After listening to Zhang Yongtong's report, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, Yuan Tiangang and other staff accomplices were all overjoyed, and they all said that the plan to lure the enemy was finally successful, and Li Yuan's old fox finally agreed to fight tomorrow, and Chen Fuliang, who didn't know how long he had been waiting for this moment, was very calm, and kept asking Zhang Yongtong about the mission, paying attention to every subtle link, and never showing any relieved and relaxed expression.

It wasn't until he listened to all the details of Zhang Yongtong's introduction that Chen Fuliang ordered Zhang Yongtong to be rewarded for his errand and let him go down to rest. Wei Zheng, Yuan Tiangang and other staff members next to him saw that Chen Fuliang was still not at ease, so they asked tentatively: "Stay behind, do you suspect that Li Yuan is cheating?" ”

Chen Fuliang nodded and said frankly: "In front of so many thief generals, Li Yuan may be really angry after being humiliated, but even if he agrees to fight tomorrow, if he says it, he can still find an excuse to swallow it back." After all, we have also used a lot of tricks like first making a war book and then making an appointment to tease the enemy, we can use it, and Li Yuan's old thief can also use it. ”

"What then?" Yuan Tiangang hurriedly asked.

"There is nothing to be done, but to resign yourself to fate." Chen Fuliang replied helplessly: "The strategic initiative of the Guanzhong battlefield is in our hands, and we have the final say on how to fight it, and the tactics of the Daxing battlefield are in the hands of Li Yuan's old thief, and the only thing we can do now is to pray for God's blessing, so that Li Yuan's old thief will not think about our incorruptibility and shame, and find an excuse to break his trust when he talks about a decisive battle." ”

Chen Fuliang said a self-deprecating joke, but Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng and Yuan Tiangang and other staff members did not laugh, on the contrary, they were still worried, Chen Fuliang himself was not amused by his joke, after shaking his head and sighing, Chen Fuliang could only order: "It's better to prepare for the decisive battle, send an order to the whole army, immediately start preparing for the decisive battle tomorrow morning, and let the soldiers prepare everything that should be prepared." If the decisive battle can really be fought tomorrow, there will definitely be a night battle tomorrow night, and the torches and dry food used in the night battle will also let the auxiliary soldiers start to prepare. ”

The staff agreed and immediately arranged for the heralds to send orders to the battalions, Chen Fuliang pointed at Yuan Tiangang again, and said: "Mr. Yuan, tomorrow that thing should go to the battlefield, those things have not been seen by outsiders except for a few of our own people, there is no need to hide them, tomorrow we will load the gunpowder shells in advance, and put them in front of the battle in an open and honest manner, and then you will be personally responsible for calculating the high firing range and commanding the battle." ”

Yuan Tiangang agreed, and asked curiously: "Stay behind, where is the target of our first shot?" Frontal of the thieves? Or is it a thief army banner array? ”

"No!" Chen Fuliang shook his head and said with a smile: "We have a better choice for the first shot target, I will arrange it for you at that time, and I will personally come forward to fight for you a chance, if we are a good one, we can win this decisive battle very easily." ”

The preparations for the first night of the decisive battle began, and after the Sui army battalions received the order, they immediately began to check the weapons and equipment under the command of the generals at all levels of the Sui army, polishing the swords and guns that should be sharpened, replenishing the arrows that should be replenished, repairing the armor and shields, checking the shoes and socks, and preparing dry food and drinking water, and then most of the elite soldiers immediately entered the account to rest, and nourished their bodies for battle, leaving only a small number of elites to take turns guarding the camp, and the auxiliary soldiers continued to prepare meals, water wheels, siege ladders and dry food torches used in the next night battle. Yuan Tiangang also personally led the firearms team directly under Chen Fuliang to inspect all kinds of gunpowder weapons, prepare ammunition and finally review the operation, which was full of confusion and orderly.

During the busy preparation for the war, an accident happened, the rebels actually sent a messenger to meet Chen Fuliang at about the second watch, Chen Fuliang arranged for Fang Xuanling to meet on behalf of him for the sake of prudence, but it didn't take much time for Fang Xuanling to return to Chen Fuliang with a set of women's clothes, and said very confusedly: "Brother Xian, the thief army also sent you a set of women's clothes, but there was no letter, and I didn't say anything, just said that this is a gift from Li Shimin, you can understand when you read it, brother Xian, Then he took his leave and left. ”

"I understand when I read it?" Chen Fuliang was a little confused, but after taking the woman's clothes and unfolding them, Chen Fuliang really understood everything immediately, because this was a set of dresses worn by girls, goose yellow, and when Chen Fuliang and Yang Yuer met for the second time, Yang Yuer was wearing that dress. Seeing things and thinking about people, and thinking of his sweetheart Yang Yu'er, who is still imprisoned in Daxing City, Chen Fuliang couldn't help but feel gloomy again, and his heart, which was not calm enough, couldn't help but churn again.

