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

Chapter 365 I thought he was here to assist me! [Seeking monthly votes]

"General, Pei Xuan has led the Musketeers out of the camp without permission!"

Just as Li Ji was holding an oil lamp, carefully studying the map of Yudujun Mountain and pondering how to break through Xueyantuo's defenses, Zhang Gongjin rushed in from outside the tent.

Along with him came Xue Wanche and a group of Tang army generals.

Li Ji was taken aback at first, then slowly turned around, calmly surveyed the generals, and said, "The Musketeers are the Crown Prince's Six Guards of the Eastern Palace. Perhaps the Crown Prince has given some new instructions. There's no need to make a fuss!"

“Impossible! They went towards Yudujun Mountain, and not only them, but also Zhishi Sili and Dahe Kuge’s tribe went there!” Zhang Gongjin quickly explained.

Li Ji was taken aback again, then frowned and asked, "What do they want to do?"

"this."

The generals exchanged glances, then looked at each other blankly.

But then one of the generals said thoughtfully, "Sending out troops so late, could it be that they're planning a night attack on the Xueyantuo?"

"How can this be?"

Upon hearing this general's speculation, another general quickly refuted it, saying, "Although the Musketeers are all equipped with warhorses, their fighting style is similar to that of the infantry. Even the artillerymen fight by pushing their cannons."

"How could they possibly attack Xueyantuo in this way? Isn't that just courting death?"

"Yes! The Xueyantuo cavalry can come and go as they please, there's no way they could possibly raid Xueyantuo! Xueyantuo has already fortified their position and cleared the fields at Yudujun Mountain, there's no target for them to attack, unless they're preparing to attack the Xueyantuo royal court!"

"Hahaha! With just a few thousand men, they dare to attack the Xueyantuo royal court? Isn't that a joke? Even with the help of Zhishi Sili and Dahe Kuge, they still can't possibly conquer the Xueyantuo royal court!"

"That's right, I also think it's impossible. I don't know what Commander Pei was thinking. Sure enough, the people who follow the Crown Prince are all a bit abnormal!"

"shut up--!"

Seeing the generals offering their opinions all at once, even mocking Li Chengqian, Li Ji immediately stopped them and said in a deep voice, "I will send someone to investigate this matter thoroughly. You may all return now!"

“General, even if the Musketeers are the Crown Prince’s six guards, they are here to assist you. Now, Pei Xuan has privately mobilized troops and violated military law. He should be severely punished!” Zhang Gongjin said with a frown.

In fact, as generals who fought alongside Li Shimin to establish the empire, they had always been dissatisfied with Li Chengqian's people.

The treatment Li Chengqian gave to his people, in particular, made them both envious and jealous.

In their hearts, they had fought so many battles for the Tang Dynasty, yet they had not received such generous treatment, while those who had not fought many battles, but had the backing of the Crown Prince and hid in the background, had everything. This was too unfair.

Therefore, they naturally began to dislike Pei Xuan, Zhang Ping, and other members of the Crown Prince's faction.

Xue Wanche, who had been silent until now, stepped forward and said, "We don't know what the situation is yet, and we haven't investigated it thoroughly. How can we convict them?"

"But."

"okay!"

Li Ji impatiently interrupted the two, saying coldly, "Let them do whatever they want. They'll have to bear the consequences if anything goes wrong. We'll proceed according to our plan! In three days, prepare to attack Yudujun Mountain!"

"General!"

"Everyone go back!"

Seeing that Li Ji was on the verge of exploding in anger, the generals, including Zhang Gongjin, dared not say anything more and left indignantly.

After the generals left, Li Ji sat alone behind his command desk, his brows furrowed, pondering to himself: "What exactly is Pei Xuan's intention in doing this? Could it be that the Crown Prince has given new instructions? But if so, why didn't he inform me beforehand?"

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. So he stood up and paced back and forth in the command tent, pondering what to do.

"No, we must get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. If they really do something that affects my grand plan, then we'll be in big trouble!"

Thinking of this, Li Ji immediately summoned a personal guard and instructed him, "Go and find out what Pei Xuan and the others are up to right now. Remember, be careful and don't alert them!"

