Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 218 Broken City
The ten-day deadline passed in the blink of an eye.

On the morning of the tenth day, before dawn, eight hundred elite soldiers had already lined up at the southeast gate of Yingzhou City.

Li Xian, the "Deputy Commissioner for Grain and Machinery Transportation," was also able to don armor and go to the "front lines."

Although it was called the front line, Li Xian's camp was actually only a few hundred steps away from the gate of Yingzhou City. As long as there was the slightest problem at the front line, he could immediately retreat back to Yingzhou City.

Li Xian was very dissatisfied with this arrangement. He felt that the camp should at least be moved to a place where he could see the spectacular scene of the thunderous attack on the city, so that he could see how the Tang soldiers, numbering eight hundred, conquered the Goguryeo stronghold.

"Come on, it's already a favor that General Xue is even letting you out of the city!"

Liu Jianjun was also given a worthless military rank by Xue Ne and followed Li Xian.

He was also wearing armor, and because of his dark complexion, he really did look like a soldier guarding the frontier.

Liu Jianjun showed no sense of urgency about going to the battlefield. He casually approached Li Xian and said, "If something happens to you, Prince, don't even mention Wugu City. Even if Xue Ne conquers the entire Goryeo, he'll still be in deep trouble!"

Li Xian naturally understood this principle, but the thought that Emperor Taizong could personally lead a single horse to the battlefield and display the awe-inspiring might of the Heavenly Strategy General made him feel a little itchy.

But Liu Jianjun quickly shattered his idea, saying, "Your riding skills are undoubtedly excellent, but on the battlefield, you'll be fighting the enemy with real swords and spears. Do you expect the enemy to race against you on horseback, and the loser to have their head cut off?"

Li Xian instantly slumped.

That's true. Even if I went to the battlefield, I probably wouldn't have the guts to pick up a sword and spear and kill the enemy.

Although Liu Jianjun's prediction was correct, Li Xian was still unconvinced and said angrily, "Stop teasing me here. Didn't General Xue give the order to have us in charge of transporting military equipment and weapons? How come you have time to make sarcastic remarks about me?"

Now that he was on the battlefield, Li Xian naturally had his own duties to perform.

Li Xian now realized that many of the catapults, ladders, battering rams, and other siege equipment used for attacking the city were actually built only after they arrived at the site. Li Xian's task was to transport the tools used to cut down trees and build the catapults, ladders, battering rams, and other siege equipment.

Even for such a transport mission, Xue Ne still sent an assistant officer to help him.

Therefore, Li Xian only needed to hand over the transportation task to that officer, and then he and Liu Jianjun could stay in the camp and wait for the war to end, which would be considered a perfect completion of the mission.

"laugh!"

Liu Jianjun scoffed again and said, "Transportation task? That kid Xue Qian is running around like he's never done a job in eight lifetimes. What do we have to do with it?"

Li Xian immediately fell silent.

The Xue Qian mentioned by Liu Jianjun is the assistant officer sent by Xue Ne.

This man was Xue Ne's nephew-in-law, but he was a live-in son-in-law who had been married into the family and changed his surname to Xue. Because he grew up on the frontier and fought many battles with Xue Ne, he was appreciated by Xue Ne and thus recruited as a personal guard, and gradually became Xue Ne's nephew-in-law.

This man was a veteran of many battles and could be considered an expert on the battlefield. Although he was nominally an assistant officer, he was actually responsible for protecting Li Xian.

As the two were talking, Xue Qian rushed into the tent and loudly reported, "Reporting to the transport supervisor! All the axes, chisels, saws, hammers, ropes, nails, and other tools have been transported to the designated location of the vanguard camp and handed over for receipt! This subordinate has verified that everything is in order!"

Li Xian nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, Commandant Xue."

Xue Qian then clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This is my duty! If the transport supervisor has no further instructions, I still need to go and count the next batch of arrows..."

"Hey, Captain Xue, wait a minute!" Liu Jianjun suddenly spoke up, a warm smile spreading across his face. He took a few steps closer to Xue Qian, naturally put his arm around his shoulder, and pulled him a few steps away from Li Xian. He lowered his voice and said, "Old Xue, there's something I need you to do for me."

Xue Qian was taken aback: "Please speak, Military Advisor Liu."

