The time came to the third year of Wude (620), and at this time, it had been three years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. This year, the general trend of the world has undergone obvious changes. The Central Plains region, which was originally a group of heroes, gradually showed a trend of unification, with Tang, Zheng and Xia standing on three feet. The Central Plains has become a Shura field where the three superpowers compete for the lord of the world. The Tang Dynasty sat firmly in the lord of Guanzhong, Wang Shichong occupied Henan, Dou Jiande dominated Hebei, and between the three powerhouses, a great war through the ages was about to be ushered in!

For the Li Tang Dynasty, it was imperative to march into the Central Plains. The success or failure of this battle is directly related to the future direction of the world and whether the Tang Dynasty can dominate the world. The key to Dingding Central Plains is not in other places, but in capturing Luoyang. As long as the Tang army captures Luoyang, the Central Plains can be included. Therefore, after Tang Gaozu Li Yuan decided to march into the Central Plains, his primary target was naturally locked in Luoyang.

The importance of Luoyang is naturally not more than to say. Since ancient times, China has had two capitals: Chang'an in the west and Luoyang in the east. In the traditional concept of the ancient Chinese, whoever masters the two ancient capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang is the orthodoxy of China in the true sense. Therefore, throughout ancient China, almost the vast majority of the great unified dynasties either had Chang'an or Luoyang. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the eastern and western capital systems were implemented.

In terms of strategic position, Luoyang also has incomparable significance. If it weren't important, Li Mi would not have personally led 300,000 Wagang troops to besiege Luoyang for a year. Li Mi will attack Luoyang at all costs, and the reason for this is to occupy Luoyang, use it as a foundation, command the world, and achieve the emperor's cause. Therefore, Luoyang is an attractive piece of fat, and heroes all over the world want to swallow it, and the Tang Dynasty is no exception.

Today, the Tang Dynasty has occupied Guanzhong and sits in Chang'an. If Luoyang is conquered in one fell swoop and the land of Henan is swept away, Chang'an and Luoyang will be owned by Li Tang. At that time, the pattern of the Tang Dynasty's domination of the world will be basically finalized, and sweeping away the heroes will be just around the corner. Not only that, the capture of Luoyang also means that the Tang Dynasty is about to become a well-deserved orthodox dynasty in the Central Plains and China, and no one can compete with it within the four seas.

In fact, long before the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan, who occupied Chang'an, had already set his sights on Luoyang. In the first month of the second year of Yining (618), Li Shimin had just led the army, and in the "Battle of Fufeng", he broke Xue Rengao's 100,000 Western Qin army and repelled the attack of Xue's father and son. The battle of Fufeng came to an end, and Li Yuan immediately appointed his eldest son Li Jiancheng and second son Li Shimin as the left and right marshals, and led 100,000 troops to Luoyang.

At that time, the situation in Luoyang was complicated. The two armies of Li Mi and Wang Shichong are fighting each other. Tang Jun suddenly intervened, undoubtedly robbing Li Mi and Wang Shichong of the meat in their bowls. Therefore, Wang Shichong held on to Luoyang and did not engage the Tang army; Li Mi's Wagang Army also confronted each other with the Tang Army.

In this case, the brothers Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin agreed that the time was not yet ripe to attack Luoyang, and they should first run the base camp in Guanzhong, and then launch an attack on Luoyang when they had enough strength in the future. Therefore, the Li brothers unified their opinions, led 100,000 Tang troops, and retreated in time. On the way to withdraw the army, Li Shimin expected that Wang Shichong would definitely send troops to pursue him. As a result, Li Shimin set up an ambush in the Mausoleum of the Three Kings, successfully ambushed 10,000 soldiers and horses of Wang Shichong's general Duan Da, beheaded more than 4,000 ranks, and obtained certain results.

In other words, before Li Yuan officially established the country and became emperor, he once carried out a military operation against Luoyang, but it was in vain. By the third year of Wude (620), the situation in Guanzhong was completely stable. At this time, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan wanted to use troops against Luoyang again, intending to destroy Wang Shichong's regime in one fell swoop.

After three years, why did Tang Gaozu suddenly attack Luoyang for the second time, did he forget the first attempt to attack Luoyang in vain? Li Yuan has his considerations, and in his opinion, the time is ripe to attack Luoyang. At this time, marching to Luoyang is a golden opportunity.

This time and that time. At the beginning, when Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin led 100,000 Tang troops and marched east to Luoyang, the situation in Luoyang was still unclear, and there were many military forces. First, Li Mi and Wang Shichong worked hard, and then Yu Wenhua's 100,000 Xiaoguo rebels emerged. These military forces will undoubtedly form a huge pressure on the Tang Dynasty to attack Luoyang. But now, things are different. Li Mi, Yu Wenhua and successively fell, and only Wang Shichong was left in Luoyang. It is better for one military group to exist than for many military groups to exist at the same time. This battle is much easier to fight.

In addition, there is a more important reason, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan keenly discovered that there are actually many contradictions within Wang Shichong's regime. Although Wang Shichong occupied Henan at this time and had been proclaimed emperor in Luoyang, his strength should not be underestimated. But this does not mean that Wang Shichong's rule is monolithic. Before the Tang Dynasty's eastward expedition to Luoyang, within Wang Shichong's group, many Wagang generals broke away from Luoyang and returned to Li Tang, which greatly reduced Wang Shichong's military strength before the war.

