Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 355 Li Shimin: I've truly seen something amazing today! [Seeking monthly votes!]

"Your Highness, please calm your anger!"

Seeing Li Chengqian's ashen face, Qiu Yu quickly comforted him, "Gaochang is just a small country like yours, there's no need to get angry with it!"

"Ha, a tiny, insignificant country?"

Li Chengqian sneered, then picked up the memorial in his hand, shook it a few times, and said, "Do you know how audacious this little country is? My Great Tang Dynasty was building a road with its allies in the Western Regions, but it disagreed. Not only did it destroy the road, but it also sent troops to attack my Great Tang Dynasty's allies. It completely disregards my Great Tang Dynasty!"

"this."

Upon hearing this, the ministers exchanged bewildered glances, thinking to themselves that Gaochang was truly courting death, daring to be so arrogant.

No, where did it get the courage to challenge the Tang Dynasty?
Seemingly noticing everyone's confusion, Li Chengqian explained with a cold smile, "You should all know that our Great Tang has signed military alliance treaties with the Western Regions. But not all the Western Regions countries have signed such treaties with our Great Tang, such as Gaochang."

"However, Gaochang's geographical location is just too important."

"After leaving the Hexi Corridor and passing through Yumen Pass, the first stop is Yiwu, which is our ally, so there's nothing special about it. The second stop is Gaochang."

“Yiwu is small in area and cannot be compared with Gaochang. Therefore, Gaochang’s strategic position is very prominent.”

"If you know history, you should know that Gaochang was a strategic location fought over by military strategists during the Han Dynasty. At that time, it was not called Gaochang, but Cheshi Kingdom. The Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu launched many wars in Cheshi Kingdom in order to gain control of the area."

"Perhaps you will ask why, I will tell you, because of the Silk Road."

"There were originally two routes from the Western Regions to the Hexi Corridor: a southern route and a northern route. The southern route went through the Bailongdui Desert, passed through the Loulan Kingdom, and arrived at the Yumen Pass. The northern route went through the Gaochang Kingdom, passed through Yiwu, and arrived at the Yumen Pass."

"but."

He paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "After the ancient Loulan Kingdom disappeared, the southern route was abandoned, and Gaochang naturally became the golden passage on the Silk Road. Its importance was almost irreplaceable by any other country."

"Do you know what this means?"

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances once again.

But Li Chengqian said to himself, "It can be said that Gaochang almost monopolized all transit trade between the Western Regions and the Central Plains, from which it obtained a continuous stream of huge profits."

"Would our Great Tang Dynasty allow this?"

"Of course not!"

Xue Rengui was the first to step forward and say, "How can such a great benefit be given to a tiny, insignificant country like ours alone?!"

"That's right! Gaochang has unique advantages, which naturally make it the envy of many and the object of their desire."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Therefore, our ally Yanqi has its own ideas about this."

"Among them, the King of Yanqi took the initiative to send people to contact the Tang Dynasty, saying that he wanted to rebuild this abandoned ancient road on the basis of the Southern Route."

"Our Great Tang is naturally happy to see this happen. After all, we are allies. Building this road will only bring benefits to the Great Tang, and it won't hurt us. Moreover, the Great Tang doesn't have to spend any money or effort. Why not do it?"

"Therefore, my father directly agreed to the King of Yanqi's request, letting him make his own decision, while our Great Tang would provide technical assistance."

Hearing this, everyone almost understood.

The Gaochang Kingdom must have attacked the Yanqi Kingdom in anger because its benefits had been divided up.

However, even so, Your Highness, there's no need to get so angry!

Seemingly seeing through everyone's thoughts, Li Chengqian continued to explain: "If it were just sending troops to attack Yanqi to express their dissatisfaction, I could understand. However, they damaged the newly built road and plundered Yanqi. That's going too far."

“Yes, indeed. The Kingdom of Gaochang has really gone too far,” Li Daliang agreed meaningfully.

The other generals echoed this sentiment, feeling that the Gaochang Kingdom was ignorant and arrogant.

However, before they could discuss how to deal with the Gaochang Kingdom, another report came from outside the door.

"Your Highness, envoys from the four kingdoms of Yiwu, Kucha, Kangguo, and Yanqi request an audience!"

"Ok?"

Li Chengqian was slightly taken aback, then seemed to realize something and asked, "Is the grain transport team here?"

"Yes!"

