Time went back to a quarter of an hour ago, when Cao Jie, the general of the Jun Shui Army, led five hundred cavalrymen and rushed to the south gate.
To be fair, the battle situation around the South Gate was not very bad, because although the Jun Shui Army lost control of the South Gate due to a sneak attack by some rebel forces in the inner chamber, it did not take long before the Jun Shui Army officers and soldiers quickly
In response, they launched a counterattack against the Yangwu army who attempted to attack the palace and some rebel forces from the chamberlain who were mixed in.
It has to be said that the Junshui Army is worthy of being one of the "Six Garrison Battalions". As an army that is stationed in the suburbs of Daliang City all year round and rarely dispatched outside, the soldiers of the Junshui Army were in this premeditated sneak attack by the bandits.
There was some chaos, but it didn't take long for it to stabilize. They used Zhen Palace as a stronghold and guarded the east and west avenues, effectively curbing the influx of Yangwu troops into the depths of the palace.
"Xilulu——"
There was a sound of horses neighing, and the heroic general Cao Jie reined in his horse and stopped in front of Zhen Palace. He looked around at the soldiers of his army who were resisting Yangwu's army, and shouted loudly: "Where is Duan Yang?!"
After several shouts, a general rushed to Cao Jie's horse and saluted with clasped fists: "Marquis Duan Yang, please see General Cao."
Cao Jie waved his hand and exempted Duan Yang from the military salute, and asked in a deep voice: "What's the situation now?"
After hearing this, Duan Yang said sternly: "Those Yangwu soldiers didn't know why they went crazy and attacked our army, as well as the internal servants and supervisors. Just now they..."
"I don't want to hear this! I just want to know how the current situation is?!" Cao Jie interrupted Duan Yang and asked.
Duan Yang was shocked when he heard this, and immediately said succinctly: "The south gate has been lost, and the walls on both sides are still fighting fiercely."
Cao Jie thought for a moment and asked, "Does the Yangwu army have siege equipment?"
"There is a ladder."
"..." Cao Jie frowned when he heard this.
If the Yangwu army did not carry the ladder with the army, he would adopt an internal-first-outward strategy, that is, first focus on annihilating the Yangwu rebels along the palace walls on both sides, and then concentrate on retaking the south gate of the palace.
But since the Yangwu rebels have prepared ladders, this strategy will not work. After all, the rebels will use the ladders to continuously attack the outer wall of the palace gate.
"We must take the initiative!"
Cao Jie made up his mind and ordered in a deep voice: "Duan Yang, listen to the order. I order you to defend Zhen Palace and not allow the rebels to attack the palace."
"Follow the order!" Duan Yang said, clasping his fists and accepting the order.
Seeing this, Cao Jie clamped his legs under the horse's belly, raised the sharp sword in his hand, and shouted loudly: "Xiao Qiying, listen to the order, follow me... kill!"
After giving the order, he led five hundred dredging cavalry and headed straight towards the south gate of the palace.
Along the way, the infantrymen of the dredging army gave way in the melee, and the Yangwu rebels who tried to block Cao Jie's path were ruthlessly slaughtered by the 500 dredging cavalry led by Cao Jie, who forcibly cut a bloody road.
"bite--"
An arrow cluster hit Cao Jie's armor with strong force, but unfortunately, it could only leave a scratch on the armor.
At this scene, let alone one of the Yangwu rebel generals who was trying to snipe Cao Jie, his eyes widened in shock, and even Cao Jie was slightly absent-minded.
"Oh."
Cao Jie grinned at the rebel general with a mocking look on his face, not bothering to pay attention to him at all. He waved the seemingly indestructible sword in his hand and split a Yangwu rebel in two with his armor.
cut.
"What a sword!"
Glancing at the almost undamaged sword in his hand, Cao Jie secretly whistled: The armaments ordered by Emperor Wei to spend huge sums of money from the Metallurgical Bureau were indeed extraordinary.
"I wonder if "Yuma Rider" felt the same way when he was on the Shangdang battlefield..."
Cao Jie couldn't help but think about it.
To be honest, the cavalry armor purchased by his dredging army from the Smelting Bureau was not a heavy armor like that of the merchant army, but a kind of armor between light armor and heavy armor - let's call it a general term.
As medium armor, these medium armor cannot withstand the sniper fire of a powerful crossbow within fifty steps, but they still have considerable defensive power.
