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

Chapter 396 Earth Dragon Turns Over and Explodes Luoyang
Ambush is a relatively professional siege tactic.

It's not something you can just do by randomly digging holes or pits.

However, when facing an experienced commander defending the city, tunnel attacks are often ineffective and costly. Tunnels are difficult to dig and are also easily detected and countered.

Even if a tunnel is successfully dug, it is narrow and can generally only be used for surprise attacks. Small groups of troops can sneak into the city through the tunnel, seize the city gates to lure the main army into the city, set fire to the city to create chaos, assassinate the commander, or burn down warehouses and grain, etc.

As for digging tunnels to collapse the city wall, that would be technically more difficult, take longer, and have a lower success rate.

Li Shimin had previously launched several acupoint attacks.
Each time, Wang Shichong discovered and countered their attacks, resulting in the deaths of one soldier and the destruction of another.

It would take at least ten days to half a month to dig a tunnel big enough to make the city wall collapse, but Wang Shichong's cunning made it impossible for them to do so.

Gunpowder, explosion.

Li Shimin didn't know the principles behind this mysterious Taoist alchemy product, but he trusted Li Yi. He couldn't understand any of the terms Li Yi used, such as explosion, confined space, and instantaneous high pressure.

He felt that these must be some terms used in Taoist alchemy.
He didn't think about the specifics, but rather focused on the applications.

According to Li Yi, gunpowder should be made, then explosive barrels should be manufactured, and then an explosive chamber should be dug under the city wall. The chamber should be sealed with a wall, and ideally, the explosive chamber and the tunnel should be connected by a bend, not a straight line.

He doesn't care about the principle behind it.

All he knew was that the blasting chamber didn't need to be too big, which meant the project would be smaller and easier to complete.

In Li Yi's view, it was only natural that gunpowder could blow up city walls.

The peasant armies at the end of the Ming Dynasty had already mastered this technology, not to mention the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. When the Taiping army attacked Nanjing, the city walls of Nanjing were no thinner than the city walls of Luoyang built during the Sui Dynasty. In fact, the city walls of Nanjing were even covered with bricks.

Even bombarding the Nanjing city walls with cannons had no effect.

However, the Taiping army later dug tunnels under the city wall, filled coffins with gunpowder, sealed the tunnels, and then detonated them, successfully collapsing the Nanjing city wall.

There's really no need for a coffin.

Using smaller wooden barrels to store gunpowder and sealing them makes it easier to transport them into the tunnels. The key is to build a blasting chamber, pile enough gunpowder trees inside, and ignite them for the same result.

Li Shimin urged Li Yi to hurry up and make gunpowder.

Li Yi only knew the simplest black powder formula, but he wasn't making any sophisticated ammunition, so there was no need to be so demanding.

"What materials are needed?"

"According to the 'Secret Formula of the Golden Elixir of the Supreme Ancestor' that my master, Master Li, passed down to me, the method of 'Subduing Fire with Alum' requires three things: saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur."

"These three items are all we need. Are there any more specific requirements? What kind of wood should the charcoal be made of? What kind of saltpeter should we use?" Li Shimin asked, somewhat surprised.

"A purer one will do; I'll try it out first." It's been a long time since I've done this. Li Yi did this experiment when he was in school, but that was so many years ago.

"Nitrogen and sulfur can be bought at pharmacies. I'll go get them right away."

With the full support of the King of Qin, Li Yi no longer needed to scrape saltpeter from the toilet walls to boil it; he could directly obtain readily available, relatively pure saltpeter.
As for sulfur and charcoal, the army has no shortage of these and can bring in more at any time.

When Li Yi received the materials, Li Shimin specially arranged for a group of people to help him.

He even specially assigned Xiashi Fort to Li Yi, ordering Li Yi's three thousand cavalry to blockade Xiashi Fort, while he himself sent three thousand infantrymen to garrison and guard outside the fort.

Grind the three ingredients into a fine powder and sift it.

The three powders are mixed in a specific ratio, placed into a section of bamboo tube, sealed, and a lead wire is left out.

