Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

The thunderous roar of cannons once again shattered the city walls of a city in the Kingdom of Gaochang.

It didn't seem like the intention was to reduce casualties during the siege. Under Li Chengqian's prior instruction, Fang Yi'ai and his Tang Dynasty New Army artillery battalion seemed to be deliberately using this brutal method of attacking and seizing territory.

This was to inform the high-ranking officials of the Gaochang Kingdom, the various kingdoms of the Western Regions, and also the Western Turks, who had yet to make a move.

This time, the Tang Dynasty's goal is definitely not simply to win a few battles, seize some land and benefits, and then give up easily...

And the effect was like a giant bear coming from the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang army brutally tore apart the territory of Gaochang, forcing its nobles and officials to watch helplessly as the Tang army's forces, including their caravans and supply trains, seized the land.

Savor the pain of dying.

Gaochang Kingdom, Jiaohe City!

"what!!!"

Amidst his terrified screams before death, a decapitating blade fell heavily.

With a loud bang, a head fell towards the city walls amidst the chaos of Jiaohe.

The headless corpse of the defending general of Jiaohe City, splattered with blood on the broken parapet.

Behind him, the flag of the Gaochang Kingdom was cleaved in two with a single stroke.

Under the sunlight, the Tang Dynasty's star-studded banners fluttered in the wind.

Inside the city.

"Why must your country press on so relentlessly? Now, seven or eight tenths of the land of the entire Gaochang Kingdom has been occupied by the Great Tang. Does the Great Tang still refuse to give up and insist on annexing my Gaochang Kingdom?"

Jiaohe City was a county town of the Gaochang Kingdom.

With the city falling, all the commoners and nobles of Gaochang Kingdom within the city, as well as the prefect of Jiaohe City, all became prisoners of the Tang Dynasty.

All the nobles of Gaochang were already aware of the Tang army's style of conduct during this western expedition.

The city's lord and garrison commander must be killed.

The rest of the people will have all their property forcibly confiscated and will be enslaved.

Right now, the governor of Jiaohe City was shouting in grief.

"Now my king has persuaded Yanqi and Kucha to send troops! Our Western Regions kingdoms are indeed no match for the Great Tang, but... this Western Regions is our territory!"

The enemy knew he was doomed, as the Tang army had just killed his general.

Next up is him, the prefect of a city.

Since that's the case, he'll just ask for some verbal satisfaction.

Looking at Emperor Li Yuan, the retired emperor of the Tang Dynasty, who was dressed in gleaming armor and personally leading the expedition, before him.

He snorted coldly.

"Even if you conquer our Gaochang Kingdom, the Tang Dynasty may not be able to defend it! The Tang army is tyrannical, enslaving all the people of Gaochang Kingdom, claiming to have a just cause, but in reality, it is a deception and a theft of a name!"

"They're nothing but a bunch of wicked bandits posing as a benevolent army! Bah!"

Li Yuan looked disdainfully at the barking governor of Gaochang before him and gave a cold smile.

"You say my Tang strategist is without a legitimate reason?"

The governor of Gaochang glared angrily: "Isn't that right! The Tongyagu Khan of the Western Turks has been dead for so many years, and you, the Great Tang, are thinking of avenging him? How laughable! Even if you want to invade, you can't even come up with a decent reason."

"Now they are launching a full-scale attack on Gaochang, forcing us to abandon our grain cultivation, which is even more inhumane!"

"A shameless and inhumane army, is this the benevolent and righteous, celestial dynasty that your Great Tang has always touted?!"

He was spitting wildly as two Tang soldiers held him down, forcing him to kneel on the ground.

however.

Despite the insults, he couldn't find any anger on Li Yuan's face, as one would expect.

The latter gave a cold laugh and stepped closer.

He slowly squatted down, looking at the disheveled and bloodshot-eyed governor of Gaochang.

He nodded regretfully.

"He didn't abandon the city and flee, which shows he has backbone. Facing the executioner's blade, he remained calm and fearless, which shows he's not afraid of death..."

