My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 419 Li Shimin: All-Out Attack
Blow up Xuanwu Gate.

For Li Chengqian, this meant victory.

Judging from the current situation, Li Chengqian has fallen into a significant disadvantage in terms of military strength.

The current troop strength, pieced together from various sources, amounts to only about 20,000 men.

This still includes the several thousand men who were previously part of the Liaodong submarine force.

Xuanwu Gate is now a meat grinder, with countless lives being lost every moment.

Although the loss of the three thousand musketeers was not significant, the other elite troops risked their lives to protect them as part of the overall strategic deployment.

On the other hand, Li Shimin's side had an absolute advantage in the number of imperial guards. Not to mention, after Hou Junji was defeated in Chang'an, his previous arrangements in Chang'an completely failed.

From another perspective, Li Chengqian is now fighting alone.

Li Shimin's side had the perfect combination of timing, location, and popular support.

But then again, what is Li Chengqian's biggest card?
It was not the previous force of 60,000 to 70,000 troops, nor Tongguan or Luoyang, nor Liaodong.

It was gunpowder!

To be precise, it was artillery.

It was because of the three hundred cannons placed in front of Xuanwu Gate.

Li Shimin's arrangement of Xuanwu Gate was also centered around these three hundred cannons.

The appearance of the arquebusiers did indeed bring Li Shimin a lot of trouble, but that was all.

Unlike later generations, the Tang Dynasty at that time had a high rate of armor wear, which meant that firearms could not truly demonstrate their advantages.

In fact, from a historical perspective, the emergence of the firearm was not due to its superiority over the bow and crossbow, but rather to its simplicity.

First, there is the overwhelming advantage in power and penetration. The power of a bow and crossbow is limited by the physiological limits of the human body and the properties of the materials.

Taking the powerful crossbow as an example, the Song Dynasty's Shenbi bow had a draw weight of about 300 jin and an initial velocity of about 50 meters per second, which could penetrate ordinary iron armor within 70 meters.

The Mongol composite bow of the Yuan Dynasty had a draw weight of 166 jin (approximately 83 catties) and an effective range of about 200 meters, but its ability to penetrate plate armor was limited.

The musket is completely different. Even without the black powder being granulated, it can penetrate a 1.5 mm thick iron plate within 30 meters.

The strongest crossbow bolts can only penetrate 0.8 millimeters.

The trajectory of a crossbow is a typical "parabolic trajectory". The flight of the arrow is significantly affected by gravity and needs to be fired at a certain angle. The longer the range, the greater the deviation in the landing point.

The Divine Arm Bow has a lateral deviation of up to five meters at a distance of 200 meters, making it difficult to accurately strike a single target. Therefore, it is more suitable for a wide-ranging attack of "a volley of arrows".

The musket, on the other hand, has a higher initial velocity of projectiles, resulting in a trajectory closer to a "straight line."

Matchlock guns have a flat trajectory within 100 meters, with deviations controllable within one meter, making them suitable for precise sniping of enemy commanders or cavalry.

This characteristic allows it to adapt to more complex tactical scenarios: it can suppress enemies from a distance in open terrain, as well as strike enemies behind crenellations in city defense battles.

The biggest advantage lies in the cost-effectiveness of military training.

The development of the musket in history went from taking ten years to develop a single arrow to completing a single weapon in three months.

The use of bows and crossbows places extremely high demands on the physical fitness of the user. Anyone with the title of "archer" is a representative of a fierce general, such as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were mounted archers and foot archers.

This high barrier to entry meant that archers were always the "elite" troops in the army.

Even in the Song Dynasty, when crossbows were most common, archers in the Imperial Guards only accounted for 20% of the total number of soldiers, and most of them were professional soldiers.

The operational logic of the musket completely overturned the traditional weapon training model.

A farmer can become a qualified musket operator after three months of training.

The first month is for learning to load ammunition, the second month for learning to aim, and the third month for learning to fire volleys.

It requires no special physical fitness and can be done by the elderly, the weak, women and children.

This "de-elitization" characteristic allows it to quickly replenish the army.

During the Ming Dynasty's war against Japanese pirates, Qi Jiguang's "Qi Family Army" trained 3,000 arquebusiers in one month, while an archer unit of the same size would have taken at least three years.

More importantly, musket training can be standardized and replicated.

The skill level of an archer is greatly influenced by talent, such as arm length and muscle type, while the combat effectiveness of a musketeer depends mainly on the quality of the weapon and proficiency in the process.

It is precisely because of these factors that firearms, which seem to be ahead of their time, actually struggle to gain a decisive advantage in elite battles.

The true significance of firearms lies in their ability to rapidly deploy a large number of usable troops.

This is also why, after Li Chengqian's musketeers caused a certain number of casualties to the Imperial Guards, their impact was not significant afterward.

Of course, the deterrent effect was still very strong against the Imperial Guards who were not wearing full armor.

The Tang Dynasty was indeed wealthy, but it didn't possess a 100,000-strong armored army.
"Your Highness, what a brilliant plan!"

