Fought twice, each with a winner or a loser.

Yesterday, the forward cavalry of Cheng Biting Jin was ambushed by Yang Wanchun outside the city, which was a thrilling danger, fortunately, Cheng Biting Jin is an experienced veteran, and after the attack, he was in danger and calmly dispatched, which saved the defeat and turned defeat into victory.

Today's siege, the original Tang army had the advantage, who knew that the city suddenly killed 5,000 enemy troops, after a treacherous rush, more than 2,000 miners were almost killed and wounded, and the enemy army only paid the price of more than 1,000 people, this time it was the turn of the Tang army to pay Yang Wanchun a tuition.

After such an accident, the siege naturally stopped, and the soldiers of the Tang army began to collect the corpses of the robes under the city walls and carried them back to the Chinese army in silence.

Li Shimin was about to explode, the first battle of the siege actually hit such a result, obviously holding a thunder weapon that shook the sky, but he was exploited by the enemy army who suddenly killed out of the city, and killed his more than 2,000 thunder throwers, watching a corpse slowly carry in front of him, Li Shimin only felt a backlash in his chest, tumbling in his chest.

"Yang Wanchun, I swear to smash you to pieces!" Li Shimin gritted his teeth and said fiercely.

I have to admit that the Tang army was defeated in the first battle of the siege, and inexplicably suffered a big loss, the monarch's face was ugly, and he was indignant, and he couldn't wait to break through the city immediately, and slaughter the city for ten days, whether it was the defenders or civilians, all of them were killed.

However, no matter how much the monarch and ministers hate Yang Wanchun in their hearts, there is a fact that must be admitted, that is, Yang Wanchun is really an immortal hero in the Goguryeo Kingdom, who has been running Anshi City for more than ten years, and has actually managed this city like an iron bucket, whether it is the strength of the city wall or the combat quality of the generals under his command, he can be called the elite of the world, and Yang Wanchun's handsome talent, even if he gets it in the Tang Dynasty, is also one of the best brave and resourceful generals, and he can be alone.

Mingjin withdrew his troops, after most of the siege of the city, the soldiers were tired, and the army slowly walked towards the camp in an orderly manner, and Li Shimin and the generals walked in the middle.

"This Yang Wanchun...... It's a pity that he is not my Tang courtier! Li Shimin rode on the horse and muttered to himself, after experiencing Yang Wanchun's awesomeness, Li Shimin, who calmed down emotionally, gradually cherished his talent in his heart, if it was possible, how good would it be to capture this person alive to induce him to surrender......

It's a pity that Li Shimin knows the character of a person like Yang Wanchun, he can't surrender, when Quan Gai Suwen usurped the throne, Yang Wanchun dared to openly oppose him, not to mention Li Shimin, the emperor of a foreign country, Yang Wanchun is unruly and conceited, and the 120,000 elite soldiers under his command are his confidence, this kind of person is not convinced by anyone in the world, in his eyes, no one is worthy of being the emperor, except for himself.

Even if such a person really surrenders to the Tang Dynasty, will Li Shimin dare to use him?

…………

The army returned to the camp, and the kings and ministers entered the commander's tent.

Today's small defeat, everyone's mood is not very good, Li Shimin has a gloomy face, full of anger and don't know how to vent, there are many people in the handsome tent, but today's battle is all under Li Shimin's personal command, and it has nothing to do with the generals, even if Li Shimin wants to find someone to vent his anger, there is no reason to sprinkle it on the generals.

"The herald army rests and prepares today, and attacks the city tomorrow!" Li Shimin gave this order in the first sentence.

The generals in the tent couldn't help frowning.

This order is a bit inappropriate, even if you don't mention the enemy cavalry out of the city, just talk about the siege battle, from the actual effect of today's siege, it is obviously a relatively failure, especially the effect of the earth-shaking thunder that was regarded as a sharp weapon by the Tang army is also extremely limited, in this situation, the monarch and the minister should take a temporary rest, and then reflect on the lesson, sum up the experience, and renegotiate a new siege method before trying to fight, this is the right choice.

"Your Majesty, if you continue to attack the city tomorrow, the minister thinks it's inappropriate." Li Ji was the first to stand up and oppose it.

Li Shimin said indifferently: "What's wrong? ”

"Today's siege of the city by our king division is obviously ineffective, so we should renegotiate and formulate a new siege method, if we still attack the city according to today's method tomorrow, the minister thinks that the result will not change anything, but sacrifices our soldiers in vain......"

