"This old guy finally figured it out." Huangpu Gong slapped Cai Renyuan's warrant on Cui Rong's hand, who came over after hearing the news, and scolded him with a curled lip. "Yesterday, I told him to change the fight to an easier place, but he still resisted.
If you had listened to us earlier, why would you have suffered such a big loss at night?"
“The old guy is so blinded by hatred that he doesn’t even know what’s important!”
"That old guy is an outsider after all, and he doesn't care about the life or death of our Korean soldiers!"
…
Including Cui Rong, the soldiers all around echoed in agreement, and everyone's face was filled with contempt for Cai Renyuan.
Although Cai Renyuan taught most of them, and Cui Renyuan never regarded himself as a Song Dynasty person.
However, in the eyes of Huangfu Gong and other Goryeo generals, Cai Renyuan was just an outsider no matter how hard he worked. He was simply not qualified to give orders to the noble sons of the eight most powerful families in Goryeo!
Goryeo prides itself on being a Little China, and its culture is deeply influenced by China. The most despised thing is someone who leads a foreign race to harm their own compatriots.
No matter what status Cai Renyuan holds, in the eyes of most Goryeo nobles, he is from the Central Plains. Although the Goryeo monarchs and ministers can entrust him with important responsibilities and appoint their nephews to be his disciples, they will not look down upon him leading the Goryeo soldiers.
The act of attacking the Song Dynasty.
Cai Renyuan didn't know that while he was still undressed and preparing for war, the Queen Mother of Goryeo had already given secret orders to generals such as Huangfu Gong, Cui Rong and Che Li to monitor his every move at all times. During the expedition, as long as he was found to have betrayed Goryeo.
If there are any signs, you can kill them on the spot without asking anyone for instructions!
With so many traditional and realistic factors, how could Huangfu Gong, Cui Rong and others really regard Cai Renyuan as the navy's commander deep down in their hearts?
The navy had never suffered setbacks before, so Huangfu Gong, Cui Rong and others would reluctantly obey Cai Renyuan because of his kindness in teaching him.
Now Cai Renyuan not only suffered a defeat, but was also approached by an enemy general in the middle of the night and burned more than 20 warships. How could Huangfu Gong, Cui Rong and others not unite to challenge his command?
"Since the old guy is still sensible, he personally acted as a suspect to attract General Song's attention for everyone. Let's not argue with him. Let's knock down Jiaoxi first and get some benefits for the brothers!" Immediately, some people couldn't wait to see it.
He suggested that he quickly raise the sails and lift the anchor and head straight for Jiaoxi.
This proposal was immediately approved by all the generals. The generals immediately split up and made all preparations. They waited patiently and waited until the white fish belly appeared in the east. The Koryo Navy's right wing squadron, the remnants of the forward squadron and
The left wing squadron weighed anchor one after another, and took advantage of the morning breeze to fight towards Jiaowan in a mighty manner.
The following series of facts proved that the plan of Huangfu Gong, Che Li and Cui Rong was extremely sound. Najiao Bay is indeed a natural harbor. Not only is the entrance far wider than Dengzhou Port, the water depth in the harbor is also far deeper than that of Dengzhou Port.
meet the needs of battleships.
Out of caution, Cui Rong personally took several sentry boats and entered the harbor to repeatedly check and confirm that there were no man-made reefs or wooden piles. Then he blew the conches and summoned the fleet to enter in large numbers.
Two and a half squadrons, with a total of more than 120 warships, entered Jiaowan in a mighty manner, with tall sails covering the sky and the sun.
How had the fishermen who lived by the sea in Jiaowan seen such a battle? They were so frightened that they abandoned their boats and nets and fled in a hurry.
Several Likal officials and soldiers near the coast saw a huge fleet coming, and they were all frightened and ran away.
As a result, Huangpu Gong, Che Li, Cui Rong and others, without spending a single soldier, laid a large foothold on the shore. Compared with yesterday's Dengzhou battle, it was more than a hundred times smoother?
Huangpu Gong, Che Li, Cui Rong and other Goryeo young generals were still not satisfied. They first ordered their private staff to help compose poems to record their military exploits. Soon, five thousand auxiliary soldiers were left to guard the ships, and they led more than seven thousand
The soldiers marched towards Jiaoxi County in a mighty manner.
