Although Xue Zhongzhang was uneasy and well-intentioned, he was right about one thing, that is, Luoyang has been difficult to conquer since ancient times.
In the ninth year of Daye, Yang Xuangan supported Liyang and attacked the eastern capital, but he could not attack for a long time. On the way to the west, he lost three times in three battles a day, and finally died on the way to escape.
In the thirteenth year of Daye, Li Mi sent 30,000 troops to attack Luoyang, but because of his covetousness to assist the government and mistakes in decision-making, he turned to attack Yuwenhuaji. Wang Shichong took the opportunity to launch a mutiny in Luoyang, and then defeated the Wagang Army and Yanshi, which indirectly led to the ending of Li Mi's decapitation.
Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, there seems to be some kind of divine power guarding the city of the Eastern Capital. All those who try to rely on Luoshui to establish a hegemony will not end well.
While the flames of war were still high in the sky, Shan Chao patted the restless war horse under his crotch, and looked at the majestic city wall of Luoyang in the distance.
Li Jingye personally led the army to attack for a whole day, and almost broke through the city gate several times. However, when Luoyang was about to be broken for the first time, the siege log suddenly reverberated and knocked the soldiers away, and the scene was chaotic. That's right, the huge boulder smashed into the battle formation of one's own side, crushing countless soldiers into bloody mud.
During the third charge, Shan Chao ordered the soldiers to attack with fire. Countless flaming rockets flew high into the sky and landed on the top of the city, covering the city gate of Luoyang in billowing black smoke.
At that time, all the soldiers were exhausted, and they were all counting on this unique move to turn the tide. However, when hope came again, the sky suddenly poured down without warning. The flames on the city were thoroughly doused.
The people and horses in the flood were chaotic, the infantry stepped on each other, and the losses were incalculable. In desperation, Shan Chao had to retreat the whole army, and the moment King Qin's army returned to the camp, the heavy rain stopped.
Even though Shan Chao's heart is as hard as iron, he can't help but have doubts that even he dare not face.
Is it really like in the legend, the gods of heaven bless Luoyang, and Empress Wu is really the destiny
"General, General!" The soldiers came striding from the camp, "Your Majesty, please go back as soon as possible, there are important guests to visit!"
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Shan Chao's first reaction when he saw this important guest was to draw his sword, but Li Jingye hastily reached out his hand to stop him: "General Shan, don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive! Listen to what he has to say before doing anything!"
"What are you here for?" Shan Chao said coldly, thrusting Shang Fang's sword into the ground with a bang.
I saw the uninvited guest grinding the tea bowl slowly, and there was a smile line on the corner of the mouth exposed under the mask—although the man's face looked ordinary, the years gave him a graceful aura: "Come and help you attack Luoyang .”
"Just now I was sitting here reading the military newspaper, and the head of Yin suddenly came out of the void, like a magic soldier descending from the sky, and even the guards guarding the tent door didn't respond..." Li Jingye's Adam's apple slid down hard , said in a low voice: "If this person really harbored evil intentions, I'm afraid he would have died hundreds of times, but he kept saying that he was here to help attack the city, so I invited General Shan to come over."
Shan Chao frowned, his expression was a little cold and uncertain.
Yin Kaiyang looked at him for a moment, then sighed clearly: "When Xie Yun killed He Lan Minzhi the night before Gongbian, I asked him to bring you a sentence, but I think I didn't bring it. "
"Why isn't the master of the secret door escorting him in the Zichen Palace?" Shan Chao didn't answer Yin Kaiyang's words at all: "Why, is it possible that His Majesty died?"
Li Jingye's whole body froze immediately.
Yin Kaiyang wondered: "Hey, you still have the mood to mock me, why don't you ask how Xie Yun is doing?"
Shan Chao said coldly: "I will go to see how Xie Yun Chang'an is broken, so don't worry about it, just get lost."
"Really? But at the speed of King Qin's army, they can reach Chang'an in the Year of the Monkey—"
Yin Kaiyang completely ignored the two different gazes on the opposite side, took a sip of tea calmly, and sighed with a smile: "The Queen of Heaven ordered Li Xiaoyi to lead an army of 300,000 soldiers to Luoyang. The soldiers are strong and the city walls are high. You have fought here for half a month. You haven't even touched the gate of the Eastern Capital... Judging from this progress, by the time you reach the city of Chang'an, the Queen of Heaven will probably have died of old age."
Li Jingye still had blood-stained bandages on his arms and forehead, and he was furious when he heard this: "Sect Leader Yin, don't make fun of him!"
Yin Kaiyang didn't seem to notice Li Jingye's anger, changed to a more comfortable sitting position, raised his eyebrows and looked at Shan Chao: "There are so many rebels in Chang'an City, because of this, the Queen of Heaven is extremely high-pressured and iron-blooded, and has beheaded many Li Tang's clan and the prime minister successively. Minister, there are rumors that Zhou Princess Zhao was starved to death because Tianhou intended to poison the king of Zhou, but she found out that the poisoned tea was poured... If the rumors are true, then Tianhou killed three sons in a row, and the lives of her closest relatives are at her mercy. It’s no different from a mustard in my eyes.”
Yin Kaiyang paused, and then said: "As for Xie Yun, he has been deprived of all rights and placed under house arrest in the Daming Palace, although I don't know why Tianhou didn't kill him—it was probably because of her painstaking efforts for more than 20 years, and I wanted Xie Yun to see it in person. Let's kill her after watching her ascend to the Ninth Five-Year Plan."
Yin Kaiyang dragged his forehead and blinked with interest.
Shan Chao took a deep breath, each breath seemed to evacuate the air in his lungs, and the time in the quiet military tent became extraordinarily long. It took him a while to open his mouth, his voice calm and slightly hoarse: "Why did the queen deal with Xie Yun?"