Li Shimin sighed and said: "What Mao Gong said, I don't know, but now that we are in the territory of Goguryeo, we will capture Anshi City one day earlier, and the whole situation can be revitalized......

Cheng Yanjin and Niu Jinda couldn't help but nod secretly when they heard this.

Very good, at least Your Majesty also saw the hidden crisis of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, and the Tang Dynasty army had to deal with not only Yang Wanchun alone, but the entire Goguryeo country.

Everyone understands the reason, but after all, it is difficult to choose between the two ends, risking the attack on the city has no effect, can only add casualties, rest and self-reflection and waste time, unconsciously, the Tang army Wang Division actually fell into a dilemma.

Knocking on the low table with a gloomy expression, Li Shimin frowned and said: "There are many strange things about today's siege, it stands to reason that the earth-shaking thunder should be indestructible, why did the soldiers throw countless rounds at the head of the city, but the city wall still shows no signs of collapse?" Even if Yang Wanchun knew that Liaodong City was captured by a sharp weapon like earth-shaking thunder, so he hurried to strengthen the city wall, but how did he strengthen it? Reinforcing the city wall is a protracted project, our army only had a few days from Liaodong City to Anshi City, in such a short period of time, how did Yang Wanchun strengthen the city wall to such a strong one? I am very puzzled by this matter, who can teach me? ”

There was silence in the tent, and the generals looked at each other.

Li Shimin couldn't figure out the question, in fact, they couldn't figure it out, they had seen it many times with their own eyes, it stands to reason that under such a wanton bombardment today, the city wall should have collapsed a long time ago, why did it not move at all, not even a single crack exploded? This simply doesn't make sense.

In the quiet tent, the monarchs and ministers were silent for a long time, all wrinkling their eyebrows and pondering.

Suddenly, a hesitant voice came from the corner of the tent.

"Father, the son-in-law thinks...... Is there something wrong with the manufacturing process of the Earthquake Thunder? ”

Everyone turned their heads in astonishment, but saw Li Tai, the king of Wei, standing in the corner with a simple face, smiling harmlessly.

Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and showed a smile: "Qingque doesn't know the reason?" ”

Li Tai smiled, took two steps forward, and then said: "Erchen thinks that there is no difference between Anshi City and Liaodong City, the city walls are the same city walls, and the earth-shaking thunder can blow up Liaodong City, but it can't collapse Anshi City, so there is only one reason, there may be a problem with the earth-shaking thunder......"

Li Shimin frowned: "Talk about it carefully." ”

Li Tai smiled honestly: "The earth-shaking thunder is a thing, it has really made a lot of contributions to my Datang, this thing was originally made by the Firearms Bureau, the specific manufacturing process is not clear, there are only a few people who are really clear, in other words, whether the earth-shaking thunder is a good product or a defective product, only those few people know, if the firearms bureau in order to rush the work, the manufacturing of this thing is short of two catties, then the power of the earth-shaking thunder is naturally different, some are huge, some are generally loose today, Erchen thinks, If this matter is very clear, when it is investigated from the source, it is better to ask my father to issue an order, carefully inspect the remaining earth-shaking thunder in the army, and choose a few at random to take it apart to see if there is anything strange in it......"

After saying this, Li Shimin did not say anything, and Cheng bit Jin and Niu Jinda in the account, but Li Ji and the three frowned.

Others may think that these words are on the matter, but these three people have a deep relationship with Li Su, and they immediately heard that Li Tai was targeting Li Su. As we all know, Li Su is the supervisor of the Firearms Bureau, and this official position has not been taken back by Li Shimin until now, because of the uniqueness of the secret recipe of gunpowder, no matter how many batches of people are changed in the Firearms Bureau, Li Su's prison will never be replaced, unless one day Li Shimin wants to kill him.

Li Tai's words just now are ostensibly about the earth-shaking thunder, but in fact, they pointed the finger at Li Su, no matter how passive Li Su is in the firearms bureau, how lazy and unconcerned he is, but every sky-shaking thunder created by the firearms bureau is inseparable from Li Su, if it is finally confirmed that it is indeed because of the creation of the earth-shaking thunder that led to the failure of the siege, it is certain that Li Shimin will inevitably get angry, and Li Su is the first unlucky person, who called him the leader of the firearms bureau.

