Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 18
After the eldest brother left, Li Shimin stood still, thinking: Now is the time to capture Huoyi and go straight to Chang'an to command the world.Because only in this way can we win the strategic initiative and have the conditions to replace Sui Yangdi.However, my father chose to listen to those short-sighted people and lose such a great opportunity.well!Thinking, anxious, Li Shimin actually cried out loudly.After hearing this, Li Yuan in the inner room couldn't help but come out.Seeing Li Shimin crying so sad for the first time, Li Yuan was also moved, stroking Li Shimin's shoulders and saying:
"My son, why are you doing this?"

Li Shimin cried and said: "We raised our troops for justice, and our forces are not strong enough to compare with those rebels. However, if we take Huoyi, we will become stronger day by day and soon surpass those rebels. If we retreat here, the front The enemy took advantage of the situation to attack, and the enemies behind us will not take us seriously. At that time, the army will be defeated like a mountain, and it will be difficult for the Li family to recover. Thinking of this, I am heartbroken, so I can't help crying, and I also ask my father to forgive me .”

Li Yuan listened, his heart was surging, he patted Li Shimin lightly, and said: "My son, you are right, I was almost mistaken by Pei Ji, a coward. It's just that my Chinese army has set out to the north, and for this No way."

When Li Shimin heard that his father agreed with his opinion, he couldn't help but turn his sorrow into joy, and said: "Although the Chinese army is gone, it must not be far away. Please allow me to go and chase them back now."

"Okay! You go and call your elder brother to go with you. The success or failure of our Li family depends on your two brothers. When the Chinese army is recovered, our father and son will take down Huo Yi with all their might."

"My son obeys." Li Shimin happily bowed his hands to his father and ran away.

4
In the early morning of autumn, in the canyons of Luliang Mountain and Taiyue Mountain, there is a thick and thick fog, like thick smoke, embracing and permeating, but it refuses to disperse, as if it wants to protect some secret.In the thick fog, Li Yuan's left, middle, and right armies were rushing forward one after another.

After Li Shimin's sincere persuasion last night, Li Yuan finally made up his mind to attack Huo Yi.Li Shimin and his eldest brother Li Jiancheng rode northward overnight, and caught up with his father's Chinese army on the way. At the same time, they also met his fourth brother Li Yuanji who sent people to Jiahubao to increase the grain and grass.The two brothers led the Chinese army, took food and grass, and rushed back to Fort Jiahu without stopping.When Li Yuan saw them, he said to them with emotion in his heart:
"My son is so capable, the whole world must belong to the Li family." After saying that, he ordered the three armies to dry their armor and gear, and a day later, they set off to Huoyi in the thick fog.

Looking at the army flickering in the thick fog, Li Shimin was very excited at the moment.Thinking that there would be a big fight here, he suddenly wanted to see his eldest brother.It must be a dangerous thing to attack Huo Yi this time, who will be the striker.When the father arranged the striker, he handed over this dangerous matter to his eldest brother.He was in a hurry at the time, but the elder brother said: "No matter what, you are younger than me. If you are in danger, the elder brother should be the first." Thinking of this now, Li Shimin is also very moved.Big brother, my good big brother!He called out in his heart, left his right army in the center, and galloped up to the left leader Li Jiancheng, who was in the front, and walked side by side with him.

"Qiu Yu seemed to understand our hearts. Father was determined to take down Huo Yi in one go, and the rain stopped." Li Shimin glanced at his elder brother happily and said.

"I think that this dense fog is God helping us. When we miraculously appeared in front of Huoyi City, wouldn't Song Laosheng think it was a divine soldier from the sky?" Li Jiancheng couldn't help coughing twice after finishing speaking.

Li Shimin was startled when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "Brother, is he feeling unwell?"

"It's nothing, it's just that when I rushed back last night, my underwear was wet, and I fell asleep before changing it, and I had a little cold."

"Brother, you must pay attention. My mother once said——you have also told me this: minor illnesses can lead to serious illnesses if left untreated."

"Did I say that?"

"As I said, I was only eight years old that year. I was sick and refused to take medicine. That's what you told me."

