My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 229 Man-Made Bombing Zone
The first day of October, the seventeenth year of Zhenguan.

It was a very nice day indeed.

It was exactly three months until the first day of July when the Eastern Expedition set out.

Three months.

Today, the battle to destroy Goryeo will be launched.

The sky is slightly bright.

An army of 50,000 men, with 500 square formations of 100 men, spread all over the plain, densely packed and boundless.

A lot of wide roads are reserved in the middle.

Li Chengqian rode a white warhorse and walked leisurely towards the front of the battle.

Xue Rengui felt a little guilty.

Because the prince's jade lion that belonged to the night has now become his mount.

Although it is also a white horse, it is still inferior to a BMW like Zhaoye Jade Lion.

At the same time, a large number of small four-wheeled catapults were also pushed to the front of the formation.

War is imminent.

On the opposite side was the Goryeo phalanx of 70,000 men.

Twenty thousand people is a huge difference, and if you look at it from a bird’s eye view, it’s a lot more.

Just standing in the military formation, there wasn't much of a feeling, as all you could see were people.

"Father, look, what is that?"

Yuan Nansheng's tone sounded a little anxious.

Yeon Gaesomun's expression also looked somewhat ugly.

He easily saw the hundreds of small four-wheeled catapults being pushed over.

The Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty is going to use his thunder and fire.

"Give the order, fight to the death."

Yeon Gaesomun said through gritted teeth.

He understood that the time had come to test Goryeo.

These days, Yeon Gaesomun has been spreading propaganda in the army about the incident involving the Tang Crown Prince Leihuo.

After all, there is no way to conceal such things, and the Tang army will definitely use them.

Rather than letting the soldiers be consumed by fear, it is better to tell them all the details.

In his statement, Yeon Gaesomun naturally concealed any divine means or the like, and told the Goryeo soldiers that this was a new device from the Tang Dynasty with enormous power and a terrifying sound.

However, in reality, it did not cause much danger, and the number of Tang troops was not large.

At first, the Goryeo soldiers were a little worried.

As the superiors talked about it every day, they gradually accepted it.

But they don’t know what the so-called thunder and fire mean.

Some brave ones even don't take it seriously, thinking it's just a bluff.

Because of the Tang army's siege, these thunder and fire did not actually cause many casualties, which gave the Goryeo side an illusion that the biggest function of the thunder and fire was to scare people.

At this point, a war was about to break out.

Li Chengqian raised the sword in his hand and shouted: "Kill!"

The army thundered: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

There is no need to say too much. On such a battlefield, individual voices will be completely drowned out, and no matter how loud your voice is, it will be meaningless.

Only brief orders can be spread throughout the army in the shortest possible time.

jump jump jump.

The sound of fifty thousand men marching was like an earthquake.

The whole earth was shaking.

Faced with the powerful momentum of the Tang army, Goryeo did not show any weakness. A large number of Goryeo soldiers in formation also wanted to face the Tang army head-on.

When it was about two hundred meters.

Li Chengqian sneered and waved his hand gently.

Soldiers pushing small four-wheeled catapults quickly moved forward with torches held high.

"ignition!"

"emission!"

The order was given, and three hundred explosive packs were thrown into the air and fell towards the Goryeo army.

Boom boom boom boom!
What followed was a series of explosions.

There were too many people, so no matter how you threw the explosives, they would hit the crowd accurately.

Many Goryeo soldiers had never seen this and had not yet reacted.

Some are smart and just run away.

But there were too many people and I couldn't get away all at once.

When the explosion came, the people nearby were blown away.

The huge explosion covered everything on the battlefield, and a hole was blown out in the ground.

The armor that they were so proud of was completely useless at this moment. Those who were a little close had their eardrums ruptured and became deaf.

But that's not the end of it.

Before the Goryeo soldiers could react, a second round of explosive packs were thrown at them.

This time, when the Goryeo soldiers saw the object wrapped in cotton cloth, they had no other thoughts in their minds and ran away.

For a time, the entire Goryeo army fell into chaos.

They simply didn't have the courage to face it, even though their superiors had told them many times before not to be afraid.

But if you really see it and feel it, who would not be afraid?

This is completely beyond their knowledge.

After only three rounds of bombing, the Goryeo frontline soldiers' formation collapsed and their morale was completely gone.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The Tang army took this opportunity to close in and engage in a fierce battle.

The Goryeo side had no intention of resisting. Even if there were a few brave people, what use could they make in a battlefield involving tens of thousands of people?

