Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

While undercurrents were surging in Chang'an City, a major war was brewing on the Liaodong battlefield and was about to break out.

Anshi City, on the flat ground outside the South Gate.

A dirt hill about 6 feet high is at the same height as the city wall of Anshi City. Standing on the hill, you can already see the scenery inside Anshi City.

At this moment, tens of thousands of Tang soldiers were still piling up soil forward, slowly moving towards the city wall.

On the city wall.

Under the command of veteran general Gao Minxing, the defenders and civilians of Anshi City continued to build up the 6-zhang-high city wall.

In less than half a day, they built the city wall to a height of 7 feet.

The soldiers stood on the city wall and looked up at the newly built wall, always having the illusion that it would collapse at any time.

At this time, an old man with gray hair found Gao Minxing with an anxious look on his face.

"General Gao, the wall can't be raised any higher! If you push it any higher it will probably collapse!"

"No matter how high our newly built walls are, they can't withstand the impact of the Tang army's battering rams."

"And as the walls get higher, the fewer soldiers we can stand on to defend them, and the easier it will be for the Tang army to breach them!"

When this old man was young, he was stationed in Liaodong City, and he personally participated in resisting the siege of the Sui Dynasty's million-strong army.

Gao Minxing took a look at the rapidly approaching earth hill and his brows furrowed tightly.

A moment of silence.

He turned to the old man and asked, "Old man, if we don't build a high wall, how can we resist the Tang army's attack on the city?"

"The Tang army relies on their weapons and armor, and their combat effectiveness is far superior to our soldiers!"

Since the Tang Dynasty was wealthy, ordinary soldiers could wear full armor and their weapons were extremely sharp.

Unlike the soldiers under their command, the armor they wore not only had poor defensive capabilities, but couldn't even protect the entire body.

The old man shook his head and said, "The earthen hill built by the Tang army is only five meters wide. The number of soldiers they can rush up at the same time is at most 20."

"As long as we send soldiers to block this small gap, no matter how strong the Tang army is, it will not be able to break through our defense line with only 20 people."

"What we're going to do next is a war of attrition. The Tang army may not be able to outlast us!"

Hearing the old man's words, Gao Minxing nodded in sudden enlightenment.

He quickly shouted to the soldiers and civilians, "Stop building the wall!"

After calling a halt, he gave instructions to a general and then hurried towards the City Lord's Mansion.

In the Lord's Mansion of Anshi City.

When Gao Minxing told Yang Wanchun and Noosa Gao Huizhen about the old man's words to resist the Tang army, he quickly got their agreement.

Yang Wanchun said in a deep voice: "General Gao, how long will it take for the Tang army's earthen hill to fit in with our city wall?"

"Within two days."

"So fast!"

Yang Wanchun and Gao Huizhen exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

It is incredible that the Tang army built a huge earthen hill in just 12 days!

Yang Wanchun frowned and said, "Yeon Gaesomun is planning to send Yeon Jeongdo with 10 troops to support us, but they are still preparing food and fodder in Pyongyang."

"It will take at least a month for us to prepare food and fodder and for the army to march thousands of miles to get here."

"I'm afraid we have to prepare for a tough battle during this period!"

Once the Tang army's earthen hills approached, the tall city walls they relied on lost their deterrent effect.

If we engage in close combat with the Tang army, we will definitely suffer huge casualties.

Noosa?6?8 Gao Huizhen shook his head and said: "The reinforcements from Yuan Jingtu are coming too slowly! I suggest sending people to Wugut City for help first!"

"Although the more than 1 cavalrymen in Wugut City were annihilated by the Tang army, there are still elite infantrymen in the city!"

"The core forces of the Tang army are now outside Anshi City. I don't think it's necessary to continue defending cities like Wugu City and Bozhuo City. It's better to gather forces and besiege the Tang army together."

"As long as we annihilate the Tang army outside the city, the crisis will naturally be resolved."

In his opinion, a city with only more than 10,000 defenders could not withstand the all-out attack of the Tang army.

Rather than being defeated one by one by the Tang army, it is better to gather all the troops and fight a decisive battle with the Tang army.

