Let me also introduce Liu Dewei's background by the way. Liu Dewei was originally from Pengcheng, Xuzhou. Li Yuan made small contributions in the South and North Wars, and he also gained Li Yuan's trust and love. After Li Yuan launched an army, Li Yuanji was ordered to stay in Taiyuan, and Liu Dewei was appointed as the commander of the Taiyuan marching army to Li Yuanji as the chief military assistant. Because Li Yuanji was only fifteen years old at the time, before Li Jiancheng fled back to Taiyuan, the Taiyuan military was actually Andy Lau is in charge.
During the stay in Taiyuan with Li Yuanji, although Liu Dewei did not have any outstanding performance, it can be regarded as not bad. At least he kept the basic situation of the old Li family. Regarded as his confidant, Li Jiancheng fled back to Taiyuan and reorganized the army. Li Yuanji, who had grown up and became ambitious, forced Liu Dewei to be one of the thirteen generals of the Taiyuan Army, insisting that Liu Dewei be in charge of an army. But Li Jiancheng not only agreed with his fourth brother to hand over the power, but also let Liu Dewei guard Taiyuan all the time, so Liu Dewei's soldiers and horses are still intact, and he has always been very close to Li Yuanji.
Intimate relationship belongs to close relationship, but if Liu Dewei is really determined to help Li Yuanji launch a mutiny, of course it will definitely not be so easy, but fortunately, Li Er is very smart to let Li Yuanji showdown against Liu Dewei at this moment, and immediately put Liu Dewei to death. Threatened to a desperate situation where he had to choose yes or no, it completely eliminated the possibility of Liu Dewei betraying the Li family. Liu Dewei, who had no knowledge beforehand, was also completely caught in a dilemma, and he didn't know how to choose.
"General Liu, you can't surrender, you can't surrender." Li Jiancheng, whose mouth was strangled, said with difficulty, "We still have hope, we still have hope to defend Taiyuan City, and we cannot surrender on our knees."
"General Dewei, we didn't want to do this at first." Li Er said with a smile: "But there is no way, if we don't make a decision early, when the king of Tang's army releases water to besiege the city, it will be too late for us to abandon the dark and turn to the bright. From Long It's early, we go to vote for His Highness the King of Tang now, not only will our lives be guaranteed, but we can also be entrusted with official titles and enjoy glory and wealth, General, you are a smart person, don't you not understand this truth?"
"Dewey, don't forget how beautiful you were when you were under my tent, and what kind of situation are you in after my eldest brother takes charge of Taiyuan?" Li Yuanji said viciously: "If I hadn't insisted, you would have been the commander in chief of the marching army." My elder brother is nepotism, estranged from his own flesh and blood. He is not the material to be a commander at all. Sooner or later, he will kill the whole army of Taiyuan. right way!"
Liu Dewei, who was loyal to the Li family, hesitated and hesitated, but Li Jiancheng said with difficulty: "General Liu, don't forget my father's kindness to you. My father died at the hands of Chen Yingliang. If you surrender to him , when you come under the Nine Springs in the future, what face do you have to meet...?"
"Shut up!" Li Yuanji punched Li Jiancheng in the face, and shouted at Liu Dewei: "Dewei, it's not that I forgot to kill my father. I did it for the sake of the soldiers and civilians in Taiyuan. Taiyuan cannot be defended." No matter how strong the city is, it is useless. Once His Royal Highness Tang Wang releases water, the people of Taiyuan will either be drowned in the flood, or just like Yuan Tiangang said, the city wall will collapse on its own. When the Tang Wang army enters the city, how can we resist? Kaesong surrender is the only way to save the people in the city, why are you still hesitating? Make up your mind now!"
