Upon seeing this, several junior officers in the Imperial Guards quickly ordered their soldiers to stabilize their formation and not panic.
However, the imperial guards were a newly defeated army, and their morale was low. Emperor Zheng Yao changed commanders twice before the battle, which made their morale even lower. The newly appointed veteran general Bai Wenbo originally planned to take advantage of the natural barrier of Tongguan to easily win a few small victories, slowly reorganize the troops and improve morale. But he did not expect that the Youyan army would break through Tongguan and enter the capital in the first battle. Now it is a fierce battle, and the outcome is still unknown.
The imperial guards had just mustered up the courage to fight to the death with the Youyan army, but the long-lost and prestigious Marshal Dai Luanxiang appeared behind them, and from his words, it seemed that he was planning to surrender to the King of Youyan.
As a result, the rare morale of the imperial guards suffered a severe blow. Not only did they stop fighting, but dozens of cowardly soldiers even dropped their weapons and fled.
In fact, Dai Luanxiang only had about eighty people, including the four of him and the guards left by Qiu Yizhi. As long as the government army had a responsible captain or captain to lead his troops, they could capture him in one fell swoop, or at worst drive him away.
However, Dai Luanxiang's prestige in the army was very high, and there were many people in the imperial guards who were dissatisfied with the court. No one wanted to be the first to stand out, and they allowed him to continue to shake the morale of the army here.
At this moment, the old general Bai Wenbo, who was in charge of the battle, heard the news that Dai Luanxiang appeared in the rear army, and immediately realized the seriousness of the matter. He abandoned his primary task of commanding in front of the pass and led a few personal soldiers down the pass to the rear of the formation. Sure enough, he saw Dai Luanxiang standing in front of him on horseback, guarded by dozens of soldiers dressed as pass guards.
Too many strange things happened in today's battle. Bai Wenbo was numb and had no intention of understanding the reasons. He just wanted to get rid of this matter as soon as possible, so he shouted loudly: "Who is here to incite people? Shut up, otherwise you will not escape the ruthless military law!"
He was always known for his strict military discipline. After he gave the order, no one in the imperial guards dared to shout loudly anymore and they immediately fell silent.
Bai Wenbo drove his horse forward again, and in silence, he said to Dai Luanxiang: "This is a bloody battlefield. Marshal Dai, why don't you retreat quickly to avoid being accused of being in a melon field?"
The relationship between Dai Luanxiang and Bai Wenbo is complicated.
Bai Wenbo was a veteran general, and was Dai Luanxiang's superior at the beginning; but Dai Luanxiang had outstanding military achievements, and soon became Bai Wenbo's superior. Moreover, Dai Luanxiang preferred to fight against the enemy in the field, while Bai Wenbo preferred to use strong cities and fortresses to wear down the enemy's strength. The two often had different views and were not on good terms.
Therefore, it was very rare that Bai Wenbo did not take the opportunity to make things difficult for Dai Luanxiang when he held the military power.
Dai Luanxiang also knew that Bai Wenbo usually had some complaints about him and had a very explosive temper. It was very polite for him to speak to him like this, so he chose his words carefully and said: "General Bai, how are you? I came here to save you. The court is now in a state of disarray, with treacherous officials in power and framing loyal officials. I was loyal to my master, but ended up like this. This is the best evidence. And the Prince of Youyan is wise and brave. Why don't you follow his order to suppress the rebellion and strike back to achieve..."
Dai Luanxiang was about to give a long speech to buy time, but was interrupted by Bai Wenbo, "I appreciate Marshal Dai's kindness. But I have served the court for more than fifty years, and my old bones cannot compare to Marshal Dai's talent and loyalty to the country. Zheng Rong may not be impressed by him. I naturally have no intention of offending him. Therefore, Marshal, there is no need to say more, please leave quickly and don't miss your bright future!"
