King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

"Your Highness, if Lee Seong-gye waits until he has an army of 100,000, it will only cause more trouble. It is better to send troops immediately. He only has 2,000 troops now and will not be our opponent!"

Tang Zuo couldn't help but suggest.

"No need. I also want to see the strength of Lee Seong-gye. Besides, he only has a few days. Once Lan Yu's army arrives, he will have no chance. And my artillery and muskets are not in vain!"

Zhu Tan waved his hand with a confident smile on his face.

Since the negotiations broke down, fighting was inevitable, but what Tang Zuo said about capturing Lee Seong-gye now was not true.

Lee Seong-gye is not stupid. If Joo Tan takes action now, Lee Seong-gye will retreat immediately. There is no need to wait for the 100,000-strong army.

"There are nearly 30,000 people in the city, enough to defend the city. Let them prepare to meet the enemy, and let Wang Yu's 20,000 people cooperate with my people. Not to mention a few days, even a month, I can still hold out!"

Zhu Tan spoke in a domineering manner and dispatched the troops.

In a siege battle, the most important things are manpower and the equipment gap between the two sides.

If Lee Seong-gye had cannons and 100,000 men, he, Zhu Dan, would have to open the city gates and surrender now.

But the cannons were in Zhu Dan's hands. Unless Lee Seong-gye had 300,000 men, 100,000 men would be like breaking into the city he was defending, and his chances of winning would be too low.

On the way to Pyongyang!

Lan Yu's original look of expectation and excitement had disappeared, replaced by a somewhat decadent look.

He had just received an oral order from Zhu Yuanzhang, asking him to obey Zhu Tan's orders.

He was originally the commander of this battle, but now he has become the deputy. His greatest contribution has become the second. I suddenly feel that the life of a military general is full of tragedy.

Two or three days passed in a flash, and Lan Yu, with his 100,000-strong army, finally arrived at Pyongyang City.

The general defending the city looked at the majestic and black army and felt worried.

He could feel the murderous aura among the Ming army. An army that had not experienced life and death would not have such a feeling.

"I heard that Lan Yu is not a good person, and he said that he would not let go of any war in order to be crowned Duke. Should we resist?"

He was very hesitant, but Cao Min told him to delay as much as possible before leaving.

"I am Lan Yu's deputy general Fu Youde. If you don't want to die, open the city gates!"

Fu Youde shouted loudly while riding his warhorse, with a fierce look on his face.

The general hesitated, not knowing whether to listen to Cao Min or Cui Ying.

Cao Min told him to resist as much as possible, while Cui Ying told him to open the city gates, which made him unsure of what to choose.

"No need to waste time, this is all military merit. Bring the cannons over to blow down the city gate and charge straight in!"

Lan Yu waved his hand domineeringly and ordered people to go forward.

These are all military achievements, he couldn't let them go.

As more than a dozen cannons were transported out, the soldiers adjusted the angles and waited for Lan Yu's command before directly firing the shells at the city wall in front.

"There really are cannons. They can't stop us. Open the city gates!"

The general guarding the city felt a chill in his heart when he saw this and immediately ordered his men to open the city gates.

Looking at the wide-open city gate, Lan Yu was a little disappointed, but soon he smiled again. He had captured a big city without losing a single person and had also captured 100,000 people. His military achievement was not small.

"Welcome, General. We will open the city gates now!"

The general bowed and clasped his hands.

"Why are there only a few thousand people in the city? Where are the hundred thousand troops?" Lan Yu frowned.

"Cao Min led an army of 100,000 to Xijing!" The general was very straightforward and directly revealed the destination of the 100,000 troops.

what?
Lan Yu couldn't help but be stunned, and his expression changed instantly.

"set off!"

He rode a horse and ordered the army to rush to Xijing.

Cao Min led the army to Xijing. The battle was bound to be fought. If something happened to Zhu Tan, Zhu Yuanzhang would probably skin him alive.

When Lan Yu thought of this, his scalp tingled and he felt extremely anxious.

Thousands of people fighting against a hundred thousand people. Even though Xijing also has soldiers, the chances of winning are too slim and they are completely unable to win.

Xijing!

A hundred thousand strong troops were at the gate of the city, and the air was filled with murderous intent.

Lee Seong-gye was in front of the army and Cho Min was looking at the city wall in the distance.

"You and I only have three or four days!" Li Chenggui said with a serious look on his face, his eyes fixed on the top of the city wall.

"What if we lose?" Cao Min couldn't help but ask.

"If we lose, you and I might die, but it's a dead end anyway, so how can a king, a prince, a general or a minister be so different?"

Li Chenggui let out a low roar and pointed the spear in his hand at the city gate.

"attack!"

Accompanied by the beating of war drums, the army rushed towards the city gate in batches.

