After Chai Rong and Guo Ziyi accepted Li Yuan's appointment, they quickly made a series of adjustments to the Chang'an city defense, checked for leaks and filled the gaps, gathered Li Xiaochang's defeated soldiers, screened and trained the recruited strong men, strengthened patrols in the city, and cracked down on troublemakers. The local ruffians.
Officials at all levels in the Tang Dynasty also tried their best to cooperate with the military, allocate supplies, recruit civilians to repair city walls, and at the same time appease people's livelihood and stabilize prices.
These officials knew very well that if the Sui army came to attack the city, they would at most deal with members of the Tang Dynasty clan after breaking the city. If they did not, they would also include the members of the Guanlong nobles who were inextricably related to the Tang Dynasty clan. Most people were able to save their lives and even resume their careers in the Sui Dynasty.
But now it is the peasant army led by Huang Chao who comes. They still have fresh memories of how terrible the bandits who revolted in various places broke through the city at the end of Daye. Therefore, they can still do their best for their own wealth and life.
With the efforts of officials at all levels in the Tang Dynasty, the originally somewhat uneasy atmosphere in Chang'an City gradually eased, and the people of Chang'an were relieved. But at this moment, bad news came from Tongguan.
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Tongguan, established at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, is located in the eastern part of the Guanzhong Plain. It occupies a strategic position in the three provinces of Qin, Shanxi and Henan. It is the only place to pass when entering the Central Plains from the east and Guanzhong from the west. It has always been a battleground for military strategists and is known as "Jinei". It has the reputation of "the first danger", "throat of four towns" and "one hundred and two important passes".
The situation of Tongguan is very dangerous. There are Qinling Mountains in the south, Forbidden Valley in the southeast, and Twelve Liancheng in the south of the valley. The Wei and Luo Rivers meet the Yellow River and hug the pass down in the north, and Huayue is close to the west. The surrounding mountains are surrounded by mountains and peaks, with deep valleys and cliffs. The mountains are high and the road is narrow. There is a narrow catwalk in the middle, which can only accommodate one car and one horse.
As the east gate of Guanzhong, the Tang Dynasty had always stationed heavy troops in Tongguan. However, as the three coalition forces of Li Jiancheng, Kublai Khan, and Lun Qinzan marched eastward with more than 200,000 troops, Tongguan's defense relaxed.
On the one hand, in order to support the Tang Army's multi-pronged attacks, all the elite garrison troops in various places were mobilized. Even in Tongguan, there were only a thousand garrison troops left. On the other hand, Li Jiancheng and Kublai Khan's more than 200,000 troops were stationed on the line of Hangu Pass, which is more than 160 miles away. The Tongguan defenders naturally felt that Tongguan was absolutely safe.
That morning, a grain transport convoy consisting of hundreds of ox carts and horse-drawn carriages appeared west of Tongguan, accompanied by about 3,000 troops, but this did not arouse the suspicion of any Tang army sentries. The daily consumption of more than 200,000 troops was terrible. Ever since Li Jiancheng led the coalition forces out of Guandong, Tang Army grain transport convoys would appear on this official road every three days.
However, if these Tang Army sentinels could observe carefully, they would still find that this grain transport convoy was different from the convoys they had seen before.
Because the Tang army attacked in multiple directions, the main elites were on the front line. Most of the soldiers transporting food were second-line auxiliary soldiers. However, the soldiers in this food protection team were all tall and tall. The leader was a general who was more than eight feet tall and had a strong back and a strong waist. , carrying a long spear, and a tall black horse with a black body under its crotch.
This person is none other than Peng Yue, the founding hero of the Western Han Dynasty in history, and one of the three most famous generals of the early Han Dynasty, along with Han Xinyingbu. After the Jingxing Battle, Yang Gao transferred Peng Yue from Luoyang as the new leader of the martial arts competition. After several examinations, he announced his appointment.
