Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

The Balkan Peninsula was shrouded in smoke in late autumn, and on the marble streets of Constantinople, solidified blood clots and gravel mixed into dark red mud.

The Tang army's Qianwu cannon array was located on the shores of the Golden Horn. The bronze barrels grew hot from the continuous firing, and the steaming heat waves distorted the collapsed Theodosius Walls in the distance.

The triple city wall, once regarded as a divine barrier by the Byzantines, has now turned into a pile of rubble that stretches for miles. The broken stone pillars still bear the mottled traces of Christian icons.

"Report!" A messenger stumbled into the central army tent.

"After our 37th charge was repelled, new enemy reinforcements arrived from the direction of Thrace!"

Before he could finish his words, a rumble like muffled thunder suddenly came from afar, shaking the cowhide tent to dust - it was the coalition forces' retaliatory counterattack with catapults. The flying gravel hit the shields of the personal guards outside the tent, making a teeth-grinding crisp sound.

Qin Huaidao stood up suddenly, and the jade belt around his waist made the bronze command arrow on the commander's desk jingle.

The handsome face of the general who inherited the title of Duke of Hu was flushed with anxiety. "One hundred thousand shells! The Minister of Works patted his chest in Chang'an and said that this amount of gunpowder is enough to flatten Constantinople!"

"But look at it now!"

He grabbed the sheepskin map from his desk and slammed it to the ground. The cinnabar red marking the attack route abruptly stopped at Constantinople, like an unhealed wound. "In thirty days, we've used up 70% of our food and fodder. We only have half a month's worth of gunpowder left. How can we report this to His Majesty?"

The twenty or so generals in the tent were silent, with only the candlelight casting flickering shadows on everyone's faces.

There was a slight sound of chains in the corner. The captured Byzantine noble was huddled in an iron cage. His blood-stained purple robe formed a stark contrast with the Ming Guang armor of the Tang army general outside the cage. His gray-blue eyes were always fixed on the Tang Falcon battle flag hanging on the ceiling of the tent.

"General Qin, calm down."

Wu Tianyan slowly turned the ivory planchette in his hand. The blood stains from the interrogation of the prisoners the day before were still between the fingernails of this General of the Western Expedition. "Look at this sand table."

He flicked a few black pottery chess pieces representing the enemy army, "Since the day the city wall collapsed, the entire Western world has been in turmoil."

"Venetian merchant ships are carrying Genoese mercenaries, and Hungarian light cavalry are gathering on Bulgarian soil. They are not fighting for a certain city—"

The plan was to hammer away at the silver model representing the Hagia Sophia, "but to defend what they call God and glory."

"Glory?" Qin Huaidao sneered, his sword-like eyes sweeping across the piles of enemy corpses outside the tent. Half of the bodies wearing chain mail still had unburned rockets stuck in them.

"They are just a bunch of lunatics who have been brainwashed by the priests."

"Their women and children are carrying stones, and even children dare to charge at our muskets. Is this a normal war?"

"Precisely because it's abnormal, it's worth being vigilant."

Wu Tianyan unbuttoned his clothes.

“When a nation views death as a stairway to heaven, conventional warfare loses its meaning.”

"Do you know about the Battle of Gaochang? Back then, Qu Wentai held the city firmly, and we were equally unable to capture it for a long time. How did we finally break through the city?"

"The water is cut off." Someone in the tent whispered.

"That's right!" A cold light flashed in Wu Tianyan's eyes. "Although Constantinople has underground waterways, the Valens Aqueduct that supports the entire city has long been destroyed by us."

"Now they rely on mules and horses to transport water from outside the city. If we cut off the supply line..."

"No!" Cheng Chubi suddenly stood up, his face flushed with excitement. "The Western coalition has deployed twelve pontoon bridges outside the city, each guarded by heavily armored knights."

"Of the eight hundred soldiers sent out the day before yesterday, only seventeen returned alive!"

The air solidified instantly.

A wounded soldier was carried to the center of the army to fight. His right leg was broken at the knee, and black blood was still oozing from the broken part - obviously he was hit by the enemy's Greek fire.

"Everyone, please look." Wu Tianyan unfolded a scroll of yellowed parchment. On it was a map of Constantinople's defenses drawn in Latin. "The enemy appears to be an impregnable fortress, but in reality, they are weak on the inside."

"Their elite knights were completely wiped out in the attack and defense of the city walls, and most of those charging now are made up of makeshift militias."

His finger suddenly stopped at the north shore of the Golden Horn. "But our real crisis lies in our gunpowder reserves. Once we run out of ammunition, facing those fearless mobs..."

Before he finished speaking, the sound of hurried horse hooves suddenly came from outside the tent.

A messenger, covered in mud, dismounted. The secret letter in his arms was sealed with the prominent Chinese character "敕" (imperial decree). Qin Huaidao rushed forward, and the moment he unfolded the letter, his expression suddenly changed.

"Your Majesty's oral message: 'I have heard that the barbarians in the West are stubbornly resisting. This is Heaven's blessing on the Great Tang, testing the sharpness of our men. When Wei Huobei defeated the Xiongnu, he never complained of the hardships. Now, although Constantine is steadfast, he will eventually be nothing but dry bones in the tomb. All the men of the Great Tang should be determined to win and achieve unprecedented feats!'"

Silence washed over the entire tent like a tide. Wu Tianyan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Your Majesty's intention is for us to achieve our goal in one fell swoop."

"Do you all remember what Sun Tzu said in The Art of War? 'Thus, a general who understands the military is the master of the fate of the people and the safety of the nation.' The decision we make now not only affects this battle, but also the fate of the Tang Dynasty for the next century."

Cheng Chubi suddenly drew his sword.

"Although I am not talented, I am willing to lead three thousand warriors to attack the enemy's food camp at night! If we cannot cut off their lifeline, I will bring my head to you!"

"Wait a minute." Qin Huaidao held his wrist and glanced at every young face in the tent. These princes who grew up with him now had anxiety in their eyes, but also a desire to try.

He took a deep breath and said, "Pass the order: From now on, the entire army will conserve gunpowder. Each cannon is only allowed to fire three shells per day."

"Each battalion has drawn its elite troops to form a hundred-man suicide squad to attack the enemy's supply lines. As for the city's water source..."

He looked at Wu Tianyan, who smiled knowingly.

"I am willing to go!" Responses came one after another in the tent.

That night, the waters of the Golden Horn were dyed a strange green.

The Tang army's death squad rode on oxhide rafts coated with tung oil and quietly approached the entrance to Constantinople's underground sewers.

The leather bags around their waists were filled with croton powder shipped from the Western Regions. This inconspicuous laxative was about to become a weapon more deadly than gunpowder.

At the same time, the cavalry led by Cheng Chubi, under the cover of night, bypassed the northern shore of the Black Sea and attacked the enemy's food and grass camp.