A simple remark, which was full of malice, Li Ji and the three of them, who heard the meaning of the words, glanced at Li Tai with a cold look.

They never participated in court battles, nor did they interfere, but the army is different, as a veteran of the battlefield who has experienced a hundred battles, it is most difficult to see anyone who only cares about internal friction and infighting in the current enemy, and does not care about the overall situation, especially if this person is still a prince and almost becomes a prince, so after Li Tai finished speaking, Li Ji's dissatisfaction with Li Tai suddenly rose to the extreme, Cheng Biting Jin was short-tempered, and raised his eyebrows at that time, if it weren't for Li Ji and Niu Jinda, who dragged his sleeve left and right, I'm afraid Cheng Yanjin is going to go crazy now.

As for Li Shimin's reaction......

Li Ji and the others immediately looked at him, but saw that Li Shimin's face was calm, without sadness or joy, and his eyes were half-closed, as if he was carefully savoring and chewing on the meaning of Li Tai's words just now. And the part of Li Tai's words aimed at Li Su, I don't know if Li Shimin saw it, but in short, there was no reaction.

After a long time, Li Shimin opened his eyes and smiled slightly: "What Qingque said is not unreasonable, and it is also the right thing to pick a few earth-shattering thunders to come out for inspection, and the matter will be handed over to ...... Well, leave it to Chang Tu and let Chang Tu check it. ”

Outside the handsome tent, Chang Tu was ordered to leave.

Li Shimin's smiling expression remained unchanged, but he quickly glanced at Li Tai.

In the crowd of generals, Niu Jinda suddenly stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the problem should have nothing to do with the earth-shaking thunder, but the city walls of the two cities are different, if Yang Wanchun already knows the process of Liaodong City being conquered, he will inevitably choose to strengthen the city wall......"

Li Tai interjected with a smile: "Chief Administrator, as we said just now, it is impossible to strengthen the city wall in just a few days, and Yang Wanchun has inherent talent, and it is impossible to strengthen the city wall as solid as a rock." ”

Niu Jinda ignored him, but looked at Li Shimin and said, "Your Majesty, the minister has been thinking about it for a long time just now, and he probably understands how Yang Wanchun strengthened the city wall in just a few days." ”

Li Shimin smiled: "Oh? I'd like to hear about it. ”

"It's very simple, add a whole piece of bluestone to the horse road at the head of the city. As we all know, the reason why the earth-shaking thunder is a siege weapon, mainly because it can break the stone and crack the soil after the explosion, which leads to the collapse of the city wall, the road at the head of the city is paved with bluestone thick bricks, if it is paved with a thick layer of bluestone on the top of the bluestone thick bricks, then after the explosion of the earth-shaking thunder, it is only the surface of the bluestone that is destroyed, with this buffer, the original bluestone thick bricks below will not be affected too much, and the bluestone is also the fastest way to strengthen the city wall, there are 120,000 defenders in the city of Anshi, There are also nearly 10,000 households, if they are mobilized, it is not difficult to spread the entire city in just a few days, and before Yang Wanchun hastily responded to the battle, there was only one choice. ”

The questions that originally haunted everyone's hearts, as Niu Jinda slowly narrated, everyone's eyes lit up, and the previous questions suddenly dispersed.

Yes, only this reason can explain why the earth-shaking thunder failed to blow up the city wall today, because Yang Wanchun temporarily strengthened it, and the temporary bluestone has another advantage, when there is a gap in the truce, the destroyed bluestone can be easily removed and replaced with a new bluestone, so that no matter how much the earth-shaking thunder throws, the city wall will not collapse.

Li Shimin pondered for a long time and nodded: "What Niu Qing said is reasonable, it should be this truth...... Well, it's a problem, if the Earthquake Thunder can't work, I'm afraid it will be difficult to conquer this city......"

As he spoke, Li Shimin's face became gloomy, and his eyes stared gloomily at the huge map in front of him.

Now Li Shimin feels more and more that it seems to be difficult to capture Anshi City, Yang Wanchun, the enemy general, is beyond the imagination of the Tang Dynasty, this is a difficult bone to gnaw, even if it is gnawed down at all costs, I am afraid it will break a few teeth, how to face the strong enemy of Goguryeo other than Yang Wanchun at that time, Yang Wanchun is powerful, and the Quangai Suwen in Pyongyang City is not a vegetarian......