In comparison, the equipment of the Yangwu Army is not worth mentioning. It is still the same weaponry and equipment as ten years ago, almost 20 years behind the Junsui Army.
This is also the fundamental reason why the Junshui Army was able to make an effective counterattack even after being stunned at the beginning - the equipment of the two armies is really very different.
The simplest analogy is: the weapon in the hands of the Junshui soldiers may be able to pierce the Yangwu rebels and their armor with one sword, but the sword in the hands of the Yangwu rebels will take several
Only a sword can cut through the armor of the Junshui soldiers.
Under this hard gap in equipment, even if the Yangwu Army seized the opportunity, it would not be able to cause any effective casualties to the Dredging Army.
It was precisely because of this that Cao Jie, without much effort, killed the rebels along the south gate and rushed straight to the outside of the palace.
When Cao Jie led the cavalry to the outside of the palace, he couldn't help but be dumbfounded when he saw the densely packed Yangwu rebels outside the palace.
"Damn it, the Blue Crows are unreliable... Are these more than a thousand people?"
Cao Jie cursed inwardly with a wry smile, and secretly complained to Duan Shisan and others who had just delivered the warning to him.
Of course, he was not doubting the Qingya people. After all, they were fooling around and there was no telling how many Yangwu rebels participated in the attack on the palace.
But having said that, Cao Jie did not feel panic at this moment. Instead, he felt excited in his heart - after receiving the new equipment built by the Smelting Bureau, his dredging army was worried that there were no suitable test subjects!
"kill!"
Following Cao Jie's slightly excited order, the five hundred cavalrymen of the Dredging Navy became a lingering nightmare for the Yangwu rebels. These cavalrymen, who seemed to be invulnerable, spread their horses' hooves and let the horses under their crotches run wildly.
He ran, and every time he swung the sword in his hand, a Yangwu rebel fell in a pool of blood, howling miserably.
You must know that the batch of war knives built by the Metallurgical Bureau for the Junshui Army are different from those in the past. They are the prototype of another weapon improved by the Metallurgical Bureau on the basis of the Zhanma Dao. When this kind of knife is upgraded to use
To the extent that His Highness Prince Su is satisfied, it will have another name, Mo Dao, ordered by His Highness Prince Su himself.
Compared with the old Zhanma Dao, this Mo Dao, although still in its prototype, is lighter in weight, has a narrower blade, and the front end of the blade is slightly heavier than the handle, so the Junshui Army cavalry often wave it casually when wielding it.
, can cause a very powerful slash, and the curvature of the blade is also very suitable for cavalry on war horses to slash, so that the dredging cavalry feel an inexplicable pleasure when slashing.
dripping.
Especially when you see the Mo Dao being swung to cut the target into two pieces along with the armor, the feeling of pleasure is almost like addiction.
It is said that this batch of horse war swords was originally intended to be equipped with the Youma Army. Unfortunately, the improvement of this weapon by the Smelting Bureau failed to catch up with the "Wei-Han Northern Frontier Campaign". Therefore, the Junshui Army was very honored to become
The first user of this weapon.
Even Cao Jie had to admit that this horse fighting sword, even though it was still just a test product of the Smelting Bureau, was far more powerful than any weapon he was familiar with before. It is no exaggeration to say that,
With this kind of weapons, things like carbines can only be used as throwing spears.
I don't know how long they have been fighting, but the excitement in Cao Jie's heart has not diminished at all. On the contrary, the war horse under his crotch is a little overwhelmed, and it is snorting heavily from its nose. It's no wonder, after all, although the middle class is not as good as Yuma
The army's heavy armor is heavy, but after all, it is armor made of alloy iron and cowhide, so the weight is naturally not that light.
However, when he took another look at the Yangwu rebels on the battlefield outside the palace, Cao Jie frowned.
According to his estimate, there are more than a thousand Yangwu troops participating in the rebellion. There are estimated to be two to three thousand at the south gate alone. How many of such a huge number are the real remnants of the Xiao family?
?
As far as he knew, the Yangwu Army, which took care of the Zhongyang Palace and Zhongyang Hunting Ground, once had a maximum strength of 30,000 people. Even now, more than thirty years later, it still has a strength of 8,000 people. Could it be that
Are these eight thousand people all remnants of the Xiao family?
This is impossible.
Therefore, in Cao Jie's view, the real remnants of the Xiao family may be just a small group of people, a small group of generals who control the military power of Yangwu Army, and the vast majority of Yangwu soldiers may be just innocent people who were kept in the dark.
who.
