At night, the candlelight was brightly lit in the Chinese military tent, and the table in the middle was filled with delicacies. Zheng Jieping led two junior high school students into the tent. Gao Jifu came forward to greet him, cupping his fists and saying, "General Zheng, Gao has been waiting for a long time. Please."
After Zheng Jieping returned the gift, he sat down at the desk, looked at the other party and said, "General Gao, why did you think of inviting the general to drink today?" Gao Jifu smiled and said, "General Zheng came to the Wagang Army, and Gao entertained It’s not Zhou Zhou, this drink tonight can be regarded as accompaniment.”
"General Gao is too polite."
Gao Jifu picked up the wine jar, filled the two men's bowls with wine, then raised his bowls and said: "General Zheng, come on, let's do it!"
After half-drinking, Gao Jifu opened his drunken eyes and pretended to be mysterious: "General Zheng, let me tell you a secret. We will leave tonight."
"Where to go?"
"Go and attack Chang'an."
"Ah?" When Zheng Jieping heard this, he was so shocked that a layer of cold sweat ran down his spine, and he was mostly drunk. "You? Are you going to rebel?"
Gao Jifu sneered and said: "You are right!" After saying that, he threw away the 卮 in his hand, and the guards who were ambushing behind the tent rushed out and tied up Zheng Jieping and two of his men. Zheng Jieping struggled and shouted: "Gao Jifu, you will regret it!"
"Take it down and chop it down!"
At midnight the next day, in the military tent of Camp Xiaoji, King Yong'an Li Xiaoji was chatting with his generals. A general ran in in a hurry and shouted: "Your Majesty, it's not good! The Wagang army has escaped!"
"What's going on?" Li Xiaoji asked with wide eyes.
"There was no one in the military camp. Only the bodies of Zheng Jieping and three other people were found."
One of his subordinates thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, they must have defected. Do you want to send an army to chase them?" Li Xiaoji pondered for a moment, shook his head and said, "No, the emperor asked us to guard Changchun Palace, and the army must not move lightly! Immediately send out scouts to find out where the Wagang rebels have fled. In addition, write a memorial about the situation here and report it to the court immediately."
"yes!"
Chang'an, Mingde Gate. Just like in the past, before the city gate opened, pedestrians, carriages and horses had already lined up. The difference is that today there are many more female relatives in the team. They are either carrying baggage or carrying baskets, as if they are going to the city to visit relatives. There is also a big flower bridge in the procession, probably going into the city to pick up the bride. The drummers following the sedan are holding musical instruments such as suonas and cymbals. Song Shi wore a new suit and a big red flower, dressed like a groom.
At a quarter of an hour, the city gate opened, and the flow of people and vehicles began to move forward slowly. When the sedan chair passed by, a city guard came over and stopped the sedan chair. Song Shi went up to him with a smile on his face: "Master Bing, what's the matter?"
"What's in the sedan?"
"We went into the city to pick up the bride, and the sedan chair was empty."
"Empty sedan? Is it difficult for four people to carry the empty sedan?"
"This..." Seeing that he could no longer pretend, Song Shi winked at the bearers and shouted, "Do it!"
The four bearers pulled out the poles and rushed towards the soldiers. The drummers threw away their instruments, took out swords and other weapons from the sedan chairs, and rushed towards the soldiers guarding the city gate. The soldiers pretending to be women also pulled off their headscarves and took out the weapons hidden under their skirts.
After a brutal fight, the rebels captured the city gate. Song Shi walked to the city gate, inserted his fingers into his mouth, and blew a loud whistle in the distance. Thousands of Wagang troops hiding in the woods rushed over with shouts and occupied Mingde Gate.
Wagang's army quickly expanded its results and occupied the other two gates to the south of Chang'an City. The city of Chang'an was lost, and thousands of Wagang troops armed with weapons poured into the city like a tide.
Li Mi secretly left Chang'an City yesterday and moved into the military camp. He took off his silk shirt and put on his war robe again. Wearing a golden helmet and armor, he looked like a general commanding thousands of troops.
Li Mi entered Chang'an City surrounded by many guards. He took Jia Runfu and other staff to the tower of Mingde Gate. From a high position here, you can have a panoramic view of everything in Chang'an City. The wide streets, row upon row of buildings, and majestic palace buildings are in front of you, almost endless as far as the eye can see. And Li Mi's soldiers were pouring into the city like a flood through the several city gates at his feet, rushing in all directions along the thoroughfare. The air is burning, the earth is trembling, and the shouts of thousands of people are like rolling thunder, which is heart-moving.
Li Mi stood on the high tower, feeling that the hostility accumulated in his chest for months was swept away, and a sense of heroism suddenly arose. Li Mi rebelled again. Before, he rebelled against the Sui Dynasty, but now he rebelled against the Tang Dynasty. As the saying goes: At that time, people did not know the Lingyun wood, and they waited until the Lingyun tree reached its peak. He, Li Mi, is not a stone to be thrown at his feet, but a man who stands upright. Isn't it? Chang'an City, the heart of the Tang Dynasty, was trampled under his feet at this moment, trampled and ravaged by him, trembling and wailing under his feet. As far as the eye can see, the towering palace towering on the horizon is his next target.
The people around Li Mi were all in high spirits, talking, laughing and feasting. They were all overjoyed to have conquered this magnificent city. Li Mi was even more confident and confident, as if floating in the clouds, feeling that the general trend of the world was under his control. Are the golden scales just a thing in the pond? They turn into dragons when encountering wind and clouds. He, Li Mi, is a dragon, and he will definitely be able to turn the clouds around and accomplish great things!
