The dragon and the tiger in Tongguan look like a giant beast in the dark night, lurking quietly, grinding its teeth and sucking blood, ready to bite people. Cai Xide pressed his sword on his waist and leaned over to look under the city's ultimatum. After a while, he turned back and said to the general beside him: "It's a good guard, don't lose the city gate." "Yes" the general responded, and then smiled He got up and said: "General, don't worry, the Tang army in Luoyang is only 20,000 or 30,000 people. We have 10,000 elite soldiers guarding Tongguan. Not to mention that the Tang army does not dare to invade. Even if it invades, it is impossible to break through the natural barrier of Tongguan." "Although it is In this case, you must be careful and don't be careless. If you make a mistake, you and I will lose our heads," Cai Xide said. The general's expression turned solemn and he said nothing more. After the coup, they were sent to capture Tongguan to prevent possible attacks from the east. However, some news from Gyeonggi also came from time to time, especially the news about An Lushan's sudden change in temperament, rage and killing, which was not a secret to them. If Tongguan is guarded, with An Lushan's current character, there is a high probability that Cai Xide and others will be beheaded. "General, over there, the beacon tower." After inspecting the customs defense, Cai Xide was about to leave the city when suddenly, someone called out. Cai Xide looked to the east and saw beacon towers suddenly burning with smoke on the rolling mountain peaks. The entire Tongguan is a defense system, and the beacon towers on the surrounding mountains are also an important part of the Tongguan defense system. At each beacon tower, Cai Xide arranged a scouting post with more than ten people and as few as three or five people. If there was any movement, beacon smoke would be lit and the warning message could be transmitted back in a short time. "Here it comes." Looking at the smoke, Cai Xide said solemnly: "Secure the city defenses tightly and order the entire army to prepare for war." About an hour later, the first batch of scouts returned to Guanzhong. Cai Xide inquired carefully and found out that they were from Luoyang City. More than 20,000 Tang troops entered Tongguan. "Who is the enemy general?" Cai Xide asked. "Xin Jinggao." This name was very unfamiliar to Cai Xide. He secretly sighed in his heart. Ye Chang was used to cultivating talents. He thought that this Xin Jinggao should also be one of the talents he trained. "Do you know who this Xin Jinggao is?" he asked, looking around. "I do know that he should be the queen of the generals. His brother Xin Yunqing once served as Taichang Qing. He joined Ye Chang's account not too long ago. He made great achievements in the battle of Duji Road last year He is very young." " Ye Chang has a good mind. He has all kinds of characters in his pocket." Cai Xide praised in his heart, but smiled and said: "It turns out that he is an unknown junior. He is not a long-time general in the army. Come to think of it. He is just a brave man, we will slowly wear down his energy and catch him in one fell swoop when he becomes anxious." Everyone laughed after hearing his words, and the smarter ones understood what Cai Xide meant. Cai Xide did not seek merit in this battle, but sought no faults. Compared with Xin Jinggao, he had fewer troops, so he was not prepared to go out of the city to fight with him in the field, but to defend at Xiongguan. Anyway, the task An Lushan gave them was to guard Tongguan and prevent the Tang army from breaking in. "Shi Siming has entered Chang'an to join An Guild. I think Ye Chang won't be able to hold on for long. After defeating Ye Chang, he will return to sweep Luoyang, Henan, and Dingding Central Plains. By then, we will all be the founding princes, and we may also be in Lingyan." Paint a portrait on the pavilion," Cai Xide encouraged everyone again. "I heard that the king is preparing to ascend the throne and change the dynasty. The generals have great merits, and the princes are nothing. Maybe the princes, princes and the like have a share," the subordinates complimented. Cai Xide burst out laughing, as if he really didn¡¯t care about Xin Jinggao who was right in front of him. Among the Tang army, Xin Jinggao stared at the embers of the beacon smoke that had not yet disappeared, and curled his lips: "This Cai Xide has a cautious temper. It seems that it is impossible to win the battle in one fell swoop." The eyes of the young man next to him flashed. Smile and say nothing. "Mr. Yue Lang, why don't you speak? I have spent a long time trying my best, but I haven't gotten any news from you. Since Ye Gong asked you to help me, I don't want you to be this stuffy gourd, right? Xin Jinggao glanced at him dissatisfied: "It's already here, what else do you want to hide?" "It's not that I want to hide it, but you are too anxious, general." Yue Xi said with a smile: "Anyway, I promise. "In a short time, the gate of Tongguan will be open to you." "General Xin, our army has reached beyond the forbidden ditch, do you want to attack?" came running and asked. "More anxious than me But it's still early, so I have to try. Maybe Cai Xide will be scared out of his courage by me and abandon Liancheng instead of defending it." Xin Jinggao said this, but the march was still very cautious. He understood that Ye Chang The purpose of summoning Yue Xi was only to help