subvert the late Tang Dynasty

When Meng Kai led the army to Tongguan, Qi Kerang had barely set up his formation, but the morale of the Tang army who hadn't had enough to eat was very low. In addition, they suffered consecutive defeats near Ruzhou and Luoyang, and most of their armor and weapons were seriously damaged.Meng Kai saw it in his eyes, how could he put these more than ten thousand people in his eyes?

Meng Kai waved his hand and shouted, "Kill!"

For a time, thousands of horses galloped, and the earth seemed to tremble. The morale of the rebel army was high, and the shouts of the soldiers rang and echoed in the valley for a long time.

Zekerang looked at the densely packed rebel army at the foot of the mountain, deploying defensive strategies, and he continued to issue various orders.

"Archers ready - let go!"

The dense rain of arrows streaked across the sky row by row, making a loud sound of piercing the sky, and fell towards the rebels. The rebels who were hit by the arrows fell off their horses one after another, and some of the horses fell to the ground after being hit by arrows, and even the knights on the horses were thrown away. When he got off his horse, he was instantly trampled by the horses that came from behind, turning him into a fleshy mess.

The archers only fired five rounds of feathered arrows, Meng Kai's cavalry had already rushed forward, and the distance between the two armies was only thirty steps.

Zekeran ordered: "Spear Throwing Team, let go!"

Three rows of teams holding short spears threw their own short spears one after another. The short spears were heavy, and when thrown at close range, their strength could penetrate a horse, let alone a human.

After two rounds of short spear throwing, the two sides had already engaged in hand-to-hand combat. At this time, Meng Kai's cavalry team showed its power. With the charge of the horses, it broke through the defense line composed of Qi Kerang's shieldmen almost instantly.

But before Meng Kai could cheer up, he found a row of deep trenches behind the enemy's shield bearers.After a group of people shouted and neighed, the horses under the rapid charge were unable to catch up, and one after another fell into the trench with people and horses. Under the trench was a long bamboo stick buried in advance. People were still unable to catch up, and there were still a large group of people who fell into the trenches one after another, and they fell in a mess. Before they could react, another round of short spears was thrown over, nailing them in the trench.

Seeing that the momentum was not right, Meng Kai hastily summoned Jin to withdraw his troops, and the two armies confronted each other two arrows away.

Meng Kai counted the troops and lost more than [-] people. He made some adjustments and prepared for the next round of attack.

However, due to the frustration of the first round of charge, the morale was affected, and the next two rounds of charge were ineffective.

Meng Kai could only order to suspend the attack, bury the pot and cook on the spot, waiting for the arrival of Huang Chao's army.

At this time, the tens of thousands of Qi Kerang's troops were already starving enough. Seeing the rebels starting to bury their pots and cook, they felt even more unbearably hungry, and some people had already started making loud noises.Qi Kerang couldn't stop it, and was extremely anxious, but "people are like iron, rice is steel, and I feel flustered if I don't eat a meal." They haven't had a full meal for several days, and they finally looked forward to the troops from the court. It's just that the beauty mixes it with a bowl of porridge to drink. From the busy morning to now, she has already consumed almost all of it.

At sunset, Huang Chao's brigade arrived at Tongguan, and the rebels cheered loudly, "Huang Wang, Huang Wang..." The sound shook the valley for a long time.

Qi Kerang's more than [-] troops looked at the densely packed rebel army at the bottom of the mountain. Under the poverty of people and horses, hunger and cold, how could there be any desire to fight?After being attacked by Huang Chao, Qi Kerang's troops were defeated and fled in all directions.

But there was a rebel army in front of him who couldn't see the side at a glance, and behind him was the closed Tongguan. The defeated army had no way to retreat, and it seemed that the entire army was wiped out.Zhang Chengfan in the pass looked at the densely packed rebel army, how dare he open the door?The soldiers who could only order the gate to be condescending continued to shoot arrows at the rebels.

Seeing that there was no way to retreat, Qi Kerang's defeated army couldn't fight again and again. It was getting late at this time, and the defeated army could only walk around in a panic, and somehow they came to the "forbidden pit".The forbidden pit is usually forbidden to pass through, and it is specially designed for collecting taxes.The forbidden pit road is rugged and overgrown with bushes, making it very difficult to walk. It is narrow and long for thirty miles.

But at this moment, how could Zekerang control so much of the defeated army?The remaining 8000 people actually ran into the forbidden pit. It was important to escape, but the road was hard to travel?He actually turned this bushy forbidden pit into a smooth road overnight.Shang Rang and Lin Yan followed closely behind to hide and kill. Qi Kerang's defeated army only hated their parents for having lost two feet, and also forgot their hunger, and fled to the pass like bereaved dogs one by one.

Shang Rang and Lin Yan chased for a certain distance, and saw that the mountain road was narrow and long. Looking up, there were many cliffs on both sides. They were afraid that the enemy might have an ambush. If you hit it with your eyes closed, one stone can hit several people.After discussing with Lin Yan, Shang Rang had to retreat first and make plans later.

At this time, the sky was completely dark, and the rebel army was a little sleepy after a long journey here, so they could only camp outside the pass to rest and prepare to continue to tackle the pass the next day.

The terrain of Tongguan is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, but now there is a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides, and this grand pass that dominates the world seems so thin and vulnerable. The natural danger that usually looks so majestic has also changed under the absolute superiority of the rebel army. So small and powerless.

