The appearance of Liaodong City is blue and black, which contrasts with the surrounding white mountains and black waters, making it particularly spectacular. The Sui Dynasty prepared for two years for the expedition to Liao, and the Goguryeo people also reinforced the thickness of the walls of Liaodong City twice for defense. Today,
The outer wall of this city was built with a layer of stone strips, and the inner wall was cast with clay and rice slurry. Even if the most powerful ballista shot at it, it would only be able to create first-class sparks outside the wall, and would not be able to damage the city wall at all.
In order to prevent the Sui army from climbing the city, many horse faces were built outside Liaodong City. Each protruding horse face had a watchtower made of bricks and stones. The defenders could seal any defensive blind spots in the watchtower with bows, arrows and stones.
If the attacker wants to break the will of the defender, it will have to pay a price three times higher than in a normal battle.
After the defeat of the Liao River Battle, Eulji Wenhui withdrew all his troops into Liaodong City. No matter how the Sui army challenged them outside the city, the Goguryeo people would not show up. The Sui soldiers and horses came to understand the people, so the emperor
His Majesty's rigorous officers harassed the nearby people. The Sui officers and soldiers were benevolent and righteous, so the unkind tactics of digging up beams to pour water into Liaodong and driving the people as vanguards were also banned by His Majesty the Emperor.
"I want to let the small barbarian country experience the mercy of the Celestial Empire!" His Majesty the Emperor said to all the civil and military officials. Only the benevolent can be invincible. The Goguryeo people destroyed the pontoon bridge and sold the body of General Mai. They had already sacrificed their lives in the battle of Liaohe River.
A sufficient price was paid. In the next battle, the Sui Dynasty would show kindness and power at the same time, and use kindness to make the people of Liaodong feel grateful and return home.
"Tsk! I wonder if the Goguryeo people will be merciful to us one day after we are defeated!" Liu Hongji secretly muttered to a few friends as he looked at the Liaodong City that had been unable to be conquered for a long time.
"How can our army of millions be defeated?" Qi Po Ning widened his eyes and protested loudly against Liu Hongji's irresponsible speculation. Although he did not have the courage to go to the battlefield, he was a citizen of the Sui Dynasty after all. He cursed his own army.
He was not willing to hear the words about defeating the battle.
Most of the people in the food protection army had the same thoughts as Qi Po Ningzhi. Including Li Xu and Li Shimin, who had always been pessimistic about the war against Liao, they often hoped that their previous judgments were wrong. Considering that the government soldiers were on the banks of the Liao River that day
Judging from the combat effectiveness displayed, it is indeed a matter of day and night to capture Goguryeo. The premise is that His Majesty the Emperor is willing to let everyone do what they want, instead of always being held back by the name of benevolence and righteousness like now.
"God will bless the Sui Dynasty. Hasn't it already sent a good omen in Wanghaidun?" Wang Yuantong is not very good at military strategy, but he cares about the Book of Changes, Bagua, folk songs, and celestial signs. According to his deduction, the Five Elements Bagua
and revelations from heaven all foreshadow the victory of the Liao Dynasty, but the Goguryeo people are ignorant and do not know how to follow the weather. (Note 4)
Liu Hongji sneered at Wang Yuantong's words, "If God wants the Sui Dynasty to win, why not cause an earthquake and collapse the Liaodong city wall? Or, let the guard Yi Zhiwenhui understand the shame of a warrior!"
Everyone smiled helplessly, knowing that there was absolutely no possibility of the two hypotheses being realized. God had recently given Sui many good omens. First, someone saw a giant whale about twenty feet long stranded in Wanghaidun. After killing it, the whale was
The bones were presented to the altar built by His Majesty the Emperor when he passed by. Then, two colorful giant birds appeared on the seaside. Their wings were spread out about a foot wide. They sang happily day and night, and the sound resounded ten miles away.
Goguryeo is surrounded by the sea on three sides. The death of a giant whale stranded naturally means that Goguryeo is about to perish. And the two giant birds should be the legendary phoenix and phoenix, which only appear when the saint is dying. For this auspicious sign, the emperor
His Majesty has already rushed to Wanghaidun with most of the civil servants and recited poems to remember it.