As mentioned earlier, Wang Shichong is a typical "political upstart". He lacks the open-mindedness to accept all rivers, and he does not have the bearing to speak his word, he only knows power and deceit, and has no feelings for his family and country. Although Wang Shichong got his wish and sat on the throne of the emperor. However, his throne was not secure. Therefore, after Wang Shichong became the emperor, within the ruling group of Zheng Guo, people's hearts fluctuated, and many people looked down on Wang Shichong, disobeyed his rule, and even wanted to oust him from the emperor's throne.

For example, the intellectuals at that time looked down on Wang Shichong from the bottom of their bones, thinking that Wang Shichong was just a thief and a clown. Here's an example. At the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there was a famous Confucian named Xu Wenyuan. This person was born in a famous family, learned rich and five cars, good at studying "Zuo Chuan", once served as the national son of the Sui Dynasty, equivalent to the president of the Central University of the Sui Dynasty, and is a well-deserved erudite Confucian.

Later, Li Mi led the Wagang army to besiege Luoyang, and there was a shortage of food in Luoyang City. Forced to make a living, Xu Wenyuan had to go to the city to cut wood, but was captured by the Wagang army. Li Mi saw that he was the world-famous Confucian Xu Wenyuan, and immediately treated him as a guest, and he himself paid a visit to Xu Wenyuan as a disciple. Facing the respectful and respectful Li Mi, Xu Wenyuan did not give him face at all, and his attitude was very arrogant, just like Feng Ciming at the beginning, but taught Li Mi a lesson:

In the past, the old man was fortunate to be the way of the first king and awarded the general. It has been a long time. Today, the general belongs to the storm, for the righteous people, the right to town all things, the four seas, can still bend the body to respect the righteousness of the teacher, the virtue of the general, the luck of the old man! Both Hertz and generous gifts, and Ann is not enough! But the general was not tried! If you want to help Yi and Huo Ji, although it is twilight, you are still willing to do your best; If it is reckless and Zhuo takes advantage of the danger, the old man is old and powerless. (The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty: The Biography of Xu Wenyuan)

After Wang Shichong defeated the Wagang army, Xu Wenyuan naturally became Wang Shichong's prisoner again. Wang Shichong had long heard of Xu Wenyuan's name, and he was also courteous to him. However, what is strange is that Xu Wenyuan changed his previous arrogant attitude towards Li Mi, and every time he saw Wang Shichong, he saluted respectfully.

At that time, many people wondered why Xu Wenyuan's attitude towards Li Mi and Wang Shichong would be condescending. Xu Wenyuan explained to everyone that he compared Li Mi and Wang Shichong vividly, and between the words, he revealed his extreme disdain and contempt for Wang Shichong:

Li Mi gentleman, can be affected by Li Sheng; The prince and villain have the righteousness of killing the deceased. Wouldn't it be better to move from time to time? ("Datang New Language")

It can be seen from this that the intellectuals generally disdain Wang Shichong and do not recognize the legitimacy of Wang Shichong's regime. On the other hand, the dissatisfaction of the military generals in charge of the military power against Wang Shichong was stronger and more blatant than that of the literati class. These generals are not as tactful as the literati, and they directly express their dissatisfaction. Among them, some plotted to break away from Luoyang, and some even staged a coup d'état to kill Wang Shichong.

After defeating the Li Miwa Gang army, Wang Shichong secured the top spot in Luoyang, and his power also reached its peak. Not long after Wang Shichong took control of the political situation in Luoyang, many of the former generals and old ministers of the Sui Dynasty went to Luoyang one after another and attached themselves to Wang Shichong. For a time, Wang Shichong took over the military and political power, and the scenery was unlimited.

However, not all the generals of the Sui Dynasty were willing to submit to Wang Shichong. Just when Wang Shichong was complacent, an old general of the Sui Dynasty took the initiative to jump out and openly work with Wang Shichong, and was about to defect to Li Tang for a while. He is the original head of the horse army of the Sui Dynasty - Dugu Wudu.

Dugu Wu was the commander of the horse army of the Sui Dynasty, and he has always been trusted by Wang Shichong, holding heavy troops and holding important positions. It stands to reason that Dugu Wu has no reason to betray Wang Shichong. The key problem is that Dugu Wudu's cousin Dugu Ji sees that Wang Shichong is by no means the master of the people. Therefore, Dugu Ji contacted several civil and military officials, lobbied Dugu Wudu, and persuaded him to leave Wang Shichong as soon as possible and join the Ming Lord. Li Tang Dynasty is a good choice:

How can a prince be a great cause if he is foolish and foolish for his children, but he is contemptuous and greedy, and he does not care about his relatives! The text of picture knowledge should belong to the Li family, and everyone knows it. Tang Qi Jinyang, dying inside, soldiers do not stay, heroes are attached. And treat things openly, do good and responsible, do not remember the old evil, and fight for the world according to the victory, who can be the enemy! I belong to the place where I sit and wait to be destroyed. Today, the public soldiers are close to Xin'an, and my deceased is also, if the envoy is summoned, so that the night will be built under the city, my Cao Gong will be the internal response, open the door to accept it, and everything will be collected. (Information Governance Guide)

Listening to his cousin Duguji's words, Dugu Wu was quite moved. As a result, the Dugu Wudu and Dugu Ji brothers, together with a cadre of cronies and henchmen, secretly planned, ready to act at any time, cooperate with the Tang army, take Luoyang, and directly disintegrate the foundation of Wang Shichong's rule.

