Tang Dynasty

In Huoyi City, Li Yuan summoned Li Shimin, Pei Ji and Liu Wenjing to discuss matters in the council hall.

Li Shimin's thoughts were wandering, as if he hadn't heard the discussion in his ear, until Li Yuan called his name, he came back to his senses.

Seeing this, Li Yuan frowned and reproached, "Shimin, how can you be distracted by important military affairs?"

Li Shimin let out a heavy "Hey", stood up and clasped his fists to Li Yuan and said, "Father, elder brother has been away for dozens of days, and now there is no news, should we send someone to investigate?"

Li Yuan was startled when he heard the words, shook his head and sighed: "Shimin, Jiancheng's departure is not only related to his family and life, but also to the future of the entire army. How can he not care about it as a father? It's just because of Jiancheng's nature. Since he took the initiative to ask for the post, he must be With everything in mind, before the news comes back, our army needs to be prepared, but we must not be negligent."

"But father," Li Shimin pursued, "Eldest brother sent back the thousands of people who followed him after leaving the city, and only brought dozens of followers. If there is an emergency, but... what should I do?"

"Your elder brother also has his own considerations for this move," Li Yuan said, "It's easy to be noticed by many people. With only a few dozen people, you can still enter the customs pretending to be plain, and don't make others suspicious."

"Father," Li Shimin couldn't help stepping forward and said, "Please allow me to go to Feng Yi with 200 people to find out the situation!"

"Nonsense!" Li Yuan was furious when he heard the words, "It's just the two of you who are my father's right-hand men at this time. Your eldest brother has the responsibility to go to Guanzhong Unicom Feng Yi, and you also have the responsibility to lead the army. How can you be so nonsense!"

Li Shimin was silent, so he could only retreat and sit down, but the expression on his face was clearly unwilling.After hesitating for a moment, he seemed to be about to speak, but Pei Ji standing at the side immediately stood up and persuaded: "Second Young Master, don't be too worried, His Royal Highness is going in a hidden way, and the possibility of encountering obstacles on the way is extremely small, and even if Sun Hua , Xiao Zao detained the son, but it was only to coerce our army as a hostage. In this way, he will let us know as soon as possible. There is no news now, and I think it means that the son is going well, and it should be deployed in secret. If the arrangement is proper, I will definitely inform us." After a pause, he raised his eyes to look at Li Shimin, observed his words and said, "Besides, His Highness Shizi pretended to be an envoy to go to the Turkic tent alone, and he was able to return to such an important place. This trip is not far away. What's more, with some people around, it must be safe."

Hearing what he said, Li Shimin's face softened a lot, and he only said: "Thank you, Mr. Pei, for your explanation."

However, my heart was still uneasy.In fact, he didn't understand why his eldest brother was always like this, frequently putting himself in danger and making himself worry about being in the military center.

But he can only worry about it, holding a spear in his hand, but he can't do anything for his elder brother.This feeling of powerlessness and insignificance drove him almost crazy.

But he would always think of his elder brother's calm and distant eyes when he faced him.He smiled bitterly, maybe his elder brother didn't care about his worry, and he didn't need it.

----

At the same time, in Feng Yi City, Li Jiancheng and the prefect Xiao Zao welcomed Sun Hua—another rebel leader in Guanzhong—and the thousand troops he brought with him.

"Jiancheng has been looking forward to it for many days, but finally General Sun is here!" Li Jiancheng strode forward when he saw Sun Hua.

When Sun Hua was discussing with Xiao Zao, he originally brought some people to join him in his city and went to Li Yuan together. Unexpectedly, among the people who greeted him, the leader was a young man in white clothes and silver armor.

Looking at the young man's demeanor, and hearing that he claimed to be Jian Jian, Sun Hua understood the identity of this person after thinking about it for a while.Immediately turned pale with shock, dismounted from the horse and bowed: "I don't think His Royal Highness is already in the city. If I can't come here soon, Your Highness has been waiting for a long time!"

"Where there is, General Sun does not abandon our army and is willing to vote sincerely. It is a great blessing for Yu Jiancheng." Li Jiancheng laughed, "General Sun is tired on his saddle horse, let's go to the city quickly." After saying that, he quoted Sun Hua, Along with Xiao Zao and others beside him, they went back to Xiao Zao's mansion.

