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

Chapter 416 Li Shimin: I have no choice but to succeed [Seeking monthly votes]

In May, Liaodong was no longer very cold.

But Li Shimin's mood grew more and more desolate each day.

It wasn't that he knew what had happened in Chang'an, but rather that Anshi City, which was as tough as a bone, still hadn't been captured.

Although he abandoned his plan to detour through Pyongyang, he did try new methods.

For example, Li Daozong proposed the 'mountain-building method'.

What is the 'mountain-building method'?
The idea is to build a hill in front of Anshi City that is even taller than Anshi City itself, and then launch an attack from above.

Subsequently, the Tang army spent two whole months and mobilized nearly 500,000 laborers to finally build a hill higher than Anshi City.

And Anshi City was now completely exposed to them.

At this moment, Li Shimin stood atop this earthen hill, holding a telescope, and had a clear view of the situation inside the city. It was as if the sorrow of the past had been swept away and replaced by a satisfied joy.

"Not bad!"

He said "not bad" twice, then put down his binoculars, turned around and looked at Li Daozong, Li Xiaogong, Zhang Jian, Changsun Wuji, Sun Daiyin, Gao Tubo and others behind him, and smiled, "What do you all think?"

"Your Majesty!"

Changsun Wuji spoke first: "With this earthen hill, Anshi City will fall in no time!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, with this earthen hill, the buildings and streets of Anshi City are now completely exposed to the range of our cannons and catapults!" Li Xiaogong echoed with a smile.

It is conceivable that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Anshi City would inevitably be destroyed by the Tang army with cannons and catapults, just like Liaodong City.

No matter how stubborn the soldiers and civilians of Anshi City were, they eventually had to obediently open the gates and surrender.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin was immediately in high spirits: "Excellent! Minister Li's plan is brilliant!"

He then looked around at everyone, his eyes burning with determination, and said, "Order! All cannons and catapults, move them to the earthen mound immediately! At dawn tomorrow, launch a general attack!"

"According to the order!"

Li Daozong could not hide his pride as he bowed and accepted the order.

Generals such as Li Xiaogong and Zhang Jian also clasped their hands in greeting, their morale soaring.

After watching them leave, Li Shimin turned to Changsun Wuji and said with a smile, "Wuji, this time we will get what we want!"

"Yes, we can finally go back to Chang'an!"

Changsun Wuji also showed a relieved expression.

However, when Li Shimin heard him mention returning to Chang'an, he inexplicably thought of the situation in Chang'an and said with a solemn expression, "I hope everything is well, and that Ke'er and the others are all safe and sound!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured, with the Crown Prince in charge of Chang'an, everything will be fine!"

"Ah."

Li Shimin simply hummed in agreement, seemingly unwilling to mention Li Chengqian at this moment, and then turned his gaze towards Anshi City.

At this moment, Anshi City was like a delicious pastry, just waiting for Li Shimin to taste it.

Meanwhile, in Anshi City.

The vast city lord's mansion was filled with a repressive atmosphere at this moment.

Yang Wanchun, the city lord of Anshi City, had his brows furrowed, as if he was pondering a difficult decision.

At this moment, a general from Anshi City broke the silence: "Lord City Lord, in my opinion, the Tang army has completed the earthen mound and will probably make new moves soon. We cannot sit idly by and wait for our doom; we must stop them immediately!"

"How can we stop them?" another general asked. "We tried to stop them when they were building the earthen mound, but they always managed to drive us back!"

"Yes, yes, it's hard to stop them!"

"I think we should focus on strengthening our defense!"

"Yes, yes, strengthen the defense!"

He heard his generals talking all at once, and they were saying all sorts of meaningless things.

Yang Wanchun's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Just then, a report came from outside the door: "Lord City Lord, the Tang army has begun to move, and I'm afraid they will attack the city after tonight!"

"Boom!"

These words struck the entire audience like a thunderbolt.

Yang Wanchun's expression changed several times until his eyes inadvertently glanced at the map on the table, revealing a slight look of surprise.

"That's right! How come I didn't think of that!"

As if struck by a sudden enlightenment, Yang Wanchun slapped his forehead and exclaimed with joy, "Hahaha! I've got an idea!"

"What's the idea?"

The city general of Zhong'an looked at Yang Wanchun with a bewildered expression.

But then Yang Wanchun said with a smile, "Tonight, we will destroy that earthen hill!"

"this…."

The generals were immediately shocked, but soon followed by a wave of elation.