The problem is that the Goguryeo generals refused to accept Tianming's order. They relied on their fortified city and face to fight stubbornly. Whenever the Sui soldiers gained the initiative in a siege, the Goguryeo generals would immediately raise a white flag, announce their readiness to surrender, and ask the Sui army for a certain amount of power.
Time restrained the chaos in the city. When the Sui army evacuated the city wall, the defenders immediately repaired the gaps, replenished stones, and crossbow arrows. When the agreed surrender time came, they raised the battle flag again.
Within a month and a half, the Goguryeo people had surrendered three times. Each time, they were groveling and pretending to be repentant. Every time they succeeded, they immediately turned against each other and stood on the enemy tower and cursed the Sui soldiers for being stupid.
Liu Shilong, the minister Youcheng who comforted the people of Liaodong, had the final decision-making power. If he didn't nod, the generals would not be able to enter the city even if they were angry.
"This is the fourth time. If anyone still believes in Goguryeo, he must have been kicked in the head by a donkey!" A few days later, Li Shimin complained in a low voice.
"This matter must be decided by the emperor. Before his Majesty went to watch the dancing phoenixes in the sea, he issued an order that no matter what the situation, the Goguryeo people were not allowed to attack without authorization as long as they asked for surrender." Li Jiancheng had handled government affairs for several years and knew that the minister Youcheng Liu Shilong was
Therefore, I had some unspeakable reasons for being fooled again and again, so I defended him in a low voice.
"Then why don't you just ask the emperor for instructions!" Li Shimin said angrily. He didn't believe that all officials were stupid, and the emperor also made the same mistake.
His strategy of swimming in slow water downstream fully demonstrated his extraordinary wisdom.
"Master Yu Wenshu has sent a messenger to report to His Majesty, and the news will come back in three days!" Liu Hongji replied with a sigh, his face full of helplessness.
One million troops were dragged by Liaodong City for nearly two months, and everyone felt bored. The food guard army was the most boring group among them. At first, everyone was still interested in going to the city wall to cheer for their own warriors, but now
, I can’t even arouse the interest in watching the game.
No matter how the battle is fought, the final result will be the same. As long as the Goguryeo people raise the white flag, the Sui army will have to withdraw. As for the brothers who died under the city wall, it seems that they are not their own robes, and no one will consider their previous achievements.
Is the sacrifice worth it?
Three days later, the messenger brought back His Majesty's imperial edict from Wanghaidun, allowing the Goguryeo people to surrender for the fourth time. In the edict, His Majesty taught all officials to be magnanimous, and that the kings and ministers of the heaven should not behave like barbarians and clowns. In the past, Prime Minister Zhuge once
Capturing Meng Huo seven times, the Southern Barbarians were pacified forever. Today the Goguryeo guards only repeated this four times. Sooner or later, they will be convinced one day.
General Yuwenshu sent someone to deliver His Majesty the Emperor's decree to Liaodong City, and guard Eulji Wenhui was grateful. In return for his gratitude, he opened the west city gate the next day and trapped the first wave of Sui soldiers and horses who entered the city to surrender.
The bullets in the urn city turned into hedgehogs. Yuwenshu was furious and launched an attack on the city. The army smashed the outer gate of the west city with a siege hammer. The Goguryeo people could not resist and raised the lowering flag for the fifth time.
"General Gao Qiang forced me to do this. He is my king's nephew, and the foreign minister has to obey. The foreign minister has already killed him. I hope the general's anger will be temporarily relieved!" Eulji Munhui personally climbed up the tower and spoke with a A bloody human head apologized to the Sui army.
"Do you think I am a fool?" Old General Yu Wenshu scolded angrily. He mobilized the army and continued to attack. Seeing that the plan failed, the Goguryeo people used all their abilities to resist. The army attacked for a whole day, but failed to break through Wengcheng City. Door.
Liaodong City has been dyed blood red, half of it is the blood of Sui soldiers and half of the blood of Goguryeo defenders. The Goguryeo battle flag on the top of the city is still erected, and no one can predict how long it will remain upright. Known for its bravery, General Wang Rengong and Zuo Wuwei rushed up, but were thrown down again by rocks. General Yuwenshu, who was known for his wisdom, used various methods such as attacking in the east and attacking in the west, encircling three without one, and defrauding the city with aid, but the Goguryeo people still did not give up their resistance. .
