The sky is getting colder and the snow is getting bigger and bigger. The dense snowflakes are drifting with the wind, covering the world, mountains and rivers. Even if you stand on the city wall and look down, you can't see it ten steps away. You can see snowflakes flying all over the sky, and a dark wilderness that hides endless horror.
In the middle of the night, Chunming Gate, the main gate of Daxing East City, was wide open. A few days ago, for the soldiers of the Sui Army outside the city, such a situation was a good thing to dream about, but today it really appeared, and the outside of the city was not at all. Not even half of the soldiers of the Sui army could be seen, let alone anyone crossing the moat and entering the city.
Even if the weather was not so cold that the dripping water turned into ice, the rebel civil and military soldiers such as Pei Ji and Zhu Can on the city wall had cold sweat on their foreheads. They all knew that something was wrong, but they didn't know where the problem was. The second is also very confused, I don't know what happened, why haven't the soldiers of the Sui army entered the city to attack
After waiting for half a stick of incense, Pei Ji finally confirmed that it was impossible for the Sui army to launch a sneak attack again, and the self-army's arrangement today was already in vain. Frightened and angry, Pei Ji grabbed Zhu Can by the collar, He shouted angrily and asked, "Why didn't the thief Chen Yingliang come? Did you play some tricks? Notified the officers and soldiers that there was an ambush here?"
"You are wronged, Pei Changshi, you are wronged and you are the last general." Zhu Can hurriedly cried out, twisting his body and said, "Look, Pei Changshi, my hands and feet are tied up by you, what can I use to send a signal to the outside of the city? Now, my life is being pinched by you, how can I have the guts to play tricks again?"
"Then why didn't the thief Chen Yingliang come?" Pei Ji asked angrily.
"How do I know?" Zhu Can wept, and analyzed: "Maybe Chen has already seen through it, and you know Pei Changshi, that dog thief surnamed Chen is slipperier than a loach. It’s all difficult. Also, it’s also possible that something happened to your subordinates and you secretly reported it to him. You know, your army’s morale is not stable now, and quite a few people have secretly contacted Chen in private…”
"Fuck you!" Pei Ji, who was always elegant, couldn't bear it any longer. He raised his leg and kicked Zhu Can on the city wall, and shouted, "Close the city gate! Send someone to contact the left and right governors, and ask them to come here immediately! "
The rebel soldiers next to them agreed, and rushed down to close the city gate, while inviting Li Da and Li Er to go to the city to discuss matters. However, when the city gate was slowly closing, there were suddenly drums and horns outside the city. Frightening the rebel soldiers who were closing the gate, Pei Ji was in a dilemma. He didn't know whether to keep closing the gate or open the gate again to lure the Sui army into the city. Considering that the rebels were fully prepared in the city, and the narrow city gate corridors did not allow the Sui army to enter the city quickly, Pei Ji gritted his teeth and shouted: "Open the door again, send people to rule the left and right governors, and let them wait a little longer." !"
The city gate was opened again, but the calm outside the city soon returned, and there was still not a single soldier of the Sui army entering the city. After wasting a lot of precious time again, Pei Ji realized that he was being bluffed The Sui army's drum team played a trick, and could only order to close the city gate again in a panic, ignoring the Sui army's gongs, drums and horns sounding outside the city again, and at the same time sent people to invite Li Jiancheng and Li Er to go to the city to discuss matters immediately.
Li Jiancheng and Li Er had also sensed that the situation was not good. As soon as they received Pei Ji's invitation, they immediately flew to the city to meet Pei Ji. Pei Ji also quickly told the Li family brothers about the situation. Immediately grabbed Zhu Can and asked him if he still used a secret signal to inform the Sui army outside the city that there was an ambush in the city. Zhu Can continued to cry for grievances with a mournful face, but Li Er was extremely calm. The dog thief has long known that Chunming Gate is a trap, otherwise, Chen dog thief would not have arranged a drum team to play tricks on us!"
"Second Young Master is right, that's the truth." Pei Ji also came to his senses, and then wondered again, saying, "Then why doesn't Chen Yingliang, that bastard, just follow his tactics? Isn't this his style of fighting?"
It is indeed not Chen Sangliang's despicable style to turn against the Yin rebels without a plan. Li Er was also puzzled by this. At this time, the answer finally came out. A sharp-eyed rebel soldier suddenly pointed to the northwest direction and shouted He said: "Look quickly, the flames on the side of Miyagi and Imperial City are wrong! It's much brighter than before!"
The rebel trio quickly turned their heads to look to the northwest, and saw that something was wrong with the flames around Miyagi and Imperial City in the northwest. It was much brighter than before, and the brightness was still increasing rapidly, but the distance was too far away. No shouting was heard. But this is enough, it is enough to make the hands and feet of the rebel trio feel numb and their backs feel cold, and they all said in their hearts, "Don't let something happen to Xuanwu Sect!"