"Three cannons won't have a wide range. This is our chance. Send someone to break down the city gate, and the others should use ladders to climb up as much as possible. We can't give them time!"

Lee Seong-gye looked at the charging soldiers with a ferocious look on his face.

This was the only way he could think of that had a chance of winning. If he slowly surrounded the city, he could also succeed, but it would take too long and he couldn't afford to wait.

At a place on the city wall, Zhu Tan looked at this scene and smiled.

"You plan to use manpower to pile up, even if you have to use up half of your soldiers, you must break into the city, so that we can file in. If that's the case, then I'll give you this chance!"

Zhu Tan said with a smile, and then ordered Tang Zuo to go and open the city gate.

"Open the city gate?"

Tang Zuo was stunned and didn't understand what this meant.

"Lee Seong-gye is in a hurry. If he really wants to besiege the city, I will definitely lose. But he has no chance. He can only attack by force. As long as he can break one or two places in the city, he can succeed. By then, the city will be in chaos and it will be hard to say who will win or lose!
I will open the city gates and aim three cannons at you. Anyone who comes will die. But this is the biggest opportunity. Do you think Lee Seong-gye will give up?"

Zhu Tan asked Tang Zuo with a smile.

"Of course I would be tempted, but what if Lee Seong-gye understood and gave up the city gate?" Tang Zuo asked in shock.

"Why would he give up? So many people are going to die anyway, why doesn't he give it a try? Even if he really gives up, the cannon can't be turned around?"

Zhu Tan said with a smile.

Tang Zuo nodded and walked forward quickly.

The three cannons moved their positions, aiming at the enemy and the city gate at the same time. At the same time, a thousand soldiers were dispatched, armed with muskets, to the city gate, ready at all times.

"Open the city gate!"

With a roar, many people were shocked and didn't understand why this was done. It was undoubtedly a waste of life.

But the military order was as strong as a mountain, and the city gate was slowly opened. Li Chenggui's men immediately turned around and rushed towards the city gate.

boom!
The shells were fired, hitting the enemies in front of the city gate, causing their limbs to fly and blood to splatter.

"What is Zhu Tan going to do?"

Cao Min didn't quite understand. He knew that Zhu Tan was trying to lure the enemy, but if he went too far, Zhu Tan would definitely lose.

"So, this move should be called "luring the enemy into a trap". The King of Lu is worthy of his reputation. Many of us will die anyway. So why not go through the city gate instead of wasting more people on the city wall!"

Lee Seong-gye waved his hand, changed his strategy, and ordered his soldiers to charge at the city gate.

"Let the archers distract the soldiers on the city wall, and everyone else rush to the city gate. After entering, immediately kill the people on the city wall, seize the cannons, and kill as many of those holding muskets as possible!"

Lee Seong-gye shouted and gave orders.

Soon, several siege vehicles were seen being pushed towards the city gate.

boom!
With a cannonball, a siege vehicle was instantly blown into pieces, and the soldiers responsible for transporting it were also blown to pieces, dead beyond death. Some soldiers also rushed into the city gate, but gunshots rang out and bullets pierced those soldiers.

"Divide the troops into two groups!"

Seeing this, Lee Seong-gye changed his strategy again. He attacked the city gate frantically all the way while attacking the city wall with the help of ladders.

"Let them use their methods, and the muskets will be responsible for the assistance!"

Zhu Tan said slowly.

The musket is very powerful, but it still takes time to load ammunition, so rotation is needed, with the person loading the ammunition stepping back and the one who is done loading the ammunition stepping forward and firing.

Looking at the corpses under the city wall, Zhu Tan blinked his eyes, suddenly stood up and went towards the palace.

Tang Zuo didn't quite understand.

"The battle is decided, they can't break through!"

When Zhu Tan's voice came, Tang Zuo was stunned, and then he understood what Zhu Tan meant.

Lee Seong-gye didn't stand a chance.

If Zhu Tan had not taken action, Lee Seong-gye would have been able to capture Xijing in three days at most. However, with weapons such as muskets and cannons, he no longer had that opportunity and could only increase casualties.

This is also why Zhu Tan came to the city wall in person and told Lee Seong-gye that as long as Lee Seong-gye came in, the position of general would still belong to Lee Seong-gye.

After this battle, it is hard to say whether Lee Seong-gye is dead or alive.

Outside the city, Lee Seong-gye watched this scene with a grim expression. If this continued, he would definitely lose.

He knew it very well, but he was unwilling to give up. It was just a little bit short. If he had been more resolute at that time and led the army directly, he might have caught Zhu Tan off guard.

By then, Goryeo would be able to be preserved instead of becoming the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

This battle is bound to be a loss, and Goryeo will be destroyed like the Yuan Dynasty before.

Then this place will become a place name, and the Koreans will become Ming people.

Cao Min also felt a little uncomfortable. He had a lot of experience in fighting and could understand the situation clearly.

