The dense rain of arrows came screaming, hit the city walls and shields hard, and fell into the city. The mercenaries on the suppressed city wall could not raise their heads to fight back. Countless enemy troops swarmed in along the ladders, and they were about to die.
Climb the wall. Once you succeed, it is only a matter of time before the city is broken.
The mercenaries all knew the consequences of the enemy climbing up. They didn't care about being hit by arrows and shouted to be brave. One person raised his shield to block the arrows, and the other risked his life to shoot at the enemy climbing up below.
For killing, the disadvantage is the repeating crossbow, which can fire continuously and kill a lot in an instant.
At this time, a large number of people rushed over, all holding buckets in their hands. They were covered by soldiers holding shields. They rushed up to the city wall and poured water down with their eyes closed. They screamed to vent their fear and did not dare to look at it after pouring.
, rushed down to the city like flying, and more people rushed over carrying water.
Although many people were not hit by the water, the water still fell and splashed on the heads of the enemies waiting to climb the ladder below. On the ladder, many enemy soldiers were drenched to the core and shivered, but they forced themselves to continue moving forward.
I climbed up, but my body heat quickly disappeared and I was unable to do what I wanted.
More ice water was poured down, and with repeated crossbow shooting, the enemy soldiers who climbed up the ladder fell one after another. The dead ones were left unattended, and the ones who were not dead were covered by their companions with shields, but another bucket of water was poured down, and the enemy soldiers fell down one after another.
It flowed down along the shield and fell into everyone's neck, and the body was biting with ice.
The mercenaries had people pouring water to help them, and their morale increased greatly. They continued to kill the enemies below despite the rain of arrows. However, there were too many enemy archers, and the casualties increased. The two armies began to fight for willpower and exhaustion.
The battle became stalemate, and no one was willing to retreat.
Not long after, more people came over carrying water and stepped up their attack.
The siege troops below the city couldn't stand the cold, and were shivering from the cold. No one even bothered to climb the ladder. They all hid under their shields and squatted in defense. They were so densely packed that they were really cold. No one dared to withdraw without a military order.
, but in this way, the troops rushing up from behind will be blocked and unable to rush forward.
The ladder suddenly stood alone against the wall, feeling a little lonely.
Qin Huaidao smiled when he saw this scene and shouted: "Send the order, stop shooting, use shield to cover the water, and splash farther away."
Some mercenaries who could understand Tang yelled orders, and the mercenaries acted quickly to cover the people who came up with water. Some even grabbed the buckets and poured them away, causing more people to get wet.
They yelled and wanted to rush up the ladder and climb the city wall, but they were blocked by their own people and crowded into a ball.
Not long after, the enemy discovered something unusual and began to withdraw their troops.
The siege troops retreated like a tide. Some people attacked angrily, but were stopped by Qin Huaidao's orders. They finally got so many people wet, and they must have been put back to infect others with fevers and colds. It was a simple version of a biochemical attack.
The enemy troops were repulsed. Qin Huaidao saw cheers from other city walls and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He asked Luo Zhang to be found. Seeing that Luo Zhang's face was full of excitement and he was not injured, he felt relieved and told him: "We just fought.
, the biggest threat is archery, there are too many enemy archers."
"Yes, a lot of people died at the hands of the archers. If there are a few more rounds, the morale of the army may be unstable, but there is nothing we can do." Luo Zhang's face became heavy, and he lost the joy of victory just now.
Qin Huaidao looked at the city wall. There were guard walls on both sides, like a U shape. The guard wall was about one and a half meters high, with wall stacks about six meters wide. He was moved in his heart and immediately said: "Find wood and put it across the wall stacks to raise it up every day."
Place a long piece of wood every two meters to leave some wall stacks for archery. If the long wood is not enough, use stones to form pillars in the middle of the city wall, splice them with short pieces of wood, lay a layer of boards on top, and then cover the board with a layer of stones and bricks.
It can be made into a shed. Although people cannot stand upright under it, they can still use a repeating crossbow while bowing."
"Use the parapet wall to build a shed?" Luo Zhang reacted, thought for a while, and said: "Slates and bricks are thicker, which should be able to shoot arrows, but stone slabs and bricks are hard to find, and wood is also hard to find, and
The amount of work is huge, so we can only..."
"Ask Anguo Gong for help, recruit the people, and ask the people to buy the necessary materials. Don't demolish it by force. The people's hearts must not be disturbed. Let's demolish the city lord's palace first, and do it quickly. Go ahead." Qin Huaidao warned.