Dai Luanxiang was not angry after hearing Bai Wenbo's sarcasm, and said: "I know the kind of person that General Bai and the soldiers of the Imperial Guards are. How could they dare to betray the court if they were not at their wit's end? I hope General Bai will think twice about what I say!" After that, he dismounted and bowed deeply in the direction of Bai Wenbo and the Imperial Guards.
Bai Wenbo certainly knew what Dai Luanxiang did on a daily basis - even if the entire imperial army rebelled and only one general was left to fight the enemy alone, Dai Luanxiang would be that general - as Dai Luanxiang said, unless he was really at his wit's end and had lost all hope, Dai Luanxiang would never surrender to the enemy.
Thinking of this, Bai Wenbo was speechless for a moment.
At this time, Dai Luanxiang's mother rode out from the side on horseback, saluted and said, "General Bai, do you still recognize me, an old lady?"
Bai Wenbo was surprised when he saw this and said, "It turns out that the old lady is here! This is indeed beyond my expectation. With the old lady's resume, why not persuade Marshal Dai to change his mind and be loyal to the court again? I believe the emperor will have another decree."
Mother Dai laughed out loud and said, "General Bai said it well! It was me who persuaded my son Luanxiang to change his mind. My son originally wanted to die with the tyrant, but it was thanks to me threatening to die that he persuaded him to join Prince Youyan!"
Upon hearing this, Bai Wenbo was speechless again.
Dai's mother continued, "My son Luanxiang has always been arrogant because of his talent. He has some conflicts with General Bai. This is a common thing and there is no need to hide it. But the old general and my late old man were good friends. Why don't he listen to my advice for the sake of this dead man?" As she spoke, Dai's mother began to talk about the truth in a torrent of words.
Dai's mother was of high status and seniority, and was one year older than Bai Wenbo. Bai Wenbo was not in a position to interrupt her directly, and was about to find an excuse to take over the conversation, when he heard a report from his personal guard: "General, the Youyan Army reinforcements have arrived, numbering more than 50,000, carrying ladders, and are preparing to storm Tongguan. Please make the decision, General!"
Bai Wenbo was anxious after hearing this, and he didn't care about his face anymore. He ordered fiercely: "All soldiers, listen up! Dai Luanxiang and others are wanted criminals of the court. Don't listen to their instigation!" He also ordered a captain beside him, "Select 500 soldiers and take down Dai Luanxiang and others. Just treat them with courtesy and don't kill them!"
To be fair, Bai Wenbo also felt that Emperor Zheng Yao's treatment of Dai Luanxiang was unreasonable, and he did not want to capture Dai Luanxiang himself. Considering the tense military situation on the battlefield, after giving the order, he turned his horse around and returned to the Tongguan city wall with his personal guards to command the battle.
After hearing Bai Wenbo's order, the captain selected five hundred elite soldiers, hastily formed a battle formation, and charged towards Dai Luanxiang and others.
Dai Luanxiang saw that the situation was not good, and was about to lead his mother, children, and more than 80 Youyan soldiers to retreat for a while, but he heard Dai Song beside him step forward and say, "Father, let's see what I can do."
Dai Song rode forward and took a pre-prepared bamboo pole from the side of the saddle. The front end of the bamboo pole was cut off in half diagonally with a sharp blade, making it into the shape of a spear.
He held the bamboo spear in his hand, took aim, stretched out his arm and threw the spear out.
Dai Song was extremely strong. He could lift a stone lion weighing three or four hundred kilograms with his bare hands. He threw the bamboo spear with all his strength, and it was indeed extraordinary. With a strange whistling sound, it pierced into the chest of the leading captain.
The captain was also a strong man, but he could not withstand the impact of the blow. He fell backwards from his horse and died.
The soldiers were horrified to see how powerful Dai Song's methods were. They just stood there and no one dared to step forward.
Dai Song did not hesitate, he took out another bamboo spear and threw it towards the imperial guards.
An officer in the imperial guards' uniform was hit by a bamboo spear and also fell off his horse, spitting blood and dying.
Dai Song was very excited to see that he had shown great skills in his first battle. He took out a bamboo spear and looked for the generals in the imperial army to kill them.