"Then let them wait a while, and I will see them after I have finished discussing important matters!"

"But."

The person who came to report from outside the door said with a troubled expression, "They insist on seeing you now, saying they have something very, very important to report!"

"How dare you! What important matter is it?!"

Before Li Chengqian could even speak, Cheng Gao, who was standing next to Li Daliang, angrily shouted, "Didn't you hear His Highness the Crown Prince say he's busy right now?!"

"Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty! We want to see you!"

"Yes, Your Highness! Our grain supplies have been stolen. If you don't send troops soon, we'll never get them back!"

"Crown Prince of Tang, please let us in!"

As Cheng Gao finished speaking, the envoys who were waiting outside the door immediately shouted loudly, which surprised Li Chengqian and the others.

However, it was precisely because of these cries that Li Chengqian and others realized that this matter was extraordinary.

But then Li Chengqian immediately ordered, "Laifu, go and bring them in!"

"Yes!"

Lai Fu responded and quickly brought in the four messengers.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, pays our respects to you!"

As soon as the four envoys entered, they performed a clumsy Tang Dynasty greeting to Li Chengqian.

Seeing this, Li Chengqian and his generals couldn't help but look on with strange expressions.

But they also knew that these messengers did not do it on purpose, so they simply ignored their etiquette.

But Li Chengqian spoke first: "Just now I heard you say that your grain supplies were robbed? What happened?"

"Your Highness, this isn't the first time our supplies have been robbed; this is the sixth time."

The oldest envoy from Kucha immediately began to lament, "These six grain shipments have almost emptied our country's food reserves."

Six times?

Li Chengqian looked at the Kucha envoy with some surprise and asked, "How could it have been robbed six times?"

When he first heard that the grain supplies had been robbed, he thought it was Su Dingfang and his men who had done it, so he didn't take it to heart. After all, the plan to plunder the Allied Army's grain supplies was something he and Su Dingfang had devised together.

The purpose was to get the Allied forces to send more supplies.

However, when he heard the other party say that he had been robbed six times, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

At this time, the only army outside was Su Dingfang's.

Moreover, the distance from the Western Regions to the border of the Tang Dynasty is not very close, making it almost impossible to raid six times.

Therefore, there is only one possibility: it was not Su Dingfang who robbed them.

Upon thinking of this, Li Chengqian's face immediately darkened.

But then the envoy from Yiwu Kingdom interjected, "Your Highness, Crown Prince of the Great Tang Dynasty, you may not know this, but as soon as we received your instructions, we immediately began to gather provisions within our country and then, in accordance with your instructions, formed an allied army to escort the provisions."

"However, the first time we arrived in Gaochang, we were robbed by the Gaochang cavalry."

"We originally thought that since Gaochang was not an ally of the Tang Dynasty, perhaps they would not let us take that route. So we went back to gather provisions and prepared to take another route, but we were robbed by the Western Turkic cavalry again."

"Later, no matter which road we took, we were either plundered by the Gaochang Kingdom or the Western Turks. We barely managed to escape them, but when we were almost at Ganzhou City, we were plundered by the Tuyuhun cavalry!"

"This is so tough for us!"

"Yes! It's so difficult! Our country is almost completely depleted, and we haven't even successfully delivered a single grain shipment!" Another envoy from Kang Kingdom echoed with a mournful face.

The envoy from Yanqi immediately knelt before Li Chengqian: "Your Highness, Crown Prince of the Great Tang, please do justice for us! Gaochang not only plundered our grain supplies being transported to the Great Tang, but also attacked our Yanqi Kingdom, looted our cities, and robbed our men and women. It is utterly despicable!"

Upon hearing these words, Li Chengqian, already furious, flew into a rage: "Guards! Issue my decree that King Qu Wentai of Gaochang come personally to give me an explanation and return three times the amount of grain plundered. Otherwise, my Great Tang will surely destroy his country, exterminate his clan, leave corpses strewn across the fields, and leave not a blade of grass to grow!"

"Furthermore," he said, glancing at his generals, "I plan to attack Tuyuhun tomorrow. Do any of you have any objections?"

The generals exchanged glances, then said in unison, "Your subjects will obey the Crown Prince's orders!"

Meanwhile, fifty miles outside Liaodong City, there was a large Tang army camp.

Li Shimin is holding a war meeting.

