In the eyes of the generals of the Zheng army, the city wall to the east of Hui'an Gate collapsed by itself for no reason. , and only the soldiers of the Sui Army knew about it.
Even though there are pointed wooden donkeys that can defend against arrows and stones, in order to dig suitable gunpowder blast holes on the city wall, more than 60 Sui army soldiers who were in charge of digging the city wall were still crushed to death by boulders falling from the city, and were thrown collectively. The dovetail torch was burned alive. After finally digging three caves suitable for blasting, five Sui soldiers were shot to death by bows and arrows while transporting gunpowder across the river. A thick wooden long box containing gunpowder is still on the city. Not to mention the waste of 200 catties of precious gunpowder, the falling wood smashed and two soldiers of the Sui army who were carrying the powder box were also killed on the spot, while the other two gunpowder boxes were successfully stuffed into the cave and ignited and detonated. However, at the same time that the city wall collapsed, it still smashed to death and buried a dozen or so Sui soldiers who could not escape. It cost almost hundreds of people to sacrifice two holes in the city wall of the Eastern Capital. The road into the city.
But fortunately, this loss is still within the acceptable range of the Yining Sui Army, and it also reduced more casualties for the hard-working Sui Army soldiers. Amidst the cheers, the soldiers of the Sui Army braved the danger that the rammed earth wall might continue to collapse, stepped on the collapsed earth wall and shouted into the city. Kan Leng, another fierce general in the army, also led the follow-up troops out of the battle immediately, and the soldiers of the Sui army who were familiar with the terrain in the Eastern Capital also prepared sulfur gunpowder and other fire starters early, and Qiu Xinggong led them out to wait for orders. When Chen Sangliang gave an order, he rushed into the city and smashed the Tianjin Bridge, cutting off the connection between the north and south of Luoyang.
The former army of the Sui army led by Luo Shixin was very competitive. Taking advantage of the opportunity that the soldiers of the Zheng army were caught off guard because of the sudden collapse of the city wall, they rushed into the city first, and quickly killed the reserve team of the Zheng army behind the city wall. The car temporarily blocked any chance of the gap, and then Luo Shixin, who was also familiar with the terrain, led his army into the city. Without a word, he rushed directly to Xuanrenmen, the east gate of the imperial city, which is directly south. Kan Leng and Qiu Xinggong led their troops into the city respectively. Kan Leng, who was the best at fighting tough battles under Chen Sangliang's command, went to grab the open space outside Chengfu Gate, seize the favorable terrain outside Chengfu Gate, and at the same time block Zheng's soldiers from Chengfu and Zuoye. He and Minghui were the only way to escape into the imperial city, while Qiu Xinggong went straight to the Tianjin bridge. The defenders of Luoyang outer city and the imperial city tried their best to shoot arrows on the city, but they still couldn't stop the Sui army soldiers from swarming in. City, quickly seize the key throat in the city.
At this time, Qu Tutong, the commander of the Sui Army at Shangchunmen, heard the sound of explosions coming from the direction of Hui'anmen, and immediately ordered the former army to attack vigorously. , personally boarded the flying ladder to attack the city, and was once smashed off the flying ladder by a sheep's head stone, covered in blood. After getting up quickly, Feng Li rushed up the flying ladder again without saying a word, and Successfully killing the wall greatly boosted the morale of the former army. The soldiers of the Sui Army who were hiding under the pointed wooden donkey also desperately dug the city wall like crazy, quickly dug out several holes suitable for blasting, and quickly transported gunpowder across the river to ignite and detonate.
At the same time that the rammed-earth city wall on the Shangchunmen side was finally blown down by the Sui Army soldiers using gunpowder blasting tactics, the Sui Army Brigade launched an all-out general attack immediately. Attacking, the tide rushed to Shangchun Gate, and the former army of the Sui Army also quickly seized the gap, fighting bloody battles with the soldiers of the Zheng Army who tried to build temporary fortifications with siemen knife carts, protecting the road into the city to buy time for the follow-up friendly troops. The already fierce battle at Shangchunmen also became fierce. Soldiers of the two armies put their lives on the line, wielding knives and guns fiercely, just fighting desperately.
The Zheng Army reserve team stationed in Luoyang Beishi also reacted quickly. In fact, the Zheng Army reserve team led by Duan Da, Shan Xiongxin, and Xu Shiji immediately sent 8,000 troops to reinforce Hui'an Gate after receiving the news of the emergency in Hui'an Gate. After receiving the news that the city wall of Shangchun Gate had also been breached by the Sui army, General Duan Da and the others were taken aback, but hurriedly led all the reserve teams to the main battlefield of Shangchun Gate for reinforcements, and made the final desperate struggle.
