In the third year of Wude, in 620 AD, an expeditionary Tang army marched from Chang'an to the front, and the general of the unified army was Li Yuan's second son, Li Shimin, the king of Qin. At this time, Li Shimin was already a strong soldier, and famous generals in the early Tang Dynasty such as Xu Shixian, Cheng Zhijie, Qin Shubao, Wei Chi Jingde, and Luo Shixin were all accompanied in the army.

The Tang army attacked in five directions, the first of which was led by Shi Wanbao, and captured Longmen from Yiyang and cut off the connection to the south of Luoyang. The second route, led by Liu Dewei, went south from Taihang Mountain, besieged Hanoi, and cut off the traffic north of Luoyang. The third route was led by Wang Junkuo and cut off Wang Shichong's grain route from Luokou. The fourth route was led by Huang Junhan, crossed the river from Heyang, and captured Luo.

Li Shimin led the main force to attack Cijian City. Soon, Luo Shixin, the vanguard of the Tang army, besieged Cijian City. Wang Shichong personally led an army of 30,000 to aid Cijian, and the two armies confronted each other in Cijian.

Li Shimin had a habit of fighting and always liked to go to the front line to reconnoiter the enemy's situation and terrain. This time was no exception, he took a group of light horsemen out of the camp, not wanting to run into Wang Shichong's army, and was surrounded by enemy troops in an instant. The enemy soldiers were far more numerous than Li Shimin's reconnaissance team, and if they were replaced by ordinary generals, they would have dismounted and surrendered long ago in the face of an enemy several times their size. Li Shimin was extremely brave at this time, not only did he not panic in the slightest, but rode a horse-drawn bow and shot at the enemy.

Li Shimin's archery is like a god, and as soon as the bowstring sounds, the opponent will fall. Wang Shichong's army was never able to hurt Li Shimin, and in the end, a general named Yan Qi of the enemy army was captured by Li Shimin, and the other party could not take advantage of it, so he could only retreat. Li Shimin and others escaped from danger, and Li Shimin, who returned to the barracks, was covered with dirt and dust, and the sergeants guarding the barracks did not recognize him as the commander until Li Shimin took off his helmet and let him in, which shows how thrilling this encounter was.

Li Shimin's miraculous good fortune of charging through thousands of troops and horses without being hurt seems to have been protecting him throughout his life's horse career. He has been in a desperate situation more than once, and he has always been able to survive in a desperate situation. This image is too positive, tall, and facial, which makes people doubt that it is unreal. If it weren't for the fact that the person who cultivated history deliberately wanted to deify Li Shimin, then he really got the favor of God.

Wang Shichong fought with Li Shimin once in Cijian, then gave up Cijian and withdrew to Luoyang. Li Shimin's army was stationed in Beibei, and the other four armies continued to advance, gradually forming a situation of encirclement of Luoyang. The counties of Henan under Wang Shichong's command also attached themselves to Li Shimin.

Luoyang has almost become an isolated city.

Before capturing Luoyang, Li Shimin had a conversation with Wang Shichong. Wang Shichong asked Li Shimin, "Let's each make our own rebellion, the river water does not interfere with the well water, why do you want to attack me?" ”

Li Shimin replied: "Now the whole world is owned by the Tang Dynasty, but you didn't surrender, so I came to crusade against you." "This is the typical bandit logic, whoever has a hard fist is justified. I'm better than you, so I'm going to you, what can you do? This also reflects another truth: if you are backward, you will be beaten, and if you are not strong, you will be bullied. In this world of the jungle, strength is the last word. Without strength, any truth is pale and powerless.

"The world has been in chaos for so long, you occupy Chang'an, I have Luoyang, wouldn't it be better to strike the army twice?"

"I am under the edict to conquer Luoyang, if you surrender, you can also save your wealth. If you don't surrender, you can only meet on the battlefield! ”

In this dialogue, Wang Shichong was completely overwhelmed by Li Shimin in terms of momentum, and he had already decided the winner without a knife or gun.

