A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1293: The Fall of Liaodong City

Xue Rengui held the cup with both hands, "I offer milk tea instead of wine, to the general, thank you for your cultivation and support. I will remember this kindness in my heart and will never forget it."

Wu Huaiyu also picked up the cup and said, "This is all your own ability, the result of your years of hard work. Among the six thousand soldiers who went to the battle today, you were the only one who performed the best and was favored by the saint."

Xue Rengui was very excited when he heard this, but Wang Fangyi and Zhao Zhiman beside him felt a little complicated. In fact, they both performed well this year. One of them had seven enemy heads hanging on his saddle, and the other had eight, not counting the ones that were not cut off in time.

It can be said to be very tough.

But none of them were as eye-catching as Xue Rengui's performance today.

The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty all wore red battle uniforms, while Xue Rengui wore silver armor and a white horse, and he also wore a white robe over his armor.

So eye-catching.

Of course, his performance is more eye-catching.

When An Lushan was surrounded, Xue Rengui rushed over alone from hundreds of steps away and killed the enemy general with one lance.

Shouting loudly, wielding the spear like a dragon,
It immediately shocked the enemy and made them tremble with fear.

This performance is eye-catching enough and the achievement is great enough.

After all, An Lushan was not an ordinary general. He was the Prince of Parthia in the Tang Dynasty, the King of the vassal state Anguo, and the governor and governor of Parthia.

Such an identity,
Today, he charged into battle for the Tang Dynasty but was trapped in the enemy's camp. Xue Rengui's rescue was enough to earn him the first merit.

What's more, he killed an enemy general.

When facing the enemy in battle, the vanguard advances forward, breaks through the stronghold, kills the general and seizes the flag. The enemy is thus defeated and this is called "Jiaodang".

All three of them played today.

The opportunities were equal, but in the end, only Xue Rengui was able to truly seize this opportunity.

The leap from white clothes to fifth-grade scarlet robes was truly a huge step.

But this was a reward bestowed personally by the emperor, and no one could say that it was against the rules. Especially since this military achievement was witnessed by countless people, and it was truly a display of bravery and extraordinary talent.

The two clinked glasses,

Since you are in the army and cannot drink alcohol, you can drink milk tea instead.

Today, Wu Huaiyu specially asked his personal soldiers to get a batch of sheep from the merchant caravan, and paid for the mutton out of his own pocket for his personal soldiers.

Today, it is not only Xue Rengui who has made contributions among these one thousand personal soldiers.

But today he caught the emperor's eye.
The contributions of the others were also great. In any case, the emperor announced after the war that each of the 6,000 soldiers who participated in the battle would be awarded the second rank of medals.

Among them, three will be awarded the jumping merit, six will be awarded the first pioneer merit, and there are many others who will receive the second or third merit. These people will receive more additional rewards.

Officers were also promoted, etc.

This is how it is in the army: if we win a battle, everyone will be rewarded; if we lose a battle, everyone will be punished.

Winning is better than anything else.

Zhao Zhiman and Wang Fangyi also won the first prize of pioneering today.

In today's battle, we were considered to be in the middle of the pack in terms of numbers, but in the end, we killed more than a thousand people, which was not even one point of the enemy, so it can only be considered a lowly victory.

Those in the middle formation were awarded the second-level medal. Those who fought particularly well and made meritorious contributions such as leaping and pioneering were awarded an additional level of medal. Both of them received the fourth-level medal in just one battle.

In fact, this is already very impressive.

Even if Wu Huaiyu reports their achievements, he can get the position of ninth-rank team deputy in one step.

From the camp for children of non-staff officials, he directly skipped over the ranks of honorary officials and casual officials and became a regular official, which is something many people cannot achieve in their entire lives.

Although one of these two men was from the Wang family of the Five Surnames, and the other was from the Zhao family of Guanlong nobles, since they came to the Liaodong battlefield through Wu Huaiyu's camp, they wanted to earn military merit for themselves.

Being able to become the team leader in one battle, even if it is just the deputy, is amazing.

But compared with Xue Rengui, this ninth-rank captain and fourth-rank honorary officer immediately didn't seem so attractive, not at all. Even the roasted lamb that he hadn't eaten for many days didn't seem so attractive.

The lamb kidneys were tasteless.