Liu Jianjun rubbed his hands, looking a little embarrassed: "It's like this, I just remembered that among the tools that were transported up there were several specially made Luban saws, which are specifically used to cut key parts of catapults. They are very sharp, but also very brittle."

"I'm afraid those clumsy engineers won't know how to use it properly and might damage it. I'd appreciate it if you could make another trip right away and personally supervise the process. Make sure they use it carefully. If it's already been used, check it immediately for any damage. If so, bring it back quickly so I can see if it can be repaired."

Upon hearing this, Xue Qian frowned slightly, seemingly not considering it an urgent matter. However, seeing Liu Jianjun's serious tone and the fact that it involved siege equipment, he didn't think much of it and nodded, saying, "In that case, this subordinate will go to the vanguard camp again!"

"Thank you for your trouble! Go and come back quickly!" Liu Jianjun repeatedly clasped his hands in thanks, watching Xue Qian turn and leave in a hurry.

As soon as Xue Qian's figure disappeared outside the tent, Liu Jianjun's smile instantly turned into a sly excitement.

He quickly returned to Li Xian's side, winked, and said, "Get rid of the troublemaker!"

Li Xian hadn't fully reacted yet: "What Luban saw? How come I don't know anything about it..."

"Hey, I made that up!" Liu Jianjun interrupted him. "Xianzi, do you want to... move closer? To see for yourself how our Thunderclap Bomb works?"

Li Xian's heart skipped a beat. He instinctively glanced outside the tent and lowered his voice, "General Xue has strictly ordered us to stay here to supervise the transport and not leave without permission... Besides, swords and spears are merciless on the front lines..."

"Oh dear!" Liu Jianjun said with a look of exasperation, "Who told you to charge into battle? Let's find a high, far, and safe place to watch the spectacle! Think about it, this unprecedented spectacle of eight hundred breaking through ten thousand might only happen once in a lifetime! Hiding in the tent to listen to the noise is not the same as watching the city wall be blown apart by our thunderbolts."

Li Xian was very tempted.

Only then did he suddenly realize what was happening, and he looked at Liu Jianjun suspiciously, saying, "You've been trying to provoke me from the very beginning, haven't you?"

Liu Jianjun chuckled: "Mainly because I've never seen a real battle before, so I have to broaden my horizons, right?"

Just as Li Xian was about to say something, Liu Jianjun waved his hand and decisively asked, "Are you going or not?"

Li Xian hesitated for a moment, then finally steeled himself: "Go..."

……

The two of them slipped out of the tent quietly, like thieves.

Liu Jianjun was clearly prepared. He skillfully avoided the main passages and led Li Xian around to the edge of the camp. He then found two packhorses that looked quite docile and, taking advantage of the morning mist, quietly rode out of the rear camp.

Their destination was a small hill located to the side and rear of the main Tang army formation.

The hill wasn't high, but it offered excellent views. The two tied their horses to the woods on the back slope and climbed to the top using both hands and feet. They hid behind a huge rock and cautiously peeked out.

Here, the view is already extremely wide open.

Several miles ahead, Wugu City appeared like a lurking giant beast, perched on the continuous mountain ridge.

Below the city, the Tang army's formation had already been deployed. Although they were still far away and the exact number of soldiers could not be clearly seen, the catapults that were being set up, resembling the arms of a giant beast, exuded a chilling and murderous aura.

"Wow, this is a small catapult! How big would the large one be?"

Liu Jianjun seemed like someone who had never seen the world before, clicking his tongue in amazement.

In fact, Li Xian was also somewhat shocked.

When Xue Ne first said that Wugu City only had eight thousand people, and that his side had only sent eight hundred men to attack the city, Li Xian was still regretful that he had not been able to witness the legendary battle of hundreds of thousands of troops.

But when Li Xian lay there, he was still deeply shocked.

Even with 800 people, it still felt like a sea of ​​people.

Meanwhile, the forces from Wugu City appeared to be a dense, dark mass, with crowds thronging the city walls, clearly indicating that they had also detected the Tang army's attack.

Just then, there was a sudden commotion in the Tang army's formation!
The deep sound of bugles broke the morning's tranquility, and the flags representing the attack order waved fiercely above the commander's banner!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Beat the drums and march!

"It's about to begin!" Liu Jianjun lowered his voice, grabbed Li Xian's shoulder, and the two of them lowered their bodies even further.

