"Special Agent Ashina," Li Shimin said, "Immediately transfer the troops under your command to attack the north city of Rouyuan County. Right now, the forces that Du Qi has arranged in Rouyuan County are all concentrated in the east city. If you attack the north city, you will be able to win in one battle. "
"Yes!"
After Ashina Agent agreed, he immediately mobilized his troops and left.
The reason why he could stand on the grasslands was because of the support of the royal family of the Tang dynasty. If not for the support of the Tang dynasty, he would not have been able to stand on his own. Therefore, even if Ashina Agent was unwilling, he immediately began to take action against Li Shimin's arrangements.
As Ashina Agent sent out his troops, he headed straight for the east city.
After Li Shimin arranged for Ashina Agent, he was still worried, so he ordered, "Summon Gao Can and Jin Yuzhen."
Gao Can was a general of Goguryeo.
Jin Yuzhen was a general of Xinluo.
Both of them led their own troops.
Gao Can and Jin Yuzhen each had ten thousand men under their command. They were not weak troops.
After all, Goguryeo and Xinluo were not weak. Not long after, Gao Can and Jin Yuzhen arrived. The two of them bowed to Li Shimin. Originally, Goguryeo and Xinluo were not prepared to pay attention to Li Shimin. They were unwilling to send troops to attack Du Qi.
To Goguryeo and Xinluo, Li Shimin and Du Qi's battle was like a dog biting a dog.
Both sides did not have much to do with Du Qi.
However, there was nothing they could do. The new gunpowder of the Tang dynasty was too powerful. After testing it in the two countries, both the King of Goguryeo and the King of Xinluo admitted defeat. They did not dare to become enemies with the Tang dynasty.
Therefore, they chose to send troops.
Li Shimin ordered, "Gao Can, you are in charge of leading troops to attack the south city of Rouyuan County. Go all out and attack from the south city. "
"Yes sir!"
Gao Can immediately agreed.
Then, he took his leave first.
Li Shimin's gaze fell on Jin Yuzhen again. He said, "Jin Yuzhen, lead ten thousand men under you and attack the north city of Rouyuan County."
"Yes!"
Jin Yuzhen also agreed.
Jin Yuzhen was in his early thirties and was in his prime. His idea was actually very simple, which was to first stabilize Li Shimin and feign an attack on North City. The main direction of attack still depended on Li Shimin himself. He would not use up his own strength.
After Jin Yuzhen left, Li Shimin once again looked at the east gate tower of Rou Yuan County and gave the order to attack.
The soldiers under his command charged forward wave after wave.
However, the soldiers who charged forward were unable to scale the city gate tower. The firepower on the city gate tower was simply too strong. Countless grenades rained down, and mortars bombarded the rear. Under such fierce bombardment, even if Li Shimin's forces attacked fiercely, they were still unable to exert their full strength.
On the city gate tower, Xiao Yuan Qi and Ma Yuan looked calm.
For the two of them, even if they were equipped with mortars, it would not be easy to defeat Li Shimin because of their military strength. However, when it came to defense, they had gunpowder, grenades, and mortars. Defending Rou Yuan County was an easy task.
When Xiao Yuan Qi received the news that the four cities were under attack, he didn't panic at all. He just immediately arranged for soldiers to guard the city gates.
The two sides began to fight.
However, whether it was the Turks, Xinluo, or Goguryeo, they didn't really attack. They were mainly feints. The real attack was still on Li Shimin's side.
Even if Li Shimin was furious when he received the news, there was nothing he could do. Even if he gave the order to reprimand Ashina Agent and the others, these people would still do whatever they wanted. They would not listen to his orders.
Li Shimin had no choice but to give the order to attack again.
The attack became fiercer and fiercer.
However, even if the soldiers under Li Shimin's command attacked like a tide, they were easily repelled and could not form a large-scale attack. This kind of attack lasted from morning to evening. Countless corpses were piled up outside the city.
The smell of blood permeated the air.
The corpses piled up into mountains.
Countless Tang soldiers who were attacking had fear on their faces.
Because this battle was beyond everyone's understanding. In the past, when the two sides fought with swords, spears, swords, and halberds, it was still okay. At that time, they could use siege chariots and ladders to attack. But now, siege chariots and ladders were completely ineffective.
Because the siege chariots and ladders were close, the grenades were all destroyed when they were thrown down.
They were unable to gain a foothold.