For the fuse, Li Yi used hemp rope soaked in a saturated solution of saltpeter, dried in the shade, and then coated with gunpowder.

After several days of experimentation, Li Yi produced ten gunpowder bamboo tubes.

Li Shimin has been busy these days, directing the Tang army to dig trenches around Luoyang. Nearly 100,000 soldiers and civilians are working together to dig, and the first trench has already been dug.

They began by planting pointed stakes in front of the trench and erecting wooden fences behind it.

"This is gunpowder?"

Li Shimin looked at the few ordinary bamboo tubes and felt a little disappointed.

"Give it a try."

I came to the outside of the castle on purpose.

Li Shimin dispatched troops to seal off the area, preventing anyone from approaching.

"How to try?"

Li Yi first had someone bring over a large, sturdy vat. He lit the fuse of a bamboo tube filled with gunpowder, threw it into the vat, and quickly pulled Li Shimin back.

"Step back a little further."

Li Shimin retreated twenty paces, feeling that was far enough.

"What power could such a short bamboo tube possibly have?"

Li Yi pulled him back ten steps. He didn't know what kind of power it would have, but it was better to be careful.

"Bring a large shield and place it in front."

First test explosion,
The lead wire was intentionally left very long.

The hemp rope wrapped with fire rope hissed and burned slowly. Li Shimin poked his head out from above the large shield and stared intently.

Accompanying Li Shimin today were about ten generals from the Prince of Qin's mansion, including Yuchi Gong, Qiu Xinggong, Qin Shubao, Luo Shixin, Cheng Yaojin, and Hou Junji.
They watched the slowly burning fuse, paying it little attention.

What power could such a small bamboo tube have? They've seen the popping of bamboo poles during the New Year before; at most, it just makes a loud noise.

When the fuse burns out
But there was still no movement.

Yuchi Gong casually stepped out from behind the shield. "Did the fuse go out? I'll go check."

Li Yi quickly pulled Lao Hei back, "Don't go over there, there's still a fuse inside the tank!"

"It's nothing, I'll just go take a look."

"Jingde, wait a little longer." Li Shimin spoke, and Yuchi Gong stopped.

"I think the fuse might have gone out." After waiting for a while and seeing no movement, Yuchi Gong smiled and said to Li Yi.

Li Yi remained composed and said, "Let's wait a little longer."

Hou Junji opened his mouth, about to say something, when suddenly there was a loud bang.
Then the large vat suddenly shattered, not just shattered, but exploded from the inside out, with fragments flying everywhere.

“It’s really out,” Hou Junji said.

"The sound was quite loud, but it's not a big deal if a vat explodes."

Li Shimin, however, was very excited.
It really exploded.
Although it only involves exploding one vat, the usable amount of gunpowder is just one bamboo tube. If it were a hundred or a thousand bamboo tubes, or if hundreds of such large vats or barrels were placed under the walls of Luoyang, the potential would be much greater.

What's going on then?
At this point, Li Yi also began to try the second item.
They dug a pit in the ground, put a tube of gunpowder inside, blocked the opening, and placed a large vat on the ground.

Relight the fuse.

This time everyone was more patient.

"Could the fuse burn faster? It's too slow."

"Yes, but of course, it won't be that long when you actually use it."

bang,
Everyone felt a tremor beneath their feet, followed by a cloud of dust. The ground was blown open, and the vats on it were shattered.

A group of people gathered around to look.
Now no one thought this thing was useless anymore; they were all veterans of the battlefield and could make many connections.

There are eight bamboo tiles left.
Yuchi Gong, Cheng Yaojin, and others vied to test the explosion.
Li Shimin pulled Li Yi aside and asked, "How much of this gunpowder do we have now?"

"The formulation is still being studied,"

"I think this ratio is perfect. Now we just need to do as you said, prepare more gunpowder, and then test it."

Li Shimin proposed that a batch be made as soon as possible, and then a real battle should be conducted on the walls of Xiashi Fort. They should dig tunnels, build demolition chambers, and actually blow up a few sections to see the actual combat effect.

