The battle in the city gate cave was extremely cruel. The prince's left guard led out to try to cut off the rebels' path into Wude Palace. Li Zhi was eager to get rid of Fang Jun's cavalry, and even wanted to join forces with Yuchi Gong to capture Wude.
In the palace, the two parties encountered each other in the narrow city gate. The cramped environment was not conducive to the formation of troops. They could only fight head-on without giving in. The two sides almost stepped on a thick layer of corpses on the ground and fought over and over again. The strong smell of blood filled the air.
It's so disgusting that both sides have to pay a very heavy price for every step forward.
After all, the guards of Prince Jin's Mansion were more elite, more determined to protect the safety of Prince Jin, and sacrificed more resolutely, and finally broke out of Wudemen after paying a heavy price.
Li Zhi rode out of the Wudemen gate. The wind and rain coming towards him made him open his mouth and breathe hard. The smell of blood in the city gate was so strong that it made him feel sick and almost vomited several times. He looked up at the wind and rain.
The faint crest of the Wude Hall in the distance swept away the depression in my heart, and the excitement and longing for raising an army filled my chest again.
As long as the Wude Palace is captured, no matter whether Li Chengqian is dead or alive, the center of the Tang Dynasty will fall under the control of Li Zhi. At that time, he can announce it to the world, ascend the throne, become the supreme king overlooking the Kyushu, and rule the world.
Going against the odds and changing my fate all the way, risking everything, the only distance to victory is the distance between my feet and the Hall of Wude...
However, the situation inside Wudemen was very chaotic. The cavalry led by the prince's left guard poured in continuously from Dajimen. The rebels climbed over the palace wall and rushed to Wude Palace after defeating the Wudemen defense line. Both sides were at Wudemen.
There was an endless scuffle in the open square between him and Taketoku-den. One side tried desperately to get rid of the entanglement and tried to hit Taketoku-den, while the other side fought to the death to stop him.
In the vast wind and rain, there are killings everywhere, and the enemy and ourselves are fighting in a melee. Where can we find Yuchi Gong?
However, Fang Jun is chasing after him, and Li Daozong may not be able to stop the charge of the armored cavalry. Moreover, Li Daozong has already been defeated by Fang Jun once before. Now, what chance does Li Daozong have of winning against him again?
There is no retreat, only forward.
Although Yuchi Gong could not be found, Li Zhi knew that Yuchi Gong must be on his way to attack Wude Palace. He asked the imperial guards to raise the flag again. This move was a risk of life and death, regardless of the prince Zuo Wei leading him.
As the target of the attack, he loudly said: "Follow me to attack the Wude Palace, shouting 'The King of Jin is here' along the way, gather the soldiers and boost their morale. Let's defeat it in one go and achieve a great cause!"
"Here!"
The guards around him also knew that the current situation could be described as life or death. If they were defeated, they would be dead and their family would be wiped out. If they were defeated, they would be promoted to an official position and become rich and powerful. There was no way back at this point. What was there to hesitate about?
It's just a matter of fighting and dying.
The flag was raised again, rustling in the wind and rain. Hundreds of people gathered in one place, guarding King Li Zhi of Jin and rushed towards the Wude Palace. While marching, they defeated the cavalry led by the prince's left guard who was blocking them.
Shouting the slogans "The King of Jin is here" and "Fengtian to fight against rebellion", sure enough, the chaotic rebels on the battlefield attached themselves to each other and gradually formed a team of more than 2,000 people, charging towards Wude Hall without hesitation.
Marching to a place parallel to Daji Gate, he suddenly saw a group of men and horses rushing out from the cavalry in front. When they came closer, Li Zhi saw the leader Yuchi Gong at a glance...
The two sides joined forces. Li Zhi looked at Yuchi Gong, who was covered in blood and had a ruptured stomach and armor. He was deeply moved. It was this minister of the humerus of his father who was the first to support him in raising the army. Although he suffered repeated heavy losses and the uprising was not smooth, he never went smoothly.
He retreated and remained steadfast with his determination as strong as iron. If he had been loyal to Li Chengqian, he would surely be a high-ranking official at this moment. How could he be in such a life-and-death fight and be in such a state of embarrassment?
Riding his horse forward, Li Zhi stretched out his hand from the horse and held Yuchi Gong's hand tightly. Li Zhi's eyes were red and he was moved to tears. He choked and said: "For the last wish of the late emperor and the great cause of this king, it is a blessing to the Duke of E! He
If I can get my wish, I will definitely live up to today’s kindness!”
These words were so sincere that the iron-hearted Yu Chigong was also moved. He held Li Zhi back with his big hands and said in a hoarse voice: "Your Highness, there is no need to be like this. A real man is born in the world, and he should do something for himself.
No, life and death, success or failure, are other no-nonsense matters! Now we only need to level the Wude Palace to help His Highness ascend the throne, and the ministers and many soldiers will work hard and have no regrets in life or death!"
That being said, does he really have no regrets in his heart?
It’s just that the matter has come to this point, there is no medicine to regret, and we can only go to the dark side. If you succeed, you will be the leader of hundreds of officials and rule the world, if you fail, your whole family will suffer disaster and die in the army...
Moreover, we are now one step away from Wude Palace, and the prince's left guard may not be able to stop him, so the probability of success is extremely high.
While dispatching troops to attack Wude Palace, he asked: "Why is the Prince of Jiangxia not with your Majesty?"
How serious is Li Daozong's intention to let Li Zhi, a first-time brother on the battlefield, lead troops into Wude Gate to attack Wude Hall?