It's a pity that although the Zheng Army's reserve team reacted quickly, what they faced was the imposing and murderous Sui Army vanguard warriors who were ordered to wipe out the enemy in the outer city as much as possible. Fighting bravely, attacking more with less, made it difficult for the reserve team of the Zheng army to advance. Then when the brave generals of the Sui army, such as Wang Fubao and Shi Wanbao, led their troops into the city, the reserve team of the Zheng army would never be able to block again. At the opportunity of the gap, the soldiers of the two armies intertwined like hemp in the Jiaoyefang area where the Baoguo Army was stationed. The multi-segment square wall.
At this time, Wang Shichong's order to retreat finally arrived at the front line. Although it was very clear that retreating at this time was tantamount to being kicked by the Sui army, in order to preserve their combatable forces, Duan Da and Shan Xiongxin hurriedly rang the golden gong, and brought with them The reserve team, numbering more than 20,000 people, retreated to the imperial city in embarrassment. After receiving this order, the nine gate guards in the north and south of Luoyang also quickly abandoned their positions and rushed to the imperial city to flee for their lives. The various units of the Sui army took the opportunity to enter the city aggressively, shouting the slogan of surrender and not to kill, and desperately concealed the killing, killing and capturing enemies in the outer city who might cause huge troubles for the self-army once they escaped into the imperial city.
The critical moment that determines the future direction of the war is approaching. If the Zheng army's reserve force of more than 30,000 and the nine gate defenders totaling more than 16,000 can successfully withdraw to the imperial city, then the puppet Zheng court will not only have sufficient defenders, It is also possible to attack appropriately to launch a counterattack, but if the more than 40,000 troops have been severely damaged in the outer city, then the puppet Zheng court will basically only have the power to parry and have no power to fight back.
But it is still a pity that the tactical goal of the Sui army's main force in this battle is to severely damage the vitality of the Zheng army in the outer city, so when Duan Da and the other generals led the Zheng army's reserve team and hurriedly withdrew along the open road to the vicinity of Xuanrenmen, they were immediately stunned. I saw that Chen Sangliang's number one killer monster, Luo Shixin, had already lined up outside the Xuanren Gate, blocking their way back to the city. In order to preserve their strength, Duan Da and Shan Xiongxin were forced to order the whole army to charge forward. Luo Shixin, who was standing in front of the battle with two knives in hand, was licking his blade with a grin on his face. Disdain to the extreme.
Fighting against the heavy rain of arrows from the soldiers of the Sui army, they marched forward and paid a considerable price. When they reached the front of the Sui army, another tragic fight immediately began. Just kill, wherever the two knives ravaged by the tyrannical power go, the generals and soldiers of the Zheng army either have their hands broken, or their heads fly straight into the air. Desperately stabbing and killing the enemy in front of them, Luo Shixin, who was covered in blood during the fight, and many Sui army soldiers laughed wildly on the battlefield, laughing wildly and stabbing and hacking the enemy like a lunatic, killing the Zheng army's team that was forced to charge. Ghosts cried and wolves howled, countless casualties.
Then, the pursuers of the Sui army led by Wang Fubao also killed the back of Zheng Jun's reserve team. Wang Fubao, who is good at assault tactics, asked the soldiers to form an arrow formation while running. Slash straight and obliquely, like chopping melons and vegetables, chop down the enemies in front of you one after another, invincible, the soldiers of the Sui army took the opportunity to stride forward, and the opened arrows gradually cut the rear of the Zheng army in two. There are countless people who escaped too much. Xu Shiji, who was ordered to be behind the palace, roared again and again, desperately urging the army to resist the Sui army's offensive, but he still couldn't resist Wang Fubao's advancing step by step.
At the same time, the Shi Wanbao Department of the Sui Army had also rushed to the battlefield, detoured north to the street between Sigongfang and Qinghuafang, and launched an assault on the Zheng Army's reserve team from the flank. ——Shi Wanbao, who had a general understanding of the situation in Luoyang City, planned to detour south to the street between Guiyifang and Lidefang to block the road for Zheng Jun to escape to Chengfu Sanmen in the south. He had no choice but to tell Shi Wanbao that the south is Caoqu The waterway was not suitable for the army to march at all, Shi Wanbao, who was eager to make meritorious service, had no choice but to make a detour to the north.