“Ah!” Yang Wanchun sighed, and said helplessly: “Wugu City, Bozhuo City, Daxing City and other cities are the last line of defense to protect Pyongyang City.”

"That old thief Yeon Gaesomun values his life more than anyone else. He won't agree to withdraw reinforcements."

When Yeon Gaesomun was mentioned, several people's faces turned ugly, especially Ko Hye-jin, a member of the Goguryeo royal family, who gritted his teeth.

Gao Huizhen said angrily: "If Yeon Gaesomun had not insisted on attacking Silla, the Tang army would not have come to attack us. If he is destroyed because of this, he will be the sinner of our Goguryeo!"

The current Goguryeo does not have the strength it had 30 years ago, and the Tang army is not the Sui army 30 years ago.

If Anshi City cannot be defended, it is only a matter of time before Pyongyang City is captured.

...

The Tang army camp opposite Anshi City.

Li Chengqian and Du He were also urgently discussing the next war with a group of generals.

The atmosphere in the tent was extremely serious.

Li Ji stood in front of the newly drawn topographic map, pointing to the location of the earth hill on the map and spoke aloud.

"The day after tomorrow our earthen hill will be close to the wall of Anshi City."

"The new wall built by the defenders of Anshi City only has a thin layer of stone slabs. As long as we use the battering ram to ram it a few more times, it shouldn't be a big problem to knock down the wall."

"Because the earthen hill is only 5 meters wide, after breaking through this narrow section of the city wall, we can only send a small group of elite troops to charge in and clear the way for the following army."

"We now need to select a group of elite soldiers with strong combat capabilities to serve as the first batch of death squads!"

If the Tang army wanted to attack Anshi City, they had only one way to do it: through the newly built earthen hill.

There is no other way except to charge in forcefully.

Upon hearing that Li Ji was going to select elite soldiers as the vanguard, all the generals in the tent turned their eyes to Li Chengqian.

They all knew that the 300 Black Armored Soldiers under Li Chengqian's command were extremely powerful.

Feeling the burning gazes of the generals, Li Chengqian's face froze, and he quickly waved his hand and said.

"Generals, you can't plan to attack the Black Armor Army. It's better to choose from the army!"

He sent the Black Armor Army to fight in two major battles, and the heavy armor they wore was almost deformed.

Li Chengqian believed that the cruelty of this battle was more brutal than the attack on other cities. If he sent the Black Armor Army to act as the vanguard at this time, everything would be finished.

Hou Junji looked at Du He again and raised his eyebrows at him, indicating that he should persuade Li Chengqian.

Du He said with a serious expression: "Your Highness, except for the armor of the generals, only the Black Armor Army is wearing heavy armor."

"To reduce casualties, I suggest that a group of generals and the Black Armor Army be the first to tear open a gap!"

In a siege war of attrition, tens of thousands of soldiers will lose their lives, but with this group of powerful generals and the Black Armor Army leading the way, casualties can be reduced to a minimum.

These people are protected by heavy armor, and their chances of survival are countless times higher than those of ordinary soldiers.

Just as Li Chengqian was hesitating, King Jiangxia Li Daozon stood up and said.

"I will send my subordinates, Commander Cao Sanliang, Commander Ma Wenju, and Commander Fu Fuai, to be the first to die!"

It’s a pity that Li Daozon was seriously injured, otherwise he would have wanted to lead his men to attack the city personally.

Li Ji also said: "I will ask Zhishishili, Qibi Heli, Ashina Mishe, Xue Wanbei and Wang Jun'e to come together."

Hou Junji said lightly: "Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, Xi Junmai, Cheng Huailiang and Yuchi Huan also come up."

Li Chengqian's heart was pounding when he saw a group of generals making such a crazy decision as if they had discussed it beforehand.

Letting a group of generals and the Black Armor Army serve as the vanguard of death, what else could one be but crazy?

After thinking for a moment, Li Chengqian decided to go for it. He gritted his teeth and gave the order.

"Just do as the generals say!"

"After conquering Anshi City, all the gold and silver in the city will be rewarded to the meritorious soldiers!"