In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Before leaving, he met Wu Meiniang once more at Tongguan.

Wu Zetian brought extremely shocking news.

Minister of Justice Zhang Liang was beheaded!

Someone secretly accused Zhang Liang of raising "five hundred fake sons" with the intention of rebellion. After investigation, the evidence was found to be insufficient, but Li Shimin still executed him.

Upon hearing this news, Li Yuanchang felt as if a sword was hanging over his head!

The Minister of Justice could be executed if he was reported.

Then he could be the Minister of War!

Li Shimin did not kill meritorious officials, but he killed powerful ministers!

Zhang Liang's death seems like a cleansing and warning issued by the Heavenly Khan in his twilight years to protect his successor.

He even felt a lingering fear; if it weren't for his status and prestige, he might have been the one to lose his head in this incident with the mountain tribe.

This is almost identical to Zhang Liang's situation, except that Zhang Liang didn't have the protection of being a member of the royal family, and he wasn't as lucky.

This incident, to some extent, made Li Yuanchang distrust Li Shimin even more, and made his already strong desire to protect himself even more resolute.

Before setting off, he once again dispatched Li Yi to the northern desert to inspect the area and convey messages on his behalf.

There were nearly twenty small tribes there, led by the Meng tribe, who had some conflicts with the imperial court over migration and the issue of being under the control of the prefecture. It was Li Yuanchang who mediated and protected them, thus saving them from disaster.

Coupled with the camaraderie forged in past battles and the substantial secret support from the Prince of Han's mansion, they outwardly pledged allegiance to the imperial court, but in reality, they only listened to Li Yuanchang.

After Kouzhu's departure, a grassland alliance had quietly taken shape.

In addition, Li Yuanchang also began to increase his support for the Ōtomo clan in southern Japan, because money and supplies were the basics for development.

He asked Wu Zetian for help, so that the Northern Song fleet could also start transporting some necessary supplies to Japan, and recruit more laborers to mine all the materials needed for gunpowder.

Two years may seem like a long time, but it is actually very short.

The countdown actually began the moment we left Chang'an.

July 20th.

Li Yuanchang led his army to Youzhou.

On July 22, the army entered the Liaoxi Corridor.

On August 15th, the army, having reached Yingzhou, arrived at the Liao River.

From then on, Li Yuanchang's 20,000-strong army was fully deployed on the border between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo. Once they crossed the river, they would enter the core war zone of Goguryeo.

This route was also the route Li Shimin took to attack Goguryeo.

According to conventional battle tactics, Li Yuanchang should immediately seize the last half month, cross the river before winter arrives and the river freezes, and then capture the bridgehead city of Liaodong.

But Li Yuanchang did not. Instead, he stopped directly west of the Liao River and did not advance any further.

Even though the window of opportunity was closing, he didn't take any action, but just kept training and practicing.

As time went by, September arrived quickly.

Temperatures have plummeted in the Liao River area!

Its climate is equivalent to that of Chang'an in November or December, which is quite an exaggeration.

Li Yuanchang was amazed. This place was equivalent to the Liaoyang and Fushun area in Northeast China in later years. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be this cold.

The only explanation is that more than a thousand years have passed, and the Earth's temperature, ocean currents, and monsoons are completely different.

As temperatures plummeted, the area west of the Liao River, already an uninhabited region, fell into complete silence.

For miles around, there was no smoke from cooking fires; bitter cold became the defining characteristic.

By the end of September.

The 20,000-strong army west of the Liao River froze solid.

Not to mention people, even the warhorses were a bit unaccustomed to the environment. In the early morning, the warhorses had a lot of snot in their noses, and in the coldest times, we had to tie a layer of cloth around their hooves.

We haven't seen any Goguryeo people yet. Strictly speaking, we're still on the border of the Tang Dynasty, and the army is already facing a harsh living environment.

It's hard to imagine how they could continue if they were at war and their camps were full of wounded soldiers.

From this perspective, Li Shimin's retreat was both wise and unavoidable.

October, November!

For two or three months, the army lived a "single-player" life.

Gradually, the soldiers from various prefectures who came from Shannan West Circuit began to adapt to the cold weather, and through daily drills and combat exercises, they also gradually adapted to the terrain of high mountains and deep valleys in Liaodong.

Every day, besides the sound of the waves of the Liao River, there were the shouts of battle from 20,000 troops.

They get up early every day, carry heavy loads, cross mountains, climb high mountains, and enter deep valleys, constantly training in various complex terrains.

Numerous integrated tactics were tested in rotation.

The Six Armies Realm is like a giant "cheat code"—a ready-made formation. Once you learn it, your combat power will be ten times greater.

In addition, Li Yuanchang also emphasized infantry and cavalry coordination and provided special training for swordsmen.

The combined infantry and cavalry tactics were intended for mountain warfare, a battlefield unfamiliar to the Tang army, as there were no flat plains where cavalry could collide head-on.

The special training for the swordsmen was to deal with the heavy cavalry of Goguryeo.

If cavalry was the father of the cold weapon era, then heavy cavalry was the father of fathers among fathers.

Once the heavy cavalry starts moving, the regular army simply can't stop them. It's like a bunch of Dongfeng trucks speeding through a sea of ​​people.

The thought of that scene is terrifying.

However, the Six Armies Mirror clearly analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of heavy cavalry. This type of troop was not invincible. Although its combat power was strong, its mobility was extremely poor!

Compared to regular cavalry, heavy cavalry is specialized, focusing on killing and strong attacks, but has very poor mobility, making it difficult to turn around, start, and command.

If they are blocked, if even one wave fails to break through, their formation will inevitably fall into chaos, just like a train derailing, causing the rest to derail as well.

The broadsword fighters, as a weaker version of the longsword fighters, were capable of dealing with heavy cavalry.

Li Yuanchang drew on the classic case of Yue Fei dealing with the "Iron Pagoda" and also referred to some formations of the Six Armies, and formulated a strategy of using infantry to control cavalry and breaking them by forming a battle formation.

The Liao River witnessed the growth of this army and foreshadowed the brutal battle to come!

Li Yuanchang has staked his future, his life, and even the future of the entire Han Prince's Mansion on this project, doing everything in his power to train this army and make them more combat-ready.

Even so, he understood that this was not enough to defeat Goguryeo!

With only 20,000 men and no further reinforcements from the court, it would be impossible to bridge the huge gap with tactics and formations alone if Goguryeo were to be defeated in one fell swoop.

This gap is not a difference in combat power.

Rather, it is a series of natural barriers such as population size, weather, terrain, and city walls.

The real key ingredient was gunpowder!

This is also the source of Li Yuanchang's confidence to challenge anyone in the future, even if that person is Emperor Taizong of Tang, the greatest emperor of all time.

Over the years, Li Yuanchang has secretly developed so much power, but if he were to really compete with Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin), he would absolutely not be able to win.

Unless you're using cheats, specifically cheats involving black powder!

December 19th.

After more than half a year, he finally received the good news he had been dreaming of!