Just like the Yangwu Army rebel he killed, when Cao Jie asked him why he wanted to attack Zhongyang Palace, the other party actually said that his Junshui Army was rebelling.
Are you kidding?!
His dredging army is the defense force stationed in the capital of Daliang!
But through these words, Cao Jie also realized that most of the Yangwu army was deceived by the remnants of the Xiao family who were among them.
"Damn it, don't these country soldiers know that we are a dredging army?"
Cao Jie glanced around sadly.
At this moment, he suddenly heard a loud rumbling noise not far away. Looking under the dim moonlight, Cao Jie was surprised to find that it seemed to be Wei Mu's Nanyan Army.
The leading cavalry group seemed to be spearheaded by Wei Mu's deputy general Ai He.
"Great, reinforcements are coming!"
Cao Jie was overjoyed and stood still waiting for the arrival of the Nan Yan army.
From a distance, the Nanyan cavalry charged towards the Yangwu army outside the palace.
Twenty feet...
Ten feet...
Suddenly, Cao Jie, who was about to greet Ai He, suddenly felt that something was wrong. As a military general, his intuition made him subconsciously raise the sword in his hand and block it in front of his chest.
There was a loud sound, and the spear in Ai He's hand was bounced away by Cao Jie's sword.
"Vice General Ai? Vice General Ai, what are you doing?!" Cao Jie exclaimed.
However, Ai He turned a blind eye to his greeting and attacked Cao Jie repeatedly.
Seeing this, Cao Jie was confused for a while, then suddenly his heart was shocked and he realized one thing: Ai He is a remnant of the Xiao family!
"not good!"
Cao Jie, who was shocked, quickly turned around and looked around, and sure enough he saw that the 500 dredging cavalry under his command were unprepared and killed by the Nanyan cavalry.
"The Junshui Army rebelled and caused chaos. Please follow me, King Qin!" Ai He shouted loudly.
After hearing this, the Nanyan cavalry and the Nanyan army infantry who arrived later launched a ferocious attack on the Junshui army. This confusing rhetoric made Cao Jie almost spit out blood.
"Stop! Stop!... Ai He is a remnant of the Xiao family, don't listen to him... Damn it!" Before Cao Jie could finish shouting those words, he was almost hit by a weapon from a Nanyan cavalryman.
It has to be said that Cao Jie made a mistake: those Nanyan soldiers under Wei Mu knew nothing about the "remnants of the Xiao family", so his words were far less serious than Ai He's words of "the Junshui army rebelled".
Although some soldiers in the Nanyan Army were confused and did not understand why the Junshui Army wanted to rebel, they naturally had to obey the orders of Lieutenant General Ai He when the general did not show up.
It has to be said that with their excellent weapons, the Junshui Army was still able to block the large Yangwu Army, but when facing the Nanyan Army whose weapons and equipment were not inferior to theirs, the situation of the Junshui Army became very unfavorable.
, to the point of retreating steadily.
Seeing this, Ai He didn't care to fight with Cao Jie and shouted loudly: "Yangwu Army and Nanyan Army listen to the order and follow me into the palace to protect your majesty!"
This sentence was more effective than anything else, so that the Yangwu army immediately turned to the Nanyan army and launched a fierce attack on the Junshui army.
But when the officers and soldiers of the Junshui Army heard these words, they were all at a loss: Isn't the other party a rebel?
Due to the disparity in strength, Cao Jie watched helplessly as Ai He led the Nanyan Army and Yangwu Army to the palace. He could only shout towards the palace wall: "Immediately report to your Majesty that the Nanyan Army is rebelling!"
The two camps each believed that the other was rebellious, so the situation was extremely chaotic.
After a while, the news reached the main hall of the middle palace. Even though Emperor Yi Zhao Yuanli had just faced Zhao Yuanli's move to force the palace, Emperor Wei Zhao Yuansi was still as stable as a mountain. After hearing the news of the "Nan Yan Army's rebellion", he became a little restless.
He scolded King Yi Zhao Yuanli in a deep voice: "Lao Liu, even now, are you still stubborn?"
"Xiao Luan..."
The scenes when he got acquainted with Xiao Luan flashed through the mind of King Yi Zhao Yuanli, and he recalled the frivolous, cunning and witty Crown Prince of Nan Yan.