……

On the other side, at the Tang army camp.

As time passed and night fell, the area around Anshi City fell into a deathly silence, with even routine patrols seemingly ceasing.

This unusual silence made Li Xiaogong, a veteran of many battles, frown.

But then he said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, Anshi City is far too quiet tonight. I fear there may be a trap."

"You're overthinking it!"

Li Daozong said dismissively, "This mountain is higher than the city wall. Once our heavy weapons arrive, they will be trapped like turtles in a jar. What can they do? They can only sit and wait for their death."

Li Shimin pondered for a moment.

Although Li Xiaogong's concerns were not without merit, the allure of breaching the city still outweighed everything else.

But he said in an unquestionable tone, "Dao Zong is right, they can't cause any more trouble. Proceed according to the original plan! Move the cannons immediately!"

"promise!"

The generals exchanged glances and spoke in unison.

Soon, the heavy cannons and huge catapult parts were painstakingly dragged and assembled by the soldiers up the earthen slope.

Throughout the night, Tushan was bustling with activity, filled with shouts of people and the neighing of horses.

By midnight, most of the heavy equipment had been put in place, with the dark muzzles of cannons and the huge arms of catapults pointing down at Anshi City in the night.

However, at that moment, a dull, unsettling creaking sound suddenly rang out, as if a giant tree was breaking.

The captain on guard suddenly dropped to the ground and listened intently, his face instantly turning deathly pale: "Oh no! It's inside the mountain! The structure is about to collapse!"

"What!?"

The surrounding soldiers were taken aback.

Those who reacted quickly immediately scrambled towards the imperial tent, shouting, "Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! The earthen mound we built is making strange noises and may collapse!"

At this moment, Li Shimin's command tent was brightly lit.

Meanwhile, Li Shimin, Changsun Wuji, and Li Daozong were deducing tomorrow's battle strategy.

Upon hearing the news, Li Daozong jumped to his feet, his face filled with disbelief. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The foundation I personally supervised!"

"Shut up!"

Li Shimin interrupted him sternly.

Because he also heard the increasingly loud, teeth-grinding cracking sound, he decisively ordered: "Li Xiaogong! Zhang Jian! Order everyone on the mountain to evacuate immediately! Quickly!"

After saying that, he rushed out of the tent without another word, with Li Xiaogong and the others following closely behind.

“Dangdangdang——!”

A piercing alarm bell suddenly tore through the night sky. The soldiers busy on the hill looked around blankly, not yet reacting.

Almost at the same time the alarm bells rang.

Suddenly, countless torches lit up the city walls of Anshi.

The silent city erupted in a deafening roar.

"put!"

At a command, a sharp whooshing sound whistled through the air.

These were not ordinary arrows, but countless burning oil canisters and precise rockets, aimed directly at the gunpowder barrels piled up on the earthen mound, the unsecured cannons, and the wooden frames supporting the mound's structure.

"boom--!"

The first gunpowder barrel was ignited, and a huge fireball shot into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, the secondary explosion, like a chain reaction, swept across half the mountain in an instant.

Flames engulfed the equipment and soldiers, turning the night sky blood red.

"Boom——!!"

The explosion completely destroyed the fragile internal support structure of the earthen mound.

With a deafening roar, the massive earthen hill near Anshi City collapsed horribly, as if cleaved by a giant axe.

Mud, stones, burning machinery, and desperate men and horses poured down like a mudslide.

Smoke and dust obscured the moon, and the earth trembled.

Li Shimin retreated in a sorry state under the desperate protection of his personal guards, watching helplessly as the earthen mound that symbolized the hope of victory collapsed and burned before his eyes.

The deafening roar and the soldiers' heart-wrenching screams pounded against his eardrums and heart.

As the smoke and dust cleared, a scene of utter chaos was revealed.

Half of the hill was reduced to a smoke-filled ruin, where countless elite Tang soldiers and precious war machines were buried.

The remaining mountainside is also covered with cracks and is on the verge of collapse.

Anshi City still stands silently and menacingly behind the flames and smoke.

A deathly silence reigned. Only the crackling of the flames and the groans of wounded soldiers drifted in the night wind.

Li Shimin's face was ashen, his body trembled slightly, and he stared intently at the hellish ruins.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze piercing like a blade as he looked at the pale-faced Li Daozong.

"Dao Sect!"

Li Shimin's voice was as cold as the ice of the deepest hell, each word carrying suppressed rage: "Is this the absolute certainty you promised me?!"

