Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2705 Fire Ships Melt the Ice, Cicada Attack and Defense

"Commander Xue has captured Xi'an and pacified the northwestern gateway to Goguryeo!" General Yu Jin reported excitedly in the main tent.

Li Mu merely nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the model of the city of Cicada on the sand table, his finger gently pointing to the winding Lie River outside the city, which later became the Datong River.

"Li Shimin relied on the strong city and river defenses to try to wear down our army's morale."

"Order Xu Cheng of the navy to gather all the small fast boats in the army, fully loaded with sulfur, kerosene, and firewood, and send them in three waves of one hundred boats each! Target: the sea!"

"At any cost, crash into it, ignite it! Burn a path through it, melt away the ice!"

Although Li Mu has not yet captured the fortified city in more than a month, he has been using this time to continuously deplete the city's troops.

At the same time, they are trying to lure the other party out of this structured city.

He even saw naval warships frozen in the river to lure the enemy into battle, but even then, Li Shimin remained as steady as a rock, showing no intention of coming out.

On one occasion, when Li Mu believed that Li Shimin would never come out, Li Shimin personally led three thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalry in a night raid on the camp.

The Xuanjia Iron Cavalry still numbers 8,000 men in the Li Tang Dynasty. It is precisely to maintain the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry that, despite the political talents of Li Shimin and Li Longji, the Li Tang Dynasty remains in chaos, with constant uprisings of all sizes.

These people were divided into three groups by Li Shimin. In addition to these three thousand people, there were three thousand people with Li Guangbi, and the remaining two thousand were in the capital.

Fortunately, Xing Tian and Gao Shun's elite troops quickly regrouped and blocked the attack.

Li Shimin did not actually engage in battle with the Trapped Camp, but instead withdrew directly.

Heavy cavalry is not a type of unit that can fight a prolonged war; they are meant to strike and retreat quickly, or serve as the final straw that breaks the camel's back.

In this battle, Li Mu lost 4,000 soldiers, but Li Shimin's losses remained in the double digits, and not even a large double digit.

From then on, Li Mu knew there was no need to play mind games with the other party; he could simply use overwhelming force to push them head-on.

The freezing conditions on the Lie River were no worse than those Xue Rengui had faced before, making it difficult for naval warships to pass smoothly.

The only advantage is that because the rivers are in different directions, unlike Xue Rengui, who had to cross the river before he could attack the city, he could attack the city by both land and water.

During this month, Li Mu had tried to break the ice, just like Xue Rengui, but he was unable to take the city in one fell swoop and launch a continuous attack.

As for the river surface that was finally broken open, it would freeze again in two or three days.

Later, Li Mu gradually gave up on this idea. With the navy unable to provide support from the water, he could only rely on land to launch attacks.

A three-fold troop advantage is a huge advantage in open field battles, and could even be enough to secure victory.

In a siege, this numerical advantage is not a significant one, especially when facing a fortified city.

Therefore, abandoning water routes and launching an attack solely by land is not advisable.

Today, after more than a month of attrition, coupled with the news of Xue Rengui's advancing troops, the morale of the entire camp has greatly increased, and Li Mu has finally begun to plan a general offensive.

He was prepared to melt the river surface at any cost, creating a path for his naval warships to break through the enemy's river defenses. Of course, while he was prepared to go to any lengths, Li Mu wouldn't actually sacrifice his large warships; launching a large warship would take a considerable amount of time.

However, if it were those small boats, or even those boats gathered by the people, then the cost would be within Li Mu's tolerance range.

As for things like kerosene, they spent a lot of time preparing for the Tang-Jin War yesterday, so we can tolerate their extravagant spending for now.

After all, this thing is more useful in siege warfare; if we were to fight against the grasslands later, the demand wouldn't be as high.

"Tan Daoji, Xu Huang, and Yue Jin, the three of you shall organize the troops, divide them into three teams, and begin attacking in shifts starting tomorrow, giving the Tang army no chance to catch their breath!"

"Your subordinate obeys!" The generals whose names were called stood up to receive the order.

The next day, as the soldiers quickly ate breakfast, the mournful bugle call sounded, and the expressions of all the soldiers on both sides changed.

After all, anyone could die once they're on the battlefield!
Under the command of General Xu Cheng, the first wave of a hundred small boats shot into the river like arrows.

The ship was loaded with wood and glazed stones soaked in kerosene. When the assassins encountered obstacles on the ice, they would immediately set a small boat on fire.

"Loose the arrows! Stop them!"

At the water gate, Li Tang's naval commander, Kuki Yoshitaka, paled. If the enemy were to melt a path through the water, their large warships could be easily pulled up. Then, if they attacked from both the water and land, the pressure on the city's defenses would more than double.

A dense rain of arrows poured down. Although some of the boatmen were successfully shot dead, most of the small boats, braving the arrow barrage, still crashed into the ice floes in the river with an indomitable spirit of certain death.

boom! boom! boom!
In an instant, the river turned into a sea of ​​fire! Fiery flames shot into the sky!

Amidst this vast sea of ​​fire, even the temperature on the land behind it seemed to rise several degrees. And on the river's surface, the ice floes of all sizes began to melt rapidly.

"Now! Infantry! Push forward!" Li Mu's eyes flashed with cold light as he slammed down the command flag in his hand!

"Kill!"

The first batch of troops responsible for attacking the city, led by Xu Huang, slowly advanced towards the city, pushing battering rams and ladders of all sizes.

"Fire arrows! Boiling oil! Iced water!" On the city wall, Li Shimin's voice remained calm, yet it carried a chilling killing intent.

"Ding! When Li Shimin's Tian Ce skill is activated, his leadership increases by 3 when commanding troops in battle, and by an additional 1 when fighting against overwhelming odds. Furthermore, when the difference in troop strength between the two sides reaches five times, his leadership increases by another 1."

Li Shimin's leadership increased by +3 and +1, bringing his base leadership to 103 and current leadership to 107.

In winter, there's absolutely no need to boil the water before splashing it on the ground.

At this temperature, ordinary ice water becomes the best weapon of destruction.

Moreover, although Li Shimin was caught off guard by the attack in winter, everything has its advantages and disadvantages. He also made good use of the seasonal advantage of winter by splashing water all over the city walls.

Overnight, the city wall turned into an ice wall, causing Li Mu a great deal of trouble for the past month.

(End of this chapter)