Du He's eyes lit up when she heard that Xuanwu Gate was going to be blown up.

He naturally understood what it would mean if Xuanwu Gate collapsed.

This would mean that the Imperial Guard would have to face the bombardment of three hundred cannons.

In today's direct combat, artillery is an invincible force.

No army, no matter how elite, could possibly withstand a charge of three hundred cannons.

Previously, artillery was mostly used for sieges, but that does not mean that artillery was dominant on the battlefield.

The city walls hindered the cannons' effectiveness, but if the Xuanwu Gate were blown up, nothing could stop the cannons.

"I will go and make the arrangements immediately."

Du He left in a hurry.

Li Chengqian glanced in the direction of Chang'an City and instructed Zhao Jie: "Send three thousand soldiers to build defensive fortifications within the city."

"The previous suicide soldiers have all gone over. If Li Jing's cavalry dares to charge, let them know what's what."

"No matter what method is used, we must stop them for an hour."

Zhao Jie also knew that now was the most crucial moment.

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, Li Jing's army will definitely not be able to cross the border within an hour."

Zhao Jie didn't make any promises or pledges, nor did he mention bringing his head as a reward.

If we lose, we will all die.

After receiving the order, Du He turned around and plunged into the rear equipment camp.

A large quantity of Thunderbolt Fire was brought out; this was almost all of Li Chengqian's wealth, amounting to approximately two thousand catties.

Just in case, Du He brought all the Thunderbolts with him this time.

All that matters is blowing up Xuanwu Gate. Xuanwu Gate has now been transformed into a giant meat grinder, with large numbers of soldiers dying every moment.

On the city wall, Yuchi Jingde and Cheng Yaojin led a large number of elite troops to defend it to the death.

Normally, on such a narrow road, where the effectiveness of muskets would be maximized, the city wall should have been captured long ago.

But it's not actually that simple.

There were no defensive fortifications on the city wall against the stone steps. According to the traditional siege mode, once the city gate was breached, there was rarely any attempt to seize the city wall; instead, people would rush in.

This also led to Xue Rengui's rapid advance in the early stages, almost immediately reaching the city wall.

But trouble soon arose.

Realizing the power of the muskets, Cheng Yaojin immediately suggested to Yuchi Jingde that they use the corpses of their comrades to block the stone steps and prevent Xue Rengui from rushing up.

Blood droplets rolled down the crenellations of the city wall, leaving grotesque red streaks on the gray bricks.

Yuchi Jingde witnessed three guards peek out, only to have their skulls blown off by lead bullets from the muskets fired from below the stone steps, their scalding blood and brain matter splattering onto his breastplate.

"Blocking the road with corpses?"

Yuchi Jingde's voice sounded like it had been sanded: "Cheng Zhijie, are you crazy! Those are brothers who have risked their lives with us!"

"Crazy? By the time Xue Rengui's musketeers reach the city walls, we won't even have a chance to collect the corpses!" Cheng Yaojin kicked away a broken spear shaft at his feet, his bloodshot eyes sweeping over the mountain of corpses piled up at his feet.

"Look at the stone steps! Xue Rengui's men are climbing up on the blood of our brothers, firing their muskets like popping beans. If we don't find a way, the fate of Xuanwu Gate is about to change!"

He suddenly grabbed a still-warm corpse, a young imperial guard whose chest had been pierced by a musket, his face frozen in the shock of his dying moments.

Cheng Yaojin gripped the armor plates on the back of the corpse, dragging it towards the stone steps like a sack of potatoes. His rough, hoarse roar shook the city bricks: "What are you all standing there for! Do you want to get shot through the throat by a musket? Stack the corpses up! Three layers! No, five layers! Block them so they can't even stick their pipes through!"

Yuchi Jingde watched the flames spewing from the stone steps below. Xue Rengui's soldiers had already charged halfway up the wall. Lead bullets from their muskets whizzed past the city walls, striking the wooden pillars of the arrow tower and sending splinters flying. An old soldier was about to raise his bow to shoot an arrow when a lead bullet pierced his throat. Blood gushed from the corner of his mouth as he fell straight off the city wall.

"Damn it!"

Yuchi Jingde suddenly cursed loudly, bent down and hoisted up an even more robust corpse: "Old bastard Cheng is right! Brothers, let's go first, and in the next life we'll still be comrades!"

Two corpses were violently pushed down the stone steps, crashing with a "thud" into the pile of musketeers climbing the stairs. The imperial guards behind them seemed to snap out of a daze, frantically dragging their comrades' bodies back up the steps. Some of the corpses were not yet fully stiff; their fingers would twitch involuntarily as they were dragged, scraping against the city bricks with a sickening scraping sound.

Cheng Yaojin removed his blood-stained bright armor, bare-chested, and hoisted two corpses stacked together, slamming them hard against the stone steps. The pile of corpses instantly collapsed, and several lead bullets shot up from the gap, grazing his ribs and carving shallow dents into the city bricks.