If this plan is really successfully implemented, the Tang Dynasty will go straight to Luoyang without spending a single soldier. Unfortunately, in the end, it fell short. The news was accidentally leaked, and Wang Shichong preemptively killed Dugu Wudu, Dugu Ji, and the people involved in the incident.

The Dugu Wudu incident deeply stimulated Wang Shichong. Since then, Wang Shichong has left a huge shadow in his heart, that is: the surrender of generals is not credible, especially the surrender of the Wagang Army. Therefore, as soon as Wang Shichong became the emperor, he waved a butcher's knife at some old Wagang generals.

After the Battle of Beibi Mountain, Wang Shichong collected more than 100,000 Wagang military troops, and a large number of Wagang generals also became Wang Shichong's subordinates. However, Wang Shichong knew very well that these Wagang generals were either defeated and captured, or they were forced to surrender due to the situation, and they did not sincerely submit to themselves. Therefore, Wang Shichong has always been worried about those Wagang generals, feeling that they have different ambitions and have always been strictly guarded against them.

Similarly, many Wagang generals have never obeyed, and they have never taken Wang Shichong in their eyes at all. In their eyes, Wang Shichong is just a treacherous villain. Therefore, although Wang Shichong conquered the Wagang generals militarily, he failed to conquer them spiritually. Therefore, these Wagang generals have been gearing up in secret, waiting for the opportunity to break away from Luoyang, compete with Wang Shichong again, and wash away the shame of Beibi Mountain.

Sure enough, as soon as Wang Shichong sat on the throne of the emperor, two Wagang generals took the initiative to stand up and take the lead in attacking Wang Shichong. At the same time, these two people are also very unfortunate and have become innocent victims of Wang Shichong's murder and Liwei, they are Pei Renji, Pei Xingyan father and son.

Pei's father and son were originally generals of the Sui Dynasty, but they were defeated by the Wagang Army and surrendered to Li Mi and became important generals of the Wagang Army. In the decisive battle of Beibi Mountain, Wang Shichong broke 100,000 Wagang troops, Pei Renji, Pei Xingyan father and son, were defeated and captured, which is equivalent to returning to the Sui Dynasty. Wang Shichong also knew that Pei's father and son were famous generals in the Wagang Army, and he wanted to take them for his own use. Therefore, after Pei's father and son were captured, Wang Shichong granted them important positions and appointed Pei Renji as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Pei Xingyan as the general of Zuofu.

However, Pei's father and son shared a different dream with Wang Shichong, each with their own thoughts. Because the Pei father and son were generals in the Sui Dynasty before, they had certain feelings for the Sui family. Now, Wang Shichong has disobeyed and usurped the throne and deposed the emperor. This move made Pei Renji, Pei Xingyan, father and son hate. Since then, the father and son have been intensively planning to launch a coup d'état and support the restoration of the emperor.

Just do it, Pei's father and son privately united some old ministers loyal to the Sui family, such as Shangshu Zuo Cheng Yuwen Rutong, Shangshi Zhichang Yuwen Wen (Yuwen Rutong's brother), and Cui Deben, a free horseman. Pei Renji and Pei Xingyan formed an alliance with these old ministers, agreed to rise up together, kill Wang Shichong and his henchmen, and then welcome the emperor to reinstate.

However, such a well-thought-out coup d'état plan, somehow, leaked the news. After Wang Shichong learned of Pei's father and son's plan to mutiny, he became angry and ordered Pei Renji, Pei Xingyan and his son, as well as Yuwen Rutong, Yuwen Wen, Cui Deben and others who participated in the plan, all of them were beheaded. A pair of heroic generals, Pei Renji and Pei Xingyan, died at the hands of Wang Shichong.

After killing Pei's father and son and a loyal minister of the Sui family, Wang Shichong was still stuck in his throat. He believes that the thing that those Wagang generals and former ministers of the Sui family have in their hearts and minds is to support the restoration of the emperor and the lord, as the so-called "non-my race, their hearts will be different". From this point of view, Yang Tong, the emperor of Taitai, has become the biggest stumbling block to the stability of Wang Shichong's throne. So, at the suggestion of his elder brother Wang Shiyun, the king of Qi, Wang Shichong appointed his nephew Wang Renze to murder the emperor who had abdicated the throne, and extinguished the last bloodline and hope of the Sui Dynasty.

From the murder of Dugu Wudu and Dugu Ji brothers, to the destruction of Pei Renji, Pei Xingyan's father and son, and then to the murder of the emperor. Wang Shichong's reign has always been accompanied by bloody storms and bloody rains, accompanied by killings all the way. Once there is a hidden danger that threatens the rule, Wang Shichong's approach is one word: kill! In Wang Shichong's dictionary, only the dead pose no threat. This approach undoubtedly made Wang Shichong fall into the point of being alone step by step, and also made the old Wagang generals who were attached to Wang Shichong completely chilled, and they had no illusions about him.

