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

Chapter 364 A move that descended from the sky... [Requesting monthly votes]

Li Ji's military talent is beyond doubt.

Moreover, he had fought countless wars like this, where he won with fewer troops.

So when the generals came to report the results of the battle to him, he remained very calm, as if it were just an ordinary war.

But then he said calmly, "The Xueyantuo army suffered a great defeat and their morale is low. They will probably hold their ground at Yudu Junshan. We failed to launch a surprise attack on Yudu Junshan before, and this time it will probably be another tough battle. Do you have any ideas?"

"This"

The generals exchanged glances, and Zhang Gongjin stepped forward first, cupping his hands and saying, "General, in my humble opinion, we should focus on winning hearts and minds!"

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji raised an eyebrow as if intrigued: "How to win hearts and minds?"

But Zhang Gongjin said thoughtfully, "General, in my opinion, the Xueyantuo are already in chaos. In addition, after this great defeat, Yishiyinan will probably lose the trust of the various tribes. Therefore, I suggest that we send out some spies to undermine them from within."

"When those tribes rebel against Xueyantuo, that will be the best time for us to attack Xueyantuo!"

"Yes, what you said makes sense and is very feasible."

Li Ji nodded, then changed the subject: "But the problem is, we don't have much time left, because our current supplies can only last until the end of the month."

“But we can’t wait until the end of the month, because the heavy snow is coming soon. If we can’t take down Xueyantuo, and we continue to stay, we may be trapped on the grassland, and then trouble will follow one after another.”

"So, to be specific, we only have ten days to launch an attack. If we can't take down Xueyantuo in ten days, we will have to withdraw our troops."

"This"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gongjin was speechless.

The other generals looked at each other in bewilderment.

This is one of the drawbacks of fighting on multiple fronts.

Without sufficient supplies, fighting on multiple fronts is suicidal.

Fortunately, Li Chengqian gave most of the grain and fodder to Li Ji; otherwise, no matter how capable Li Ji was militarily, he would not have dared to fight against the Xueyantuo rashly.

After all, a considerable portion of the domestic grain supplies still needed to be supplied to the Liaodong battlefield.

The supplies for the Xueyantuo battlefield mainly came from the allied states in the Western Regions and border prefectures and counties.

"How about this: let our Musketeers lead the attack on Yudujun Mountain, and you can assist us. What do you say?"

Just as all the generals fell silent, Pei Xuan suddenly spoke up.

Upon hearing this, all the generals immediately turned to look at Pei Xuan.

Although Li Chengqian initially sent Pei Xuan to lead the Musketeers to assist him, Li Ji always believed that the Musketeers would not be of much use on the grassland battlefield.

After all, those Xueyantuo cavalry wouldn't just stand there and let you shoot them.

Not to mention artillery.

It's powerful, but it's completely useless.

Therefore, recently, apart from destroying some Xueyantuo army strongholds or defensive fortifications built by the Xueyantuo army, Li Ji has rarely sent his musketeers into battle.

Now, upon suddenly hearing that Pei Xuan, the commander of the Musketeers, had volunteered for battle, his thoughts remained the same as before: he felt that the Musketeers would not be of much use on the grassland battlefield.

But the Musketeers were, after all, Li Chengqian's six guards of the Eastern Palace, and he couldn't just ignore Pei Xuan like that. So he smiled and said, "Commander Pei's courage is commendable, but the battlefield situation is ever-changing, and I'm afraid the Musketeers..."

"General!"

Before Li Ji could finish his polite words, Pei Xuan interrupted him sternly:

"The war has progressed to this point, and His Highness the Crown Prince is almost at the end of the Tuyuhun war, while we are still far from concluding. How am I supposed to explain this to His Highness?"

"Even if you don't care about His Highness the Crown Prince's thoughts, this humble general cannot possibly not care!"

Wow!
As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar!

It must be said that Pei Xuan was incredibly bold, daring to threaten Li Ji with Li Chengqian in front of so many generals.

Although Li Ji had always had a good impression of Li Chengqian and had given him face more than once.

But it cannot be said that he was Li Chengqian's man.

After all, he had heard about the conflict between Li Shimin and Li Chengqian to some extent.

Choosing to take sides now would be extremely unwise for him.

Therefore, his relationship with Li Chengqian was always a state of being neither close nor distant.

However, Pei Xuan's words directly shattered this situation.

