Outside Luoche City, the harvest of highland barley in the mountains and valleys has been completed.
The granaries of every household are already filled with golden barley.
Almost all Tibetans in the entire Tibetan area are full of joy, because this year's Tibetan area is wetter and warmer than last year, the water and grass are more abundant, the cattle and sheep are fatter, and the yield of highland barley is higher than last year.
There is no doubt that this year is another great harvest year that is rare in a century.
[According to historical records, the climate on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the prosperous Tang Dynasty was humid and warm]
And this year is the same as last year, except for paying 20% of the tax, the rest of the harvest is their own.
The Tang government also explicitly stipulated that as long as they were recruited to join the army, even 20% of the tax would be exempted, which meant that all the harvest belonged to their own family.
This is simply an unprecedented good thing.
Therefore, Tibetans are very motivated to apply.
Because of this, Shannan Jiedushi Li Siye had to raise the standards for recruiting soldiers again and again, but even if the standards were raised to the extreme, 200,000 Tibetans were still selected.
These 200,000 Tibetans are not only physically strong, but also good at riding and shooting.
As of today, Li Siye has led these 200,000 civilian troops to train for more than a year, and the training standards are also very high. Orders and prohibitions are the minimum requirements. They also require various changes in pursuit or retreat. Formation, running various tactics, such as alternate cover and retreat, etc.
At this moment, Li Siye was leading one of the civilian troops to train.
This civilian army has two thousand cavalry, each equipped with three horses.
After completing the routine training of transferring horses during the march, Li Siye divided the two thousand cavalry into two groups, and each led one group with his son Li Zuoguo to start chasing training. One group ran away, while the other group trailed behind. In pursuit, the group that ran practiced various retreat tactics, and the group that pursued practiced pursuit tactics.
When the training was in full swing, Master Lu Tian's voice suddenly came from the air.
"Li Siye, stop practicing." Lu Tianshi said, "Hurry up and gather the army and prepare to go to Chang'an."
Li Siye quickly reined in his horse, folded his hands and chanted: "Master Lu Tianshi, has An Lushan really launched a rebellion?"
"Well, An Lushan has really rebelled." Lu Tianshi said, "And the rebels are very powerful. The entire Hebei Province has fallen. If a miracle does not happen, the armies of Longyou Town, Hexi Town and Shuofang Town alone will , will not be able to stop the rebels, and Ge Shuhan’s new recruits from Chang’an and Luoyang will be even less effective.”
Li Zuoguo said: "In other words, the counter-rebellion army is likely to suffer a loss?"
"Be confident and get rid of the possibility." Lu Tianshi said, "The counter-rebellion army will definitely suffer, and it will suffer a big loss. Let alone counter-rebellion, Ge Shuhan will be good if he can hold Tongguan."
Li Zuoguo said: "Master, then we have to send troops quickly."
"But..." Li Siye was confused, "it seems inappropriate to send troops without permission from the sage."
"You don't have to worry about this matter, leave it to me." Master Lu Tianshi said, "Just say it's my decree. I'm afraid Li Longji wouldn't dare say anything, not to mention he will have to thank me then."
"In this case, I will immediately summon the army." After a pause, Li Siye continued to ask, "Master Lu Tianshi, in addition to the 8,000 soldiers, there are more than 200,000 civilian troops in Shannan Town. How many troops should I lead to Chang'an?"
Lu Tianshi: "The 8,000 town troops should stay in Shannan Town. You can lead the 200,000 civilian troops."
"Here!" Li Siye didn't say anything nonsense, and immediately sent horses to summon the Tubo militia from all over the country.
It is enough to leave eight thousand soldiers in Shannan. After all, there are no strong enemies around Luoxudao.
…
The entire process of the counter-insurgency war was as it had been in history.
At the beginning, everyone, including Li Longji, as well as generals such as Ge Shuhan, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, were optimistic about the prospects of counterinsurgency operations.
But he was dumbfounded as soon as he fought against the rebels. He was no match for them at all.
The combat effectiveness of Hexi Town, Longyou Town and Shuofang Town is actually similar to that of Anxi Town. They are all considered first-class elites. They are not inferior to Hedong, Fanyang and Lulong Towns under Anlu Mountain.
The problem is that Hexi, Longyou and Shuofang Town have been fighting fierce battles with Tubo in the past ten years. The long years of fierce fighting have made the soldiers of the three towns physically and mentally exhausted, and the attrition of the veterans is also very serious, especially the battle of Shibao City. Tens of thousands of elite veterans in the third town of Longyou in Heshuo were damaged, and they were unable to recover for more than ten years.
