W Chang'an City has become a mess, and the city gates and yard gates that were originally opened at dawn have been closed, which has seriously affected the normal travel of the people. In addition, the military has recruited young and strong men from door to door to defend the city, which has caused Chang'an City to panic.

Various rumors were circulating in various places in Chang'an. Some people said that the Turkic army went south to enter Guanzhong. Some people said that the Sui army entered the pass. The beacon fire in Mount Li made the rumors that the Sui army entered the pass mainstream. The news that Yang Yuanqing led a 100,000 army to attack Chang'an became more and more widespread, causing storms all over the city.

The area around Mingdemen in Chang'an was particularly chaotic. The beacon fires overnight caused tens of thousands of panicked people living outside the city to gather outside the major city gates and shouted to open the city. The scene was extremely chaotic. Dou Gui had no choice but to order the Mingdemen to open for an hour and let the people enter the city.

At this time, the Zhuque Street in Mingde Gate was filled with people entering the city, carrying baskets, carrying houses, crying at dads and moms, yelling and scolding. The scene was extremely chaotic, and teams of fully armed soldiers drove the people away fiercely.

The four yards near Mingde Gate, Yanzuo, Anyi, Guangxian, Baoning, have been opened, and the soldiers are about to drive the tens of thousands of people who fled into the city into the four yards.

However, many residents in the yard boycotted refugees to enter the yard, and brought various obstacles to block the yard door, causing the door to cry and cry, crowded and chaotic, and even rogues rode on the wall of the yard with slingshots to escapade young women for fun.

The Great Wall is about sixty miles in circumference, but there are only more than 20,000 defenders, so they can only be deployed in the East and South City. Despite this, the more than thirty miles long city wall still seems to have sparse forces. At the same time, the tens of thousands of young and young men recruited also issued bows, arrows and spears, and ordered them to assist the soldiers in defending the city.

Dou Gui stood at the head of Dongcheng City, staring at the distance with complicated eyes. He had probably received some news that it was indeed the invasion of the Sui army, with a number of about 10,000 to 20,000, but what surprised him the most was that some people recognized that the leader of the Sui army was Yang Yuanqing.

This news really made him nervous, his eyes full of anxiety. General Sun Shunde, the general of Zuo Xiaowei who was in charge of the Yulin Army next to him, smiled and said, "Why is Dou Xiangguo so nervous? Isn't it great for Yang Yuanqing to lead troops to Guanzhong personally? When the prince and the Qin King's army return, I will directly catch him in the jar. Isn't that a great thing?"

Dou Gui sighed, "Although a gentleman does not stand on a dangerous wall, Yang Yuanqing personally led his troops into the pass. It seems inappropriate. But he actually used his body as bait to attract the return of the main force of the Tang army. Once the main force of the Tang army returns to Guanzhong, I am worried that all his efforts will be wasted, and he will never let us catch it, and it will only increase his prestige."

As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier suddenly shouted in horror: "The Sui army is coming!"

Dou Gui and Changsun Shunde were both startled. They looked into the distance and saw a group of black dots running towards this side in the snowy field, stretching for seven or eight miles, and it seemed that there were about a thousand people.

The city wall suddenly became nervous. The soldiers shouted loudly, and some even shivered all over. The defending area of ​​Dongcheng was mainly the Yulin Army soldiers. The Yulin Army was actually a kind of guard of honor, mostly from the high-ranking families. The family was wealthy, usually with glamorous armor, majestic, and treated very generously, not to go to war, as long as the appearance was neat and majestic.

So when they encounter real war, the fear of death makes them unable to control their emotions and use loud shouts to vent their inner panic.

Changsun Shunde was furious and turned his horse to rush towards the soldiers. He used a whip to slash these soldiers who were trembling all over, and cursed: "Don't make a fuss, or you will be shocked and killed by the monsters!"

