Let us turn back the time a little and go back to the moment when Xie Shufang led his army to the south gate of the West City and saw Li Er and others privately opening the city. At the same time, another important general of the Taiyuan Army, Feng Li, sent an envoy to contact Li Jiancheng. He hurried back to Jinyang Palace and reported again that the warrior Yun conveyed Li Jiancheng's words and refused to meet. He also reported the important situation that Li Jiancheng's guards were reporting outside Li Yuanji's house. Although the obsessed warrior Yu still came forward to deceive him this time, when the matter reached this point, Feng Li was seriously suspicious anyway. At that moment, Feng Li made an immediate decision and asked another confidant of Li Jiancheng, Yang Wenqian, to lead the army to closely guard Jinyang. Palace, granary and arsenal and other important institutions, while personally leading the troops to Li Yuanji's mansion to welcome Li Jiancheng. As a result, just halfway through, there was a cry of killing from the south gate. Feng Li was shocked and did not dare to neglect. He quickly ordered the army to speed up and rushed to Li Yuanji, who was located in the southwest of Taiyuan Xicheng. Outside the house. Tu Qiong saw that when Feng Li and his troops rushed to the scene, there was already a chaos outside the door of Li Yuanji's house. The guards brought by Li Jiancheng were banging on the door desperately, yelling for the door to be opened, and at the same time, A guard rushed to Feng Li and said that the door of Li Yuanji's house was suddenly closed just now and refused to be opened no matter how hard he shouted. Feng Li's face suddenly turned pale after hearing the report, and he quickly shouted: "Surround Qi Gong's Mansion immediately! Prepare your bows and arrows! Bash the door! Break the door open!" While Feng Li's Taiyuan Army officers rushed to surround the mansion and prepare their bows and arrows, the guards just When he was about to hit the gate, a human head suddenly appeared on the wall of Li Yuanji's house. It was Li Shentong, the most senior manager of the old Li family. He shouted in a very majestic manner: "Feng Li, you are so brave! Do you know where this place is? You dare to mess around here? Leave now and take your people away!" Feng Li was surprised at first, and then he immediately guessed what was going on and asked. "Li Shentong, where is Governor Zuo? What did you do to Governor Zuo?" "Manager Feng, what are you talking about?" Li Shentong laughed and said with a smile: "Captain Zuo is the commander-in-chief of the entire army. We What do you dare to do to him? He is fine now, but Duke Qi is too ill now, and Governor Zuo must stay with Duke Qi, so he ordered us to close the door of the house and not allow outsiders to disturb him. Governor Zuo also said that if the rebels come, just stay alone. Go meet the enemy, don't worry about him." "Don't worry!" Feng Li was convinced, pointing his riding whip at Li Shentong and yelling: "Please come out to see me immediately, or I will rush in!" " Governor Zuo can't leave." Li Shentong replied loudly: "Listen to the sound, the rebels have already reached the city gate. Manager Feng, you are the commander of the Xicheng garrison. Why don't you go and take a look?" "Fire the arrow!" Seeing that Li Shentong was deliberately stalling for time, he immediately ordered the arrows to be fired. The Taiyuan soldiers under his command did not hesitate, and immediately loosened their strings and fired the arrows. Unfortunately, the old fox Li Shentong had been prepared and ducked back to shoot at him. Then Feng Li ordered the door to be knocked open again, and the guards immediately hit the door of Li Yuanji's house with their bodies. However, the servants of Li's house had already blocked the door with their bodies, and the guards couldn't open it after hitting it several times. Feng Li was even more furious when he saw it. He quickly ordered the soldiers to climb the wall and enter the hospital, and rushed into the hospital to open the door. The first Taiyuan Army soldier climbed onto the wall, and before he could jump into the courtyard, a wave of arrows flew out of the courtyard, shooting him off the courtyard wall. Before the emergency, the Taiyuan Army warrior also shouted out the situation in the courtyard, "There are soldiers in the courtyard, they are the soldiers of Qi Guogong!" Feng Li was frightened, angry and worried, and ordered the soldiers to storm the hospital at all costs. The well-trained Taiyuan Army under his command The soldiers also quickly formed a human ladder to help their companions climb the wall. Li Jiancheng's guards over there also banged against the door like crazy, and the soldiers of