At this moment, Li Shimin felt a little anxious, he suddenly found that he had taken a wrong step, after capturing Liaodong City, the strategy set should not be to attack Anshi City in the south, but to wave his army to take the capital Pyongyang, or, as Li Su advised, divide the troops into three ways to attack and maximize the results......

Li Shimin couldn't help sighing, because of this incident, he had a very unpleasant quarrel with Li Su, and now, Li Shimin can't prove that Li Su's words are correct, but he faintly realized that his choice was wrong.

Now what? The siege has begun, the casualties of the soldiers have been caused, if the order is given to abandon the capture of Anshi City, it is too unrealistic for the army to turn around and attack Pyongyang, not to mention how many military planes will be delayed......

When he hesitated, Niu Jinda suddenly said: "Your Majesty, the minister still has a advice." ”

Li Shimin came back to his senses and said, "Niu Qing said." ”

Niu Jinda paused for a moment and said, "Your Majesty is requested to allocate 20,000 elite cavalry, and the minister will lead the troops to the north, stationed in Xincheng, Yanjin and Jin. ”

Li Shimin was taken aback: "Why did Niu Qing move?" ”

Niu Jinda said slowly: "In order to cut off the connection between Goguryeo and the Yan tribe, and also to prevent the northern Yan tribe from going south to attack my royal division. ”

Li Shimin and the generals in the tent both looked at him in shock, and after a long time, Li Shimin frowned: "Niu Qing means that the Yan Ya Department will form an alliance with Goguryeo?" ”

"I think it's possible."

Li Shimin sneered: "Niu Qing is not joking, the Eunuch Department has eaten the gall of the leopard, and dares to oppose my Tang Dynasty, before the Eastern Expedition, I have sent a personal decree to the leaders of the Eunuch Tribe, strictly ordering them not to participate in this battle, the Eunuch Tribe, dare to form an alliance with Goguryeo, do they want to die?" ”

Niu Jinda fixed his eyes on Li Shimin, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, if it is for the sake of profit, the closest relatives can also rebel, let alone the foreign race?" Why did His Majesty believe in them so much? ”

Li Shimin's smile froze.

Niu Jinda sighed secretly.

Li Shimin is not stupid, in fact, when he raised an army against the Sui, Li Shimin was wise and brave, and strategized, at that time, he was high-spirited, because of his unique personality charm, there will be so many people who are willing to turn their backs on the old master and take refuge in him, such as Cheng Biting Jin, Niu Jinda, Li Ji, Wei Chigong, Qin Qiong, etc., even if he wants to do such a big rebellion as killing his brother and forcing his father, these old departments did not hesitate to follow him, and loyally sent him to the throne, an emperor who can make so many famous ministers and veterans follow willingly, Not a fool, to be sure.

However, in recent years, the Tang Dynasty has had a too smooth life, and has fought too many tailwind battles, and the Tang Dynasty's army has almost never been defeated, winning a hundred battles, and fighting too many tailwind battles has caused this result, the emperor's morale has gradually increased, and his mentality has slowly changed.

Therefore, Li Shimin conceited that the Yan tribe did not dare to oppose the Tang Dynasty, and the leader of the Yan tribe bowed and groveled in front of him, fully satisfying the vanity of his Tian Khan, how could such a seemingly soft-boned barbarian tribe rebel against him?

The consequences of arrogance and conceit are sometimes more serious than stupidity, but unfortunately Li Shimin does not know it.

Niu Jinda said with a solemn expression: "Your Majesty, divide 20,000 soldiers and horses to cut off a possible disaster, please ask Your Majesty to advise you." ”

Li Shimin looked hesitant and fell into thought.

Seeing this, Li Ji, Cheng Yanjin and others next to them stood up at the same time.

"Your Majesty, the minister seconded the advice of Niu Jinda, and divided 20,000 elite cavalry, stationed on the main road between Xincheng and Yanjin, which can not only block the reinforcements of Goguryeo and Jin, but also contain the soldiers and horses in the northern part of Goguryeo, so as to prevent our army from being attacked by the enemy."

Seeing the words of the veterans in the tent, Li Shimin nodded and said slowly: "What Niu Qing said is reasonable, I will accept Niu Qing's advice, give 20,000 fine horses, set off for Xincheng tomorrow, Yanjin and two cities, stationed in Si, release the scouts out of a hundred miles away, and closely monitor every move of the northern Yan tribe. ”

Niu Jinda was overjoyed and hurriedly saluted and received his orders.