After a long time, he raised his right hand and waved, signaling the nightingales to let go of the guests they were holding hostage.
"Where's the antidote?" Emperor Wei asked.
Yi Wang Zhao Yuanli shook his head and said: "There is no need for an antidote. This anesthetic will dissipate on its own after a while..."
After hearing this, Emperor Wei's face brightened slightly.
After all, this incident once again proved that King Yi Zhao Yuanli did not intend to cause trouble.
But when he thought of this brother being used by Xiao Luan, Emperor Wei became angry.
At this time, seeing the hostages released by Nightingale in the palace, the Imperial Guards outside the palace quickly rushed in and captured all the Nightingales, including the Yinger and Queer sisters beside Zhao Hongrun.
And just when these imperial guards were about to capture King Yi Zhao Yuanli, they saw Emperor Wei's eyes widen and he shouted: "Can't you tell which is more serious? Why don't you quickly go and help the dredging army to quell the rebellion? Go quickly!"
Everyone go!...Jin Ju!"
"I humbly obey my orders!"
Jin Ju, the commander of the Imperial Guard, cupped his fists and accepted the order, then turned around and waved his hand and said, "Prisonary Guard, follow me to attack!"
As a result, all the Imperial Guards rushed out of the palace again to assist the Jun Shui Army in putting down the rebellion.
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
Li Zheng, who had gradually recovered from his physical paralysis, walked to Emperor Wei and whispered: "The Nanyan Army also rebels, and the Dredging Army may not be able to resist for long..."
Hearing this, many guests in the palace couldn't help but whisper and looked panicked.
Seeing this, Emperor Wei said calmly: "What are you afraid of? There are still thousands of men in the palace, can't you guard a middle palace?"
After saying that, Emperor Wei looked around and said in a deep voice: "Gentlemen, I want to personally go into battle and kill the rebels. Are you willing to follow me?"
After hearing this, Zong Zheng Zhao Yuanyan, Chengling King Zhao Shen, Anping Marquis Zhao Tan and other children of the Ji Zhao family took the lead in standing up and calling in response: "I will defend your Majesty to the death!"
Immediately, the other nobles in the palace, regardless of whether they were frightened or uneasy, were forced by the situation and stood up one after another.
At this time, Zhao Hongrun stood up and said to Emperor Wei: "Father, I still have fifty Suwang guards and more than a hundred Qingya people. Let me go and gather everyone."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but look at Sixth Prince Zhao Yuanli again and again, feeling very complicated.
After hearing Zhao Hongrun's words, Emperor Wei turned his head and glanced at his son.
To be fair, he did not want Zhao Hongrun, a junior, to interfere in his grudges with Xiao Luan. After all, they were grudges of the previous generation.
This is a father's self-respect.
But judging from the current situation, any force is rare and valuable, not to mention that this son is an outstanding commander.
So he nodded and said, "Well, go ahead and take care of all the matters on your own during the period."
"yes!"
Zhao Hongrun bowed his hand, leaving several clan guards to protect Princess Yulong and Oona. He only took Wei Jiao, others and Mi Jiang and walked quickly towards the palace gate.
When passing by Yi Wang Zhao Yuanli, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but pause and take another look at the Sixth Uncle. He had too many things to say to this Sixth Uncle, but right now, it seemed that it was not the right time.
"Walk."
After whispering to Mi Jiang, Zong Wei and others, Zhao Hongrun walked out of the hall.
This made Yi Wang Zhao Yuanli even more disappointed. After all, Zhao Hongrun had just stopped and hesitated to speak, and he had actually seen it.
"Father..."
Sisters Ying'er and Que'er seemed to sense the loss and confusion in Zhao Yuanli's heart, and walked to the latter's side to comfort him softly.
Feeling the concern of the two sisters, Zhao Yuanli nodded slightly, and then said in a hoarse voice: "Ying'er, Que'er, go help him."
"Yes, foster father." Ying'er nodded and left with Que'er and the other nightingales in the hall.
Emperor Wei did not stop the nightingales from leaving. After all, he could distinguish who was the real enemy. As for the sixth child, Zhao Yuanli, he was just a sad man who was deceived by his old love.
As if he had not seen King Yi Zhao Yuanli, Emperor Wei entrusted Concubine Shen Shu and Wu Guifei to Zhao Hongxuan for their protection, and took Li Zheng, Zhao Yuanyan, Zhao Shen, Zhao Tan and many nobles to the outside of the central palace.