A fast horse yelled urgent slogans, and rushed directly from the upper ramp to the city wall. As soon as it saw the three-member rebel group, it shouted before dismounting: "The left and right governors, Pei Changshi, something happened to Miyagi!" It seems that some officers and soldiers have entered Miyagi from Xuanwu Gate. We asked Zhaoyang Gate defenders what happened, but they didn’t know. We only heard shouts of killing and fire from Xuanwu Gate, but no firewood was received. I didn’t dare to leave my post after the general manager’s order to join the war!”
Hearing this report, Pei Ji sat down on the city wall, trembling all over his body, but Li Er didn't hesitate, and immediately shouted: "Uncle Pei, Chunming Gate is here for the time being, please, if the officers and soldiers attack the city, Fight with all your strength! Brother, you and I should lead the army back to the palace!"
After finishing speaking, Li Er immediately got on his horse and galloped down the city, his face was so gloomy that he was almost dripping water, and he was also thinking quickly, secretly said: "How did Chen Yingliang's dog thief enter Xuanwu Gate? Why didn't Chai Shao order the army to reinforce Xuanwu Gate? Why? Didn't you ask us for help? Could it be that there are traitors in Miyagi, who killed Chai Shao and opened the Xuanwu Gate? Or..."
Thinking of a certain possibility, Li Er shivered subconsciously. He was so frightened that he didn't dare to analyze further. He just hurriedly led the rebel cavalry who were waiting in the city, and rushed all the way back to the imperial city. City, then went straight to the south three gates of Miyagi, and when they went straight all the way to the vicinity of Miyagi, there was already a sea of torches under the south three gates of Miyagi. There was a gathering at the gate, but the three south gates of the palace city were still closed, and the rebel soldiers could not enter the city for reinforcements, and some rebel soldiers could be vaguely seen knocking on the gate with a wooden door.
When the shouts of killing came from the wall of the south gate of the palace city, Li Er came to his cousin Li Shentong. As soon as he met, Li Shentong sweated profusely and said: "Erlang, Zhaoyang Gate and Yong'an Gate , Changle Gate’s keys were taken away by Chai Shao, and Chai Shao disappeared, and the officers and soldiers rushed to the corridor of the city gate, our men couldn’t break the latch, we had to knock on the door.”
"Use a human ladder to go up to the city, first defend the city wall!" Li Er shouted.
Li Shentong, who hadn't turned the corner before, came back to his senses, and quickly ordered the rebel soldiers to use human ladders to go up the city. A large number of rebel soldiers hurriedly formed human ladders to climb up, and some rebel soldiers who were good at climbing He also climbed the wall with bare hands while biting his weapon, but it was too late to do so. The city wall was already full of flames, swords and guns collided endlessly, and the slogans of surrender could still be vaguely heard, and corpses of rebel soldiers began to fall. city walls.
Finally, the first Yaksha full of sharps crashed down and smashed into the dense crowd of rebels, smashing several rebel soldiers into meat paste on the spot, followed by sheep's head stones like hail and raindrops , ash bottles, and logs fell down, among which were mixed rebel soldiers and lit gunpowder bottles, causing the rebel soldiers to howl like ghosts and wolves, screaming continuously, and a gunpowder bottle fell on the rebel ladder and exploded. The rebels were screaming, and the rebel soldiers on the top fell to the ground one by one.
Previously, in order to keep the last hiding place of Miyagi, the rebels had prepared sufficient supplies for the defense of the city on the walls of the palace. At this moment, these supplies for the defense of the city became the best weapon to kill the soldiers of the rebels. Li Er, Li Shentong, etc. The generals of the rebel army were of course pale and terrifying, but in order to gain the last chance to counterattack, Li Er and Li Shentong kept urging the rebel soldiers to continue to move forward and stormed the three gates of the palace city. One after another, the screams of killing and the screams of dying came one after another, complementing each other, playing the symphony of Li Yuan's rebels' dying struggle.
No matter how desperately struggling, the soldiers of the Sui army had obviously controlled the city gate and the corridor, resisting the city gate to buy time for the city to go to the battlefield. No matter how the rebel soldiers hit the palace gate, it was useless. Without the preparation of siege equipment, the rebel soldiers who climbed the city with bare hands could not rush up the city wall quickly and effectively to help the battle, no matter how tenaciously they climbed. And as time passed rapidly, the shouts of killing and the clash of swords and guns on the city wall became less and less, replaced by more densely falling sheep's head stones and rolling logs, and at the same time feather arrows began to fall on the city wall. The generals and soldiers of the Sui Army had gradually freed up their hands, and the complete destruction of the rebels in the city was only a matter of seconds.
