In the battle of the outer city, the price paid by the main force of the Sui army was not small, the elite soldiers under the command of the four generals of Wei Chi Jingde, Luo Shixin, Kan Liang and Qiu Xinggong died more than 1,400 people, and the other main forces including the Sui soldiers who died during the siege of the city by the ants lost more than 2,800 people, and the total casualties were close to 4,300, and the casualties were far greater than the decisive battle at the intersection of the Cuihan Road, and it was probably equal to the total casualties of the main force of the Sui army that took the east and west cities of Taiyuan successively, and also set a record of the highest loss of troops by the main force of the Sui army in a battle.

The reason for such heavy casualties is that Chen Fuliang himself is the main force of the Sui army, which can only be blasted with gunpowder on one battlefield, and then calmly enter the city to seize the outer city, so the casualties of the Sui army soldiers will definitely not be so large. It was Chen Fuliang who was stubborn, taking the lives of the soldiers as a child's play, but he wanted to storm the two city gates at the same time to increase the casualties of the ants, and forced the elite soldiers to attack and burn the bridge, intercepting the defeated soldiers of the Zheng army within the coverage of the bows and arrows of the defenders of the enemy's imperial city, and asked Kan Liang to forcibly intercept the defeated soldiers of the Zheng army in the entire outer city of Luoyang with the strength of one army.

Of course, more than 4,000 Sui warriors who died in battle were definitely not sacrificed in vain, overnight, more than 30,000 Zheng army reserves and more than 16,000 city gate defenders were finally able to escape into the imperial city to continue fighting, adding up to less than 8,000 people, the rest were either annihilated by the Sui army, or taken prisoner, or fell into Luoshui and disappeared, only a few opened the Nancheng gate to escape, and the Sui army soldiers picked up more than 3,000 Zheng army soldier corpses in the lower reaches of Luoshui, but there were still many corpses that had not been caught and floated further downstream, The corpses of the Zheng soldiers were all over the streets and alleys of the outer city of Luoyang, and the corpses were piled up outside the Chengfu Gate, which was the most fierce in the fighting, and the people of Luoyang, who were holding white flags, could not transport some of the corpses for two days.

After this battle, there were only about 18,000 defenders left in the Luoyang Imperial City, and there were many wounded, and it was not enough to protect themselves in front of the main force of the Sui army, let alone properly counterattack according to the original plan, contain the main force of the Sui army, reduce the pressure on the side of Luokoucang and Tiger Pass, and buy time for waiting for Dou Jiande's reinforcements. Therefore, after counting the remaining troops, the first thing Wang Shichong, who had a blue face, was to order Wang Deren to take the opportunity to lead the defenders of Jinyong City to withdraw to the imperial city and strengthen the defenders who were already seriously inadequate, and the second thing was to send people to Linhao again, begging Dou Jiande to send troops to help as soon as possible, the sooner the better!

Counting on the defenders of Jinyong City to withdraw to the imperial city to help the war, Wang Shichong didn't even think about it, and was determined to beat up his father-in-law Chen Fuliang, a filial son-in-law who couldn't take care of himself, just ended the battle in the outer city, and immediately let the right-hand man Liu Heimin prepare to attack the battle of Jinyong City, and divided a large number of troops to intercept Wang Deren's army back to the city, Wang Deren, who received the order, sent people out of the city several times to spy but could not find the opportunity to withdraw to the imperial city, Wang Deren's second and fifth boy deputy Zhao Jiqing also quietly sent people to get in touch with the Sui army, I plan to sacrifice the city in exchange for glory and wealth.

In fact, the day after the main force of the Sui army took the outer city of Luoyang, after the unremitting efforts and repeated pleas of the Zheng army's envoy Wang Wan and the eldest grandson An Shi, Dou Jiande finally nodded and promised to send troops to Wang Shichong as soon as possible to help, and to protect Wang Shichong, the Central Plains barrier, was also disgusting Chen Fuliang, and publicly asked a few strategists around him if they should drive to save Wang Shichong?