Liu Dewei's current situation is very similar to that of Li Yuanhong during the Wuchang Uprising. He didn't want to rebel, but he was pushed to the cusp of the storm. He was caught in a dilemma, so after hesitating for a long time, Liu Dewei not only still didn't dare to say yes, but also said: "Duke Qi, Governor of the Right, It's not that I don't want to serve you, it's that I can't do it even if I want to. Only 5,000 of the 20,000 West City defenders belong to me, and I didn't prepare beforehand. It's not certain whether those subordinates will go with me, Once Feng Li and Xie Shufang receive the news, they will definitely lead an army to put down the rebellion, how can I resist then?"
"You don't need to worry about this, General Liu." Li Er said with a smile: "We won't hide it from you. In fact, we have already secretly contacted His Highness Tang Wang. As long as we light a signal on the city wall, His Highness Tang will immediately Troops will be sent to attack the city, and when the time comes, General, you only need to open the city gates to welcome Tang Wang's army into the city, and ordinary people like Feng Li and Xie Shufang will have nothing to fear."
Liu Dewei still hesitated, but Li Yuanji over there got impatient, drew his sword and shouted: "Liu Dewei, do you agree or not? We are sure that we dare to kidnap Li Jiancheng. If you don't agree, we will kill you right away." Send you to meet the King of Hades! Open the city gate yourself to welcome His Royal Highness King Tang into the city!"
Knowing Li Yuanji's cruelty, and knowing how he continued to evade and refuse, he would definitely end up with his head on the ground, Liu Dewei was forced to nod, thinking that it would be better to get away first, and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you." Yours, I will set fire to the city and open the city gate to welcome the army of the king of Tang into the city."
Li Jiancheng roared angrily, Li Er and Li Yuanji smiled happily together, and then Li Er said very cunningly: "General Liu, then let's do it, I will accompany you to set fire on the city wall, I hope you will be smart, don't What kind of tricks are you playing, otherwise—don’t blame me for not reminding you, my knife has been smeared with aconite poison.”
Liu Dewei nodded helplessly to express his understanding. Immediately, Li Er, Li Fengci, and Li Boyi escorted Liu Dewei to the south gate of the east city of Taiyuan. Li Er's only subordinate Zhu Can got out from there. They left Li Yuanji's mansion through the back door with Liu Dewei in their arms. Li Yuanji and others stayed at home and waited, and piled up a huge firewood pile in the back garden just in case—if the fire failed at the top of the city, then Li Yuanji and others would light the fire at home and emit thick smoke, which can also make the fire outside the city The Sui army found that the situation was wrong, and sent troops outside Taiyuan City to respond.
Not to mention that Li Yuanji and others waited anxiously at home, but Li Er, Zhu Can and others escorted Liu Dewei out and immediately forced Liu Dewei to go straight up to the south gate tower. He wanted to run away or shout a warning, but Li Er, Zhu Can and the others were too tightly guarded, Liu Dewei couldn't find a chance at all, and was unknowingly taken to the south gate in a trance.
As I said earlier, all the Taiyuan soldiers guarding the city wall today are Liu Dewei’s subordinates. Seeing Liu Dewei and Li Er and others coming to the upper steps together, although the Taiyuan soldiers on duty felt strange, they did not dare to interrogate and stop them. Er and Zhu Can also took the opportunity to hold Liu Dewei up to the city wall, and as soon as they reached the top of the city wall, Li Er immediately shouted to Liu Dewei in a low voice: "Immediately light the wolf smoke and send out a signal."
Liu Dewei hesitated for a while, and Li Er saw his thoughts, so he leaned into his ear and whispered: "General Liu, you haven't turned back. Just now you promised to help us in front of Li Jiancheng. Do you think Li Jiancheng will spare you again? It is a dead end for you to retreat now, and the only way to survive is to continue to move forward."
