Early in the morning, the sun rose.
The early October sun was no longer hot, and it felt warm on people's bodies. The golden sunlight shone on the camp, covering the bumpy camp with a layer of golden light. However, there were still dried blood stains on the ground, and the corpses had already been taken away.
Last night, they were counting the losses. When everything was done, it was already morning. Xue Rengui, Xiao Yuanqi, and Zuo Xianfeng, although their eyes were bloodshot and tired because of staying up all night, their faces were full of excitement.
In this battle, the Tang army's strength was wiped out.
The Tang army no longer had the strength to fight.
The three of them came to the main tent and saluted to Du Qi. Xiao Yuanqi said first, "Your Majesty, last night's battle, according to our count, we killed more than 136,800 Tang soldiers. In fact, there weren't that many people who died, but many of them were seriously injured by the artillery, and couldn't be treated, so we killed them. "
"Now, all the corpses have been burned."
"We've captured more than 16,000 Tang soldiers. We have lost more than 14,000 of our own men. Our main losses were caused when we resisted the Tang army's attack. "
Xiao Yuanqi was even more excited when he mentioned the results, "This battle, we won a total victory. It's a pity that we couldn't take down Li Shimin. If we did, it would have a bigger impact on the Tang army. "
Du Qi nodded, "This victory has completely sealed Li Shimin's defeat. Now, the Tang dynasty has no power to resist. The army will rest for a day. Tomorrow morning, our army will go to Longzhou and take down Anrong Pass. With our current strength, it will be too easy to take down Anrong Pass. "
Xiao Yuanqi said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Xue Rengui said, "Your Majesty, in fact, although my soldiers have stayed up all night, they are still full of fighting spirit. Everyone wants to kill their way into the Tang dynasty and directly to Anrong Pass. "
Zuo Xianfeng was brought up by Xue Rengui. Just like Xue Rengui, he was a warmonger. He nodded and said, "Your Majesty, this subject's soldiers are also willing to participate in the battle. Please allow it. Even if our men don't rest, they still have sufficient fighting strength to conquer An Rong Pass. "
Du Qi waved his hand and said, "You've been up all night, go and rest. Tomorrow morning, we will set out for Anrong Pass. There's no need to discuss this matter any further. It's decided. "
"Yes!"
The three of them responded in unison.
After the three of them left, Du Qi walked out of the tent. As usual, he went to the camp to comfort the injured soldiers. Just this one round alone took up half a day's time.
One day passed in the blink of an eye.
The next morning.
Thus, Xia Xia's army set off toward Longzhou. At this time, Li Shimin had already set up camp at An Rong Pass. However, the number of soldiers by his side now was merely a little over ten thousand. He had already gathered some people along the way, but in the end, that was all he had. It was impossible to defend An Rong Pass with just ten thousand men against Du Qi's army.
Li Shimin stood on top of the city gate tower with a sad expression. He said with a helpless expression, "Minister Fang, if we return to An Rong Pass, Du Qi's army will definitely reach An Rong Pass. How are we going to stop them?"
"We can't!"
Fang Xuanling said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, although Du Qi's army suffered losses in yesterday's battle. However, they only lost ten thousand men at most. However, our army is almost completely wiped out. We only have ten thousand men by our side now. Even if more people come back, there won't be too many of them. It won't be easy to defend An Rong Pass! "
Wei Zheng was also worried. He sighed and said, "Your Majesty, we really can't defend An Rong Pass now. Once the news of their defeat spread in the country, the situation in the country would deteriorate further. We have no problem defending An Rong Pass, but it'll be difficult to defend the other regions. It'll be difficult to even control Gyeonggi Province. "
Li Shimin slapped the city wall with a helpless expression. Because he had no other choice at the moment. Although An Rong Pass was sturdy, Li Shimin was confident that he could use ten thousand men to block an army of seventy to eighty thousand. However, Du Qi had new weapons. Under the bombardment of the cannons, An Rong Pass would not be able to withstand it. In the end, An Rong Pass would collapse.
Li Shimin's eyes were filled with worry.
He was worried about how to stop Du Qi.
He was worried about how to stabilize the situation in the country.
Li Shimin looked at the blue sky and sighed, "The situation in the world really changes in the blink of an eye. Our battle with Du Qi is already at the brink of desperation. If not for Du Qi, with our gunpowder and other weapons, it won't be difficult to defeat the surrounding countries and suppress the situation in the country. Now that Du Qi is here, it's very complicated. What do you think we should do to stop Du Qi? "
Wei Shuyu said, "Your Majesty, can we give them a taste of their own medicine?"
Li Shimin looked at Wei Shuyu and praised, "How can we give them a taste of their medicine?"
Wei Shuyu said seriously, "It's actually very simple. We can set up a lot of gunpowder under the city wall. When Du Qi arrives, we'll detonate the gunpowder. At that time, even if we can't kill Du Qi, we'll kill Du Qi's soldiers. We'll set up gunpowder along the way to stop Du Qi. If they can set up gunpowder underground, so can we! "
Li Shimin thought for a while and shook his head, "I'm afraid it won't be easy to do!"
Wei Shuyu said, "Why?"
Before Li Shimin spoke, Fang Xuanling said, "The reason is simple. If we guard An Rong Pass, Du Qi will definitely bombard it first. Under the intensive bombardment, if we set up gunpowder under An Rong Pass, Du Qi's artillery bombardment will ignite the gunpowder underground. I'm afraid the entire city will collapse, and we'll be affected instead. "
Wei Shuyu shook his head and said, "Minister Fang, we can't hold An Rong Pass, so why should we continue to guard it? Our army can just withdraw and leave a few soldiers to ambush nearby. As long as Du Qi's army arrives at An Rong Pass in large numbers, we'll detonate the gunpowder and kill Xia Xia's soldiers. "
After a pause, Wei Shuyu continued, "It'll be best if we can kill Du Qi. If we can't, then it's fine. Anyway, it'll be worth it if we can kill Xia Xia's soldiers. "
Fang Xuanling thought for a while and shook his head, "If we do this, we can indeed kill some of Xia Xia's soldiers. Unfortunately, this arrangement can only delay them for a while. It's impossible to really stop Xia Xia's army. And this is the first time we've achieved such a miraculous effect. After that, Du Qi's army will be strictly guarding the official road. If we investigate carefully, it'll be difficult to bomb Du Qi again. In short, this kind of trick won't be of much use. "
Wei Shuyu sighed. As Fang Xuanling said, it was impossible to defeat Du Qi. At most, they could only annoy Du Qi.
The most important thing now was to win this battle.
But how?
Wei Shuyu thought quickly in his heart, but no matter how he thought about it, he still couldn't find a solution. Because at present, Wei Shuyu didn't have any solution. Xia Xia's army was too strong and their weapons were too powerful. It was almost impossible to stop Du Qi's army.
The general trend was in Xia Xia's favor.
The Tang dynasty was no match for Xia Xia.
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