"Yes, General!"

After his personal guards left to carry out their orders, Li Ji sat back down at his desk, picked up an oil lamp, and continued studying the map of Yudujun Mountain.

Time passed second by second, and only the rustling sound of Li Ji turning the pages of the map and the occasional crackling of the oil lamp remained in the command tent.

Meanwhile, on a low hill about ten miles away from Yudujun Mountain.

Under the moonlight, Zhishi Sili stared at the direction of Yudujun Mountain for a while, then frowned slightly: "I'm afraid Yishi Yinan would never have dreamed that they would be attacked by our army tonight!"

"Heh, not only did they not expect it, but even I didn't expect that we would attack them tonight!" Dahe Kuge interjected with amusement.

Zhishi Sili then turned to Pei Xuan and couldn't help but ask, "Commander Pei, are you really confident that we can wipe out the Xueyantuo with just 30,000 men?"

Dahe Kuge frowned and said, "Yes, although the Xueyantuo have suffered repeated defeats, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. With our small force, I'm afraid..."

"Chiefs, please don't be hasty!"

Before Pei Xuan could respond to Zhishi Sili and Dahe Kuge, Zhang Ping smiled and comforted them, saying, "Since Commander Pei says so, he must have his plans. Why don't we listen to his plans first before making a decision?"

In fact, the reason they responded to Pei Xuan's invitation immediately was not because they listened to Pei Xuan's plan, but because of their respect for Li Chengqian.

Regardless of whether they had any hope for the attack, they would support Li Chengqian wholeheartedly as long as he provided assistance.

Because they understood very well what kind of person Li Chengqian was.

If you don't participate in the war, you might just be the meat on the plate when it's time to eat meat.

Therefore, upon receiving Zhang Ping's notification, they immediately dispatched a large army to support Pei Xuan.

When they learned that Pei Xuan was going to use the musketeers as the main force to attack the Xueyantuo royal court in the Yudu Army Mountains, they were completely stunned.

To be honest, if they could withdraw their troops, they would do so immediately.

But now that we're here, it's almost impossible to leave.

Unless Pei Xuan voluntarily abandons this insane plan, they will risk their lives to accompany him, even if it means suffering severe injuries.

This demonstrates the appeal of Li Chengqian's Eastern Palace.

But then Pei Xuan calmly and slowly revealed his plan.

After hearing his plan, Zhishi Sili, Dahe Kuge, and even Zhang Ping were all dumbfounded and speechless for a long time.

Upon seeing this, Pei Xuan smiled slightly and said, "What, you think this plan is unfeasible?"

Zhi Shisi smiled wryly and said, "Commander Pei, it's not that we think this plan is unfeasible, but it's just too absurd. If it fails, we'll probably become a laughingstock!"

Dahe Kuge chimed in, "Yes, Commander Pei, let's discuss this further!"

Upon hearing this, Pei Xuan's face immediately darkened: "Deliberately plan? How long do we have to plan? Are we supposed to wait until Li Ji wipes out the Xueyantuo before we try to take advantage of the situation?"

Upon hearing this, both Zhishi Sili and Dahe Kuge felt a chill run down their spines.

They naturally knew that Pei Xuan's words were not unfounded.

During this expedition against Xueyantuo, Li Ji consistently used the musketeers as auxiliary troops, assigning them tasks such as bombing strongholds and earthen mounds, and never letting them participate in frontal combat.

This infuriated the musketeers.

If Xueyantuo is truly wiped out by Li Ji this time, then the musketeers of the Eastern Palace will probably become a laughing stock in the army.

Thinking of this, the two exchanged a glance, then gritted their teeth and said in unison, "Commander Pei, let's do it!"

Pei Xuan was overjoyed when he saw that the two had agreed.

He patted the two men on the shoulders and laughed, "Good! You two generals are indeed straightforward! As long as we wipe out the Xueyantuo this time, let's see if Li Ji and his men still dare to underestimate the musketeers of my Eastern Palace!"

After he finished speaking, he explained his plan in detail.

After listening to Pei Xuan's detailed plan, Zhi Shi Si Li and Da He Ku Ge suddenly understood and were filled with admiration for Pei Xuan's courage and wisdom.

