My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 228 The opportunity to capture the Tang prince alive has come

The fifth day of fierce fighting.

The area of ​​dozens of miles around Anshi City was completely turned into a battlefield.

In the mountains, on the plains, and by the rivers.

Fighting can be seen everywhere.

Su Dingfang led 30,000 troops in the central army to hold the fort, and the elite troops of Goryeo were not dispatched.

The fighting situation was at a stalemate, with heavy casualties every day.

Li Chengqian remained unmoved, as all the people who died around him were Koreans.

Moreover, after this incident, the remaining soldiers had all been baptized by war and were considered elite.

In most cases, soldiers have very few opportunities to participate in such high-intensity, large-scale legion battles.

As the sun sets in the west, the troops are called back.

The Tang army retreated in an orderly manner.

However, Goryeo secretly dispatched a new batch of troops.

They did not come for the battle, but took the opportunity to forcibly sweep up the spoils of war on the battlefield.

The broken spears, the broken arrows, and the damaged armor on the corpses were all their targets.

News of this behavior soon reached Su Dingfang.

"It seems that the Koreans have reached the end of their rope and have done such disgusting and dirty things."

"However, how can we allow the bodies of our Tang soldiers to be defiled like this?"

"Rengui, keep your promise and follow me into battle."

Su Dingfang did not hesitate at all and directly led the central army to launch a surprise attack on the Koreans who had sneaked in.

Most of these Goryeo soldiers were militiamen and had no combat effectiveness at all.

The ones coming were the most elite infantry and cavalry of the Tang Dynasty.

Almost as soon as it came into contact with me, I completely collapsed.

Even if a large number of civilians ran away, how could they outrun the four legs of the war horses?

This was a one-sided crushing and massacre.

The weapons in the hands of the Goryeo civilians were picked up from the battlefield, and they didn't even know how to wear armor, so how could they resist?

In just half an hour, they fled in panic, leaving behind a large number of corpses.

"General, they are all civilians from Goryeo, there are not even many soldiers."

"There is news that not only us, but also Goryeo has sent out a large number of civilians to steal military equipment, but they also suffered heavy casualties."

Pei Xingjian reported the military intelligence that had just been received.

It was already dark by then, and a large number of prisoners were captured.

Su Dingfang asked Xue Rengui: "Did the interrogation yield any results?"

Xue Rengui replied: "These prisoners said that they were forced to do this. If they can bring back a spear, they will be a platoon leader. If they can bring back a set of bows and arrows, they will be a squad leader. If they can bring back a set of armor, they will be a captain of the team."

"The Goryeo side will give them various rewards based on the military equipment they bring back."

Su Dingfang frowned slightly.

He easily guessed Goryeo's strategic intentions.

This is to exchange the lives of the Goryeo people for sufficient fighting power.

The 220,000-man troop force meant that Goryeo mobilized nearly 700,000 to 800,000 civilians.

Now Hou Junji's army is pressing forward. As far as the Tang army's combat effectiveness is concerned, it is obvious that the Tang army led by Hou Junji and Li Ji is the real main force of this Eastern Expedition.

The main force fighting against Goryeo here is the elite Goryeo troops from Liaodong City who had surrendered earlier.

But compared with the main force of the Tang army led by Hou Junji, the elite troops of Liaodong City were obviously a level inferior.

"General, I think they are wasting so much manpower not to deal with us, but to deal with Hou Junji."

Pei Xingjian expressed his thoughts.

These words may sound redundant, but they actually have another meaning.

Su Dingfang understood and said in a cold voice, "It seems that Yeon Gaesomun is ready to fight to the death with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Their target is the Thunderbolt in the prince's hand."

"It's quite a beautiful thought."

"But do they have the luck to take it?"

That night, Su Dingfang reported the matter to the prince.

After hearing this, Li Chengqian laughed and said, "It seems that Yeon Gaesomun is quite ambitious and wants to win at the risk of his life."

"They are treating me like a soft persimmon."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was laughter in the big tent.

Even Li Daozong couldn't help but say, "If Yeon Gaesomun knew that the crown prince was going to bombard Anshi City with thousands of thunder and fire, I wonder if he would still have this idea."

Although Li Daozon no longer had military power, Li Chengqian did not let him sit idle.

Instead, they were responsible for supervising the production of a large number of small four-wheeled catapults.

This is an improved version of the catapult. It is not as big as the giant catapult, and two people can push it using the wheels.