"Follow the order!" Luo Zhang hurried away.
"Send the order and ask the Imperial Army to help." Qin Huaidao looked at Li Yixie.
Li Yixie nodded and arranged for a Yulin Guard to pass the order.
Qin Huaidao looked at the enemy troops in front. They saw a strong formation, with flags flying, and no end in sight. He didn't know how many people there were. The enemy suffered little loss in the battle just now, but thousands of people were splashed with water. If they all had colds and fevers, the enemy army might not be so strong.
Multi-drug treatment, but the enemy has too many troops. Once an abnormality is discovered, it only needs to be isolated, and it will have no effect.
With more troops, you can do whatever you want.
This is a big problem. We can only guard against arrows. Without the threat of arrows, the battle will still continue. If we don't solve this problem, more than half of our troops will be reduced in less than three days. By then, the morale of the army will be loose, morale will plummet, and the consequences will be disastrous.
Thoughts flashed through his mind. Qin Huaidao looked at the sky. No matter what, he had to wait until dark. The enemy would not be able to attack after dark. One night was enough to complete the deployment. The question was how to delay it until dark?
Seeing that the enemy formation was about to move and might launch an attack at any time, Qin Huaidao looked solemn and suddenly had an idea and asked: "Li Yixie, I have given you a dangerous mission, do you dare to complete it?"
"Why don't you dare? General, please tell me."
"As expected of the son of a tiger general, go to the other side and say that our army is willing to surrender..."
"Ah?" Li Yixie's expression changed drastically.
"Ah what? A delaying strategy." Qin Huaidao explained angrily.
"I was shocked. I misunderstood. General, please calm down." Li Yixie smiled awkwardly.
"Okay, listen carefully, you go and change into a regular team armor. The level is too high and dangerous, and the level is too low and unconvincing. When you get there, you will ask for negotiation. The condition is that I want to be promoted to the second-level general, and the others will be promoted to one level. It is too high.
It is easy to arouse the enemy's suspicion. In addition, we can ask for more silver reward, which will show that we are greedy for money and want beauties, otherwise the enemy will not believe that we are willing to surrender, so just three hundred thousand gold and a hundred beauties." Qin Huaidao warned seriously.
"Remember, this condition will make the general appear greedy and lustful. People who are lustful are often greedy, and lustful people are afraid of death, so the credibility of surrender is very high. There should be no problem. However, what should I do if the enemy asks about the identity of the general?" Li Yixie
asked quickly.
"Then tell me your identity. Li Junxian is an important minister of the Holy Emperor. As Li Junxian's son, it is no problem for him to serve as a general." Qin Huaidao said with a smile.
"Ah... I pretend to be a team and go there, and then become myself?"
"If you don't want to, forget it, I'll find someone else." Qin Huaidao said with a smile.
"No, if I go, does it count as a credit?"
"Forget it, and it's a great achievement!" Qin Huaidao straightened his face, pointed at the busy people and said: "We need time to deploy. Once the deployment is successful, many people will die less. You go to negotiate just to gain time. It is of great significance. I will personally
Write it on the military merit report."
"Okay, I'll go." Li Yixie agreed.
"Use the rope to climb over the city wall and get down."
"Understood." Li Yi said with satisfaction.
Not long after, Li Yixie found Feizhao, pulled the rope and skillfully fell backwards, heading straight towards the enemy. Qin Huaidao's eyes lit up and he sighed: "He is full of courage. He is worthy of being the son of a tiger general. He is a good man."
Li Yixie bravely ran towards the enemy's position. He said he was not panicking, but since his father Li Junxian resigned from his post at home, Li Yixie knew that if he wanted to revive his family, he could only fight with his own life.
"call out!"
An arrow whizzed over and landed on the ground in front, its tail buzzing and trembling.
Li Yixie stopped and raised his hands slightly to show that he was not hostile.
After waiting for a moment, a general came forward and shouted: "Who is coming and what do you want?"
"We are here to negotiate on the order of the general." Li Yixie shouted.
"Tell me!"
"My general said that good weather brings good life. If we continue to fight, it will be detrimental to your army. Of course, it will also be detrimental to our army. If we risk our lives to the end, our army will definitely be annihilated in the end, but your army will also lose tens of thousands. Instead of
Both sides will lose, so why not sit down and talk."
"Stop talking nonsense, if you don't accept negotiations, you must die." The other party said impatiently.