Li Daozong knelt down with a thud, his whole body trembling:

"Your Majesty! I deserve to die! I never imagined that the thieves from Anshi were so cunning, managing to discover the weaknesses of my mountain."

"shut up!"

Changsun Wuji rebuked him sternly, knowing full well that any attempt to explain would only add fuel to the fire.

Looking at the collapsed mountain and the soldiers buried within, Li Xiaogong's eyes filled with tears, and he roared in anguish, "Five hundred thousand men! Two months of blood and sweat, the most elite firearms battalion of my Great Tang, gone just like that!"

After saying that, he suddenly looked at Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, Yang Wanchun, the lord of Anshi City, is no easy opponent! This plan was probably part of his scheme from the very beginning!"

Sun Daiyin, the surrendered general of Baiyan City who had remained silent, gazed at the outline of the city wall that still stood majestically behind the ruins and murmured softly, his voice clear to everyone present: "The fortified city still stands."

These four words, like four cold awls, pierced the hearts of Li Shimin and all the Tang generals.

A profound sense of defeat and a chilling feeling that penetrated to the bone instantly overwhelmed everyone.

Li Shimin's clenched fists were so tight that his knuckles turned white, and his fingernails dug deeply into his palms.

He gazed at the ruins, then at Anshi City, which seemed to mock him in the flames, and a sorrow deeper and colder than that of May in Liaodong enveloped him completely.

An attack? The losses were heavy, and morale was shattered.

Withdrawing troops? A tremendous disgrace.

What to do next? The immense pressure nearly suffocated the Heavenly Khan.

Until a figure flashed through his mind.

The figure that increased his pressure.

If it were that rebellious son, would he give up at this time?

If I fail, who knows how my rebellious son will laugh at me!
I remember when I first came to Liaodong, he pointed out to me the state of the country and felt that I was no longer a qualified commander, but just an emperor.

He even asked Changsun Wuji to advise him to keep his word.

Later, at Baiyan City, I almost broke my promise.

But this also proves that the rebellious son looks down on me and on me, the General of Heavenly Strategy!

Outrageous!

A fire suddenly ignited in Li Shimin's heart for no apparent reason.

His mind raced, and then he turned around abruptly, his eyes blazing with fury, as if he wanted to devour Li Daozong, who was kneeling and begging for forgiveness.

But he gritted his teeth and swallowed back the word "slay" that was almost out of his mouth.

No chaos!
At this moment, the morale of the troops is as fragile as a pile of eggs!

I absolutely cannot allow the morale of the army to be thrown into disarray!

I will win!
I must defeat that rebellious son!

"Li Daozong!"

Li Shimin's voice was distorted with suppressed anger: "Strip him of his military command and place him under guard in the rear camp! We will deal with his crimes after I breach the city!"

This temporary cooling-off period was not only to save face for the royal family, but also to give themselves a chance to redeem themselves.

He needed a pretext for Li Daozong to redeem himself through meritorious service.

“Xiao Gong!” he shouted sternly.

"Chen is here!"

"Take control of the front lines immediately! Fortify the camp, set up more sentry posts, and guard against Yang Wanchun's attack! If even a single soldier gets close, kill them without mercy!"

"According to the order!"

Li Xiaogong accepted the order and left.

"Zhang Jian! Go all out to search for survivors! Sun Daiyin! Quickly assess the losses; I need the most detailed figures!"

The orders, imbued with the scent of iron and blood, forcefully brought the chaotic Tang army back into control.

About half an hour later, Sun Daiyin came in carrying the preliminary inventory results: "Your Majesty, nearly 40% of the elite infantry have been lost, and the artillery battalion is almost completely wiped out! Only seven cannons remain usable, and gunpowder is less than 10% of normal levels. The catapults are almost completely destroyed. The rations can last for more than a month, but there are over 5,000 wounded soldiers who urgently need medicine."

The numbers are cold and alarming.

Changsun Wuji said with deep concern, "Your Majesty, the casualties are heavy, our weapons are destroyed, morale is low, and the autumn chill is approaching in Liaodong. I fear..."

"enough!"

Li Shimin slammed his hand on the table, causing the candlelight to flicker.

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the location of Anshi City on the sand table: "An accident! A treacherous scheme by Yang Wanchun! Are you going to make the mighty army of our Celestial Empire sigh in despair and flee in disgrace?! I am not reconciled!"

Every word he uttered seemed to burst from between his teeth, carrying the humiliation of having his imperial dignity trampled upon and an almost obsessive madness.