When Li Jiancheng rushed to the gate of the palace city with the infantry brigade, it was already too late. The rebel soldiers on the palace city had been completely wiped out, either killed or captured. All kinds of defensive weapons hit the rebels attacking the city head-on, smashing to death the rebel soldiers who carried large logs into the city, and shot the rebel soldiers' corpses all over the ground with strong bows and crossbows, and kept retreating to escape , including Li Er and Li Shentong have been forced to retreat a hundred steps away to avoid arrows. At the same time, the interior of Miyagi was full of flames, and there was already a clue that the soldiers of the Sui army were gathering to counterattack.
"Daxing is impossible to defend." This was the first sentence Li Er and Li Jiancheng met, and then Li Er said: "Chen Yingliang's dog thief has captured Miyagi, and our backs and hearts are all exposed in front of him. He We can fight however we want. Right now we only have two options, one is to fight in the street with Chen Yingliang, and defend one or two squares to wait for reinforcements, or the other is to quickly abandon the city, save our strength and transfer to other places, and wait for the opportunity to make a comeback."
"How do you plan to choose?" Li Jiancheng asked back.
Li Er did not answer with a sullen face, and asked again: "Do you think we have any hope of holding out until the reinforcements arrive?"
"There is almost no hope." Li Jiancheng replied: "Our morale is not high, the folk square is not strong enough, the possibility of long-term defense is very small, and Xue Ju's side may not be reliable. Even if we can arrive in time, it is impossible for us and the officials. The army is desperate."
Li Er nodded, and it was rare to agree with his elder brother. Li Shentong next to him was anxious, and hurriedly said: "Then let's quickly abandon the city and march west with soldiers and horses to vote for Dou Jing and Xue Ju. Or go to Sanguan to meet Uncle Xiao Guo, and go there to make a comeback!"
Under the current situation, it is undoubtedly the best choice for the rebels to go west and join many allies there, but the hidden prince Li Jiancheng and Tang Taizong Li Er have a longer-term view than Li Shentong. After looking at each other, Li Jiancheng first Said: "I don't think we can go west. It is true that Dou Jing and Xiao Yu are our allies, but their strength is too weak to keep us. Xue Ju has already proclaimed himself emperor, and the alliance with us is clearly to covet Guanzhong. We are in a hurry. If you vote, not only will you not gain his respect, but if you don’t surrender to him, your life will be in danger.”
"That's right." Li Er nodded, and said, "Chen Yingliang sent Ma Sanbao to the west to prevent us from going west. Li Jing and Qu Tutong in the south of Daxing City have not moved, and they are probably waiting for us in the west. , if we rush westward, not only will we be hit head-on, but Chen Yingliang will definitely hunt us down to the end, and won't give us a chance to escape."
"Also." Li Er added: "At this point in the matter, Xiao Yu and Dou Jing are likely to be unreliable. They didn't have Yi Qi to start an incident, and if they saw Chen Yingliang's soldiers approaching the city, they might still take Our heads show our loyalty to Chen Yingliang in exchange for their glory and wealth."
"Go back to Taiyuan!" Li Jiancheng made a decisive decision, gritted his teeth and said: "Our army is originally composed of soldiers from the middle of Jin and the south of Jin, and we will take them back. They will not have too many deserters in order to go home, and they will also surrender in honor along the way. We, the resistance is relatively small. If we take them to flee west, the officers and soldiers will block us and chase us, and we will fall apart without hitting us."
Li Er nodded, and after looking at each other with Li Jiancheng, the two brothers said in unison: "Retreat to the northwest, bypass Longshou Mountain and take the Weishuibian Bridge to the north, take the Jingyang Sanyuan road to the north to Shangjun, and cross the Yellow River in Wencheng to return to Taiyuan. !"
After finishing the retreat plan that had been brewing in his heart for a long time in one voice, Li Er added another sentence, "Let Li Xiaogong empress, His Royal Highness Dai Wang die in his hands, he can't surrender!"
Brothers are of one heart, and their profit cuts gold. At this moment of life and death, Li Jiancheng and Li Er brothers no longer cared about who should be the coach and who should obey whose orders. One army retreated to the outside of the city, and at the same time, they organized soldiers to set fire outside the three south gates of the palace city, temporarily blocking the Sui army's counterattack with raging fire, and buying time for the self-army to abandon the city and retreat as much as possible.
Chen Sangliang's reaction was also very quick. He received a report that the rebels set fire outside the gate of the palace city. Chen Sangliang immediately guessed that the Li family brothers planned to save their strength and abandon the city to retreat. Unfortunately, Chen Sangliang At this critical moment, he made a wrong judgment, and instead of preventing the Li Family Brotherhood from withdrawing to Taiyuan, he sent a fast horse to Li Jing and Qu Tutong to order them to defend the rebels fleeing to Fufeng County to the west. Road, do not give the main force of the rebels any chance to go west.