Upon hearing this, and hearing Li Yuan praise him so highly, the governor of Gaochang snorted coldly.

"You want me to surrender? I advise you not to waste your time. My king has done me a great favor. Even if I were to be brought to my death, you would never make me surrender!"

Li Yuan nodded, then let out a soft chuckle.

"You're right. I never expected that someone like King Qu Wentai of Gaochang could have such a loyal subordinate as you. It's a pity... a virtuous person is born in a country of petty people."

Li Yuan slowly stood up, but at this moment, he heard Li Yuan say that their Gaochang was a country of petty people.

The governor of Gaochang gave a cold laugh.

"Gaochang has stood in the Western Regions for many years, always neutral and peacefully managing our trade routes in the Western Regions. We have never stolen or robbed, but we have been bullied by great powers like the Tang and Turkic empires!"

"What is a country of gentlemen! What is a country of petty men! Truly shameless!"

Upon hearing this, Pei Ji and Xiao Yu, who were standing next to Li Yuan, burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Another one who's gone stupid from reading too much... Hahaha!"

Pei Ji's aged face carried a sinister, wicked smile, making him look exactly like a treacherous minister.

Stroking his beard, he said, "He managed to obtain an official position in Gaochang in Jiaohe County, a city that is not even comparable to some of the counties in my Great Tang Dynasty. After reading a few books, he thinks he can call himself a gentleman in front of us. Hahaha, how ridiculous!"

Seeing that the other party was still unconvinced, Pei Ji spoke again in a sinister tone.

"Today I will tell you, you foreign scoundrels, the truth of a gentleman from our Celestial Empire!"

"Being a small country is a sin in itself. You small countries, a bunch of lowly bastards kneeling and begging between my Great Tang and the Turks, actually dare to call yourselves gentlemen! It's utterly laughable!"

"His Highness the Crown Prince has already given you a chance to be lenient. All you need to do is lay down your weapons, pick up your hoes, and grow cotton for our Great Tang Dynasty, and you will be able to continue your wealth and honor. However, you do not understand the majesty of our imperial family, nor do you know the might of our Tang army!"

"Why do they have to come here so eagerly to haggle... Ha!"

Pei Ji sneered, making no attempt to hide the disdain in his eyes.

"If you want to be called a country of gentlemen by my Great Tang, then at least you barbarians should have the strength of a country of gentlemen. Otherwise, if you are slapped in the face and cannot put up any resistance... do you deserve to call yourselves a country of gentlemen?"

The governor of Gaochang Kingdom blushed deeply.

What Pei Ji was expressing at this moment, and the arrogance displayed by the Tang Dynasty, were completely different from what he had read in the classics of the Central Plains.

Amidst the disdainful gazes, he seemed to have his worldview crumble.

As the two Tang soldiers dragged him along, he roared angrily.

"Shameless! Shameless words! The Tang Dynasty is shameless!"

Li Yuan, Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and the others all looked disdainful.

Shameless?

Shameless it is, anyway, our Tang Dynasty has cannons!

The power of artillery, in just a few days, brought great shock not only to the garrison and high-ranking officials of Gaochang Kingdom.

Li Yuan and his "remnants of the Wude faction" were also quite shocked.

If they had previously considered the losses from attacking Gaochang when planning their campaign in Chang'an, now... the idea of ​​the Gaochang kings and nobles holding out for reinforcements is as ridiculous as their city walls.

With the fall of the city of Gaochang and Jiaohe, it fell under the iron heel of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang army was now less than fifty li away from the capital of Gaochang.

At this moment, in the capital city of Gaochang, all the officials and nobles were like ants on a hot pan.

Some families with connections to sneak out of the city had already begun planning to transport their valuables out of the city.

After that, they no longer cared whether they fled to Yanqi or went to other countries like Kucha.

If they don't leave, they really won't be able to leave once the Tang Dynasty arrives!

In the palace.

Qu Wentai looked at the ranks of those who had come to attend the court assembly today and noticed that there were several more empty seats.