The three of them sat down in the middle of the room, and Sun Hua took out a letter from his bosom, and handed it to Li Jiancheng: "This letter is my handwritten letter of submission. Your Highness is here, please take a look at him. I have heard the name of Tang Guogong's benevolence and righteousness for a long time, and I have long wanted to join him. From now on, I will be the son of the prince, and I will do the work of dogs and horses!" After saying that, he knelt down together with Xiao Zao.

"Two generals, please hurry up." Li Jiancheng helped them up and said, "To tell you the truth, Jianjian is here at this time, under the order of Tang Guogong, and I want to invite you to enter the customs for the army, as a support. "

The two immediately said: "My son, just give orders! We will definitely do our best to help!"

Li Jiancheng smiled slightly, then ordered the original plan in a low voice.After the two men were ordered to retreat, Li Jiancheng immediately found a pen and paper, wrote a letter, and sent someone back to Huoyi City overnight.

During these days in Xiao Zaocheng, he had been visiting all over Guanzhong.I know that although the land in Guanzhong is rich and prosperous, no matter whether the children of the wealthy family or the common son Pingming, they have quite a few criticisms towards Yang Guangju.Li Jiancheng played by ear and showed his identity to many local prominent families, intimidating and intimidating, gaining a lot of support.

As soon as Sun Hua arrived, everything was ready.

----

Three days later, according to the agreement, Li Jiancheng, together with Xiao Zao and Sun Hua, set out from Guanzhong with [-] troops, crossed the river from west to east, and crossed the river via Pujin Bridge to explore the reality of Qututong in the east of the river.

Qu Tutong heard the letter, and sure enough, the general under his tent, Sang Xianhe, led an army of one thousand, and rushed to attack in the dark.

Since Li Jiancheng had expected it in advance, he had already quietly divided the people into two groups.When Sang Xianhe was fighting with Li Jiancheng's men and horses, Xiao Zao and Sun Hua suddenly led the rest and rushed from behind him.Sang Xianhe was shocked, and the whole army was in chaos. Dang even was scattered, and he fled back to Hedong city without helm and armor.

Li Jiancheng sent someone to quickly inform Li Yuan's army who had been waiting [-] miles northeast of Hedong City about the battle situation. Li Yuan immediately summoned the soldiers under his account and discussed repeatedly. It can be said to get twice the result with half the effort, and the whole army should be led across the Yellow River immediately.

Li Yuan was still a little hesitant at first, but when he saw a wind blowing from the sky, it seemed that it was about to rain, so he immediately made a decision.If you don't cross the river at night, if it rains the next day, the previous plan will fall short.

Li Yuan ordered Li Shimin to lead the army to cross the river from Longmen in the south, and then sent someone to deliver a letter to Li Jiancheng, asking him to take the people back quickly. He still crossed the river from Pujin Bridge, returned to Guanzhong first, and then reunited.

When Li Jiancheng received the order and was about to lead his army back to the west, he suddenly heard that the Pujin Bridge had been cut off!

When Li Jiancheng heard this, a thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately knew that something was wrong.

"Qu Tutong's defense behind closed doors is false, but it is true to lure our army to cross the river. Now that he sees our army crossing the river, he must send someone to sneak in from behind," he immediately summoned several generals by his side and ordered, "What is the matter?" It is not too late, I will hurry to the east of the river at this moment, intercept Qu Tutong's men and horses, and delay the time for the army to cross the river!"

The generals below got the order to immediately gather 3000 people and follow Li Jiancheng all the way to the east, heading east to the east.

At this time, the night wind was blowing and the banner was fluttering, and the night was actually a bit cold.

----

Li Jiancheng led his men and horses to drive all the way, and when they rushed to the south of Hedong City, there was indeed a line of people not far ahead, clearly heading for Longmendu.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the sparkling torches held by that team, there were not many people there.It's just that the timing is urgent at this moment, and there is no room for excessive thinking.Knowing that there was only one road ahead of him, Li Jiancheng turned his head and exchanged colors with Xiao Zao and Sun Hua, immediately drew his long sword in his hand, and ordered the whole army to attack quickly!

Hearing the words, the army rushed forward like a tide.Shouting and killing shook the sky, hooves sounded like thunder, the earth shook and the mountains shook, everyone knew in their hearts that this battle must be done at all costs to delay Qu Tutong's troops and buy time for Li Yuan's army to cross the river.

Night Breeze's rapid whimpering was quickly lost in the clash of swords, guns, swords and halberds.Li Jiancheng still divided his troops into two groups, and ordered Xiao Zao and Sun Hua to intercept the Sui army's front army, while he led the remaining troops to harass it from the rear.Under the burden of the front and rear, the Sui army had to put down its progress and fight with its opponents.