The fate of rebellion and kingship, failure, there is no way out, there is only a dead end in front of you. What you have, will make you have more. If you don't, you'll take all that you have. This is the law of survival in troubled times.

Wang Shichong, as a hero who dares to be the emperor, naturally knows what it means to fail. Maybe at this time, he had a trace of regret, but the temptation of power was too great for every man to resist. He remembered the screen given to Emperor Yang of Sui, and it was this screen that made him gain Yang Guang's trust, and he began to rise to the top. He remembered the days when he led the army back to Luoyang, defeated Li Mi, and ascended to the pinnacle of power. He remembered what Emperor Gong Yang Tong said before he died: "If there is an afterlife, may I not be reborn in the emperor's family!" The helplessness and desolation contained in this sentence. The matter has come to this point, what can I say! Let's go ahead! Whether it is life or death, there are no regrets in this life.

Wang Shichong returned to Luoyang and was determined to fight Li Shimin to the end.

Just when the two armies were facing each other, Liu Wuzhou, who was ambushed by Li Shimin, suddenly defected. Xunxiang was originally submissive to Li Shimin with Yu Chi Jingde, but if he defected, Wei Chi Jingde was inevitably suspicious. Li Shimin's generals immediately arrested Wei Chi Jingde and imprisoned him in the army. Qu Tutong and Yin Kaishan said to Li Shimin: "Wei Chigong, this kid is brave and fierce, leaving him will have trouble, it is better to kill him to save trouble." ”

Li Shimin didn't agree with the words of the two, and said to them: "If Wei Chi Jingde wants to defect, he will run away with Xunxiang." Then let Wei Chi Jingde go, invited him to his room, talked to him personally, and did his ideological work, "The two of us are like-minded, don't take it to heart if you are wronged, I believe in your loyalty, but if you must find another job, bring this gold." After speaking, the subordinate brought a small plate of gold ingots.

Wei Chi Jingde later returned to Li Shimin's camp, and he was already resentful of other generals, and Li Shimin's gratuitous trust in him at this time made him feel the grace of encounter. Immediately he knelt down and wept and said, "May I serve the king!" But the plate of gold said that he would not ask for anything.

Li Shimin's trust in Wei Chi Jingde paid off the next day. Li Shimin led 500 cavalry to inspect the position, and suddenly encountered Wang Shichong's army of 10,000 people. Headed by the former Li Miai's general Shan Xiongxin, when he saw Li Shimin, he stabbed with a lance, Li Shimin pulled out a knife to parry, how could he have a long lance and a short knife, and he was not Shan Xiongxin's opponent. At this time, a fierce general rushed out of the oblique spur and shouted: "Hugh hurt my lord!" The horizontal lance poked at Shan Xiongxin. Shan Xiongxin was picked off the horse by this man and rescued by his subordinates. This man escorted Li Shimin to rush out of the enemy encirclement, and then killed back to the enemy formation, stabbing in front and back, injuring countless enemies, and bravely crowning the three armies. Li Shimin's rear army also arrived in time to kill Shan Xiongxin's army.

The fierce general who rescued Li Shimin was none other than Wei Chi Jingde. Back in the barracks, Li Shimin said to Wei Chi Jingde: "Others suspect that you will betray me, but I said that you will definitely not, I didn't expect it to be verified so quickly!" ”

This is probably also the immortal Li of the sky, Li Shimin went out on patrol twice, and was surrounded by Wang Shichong's army of 10,000 people, 10,000 people against 100 people, it was a crushing blow, even if he trampled these hundreds of people to death with horses, but he was dodged by Li Shimin twice. Li Shimin's few feathered arrows made the enemy dare not rush forward, which shows how poor the combat effectiveness of Wang Shichong's army is!

In the face of such a team, Li Shimin's elite soldiers won many battles like chopping melons and vegetables. Luo Shixin slaughtered Qianjin Castle, and Wang Junkuo took the Tiger Prison Pass. Wang Shichong has been besieged in Luoyang, and the destruction of the city seems to be just around the corner.

