Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4423 Critical survival

In the Hall of Wude, the monarchs and ministers gathered together, whispering and talking about the decisive battle outside the Wude Gate. From time to time, battle reports were delivered, and every change in the battle situation could be presented before the eyes, making the atmosphere even more tense.

The moment Wudemen was breached, the air in the hall seemed to freeze. Everyone's faces were pale and their hearts were panicked. The benefits are endless, and the loss is utter defeat, but when the final result is about to appear, and the face will be a complete defeat, who can be really indifferent and willing to accept fate?
Li Chengqian, who was pretending to be calm, also panicked. He had always had full confidence in Fang Jun, but at this moment he couldn't help but doubt in his heart. Could it be that he was really going to lose?
Although he was able to withdraw from the Taiji Palace at the last moment and retreat to Hexi under the guards of Li Jing and Xue Wanche, he could still fight against Chang'an, but what a shame it was to be kicked out of the throne by someone?

He couldn't help looking at Li Ji for help, his voice inevitably trembling: "Yinggong thinks...how is the situation?"

Li Ji was indifferent, and he only asked Li Junxian who was in charge of passing the battle report at the door, and he dispelled the panic of Li Chengqian and many people present.

"Has Duke Yue's reserve team been released?"

Li Junxian shook his head: "It hasn't been released yet, the three thousand reserves are fully equipped and are waiting for orders inside the Wude Gate, but the Duke of Yue has already dressed neatly and is waiting to personally lead the army into battle."

Many people in the hall let out a long sigh of relief. Since the reserve team has not yet been released, it means that even if Wudemen falls, the situation is not yet at an impasse.

Of course, not everyone thinks so.

Zhang Liang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, said anxiously: "Your Majesty, you should have made a decision earlier. Fang Jun is certainly the champion of the three armies, but how can a mere [-] reserves be able to defeat an enemy ten times stronger? Yinggong's estimation of the battle situation is too optimistic. My ministers do not agree."

The so-called "early decision" means that we should evacuate from the secret passage as soon as possible, and at the very last moment we should make preparations this morning.

After all, after the rebels charged into Wudemen, the defeat was already decided. It would be unavoidable to rush to leave at that time, and it is impossible to evacuate all the people in the secret road at the same time. Someone must leave first and someone must leave later. After withdrawing, the rebels rushed in. Wouldn't it be a waste of death?

The first to leave must be His Majesty, his heirs, and concubines, plus the princes, princesses, and even the concubines of the first emperor. When it is Zhang Liang's turn, I don't know when it will be. Maybe it will become "going later" the one of...

Li Ji glanced at Zhang Liang, frowned and said: "The Wude Hall is heavily guarded, even if the rebels rushed in, they would not be able to kill here for a while. Duke Yun is also a minister of Zhenguan. Why are you so timid and hasty?"

Zhang Liang said anxiously: "Your Majesty, the king of ten thousand chariots, is the life and death of the country, and he must ensure that everything is safe. Does Yinggong dare to guarantee that Fang Jun still has the power to reverse it? If there is no power to reverse it, His Majesty will be left here to take the risk. What's the benefit?"

Before Li Ji could answer, Liu Ji also said angrily: "It is you generals who are unwilling to give up your own interests and reputations, and have repeatedly dissuaded His Majesty from evacuating the Wude Hall, which has caused the current crisis. You keep saying that the situation is under control, and you will definitely be able to To punish the rebels, but the result is that Wudemen fell and His Majesty was in danger, you, Fang Jun, and Li Jing are the sinners of Datang!"

The spearhead was directly aimed at the military, and the words of admonishment covered all members of the military, and the situation of the struggle was suddenly raised to civil and military confrontation.

Li Ji's anger was rising, but he was very self-cultivated, and he held back his anger and said: "Liu Zhongshu's words are wrong. As soldiers, we should protect your Majesty, protect the country, and use our flesh and blood to protect the empire! Could it be that the rebels gathered together?" Groups and coercion of goodness, shall we advise Your Majesty to flee in the face of the wind and hand over the center of the country? Your Majesty, the king of Wancheng, does not stand under a dangerous wall, but he also has his own responsibilities. Before the last moment, he must not Abandon the foundation established by Gaozu and Taizong!"

Liu Jie retorted: "In the final analysis, is it because you people are unwilling to give up the military power, so that you are holding your majesty in the final struggle? You are greedy for profit, and you are really moths of the country. If your majesty is even slightly injured, you will die Forgive me!"

No matter how well-bred Li Ji is, he can't bear such a crime for nothing, and he immediately became furious and furious: "Shameless! The soldiers are fighting bloody battles, charging forward, and looking forward to death for the sake of the empire, but you, as a Zhongshuling, are here for no reason. Slandering and slanderous words are the traitors of the country! As the head of the prime minister, how can I just sit idly by? If you dare to speak indiscriminately like this, you will kill him with your hands and ask for a piece of money for the soldiers who are loyal to your majesty. justice!"

All the people in the main hall insisted on their own opinions and were in a mess, making Li Chengqian's brain ache from the quarrel...

Reluctantly, Li Chengqian picked up the brass paperweight on the table and knocked on it, and when the quarrels and shouts subsided, he said with a cold face: "I have already made up my mind, and I will definitely not abandon the center of the empire before the last moment." , The whole army, there is no need to say the words of retreating as soon as possible.”

King Jinkou made a statement to determine the nature of this matter. Although the words were fair, they were actually slightly biased towards the military...