He had devoted countless efforts to the Liaodong campaign, and had no time to even attend to the chaos in Chang'an.

He knew that once he captured Ansi Castle, the pacification of Goguryeo would be just around the corner.

So what if we fail once?

He has to succeed!

There is no choice but to succeed.

"His Majesty!"

Li Xiaogong knelt on one knee and earnestly explained the dire situation: "It is not that I am afraid of war! It is simply that a direct assault is no longer possible! Our army is exhausted, we have no weapons, and the morale of Anshi City is high! If we suffer further losses, I fear our morale will collapse."

"Who said I wanted to launch a full-scale attack?!"

Li Shimin abruptly interrupted him, his eyes flashing with an almost gambler's fanaticism, and suddenly looked at Li Daozong, who was being held by his personal guards outside the tent awaiting orders: "Li Daozong! Get in here!"

Li Daozong staggered into the tent, his face ashen.

"I'm giving you one last chance!"

Li Shimin's voice was as cold as ice, "Tell me! Is the 'mountain-building method' itself wrong?!"

As if grasping at the last straw, Li Daozong suddenly looked up and hissed, "Your Majesty! The 'Mountain Building Method' itself is not fundamentally flawed! It is the right way to defeat the enemy from a high vantage point!"

"This collapse was all due to my eagerness for quick results. The foundation was not solid enough, the internal wooden frame was not strong enough, and I did not expect the enemy's fire attack to be so accurate!"

"If only we could build it again!"

"Your subject will definitely dig three zhang deeper on the existing foundation, using huge stones as the base, with densely packed wooden frames, and rammed earth layer by layer to make it as solid as a rock!"

"When the powerful equipment is deployed, Anshi City will surely be reduced to dust!"

"Your subject is willing to sign a military pledge! If we are defeated again, I am willing to be torn to pieces!"

He was willing to do anything to save his life and wash away his shame.

"Your Majesty! You must not!"

Li Xiaogong exclaimed in horror: "In the wake of the recent defeat, the people are filled with fear and the workforce is exhausted. How can we possibly undertake a project that requires 500,000 people again? Where will we get the time and the materials? Will the bandits of Anshi just sit idly by?!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Changsun Wuji also grew anxious: "This is a desperate gamble! If anything goes wrong..."

"I have made up my mind!"

Li Shimin waved his hand decisively, his eyes fixed on victory without regard for anything else: "Daozong! I order you to atone for your crimes with meritorious service! Immediately mobilize all available labor to dismantle the camp for timber and dig for stones!"

"I don't care what methods you use, within a month I want to see a mountain of earth that is higher and more solid than before! If you succeed, your previous crimes will be forgiven! If you fail again..."

Li Shimin's eyes flashed with murderous intent: "Your two crimes will be punished together, and your entire family will be executed!"

"Your Majesty, I obey! Thank you for your great favor!"

Li Daozong kowtowed repeatedly, blood streaming from his forehead, yet a sickly hope burned in his eyes.

Changsun Wuji and the others looked at him, then at Li Shimin, their eyes filled with an unprecedented worry.

Although they could understand Li Shimin's desire to win, they knew that it was precisely in times like these that they needed to remain calm.

Otherwise, being too eager for quick success and instant benefits will definitely lead to serious problems.

However, Li Shimin is no longer willing to listen to honest advice.

He's completely hooked.

Even Changsun Wuji could not dissuade him.

Soon, the entire Tang army camp fell into an even more oppressive and frenzied state than before.

Before the wounds of the new defeat had healed, even heavier labor was imposed upon them.

The soldiers numbly dug up usable timber from the ruins and dismantled parts of the camp to use as building materials.

Exhaustion, pain, fear of the new project, and resentment toward the generals' decisions festered and spread in the silent labor.

Li Daozong was like a madman, supervising the construction day and night, roaring and howling.

He did learn his lesson.

The foundation was dug deep, with huge rocks placed at the bottom.

The internal wooden frame is crisscrossed, as dense as a spider web.

The lines of laborers ramming the earth stretched even longer, the sound of wooden pestles striking the earth never ceasing day or night.

The massive earthen mound, fueled by the exhaustion and despair of countless people, rose again at an even faster pace, becoming even more majestic than before.

On the city wall of Anshi, Yang Wanchun coldly watched the frenzy of the Tang camp opposite him.

A cruel sneer curled at the corner of his lips: "Li Shimin, you really won't shed a tear until you see the coffin!"

(End of this chapter)