui did not lead the army to pursue, An Qingxu's ambushes laid along the way also failed to play a role, the only effect was to bring back most of the fleeing troops. After retreating to Shangjun, An Qingxu counted his troops and found that he had less than 120,000 soldiers under his command, nearly 40,000 soldiers were defeated at Tongguan, eliminated, captured or surrendered by the Tang army.

  Among these less than 120,000 people, there are tens of thousands who are wounded!

  An Lushan, who had received An Qingxu's report of the defeat at Tong Pass, halted his advance and prepared to retreat back to Luoyang.

  The defenders of Tongguan lost around 3,000 men and horses, which basically confirmed Geshu Han's pre-war estimate that the loss ratio would be about ten to one.

  After learning that An Qingxu had really retreated to Shan Prefecture, and after An Lushan's 180,000 troops returned to Luoyang, Yang Hui also felt at ease. He began to train his army while sending out scouts to gather intelligence on the enemy. He was determined to train an elite force.

  He was in overall charge of the military training, with Wang Silie, Pang Zhong, Lü Chongbi, Tian Liangqiu, Li Fude and Liu Guangting responsible for specific aspects of the training, while the secretary Gao Shi took care of the detailed matters on his behalf.

  Yang Kai was also carefully observing the loyalty of these generals under his command.

  However, Yang Jie also believed that at least for now, Tongguan would not fall into chaos. No one had the ability or courage to do so. When arranging matters, he made sure that each general was mutually restrained, and no single person had too much power. Among the generals of Tongguan, some people were in conflict with each other, and the conflicts were not small, such as Li Chengguang and Wang Silie, Pang Zhong and Lü Chongbi. Yang Jie could make good use of these contradictions between the generals, making them supervise and restrain each other.

  He also gave special trust and reuse to Gao Shi, believing that this historical celebrity would return the favor!

  He also knew that his return to Chang'an was urgent and he had to hurry back, report the affairs of Tong Pass, and ask Li Longji and his father Yang Guozhong to let him continue to lead the army at Tong Pass.

  If it's late, Li Longji and Yang Guozhong will make another decision, which is hard to change. Also, he promised to plead for Geshu Han, Wang Silie, Peng Zhong, Li Chengguang and other generals to the emperor as soon as possible, this is a good opportunity to buy people's hearts!

  Another 30,000 temporarily recruited troops arrived at Tongguan a few days later, and Yang Hui personally arranged for them to be assigned to various generals to participate in military training.

  After settling the Tongguan affair in an orderly manner and further investigating that the rebels only defended but did not attack, stationed in Shaanxi Prefecture without leaving, Yang Gui decided to bring his personal guards and family generals to rush back to Chang'an, report to the Emperor and request follow-up requirements.

  (End of Volume 1)