"Brother Xian, what's wrong?" Fang Xuanling saw that something was wrong, and asked cautiously: "What does this set of women's clothes mean?" ”

"It's Li Er's scheming, the purpose is to disturb my mind and hit my psychology." Chen Fuliang replied with a wry smile, shook his head and said: "This hand is really powerful, my thoughts are really a little messy, I don't know how Li Er knows about my relationship with that girl, I don't know how much he knows, and I don't know what the situation of that girl is now, what does Li Yuan's old thief's family do to her, her attention can't be fully concentrated, and it's even more difficult to guess Li Yuan's old fox's next step." ”

Fang Xuanling was silent, and did not ask Chen Fuliang whether he was worried about the distraction of that girl, but comforted: "Brother Xian, this is not a good thing, Li Yuan's father and son suddenly attacked your psychological weakness, disturbing your mind, indirectly proving that they want to fight tomorrow, in order to fight for the most chance of victory, they did so, and the possibility of them breaking the contract tomorrow is very small." ”

Chen Fuliang nodded, but he still remembered in his heart that the beautiful girl who had a four-year appointment with him could not rest assured, his thoughts were greatly affected, coupled with the worry about the war the next day, and the worry about the rear of the Eastern Capital, it was night, Chen Fuliang stayed awake all night............

In fact, the rebel commander Li Yuan didn't sleep well this night, although the army had been arranged to prepare for the decisive battle the next day, but the strong threat of Chen Fuliang and the Sui army in the eastern capital was still like a boulder, weighing heavily on Li Yuan's heart, and several times almost made Li Yuan want to break his word and find an excuse to give up the decisive battle the next day, but thinking of all kinds of new and old hatreds with Chen Fuliang, and thinking that Chen Fuliang was likely to be ill, it was a great opportunity to break the main force of the Sui army in the eastern capital in one fell swoop, but Li Yuan was extremely unwilling, Saying anything, I want to fight with Chen Fuliang, fight to the death, and compete to the top.

Tossing and turning, it was not until after the fourth watch that Li Yuan fell asleep in a daze, and slept for more than an hour before being woken up by the drums of the second quarter of the hour, the beautiful maid came up and asked Li Yuan softly if he got up to wash, Li Yuan lay on his back on the bed motionless, the maid also said that Li Yuan still wanted to rest, and was about to retreat, but Li Yuan suddenly sat up, startled the maid and shouted, Li Yuan had a calm expression on his face with dark circles, and ordered: "Wait for the old man to wash up and prepare breakfast." ”

At the same time in the camp of the Sui army outside the city, Chen Fuliang, who had not slept all night, also heard the drums of the self-army, and got up by himself, Chen Fuliang first asked his soldiers to bring a basin of cold water, wiped his face with a linen cloth, and regained his sober spirit, and then calmly ordered: "Prepare green salt and breakfast for me, and feed my war horse." ”

At the beginning of the hour, the rebels took the lead in blowing the promotion account, the rebels gathered in the Wude Palace, waiting for Li Yuan's order, Li Yuan came to the palace with a black eye, the generals gave a neat salute, Li Yuan drank the order to flatten his body, and then said loudly: "Zhugong, the old man dreamed of the ancestor Li Weigong last night, the ancestor told the old man, today must fight, the battle must be won, a battle can break the tyrant's minions Chen Yingliang, recapture Tongguan, recover Yongfengcang, and then sweep Liuhe!" Sweep in all directions! ”

"Sweep Liuhe, sweep all directions!" The rebels shouted in unison.

"Good." Li Yuan nodded with satisfaction, and said loudly: "Generals, the time has come to decide the fate of our army. It is tolerable, which is unbearable, now our army has finished resting, the soldiers are strong and strong, it is the time to break the enemy in a decisive battle, the old man decided, today he personally led the army out of the city, and Chen Yingliang dog thief to fight to the death! ”

"Our army will win! The righteous teacher will win! When the rebel generals shouted in unison again, there were also a few civil and military officials who were worried, and wanted to persuade Li Yuan to fight cautiously several times, but seeing Li Yuan's resolute expression, these people still closed their mouths and did not dare to sweep Li Yuan's excitement.

