Chapter 1127 Jinwu is facing Liaodong
Immediately outside Liaodong City, Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty looked at Jiancheng, the most important town in Liaodong.
After a long time, the emperor improvised a poem.
"Xuantu is bright at the beginning of the month, and Chenghui shines on Liaojie.
The light reflected in the clouds fades away, and the flowers across the trees are like embellishments.
The soul is full of osmanthus branches, and the wheel is weak and the mirror is lacking.
Lincheng was scattered, and surrounded with dizziness.
Stay in the capital and look down at Marudu, watching the demon atmosphere disappear. "
Yu Chigong praised loudly, "Good poem!"
Li Shimin turned his head and glared at Lao Hei. Do you know what is good poetry and what is bad poetry? Old Hei shut up resentfully.
Jiangxia King Li Daozong stepped forward to plead guilty, "I lost my soldiers and generals, lost my teachers and humiliated the country, please the saints to come down!"
"Brother Wang, why did you say that? You charged 4,000 against 40,000 of the enemy. This kind of courage is rare. Besides, you defeated the enemy army in the end, beheaded more than 3,000 ranks, and took many prisoners. Isn't this credit enough? The big reward is!"
Li Daozong said in shame, "If Duke E hadn't rushed to the rescue in time, I would have buried Your Majesty's four thousand cavalry, which is an unforgivable crime!"
The emperor helped Li Daozong up and straightened his clothes.
"I know the details of your battle today. The captain, Ma Wenju, and Dong He, who participated in the military, all performed bravely. The special commendation will be promoted to a higher level. Brother Wang should also be credited with a great service. Only Zhang Junyi, the chief of the army, came to the battle. If you are timid and almost defeated, you should be executed!"
Chao worships Ma Wenju as the Zhonglang General of the Left Guard, and Dong He is the Guerrilla General.
The emperor's words fell.
Immediately, a hundred riders dragged the manager Zhang Junyi down.
No matter how Zhang Junyi yelled, Li Shimin's expression was indifferent. During this Eastern Expedition, the armies are progressing smoothly, the offensive is like a fire, and good news spreads frequently. Qin Lang first went to Jian'an, and then defeated the Anshi army. Cheng Yaojin also went to Tongding, Xuantu, and Gaimu cities in succession.
But the Eastern Expedition was not all smooth sailing.
Cen Wenwen, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, caught wind and cold when he passed Liaoze, and died of illness as soon as he left Liaoze. And General Zuo Tunwei, General Zuo Dajiang, Commander of the Flying Cavalry Battalion, Jiang Xingben, Duke of Jincheng County, was shot and killed by Liu Ya today.
Jiang Xingben is the emperor's confidant, and even a rare master of architecture and design in the Tang Dynasty. Like the brothers of the Yan family, they are national treasures. In this Eastern Expedition, Jiang Xingben accompanied him on the expedition. He was the chief engineer of the whole army. Ze, Jiang Xingben contributed a lot.
As a result, as soon as he arrived at Liaodong City, Jiang Xingben led a team of craftsmen to observe the terrain of the river, when they encountered a group of defeated Liao soldiers who were shot and died.
This is the first senior general who died in the battle of Zhengliao in the Tang Dynasty, the rank of the general of the twelve guards, and he was still a county prince. How could Li Shimin not be annoyed, it was because Zhang Junyi did not dare to fight to the death.
A moment.
Zhang Junyi's head was brought up.
Li Shimin glanced at it with disdain, "Pass it down to the other battalions, as a warning to others."
For the unfortunate Jiang Xingben, "Jiang Xingben was given to General Zuowei, Duke of the Kingdom of Yi, posthumously named Xiang, and buried in Zhaoling."
Although Cen Wenwen, who died of illness halfway, did not die in battle, Li Shimin also gave him a generous posthumous gift.
"Gifted to Cen Wenwen, the servant and governor of Guangzhou, with the posthumous title of Xian, and was buried in Zhaoling!"
Just arrived at Liaodong city, two third grades are gone.
The war has not stopped, the remains of the two ministers can only be sent back to the Central Plains first, but Liaodong has to continue the conquest.
The Liaodong City in front of you is a city that must be attacked.
