A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 395 Gunpowder for Alchemy Can Destroy Luoyang

Hulao Pass.

Guo Xingfang, the Minister of Civil Affairs of Yizhou Circuit, was ordered to come and pay his respects to his superior, Li Yi.

"The King of Qin requested that the Attendant personally lead troops to Luoyang for a battle."

This was the first time Li Yi, the Left Vice Minister of the Yizhou Regional Government, had met Guo Xingfang, the Minister of the Regional Government. He had heard that Guo Xingfang was a member of the Crown Prince's faction. Within the Yizhou Regional Government, Ministers Guo Xingfang and Wei Yunqi did not have a good relationship with the Right Vice Minister Dou Gui.

"What is the current situation of the battle in Luoyang?"

"This is very bad. We have been attacking the city from all sides for half a month, day and night, but the casualties have been extremely heavy. Now all the generals are asking to withdraw."

Li Yi was shocked. The casualties that made all the generals request to withdraw must have been extraordinary.

Having fought many battles, Li Yi could now imagine that Luoyang was a fortified city, and Wang Shichong was a capable general with extensive experience in defending it.
Thinking back to the day when Gao Huan suffered a crushing defeat at the foot of Yu Bi City,
Sieges are really easy to fail at.

How many casualties were there?

"More than 13,000 dead and wounded." Guo Xingfang said frankly that after half a month of attacking the city, more than 10,000 people had been killed or wounded. However, fortunately, many of the dead and wounded were surrendered soldiers and auxiliary troops, and the elite main force of Guanzhong and Yizhou suffered relatively few casualties.

Even so, the casualties instilled fear in the generals.

The defender has a natural advantage.

Xue Ju's attack on Jingzhou, defended by Li Shuliang, was also unsuccessful after a prolonged siege. Liu Wuzhou's three attacks on Haozhou, defended by Li Yi, also failed to breach the city after more than half a year.

There's also Li Yi of Youzhou, who has held out since the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and Dou Jiande has led an army of over 100,000 to fight him several times.

Luoyang City was also besieged multiple times by Li Mi and others.

Puban had previously defended the isolated city for three years.

Theoretically speaking, with 20,000 to 30,000 men, enough food and supplies, and an experienced general like Wang Shichong, they could hold out for one or two years without any problem.

The Tang army launched a fierce siege, suffering a thousand casualties every day for half a month. Although most of the dead were surrendered soldiers, local troops, and auxiliary soldiers, the casualties were still significant.

However, the morale of the entire Tang army was extremely low as a result.
Who wouldn't be afraid of seeing the corpses piled up below the city every day?
It's already November, and there's only about half a month left until Chinese New Year.

Everyone just wanted to go home. They didn't want to die under the tall walls of Luoyang, didn't want to be smashed into mincemeat by those fifty-pound stone projectiles, and didn't want to be shot in two by crossbow bolts as thick as a child's arm.

Li Shimin urged Li Yi to go to Luoyang.

The morale of the Tang army under the walls of Luoyang is low, and they are eager to return home. Even the Emperor in Chang'an has secretly sent an edict to the Prince of Qin, ordering him to withdraw his troops.

The King of Qin persisted, sending Feng Deyi back to Chang'an to report the situation, and also seeking reinforcements from Li Yi.

Li Yi didn't have any good ideas either.

But I still have to go.

Summoning his generals and taking Lu Chengqing and others with him, Li Yi selected three thousand cavalrymen and headed to Luoyang.

He didn't bring too many soldiers; Luoyang isn't lacking soldiers right now.

Having more soldiers doesn't make much difference.

Two hundred miles away, Li Yi and his party arrived in Luoyang in two days.

The King of Qin remained stationed in Qingcheng Palace, Shi Wanbao stationed troops at Ganquan Palace, Qu Tutong at Qianjin Fort, Dou Gui at Jinyong City, Liu Hongji at Yanshi, Wang Junkuo at Goushi, Huang Junhan at Huiluo, and Li Shiji at Baima Temple.

At this time, two kings and twenty-five generals gathered outside Luoyang.

