It¡¯s time to take a look at the situation on the Taiyuan Army side. If the news that Dou Jiande¡¯s reinforcements were blocked by Luo Yi is a disaster for Li Jiancheng and the Taiyuan Army, then the main force of the Dingyang Army was blocked by Chen Sangliang. The news that it was completed within one day was definitely a bolt from the blue for Li Jiancheng and the Taiyuan Army. What's even more sad is that Li Er was the first to bring the news of the main force of Dingyang Army's defeat and Liu Wuzhou's capture to Taiyuan City. So after hearing these reports, Li Jiancheng forgot to take the opportunity to clean up Er Er. Brother, he stood stupidly on the city wall with a dull look on his face. He couldn't make a sound for a long time. After finally sighing, Li Jiancheng stumbled and fell on the city wall. Yin Kaishan, Feng Li, Xie Shufang and other Li Jiancheng's confidants were in a panic. Stepping forward to help him, Li Er also took the opportunity to leave the scene under the cover of Pei Ji, Li Yuanji, Li Baiju and others, and shamelessly returned to Taiyuan City. Li Jiancheng had no time to pay attention to Li Er anymore. On the same night, Li Jiancheng's cousin Li Shentong, who was guarding Xicheng, sent Li Jiancheng another letter asking for help, saying that he really couldn't resist Liu Heitai's violent offensive and the city was about to be destroyed. Please ask Li Jiancheng to send him reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise, Li Shentong will definitely not be able to defend Xicheng. Xicheng is the seat of Xihe County. It has a small amount of money and food, and it is also the only way to contact Lishi County. Once it falls, Lishi County, which is being attacked by Liang Shidu, will definitely not be able to protect it, whether from a strategic or tactical perspective. , Li Jiancheng should send reinforcements to Xicheng. But this time was an exception. Li Jiancheng not only did not send reinforcements to Li Shentong, but also sent an order to Li Shentong, "Hold on with all your strength! If the city is unfortunately breached, you can lead the army to move to Lishi!" Of course Li Jiancheng did this for a reason, a reason It was nothing else. It was because Li Jiancheng really couldn't spare any troops to reinforce Li Shentong. The 65,000 troops of the Thirteenth General, which he had managed to accumulate through poor management, never dared to engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the Sui army. Now, Only about half of them were left, and five thousand of them were brought to the right-wing battlefield of Xicheng and Lishi by Li Shentong. The actual number of troops in Taiyuan City, including wounded soldiers, was only about 27,000. A small amount of troops were not enough to protect themselves in front of the main force of the Sui army. How dare Li Jiancheng dare to separate the army? On the afternoon of June 26, the day after Li Er fled back to Taiyuan City, the main camp of the Sui army re-excavated the earthen dam that had been temporarily built on the Dongwo River to restore the river to normal conditions, and then built it again overnight There were many wooden bridges and pontoons. Li Jiancheng and the civil and military officers of the Taiyuan army knew that this was a signal that the main force of the Sui army was about to cross the river. However, Li Jiancheng did not send troops to stop the destruction - if he did, he would only die in vain. He responded with silence, and he was not concerned about it. There is only one question, and that is where will the new camp of the main force of the Sui army be built? Here we must introduce the city situation of ancient Taiyuan. The Taiyuan City before the Song Dynasty was located in the Jinyuan District south of the current Taiyuan City. It was located between the east and west mountains. It was built between the Fen River and the east and west cities, occupying most of the area. In the horizontal space, only the north and south areas have open terrain that can be used for troop garrison operations. so. Whether the main force of the Sui army will adopt water attack tactics next can be seen at a glance from the location of the new camp of the main force of the Sui army! If the new camp of the main force of the Sui army chooses to be in the southern suburbs of Taiyuan City, downstream of the Fen River, then Li Jiancheng can sit back and relax, because the main force of the Sui army located further downstream will definitely not artificially create floods to endanger the safety of his army camp. But if the main new