him break the city. The other purpose was to supervise his actions. After all, this time Ye Chang was able to mobilize the entire east of Tongguan.All the manpower was given to him. Don't look at it. There are only more than 20,000 troops outside Tongguan. This is just the forward, and the real large force is still behind. Since Ye Chang can organize the road construction workers in Kansai and recruit them as sergeants, he can naturally do the same with the road construction workers in Kanto. Moreover, as early as the Yuan brothers' rebellion, Ye Chang issued a secret order to Yue Xi, asking him to be ready to mobilize at any time. Therefore, the road construction workers in Guandong were organized earlier than those in Kansai. This is also one of the reasons why Ye Chang is confident to annihilate An Lushan and Shi Siming in one fell swoop. The total number of road construction workers in Guandong is more than 300,000, and Yue Xi can recruit at least 150,000. About six miles east of Tongguan There is a Forbidden ditch, and many city towers were erected on both sides of the Forbidden ditch, forming a defense system with Tongguan. If you want to attack Tongguan, you must first attack these towers. Before Xin Jinggao led his troops to the city platform, he looked from a distance and saw flags waving on the city platform, soldiers with bright helmets, and hundreds of people on each city platform, echoing each other from a distance, and couldn't help but shake his head. shook his head. "There is no need to try. Such defenses cannot be broken by force, and they will only harm the lives of the soldiers." He said with some regret. The army settled down outside Tongguan. Hearing the news, Cai Xide was also a little surprised: "This Xin Jinggao didn't even conduct a test attack, but just hoarded troops outside the pass. Could it be that he didn't plan for a decisive battle here, but just took care of errands?" However, the news that came the next day made him understand that Xin Jinggao had his own plans. "Seriously, the Tang Army has reinforcements coming here?" The scout kneeling in front of him turned pale, obviously frightened by the size of the Tang Army: "It's not the reinforcements, it's the main force. The villain is watching from a distance. The number is compared to the ones outside the city. There are more, a total of thirty or forty thousand people." "How could the Tang army have so many troops? If it had so many troops, how could it have given up to a few mud-legged peasants last year and caused turmoil in Duji Road and Henan Road?" Cai Xide heard this. I still don¡¯t believe this report. "The villain also tried to find out, but the Tang army was heavily guarded and the villain could not get close But the number of people was correct. To confirm the news, the villain went east to inquire where the Tang army passed and counted the pots they buried. "The stove for cooking." Cai Xide frowned, and for a while, he murmured a curse. There is nothing wrong with Tongguan being a dangerous pass, but Tongguan is not the kind of dangerous pass where one man is responsible for the pass and no one can open it, but a group of fortifications that require a large number of troops to defend. He has 100,000 soldiers and horses, which can ensure that Tongguan is not lost, but he only has more than 20,000 people, and some of them are old Tongguan guards who may not be loyal to Anlu Mountain. In addition, Tongguan is fixed, but people are mobile. Although Tongguan is solid, it is not impossible to bypass it. If one Tang army had left one unit here to contain him, and the other had crossed the Yellow River at the ferry, the Tongguan natural barrier would have become a decoration, and its biggest function would have been to allow the Tang army to go further around. "Look again, look again" The main force of the Tang army arrived, but still did not start the attack. Cai Xide was suspicious when he suddenly heard the news that Pujing Pass fell into the hands of the Tang army. "How is this possible?" Cai Xide was shocked: " Wasn't Pujin Pass guarded by Shi Siming's men? Why did Shi Siming fall into the hands of the Tang army after Shi Siming's troops entered the pass? Pujin Pass was originally defended by Cai Xide, but because of Shi Siming's arrival, For this reason, in order to facilitate logistical supply, it was handed over to Shi Siming's subordinates. "General Shi only left more than 2,000 people at Pujin Pass. The Tang army built a pontoon bridge to cross the Yellow River. They suddenly arrived and broke into the gate. Now that Pujin Pass has been lost, how can our army defend Tongguan? General, please come up with an idea quickly. " Once Pujin Pass was lost, the gate in Guanzhong was not only opened to the Tang army, but at least half of it was opened. Moreover, Cai Xide faced a very embarrassing problem. His troops were insufficient and simply not enough to defend the entire Tongguan defense system. In order to prevent the Tang army from attacking him from behind, his only option was to abandon the perimeter and shrink his troops. As long as he can keep Tongguan City, half of his mission will be completed. Although he had this intention, he did not dare to make an immediate decision, and immediately sent an urgent envoy to Chang'an to report the situation. Sure enough, the urgent envoy brought the order from Anlu Mountain in Chang'an City, and the scouts came from behind to report that the Tang army entering