"Your Highness, the naval force is so fierce that Cui Xin may not be able to withstand it!"
Xiao Yu stood beside Li Zhi and accompanied him to watch the battle on Tianjie Street. He was worried when he saw that the Shandong private army was launching a tidal wave of offensive without hesitation, but it was like a stormy wave crashing on a rock. The rock remained motionless.
Tens of thousands of Shandong's private troops were not scattered at this moment. Instead, they were inspired by the heroic blood of Shandong's men. They charged with fear of death. However, one general was incompetent and exhausted the three armies. Cui Xin had no strategy or tactics at all and just drove his soldiers blindly.
Fighting to the death is nothing but death.
No matter how brave and brave the Shandong soldiers are, their bloody courage will eventually be exhausted. When casualties continue to increase and the battle situation does not improve, morale will inevitably plummet, and the entire army will collapse.
"Chang'an City is full of streets and alleys. After the army is defeated, it will be at a loss as to what to do. It will flood into all the streets. By then, the whole of Chang'an will suffer, which will be ten times worse than the previous rout and plunder!"
Xiao Yu was worried.
If the defeated soldiers who entered the city before and looted every place could still be restrained, when these many soldiers broke out and poisoned the entire Chang'an, no one would be able to control them. They could only watch the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty being defeated, looted, burned and killed.
Turned into ashes.
Li Zhi held the arrow stack with his hand, looking through the dense rain at the brutal fighting on the street. He gritted his teeth and said slowly: "Cui Xin is really incompetent. The force several times larger than the navy not only failed to win, but
In fact, even blocking is so difficult, especially since I had previously ordered him to restrain the defeated troops in the city and not harm the local area, but he turned a deaf ear and still allowed the defeated troops to plunder the surrounding areas and harm the people. I am extremely disappointed!"
Xiao Yu was stunned for a moment and then fell silent.
Obviously, as long as there is a rout and plunder in the city, whether before or after, the account will be blamed on Cui Xinji's Shandong private army...
But the problem is that even if someone takes responsibility, the damage caused to Chang'an City is real. As a person who aspires to ascend the throne and dominate the world, how can he be so unscrupulous and merciless?
Regardless of whether it is true or false, we must ensure the safety and interests of dignitaries and ordinary people, because this is the foundation of an emperor's governance. If these are abandoned because of temporary victory or defeat, how can it be the behavior of a wise king?
Even if the King of Jin in his dynasty achieved great success, he was probably just a power-playing and insidious monarch who relied on his ancestors and the huge foundation created by his father's generation and squandered it. Although the empire was still strong, it was by no means a prosperous age where the government was well-organized and all industries prospered.
Loyalty to such a monarch may not be a good thing...
…
The two returned to the tower, took off their raincoats, and wiped their faces with the handkerchief handed over by the chamberlain. They sat back and drank hot tea. Li Zhi asked Chu Suiliang, who was sorting out the battle reports: "How was the battle at Wude Hall? Mingde Gate.
What's the situation outside?"
Chu Suiliang temporarily acted as Li Zhi's clerk, recording and classifying the battle reports submitted from various places for Li Zhi's review.
Hearing this, he immediately said: "The fighting over Wude Hall is intense. Although the heavy rain caused a lot of malfunctions in the firearms of the Youtun Guards, the Youtun Guards have stabilized themselves after losing many peripheral positions in the panic at the beginning of the heavy rain.
They attacked the palaces and pavilions near the gates of Wudeden Hall and fought back with firearms, causing heavy casualties to our army."
Heavy rain can indeed cause firearms to malfunction, but it does not matter inside the house. Now the Youtun Guards relied on those buildings to build a defense line, removed and dismantled doors and windows, and fired from inside the buildings, severely damaging the troops of Yuchi Gong and Li Daozong.
However, due to the limited line of sight of the building, the shooting coverage could not cover all directions. Yuchi Gong and Li Daozong were commanding the troops to either bypass the building, or charge at the risk of death with superior force, suppressing the Youtun Guards' defense line bit by bit.
"In addition, Cheng Yaojin just led his Zuowu Guards out of camp and headed westward. According to scouts, his military orders were to set up defenses in the Xianyang Bridge area, but the specific purpose is unknown. Xue Wanche guarded Mingde Gate, and Zheng Rentai
I helped from the side, but nothing happened."
After listening to Chu Suiliang's report, Li Zhi frowned and pondered for a moment before he figured out Cheng Yaojin's intention. He slapped the table and said angrily: "This old thief initially had both sides, courting Qin, Mu and Chu, but now he has made up his mind to be willing to rely on the false emperor. Seriously?"
Damn it!"
Xiao Yu, who looked at the map, also understood Cheng Yaojin's intention, shook his head and said nothing.
Cheng Yaojin's withdrawal from Mingde Gate completely freed Xue Wanche and Zheng Rentai, allowing them to enter Chang'an City at any time to support Liu Rengui, and even join forces to attack Chengtian Gate; and if he really led his troops to Xianyang Bridge to isolate them
The transportation between the north and south of the Wei River separated all the clans in Guanzhong and Longyou. Anyone who wanted to lead an army into Chang'an to support the King of Jin had to cross the Zuowuwei and fight a fierce battle with the Zuowuwei.
As a being with the highest level of combat power among the sixteen armies, and with a veteran like Cheng Yaojin sitting in command, who dares to win easily? Even if he is lucky enough to win, he will definitely pay a huge price.
At the critical moment, everyone is protecting themselves wisely, hoping to gain maximum benefits with minimum losses. Who is willing to sacrifice troops and sacrifice the future to help others?