"Do these words represent the king of your country?" Li Yixie asked coldly.
When the King of Goguryeo was mentioned, the other party hesitated. Li Yixie continued: "If you give me a message to your king, both sides will suffer. Our army will pull the people of the city together before they die. Your king will do nothing to save you and abandon the reputation of the people."
, or have a good talk.”
Reputation is very important to those in power. The visitor's heart skipped a beat and he didn't dare to refuse anymore. He asked with a cold face: "Tell me your conditions."
Seeing that Li Yixie had trapped the other party with words, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that the other party would not talk about it and continued to attack. He continued: "My general said that for the post of a second-grade general, he will be rewarded with 300,000 silver coins and hundreds of beauties.
When the letter of appointment is received, the money and the beauty will surrender. If they don't agree, forget it. At worst, they will be destroyed together with Liaodong City."
After saying that, he turned around and left without any more nonsense.
Negotiation requires momentum, letting the other party see determination and attitude. Even if the talks are fake, the momentum cannot be weak.
Returning to the city, Li Yixie saw that the enemy was not chasing him, so he quickly grabbed the rope and climbed up. Fear rushed into his heart for a while, and he said repeatedly: "General, the conditions have been laid out. I added one more, that is, after receiving the letter of appointment, the money and the beauty will come."
Surrender, even if you don't agree, the worst thing you can do is burn with Liaodong City, it will be counterproductive, at that time it was just to shock the other party."
"It doesn't matter, this addition is good, it makes us more greedy and more persuasive." Qin Huaidao smiled with satisfaction, looked at the enemy formation, and added: "What do you think?"
Li Yixie hurriedly said: "It's hard to say, but the other party should not dare to conceal the report. In addition, we asked Goguryeo to exchange food for corpses before. The enemy will no longer question our army's greed and believe it. The King of Goguryeo is concerned about his reputation. Even if he refuses our surrender, he will temporarily
Stop the attack, discuss with your subordinates, unify the morale of the army, and time will pass."
Qin Huaidao saw that he had thought about it, and he was determined and said with a smile: "Yes, if the King of Goguryeo accepts surrender, he must first deal with internal voices. After all, we want a lot, and many people will be dissatisfied. If he refuses to surrender, he will also need to
We spend time unifying the army and solving the problem of reputation. If we really drag the people to pieces, the King of Goguryeo will refuse to save the people and abandon the people. This is a loss of moral character and the consequences will be serious. We will wait and see."
"It's not possible to attack us directly. We can't be defeated in a short time. If we lose again, the soldiers will blame the King of Goguryeo for letting everyone die after learning about the surrender. They will complain and their morale will plummet." Li Yixie added.
The two nodded in agreement and smiled.
After calculating the enemy's psychology to this extent and still failing, Qin Huaidao also accepted his fate.
Waiting is torture.
But after waiting for an hour without seeing the enemy attack, Qin Huaidao knew that the bait of "surrender" had worked. He was secretly happy. Seeing that night was coming and the enemy had missed the best opportunity to attack, he felt reassured.
Li Yixie also smiled, and got another credit.
Unknowingly, night fell. Many people in this era suffered from night blindness and could not attack overnight. However, Qin Huaidao did not dare to be careless and told the mercenaries guarding the city to be careful. He also ordered the deployed people to work overnight and inspect again to make sure there was no problem before returning.
When I arrived at the City Lord's Mansion, I saw many people demolishing the wall. I was so happy that I didn't stop them and returned to the office.
After eating some food, the soldiers kept sending people to ask questions. Qin Huaidao replied one by one and took care of it. It was late at night before he knew it. The enemy was even less likely to attack on a large scale. As for the sneak attack, the city wall was under construction and many people were guarding it.
Not afraid, I found a place to rest.
…
Huazhou, camp outside the city.
Li Er was handling official business in the big tent. There was a brazier burning next to it. The flames danced, driving away the chill in the tent. After several days of rapid march, the army finally arrived at Huazhou. It would reach Dengzhou in a few days. The team was too big.
They could only be stationed outside the city. Fortunately, local officials prepared a supply of supplies to comfort the troops.
Not long after, Li Jing opened the curtain and came in. Li Er enthusiastically pointed to the campfire and said, "Here we go, sit down and talk. How about the army?"
"The army has been settled, and several generals are watching. It's not a big problem." Li Jing quickly replied without being polite. He sat down by the campfire, stretched out his hands to warm himself, and added: "Your Majesty, the news of the imperial court's dispatch of troops is certain.