Li Yuanji's mansion were not to be outdone. They kept firing arrows at the enemies who climbed up the wall and threw them out of the courtyard. Several gunpowder bottles obtained from unknown sources injured many Taiyuan Army soldiers. Soon, the sound of killing inside and outside Li Yuanji's house was loud, and swords and guns clashed continuously. The intensity was as intense as the Nanmen battlefield, which was also in the midst of a fierce battle. After all, there were many people on Feng Li's side. After a fierce battle for only half a stick of incense, twenty or thirty Taiyuan soldiers climbed over the wall and entered the courtyard. They joined forces to kill the soldiers of the Li family who were blocking the gate. With the help of Li Jiancheng, the frantic guard Li Jiancheng finally opened the door and shouted to rush into the courtyard. Feng Li breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ordered the soldiers to rush into the courtyard. He couldn't wait to get off his horse and rush into the courtyard. However, when Feng Li entered the gate and took a look, the soldiers of the Li Mansion had already retreated to the second gate and continued to defend. Feng Li became even more anxious and hurriedly led his army to attack the inner courtyard of the Li Mansion. At the same time, he ordered the soldiers surrounding the Li Mansion to turn over from the backyard and rush into Li Mansion. The government tried its best to find the whereabouts of Li Jiancheng. At the same time, the shouts of killing at the south gate of the West City had become obviously more intense. Someone also reported that Li Er and others had opened the city gate. Feng Li was complaining even more. He could only hope that Uncle Xie could save him. Buy time while urging the soldiers to quickly attack the backyard. Fortunately, TaiyuanThe soldiers also knew that the situation was critical, so they fought hard and moved quickly. They also took down a pillar and used it as a door to slam into the second door of the Li Mansion. Finally, they successfully broke open the second door and entered the backyard. The slaves and maids of the Li Mansion in the backyard shouted loudly. Yelling, there was chaos, but the officers and soldiers of the Taiyuan Army did not care about their pity. They killed people on sight and quickly opened the way. They quickly searched the area near Li Yuanji's bedroom where the Li clan gathered. So far, the smooth progress has been made. Although many of Li Yuanji's family soldiers who were waiting for him to hunt lackeys have been killed, and the rest are in a mess without the ability to fight back, but after taking a closer look at the current appearance of the Li family, But no Taiyuan soldier dared to take a step forward - because the tied-up Li Jiancheng was surrounded by the Li family, and Li Yuanji personally held a knife to Li Jiancheng's neck. After receiving the report, he quickly rushed to the scene. Seeing that Li Jiancheng was captured but not injured, Feng Li breathed a sigh of relief, and then quickly said to Li Yuanji and others: "Fourth Young Master, why did you do this? I don't want to say more. Ask, let Governor Zuo go, you can go wherever you want!" "Let him go?" Li Yuanji smiled and said with a grin, "Is it so easy to treat us like three-year-olds? I will give way. When we reach a safe place, we will naturally let him go!" Li Jiancheng, whose mouth was strangled, screamed and asked Feng Li to attack, but how dare Feng Li attack now? So after just a little calculation, Feng Li shouted: "Make way, let them go!" The Taiyuan Army officers and soldiers gave way as ordered. Li Yuanji laughed proudly and praised his brother with satisfaction. As expected, he has many loyal ministers under his command. Then he immediately pushed Li Jiancheng forward. Li Shentong, Li Shuliang and other Li clan members carefully protected Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng with their own weapons. They carefully passed through the road given by Feng Li's men. Feng Li could not find a chance to snatch Li Jiancheng back. , he could only lead his troops to follow with a livid face, watching Li Yuanji and others go out. Bad news kept coming like a snowflake. First, the Sui army soldiers successfully captured the city gate, then they discovered that Liu Dewei had also rebelled, and then Xie Shufang was trapped outside the Thousand Jin Gate because he was entangled by the Sui army soldiers. At the same time, the Sui army The soldiers have also launched an antfu siege. After hearing the complaint, Feng Li not only sent people to quickly order Liu Dewei and Xie Shufang's deputies to direct the headquarters operations respectively, but also shouted at Li Yuanji and others: "Li Yuanji, you