Beside those catapults, the operators quickly sprang into action.

From a distance, Li Xian couldn't see clearly, but he could still make out dozens of burly Tang soldiers working together to pull down the heavy pole. Two soldiers who looked like engineers carefully placed something into the catapult's leather pouch, while another quickly lit the fuse with a tinderbox!

Li Xian's heart leaped into his throat, his eyes fixed on the catapults. "Fire!"

There seemed to be a faint command coming from within.

The next moment, the catapult's massive arm suddenly rose up!
"Om-!"

The heavy sound of wind breaking seemed to penetrate several miles and reach the hills!
Five or six black dots, carrying sparks of death, were hurled high into the sky by immense force, tracing terrifying parabolas, like meteors falling from the sky, crashing violently towards the top of Wugu City!

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at this moment.

Li Xian could clearly hear his heart pounding wildly. He stared intently at the flying black dots, watching them grow smaller and smaller until they became almost invisible dots, falling towards the city wall...

Immediately afterwards...

"boom!!!!"

The first loud bang exploded! It was like a thunderclap from the heavens, resounding right next to our ears!

The sound was deep yet extremely penetrating, as if even the hill beneath one's feet trembled slightly!
On the top of Wugu City, near the city gate tower, a mushroom cloud mixed with crimson flames and thick black smoke rose into the sky! The shockwave, visible to the naked eye, spread in all directions, and countless pieces of rubble, wood, and some indistinguishable small objects were violently thrown into the sky!

"Boom! Boom boom boom—!!!"

One explosion after another followed! Like heavy hammers striking drums, each sound slammed down on the walls of Wugu City, and also on Li Xian's heart!
The city wall was instantly engulfed in flames and thick smoke, and the once clear outline of the battlements was twisted, shattered, and collapsed in the explosion!
The figures on the city wall could be vaguely seen running around in panic in the firelight. Even from this distance, the shrill screams could be heard as if they were threaded into the ears, making one's scalp tingle!
Although Li Xian knew the power of the thunderbolt beforehand, Liu Jianjun had thrown it into the water. Now, witnessing the thunderbolt exploding on the city wall, he was still incredibly shocked!

"The Koreans probably underestimated us. When they first saw General Xue setting up the catapults, they probably thought it was just some small-scale harassment. Some large crossbows could reach that distance. If they had harassed us with crossbows from the beginning, the catapults probably wouldn't have been set up so quickly," Liu Jianjun murmured to himself.

Li Xian immediately retorted irritably, "Which side are you on?"

Then, puzzled, he asked, "Korean?"

"Korean bastards, isn't that a name that just rolls off the tongue?" Liu Jianjun chuckled sheepishly, then added, "Isn't it just too easy?"

Li Xian remained silent.

Indeed, it was too easy.

With the presence of the Heaven-Shattering Thunder, the seemingly indestructible Wugu City crumbled after just one round of bombardment.

The Tang army was initially deathly silent, but then erupted in a cacophony of screams!
The shouts of "May you win forever!" shook the heavens and the earth!
But the soldiers operating the catapults did not stop. The second round of thunderbolts roared down, bombarding the city gate tower and its surrounding area!
Amidst the deafening explosion, the towering gate tower of Wugu City was struck as if by an unseen god wielding a heavy hammer, sending wood and stone flying.

A raging fire broke out, and a large section of the city wall visibly collapsed, revealing a huge gap!

"Great Tang! Victory!" Li Xian couldn't help but roar out, his face flushed with excitement.

However, contrary to their expectations of fierce resistance, after the initial few rounds of explosions, the walls of Wugu City fell into an eerie silence.

The expected fierce counterattack and dense rain of arrows from the Koreans did not materialize. Apart from the shrill screams and crackling sounds of burning near the explosion site, there was more of a sense of bewilderment and deathly silence after being completely stunned.

Thick smoke and dust shrouded the city walls, obscuring the specific situation, but the once imposing and solemn atmosphere of being on high alert had completely vanished.

"Huh? It's... gone silent?" Liu Jianjun also noticed something was wrong, craning his neck to look around. "Are the Koreans scared out of their wits?"

Li Xian and Liu Jianjun couldn't tell, but some people on the battlefield could.