Due to Wang Shichong's iron-blooded policy, he wantonly slaughtered the Wagang generals and loyal ministers of the Sui family, causing the Luoyang regime to lose all the people, and some of them were just whitewashing the peace. In this way, the Li Tang Dynasty saw hope, taking advantage of Wang Shichong's internal detachment from Zheng Guo and attacking Luoyang on a large scale, perhaps it could destroy Wang Shichong's regime in a war, and even set the Central Plains to achieve the unification of the world. It seems that history has chosen the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, during this period, there were signs of disintegration within Wang Shichong's camp. Many military generals, seeing Wang Shichong's perverse behavior, changed their banners one after another and returned to the Tang Dynasty. The continuous departure of many generals hit Wang Shichong hard.

Long before Wang Shichong became emperor, there were two heavyweight generals, who were the first to break away from Wang Shichong's camp and throw themselves into the arms of the Li Tang Dynasty. The defection of these two generals can be described as a tiger with wings for the Tang Army. They are none other than the famous Wagang generals - Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin.

Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin, in the Wagang Army, are the brave champions of the three armies, and the generals with outstanding achievements. When the Beibi Mountain army was defeated, like many Wagang generals, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin were also captured by Wang Shichong. Because these two people are one of the best generals, Wang Shichong attaches great importance to them, so he worships Qin Qiong as the general of Long Xiang and Cheng Yanjin as the general, hoping to buy Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin through high-ranking officials Houlu.

However, Wang Shichong was wrong, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin were not the kind of people who coveted wealth and nobility, and they couldn't buy these two heroes at all. They could see that Wang Shichong was insidious and cunning, narrow-minded, and by no means a lord who could be loyal. Therefore, the two often discussed privately and secretly how to escape from Wang Shichong's surveillance and defect to the Tang Dynasty court, where Wagang would gather. In fact, the first to find out that Wang Shichong was not the master of Ming, and it was really not Qin Qiong, but Cheng Biting Jin. Cheng Yanjin said to Qin Qiong:

The world is shallow and narrow, and there are many lies, so as to swear an oath, it is the ear of the old lady of the sorcerer, how can it stir up the chaos? ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Cheng Zhijie")

After listening to Cheng Biting Jin's words, Qin Qiong thought that Wang Shichong was definitely not the master of the world who set things right and restored the world. Looking at the heroes of the world, the most promising one to end the troubled times is the Tang Dynasty established by Li Yuan and his son. So, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin hit it off and decided to find an opportunity to escape from Luoyang and defect to the Tang Dynasty. The problem is that Wang Shichong's surveillance is extremely strict, and if he wants to get out, it is not easy to talk about it. What to do? Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin thought of a move.

In February of the second year of Wude (619), Wang Shichong invaded Guzhou and fought against the Tang army against Yu Jiuqu. It just so happened that Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin followed Wang Shichong together at that time and led the troops to the battle. They felt that the opportunity had come, and when Wang Shichong was confronted by the Tang army and was too busy to take care of themselves, they suddenly defected to the Tang Dynasty in front of the battle. Instead of fleeing Luoyang secretly, it is better to walk in front of the two armies openly. In this way, the degree of risk is reduced.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin led dozens of cavalry and galloped westward for hundreds of steps. After completely out of Wang Shichong's line of sight, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin turned over and dismounted, bowed solemnly in the direction of Wang Shichong, and then said something like this:

Servant and Lotus Gong special gifts, deep reflection and service; Public suspicion, love to believe slander, not a place for servants, can not rely on things today, please resign. (Information Governance Guide)

After speaking, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin, the two generals, jumped up and went straight to the Tang camp openly. Witnessing Qin Qiong and Cheng Biting Jin's rebellion, Wang Shichong was also helpless, afraid that the Tang army would take advantage of the situation to attack, so he could only watch Qin Qiong and Cheng Biting Jin rush to the Tang camp.

Qin Qiong and Cheng Biting Jin's submission made Tang Gaozu Li Yuan very happy. Everyone knows that these two are world-famous Wagang heroes. Now, they have joined the Tang Army, and the Li Tang Army has added two tiger generals. Therefore, Tang Gaozu arranged Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin under the command of Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and let them serve under Li Shimin's account.

Li Shimin has heard of the prestige of the two heroes, and since Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin joined the army, he has attached great importance to it, worshiped as the commander of the horse army, and commanded the cavalry troops of the Tang army. Soon, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin were respectively awarded important military positions such as the third commander of the right army and the third commander of the left of the Qin Palace. Since then, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin followed Li Shimin to fight in the south and the north, making great contributions to the Tang Dynasty, becoming the founding generals of the Tang Dynasty, and ranking among the "Twenty-four Heroes of Lingyan Pavilion".

It is worth mentioning that Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin returned to the Tang Dynasty and served under Li Shimin's account, and then joined a special force under Li Shimin-"Xuanjia Army". This Xuanjia Army is a guard army subordinate to Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and it is the strongest ace force in the Tang Army.

The reason why it is called the "Xuanjia Army" is because the cavalry of the Tang Army of this army are all wearing black armor, so it is called "Xuanjia". As we all know, in the early days of the establishment of Li Tang, the armor of the soldiers of the Tang army abandoned the armor of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and instead used the thirteen armor of the Tang Dynasty represented by the Mingguang armor. This kind of bright light armor is a typical plate armor, and its biggest benefit is that the protective function and practical function are excellent.

