Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Chapter 248 Good News

After Yan Lide was taken away, Li Chengqian asked Qiu Xingyan, the junior craftsman, to take over Yan Lide's position and be responsible for the command of thousands of craftsmen and the creation of siege equipment.

Inside the city lord's palace.

Li Chengqian said to the thin Qiu Xingyan, "Master Qiu, can you lead people to repair the south city wall within 5 days?"

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will live up to your expectations!"

It was no difficulty for him to repair a small section of collapsed city wall with thousands of craftsmen.

Li Chengqian waved his hand: "There is no time to lose, take people to do it now."

"Wei Chen retire."

After Qiu Xingyan bowed respectfully to Li Chengqian, he left with a happy look on his face.

I didn't expect that the great architect Yan Lide would make such a low-level mistake.

Now he has been taken back to Chang'an for interrogation. Although he will not be beheaded, he will inevitably be demoted.

When the army returns to the capital, wouldn't the position of Chief Architect be taken over by him, the Junior Architect?

With the dream of getting promoted, Qiu Xingyan worked even harder.

...

A hundred miles away from Heshenggu City.

The spacious official road was filled with smoke and dust, and war horses were neighing.

I saw a group of Goguryeo infantry and cavalry with much worse equipment marching from east to west.

If you look down from a high altitude, you will find that this army stretches for dozens of miles.

In a luxurious carriage of the Central Army, two middle-aged men who looked 70% similar were sitting around a table drinking warm wine.

The expressions of both of them were not relaxed, and there was a hint of worry between their brows.

The man on the left said in a deep voice: "Brother Yanshou, the Tang army has now captured Liaodong City. We must also change our combat strategy."

The man on the right frowned and asked, "Brother Huizhen, what do you think?"

These two people were Noosa Gao Yanshou and Gao Huizhen. They originally planned to lead the newly recruited 15 troops to support Liaodong City.

Unexpectedly, just as the army set out, bad news came that Liaodong City had been captured by the Tang army.

Gao Huizhen took out the marching map and spread it on the table, pointing at it as she spoke.

"We still have Baiyan City in the north and Anshi City in the south. Why don't we split our forces into two groups? You lead 5 troops to support Baiyan City, and I lead the remaining 10 troops to Anshi City."

"There are enough troops to defend the two cities. Even if the Tang army gathers together, we still have a chance to destroy them!"

"And that old thief Yeon Gaesomun sent someone to tell us that that loser Yeon Jeongtu is about to capture Silla. If we hold out for another two months, he will send 10 elite troops north to support us."

These two Goguryeo royal family members wished they could cut Yeon Gaesomun, who controlled the government, into pieces.

Gao Yanshou pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Brother Huizhen, I'll do as you say."

...

This Goguryeo reinforcement had been under the surveillance of Tang army scouts. After seeing them split up, the scouts immediately reported the news back to Liaodong City.

Inside the city lord's palace.

Li Chengqian frowned and said, "Du He, according to the latest news from the spies, Noosa Gao Yanshou and Gao Huizhen have led 15 troops to leave Heshenggu City."

"They are now split into two groups, with 5 infantry and cavalry heading to Baiyan City, and the remaining 10 troops heading straight to Anshi City."

"Based on their marching direction and speed, they are expected to arrive in succession within eight days."

"Our soldiers have recovered after a few days of rest. How should we fight the next battle?"

Now Anshi City and Baiyan City are still in the hands of Goguryeo, and the generals dare not take the risk of dividing their troops and heading south to attack Pyongyang, the imperial capital of Goguryeo.

Hearing Li Chengqian's question, Du He shook his head.

"Your Highness, why don't you call Generals Li Ji, Hou Junji, Li Daozon, and Su Dingfang together to discuss and decide?"

"Now is the critical moment, one wrong step may lead to a total loss."

"My knowledge is limited, so I'd better just be an observer."

Although Du He has proposed several good strategies in recent battles, the major strategic deployment still depends on Generals Li Ji and Hou Junji.

Moreover, now the Mohe tribes have also joined in the troubled waters, with an additional 10 troops, so the battle plan must be changed accordingly.

Li Chengqian pointed at Du He and said with a smile: "Du He, don't be so modest. Without your advice, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to take down Liaodong City now."

His trust in Du He now far exceeds that in Li Ji, Hou Junji and others.

However, what Du He said made sense. Major combat plans still needed to be discussed with several military generals and deputy military generals.

Li Chengqian called in his personal guards and ordered, "Please invite Generals Li Ji, Hou Junji, Li Daozon, and Su Dingfang."

Just as the guards were about to leave, Du He added.

"Your Highness, please call Xi Junmai and Xue Rengui over as well, and let them listen in and learn more."

The performances of these two brave generals in Liaodong City were impressive enough, and their military achievements firmly ranked in the top two.

As for these two loyal confidants of the Eastern Palace, Du He wanted to train them to become commanders with both civil and military talents like Su Dingfang.

"No problem." Li Chengqian nodded, and then waved to his guards, "Please invite Xi Junmai and Xue Rengui over as well."

"promise!"

The guard saluted with his fists and quickly ran out of the city lord's mansion.

Cup of tea.

Several generals named by Li Chengqian came to the City Lord's Mansion one after another.

Meeting hall.

Li Chengqian said loudly: "Generals, we have been resting in Liaodong City for 7 days, and Goguryeo's 15 reinforcements are coming to us."

"Everyone, tell me, how should we fight next?"

After Li Chengqian finished speaking, he looked at the generals on both sides of the hall with a smile on his face.

A moment of silence.

Hou Junji was the first to say: "There are only two strong cities left in Liaodong, Baiyan City and Anshi City, and each city has 2 defenders."

"As long as we can capture these two cities before the 15 reinforcements from Goguryeo arrive, the reinforcements will not pose a threat to us."

“Why don’t we split our forces into two groups? General Li Ji will lead his army north to attack Baiyan City, while our central army will go south to join Zhang Liang’s troops and together we will besiege Anshi City.

After Hou Junji finished speaking, everyone in the hall turned their eyes to Li Ji, waiting for his advice.

Li Ji smiled and said, "General Hou's suggestion to divide the troops coincides with mine, but I have a different opinion."

"We and Zhang Liang's troops will attack Anshi City, and your central army will attack Baiyan City."

Anshi City is more difficult to attack than Liaodong City, and Goguryeo's 10 reinforcements are also heading for Anshi City. Li Ji dare not let Li Chengqian take the risk.

Hou Junji knew what Li Ji meant, so he didn't argue much but just nodded.

Seeing that the two generals had made the decision, Li Chengqian immediately agreed to the battle plan.

"Then it's settled!"

"Generals, go back and make preparations. The army will set out tomorrow!"

...

Just as the Goguryeo battlefield was preparing for the next major battle, eight war horses rushed into Suzaku Street.

"Eight hundred miles urgent report!"

A loud shout spread throughout the entire Chang'an City.

Soon, a hearty laugh was heard from the Ganlu Palace.

"Hahaha..."

"A total of more than 18 enemies were annihilated and more than 30 cities were destroyed!"

"Gao Ming is truly worthy of being my son!"