As the Sui army's cavalry got closer and closer, the city gradually became quieter. Dou Gui saw clearly that the general in charge was tall, with silver helmet and iron armor, young and brave, holding a thick and long iron spear in his hand. The person next to him was as dark as the bottom of a pot, with a fierce and ugly appearance, and holding a big Xuanhua axe in his hand.

"It was Luo Shixin and Cheng Yaojin!" Changsun Shunde blurted out, he knew these two people.

Dou Gui was stunned. Where is Yang Yuanqing? Is it behind the team?

At this time, the Sui soldiers rushed over and shot arrows at the top of the city at the same time. The arrows roared like rain. There were screams on the top of the city. The soldiers guarding the city were caught off guard and were shot down a large area. Dou Gui was knocked down in time by a soldier, but his hat was shot away.

Dou Gui was so cruel that he slapped himself. The Sui army had already reached his sight. He forgot to order the arrow to be fired. Changsun Shunde also responded. He shouted loudly: "Shoot the arrow! Shoot the arrow!"

The Tang army began to fight back on the city, but they were so pressed by the Sui army that they could not raise their heads. They had to hide behind the city wall and shoot arrows down by shooting. The arrows on the city were raining, and the shouts of killing were shocking. The momentum was spectacular, but the casualties on both sides were not large. The Tang army hid behind the battlements and did not dare to raise their heads, but the shooting method was not enough to hurt the Sui army.

After a moment, the Sui army's arrows suddenly turned into rockets. A group of sharp arrows rushed towards the city wall with fire balls. A large number of rockets shot into the city wall. The city wall began to burn, and the fire became bigger and bigger. The raging fire rushed straight into the sky, thick smoke rolled, and the city wall was in chaos.

.........

While the Sui army attacked Chang'an City with a harassment, Yang Yuanqing took two thousand Sui cavalry to detour Longshouyuan outside the northern city. Longshouyuan was the construction site of the Daming Palace later. However, at this time, there was a dense forest and had been deposed as a forbidden garden by the Tang Dynasty and a royal forest. No one was allowed to enter. When Yang Yuanqing lurked in this area to hunt, he knew the terrain and environment here.

This is the highest point in Chang'an. From the height of the sky, you can clearly see Chang'an City, but the closest to them is Chang'an's imperial city and palace city. They are behind Tai Chi Palace. Tai Chi Palace is majestic and spectacular, with a golden ridge and a silver roof and jade brick, showing off in the sun, which is breathtaking.

However, they did not lean directly against the palace wall. There was a forest and grassland between the palace and the mountains and forests behind them. That was the Xi Neiyuan of the palace, where Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian raised rare birds and strange animals, and it was also the garrison of the Yulin Army.

There is also a huge military camp on Longshouyuan, which is the base of Jinwu Guards, but Yang Yuanqing did not go to the military camp. That was not his goal, his goal was the Tang Dynasty palace.

The Tang Dynasty palace was usually guarded by ten thousand Yulin Army and was heavily guarded, but even so, the Yulin Army was only used to deal with thieves and assassins, not to fight. There were passes on all sides of Guanzhong, and heavy troops were stationed in the pass. The defense was tight, and almost few troops could come to Chang'an.

But this time it was extraordinary. The Sui army took advantage of the emptiness of Guanzhong and directly rushed to the city of Chang'an. However, the Yulin Army was transferred to defend the city again. There were only more than 2,000 guards in the entire palace. There was a loophole in Chang'an's defense, and Yang Yuanqing knew very well where the loophole was?

Yang Yuanqing led the cavalry through Longshouyuan and came to the valley where he saved Yang Jian. This valley directly leads to the gate of Xi Neiyuan. At this time, the valley was covered with thick white snow. Yang Yuanqing looked at this familiar valley and felt an infinite nostalgia for his youth.

At this time, a pheasant flew over his head, and Yang Yuanqing quickly drew his bow and arrow. The bow had spread, but he did not shoot the arrow, and the bowstring slowly loosened again. He shook his head with a self-deprecating battle, and the soldiers still knew how to restrain themselves. However, the commander of his army still recalled the past shooting of pheasant, which made the soldiers see. What would they think?