The distance of the projection was not far, only about two hundred meters.

But Li Chengqian's order was to build three hundred small catapults.

The idea is obvious.

A small number of explosive packs really have little impact on the legion's combat.

Even when attacking the city, it was actually more about affecting Goryeo's understanding of gunpowder, using fear to break Goryeo's morale.

In fact, the power of the explosion of black gunpowder now requires thousands of pounds to blow down the city wall.

That is to say, the current city gates are not guarded against black gunpowder, which allows Li Chengqian to be invincible.

In fact, if the enemy knew about black powder, even if they could blow up the city walls, they would still need a large number of troops to attack the city.

But it is different now.

Three hundred small catapults, even if they can only throw more than two hundred meters, are too large to handle.

Each throw contained three hundred explosive packs.

Two times six hundred, three times nine hundred.

The entire front-line position will be covered with explosive packs, forming a bombing line.

Not to mention the direct casualties caused, the overwhelming bombing alone would cause the enemy's formation to become chaotic and their morale to collapse.

How can Goryeo respond?

This is a crushing trend of the times. Whoever stands in the way of this chaotic historical torrent will be crushed to pieces.

"General Su, how many Korean civilians have been captured today?"

"Yeon Gaesomun doesn't treat them as human beings, so I won't be so cruel."

"Goryeo will be part of the Tang Dynasty in the future. These people are naturally also the people of the Tang Dynasty. We should not be too harsh on them."

Li Chengqian asked.

Su Dingfang replied: "These Korean civilians have no fighting power at all, and they can't pose any danger to our army."

"Today's total number of prisoners is about 30,000, and this is not even a large-scale capture."

"I feel that if we take too many prisoners, it will be a threat to our army's food and fodder."

The army actually did not have much food and fodder in reserve, only enough for one month's needs.

Normally, these food supplies are not enough.

However, Li Chengqian didn't care, because it would not take him too long to take over Anshi City, so there was no need to prepare too much food and fodder.

Li Dejian cursed: "Yeon Gaesomun really doesn't take the people seriously."

"Using so many people to perfect oneself."

"This move is too cruel. If we take a large number of prisoners, then we will definitely have a shortage of food and fodder. If there are fewer civilians, there will be more food."

Li Dejian didn't dare to say too much.

This concerns the prince's reputation.

After all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince now has the help of thunder and fire, and victory is certain.

If the situation is critical, such a vicious plan will harm the reputation too much. Why did Bai Qi want to kill 400,000 Zhao soldiers? The biggest problem was the food supply.

Too many prisoners would be a huge blow to the army’s food and fodder.

Now Yeon Gaesomun is sending out a large number of civilians, one purpose is to seize the weapons left on the battlefield.

Second, it can reduce the burden on Anshi City while increasing the burden on Li Chengqian.

If Li Chengqian was more ruthless and massacred the prisoners on a large scale, it would boost the morale of the Goryeo defenders.

This trick is very vicious, but very effective.

This is what it means when a kind person is not in charge of an army.

Li Chengqian also understood the implication of Li Dejian's words and said with a smile: "Since he wants to do so, I will fulfill his wish."

"General Su, tomorrow you will release the 30,000 prisoners and let them go back to the cities we have conquered. We will give them a new life."

"Leave a few thousand men behind, and wait until tomorrow. If Yeon Gaesomun still uses this strategy, let these civilians go back together."

"Tell them to tell the Korean people that as long as they are willing to surrender, I will not pursue their crimes, pardon their crimes, and give them land so that they can start a new life."

After hearing what the prince said, several generals fell silent.

Li Dao Zong frowned slightly.

Su Dingfang hesitated to speak.

Helan Chushi wanted to say something, but subconsciously glanced at the situation around him, lowered his head and remained silent.

Li Chengqian knew what they were worried about.

Ultimately it’s a food issue.

If too many prisoners were taken in, the army's food would inevitably be consumed quickly. In a way, this was also a calculation made by the Goryeo side.

But Li Chengqian doesn't care about these.

Because he could break into Anshi City at any time.
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According to the orders of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, these captured Koreans were soon released.

But they would not be allowed to return to Anshi City, but would be placed in a city already occupied by the Tang army.

In fact, at this time, a large number of laborers in Goryeo were withdrawn, and each city was very short of population.

Thirty thousand people may sound like a lot, but once they are actually distributed, they can be easily consumed.

The slightly more troublesome issue is eating on the road.