When the rebels invaded Chang'an City, Li Zhiyun had just returned from the imperial court. His ceremonial guard was walking on a street, and suddenly there was chaos in front of him. People on the street were running wildly, and there was chaos. The ceremonial guard was blocked by a group of people running from nowhere, and had to stop.
Li Zhiyun got off the carriage and asked Cai Hu, who was riding next to him, what happened. Cai Hu shook his head blankly and said, "I don't know." At this moment, Zhang Zheng galloped over from the front on his horse. When he arrived, he stopped his mount and gasped: "Your Majesty, it's bad, Li Mi has rebelled! His army has already invaded Chang'an City."
When Li Zhiyun heard this, he was shocked. It was like a cold air rising from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He stared at the other party blankly and was speechless for a long time. Zhang Zheng asked anxiously: "Your Majesty, what should we do?" After a while, Li Zhiyun regained his composure. He thought for a moment and said, "Quick, go to the new army camp."
So, the honor guard turned left and went straight to the New Army barracks. Li Zhiyun stopped riding in the carriage and asked the guards to bring him a horse. He mounted his horse in stirrups and followed the team.
When I arrived at the New Army camp, I felt that the atmosphere was not right as soon as I entered the camp gate. Many soldiers were running in a panic, and some soldiers were already lining up. Obviously, the new army has received the news, and the military camp is blowing troop horns and beating drums to prepare for the battle.
Someone had already gone in to report. As soon as Li Zhiyun got off his horse, Scarface and Li Tieniu came up with a group of generals and took him into the Chinese military tent.
Li Zhiyun didn't have time to sit down, so he couldn't wait to ask: "Wang Baoqiang, do you know the situation?" Scarface said: "Your Majesty, I sent scouts and have found out some information. There are about 40,000 rebels..." Li Zhiyun frowned and frowned. He asked: "Is the intelligence accurate? How come Li Mi has so many troops?" A general next to him said: "I heard that he secretly transferred the Wagang Army stationed in Huazhou and Tongzhou to Chang'an."
Li Zhiyun thought about it carefully and thought that there shouldn't be much difference in this number. Because if the number of troops was too small, Li Mi would not dare to risk attacking Chang'an City. Scarface continued: "The rebels have captured Mingde Gate, Anhua Gate, Qixia Gate in the south of Chang'an and Yanping Gate in the west, occupying one-third of Chang'an City, and are currently advancing from south to north. "
Li Tieniu has a fiery temper. As soon as Scarface finished speaking, he roared: "Afraid of him, let's rush up and kill him!" Zhang Zheng said on the side: "No, there are too many rebels. It’s better for us to stick around and wait for help.”
Li Zhiyun felt that Zhang Zheng was right. Although there were 30,000 Tang troops in Chang'an City, the only ones with real combat effectiveness were the 20,000 Shence troops and the 6,000 new troops under his command. The Shence Army wanted to defend the palace and could not take the initiative to attack. If he led 6,000 new troops to confront 40,000 rebels, it would be like hurling an egg against a stone.
The enemy is numerous and we are few, so we can only stand firm and wait for help. But where should we guard? There are only two places, one is the New Army Barracks and the other is the Prince of Chu's Mansion. If you defend both locations, your forces will be too spread out and you will have to abandon one location. It was better to guard the Chu Palace. The arsenal was right next to the Chu Palace. This had taken him more than two years of hard work and it must not fall into the hands of the rebels. Thinking of this, Li Zhiyun said to Scarface and Li Tieniu: "The new army will march to the Prince of Chu's Palace immediately and stick to the palace and the arsenal!" Scarface and Li Tieniu both clasped their fists and said, "Yes!"
Both regiments of the New Army have been equipped with muskets. Each regiment is equipped with an artillery battalion. Each battalion is equipped with twenty red cannons, for a total of forty red cannons. Li Zhiyun believed that with such powerful firepower, although the number of rebels was large, they should not have much problem holding on for three to five days.
After returning to Prince Chu's Mansion, Li Zhiyun immediately set up a headquarters in the hall and began pre-war deployment. In order to give full play to the power of firearms, he ordered all the walls of the Chu Palace and the arsenal to be pulled down, trenches were dug along the walls, and all the houses within fifty feet of the surrounding area were demolished, and the people who demolished the houses moved into the palace. In this way, if the rebels launch an attack, they will not be able to use the buildings to avoid fire damage. In addition, he also carefully selected three places to set up artillery positions to ensure that there were no blind spots for shooting in any direction.
After Li Zhiyun's deployment, the new army, the palace guards, and the servants immediately started pushing down walls, digging trenches, and demolishing residential buildings. Wei Xiaobao took command from the center, while Li Zhiyun took Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu around to inspect and provide guidance.
They walked around the position for more than an hour, and happened to meet the second sister when they returned to the front yard. As soon as the second sister saw Li Zhiyun, she quickly came over and said, "Zhiyun, I heard that the rebels have tens of thousands of troops. If you take us into the Chu Palace, is it safe for us to stay here?"
Li Zhiyun had already sent people to bring his sisters and their families into the Prince of Chu's Mansion. The rebels had captured Chang'an, and he could not let his relatives be slaughtered. The second brother and the fourth brother were not in Chang'an City, and their family members were also brought here. The eldest brother's East Palace is next to the Tai Chi Palace. He must have hid in the palace at this time, so he doesn't need to worry about it.