Yang Yuanqing urged his horse to lead two thousand cavalry to run towards Xi Neiyuan, and in a moment he arrived at the exterior wall. The outer edge of Xi Neiyuan is a long wall, two meters high and very solidly built. On the north side is a spectacular palace gate called Xi Yuan Gate. Usually there are 300 soldiers guarding it, but at this time there are only more than fifty defenders here.

The soldiers were patrolling the gatehouse. Suddenly, they found the Sui army running towards the valley in the distance. They were frightened and panicked, shouting: "The Sui army is here! The Sui army is here!"

‘Dang! Dang! Dang!’ The rapid alarm bell rang on the city, and Yang Yuanqing ordered, “Take it!”

Two thousand cavalry arrived quickly, and arrows shot towards the gatehouse like a storm. More than a dozen guards were shot overturned and fell from the gatehouse with screams. Hundreds of Sui soldiers dragged the big tree that was cut down, leaning the trees up to the gatehouse and climbing up quickly along the trees. The rest of the guards saw that the situation was not good, so they fled in all directions.

After a moment, the Sui army soldiers pulled the iron chain noose, and the gate of Xineiyuan rumbling opens. Two thousand Sui army cavalry swung into Xineiyuan with murderous intent and rushed to Xuanwu Gate, the north gate of Taiji Palace.

Xuanwu Gate is the most critical gate to enter the harem. The city gate is cast iron, and thirty people need to push the hinges on the gate tower to open. The gate tower is as high as four meters high, which is extremely majestic.

At this time, the bells of Xiyuan Gate had already alarmed the defenders of Xuanwu Gate. There were five hundred Yulin troops stationed here. They had already seen two thousand Sui cavalry coming from the grassland. The defenders were extremely shocked. They never dreamed that the Sui army would come from behind.

Before the Sui cavalry approached, the gatehouse defenders fired arrows together. The arrows in the sky blocked the Sui army from approaching, but the Sui army distributed two routes, attacking Xuanwu Gate one by one, while the other rushed into the slanting thorn.

The Sui army cavalry ran along the palace walls, and thousands of rockets shot into the palace. Several palaces and pavilions close to the palace were lit. The flames swallowed the window screen and the palace curtains, and the fire burned rapidly. Among them, the Guanlin Pavilion, which belongs to a corner of the Queen's bedroom, was engulfed by the fire, and the fire and smoke rushed to the sky.

Li Yuan was hiding in the quiet room of the inner palace, paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. He only longed for the Sui army to attack the city, and walked around the city and let go of Chang'an City. No matter whether Guanzhong was upset, he didn't care, he just cared about protecting Chang'an.

At this moment, he suddenly heard a commotion outside, as if the palace maids were crying and running. He was shocked and walked quickly to the window. He saw many palace maids and eunuchs running around in panic. When he looked up, he suddenly found that there were thick smoke not far away and the fire was soaring into the sky.

This...what happened? Was there a fire in the palace? Li Yuan was shocked and suspicious. At this moment, a guard rushed over, "Your Majesty!"

The guards rushed to the door and reported loudly: "Your Majesty, Yang Yuanqing personally led two thousand Sui cavalry into Xi Neiyuan and were fighting fiercely with the defenders at Xuanwu Gate. Your Majesty quickly evacuated the palace."

The news scared Li Yuan to death. He stood in the room as if he was stunned, his mind was blank, and his heart was as frightened as if he had fallen into a deep abyss.

......

[Note: The defensive wall of Tai Chi Palace and Chang'an City are actually one. It is almost impossible to attack without siege weapons, but it directly threatens the palace and will cause huge psychological pressure to Li Yuan. In addition, Xi Neiyuan should be part of the Forbidden Garden, and it will only be called Xi Neiyuan after the construction of the Daming Palace] To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations, monthly votes, and your support is my greatest motivation.m
Chapter completed!