After hesitating for a while, thinking that Li Er's words still made sense, Liu Dewei also gritted his teeth and made up his mind. He immediately excused that Li Jiancheng had an order to communicate with the outside world, and ordered the south gate city to light up a beacon, and because the guards at the south gate were all Liu Dewei's subordinates. For the sake of Liu Dewei, he faithfully carried out Liu Dewei's order, set up a pyre and lit a fire to set off smoke, and soon there was a streak of blue and black smoke rushing into the sky on the south gate of Taiyuan, which was very clear in the clear sky after the rain.
Li Er and the others also somewhat underestimated the response speed of Feng Li, Xie Shufang and other Li Jiancheng's confidants. Just as they heard smoke from the Nanmen City in Jinyang Palace, Feng Li, Xie Shufang and other Li Jiancheng's confidantes immediately became suspicious. In addition to immediately sending people to the South Gate to inquire about the situation, General Xie and the others immediately sent people flying horses to Li Yuanji's mansion to report the matter to Li Jiancheng. Fate, ready to go into battle at any time.
At the same time, the scouts of the Sui army reported the news of the smoke from the south gate of Taiyuan to Li Jing. Li Jing only thought for less than three seconds before ordering the army to assemble and prepare for the battle. open the door. At the same time, Li Jing sent people flying horses to the main camp to report the matter to Chen Sangliang, and asked Chen Sangliang to be prepared. After receiving the news, although Chen Sangliang was both skeptical and unbearable, but It also ordered the army to prepare for battle immediately, and also ordered to prepare torches and dry food in advance for night battles.
For Li Jiancheng's side, time has become ten thousand times more precious than gold. If Feng Li, Xie Shufang and others can immediately send troops to guard the city gate, then the Li clan and Liu Dewei and others will definitely not be able to open the city gate, and Li Jiancheng will definitely not be able to open the city gate. There is still hope of being rescued, but it is a pity that at this critical moment, the warrior Xun who was usually very loyal to Li Jiancheng seemed to have been taken away by ghosts and gods, and even told Feng Li and others to send him in the name of Li Jiancheng. The envoy said that Li Jiancheng had ordered the fire to be lit at the south gate of Taiyuan, so that Feng Li and others should not be nervous and just guard the Jinyang Palace. As a result, after Feng Li's envoy Fei Ma brought the news back to Jinyang Palace, Feng Li and the others dared not make their own claims under half-belief, and wasted a lot of precious time.
But that was the end of the story. When he saw the Sui army coming out of the camp and gathering, although Liu Dewei declared that there was no need to be nervous at the request of Li Er, he did not immediately send someone to warn Jinyang Palace. However, when they saw the Sui Army brigade marching towards the south gate of Taiyuan, the loyal defenders in Taiyuan City immediately rang the gong to call the police. It was too late for Liu Dewei and Li Er to stop them. Soon the gong alarm sounded everywhere, and Feng Li, Xie Shufang and others who had faintly sensed that the situation was not right did not dare to have any hesitation. Xie Shufang immediately led the troops from the headquarters to the south gate for reinforcements, and Feng Li sent people to rush to the south gate again. Go to Li Yuanji's mansion to warn Li Jiancheng.
It was the turn of Li Er, Liu Dewei and the others to be anxious. Seeing the troops approaching from the Jinyang Palace from a distance, Li Er, Zhu Can and the others did not dare to hesitate any longer, and immediately forced Liu Dewei to go down to the city to open the gate. There was no way out. Liu Dewei was forced to have no choice but to hurry down to the city with Li Er and others, and rushed to the gate bolt, asking the city gate officer to open the city gate immediately. As a result, the city gate officer was shocked when he heard this, and asked in alarm, "Boss Liu, are you crazy? Bandit troops are coming here, and you still want to open the city gate. What do you want to do?"
With a sound of the wind, Li Er made a decisive decision and immediately slashed at the city gate officer. The city gate officer hurriedly dodged and his left hand was cut off on the spot. Slashing with a knife, he quickly killed the unprepared gate soldiers, and rushed to the gate officer to snatch the key of the gate. Who would have thought that the city gate officer was so brave, knowing that Li Er and the others were the first to tore off the key from his waist and inserted it into the crack of the door to try to break it. The Zhongyong city gate officer hacked to death first, rescued the deadly key, which was already a little bent, and then hurried to unlock and unbolt it.
