At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 679 Luoyang Twelve Hours ([-])

Although the battle in the imperial city was fierce, compared with the battle near Dingding Gate in the south of the city, it was much worse in scale and intensity.

Wang Xuanying, the eldest son of Wang Shichong, led nearly [-] Zheng troops and Li Xiaogong's [-] Tang troops in a fierce battle. It flowed into a river, and many houses were set ablaze, and the flames soared into the sky, it was like purgatory on earth.

Li Xiaogong was quite calm at first, but now his face gradually became more cautious. The defenders' strength was stronger than he imagined, and Wang Xuanying's command and dispatch skills were also very high. Hours, unexpectedly did not lose the wind.

The arrow wound on Changsun Shunde's leg had already been bandaged, and he was standing on the top of the Dingding Gate looking in the direction of the imperial city, but the distance was too far to see anything at all.

"Strange, why hasn't there been any movement yet?" Changsun Shunde frowned. According to the time, Qu Tutong should have been activated at Jiayu Gate. If there is no accident, he will soon be able to enter the palace. Nothing?Is there an accident?
An inexplicable shadow cast over Changsun Shunde's mind, and he ordered a guard beside him, "Go to Jiayu Gate to see what's going on, and go back quickly."

The guard immediately took the order to go, but it was only ten kilometers away from the south of the city to the Jiayu Gate in the northwest of the city. In addition, he had to cross the Luoshui River, and the terrain was complicated. It would take half an hour to go back and forth. Well, one can imagine how big Luoyang City is, and it's no wonder that Li Mi failed to take it after attacking for several years.

At the same time, a fast horse galloped towards Wang Xuanying along Dingdingmen Street, and reported anxiously, "My lord, something is wrong, something happened in the imperial city!"

Wang Xuanying was commanding troops and horses trying to drive the Tang army out of the city. The battle was in its intensified stage. Hearing this, he couldn't help being startled, and hurriedly asked, "What happened to the imperial city? Didn't Neishi Ling and General Zuo Yuwei return to the palace?" ?"

The messenger said in horror: "The king of Qi, Gao Changqing, did not know when he infiltrated the palace, hijacked the emperor and the queen mother, and unexpectedly killed Neishi Ling. The guards in the palace rebelled and took refuge in him. Now Gao Changqing has Controlled the imperial city, and closed the city gates tightly. General Zuo Yuwei was rushing to attack Xuanwu Gate, but another enemy army came outside Jiayu Gate. General Zuo Yiwei was unable to support himself, so he asked the prince to send troops back immediately !"

Wang Xuanying couldn't help but feel terrified, this is really going to kill him, his father Wang Shichong took away most of the troops, now Luoyang City is already empty of troops, but at this time, Li Tang and Gao Qi are attacking both inside and outside at the same time, could it be that they Is it an appointment?
"Order General Zuo Yuwei to take back the imperial city, otherwise let him raise his head and plead guilty to my father." Wang Xuanying said in a deep voice.

It is already quite difficult for him to deal with Li Xiaogong now, his troops are stretched and there is no way he can draw troops back to help, so he can only give Wang Shiwei the death order.

In addition, Wang Shiwei was so angry that he almost vomited blood after receiving Wang Xuanying's reply, so he had no choice but to mobilize two groups of soldiers and horses, with a total force of [-], to storm Xuanwu Gate all the way, go around to the front of the imperial city, and storm Duanmen.

Fortunately, at this time, Zhangsun Chang and Changsun Hengan had led people to basically clear the interior of the imperial city, not only completely eliminated the internal troubles, but also gained hundreds of men, so Gao Bufan's current army strength increased to [-] Left and right, it is not a problem to hold the imperial city for the time being.

Yang Tong and Empress Dowager Liu had already moved to Qianyang Palace at this time, but at this time the two had obviously learned the general situation. It turned out that Gao Bufan didn't have many people at all, and the so-called [-] reinforcements were still missing. It is probably mostly due to bragging, so the mother and son are both on pins and needles at the moment, and Empress Dowager Liu is even complaining endlessly that her son shouldn't have boarded Gao Bufan's thief boat in a daze.

Yang Tong was distracted by the nagging, when he suddenly saw Gao Bufan striding in, he immediately greeted him as if he had been rescued, and said, "King Qi, how is the situation now?"

Gao Bufan smiled and said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, now the entire palace is under the control of this king, and it is safe here for the time being."

Yang Tong heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the words: "That's good!"

Empress Dowager Liu heard the implication, and frowned, "It's only temporarily safe, but it's not completely safe yet. Didn't the King of Qi say that there are [-] soldiers? Where are they now?"

Gao Bufan calmly said: "Don't worry, Empress Dowager, the army is on its way and will arrive soon. If the Empress Dowager is sleepy, why don't you go to sleep first, and when you wake up, the army must have arrived."