What Tang Jun didn't expect was that everyone underestimated Wang Shichong's determination to defend Luoyang. The Tang army besieged Luoyang City, the city was strictly defended, and the defense equipment was more advanced, the cannon flying stone weighed more than 50 catties, it could throw 200 steps away, eight bows were connected together, and the arrows shot were like the axes of the ministers, which could reach 500 steps away. These powerful weapons for defending the city caused great trouble for the Tang army. In order to prevent the fortress from being breached from the inside, Wang Shichong also strengthened the control of the officers and soldiers defending the city, and all those who shook the morale of the army and surrendered to the enemy were killed.

Li Shimin's Tang army surrounded Luoyang City, attacked from all sides, day and night, and failed to capture it for more than ten days. The day and night of fighting made the soldiers tired, and the morale and physical strength of the Tang army had reached the limit. Death on the battlefield can easily arouse people's homesickness, and an atmosphere of homesickness begins to permeate the army.

At this time, Li Shimin received a secret message from Li Yuan again, ordering him to be a teacher. It turned out that Li Yuan could not attack Luoyang for a long time, and the veterans of the division were tired, so he wanted Li Shimin to withdraw his troops and return to the west. Liu Hongji, the head of Li Shimin's march, also suggested that the squad retreat.

The siege war has been fought to such an extent that it can be said that it has traveled a hundred miles and half ninety, and it is only the last step away, and retreating means that all the efforts of the previous nearly one year will be in vain. Li Shimin did not waver in the slightest in the face of Li Yuan's secret edicts and the opinions of the generals, and his idea was that he must take Luoyang once and for all.

"Luoyang will not be broken for a day, the army will not be returned for a day, dare to say that those who retreat will be killed!" Li Shimin's words show his indomitable determination. In the face of this will to fight, the fight is who can grit their teeth and persist to the end, and at this time, the military spirit cannot be shaken by half a point.

But at this most delicate juncture, Li Shimin suddenly received a war report, and on March 21, Dou Jiande, who had seized Hebei, led more than 100,000 Xia troops to conquer Guanzhou, Xingyang, Yangzhai and other counties, and approached Luoyang. This made the situation in Luoyang, which was already in sight of victory, take a sharp turn for the worse.

Can Li Shimin's Tang army withstand the encirclement of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande's two armies?

Then Dou Jiande had already repaired Li Yuan, why did he come to Luoyang to wade into the troubled waters again? It turned out that Wang Shichong saw that Luoyang was already in danger, so he hurriedly sent his brother's son Wang Wan and eldest grandson Wang Anshi to Heshuo Dou Jiande to beg for help.

There was a lot of dirt between Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong, you stabbed me, I stabbed you, and tripped each other. Dou Jiande also looked down on Wang Shichong very much and did not want to help Wang Shichong relieve the siege of Luoyang. But Liu Bin, the Chinese scholar under him, was a very far-sighted person, and persuaded Dou Jiande to say: "Now the world is in chaos, the old Li family occupies Guanzhong, Wang Shichong has obtained Henan, and we occupy Hebei, which was originally a three-legged situation." Lao Li's family doesn't talk about martial arts and wants to annex Wang Shichong's land and property, but Wang Shichong can't hold out for long depending on the situation. Although Wang Shichong is not a good thing, he wants to be taken down, and it is not easy to fight Li Tang alone with our strength, which is called cold lips and teeth. It's better for the two of us to put aside the dispute first and deal with the Tang Army together. After defeating Li Shimin, it will be easy to deal with Wang Shichong alone, and it will not be impossible to unify the world when the time comes. ”。

Liu Bin's analysis is very specific and pragmatic. Lian Zheng Kangtang is indeed Dou Jiande's best choice, if he doesn't pull his brother Wang Junchang at this time, the next unlucky person will definitely be himself. The big countries are fighting, and even so, the weak will definitely unite against the strong.

Dou Jiande immediately comprehended the essence of the Three Kingdoms Struggle, summoned Wang Shichong's envoys, and promised them that he would personally lead the army to attack Xiao Lizi.