They came to the battlefield and killed the enemies in the same way. Xue Rengui was suddenly promoted to a fifth-rank guerrilla general and the deputy chief of Yunquan Zhechou Mansion, Captain Guoyi, with more than 1,800 palace soldiers under his command. He would soon guard the emperor and serve him.

This step may be a distance that many people will never be able to catch up with in their lifetime.

Xue Rengui also saw that the two good brothers were in a low mood.
Give them each a string of kidneys,

He raised his cup of milk tea and said, "I also have to thank my two good brothers for bringing me to visit the general. This gave me the opportunity to follow the general to Liaodong. Thank you, brothers."

Wang Fangyi and Zhao Zhiman forced a smile and clinked their glasses.

I took a big sip of milk tea and felt it was a bit sour and bitter.

Wu Huaiyu patted the two young men on the shoulder and said, "I have always said that gold shines wherever it goes. Your performance today and the meritorious rewards you have received have actually surpassed countless others.
With this ability, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. This war has just begun, and today is just an appetizer."

"Everyone should cheer up and be ready at any time to embrace the opportunity. Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared."

His words finally perked up the two young men.

Drinking,

An Lushan and Shi Shouxin came.
These two men just went to accompany the emperor, and came here immediately after the meeting.

As soon as An Lushan arrived, he sat down next to Xue Rengui and thanked him again, "If it weren't for Brother Xue today, I would be dead."

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. In fact, there were so many Goguryeo bandits surrounding you at that time, but they could not get close to you even though they surrounded you in three layers. Your Majesty's Yeluohe was really brave. Even with your three-pointed, two-edged sword, I don't know how many bandits he killed."

"Your Majesty is truly invincible,"

Xue Rengui was not completely flattering. At that time, the situation looked dangerous for An Lushan, but in fact, it was not so bad. Although Fatty An had gained weight, he still had all his skills, not to mention the elite troops under his command in Yeluohe.

"Brother Xue, if you don't mind me, how about we call each other brothers from now on? I will shamelessly call myself Brother and call you Brother."

Xue Rengui was a little uncomfortable with Fatty An's enthusiasm, but he was a king and the adopted son of General Wu, so it was difficult for him to refuse. After all, he was too young to save face, so he had to agree.
An Lushan immediately pulled him to his knees and kowtowed to him,
Xue Rengui thus became An Lushan's sworn brother.
"From now on, you can call me Grand Marshal foster father."

Xue Rengui chuckled foolishly.

On the contrary, the two tough guys, Wang Fangyi and Zhao Chiman, were so envious that their eyes turned red. The king even came to ask them to become brothers, and because of their relationship, he also called General Wu his godfather. He had all the good things going for him.

Unfortunately, there is no wine.

Otherwise, it's really suitable to stay drunk.

Xue Rengui is still a very down-to-earth person. Although he has become rich suddenly, he has not become arrogant. He is still very grateful to Wu Huaiyu, and he also remembers his old friendship with his two brothers Wang and Zhao. He always says that no matter where he goes, he will remember his two brothers.

An Lushan was also extremely enthusiastic towards Xue Rengui. He asked him to become his sworn brother and was eager to take him to Anguo.

Everyone ate mutton and drank milk tea, feeling the cool summer breeze blowing from the Liaohe River.

When talking about the war against Liao, everyone's face was full of confidence and optimism.

We can be optimistic indeed.
From Su Dingfang's surprise attack on Beisha City last year to the official dispatch of troops this year, these consecutive major victories can be said to have been won very easily.

The performance of the Goguryeo army can be said to be quite poor.

The troops of Su Dingfang, Li Ji and Wu Huaiyi led them everywhere, and they were not stopped in the end. They were allowed to sneak through the Liaohe River and capture two important towns in succession.
The central army, baggage train and other troops led by the emperor arrived at the city of Liaodong with ease.
I won 6,400 today and it was so easy.

"How many days do you think it will take to capture Liaodong City?"

"It took the Duke of Ying, the Duke of Yan, and the Duke of Song only ten days to capture Gaimu City. I think once the two southern armies arrive to join forces at the foot of Liaodong City, we can gather an army of 120,000, plus tens of thousands of auxiliary troops, and we will be able to capture Liaodong City in less than a month." Xue Rengui expressed his opinion.

"One month is too short. I think it may take two months. You have seen Liaodong City. It is so tall and solid. There will definitely be reinforcements coming from the rear. It will not be easy to capture it."