It has been spread that troops are valuable and speed is important, so it is better to let General Xue Wanche lead 20,000 troops to take the lead and cross the sea to fight."
"Okay!" Li Er also had an idea and agreed decisively. After spreading out the map, he continued: "The troops are divided into two groups. Xue Wanche will lead the army to attack Bisha City, and Niuda will attack Shicheng. If we win, we will continue to attack Jili City."
Bisha City is a protruding part of the land, closest to the ocean and closest to Dengzhou. Shicheng is behind. If captured, Bisha City's retreat route will be cut off and Goguryeo reinforcements can be prevented from arriving. However, this plan is a bit bold. Once it fails, the attack
Niuda from Shicheng was left alone.
Li Er always likes to make dangerous moves with his troops. Li Jing pondered for a moment and said: "It's a bit risky. It depends on whether Huai Dao can capture and hold Huaiyuan and delay the enemy from going south for support."
"Yes, if you fight at three points: upper, middle and lower, if you make a mistake in one step, you will lose everything. However, I believe that Huai Dao can do it. This kid has achieved miracles many times, and he can do it this time." Li Er said with a smile.
"Your Majesty!" Wang De's voice came from outside.
"Come in and talk."
Wang De hurried in, handed Li Er a small note, and explained: "The flying pigeon message I just received."
Li Er opened it and took a look. His eyes suddenly lit up and he laughed excitedly: "Just when we talked about him, there is good news. It's great news. Take a look." He handed it to Li Jing.
After reading this, Li Jing couldn't help but twitching his eyes. He looked at Wang De and asked, "Is the news reliable?"
"Absolutely reliable!" Wang De said solemnly.
"Great, this kid, I saw him right." Li Jing high-fived him.
Li Er couldn't help but admired: "Not only was he right, but he also underestimated. This guy actually captured the city of Liaodong. This was a stab in the waist of Goguryeo. Attacking it will save it. It is impossible for Goguryeo not to send troops."
, Liaodong City is tall and strong. Although I don’t know how this kid took it, it is no problem to hold it for a month. Hahaha, Goguryeo is in trouble now. He is worthy of being my strong general."
Li Jing's eyes fell on the north of Liaodong City. After thinking for a while, he said: "Sir, if my guess is correct, Goguryeo has sent at least 100,000 troops and has surrounded Liaodong City."
"So what? One hundred thousand? Even if we ignore casualties, attack fiercely at all costs, and sacrifice our lives, we will not be able to capture Liaodong City within five days. Within five days, Xue Wanche's and Niuda's troops will definitely launch an attack on the intended target. It will be too late for Goguryeo to redeploy its troops.
If we can draw support from the army besieging Liaodong City, the siege of Liaodong City will be lifted."
"The Holy One is wise." Li Jing praised in praise, but his wise eyes focused on the five cities north of Liaodong City. He quickly calculated and speculated in his mind, and his eyes became brighter and brighter.
Li Er was too familiar with Li Jing. He followed his gaze to the north of Liaodong City, suddenly thought of something, and said: "Pharmacist, are you worried about the five northern cities sending troops south? Or are you worried about Shi Wei taking advantage of the situation to rob him?"
"No, I'm not worried about this. I'm thinking that if I were in charge of Liaodong City, I would definitely send Khitan surrendered troops to attack the five northern cities of Goguryeo to solve the worries of Liaodong City. If I win, even if Shi Wei goes south, he won't be afraid and can be incorporated.
If the troops of the five cities counterattack, it will definitely not work for the Goguryeo soldiers to attack their own people, but to attack Shiwei and defend the city, it is not a big problem. I can think of it, and I think Huai Dao can also think of it." Li Jing explained.
"You mean..." Li Er looked at the map, his eyes bright and excited.
"Yes, it has been so long. Maybe the five northern cities have been captured. Otherwise, Huaidao would not be able to attack Liaodong. Even if he captured Liaodong, he would withdraw to prevent Goguryeo from attacking from the north and the south. Since he stayed behind, there is only one explanation. The north
The five cities have been captured, and even if they are not captured, there is no need to worry, it will happen sooner or later." Li Jing said solemnly.
"hiss--"
Li Er gasped in excitement. They were five cities with a large area. If they were captured, the territory of the Tang Dynasty would be expanded a lot. The key was to have peace of mind. This war of annihilation against Goguryeo would have a great chance of winning.