After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin specially selected more than 1,000 elite cavalry in the Tang Army, and on this basis, formed the "Xuanjia Army". Therefore, the Xuanjia Army belongs to a heavy cavalry under Li Shimin, and its role and power are somewhat similar to the "Iron Harrier Army" in the Western Xia, the "Iron Floating Tu" and "Kidnapping Horse" in the Jin Kingdom, and the "Guanning Iron Cavalry" of Yuan Chonghuan in the late Ming Dynasty.

Under Li Shimin's careful training, the Xuanjia Army's combat effectiveness was so strong that no one could defeat it. It can be said that the Xuanjia Army is the strongest army that Li Shimin relies on to dominate the battlefield. For example, in the key battle of attacking Luoyang - "Battle of Tiger Pass", Li Shimin only relied on 3,500 Xuanjia troops to fight at Tiger Pass, and defeated Dou Jiande's 100,000 Xia army, creating a classic battle in the history of human warfare in which less wins more.

So, how strong is the combat effectiveness of the Xuanjia Army? Here's an example. At the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the range of bows and arrows of the soldiers of the Central Plains army could generally reach about 100 to 120 steps at the farthest. The Turkic cavalry was skilled in mounted archery, and could shoot up to 150 to 160 paces. And Li Shimin's Xuanjia Army, their bow and arrow range can shoot to about 200 steps, which was extremely rare at that time.

The number of troops in the Xuanjia Army is actually not very large, and the total number of people is only about thousands. Li Shimin divided thousands of Xuanjia troops into two teams, left and right, led by Qin Qiong, Cheng Yanjin, Wei Chi Jingde, Zhai Changsun and other generals, each leading a Xuanjia army. In each major battle, Li Shimin personally led the Xuanjia Army, acting as the vanguard, penetrating deep into the enemy's formation, assaulting, attacking and killing from the enemy's flank, and charging and killing from the front, breaking through thousands of troops, invincible, and terrifying the enemy:

King Qin Shimin selected more than 1,000 elite horsemen, all dressed in armor, divided into left and right teams, so that Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie, Wei Chi Jingde, and Zhai Changsun were divided. In every battle, the people of the world were taken as the vanguard by the Xuanjia Shuai, taking the opportunity to attack, and everything was destroyed, and the enemy was afraid of it. (Information Governance Guide)

Not long after returning to the Tang Dynasty, Qin Qiong proved his ability to the Tang Dynasty with practical actions and made a contribution to the Tang Dynasty. In December of the second year of Wude (619), on the orders of Li Shimin, the king of Qin, Qin Qiong and Yin Kaishan led a partial division to raid the Meiliang River, and defeated Chi Jingde, beheading more than 2,000 ranks. After that, Qin Qiong followed Li Shimin all the way to pursue, ploughed the court and swept the caves, participated in the decisive battle of Jiexiu, and destroyed the remnants of Song King Kong in one fell swoop, with great achievements.

Because of Qin Qiong's outstanding performance, Gaozu rewarded him with 100 catties of gold and 6,000 pieces of miscellaneous colors, and awarded him the title of Pillar Kingdom. Moreover, after the victory in the Battle of Miragawa, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan specially sent a messenger to give Qin Qiong a delicate gold bottle, and specially encouraged and comforted him:

Ignoring his wife, Qing came to me from afar, and it worked again. I can use the meat for the Qing, and I should cut it to give the Qing, but the children are jade? You should be reluctant. ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Uncle Qin")

In addition, Qin Qiong and Qin Shubao's reputation for being good at fighting was also well-known among the Tang army. Each time, Li Shimin led his army to fight the enemy. Whenever he encountered a brave and warlike general in the enemy army, flaunting his might outside the Tang camp and provoking the battle, Li Shimin always sent Qin Qiong out of the camp to meet the battle. Qin Qiong's martial arts are outstanding, and she is by no means in vain. After receiving the order, Qin Qiong mounted his horse and raised his spear, and he would definitely cut the enemy general in front of the army. As a result, Qin Qiong's prestige in the army was greatly enhanced:

Every time Shubao conquered from Taizong, there were strong generals in the enemy, showing off people and horses, and those who came and went, Taizong was quite angry, and ordered Shubao to take it. Uncle Bao obeyed the order, the prancing horse carried the spear and marched, and he would stab among the thousands of people, and the people and horses were easy, and Taizong thought that it was important, and Shubao was also quite self-conscious. ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Uncle Qin")

Sure enough, Qin Qiong and Cheng Biting Jin returned to the Tang Dynasty, like a multi-bony Nomi card, which immediately caused an uproar among the old Wagang generals in Luoyang. Subsequently, one after another Wagang surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Not long after Qin Qiong and Cheng Biting Jin returned to the Tang Dynasty, Wang Shichong's two generals Li Junxian and Tian Liuan also led their troops to join the Tang Dynasty and came under Li Shimin's banner. Li Shimin also entrusted these two people with important tasks, awarded Li Junxian the lieutenant of the light car, and put him around, and Tian Liuan was the right fourth commander of the Qin Palace.

Soon, under the influence of Qin Qiong, Cheng Yanjin and other Wagang robes, another invincible general of the Wagang Army joined the ranks of the Tang Army. This fierce general is a well-known young hero in the Wagang Army - Luo Shixin. At this time, he also submitted to the Li Tang Dynasty.