In the Tang army's ranks, Xue Ne clearly seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Without the slightest hesitation, he pointed his banner forward and issued the order for a full-scale attack!

This time, it's no longer a probing attack, but a full-scale assault!

As the third wave of thunderbolts struck, the two hundred Tang soldiers responsible for the siege shouted "Victory!" and charged toward Wugu City.

To Li Xian's surprise, the Tang army's charge did not encounter the fierce resistance he had imagined.

There was no rain of rolling logs and boulders, no pouring of boiling oil or molten gold, and not even a large-scale barrage of arrows. Only scattered, inaccurate arrows shot out from the thick smoke, appearing extremely powerless.

The Tang army vanguard charged across what should have been the most dangerous open area below the city almost without any hindrance, quickly setting up ladders at the gaps created by the thunderbolts and on the city walls that were not severely damaged.

What left Li Xian and Liu Jianjun even more dumbfounded was that when the Tang soldiers began to climb the ladders, no effective resistance was organized on the city wall.

They even saw that behind several battlements, the Goryeo defenders did not raise their swords to meet the enemy, but instead retreated in terror, pushing and trampling each other, as if those climbing the city walls were not Tang soldiers, but deadly demons!
"City gate! Look at the city gate!" Liu Jianjun suddenly pointed in the direction of the city gate.

Li Xian turned to look.

The heavy city gate was slowly opened from the inside, and the gap kept getting bigger!

At this time, the Tang army had just climbed the city wall, so it was not the Tang army that opened the gate, but rather the soldiers guarding the city who, in extreme fear, actually opened the city gate on their own initiative!
With the city gates wide open, many Tang soldiers who hadn't yet climbed the siege ladders simply stopped climbing and rushed straight in through the city gates.

After entering the city, Li Xian could not see much of what happened, but after a short while, he saw the Tang flag planted on the city gate, which meant that the city gate had been completely occupied.

"It's...broken?"

Li Xian was somewhat dazed.

This was completely different from the brutal siege battle he had imagined. There was no bloody tug-of-war, no repeated fighting for the city walls, only one-sided crushing and the enemy's rapid collapse.

"The Thunderclap... it has such miraculous effects?" he murmured, feeling as if he were dreaming.

Liu Jianjun was also amazed: "Good heavens, I thought we would at least put up a token resistance, but I didn't expect to have a complete mental breakdown. For soldiers in the era of cold weapons, the lethality of this thing is secondary; the psychological deterrent is terrifying!"

Li Xian was no longer paying attention to what Liu Jianjun was saying.

At this moment, the main force of the Tang army surged in like a flood bursting its banks, pouring through the open city gates and numerous breaches in the city walls!

Inside Wugu City, the sounds of even greater chaos, cries, and the deafening battle cries of the Tang army could be faintly heard, but the clanging of weapons clashing fiercely was conspicuously absent.

The battle seemed to have ended the moment the thunderclap exploded.

In the distance, above Wugu City, the banners of the Tang army grew ever larger, announcing the change of ownership of this fortified city.

On the hill, Li Xian and Liu Jianjun remained silent, seemingly still processing the war.

Finally, Liu Jianjun broke the silence, saying, "Hey, Xianzi, I think I've accidentally created something big. If history continues like this, what will it become..."

Li Xian murmured, "I don't know, but my Great Tang Dynasty possesses this... it will be invincible in the world!"

Li Xian thought his words would earn Liu Jianjun's approval, but Liu Jianjun's expression changed, and he said, "Oh no, this battle ended so quickly, the casualties should be tallied soon, right?"

Li Xian's expression also changed.

The two of them sneaked out. If Xue Qian finds them missing when he takes a headcount, then he'll be in big trouble!

"Hurry! Go back!"

Li Xian panicked and frantically tried to climb down the mountain.

"Why panic!"

Although Liu Jianjun was talking, he was quick to act. The two of them didn't care about hiding anymore. They crawled out from behind the rocks and staggered down the steep slope, wanting to get back to the woods where they tied their horses as soon as possible.

But just as the two of them, panting heavily, reached the halfway point of the mountain, before they could even disappear into the woods, they heard a rapid sound of horses' hooves and a sharp shout from their side and behind:
"Halt! Who goes there?!"

Li Xian and Liu Jianjun froze and slowly turned around.

……

(End of this chapter)