Just when Wang Wan and the eldest grandson An Shi were ecstatic in order to finally move Dou Jiande, the prince of the Great Xia Imperial Court, Jiu Ling Jing, jumped out to disgust them, and said to Dou Jiande: "If Your Majesty intends to drive the expedition in person, this move is of course the best, with Your Majesty's wisdom and martial arts, the sharp edge of the army, it is of course easy to attack the city and plunder the land." However, Weichen believes that His Majesty does not need to send troops to Luoyang, and directly goes to Henan to rescue Zheng Guo. ”

Wang Wan and the eldest grandson An Shi were taken aback, and Dou Jiande also asked in confusion: "Why?" If I don't send troops to Luoyang, how can I rescue Zheng Guo? ”

"Your Majesty, just encircle Wei and save Zhao." Ling Jing suggested: "Your Majesty wants to save Zheng Guo, you can take advantage of the opportunity of Chen Thief Hedong and Guanzhong, personally lead a large army into Shangdang, first take Shangdang and then enter Linfen, and enter the Jinnan Plain after Chen Thief invaded the Central Plains, and then divide a force to take Huoyi in the north to cut off Li Jing's southward road, and the main force will take Puban in Hedong, and coerce Guanzhong and Changping and Yongfeng two warehouses, so that the Chen thief army will inevitably retreat back to defend Guanzhong, and the danger of Luoyang can also be solved without a fight." ”

"Your Majesty, Ling Sacrificial Wine is a great plan." Dou Jiande's mastermind Song Zhengben also ran out to disgust Wang Wan and the eldest grandson An Shi, and echoed: "Attacking Hedong in the west to encircle Wei to save Zhao, the Chen thief will inevitably retreat, and our army will wait for a decisive battle with it, and if you win, you can take the opportunity to enter the main pass, and achieve the hegemony of the Qin Emperor of Han Gao. But if our army marches south to Luoyang, then it is Chen Thief who will meet our army with leisure and hard work, and even if he wins, he will inevitably have to pay a lot of price, and there is no harvest of land, money and grain. ”

Hearing this, and seeing Dou Jiande's hesitation, Wang Wan panicked, and hurriedly pleaded: "Your Majesty, the thieves Chen have entered the Kou in a big way, Luoyang is in danger, if Your Majesty does not directly send troops to Luoyang, Luoyang will definitely not be protected, and please send troops to Luoyang as soon as possible to save the soldiers of our army from fire and water." If this can be done, I Zheng Guo will be grateful to Your Majesty, money, silk cloth, county land, as long as Your Majesty speaks, my country will definitely give everything to Your Majesty, and try to repay Your Majesty. ”

Fortunately, Wang Wan also has a friend in Dou Jiande's staff, at least Liu Bin, the Chinese scholar, stood up to help Wang Wan, and said to Dou Jiande: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that you can't expect to save Zheng Guo by encircling Wei and saving Zhao, the road in Taihang Mountain is narrow, the army is moving slowly, and the grain and grass are difficult to transport, I am afraid that the main force of our army has not been able to cross the Taihang Mountains, and Luoyang will not be guaranteed. Even if Luoyang can support our army to cross Taihang, Chen Thief only needs to divide his troops in advance to choke the Taihang Mountain Road, and our army will be difficult to advance an inch, far less convenient and fast than directly sending troops to reinforce Luoyang. ”

Each has its own reason, everything is good, but Dou Jiande, who has soft ears, will inevitably be a little hesitant and difficult to decide, but Ling Jing and Song Zhengben are stubborn, and calculate the time for Dou Jiande to enter the army with a straight finger, pointing out that as long as the self-army moves fast enough, it can cross the Taihang Mountains before Chen Fuliang's division of troops to return to help, so that Chen Fuliang's partial division can not hold the danger, and pointed out that Jinnan is abundant, and the two important grain-producing areas of Jiangxian and Hedong have not experienced war for two years, and the grain storage is enough to meet the needs of the self-army, and the self-army only needs to enter the Jinnan Plain, Chen Fuliang, who was empty in the rear, only had to retreat to protect himself.

