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

Even Li Ji lamented that it was easier to shake a city than to shake the Han army!

The Han Family Army was a general term used by the entire Tang Dynasty to refer to the "Li Yuanchang Rebellion Army".

In a prosperous era like the Zhenguan era, it was extremely rare for someone to be willing to rebel with Li Yuanchang and refuse the Heavenly Khan's offer of amnesty.

Only Li Ji, who was personally on the front lines and in command, understood what this meant: it meant that in the eyes of some people, Li Yuanchang's prestige had surpassed that of the emperor.

He also knew that Li Yuanchang and the current imperial power were destined to be incompatible.

When all the strategies failed and the winter snow dissipated, Li Ji, as the Grand Marshal in charge of suppressing the rebellion, had no choice but to resort to military force.

Even if they were once colleagues.

Early April.

With a single military order from Li Ji, 200,000 troops officially crossed the river, seized the mudflats, and set up camp!

He encountered almost no resistance at this step.

Li Yuanchang was well aware that defending the city was a huge advantage, and there was absolutely no need to send troops to stop the imperial army from entering the country.

Once Li Ji's 200,000-strong army officially entered the battlefield, he immediately displayed his true colors as a renowned commander, launching a massive military offensive.

He advanced a hundred miles in a single day, penetrating deep into the heart of Goguryeo with unparalleled prowess.

Ashina She'er's vanguard army was extremely brave in attacking cities and capturing strongholds, and launched numerous raids and ambushes.

Li Yuanchang remained steadfast in his strategy, ordering all cities not to launch attacks on their own and instead using only two thousand cavalrymen to maneuver against them.

In just ten days, the two sides clashed twelve times, with no major casualties, but each side gained something.

Li Ji achieved a resounding victory, advancing 300 li in a triumphant march, thus providing an explanation to the imperial court.

Li Yuanchang used two thousand cavalry to continuously wear down the enemy's vanguard, and intercepted their camp three times, burning some of their supplies, thus achieving the desired result.

There's no question of victory or defeat, nor of superiority or inferiority.

Both sides were skilled in warfare, and neither could counter the other's moves.

Both sides were well aware that the real battle had not yet broken out.

Soon, after more than ten preliminary maneuvers, the main forces of both sides finally met at "Anshi City"!

On the vast land, a massive army covered the sky and filled the earth, its heavy hooves causing the ground to collapse and dust to rise everywhere.

The clattering of wheels indicated that the heavy siege equipment was slowly making its way to the camp.

The central army alone, not counting the vanguard and rear guard, was enough to sweep away any dynasty in the 7th century except for Tibet.

The terrifyingly large army stretched as far as the eye could see.

Li Ji gazed solemnly at Anshi City. He had been here before and had attacked the city, but the attack had dragged on for too long, forcing Li Shimin to eventually retreat.

Now that he has come again, although he has some experience, he is facing Li Yuanchang.

To this day, he still doesn't know the exact power and appearance of Han Lei.

"Your Highness, this is more than two hundred thousand, isn't it?"

On the city wall of Anshi, generals gathered, as if facing a formidable enemy!

Everyone's eyes were filled with shock. They had never seen so many Tang Dynasty troops before. Even when they were fighting against Xueyantuo, there were at most a few hundred thousand troops, and many of them were logistics personnel.

Now, the army that has come to punish them numbers as many as 200,000, which is terrifying!

"The laborers should be behind them."

"The vanguard army has 50,000 troops on the left and right flanks to prevent troops from the city from raiding the camp, the central army enters the field and sets up camp, and the rear camp is still waiting several miles away."

"Countless units are in perfect order. Even if all our troops went out to launch a surprise attack, we probably wouldn't come out unscathed. Li Ji, as expected of Li Ji!" Li Yuanchang put down his binoculars, his eyes filled with sighs.

He knew that once Li Ji arrived, he would surely be somewhere gazing at the natural defenses of Anshi City.

"The imperial court is stubbornly clinging to its errors and insists on forcing us into a corner!"

"Changsun Wuji won't tolerate us, Han Fei won't tolerate us, and now even Li Ji wants our lives. Then let's fight!"

Lu Zhong and the others were furious and began to hate Li Ji as well.

But Li Yuanchang seemed much calmer: "They each serve their own masters and have their own stances."

"Li Ji also wanted to avoid this battle."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at him with surprise.

"Your Highness, what do you mean by that?"

Li Yuanchang smiled bitterly: "Li Ji is a famous general, not a cunning strategist. Even in the winter, he was forced to use methods such as assassination, defection, and psychological warfare. This shows how much he didn't want to fight this battle."

His gaze was far-reaching; though he had never met Li Ji, he understood Li Ji's helplessness.

"Only by fighting can one gain military merit; how could Li Ji not want that?"

"When His Highness was still in Chang'an, he was superior to him. His Highness took his place. Shouldn't he be happy now?" someone wondered.

Li Yuanchang shook his head.

"No, Li Ji is not that kind of person."

"He was restraining himself; he didn't want so many Tang Dynasty soldiers to die."

"He came only because he had to by imperial decree."

"Once the fighting starts, there are no winners."

"Ugh."

As he spoke, he suddenly sighed; he too was restraining himself.

His restraint was not entirely for the sake of stability; in fact, he did not want to kill too many people, many of whom were his former comrades and subordinates, and behind them were their wives, children, and elderly parents.

He could have launched a counterattack directly, relying on Han Lei, without even needing any tactics or timing; he could have just pushed hard.

The overwhelming advantage that firearms have over cold weapons is immense.

Even if Li Ji possessed extraordinary abilities, he couldn't possibly stop them.

However, this would make the casualties of the Tang army unpredictable!

The entire Tang Dynasty might be dragged into an endless abyss because of the annihilation of these 200,000 main forces!

This is not something that can be remedied with gunpowder in a short time. Once it is caused, there will be growing pains and a chain reaction.

With such heavy casualties in the Tang Dynasty's civil war, would those states and kingdoms that had submitted to the Tang Dynasty still behave themselves?

The most important strategic threat is also Tibet.

That was a formidable enemy, accompanying the Tang Dynasty throughout history. It was the only territory that the powerful Tang Empire could not conquer. In fact, in the later years of the Tang Dynasty, the Tibetans even invaded Chang'an, but it was later recovered.

Therefore, considering the overall situation of the nation-state, Li Yuanchang did not escalate his personal grudges with Li Shimin.

He hoped to reduce casualties by holding firm, thereby deterring the enemy from retreating.

"But Your Highness, they still came."

"To be merciful to the enemy is to be cruel to oneself," Kim Min-da said, seemingly sensing Lee Won-chang's reluctance.

Li Yuanchang looked up and took a deep breath.

Undeniably, Kim Min-da's statement makes sense.

As a general, he could only see so much, but as a leader and a time traveler, Li Yuanchang's vision could not be limited to this.

He doesn't want victory; he only wants to avoid defeat!

If the hardline Li Shimin dies and Li Zhi ascends the throne, he might be able to repair relations with the court and promote the "two systems" (one government and two institutions).