"Saltpeter, sulfur, charcoal—I'll gather them all for you with all my might. Just mix them up, the more the better." Li Shimin was incredibly excited; he finally saw hope of quickly taking Luoyang.

Changan.

Li Yuan was listening to Feng Deyi's report. He had just returned from Luoyang, and the Prince of Qin refused to withdraw his troops at this time, hoping to have more time. The emperor looked at the sand table in front of him.
Time is running out.

Chuluo Khan has left the Khanate and led 100,000 Turkic cavalry to Mayi, and is heading towards Bingzhou.

The Turks have indeed launched a full-scale attack.

Li Yuan had no choice but to reinstate the Bingzhou General Administration Office, appointing Li Shenfu, the Prince of Xiangyi, as the General Administration of Bingzhou, and ordering Liu Shirang to lead troops north to Yanmen Pass.
Faced with the southward advance of Chuluo Khan, Li Yuan had been cornered and had no choice but to launch a counterattack. Before Chuluo's troops arrived, he ordered Liu Shirang to launch a surprise attack on the Shiling Guanlun Special Service, and then head north to Yanmen Pass to seize advantageous terrain and defend against counterattacks from their strongholds.

We cannot allow the Turks to march directly to Taiyuan; otherwise, how can we stop the Turkic cavalry when the land is flat and open?

"Erlang had previously defeated Wang Shichong many times, annihilating more than 10,000 of his elite troops, and had fought very well. But now, after a fierce attack for more than ten days, he has also lost more than 10,000 men."

"Luoyang is a fortified city and cannot be attacked by force." Li Yuan sighed. If Chuluo Khan had given him another year, no, even half a year, he could have destroyed Wang Shichong first.

But now, there's no time.

"Feng Qing, draft an edict ordering the King of Qin to lead the main force from Luoyang north to Taiyuan to defend against the Turks."

"Leave Luoyang to Yuanji, and let Li Yi continue the siege of Luoyang."

Although the emperor also wanted to take Luoyang and capture Wang Shichong alive in one fell swoop, after weighing the options, he decided to focus on dealing with Chuluo Khan first. Wang Shichong was already a dead fish and no longer a threat.

“Li Yi is good at defense. Let him dig trenches to surround Luoyang. In less than half a year, Wang Shichong will run out of food and will surely surrender.”

Seeing that the emperor had made up his mind, Feng Deyi did not try to persuade him further. Instead, he praised the emperor for his foresight and broad vision.

Li Yuan sighed, "Chu Luo is a thorn in the side of the Tang Dynasty. As long as this man lives, the borders of our Tang Dynasty will never be at peace."

"Please hurry back to Luoyang, Feng Qing, and make sure that the King of Qin immediately leads his troops north. Luoyang will be handed over to Wu Yi."

November 21st.

Heavy snow fell in Luoyang, with large, fluffy snowflakes covering the earth in a silvery blanket.

Outside Luoyang city, there were mounds of earth everywhere.
That soil was all transported out through tunnels.
These mounds are actually a mix of real and fake. Not every mound has a tunnel next to it. Some mounds don't have tunnels at all, some tunnels are far away, and some do have tunnels next to them.

To cover the explosion

Li Shimin piled up many mounds of earth and dug many tunnels outside Luoyang.

Truth and falsehood,

In many of the actual tunnels, only a small portion were genuine blasting sites, with blasting chambers built and civil engineering work carried out entirely according to Li Yi's plans.

During these days, the Tang and Zheng armies clashed over the tunnels.

If you dig, I dig too; we dig outside Tang's city, and we dig inside Zheng's city.
This time, the Tang army did not intend to dig into the city, so they only dug a small section of tunnels leading into the city. The Zheng army found and destroyed them all, and some Tang soldiers died.

Everything seemed the same as before.
Zheng Jun was unaware that Li Shimin was employing a different tactic this time.

"King Qin, Attendant-in-Ordinary, of the sixteen demolition chambers, we have activated three. The gunpowder has been transported in and sealed off. As requested by the Attendant-in-Ordinary, five walls have been built."