"When I was a child, I was not resistant to disease. When I grow up, if I get a little sick, I can just sweat it out."

"No, this time you attack Huo Yi, you must let me be the striker."

Li Jiancheng shook his head and said, "Second brother, don't argue with me about this matter. I told you yesterday that you are younger than me, and when you encounter danger, your elder brother should be the first. What's more, although you are brave, you All of my subordinates are recruits, and half of my subordinates are veterans, and they have experience in siege."

"But you are sick now."

"I've said it before, what kind of illness is this? If you cough twice, what kind of illness is this?"

"No matter what, you still want me to be the striker to attack the city. If you disagree, I will tell my father that you are sick."

"How can you be like this?" Li Jiancheng said, coughing again and again.

"You are really sick, brother, that's it, I'll be the striker. If you don't agree, I'll go and tell my father."

Li Jiancheng coughed again and again, looked at his second brother, shook his head helplessly, and said, "At that time, you must be more careful, don't get too close to the city, you must stay away from the city, swords don't have eyes."

"I know, I'm just worried that he, Song Laosheng, will stay behind closed doors."

"If he doesn't come out, we'll attack in. Is the second brother worried that we won't be able to attack Huo Yi?"

"No, I'm worried that the army lacks siege equipment. If the siege takes too long and Qu Tutong harasses us from behind, it will be very disadvantageous to us."

Li Jiancheng listened and nodded thoughtfully.

At this time, the messengers from behind rushed over on flying horses: Report to the two governors, the general has an order, and the troops camped five miles east of the city.

The two brothers looked at each other with a smile, and Li Shimin said to Li Jiancheng: "Father will arrive so soon, I have to arrange troops, so let's go. See you later in father's tent."

Li Jiancheng nodded and watched his second brother leave affectionately.

4
The troops surrounded Huoyi City tightly, and Li Shimin called for battle for three days in a row, but Song Laosheng just couldn't hold out.Li Yuan's face that had just stretched out became more and more wrinkled day by day.Li Shimin understood his father's worries, and after thinking hard all night, he finally came up with a solution. He went to the Chinese army tent and said to Li Yuan:

"Song Laosheng didn't dare to fight because we had too many troops besieging him and were too close to him. We were worried that if we were defeated, we would take advantage of the situation and attack the city."

"Don't we think so?" Li Yuan asked his son puzzled.

"Yes, we thought so. However, Song Laosheng also thought of it, so he simply didn't come to fight. In fact, as long as we kill Song Laosheng, Huo Yi will be defeated."

"He doesn't even come out of the city gate, how can he be beheaded?"

"If we retreat another five miles to set up camp and send a small team to fight, he will definitely come out. At that time, we will set up an ambush and wait for the opportunity to kill him. Isn't Huo Yi easy to get?" Li Shimin said.

"Yes!" Li Yuan's eyes flickered. At this moment, he understood Li Shimin's intentions, and immediately ordered: The army retreated five miles and set up camp!

For the next three days, only Duan Zhixuan, the head of the right leader of the Metropolitan Government, was sent every day with 3000 troops to fight.Duan Zhixuan's subordinates are all new recruits, they are not very experienced in marching and forming formations, but they are very proficient in calling formations and scolding battles.After scolding for three days in a row, Song Laosheng didn't dare to fight.These new recruits were unscrupulous, and scolded more and more happily in the city, swearing all kinds of foul language and humiliating words.Song Laosheng listened with his neck straight at first, then his neck gradually became thicker, and the blue veins on his forehead also protruded. Jin Yunsong, the lieutenant beside him, saw him and said to Song Laosheng:
"General, you can go to the city and take a look. Those rebels who scolded the formation really want to be like the punks in the capital, and they must be vulnerable."

After hearing this, Song Laosheng suppressed his anger, went up to the city, looked down, and saw Duan Zhixuan's 3000 men and horses, sparsely surrounding the city without any formation. Seeing Song Laosheng coming up the city, someone from below said:
"The man in the golden armor is a bullshit mouse tooth general? The heavenly soldiers have come, and they will not go to the city to die!" As soon as the words fell, there was a burst of wanton laughter.

