Li Daozong looked at Li Zhi with eyes full of joy and relief. Although in his opinion, Li Zhi's usual performance was too young and superficial, far from the astonishing and brilliant emperor's talents like Emperor Taizong, but now he was able to do so in a desperate situation. Fighting for one's life and putting life and death on the line does indeed have a bit of an emperor's spirit of killing decisively.
For those who achieved great things in ancient times, how could there be any smooth sailing and easy-to-achieve good things?
As expected, Emperor Taizong was still very discerning, and he did not misjudge this youngest legitimate son. Even though he was immature, he was full of potential...
The sons of Emperor Taizong were all dragons and phoenixes.
Well, something seems wrong. If we are all dragons and phoenixes, why should we depose Li Chengqian and support the King of Jin...
Then he nodded with satisfaction: "If Your Highness thinks so, then the humble minister will naturally protect you and accompany you in life and death! Even if you die in the army, it will not be in vain for the kindness and virtue that Emperor Taizong cultivated and maintained."
Life or death is a matter of life. Since he was able to embark on the path of "military admonishment" for Emperor Taizong's last wish, he had already put his family and life at risk. If the army was defeated in the end and Li Zhi was implicated, he would have no choice but to die to apologize.
If you are lucky enough to achieve a great cause and support the King of Jin to ascend to the throne, then life and death will not matter...
After making the most difficult decision, Li Zhi felt relieved. One person only lives for one lifetime, and the vegetation lasts only one autumn. Why not take risks for the sake of the supreme throne? Anyone who has this opportunity to be one step away from the Supreme will never give up even if he thinks about it.
If he really died in the battle, he would also accept it.
If you don’t fight hard, who knows who will be destined?
Xiao Yu and others remained silent.
A school captain walked in quickly from outside the hall and said urgently: "Your Highness, Liu Rengui led his army to advance from Tianjie. The attack was fierce. Our army could not resist and retreated step by step. Now it has retreated to the vicinity of Anhuafang. The army has suffered casualties. The situation is tragic and morale is low, please Your Highness to send military reinforcements as soon as possible.”
Everyone in the hall felt tense.
When Yu Wenkai designed and built Daxing City, he used a super-large military fortress as a blueprint. The 108 squares in the city were in order. If the outer city fell, they could build a camp and set up defenses step by step according to each square. But because of this , Chang'an City is actually not easy to fight with large armies.
After all, since the outer city has fallen, it means that the war is on the passive side. How can a large-scale counterattack be organized? Street fighting is more conducive to the side with a smaller but better army.
As a result, the current situation was created. The Shandong private army was dozens of times larger than the navy soldiers led by Liu Rengui. However, due to the terrain, they were divided into pieces and could not form a strength advantage. Moreover, due to the single strength of the Shandong private army, The quality of soldiers and tactical literacy cannot be compared with that of the elite navy, resulting in being constrained and at a disadvantage.
The reason why they were able to defend step by step along Tianjie until now was completely filled with human lives, which made the Navy's Mo Dao team unable to kill people. They had to stop charging repeatedly to save their strength and slowed down their advance.
However, Shandong's private armies were all temporarily recruited, and their military discipline was almost non-existent. Previously, they could rely on heavy rewards and severe punishment to restrain the army, and they could not retreat in the face of the naval attack. However, this kind of unilateralism was suppressed. Fighting a battle with huge casualties and persisting for a long time will eventually deplete the morale of the army and lead to complete collapse.
Cui Xinxin was anxious and stood up hurriedly: "Your Highness, there are many troops in the Taiji Palace at the moment. Many troops are just rotating aside and cannot go into battle for a while. Can you mobilize a team of elites to come out of Chengtianmen to support? These troops under Lao Cheng's command are all Without any knowledge of military affairs, we are trying to maintain our strength solely by virtue of our loyalty to Emperor Taizong and His Highness. Once we fail to withstand this, it will easily lead to the collapse of military morale, and the consequences will be disastrous!"
At this time, in support of the King of Jin's "military remonstrance", the Shandong aristocratic families did their best. Not only did they donate all the wealth they had accumulated for decades, but they also recruited most of the young men in the areas controlled by various Shandong aristocratic families to form a group of 100,000 Army.
Since this battle, the Shandong family has suffered heavy losses. Even if the King of Jin successfully ascends the throne, it will take more than ten or twenty years to recover due to the tilt of the court's policies, let alone what if the King of Jin is defeated?
Part-time jobs are unthinkable.
The loss of food and supplies is nothing more. If all 100,000 Shandong people die in Guanzhong, then every family in Shandong will be in mourning and every household will cry. Not to mention that it will be difficult to recover without fifty years of rest and recuperation. The most important thing is that Shandong The ruling foundation of the family will completely collapse.
In the most extreme case, he is ready to accept defeat, but if the entire army is annihilated, then he must not accept it...
Li Zhi silently put on his armor while being served by the chamberlain, but he was hesitant in his heart and subconsciously looked at Li Daozong.
The area within the Taiji Palace is limited, and the fierce attack around the Wude Palace is endless. The tens of thousands of soldiers and horses cannot all go into battle, and they can only attack in turns. Sending a troop out of Chengtianmen to reinforce the Shandong private army will not affect the war at the Wude Palace. .
But after all, it has weakened the military strength in Tai Chi Palace. No one can guarantee that at some point, there will not be consequences due to insufficient military strength...