On the other side, at the Xueyantuo royal court in Yudujun Mountain.

Yishiyinan is discussing the events of the day with Yishiyemang, Lubato, and the chieftain Bayegu.

But then Yishiye Mang spoke first: "Father Khan, I think there's something wrong with the situation of the Uyghurs, Pugu, and Tongluo tribes. Do you think they might be..."

"That's not the point right now!"

Before Yishiye Mang could finish speaking, Luba Tuo interrupted him, saying, "What we should be concerned about now is the issue of military power in the Xueyantuo Khanate!"

"Although the Xueyantuo army has been the main force in these recent major battles, we are the Allied Khanate. In principle, the armies of all tribes should be concentrated here and under the command of the Great Khan!" "Just like Jieli in the past, the armies of all tribes must obey his orders!"

"Not bad!"

Although Luba Tuo interrupted him, Yishiye Mang was not annoyed at all. He simply echoed, "Father Khan should have centralized power long ago. We can't always rely on our people as the main force!"

"Uh, this."

Upon hearing this, Chief Bayegu said somewhat awkwardly, "I have no objection to the centralization of military power, but my Bayegu tribe does not have many troops, and we also need to allocate some troops to guard our tribe. Therefore, the troops that can be mobilized for combat are probably only a few thousand."

"How come there are only a few thousand people? Your Bayegu tribe should have over 100,000 people, right? You can't even muster an army of 20,000?" Yi Shiye Mang said with some dissatisfaction.

Chief Bayegu was even more embarrassed.

But he explained helplessly, "Our tribes are all small tribes, and they were severely exploited by the Turks before. Although there are over 100,000 people, most of them are the elderly, weak, women, and children, so..."

"Alright, I know about Chief Dur's situation, no need to say more."

Yishiyinan waved his hand to interrupt Chief Bayegu, clearly not wanting to create a rift between him and the tribe that was most loyal to him.

But then Luba Tuo said thoughtfully, "We know about Chief Duer's situation, but we don't know much about the other tribes. The troops they brought this time number between 20,000 and 30,000, which is not like the strength they should have."

"Hmph! Especially the Uyghur tribe. I remember when we fought against Jieli and Tuli, they mobilized fifty or sixty thousand cavalry alone. But this time they only brought twenty or thirty thousand. Isn't that deliberately hiding their strength?"

Yi Shiye Mang snorted coldly, "I even suspect they might have ulterior motives!"

"Yes, the second prince is right. I also think there's something wrong with the Uyghur tribe!"

Chief Bayegu nodded in agreement, saying, "When the eldest prince went on his expedition, I asked Abula whether we should send troops to go with him. After all, the military alliance treaties signed between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions countries all require allied countries to participate in the war. Although we did not sign such a treaty, we are still allies."

“But Abula’s answer was that it was a war between the Xueyantuo and the Tang Dynasty, and had nothing to do with other tribes, so there was no need for them to participate.”

"From that time on, I felt that there might be a problem with the Uyghur tribe."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shiyinan narrowed his eyes slightly and then fell into deep thought.

After a long pause, he shook his head and said, "Even if I, the Khan, know they have problems, I cannot act against them now. There is an old saying in the Central Plains: 'To repel external enemies, one must first pacify the internal situation.' As long as they haven't completely broken ties with us, we cannot disrupt internal stability!"

"So, Father Khan means we're just going to let it go like this? We're not even going to centralize military power anymore?" Yishiye Mang said somewhat unwillingly.

Yishiyinan glanced at him, then at Lubatu and Duer, frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice, "Centralization of power is possible, but it cannot be done openly. We need to find a suitable reason to make them obediently hand over their troops!"

"this."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shiye Mang couldn't help but exchange glances with Lu Ba Tuo and the other man.

But then Luba Tuo said thoughtfully, "How about this, we say that we have received news that the Tang army is preparing to launch a surprise attack on us, and that in order to deal with the Tang army's surprise attack, the Great Khan is preparing to mobilize all the armies to coordinate the defense. What do you think?"

"Great idea! That's a good idea!"

Yi Shi Ye Mang excitedly slapped his thigh, then immediately looked at Yi Shi Yinan.