Originally, the combat effectiveness of the Tang army was stronger than that of Goryeo, not to mention that Goryeo's morale had reached its lowest point at this moment.

The Tang army soldiers in the front row could not feel any resistance from the Goryeo soldiers at all.

He attacked the already confused Goryeo soldiers as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

Later, Yeon Gaesomun was relieved when he saw this situation.

Although the front line has collapsed, the army has not wavered and still has the strength to fight.

So he quickly arranged for the supervision team to take the field and force the soldiers to move forward.

Anyone who retreats will be killed!

Going forward is death, retreating is also death.

The Goryeo soldiers had no choice but to bite the bullet and force their way into the Tang army's formation.

For a moment, he actually recovered some of his fighting power.

But Li Chengqian didn't give any chance at all. He said he would take the city today, so how could he go back on his word?

So the catapults continued to drop explosives.

There was a loud roar.

The Goryeo soldiers were shaking and scared to death. They had no energy to fight.

In contrast, the Tang army was in high spirits, full of fighting spirit and marching forward triumphantly.

If the Goryeo side could organize a decent resistance, a simple bomb would be enough to break up their formation.

"Father, we can't wait any longer."

"If we wait any longer, we won't be able to hold on any longer."

Yuan Nansheng said in an anxious tone.

Yeon Gaesomun stared at the catapults and gritted his teeth and said, "It's not time yet, wait a little longer."

Yeon Gaesomun also made arrangements for the Tang army's gunpowder.

This is his fatal blow, but it cannot be launched at this time.

It's too fast. If we launch it now, it may not be able to turn the situation around.

"But."

“No buts.”

Yeon Gaesomun interrupted his eldest son and issued an order: "The central army will hold the line. Anyone who retreats will be killed without mercy!"

A large number of elite Goryeo troops arrived at the rear of the Goryeo army.

Rows of archers would shoot and kill anyone they saw turning around and running away without mercy, in order to stop the trend of defeat.

At this point, Yeon Gaesomun no longer cared about the morale of the army.

Once you lose, you will have nothing.

However, people have a natural fear of things related to thunder and fire, especially huge noises. This cannot be eliminated by having a little courage.

As for Goryeo, it could only barely hold on to its position, but it was completely powerless to resist the Tang army and was defeated one after another.

As time went by, Yeon Gaesomun could no longer bear it.

He said, "It's time."

"Order, cavalry raid."

Faced with the anger of the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, Yeon Gaesomun discussed with his confidants for many days.

Finally, I came up with a solution that was not a solution.

That is to form a team of suicide cavalry, use the advantage of armor, force their way into the Tang army camp, and destroy the Tang army's crossbows and catapults.

Although this would cause heavy losses to the elite cavalry, it would almost be a situation of death.

But for the survival of Goryeo, this was the only option.

The order was given.

Rows of cavalry rushed out from the Goryeo side.

Before this, each of them had been assigned their own target, targeting the Tang army's small catapults.

Because of the distance.

Small catapults can only be deployed on the front line because their throwing distance is only more than two hundred meters.

Therefore, the Goryeo cavalry did not need to break through too deeply. As long as they rushed into the Tang army's first line of defense, they could launch a death charge on the catapults.

They had only one goal, which was to ride their horses to crash the catapults.

"I have some ideas."

Seeing the cavalry heading straight for the catapult, Li Chengqian smiled faintly and didn't care at all.

When the enemy cavalry launched a charge, several Tang soldiers immediately pushed their catapults back to avoid them.

When the elite Goryeo cavalry saw this, they screamed in anger, but still charged towards the catapult.

To charge an infantry phalanx on horseback is certain death.

The powerful inertia might be able to knock away a few soldiers in front, but there are only a few soldiers left.

Once blocked, the cavalry trapped in the infantry phalanx would be no different from meat on a chopping board.

This time, Goryeo dispatched three thousand elite cavalry.

Every ten riders were responsible for one catapult.

The cavalry's charge was very intense. Even the well-disciplined Tang army was knocked away by the inertia of the horses' powerful charge, and their lives or deaths were unknown.

For a moment, it seemed that the front line of the Tang army had been cleared by these three thousand cavalrymen.

However, for the Tang army, this was undoubtedly the most cost-effective deal.

No need for a strange sword.

Several Tang soldiers rushed forward with swords and shields in their hands and chopped directly at the horses. After a few strikes, the horses were chopped to death.

