One of the biggest features of the Chang'an city wall is that there is an inner and outer city, between the inner and outer city walls is a road about five zhang wide, the original intention of building a double city wall is not for defense, but to facilitate the emperor's travel, for example, Li Longji, Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, took Yang Guifei to Qujiang Pond to play, and walked the road between the walls.

The inner and outer cities of Chang'an are not as defensive as the Dali City of Fengzhou, the inner and outer cities of Dali are connected by using the plank road on the stone wall, once the outer city is breached, the plank road is burned immediately, and the inner and outer cities are completely isolated and invulnerable.

There is no plank road between the inner and outer cities of Chang'an, and you must go through the city gate, so if you use it for defense, it is actually unrealistic, once the outer city is conquered, it is relatively easier to conquer the inner city.

As long as the outer city is conquered, you can directly use the battering ram to break open the inner city gate, you can use bows and arrows to attack the inner city defenders intensively on the outer city, cover the soldiers to use the siege ladder to climb the city, and even use a long ladder directly between the inner and outer cities, there are many ways to siege the city.

But tonight's inner city crisis is an unexpected situation, Dou Liang has never hated himself like tonight, when he recruits soldiers during the day, he can't wait to recruit the young men of Chang'an City as soldiers, but at this moment, the retreat of 50,000 recruits has put him in a desperate situation.

The news of the loss of the outer city made the defenders panic, the military heart collapsed, tens of thousands of Tang troops rushed down the city in panic, rushing towards the Mingde Gate, the dark door hole of the Mingde Gate was crowded with soldiers who flocked into the city, they crowded each other, pushing, the speed of entering the city was extremely slow, cursing, crying, pleading, the city gate hole was chaotic.

Dou Liang stood at the head of the inner city and shouted loudly: "Close the city gate!" Close the gates! ”

The gates were to be closed several times. But it has been resisted by tens of thousands of soldiers, and it can't be closed at all, Dou Liang was anxious, and ordered the Jin Wuwei soldiers to go and drive away, at this time he had faintly seen the Sui soldiers chasing from the east city, and heard the sound of war horses' hooves galloping from the west, roaring outside the city like muffled thunder.

Dou Liang was so anxious that he stomped his foot. You can't close the city gates, something big is going to happen, and that's when you can't close it. Suddenly, a large group of Sui soldiers appeared on the opposite city wall, and this was hundreds of Sui soldiers using siege ladders to climb the outer city wall that had no defense.

Dou Rail's eyes widened suddenly, and he thought of a most terrifying situation. Sure enough, hundreds of Sui troops rushed into the city tower, only to hear the sound of the outer city drawbridge rumbling down, Dou Liang took two steps back sharply, and he was stunned.

At this time, dozens of Jinwuwei soldiers rushed forward and hurriedly said for the first captain: "Xiangguo go quickly, the city is about to be broken!" ”

Dou Liang stood there, motionless, as if he hadn't heard anything. As if his soul was out of his body, he never dreamed that Chang'an City would be easily breached, this was his responsibility, he was a sinner of the Tang Dynasty.

Dou Liang suddenly drew his sword. Erasing it to the neck, the lieutenant was quick with his hand, grabbed Dou Rail's arm, and snatched his sword, he didn't care whether Dou Rail agreed, so he picked him up and ran towards the city.

Then. The gate outside the Mingde Gate slowly opened, Yang Yuanqing led the Sui cavalry to kill in, and the Tang soldiers shouted in fear as if they were blowing up a nest, stumbling into the corridors on both sides and running for their lives.

The cavalry of the Sui army was like a sharp knife, instantly inserted into the city gate hole, and the Tang soldiers who could not escape were stabbed to the ground by the Sui army, and the war horse rushed into the crowded city gate hole, and suddenly a terrible scream sounded......

The Jin Wuwei, who defended the inner city, began to evacuate when the Sui army attacked the head of the outer city, and the soldiers quickly withdrew to the palace city, and only a quarter of an hour later, the Sui army's iron cavalry rushed into the Mingde Gate on the corpses of the Tang soldiers, and the city of Chang'an was breached.