The attackers climbed up to the top of the city and were cut down. The defenders stuck out their heads and were shot into hedgehogs. When the game of surrender and care was exhausted, both the enemy and ourselves finally used their full strength. There were scenes of bloodshed. The tragedy of fire happens every day outside the city wall, and the same story is repeated every day.
Slowly, Li Xu found that he was starting to become numb. When Paoze died fighting under the city wall, he was no longer as angry as when he first saw him. The enemy was shot down from the city wall by crossbow arrows, and he was no longer as angry as when he first entered the battlefield. It was so exciting. Death and fighting seemed to have become a part of life. We could encounter them every day and there was nothing new about them.
Sometimes, he suddenly felt that those soldiers who died in battle were like crops in the field. Maybe one day, they would crawl out of the soil. This thought made him feel very scared, and he even wondered whether he had suffered from too many things recently. It was too much, so he lost his mind. But after seeing the performance of his companions around him, Li Xu finally felt relieved. He was not the only one who went "crazy" because of the long battle. Many people began to act abnormally. It was just their own performance. Just different.
Wang Yuantong's performance was to repeatedly flip through a rolled-up "Book of Changes". After his research, various situations showed that the Goguryeo defenders could not support it until the end of this month. As for whether the Book of Changes from the Central Plains would be lost when it arrived in Liaodong There is no way to know if it becomes ineffective if it is not adapted to the climate.
Qin Ziying's performance was to repeatedly study what tactics could be used to destroy Liaodong City as soon as possible. Although he had no chance to propose to the generals due to his position, this did not prevent him and Li Shimin from devising plans on the ground every day. In his plan, the Goguryeo people had been slaughtered three times, and the guard Eulji Moonhui was chopped into minced meat and thrown into the river to feed the fish. The fish did not even bother to eat the meat of this shameless guy, and only the turtle did not mind it. Pickled.
The way the warrior Yu passed his time was to bet money with the soldiers on whether the emperor would allow the Goguryeo general to surrender for the fifth time. General Yuwenshu refused to surrender this time, and his move to storm the city has been warned by civil servants who advocated appeasement. When we arrived at His Majesty's side, His Majesty's imperial edict had not yet been returned.
His Majesty the Emperor's decree came late, and he could not bear it anymore and allowed the armies to attack. However, the rainy season also followed the decree, turning the land of Liaodong into mud.
In mid-May, it started to rain in Liaodong. The patter of rain never ended. The humid weather greatly reduced the power of crossbows and catapults. Without the support of these two siege weapons, the soldiers of the government were well trained. , and cannot gain the upper hand in a strong attack.
The offensive and defensive sides stopped the fighting in unison. While letting the soldiers recharge their batteries, they waited for the arrival of sunny weather. The generals on both sides knew that each other's morale was on the verge of collapse. Whether Liaodong City could be captured or defended depended on it.
The first match between the two sides after the weather cleared.
"It's better to dig up the Daliang River. It's less than two miles away from the northeast wall of Liaoning!" Qin Ziying reminded everyone in a low voice as he looked at the increasingly wide Daliang River, a tributary of the Liaohe River.
This was a method that was vetoed by Liu Shilong, the Minister Youcheng, two months ago, but that was two months ago, and everyone had not yet completely despaired of the credibility of the Goguryeo people. Now, except for a few civil servants, everyone in the Sui Dynasty
No longer doubt the enemy's determination to fight to the end.
Except for Liu Hongji, everyone in the food protection army was very soft-spoken and had no qualifications to advise the generals. Liu Hongji couldn't resist everyone's requests and went to visit General Yuwenshu with the detailed siege strategy written by Qin Ziying. He went
After a whole day, I finally returned to the military camp with a dark face.
"The Emperor has returned from Wanghaidun North and will arrive in ten days. His Majesty has ordered that no attack be made on Liaodong City before his arrival!" Liu Hongji threw Qin Ziying's siege plan on the table and said bitterly.