should release the Zuo Commander now! I swear to God that you will let go You can go out of the city wherever you like, I will never stop you!" Li Yuanji and others just laughed ferociously and did not take issue with Feng Li at all. Li Jiancheng tried his best to say: "Feng Li, leave me alone and kill these traitors. From now on, the Taiyuan Yishi will be led by you!" With a bang, Li Yuanji hit Li Jiancheng in the face with his elbow, and yelled at Feng Li: "Get out of the way immediately, we have to leave the city through the west gate, and we will leave the city. Let your master go immediately! Otherwise, everyone will be in trouble!" Feng Li was in a dilemma. Sweat was rolling on his forehead. After thinking about it for a moment, Feng Li could only tell his deputy Li Anyuan: "The war at the south gate is urgent. We must go there immediately! You take five hundred soldiers to monitor them as they leave the city, and ask them to release Governor Zuo at the city gate. But remember two points. One is that they must not hurt Governor Zuo, and the other is that they must not let them leave Governor Zuo. "Bring the governor out of the city!" Li Anyuan, who was also an upright and loyal minister, agreed immediately. Feng Li hurriedly led his troops to the south gate to command the battle. Li Anyuan led his troops to carefully monitor Li Yuanji and others entering and exiting the city from the west. Li Yuanji and others were under pressure. He quickly pushed and pulled Li Jiancheng to move westward quickly. Li Jiancheng whined and shouted, asking Li Anyuan to launch an attack, but Li Anyuan did not dare to obey. Li Yuanji¡¯s mansion was not too far from the west gate. It didn¡¯t take long before Li Jiancheng was forcibly taken to the west gate corridor and ordered the city gate official to open the city gate. The city gate official was at a loss and could only ask Li Anyuan for orders. Li Anyuan first ordered the soldiers to go to the city to confirm that there were no enemies outside the gate, and then shouted to Li Yuanji and others: "Release Governor Zuo, and I will let you leave the city!" "Open the city gate first, and then we will release Li Jiancheng. "Li Yuanji replied with a sneer. After hesitating for a while, Li Anyuan reluctantly ordered the door to be opened, but he also ordered it to be opened only a crack. The Taiyuan gate soldiers were at a loss and hurriedly opened the door a crack. When Li Anyuan ordered Li Yuanji and others to let them go, Li Yuanji and others The people were very cunning and put Li Jiancheng at the front as a shield, then left the city one by one, and finally put a knife on Li Yuanji. It was also at this time that Li Jiancheng finally caught the opportunity and kicked his fourth brother hard in the abdomen. When the steel knife made a long wound on Li Jiancheng's neck, Li Yuanji screamed and fled out of the city. Seeing this, Li Anyuan, who was overjoyed, hurried forward to catch Li Jiancheng. While checking the wound, he ordered the soldiers to go out of the city to pursue him. But it was not bad. Li Yuanji's steel knife was less than half a centimeter away from Li Jiancheng's carotid artery, so there was no fatal danger. . Then when Li Anyuan quickly untied the rope around Li Jiancheng's mouth, Li Jiancheng opened his eyes?The first sentence was to yell, "Go to the south gate immediately!" Boom! Before Li Jiancheng finished speaking, a loud bang was heard from the south gate. Hearing the explosion, which was obviously much louder than a gunpowder bottle, both Li Jiancheng and Li Anyuan's hearts skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition rose in their hearts. , without bothering to check the results of chasing Li Yuanji and others, he quickly mounted his horse and went straight to the south gate of Taiyuan. Everything was over. When Li Jiancheng, Li Anyuan and others rushed to the south gate of the West City, the flag of the Sui Army had already appeared in the city. It turned out that the loud noise was made by the Sui Army soldiers lighting the coffin filled with gunpowder. The explosion of a hundred kilograms of gunpowder was not only as fierce as a giant thunder, but also shattered most of the Taiyuan army's emergency gate. The Sui army soldiers took advantage of the situation and rushed into the city. Feng Li led his troops to fight, but he was still unable to drive the Sui army soldiers out of the city. Seeing this scene, Li Jiancheng made a prompt decision despite his expression. He immediately climbed up the city wall to take over the command of the garrison on the city. He also sent people to order Generals Yin Kaishan and Shi Wanbao who were on duty in the East City to prepare for the transfer of the main force to the East City, and