camp of the Sui army chooses to be north of Taiyuan City and upstream of the Fen River, then Li Jiancheng and the Taiyuan army can only pray to the gods and pray to the gods to let Chen Sangliang find out, and don't build any dams or dig. The Fenshui embankment was opened to flood Taiyuan. Unfortunately, what is supposed to come will come. In the early morning of the next day, the main force of the Sui army, led by Li Jing, broke out of camp and headed north. The advance army first crossed the Dongjuo River, then slowly moved north around the southeast corner of Taiyuan City, gradually They marched to the northeast corner of Taiyuan and stopped in the Chongsheng Temple area, and immediately began to build fences and antlers and build ground defense fortifications. Seeing this situation on the city wall, Li Jiancheng's face was so gloomy that he could almost drip with water. He kept saying in his heart: "Brother Ying Liang, are you really cruel enough to do this? There are hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Taiyuan City. !" Most of the Taiyuan army officers and soldiers who accompanied Li Jiancheng to watch the enemy's situation had gloomy faces and kept talking in low voices. Some people say that this must be a sign that the main force of the Sui army is preparing to flood the city. Others say that Chen Sangliang has always upheld morality. He should not adopt such a cruel and inhumane tactic as flooding Taiyuan. The purpose of stationing troops at Chongsheng Temple is just to gain condescension. It was convenient to command the siege; there were some disputes between them, but no one spoke loudly, disturbing Li Jiancheng who was obviously in a bad mood, until Li Jiancheng's baby brother Li Yuanji appeared. </p ¡°Brother, I heard that Chen¡¯s army has begun to set up camp in Chongsheng Temple? Is that right? You have been saying good things for Chen. Now you can see clearly what kind of traitor Chen Yingliang is. "Goods?" Shouting, Li Jiancheng's precious fourth brother Li Yuanji, who was only eighteen years old, strode to the crowd.In front of him, Li Jiancheng's other precious brother Li Er followed behind him. Li Er, who had been hiding from Li Jiancheng for more than a day, had already put on clean clothes and armor, regained his tall and handsome appearance, and had already greeted Li Jiancheng present. The members of the clan bowed their hands in salute with very kind and gentle smiles. Li Jiancheng was too lazy to pay attention to his two precious brothers. He just continued to look at the situation of Chongsheng Temple and refused to give up to observe the size of the Sui army's new camp. However, Li Yuanji refused to give up and took the initiative to get next to Li Jiancheng. He pretended to observe it first. The situation of the Sui army, and then immediately asked Li Jiancheng: "Brother, it seems that the traitor Chen Yingliang is determined to flood Taiyuan. How should we deal with it? Brother, you are the coach, you should have made a decision early." Li Jiancheng still wanted to Too lazy to pay attention to him, but unable to withstand Li Yuanji's repeated pestering, Li Jiancheng said impatiently: "What are you anxious about? The enemy just sent thousands of troops to Chongsheng Temple to prepare to set up camp. It has not yet been determined whether the main force will be stationed here. What's the matter? "Are you in a hurry?" "Brother, can you not be in a hurry?" Li Yuanji retorted: "Our army was defeated one after another. The Dingyang reinforcements were completely wiped out. Even Emperor Dingyang was captured alive by the traitor Chen Yingliang. The main force of Chen's thieves will soon It¡¯s time to attack Taiyuan City with all our strength. The isolated city of Taiyuan is in danger. As the Taiyuan left-behind by my father, can I not worry about the whole city of Taiyuan? " "Then I would like to ask the fourth brother of Taiyuan left-behind by my father, how to defeat the enemy. Do you have any tips? ?" Li Jiancheng asked with a sneer. "Brother, you asked the wrong person." Li Yuanji smiled very obscenely and said, "I have already given the five counties of Taiyuan to you. If you are not in the position, you will not be in charge of the government. How do you defeat the enemy? Brother, please make your own decision. " "So, only if I return the five counties of Taiyuan to you, brother, will you come up with your strategy to defeat the enemy?" Li Jiancheng smiled even more coldly. Li Yuanji smiled and said nothing, and actually seemed to have acquiesced. Li Jiancheng was angry and