Although Li Yi only brought three thousand cavalry with him this time, most of the chief administrators from the twenty-one general administrations of Henan and the six general administrations of Shannan also came with him.

Li Yi led a group of chief stewards, prefects, and generals to Qingcheng Palace to pay their respects to Li Shimin.
The King of Qin personally went to the palace gate to greet him.

This is the first time the two generals who led the eastern expedition have met in the past six months.

Li Shimin didn't mince words; he immediately took Li Yi on horseback to inspect the defenses of Luoyang. "Since I began leading the army, I have never suffered such a setback. After a half-month-long attack, we have suffered 13,000 casualties."

"Wu Yi, you are resourceful and wise, you must think of a way to break through the city."

Li Yi followed Li Shimin on a tour around Luoyang, and then accompanied him to the Xuanwu Emperor's Mausoleum on Beiman Mountain, where they gazed upon Luoyang.

There were many imperial palaces outside Luoyang, such as Qingcheng Palace and Ganquan Palace, as well as fortified cities such as Qianjin Fort, Jinyong City, and Xiashi Fort.

The complete defense system of Luoyang was quite comprehensive.

But now, the outer strongholds have basically been captured by Li Shimin.

Wang Shichong could only retreat to Luoyang City, and his main force was in Luoyang Palace in the northwest of Luoyang City. The walls of the Ziwei Palace were defended by Wang Shichong's brothers and nephews.

Your Majesty,
The situation in Luoyang is such that the more intense the offensive, the more tenacious the defense. Wang Shichong still has 20,000 to 30,000 men under his command. Although most of his elite Jianghuai troops have been lost, their morale remains relatively high.

If we launch a strong attack now, it may be difficult to take the initiative for a while.

"It would be better to surround Luoyang, dig trenches, erect palisades, and build multiple layers of fortifications to completely siege Luoyang. By besieging it without attacking, it will fall on its own within a year or two." Li Shimin knew that this clumsy method would be very effective, but he didn't want to drag it out for so long.

"I won't lie to you, Chuluo Khan is about to launch a five-pronged attack. This time, 200,000 Turkic cavalry are heading south. We don't have that much time, and things could get complicated if we wait too long. Dou Jiande will also come to our aid. We must take Luoyang as soon as possible so that we can focus our efforts on heading north to defend against the Turkic and other attacks!"

Li Yi could understand Li Shimin's urgency. After all, with the war having reached this point, how could he be willing to withdraw his troops? In this eastern expedition, Li Yi was leading a detachment, but from Shannan to Henan, they had already captured or pacified twenty-seven general's offices.

Yet he couldn't even capture Luoyang.

"Actually, digging trenches and setting up camps to surround Luoyang City would not require many soldiers. Your Majesty can lead the main force north, and leaving one general here would be enough to trap Wang Shichong to death."

"At most six months, Luoyang will run out of food and fall without a fight."

Li Shimin could not accept it.

"To be honest, I'm not reconciled. Help me think of a way to break through the city."

Looking at Luoyang, Li Yi thought of Dalinghe and Jinzhou. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Guan Ning general Zu Dashou was besieged by the Qing army in Dalinghe and Jinzhou. Both sieges were long-term, and Jinzhou was held for almost a year.

At that time, the Later Jin had cannons, and the Later Jin, which was said to be invincible with ten thousand men, besieged the city with the full strength of the country. Zu Dashou's lone army was able to hold out for a long time, which shows that besieging the city was indeed not easy.

In both battles, the Qing army besieged the city and attacked the reinforcements, with the main objective of eliminating the Ming army's manpower, cutting off their reinforcements, and forcing them to surrender.

Now, Wang Shichong's Zheng state only has Luoyang left, and there are no reinforcements. So, they can just dig trenches and besiege it. How long can they hold out?
Luoyang was a large city with a large number of soldiers and civilians, which meant that food consumption was high and it was more difficult to sustain a long-term strategy.

But Li Shimin could not accept this method, otherwise he would not have needed to invite Li Yi.