"Father, do you use a knife to kill chickens?" Li Er is very good at talking, and he arched his hand and said: "My father is a body of ten thousand gold, how can he move lightly?" Although the son is not talented, he is also willing to lead the army to fight on behalf of his father, and he will definitely break the enemy in a battle. ”

"No, this battle is very important, and the husband must go out in person!" Li Yuan flatly refused, and said loudly: "In this battle, the old man commanded 70,000 troops out of the city, Erlang, you went out of the city with the old man to participate in the battle, and built to stay in the city, Shao'er guarded the palace city, Dou Cong, you led the army of 10,000 out of the city from Yanping Gate, lined up in formation, and beware of the Eastern Capital Army returning to the main battlefield!" ”

The generals agreed, but only Chai Shao pleaded after agreeing, and said: "Father-in-law, please allow the son-in-law to go out of the city with you, the son-in-law is willing to be the vanguard, charge into battle for the father-in-law, and avenge the old hatred!" ”

Glancing at his son-in-law, considering that this battle really requires a brave general who is not afraid of death to lead the army to fight to the death, Li Yuan nodded and said, "The virtuous son-in-law is commendable, and you are allowed to go to battle with the army!" Li Shentong, you temporarily replace Shao'er to guard the palace, don't be careless! ”

Chai Shao and Li Shentong agreed together, Chai Shao's expression was still very excited, and then Li Yuan arranged for the generals and the army to participate in the battle, and most of the most powerful brave generals under his command were brought to the army, and the think tank Pei Lian, Dou Wei and Yin Kaishan and others also accompanied the army staff officers, and the army was based on Li Yuan's Taiyuan lineage as the core backbone, supplemented by the Guanzhong army that Chen Fuliang had not commanded before, and then the Sui army and the newly recruited army that had been repeatedly reorganized in various places, and the number of elites accounted for only half of the total number. Left sufficient troops to guard the inner and outer cities of Daxing.

It is worth mentioning that Li Yuan handed over all the cavalry to his precious son Li Er this time, supplemented by Duan Zhixuan, who had previously performed well in the cavalry battle, and placed high hopes on Li Er, and also made up his mind to raid Chen Fuliang's banner array and capture the thief and capture the king first at the first opportunity. After arranging this qiē, Li Yuan ordered loudly, "At three o'clock in the morning, the army will go out of the city at the same time from the three gates of Tonghua, Chunming and Yanxing. ”

Or at the same time in the Sui military camp, although Chen Fuliang has not yet given the order to blow the promotion account, the generals of the Sui army who knew that there would be a big battle today have already come to the big tent of the Chinese army to wait for orders, but what they saw was that they were leisurely acting official document Chen Fuliang, the generals of the Sui army asked when Chen Fuliang would gather the army out of the camp, Chen Fuliang replied with a smile: "What's the hurry?" Wait until the thieves have a move. ”

Although the words were relaxed, Chen Fuliang's wrist involuntarily trembled a little when he signed the official document, this time, Chen Fuliang really didn't pretend.

The meteor scout horse kept galloping to report, saying that he noticed that there was an unusual movement of the thief army in the city, Chen Fuliang was still as steady as Mount Tai, and he also had a lot of leisure to taste tea, and asked about the movement of Ma Sanbao's division, and after learning that Ma Sanbao's army was a qiē shun lì, Chen Fuliang nodded, but still refused to speak.

Shortly after three o'clock in the morning, the news that the rebels were out of the city from the east three gates of Daxing at the same time was sent to Chen Fuliang by a fast horse, Chen Fuliang smiled, put down the teacup and ordered to blow up the account, and the Sui army generals who had been waiting outside the tent immediately flocked into the tent to line up, seeing that the Sui army generals arrived quickly and neatly, Chen Fuliang smiled again, and then said calmly: "The Great Sui Emperor blesses, Li Yuan's old thief is finally out of the city, this battle is related to the direction of the Guanzhong battlefield, can our army quickly take the outer city of Daxing, generals, Today, you must fight bravely, kill the enemy bravely, report the kindness of the country and the king, and live up to the expectations of Li Shu. ”

"Be cautious and stay on the order!" The generals of the Sui army answered more neatly.

