As soon as Li Zhiyun walked into the front yard of the palace, he saw Princess Bohai coming over supported by two nurses. The princess wore an emerald green jacket and an eight-piece lake-colored skirt. She was already frightened, her hair was messy, her hairpin was crooked, her face was pale, and her red lips were trembling. The princess was helped to stand in front of Li Zhiyun, and she only called "cousin" but could not say anything else.
Li Zhiyun Anwei said: "Sister-in-law, don't worry, you will be safe when you get to my place." At this time, Wei Xiaobao and several princesses also rushed over after hearing the news. Li Zhiyun said to Wei Xiaobao: "Hurry up and arrange a room so that the princess can have a good rest."
"No need." The fifth sister said and walked forward, "There are many people here and few houses, so let the princess live with me." After she said that, she called a maid over, and the two of them helped Princess Bohai leave. .
As night fell, Li Zhiyun convened the generals in the hall to discuss the military situation. After everyone discussed the plan to defend the enemy tomorrow, Li Zhiyun said to Wei Xiaobao: "How long will the food in the palace be enough?"
"Back to the prince, the food in the Chu Palace was originally enough for three months, but now so many people came all at once, the food consumption was huge. However, with the food rushed from the New Army camp and mixed with some miscellaneous grains, it is estimated that more It shouldn’t be a big problem if you eat it for five or six days.”
Li Zhiyun listened, nodded, and asked: "How is the situation of sending people out of the city to ask for help?"
"None of the people we sent out were able to leave the city." Wei Xiaobao said, "All twelve gates of Chang'an City were occupied by the rebels. They were also afraid that we would send people out of the city to ask for help, so the blockade was extremely strict and no one was allowed to leave the city. .”
Li Zhiyun couldn't help but frowned after hearing this. There are hundreds of thousands of Tang troops stationed within hundreds of miles around Chang'an City. As long as reinforcements can arrive in time, Li Mi will become a turtle in the urn. But now the message cannot be sent, what should I do?
At this time, Cai Hu said, "Let me go." Li Zhiyun looked at him and said, "Can you leave the city?" Cai Hu said resolutely, "Even the copper and iron walls can't stop me!" Li Zhiyun nodded, Said: "Okay, go and come back quickly!"
Cai Hu returned to his residence, changed into a set of tight-fitting silk clothes, then took a sling around his waist and left the house with his sword in hand. When he came to the trench, he saw that the soldiers on both sides had lit bonfires, and the soldiers on guard watched each other's every move with vigilance.
Cai Hu picked a place out of reach of the bonfire and quickly crossed the middle area with his body bent. A few feet away, a group of rebel soldiers were sitting around a campfire. A soldier turned his head and saw a dark shadow flashing past, and quickly shouted: "There is someone!" The other soldiers looked back, but saw nothing. The soldier rubbed his eyes, looked carefully again, and laughed at himself: "Maybe my eyes are dazzled."
Cai Hu passed through the rebel camp and walked along the street. The streets were empty, not a soul in sight. The last quarter moon is like a rusty hook, hanging palely in the western sky. The doors of the houses on both sides of the street were closed, and there was no light in the windows of every house. The huge Chang'an City seemed like a dead city with no one inhabited.
Cai Hu walked for a while and met a group of rebels patrolling at night. He quickly hid in a dark corner next to him and waited for the rebel soldiers to pass by before continuing to move forward. He came to the bottom of the city wall, untied the suspension rope tied around his waist, and threw it upwards with all his strength. The iron claws of the suspension rope hooked on the battlements on the city. He pulled hard, and then climbed up the rope.
Cai Hu climbed up to the top of the city and climbed over the battlements. Just as he was about to put away the rope, a group of rebels patrolling the top of the city spotted him. Five or six soldiers rushed towards him with spears and spears in hand. Cai Hu quickly drew out his sword to fight. . A soldier stabbed him with a sword. Cai Hu quickly avoided the sharp edge and used Wudang Tai Chi swordsmanship. A "shift of the universe", the sharp sword stabbed the soldier in the chest. Then, another "cat pounces on the mouse" stabbed another soldier.
Cai Hu was like a ghost, his figure was erratic. A soldier clearly saw him in front. He raised his sword and was about to stab him, but he disappeared. Just as he was about to turn around and look for him, he was cut with a sword on his neck. Just like that, Cai Hu opened his bow from left to right, and a ball of sword flowers knocked down the soldiers.
Cai Hu picked up the hanging rope and walked forward. However, the fight just now had alarmed the rebels in the city, and a large number of rebel soldiers rushed towards him from both ends. Cai Hu hurriedly hung on the battlements on the outer edge of the city wall with his iron claws, grabbed the rope and slid down. When he slipped to two feet above the ground, the rebels had already rushed forward, and a soldier cut off the rope with a knife. Cai Hu felt that the suspension rope had lost its strength and quickly pushed off the city wall with both feet. His body drew a graceful arc in the air and landed steadily on the ground.
The rebels on the top of the city began to fire arrows, and Cai Hu retreated while waving his sword to block the arrows. He retreated to the moat, turned around and jumped into the river, swimming across the Haogou. He climbed to the other side, wrung out his wet clothes, and continued walking.
The night was dark, the surroundings were silent, and two night owls screamed sharply in the distance. Cai Hu walked about a hundred steps when he suddenly heard the sound of rapid horse hooves. He turned around and saw a group of rebel cavalry galloping towards him. There were about a dozen cavalrymen.