ordered Yang Wenqian seized the time to transfer food and grass to the east city, and then shouted to the left and right: "Hold on to the end! Kill the rebel army out of the city! Don't give up until the last moment!" The brutal and bloody street fighting in the west city began. On the narrow long street, the heads of people were like ants, and the soldiers of the two armies were intertwined like numbness. The swords and swords were flashing, and the shouts of killing shook the sky. The Taiyuan Army soldiers tried their best to drive the Sui Army soldiers out of the city again, but the Sui Army soldiers were howling for sure. To enter the city, the soldiers of the two armies saw blood with their swords and flesh with their guns. They fought and fought in the streets and alleys. The sounds of dying screams came and went one after another. Arrows were like locusts in the sky. Li Jiancheng, who was furious, ordered the defenders to release arrows from the city, attacking the soldiers of the two armies who were fighting fiercely indiscriminately. The Taiyuan Army soldiers and the Sui Army soldiers were constantly hit by arrows and fell down, but they There was no time to guard against the arrows coming from the sky, so they could only fight desperately in the dense rain of arrows, trying not to be killed by the enemy on the opposite side. The sky was already slightly dark, but fires were also rising in the city. During the fierce battle, it was not known whether it was the soldiers or the fleeing people who accidentally set fire to the houses in the city. Flames and smoke were rising from the houses one after another. The fire was raging and the smoke was billowing. The soldiers of the two armies were fighting fiercely in the fire, and the innocent people were crying and running in the fire. People were killed or shot by arrows. Li Jiancheng saw these tragic scenes on the city wall, and his heart was as sharp as a knife. But there is nothing to do. I have to admit that the Taiyuan Army soldiers who had been defeated in consecutive battles in front of the Sui Army still fought very tenaciously and bravely this time. Even though the Sui Army had already entered the city, they showed no signs of collapse. They were always fighting in the narrow streets and private houses. They resisted tenaciously and competed with the Sui army soldiers street by house for position space. The Sui army attacked fiercely for nearly an hour, but failed to rush to the city wall and seize much space in the city. On the contrary, they suffered a lot of casualties in the face of the Taiyuan army's tenacious resistance. Even the famous general Liu Shishan was seriously injured on the battlefield and was forced to withdraw from the battlefield and retreat outside the city for rescue. At the same time, Li Jing was asked to shake his head and sigh outside the city, "What a fluke. If our army is really forced to attack the city head-on, I really don't know how much it will cost to enter the city and capture Taiyuan City." However, for the Taiyuan Army, What is very cruel is that no matter how bravely they resisted and fought hard, the city gate opened by Li Er was destined that they would never be able to drive away the Sui soldiers. The Sui soldiers who surpassed them in terms of equipment training and combat effectiveness could. They continued to advance into the city, gradually taking advantage of their strength and combat effectiveness. As long as the Taiyuan army could not cut off the Sui army's soldiers' access to the city, they were destined to fail to win this brutal street battle. So as time gradually passed and the sky gradually turned dark, the Taiyuan Army finally showed its defeat. A large number of Sui Army soldiers who entered the city gradually opened up the vast space in the city and gradually rushed to the top of the city wall. Commanding the defenders to fight on the city, Li Jiancheng tried his best, and the Taiyuan generals on the city wall also tried their best. Except for swords and guns, all objects that could be used to hurt the enemy had been smashed down the city wall, and bows and arrows had been fired early. Once empty, the defensive materials sent through the narrow city wall could not withstand such a huge consumption. They were used up in the blink of an eye as soon as they were delivered to them. However, the Sui army soldiers continued to attack on flying ladders like single-celled organisms. The city wall, one after another, also seized several city wall positions, covering more companions to quickly enter the city. And when they saw that the Sui Army soldiers had already occupied the steps to the upper city, the Taiyuan Army soldiers could only cry and beg Li Jiancheng to move to other city