"Good." Chen Fuliang nodded with satisfaction, and then said casually: "Today, we sent 30,000 troops to fight a decisive battle with the thief army, Wei Zheng led the rear army to stay in the camp, and the rest of the generals went out with me to lead the army." ”

The generals of the Sui army agreed loudly again, and Chen Fuliang arranged for the second-line generals who assisted Wei Zheng to defend the camp, and accompanied the various armies that went out of the camp to fight the decisive battle, and took away eighty percent of the elite soldiers in one go, and at the same time sent people to contact Li Jing and Qu Tutong, ordering them to continue to storm Xinfeng, and strive to break through the city within today, so as to free up their hands to reinforce the main battlefield of Daxing, and sent someone to send an order to Ma Sanbao, ordering him to lead the army to deploy defenses in Fengshui to prevent Li Yuan's rebels from fleeing westward. In the end, Chen Fuliang smiled and ordered: "Let's go and prepare, go out of the camp at the beginning of the day to assemble, back to the camp and fight a decisive battle with the thief army, and set up the Yanyue Array." ”

On October 14, the thirteenth year of the Great Sui Dynasty, cloudy, three o'clock in the morning, in the cold wind, the three gates of Chunming, Tonghua and Yanxing, which had been closed for many days, were opened at the same time in the east of Daxing City, and 70,000 rebels went out of the city under the personal leadership of the main general Li Yuan, and then gradually joined under the Chunming Gate, and at the same time opened the Yanping Gate in the west of Daxing, and 10,000 rebels went out of the city under the leadership of Li Yuan's wife and brother Dou Cong, and went west to prevent the Sui army from advancing westward before Ma Sanbao. The city's Chinese military officials went to Chunming Gate to see Li Yuan off, and the voices of congratulating Li Yuan on his victory came one after another.

At the same time, the Sui army also assembled under the personal leadership of Chen Fuliang, and the 30,000 Sui army flags fluttered, swords and guns were like forests, and the camp was backed by the Guangtong Canal, and the glaive array was quickly laid on the ground that had been frozen stiff by the cold wind, and it was also the main attack formation of the enemy in the crescent moon. Cheng Yanjin and Qin Qiong's cavalry were all concentrated in the right flank of the Sui army by Chen Fuliang, the first ace of the Baoguo army served as the tip of the teeth, and the left wing was handed over by Chen Fuliang to Liu Heimin, who was extremely good in the battle of Guanzhong.

Outnumbered and outnumbered, the soldiers of the Sui army were not afraid of this, but the soldiers of the Sui army also discovered a strange thing, that is, in front of the Chinese army of the self-army, twelve extremely strange metal vehicles were lined up on the left and right, the iron frame was extremely strong, and the body was a thick bronze giant pipe, and the mouth of the black hole directly faced the rebel road in the southwest. When some soldiers of the Sui army asked curiously about the function of these strange cars, the answer was not to ask more, and you will soon know.

As the hour approached, 70,000 rebels arrived in front of the Sui army, and the black and oppressive heads and red and white military flags were all over the mountains, overwhelming, and the number of momentum was far above that of the Sui army. Seeing the great array of the glaive and the arrangement of troops in the crescent moon laid by Chen Fuliang, Li Yuan laughed loudly, and immediately ordered his own army to lay out the same formation half a mile away, and led the main infantry to sit on the thick moon wheel, facing Chen Fuliang's Chinese army head-on, and ordered Li Er to lead the cavalry to be arranged on the right flank, avoiding the Sui cavalry and the army of the country arranged in the left front, and ordered his right-hand man Li Xiaogong and his beloved general Wang Changhuan to lead 20,000 infantry to the left flank.

Pei Lian, Liu Wenjing and others were a little puzzled by Li Yuan's arrangement, and they all asked Li Yuan the reason, but Li Er saw his father's true plan at a glance, and said with a smile: "Chen Yingliang's thief concentrated the cavalry on our left flank, and my father put the cavalry of our army on the right flank, and arranged a large number of infantry on the left flank. ”

The rebel Zhu Wenwu suddenly realized, and praised Li Yuan's clever calculations like a god, and the chances of victory were already in place before the battle began, and then several rebel generals pointed to the twelve strange metal cars in front of the Sui army and asked: "General, right governor, what is that?" What did Chen Yingliang thieves do when they put those strange cars in front of the formation? ”