He couldn't help but sigh and said: "Physician, do you think we are all old? It's incredible how these young people fought in this war. We have successors to the Tang Dynasty."
"That is the Holy Spirit who knows people well and makes good use of them."
"You have never flattered me like this before."
The king and his ministers looked at each other and smiled in tacit understanding.
Li Er quickly wrote two imperial edicts and handed them to Wang De, exhorting: "Send an edict to the two generals Xue Wanche and Niu Da, asking their troops to set out overnight, march all the way, and arrive in Dengzhou within three days to act in accordance with the imperial edict."
"According to the order!" Wang De hurried away.
"Pharmacist, Huai Dao and his gang of boys have done a good job. Old men like us can't be compared. Tell us what you think." Li Er asked with a smile.
Li Jing's eyes moved down from the five cities in the north and landed on Liaodong City. After thinking about it, he said: "Your Majesty, Goguryeo soldiers are surrounding Liaodong City. To the south of Liaodong City are Anshi Prefecture and Jian'an. The troops may be transferred to Liaodong City.
, it is empty internally, so it is better to send troops to attack Jian'an. If Jian'an is captured, we can continue to go south, merge with the Niuda tribe who attacked Shicheng, and jointly capture Jili City."
"Why not attack Anshi Prefecture directly next to Liaodong City?" Li Er asked back.
Li Jing quickly explained: "Anshi Prefecture is not far from Liaodong City. There are too many troops besieging Liaodong City. It is completely possible to mobilize troops to support, but it is of little significance. It is built to the south of Anshi Prefecture. The distance is long and support is difficult. In addition,
Regardless of whether we can capture Jian'an or not, we can cover Niuda's attack on Shicheng and Jili City and prevent Jian'an from sending troops to support."
"That makes sense. Who do you want to send?" Li Er was tempted. Attacking Jian'an can not only cover Niuda's attack, but also attract the enemy troops besieging Goguryeo. However, the distance is far and reinforcements cannot arrive in a short time. It kills two birds with one stone.
.
But sending troops is a problem. The army is too far away and cannot arrive in a short time. If the time is not in sync, the attack effect cannot be achieved. Li Jing thought for a while and said: "The imperial army is too late, so we can only let Pingzhou send troops. Pingzhou
It’s not a big problem to mobilize three thousand soldiers and horses. Even if we can’t win, it’s okay to hold off Jian’an and not send troops to support.”
"Pingzhou?" Li Er's eyes fell on the location of Pingzhou on the map, thought for a while, and said: "When Goguryeo's 100,000 troops went south, Pingzhou was not attacked and no troops and horses were lost. It is not a big problem to mobilize three thousand.
The distance is also close, and we can launch an attack within five days, which is just the right time."
"Holy Lord, once the battle of Jian'an started, it meant that the imperial court's counterattack had begun, but Goguryeo didn't know how many people were gone. Once they learned that the imperial army was crossing the sea to fight, and that the sea and land were advancing simultaneously, they would definitely panic. In order to avoid being surrounded, they would inevitably retreat. If they don't retreat,
, after the Niuda tribe captured Shicheng and Jili City, they launched a sneak attack from behind to block the enemy's retreat. All the armies joined forces to eat them in one go, and half of the battle to destroy the country was won." Li Jing said with a smile.
"That's right, take down dozens of cities in the west of Goguryeo, then join forces together, slowly advance eastward, and crush the force. We have to see what is in Goguryeo that stops my army." Li Er's face flushed with excitement, as if
I saw that a large area of Goguryeo was included in the territory of the Tang Dynasty and left its name in history.
The previous dynasty's several expeditions against Goguryeo failed miserably. If it succeeds this time, it also means that it is stronger than the previous dynasty and its prestige will reach an unprecedented level.
All along, Li Er has been burdened with the notoriety of killing his brother. What he wants most is to prove that his original choice was right, that he is more suitable to be emperor than Prince Yin, and to change the world's opinions.
Expanding territory and conquering Goguryeo is the best proof!
Thinking of this, Li Er couldn't wait and said: "Pharmacist, starting from tomorrow, the army will change to a rapid march and speed up. In addition, let Li Junxian lead 20,000 troops, march day and night, go straight to Liaodong City, return to Huai Road and control it.
what do you think?"
"Li Junxian will be very willing to execute it. His son is in Liaodong City, and he is eager to prove himself in a battle this time around." Li Jing said with a smile.
The monarch and his ministers laughed in tacit understanding again.