The flames of war had already spread to the entire outer city of Luoyang. After the Tianjin Bridge defenders were quickly killed and dispersed, although the bridge burning team of the Sui Army led by Qiu Xinggong immediately set fire to the Tianjin Bridge, there were still many soldiers from the southern city of the Zheng Army who rode on the bridge and had not been completely destroyed. In order to ensure the destruction of this most important bridge, Qiu Xinggong fought resolutely. The soldiers of the two armies exchanged swords and guns on the narrow bridge that was smoldering with smoke and fire. It was so overwhelming that the bridge was quickly covered with dead bodies, and countless soldiers from the two armies wrestled together and fell into Luoshui.
In addition to the Tianjin Bridge, there are two solid wooden bridges to the east of Luoshui that allow the soldiers of the Zheng Army in Nancheng to cross the river and escape for their lives. Escaping back to the imperial city also had to pass through the defense zone of Kan Leng of the Sui Army. Kan Leng, who was the most fearless of tough battles under Chen Sangliang, commanded the army to face the battle calmly. Hitting Zheng Jun head-on, also killed the corpses of Zheng Jun's soldiers all over the ground, with flesh and blood flying everywhere. At the same time, because of the hasty retreat, the soldiers of the Zheng army who were in a very chaotic formation were organized with scattered attacks, and none of them could rush through the Kan Ling army's position.
Seeing that the situation was not good on the tower of Xuanren Gate, Wang Shichong gritted his teeth and had no choice but to quickly dispatch his precious nephew Wang Renze to lead an army out of the city from Xuanren Gate, and together with Duan Da, they attacked the Sui Army Luo Shixin's troops in an attempt to kill and disperse Luo Shixin's army to meet the defeated soldiers. Entering the city, relying on the advantage of a large number of people, once gained the upper hand. But when Chen Sangliang gritted his teeth and only left the Baoguo army as bodyguards, and sent Yuchi Jingde to lead the rear army to the city for reinforcements, Wang Renze's army soon became overwhelmed, and Yuchi Jingde, who was rarely able to charge once At the risk of being shot with bows and arrows by the enemy on the city at any time, the first soldiers were like gods descending to earth, and killed more than 20 enemies in a row in the chaos. Yuchi Jingde, who said he could defeat Shan Xiongxin with his bare hands, came to kill him. He was so frightened that he didn't even dare to meet Yuchi Jingde. Instead, he quickly retreated to the Xuanren Gate, lest Yuchi Jingde, a fierce tiger, take the opportunity to enter the imperial city and eat people. .
At this time, the reserve team of the Zheng Army, which was being attacked by the Sui army in three directions from east to west, was finally unable to hold back. Duan Da personally took the lead, and the reserve team of the Zheng Army fled south together. The south side of Zheng Jun's reserve team does not need to be attacked, but at this moment it has become a nightmare for Zheng Jun's soldiers fleeing. Those who accidentally fell would never have a chance to get up, and would be trampled into meat paste by the defeated soldiers immediately. The corpses on the bridges of Caoqu were piled up in layers, as high as half a person.
Seeing that a large number of his own defeated soldiers were forced to flee south, Wang Shichong sighed, and had no choice but to order the Xuande Gate to be closed immediately, and pin all his hopes on the Chengfu Sanmen in the southwest corner of the imperial city. Wang Ren received the order as if he was amnesty , quickly led the army back to the city in embarrassment and closed the gate. Yuchi Jingde really wanted to take the opportunity to enter the imperial city, but unfortunately, Xuanren's sect fired arrows at random. Yuchi Jingde, who had been shot by arrows twice in the fierce battle before, couldn't stand it, so he had no choice but to rein in his horse and retreat, turning around It is not good luck to go to other defeated soldiers of Zheng Jun. Luo Shixin, who was ordered to block Xuanren Gate, flattered himself and wanted to exchange tasks with Yuchi Jingde. Of course, Yuchi Jingde pretended not to hear, and ran faster than a rabbit with his soldiers, leaving Luo Shixin to scold Yuchi Jing outside Xuanren Gate. Virtue is not loyal.
With the Zheng army's reserve team fleeing south, most of the pressure of this battle was concentrated on Kan Leng's first army. The Zheng army was defeated from all directions, and Kan Leng's army soon fell into a bitter battle, and was forced to form a square formation to face the enemies from all directions who were eager to jump over the wall. Wang Shichong ordered the defenders of the imperial city to go out of the city to meet them at any cost. It was extremely crazy He ordered the archers in the city to shoot and kill the fighting troops indiscriminately. The soldiers of both armies suffered heavy casualties. Duan Da and Shan Xiongxin and other cunning people also took the opportunity to escape into the imperial city and managed to save their lives.