With the fall of Shabei City, Liaodong City became the next target of the Tang Dynasty. Goguryeo leader Lu Yuan Gaesomun realized with horror that once Liaodong City fell, the gateway to the entire Liaodong region would be completely opened by the Tang Dynasty.

What we will face next may be a war that leads to the downfall of our nation.

Therefore, no matter what, he had to protect Liaodong City, this important town.

On the eighth day of the tenth month, a mixed infantry and cavalry force of about 40,000 men from Goguryeo quickly crossed the Yalu River to rush to the aid of Liaodong.

Upon receiving the news, Li Shimin immediately convened a battle meeting.

Li Shimin spoke first: "Although we have been winning all this time, we must not think that we are truly invincible just because we have been winning. Emperor Yang Guang of Sui's million-strong army was defeated in Liaodong. Therefore, we must be fully prepared for this battle and first probe their strength!"

After saying this, he turned his gaze to Li Daozong and said, "Daozong, I want you to lead four thousand vanguard troops to stop the reinforcements from Goguryeo. Are you confident?"

"What!?"

Upon hearing this, the civil and military officials were taken aback. They thought to themselves, "Four thousand against forty thousand, such a disparity in strength, how can we possibly fight this battle?"
"Your Majesty! In my opinion, we should adopt a defensive posture, using deep trenches and high walls to resist the Goguryeo army, and then mobilize a large army to fight them in a decisive battle!" Zhang Jian hurriedly stepped forward to advise.

Li Daozong glared at him irritably and said, "Is Governor Zhang underestimating me? This isn't the first time I've fought a battle with fewer troops and won. It's my duty to investigate the situation for His Majesty. How can I be a coward?"

"No, Prince Jiangxia, we must prioritize the greater good!"

"Yes, Prince Jiangxia! Didn't you hear His Majesty say? Yang Guang's million-strong army was all wiped out here."

"Prince Jiangxia! Don't be so stubborn."

Hearing the ministers' agreement, Li Shimin immediately sensed that the morale of the troops was off. He then smiled and reassured them, "Don't worry, everyone. I will keep a close eye on the movements of the Prince of Jiangxia. Once I discover that Goguryeo only has these 40,000 troops, I will immediately send troops to reinforce the Prince of Jiangxia!"

"Your Majesty! There is no need for that. I believe we can defeat these 40,000 Goguryeo reinforcements!" Li Daozong directly refused.

Li Xiaogong, standing to the side, chuckled and said, "Daozong, don't blame me for not reminding you, if you sense anything amiss, retreat immediately and await reinforcements from me and His Majesty!"

"Humph!"

Li Daozong snorted coldly, clearly somewhat unconvinced.

However, before he could retort to Li Xiaogong, a report came from outside the tent: "Your Majesty, a report has arrived regarding the Crown Prince's military situation!"

"Ok?"

Li Shimin was slightly taken aback, then looked around at the civil and military officials and asked, "How is the battle going on the Crown Prince's side?"

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince decisively defeated the Xueyantuo army of 100,000 outside Ganzhou City, captured the Xueyantuo's eldest son, Prince Yishi Dadu, killed 30,000 enemy soldiers, and buried alive 70,000 prisoners!"

Boom!

This report caused a sensation throughout the room.

Almost all the civil and military officials, including Li Shimin himself, seemed to think they had misheard, standing there in disbelief.

Li Shimin, in particular, visibly trembled when he heard that Li Chengqian had killed 30,000 enemy soldiers and buried alive 70,000 prisoners in a single battle.

This unfilial son is even more ruthless than I imagined!
During the Double Ninth Festival banquet, Li Chengqian also killed tens of thousands of people, but those tens of thousands were not comparable to the tens of thousands on the battlefield.

After all, the situation on the battlefield is more unpredictable, and those powerful families are just lambs to the slaughter; there is no comparison whatsoever.

But Cheng Yaojin was the first to exclaim in shock: "Heavens! How did His Highness the Crown Prince do that? He actually killed so many people!"

"Yes! In one battle, 30,000 enemy soldiers were killed and 70,000 were captured. It's like the Xueyantuo army was completely wiped out! What's even more terrifying is that the Crown Prince actually had all 70,000 prisoners buried alive!" Yuchi Gong said with a look of astonishment.

The other officials were even more shocked.

Only Changsun Wuji seemed to have guessed Li Shimin's thoughts, and hurriedly said, "Quickly! Quickly bring in the intelligence report!"

