The Tang Army's camp, the Central Army's commander's tent, was filled with sorrow. The generals and colonels who were so high-spirited and high-spirited half a year ago are now all gray and dusty. The dirt has condensed on their armors, and there are various blood stains and stains on their cloaks. Zhengchen, as well as their gray and shaggy beards and hair, could not have shown more clearly that this elite division, which was invincible when they came out of seclusion a year ago, was now a tired force. Li Shimin still looked almost the same as before, sitting upright behind the handsome case. His sharp eagle eyes swept over the tired faces, and these eyes all avoided his eyes, or simply lowered their heads, just like before. The color of eagerness and longing is incomparable. Finally, Li Shimin's eyes fell on Li Yuanji, who was standing on the right side of the team, and said in a deep voice: "Fourth brother, how is the situation outside the camp today?" Li Yuanji said coldly: "Everything remains the same. People in the city are not rushing. We couldn't attack even if we came out, but the city used a lot of rockets today to burn the corpses of the war dead outside the city. The fire only gradually subsided just now. The tens of thousands of corpses outside the city were all destroyed. Turned into ashes." At this point, the generals in the tent sniffed unconsciously, as if the smell of barbecued human flesh had spread along the wind, making the faces of these warriors who were used to licking blood from the blades of their swords. Minor changes. Li Shimin nodded and said: "It seems that Wang Laoxie also believes that we will not continue to attack the city, so he would rather burn the corpses outside the city. After all, these corpses are close to their city walls and exposed to the wild. Now the weather is getting hotter, there are There is a possibility of an epidemic. So he doesn¡¯t want armor or these rotting corpses to block our siege. He also wants to burn these corpses.¡± Luo Shixin gritted his teeth: ¡°Your Majesty, now that Wang Laoxie has burned them. Corpse, can we attack him again? At least this time our soldiers don¡¯t have to step on the corpses of our brothers and fight in the black corpse water like before!" Li Shimin shook his head: "No, Luoyang. We have also seen the city's defense. We tried our best to capture it a while ago, and further attacks are just in vain. There is already a big problem with the food and grass in the city. We can see the civilians guarding the first line of the city wall. They are all weak and can only serve as an early warning. From the several feint attacks in the past few days, we can see that the regular elite soldiers on their second line of defense have become weaker and weaker. The speed of entering the city is getting slower and slower. If Without sophisticated weapons such as cannons, flying stones, and eight-bow crossbows, we would have been able to break the city long ago, so there is no need for us to continue the siege now. We just need to continue the siege." Qu Tutong sighed: "Commander, no. I am here to say something depressing, but now Wang Shichong is short of food, and our situation is not much better. This siege has been going on for more than half a year, and we don¡¯t know how long it will last. The states and counties in the Central Plains have long since cut off food for us. Food supplies have been provided, and now we can only survive on the food and grass shipped from Guanzhong. The soldiers have been eating gruel for three days. There are complaints everywhere in the camp, Commander, please seriously consider withdrawing the troops. " Li Shimin. A cold light flashed in his eyes: "General Qu Tu, I have issued a strict order. It is forbidden to mention the word "retirement" in the army. Violation of military laws will be followed. Could it be that my military laws are no longer effective?" Qu Tutong sighed: "Commander, unless I, Qu Tutong, want to shake the morale of the army, the brothers really can't go on fighting. If there is hope of breaking the city, then everyone is willing to persevere, but now there is no hope at all. Three A few months ago, the defenders sent by Wang Shichong to the city wall were as sallow and thin as they are now. You said at that time that the city had run out of food and that as long as the siege lasted for another ten days and a half, the city would fall. But now, month after month has passed? , The food and grass in the city is not completely cut off, but our food and grass supply is out of supply." Li Shimin's eyes flashed, and he fell into deep thought. Indeed, he couldn't understand why there was still food and grass in the city to support him until now. Liu Hongji took over the conversation: "Yes, Commander-in-Chief, during the military meeting last month, you said that there was insufficient food and grass in the city and there were so many people. Once the aristocratic children of the Eastern Capital were unable to eat, they would think of surrendering and offering sacrifices. However, after so many days, there are already thirteen batches of heads of descendants of aristocratic families hanging on display in the city, but no one in the city has been able to get out of the city to contact us. " "Wang Laoxie. He is cruel and ruthless, and his methods are extremely strict. It is impossible to expect changes in the city. Just yesterday, we and the soldiers saw Wang Shichong personally patrolling the city. Wherever he passed, the hungry and skinny people were still there. Long live Shanhu!" At this point, Liu Hongji gritted his teeth, knelt down, and said loudly: "Commander, all the soldiers in the army have followed you in the north and south for many years, and they are all deeply impressed by your ability as a general. It is precisely because of this that we left the Central Plains this time and fought hard for more than a year without any regrets. But this time, the general has to say that the Luoyang siege has reached a desperate situation. I am afraid that we will be ahead of Wang Shichong. Can't hold itLast time, this time, we probably all underestimated Wang Shichong's preparations. In the past two years, he had not occupied much of Lianzhou County in the Central Plains. He just focused on running Luoyang. The food and defense in the city were tighter than we imagined. " All the generals knelt down. Only Yuchi Gong remained standing. Even Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin also knelt down. Liu Hongji's voice was a bit crying: "Your Majesty, we are not acting on impulse now. At that time, you always taught us not to attack out of anger. Now you are angry with Wang Laoxie and the wall of the Eastern Capital. You have lost your reason and judgment. If the fight continues, if the entire army runs out of food, I'm afraid, even if we want to retreat, it will be impossible! " Yuchi Gong said loudly: "Why are all of you so unsure? The commander-in-chief has long said that we are in difficulty, and Wang Laoxie in the city is even more in difficulty. At least we can continue to persevere as long as we have food and grass. What does Wang Laoxie have? It is impossible for him to farm in Luoyang City. The food supply is getting less and less every day. Those people at the top of the city who are so hungry that they can't walk cannot be his deliberate act. Let's hold on for a few more days until the reinforcements and military rations from Guanzhong arrive. , can¡¯t we continue to persevere? " Li Yuanji frowned and said coldly: "Shilang Feng has been gone for twenty days, and the food and reinforcements have not arrived yet. Doesn't this explain the problem? Second brother, let¡¯s withdraw first. " Li Shimin's eyes flashed coldly: "Everyone, I am the commander-in-chief of the entire army. When we went on the expedition, my father gave me the order to conquer the Eastern Capital. Now I have not received the order to withdraw, so we can only continue to fight. Go down, unless my father's order comes, I will never retreat! "