Under the repeated insistence of Ling Jing and Song Zhengben, Dou Jiande wavered again, and after thinking about it again, he said: "In this way, first prepare to send troops, whether to directly send troops to Luo*, or take advantage of the void to kill into Hedong, Rong Zhen thought about it more, and also asked the opinions of hundreds of officials in the early court." ”

Hearing Dou Jiande's words, Ling Jing and Song Zhengben, who were both a little stubborn, still refused to give up, and were still trying their best to persuade Dou Jiande to take advantage of the situation to enter Hedong to disgust Chen Fuliang - this can indeed make Chen Fuliang as disgusting as eating a fly, but Dou Jiande had other considerations, and did not immediately accept their strategic advice, and still had to wait for discussion with the civil and military officials. When Ling Jing and Song Zhengben had no choice but to give up, Wang Wan and the eldest grandson An Shi also quietly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that there was still the last glimmer of hope for Dou Jiande to send troops directly to Luoyang.

In order to seize this last bit of hope, Wang Wan and his eldest grandson Anshi, who are very good at being people, of course, immediately moved around, sending a lot of gold, silver and jewelry to Dou Jiande's cronies and generals, begging them to help persuade Dou Jiande to send troops directly to Luoyang, and promised to be doubly grateful after lifting the siege of Luoyang.

Wang Wan and the eldest grandson An Shi did this to aim at the weakness of the Dou army generals, Dou Jiande, who was born in the soil buns, was a mess in politics, and was very good to the people and soldiers, but he was a little uninteresting to the generals under his command, and after the founding of the country and the throne, he did not reward a large amount of land to his lackeys and turned them into the landlord class, resulting in the generals under his command who were all poor eggs who were precarious and had eaten the last meal without the next meal - in history, Liu Heimin was named the prince of Handong County by Dou Jiande, and he was so poor that he had to grow vegetables to make a living after he was idle. So after seeing the large amount of jewelry presented by Wang Wan and the eldest grandson Anshi, the generals of the Dou Army not only had their eyes shining, but also patted their chests and promised to persuade Dou Jiande to rescue Luoyang directly, and not to listen to the pedantic words of Ling Jing and Song Zhengben, two nerds.

For the sake of safety, Wang Wan also walked the way to Li Mi - because Li Mi was not only respected on the throne of Wei after returning to Dou Jiande, but also very good at currying favor with Dou Jiande and saying something obedient, so even if Wang Wan couldn't pull Li Mi over, he must first ensure that Li Mi didn't make trouble.

It's a pity that although the jewelry that Wang Wan gave to Li Mi was valuable, but in front of Li Mi, who had eaten and seen, he couldn't receive any effect, and he was also guilty of being trapped by Li Mi to the result of their negotiations with Dou Jiande, and then Li Mi not only politely declined Wang Wan's gift, nor did he agree to help Wang Wan speak, but only used the excuse that he was a new general and it was inconvenient to interfere too much in Dou Jiande's military affairs, and he was unwilling to express his opinion on this matter. After Wang Wan left in disappointment, Li Mi also sneered at Wang Bodang, the student who accompanied him to meet: "Li Ling Zhi is dizzy!" Thought that Dou Jiande could save them as long as he directly sent troops to Luoyang? Dream! ”

"Teacher, do you think you can't directly send troops to Luoyang?" Wang Bodang asked curiously.

"Of course not!" Li Mi replied categorically: "Dou Jiande directly sent troops to Luoyang to find his own death!" Chen Yingliang's traitor personally led the main force to the east to conquer Luoyang, almost all the country's elite soldiers and strong generals participated, and the force was unstoppable, Dou Jiande sent some partial divisions to rescue Luoyang to no avail, and personally led the main force to save Luoyang, and it just happened to give Chen Yingliang the traitor a chance to give him a chance to face the blow, so that Chen Thief could hit him hard without having to work on the expedition! Only by sending troops to Hedong to surround Wei and rescue Zhao is the best way to force Chen Thief to retreat! ”

"The students just now also felt that it was the best policy to take advantage of the situation and enter Hedong." Wang Bodang nodded and echoed: "Linhuan and Shangdang are close at hand, and suddenly send troops in a big way, even if Chen Yingliang and traitors receive Pang Yu's urgency, they can't re-defend Hedong in a hurry, Dou Jiande took the opportunity to kill Hedong in a big way, and the main force of Chen Thief has only one choice to immediately retreat." ”

"There's a better way." Li Mi sneered and said: "Openly declare that they want to directly rescue Luoyang, send a detachment to the south and garrison Zhaji County, pretend to clear the passage and attract the main force of Chen Thief to go east to prevent it." At the same time, he pretended to increase his troops to prevent Pang Yupifu from taking the opportunity to attack Linhao, taking the opportunity to clear the road, and then the main force suddenly sent troops to the west, and Chen Thief was even more caught off guard. ”

