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The Collapse at Tong Pass and the Flight Following the disastrous order to attack, General Geshu Han led the Tang army out of Tong Pass, only to fall into a rebel ambush at Lingbao. The Tang forces were decimated; of the 200,000 soldiers, fewer than 8,000 survived. Geshu Han was betrayed by his own…
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The Rise of the Yang Clan Yang Guozhong, originally named Yang Zhao, was the nephew of Zhang Yizhi, a favorite consort of Empress Wu Zetian. In his youth, he was a gambler and a drunkard, despised by his relatives until he found a lifeline in the military in Sichuan. His fortune changed dramatically when…