Yang Gao transferred hundreds of elite cadres from the army and handed them over to Peng Yue. When Yang Gao's army crossed the Yellow River to support Luxiang, they sneaked into Guanzhong in batches.
When Li Yuan issued an order to recruit troops and a large-scale civil uprising broke out in Guanzhong, Peng Yue also seized the opportunity and quickly mobilized tens of thousands of troops in Feng Yi County. The number of troops was not too large, but Peng Yue's army was so powerful that he brought it The officers and soldiers of the Sui army in Guanzhong served as the skeleton, and they were recruited and trained according to the standards of the Sui army. Unlike other bandit forces, the army was very powerful.
When Huang Chao became more and more powerful, and various rebel forces moved closer to Huang Chao and promoted Huang Chao as the alliance leader, Peng Yue also led his troops to defect to Huang Chao, and at the same time offered Huang Chao advice: "The alliance leader, Tang Prince Li Jiancheng led tens of thousands of the main force of the Tang army and Sui The army is facing a confrontation in the Hongnong County area of Hangu Pass. When our army attacks Chang'an, Li Yuan will definitely call Li Jiancheng's army to return reinforcements. The final general recommends sending an elite surprise attack to capture Tongguan and intercept the main force of the Tang army from returning to Chang'an."
Huang Chao was also a man who understood military affairs and the art of war. He immediately agreed to Peng Yue's suggestion. Peng Yue led his troops to carry out the plan of surprise attack on Tongguan. At the same time, he also sent two rebel forces to surrender to Shangluo County to block Li Shentong's reinforcements.
Peng Yue's army also defeated many Tang armies in the Feng Yi County area and captured many weapons of the Tang army. Peng Yue immediately selected 3,000 soldiers to put on the armor and stomach of the Tang Army, pretending to be the Tang Army's grain transport team and headed for Tongguan.
Thanks to the emptiness in Guanzhong, Peng Yue and his army did not encounter a few checkpoints to intercept them along the way, and they were easily allowed to pass through, and they arrived at Tongguan City in a few days.
The guard general of Tongguan was named Xiang Shanzhi. During the Daye period, people gathered in the Guanzhong area to rebel. Li Yuan raised troops from Taiyuan. His daughter, Princess Pingyang Zhao, Li Xiuning, contacted the anti-Sui rebels in the Guanzhong area to respond to Li Yuan. It was at this time that Xiang Shanzhi was captured by Li Xiuning. Incorporation. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Xiang Shanzhi was awarded the title of Yi Tong and General of the Youtun Guard due to his meritorious service.
"Another grain transport convoy is coming!"
Like most of the defenders, Xiang Shanzhi was not surprised by the grain convoys that often passed by. After a rough inspection on the city wall, he waved his hand nonchalantly and said: "Open the city gate and let them pass." .”
The suspension bridge was lowered slowly, the city gate rumbled open, and the peasants slowly walked into the city gate pushing the grain carts. Peng Yue rode his horse and walked in the middle of the team. The moment he walked through the city gate, the horse spear in his hand was stabbed out like lightning. A cold light flashed, and several Tang soldiers at the city gate were stabbed to the ground by him.
As if it was a signal, when Peng Yue took action, the soldiers under his command also rioted. The civilians pushing the carts also pulled out steel knives from under the grain carts, and quickly seized the city gate, shouting and fighting back at the city wall. There are people rushing into the city.
"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
Only then did Xiang Shanzhi react. He shouted and led more than a hundred soldiers to rush down from the city wall, intending to regain control of the city gate. He happened to collide with the army led by Peng Yue to seize the city wall.
There was a melee between the two armies, and Peng Yue waved his long spear like a tiger descending from the mountain, rampaging through the chaos. Upon seeing this, Xiang Shanzhi roared and swung his sword towards Peng Yue.
Seeing this, Peng Yue sneered, raised his long spear and went forward to meet him. The battle failed, and Peng Yue exploited his flaw and struck Xiang Shanzhi in the air with his sword. He was unable to recover and was stabbed to the ground by Peng Yue.