However, after fighting for a while, they saw that the people blocking the front seemed to be torn open. Under the moonlight, the torches in the hands of the Sui army galloped like long dragons, and they watched them go away.Li Jiancheng had a bad heart, and with his long sword in his hand, he took the lead and led a column of elite cavalry to charge all the way in from the rear of the Sui army, like a sharp sword, directly disrupting their positions.He rushed to the front in one breath, gathered with Xiao Zao and Sun Hua, and sealed the opening.

"His Royal Highness," Xiao Zao hurried to his side with a gun, and said, "The enemy's army is three times that of ours. If we continue to consume like this, I'm afraid we will be the first to fall behind!"

Li Jiancheng swung his sword and beheaded a Sui soldier who was bullying him, and said in his mouth: "What I want is not to kill them all, but to drag them out as much as possible!" After a pause, he looked up at the Sui soldier's horse. Looking around, he backed back to Xiao Zao and said, "The only plan now is to capture the commander first. Once the commander dies, the enemy's troops will be thrown into disarray!"

Xiao Zao said: "Your Highness, when I approached just now, I saw a man who looked like a commander. However, after killing for a while, he suddenly disappeared. In addition to the darkness, I couldn't find him for a while."

Li Jiancheng was startled when he heard the words, he raised his eyes and looked at the Sui army again, but he saw that the Sui soldiers and horses were camped separately, and they were divided into several camps, but it was clear that no one was in command.I know in my heart that as the leader of an army, I must not be so silent, or even disappear.Could it be...

With a "no" in his heart, Li Jiancheng suddenly understood: this team doesn't have a coach at all!

He immediately ordered: "The whole army retreats, don't make any more entanglements!"

However, as soon as the words were finished, they heard a group of people galloping from the south, and one of them laughed loudly and said, "This old man just came, and the son doesn't want to stay for a long time, isn't it too disappointing for the old man?"

In the flames, he raised his hands and clapped three times, and the people behind Li Jiancheng gradually stopped fighting, and the two sides faced each other silently.

The identity of this person could not be clearer.Li Jiancheng didn't have to look back, he could have guessed that he was already in a situation where he was under attack from both sides.Clenching the long sword in his hand, he closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath, then he sneered and said, "General Qu is a good tactic, he can think of using more than ten thousand masters who have no generals as bait to lure Jiancheng Strategies."

Qu Tutong laughed and said: "This helpless formation of 1 horses can fool the majestic Tang Guogong's son, and this old man is quite an achievement."

Li Jiancheng secretly thought about the countermeasures in his heart, but he tried his best to calm down his usual expression on his face. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "General Qu made such a design for mere construction, and I am really flattered. It's just that the general has never thought about it, even if he catches it Even though it was completed, it still couldn’t change the situation of the Sui Dynasty’s decline and the loss of popular support. The general is so talented, why don’t you join Tang Guogong to change the day and kill the innocent?”

"The old man knows that at this time, the son's words of persuasion to surrender are not intended for this." Qu Tutong didn't answer, but just laughed, "I think at the beginning, if I hadn't been sure, the son would have taken the overall situation into consideration and risked his death. People obstruct my army, this plan may be a waste of time. But now that the prince is here, he is doing everything possible to buy time for Li Yuan's army, but it is really admirable." He said word by word, "Speaking of which, Shizi is really a smart person, but he just doesn't know... If the old man really got you, Li Jiancheng, why would he go after that Li Yuan's men?"

Li Jiancheng was taken aback when he heard the words, then his face sank and he remained silent.He knew that he had fallen into Qu Tutong's trap today, if he was captured alive, he would be a bargaining chip to blackmail Li Yuan.

Gritting his teeth secretly, he knew that no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to make his wish come true.

Qu Tutong looked up at the remaining people behind Li Jiancheng, and then turned his gaze back to himself.But seeing that his original white robe and silver armor had been stained with blood in different shades, it was obvious that he had gone through a bloody battle.

Moving his eyes down, he saw that the other party's five fingers hanging by his side had already tightly grasped the hilt of the sword in his hand.After a pause, Qu Tutong raised his eyes, with a smile still on his face, and said: "The old man is so kind, why doesn't your son follow me into the city as a guest for a few days?"

Li Jiancheng sneered when he heard the words, and said: "The general is kind, and Jiancheng understands it, but it is difficult to obey, and I hope the general will understand."