On the other hand, although the border troops of the three towns under Anlu Mountain were constantly fighting against Xi, Khitan and Shiwei, their scale was not large and their muscles and bones were not injured. Therefore, Anlu Mountain not only achieved the effect of training troops, but also defeated Xi. The barbarians such as the Qidan, the Khitan and the Shiwei also recruited the strongest barbarians to form a servant cavalry.
Yiluohe is the elite selected from the servant cavalry.
As one goes down and the other goes up, the three towns of Heshuo in Longyou are at a disadvantage compared to the three towns of Fanyang and Pinglu in Hedong.
Reflected on the battlefield, they collapsed in a head-on confrontation. The main force of the rebel army led by An Shouzhong and Li Guiren was unstoppable and reached the outside of Luoyang City in less than a month.
Ge Shuhan gathered 150,000 elite soldiers from Longyou and Hexi towns, plus hundreds of thousands of new troops recruited from Chang'an and Luoyang, and fought a battle with the main force of the rebels outside Luoyang City. The result was a disastrous defeat. More than 100,000 newly recruited troops collapsed, and the elite troops in Longyou and Hexi towns also suffered heavy losses, with less than 50,000 remaining to retreat to Tongguan.
Due to the appearance of Master Lu Tianzhi, Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing escaped.
On the contrary, Brother Shuhan left the game early and became a major source of resentment. Fortunately, there was no Bian Lingcheng to supervise the army this time, and Li Longji would no longer control remotely to force Brother Shuhan to go out for a decisive battle.
So if nothing else goes wrong, the rebels should not be able to enter Tongguan.
At least it is impossible to break through Tongguan and appear in Chang'an in a short time.
However, Li Longji and the Manchu ministers were frightened to death.
Because of the strong combat effectiveness displayed by the rebels during the more than one month of battle, Li Longji and the Manchu ministers were extremely impressed.
What was originally thought to be the will of the people simply does not exist.
The entire Hebei Province and even most of Henan Province have surrendered to the rebels.
The governors and magistrates of the prefectures and counties along the way either surrendered or abandoned their offices and fled. Only a handful of officials and people rose up to fight, and then they were quickly captured and killed by the rebels.
The original expectation that the rebels would fall apart as soon as the imperial army arrived did not exist.
The fighting power of the rebels was far more powerful than imagined. Even the elites of Longyou and Hexi could not defeat them. Even Ge Shuhan, who was known for being good at fighting tough battles, was defeated by rebel generals such as An Shouzhong and Li Guiren.
All kinds of unfavorable news came one after another, and the city of Chang'an was shocked three times a day.
There were even rumors that the saint planned to flee to Shu to avoid disaster.
In fact, this is not a rumor. Li Longji really asked Gao Lishi to prepare secretly.
Of course, to the outside world, it was definitely not that he was preparing to escape. He only said that he planned to go to Tongguan to lead a personal expedition, so he ordered Gao Lishi to take Jinwu Guard to prepare the saint's chariot and ceremonial guard.
However, Li Longji's remarks could be concealed from others, but they could not be concealed from Master Lu Tianshi at all.
While Li Longji was busy packing, Lu Tianshi suddenly appeared in Xingqing Palace.
Master Lu Tian said: "The rebels haven't broken through Tongguan yet, Li Longji, are you planning to flee in advance?"
"Here." Li Longji crossed his hands and chanted, "Heavenly Master, I plan to go to Tongguan in person to supervise the battle."
"Come on, you are just trying to coax others with your words. Besides, you are still going to Tongguan at a very old age. Isn't this just deliberately causing trouble for Ge Shuhan?"
Li Longji fell silent. He also knew that he could not deceive Master Lu Tianshi.
Master Lu Tianshi is an immortal. How could he deceive an immortal?
Gao Lishi crossed his hands and said: "Tianshi, the rebels are powerful. Tongguan may be breached at any time. Once Tongguan is lost, Chang'an will no longer be able to defend. Therefore, in order not to increase the burden on Ge Shujieshuai and the frontline soldiers, the saint It would also be a good idea to go to Shu for a while, or..."
Or something, Gao Lishi didn't say.
Master Lu Tian also pretended not to hear, just wanting to ask him to take action.
It's not that he doesn't want to take action, it's just that his "mana" is limited.
"Are you afraid now? Weren't you pretty awesome before?" Lu Tianshi said suddenly, "Didn't you swear before that the people's support lies with Li Tang? If the rebels turn against them, they will become the target of public criticism. As soon as the imperial army arrives, Will the rebels in Fanyang, Hedong and Pinglu towns collapse?"
