If Tongguan is broken, the Guanzhong Plain has been lost. The rebels will be occupied by the rebels, including the capital Chang'an. At the same time, the rebels will no longer worry about food and grass. There is the garrison of the Chang'an City Treasury and the vast Guanzhong Plain official warehouse, and the grain and grass are no longer a problem.

In other words, if the rebels break through Tongguan, the Anxi army's efforts to cut off the rebels' food route between the north and south will be futile.

Some words are cruel, but the generals in the tent are very clear that they need a calm mind during wartime. Regardless of whether they are willing or not, Tongguan is indeed likely to be breached before the Anxi Army arrives. Mr. Gu is preparing for the future and must arrange a new strategic direction for the Anxi Army in advance.

"Mr., if Tongguan is broken, Chang'an City will not be protected. Unless the Anxi Army arrives in time to defend the city with the Chang'an defenders, it may be able to withstand the rebels' offensive." Liu Hongbo said.

Chang Zhong shook his head: "From today, even if we don't eat or drink, we can't get to Chang'an within a few days. After leaving Hangu Pass, there are still many mountains and people, and it's not that we are unwilling to rescue, but we really cannot arrive in time."

Li Siye said in a muffled voice: "If Your Majesty had not asked us to go to Luoyang, it wouldn't have been..."

Chang Zhong shouted sternly: "Li Siye, shut up! Don't want to live anymore?"

Gu Qing sighed: "If Tongguan can be kept for a few more days, everything may be too late..."

Chang Zhong said curiously: "Mr. I think Tongguan will be lost soon?"

Gu Qing nodded: "The more I think about it these days, the more I feel uneasy. The rebel food supply route has been cut off. An Lushan must be willing to put it to death. The attack on Tongguan must be the previous offensive becomes more fierce and fierce. The guard of Tongguan Geshuhan is seriously ill. If the commander of the first army is a little surprised, the morale of the army will inevitably be disintegrated and collapsed. Tongguan is broken only in a moment."

Liu Hongbo sighed and said, "It was originally a good idea for Gao Xianzhi to guard the pass. Why did the emperor replace Gao Xianzhi and let the seriously ill Ge Shuhan guard it? This is simply a life-threatening..."

The generals in the tent spoke quite gentle, but they all complained about the emperor's command and deployment.

Gu Qing saw it and didn't stop it. He smiled slightly and said, "That's the court's business, we can't control it. If Tongguan is broken, there are only more than 20,000 defenders in Chang'an City, and it is absolutely impossible to defend it. The rebels have already occupied the huge territory in Guanzhong, so they will inevitably recruit soldiers and expand their troops..."

He rubbed his eyebrows with a headache, and Gu Qing sighed: "At that time, the world was in chaos, and no one could suppress An Lushan anymore, and the Anxi Army would not do it."

Li Siye gritted his teeth and said, "An Lushan expands his army, and our Anxi army also expands our army! Let's expand a hundred thousand army and fight the An thief to the death!"

Gu Qing picked up a brush on the table and threw it over, cursing: "Sit down for me! Speak lightly, the rebels can help strengthen men and plunder wealthy families among the people. What can we do? How much money, food and grass is needed to raise a 100,000 army? Can you calculate the amount? Can you pay this money?"

Li Siye sat down embarrassedly and said stubbornly: "Mr. Master has always been very good at making money. If he works hard, he might make money..."

Even at such a tense moment, the generals couldn't help laughing.

Gu Qing waved his hand and said seriously: "If Tongguan is broken, the Anxi army will leave Guanzhong and go to the south..."

Turning around and looking at the map, Gu Qing touched his chin and pondered for a long time, staring at a point on the map, pointed his finger up, and said, "The Anxi Army went to Dengzhou, and then changed to Yingzhou. Relying on the prosperity and grain-producing land of Jiangnan Road, let's solve the belly problem of the soldiers first, and then talk about quelling the rebellion."

"Mr., if the rebels occupy Chang'an and continue to move south, what should the Anxi army do?"

"Looking for the fighter opportunity, contact generals such as Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, An Chongzhang, Gao Xianzhi as soon as possible, fight against the rebels in their respective territory, and slowly form an encirclement of the rebels..." Gu Qing looked at the silent generals and suddenly laughed: "Don't be depressed, everyone, we still have great hope. The rebels are at a sharp edge, but after long-term consumption, the one who fails in the end will inevitably be An Lushan."

"Our Anxi Army alone has wiped out tens of thousands of rebels. These tens of thousands are the elite border troops brought out by An Lushan from Fan Yang, annihilated their elites. In the future, even if An Lushan recruits men from various places to expand the rebels, his overall combat quality has declined rapidly. When his elites are almost consumed, the remaining men who are temporarily pulled to make up for the number will be defeated in one blow, which is not worthy of being an enemy."

"An Lushan is already on a dead end without knowing it. Time can witness the rise and fall of the rise and fall. Please be careful, please do not be impatient. My King of Tang will eventually be the final winner."

Gu Qing's words finally made the generals feel a little cheerful.

Li Siye said aloud: "If the rebels break through Tongguan, there will be a lot of casualties. If our Anxi Army strives to fight against the main force of the rebels, it may not be powerless. Master, we don't need to go to the south."

