Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2723 The Military Genius Descends from the Plateau, Li and Han Join Forces

The fifteenth day of the first month of the sixth year of the Qianyuan era.

Li Mu, who had already set up camp seven miles outside the city, did not rush to attack.

Although his troops arrived, the transport speed of those large siege weapons was much slower than that of the troops.

He would have to wait until all the large quantities of various equipment and supplies arrived before he could deploy the final siege strategy.

Furthermore, he needed to wait for at least one of Xue Rengui's and Han Xin's armies before he would have enough confidence to end this battle.

With only his troops, it wouldn't be easy to take over the two most important cities in the Li Tang kingdom.

The two cities of Lizhong and Wandu are separated by the Yalu River. During this period, Li Shimin had transferred back as many troops as possible that were originally sent to suppress the eastern regions of the Li Tang dynasty.

The two cities now have a combined force of 35,000 troops.

The city of Wandu was guarded by 15,000 troops. As the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin personally oversaw the defense of the city, and the garrison strength reached 20,000.

It won't be easy to take them based on their journey alone.

Even if the equipment and supplies from the rear arrive, they won't immediately start hand-to-hand combat.

When dealing with forces whose national strength was clearly inferior, the Jin army always relied on overwhelming power to minimize casualties.

For the first half of the month, or even the first month, it was all about bombarding the enemy with siege equipment to deplete their defensive equipment.

Even though the enemy had the upper hand, they lost more equipment.

However, given their overwhelming national strength, all they could say was that they could absolutely afford to pay the price!

This was a typical tactic they used when they attacked Guanzhong and Xiliang.

It was only when Zhu Yuanzhang, whose country was relatively strong in the south, that he could fight however he wanted.

After all, given the strength of Zhu Yuanzhang's country in the south at that time, such expenditure did not have much significance.

Li Shimin was not one to passively wait to be attacked; he also wanted to take advantage of the fact that the other two armies in the rear had not yet gathered and defeat them one by one.

If we can defeat Li Mu's army first, then there is a chance to turn the tide of the entire battle.

Within the city, there were still two thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, who still possessed a certain level of combat capability in the field.

Even if only the last two thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalry remain in the city, those two thousand men alone would be a huge deterrent to any army.

Therefore, Li Shimin had repeatedly tried to launch night raids on the camp. If he could break through, the Li Tang troops in both cities would come out in full force and defeat him in one battle.

However, Li Shimin was a commander who rarely made mistakes, and Li Mu was the same; he wouldn't let Li Shimin catch him out either.

Therefore, the several raids on the camp were actually more bark than bite, and the two sides did not actually engage in any formal combat.

It looked incredibly lively, but there were very few actual fights.

Without seeing an opportunity, Li Shimin certainly wouldn't rush in headfirst. Sometimes, he would even feign an attack, then turn his horse around and retreat, as a way to wear down the enemy.

Therefore, for the past month or two, the Jin army has dominated the daytime, deploying all sorts of siege equipment in abundance, with operations continuing almost non-stop from morning till night.

Those enormous stone projectiles and countless oil canisters poured into the capital of the Tang Dynasty as if they were free.

It's clear that they'll launch as many as possible.

Li Tang's regular troops performed reasonably well, each one knowing to hide in blind spots and taking cover. Although they suffered casualties, the losses were still within acceptable limits.

However, the laborers who assisted in transporting supplies lacked the mental fortitude and combat experience of the Li Tang soldiers, and many of them were killed or injured by the falling debris.

Of course, after experiencing this kind of situation many times, their situation improved over time.

One time you're a newbie, two times you're a newbie, but by the third or fourth time, you've already transformed into a veteran.

Although, quite a few newbies die in the first and second rounds.

As for the night, small groups of Li Tang's troops would constantly cause trouble, making it impossible for the Jin army to get a proper rest.

As the year 3 of the Qian Yuan era arrived and the weather warmed up, some of Xu Cheng's naval warships were finally able to sail ashore.

Of course, Han Shizhong's navy also came with Xu Chengshi.

Stretching across the Yalu River, directly facing the two cities of Wandu and the domestic city, it filled Li Shimin and his sister Li Xiuning, who lived in the two cities, with trepidation.

With the navy advancing, the strategic space of the Li Tang dynasty was further compressed.

Of course, as time entered March of the sixth year of the Qianyuan era, the biggest trouble for the Li Tang was not the advancing navy of the Great Jin, but Han Xin's troops.

With the help of Shi Siming, Han Xin's troops not only successfully crossed the Gaima Plateau, but also defeated Hun Shizhi and Xin Jinggao, two generals from the Woju region, and routed their five thousand troops.

Following closely behind, Li Sheng and Wang Huna's forces in the eastern part of the Tang Dynasty also failed to stop Han Xin on the Gaima Plateau. Their 5,000 troops also suffered heavy losses, and both of them died on the battlefield.

During this process, Han Xin used grain and official positions as bait to successfully win over several peasant armies in the eastern part of the Tang Dynasty.

In a short period of time, they also defeated several peasant armies that wanted to rebel against the Jin Dynasty.

After all, with the prolonged food shortage in the Li Tang country over the past two years, many people were unable to survive and thus raised the banner of rebellion.

But it is precisely because of this that a group of ambitious people have emerged. After experiencing the taste of power, these people are naturally unwilling to serve others anymore and want to rebel against the norm, but they fail to recognize the difference in strength between the two sides.

In less than a month, Han Xin had already integrated the vast majority of the peasant army, and after eliminating the old, weak, sick and disabled, he turned westward. It seemed that it wouldn't be long before he could join forces with Li Mu in both the domestic and Wandu regions.

This was the most critical point for Li Shimin and Li Xiuning.

In a short period of time, Han Xin, who had integrated the peasant army, had basically solved the problem of insufficient attacking forces caused by Xue Rengui's obstruction at Liangkou.

Both Li Shimin and Li Xiuning were well aware that once Han Xin's army arrived, the two sides would no longer be simply exchanging weapons as they had been for the previous two months.

Next, the real mountains of corpses and seas of blood will truly arrive.