Li Jiancheng did this not only once, but three times in succession.

This made Liu Heimin dare not act rashly, and he asked the generals: "I have never fought with Prince Tang before, who of you knows what he is like?" ”

All the generals looked at each other, and they all said that they had never contacted Prince Tang and did not know who he was.

In the end, Fan Yuan stood up: "Over the years, Li Shimin has always been fighting outside, and I haven't heard of any merits from this prince.

"In my opinion, this prince must be a cowardly and incompetent person, otherwise Emperor Tang would not always send Li Shimin out to fight."

"That's right, General Fan is right." Cao Zhan agreed with Fan Yuan's opinion: "The king of Tang Qi has been cowering in the camp before, and he did not dare to fight with us, which shows that our army is unstoppable, and the Tang army is afraid of us.

"This prince must also be afraid of us and dare not fight us, so he bluffs and makes a fool of himself."

The other generals bowed their heads one after another, deeply agreeing.

Gao Yaxian said: "That's not necessarily, maybe Prince Tang deliberately set up an ambush to lure us to attack." ”

Liu Heimin was more inclined to Gao Yaxian's opinion, so he said to everyone: "Just in case, let's wait and see." ”

In this way, Liu Heimin has been watching the movements of the Tang army and has not launched an attack.

Soon, Wei Zheng's lenient policy had an impact on the Eastern Han army, and many of his generals began to flee and surrender to Li Jiancheng.

Some people even tied up generals and surrendered to Li Jiancheng, but the most fatal thing was that Liu Heimin's military rations had run out.

Liu Heimin wanted to fight a decisive battle with Li Jiancheng, but he was worried that this was Li Jiancheng's trap, and if he launched an attack, Weizhou Assassin Shi took the opportunity to attack his rear, which would be a fatal blow to him.

After careful consideration, Liu Heimin decided to withdraw to the capital, and after resting, he would try to make a great cause.

So, one night in late December, Liu Heimin led a large army to retreat in the direction of Zhaozhou.

After Li Jiancheng found out, he personally led a large army to pursue, and at the same time ordered someone to send a message to Li Yi, asking him to lead the army to attack other prefectures and counties in Hebei.

The Don army advanced at both ends and began the battle of reconquest.

The Handong army retreated all the way, and when it reached Yongji Canal, it was overtaken by Li Jiancheng's army.

Liu Heimin immediately ordered: "Gao Yaxian, Fan Yuan, Dong Kangmai, you lead the infantry to line up immediately to block the footsteps of the Tang army."

"When I cross the river, I will cover you with an arrow array."

The three of them took over the task and led the infantry to set up a position against the Yongji Canal to meet the Tang army.

When Li Jiancheng saw it, he immediately led two thousand Xuanjia troops with Li Yuanji to rush towards the Handong army.

"Kill!"

The shouting of killing shook the heavens and the earth, shaking the pontoon bridge on the river.

Liu Heimin stabilized his body and rushed desperately to the other side of the river, and when he was almost on the other side, a shout came from behind: "Lord, they have surrendered." ”

Hearing this, Liu Heimin turned his head to look back, but saw Gao Yaxian, Fan Yuan, and Dong Kangmai put down their weapons and knelt in front of Li Jiancheng, while the Handong army behind them all disarmed and surrendered.

Anger instantly filled Liu Heimin's chest, and his eyes burst out with raging anger: "These traitors, I'm going to kill you." ”

"Lord, go quickly, if you don't leave, it'll be too late." Cao Zhan pushed Liu Heimin, and then waved his hand to signal the people behind him to hurry ashore.

When he saw the Tang army boarding the pontoon bridge, Cao Zhan raised the big knife in his hand and slashed at the pontoon bridge: "Come here and cut the pontoon bridge, don't let them cross the river." ”

The cavalry next to him immediately came to help.

When the Don troops rushed to the center of the bridge, the pontoon bridge broke, and dozens of soldiers fell into the river.

"Lord, go." Cao Zhan urged Liu Heimin.

Although he was angry in his heart, Liu Heimin was still very aware of the current situation, and ran away.

Li Jiancheng watched Liu Heimin disappear in front of him, and was unwilling, so he hurriedly ordered: "Liu Hongji, you lead your troops to chase Liu Heimin, you must catch him." ”

"Yes, Your Highness."

Liu Hongji immediately instructed his generals: "Build a pontoon bridge." ”

Soon, the pontoon bridge was built, and Liu Hongji led the army across the river to pursue Liu Heimin.

At that time, Liu Heimin fled on foot with hundreds of personal guards, and Liu Hongji led the cavalry, chasing after him all the way, Liu Heimin had to flee day and night, picking the road that the horse could not walk.

Even then, they did not get a moment of rest.

A few days later, Liu Heimin fled to Raoyang, and everyone was exhausted, hungry, and very embarrassed.

Someone proposed: "Lord, there is Raoyang City in front, let's go into the city and get something to eat." ”

The others touched their empty stomachs and echoed: "Yes, Lord, if we don't get something to eat, we won't be able to run." ”

Cao Zhan also persuaded: "Lord, while the Tang army is not chasing after us, let's go into the city." Raoyang City has not yet fallen, and Zhuge Dewei, the assassin of Raozhou who sits in Raoyang City, is still personally appointed by you, and he will never betray you and surrender to the Tang army. ”

"Nope." Liu Heimin shook his head: "Don't go into the city first, let's see." ”

At this time, he must be cautious.

Soon, Zhuge Dewei received the news, and he personally went out of the city to meet Liu Heimin.

"Lord, you have suffered, and the minister has prepared a hot meal, please go into the city with the minister."

Hearing this, the soldiers rubbed their hands with frozen sores, and their faces showed a look of yearning.

It was supposed to be a day to reunite with their families in the New Year, and they fled in the ice and snow; They should have enjoyed a life of good wine and food, but they were so hungry that their chests were close to their backs......

This time of escape is the most embarrassing and painful memory of their lives.

Now that there are hot meals and hot dishes, they feel very satisfied, and even feel that the high-ranking officials, gold and silver treasures are not as good as a mouthful of hot food.

They were so hungry and wanted to eat hot food.

However, just when they thought that Liu Heimin would agree, Liu Heimin categorically refused: "I won't go into the city, you can go back." ”

The joy on the faces of the soldiers suddenly froze.

In their opinion, Zhuge Dewei was single-handedly promoted by the Lord, loyal to the Lord, and would never betray the Lord.

What's more, Zhuge Dewei personally went out of the city and greeted him with a big gift, which is enough to show sincerity, why doesn't the Lord believe in Zhuge Dewei?

At this time, Liu Heimin had become a frightened bird, and he didn't trust anyone, Zhuge Dewei understood this, and he left two lines of tears sadly.

And said in a choked tone: "I think that at the beginning, the Lord was brave and good at fighting, and swept Hebei twice in one year, what a majesty, but now it is ...... Suffering so far, the minister is really heartbroken.

"The lord is worried, the minister understands, the minister does not resent you, the minister only hates himself for not being strong enough to gain your trust......"

Zhuge Dewei prostrate on the ground, crying silently: "The minister is incompetent......"

His voice was sad and moved those who heard it.

Liu Heimin was also moved, and the ice in his heart was melted by Zhuge Dewei's hot tears.

In this world, there is still true love.

Liu Heimin stepped forward to help Zhuge Dewei: "The ground is full of ice and snow, get up quickly." ”

"Lord ......" Zhuge Dewei was flattered and looked at Liu Heimin.

Liu Heimin smiled: "I'll go into the city with you." ”

......