Huyalang general Song Laosheng didn't say a word, he just turned his eyes to the distance.He slowly turned his huge head and watched carefully, but he saw that there was no movement in the distance, and he couldn't even see Li Yuan's camp.

"It's disgusting to deceive me like this." Song Laosheng gritted his teeth and said, "Give me an order to open the gates of the city and fight out of the city."

Twenty thousand soldiers, led by Song Laosheng and his deputy Jin Yunsong, rushed out from the east and south gates respectively.Seeing Duan Zhixuan, he was overjoyed and ordered the soldiers to retreat in panic.Song Laosheng had been holding back his anger for a long time, so he was not willing to let it go. He waved his sword and pointed, and the brigade came after him.In the blink of an eye, he chased him for more than a mile, but Duan Zhixuan was nowhere to be seen.When Song Laosheng was in doubt, Li Jiancheng, the governor of the left army, came out from the left, and Li Shimin, the governor of the right army, came out from the right.The two brothers, one white and one black, rushed to the front and rushed towards him like a tiger.

On the left, Li Jiancheng hacked and killed all the way, rushing into Song Laosheng's army; on the right, Li Shimin beheaded several people in succession, blood spattering his shirt.Due to excessive force, after a while, Li Shimin's diamond long sword was cut off.He suddenly saw Song Laosheng's three generals not far in front of him trying to kill Hou Junji, so he threw his sword casually and inserted it into the back of one of the generals.That general fell off his horse in response, the other two generals were startled, Hou Junji beheaded one of them immediately.Li Shimin took out his bow and set up his arrow, and with a bang, he killed the last general.When Hou Junji saw him, he shouted "Okay!" He threw the long sword in his hand to Li Shimin, picked up a sword from the ground, and followed closely behind Li Shimin.Li Shimin took Hou Junji's sword and raised it high, searching for Song Laosheng everywhere.Several soldiers of the Sui Dynasty held their long grasses and surrounded Li Shimin with wide-eyed eyes. He raised his sword in his hand and fell, quickly chopping them down in a pool of blood.

However, Li Shimin still didn't find Song Laosheng.Although the two brothers are brave and the morale of the troops is high, after all, most of them are recruits who have not yet experienced the battlefield, while Song Laosheng's troops are the elite of the Sui Dynasty. , still gritted his teeth and fought desperately.In the hand-to-hand combat between the two armies, Song Laosheng's troops gradually stabilized their positions after being flustered for a while.Li Shimin immediately felt the enemy's more and more powerful resistance, and couldn't help but secretly worried.He originally wanted to find Song Laosheng and kill him.With the coach gone, the enemy army will naturally disintegrate.However, when he rushed towards Song Laosheng, he was surrounded and killed by several of his generals. After beheading them one by one, Song Laosheng disappeared.Obviously, he hid in the army and directed the troops to counterattack.

"If the enemy cannot be defeated in a short period of time, our army will suffer heavy casualties." Li Shimin frowned when he thought of this.

"Song Laosheng, where are you?" Li Shimin shouted in his heart, galloping his horse and charging deep into the enemy army.

4
Li Shimin swung his long sword and rushed to find Song Laosheng, but he couldn't find him. In desperation, he suddenly had an idea, opened his voice, and shouted loudly:
"Song Laosheng was killed by me!"

The sound is like a bell, and it disperses far away.Li Shimin charged into the army of ten thousand horses, shouting and beheading the enemy with his sword.Hou Junji, Marquis of Zuoyu, and Shi Chaishao, Chief Governor of the right leader, who had been following Li Shimin, immediately understood Li Shimin's intentions, and shouted:

"Song Laosheng was killed by our governor, Song Laosheng was killed by the governor!"

Immediately, the sound of Song Laosheng being killed was like a strong east wind blowing across the battlefield.All the people who heard it, whether it was Song Laosheng's troops or Li Shimin's subordinates, followed suit.Song Laosheng's troops were in chaos, but Li Shimin's subordinates became more and more courageous.After a while, Song Laosheng's troops had lost their ability to resist, and began to flee in real panic.When Li Shimin saw it, his eyes lit up, and he shouted again:
"Put down your weapons and never kill!"