"Fill it up! Fill it up like crazy!"

Cheng Yaojin wiped the blood from his face, grabbed a spear from the side, and stabbed it into the pile of corpses, pinning the arms of the musketeers who were trying to push the bodies aside to the stone steps: "Let them know that the bones of our Imperial Guard are hard!"

Soon, a mountain of corpses nearly ten feet high was piled up on the stone steps, with layers of armor and limbs intertwined, like a writhing wall of flesh.

The musketeers' lead bullets, when they struck the pile of corpses, could only splatter a few pieces of flesh and blood, unable to penetrate the defensive line built of their comrades' bodies.

Xue Rengui's soldiers rushed up the slippery bloodstains, only to be blocked by piles of corpses halfway up. As they tried to push the bodies aside, spears and rolling stones from the city wall rained down on them.

Yuchi Jingde, holding a long spear, stood guard atop the pile of corpses. He saw a musketeer trying to squeeze through the gaps between the corpses, and with one shot, he smashed the man's head to pieces.

Warm blood splattered on his stubble-covered face, but he didn't even blink, only roaring hoarsely, "Xue Rengui! If you have the guts, climb up here! I'll let you taste what it's like to be torn to pieces!"

The pile of corpses continued to rise, the bodies underneath cracking and splintering with a chilling sound.

Some arms stretched out from the pile of corpses, as if still struggling in vain; some heads rolled onto the stone steps, their empty eye sockets facing the musketeers charging upwards.

The strong stench of blood mixed with the smell of gunpowder lingered in the air above Xuanwu Gate, and even the wind carried a rusty, metallic scent.

The sound of muskets firing below the stone steps gradually subsided, and Xue Rengui's soldiers were blocked from advancing an inch by this bloody defensive line.

Taking advantage of the situation, the imperial guards on the city wall brought over logs and stones and smashed them down on the crowd below the pile of corpses, with screams and the sound of bones breaking echoing everywhere.

Yuchi Jingde stared at the ever-growing mountain of corpses, then suddenly squatted down and wiped the wide-open eyes of a young corpse with his sleeve.

That was the son of a veteran who had followed him for many years. Yesterday, he was still calling him "General," but now he had become a "brick" blocking the stone steps.

"Wait until we win." Yuchi Jingde's voice was so low it was almost a whisper.

Cheng Yaojin patted his shoulder, his knuckles turning white from the force: "Now is not the time for sentimentality, look over there! Xue Rengui is about to blow up a pile of corpses!"

Yuchi Jingde's pupils constricted sharply. Those were the Thunderbolts from Li Chengqian's army! He suddenly grabbed Cheng Yaojin and shoved him aside. The pile of corpses behind them exploded with a deafening roar, and severed limbs and pieces of flesh rained down, splattering the two of them all over.

Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, Cheng Yaojin coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood, grabbed his broadsword from the ground, and grinned: "Well done! I'll see if their gunpowder is tougher, or if our brothers' bones are tougher!"

On the city wall, the surviving imperial guards began dragging new corpses to fill the gaps created by the explosions.

Beneath the city walls, Xue Rengui's brows were furrowed in worry.

Su Dingfang glanced at it and frowned just as much.

The current situation is far too unfavorable for the Crown Prince.

They were on the city walls and would never allow the cannons to pass unimpeded.

The four-wheeled vehicles used to mount the cannons required several strong men to move them slowly, let alone hundreds of cannons.

At that moment, Du He arrived with a large number of soldiers carrying Thunderbolts.

Xue Rengui's eyes lit up. With so many Thunderbolts, they could definitely blow up the path leading to the stone steps.

I'm just a little worried that if we use too much Thunderbolt, it might blow up the stone steps.

Du He ignored Xue Rengui and hurried to Su Dingfang's side.

"The Crown Prince orders: Blow up the Xuanwu Gate!"

Su Dingfang's eyes lit up immediately, and in just a moment he understood the significance of blowing up Xuanwu Gate.

"How many Thunderbolts did you bring?"

Su Dingfang hurriedly asked, "If the number is too small, it's not certain that it can be blown up."

Du He replied, "More than two thousand catties, all the Thunderbolts are here."

Su Dingfang was very satisfied with the amount of two thousand catties and immediately ordered the Xuanwu Gate to be defended at all costs.

The most important thing now is to cover the area under the Xuanwu Gate with Thunderbolt Fire.

At this moment, Xue Rengui no longer needed to charge the city wall.

This unusual scene quickly reached Li Shimin's ears.

Ignoring the danger, Li Shimin spurred his horse forward.

Changsun Wuji murmured, "What does the Crown Prince intend to do?"

Fang Xuanling gritted his teeth and said, "With so many Thunderbolts, the Crown Prince is going to blow up the Xuanwu Gate!"

Li Shimin's expression hardened, and without the slightest hesitation, he declared: "Issue my imperial edict: the entire army shall launch an attack!"

(End of this chapter)