"She doesn't trust him anymore."
"… why?"
"Between everyone in the world and Empress Wu, Xie Yun must choose Empress Wu; but between Empress Wu and you, Xie Yun chose you." Yin Kaiyang smiled and said, "Why are there so many?"
If it were any other time, this sentence would make Shan Chao ecstatic, pondering every word for a long, long time.
However, at this moment, in this precarious world and on the treacherous and unpredictable battlefield, every word is like a huge boulder, dragging Shan Chao's soul into the abyss alive.
"You..." Li Jingye was puzzled: "What are you talking about? Commander Xie of the Beiya Imperial Army? Aren't you the Wu family's confidant?"
Yin Kaiyang smiled and didn't answer, but Shan Chao raised his hand tremblingly and waved:
"This is a private matter, British public please... please avoid it for now, sorry."
Li Jingye didn't know why, so he hesitated for a long time, so he had to lift the curtain and leave the military tent.
With a clang, Shan Chao drew out Shang Fang's sword, and put the blade back into the sheath inch by inch. His movements were slow and dignified, as if he wanted to use this movement to suppress his boiling emotions. After a while, he finally let out a breath of hot air, and when he spoke again, his tone had returned to his shocking calmness: "Master Yin, what happened earlier?" You and I misunderstood, but when Xie Yun was accused of suppressing Sheng, thanks to your help, Shan is extremely grateful."
"It's easy to say," Yin Kaiyang teased.
"What's the use of your presence here today? Could it be that you want to use Xie Yun to persuade you to surrender?"
With a clear ding, Yin Kaiyang put down the teacup that had only been touched, and stood up from the armchair.
"No." He said lightly, and even bent over to salute Shan Chao:
"There is something strange in Luoyang City, I am really here to help you... to attack the city."
Shan Chao keenly noticed something.
He didn't say Qin Wangjun, nor did he say "you", he said "you".
However, without further questioning, a scream came from outside the military tent, followed by a faint tremor on the ground, and the horses neighed one after another in the distance.
"General Shan!" The tent door was flung open, Li Jingye yelled sharply: "Luoyang Li Xiaoyi sneak attack, the vanguard army has arrived at the camp!"
Li Xiaoyi, who had not survived the siege for half a month, finally became more courageous under the persuasion of his subordinates and repeated questions from Empress Wu.
Taking advantage of the darkening sky outside the city, the black smoke was still there, and the visibility was extremely weak, he ordered thousands of cavalry to wrap cotton cloths on the horseshoes, and attacked the base camp of King Qin's army in the dark.
Li Jingye was frightened and angry, and pushed Wei Siwen, Yu Chizhao and others who advised him not to fight, and stepped on the horse like a whirlwind, regardless of his body that had been seriously injured in the fierce battle.
At this time, the flames were burning outside the camp, Li Xiaoyi's cavalry appeared in front of him like ghosts, fighting fiercely in a hurry, countless soldiers from their own side were chopped off their horses before they could get ready for battle.
In the chaos, the crowd trampled on each other, the horses ran wild, blood and stumps were scattered, and it was hard to tell how many people had died; only the crackling of the fire was heard from far and near, and the food and grass camp in King Qin's army was on fire!
"Bastard!" Li Jingye yelled, rode his horse and galloped out, raised his gun and slashed fiercely!
However, at this time it was already very hasty to organize resistance. Who would have thought that Li Xiaoyi, who had always been cowardly and hesitant, would take the initiative to fight uncharacteristically after fighting fiercely all day and the city gate was almost broken, using such a dangerous method as a sneak attack by surprise soldiers
Shan Chao led the cavalry to rush out of the army tent, and saw continuous flames on the plain, shouting to kill Yingye, and gradually a clearer and more obvious vibration came from the ground, which was a harbinger of the arrival of tens of thousands of reinforcements in Luoyang City.
The muscles and bones on the back of his hand bulged, and he pressed the golden sword hilt that was dazzling in the firelight at his waist.
However, at this moment, Yin Kaiyang's voice suddenly sounded beside him: "General Shan, look over there."
Following Yin Kaiyang's gaze, at the end of the plain in the distance, the city wall of Luoyang was shrouded in the raging brilliance of thousands of torches, and the background was an endless dark night like thick ink. Shan Chao frowned: "What?"
"Can't see?"
"..."
"Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, Luoyang City has experienced wars and turmoil many times, but it has not been destroyed for 60 years. Many people in the world say that there is a real dragon king sitting here. Empress Wu is especially superstitious. The saying that the green dragon wins the world is not just referring to Xie Yun. Sitting in Beiya is also because she intends to change Luoyang into a god capital after she ascends the throne in the future, and she will settle here in the future."
Yin Kaiyang raised his hand, and the light of the basalt tattoo suddenly lit up on his arm, winding up to his fingertips.
Shan Chao's eyes narrowed slightly, even though he nodded between his brows, an indescribable vigor instantly penetrated his brain!
"Look again," Yin Kaiyang said leisurely.
Shan Chao closed his eyes, opened them a moment later, and his pupils dilated sharply.
On the heights of the Luoyang City Tower, raging flames reflected a huge, dark, mountain-like shadow in the night sky.
Its head scanned the plain left and right, its body slowly cruising, its pale golden claws pressed into the void; when it soared, it was enough to cover the entire Eastern Capital, and it could swallow the entire land with its mouth open, its tail covered with giant scales snaked straight to The sky in the distance.
It was a giant blue dragon.
The gloomy Long Tong crossed the plain, cast his eyes on Shan Chao who was slashing his sword on the battlefield, and then froze.
"..." Shan Chao recognized the familiar green dragon in an instant, he shook his head in disbelief, and gasped, "Xie Yun...?!"