It's only a few dozen miles, and if you walk a little faster, it will be done in a day or so.

The thousands of people who stayed behind couldn't believe that they would be released.

According to the Tang army's request, they had to go back and persuade their companions to surrender directly after the war the next day.

This temptation was still very great for the people of Goryeo.

At this moment in Anshi City, most Goryeo people lived in difficult conditions because food rations had to be provided to soldiers first.

If we surrender to the Tang army now, we can get rid of corvée labor directly. Such a good thing is naturally what we want.

The next day.

After a day of fierce fighting, Yeon Gaesomun apparently continued to arrange civilians to go to the battlefield to seize arms.

The Tang army continued to strangle the enemy, but not as ruthlessly as before, and mainly focused on driving away prisoners.

The Goryeo civilians who had been there before also sneaked in and were able to return to Anshi City.

It is impossible to expect thousands of people to be obedient.

After returning, someone immediately reported the news.

When Yeon Gaesomun found out, he laughed and said, "Isn't this Tang prince stupid?"

"If he wants to do this, let him do it."

Yeon Gaesomun didn't care. There was enough food for Anshi City to last for a while.

How many men can the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty poach from him?

One hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?

Will the Tang army have enough food by then?

Now has come the most critical moment. If the Tang army gets into trouble because of the prisoners, this will be his hope of victory.

The next day.

A large number of Korean civilians continuously poured into the Tang army camp.

Among them, there were also spies specially arranged by Yeon Gaesomun.

Li Chengqian had naturally isolated them long ago, and everyone would be forced to leave the battlefield.

At the same time, a large amount of food will be consumed quickly.

After Yeon Gaesomun learned about the situation, he would deliberately starve the civilians for a day every time he sent them out, so that they would consume the Tang army's food faster.

Not all Koreans are willing to do so. After all, the hometowns of many Koreans are still in the present-day territory of Goryeo.

A large amount of damaged military equipment was also continuously transported to Anshi City, even though it resulted in the deaths of a large number of civilians.

Yuan Junyue obtained a lot of weapons and used them to block the main force of the Tang army.

In Yeon Gaesomun's view, the balance of victory was gradually tilting towards him.

The fifth day of fierce fighting.

Hou Junji and Li Ji arrived with their troops.

Yuan Junyue also had the opportunity to lead the troops in battle again.

A large number of civilians wore damaged armor and carried simple spears to fight against the main force of the Tang army.

Compared with Li Chengqian, Hou Junji is much more cruel.

There will not be any mercy in his eyes.

The soldiers under his command were also extremely ruthless.

The long swords were waving and the war horses were neighing.

How could the new recruits composed of Korean civilians be comparable to Hou Junji's elite troops?

It was a one-sided massacre.

But for Yuan Junyue, his mission is to delay the main force of the Tang army and buy more time for the Damolizhi.

The central army will be in charge, and any militiamen who retreat will be supervised and killed.

The militia were forcibly sent into the battlefield and became cannon fodder in the fight against the Tang army.

In just one day, Hou Junji had beheaded more than ten thousand people, leaving corpses all over the ground.

After hearing this, Yuan Junyue actually felt relieved.

There are only more than 10,000 people a day, so he can last at least ten days.

In ten days, Da Molizhi should be able to defeat the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

The battlefield west of Anshi City.

Yeon Gaesomun invested more troops and began to fight against the army of the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Even though Su Dingfang's command was well-organized, the disparity in military strength was obvious.

In this kind of head-on large-scale legion confrontation, many tactics are useless.

The number of casualties on both sides has been increasing day by day.

The 50,000 troops brought from Liaodong City have now been reduced to less than 30,000, with more than half of them lost.

The Tang army that had been brought here earlier had also lost several thousand soldiers.

Faced with Yeon Gaesomun's crazy offensive, it seemed that the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty was already losing ground.

"It's time to end it."

Li Chengqian issued an order to dispatch the central army, and he would lead the troops personally to launch a general attack tomorrow to capture Anshi City.

As the Tang army gathered its forces and advanced aggressively, the prince's flag fluttered in the wind.

Yeon Gaesomun was overjoyed.

The Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty finally couldn't bear it anymore. After losing such a huge number of troops and having a large amount of food used up by the civilians, he finally decided to take to the battlefield himself.

This was the opportunity he was waiting for.

An opportunity to capture the Crown Prince of Tang alive.

(End of this chapter)