The more thrilling thing is yet to come. When Li Er, Zhu Can and others struggled to remove the door latch, Xie Shufang had already rushed to the corridor of the city gate with follow-up reinforcements. Seeing the door bolt fall from a distance, Xie Shufang's face immediately turned pale. It looked like rice paper, and before they even had time to shout loudly, they swung their knives and rushed into the corridor of the city gate. Li Er and the others opened the city gate while turning their heads to resist Xie Shufang and others desperately.
At the same time that the city gate was opened, the forward of the Sui army had rushed a hundred steps away from the south gate, and saw the opening of the city gate and people fighting at the gate from a distance. Liu Shishan, who was the forward, had no time to ask Li Jing for instructions, and led his army to kill with a loud roar. Come over, the generals and soldiers of the Sui Army, who also understood the arrival of the fighter plane, were all brave and scrambling to be the first, regardless of the feather arrows that had started to fall from their heads, they just rushed straight to the gate of the city. Door.
"Quick! Close the door!" Xie Shufang finally yelled the first sentence until this time, but no matter how bravely the soldiers of the Taiyuan Army stepped forward to close the door, Li Er and the others tried their best to block their way and refused to close the door for them. Unexpectedly, Xie Shufang was furious when he saw Zhu Can's horizontal knife had already been cut to the waist and abdomen, and swung the knife just to cut Li Er's head, "Traitor! Take your life!"
At this moment, Li Er's right hand saber was blocking the spear stabbed by another Taiyuan army soldier. Seeing Xie Shufang slashing with the saber, he wanted to retreat, but his footsteps were caught by the falling door latch, and he lost his balance. The big knife that came from the hack had already reached the front door, and when he was about to die miserably by Xiao Xiao's knife, Li Er had an idea again, and suddenly grabbed Zhu Can with his left hand, and pulled Zhu Can away with his breastfeeding strength. Can pulled in front of him, and Xie Shufang slashed at Zhu Can's body, blood and flesh flying everywhere.
"Shameless villain!"
While Zhu Can was roaring loudly, Li Er had already taken advantage of him to stop him a little, and a lazy donkey rolled over on the spot, and rolled a little farther away. Xie Shufang, who was stabbed in the waist and hadn't killed Li Er, had nowhere to go To vent, he could only slash at Zhu Can's neck with red eyes. The blade pierced through the wind and cut off Zhu Can's neck! This time, General Zhu Can, who made a great contribution to Chen Sangliang, also fell down with hatred at the last moment before dawn, and closed his eyes forever with great regret.
After hacking Zhu Can to death, Xie Shufang, who was seriously injured, wanted to go forward and kill Li Er, but it was too late, the soldiers of the Sui army had already rushed to the front, and caught Xie Shufang with a knife, what would Xie Shufang do? Killing the enemy crazily, but still unable to stop the soldiers of the Sui army who came continuously, they were forced back into the corridor of the city gate, and lost the opportunity to close the city gate again forever. The soldiers of the Taiyuan Army were entangled together, and they did not give the Taiyuan Army a chance to calmly retreat into the city and put down the Qianjin gate.
Seeing this situation, Xie Shufang had no choice but shouted: "Go to the city quickly and release the Qianjin gate! Release the Qianjin gate! The bandit army is already entangled with us, and it will be too late to release the gate after retreating into the city!"
Putting down the Qianjin gate can definitely stop the Sui army soldiers for a period of time and buy time for the defenders in the city to respond. However, if this is done, the Taiyuan army soldiers in the city gate corridor, including Xie Shufang himself, will definitely die, so after hearing this order, The Taiyuan army officers and soldiers in the corridor of the city gate not only did not dare to issue orders immediately, but also cried out: "Mr. Xie, you enter the city quickly, enter the city quickly! You enter the city and let the gates be released on the city! Leave it to us here!"