In fact, this is not a wrong judgment, and it is not that Chen Sangliang deliberately released water to leave a way for his good friend Li Jiancheng to survive, but that after the Li family brothers escaped into Sichuan, which is currently very empty and extremely rich, it would be too much to wipe them out quickly. It's difficult, luck is a little bit bad, and it is possible for the Li family brothers to establish a country in central Shu and proclaim themselves emperor in the future, so Chen Sangliang has no choice but to block the Li family brothers' access to Shu first. ——In order to prevent the Li family brothers from entering Sichuan through the dangerous road of Ziwu Valley, Chen Sangliang still asked his cousin to allocate more than a thousand troops to guard Ziwu Pass on Li Jing's order.
Although all the gates of the outer city are still under control, and the Sui army has not launched an attack from the outside for the time being, the fire that the rebels hastily lit still failed to buy much time, and the condescending Sui army soldiers quickly threw water and stones In this way, the fire outside Zhaoyangmen was extinguished, and the rebels who were still retreating were attacked from the inside out, and a completely one-sided battle in the city began.
The so-called street fighting was actually a massacre. The panic-stricken rebel soldiers only cared about running for their lives and had no intention of fighting. The local soldiers in Guanzhong scrambled to surrender on their knees. They neither wanted to be buried for Li Yuan nor escaped with the rebels. The rebels also opened the city gates and fled. The Sui army outside the city also took the opportunity. Launching an attack and desperately weakening the ability of the rebels to fight again, there were shouts of killing everywhere inside and outside Daxing City, there were torches everywhere, and there were rebel soldiers fleeing with large bags and small bags everywhere.
The brothers of the Li family, who went directly to the northeast of Daxing and opened the far gate to flee the city, took the initiative and escaped from Daxing City very smoothly. They didn't notice that they went directly to Weishui Bianqiao to go north, and the main force under Chen Sangliang's command was blocked by Longshou Mountain, and they didn't immediately notice this situation. And when the scouts of the Sui army reported the movement of the main force of the rebel army to Chen Sangliang, it was too late for Chen Sangliang to send troops to stop him. The psychological preparation of rival Li Er.
At dusk, the soldiers of the Sui army had basically controlled the inner and outer cities of Daxing, but the pursuit battle outside the city was still going on, and there were still many rebel soldiers hiding in the city. Chen Sangliang could only command the army to kill the remnants of the enemy in the city. , chasing and killing the rebels outside the city, while rushing out to appease the people, it is strictly forbidden for the Sui army officers and soldiers to take the opportunity to loot the people. And it was also at this time that Chai Shao, the greatest hero of the Sui army in restoring the capital of Daxing, was finally led by Kan Leng to Chen Sangliang. We met in a friendly manner on both sides.
Chai Shao's expression was still a little embarrassed and shy. Dugu Huai'en, another great hero, had already prostrated himself in front of Chen Sangliang to flatter him, but Chai Shao still hesitated and did not kneel down, and there was no one of the Sui army soldiers beside him. Blaming and urging him, everyone knows that he really has something to hide. In the end, it was Chen Sangliang who took the initiative to greet Chai Shao after helping Lonely Wynn with his own hands, and said with a smile: "Brother Sichang, you have worked hard. I must thank you this time. You have saved at least tens of thousands of people." Your life deserves great credit. Don't worry, I will immediately play His Majesty the Emperor Ming and His Royal Highness the King of Yue, and reward you for your merits."
Gritting his teeth, Chai Shao finally knelt down to Chen Sangliang Jishou, the first time willingly knelt down to Chen Sangliang Jishou, cupped his hands and said: "The sinner Chai Shao dare not take credit for the reward. But I don't care about grudges..."
"It's all in the past, why are you still talking about him?" Chen Sangliang interrupted, helped Chai Shao with his own hands, and said very sincerely: "Brother Sichang, you did something wrong before, but you also It's human nature to think about the lifelong happiness of my own sister, if it were me, maybe I would do the same as you."
"Brother Sichang, in fact, I still want to thank you." Chen Sangliang said again: "Without you two years ago, I could not have achieved such a brilliant victory in Yanmen. It is a heavy loss. You have done a lot for me, let him pass the past, we are family friends, from now on, we will be family brothers again, Chai Shixiong."
"Stay behind, you..."
Chai Shao's muttering was interrupted by Chen Sangliang, and Chen Sangliang solemnly called out: "Brother Chai Shi."
"Xian..., brother virtuous." Chai Shao finally called out this address with a blushing face. Chen Sangliang smiled and shook Chai Shao's hand, and Chai Shao also shook Chen Sangliang's hand. The four hands were the first Hold each other tightly.