Chapter 11 A sudden turn of events
The clever man Murong He led an army of 30,000 and quickly passed through the Qiao-Han Pass, and then headed straight towards Mang Mountain in the north of Luoyang.

And encountered Yang Xun's rebel army in Jingu.

After encountering the government troops in Guanzhong, Yang Xun's rebels fought and retreated. Seeing this, Murong He immediately felt that his guess must be true. The man surnamed Gao was afraid that I would take the credit, so he deliberately wrote a letter to persuade me to be safe.
Of course, in addition to Murong He's own intelligence and talent, many officials around him also tried their best to persuade him to move forward quickly and wipe out the rebels as soon as possible. However, Murong He did not have time to think about whether these local officials in Guanzhong had close ties with the wealthy Hongnong Yang family in Guanzhong.

Instead, it was the deputy general Pang Lingxun who strongly persuaded Murong He to send some scouts to investigate first to prevent ambushes.

Murong He said, "Ambush? Yang Ni is a rebel, and those who followed him are all rioters. Even if they want to lure the enemy into a false defeat, they will be no match for my army. This battle can be decided in one battle. Since General Pang is worried, why don't you lead 5,000 soldiers and horses to cover the rear and stay in the main camp, and I will lead the army to pursue them."

Pang Lingxun wanted to persuade him again, but Murong He did not give him the chance. He assigned 5,000 soldiers and horses to Pang Xun, and then led the army straight to Mangshan.

In fact, this is not Murong He's fault. After all, although he had never fought in a major war, as the commander-in-chief of Guanzhong's military, he had seen many small-scale civil uprisings.

Just send a captain or a lieutenant to lead a few hundred soldiers and horses to wipe out thousands of rioters.

These rioters really just chopped wood for weapons, and went into battle with hoes and sickles. When they met the government cavalry who were all armored, holding three-meter-long horse lances and swords as secondary weapons, they could often kill them with just one encounter, causing them to lose their composure and flee in panic.

Can this be called an army?
So Murong He felt that he had seen through the details of Yang Xun's rebels. Are these people in Dongdu all useless? It took more than half a month for the rebels to advance to Luoyang. If he was the governor of Dongdu, he would have wiped out the rebels long ago and sent the heads of the Yang brothers to Liaodong to reassure the saint.

Are these people in Dongdu afraid of stealing their credit? They are such a mediocre bunch. Fortunately, Dayan has loyal ministers and generals like me.
At this moment, the Yang brothers in Mangshan learned that the reinforcements from Guanzhong had really fallen into the enemy's trap of feigning defeat, and they immediately celebrated.

Yang Sui said: "If Murong He led his army to defend the Xiaoshan Pass, our army would be defeated without a doubt. Now we are heading straight to Mangshan, and we will definitely be defeated. What a pity."

Yang Xun was overjoyed and asked with a smile: "Liu Lang, is it a pity that Murong He has fallen into our trap?"

Yang Sui shook his head and said, "I do feel pity. Why didn't Murong He stay in the Eastern Capital? If he stayed in Luoyang, we could have taken it in ten days."

"Hahahaha, with Liu Lang's advice and my brothers' hard work, Luoyang will be in our hands sooner or later! No need to regret."

Yang Xun laughed proudly, and then ordered his men to put on armor for him. He personally led hundreds of elite soldiers, and came to the forest to set up an ambush with his brother Yang Xi, his confidant Wang Zongyou, Han Chengyan and others.

An hour later, the reinforcements from Guanzhong finally stepped into the rebels' ambush circle. At a command, thousands of arrows were fired like rain.

Most of the hundreds of cavalrymen in the lead were shot dead. Then Yang Xun took the lead, holding a long spear and leading a cavalry team composed of his elite personal soldiers, and caught the Yan army off guard.

The vanguard of the Yan army was composed entirely of pursuit cavalry, who were originally chasing the scattered rebels all the way. They were naturally caught off guard when facing the elite cavalry that suddenly emerged from the forest.

Yang Xun seemed like Xiang Yu's reincarnation, extremely brave, wielding a large spear in his hand, and no one could defeat him. His personal soldiers were all heavily armored cavalrymen, and they were all veterans who had fought hundreds of battles with his father. The charge of such a cavalry was extremely powerful.

The government troops, who were thrown to the ground by the rain of arrows, were already in disarray. When they were hit head-on by the cavalry, they immediately dispersed.