Li Shimin looked at the mountain of corpses on the battlefield and his face turned bitter. He looked at Zhangsun Wuji and said, "Weiji, how many soldiers have we sent into the battlefield today?"
"Sixty thousand!"
Zhangsun Wuji said, "Roughly estimating, the number of soldiers who have died is around ten thousand. These sixty thousand people are charging forward wave after wave, but they are still unable to break through the city. The current situation is not optimistic at all. "
Zhangsun Wuji also felt troubled.
Because the situation was worrying.
Li Shimin's face turned even darker.
This time, Li Shimin had high hopes of attacking Xia Xia. He hoped that he could destroy Xia Xia in one go. However, as soon as he arrived at Rou Yuan County, he was met with a painful blow. His originally fervent mood had now turned icy cold, and he felt very helpless.
Li Jing suddenly said, "Your Majesty, let's retreat for now."
Li Shimin saw that the sky had darkened and knew that it was impossible to continue attacking. After all, there was no way to attack in the night. So, Li Shimin finally agreed to retreat.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers retreated and finally stopped after they were six miles away.
The army was stationed.
Within the central tent.
Li Shimin sat on the main seat, waiting for the results of the battle to be counted. At this moment, Li Shimin sat upright, but his eyes were deep. Because until now, Li Shimin still could not suppress the disappointment in his heart, as well as his anger towards Xia Xia. The bad people under him had used all their strength and schemes to finally achieve a breakthrough. Now, the Tang dynasty also had gunpowder.
What Li Shimin did not expect was that Xia Xia's weapon was so powerful.
If he had known, he would not have started a war so easily.
After a while, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the tent. Zhangsun Wuji, Li Jing, Wei Zheng, and the others had arrived. The generals of No.1 High School had also gathered.
As the main general of the army, Li Jing said, "Your Majesty, the losses of today's battle have been counted. The number of soldiers we lost in the battle during the day is actually around twelve thousand and six hundred. These are the ones who died on the battlefield. Apart from them, there are also many soldiers who were injured. In this battle, we did not manage to seize any city at all. We did not even have much time to attack the city. "
Li Shimin's face twitched.
The situation was not good!
Li Jing continued, "Your Majesty, the current situation is actually quite disadvantageous. The reason is very simple. We do not have any measures to know Du Qi's weapon. Under Du Qi's bombardment, all our catapults were destroyed. Even if our soldiers held shields, they could not block it. "
After a pause, Li Jing said, "Shields can block arrows, rocks, and so on, but the power of this explosion is enough to overturn everything. If we were the defending side, then everything would be easy. After all, under the bombardment of this weapon, it might not be able to destroy the city. But now that we are attacking, we are at a disadvantage. Therefore, I suggest that we retreat! "
As soon as these words were said, everyone's expression changed slightly.
Retreat!
That was obviously impossible.
Li Shimin flicked his sleeves and said, "It's impossible to retreat. Our Tang dynasty's troops are heading towards Xia Xia, and we have gathered the forces of Goguryeo, Xinluo, Tibet, and other sides. With such strength, once we retreat, wouldn't we become a joke? Now, we are only attacking a border city, and we have not even faced Du Qi before retreating. I am not willing no matter what. "
When Li Jing heard this, he sighed.
The situation was not good!
If the weapons of Du Qi's troops did not have an absolute advantage, then their troops were strong and there were many opportunities to arrange. But now, just Du Qi's weapons alone were enough to suppress their attacks, causing them to be unable to attack.
Zhangsun Wuji suddenly said, "Your Majesty, since that is the case, let's set a two-day agreement. Let's wait for another two days and attack for another two days. If we are still unable to achieve a breakthrough after two days, we will give up on the current plan. "
"Okay!"
Li Shimin directly agreed.
This was a compromise plan.
Li Shimin suddenly said, "In today's battle, how many troops of Goguryeo, Tujue, Xinluo, and other sides have died?"
Zhangsun Wuji said, "Very little. Because they seem to be attacking, but in fact, they are pretending to attack. They did not really launch an attack, so there are no casualties."
Li Shimin suddenly said, "These people only know how to snatch benefits, but now that we are attacking, all of them are shirking their responsibilities."
Zhangsun Wuji said, "Everyone seeks fortune and avoids calamity. Your Majesty, this is also a normal thing. Because these people can't really be like our soldiers. "
Li Shimin sighed.