Yishiyinan smiled slightly, then nodded to Luba Tuo and said, "Leave this matter to the Prime Minister!"

"Very well! To avoid any unforeseen complications, I will go immediately!"

Luba Tuo immediately bowed to Yishi Yinan and took his leave.

After watching him leave, Yi Shi Ye Mang offered various suggestions to Yi Shi Yi Nan.

The point is to demonstrate that making him the crown prince of Xueyantuo was the best choice for Yishiyinan.

However, before he could offer any substantial suggestions, a panting voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, the Tang army has attacked us!"

Upon hearing this, Yishiyinan and his son, as well as Chief Duer of Bayegu, were all taken aback.

But after only a short pause, they burst into loud laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

"???"

The person who reported this was completely dumbfounded, thinking to himself, "How can you all be laughing about this?!"
No way, have the Great Khan, the Second Prince, and Chief Dur all gone mad?

Seemingly noticing his confusion, after a burst of laughter, Yi Shiye Mang immediately explained with a smile, "Don't panic, this is all the Prime Minister's plan."

"What prime minister's plan? The Tang army has already destroyed our supply depot! It's all on fire, all on fire!"

"???"

Now, it was the turn of Yi Shiyi and the other two to be dumbfounded.

The smiles on the faces of Yi Shiyi and the other two were still there, but their bodies were frozen in place.

It was so unexpected!

They could hardly believe their ears, as if they had misheard!
How can this be?

How could the Tang army possibly have breached Yudujun Mountain and even burned down their own supply depot?!
However, just as they were still reeling from the shock, Luba Tuo rushed in, sweating profusely, shouting, "Great Khan! It's terrible! The Tang army! The Tang army has broken in!"

Upon hearing this, without any hesitation, Yi Shi Yinan was the first to rush out of the royal tent.

In the distance, towards the grain and provisions camp, flames soared into the sky, and shouts of battle echoed.

As if to confirm that they had been attacked, a bomb landed with a whoosh ten meters away from him.

Then, with a loud 'boom,' countless sparks flew.

"Father, be careful!"

Yi Shi Ye Mang reacted very quickly, and the instant the shock wave and sparks flew over, he immediately tackled Yi Shi Yinan to the ground.

At that moment, Luba Tuo was hit in the head by shrapnel due to his slow reaction and died on the spot.

"Look! In the sky! They're attacking from above, my God! What is that?!"

Chief Duer of Bayegu was the first to react, immediately pointing to the sky and shouting.

Immediately afterwards, Yishiyinan and his son, Lubato, who had just gotten up from the ground, also looked up at the sky.

In the night sky, countless bright spots, like stars, swayed.

It was like hellfire from the underworld.

"Shhhhh-"

The sound of something tearing through the air followed one after another, and the ground exploded like a fiery lotus, setting all the tents and haystacks ablaze.

"How could this be? How could this be? What are these things? Is this a punishment from the gods?"

Yi Shiye Mang had never seen such a scene before, and he was completely terrified.

However, the airstrikes continued, and in addition to incendiary bombs, they also used explosive bombs and poison gas bombs.
The entire Yudujun Mountain area was the target of this air raid.

"So this is the true way to use the musketeers. General Li Ji is going to lose face big time this time."

Looking at the tragic scene at Yudujun Mountain, Zhishi Sili couldn't help but swallow hard, and then said with deep emotion.

Meanwhile, Dahe Kuge, standing to the side, echoed with a similarly horrified look, his mouth dry, "Yes! He thought Commander Pei and the others were here to assist him."

"Alright, now it's our turn to reap the rewards. Don't let Yi Shi Yinan and the others escape, otherwise we won't be able to explain to Commander Pei!"

"it is good!"

The two immediately made a decision, leading their cavalry in two separate attacks into the Xueyantuo royal court, ruthlessly reaping the enemy troops who were trying to escape.

Meanwhile, Li Ji also received intelligence from this side.

"General! Commander Pei and his men have breached Yudu Army Mountain!"

"Pa-ta-!"

The oil lamp in Li Ji's hand fell to the ground without warning, and he was struck as if by lightning.

(End of this chapter)