After all, Li Yuan is also the emperor immediately, a person who has experienced war, but the sudden threat made him instinctively fall into extreme panic, but he soon calmed down, he pondered for a moment, and hurriedly ordered: "All the palace guards will concentrate on the defense of Xuanwu Gate, and then pass on my will to Dou Rail, and quickly transfer back the five thousand feather forest army." ”

After Li Yuan finished deploying, the guards urged him again, "Your Majesty, leave the palace quickly, the Sui army will attack the palace at any time." ”

Li Yuan also knew that the situation was critical, he didn't wait for the chariot to come over, he directly turned over and ran towards the imperial city, no matter what, he had to escape from the palace city first.

……

Outside the Xuanwu Gate, several palaces in the West Inner Garden and the military camp of the Yulin Army were also burned, and there were raging fires burning everywhere, and the entire West Inner Garden was filled with billowing smoke.

At this time, the pressure of the Sui army continued to increase, and the soldiers of the Sui army cut down hundreds of large trees, piled them up in front of the Xuanwu Gate, poured fire oil and burned them, the fire engulfed the two gatehouses, and dozens of Tang soldiers were engulfed by the fire before they had time to escape.

Not only the Xuanwu Gate, but also the cavalry of the Sui army entered the palace city one by one, so that the more than a dozen buildings and palaces near the city wall in the palace city were all set on fire, and the north of the Taiji Palace fell into a sea of fire.

The palace city was on fire everywhere, and the sky-high flames of the Xuanwu Gate rose to a height of thirty zhang, and the entire Chang'an City could be clearly seen.

The Sui offensive in Dongcheng had weakened, and the Sui cavalry turned to Nancheng and launched an attack on Nancheng.

At this time, above the head of the eastern city, Dou Liang was staring blankly at the fire in the direction of the northern palace, he was terrified in his heart, and it was only at this time that he finally realized why he didn't see Yang Yuanqing, Yang Yuanqing actually led the army to attack the northern palace.

This is the Sui army's strategy of attacking the east and the west, ostensibly attacking the city, but in fact going to attack the palace city, which is still a precedent that has never been seen before.

Dou Liang was suddenly shocked into a cold sweat, if the palace city was breached, he would become the eternal criminal of the Tang Dynasty, he hurriedly ordered to Changsun Shunde: "General Changsun, you rate five thousand troops to aid the palace, go quickly!" ”

The eldest grandson Shunde was also full of sweat, he was in charge of the Yulin Army, responsible for the security of the palace, but he took almost all the troops out of the palace, leaving less than a thousand people in the palace, he didn't realize that Yang Yuanqing would attack the palace from the Xuanwu Gate.

"Yes!"

The eldest grandson Shunde yelled, turned around and ran in the direction of Miyagi, he scolded and yelled repeatedly, and five thousand soldiers followed him out of the east city and rushed in the direction of the north city......

Outside the Xuanwu Gate, Yang Yuanqing immediately watched the fire of the Xuanwu Gate under a big pine tree, and more than 2,000 guards on the city wall were engaged in a fierce confrontation with the Sui cavalry

There was no point in fighting any longer, and Yang Yuanqing finally gave the order, "Order the army to retreat!" ”

The order was issued, the cavalry of the two thousand Sui army turned the horse's head, followed Yang Yuanqing to the Xiyuan Gate and galloped, and after a while, the team left the northern city of Chang'an, and converged with Luo Shixin's army in the southwest, and the 10,000 Sui army went to the direction of Xianyang County.

Li Yuan, under the escort of thousands of Yulin troops, stood on the outer city wall, watching the Sui cavalry go away, he just breathed a sigh of relief, Pei Lin said on the side: "Your Majesty must not be careless, Yang Yuanqing is extremely cunning, Weichen estimates that he will kill a horse pistol, if we relax a little, there will be a danger of the city being broken." ”

Xiao Yu said worriedly, "This time the Sui army did not capture Chang'an, because they were light and cavalry, and did not carry siege weapons, but the minister remembered that there were many long ladders in the Xianyang official warehouse, which were left there when the Xianyang city was repaired last time, and if it was found by the Sui army, it would be really troublesome." ”

Li Yuan was shocked in his heart, the Sui army's attack on the Xuanwu Gate had already scared him out, if he turned around and killed again, and there were siege weapons, how could they resist it, he hurriedly asked: "Then according to your Aiqing's opinion, what is it good now?" ”

Dou Liang bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, it's still the old way, immediately recruit a large number of young people in the city, at least more than 50,000 recruits, issue armor, and assist in defending the city, in addition, the reinforcements of the crown prince and the king of Qin will come back immediately, and there can be no further delay!" ”

Li Yuanyi gritted his teeth and said: "Spread my hand again, and order the prince and the king of Qin to rush back to help, whoever dares to delay any longer, I will be severely punished!" ”

……

The offensive and defensive battle of Luoyang City has reached the fourth day, after three consecutive days of large-scale siege, today's siege battle finally stopped, under Luoyang City, the corpses and bones are piled up, and the damaged trebuchets, ladders and the wreckage of the nest car are lying on the ground, although the Tang army has paid the price of nearly 20,000 people, but Luoyang City has still not been able to capture.

The cold winter helped Wang Shichong's defense of the city a lot, Wang Shichong used ice water to water the city, so that the city became extraordinarily smooth, the ladder slipped away, and had to hook the city head with the giant hook on the ladder, but Wang Shichong's army smashed the hook with a hammer, and one person could easily overturn the ladder, which made the Tang army's attack into a great disadvantage.