almost blurted out that I would return the five counties of Taiyuan to you now, but when he said it, he changed his mind, for fear that this would be related to The fourth brother, who was increasingly conflicted with himself, agreed, forcing himself into a difficult situation - Li Yuanji could really do such a thing - after all, Li Yuanji historically wanted to bring his two elder brothers together. Kill the master who becomes the emperor himself. After snorting coldly, Li Jiancheng immediately changed the subject and scolded Li Er instead: "Erlang, where did you hide yesterday? Why didn't you come to see me?" "My younger brother has been defeated in a row and is ashamed to see his elder brother." Li Er He was very ashamed and said: "In addition, the right commander of the younger brother is now alone. He has no troops to manage and no official affairs to handle, so he doesn't dare to trouble his brother anymore. Now the younger brother is accompanying the fourth brother to pay homage to his brother. It's also I came to take the blame and ask my brother to remove me from the position of right commander of the rebel army." "Removing you from the position of right commander?" Li Jiancheng smiled, and said with a rather ferocious smile: "You think you just resigned after doing those things. You can get rid of the position of right governor?" "Brother, what else do you want?" Li Yuanji took over the topic again and said with a sneer: "Second brother has a weak army and has been defeated in front of Chen Thief. Some people know how to take the blame and resign from their official positions. They have many soldiers and horses, and there are strong and dangerous passes to support them. They also lose consecutive battles in front of Chen's thieves. Why don't they think of how to attack the soldiers and civilians of the five counties of Taiyuan? "People apologize?" "Who are you talking about?" Li Jiancheng was furious. ¡°Brother, you know who you are talking about!¡± Li Yuanji tit for tat without fear. Facing the repeated provocations of his fourth brother, Li Jiancheng couldn't bear it no matter how good his temper was. He subconsciously pressed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist and pulled out the sword. Yin Kaishan, Feng Li, Xie Shufang and other Li Jiancheng's confidants also had angry faces. Unfortunately, Li Shuliang and Li Daozong However, the members of the Li family represented by Li Fengci rushed forward and tried to persuade Li Jiancheng to calm down, while hypocritically scolding Li Yuanji for being disrespectful to his brother. Pei Ji, the oldest and most senior official in the Taiyuan Army, even directly drove away Li Yuanji and Li Er then turned around and persuaded Li Jiancheng to calm down. Of course, Li Jiancheng understood that his family and Pei Ji were actually leaning towards Li Yuanji, but the situation was so critical that if he engaged in any kind of fratricide, he would undoubtedly be seeking death, so after taking a few deep breaths, Li Jiancheng suppressed it. After getting rid of the anger in his heart, he stopped the matter and let it go. After the members of the Li family, Pei Ji and others dispersed, Li Jiancheng's two most trusted confidants, Xie Shufang and Feng Li, immediately came forward and whispered: "Captain Zuo, Qi Gong insults you like this, and you are not stealing power. The intention is obvious, why not get rid of it early to prevent future troubles?" "When did you say this again?" Li Jiancheng said in a bitter tone: "Brother Ying Liang has already arrived at the city, and I still want to do it. What do the world think of me when I kill my own brother? Besides, it is true that I took these five Taiyuan counties from my fourth brother.It is understandable that he was dissatisfied. So, I'd better bear with it. " Feng Li and Xie Shufang once again reminded Li Jiancheng that a tiger's heart is harmful to people, but a tiger can hurt others. Unfortunately, Li Jiancheng still shook his head and refused to listen. Only then did Feng Xie and Li Jiancheng have no choice but to retreat. It was also when Feng Xie and Li Jiancheng finished whispering. Finally, Yin Kaishan on the other side said to Li Jiancheng: "Commander Zuo, the Chen traitor army is camped on the upper reaches of the Fen River and has stationed troops on high ground. If the traitor Chen Yingliang really imitates Zhibo and diverts the Jin Er River to flood the city, should our army do the same? " "Don't worry, I believe that the wise brother Ying Liang will not do such a thing that is harmful to nature