10,000 Sui cavalry slaughtered into Chang'an, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves echoed on the stone slabs of Zhuque Street, the Sui cavalry lined up to separate on both sides, surrounded by hundreds of cavalry, Yang Yuanqing urged the war horse into the ancient capital that had become a political center since the Qin and Han dynasties.

He looked coldly at the Vermilion Bird Gate in the distance, and at this time, Cheng Yanjin stepped forward and bowed down and said, "Ask Your Highness for instructions, do you want to attack the Vermilion Bird Gate?" ”

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "Don't be in a hurry, set fire to all the fangmen, but the army must not disturb the people, and those who enter the houses without permission will be killed!" ”

The order was issued, 10,000 cavalry split up, and soon, Chang'an City was on fire everywhere, only the sound of horses' hooves was heard running in the streets and alleys, and the news that the Sui army had entered the city had spread throughout the city, and everyone was so frightened that they hid in their homes and did not dare to go out.

People kowtowed in front of the ancestors' spiritual thrones, begging the ancestors to bless them, or begging the Bodhisattva to bless them, but the officials of the Tang Dynasty did not have time to flee into the imperial city, they changed into the clothes of their subordinates, and hid in the cellars of their homes, one by one, uneasy, and terrified.

Both officials and ordinary people were nervous in their hearts, not knowing what kind of misery would befall them, and the entire city of Chang'an was shrouded in a kind of yīn shadow full of fear of death......

The Sui army broke through the outer city, in addition, there are the imperial city and the palace city, the imperial city wall is about four zhang high, more tall and solid, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the circumference is about twelve miles, at this time the city head is covered with 17,000 Jin Wuwei and Yulin army soldiers, the opposite Chang'an City was breached, everyone's mood is extremely heavy, watching the city fire everywhere, many people's hearts are full of worry, I don't know what the fate of their families is now?

At this time, at the head of the Vermilion Bird Gate, more than 1,000 guards surrounded the Tang Emperor Li Yuan, Li Yuan was supported by several eunuchs, his face was pale, Chang'an City was broken by Yang Yuanqing, so that his heart was filled with endless fear, behind him, there were more than 100 important ministers, they hid in the imperial city from noon.

Li Yuan even wanted to escape from Chang'an, but he was afraid of being caught up by the Sui army, so he asked the guards next to him in a trembling voice, "Has the urgent distress letter to the crown prince and the king of Qin been sent?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, it has been issued, according to Your Majesty's will, twelve urgent holy decrees have been issued in a row, and the day after tomorrow at the latest, the prince will rush back to the capital."

Li Yuan sighed, "It's still a question whether I can survive tonight." ”

As soon as the words fell, there was a sudden sound of fierce horses' hooves in the distance. It was as if thousands of troops and horses were rushing towards the Vermilion Bird Gate, so shocked that the hearts of all the soldiers in the city were about to stop beating, Li Yuan was even more frightened in his heart, took a step back, and almost fell to the ground, several eunuchs hurriedly supported him, "Your Majesty beware!" ”

Then. The sound of horses' hooves suddenly disappeared, but everyone could see it clearly, about a mile away. The one hundred and fifty pace-wide Vermilion Bird Street was densely filled with Sui soldiers, holding torches. Suzaku Street is illuminated as daytime.

An officer galloped on horseback, rushed to the Vermilion Bird Gate, raised his head and shouted: "The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is here?" ”

Li Yuan didn't say anything, and gave Pei Lin a look, Pei Lin understood, stepped forward and leaned out to the battlements and asked loudly, "What is the matter with you?" ”

"I am ordered by His Royal Highness the King of Chu to send a letter!"

After speaking, he stretched out his bow and set up an arrow, and sent a headless arrow with a letter stuck in it towards the head of the city, Pei Lin bowed his head in fright, and the arrow swept over his head and landed right at Li Yuan's feet. Li Yuan looked at the letter in a daze, as if this was a knife that killed him.

A eunuch picked up the letter and presented it to Li Yuan with both hands, and Li Yuan took the letter, the soft light of the lantern illuminating the cover. It is Yang Yuanqing's handwritten handwriting, which Li Yuan knows.