Fortunately, before the war, it was known that the pressure on Kan Leng must be the greatest, and the generals of the Sui Army rushed to Chengfu Gate to reinforce. Youyemen fled to the road of the imperial city, and then Yuchi Jingde rushed to Chengfumen with a rain of arrows and stones, fighting hard to block the enemy's way into the city from Chengfumen. The number of Zheng Jun's defeated soldiers was still very large, only one Minghui Gate was left to enter the city. Fighting for their lives, they trampled on each other, turned on each other with knives and guns, killed and trampled each other until countless people died. The soldiers of the two armies intertwined like hemp, the soldiers of the Zheng army cried and screamed, and there were countless people who ran for their lives and surrendered on their knees.
There were still quite a few soldiers of the Zheng Army who fled into Minghuimen, but as Chen Sangliang predicted before the war, in the dark night, the soldiers of the Sui Army were afraid that they would rush into the imperial city indiscriminately, and the Sui Army who was constantly arriving with reinforcements As soon as he gained the upper hand outside Chengfu Gate, the ruthless Wang Shichong immediately ordered the city gate to be closed. Many soldiers of the Zheng Army who had not entered the city cried and begged outside the city, but Wang Shichong ignored them. He had no choice but to go to the front of the Sui army and kneel down to surrender. The corpses piled up outside the Chengfu gate, and the blood flooded the insteps. The Sui army camp did not disperse.
To the northeast, aware that the battle in the outer city of Luoyang was not good, General Wang Deren of the Zheng Army who guarded Jinyong City once went out of the city to return to aid, but was hit head-on by Liu Heita's troops of the Sui Army. After fighting for a long time, he failed to break through Liu Heita's blockade. He had to flee back to the city again, leaving more than 800 corpses and more than 200 surrendered soldiers on the battlefield.
After successfully blocking the route back to the city for the defeated Zheng army, the battle in the outer city of Luoyang did not end. Qu Tutong personally led his troops across the river from the bridge on the east side to wipe out the remaining enemies in the south city of Luoyang. Square by square, the search and killing of the Zheng army's remnant enemies resulted in the elimination and capture of many Zheng army soldiers who fled into the folk squares to hide, and unexpectedly caught two big fish—— Zheng army generals Xu Shiji and Mulan led quite a lot of fish. Some of the remnants were defeated and fled into Yujifang to defend themselves. They not only refused to surrender, but also killed the soldiers of the Sui army who tried to break into the workshop.
When the news spread, Sui troops from all walks of life rushed to Yujifang like chicken blood. Liu Shishan, Shi Wanbao, Qiu Shili, and Wang Fubao surrounded Yujifang first, and then agreed to launch a joint attack together. Attack, let's see who has the best ability to get the two heads of Xu Shiji and Mulan who have hung up in front of Chen Sangliang first. However, at this moment, Chen Sangliang, who received the news, suddenly brought the Nationalist Army to Yujifang. He first stopped the generals from attacking, and then sent people to fly a white flag to ask Xu Shiji to come out and answer.
After hesitating for a long time, Xu Shiji climbed onto the wall of the square and shouted loudly to Chen Sangliang, who was surrounded by torches: "Chen thief, don't waste your energy, I know you want to surrender, but I and your hatred are irreconcilable. You want me to surrender, dreaming! You want my head, even if you call your accomplices and lackeys to attack the square, I want to see how many people you have to die to take my head!"
"General Xu, what you said is a bit strange." Chen Sangliang said loudly with a smile: "What enmity does this king have with you? Back then on the Tongji Canal, if you hadn't been tricked by this king, My king's head was chopped off by Lu Mingming, seriously, you are still half of my savior. It's too late for me to thank you, so why do I still hate you?"
"It's because of that!" Xu Shiji yelled, "You made me the laughing stock of the world! That's why you and I are at odds!"
"If you fell into this king's trick once, what do you have to be laughed at?" Chen Sangliang said with a smile: "There are too many people who fell into this king's trick. Long before you, there are Yang Xuangan and Li Mi, and there will be others next." Du Fuwei, Wang Shichong, Li Yuan, Xue Ju, and the Li family brothers, among the heroes of the world, there are many people who have been tricked by this king more than once. You can stand shoulder to shoulder with them, and let this king personally use tricks on you. What is there to laugh at?"