Li Ji's face darkened: "I am here on the orders of the court to quell the Xueyantuo. I do not need you to teach me how to fight!"

These words were equally blunt.

It was obvious that Li Ji was genuinely angry.

But Pei Xuan said dismissively, "If I remember correctly, His Majesty's decree is for the Crown Prince to quell the Xueyantuo, right? General Li's 200,000 troops should be under the Crown Prince's command!"

"Bam—!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji slammed his fist on the desk and said angrily, "Then let the Crown Prince take command!"

"Who do you think you are? How dare you point fingers at me?!"

"you!"

Pei Xuan was speechless for a moment, but his face also turned extremely ugly.

But Zhang Ping, who was standing to the side, quickly stepped forward to smooth things over, saying, "Commander Pei! General Li, please calm down, let's talk this out!"

“Yes, Commander Pei, it’s not that General Li doesn’t want your musketeers to go into battle, it’s just not the right time yet!” Xue Wanche also stepped forward and echoed.

But Pei Xuan retorted with a face full of dissatisfaction, "What do you mean it's not the right time? How long have my Musketeers been on the Xueyantuo battlefield? How many decent battles have we fought? Every time, we're either ordered to blow up this stronghold or that mound, and the gunpowder is just being wasted!"

At this point, he couldn't help but look around at the generals present: "I say, do you guys even understand what combat with firearms is?"

"this."

Upon hearing this, the generals exchanged bewildered glances before turning to look at Li Ji.

But Li Ji sneered, "We may not understand anything about firearms warfare, but I know that the Crown Prince sent you here to assist me. If your musketeers are really that capable, why don't you fight alone? Isn't it because you lack the ability to fight independently?"

He paused, then continued solemnly, "Furthermore, you were ordered to assist me, so you are my subordinate. If you dare to disobey me again, even in the presence of the Crown Prince, I will punish you according to military law!"

"you!"

Pei Xuan was furious and was about to retort when Zhang Ping reached out and pulled him back.

At this moment, Zhang Gongjin stepped forward again, cupped his hands and said, "General, we have defeated an enemy force of 300,000 with only a few thousand cavalry. Shouldn't we report this to His Majesty and request credit for our soldiers?"

"Yes, that's only right. Go and make the arrangements!"

Li Ji nodded expressionlessly.

He naturally knew why Zhang Gongjin would step forward to claim credit at this time; it was simply to mock Pei Xuan. We may not understand what firearms warfare is, but our thousands of cavalrymen have utterly defeated the enemy's 300,000-strong army. Could your so-called musketeers have done that?

However, Li Ji did not want to completely break ties with Li Chengqian's people, so he did not respond much to Zhang Gongjin.

Seeing that Li Ji did not respond to him, Zhang Gongjin couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Because he was one of Li Shimin's men, he naturally didn't want to see Li Ji getting close to Li Chengqian, but Li Ji's behavior was something he couldn't figure out.

So he had no choice but to retreat dejectedly.

"Alright, that concludes today's meeting. All troops, go back and rest well, and think things through carefully. We'll discuss the next battle tomorrow!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense, Li Ji decisively ended the military meeting.

Meanwhile, a similar dispute was taking place at the Xueyantuo royal court in Yudujun Mountain.

But then the Uyghur chieftain, his face ashen, stared at Yishiyinan and said in a deep voice, "Great Khan, didn't you say your infantry and cavalry were invincible? How could this be? We need an explanation!"

"What's there to explain? The dead and the captured were all soldiers of the Xueyantuo! What business is it of yours!?"

Before Yishi Yinan could even speak, Yishi Yemang retorted indignantly.

After saying that, he couldn't help but cough twice.

It was obvious that his injuries from the battle with Xue Wanche that day were not minor.

However, his words only fueled the anger of those present.

The chieftain of the Yutongluo tribe stepped forward and sneered, "What do you mean that your Xueyantuo army has nothing to do with us? Aren't we people of the Xueyantuo Khanate? Or has the second prince already excluded our tribes from the Xueyantuo Khanate?!"

“That’s right! We are also part of the Xueyantuo Khanate, how can the second prince say such a thing?!” The chieftain of the Pugu tribe also stood up and echoed.

Immediately, all the tribal chiefs unanimously condemned Yishi Yemang. Yishi Yemang, bewildered, looked at Yishi Yinan: "Father Khan, what do you think of this?"

"Snapped!"

