Chapter 182 Follow me! (ask for monthly ticket)
In the end, Li Xiang did not hide anything from Li Shimin and just said what he thought.

Of course, the reason for choosing him was irresistible. He wanted to go to the navy to strengthen logistics.

Old Li certainly could not have imagined how much work his great grandson would give him. He just thought that the navy was in the rear and would be safer, so he let him go.

"Will you come with me?" Li Xiang asked Lun Qinling before leaving.

Lun Qinling thought about it and felt reluctant to follow Lao Li to achieve great things, and he was also a little reluctant to leave Li Xiang.

In the end, he gritted his teeth and decided to leave with Li Xiang.

Zhang Liang did not expect that Li Xiang would actually come to his army. He had always been at odds with the Crown Prince and the Eastern Palace, so when he saw Li Xiang, his face was obviously not very happy.

But Li Xiang is a prince after all, so Zhang Liang has to give him face.

He was still not polite in his words, and he kept talking about Li Xiang's age, saying that he was too young and should not come to the front line.

Su Dingfang stood up and wanted to say something, but was held down by Li Xiang.

After returning to the navy camp, Su Dingfang said impatiently: "If the prince hadn't stopped me just now, I would have had a fight with that old bastard Zhang Liang!"

"Hahaha..." Li Xiang didn't think there was anything wrong, but gestured to Su Dingfang and the others to sit down.

"I just heard what you said. Zhang Liang doesn't think much of the navy. He just uses it as an ordinary transport team." Li Xiang said, looking at Pei Xingjian who was not very convinced, and said: "It's nothing. Whether it's fighting in the battlefield or transporting supplies in the rear, it's all contributing to the Tang Dynasty. There's nothing to be angry about."

"What you need to do now is to vent your anger and let the Duke of Yun and the Tang Dynasty see the strength of our navy."

"Yes!" Su Dingfang and others had no choice but to answer.

After all, it was impossible for Li Xiang to point his finger at Zhang Liang and scold him for such a small matter. After all, the navy was just established and had little combat experience, so it was understandable that it was not trusted.

Even if the lawsuit was brought to Li Shimin, it would be difficult for him to take sides.

That afternoon, Zhang Liang ordered the entire army to march out to capture Jian'an City.

The navy naturally has to fight in coordination. Of course, when we say fighting in coordination, according to Zhang Liang's method, it means roaming the battlefield from the sidelines.

The news that the Tang Dynasty attacked Liaodong and declared war on Goguryeo and Baekje naturally spread to the Wa Kingdom.

The King of Baekje, Buyeo Uija, personally sent an envoy to Wa to ask for help.

The situation in Wakoku was rather complicated, and at this time the Soga clan still held considerable say in the court.

However, in response to Baekje's request for help, Prince Naka no Oe and the powerful minister Soga no Iruka reached a rare consensus. Both believed that Baekje and Goguryeo should be aided in order to counter the Tang Dynasty.

After all, since the fourth century AD, the Wa Kingdom has had considerable ideas about the Korean Peninsula.

At the end of the fourth century, Silla was invaded by Japan. In the fourth year of Long'an in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, King Gwanggaeto of Goguryeo sent troops to rescue Silla and expel the Japanese.

But Silla was very weak at that time and had to submit to Japan, so Naimulmaligan sent his prince Weisixin to Japan as a hostage in the first year of Yuanxing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, when King Zhen of Wa paid tribute to the Southern Song Dynasty, he called himself "the commander-in-chief of the military forces of the six countries of Wa, Baekje, Silla, Mimana, Qinhan, and Muhan." After that, the three kings of Wa, Je, Heung, and Mu were also conferred this title by the Southern Dynasty, which showed that Japan regarded itself as a suzerain state over Silla and other countries on the Korean Peninsula.

After the middle of the 5th century, with the gradual rise of Silla, its relationship with Wakoku was no longer passive. Therefore, Japanese history books record that Silla "did not serve China (Wakoku)" and "did not fear the Emperor (Yamato Great)".

At that time, the Gaya tribes in the lower reaches of the Nakdong River were called "Mina" by Japan and regarded as "official territory", which means they were directly under the jurisdiction of Japan.

Silla had been encroaching on Gaya since the 6th century, and Japan was unable to provide assistance. Eventually, Gaya was annexed by Silla in the second year of Baoding in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

The Japanese cursed Silla as "a clown from the Western Qiang who defied heaven and violated our grace and righteousness and destroyed our government", detained Silla's envoys, and joined forces with Baekje to attack Silla and recover Gaya, but failed.

Now new and old grudges have come together. Japan has long coveted the Korean Peninsula and has a deep hatred for Silla. How could Japan miss such a godsend opportunity?