"Mentor's Wisdom!" Wang Bodang applauded, and then suggested: "Teacher, when you arrive at the court meeting, if Dou Jiande asks in public how to rescue Wang Shichong, how about you offer this strategy immediately?" ”

"Stupid, how can such a brilliant idea be offered in public?" Li Mi said with a smile: "Isn't offering advice in public giving Chen Yingliang a chance to prevent traitors in advance?" At the court meeting, how could the traitor's meticulous work have a reason that he couldn't hear? Such a clever plan can only be proposed to Dou Jiande alone, and the fewer people know, the better. ”

Wang Bodang applauded again, and immediately suggested that Li Mi should make this plan to Dou Jiande as soon as possible, and Li Mi would of course not be polite if he could disgust Chen Fuliang, but after nodding, Li? But he frowned and said: "But Wang Shichong is a trouble, his envoy is afraid that Wei Wei will not succeed in saving Zhao, Luoyang will not be able to guarantee, if he can send the gift to me, he will naturally send the gift to Dou Jiande's other henchmen, if these rat-eyed rats desperately incite Dou Jiande to send troops directly to Luoyang, then with Dou Jiande's temper, it will give Chen Thief a chance to beat rabbits if he doesn't ...... good." ”

"Teacher, this is easy to do." Wang Bodang hurriedly said: "Dou Jiande Pifu has a stupid personality, and he can't rub sand in his eyes, as long as we bribe a few of his close attendants, and stab the news of Wang Wanpifu's bribes and bribes everywhere in front of Dou Jiande, then ......." ”

Li Mi smiled and said with a smile: "That's it, I'll leave it to you, the sooner the better, just go the way we took before." ”

Wang Bodang nodded with a smile, and immediately got up and prepared to go down to arrange, and at this point, as long as the matter continues smoothly, Chen Fuliang, who has lost his conscience, will have to be as disgusting as eating a hundred flies, and the plan to usurp the throne and become emperor after occupying the Central Plains will definitely become far away. But it's a pity that Heavenly Gong helps evil but not good, and at the critical moment, Wang Xuance, another absolute confidant of Li Mi, suddenly opened his mouth and said quickly: "Duke Wei, slow down!" General Wang, wait! Students have something to say! ”

Glancing at his confidential secretary with a little surprise, Li Mi asked suspiciously, "Xuan Ce, what do you want to say?" ”

"Gong Wei, the student wants to dare to ask you." Wang Xuance's expression was unusually firm, and he asked in a deep voice: "Duke Wei, do you still want to make a comeback?" Do you want to regain your former glory? ”

Want to make a comeback? It is undoubtedly an extremely sensitive topic for Li Mi, who was forced to surrender to Dou Jiande because of his weak strength, but fortunately, Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance who were present were absolute henchmen who had proven absolute loyalty over time, so Li Mi first looked carefully left and right, and then asked in a low voice: "Xuan Ce, what do you mean by this?" ”

"Duke Wei, if you still want to make a comeback, you can only persuade Dou Jiande to personally lead the army to Luoyang! Dou Jiande must not be allowed to send troops to Hedong! ”

Wang Xuance, who usually can't beat a fart with three hammers, seems to be a different person, his tone is not only extremely firm, but also rare and proactive, he lowered his voice and said: "If Duke Wei wants to ask why, then the student can only answer you, your roots are in the Central Plains!" Dou Jiande sent troops to Luoyang, the Central Plains, whether it is victory or defeat, Wei Gong, you can win the opportunity to make a comeback and regain the glory of the day before yesterday! But if Dou Jiande sends troops to Hedong, then no matter whether Dou Jiande wins or loses, then Duke Wei will always be driven by people and bow down to Dou Jiande forever! ”

Li Mi was stunned for a moment, and a thoughtful look suddenly appeared on his black face, Wang Xuance, who had already figured out Li Mi's thoughts, observed his words and expressions, and took the opportunity to say: "Duke Wei, Dou Jiande sent troops to Hedong to surround Wei to rescue Zhao, even if he succeeds, it is just to disgust Chen Yingliang's traitor and save Wang Shichong's old life. But no matter whether Dou Jiande can capture Hedong or not, Wei Gong you have no chance, because Wei Gong's roots are in the Central Plains, not in Hedong, Wei Gong, no matter how good the opportunity you have in Hedong, you can only start from scratch and fight the world again, which is full of difficulties and dangers. ”