Li Zhi hesitated and hurriedly explained: "I personally came to the battle formation to boost morale and show my determination to fight to the death. On the way, I was chased by Fang Jun's armored cavalry. In order not to delay the process, the prince asked me to go ahead and follow him in Wude."
Block Fang Jun outside the door..."
"Isn't this asking for death?" Yuchi Gong slapped his thigh: "The armored cavalry is invincible in charging. As long as it is allowed to charge, it will be difficult to stop even with five or ten times the force. Now the prince has left so few people.
Your Majesty, there is a lot of danger and misfortune!"
Li Zhi was also panicked: "What should we do?"
Yuchi Gong glanced at the Wude Gate, then turned to look at the Wude Hall in the wind and rain, wondering: "It stands to reason that if you don't support the prince, it is very likely to be in disaster, but the top priority right now is to capture Wude as soon as possible."
Your Majesty... I don’t know what to do."
The two looked at each other and remained silent at the same time.
Everyone knows that if Li Daozong is not rescued, it is very likely that the opponent will be killed outside Wudemen. If Li Daozong is rescued, the fleeting fighter opportunity will be delayed. Otherwise, there may be no need for Li Jing and Xue Wanche to lead the army into the city. As long as the crown prince Zuowei leads the reinforcements
Entering the palace, Wude Hall is impregnable.
But neither of them wanted to say the words of giving up Li Daozong and going straight to Wude Palace. After all, that was too cold and ruthless, and neither of them was willing to bear the infamy of abandoning Paoze...
After a moment of silence, Li Zhi gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "The county prince has made great achievements and has a brilliant record. Even if his troops are weak, Fang Jun must be able to do nothing against him... The most important thing at the moment is to capture the Wude Palace immediately. We can't worry about other things."
Otherwise, wouldn’t it be that the soldiers who have died in battle from the day we raised our troops to the present have died with their eyes in peace?”
He is the King of Jin, the initiator of this mutiny, and the leader of the rebellion. At this time, he must bear all the costs and cannot delay it.
As for whether there will be the infamy of sacrificing Paoze... As long as he can invade the Wude Palace and ascend to the throne, history books will be written by him; on the contrary, if he is defeated here, countless sewage will be poured on him, why should he care?
One more crime?
Yuchi Gong nodded repeatedly: "This is exactly what I mean... Your Highness, I will open a way for you to go straight to Wude Palace. You will follow me in the middle of the army, so be careful."
After saying this, he rode his horse and led his right guard soldiers to rush forward, followed closely by Li Zhi. He defeated the army led by the prince's left guard who was blocking the road, and went straight to Wude Palace.
Li Dazhi was injured by Yu Chigong. After receiving emergency treatment, he quickly mobilized troops and generals to intercept the rebels near Daji Gate. Suddenly he saw another group of people coming out of Wude Gate. They raised the banner of King Jin and shouted "King Jin" along the way.
"Here" a lot of rebels gathered together and rushed towards Wude Hall, and they suddenly felt anxious.
The King of Jin is the leader of the rebels. His presence in the battle formation at this moment will definitely make everyone unite and their morale will skyrocket. What if he rushes straight into the Wude Palace?
He quickly asked his own soldiers to help him mount his war horse, and led his troops from Daji Gate to the north, directly in front of the Wude Hall to set up a formation to stop the rebels.
The two sides started a bloody battle in front of Wude Hall.
Although Yu Chigong was nearly sixty years old and had been injured many times in the past, his physical fitness was still excellent. He flew forward with his horse in his hand, rushing Li Dazhi's hastily built position to the point of collapse, and almost penetrated the position several times.
In the end, Li Dazhi led his army to fight to the death and forced him to retreat.
*****
Inside the Wude Gate, the atmosphere was solemn. The sound of killing was blown into everyone's ears with the wind and rain. They were inevitably panicked and anxious. The rebels had now broken through the Wude Gate defense line and attacked the Wude Gate in a large scale. Maybe they would break through the Wude Gate in the next moment.
The position led by the prince's left guard broke through.
Liu Zi looked at Li Chengqian's relatively calm expression and couldn't help complaining: "It's enough for Fang Jun to ask for help. After all, it's not easy to defend Wudemen for such a long time with only one guard against ten times the rebels."
...What happened to Duke Wei and Duke Wu'an? Since the rebels of Li Huaiqin, An Yuanshou, and Liu Keman were either entangled in Xianyang Bridge or defeated outside Xuanwu Gate, why did these two people not hurry up?
Quickly enter the city to increase the number of troops in the Taiji Palace and wipe out the rebels? Now, they just send a young Li Dazhi to lead an army into the palace and allow the rebels to attack the Wude Palace without caring about His Majesty's safety. What is his intention?"
If we say that the previous slanders and criticisms of Fang Jun were mostly due to the civil-military dispute, which caused trouble for the military regardless of anything, Liu Zi was really panicking now.
The reason why Li Jing and Xue Wanche did not dare to enter the city was because they were afraid that they would be entangled with the rebels after entering the city and could not wipe them out for a while, and the troops from all over Guanzhong took the opportunity to rush to Chang'an to surround them. By then, not only would they be defeated, but all the troops loyal to Your Majesty would also be defeated.
They are all likely to be annihilated in Chang'an City. Even if His Majesty escapes through the secret passage, he will be alone without any soldiers. How can he make a comeback?
But now with the defeat of the three armies of An, Li, and Liu, the armies and clans in Guanzhong have been given enough deterrents. Who dares to rush to Chang'an to support the King of Jin at this time?
It was a great opportunity for Li Jing and Xue Wanche to enter the city in large numbers to annihilate the rebels and eliminate the rebellion. However, only one prince came to lead the left guard, and the rest of the main force was delayed...
Now that the rebels are approaching the city, what should we do?