With the joint support of Prince Naka no Oe and Soga no Iruka, Yueguo no Kami Abehirafu was appointed as the rear general and led more than a thousand warships to support Baekje's war against the Tang Dynasty.

The name Abehirafu... should be very familiar to you. He has a grandson named Abe no Nakamaro, whose Chinese name is Chao Heng. He has a very good relationship with Li Bai and Wang Wei.

Of course, the surname Abe can also be written as Abe. Abe Haruaki is also his descendant. He also has a well-known descendant who once served as Taiko and was later shot down by a teppan foot soldier and was overjoyed.

When the Japanese warships were heading towards Baekje, Zhang Liang's troops and Li Xiang's navy also arrived at the city of Jian'an.

As the former army commander Zhang Jian had already launched a surprise attack on Jian'an City, the gates of Jian'an City were now tightly closed, like a tortoise shell.

Zhang Liang did not have any engineering equipment at hand for the time being, so he planned to set up camp first and then go to the nearby mountains to cut down trees and make engineering equipment.

He sent someone to invite Li Xiang again, after all, he had incorporated the military craftsmen into the navy.

Li Xiang brought Xue Rengui and Pei Xingjian to Zhang Liang's tent.

Zhang Liang was washing his face on a Hu bed. When he saw Li Xiang coming, he greeted him respectfully.

"I've met the prince."

"Duke of Yun." Li Xiang nodded slightly.

Zhang Liang took the handkerchief handed over by his personal guard, wiped his face carefully, and said to Li Xiang: "Prince, now the defenders of Jian'an City are hiding inside, and it is difficult to capture the city for the time being. I think we should first use local materials to make some engineering equipment. What do you think?"

"Yes, sure." Li Xiang nodded.

Zhang Liang was about to say something else when he heard a noisy sound outside.

"Goguryeo is here to raid our camp!"

Then there was the sound of war horses neighing.

"There is no time to lose, Duke of Yun..."

Li Xiang was about to call Zhang Liang to supervise the battle, but he found that Zhang Liang's eyes were staring straight ahead and he sat down on the bed. (Note 1)

"What should I do? What should I do..." He muttered to himself.

At the same time, Deputy General Zhang Jinshu lifted the curtain and walked into the tent.

Seeing the coach's expression, Zhang Jinshu's heart skipped a beat.

"General, the Goguryeo people are coming up!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Li Xiang drew out the long sword from his waist with a clang, and shouted angrily at Zhang Jinshu: "Follow me, the king!"

After saying that, he took the lead and walked out of the general's tent.

Looking at the panicked soldiers who were ambushed, Li Xiang raised his sword and shouted loudly: "I am the Prince of Hengshan County! Soldiers, listen to my orders! It's time to serve the saint!"

Xue Rengui then roared: "It's time to serve the saint! Follow me!"

Lao Xue jumped onto his horse, reached out to pick up the painted halberd beside him, and swung it toward the direction where the Goguryeo people were coming from.

Behind him was Pei Xingjian.

Xue Rengui charged forward, swinging his halberd and defeating three enemy generals in a row.

Seeing Lao Xue so brave, Li Xiang quickly ran to the military drum beside him and hit it hard with the drumstick, making a dull and powerful sound.

He shouted loudly: "I am Xue Rengui under the command of Prince Hengshan! The prince is right behind us, beating the drum to cheer us on! Brothers! Follow me to kill the enemy!" When the soldiers heard that Prince Hengshan was in the army, they immediately found their backbone.

Yes, the grandson of the saint, the current Prince of Hengshan County, is in the army to cheer us all on, so what is there to be afraid of?
"Kill!" The Tang army burst into an earth-shaking roar.

Under the leadership of the backbone, the Tang army actually gained the upper hand and even began to suppress the Goguryeo troops that came to attack.

Zhang Liang's subordinates hesitated for a moment, and were completely disappointed when they saw that their commander-in-chief never showed up.

It is never too late to mend. Under the leadership of Zhang Jinshu, Zhang Liang's personal guards joined Xue Rengui and Pei Xingjian and began to counterattack the enemy.

Although Pei Xingjian was holding a long sword, he was not far behind. The flash of the sword always brought up a spray of blood.

The most important thing is that the Goguryeo army’s armor rate was not very high, and the simple leather armor on their bodies was not very effective against chopping.

Not long after, Su Dingfang, who had reacted, arrived with a team of cavalry.

"I am Su Lie, the Lieutenant General of the Navy! Soldiers! Follow me to kill the enemy!"

The arrival of this cavalry unit announced the destruction of Goguryeo's raiding force.

The Tang army never waited to take revenge, so they took advantage of the situation and attacked the poorly defended Jian'an City.

The defenders of Jian'an City did not expect that the people they sent out for a sneak attack would be defeated so quickly. They were completely unprepared and were caught by the Tang army.