Luo Shixin joined the army at a young age, enlisted in the army at the age of fourteen, and served with Qin Qiong under the command of Zhang Xutuo, a famous general of the Sui army. In the war to suppress the peasant uprising in the Changbai Mountain area, Luo Shixin fought bravely and made countless meritorious contributions. In addition, Luo Shixin is strong in martial arts and powerful in martial arts, and he takes the head of a general in a million troops, such as probing for bags. For example, there is a story in "The Old Tang Book: The Biography of Luo Shixin", which is enough to see Luo Shixin's unparalleled martial arts:

Fight thieves above the water. In the array, Shi Xin galloped to the thief's place, stabbed down several people, beheaded one person, threw it in the air, carried it with a gun, and wore it in a slight formation.

Once, Zhang Xutuo led an army to attack thieves in Weishui. As soon as he opened the formation, Luo Shixin rode his horse and speared and rushed straight into the thief army. I saw that Luo Shixin was holding a big gun in his hand, stabbed down several people in a row, and beheaded another person. Immediately afterwards, Luo Shixin threw the head into the air, and when the head fell, he caught it firmly with the spear in his hand. Then, Luo Shixin came and went freely in the enemy formation. The thief army was stunned for a moment and did not dare to step forward, Zhang Xutuo took advantage of the situation to counterattack and break the thief soldiers.

Later, after Zhang Xutuo died in the Great Sea Temple, Luo Shixin, Pei Renji, Qin Qiong and others defected to the Wagang Army together. When the Beibi Mountain army was defeated, Luo Shixin took the lead bravely and desperately broke through, but was hit by several arrows and was seriously wounded and captured. After Luo Shixin was captured, Wang Shichong admired his courage very much, treated him very favorably, and even "slept with him". Unexpectedly, Luo Shixin did not appreciate it and was not bought by Wang Shichong's small favors.

At that time, Bing Yuanzhen, a traitor from Wagang, came to surrender to Wang Shichong, and Wang Shichong worshipped him as a general. This Bing Yuan is really none other than the shameless traitor who Li Mi was desperate and dedicated Luokoucang to Wang Shichong. Now, such villains have come to defect, but Wang Shichong has reused them. It is conceivable that Luo Shixin is very indignant, how can he be a bloody man who fights on the battlefield, how can he be in the company of such a villain?

As the saying goes, if you don't die, you won't die. Soon, Wang Shichong did another stupid thing, which completely angered Luo Shixin, causing him to leave angrily and throw himself into the Tang Dynasty camp. Wang Shichong turned on the death mode, in Luo Shixin's view, it was an insult to himself as a military general.

Here's what happened, Luo Shixin had a horse mount, tall and mighty. Unfortunately, his BMW was favored by Wang Shichong's nephew, Zhao Wang Dao. As a result, Wang Daoxun wanted Luo Shixin to forcibly ask for BMW, and his attitude was very arrogant.

In ancient China, the three most important things of military generals: armor, weapons, and horses. Wang Dao asked to blackmail the horse, which was to clearly insult Luo Shixin. Luo Shixin, who has a strong personality, directly and categorically refused. Wang Daoxun touched the nail at Luo Shixin, so he was naturally unwilling. If the soft one doesn't work, then come to the hard one. Wang Daoxun found his uncle Wang Shichong and made his own decisions. Wang Shichong must have been looking at his nephew, and without saying a word, he forcibly took away Luo Shixin's horse and rewarded it to Wang Daoxun.

The behavior of Wang Shichong's uncle and nephew completely angered Luo Shixin. Luo Shixin was furious, feeling that Wang Shichong was too deceitful, and it was better to go out of Luoyang than to be angry under Wang Shichong. In July of the second year of Wude (619), Wang Shichong sent Luo Shixin to lead an army to attack Guzhou. Luo Shixin took the opportunity to lead more than 1,000 soldiers and horses to defect to the Tang Dynasty, officially parting ways with the Luoyang Wang Shichong regime, and became a member of the Tang Dynasty.

Luo Shixin led his troops to join the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Gaozu Li Yuan was overjoyed, and inadvertently, he occasionally got another fierce general. Therefore, Li Yuan specially sent a consolation to Luo Shixin and rewarded him with 5,000 pieces of cloth. At the same time, Tang Gaozu appointed Luo Shixin as the head of the march of Shaanzhou Road, responsible for the defense of the area around Li Tangtong Pass.

In other words, Luo Shixin is still a fierce general who is killed in the shadow of the sword and sword. Soon after returning to the Tang Dynasty, this young general gave a unique meeting gift to the Li Tang court with his real achievements. In a battle, Luo Shixin almost killed Wang Shichong's crown prince on the spot.

In April of the third year of Wude (620), Luo Shixin was ordered to lead an army to besiege Cijian. Cijian is located near Luoyang and belongs to Wang Shichong's sphere of influence, and Wang Shichong will definitely give full support. In order to resist the attack of the Tang army, Wang Shichong sent the crown prince Wang Xuanying to lead the army to rescue Cijian.

Walking to Cijian, Luo Shixin and Wang Xuanying met on a narrow road. After seeing Wang Xuanying, Luo Shixin's eyes were extremely red, he danced his spear, and stabbed Wang Xuanying under the horse with a shot. Fortunately, Wang Xuanying wore a thicker armor, and he desperately saved each other left and right, and the prince of Zheng Guo picked up a life. Otherwise, Wang Xuan would have died on the spot. It is estimated that when the time comes, Wang Shichong will have to consider the issue of changing the prince.