But Liu Ji can also accept it. After all, as Li Ji said, it is the soldiers who are fighting bloody battles outside, and all their hopes are pinned on them. Fang Jun's army was defeated like a mountain, and finally everyone had to follow His Majesty to withdraw from Chang'an and flee to Hexi...

The battle between civil and military is not a battle of spirits, let alone a battle of one city and one place, but a long and cruel struggle. Otherwise, if the military controls the center, it will inevitably fight for many years and resort to war. Over time, no matter what the Tang Dynasty does Greatness will fall into decline, or even collapse.

Perhaps within a certain period of time, wealth can be quickly accumulated and land plundered by means of war, but in the long run, it will surely be trapped in its own cocoon and be backlashed.

Although the country is big, belligerent must perish.

In the civil-military struggle, we can not only unite the civil-official group to consolidate our status and prestige, but also prevent the military from becoming bigger and drag the empire into the quagmire of war. It is beneficial to both public and private interests. Why not do it?

Suddenly there was a thunderous shout in the wind and rain outside the hall, and the voice of "kill, kill, kill" came faintly. Li Chengqian's heart tightened, and he hurriedly asked, "What's the matter outside the hall?"

Li Junxian hurried out and returned in a short time: "Your Majesty, the Duke of Yue led a thousand armored cavalry and two thousand heavy armored infantry to kill the enemy. He has already defeated the rebels who rushed into Wudemen, and rushed out Palace gate, launch a surprise attack on the rebels."

"Ah! The Duke of Yue deserves to be a brave general who has won the three armies. Facing difficulties like this, he defeated the sharp edge of the rebel army. He has the style of a famous general!"

"That's right, with Duke Yue's bravery, maybe he can really defeat the rebels and reverse the situation!"

All the ministers in the hall whispered to each other, expressing their appreciation for Fang Jun's blatant counterattack at the critical moment.

But more are expressing surprise...

"A thousand armored cavalry? And two thousand heavily armored infantry?"

"Oh, no wonder the rebels are still holding their breath despite the onslaught of the rebels. It turns out that the Duke of Yue still has such a backhand!"

Everyone sitting in the Hall of Martial Virtue was not clear about the deployment of troops outside, and Fang Jun had not reported in detail what kind of troops his reserve team was in. At this moment, he suddenly heard that Fang Jun left such a heavy armored unit at the end, so it was natural. I have more confidence.

Li Chengqian felt a little more at ease, and turned his head to ask Li Ji: "In the opinion of Lord Ying, Erlang personally led the heavy armored troops to counterattack, can they turn defeat into victory?"

Li Jilue pondered for a while, and said cautiously: "We still need to know how Duke Yue will counterattack in the future."

The heavy-armored troops can indeed exert their greatest power under such a battle situation, but the number of soldiers and horses gathered by the rebels in Chang'an City has reached [-] to [-]. Such a large number of troops is enough to make up for the gap in any arms. The heavily armored troops were surrounded, and could only be slowly eaten away, gathered and wiped out.

Not long after, Li Junxian once again truthfully reported the situation of the battle outside the palace.

When they heard "The Duke of Yue led his troops out of the Wude Gate, and charged against the rebels gathered outside the gate, cutting through Yuchi Gong's position like a bamboo, all the people in the hall naturally cheered and praised each other endlessly, but When it comes to "Yu Chigong deliberately divided his troops on both sides to avoid the edge, trying to lead the army into the trap", he couldn't help worrying about Fang Jun. Liu Ji, Zhang Liang and others would inevitably say "young and frivolous, brave but foolish" and so on. After the iron cavalry rushed to Li Daozong's position, they chose to head east, and the heavily armored infantry fought steadily," and sighed again.

Xu Jingzong patted his thigh and said regretfully: "Oh, it's only a little short! If we can penetrate the rebel army's position in one fell swoop and take advantage of the opportunity to capture Zhaode Palace, we will surely be able to capture King Jin in one fell swoop... It's a pity."

Liu Jie said: "You are still young and do nothing. If Duke Wei and Duke Ying were to lead the army, they would definitely cut through the enemy's formation at the expense of casualties. Now that they have won a complete victory, why are they driven away like a bereaved dog?"

As long as he seized the opportunity, he would always belittle Fang Jun, hurt Fang Jun's prestige, and weaken Fang Jun's achievements.

He firmly believes in the principle that a rope saws wood and water drips through a stone. As long as things go on like this, the emperor's trust and dependence on Fang Jun will definitely drop significantly...

Li Chengqian ignored the divergent opinions of these ministers, but just looked at Li Ji, with such a contemporary master of military art by his side, how could he care about others' inferences about the situation of the battle?Whether Fang Jun played well or not, it doesn't matter what other people say, Li Ji's judgment is more convincing to him.

Feeling Li Chengqian's gaze, Li Ji already had some guesses about Fang Jun's strategy in his heart, but in order to be more on the safe side, he got up and went to the map on one side, and carefully observed the architectural layout of Taiji Palace, the deployment of troops on both sides, and the battle situation. Changing situation...

Then he said to Li Chengqian in a firm tone: "The strategy adopted by Duke Yue is already the most perfect response to the current war situation. It is obviously difficult to rely on 3000 people to defeat the enemy, but as long as these 3000 people are always cruising around the military Outside the Demen, the rebels will have a thorn in their throats and a light on their backs, and they will never dare to go all out to storm the Wude Hall."

I affirm Fang Jun's strategy from the bottom of my heart, and I am surprised by Fang Jun's growth. Today, among the Tang army who can be called a master of military art, there must be a place for Fang Jun...

(End of this chapter)