Especially for Tang Jun, this city has special significance. Emperor Yangdi's three expeditions all stopped at the Liaodong city. Many of the Tang troops under the city today also fought fiercely under the city in those years, and some even fought more than once.
Liaodong City is a hurdle that Tang Jun must cross.
Must be taken down.
But after Li Shimin personally approached Liaodong City for a long time to scout, he couldn't help but frown.
Although they have broken the defense line of the Great Wall of the Goguryeo people, Liaodong City is indeed tall and strong. Liaodong City is different from the general Liaodong mountain city. This is a city built on a plain.
"This city was originally the Xiangping City of the Han Dynasty."
The name of Liaodong City originated from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Goguryeo was strong, and Houyan Murong was weak. Goguryeo captured Liaodong County, then attacked Houyan, and occupied the Liaodong area. Xiangping City, which was governed by Houyan Liaodong County, was changed to Liaodong City, so it got its name.
Li Shimin stroked his beard.
"It's been two hundred and forty years. I remember it clearly. It has been two hundred and forty years since Goguryeo took this city from Houyan!"
Changsun Wuji was also very impressed.
"During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, in the 23rd year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, General Qin Kai of the State of Yan attacked Donghu, but Donghu was thousands of miles away. Yan set up Xiangping County and became Liaodong County. After Qin, Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, until Houyan, Xiangping City was established. Six hundred and eighty years have passed!"
General Yan took this place from Donghu and established Xiangping. The Central Plains has been controlled by many dynasties for 680 years, and then it was taken away by the Goguryeo people. Until now, it has been 240 years.
"After the city is recovered, it should be renamed Xiangping and placed in Liaozhou."
Immediately, an official wrote it down.
"Do you have a way to take this city?"
After the emperor returned to the camp, he immediately held a military meeting.
The Liaodong city was strong, which Yang Guang learned deeply during the Sui Dynasty. Now that decades have passed, the Goguryeo people have strengthened the Liaodong city even more.
The entire Liaodong City has two layers of internal and external. Although it is a flat city, it is not inferior to big cities such as Youzhou and Bingzhou in the Central Plains.
Just sent more than 30,000 reinforcements into the city.
Now there are more than 100,000 defenders in the city.
The Sixth Army of the Son of Heaven in the hands of Li Shimin is only 30,000, and the number of soldiers from the Hu tribe in the hands of Cheng Yaojin in the north is only 60,000 to 70,000.
Sixty thousand and one hundred thousand.
Not optimistic.
"Please ask the sage to issue an order to call Qin Lang, Niu Jinda, Cheng Mingzhen, and Zhang Jian to lead the army to join forces, and first take down Liaodong City." Changsun Wuji suggested.
There are not enough troops here, but Qin Lang has strong troops in his hands.
It didn’t cost a single soldier to take down Jian’an, and annihilated 40,000 reinforcements in An City, but there were only more than 2,000 casualties, and Qin Lang still had almost 120,000 horses in his hands. Not counting the partial division of more than 20,000 people going east, this force is already completely stronger than their main force.
An City is only a hundred miles away from Liaodong City.
Soldiers and horses are strong when they are united, and weak if they are divided.
Li Shimin is also in favor of this proposal.
There are still 60,000 to 70,000 horses in Anshi City and its surrounding areas. It will be difficult for Qin Lang to besiege Anshi City. If the two armies jointly attack Liaodong City, they can gather 170,000 to 80,000 horses to attack the 100,000 defenders of Liaodong City. , but also occupy a numerical advantage.
Liaodong City is backed by mountains and facing rivers. The soil is fertile and suitable for farming. The Goguryeo people have been operating for more than 200 years and built this Liaodong city into a stone fortress.
Not only the city wall is built of solid stone, but also a wide and deep trench was dug around the city wall.
To deal with such a heavily guarded fortified city, under normal circumstances, it is difficult to take it down without three times the number of troops without surrounding it for three to five months or even half a year.
Li Shimin was also prepared.