In this way, all the garrisons and nobles in Guanzhong and Longyou will be in a state of fear and will not dare to act rashly.
Furthermore, Li Jing outside Chunming Gate was also released...
If Li Chengqian secures the throne in the future, Cheng Yaojin will make great achievements without spending a single soldier, which will be enough to erase all the previous misdeeds in one fell swoop. It can be described as a stroke of genius.
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But at the same time, it also completely reversed the situation in Chang'an, which was extremely detrimental to King Jin...
A school captain rushed up from the city, entered the city tower and came to Li Zhi. He knelt down on one knee and reported: "Your Highness, the No. 6 camp of the East Palace outside Chunming Gate has begun to gather troops and horses. The military situation is abnormal!"
When Li Zhi heard this, he slapped the table again, his face was livid, but he did not curse.
Xiao Yu said worriedly: "Li Jing must be waiting for Cheng Yaojin to arrive at Xianyang Bridge, and then he will enter the city from Chunming Gate!"
The Sixth Leader of the East Palace was stationed outside the Chunming Gate to intimidate the garrison in Guanzhong, and the clan officials did not dare to move lightly, because once they entered the city and were tightly held back, all the troops and clan clans that were ready to move would rush towards Chang'an City frantically, no matter what the Sixth Leader of the East Palace did.
Brave and good at fighting, no matter how Li Jing used his troops like a god, he could only be a turtle in a urn, waiting to be wiped out bit by bit.
Therefore, Li Jing could only wait outside the Chunming Gate to preserve the last glimmer of hope for His Majesty, sit back and watch the melee in Taiji Palace, and protect His Majesty from escaping Chang'an, withdrawing from Guanzhong, and rushing to Hexi if the battle went unfavorably.
But if Cheng Yaojin rushed to Xianyang Bridge to block the only way for the troops from Guanzhong, Longyou and other places to rush to Chang'an, Li Jing would be free to lead his troops into the city.
Li Zhi was a little panicked. He knew that he was facing a desperate situation of life or death. If he was not careful, his entire army would be destroyed and he would be defeated and die. He barely suppressed his trembling hands, took a sip of tea, and forced himself to calm down: "
Immediately send an order to the Prince of Jiangxia and the Duke of E to inform them of the details and implore them to capture the Taiji Palace as soon as possible at any cost!"
Chu Suiliang responded: "Here!"
He quickly wrote a military order, stamped it with the seal of King Jin, and handed it to the waiting captain. The captain put the order away, saluted, turned around and left the tower, rushed down to the city, and headed straight for Wude Hall.
.
Xiao Yu looked at Li Zhi, who was trying to keep his composure, and said with relief: "The war situation is not yet out of control. All we need to do is capture the Taiji Palace as early as possible. His Highness can become the Lord of the Tang Dynasty. No one in the world dares to disobey the imperial edict."
We can only run away and live in hiding."
The only chance now is to capture the Wude Palace as early as possible. By then, no matter whether Li Chengqian dies or escapes, the entire empire center will fall into the hands of Li Zhi, thus occupying the legal status and righteousness, and can ascend the throne on his own and announce it to the world.
By then, Li Zhi was the legitimate Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. With great righteousness in hand, countless people rushed to rely on him to reshape the center. The garrisons and clans in Guanzhong no longer had any scruples and immediately raised troops and rushed to Chang'an to swear allegiance to Li Zhi.
Regardless of whether the six leaders of the East Palace and the three heads and six arms of the Youtun Guards were defeated, they could only retreat and surrender the Tang Dynasty Center.
As for how to destroy the "pseudo emperor" Li Chengqian later, we will talk about it later...
This is the truth, but Xiao Yu felt a little numb at the moment, because he himself was not sure whether Wei Chigong and Li Daozong would capture Taiji Palace first. After all, there were Xue Wanche and Zheng Rentai outside the Mingde Gate at the moment.
Enter the city.
Once these two people are no longer restrained by the "unknown" Cheng Yaojin, they can safely enter the city and join forces with Liu Rengui. How can Cui Xin and the rabble under his command resist them?
I'm afraid that before Li Jing can lead his army into the city, Xue, Liu, and Zheng have already arrived at Chengtianmen...
Li Zhi nodded. He also felt that Li Daozong and Yuchi Gong could capture Wude Palace first. However, the current battle situation was ever-changing and there were too many factors that would affect the direction of the battle. He seemed safe in Chengtianmen, but what if Cui
Xin couldn't withstand the offensive from the south of the city. Wouldn't he have to face Xue, Liu, and Zheng's troops?
None of these three people are easy to mess with. If you are a little negligent on your side, you may be trapped in the enemy's lines...
He turned around and told Chu Suiliang: "Go down here and pack up all the paperwork. Let's go to the Zhaode Hall to meet Li Daozong and Yu Chigong. I will personally supervise the battle."
Chu Suiliang was stunned for a moment, and then understood Li Zhi's intention. He believed that at this moment, the King of Jin, as the commander-in-chief of an army, should be stationed at Chengtianmen, so that Li Daozong and Wei Chigong could besiege the Wude Palace with confidence and boldness, and at the same time stabilize the morale of the Shandong private army.
, and once they withdraw into Taiji Palace, not only will Li Daozong and Yuchi Gong be restrained and ask for instructions on everything, but the morale of the Shandong private army will be shaken, and the gains will outweigh the losses.
However, he would not give advice at this time. He was not that loyal. He immediately ordered the scribes and guards inside and outside the city tower to pack up the documents and utensils, followed Li Zhi down to the city tower, and set up this temporary "command post"