gates. After hesitating again and again, Li Jiancheng had no choice but to agree to move to the east gate with tears in his eyes. Li Anyuan volunteered to stay at the south gate tower. When Li Jiancheng quickly moved to the east section of the city wall under the protection of his guards, he shed tears again when he saw Li Anyuan guarding the city wall. The city tower had been surrounded by Sui soldiers, and at the same time, fire and smoke were rising from the city tower. Li Jiancheng burst into tears, but the guards carried him and ran up the steps to the east gate. When Li Jiancheng rushed back to the granary in the middle of Xicheng, Yang Wenqian, who was directing the army to quickly transfer grain and grass, hurriedlyHe came up to greet Li Jiancheng and reported the transfer of grain and grass to Li Jiancheng. When he learned that Yang Wenqian had only transferred less than 10,000 shi of grain to Dongcheng, Li Jiancheng became furious and roared: "Why is it so slow? It's been an hour and a half. "Why did you move so little food and grass?" "The people are blocking the road." Yang Wenqian replied with a sad face: "The fleeing people are blocking the road and can't be killed. There is nothing the general can do." "Tie Qing looked at the crowd. In the streets and alleys, Li Jiancheng shouted: "Continue to move, even if we transport one more stone of food to Dongcheng! Once we can't hold it here in Xicheng, we can only move to Dongcheng and continue to hold on!" "Manager Yang! Manager Yang! That's not good. "It's bad!" A panicked cry suddenly came, and a Taiyuan Army soldier struggled through the streets crowded with grain trucks and soldiers, rushed to Yang Wenqian and screamed: "The thieves came up from the Fen River in a small boat. Come down, they are setting fire to the bridge, trying to cut off our connection with Dongcheng! No matter how much the brothers fire arrows, they can't stop it!" The bridge the messenger said is the connecting bridge between the east and west of Taiyuan, and it is also the only link between the west city of Taiyuan and the east city. What will happen if the road is destroyed? All my friends must know it, so after hearing the report, Yang Wenqian's face suddenly turned pale, and Li Jiancheng's face suddenly turned from livid to pitch black. He gritted his teeth and said: "Should Brother Liangxian, you are so ruthless!" Li Jiancheng really wrongly blamed the unscrupulous Chen Sangliang. At the same time, in the Sui army formation, he saw from a distance that Chen Sangliang adopted his suggestion and went upstream from the Fen River in a small boat. Going down the river to attack the bridge, Li Er was so proud that he ran to Li Jing and suggested: "Li Shangshu, in addition to street fighting, your army had better give priority to seizing the east gate tower of Taiyuan West City. There, it will be much more difficult for Li Jiancheng to escape to the East City, let alone transfer food and grass to the East City. " He nodded and accepted Li Er's suggestion again. In addition to ordering Luo Shixin to personally lead the army to capture the East Gate Tower, Li Jing also He said in his heart: "Although this son is extremely smart, he is also as ruthless as a wolf. If he is used by a wise nephew, he will definitely be a general. But if he has different ambitions, alas, if I chop him down now, it will only Everyone is in danger if he is afraid of surrender, and the wise nephew is also true. Why should he promise to give him a free death certificate? It is not that easy to get rid of him. " Li Erxian, who knows Taiyuan's reality well, naturally offers a plan to defeat the enemy. It was no small matter that Luo Shixin and his army had just moved up the east wall of the West City, but had not yet been able to capture the east gate tower. Li Jiancheng just saw the flags and torches of the Sui army on the east wall in front of the granary gate, and Li Jiancheng no longer dared to attack the West City again. As the street fighting continued, they could only shout loudly: "Send an order to the entire army to move to the east city immediately. Move as many as you can." The generals on the left and right immediately agreed, and then someone quickly reminded Li Jiancheng and his family members were in Jinyang Palace. It was suggested that Li Jiancheng first transfer his family members across the river, and then move the army. However, Li Jiancheng stamped his foot and shouted: "The enemies are already attacking the east gate tower. If the enemy captures the east gate, all our soldiers will be defeated." There's a turtle in the urn! Move the troops immediately! Let them move with the army! If you can cross the river, cross it. If you can't cross the river, let them die in Xicheng! "