"Wei Luoyang back then,"
At the beginning of the founding of the country, Li Tang besieged Luoyang, which was guarded by Wang Shichong, but it was very difficult. Li Shimin's first expedition to the east was unsuccessful. Later, Wude surrounded Luoyang in the fourth year of Wude, and he surrounded Luoyang for more than half a year. , and then defeated the reinforcements of Dou Jiande in Hebei. Luoyang City was exhausted of food and had no foreign aid, and finally surrendered in despair.
If there is food in Luoyang City, Li Shimin can't get it for a while.
"We have to build a big car!"
Although Jiang Xingben, the general and master craftsman who accompanied the army, unfortunately died, fortunately, there are still many officials in the army who know carpentry and manufacturing.
"For such a strong city, it is necessary to build a large catapult, throw hundreds of catties of boulders on the city, and then rebuild a large number of small catapults, and then equip them with various siege equipment, such as ladders, rams, etc."
Li Shimin frowned.
This method of siege was actually used by Yang Guang to attack Liaodong City. In those years, Yang Guang attacked Liaodong City three times, but he never used any method. Moreover, Yang Guang had sufficient troops at that time, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses besieged it.
This kind of method is to take people's lives for real.
At that time, the entire Liaodong City will be a Shura field, and it will be a meat grinding ground of **** on earth.
This kind of forceful attack, even if it can be captured, will inevitably bring a lot of casualties.
And there is another problem. This time the Tang army set off in autumn, and there is not much time left for them. It will be cold soon, and the severe cold here will make it difficult for them to continue.
There is not enough time for them to build vehicles and equipment here, and there is not enough time to besiege the city.
“We only have a month at most.”
"It will definitely snow here by then."
Liaodong Snow Country, thousands of miles of ice, this is not a joke.
Li Shimin pondered for a while.
"Fill in the trench first, and at the same time build the dump truck, and then I will call Qin Lang to lead the army to join forces."
Early the next morning.
The Jinwu banner stands tall.
Li Shimin once again led Baiqi to the foot of Goguryeo City, and this time personally persuaded him to surrender.
The person sitting in the city at this time is Goguryeo Molizhiyuan Gaisuwen, a powerful minister with five swords, and the leader of the Liaodong defense line.
Thousands of miles of defense line, which has been in operation for many years, is now like a sieve by the Tang people. Cities such as Jian'an and Gaimu have been destroyed one after another. Yuangai Suwen has no courage to go out of the city to fight.
As for the surrender, Yuan Gai Suwen guarded the city of Liaodong and considered himself strong, so he was unwilling to surrender.
Knowing that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was under the city, many Goguryeo generals were eager to go out of the city to capture the king of Tang, but Yuan Gaisuwen issued a death order, prohibiting anyone from leaving the city, and those who violated it would be executed immediately.
Many generals reminded that the defenders of the city should not hide in the city and defend the city, but Yuan Gaisuwen refused and ordered them to stand firm in the city.
At the same time, they sent people out of the city to find Gao Huizhen and others, so that they would not have to go to Anshi City, but instead diverted to aid Liaodong City.
Li Shimin yelled for a long time in person at the base of the city, but there was no movement in the city, and then asked the two generals Xu Luoren and Yu Chigong to continue yelling towards the city with the guards on white horses.
But the throat was dry, and no Goguryeo responded.
Originally, I wanted to be young again, just like when the country was founded, using my body as bait to lure and kill the enemy generals, who knew I would meet such a group of people.
The frustrated Li Shimin had no choice but to ride a horse around Goguryeo City. After three laps, no one dared to come out, so he had better go back to the camp.
Seeing that Li Daozong was directing a large number of soldiers to fill the trench with soil, Li Shimin simply jumped off his horse and lifted a stone to fill the trench together.
The princes of the county, Li Simo, Qin Guozhong, and Li Sili, the sons-in-law of the Tibetans, screamed even more. They all rushed under the city wall in person, commanding a fierce attack on the defenders on the city to cover and fill in the trenches.
If the trenches hadn't been filled, they would probably have climbed up the city with their swords in their hands.
The emperor himself was moving the soil to fill the trench. This story was spread to ten, ten to hundreds, and soon tens of thousands of Tang soldiers in the entire Liaodong city knew about it. Even the wounded soldiers in the camp for sick children jumped out of their beds and ran I came down to the city to help move the soil!
(end of this chapter)