"Really?" Empress Dowager Liu was skeptical.

Gao Bufan respectfully said: "How dare I deceive the Queen Mother."

"Forget it, the Ai family will trust you again." Empress Dowager Liu sighed helplessly and said, "Gao Changqing, Dong'er trusts you so much, I hope you don't let him down."

Gao Bufan said solemnly: "Please don't worry, Queen Mother, as long as I have breath, I will definitely protect the Emperor and Queen Mother."

Empress Dowager Liu gave Gao Bufan a complicated look: "That's good, Ai's family is a little sleepy, let's go and rest for a while." After speaking, she went back to her room to rest surrounded by all the maids and nuns.

Yang Tong said awkwardly: "The queen mother..."

Gao Bufan smiled slightly and interrupted: "It's okay, I have pity on the hearts of the parents in the world, I can understand the Queen Mother's mood, your Majesty has suffered a lot this year!"

Yang Tong's heart warmed up, his nose was slightly sour, and the circles of his eyes were red. For some reason, although Gao Bufan and Wang Shichong were both heroes, he didn't feel depressed in front of Gao Bufan, but Wang Shichong made him feel deeply depressed. and fear.

"Are the Empress Dowager (Empress Xiao) and Aunt Qing okay?" Yang Tong calmed down and asked in a low voice.

Gao Bufan nodded and said: "They are all very well. The Empress Dowager is currently living in Gaoyang Palace, and Qingruo is still in Liyang Warehouse. You will see her then."

Yang Tong was slightly happy: "When Luoyang is settled down, my mother and I want to go to Gaoyang Palace to visit the Empress Dowager, okay?"

Gao Bufan looked at Yang Tong, who looked immature but behaved maturely, and couldn't help but sighed secretly. It seems that hardships can indeed make people grow up. Although Yang Tong is only 13 years old now, he knows how to read people's hearts. He didn't call me , and said that he was going to Gaoyang Palace, which was clearly a test for himself, and it was also a tactful expression that he would not fall in love with the throne.

It's hard for him to live like walking on thin ice at such a young age!

"The emperor is the Ninth Five-Year Lord, so he can go wherever he wants, without the consent of his ministers." Gao Bufan said with a slight smile.

Yang Tong nodded and said with a smile, "Okay, then it's decided. I'm tired of living here in Luoyang, so I might as well live in Gaoyang Palace for a while."

The two were talking, when Changsun Hengan walked in with a dignified expression, Gao Bufan smiled and said: "The emperor will go in and rest first, and I will deal with some matters!"

Yang Tong felt inexplicably relaxed at the moment, probably because he had just reached an "oral agreement" with Gao Bufan, he nodded and left happily.

A flash of surprise flashed in Changsun Heng'an's eyes, and he asked in a low voice: "What did King Qi chat with the emperor just now, the emperor seems to be cheerful."

Gao Bufan smiled and said: "The Emperor said that after the matter here, he wants to go to Gaoyang Palace to stay with the Empress Dowager for a while, I agree!"

The eldest grandson Heng'an's eyes flashed and said: "So that's the case, the emperor is really filial!"

Gao Bufan changed the subject and said, "Is it tight at Duanmen?"

Changsun Hengan shook his head and said: "For the time being, we can withstand it, but if Li Xiaogong and Wang Xuanying decide the winner, we will be in a dangerous situation. I wonder when King Qi's foreign aid will arrive?"

"We will definitely arrive before dawn!" Gao Bufan said confidently. He has confidence in Yuchi Jingde and will never lose the chain.

…………

At Hulao Pass, there was a loud bang, and the door was blown to pieces when it was closed. Yuchi Jingde held a turtle-backed camel dragon gun and led [-] armored light cavalry to break through the pass. The thorn fell off the horse.

"Kill!" Iron hooves rolled and galloped, and three thousand armored light cavalry rushed in like a mountain, as if they were going to smash the entire tiger prison.

Ever since Xu Shiji led his army across the Yellow River, the guards at Hulao Pass had relaxed their vigilance, and tonight was New Year's Eve, the guards were even more relaxed. Who would have expected that such a vicious army would come suddenly? The cavalry, and this cavalry didn't know what to do. They didn't wait for the guards in the Hulao pass to react. They blew the closed door away with a bang, and then drove straight in, like flowing clouds and flowing water.

At this time, there were not many troops in Hulao Pass, there were more than 2000 people, but in front of Yuchi Jingde's [-] armored light cavalry, it was not enough to fill the gaps. Organizations cannot afford effective resistance.

Yuchi Jingde didn't stop at all. After defeating the defenders, he immediately roared through the city and galloped towards Luoyang at full speed. The sound of roaring horseshoes shook the ground...

At this moment, it happens to be Yin time on the first day of the new year, and it will be dawn in about two hours.

(End of this chapter)