Waiting for the rebel forces to arrive.
The battle situation after that did not improve much. Even the Junshui Army faced the double attacks of the Yangwu Army and the Nanyan Army and retreated steadily due to numerical disadvantage. Seeing this, Li Qi, the deputy general of the Junshui Army,
He made a decisive decision to abandon other palaces and defend the central palace.
At this time, in the open space in front of the middle palace, Su Wang Zhao Hongrun had gathered Su Wang's guards and the Qingya people, and used some furniture from the nearby palace to build a simple defense line.
As more and more Junshui soldiers retreated, Zhao Hongrun shouted loudly: "The Junshui army obeyed the order, and now I, Zhao Run, will take over the command!"
Lieutenant General Li Qi of the Dredging Navy had no objection to His Highness Prince Su's attempt to seize power. After all, Prince Su's Zhao Hongrun's talent in marching and fighting was obvious to all.
With Li Ji's active cooperation, the Jun Shui Army reorganized their formation in front of the Central Palace.
At this time, Zhao Hongrun had also ordered Su Wangwei to set up the few sniper crossbows in some wooden cabinets.
It has to be said that even Zhao Hongrun feels that the situation at this moment is extremely difficult. If there were 10,000 King Su troops around him at this moment... No, even if there were 5,000 fully armed King Su troops, the situation would not be so passive.
Although the Dredging Army is also an elite force, it has to be said that this army is indeed not as brave as the battle-hardened King Su Army. After all, the King Su Army can be said to be a sharp army honed on the battlefield.
"His Royal Highness King Su."
The President of the Three Guards Army led Li Zheng here.
"General Li." Zhao Hongrun nodded towards Li Zheng, then turned back and glanced at Emperor Wei and many nobles in the palace corridor.
It is undeniable that Emperor Wei's approach of personally going into battle really boosted morale, but Zhao Hongrun was not optimistic about its actual effectiveness - even if a group of people who usually enjoy themselves have some so-called swordsmanship, can they be compared with soldiers?
Even more terrible people, even if one of these people dies, it is not worth it.
"General Li, please tell me everything. Does your father have any backup plans?" Zhao Hongrun asked in a low voice. He didn't believe that his father was unprepared.
Hearing this, Li Zheng smiled bitterly, because the Nanyan army participating in the rebellion at this moment was originally one of the last moves of Emperor Wei.
"For today's plan..." Li Zheng whispered a few words to Zhao Hongrun, who sometimes frowned and sometimes relaxed.
After a while, the rebels arrived, but because Zhao Hongrun had reorganized his formation in the Zhonggong Palace, the rebels were temporarily unable to break through.
However, at this moment, several Green Crows who had gone to inquire about the battle situation returned to the central palace and shouted loudly: "The Second Army of the North! The Second Army of the North has entered the palace!"
"What?!"
Zhao Hongrun's complexion suddenly changed, and a bad premonition emerged in his heart.
At this time, Emperor Wei also had a gloomy face. He turned back suddenly and asked in a deep voice: "Where is the King of Nanliang?"
Everyone nearby looked at each other in confusion, and Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, could not be seen on either side.
Seeing this, Emperor Wei's face became even more ugly.
However, at this moment, Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, was seen slowly walking out of the central palace hall, and asked with a half-smile but not a smile: "I heard your majesty's summons, what are your orders?"
"..."
Emperor Wei was stunned.
The Second Army of the North invaded the Zhongyang Palace, but Zhao Yuanzuo, the King of Southern Liang, still appeared in front of him alone. This illustrates one thing - the position of Zhao Yuanzuo, the King of Southern Liang.
"Are you surprised?" As if he could see the shock in Emperor Wei's heart, Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, said calmly: "The experience of standing in the wrong team is enough once. How many seventeen years can there be in a life? Right?...
I will put down this rebellion, my lord."
After hearing this, Emperor Wei's expression became extremely exciting: Lao Liu, whom he trusted the most, betrayed him this time, while Lao San, whom he had always suspected and feared, gave up the God-given opportunity to take revenge for what happened back then and chose to side with him.
This way.
"Xiao Luan betrayed Yuan Ren, and you betrayed Xiao Luan...?"
Emperor Wei took a deep look at Zhao Yuanzuo, King of Southern Liang.
He has never understood this Third Prince Brother, but he is certain of one thing.
This man is even more difficult to deal with than Xiao Luan.