"If the Ming army arrives and hasn't broken into the city gate, just surrender!" Cao Min said helplessly.

Li Chenggui nodded slightly.

In today's battle, he saw the gap between the two sides, and the subsequent battles were nothing more than giving himself a little hope.

Unless a miracle happens, the result is doomed.

On the first day of the siege, 20,000 people died. For a time, the morale of the army was shaken.

"If King Lu has enough shells, we really have no chance!"

A deputy general beside Lee Seong-gye sighed.

He led his troops to charge several times today but was beaten back every time, suffering heavy losses.

Li Chenggui frowned, feeling helpless. He really couldn't win.

"They only have three cannons. If we divide them into four groups, we will be able to break down a city gate. When they arrive, you will immediately launch a night attack and don't give them a chance to react!"

Li Chenggui spoke with a sharp look.

Cao Min nodded, knowing that this was the best way, and ordered his men to lead the troops.

On the first day, they adopted the method of attacking a city with all their strength, intending to make a concerted effort, but the result was obvious: the city gates were wide open and they could not get in.

The city gates were still wide open, but no one dared to attack, and taking advantage of the cover of night, many troops retreated to the other three city gates.

Inside the palace, Zhu Tan listened to the general's report and nodded.

"They don't have much time left, they will definitely think of his method to attack, and the breakthrough point is most likely not at this city gate!"

Tang Zuo suddenly said.

"That's right, let them go and take a look. Lee Seong-gye is quite talented. He might split his troops into four groups, or even launch a surprise attack at night. Send more people to take a look as soon as possible. If there is any problem, they can hold out until reinforcements arrive!"

Zhu Tan spoke.

Suddenly a captain came running over.

"Your Highness, Lee Seong-gye is launching a night attack!"

"Night attack?"

Several people were stunned.

Zhu Tan thought for a moment and said, "How many people can be seen clearly?"

The captain was stunned for a moment, and quickly replied: "It's too dark, I can't see clearly, but I guess there are a lot of people!"

"You go check out the other city gates, I will go check out the West Gate myself!"

Zhu Tan frowned and headed towards the west gate!
At the west gate, shouts of killing were deafening. Lee Seong-gye's soldiers rushed towards the gate frantically, but were stopped outside and became corpses.

Zhu Tan looked into the distance and found a dark mass and many torches, like stars in the sky. Medi could not tell how many there were.

Zhu Tan frowned slightly, but felt something was wrong.

"Someone, fire the cannons over there!"

"No, Your Highness, the cannons can't reach that far!"

"Go ahead and blast me as far as you can!"

Zhu Tan said unhappily.

boom!
As the shells flew out, they traveled more than five miles, emitting flames.

Zhu Tan stared at those spark-like light sources, but found that there was no change at all.

"Good fellow, you are really a bunch of fakes. Come, open the other three city gates immediately and have all my men guard those three places. Have someone carry two cannons to the north and south gates!"

Zhu Tan's thoughts were spinning wildly. He shouted at his men and led them towards the East Gate.

There were only a few soldiers patrolling the East City Gate, and they were stunned when they saw Zhu Tan and his men coming.

"The enemy is about to attack. Open the city gates quickly?"

Zhu Tan shouted angrily.

Everyone was even more stunned. The enemy was about to attack, shouldn’t they strengthen their defenses?

"Hurry!"

Zhu Tan raised his rifle and fired a shot into the sky.

Everyone hurriedly moved and opened the gate. Zhu Tan took a deep breath, smiled, and walked to the city wall, letting the firelight illuminate himself.

"Lee Seong-gye, you are very smart. I almost ruined your plan. I wanted to wait for you at the North Gate, but then I thought, you might not want to choose to lose, but you will definitely send more people to the North Gate, and I will choose the East or South Gate.
The south gate is not as big as the east gate. Although it is easy to attack, it takes time to enter. Therefore, the east gate is the most suitable. You should have seen it in advance. I know you can see me. Come out!"

Zhu Tan shouted with a smile.

There was silence all around, as if indicating that Zhu Tan had made a mistake. Everyone was confused, wondering if Zhu Tan had made a mistake.

"You want to attack at night? Then I'll treat you and give you something delicious!"

Seeing this, Zhu Tan took his musket and fired a shot towards the distance.

boom!
There was a brief flash of fire, followed by a scream.

Everyone's faces changed drastically. They raised their muskets and fired wildly, and those who were using bows and arrows also shot arrows frantically.

"Your Highness Prince Lu is indeed smart. Kill, I have 30,000 men here. Without cannons, how long can you hold them off?"

Lee Seong-gye's voice was filled with murderous intent.

Hahaha!
Zhu Tan laughed loudly and said proudly: "The city gate has been opened, and the opportunity has been given to you. Come in if you have the guts!" (End of this chapter)