The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 289 That Night

It was just dawn, and the city of Chang'an was in chaos. The gates of the city and the gates that opened at dawn were all closed, which seriously affected the lives of the people. In addition, Li Tang's army forced the young and strong to defend the city from house to house, causing Chang'an to fall into chaos. In great panic.

Various rumors circulated in Chang'an. Some people said that the Turkic army went south, and some said that the Sui army entered the customs. But undoubtedly, the latter is more convincing, because Yongbei is the territory of the Sui army, and it was defeated by the Sui army. It is impossible for the Turks in the hand to cross Yongbei and enter the customs.What's more, the Lishan beacon shows that the invading enemy comes from the east!After spontaneous debates among the neighbors and the right, the Sui army's entry into the customs soon became the mainstream theory.But a new controversy came again. Some people said that Yang Tong led an army of 30 to attack Chang'an, while others said that Yang Tong led an army of 50, [-], or even a million troops to cross the Yellow River.All in all, the arrival of the Sui army made Chang'an full of storms and panic.

The five beacon fires burned for a whole night, causing more than [-] people from the villages outside the city to rush into the city to take refuge, but all the nine gates of Chang'an were closed, and the panicked people gathered outside each city gate and shouted loudly to open the city. confusion.As the south gate of Chang'an, the area around Mingde Gate was particularly chaotic. Zhao Cijing, the commander of the city defense, had no choice but to open Mingde Gate and let the people from the outskirts of Chang'an enter the city to take refuge for an hour.

The city gate is so big, and the people need to be strictly inspected. How many people can be admitted in an hour?When the city gate was closed again, the people who were separated from their relatives shouted and cried through a gate.

The Zhuque Street inside the gate was now full of people entering the city. They carried baskets, carried household belongings, led animals, and rode in ox carts... The older ones called their children and shouted loudly and cursed; the younger ones cried for their parents. Shouting mother and running around, the scene was extremely chaotic.

The gates of Yanzuo, Anle, Anyi, and Ande, which are close to Mingde Gate, have already been opened, and groups of well-equipped soldiers fiercely drove the fleeing people in.However, many residents in the workshop resolutely resisted refugees entering the workshop, and moved all kinds of obstacles from their homes to block the gate of the workshop, and even ruffians took advantage of the young women and robbed the people's property!It made the gate of the square cry, crowded and chaotic, and the excrement and urine of livestock and poultry made the world stink to the sky.

Above the city tower, Zhao Cijing's handsome face was full of worry. He was not worried about the fleeing people. People in troubled times are not as good as dogs. Living is luck, how can you be too demanding?
What he was worried about was Chang'an city defense.

The circumference of Chang'an City is more than 60 miles, but there are only [-] defenders. They can only be deployed in the north and south. However, the troops on the city wall are still very sparse. In desperation, they can only recruit tens of thousands of young and strong soldiers to help defend In the city, although bows, arrows and spears were also issued, the combat power was worrying. If they won the battle, it would be fine, but if they encountered a tragic offensive and defensive battle, these young men would become poison to kill morale.

At this time, a scouting team came galloping from afar, only ten of them, and Zhao Cijing did not issue a combat alert. When they approached, he asked loudly, "Is there any news about Feng Yi?"

"It's urgent! Please forgive me, General!" The team leader lightly drew his bow, and shot an arrow book lightly on the top of the city, and then waved his hand, leading the team to run away.

……

The Daxing Palace, shrouded in gloom, has fallen into the highest level of security. You can see teams of well-armed morale walking around at all times, especially in the Xuanzhongmen area, which is heavily guarded and heavily guarded. It is also widely distributed bright and dark whistle, which is the lesson Yang Tong brought to Li Yuan by burning Daxing Palace.

noon.

Li Jiancheng rode a war horse and galloped into the palace.He had only left for less than an hour, and his father ordered him to meet him urgently. Although the eunuch didn't know what happened, everyone knew that it must be related to the Sui army.

The imperial guards were not surprised at all when they saw him galloping his horse in the palace. In this extraordinary period, both civil and military officials of the second rank have this privilege.