Deputy General Zhang Jinshu led the way with a siege ladder behind him. He was pushed by the people behind him and was the first to climb the wall of Jian'an.

After him, the Tang army swarmed onto the city walls, and Jian'an City was breached before even midnight.

Because of Li Xiang's presence, the people were not harmed in the slightest.

But the Goguryeo defenders were not so lucky. Li Xiang ordered them to be detained and sent to Dengzhou for labor reform after the war.

Dengzhou needs people now, a huge amount of labor, and Li Xiang is also very worried.

Li Xiang also had reasons for these prisoners of war.

If you want to resist to the end, then you will naturally have to undergo some transformation.

After taking Jian'an City, all the soldiers in the army were convinced by Li Xiang.

As the grandson of the saint and the prince of the current dynasty, he is only fourteen years old this year. He could have enjoyed life in the rear, but he still came to the army to share the hardships with everyone, and even led the troops to resist the enemy together with them, and personally beat the drum to cheer for the army.

What do you call this? This is called the spirit of a saint!

The news that Zhang Liang was trembling with fear also spread privately.

Military affairs were no longer reported to Zhang Liang, but directly to Li Xiang.

There is no other reason. On the one hand, Zhang Liang acted too cowardly, and on the other hand, Li Xiang was a hothead.

Such a heroic and saintly person, and also the eldest son of the crown prince. Not only is he very popular with the entire royal family, but even the crown prince's arch-enemy, the King of Wei, he is very fond of him. It is a foregone conclusion that he will become the next emperor.

Therefore, it is not too late to take this opportunity to change your allegiance.

The next morning, Zhang Liang also arrived in Jian'an City.

When he saw Li Xiang this time, Zhang Liang no longer had the arrogance of a veteran.

What else can I say? How can I say it?
As a veteran general who has experienced hundreds of battles, how could you be frightened into this state by a camp robbery?

How shameful! How shameful!

"Duke Yun, how are you?"

Li Xiang sat high up in the main seat of the City Lord's Mansion, looking at Zhang Liang who looked somewhat dejected.

"I am guilty." Zhang Liang sighed helplessly.

This person has made a big mistake. If the news gets to the ears of the saint, it will be a different matter whether the duke can be kept.

This time he was not so arrogant anymore, and he changed his self-proclaimed title from "this general" to "the last general".

Come to think of it, you are not as courageous as a teenager...

"In that case, the Duke of Yun will take 5,000 troops to guard Jian'an City." Li Xiang tapped the table with his fingers. "This task shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

Zhang Liang opened his mouth. He wanted to refute, but he didn't dare.

According to his cowardice, Li Xiang could have simply ignored him and put him in jail or sent him to Li Shimin.

Now Li Xiang can be said to be giving him a lot of face.

What's more, there is no danger to life in the city. As a successful person, Zhang Liang cherishes his life very much.

"I will follow your orders!" Zhang Liang said helplessly.

"This is the battle report I drafted. Duke Yun, please take a look at it."

As Li Xiang spoke, he handed the combat report to Pei Xingjian beside him.

Pei Xingjian took the report and walked down to hand it to Zhang Liang.

Zhang Liang picked up the report with trembling hands. He knew he was embarrassing himself and felt really ashamed.

He closed his eyes, and after a while he finally mustered up the courage to take a look at the report.

But the content above surprised him.

What Li Xiang wrote was that facing the surprise attack, the Duke of Yun remained calm and composed, and the entire army was united in repelling the enemy's attack, and even took advantage of the situation to capture the city of Jian'an in one fell swoop.

He emphasized the contributions of Zhang Jinshu and others, and did not gloss over their achievements just because they were Zhang Liang's subordinates.

Based on what Zhang Liang had done before, it wouldn't be an exaggeration for Li Xiang to write something more.

Unexpectedly, Li Xiang not only concealed his trembling, but even gave him a calm and composed evaluation.

"Prince..." Zhang Liang felt ashamed when he thought of his previous behavior.

"We are all fighting under the same flag and for the Tang Dynasty. We should be more tolerant towards our colleagues." Li Xiang said in a gentle voice, "The defense of Jian'an City still depends on the Duke of Yun. This city is strategically located and must not be lost."

"I understand!" Zhang Liang nodded heavily.

After Li Xiang finished sealing the envelope, he handed it to Pei Xingjian and asked him to send someone to deliver it to Liaodong City for Li Shimin to review.

After delivering the message, Li Xiang summoned the Tang army generals in Jian'an City to plan the next move.

We cannot just defend Jian'an City. Now we have the navy, part of Zhang Liang's troops, and 3,000 Tibetan cavalry, a total of more than 40,000 people.

What is the next step, should we proceed step by step or take a risky move?

(Ask for monthly tickets, there will be more later)
(End of this chapter)