roccoschili Chapter 121 As a general, to be unable to conquer a city after a long siege and to be ordered to lea
Chapter 121 As a general, to be unable to conquer a city after a long siege and to be ordered to lea
what?
Your Majesty thinks I am slow?
The emperor has already personally led the expedition and is about to reach Tongguan Pass.
Geshuhan was stunned.
He believed he had done his best, and with a one-to-one casualty ratio, the result was by no means bad!
Although Tongguan cannot be captured in a short period of time.
But after repeatedly wearing down the enemy's morale, if the central army is then ordered to advance, there is at least a 70% chance of taking Tongguan in one fell swoop!
That's already considered fast!
Can't Your Majesty even wait this little bit of time?
After the initial shock came endless shame and anger.
His face was visibly flushed red.
"To have His Majesty personally lead the expedition is a disgrace to the Tang Dynasty and a testament to our incompetence!"
Geshuhan gritted his teeth.
"A subject who humiliates his lord shall die; a subject who humiliates his lord shall die!"
"All officers and men obey orders!"
"This will be the last time I lead you in a charge!"
"Either we capture the city tower, open the city gates, and allow His Majesty to enter the city to clear out the enemy troops."
"Either I die on the city wall!"
"For a general to be unable to conquer a city after a prolonged siege, and to be forced to have His Majesty personally lead the expedition, is the shame of my life!"
"I will wash away this shame with my blood, with the blood of my enemies!"
Li Er had not expected that Geshu Han would be so fierce.
All he saw was that from the moment he stepped onto the battlefield, the soldiers under Geshuhan's command were as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
The city wall that had been difficult to breach before was now held firmly in place by Geshu Han and his soldiers during this round of attacks!
No matter how many people An Lushan sent to fight, and no matter how hard the powerful families tried, he stubbornly fought to the death without retreating an inch.
Just as he said, either take this city gate and give His Majesty a chance to advance unimpeded.
Or he could die on this city wall, washing away the shame of being a subject with his blood!
Tiger General!
Li Er did not understand the reason for this.
But in any case, this is good news for him!
As long as Geshu Han and his men hold firm on the city wall, they will be very confident that they can take down this tough nut when the main army arrives to reinforce them!
Yuchi, you must not disappoint me!
Li Er took a deep look in the direction of Chang'an.
He knew that countless eyes were watching everything that was happening from beyond the sky.
He had already thought it through.
He not only has to win this battle, but he has to win it spectacularly!
A stalemate, a decisive battle, with both sides suffering equal damage—this is definitely not what he wants.
What he wanted was to personally lead the army into battle and crush everything the moment he stepped onto the battlefield!
The enemy army, along with the disgrace brought to the Tang Dynasty by those unfilial descendants, will be utterly destroyed!
Beyond the sky.
Most people were stunned.
No one expected this.
The tacit understanding between Li Er and Yuchi Gong is astounding!
On the other side of the screen, Yuchi Gong led two thousand Xuanjia soldiers through An Lushan's grain transport troops, setting the grain on fire. As the flames soared into the sky, Li Er launched his own charge and scaled the city wall!
The two clearly had no connection whatsoever.
But Li Er seemed to be watching Yuchi Gong command the army with his own eyes.
Watching him seize the enemy's supply lines.
As he burned the enemy's supplies, he launched a general offensive!
"Is such tacit understanding real?"
Liu Bang looked at Xiao He beside him in disbelief.
Why is it that he and Han Xin never had this kind of tacit understanding?
It was only when Xiang Yu had beaten him so badly that he couldn't even lift his head that Han Xin would reluctantly send troops to relieve the siege...
"...Your Majesty, you and the Marquis of Huaiyin have never shared the same ideas, let alone had such a tacit understanding."
Xiao He wiped the sweat from his temples.
Such tacit understanding cannot be achieved simply by one party being more capable.
This requires an extreme understanding and complete trust in the other party's abilities!
If there had been even the slightest hesitation, it would have been impossible to present such a picturesque battle scene!
Just as Li Er led his army to the city walls, news came back that the grain supplies had been burned and the supply routes had been captured.
Inside Tongguan Pass, An Lushan flew into a rage in front of all the aristocratic families who were overseeing the battle.
The news had already spread among the powerful families in an instant, making it impossible for him to keep it a secret any longer!
These pedantic scholars are only interested in power struggles and utter nonsense.
They had absolutely no understanding of military operations or warfare!
They didn't realize how devastating the morale would be once the news spread throughout the army!
Now he suddenly regrets relying on the power of these aristocratic families.
If it weren't for these scoundrels dragging him down, even if things had come to this point, he would still be confident in continuing to deal with Li Er.
But these aristocratic families...
Incompetent bungler!
"Shouldn't this be told to the soldiers below, so they can be mentally prepared?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty, you are being far too cautious."
"At most, it will only mean a few days of food shortage. Letting them know in advance will actually help stabilize morale."
"You have to thank us for this. If we hadn't given them advance notice, the sudden shortage of food would have thrown the army into chaos!"
As An Lushan was enraged, those aristocratic families were still whispering in his ear.
An Lushan was so angry that he laughed instead.
Well, thank you all.
"Leaving aside the fact that morale would be thrown into chaos when supplies ran out, now that the enemy has breached the city walls, do you think the army's morale won't collapse if you suddenly leak this news out?!"
He wanted to question them one by one.
I wanted them to know how serious the situation was.
But all I got in return was their sarcasm and ridicule.
"Your Majesty is overthinking it. We have assembled more than 500,000 troops here at Tongguan. Even if Emperor Taizong had three heads and six arms, he could never do anything to us!"
But in this world, being proven wrong can happen just as quickly.
The scouts reported that Geshu Han was holding the city wall as if his life depended on it.
As soon as Li Er and Guo Ziyi arrived with their army, the city walls were completely lost.
The army inside Tongguan Pass could only retreat to the second line of defense.
But in such a war, facing an enemy like Li Shimin.
This retreat could lead to utter defeat!
In particular, news of the supply lines being cut off and the grain being burned has spread throughout the army.
The morale of the troops has completely collapsed!
Even after learning this intelligence, the people sent by the aristocratic families to oversee the battle still didn't think it was a big deal.
If the city gate falls, the next step is to retreat to the second line of defense.
As the last gateway before Chang'an, Tongguan was absolutely impregnable!
Every line of defense is a tough nut to crack!
"Your Majesty, please hand it over to this humble general!"
"There is no need for the emperor to personally lead the expedition. If this humble general fails to capture Tongguan, I will gladly offer my head in return!"
On the city wall of the first line of defense, Geshu Han, disregarding his own injuries, immediately knelt down in front of Li Er.
He felt that His Majesty's personal command of the expedition was a sign of his disappointment in him!
"My dear minister, you are overthinking it. I do not think you have done a bad job; on the contrary, you have done a very good job."
"I only wish to win more decisively."