Jiaoxi County is only five or six miles away from the seaside. Huangfugong and others could see the city tower while standing on the beach. Of course, there was no need for a guide to lead the way.
The army marched along the sidewalk that the fishermen had trampled with their feet, and it took only half an hour to reach the bottom of Jiaoxi City.
Seeing victory in sight, Huangpu Gong, Che Li, Cui Rong and other Goryeo young generals suddenly discovered that they had made a mistake, not a big one nor a small one.
That is, everyone habitually speculated on Jiaoxi based on the size of the city in Goryeo. However, they did not consider that the people in the Song Dynasty were far wealthier than those in Goryeo.
Although Jiaoxi is just an ordinary county town and not the seat of a state capital, the city wall is still more than two feet high. The city is square and square, seven miles long and four miles wide. And because of sufficient tax revenue, the city walls are covered with nails.
There are all kinds of defensive facilities such as rolling logs, hammers, crossbows, hanging hammers, and horse faces.
For such a large city, the 7,000 Goryeo elites moved under the city, and it immediately seemed weak. Whether it was a siege or a simultaneous attack from all sides, the strength was obviously stretched.
However, Huangpu Gong, Che Li, Cui Rong and other Goryeo young generals who have already reached the city cannot directly order the withdrawal. In that case, not only will their morale be greatly affected, but they will also find it difficult to fight like before when they meet the coach Cai Renyuan in the future.
Still speaking with a straight spine!
In addition, the soldiers below followed them in order to make a fortune. However, it was difficult to convince the soldiers when they saw that they were not allowed to eat the fat meat that had already reached their lips.
Therefore, after much deliberation, Huangfu Gong, Che Li, Cui Rong and others finally made a difficult decision. They first let the war soldiers repair outside the city for one night, and at the same time dispatched auxiliary troops to dismantle the ballistas equipped on the warships.
Ten vehicles, together with the ladders prepared for the attack on Dengzhou, were transported to the outside of Jiaoxi City.
By the next morning, when the soldiers had regained their energy and the ballistae and ladders were ready, they chose the southern city wall, which seemed to have the least defensive facilities, and concentrated their forces to seek a breakthrough.
This plan is not entirely wrong.
Especially in this era where the unit of time is the month, no matter the Song Dynasty, Liao Kingdom or Goryeo Dynasty, the efficiency of doing things cannot be improved. It is very normal to attack a big city and last for one or two months. It is rare to conquer it in one go.
of miracles.
In the blink of an eye, the next morning, Huangfu Gong served as the temporary commander, commanding fifty crossbow vehicles, avoiding the watchtowers and city gates on the south side of Jiaoxi City, aiming at a section of the city wall and firing in turn. In the blink of an eye, the city wall was smashed and the soil was flying.
, smoke and dust billowing.
After the ballistae had exerted its power, he commanded two thousand archers to fire three rounds of diffuse fire towards the city. Then, with an order, he divided the two thousand soldiers into four teams and shot towards the city full of arrows.
The city wall rushed over.
Cai Renyuan once taught him that a goshawk would do its best to pounce on a rabbit. Therefore, once Huangfu Gong took action, he had no intention of leaving any breathing room for the Song army in the city.
Two thousand soldiers and horses rushed to the bottom of the city wall in a blink of an eye, erected the ladder originally prepared for attacking Dengzhou, and climbed up. Just before they saw it, several warriors were about to successfully climb to the top of the city. Unexpectedly, on top of the city, suddenly,
Dozens of Song soldiers appeared and threw the lit iron lumps in front of them.
"Boom, boom, boom..." The muffled thunderous explosions continued. The ladder overturned, and the Korean warriors who were trying hard to climb fell to the ground one after another like dumplings.
When the thunder subsided a little, Huangfu Gong looked again in a low voice. More than twenty ladders had fallen over and were broken into pieces. None of them could lead to the top of the city. And the more than two thousand Korean warriors who attacked Yifu and attacked the city.
At least three hundred people were killed or injured, and the rest were all pale-faced and hurried away from the city wall with their heads in their hands!