In front of the Taiji Hall, Li Jiancheng jumped off his horse, threw down the reins, and walked up the steps quickly, walking all the way to the main hall. An old eunuch greeted him, "Your Majesty, please go directly to the Ganlu Hall."

Li Jiancheng walked forward quickly without looking back, and asked in a low voice, "Why is it so hasty?"

The old eunuch trotted a few steps, glanced around vigilantly, saw the guard standing far away, not paying attention here, so he helped Li Jiancheng by the threshold under his feet, and quickly whispered: "Feng Yi has an accident."

"Thank you!" Li Jiancheng seemed to be grateful for the old eunuch's help, and also seemed to be grateful for his reminder, and then quickly walked to the Ganlu Palace, and the eunuch at the door reported for him, "My lord, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived."

"Let him in!"

Li Yuan's voice revealed deep fatigue, and Li Jiancheng walked quickly into the imperial study.I saw the crown of Ping Tian fell on the ground and broke into two pieces, an old eunuch was holding a red lacquered wooden tray, and several other people picked up the broken crown and bits and pieces of pearls and jades into the wooden tray one by one.

Li Yuan stood in front of the window with a livid face and hands behind his back. Li Jiancheng was taken aback. It seemed that the situation was a little serious. He suddenly became a little nervous, and quickly stepped forward and bowed to salute, "I will see my father!"

"Stand back!" Li Yuan said in a deep voice.

After several eunuchs hurriedly retreated, Li Jiancheng asked cautiously, "Father! Is it Feng Yi's news?"

"I just received news that Pujin Pass fell last night, and the reinforcements from the counties were defeated on the reinforcement road. Qu Tutong was ambushed by Yang Yu near Chengcheng. The [-] army was wiped out, and even Qu Tutong was captured. .In addition, Guangtongcang, Shangjun, Beidi County, and Ding'an County are also finished." Li Yuan's voice revealed deep fear.

It turned out that when Qu Tutong was captured, the reinforcements in Fengyi County were annihilated outside the city by Yuchi Gong. In Gu County, Bingfeng pointed directly at Wannian County in the east of Jingzhao.

Shen Guang ambushed [-] reinforcements from Guangtong Cang in the southern suburbs of Chaoban City, and used Zhang Pinggao's corpse to deceive Guangtong Cang into opening. The mountains of supplies fell into the hands of Tai Sui intact. Jingzhao Huayin County, deter Chang'an from the southeast.

Seeing that the dust had settled and Pujin Pass had become the "inland" of the Sui Dynasty, Pei Renji sent [-] east troops to reinforce Shen Guang.

On Yang Tong's side, leaving behind Niu Jinda to lead the Hedong Army to clean up the battlefield, and leaving an order to conquer Chengcheng, he and Luo Shixin led the Xuanjia Army and the Xiaoguo Army to go north, and at dawn, they caught up with Li Tang at the southern foot of Liangshan. The Twelfth Army of Guanzhong's cavalry officer Sang Xian and the eight thousand Tang troops who supported Longmen Pass defeated them after a big battle. Just like Shen Guang, they cheated Longmen Pass with Sang Xian and his corpse. He led a group of soldiers to escape from birth, and the remaining defenders surrendered to the Sui Dynasty.

The four counties of Hancheng, Heyang, Baishui and Pucheng surrendered without a fight.

Same last night!
After Su Dingfang received the letter from Feiying at dusk, he immediately marched in a hurry. When it was dark, he raided Luojiao County in Shangjun, and then divided his troops to surrender and attack the inner, Sanchuan, Fucheng, and Luochuan counties. Before dawn, it was already approaching Yijun County in Jingzhao County.

Yijun County is located to the north of Tongguan Road. Tongguan Road is one of the main passages from Yongbei to Guanzhong. A large-scale army marched, so the Tang army did not carry out key defenses on this road, but only stationed [-] Xuange troops in Yijun County. Su Dingfang's siege battle had no skill at all. He suppressed the city with a strong crossbow. After going to the garrison, he personally led the elite soldiers to climb up the ladder and beheaded Lu Juner, the general of the Xuange Army in the [-]th Guanzhong Army. After the death of the general, all the Xuange Army surrendered. After that, he led [-] elite soldiers from Yan'an County into Tongguan County , like a sharp blade, hanging above Chang An's head.