The old Wagang generals continued to leave Wang Shichong and return to the Tang Dynasty. On the one hand, it greatly enhanced the military strength of the Li Tang Dynasty and disintegrated Wang Shichong's internal military spirit; On the other hand, it also allowed the Tang Dynasty to see Wang Shichong's reality clearly. Wang Shichong seems to be very powerful, but in fact, he has long been separated from morality and disintegrated. It seems that it is only a matter of time before the Tang Dynasty attacks Luoyang. Soon after, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan found out another piece of news, and it was this news that made Li Yuan completely determined to send a large army to the east to conquer Luoyang.

Since March of the third year of Wude (620), the prefectures and counties and generals under the jurisdiction of Wang Shichong have surrendered to the Tang Dynasty almost every month. The people of Luoyang and the surrounding areas knew that there would be a big war in Luoyang, and in order to escape the war, they fled in large numbers.

How to stabilize the situation in Luoyang City? Wang Shichong adopted a very wrong approach: severely punish the law and make an example of one person. Wang Shichong issued a strict order, all the people who fled out, one person fled, and the whole family was killed. Therefore, Wang Shichong encouraged fathers and sons, brothers, and husbands and wives to denounce each other. What is even more outrageous is that Wang Shichong also practiced joint sitting, with five families as a guarantee, one escaped, and the remaining four families were all convicted and executed.

As everyone knows, the more Wang Shichong implements such a bloody repressive policy, the more and more people in Luoyang flee, and they can't stop it at all. In this way, Wang Shichong was even more annoyed, and simply imposed martial law in the whole city, no one was allowed to enter and leave at will, and even the number of people who went out of the city to cut firewood was strictly limited. All of a sudden, Luoyang City was beaten by chickens and eggs, and everyone was in danger, "public and private embarrassment, and people were not happy".

treated the people with brutality and harshness, and the people's hearts were lost; treats his subordinates even more harshly and unkindly, and is suspicious everywhere, making his situation more and more isolated. Wang Shichong became the emperor by usurping the way. Therefore, he never trusted the military generals of Wenchen.

For example, Wang Shichong used Luoyang Palace City as a prison for prisoners, and imprisoned the ministers who opposed him, as well as their families. Every time the generals went out to fight, their families were detained in the palace by Wang Shichong and taken hostage. In this way, there are no less than 10,000 family members of hundreds of officials who have been imprisoned. What's even worse is that at this time, an unprecedented food crisis broke out in Luoyang City, and dozens of people were starved to death every day.

It is no exaggeration to say that the situation in Luoyang is gradually on the verge of getting out of control. When he was anxious and had nothing to do, Wang Shichong made a faint move, so he had to cut his flesh to mend the sores. It turned out that he had served as the envoy of the twelve prefectures in the 12 prefectures near Luoyang, including Si, Zheng, Guan, Yuan, Yi, Yin, Liang, Minao, Song, Gu, Huai, and De. What is strange is that the hundred officials of Luoyang put a good Beijing official inappropriately, but they rushed out to be the camp envoy of the twelve states. If anyone becomes an official position, they will definitely be happy. Why is this happening? That's because Luoyang is already extremely short of food, and when you go out of Beijing, you can at least have something to eat, and by the way, you can also find an opportunity to escape from Luoyang, which is already a hell on earth.

The reality of Luoyang reached Li Yuan's ears, and Li Yuan was secretly happy in his heart. Now it seems that Wang Shichong and his Da Zheng Guo are still a tiger with a bloody mouth on the surface, but they are actually a fat and stupid sick cat. The brilliance of Wang Shichong's regime on the outside cannot hide its internal decay and decline.

On the other hand, the Tang Dynasty, since the two major victories of unifying the northwest and recovering Hedong, the ruling area of the Li Tang Dynasty not only firmly controlled the fertile Guanzhong Plain, but also dominated northern China, and its national strength was in full swing. The trend of Datang dominating the world is already very obvious.

Similarly, since the founding of the country, the Tang Dynasty has been accompanied by the Jin Ge Iron Horse. After three years of attacking and conquering, Li Tang successively eliminated the Xue clan in Longxi, Li Liang in Hexi, and Liu Wuzhou in Shanxi. As the supreme ruler of the Tang Empire, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan looked at the world, and he believed that the clarion call for the Tang Dynasty to enter the Central Plains could be sounded!

In June of the third year of Wude (620), that is, Li Shimin led the army to pacify Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang, and won a great victory in Hedong. Li Yuan planned to do so, taking advantage of Wang Shichong's internal weakness, and the Tang army had just won a complete victory in Hedong, and the morale was high, he sent a large army east out of Tongguan, pointed at the Central Plains, and launched an active attack on Wang Shichong in Luoyang.

Wang Shichong was also very nervous when he heard the news that the Tang Dynasty was about to go east. His mind was to defeat the Wagang army, and just a few days later, Li Tang's army was about to sweep in again. Therefore, Wang Shichong was in a hurry to go to the hospital, prepared to temporarily cram, immediately requisitioned the elite troops of Zhuzhou Town, assembled in Luoyang, set up the "Four Towns General", recruited soldiers, divided troops to guard the four cities of Luoyang, and strengthened the defense of Luoyang.