Before Yi Shiye could finish speaking, Yi Shiyinan slapped him across the face and shouted with a gloomy expression, "Who do you think you are, speaking here! Huh?"

Wow!
Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent instantly.

But then Yishiyinan coldly said, "If it weren't for the fact that you are my son, I would have killed you long ago!"

"Father, I know I was wrong."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shiye Mang shuddered and, without even bothering to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, immediately knelt down.

Yishiyinan snorted coldly, then glanced at the tribal chiefs present and said calmly and authoritatively, "This Khan has failed in his duty to raise his son, and you have all laughed at him."

"this."

Upon hearing this, the tribal chiefs exchanged glances, looking at each other in bewilderment.

In fact, they understood that given Yishi Yinan's affection for Yishi Yemang, how could he possibly whip Yishi Yemang so easily?

It's nothing more than making an example of them to scare others.

But the problem now is that playing these power games is completely meaningless; what everyone needs is a strategy to deal with the Tang army.

As long as you can make the Tang army retreat or defeat them, we will all respect you.

If not, then don't blame us for finding our own way.

But then Chief Bayegu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Great Khan, the Tang army is now at the gates of the city. They previously launched a surprise attack on my Yudu Junshan Royal Court, but returned empty-handed."

"This time, the army is openly pressing in with a large force. Although the number of troops is large, it doesn't necessarily mean we'll gain any advantage. So, I don't think we need to panic too much."

"Ha, that's easy for you to say!"

Upon hearing this, the Uyghur chieftain gave a cold laugh: "Do you know what it means for times to change? Back then, our morale was high, so we naturally didn't need to fear a sneak attack. But now? We've suffered consecutive defeats, and our morale is far from what it used to be. How can we fight them?"

"this."

Chief Bayegu was speechless for a moment, and turned to look at Yishiyinan.

But then Yi Shiyinan said in a deep voice, "Although our army has lost tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry, but..."

"Not tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands! Has the Great Khan forgotten the First Prince's army of 100,000? They haven't returned yet!"

Before Yishiyinan could finish speaking, the chieftain of the Pugu tribe interrupted him coldly.

Upon hearing this, the civil and military officials of Xueyantuo, including Yishi Yemang, all turned ashen-faced and gritted their teeth.

In the past, how could the chief of the Pugu tribe have dared to speak to Yishiyinan like that?

But Yi Shiyinan seemed not to hear anything and continued, "But our main force is still in the city, and the city's defenses, including supplies such as food and fodder, are very sufficient. Therefore, there is no need to worry about us engaging the Tang army in a direct confrontation."

"in addition."

He paused for a moment, then looked around at the chieftains and said, “The King of Gaochang has already sent someone to contact me. He said that the Khan is equivalent to the Son of Heaven, and so is the King. There is no need for us to be subservient to the Tang Dynasty. He is willing to contact the Western Turks on our behalf and send troops together to deal with the Tang Dynasty.”

"Oh?"

The tribal chiefs were greatly surprised to hear this.

But then Yishiyinan said calmly and authoritatively, "Now, I, the Khan, need your advice and strategies on how to deal with the upcoming war. At least until the Western Turks send troops, we must hold Yudujun Mountain."

Upon hearing this, the tribal chiefs exchanged bewildered glances once again.

But no one offered a solution.

At this moment, Xueyantuo Yabghu, equivalent to a prime minister, Luba Tuo, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Great Khan, I have something to say!"

"Well, Luba Tuo, just say what's on your mind!"

Yi Shi Yinan raised his hand to indicate, and then Lu Ba Tuo said in a deep voice: "In my opinion, with the harsh winter approaching, the Tang army will absolutely not be able to outlast us. As long as we fortify our defenses and clear the fields for half a month, the Tang army will definitely retreat, and we can take advantage of their retreat to launch a surprise attack on them."

"Therefore, it is somewhat inappropriate to consider the next battle with the Tang army at this time."

“Yes! I also think we don’t need to consider fighting the Tang army right now. They simply cannot break through the defenses of Yudujun Mountain in a short time!” Chief Bayegu quickly echoed.

Although the other tribal chiefs did not express their opinions, in Yishiyinan's eyes, silence meant agreement.

Therefore, he immediately and decisively gave the order: "Good! Starting tomorrow, fortify the walls and clear the fields, and hold fast to Yudu Army Mountain!"

On the other side, at the Tang army camp, the musketeer garrison.

