Du Ruhui smiled slightly, “Chang’an City is indeed good, but it must be grasped in hand to matter. Now Chang’an City is to him like a flower in the mirror or moon in the water – visible but unreachable. How can we speak of it being important?”

Li Yuanji thought about it and agreed, saying puzzledly, “If it’s not Chang’an City, then what is it? Soldiers? Gao City?” Gao City was the city where Li Jiancheng was currently located.

Zhangsun Wuji’s eyes flickered slightly as he spoke, “Could it be provisions?”

Du Ruhui nodded, “General Zhangsun is exactly right – it’s provisions. Originally, His Highness the Crown Prince did not come out of the city to fight precisely to consume Xue Ju’s provisions, making him surrender without fighting. Unfortunately, an accident occurred later!”

Although Du Ruhui was speaking truthfully, his words fell harshly on Li Yuanji’s ears. Though he said nothing, he secretly took note of it in his heart.

“As long as we send people to burn their provisions, it will surely cause them to panic and be unable to take care of themselves. Then we can coordinate with His Highness the Crown Prince’s army to leave the city and withdraw to Chang’an!”

Li Yuanji pondered for a moment, then shook his head, “If we burn their provisions, they’ll soon have nothing to eat and will withdraw to Chang’an. Wouldn’t that waste this excellent opportunity?”

“Whenever a great army sets out on campaign, provisions are of utmost importance. They will definitely send troops to guard them strictly. Even if we barely succeed, they will quickly return to defend, and with the moat nearby, fetching water to extinguish fires would be most convenient. In this way, we could truly burn only a small portion of their provisions – we couldn’t completely cut off their supplies. Therefore, withdrawal is the most prudent method.”

Faced with Du Ruhui’s words, Li Shimin nodded, “Well said. Our purpose is to create chaos, not to fight.”

In the end, it’s still not daring to fight!

Li Yuanji secretly grumbled to himself, saying aloud, “But there are two hundred thousand troops in the city. Having them suddenly withdraw without any preparation would certainly take considerable time. Can the chaos over provisions last that long?”

This was also Li Shimin’s concern. He looked at Du Ruhui, “Is there a way to notify His Highness the Crown Prince in advance?”

“In normal times, we could use carrier pigeons, but now with Xue Ju besieging the city, he will definitely watch for pigeon movements. If they shoot one down, our strategy would be ruined, and we would lose the chance to rescue His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“So it seems carrier pigeons cannot be used.” Li Shimin said helplessly, one hand constantly rubbing his forehead, which ached from constant intense thinking.

Seeing them talk for so long without coming up with a suitable method, Li Yuanji said displeasedly, “Then what do we do? Is this method also unusable? Always being so timid, afraid of this and that – when will we be able to rescue His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Zhangsun Wuji soothed him, “Prince of Qi, please be patient. Xue Ju is not easily dealt with. Without proper preparation, we won’t be able to save anyone and will put ourselves in danger.”

Li Yuanji snorted lightly, “In my opinion, it would be better to unite with Elder Brother and fight Xue Ju. I don’t believe he can still win!”

“I’ve said this is to save people, not to fight him.” After rejecting Li Yuanji’s proposal, the tent fell into long silence. Just as Li Yuanji’s patience was about to run out, Li Shimin slapped the table and uttered three words: “The moat!”

After the morning sun rose again, a new round of attacks began beneath the city walls. Xue Ju was determined that no matter what price he paid, he would capture Gao City and capture alive Li Jiancheng, this Crown Prince of the Great Tang, to strike a blow against the Tang’s morale and pave the way for his subsequent attacks!

Below the city walls, scaling ladders towered while soldiers pushed battering rams across simple wooden bridges over the moat to assault the city gates. Though soldiers on the towers constantly dropped heavy objects to destroy the rams, the attacking side also had catapults, so neither side gained much advantage.

Just as both sides entered the heat of battle, “Report!” A soldier’s excited voice reached Xue Ju’s ears, followed by a soldier approaching him and saying respectfully, “Reporting to Your Majesty, a secret message was discovered on a white pigeon flying toward the city. Please, Your Majesty, examine it!”

Hearing this, Xue Ju hurriedly took it. After reading it, his face, full of rough flesh, immediately darkened. Xue Rengao was nearby and quickly asked, “Father, what does the secret message say, and who wrote it?”

Xue Ju handed over the message, saying coldly, “It’s from Li Yuanji, that defeated general. They plan to attack our granary at night, create chaos, and resolve Li Jiancheng’s predicament.”

After reading the message, Xue Rengao said with darkened eyes, “What a vicious method. Once the provisions are burned, we would have no choice but to withdraw.”

Xue Ju snorted coldly, “If they want to burn our provisions, they’ll have to see if they have the ability. Li Yuanji… since he insists on seeking death, we’ll fulfill his wish!”

After a bout of sinister laughter, Xue Ju shouted, “Pass my order – tonight no one is to sleep! All are to guard the granary! If even a grain of rice is burned, military law will be enforced!”

Because of this secret message, Xue Ju withdrew his troops early and waited in strict formation. However, they waited until dawn the next day without seeing Li Yuanji’s soldiers come to burn the granary. Instead, their own soldiers, having gone a day and night without sleep, were all terribly drowsy and had no energy to attack the city.

Xue Ju himself was yawning continuously and ordered some soldiers to continue guarding the granary and watching the city’s defenders while the rest went to rest. But just as they lay down, deafening gongs and drums sounded. Looking out, they saw the city’s defenders, each holding gongs and drums, beating them vigorously on the city tower, making such noise that though they were extremely tired, they could not fall asleep.

Xue Ju was so angry he cursed incessantly, wanting to fight Li Jiancheng, but those people only beat gongs and drums without coming out to fight, leaving him helpless.

Finally enduring until evening, the city tower finally stopped the noise – presumably they also needed to sleep. Having finally gained quiet, Xue Ju’s army almost fell asleep the moment their heads hit their pillows. Even those responsible for guarding the granary were so tired they kept nodding off. After all, they had gone two full days and nights without sleep – how could they not be tired?

While they slept soundly, they did not know that the tightly closed city gates quietly opened, the drawbridge was lowered, and teams of soldiers quietly left the city under cover of darkness to rendezvous with soldiers waiting in the distance.

From the first to the third watch, all two hundred thousand soldiers in the city had finally withdrawn completely. Li Jiancheng was naturally among them. From the moment he emerged, his expression was unpredictable, and after seeing Li Shimin, it became even uglier. However, because of the pitch-black night, no one noticed.

Last night, while Xue Ju’s entire army was guarding the granary, someone had swum across the moat to reach the city base. Because he deliberately avoided detection, and because Xue Ju’s attention was entirely focused on the granary, he went unnoticed, allowing him to deliver the message into the city.