Li Yuan and Li Er naturally couldn't answer this question, and they once suspected that this was a new weapon similar to the bed crossbow, but they didn't see the shaft of the arrow, let alone a bowstring thicker than an arm, but they immediately denied this answer. In order not to shake the morale of the army, Li Yuan said casually: "A chariot similar to the Saimen knife cart, which is used for charging, can break through the long shield array, but as long as the cart soldiers behind are killed, this kind of cart will be scrapped, and it is not difficult to deal with." ”

Regarding the secret support of the Longba gate, the information on the rebel side has always been accurate and reliable, after listening to Li Yuan's casual words, not to mention that the rebels believed that the rebels believed that it was true, even Li Er thought that his father had known all kinds of circumstances about this weapon for a long time, and he didn't take it to heart. At this time, the Glaive Array used by the rebels to fight against the Sui army had been arranged, and when Li Yuan was considering whether to go out to answer a few words with Chen Fuliang, the flag array on the Sui army's side had already opened, and Chen Fuliang, who was still in white horses and white robes, led a group of Sui soldiers out of the battle, came to the front of the formation and stood still, so that people waved white flags and shouted in front of the rebel formation, "Please Tang Guogong come out and answer!" ”

When the envoy stepped forward to shout, Chen Fuliang also turned his face to Yuan Tiangang and asked with a smile: "Mr. Yuan, now you know who our first shot target is, right?" It's up to you. ”

"Got it." Yuan Tiangang smiled and nodded, immediately turned over and dismounted, galloped to the artillery array, and whispered orders.

"Answering before the battle?" At this moment, in the rebel banner array, Li Yuan, who heard the invitation of the envoy of the Sui army, smiled slightly, and ordered left and right: "Go, go out and meet this little thief, the old man and his grievances and grievances, it is time to make an end." ”

"Father, please let the child go with you." Li Er volunteered, quietly flashed the bow and arrow in his hand, and whispered: "If there is a chance, the child will rush up and give him an arrow." ”

Li Yuan, who knew his precious son's archery skills, smiled slightly, nodded and said, "It's up to you." "Hands free, ready to launch a surprise attack at any time?"

The rebel Zhu Wenwu suddenly realized, and praised Li Yuan's clever calculations like a god, and the chances of victory were already in place before the battle began, and then several rebel generals pointed to the twelve strange metal cars in front of the Sui army and asked: "General, right governor, what is that?" What did Chen Yingliang thieves do when they put those strange cars in front of the formation? ”

Li Yuan and Li Er naturally couldn't answer this question, and they once suspected that this was a new weapon similar to the bed crossbow, but they didn't see the shaft of the arrow, let alone a bowstring thicker than an arm, but they immediately denied this answer. In order not to shake the morale of the army, Li Yuan said casually: "A chariot similar to the Saimen knife cart, which is used for charging, can break through the long shield array, but as long as the cart soldiers behind are killed, this kind of cart will be scrapped, and it is not difficult to deal with." ”

Regarding the secret support of the Longba gate, the information on the rebel side has always been accurate and reliable, after listening to Li Yuan's casual words, not to mention that the rebels believed that the rebels believed that it was true, even Li Er thought that his father had known all kinds of circumstances about this weapon for a long time, and he didn't take it to heart. At this time, the Glaive Array used by the rebels to fight against the Sui army had been arranged, and when Li Yuan was considering whether to go out to answer a few words with Chen Fuliang, the flag array on the Sui army's side had already opened, and Chen Fuliang, who was still in white horses and white robes, led a group of Sui soldiers out of the battle, came to the front of the formation and stood still, so that people waved white flags and shouted in front of the rebel formation, "Please Tang Guogong come out and answer!" ”

When the envoy stepped forward to shout, Chen Fuliang also turned his face to Yuan Tiangang and asked with a smile: "Mr. Yuan, now you know who our first shot target is, right?" It's up to you. ”

"Got it." Yuan Tiangang smiled and nodded, immediately turned over and dismounted, galloped to the artillery array, and whispered orders.

"Answering before the battle?" At this moment, in the rebel banner array, Li Yuan, who heard the invitation of the envoy of the Sui army, smiled slightly, and ordered left and right: "Go, go out and meet this little thief, the old man and his grievances and grievances, it is time to make an end." ”

"Father, please let the child go with you." Li Er volunteered, quietly flashed the bow and arrow in his hand, and whispered: "If there is a chance, the child will rush up and give him an arrow." ”

Li Yuan, who knew his precious son's archery skills, smiled slightly, nodded and said, "It's up to you." ”