Pei Xuanzheng was drinking with Zhang Ping, looking quite depressed.

By this time, we had already drunk several rounds of wine and eaten several dishes.

Both of them had a slight blush on their faces.

But then Zhang Ping sighed, his breath slightly ragged from drinking, "Brother Pei, I'm not trying to be mean, but you were really too impulsive today."

"Humph!"

Pei Xuan snorted coldly, picked up the wine on the table, drank it all in one gulp, and didn't say a word.

Seeing his expression, Zhang Ping said with a hint of helplessness, "Back when we were in Jiangling, you were the governor and I was the commander-in-chief. We also had the four major powerful clans of Jiangling under our command. You could say we were all-powerful."

"And what happened? When His Highness the Crown Prince arrived, he used a few tricks, and we all fell to his tyranny."

"You know, how old was he back then? Just a child."

"hehe."

Upon hearing Zhang Ping mention Li Chengqian, Pei Xuan, who had been feeling quite depressed, suddenly laughed and then remarked with a sigh, "Indeed! His Highness the Crown Prince's methods are truly unpredictable. Even a thousand-year-old fox would probably have to take off its clothes to keep him warm in front of him."

"Who says otherwise! Sometimes I even suspect that His Highness the Crown Prince is lying about his age; he's actually thousands of years old!"

"You're just talking nonsense. No one can live for thousands of years!"

“Right, I also think no one can live for thousands of years, but His Highness the Crown Prince’s wisdom is something we can only look up to!” Zhang Ping chuckled and added, “To tell you the truth, my uncle, General Li Jing, and his wife, Hong Fu Nu, both admire His Highness the Crown Prince greatly and secretly call him the ‘wise demon’!”

"A wise demon?"

Pei Xuan paused for a moment, then frowned and said, "Tell me, if His Highness the Crown Prince were in this situation, what would he do?"

"Heh, I'm not His Highness the Crown Prince, how would I know? Anyway, His Highness the Crown Prince never follows the normal way of thinking when he goes to war."

"Not following the normal line of thinking?"

"That's right! Look at His Highness the Crown Prince when he was in Shuofang. He knew the enemy was already surrounding him, but he refused to retreat. Moreover, he successfully rallied those demoralized soldiers and defeated the enemy. Is that the thinking of a normal person?"

"And during the Battle of Ganzhou, that piecemeal tactic was absolutely brilliant. It really kept Yi Shi Dadu's army bogged down little by little, forcing him to fight the Crown Prince in a decisive battle."

"Oh, by the way, His Highness the Crown Prince also had quite a few ingenious ideas on the Tuyuhun battlefield."

Hearing Zhang Ping's detailed explanation of Li Chengqian's battle strategy, Pei Xuan, who was already slightly tipsy, became more and more alert and enlightened as he listened, so much so that he didn't even notice the food and wine on the table getting cold.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?!"

Seeing that Pei Xuan hadn't responded at all after he'd been talking, Zhang Ping said somewhat angrily, "If you don't say anything, I'm leaving!"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Xuan instinctively reached out to stop Zhang Ping. Suddenly, at that moment, the wine glass that was originally placed on the edge of the table fell down with a clatter, spilling wine all over him.

"Hahaha!"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Ping burst into loud laughter: "Are you drunk? Don't let your soldiers see you like this when you go out, they'll think you peed yourself!"

"What piss! Didn't you see the wine glass fall down?" Pei Xuan said, patting the wine glass, somewhat speechless.

But Zhang Ping said with a hint of amusement, "That's because you're slow to react; you didn't know how to dodge when you fell!"

"It's scattered everywhere, how can we hide?"

Pei Xuan casually remarked something, then suddenly a brilliant idea flashed through his mind, and he abruptly stood up from his chair, looking at Zhang Ping with a face full of astonishment.

Zhang Ping was slightly taken aback, and stammered, "W-what's wrong? Don't scare me."

"No, have you ever heard of a tactic that involves falling from the sky?"

"What kind of tactic is this, falling from the sky?"

"Carpet bombing!"

After saying those five words, Pei Xuan was immediately invigorated: "Go and contact Zhishi Sili and Dahe Kuge. We'll wipe out Xueyantuo ourselves!"

Zhang Ping was startled and quickly said, "You mean we're going to wipe out the Xueyantuo ourselves?"

"Yes! Tonight! Go now!"

(End of this chapter)