Li Daozong and Li Zhi looked at each other and said solemnly: "The most important thing now is to capture Wude Palace as soon as possible and end this military remonstrance. As for the ownership of Chang'an City and even the safety of Chengtianmen, it actually has nothing to do with the overall situation, even if more troops are sent at the moment The reinforcements have defeated the navy, and we are waiting for Li Jing and Xue Wanche to lead their troops into the city. What reinforcements should we use? In my opinion, we don’t need to care about gains and losses in the city, and we should concentrate all our efforts on capturing Wude Palace."
Even if we reinforce the Shandong private army, repel the navy, and ensure the safety of Chengtian Gate, what's the use? Once Li Jing's Donggong Sixth Army and Xue Wanche's Youwuwei enter the city, they will rush straight to Chengtian Gate, and no one can stop them.
The only chance of victory is to capture the Wude Palace first, and then the King of Jin announces to the world that he has ascended the throne. Only then can the six leaders of the East Palace and the Youwu Guards be forced to either lay down their weapons and swear allegiance to the King of Jin, or to protect Li Chengqian and escape to Hexi.
The most important thing is whether Wude Hall can be captured. It is meaningless to send the troops who besieged Wude Hall to reinforce the Shandong private army.
As for whether the Shandong private army will be completely defeated and wiped out, what does it matter? At present, everything must be done with the overall situation in mind.
Cui Xin was cold all over, looking at Li Zhi's face full of pleading, and said in a trembling voice: "Your Highness, the children of Shandong have come all the way to the pass just to be loyal to Your Highness and fulfill Emperor Taizong's last wish. How can we watch helplessly?" Did they end up with their heads missing and their limbs mutilated under Liu Rengui's butcher's knife?"
The killings of the Mo Dao Team were so cruel and tragic. Although Cui Xin had not witnessed it in person, he felt fear from the bottom of his heart every time he listened to the battle reports. This shows how tragic it is for the Shandong children who are on the front line to fight the enemy to the death. , miserable, as the head of a Shandong family, he could only watch silently from the side with no ability to rescue, making him feel on pins and needles and at a loss.
But what made him most distressed was that the Shandong family had spent all their money to support King Jin, but now they were being ruthlessly sacrificed by King Jin...
Li Zhi tied the silk ribbon of his armor and couldn't bear to face Cui Xin's pleading eyes, but he understood what he should do most at the moment, and said softly with a hard heart: "Don't worry, Mr. Cui, I have seen the sacrifices of the Shandong family." , when he ascends the throne one day, he will be compensated ten times or a hundred times, and the Cui family will be able to prosper for a hundred generations and live with the country! If you violate this oath, there will be such an arrow!"
He casually pulled out a wolf-fang arrow from his quiver, held both ends of the arrow shaft with both hands, bent his knees and knocked hard, the arrow shaft broke into two pieces with a "click", and then threw it to the ground, his face full of determination. color to show one's determination.
Li Daozong said with emotion: "His Highness's benevolence and righteousness are touching. This is exactly the original intention that we are willing to follow. Of course, the Shandong Family has done its best to support His Highness this time. His Highness has made this commitment, and it is appropriate."
Although he doesn't care about the life and death of the Shandong private army, if the Shandong private army collapses at this moment, it will inevitably lead to Liu Rengui directly leading his army to attack Chengtianmen. Then troops must be mobilized from Taiji Palace to resist. This is inconsistent with the nature of sending troops out of Chengtianmen to support the Shandong private army. The same will affect the all-out attack on Wude Hall.
Cui's confidence was cold and full of resentment. The Shandong family was so loyal and dedicated that they even risked the wealth they had accumulated over decades and more than 100,000 young men, but in the end they ended up being abandoned...
But now that the matter has come to this, what else can he say?
If King Jin succeeds in the end, he can at least give more compensation to the Shandong family. But if King Jin fails from now on, then the Shandong family will fall into the mortal world from now on, and it will be difficult for them to rise again...
Taking a deep breath, suppressing the disappointment and sadness in his heart, Cui Xin bowed his arms to the ground, his voice trembling slightly: "It is the honor of my Shandong family to be loyal to His Highness and do my best for His Highness' great cause. As for sacrifice... From ancient times to the present, every time you help Zhengshuo and change your fate against the will of heaven, is there no blood flowing freely and corpses lying everywhere? Today, your highness is pursuing the way of heaven. It is the right time. I only hope that your highness will fight against the rebellion and return to his destiny!"
Li Zhi took two steps forward and patted Cui Xin's shoulder heavily. His young and handsome face was full of emotion: "Mr. Cui's kindness really makes me grateful and deeply touched! If he succeeds in fulfilling his ambition, he will definitely succeed." I won’t return until I get drunk with Mr. Cui!”
Cui Xin said loudly: "May your Majesty win the battle and achieve success!"
"I would like to lend you your kind words!"
Li Zhi nodded heavily, opened his hand to take the spear handed by the guard, and strode out of the Zhaode Palace. The guards of the Jin Palace had already assembled in the heavy rain. When they saw Li Zhi coming out, someone quickly brought the war horse. , serve Li Zhi to mount the horse, and then mount the horse collectively, gathering behind Li Zhi.
The rain is pouring, the armor is clanging, and the swords are like a forest.
Li Zhi galloped forward on horseback, with Li Daozong accompanying him on the right. Hundreds of imperial guards from the Jin Palace followed suit. The group of people galloped out from the Zhaode Hall and swept towards the Wude Hall. They soon merged into the wind and rain, filled with murderous intent.
In the Wude Hall, Xiao Yu, Chu Suiliang, and Cui Xin looked at each other, each with their own thoughts and not knowing what to do.
(End of chapter)
