Chapter 68 159 Zhang Grass Patrol Borrows Arrows

After Tang Xuanzong escaped from Chang'an, Anlushan rebels attacked Chang'an.Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi had to abandon Hebei when they heard that Chang'an had fallen, Li Guangbi retreated to Taiyuan, and Guo Ziyi returned to Lingwu.The counties and counties of Hebei that had been recovered fell into the hands of the rebels again. Before the rebels entered Tongguan, An Lushan sent Linghu Chao, a surrendered general of the Tang Dynasty, to attack Yongqiu (now Qi County, Henan).Linghu Chao was originally the magistrate of Yongqiu County. When Anlu Mountain occupied Luoyang, Linghu Chao had already surrendered.There is Zhenyuan County near Yongqiu. The county magistrate Zhang Xun refused to surrender, so he recruited more than a thousand strong men and occupied Yongqiu.Linghu Chao brought 40,000 rebels to attack.The soldiers Zhang Xun and Yongqiu stood guard for more than 60 days. The soldiers wore armor to eat, bandaged the wounds and fought again. They repelled more than 300 attacks by the rebels and killed a large number of rebels.

The second time, Linghu Chao gathered people and horses to attack the city.At this time, news of Chang'an's fall had reached Yongqiu. Linghu Chao was very happy and sent a letter to Zhang Xun, urging him to surrender. The news of Chang'an's fall spread among the generals of the Tang army.There were six generals in Yongqiu City, all of whom were very prestigious. Looking at the situation, they were all shaken.They went to Zhang Xun together and said: "The power gap between the two sides is too great now. Besides, the emperor doesn't know whether he is dead or alive. It's better to surrender."

When Zhang Xun heard this, his lungs exploded.But on the surface, he pretended to be nonchalant and promised to discuss it with everyone tomorrow.On the second day, he summoned all the soldiers of the county to the hall, called six generals to him, announced that they had committed the crime of betraying the country and shaking the morale of the army, and executed them on the spot.The soldiers were very excited when they saw it, and expressed their resolute resistance to the end. The rebels continued to attack the city, and Zhang Xun organized soldiers to shoot random arrows on the top of the city to force the rebels back.However, as the days went by, the arrows in the city ran out.Why isn't Zhang Xun anxious about this matter!

One late night, the city of Yongqiu was covered in darkness, and there were hundreds of soldiers in black clothes climbing down the wall along the ropes.This incident was discovered by Linghu Chao's soldiers, and they quickly reported it to the general.Linghu Chao concluded that Zhang Xun sent troops to attack, so he ordered the soldiers to shoot arrows at the top of the city until the sky turned white. The rebels took a closer look and saw that the walls were full of straw figures. At the head of Yongqiu city over there, Zhang Xun's soldiers happily pulled the draftsmen.The thousand straw figures were densely packed with arrows.The soldiers are thicker, but there are hundreds of thousands of them.In this way, there is no need to worry about the arrows in the city!

A few days later, just like that night, a "straw man" appeared on the city wall again.When Linghu Chao's soldiers saw it, they were very angry and funny, thinking that Zhang Xun had come to cheat their arrows again.Everyone ignores it. Who knew that this time it was not the straw man who was hanged from the city, but the five hundred warriors sent by Zhang Xun.The five hundred warriors took advantage of the unsuspecting rebels and launched a surprise attack on Linghu Chao's camp.It was too late for Linghu Chao to organize resistance.Tens of thousands of rebels lost their command and ran in all directions. They fled for more than ten miles before taking a breath and stopping.

Linghu Chao was caught in the trick one after another, he was so angry that he gritted his teeth, and after returning, he increased his troops to attack the city.Zhang Xun sent his general Lei Wanchun to command the defense from the top of the city.When the rebels saw a general appearing at the top of the city, they shot arrows.Lei Wanchun was caught off guard, and was shot in the face by six arrows.In order to stabilize the morale of the army, he held back the pain and stood motionless.The rebel soldiers thought that Zhang Xun was full of tricks, and this time he must have sent some wooden man to deceive them.

Later, Linghu Chao learned from the spies that the "wooden man" standing still after being hit by an arrow was General Lei Wanchun, and he couldn't help being surprised.Linghu Chao called out from the city to invite Zhang Xun to meet.Zhang Xun went to the top of the city, and Linghu Chao said to him: "I saw General Lei's bravery, and I know that your military discipline is indeed strict. But it's a pity that you don't know the destiny!" Zhang Xun replied with a sneer, "You don't even understand the principles of life, so why are you talking about destiny!" Then he ordered the soldiers to rush out of the city.Linghu Chao was so frightened that he turned his horse's head and ran away. The fourteen traitors under him were all captured alive by Zhang Xun.

After that, Linghu Chao stationed troops in the north of Yongqiu, constantly harassing Zhang Xun's grain road.There are often tens of thousands of rebels, and Zhang Xun's soldiers are only more than a thousand, but Zhang Xun attacks when he sees the opportunity, and always wins the battle. A year later, Xu Yuan, the prefect of Suiyang (now Shangqiu, Henan, Sui, Sui), sent someone to send an emergency document to Zhang Xun, saying that the rebel general Yin Ziqi would lead an army of 130,000 to attack Suiyang. Zhang Xun received the emergency document and hurriedly led his troops to Suiyang.