This voice quickly got the response of all Li Shimin's subordinates like Song Laosheng's cry to be killed.As a result, someone in the Sui army threw weapons, one, two, three, and more and more began to kneel and surrender.Li Shimin finally found Song Laosheng. Surrounded by dozens of soldiers, he had fled to the city.Because Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng's army pursued too closely, Song Laosheng retreated to the city gate, but he dared not let anyone open the city gate.The guards on the city had no choice but to slowly lower a long rope from the city.Song Laosheng looked at his defeated army with great heartache, and looked helplessly at the rope that was let down from the city.Li Shimin saw him, and without saying a word, he galloped straight towards Song Laosheng.

The long rope was already in Song Laosheng's hands. He gritted his teeth and stared at his subordinates who were throwing away their weapons and surrendering. He stepped on the city wall with both feet, grasped the long rope with both hands, and climbed up with difficulty.At this moment, he saw Li Shimin who was killing him with his horse.The city wall was so high that it was impossible to go up before Li Shimin arrived.What a good old man Song, knowing that there was no hope of going up, he resolutely dropped the rope in his hand and jumped to the ground.He stretched out his hand and pulled out the long sword on his back, waiting for Li Shimin very calmly.

While speaking, Li Shimin came to him.Song Laosheng was ready to attack, and while Li Shimin's heel was not stable, he aimed at the flank point under his shoulder and quickly stabbed with his sword.Li Shimin immediately felt that the sword was extremely powerful, and he leaned back to avoid the stab.It seemed that at the same time, Song Laosheng just passed the tip of the sword, and Li Shimin quickly straightened up to the right side, and swung the sword to take advantage of the situation.The speed is so fast that people are amazed.Song Laosheng couldn't dodge for a while, his right arm was cut a big hole, "Ai yo", the long sword fell to the ground.Li Shimin slashed out with a sword again, and Song Laosheng's huge head rolled to the ground.A surge of angry blood shot up into the sky, splashing blood all over Li Shimin's body.

Li Shimin didn't pay attention to it, and just looked at the pair of unsightly eyes on Mr. Song's head on the ground with pity.At this time, one of Song Laosheng's followers raised his long-haired blade and stabbed at Li Shimin from behind.Hou Junji, who was rushing towards him, saw him from a distance, and threw a sword at him, taking the man's life.Hearing a scream, Li Shimin turned around, saw Hou Junji, smiled and nodded.

"Second brother, let's go into the city, the eldest brother has already entered the city." Chai Shao rushed to Li Shimin covered in blood.

Li Shimin raised his head and saw the battle flags of the commander-in-chief of the left leader flying into the city one by one, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.Before the battle, his father told his two brothers that whoever advances to Huoyi City will win the first prize.Today, the head work is still taken by the elder brother.Although Chai Shao is the brother-in-law of Shimin and Jiancheng, because Pingyang has a very good relationship with Shimin, Chai Shao always protects Shimin in case of trouble.This time, seeing that the first skill fell into the hands of the eldest brother, Chai Shao hurried to tell Shimin with regret.Hou Junji was Li Shimin's brother who was rescued from the death line, and he was treated like a brother by Shimin from now on. Of course, he hoped that Shimin would make the first contribution. Seeing that his eldest brother built an advanced city, he couldn't help but feel very heavy. A sigh.

"What's the point?" Li Shimin glanced at Hou Junji, then turned to look at his brother-in-law and said, "After taking down Huoyi, we can march into Chang'an. Song Laosheng is a loyal man, so bury him properly."

After hearing this, Chai Shao nodded and replied, "Of order."

Li Shimin said to Hou Junji again: "Hurry up to gather prisoners of war and collect weapons. Big Brother has done a great job in attacking the city. Let's take more prisoners of war and pick up more weapons to expand our troops."

"Of order." Hou Junji replied loudly.

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction, looked up at the groups of Sui troops who surrendered, and at the corpses and weapons everywhere, the loss in his heart had long since disappeared.

"These days, as long as you have the strength, you will have everything." He said to himself in his heart: "Now, everything is just beginning. I must expand my troops as soon as possible, and there should be opportunities to make first achievements in the future."

(End of this chapter)