The cavalrymen on their horses also fell to the ground. They were stabbed by spears from the surrounding soldiers, and they didn't even have a chance to fight back before they were pierced.

Such a huge price still brought some results.

Some catapults were unable to dodge and would be caught up by the cavalry, who would forcibly destroy them before they died.

After all, it's a wooden frame, and it would basically be destroyed if it was hit directly.

In a short time, the three thousand elite Goryeo cavalry were overwhelmed by the Tang army's infantry phalanx, and none of them escaped.

More than a hundred catapults were also destroyed.

The speed of a cavalry charge is too fast, especially a death charge like this, it is very difficult to completely block it within a certain distance.

But for the Tang army, it was not a big loss.

It is not difficult to build hundreds of small catapults. If all the craftsmen work together, it will only take a day.

But on the Goryeo side, there are three thousand elite cavalry.

They were all wearing iron armor.

Yeon Gaesomun felt like his heart was bleeding.

The entire Goryeo could not even muster 10,000 such elite cavalry.

We had already lost several thousand before, and now we lost another three thousand here.

It has almost emptied Goryeo's assets.

Even so, they were unable to completely destroy the Tang army's catapults, not even half of them.

This was mainly because once the Goryeo cavalry appeared, the catapults of the Tang army quickly retreated.

Except for some fast ones in the front that made the Tang army unable to react, the success rate of most of the ones in the back was very low.

Some of them had already reached the catapults, but their horses were hacked to death, and they had to die in vain.

Li Chengqian smiled coldly, feeling a little unhappy. It was a pity for these war horses, as they were all top-quality horses.

This Yeon Gaesomun is really a good-for-nothing. He squandered his family fortune recklessly and didn't feel any pain at all for selling his father's land.

The Goryeo side suddenly burst into momentum because a large number of Tang army's catapults were destroyed.

"Keep throwing the Human Torch."

"I want to see how many cavalrymen Yeon Gaesomun has."

Li Chengqian won't tolerate it.

Just over a hundred catapults, in exchange for three thousand elite Goryeo cavalry, it's worth it.

The roar rang out again on the battlefield, and the morale, which had just risen a little, was immediately suppressed again.

It was already past noon when the fierce battle continued, and the war had lasted for more than two hours.

"Your Highness, I request your order to go into battle."

Su Dingfang clasped his fists and bowed.

Goryeo's elite troops suffered heavy losses, and the overall infantry situation was on the verge of collapse.

This is the time to lay the foundation for the battle.

So many explosive packs have been thrown in front, why is it that the Goryeo army keeps collapsing and still continues fighting?

This is the question of the number of people involved in the war.

What does an army of 70,000 mean?
In order to reduce the power of the Tang army's thunder and fire, Yeon Gaesomun adopted a relatively loose military formation, with a distance of about one meter between soldiers.

Ten people mean ten square meters, and an army of 70,000 means 70,000 square meters.

It also includes the distance between the channels of the phalanxes, the distance for the messengers to send messages, etc. The area alone is several square kilometers.

The distance of throwing explosive packs is more than two hundred meters. Even with three hundred catapults, they can only bomb a few square formations.

Only a few phalanxes of soldiers collapsed. When affected, Yeon Gaesomun arranged a separate supervision team to immediately supervise the battle. This prevented the collapse of the entire phalanx and controlled the collapse of the soldiers within a certain range.

After all, the explosion of gunpowder would not feel so terrifying if it was a little further away, and there would be plenty of time to buffer.

When large armies fight, it is not that tens of thousands of troops fight against tens of thousands of troops at the same time. The initial contact area can only be the first few rows in the front.

Of course, the Tang army has always maintained the advantage of advancing, mainly because they cannot disrupt the formation and avoid melee, so the progress will be slightly slower.

The Goryeo side did not dare to release its elite troops, and all its elite troops were used to hold the fortress.

But now, more and more phalanxes are collapsing, and Goryeo is finding it difficult to hold on.

This was only because Yeon Gaesomun was personally in charge of Goryeo's elite troops. If it were any other country, it would have been completely defeated long ago.

"Go ahead, it's time to end it."

Li Chengqian agreed with Su Ding's idea.

It had always been an infantry duel, but now that Goryeo had lost all of its elite cavalry, the Tang cavalry had a natural advantage.

Under the leadership of Su Dingfang, he led 5,000 elite cavalry belonging to the prince, wearing Ming Guang armor, and began to intervene in the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)