Not to mention that Xie Shufang was already entangled by the Sui army soldiers and could not retreat. Even if he had the opportunity to enter the city, Xie Shufang would definitely not abandon his subordinates to escape by himself-after the Xuanwumen incident in history, Xie Shufang took the prince's mansion guards to kill Si Jingjunhong waited for a lot of Li Er's lackeys and almost killed Li Er to avenge Li Jiancheng. So Xie Shufang still roared angrily, "Go and release the Qianjin gate, or it will be too late! Hurry up!"
The soldiers of the Sui army had already entered the corridors of the city gate. No matter how desperately the soldiers of the Taiyuan army resisted, they still couldn't stop the soldiers of the Sui army. Soon he was forced to retreat to the middle of the city gate corridor by the generals of the Sui army. Seeing the critical situation, and hearing Xie Shufang's constant yelling to release the brakes, only one of the Taiyuan Army soldiers cried on the city wall and ordered the gates to be released for Xie Shufang. The heavy iron-covered gate fell to the ground with a bang, smashing several Taiyuan Army soldiers who could not dodge into meat paste, and completely blocked Xie Shufang and more than a hundred Taiyuan Army soldiers in the passageway of the city gate.
Xie Shufang also laughed wildly when he saw the Qianjin gate fell, and the soldiers of the Sui army roared, "Brothers! Kill me! Buy time for Commander Zuo and the others! Kill!"
Roaring, Xie Shufang swung a knife and launched a counter-charge. Encouraged by him, more than a hundred soldiers of the Taiyuan Army who were already doomed to death also roared again and again. Snatched back a lot of positions in the tunnel, but killed a large part of the Sui army's soldiers. During this period, Xie Shufang was struggling to slash and kill while laughing wildly. The ferocious appearance of laughing wildly with blood on his face made the soldiers of the Sui army who had experienced many battles secretly terrified.
At the same time, under the command of Li Jing, the generals of the Sui army also took advantage of the opportunity of the Taiyuan army's hasty response, and immediately launched an ant attack on the city of Taiyuan. Climbing up the ladder and attacking the positions above the city, the soldiers of the Sui army in the corridor of the city gate also began to throw gunpowder bottles to blow up Xie Shufang and others, racing against time to eliminate the enemies in the corridor. What is even more terrible for the Taiyuan Army soldiers is that the well-prepared rear army of the Sui Army is already urgently transporting two artillery pieces and two coffins filled with gunpowder to the front line. It is purely a decoration, and the coffin filled with gunpowder and tightened with pig iron may also directly explode the emergency jack.
Of course, the Taiyuan Army is not completely without chance. As long as the defenders can temporarily repel an attack by the Sui Army and close the city gate again, then the soldiers of the Taiyuan Army can immediately lift the thousand-jin gate and move the sandbags that have already been prepared into the corridor to block it. The anti-cannon at the city gate stabilized the entire battle situation again. It was precisely because he knew this opportunity very well in his heart that even though his body was already wounded in many places, Xie Shufang still swung his knife to kill the enemy, he looked like a mad tiger and beast, and the same voice kept roaring in his mouth, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
There was a loud bang, and an evil gunpowder bottle fell beside Xie Shufang, and it exploded right next to Xie Shufang's ear. While his eardrums were ruptured and bleeding on the spot, Xie Shufang's eyes couldn't help being dark, and immediately after that, two more sinister gunpowder bottles The spear pierced through his lower abdomen and chest successively, and together they lifted him off the ground.
Trying to open his eyes, Xie Shufang used the last of his strength to smash the steel knife covered in blood and hair at a Sui soldier, and at the same time shouted his last voice in this world, "Zuo Dudu, the last general! Do your best!"