Glancing at Li Mi again, seeing that he had already agreed with his analysis in his eyes, Wang Xuance said again: "But if you persuade Dou Jiande to conquer the Central Plains in person, then the situation will be completely different, the counties and counties of the Central Plains, Zhou Faming, Xu Yuanlang and Wang Bo and other heroes of the Central Plains were once your subordinates of Duke Wei, and General Yang Jishan, who is currently stationed in Baima, is your confidant of Duke Wei, and many soldiers and horses under Wang Shichong's command are also your subordinates of Duke Wei. ”

Li Mi was even more shaken, but Wang Bodang said: "Xuan Ce, it's easy for you to talk about it, with Dou Jiande pressing, is it so easy for the teacher to make a comeback?" ”

"It's not that easy, but at least the chances are much greater." Wang Xuance rarely showed a smile, and said with a smile: "Dou Jiande's southern expedition to Luoyang, he will inevitably send people to appease and surrender the Central Plains counties, is there a better choice for this candidate besides Duke Wei?" If Dou Jiande succeeds in forcing Chen Thief to retreat, then he will not only form a mortal enmity with Chen Thief, but will inevitably have the intention of taking the opportunity to annex Wang Shichong. ”

"Also, even if Dou Jiande is defeated, Duke Wei will also have a great chance." Wang Shichong lowered his voice again and said: "If Dou Jiande is defeated, he will inevitably try to reorganize the army to seek revenge on the thieves, and if he wants to reorganize the army, he will have to recruit troops and horses. Also, if Dou Jiande's vitality was greatly injured and he was forced to flee eastward, wouldn't the old Wei Gong troops stationed in Baima immediately become a surprise army that would determine the future of Hebei? ”

What Wang Xuance said is very general and too idealistic, but Wang Xuance, who aimed at Li Mi's thoughts, couldn't be more right - in the Central Plains, Li Mi's chance of making a comeback is indeed much greater! So after hesitating for a long time, Li Mi, who was never willing to be subordinated in his heart, finally changed his mind, gritted his teeth and said: "Threesome, there must be my teacher, Xuan Ce is right, sending troops to Hedong is only beneficial to Dou Jiande, and sending troops to the Central Plains is beneficial to me!" ”

It is precisely because of Wang Xuance's nonsense that Ling Jing and Song Zheng, loyal ministers of Great Xia, will never have the opportunity to drag Dou Jian into the right path, at the court meeting, not only the Dou army generals decided that they should send troops to Luoyang to save Wang Shichong's urgent need, Li Mi also stood up and pointed out the countless benefits of directly sending troops to Luoyang, listing various dangers of sending troops to Hedong, plus Dou Jiande's other important adviser Liu Bin also privately instigated Dou Jiande to send troops to Luoyang and took the opportunity to annex Wang Shichong's forces, Dou Jiande finally made up his mind, He must personally lead the main army south to rescue Wang Shichong and crusade against the shameless traitor Chen Fuliang, who stole the dynasty and usurped power!

Because of his strong opposition to Dou Jiande's decision, Ling Jing was ordered by the angry Dou Jiande to beat the Jinluan Palace with a stick, and Song Zhengben, who was not afraid of death, continued to oppose it, and he was unwilling to back down even if he was beaten with a stick, but he was falsely accused of secretly colluding with Chen Fuliang, and was a traitor planted by Chen Fuliang in the Great Xia court, and showed Chen Fuliang's letter to Song Zhengben as proof. As a result, Dou Jiande, who had long suspected Song Zhengben of being too outspoken, was furious, and even ordered Song Zhengben to be pushed out of the noon gate and beheaded, and his head was also hung on the head of Linwei City to show the public.

Deliberately went to the gate of Linhao City to watch the head of Song Zhengben, looking at the bloody head, Wang Xuance was full of emotion, and muttered in his heart: "Chen Liushou, you handed over the lowly envoy, the lowly duty has finally been done, and I can also take the opportunity to return to you." But....... ”

"However, before I come back, I still have to take revenge, avenge Zhang Dashuai!"