When the inspectors, lieutenants, and generals on horseback in the imperial guards saw this, they were all horrified and dismounted. They secretly ordered their soldiers to take out their bows and arrows to shoot Dai Luanxiang, Dai Song and others into hedgehogs.
While Dai Song was still looking for a sniper target, his father Dai Luanxiang had already noticed the movements of the imperial guards and hurriedly ordered everyone to retreat and get out of the range of the government army's bows and arrows.
Dai Song did not dare to disobey the order. He randomly found a captain in the front row, threw a bamboo spear at him, and killed him. Then he took out another bamboo spear in his hand and personally covered the retreat for his father.
The imperial guards had all seen Dai Song's abilities, and they were afraid that he would die immediately, so they dared not follow him. By the time they took out their bows and arrows and prepared to shoot, Dai Luanxiang and his men had already left the range and fled into the town on the side of Tongguan, and they could no longer find their figures.
Although Dai Luanxiang did not persuade a single officer or soldier to defect, he did shake the morale of the imperial guards.
The Youyan vanguard led by General Cui Nan, who was fighting against rebellion, immediately felt the pressure in front of them suddenly reduced, so they pushed the front line forward a lot in one go.
The old general Bai Wenbo, who was originally preparing to re-climb the Tongguan Pass wall and command the frontal defense, found that the battle situation was not good, and hurriedly ordered all the reserve troops under the pass to join the battle. The strength of the imperial army was increased, and the front line was naturally stabilized.
However, the strength of the Youyan army entering Tongguan also increased, and they gradually gained a firm foothold. The imperial guards could no longer squeeze the Youyan army out.
Although the war was developing in a direction favorable to the Youyan army, it once again fell into a stalemate.
At this time, 50,000 reinforcements led by Zheng Miao and others finally arrived at Tongguan.
The Youyan army was good at field battles but poor at sieges. Although they had undergone targeted siege training before, their movements still seemed a bit clumsy. It took a lot of effort to set up the ladders, but half of the ladders they transported were damaged.
However, the Youyan army that came to reinforce had just rested and gathered their strength, and Youyan King Zheng Rong offered a generous reward of "the first one to climb the mountain will be rewarded with 100 taels of gold and be promoted to General of the Central Army", which further boosted their morale. As soon as the ladder was set up, they raised their shields in one hand and held their sharp blades in the other, climbed up the ladder and climbed towards Tongguan.
The powerful crossbows that the Youyan army at the pass was proud of were also not idle. They took advantage of their long range and strong power and continuously shot at Tongguan - regardless of whether they could hit the target or not, at least they would shoot the imperial guards at the pass so hard that they could not raise their heads.
Under such circumstances, it is reasonable to send reserve troops to the city walls immediately to reinforce the troops.
However, the reserve troops under the veteran general Bai Wenbo had all been sent to resist the Youyan Road vanguard, and he had no soldiers left. In desperation, Bai Wenbo had to order the guards who were attacking the Youyan vanguard from the west side of the wall to return to the east side to strengthen the frontal defense.
As a result, the vanguard led by General Cui Nan, who was in charge of suppressing rebellion, was freed from the threat from overhead and became more unscrupulous. They mustered their energy and broke through to the west side of Tongguan, and the battle situation expanded instantly.
At the same time, the Youyan army, which was attacking head-on, finally climbed up the wall of Tongguan after suffering considerable casualties. Without saying a word, they picked up swords and started killing people everywhere.
At this point, the old general Bai Wenbo, who was in charge of the defense of Tongguan, had no soldiers left. In desperation, he had to shout loudly, pick up his sword himself, and lead his personal soldiers to fight with the Youyan army on Tongguan.
The main general joined the battle, and the morale of the imperial troops on the wall improved slightly, and they were barely able to fight the enemy on equal terms.
However, the imperial army was already exhausted, and the Youyan army was constantly climbing up the city wall. The Tongguan fortress, which had never fallen for hundreds of years, was in danger. (To be continued)