A shadow crossed his eyes.

However, even he can't care about these things now; those who can still escape are all unimportant.

Those who remain in this hall today are families whose ties with Gaochang are as deep as those of the Qu family.

Without Gaochang, it is nothing.

He took out a letter.

"Gentlemen! Today I received letters from the King of Yanqi and the King of Kucha. They have dispatched reinforcements to support us. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. They will not allow the Tang Dynasty to so barbarically take over my Gaochang!"

"What? That's great!"

"My king, how long until reinforcements arrive?"

"How many people have come?!"

A look of wild joy instantly flashed in everyone's eyes.

Qu Wentai smiled slightly, but his heart was filled with a sense of solemnity.

"The allied forces now consist of 20,000 from Yanqi, 15,000 from Kucha, and another 30,000 from Wusun, Cheshi, Khotan, Shule, and other countries, totaling nearly 70,000 troops! They have now reached Baishan, which is no more than a hundred miles from my capital."

"We only need to hold out for one more day!"

Inside the main hall: "..."

The high-ranking officials of Gaochang Kingdom, who were overjoyed just a moment ago and seemed to have been reborn, were all stunned for a moment.

They've only just arrived at Baishan? That's more than a hundred miles from their capital!

That's nearly two hundred miles away!

Let alone arriving in one day, even reaching the destination within three days would be considered a forced march, enough to kill a horse...

Seeing everyone looking as if they had lost their parents, Qu Wentai felt helpless.

At this moment, we had no choice but to forcefully boost everyone's morale.

"It will take no more than two or three days. The walls of the capital are taller and sturdier than those of Dongzhen City and Jiaohe County. In addition, we have prepared so many logs and stones on the city walls in the past few days, and we have also set up so many defenses inside the city as a precaution."

"No matter how powerful the Tang Dynasty's weapon called cannon is, I do not believe that we could not even last three days!"

"It will only take three days! By then, not only will our reinforcements from the Western Regions arrive, but reinforcements from the Western Turks will also be able to come more easily. At that time, if we can capture the retired emperor of the Tang Dynasty alive..."

Qu Wentai truly deserves to be the one to sit on the throne of Gaochang.

Despite the fact that the enemy was practically at the gates of the city, the country was about to be destroyed, and the whole family was about to be beheaded, the enemy insisted on portraying it as just some difficulties before victory.

Even in such a situation, he can still comfortably paint a rosy picture for his subordinates.

Those who abandoned them, all their wealth will be divided among these loyal subjects after this victory.

The story goes that after capturing the Tang Dynasty's retired emperor, they extorted spoils from the Tang Dynasty, demanding an extra share from them.

In short, when Qu Wentai, clad in full armor and with his legs trembling slightly, appeared atop the walls of Gaochang the next day, he displayed an air of being ready to live and die alongside the other soldiers.

The once precarious capital of Gaochang has actually become much more stable.

However, from early morning until dusk, when Qu Wentai couldn't hold on any longer and went to rest, he was awakened several times by nightmares of the Tang army attacking.

However, they never received any news of an attack from the Tang Dynasty.

"Where are the Tang soldiers? Why haven't they come to attack the city yet?"

Jiaohe County.

Amidst the fluttering of wings, the few carrier pigeons kept at the Jinyiwei stronghold in Jiaohe County finally delivered intelligence, much to the anticipation of the generals on the western expedition.

By the light of the lamp, Li Jing unfolded the note.

"Reinforcements have arrived in Baishan, numbering less than 70,000!"

"Hahaha! Good! Seventy thousand! These fools who deal with Western Region merchants and bandits actually think they can defeat us with seventy thousand men. They're just handing us military merit!"

Qu Tutong laughed loudly.

Li Jing turned to look at the Imperial Guard standing to the side, who shook his head.

"No news has yet come from the Western Turkic region..."

Immediately, Li Jing looked at the geomantic map in front of him, and his eyes gradually became solemn.

"All soldiers, listen to my command..."