"Yes!"

Soon, the military intelligence report was handed over to Changsun Wuji.

Changsun Wuji did not hesitate at all and opened the military intelligence report in front of everyone.

The document contained a detailed record of the Battle of Ganzhou. When he saw that Li Chengqian was incredibly brave and invincible, leading 20,000 vanguard troops and personally taking the lead in fighting against the 100,000 elite troops of Xueyantuo, he felt his scalp tingle.

"This, this, this"

Changsun Wuji was so shocked that he was stunned and forgot to send a military intelligence report to Li Shimin.

Cheng Yaojin, who was standing to the side, couldn't wait any longer and snatched the military intelligence report from his hand, then stared at it intently.

It would have been better if I hadn't looked; once I did, my eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"My goodness! Our Great Tang Dynasty has produced a Hegemon!!"

"What Overlord?! Old Cheng! What are you talking about? Let me see!" Yuchi Gong said anxiously to Cheng Yaojin.

But Cheng Yaojin looked at him with lingering fear and asked blankly, "Old Yuchi, who do you think is the most powerful general in our Tang Dynasty?"

"Of course it's His Majesty! His Majesty is the Supreme General of the Heavenly Strategy!" Yuchi Gong answered without hesitation.

However, Cheng Yaojin shook his head and said, "I'm talking about bravery. In terms of martial prowess, who is the most powerful?"

"Hey Lao Cheng! You're confused, of course it's Brother Qin the Second!"

Yuchi Gong slapped Cheng Yaojin in an annoyed tone and urged, "Quickly send me the military intelligence report!"

No! You're wrong!

Cheng Yaojin did not send a military intelligence report to Yuchi Gong, but instead solemnly corrected him: "In the past, it was true that the bravest man in our Great Tang Dynasty was Brother Qin. But now, I think it is His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"this."

Upon hearing this, Yuchi Gong was stunned and subconsciously looked at Qin Qiong not far away.

Qin Qiong frowned, then said in a deep voice, "As the saying goes, there is no first in literature, but there is no second in martial arts. Every generation has outstanding people. It is my honor to be under His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Although this statement is very honest and reflects Qin Qiong's character of not seeking fame, those who know Qin Qiong know that it is actually just a polite remark; deep down, he was still very competitive.

However, Cheng Yaojin suddenly grinned and said, "If Brother Qin can single-handedly influence the decisive battle of 100,000 troops, I would definitely think Brother Qin is even more powerful!"

"What do you mean? You mean the Crown Prince is the deciding factor in this great battle?" Li Daozong couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, Prince Jiangxia!"

Cheng Yaojin responded excitedly, "His Highness the Crown Prince, spear in hand, led the charge, routing the Xueyantuo army. What's even more terrifying is that, in the heat of battle, His Highness actually picked up an enemy horse and threw it, horse and rider, into the Xueyantuo ranks! What incredible bravery!"

"In ancient times, Xiang Yu lifted a tripod! Today, His Highness the Crown Prince lifts a horse on the battlefield! Hahaha—!"

Upon hearing Cheng Yaojin's laughter, everyone present changed their expressions drastically and felt a sense of fear.

Even Qin Qiong, who had been somewhat resentful just moments before, was impressed by Li Chengqian's bravery.

Although he considered himself no less capable than anyone else, he could never have done what Li Chengqian did.

"Alright, Zhijie! I already know about this matter. Let's talk about the Liaodong campaign first!"

While everyone was speechless with shock at Li Chengqian's achievements, Li Shimin suppressed his astonishment and began to change the subject.

At this moment, Li Daozong seemed to have been injected with chicken blood, and hurriedly asked Li Shimin for permission: "Your Majesty! His Highness the Crown Prince is brave and valiant, which is a blessing to our Great Tang. I naturally cannot disgrace His Highness the Crown Prince or our Great Tang. Please allow me to lead 4,000 vanguard troops to fight against 40,000 reinforcements from Goguryeo!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than one of his brave captains stepped forward and said, "How can a hero be distinguished without encountering a formidable enemy?!"

"Your Majesty! We are willing to fight the enemy to the death!"

"This"

Li Shimin never dreamed that Li Chengqian, far away in Longyou, could actually affect the morale of his troops in Liaodong.

It's really like a small knife pulling a butt; I've learned something new.

(End of this chapter)