A mixture of truth and illusion,

The real purpose lies hidden in these feints. The Tang army has dug so many tunnels these past few days, and many men have died.

Everything was for those three real detonation points.

A total of sixteen were dug, eleven of which were destroyed by Zheng Jun, leaving five still intact. Three are now sufficient for use.

It's not that we didn't want to set off five, but we didn't have enough gunpowder.

There was a blasting chamber with 30 barrels of gunpowder, each weighing 50 jin (25 kg), totaling 1,500 jin (750 kg). The underground blasting chamber was very sealed, and the connecting tunnel was also built with three thick walls.

If it's not sealed tightly enough, the air pressure will leak out, and the power will be reduced.

"ignition!"

Li Shimin did not hesitate.
Red flags waved as the detonators in all three blasting chambers were lit. Just in case, both detonators were lit simultaneously.

Only a dozen or so generals knew this secret, and they all stared intently at the city wall ahead.

"Your Excellency, why is there still no movement?" Yuchi Gong was getting impatient; he felt like an eternity had passed.

Li Yi ignored him.

He counted silently in his mind.

Feeling that the time was almost up, he opened his mouth wide and covered his ears with his hands.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently.

Immediately afterwards, a buzzing sound came from inside my ears.
A muffled thunderous explosion,

Then comes the second tone, and then the third tone.

Three plumes of dust rose from the towering outer walls of Luoyang, resembling dragons ascending into the sky.

Smoke and dust filled the air, making it impossible to see the city walls.

On the battlefield,
Everyone on both the attacking and defending sides nearby was drawn to the earth-shattering sound.
Looking at that sudden change,

Even Yuchi Gong couldn't help but swallow.

Although he had witnessed the secret test explosions that could collapse city walls, how could a small castle compare to Luoyang?

"Your Majesty?"

Li Shimin drew his sword and shouted, "Beat the drums! This is the earth dragon turning over! Heaven is helping the Tang Dynasty break through the city! All troops, attack! Charge!"

The earth dragon turned over.

Li Shimin's personal guards shouted in unison.

"The earth has turned over, and Heaven is helping the Tang Dynasty break through the city!"

The shouts shook the earth.

The news quickly spread to all parts of the battlefield, and all units of the Tang army had already received orders and made preparations in advance.

The huge commotion just now, the smoke rising from the Luoyang city walls

Now, this earth-dragon turning over explains everything.

Some people might wonder why the earth dragon turned over only on the walls of Luoyang, and not elsewhere.

But at that moment, there was no time to think about anything else.

"The walls of Luoyang have fallen! Charge!"

Li Shimin's pre-prepared leaping soldiers, armed with shields and swords, charged fiercely towards the Luoyang city walls, which were still shrouded in dust and fog.

Luoyang city is very high.
Luoyang was also a very large city.

Although Wang Shichong's defenses were strong, his troops were stationed in various locations.
In a typical siege, Zheng's army could deploy troops at any time, but this time, Tang's army caught Zheng's army off guard.

Without warning, three breaches appeared in the city wall.
There were three openings, each several meters wide.

The collapsed clods of earth, scattered on both sides, formed a clear road, albeit somewhat uneven, which was advantageous to the attacking Tang army.

This is already a smooth road.

The Tang army was well-prepared and launched an attack as soon as the city wall collapsed, while the Zheng army had no time to react.

The three armies surged forth like a tidal wave, crashing into Luoyang City.
More Tang soldiers followed.

At this moment, it was like the Yellow River bursting its banks, with the floodwaters surging down unstoppable.

Wang Shichong was writing a letter from the palace to Dou Jiande in Hebei, pleading for help and explaining the dire consequences of their actions, when suddenly a guard rushed in to report...

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The Tang army has breached the city walls and is already inside."

Wang Shichong looked up and eyed the guard warily. He suspected that the man was a traitor who had allied with the Tang Dynasty and was trying to assassinate him.

"The Tang people, using some kind of sorcery, suddenly caused three sections of the city wall to collapse..."

(End of this chapter)