Compared with Wang Shichong's hasty response, the Tang Dynasty was victorious. After discussion with the ministers, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan decided to go east out of Tongguan and attack Luoyang on a large scale. In addition, Tang Gaozu also decided on the commander of the Eastern Expedition to Luoyang - Li Shimin, King of Qin.

Whether it was the "Battle of Shallow Water Plain" in November of the first year of Wude (618) or the "Hedong Counterattack" in the third year of Wude (620), Li Shimin, the twenty-one-year-old king of Qin, with his extraordinary military talent, successively leveled the Western Qin Xue Rengao, Shanxi Liu Wuzhou and other powerful forces, consolidating the position of the lord of Li Tang Guanzhong. As for Li Shimin himself, he has become a powerful god of war in the Tang Dynasty who has made people everywhere invincible.

In the face of Emperor Zheng Shichong, who was in Luoyang, and Dou Jiande, the king of Xia, who dominated Hebei, the two fierce rivals in the Central Plains, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan weighed it repeatedly, but still made up his mind that Li Shimin would take command of the expedition, wave his troops out of Tongguan, take Luoyang to the east, and gnaw down Wang Shichong's hard bone. If Li Shimin leads the army to break through Luoyang, destroy Wang Shichong. At that time, the Tang army will be able to sweep Hebei with the power of victory. Datang enters the Central Plains, and the future can be determined!

In July of the third year of Wude (620), Li Shimin, the king of Qin, led nearly 100,000 Tang troops from Chang'an to the Central Plains battlefield and attacked Luoyang. At the same time, Tang Gaozu appointed the crown prince Li Jiancheng to guard Puzhou and prevent the Turks from taking advantage of the situation. Li Shimin was ordered to lead his division eastward, and the Tang Dynasty officially opened the prelude to the war with Wang Shichong of Luoyang. A key battle that determines the general trend of the world has begun.

The upcoming Battle of Luoyang was a crucial battle for both the Li Tang Dynasty and Li Shimin, who was the commander of the Tang Army. If the Tang Dynasty wins this battle, the Central Plains can be encompassed, and the great cause of unifying the world will be just around the corner.

For Li Shimin, this battle of Luoyang will be the battle of the gods at the peak of his military career. During the "Battle of Luoyang" and "Battle of Tiger Prison Pass" during the period from July of the third year of Wude (620) to May of the fourth year of Wude (621), Li Shimin relied on this decisive battle to uproot the two major military groups of the Central Plains, Wang Shichong of Henan and Dou Jiande of Hebei, prompting the Tang Dynasty to officially unify the Central Plains and casting a key step in the unification war of the Tang Dynasty.

In this expedition to Luoyang, the Tang Dynasty made a lot of money and bet all its family resources on this war. In order to fight the battle of Luoyang well, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, personally served as the commander, led nearly 100,000 Tang troops, and marched eastward; Almost half of the founding generals of the Tang Dynasty went out with the army and advanced to Luoyang. Among these important generals of the Tang Army, including the Sui and Tang dynasties, the veteran - Qu Tutong.

Since Qu Tutong returned to Li Tang, he has been serving under Li Shimin, and has worked tirelessly for the Tang Dynasty to fight in the south and north. Therefore, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan has always relied on and trusted the veteran Qu Tutong very much. In this expedition to Luoyang, Qu Tutong was also in the team.

At that time, Qu Tutong served as the left servant of the Shaanxi East Road Xingtai, and his two sons were still in the hands of Wang Shichong of Luoyang at this time. Li Yuan was worried that Qu Tutong would have scruples, so before the army set off, Gaozu specially asked Qu Tutong's second son about the situation: "If you want to make Qing go on an expedition to the east today, what is the second son of Qing?" Unexpectedly, hearing Tang Gaozu make such an inquiry, Qu Tutong did not hesitate at all, and said with righteousness and awe:

The minister used to be a prisoner, and he died if he was divided, and His Majesty released the shackles and gave him a gift. At that time, the ministers swore in their hearts that they would spend the rest of their lives for His Majesty, but they were afraid that they would not be heard. Now you have to prepare for the pioneer, how can you care about the second child! (Information Governance Guide)

Listening to Qu Tutong's words, Tang Gaozu was quite moved, and couldn't help but praise the festival: "A righteous person, once you have reached this point!" It can be seen that in this Eastern Crusade, the Tang Army went up to the general of the army and went down to the ordinary soldiers, and everyone was firm in their hearts to forget about themselves and work together to win the faith, and vowed to take Luoyang City for the Tang Dynasty.

Under the leadership of Li Shimin, the king of Qin, 100,000 Tang army soldiers with high morale and mighty marched on the road to Luoyang. Conquering the eastern capital of Luoyang and Dingding the Central Plains was a key move for the Tang Dynasty to realize the great cause of unification, and it was also the long-cherished wish of Li Yuan, the ancestor of the Tang Dynasty.

So, how did Li Shimin, the battle-hardened and invincible King of Qin, command 100,000 Tang troops to attack Luoyang City? In the face of the Tang army's large-scale siege of the city, how would Wang Shichong organize the defense of the city? Under the city of Luoyang, what kind of dragon and tiger battle did the Tang and Zheng armies stage? Luoyang, the ancient capital of a hundred years, has experienced what kind of baptism of war?