Thief Emperor

Chapter 935 Like a wolf and a tiger
In this era, artillery still has no decisive force that can change the battlefield.

In fact, in another world, gunpowder and firearms have appeared for nearly a thousand years, but they have not been able to completely replace cold weapons. In fact, for a considerable period of time, cold weapons were still the mainstream.

After all, the current artillery is completely different from the modern artillery in another world. It is not powerful enough, is troublesome to load, and cannot even cause large-scale casualties.

What's worse is that it lacks maneuverability.

Moreover, the current Tang army has no large-scale artillery in service. Artillery of this scale is difficult to truly change the situation on the battlefield.

This is also the reason why Li Yun has not devoted all his efforts to the development of gunpowder and firearms, but instead focused his energy on the structure of the army and the improvement of individual soldier capabilities.

Because only with the emergence of at least high-performance firearms and high-explosive gunpowder can firearms truly change the ecology on the battlefield and determine the outcome of the battle.

And many of these require the advancement of basic science.

Even if Li Yun used up all his resources to develop these things, he might not be able to see them in his lifetime.

The current artillery can only play a role of icing on the cake.

However, there were some differences on the Tongguan battlefield.

This was the first time that artillery appeared on the battlefield, and the Shuofang Army in Tongguan had no experience in dealing with it.

In addition, their military morale was already low. Some soldiers saw their brothers being hit head-on by lead bullets and turned into a pool of meat. They went crazy and rushed down the city wall yelling.

Then he was chopped to the ground by the supervisor.

However, the morale of the army had fallen to such a level that it could no longer be restored by the commander-in-chief's words "Anyone who retreats will be killed."

As the Tang army approached the city, the Shuofang army on the Tongguan city wall, under the suppression of artillery and the fear in their hearts, had almost no decent defense and were rushed onto the Tongguan city wall by the Tang army's vanguard.

At this time, the gunfire finally stopped.

The barrels of several artillery pieces were already red from continuous firing.

Qian Zhonglin commanded the troops, but he did not rush to the front. After taking a look at the situation on the front line, he ran to Su Sheng, bowed his head and clasped his fists excitedly, saying: "General, you are amazing!"

“This thing is amazing!”

He gasped for breath, looked up at Su Sheng, and laughed, "Such a fortress was taken by our army in less than an hour!"

"General, send reinforcements immediately!"

Qian Zhong grinned and said, "After we occupy the city wall, we will never be chased down again. At most, we can fight them for a few days and nights, and we will definitely be able to capture Tongguan!"

The Tang army's vanguard for this siege consisted of only about 3,000 people, while the defenders of Tongguan were far more than that. If no reinforcements were sent, even if they occupied the city tower, they would be driven down after a long time.

Su Sheng looked at the Tongguan Pass in the distance and said slowly: "These Shuofang troops are very similar to the Shuofang troops I remember..."

“It’s completely different now.”

He sighed: "It's only been two or three years."

At this point, he looked at Qian Zhong and said slowly: "The army is advancing."

"Send five additional battalions of lieutenants to support the brothers who are the first to ascend the mountain."

"The first few captains and battalions to reach the summit will all be commended and the announcement will be made to the three armies."

Qian Zhong immediately lowered his head, answered yes, then strode down to carry out Su Sheng's order.

General Su stood in place, using a telescope to observe the battlefield from time to time.

Three hours later, the sky was gradually getting dark.

At this time, the Tongguan Pass had been occupied by the Tang army and was wide open, but the fierce fighting inside the pass was still going on, and if nothing unexpected happened, it would continue for a long time.

After all, in close combat, the Shuofang Army was not a weakling army. Even if they fought hastily, theoretically, they could have fought back and forth with the Tang Army.

The battle for Tongguan will probably continue for at least a few more days.

Qian Zhong was still very excited at this time. He ran to Su Sheng, bowed his head, clasped his fists, and said with a smile: "General, the gate of Tongguan has been opened. Tomorrow morning, my army should be able to enter Guanzhong!"

Su Sheng nodded slowly and said okay.

Qian Zhong couldn't help but ask: "General, what on earth was that thing during the day..."

"They are so powerful that the Shuofang Army dares not even defend the city!"

"It's not that thing that's powerful."

Su Sheng looked at Tongguan in the distance and said slowly, "It's these Shuofang troops who no longer have any desire to fight. Otherwise, if they just observe for an hour or two, they will be able to see where the weakness of the artillery is."

The weakness of artillery is that it is unsustainable.

And the coverage area is not large.