The leader of the vanguard army, Liu Mao, was knocked off his horse by a sweeping blow from Yang Xun's spear, and the vanguard army consisting of hundreds of cavalry and thousands of infantry also collapsed.

Murong He was in the center army and saw that the front army had suffered a setback. He immediately sent a messenger to inquire about the situation. Before the messenger arrived, the defeated soldiers of the front army had already rolled over.

This is the most feared situation on the battlefield. Sometimes the "countercharge" of one's own defeated soldiers is more ferocious than the enemy's cavalry's attack on the formation.

Faced with this unstoppable trend, many famous generals could not stop it, let alone the smart man Murong He.

He didn't believe at all that the rebels were capable of counterattacking, but when he saw the dust raised by the charging cavalry from afar, he had to turn his horse around and join the "countercharge" team.

Even someone as smart as he was understood that the situation at this moment could not be contained at all. The momentum of the fleeing soldiers was like the Yellow River flooding, which was beyond human control.

The chief general, the prince surnamed Murong, fled, not to mention the soldiers under him. They all hated their parents for giving them only two legs, fearing that they would be killed by the rebels if they ran too slowly. Many soldiers even stopped running, threw down their weapons and knelt on the side of the road to beg for surrender. After all, Yang Zhuguo was from Guanzhong, and so were we. Guanzhong people don't fight Guanzhong people.
Yang Xun was not embarrassed to see the surrendered soldiers. After all, he was fighting for the people's salvation and doing righteous things. It was a good thing to see the surrender of the government troops. Moreover, he had long restricted the rebels from killing the surrendered soldiers.

Yang Xun pursued all the way until he met the rear guard army led by Pang Lingxun, and his pursuit was stopped.

Pang Lingxun fought and retreated, and finally led his troops into the Qiaohan Pass, holding the pass by relying on the terrain.

As for the main general Murong He, he was in such a panic that he was surrounded by the rebels at the foot of Mang Mountain, becoming a fish in a net and a turtle in a jar.

Yang Xun deliberately drove the defeated soldiers to the vicinity of Luoyang so that the people in the city would know that the reinforcements from Guanzhong had been defeated.

"King Xian of Wei followed Emperor Wu in his conquests. He was a great man, but how could he have a son like a pig?"

When Gao Shize in the Secretariat heard the news that Murong He was defeated and surrounded, he was so angry that he even cursed him, saying that he was worse than pigs and dogs.

Others might have such concerns, but this veteran minister who had served three dynasties dared to speak out against the emperor, so scolding a defeated royal family member did not seem to be a big deal.

Prince of Qi Murong Ju, who was sitting opposite, could not help but shake his head and lament. The situation was now unpredictable.

If we cooperate with the reinforcements from China and attack the rebels from both sides, we might be able to win the battle in one go.

To take a step back, even if the reinforcements from Guanzhong did not cooperate in the battle, they only needed to control the Qiao-Han Pass and block the rebels' way to the west, thus trapping the rebels to death, and then they could be wiped out when the army from the Eastern Expedition returned.

But in this situation, the situation is difficult to predict.

Because the rebels surrounded Murong He's remnants in Mangshan, the defenders of Luoyang had to send troops to rescue them.

Even though they knew it was a trap, Luoyang still had to send troops.

This is not only to save Murong He, a prince of the royal family, but also to calm people's hearts.

After all, the reinforcements from Guanzhong came to rescue Luoyang. If we sit back and watch them be wiped out by the rebels while the city still has the strength to send out troops, the emperor will hold us accountable when he returns.

Who would be willing to bear the crime of watching friendly forces be destroyed?

The loyal and upright senior officials of three dynasties were unwilling to do so, and Murong Ju, who was born into a royal family and was known for his prudent character, was even more unwilling.

"Greetings to the king, greetings to Lord Gao."

"General Zhao, please excuse me. You should have known the battle report."

Zhao Yi, who had walked into the Shangshutai on orders, naturally understood the purpose of his visit, so he asked for a fight without waiting for Gao Shizhe to speak.

"Replying to Lord Gao, I have learned that King Gaoyang is trapped in Mangshan. I am willing to lead troops to rescue him."

Gao Shize and Murong Ju naturally encouraged this brave general who volunteered to fight, and personally escorted him out of the palace.
At the palace gate, watching the sturdy General Zhao stride forward with great momentum, he looked very majestic. This suddenly brightened the eyes of the sickly Prince of Qi, Murong Ju, and he thought of four words that fit him perfectly.

The dragon soars and the tiger steps.

But, he doesn’t act like a human subject.

(End of this chapter)