Gu Qing shook his head: "Calculate the current strength of the rebels. An Lushan raised his troops 200,000 when he swept from north to south. There was almost no decent resistance in each city, with a loss of at least 10,000. Later, we were ambushed in Qingzhou, with a loss of more than 20,000. Hangu Pass was ambushed again, with a loss of more than 20,000. Luoyang City and Tongguan were at least 30,000 to 40,000. In fact, the rebels were indeed seriously damaged, and now there are only about half of them left."

"But half of the number is also a hundred thousand army, and it is no worse than the Anxi army. They were once border troops in a hundred battles. What's more, with An Lushan's temperament, when attacking Tongguan, they would inevitably send people to force men to become troops in Guanzhong. It is not difficult to temporarily add 20,000 to 30,000 troops. However, our Anxi army is less than 50,000. If 50,000 to more than 100,000, it may be able to win, but it must be a tragic victory. Why should I exchange the lives of the soldiers for this tragic victory?"

"Victory does have to pay a price, but some prices don't have to be paid. I am very greedy and want both victory and soldiers to live. For these two purposes, I don't mind taking a long way."

The generals finally understood Gu Qing's intention and were convinced by Gu Qing's strategic arrangements. So they stood up and said in unison: "Abide by the orders of the Duke of the Lord."

…………

The next morning, the army continued to head towards Tongguan.

At noon, a cavalry suddenly rushed towards the front. A scout rushed to the front of Gu Qing, the central army, and said, "Mr. Master, the vanguard General Shen, came urgently. Tongguan has been captured by An Lushan's rebels!"

Gu Qing was shocked and his face instantly became ugly.

The guess is the guess, but once his guess really happens, he is still quite shocked.

"Have Shen Tian found out clearly? Is Tongguan really lost?" Gu Qing asked anxiously.

"The news came back from the scout sent by General Shen. When the scout arrived at Tongguan, he happened to see that the wall of Tongguan had fallen. Countless rebels climbed up the wall and fought fiercely with the defenders on the wall. Not long after, Geshuhan's handsome flag was torn off and replaced with An Lushan's handsome flag."

Gu Qing looked shocked, his ears were still buzzing, and he subconsciously shouted: "Han Jie, order the entire army to stop and send someone to tell the forward Shen Tian to withdraw immediately."

A personal guard rode his horse away.

"What's wrong with Ge Shuhan?" Gu Qing asked again.

The scout shook his head: "Tongguan has fallen into the hands of the rebels. Our scout dared not approach, so he had to come back in a hurry to report the military information. The specific matters are not clear."

Gu Qing stood on the mountain road with a horse on his horse, and his mind was confused for a moment, and he felt a sense of loneliness that the world was so great that there was nowhere to go.

Tongguan has been broken, and it is meaningless for Anxi Army to go to Tongguan again. It is too late to go to Chang'an to rescue. The only place to go can only turn to Dengzhou as discussed last night, then continue to go south, turn to Jiangnan Road, and rely on the grain-producing land in Jiangnan to deal with the rebels.

"Han Jie, quickly send the scout to Chang'an to see what happened in Chang'an City..." Gu Qing paused and added: "If you can enter the city, you can check on Zhang Jiuzhang's mansion and Li Shierniang's mansion to see if they have evacuated."

Then Gu Qing called Chang Zhong again and ordered him to send a 2,000 troops to Dengzhou first. After arriving in Dengzhou, he occupied the Dengzhou official warehouse as soon as possible. No one was allowed to move, including the local governors and officials.

"From today, the court no longer has any money and grain supply. Our Anxi Army has become an isolated army. We need to raise money and grain by ourselves. We will take up any official warehouse in any city..." Gu Qing said coldly.

Chang Zhong hesitated and said, "If Your Majesty blames you..."

"Your Majesty has probably left Chang'an for a long time. At this time, he doesn't even care about himself. How can he blame us? Chang Zhong, have you ever seen troubled times? The officials and the military do not care. Whether they can eat or not depends entirely on their own fists. Starting today, we will experience real troubled times and lawless times."

"Tell the entire army to change the route to the south."

At sunset, another scout rushed over.

The scout found more specific information from the defeated army fleeing Tongguan.

The rebels have become more and more intense in the past few days, and the defenders of Tongguan are already showing signs of being unable to support them. Geshuhan dragged his heavy sick body to command the city, and thus barely stabilized the morale of the army.

However, the rebels used fire to attack frantically, and the defenders at the head of Tongguan City suffered a lot of casualties. Geshuhan had already suffered from severe wind disease. Seeing this, he was anxious and fainted on the head of the city.

Geshu Hanyi fainted, and the morale of the Tongguan defenders instantly fell to the bottom. Most of the defenders were Hexi Army and the troops dispatched from Chang'an City. When the Hexi Army bravely fought against the enemy, the Chang'an army, which had been pacified for a long time, became afraid, so someone threw away the weapons and fled.

This is the situation that the most feared in the army is that once the first person escapes, the morale of the army is faster than the avalanche. So a second deserter, a third deserter, and finally all the soldiers from Chang'an City fled, leaving only the broken Hexi army struggling to defend.

The rebels' offensive was already fierce, and so many soldiers fled to the top of Tongguan City. No matter how brave the Hexi army was, they could not resist it. More and more rebels climbed to the top of the city. The Hexi army had to fight fiercely with the rebels at the top of the city, and in the end, Tongguan inevitably fell.
Chapter completed!