But Wang Shichong's army also suffered heavy casualties, his army also lost nearly 20,000 casualties, and more than 20,000 people, and the defenders of Luoyang, Ye, were on the verge of collapse.

The camp of the Tang army is ten miles away from the west of the city, and the dense tent is out of sight, stretching for dozens of miles, at this time in the big tent of the Chinese army, Li Xiaogong said to Li Shimin worriedly: "I am most worried about Jingxiang now, this time the 100,000 army is going north, Jingxiang is empty and has no soldiers, Xiao Milling this person is very timid, he does not dare to expand westward, I am worried that the Sui army will go south to Jingxiang, although the Sui army seems to be a feint, but if they really enter Jingxiang, I am worried that it will cause serious consequences."

The reason why the Tang army stopped attacking the city today was that they had received a series of unfavorable information, first the scouts of Huaiyang County found that a Sui cavalry was speeding south, and the direction was Jingxiang.

Immediately, Tang Feng spies in Hedong County discovered that Yang Yuanqing appeared in Hedong City, and Li Shimin suspected that Yang Yuanqing was going to attack Guanzhong, but he received an urgent order from his father early this morning, ordering him to return to the army immediately and rescue Guanzhong.

A series of changes made Li Shimin's head like a fight, he was really anxious in his heart, he knew very well the root cause of all this, Yang Yuanqing's appearance in Hedong County meant that the war in the north had subsided, and it was definitely the Sui army that had defeated the Turks.

Li Shimin paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed, this is a bit troublesome, Jing Xiang's side will definitely have to go back.

The Sui army ended the northern campaign, and the emptiness of Jingxiang was a bit dangerous, although Xiao Mo did not dare to counterattack Jingxiang, but if the Sui army went south to support him, he would most likely dare to attack.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin sighed and said to Li Xiaogong: "You will lead 80,000 troops south to Jingxiang, I am very worried that the Sui army will support Xiao Miao's counterattack on Jingxiang." ”

Li Xiaogong was taken aback, this is indeed very possible, although Xiao Mo did not dare to attack Jingxiang himself, but with the support of the Sui army going south, that is another matter, he immediately nodded, "I will withdraw to Jingxiang immediately, and Luoyang will be handed over to the second brother." ”

Seeing that Li Shimin was still a little worried, he asked, "Why, the 100,000 troops are not sure to take Luoyang?" ”

Li Shimin shook his head, "There is no problem in taking Luoyang, I know in my heart, I can conquer Luoyang within three days, the key is what to do with Zhongli?" ”

Li Shimin sighed and said: "Yang Yuanqing led the army to attack Guanzhong, and my father ordered me to immediately return to the army of 50,000 to support Guanzhong, so that I will not be able to plan the Central Plains if I have insufficient troops." ”

Li Xiaogong was silent for a moment and said, "I'm afraid this is Yang Yuanqing's purpose." ”

"I know, this is his plan, including sending troops to attack Jingxiang in the south, but also to force you back, and then to attack the west storm, and to force my Ping team back, in the final analysis, he is to use the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao to thwart our Central Plains offensive."

Li Shimin sighed slightly, "The problem is, I clearly know his intentions, but I have to be led by his nose." ”

Li Xiaogong pondered and said: "I think the saint must have ordered the prince to come back to help, in fact, as long as the prince's army comes back, it will also be able to save the danger of Guanzhong, if you don't return to the army, and continue to occupy Zhongsang after taking Luoyang, I think Yang Yuanqing will have no way to take you for a while." ”

"What does filial piety mean, do you want me to resist the will and disrespect?" Li Shimin squinted and asked.

"Although it is a bit inappropriate to resist the decree and disobey it, as long as you take the Central Plains, and at the same time the crisis in Guanzhong is alleviated, and then you explain it clearly to the saint, I think it shouldn't be a big problem."

Li Shimin shook his head again, "You are wrong, the consequences of disobeying the decree are very serious, my father regards military power more than anything else, if I don't listen to his transfer and disobey the edict, even if the crisis situation in Guanzhong is resolved, even if I take the Central Plains, he will never spare me, and will deprive me of military power step by step." ”

The two were silent again, Li Shimin walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, he seemed to think of something, so he smiled slightly, "Maybe I can drag it out and send 50,000 reinforcements to move slowly, and when the crisis in Guanzhong is solved, I will write to my father for instructions and continue to attack the Central Plains, so that the prince will not be able to catch my handle." ”

"Will Sui Jun agree?"

Li Xiaogong continued: "Since they have defeated the Turks and have no worries, will he still allow us to occupy the Central Plains?" Don't be too optimistic, Shimin. ”

Li Shimin sneered, "Even if Yang Yuanqing defeats the Turks, it will be a crushing victory, his army is exhausted, and his strength has been greatly reduced, where is there still jīng strength to compete with us for the Central Plains again, otherwise Yang Yuanqing will not use the method of surprise attack on Guanzhong to force us to withdraw our troops, now Tang is strong and Sui is weak, as long as we can grit our teeth and resist, then the Central Plains must belong to us." ”

Li Shimin has always been haunted by the defeat in the Central Plains a few months ago, it was not his problem, but his father's command error, finally this time his father allowed him to use troops with full authority, then he would not take another wrong step.

He must recapture the Central Plains, even if Yang Yuanqing uses the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao, he will never let Yang Yuanqing succeed so lightly.

……