After receiving the letter, Pei Xingyan, the prefect of Honghua, led [-] Sui troops and [-] Turkic slaves from Heshui County along the Malingshui River Valley, and at dawn attacked Ding'an County, Beidi County. Lei Yongji commanded [-] Banner Army, but he also encountered brutal tactics similar to Lu Jun'er. When the defenders were suppressed by the Sui crossbow, [-] Turkic slaves risked their lives to attack the city, and Lei Yongji died in battle. All the troops participating in the flag surrendered to the Sui Dynasty.Then, Pei Xingyan led a large army to camp in Qianshuiyuan at the confluence of Malingshui and Jingshui. The troops headed straight for Li Xiaogong's troops in Xinping, and the four counties of Luochuan, Pengyuan, Xiangle and Sanshui changed their banners.

Wang Fubao, governor of Pingliang County, also performed well. He led [-] Sui troops and [-] Turkic slaves from Kelan Mountain, and used brutal tactics to conquer Yinpan County, Anding County. The army descended to the Sui Dynasty.

After Wang Fubao conquered Anding City, he laid down Zhezhe City and Changwu City along the Jingshui Road, joined forces with Pei Xingyan in Xinping County, and the five counties of Quailgu, Chaona, Liangyuan, Linjing, and Huating in Anding County surrendered without a fight.

The Jingshui Road occupied by the two is flat and wide, and it is the most convenient road for the army to go south. The cavalry and luggage can be unimpeded. The obstacle is the [-] army led by Li Xiaogong.

After Li Yuan entered the pass, he selected 12 elite soldiers from the main army and set up the Twelve Army in Guanzhong. Lin Army, Cavalry Officer Army, Zhewei Army, Pingdao Army, Swagger Army, Yuan You Army, Tianji Army, and Tianjie Army.

Each army has a general and a lieutenant general, and the chief general is served by a confidant general. They each lead an army to garrison a strategic place, and they are an important force in the Tang army.Every unit is not weak and has extremely strong combat effectiveness.

However, in a short period of time, five of the Guanzhong Twelfth Army, which Li Yuan relied heavily on, were annihilated by the Sui Dynasty. The Xuange Army led by Lu Jun'er, and the Jing Yue Army led by Wang Changkai.

After listening to Li Yuan's narration, Li Jiancheng was stunned. In just one night and one morning, the Sui army had conquered so many territories. Isn't the Sui army's speed and combat power too frightening?Also, how did the news spread so fast?
"I know you don't believe it, and I don't believe it either!" Li Yuan took a deep breath, suppressed the fear in his heart, and continued: "But I think it's true. The cavalry of the Sui Dynasty was unparalleled in the world, and they ran hundreds of miles in one night. It's normal, and it's normal to use tyrannical strength to annihilate the main force of our army when mental arithmetic is weak!

"Where did the military situation come so fast?"

"Yang Tong captured our scouts and asked them to pass it back." Li Yuan said angrily.

"Ah? Could it be deliberately disturbing us?" Li Jiancheng said with a frown.

"Feng Yi has been captured by him, and he will be able to kill Chang'an in the afternoon. I don't think Yang Tong needs to lie to us again."

Li Yuan sighed dejectedly, sat on the dragon couch in a daze, and muttered to himself: "I really don't understand why Yang Tong is staring at me, Datang? Before I got into trouble, he disgusted us everywhere, and he didn't know Where did you offend him? Can't you beat Wang Shichong?... They say that son-in-law, son-in-law, my son-in-law, this son-in-law, is not filial to beat my father-in-law."

Saying that, the mother-in-law and mother-in-law began to complain, accusing Yang Tong of all kinds of wrongdoings.

"..." Li Jiancheng only heard a black thread, and his head was dizzy, and he really didn't know how to respond.

Deep thoughts and commissions arose in his heart, and he thought: I don't know how the third sister is doing in Yecheng, alas, I hope Yang Tong will not blame the poor third sister for the disputes between men.

……

(Penguin colony: 1623145)

(End of this chapter)