Digging trenches to besiege the city is the best way to deal with the defending army. The offensive and defensive positions are reversed. With trenches and palisades, even if the defending army risks their lives to come out of the city to fight, they will be restricted and have no room to maneuver. They can only be trapped and die.

Fortify your strongholds and fight a protracted war.
It may seem like a clumsy method, but it's actually the lowest cost and the most reliable.

But that's not what Li Shimin wanted; he couldn't wait.

Using Li Yi's method of digging trenches and besieging the city, Wang Shichong could hold out for at least another six months.

"Since the Eastern Expedition, there have been fifty-six attempts by spies within Luoyang, all of which failed and were all executed by Wang Shichong," Li Shimin lamented. He added that using spies to seize the city was the best method, but unfortunately, Wang Shichong was extremely vigilant against it, and fifty-six groups of spies within the city had already been detected and killed.

This shortcut won't work.

A strong attack failed to break through.

Wang Shichong of Luoyang was resolute and had ample arsenals such as stone cannons and crossbows. The fiercer his attack, the more casualties he suffered.

"I also tried to use tunnels to attack, but Wang Shichong was experienced and had a countermeasure. He dug trenches inside the city and buried many jars to listen for sound. He could detect all our tunnels, and whenever they were almost finished, he would send people to dig them in the opposite direction."
Then they either flooded the area with water or set off fireworks, causing heavy casualties among the soldiers attacking from the tunnels.

A direct assault failed, an inside maneuver failed, and a guerrilla attack failed.
Li Shimin was truly at a loss.

Li Yi looked around Luoyang, and although he had a plan in mind, he hesitated.

"You must already have an idea, right? Teach me quickly!" Li Shimin exclaimed excitedly upon seeing his expression.

"Your Highness, I used to study Taoism and alchemy under my master, Master Li. I once made a mistake with the ingredients and formula, which accidentally caused the alchemy furnace to explode. Later, I figured it out and discovered gunpowder."

"gunpowder?"

“Yes, gunpowder will explode when ignited in a confined space. If the amount is small, it’s only equivalent to a detonator, but if the amount is large enough, it can blast a hole in the city wall,” Li Yi said.

Li Shimin's eyes widened.

"Blow up a hole in the city wall. Even a city wall like Luoyang's could be blown up. How big of a hole could it be?"

The Luoyang city wall was built with rammed earth, with a base nearly six zhang wide and a height of forty-eight zhang.

This is no ordinary city wall; its base is six zhang wide, and it is entirely made of rammed earth layer by layer.

It is 48 feet tall, more than 10 meters high.

Li Shimin could hardly imagine how powerful the gunpowder produced by this alchemy must be, capable of blasting a large hole in such a thick and high city wall.

"We need enough gunpowder, but gunpowder alone isn't enough. We need to dig a demolition chamber under the city wall, support it with wood, put enough gunpowder underneath, and then seal it up, leaving only a fuse."
This way, the gunpowder can unleash its maximum power. Of course, if multiple blasting chambers could be dug under a section of the city wall and many gunpowder barrels placed there, the power would be even greater.

Li Shimin was very excited. He did not think Li Yi was talking nonsense. Since he said it existed, then there must really be such a magical artifact.

Li Yi changed the subject, "However, Your Majesty just said that Wang Shichong was able to counter the previous acupoint attack, so this method may not work."

“It’s different, it’s different.” Li Shimin said excitedly, “Previously, we used the traditional method of tunneling and burrowing, which mainly involved digging tunnels into the city so that we could break into it. With this kind of tunnel, we can simply dig a trench in the city and send troops to patrol it, which can defend and intercept us, making it difficult to launch a surprise attack.”

Although some soldiers dug down to the city wall, propped up wooden pillars, and then set it on fire to destroy the wall, this method was too slow and was often detected by the defenders who buried jars, so they would dig tunnels in the opposite direction to destroy the wall.

But if we use the kind of gunpowder you described, it's a different story.

"How much gunpowder do we need, and what materials are required? I'll send people to gather it immediately."

(End of this chapter)