Cai Hu hid behind a big tree, and the cavalry galloped past the tree. When the last cavalryman passed by, he ducked out from behind the tree, jumped into the air, kicked the enemy soldier off his horse, sat firmly on the horse, then pulled the reins, turned the horse's head and galloped away. The rebel cavalry discovered that their companion's horse had been robbed, and when they wanted to catch up, Cai Hu had already galloped a hundred feet away.
Cai Hu held the reins tightly with both hands, clamped the horse's belly with his legs, drove the horse wildly, and galloped towards Huazhou in the vast night.
Li Zhiyun stayed up almost all night. He went up to the terrace early in the morning and used binoculars to observe the movements of the rebels around him. It was three o'clock in the morning, but the rebels had not yet launched an attack. Li Zhiyun estimated that the rebels suffered a heavy loss yesterday and had to act cautiously today. Throughout the morning, the rebels launched only three attacks, all of which were easily repelled by the new army. The rebels' offensives became weaker and weaker each time, and finally they simply stood still, and the entire battlefield fell silent.
Li Zhiyun pointed the telescope in the direction of the palace. Unlike the Chu Palace, the fighting at the palace never stopped. The two sides fought at night with lights on, and the shouts of killing continued all night long. The rebels gathered a large number of troops and attacked the palace day and night, trying to seize it in one fell swoop.
The imperial palace is composed of two parts, one is the palace city, and the other is the imperial city. The palace city is where the emperor carries out government activities and holds banquets. The imperial city is where the emperor and his concubines live, commonly known as the "harem". The imperial city and the palace city Together they are called the "Royal Palace".
Li Zhiyun saw that the rebels not only used ladders to attack the city, but also brought in ramming cars and violently crashed into the Zhuque Gate. As the imperial guards of the palace, the Shence Army did not expect that the palace would be attacked so violently, so they did not usually have many defensive equipment in reserve and could only rely on crossbows, broadswords and spears. The palace wall was not as tall as the Chang'an city wall, only about two feet high. Many rebel soldiers climbed up the city wall and started a hand-to-hand battle with the Shence Army at the top of the city.
In the afternoon, the rebels' attack became even more frenzied. Li Zhiyun saw through the telescope that flags and flags were fluttering in front of the Zhuque Gate, and there was a sea of people. The rebels not only used ramming vehicles, but also set fire to the gate. The city gate was riddled with holes and became precarious. This situation made Li Zhiyun uneasy. He is no longer worried about Prince Chu's Mansion. What he is most worried about now is the palace. His parents are both in the palace, so there must be no loss in the palace. He put down the telescope and said to Scarface: "Let's go to the headquarters to discuss it."
Several people walked down the terrace and came to the hall. Li Zhiyun asked Li Tieniu and several other generals to be called over. Everyone sat around a table with a map of Chang'an City on it. Li Zhiyun got straight to the point: "According to the scouts, the rebels used 10,000 people to attack the Chu Palace and 30,000 people to attack the palace. Because they are afraid of the new army's firearms, I estimate that they will adopt the strategy of surrounding the Chu Palace without attacking. It is to concentrate our forces to attack the palace. When the enemy changes, we will change. We cannot passively defend, we must take the initiative."
When Li Tieniu heard this, he shouted happily: "My lord, you are so right, we should have killed out long ago, that would be happy!" Other generals also expressed their agreement.
"However, there can no longer be any mistakes in the Prince of Chu's Mansion." Li Zhiyun said, "Therefore, I decided to leave three battalions to guard the Prince of Chu's Mansion and the arsenal, while the remaining one regiment and one battalion attacked northwest."
"Your Majesty, are we going to relieve the siege of the palace?" asked a general.
Li Zhiyun shook his head and said: "With the strength we currently have, we cannot do this. However, we must capture the Small Wild Goose Pagoda." He said, pointing on the map with his hand, "The Small Wild Goose Pagoda is located in Between the Chu Palace and the Imperial Palace, once we occupy the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, we can set up artillery positions and support the Imperial Palace with artillery fire. Everyone, go back and prepare well, and start taking action early tomorrow morning."
As soon as Li Zhiyun finished the deployment, a guard ran in in a panic and reported: "Your Majesty, Zhu Cui Gate has been lost." When Li Zhiyun heard this, he was shocked and said to Zhang Zheng quickly: "Come on, let's go take a look!" After that, he walked out. After entering the hall, he went to the terrace with the guard.
They boarded the terrace. Li Zhiyun raised his telescope and looked in the direction of the palace. He saw that the Suzaku Gate had been knocked open and the rebels poured in like a tide. Once the Suzaku Gate is lost, it means that the palace city has fallen, and then only the imperial city is left. If the Chengtian Gate of the Imperial City is lost again, the situation will be disastrous.
Li Zhiyun was extremely anxious, and the pressure in his heart was as heavy as a mountain. Coming down from the terrace, he and Zhang Zheng planned to check the preparations of each battalion. The two of them were walking on the corridor of the garden and happened to meet the fifth sister. The fifth sister walked in a hurry, looking around as if she was looking for someone. When she saw him, she said, "Zhiyun, I have found you. I heard that Miyagi fell. How are mom and dad?"
"They are fine for the time being. The imperial city is still in our hands."
"What if the imperial city is lost again? Zhiyun, you have to think of a way!"
"Sister, don't worry, I'm thinking of a solution. Go back to the house quickly, I have something else to do." Li Zhiyun said and hurried forward.
The fifth sister shouted behind him with a sobbing voice: "Zhiyun, you must save my father and mother!"
"knew".