He wanted to call these people over and reprimand them one by one. It was just that although the various countries listened to his arrangements and arranged for generals to bring troops over and listen to his orders. But in reality, each of them had their own way of thinking.
It was impossible for him to control these people.
Li Shimin waved his hand, and everyone retreated.
Li Shimin was left alone in the tent.
Li Shimin sat for a while. After all, he was not an indecisive and emotional person. He quickly adjusted his emotions and stood up to go to the area where the injured soldiers were.
This was to comfort the injured soldiers.
This was Li Shimin's habit.
The more injured the soldiers were, the more fragile they were. So if he went to comfort them now, the situation would naturally be different.
After Li Shimin walked around in a circle, the injured officers and soldiers were all in high spirits, all of them were quite excited.
All of them were even more grateful to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin returned to his own tent. The sky was already a little dark, so he did not think about other things and went to rest early.
The next day, clear.
Early in the morning, the sky was bright.
Li Shimin once again led his army and started to attack Rouyuan County. The strength of the attack this time was even stronger than yesterday. Li Shimin specially arranged people beside Ashina Secret Service, Jin Yuzhen and the others to supervise the attack.
This was to strengthen the strength of the attack.
In this day's attack, although Li Shimin's soldiers occasionally climbed up the city tower, but without exception, they were all defeated. Especially today, the strength of the attack was even stronger. The Tang army had lost more than 18,000 soldiers.
These were countless people who were killed by the explosion.
Their deaths were extremely miserable.
After a day of fighting, Li Shimin's internal Qi was even more heartbroken. This was because after two days of attack, his troops had lost more than 30,000 people. On the other hand, the troops of Xinluo, Goguryeo, and the Turkic Empire had almost no losses.
This was because the main attackers were Li Shimin's men.
As a result, the losses were very serious.
After Li Shimin ended the day's attack and the army began to rest, a large army appeared in a mountain col at the southeast side of Rouyuan County.
This army had more than 50,000 people.
They were mainly Xue Rengui's men.
Du Qi brought Xue Rengui north from the border of Magadha in the south. They traveled at night during the day and finally arrived at this mountain col. However, Du Qi did not expose his whereabouts.
After Du Qi's army arrived, they set up camp.
Everyone, get into formation.
However, this army did not have an elephant army because it was too easy to discover. There were only infantry, artillery, and the cavalry under Xue Rengui.
The army stopped and got into formation.
The soldiers who were responsible for investigating the situation in Rouyuan County had already returned.
The soldiers bowed to Du Qi and handed over a letter.
Du Qi opened the letter and read it. After reading the battle that happened in the past two days, a smile appeared on his face. Xiao Yuanqi and Ma Yuan used the power of the city and artillery to nail Li Shimin outside the city, not allowing him to advance at all. Moreover, Li Shimin's side had suffered countless losses. On the contrary, Ma Yuan and Xiao Yuanqi's forces did not suffer any losses. This was an extremely good situation.
Du Qi waved his hand and dismissed the sentries. He indeed called Shangguan Yi, Lai Ji, and the others to discuss the next strategy. When everyone gathered, Du Qi looked around and said, "We are now close to Rouyuan County, and Li Shimin does not know our whereabouts. What do you think we should do now? "
Lai Ji took the initiative and said, "Your Majesty, I think our current arrangement is actually very simple. We will directly send troops to cut off Li Shimin's retreat. We have Xiao Yuanqi, Ma Yuan, and Xue Rengui's three armies, a total of 150,000 men. Moreover, our weapons are far superior to the Tang dynasty's. If both sides fight, we will be able to defeat the other side. "
After a pause, Lai Ji said, "Even if we don't take the initiative to attack, we can first go to Li Shimin's rear and cut off his retreat. We can then surround him and prevent him from retreating."
Du Qi nodded but did not express his opinion.
Du Qi did not think that the current strategy of sending troops was the most suitable one.
Du Qi looked at Shangguan Yi and the others. At this time, Shangguan Yi said, "Your Majesty, I think Lai Ji's suggestion is not suitable. The reason is simple. Once we are exposed, Li Shimin's hundreds of thousands of troops will attack our army. In particular, although we have mortars, the other side has too many troops. Moreover, they also have gunpowder. Therefore, a real battle between the two sides is not beneficial to us. Therefore, I suggest we find another way to fight Li Shimin. "
Du Qi asked, "How do we fight?"
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