Qu Tutong smiled calmly, and said: "Since the son is unwilling, the old man has no choice but to 'invite' the son to go!" After speaking, he suddenly waved his spear and rushed towards Li Jiancheng.

Li Jiancheng had been prepared for a long time. Seeing this, he lifted the rein of the horse, and the horizontal sword barely blocked the blow.However, he knew that in terms of force, he was by no means Qu Tutong's opponent, so he blocked a few moves left and right, so he thought about avoiding his edge and finding a way to block him.

However, when he had time to look around, the surroundings were already full of killing sounds.

----

Li Shimin stood at the head of the bridge with his gun upright, watching the army approaching from the other side calmly and orderly, it seemed that it was the last wave.

The night wind kept whistling in his ears, and the momentum grew louder, until the corners of his cloak and robe kept flying.

"Maybe it's going to rain soon." Suddenly someone beside him said softly.

He turned his head and saw that it was Liu Wenjing, so he raised his head to look at the sky, nodded and said: "Look at the momentum, it will fall before dawn."

Liu Wenjing turned her face to the side, saw the other party's full of thoughts, and said, "Fortunately, there was no enemy harassment this time. If it really rains, the river will not be so easy to cross."

Hearing this, Li Shimin's expression became much gloomy.After a while, he sighed heavily, and said: "Elder brother has not returned yet, for some reason, there is no news at all."

His voice was clearly extremely depressing and calm. Liu Wenjing heard it and sighed in a low voice: "Actually...someone has brought the news just now. At this moment, Guogong is discussing countermeasures with others in the account. He intends to let you An Xin only knows how to cross the river, so I never told you, I..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Shimin stepped forward and interrupted: "How about big brother?"

Liu Wenjing sighed, and said: "I only know that he fought with Xiao Zao, Sun Hua's troops, and Qu Tutong's army for most of the night... probably to stop his troops and buy time for us to cross the river..."

"How is he now?" Li Shimin reached out and clasped Liu Wenjing's arm.

Liu Wenjing looked at the trembling fingers on her arm, closed her eyes, shook her head and said, "Life or death is uncertain."

As soon as the four words were spoken, the hand on the arm was released immediately. When he raised his eyes, he saw Li Shimin holding the gun and walked back.

Liu Wenjing called a few times, but Li Shimin turned a deaf ear and strode into the night.Liu Wenjing stood there and sighed, but in fact, why didn't he know what he wanted to do?

----

Inside the big tent, Li Yuan held the sword hilt at his waist with a dignified expression.After a long time, he opened his mouth and broke the silence in the tent: "According to Mr. Pei's intention, I sent one person to lead the army to rescue. Most of the troops will still march into Guanzhong according to the original plan!" Pause , looking into the tent, almost sighed, "But I don't know, who wants to..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Liu Wenjing rushed in and said, "Duke, something is wrong!"

Li Yuan frowned and said, "What's the matter?"

Liu Wenjing pulled back her clothes and bowed, "Second Young Master, I don't know where I heard about the son, and he has already taken 500 people to the bridge!"

All the people in the tent were shocked when they heard the words, Li Yuan let out a heavy "Hey" and said, "Why are Shimin so reckless at this time!"

Pei Ji observed the words and expressions, and knew that a decision must be made quickly at this time, so he immediately got up and said: "Duke, I think that we should not hesitate for a moment when we plan to station our army in Guanzhong!"

Liu Wenjing also said at this time: "I think that my army has already crossed the river at this time. The Duke should hide this matter first and lead the army to enter the customs quickly."

Li Yuan was startled when he heard the words, but actually understood what the two of them meant.In any case, although the surname of this uprising army is Li, not all of them are surnamed Li, and the original decision cannot be delayed because of any one person.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally said with difficulty: "Pass down the order and order the whole army... immediately break out of the camp and go to Guanzhong!"

Everyone was ordered to disperse, only one person hesitated for a long time in the tent, and when he looked back, although Li Yuan turned his back to everyone, he clearly looked heartbroken.The man secretly clenched his fists.After hesitating for a long time, he suddenly strode out of the tent.

A drop of water fell on the face, and Duo Bi raised his eyes to the densely clouded sky.Immediately afterwards, more and more water droplets fell on the whole body without a break.

It's raining.

He suddenly turned his head and looked at the other end of the bridge.

After a few days, if the rain doesn't stop, even if I think about it, I'm afraid I won't be able to cross it.