Xu Shiji was silent, and Chen Sangliang said loudly again: "General Xu, you are a talent, no less than the two famous generals Liu Heitai and Wang Fubao. This king has long planned to recruit you, but he never had this opportunity. Today's The opportunity has come, this king does not want to miss it. Surrender, under the command of this king, you have a lot of opportunities to show your strengths and ambitions. You don’t want to be buried with Wang Shichong. ,What a pity."
Xu Shiji was silent, Chen Sangliang saw his hesitation, and said loudly: "This king knows that it is difficult for you to make such a decision. This king will give you a stick of incense time. After one stick of incense time, I will order to launch attack."
Xu Shiji's figure disappeared from the square, and about half a stick of incense time later, the four gates of Yuji Square opened together. Under the leadership of Xu Shiji, Zheng Jun's soldiers threw their weapons outside the gate and came in front of Chen Sangliang one after another. Kneeling down and surrendering, Chen Sangliang was overjoyed, and ordered Liu Shishan to help Xu Shiji up instead of him, and comforted him. Then Chen Sangliang looked around at the soldiers and asked in surprise, "Where is General Mulan? Didn't I hear that she was also there?" here?"
"He's still in the workshop." Xu Shiji replied, "He's been sitting by the campfire and not talking. We thought he didn't want to surrender, so we ignored him."
"It's still the same as before." Chen Sangliang sighed, and hurriedly patted his horse into the workshop. The generals of the Sui army were shocked and rushed to the front to surround Chen Sangliang and enter the workshop. Xu Shiji also followed.
Entering Yujifang, there was indeed a bonfire at the crossroads in the workshop, and Mulan's familiar figure was sitting beside the bonfire, looking at the bonfire in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking. Chen Sangliang smiled, got off his horse, pushed away the guards and walked to Mulan's side, and said softly, "General Mulan, I'm here to pick you up, you can come back."
While the generals of the Sui army and Xu Shiji listened to the surprise, Mulan raised her head and glanced at Chen Sangliang. She didn't speak, but stood up calmly, and walked in front of Xu Shiji, who had already disarmed herself, with a blank expression on her face. Pressing the handle of the knife at his waist and pulling out a section, Chen Sangliang saw something was wrong, hurriedly stepped forward and pressed Mulan's right hand, and quickly said: "Mulan, the person who killed Marshal Zhang was Li Mi, and it has nothing to do with Xu Shiji!"
"He's an accomplice." Mulan finally spoke and said coldly.
Hearing this, Xu Shiji came to his senses, his forehead was covered with cold sweat, and his hands and feet trembled. The generals of the Sui army who had also woken up beside him had sharp eyesight and quick hands, and immediately held Xu Shiji together. Chen Sangliang pressed Mulan's hand tightly, and said: "He is an accomplice, but in the Battle of Dahai Temple, all the people who participated in the battle were accomplices. Are you going to kill them all? Put Shan Xiongxin and Shan Yingying together. Killed him too? The culprit is Li Mi, I promise you, I will give you a chance to personally execute Li Mi to avenge Marshal Zhang, just let Xu Shiji go."
After snorting heavily, Mulan put the waist knife back into its sheath, and said coldly to Xu Shiji: "You are lucky this time, Fushi Chen begged for you, and I will spare your life. If you dare to have any other intentions in the future, I will kill you first!"
Sweating with the movement, Xu Shiji nodded quickly, swearing that he would be loyal to Chen Sangliang. Mulan still refused to look at Chen Sangliang, but walked back silently to pack her horse and weapons, without looking at Chen Sangliang from the beginning to the end.
Seeing this scene, the generals of the Sui army inevitably looked at each other, and Yuchi Jingde also said in a low voice suspiciously: "Your Highness, this General Mulan is too crazy, right? Putting such a big air in front of you, right?"
"Who told me that I owe her a little too much, let her put on airs." Chen Sangliang replied with a wry smile, then patted Yuchi Jingde on the shoulder, and said with a low laugh: "Jingde, aren't you Have you always complained that you don’t have a chance to charge forward? Not anymore, I will assign Mulan to be your deputy, and let her protect me personally when you go to battle to kill the enemy.”
"Really?" Yuchi Jingde's joy was no small matter, and his resentment towards Mulan was instantly swept away.
"Of course it's true." Chen Sangliang nodded with a smile, and said grandly: "Also, you can sleep at night with peace of mind in the future, you are on duty during the day, and she is on duty at night, so you can all relax. "