Theoretically, as long as the Shuofang troops on the towers lie on the towers, it will be difficult for the artillery to cause them any serious casualties. In fact, with the base number of these Shuofang troops, they can completely withstand the suppression of artillery to defend the city.

After all, there were only ten cannons outside the city.

Su Sheng looked back at Qian Zhong and finally smiled: "Anyway, our first battle in Guanzhong was quite successful. The next step is how to capture this evil Shuofang army."

He looked at Qian Zhong and said slowly, "Send someone to inform the Nine Departments and have them tell Li Hao in Xiaoguan that the Shuofang Army is probably going to flee north."

"Maybe I will be near Xiaoguan soon. Tell him that I will enter Guanzhong from Tongguan, and then go directly north with the main force to outflank the Shuofang Army. Tell him to hold on at Xiaoguan."

"Hold on until we complete the encirclement."

Having said that, Su Sheng narrowed his eyes, and his eyes became a little hot.

He did not forget Li Yun's instructions that in this battle in Guanzhong, he must demonstrate the majesty of the new dynasty.

At the very least, we cannot let these Shuofang troops escape directly, otherwise, they will occupy the northwest in the future, and perhaps in a few decades, they will become a major threat to the court.

Qian Zhong immediately lowered his head and said, "Subordinates, go and contact the people from Jiusi right away."

Whenever the Tang army had a major battle, there would always be personnel from the Nine Departments accompanying them to provide assistance.

These people from the Nine Departments, while providing intelligence and communications to the army, might also be the eyes and ears of the emperor.

Therefore, everyone is still quite polite to these people from the Nine Departments.

After Qian Zhong said this, he hesitated for a moment and said, "General, Tongguan will probably be captured within five days. Should I report the victory to His Majesty now?"

Su Sheng thought about it, nodded and said, "Let's report the victory."

"In addition to reporting the victory, we must also inform General Chen Dachen at Wuguan and tell him that the Shuofang Army will probably abandon Wuguan, and ask him not to hesitate and enter Guanzhong from Wuguan as soon as possible."

"Say it in the letter."

Su Sheng looked at Tongguan and said slowly: "After my troops enter Guanzhong, they will most likely go all the way north to pursue the Shuofang Army. After General Chen's troops enter Guanzhong, they can temporarily not join up with my troops and go straight to the capital."

"Occupy the capital first to avoid any changes."

Upon hearing this, Qian Zhong immediately bowed his head, clasped his fists, replied "yes", then strode away, and went to do his work with a happy smile on his face.

At this moment, he was extremely excited.

Because he did not get the title of marquis in the previous imperial reward, if he makes great contributions this time under the guidance of General Su, he will most likely get the title of marquis.

In fact, he was not the only one who had this thought. All the Tang troops had the same thought at this time.

This was the early days of the founding of the country, there were opportunities and gold everywhere!
If you work hard now and make contributions to the court and His Majesty, you will be rewarded and may be able to find a way out for your whole life!
Even, to fight for a way out for future generations!
This kind of opportunity is only possible in the early years of the founding of the country. After that, even if you are willing to fight, you may not have such an opportunity to fight!

The entire Tang army basically had the same idea.

Like a wolf or a tiger.

…………

In Luoyang city.

When Emperor Li received the report from the Nine Departments, he was discussing some buildings to be constructed with Zhuo Guangrui, the Prime Minister and Minister of Works.

For example, the emperor’s Taimiao, as well as the Wenmiao and Wumiao.

The Taimiao had actually been almost completed, and the tablets of the Li family's ancestors had already been placed there, waiting for Emperor Li to lead the civil and military officials to pay homage.

As for the Temple of Literature and the Temple of Martial Arts, they are places to worship the civil and military officials of previous generations, so logically they should also be built.

Emperor Li looked at the document handed over by Zhuo Guangrui, coughed, and waved his hand, saying, "The court is short of money now. We will not build a building of this scale in the next two to three years."

He looked at Zhuo Guangrui and was about to continue speaking when a palace servant took small steps and hurriedly handed the document from the Nine Departments to Li Yun. He then bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, urgent news from Tongguan."

"Tongguan..."

Li Yun was a little surprised. He took it and said to himself, "What urgent news could there be from Tongguan?"

According to the information Emperor Li had at that time, Su Sheng had just engaged in a battle with the defenders of Tongguan. Theoretically, there should only be battle reports, and it was unlikely that there would be any urgent reports.

Although he said this to himself, he still unfolded it and took a look. After just one glance, he was immediately stunned.

"Fuck..."

After reading through it, the new Tang emperor couldn't help but curse.

Emperor Li muttered to himself.

"So fast..."

(End of this chapter)