and justice. Li Jiancheng replied smoothly: "Although Ying Liangxian brother and I are enemies now, we were confidants before. I understand his character. He is indeed good at using tactics, but he is kind-hearted and kind-hearted. He will never do this." In order to attack the city, we disregarded the lives of more than 100,000 innocent people in the city. Therefore, we only need to guard against his force to attack the city and use clever strategies to defeat the city. We don't have to worry about him diverting water to flood the city. Seeing that Li Jiancheng answered so confidently, Yin Kaishan hesitated for a moment, but still said: "Commander Zuo, I forgive my unlucky words. If, or in other words, if Chen Yingliang is really determined to destroy our army at any cost, If Fenshui and Jinshui are really released to flood Taiyuan, how should we respond? " After a moment of silence, Li Jiancheng suddenly punched the arrow stack in front of him and said decisively: "Then I will follow Zhao Xiangzi's example and let the floods siege the city and continue to hold on! Zhibo flooded Taiyuan for three years, but the city wall of Taiyuan did not collapse for three years! I don't believe it. The current Taiyuan City is not as strong as the Taiyuan City Wall 1,180 years ago! " After saying this loudly, Li Jiancheng, who had been feeling aggrieved for a long time, could not contain the excitement in his chest, and continued loudly: "Not bad! It¡¯s true that Brother Ying Liang is a close friend of mine! But he is also my father-killing enemy! His talents are a hundred times better than mine. I will never be able to avenge my father in this life. I admit this! But if you want me to forget my father's hatred, abandon the foundation created by my father, and surrender to the enemy who killed my father, just dream! Taiyuan is here, I am here! Taiyuan is destroyed, I will sacrifice my life for the city! " After speaking impassionedly on the phone, Li Jiancheng looked up at the sky again, looking at the increasing number of clouds in the sky. Tears welled up in his eyes. He choked and whispered: "Father, your spirit in heaven must bless me and Taiyuan. ¡± ¡¡¡ It¡¯s time to take a look at the situation of the good brothers Li Yuanji and Li Er. After being driven away by Pei Ji as elders, Li Yuanji and Li Er did not rush down to the city to return home, but walked along the city wall. Walking slowly, looking at the situation in the Sui army's new camp from a distance, he talked in a low voice. After laughing at Li Jiancheng's cowardice and incompetence, Li Yuanji asked Li Er: "Second brother, in your opinion, is Chen Yingliang a traitor?" Will water really be released to flood Taiyuan? " "It's not possible to tell yet. Li Er shook his head and replied: "With Chen Yingliang's hypocrisy as a traitor, it is really difficult for him to do such a thing by diverting water into the city and hurting innocent people." But maybe, after all, the traitor's rear is unstable, the food road is too long, and transportation is very difficult. If there is really no other way to break the city, he may not be ruthless in order to win a quick victory. After all, this traitor only shows himself to be a hypocrite, but in reality he is ruthless, ruthless and ruthless. When he needs to be ruthless, he is more ruthless than anyone else! " "If Chen Thief is really determined to do this, what are you going to do, second brother? "Li Yuanji asked again. "As soon as the thief Chen starts building the dam, I will run away immediately. "This was Li Er's answer in his heart, but in his mouth, Li Er said this: "There is nothing we can do but defend the city with all our strength! Imitate Zhao Xiangzi to live in a nest and hang a cauldron to drink. If he can survive, he will survive. If he cannot survive, the city will be destroyed. Then the foolish brother can only die for his country like the wise brother of Daozong. " What surprised Li Er was that when he said this, Li Yuanji, who was actually the most confident among his brothers, kept looking at his eyes, as if he wanted to discern whether his words came from the heart. It's a pity. Li Yuanji was indeed too incompetent and did not realize that his second brother's words were completely untrue. He blinked his eyelids again and suddenly asked in a low voice: "Second brother, have you ever considered surrendering to His Highness Prince Tang? " "Fourth brother already has thoughts of surrender in his heart? "Li Er was surprised at first, and then secretly happy. He pretended to be surprised first, and then whispered: "Fourth brother, stop joking, how could I surrender to the traitor Chen Yingliang? Don¡¯t you know how much hatred and enmity I have against him? "Seeing the disappointment in Li Yuanji's eyes, Li Er quickly added in a low voice, "Besides, even if I want to surrender to the traitor Chen Yingliang, I don't have the courage. What if, what if His Highness the Prince of Tang refuses? What if you accept my surrender and kill me with a knife? " Hearing Li Er call out the words 'His Royal Highness the King of Tang', Li Yuanji could not help but flash a hint of joy in his eyes. He looked around first, and then whispered: "Second brother, ifHis Highness the King promised to pardon your death penalty and grant you an official title. Are you willing to surrender? " Hearing the elegant meaning of Xian Ge, Li Er immediately sensed something was wrong and hurriedly asked in a low voice: "Fourth brother, have you already been in contact with His Highness Prince Tang? " Li Yuanji, who has always been stupid and reckless, rarely hesitated, but he couldn't stand Li Er's repeated questioning, and finally told the truth, saying: "His Royal Highness the King of Tang took the initiative to contact me. Do you remember Yu Wenxin? He was captured by His Highness the King of Tang in Guanzhong and surrendered. Before His Highness the King of Tang personally conquered Taiyuan this time, he wrote a letter to me, hoping to establish contact with His Highness the King of Tang for me. Although I ignored him, the army of the King of Tang fought. After entering Queshu Valley, His Highness the King of Tang Dynasty sent someone to see me again, gave me some things, and promised me some official rewards " "What official title did His Highness the King of Tang give you to your fourth brother? Li Er quickly asked, "Also, is His Highness's envoy still in the city?" " "Messenger, I" "Li Yuanji wanted to answer smoothly, but he swallowed his words again and changed his words: "I drove the envoy away, but His Highness the King of Tang seemed to be very sincere and also named me Duke of Qi and Doctor Yinziguanglu. , a thousand households in the city were granted a real seal, and they were given silver coupons, which exempted them from death three times except for rebellion. In addition, he also said that it is up to me to choose whether the first-class county in the world is the prefect or the second-class county is left behind. " Hearing this, Li Ercheng couldn't help but feel his heart beat faster no matter how deep he was. He was also slightly envious, and then he asked: "Fourth brother, what does His Highness Prince Tang want from you? " "Dedicate Taiyuan City. Li Yuanji replied in a low voice, and quickly added: "Of course, I will never agree and refuse without thinking." " "If you refuse without even thinking about it, you won't even tell me about it now. And Chen Thief's envoy may still be in Taiyuan City, or at your home. "Li Er sneered in his heart, but said: "Fourth brother is right. Although Chen Yingliang is still true to his word and is unlikely to go back on his word, the hatred for killing his father is irreconcilable. If we surrender to him, we will definitely You will be laughed at by everyone in the world. " Li Er's words obviously did not block all the escape routes. Even though Li Yuanji was a fool, he heard it and was secretly happy in his heart. In addition to Li Erxu and Li Erxu scolding Chen Sangliang, the enemy who killed his father, Li Yuanji couldn't wait in his heart. He began to think about how to bring Li Er to surrender with him, but what Li Yuanji probably never imagined was that Li Er was thinking about another idea. "Chen Thief couldn't help it. He wanted to alienate and bribe him, but he didn't expect that his target would be the idiot Fourth Brother. Li Er sneered in his heart, "How should I take this opportunity?" Should we make a plan to lure the enemy and take the opportunity to win a battle to boost the morale of the troops? Or should we expose Li Yuanji to that idiot Li Jiancheng and take the opportunity to get the 10,000 soldiers and horses in Li Yuanji's hands? Or in other words, two strategies in parallel, not only gaining soldiers and horses, but also severely damaging Chen Thief's army? " Of course, there are many people with unwavering beliefs in the world, but Li Er is definitely not one of them. Only that night, Li Er, who wanted to use Chen Sangliang's opportunity to recruit Li Yuanji to make a comeback, couldn't help but start to waver. . Because, Li Er¡¯s last direct confidant, Zhu Can, fled back to Taiyuan City.