'The Great Sui Shangshu Order, the King of Chu, Yang Yuanqing, sent a letter to His Majesty the Emperor of the Western Tang Kingdom. ’

Li Yuan was secretly angry in his heart, Yang Yuanqing actually called the Tang Dynasty the Western Tang Kingdom, if it was usual, he would tear this letter to shreds, but at this time he did not have this confidence. After all, the Sui army seriously threatened his life.

He had to sigh and reluctantly open the letter, in which Yang Yuanqing put forward three conditions for him to retreat, the first was that the Tang army withdrew from Lingwu County, and the second was that the Tang army immediately withdrew from Luoyang and returned to Guanzhong, but the third condition made Li Yuan stunned for a moment.

A small county order turned out to be a condition for the Sui army to retreat, is it ...... Li Yuan suddenly remembered the extra siege ladder of the Sui army.

But at this time, Li Yuan didn't have time to think about it, he continued to look down, and below was the threat, if the Western Tang Kingdom did not agree to his conditions, he would burn Chang'an City tonight, and raze the Chang'an Imperial City and the palace city to the ground.

Li Yuan let out a long sigh and handed the letter to Xiao Yu, "You Wuxiangguo take a look!" ”

Xiao Yu took the letter, read it hurriedly, and handed it to Pei Lian, and several other people surrounded him.

"Xiao Aiqing, what do you think?" Li Yuan asked tiredly.

Xiao Yu pondered for a moment and said: "The minister thinks that since Yang Yuanqing took the initiative to propose the conditions for withdrawing the army, and the conditions are not too harsh, then it should be that he is not sure that he will be able to capture the imperial city, after all, his troops are insufficient, as for the burning of Chang'an, the minister thinks that he is just a threat, and he really doesn't dare to do it." ”

"I'm asking if you want to agree to his terms?" Li Yuan asked with some annoyance.

"This ...... The minister did not dare to answer. Xiao Yu lowered his head, he didn't dare to express his position at this time, he really couldn't afford this responsibility.

"Then Pei Aiqing, what do you say?" Li Yuan glared at Xiao Yu, and his gaze turned to Pei Lin again.

Pei Lian's eyes rolled and said: "Weichen's thoughts are the same as Xiao Xiangguo's, I also think that Yang Yuanqing is not sure to capture the imperial city, and he wants to leave Chang'an with dignity." ”

Pei Lin was also very tactful, and he refused to make a specific statement, Li Yuan was disappointed in his heart, and at the critical moment, he actually refused to share his worries one by one, this is, Dugu Zhen, who had been silent, said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Yang Yuanqing's conditions can be accepted." ”

Li Yuan jīng Shen Zhen, Dugu Zhen is the representative of the Guanlong nobles, he said that he accepted the conditions, which means that the Guanlong nobles support the withdrawal of troops from Luoyang, Li Yuan's eyes looked at Dou Rail again, Dou Rail also nodded slowly, he is the same as Dugu Zhen, first of all, to protect the interests of the Guanlong nobles, if Yang Yuanqing kills in Guanzhong, the Guanlong nobles bear the brunt.

With the support of the two Guanlong nobles, Li Yuan finally made up his mind, so he walked up to the city and said loudly to the reporting officer: "I am the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, please tell His Royal Highness the King of Chu, I accept his conditions!" ”

"My Highness wants Your Majesty to respond in writing!"

Li Yuan had no choice but to take the pen and hastily write the word 'accept' on Yang Yuanqing's letter, and signed his name.

Immediately handed the letter to the guards, the guards used arrows to shè the letter, the officer picked up the letter, ran back to the Sui army, and presented the letter to Yang Yuanqing, "Your Highness, the Tang Emperor said to accept His Highness's conditions!" ”

Yang Yuanqing took the letter and looked at it, smiled slightly, and immediately turned around and ordered: "Order to withdraw the army!" ”

The Sui cavalry quickly withdrew from Chang'an City, galloped eastward, and soon disappeared into the darkness.

An hour later, Li Jiancheng's general, Duan De, led 20,000 Tang troops to Chang'an City.