Zhang Chengfan's troops spent a sleepless night enduring hunger and fear.

The next day the rebels launched another attack. The trenches before Tongguan had been filled with soil by the rebels and poor people who came to help. The defense line outside Tongguan had been completely destroyed, and most of Qi Kerang's troops had run away. I don't know where to go.

The two sides fought fiercely for a whole day, but Huang Chao's men still failed to take down the natural danger of Tongguan, but Zhang Chengfan knew his situation.The closed arrows were exhausted, so Zhang Chengfan ordered the officers and soldiers to condescend to throw stones down, and the rebels had nothing to do for a while.

Shang Rang and Lin Yan remembered the forbidden pit that Qi Kerang's rout soldiers went to when they escaped yesterday, and they discussed whether to kill them through the forbidden pit.

Shang Rang gritted his teeth and said: "It's not a problem to be so exhausted all the time. We can get here so easily now, thanks to the fact that the Qin King's teacher from the Tang Dynasty has not arrived. Once the people from various towns arrive in time, we want to take it again." Going down to Tongguan is not so easy."

Lin Yan frowned and said, "Old General Shang's consciousness is that we rush through this forbidden pit? But this road is so dangerous, how could the enemy not defend it? In case of an ambush, just..."

Shang Rang interrupted him and said: "If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't get cubs. Why don't we fight him?" Forget about brother's blood feud.At this time, the road to Chang'an was not far away, and he was eager for revenge, so he knew that there might be an ambush in the forbidden pit, so he didn't care too much.

Lin Yan wanted to say something else, but Shang Rang had already ordered: "Li Tangbin listens, you lead 5000 troops into the forbidden pit, regardless of whether there is an ambush ahead, you must rush there at any cost. As long as you rush through the forbidden pit, after Attacking from front to back, Tongguan is at your fingertips."

Lin Yan knew that what he said would be in vain, so he didn't say any more. He knew that Shang Rang's eldest brother, Shang Junchang, was beheaded by Li Yan at the Gouji Ridge in Chang'an East City. Shang Rang was eager for revenge, so he said more. It's useless, so I can only report to Huang Chao first.

At dusk, Wang Shihui, who was escorting the grain and grass, had also arrived at Tongguan. Hearing Zhang Chengfan say that more than ten thousand people from Qi Kerang had fled back to the pass through the forbidden pit, and Qi Kerang had disappeared.Wang Shihui was shocked and said, "General Zhang didn't send anyone to guard the forbidden pit?"

Zhang Chengfan originally had less than 3000 troops in his hands, so there was no way to distribute them, not to mention that he had no generals to send, and he had no time to think about forbidden pits. The offensive directed by Huang Chao himself here in Tongguan was already overwhelmed. Get into the forbidden pit?

At this time, after hearing Wang Shihui's words, he couldn't help but feel like a big head. Of course, he also knew the truth of "those who guard the pass but not the forbidden ditch are not guarding it".Hastily distributed 800 troops to Wang Shihui, and let Wang Shihui guard the forbidden pit.

Wang Shihui took the order and went away, praying to heaven in his heart, don't let the rebels rush in from the forbidden pit, otherwise the success will be in vain.What was so scary, but why did he come? By the time he arrived at the forbidden pit, half of the 5000 troops led by Li Tangbin had already crossed the forbidden pit. Li Tangbin also found it easier than expected, and encountered no resistance at all .

Li Tangbin has 5000 people, how can Wang Shihui's 800 people stop him?The two sides started a fierce battle at the exit of the forbidden pit. At this time, there were still rebels pouring out of the forbidden pit. In just one bag of cigarettes, the rebels who came out had already surrounded the troops of the Wang Shihui, and the result of the battle was no longer in suspense. .

In less than half an hour, the 800 troops of Wang Shihui were depleted, and Wang Shihui himself was injured in many places.

However, Li Tangbin was extremely brave. He personally rushed to and fro on the battlefield, blood and blood flew everywhere he passed.

Master Wang saw that the situation was over, and he didn't want to be captured and humiliated, so he simply killed himself with his sword and shed the last drop of blood for the Tang Dynasty.

Li Tangbin ordered 1000 troops to guard the exit of the forbidden pit, and he led the rest of the troops into Tongguan.

After receiving the news sent by Li Tangbin, Shang Rang also led the brigade through the forbidden pit and went around Tongguan.

Zhang Chengfan heard the shouts of killing behind him, and knew that the Wang Shihui's men and horses still hadn't come, so he rushed to guard the forbidden pit.The forbidden pit was lost, and there was no point in defending Tongguan any longer. He simply called out and withdrew his troops, and led the remnants of the defeated generals all the way westward, fleeing in the direction of Chang'an.

In just two days, Tongguan Tianxian, the last line of defense in the east of Chang'an, has been occupied by Huang Chao's rebels.

On the third day, that is, the third day of the twelfth lunar month, Huang Chao ordered Meng Kai's general Cheng Linghuan to lead 5000 troops to guard Tongguan.

When Huang Chao's rebel army arrived at Huazhou City, they suddenly felt that something was wrong in Huazhou City, and they couldn't figure out what was wrong.Suddenly, I saw a big character "Zhao" written on the big banner at the top of the city!

Huang Chao thought: "Who is the guard in Huazhou City? Doesn't it look like an official army?"