Guanzhong from Pujin Pass had appeared to the west of Tongguan. "Your Majesty ordered us to guard Tongguan, wait for reinforcements, and not let the Tang army enter the pass." After receiving the order, Cai Xide breathed a sigh of relief: "In this case, there is no need to defend Taicheng outside the pass, and all of them will withdraw into the pass." Cai Xide knew very well , At this time, there is still something to be done. The number of Tang troops entering Guanzhong from Pujin is not too large. As long as Anlu Mountain regains Pujin, these Tang troops will be the turtles in the urn. As long as he can hold Tongguan, he will have no merit. On the contrary, if he loses Tongguan again and the Tang army really pours into Guanzhong, Chang'an City will be faced with enemies from both sides, and the situation of Anlu Mountain Division will be unprecedentedly bad. "The rebels have abandoned Taicheng, and the shell has been peeled off. Now it's up to you." After receiving the news that the rebels had retreated into Tongguan, Xin Jinggao smiled and said to Yue Xi. Yue Xi raised his hand and said: "Okay, I will open the gate of Tongguan tonight and ask the general to attack the city and cover my army.""People" He secretly admired Xin Jinggao for being valued by the prince and selected as a general. He was even responsible for the army east of Tongguan at a young age. It was really extraordinary. He attacked Tongguan openly and captured Pujin secretly. He did it very beautifully. Even Yue Xi himself did not expect that Xin Jinggao would use such a move. Hearing that the Tang army occupied Taicheng on both sides of the forbidden ditch and moved the army here, Cai Xide immediately understood that the Tang army, which had not taken action for a long time, was finally going to attack the city. In the evening, the Tang army laid out all kinds of siege equipment and formed a formation outside the range of the eight-oxen crossbows at the top of the city. After hearing the news, Cai Xide went to the top of the city to wait and see. It was obvious that the Tang army was acting very cautiously. He was very afraid of the various crossbow machines at the top of the city and couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you laughing, general?" " Seeing that the Tang army was powerful and the rebels in the city were a little afraid, Cai Xide's smile became a little strange, so a general asked him. "Everyone knows that Ye Chang is resourceful and far-sighted. I wonder what his expression would be like if he found out that the thing he developed was now being used against him. "Cai Xide patted a bed crossbow: "These bed crossbows are all improved by Ye Chang, and I remember that five years ago, it was he who wrote to the court to rectify the armaments in the inland passes, so that new bed crossbows would be replaced here. He definitely didn¡¯t expect today." When everyone heard this, they all burst into laughter, and everyone laughed at Ye Chang. They laughed at the city. Although they could not hear the sound, Xin Jinggao could still see clearly through the telescope. Xin Jinggao He cursed, then turned around and said: "Yue Langjun, do you want to attack the city at this time? " Yue Xi nodded, and Xin Jinggao immediately gave the order. The armies were beating drums and clamoring, preparing to attack the city. Cai Xide at the top of the city squinted at the movements of the Tang army. Seeing that the Tang army was just making noise but not taking action, he sneered and said: "It's a bluff. After all, they didn¡¯t dare to attack the city. " He now also knows that the main source of the Tang army is road construction workers. Although its core is also some veterans, most of them are fighting for the first time. If they really attack the city, there will be too many casualties and they will be defeated. Capture Pujin from Xinjinggao To judge, this is not a person who is willing to suffer heavy casualties in his army, so he must use tactics. "To attack our city, the tactics used are just a few, either without food, or without water, or without the inner space, except for In addition, we must attack by force. Now that our city has enough food and water, I will drive away anyone who may become an inner city, so I can only use siege equipment to attack the city by force. Although Ye Chang is very wise, I have never heard of any special siege equipment he invented. How can he defeat our city? " Just when he thought of this, he suddenly saw the two wings of the Tang army split apart, and something that was originally covered by many flags was exposed. " These are several strange cars. The top and front of the cars are covered with iron plates. The front of the cars is covered with iron plates. There is a small hole for people to observe the direction, and it can accommodate about twenty sergeants. ¡°Rush the car? "Cai Xide was stunned for a moment: It's not like that. Before he could figure out what it was, he heard a burst of exclamation from the top of the city, and then, countless stones flew up from behind the Tang army's formation. "Trebuchet" Cai Xide didn't think about it anymore. A strange iron cart, but he paid attention to the trebuchet, but after just one glance, he burst into laughter. The range of the trebuchet may not be as far as the crossbow at the top of the city, and the accuracy is even greater. Those stones are a mess. If the ground falls outside the city, it is impossible to pose a threat to the city wall.