"It would be great if we could conquer it in three months."

"Captain, how long do you think it will take to capture Liaodong City?"

Wu Huaiyu finished eating the skewer of mutton in his hand, picked up three skewers and waved them.

"Three months?"

Wu Huaiyu shook his head.

"Thirty days?"

He shook his head again.

"It can't be three days, right?"

Even Fatty An was a little surprised.

Wu Huaiyu chuckled, "Although Liaodong City is tall and strong, and there are many defenders, but after today's battle, you have seen that they are just strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

What's more, our Tang Dynasty has powerful siege weapons.

Three days will be enough to capture this city!"

Everyone was so shocked by these words that they were speechless.

General Wu didn't seem like the kind of person who liked to talk nonsense, and he was recognized as the undefeated god of war throughout the Tang Dynasty. When he said that he could take Liaoyang City in three days, everyone had to seriously consider this possibility.

Xue Rengui was stunned for a while, "But in three days, no matter whether it is the British troops in the north or the Duke of Xing's troops in the south, they can't catch up."

"We don't need them. With the men we have now, we will capture Liaodong City within three days."

Everyone gasped.

"We'll see."

Wu Huaiyu stood up, stood under the night sky, and felt the cool breeze.

"Feel the wind,"

Fatty An said, "It's very cool."

"No, this is the wind of victory," Wu Huaiyu said with a smile.

the next morning,
The Tang army began to attack the city.
He did not wait for Li Ji and Wu Huaiyi's army, nor did he wait for Su Dingfang and Li Daozon's army to join him.
They immediately began to attack the city.
The method of siege is also very simple.

Those catapults that could throw boulders weighing three hundred kilograms were pushed to the designated positions, and after the direction was calibrated, they began to load the stones and throw them.

The giant catapult that can hurl a 300-jin boulder a mile high is the latest weapon of war in the Military Equipment Bureau.
This distance allows these car dumpers to be output safely and stably.

Siege weapons include not only these catapults, but also countless crossbow carts.

The Eight-Ox Crossbow, Three-Bow Crossbow, Bed Crossbow, and all kinds of heavy crossbows are also extremely powerful.

An Lushan and Shi Shouxin once again led their troops to guard the front of the formation to prevent the Goguryeo people in the city from coming out to destroy the catapults and crossbow carts.

When the exciting drumbeats sounded along with the rising red sun,

The fiercest siege began.

Countless huge rocks and crossbows as thick as chicken eggs poured down towards the top of Liaodong City.

There were also countless crossbowmen covering the area with arrows.
The defenders could not stand.

Bombardment,

Covered with a rain of arrows,

There is no other way to attack.

Just smash it, shoot it like this,
I smashed it for three days and shot it for three days.

By sunset on the third day, many holes had appeared on the top of the Liaodong city wall. The Goguryeo army had to risk their lives to build many wooden frames on the tattered city wall, and spread many cloth nets on them to cushion the stones and arrows.

"It's very windy tonight," Wu Huaiyu said with a smile as he looked at the dilapidated Liaodong City.

Zhao Chiman and his men were puzzled. The three days were almost up, and they could really capture the city like this.

But in their doubts,
The Shenji Camp was dispatched.

The catapults no longer launched huge rocks, but began to use various firearms of the Shenjiying. First, countless poisonous smoke balls were thrown into the city.
Next is the kerosene tank. This is not ordinary kerosene, it is filled with asphalt, which is processed petroleum.

Flammable and difficult to extinguish.

After a few rounds of casting,

All the wooden frames and cloth nets that were used to temporarily protect against stone bombs in Liaodong City were on fire. The city was also ignited by the kerosene tanks thrown into the city. Fires broke out everywhere.

The wind is particularly strong today.
Fire takes advantage of the wind.
Spreading rapidly and burning fiercely.

Soon there was a sea of ​​fire everywhere.
The defenders on the city wall could no longer hold on.

When the passionate war drums sounded again, the Tang army also launched a general attack.

The soldiers who had been resting for three days rushed towards the gaps in the collapsed city walls with roars.
No one stopped me anymore.

Countless Tang troops rushed into the city.

When the sun completely sets in the west,

Liaodong City, the most important town on Goguryeo's western defense line, fell.

(End of this chapter)