A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1306: One Arrow Remains to Shoot Tianshan
The siege continues.

In the hot summer, the area under Anshi City became a large construction site, and the siege turned into a large-scale civil engineering operation, with earth being dug and piled up into mountains, and Yuliang Avenue being built.

A simple and unpretentious offensive move.

The Tang army was going to pile up a mountain directly with earth. The fish-beam road would be thirty steps wide, extending from the bottom of the mountain to the city wall on the mountain. In the end, it would be higher than the city wall. The soldiers could directly rush into the city along the fish-beam road.

The brothers Yan Lide and Yan Liben also built an eight-legged chariot for the Yuliang Road. The chariot had eight wheels and a watchtower hung high on it, on which many archers could stand, so that they could shoot arrows at the city walls from a high vantage point.

The Yuliang Road may seem simple, it is just to build a dike, but Anshi is built on a mountain. It takes a lot of work to build it from the bottom of the mountain to the top. The amount of sandbags needed is huge. The seized cloth is used to sew bags, and the wheat straw obtained from the wheat harvest is also used to weave ropes and then into straw bags.

Fortunately, the Tang army now has many prisoners.
First they were sent to dig and carry earth,
The Yuliang Road was extending forward every day, and Anshi City could also feel the threat of the Yuliang Road. Once it was built to the front of the city wall, they would no longer be able to stop the Tang army from capturing the city.

They tried every means to stop and destroy the fish weir road.

But the Tang army also came prepared.

When filling the soil, there is a shield vehicle in front for protection.

Not to mention the neatly arranged infantry phalanxes at the foot of the mountain, countless archers, and light cavalry standing by on both sides at all times.

If Liang Wanchun dared to lead his men out of the city to destroy the earthen hill, the Tang army would be more than happy to see them. Once they left the turtle shell, they would be asking for their deaths.

Here we build a fish weir road.

The catapults and crossbow carts over there were not stopped either.

The bombardment continues, constantly.

"The wheat has been harvested, but Liang Wanchun is still resisting until now. He is really a stubborn donkey."

Wu Huaiyu was slaughtering a cow and Lao Cheng was helping.

"Li Ji and Huai Yi have captured seven cities in the north and have successfully taken Xincheng. We were stopped by an unknown person."

"After this battle, Liang Wanchun is no longer an unknown figure. Although he cannot be compared with Yizhi Wende who defeated the Sui army back then, he will also be considered a top figure in the future." Huaiyu said with a smile.

"It's just a matter of holding out for a few more days. The Yuliang Avenue will be completed soon. What can he do to stop it? What a stubborn bastard."

"Stop complaining and get the sheep out quickly so it can be put into the pot."

The war is still going on, but it seems a bit idle.

The people who dug and carried soil to build the Yuliang Road were all surrendered soldiers and able-bodied men from Goguryeo. The Tang army soldiers took turns to guard nearby, but Liang Wanchun did not dare to leave the city.

Everyone is quite free.

"If we don't have the same sheep, and use the Liaodong sheep, will the mutton in the water basin be fresh?" Old Cheng asked with a smile, his hands moving quite skillfully.

People in Guanzhong love mutton, and every June, they are particularly fond of water basin mutton.

The best water basin mutton must be made from Tong sheep produced in Tongzhou, especially the Tong sheep from Shayuan, which the people of Chang'an call "cocoon ear sheep".

The ear calluses and tail are huge, like the grains of precious whiskers. They are fat, tender and juicy like mutton, delicious and fresh in color. The fat tail is in chunks and as white as jade. It is fatty but not greasy. The lean meat is crimson and the muscles are tender. It is easy to cook and delicious.

In the eyes of Chang'an people, Yanzhou beach sheep are ranked behind Tong sheep.

Shuipen mutton is mutton in clear soup, characterized by tender and crispy meat and fragrant soup.

"On the Liaodong battlefield, if you can have some free time to warm yourself up with a basin of mutton, you should be content. If you still want Tongyang, you can transport a batch of sheep from Tongzhou here. The price of horses has become the price of horses."

The ancients liked to talk about warming up the body in summer and gaining weight in autumn.

In the midsummer of June, the lambs on the market are at their most tender and fresh. Holding a bowl of wine with a sesame seed bun, those who can drink it will sweat profusely and feel refreshed.

Even if there are no Tongzhou sheep, we can still drink the fresh water basin mutton in June.

After all, it’s just a bowl of mutton clear soup. As long as the ingredients are fresh enough and cooked with enough heat, you can still get a delicious bowl of food.

After Lao Cheng slaughtered the sheep, Wu Huaiyu began to cook it skillfully, first boiling the mutton and the sheep bones together.

Then take out the exclusive seasoning package prepared by Wu Huaiyu himself, which is actually a spice bag wrapped in gauze with pepper, cinnamon, tangerine peel, cardamom, ginger, etc., and put it into the pot with ginger slices, scallion segments, and fine salt.
Cook until the mutton is 80% cooked, add the pepper water, and cook for another hour or so, and the mutton soup is ready.

Cut the cooked mutton into thin slices, put it in a bowl, sprinkle with chopped green onions or coriander, and you have a bowl of delicious mutton in a basin.
It is most delicious when paired with lotus leaf pancake.

As a general, he did not study the art of war on the battlefield, but spent half a day making a big pot of delicious mutton in a basin.

He was cutting up the mutton.

The emperor, along with Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, Zhangsun Wuji, Su Dingfang, Li Daozon, Liu Hongji and others came over following the scent.

"I heard that the general was free today and cooked mutton in a basin, so I came here to taste this June delicacy."

Wu Huaiyu laughed and said, "Who leaked the news?"

Qin Qiong said, "You made such a big pot, it's enough for everyone to eat. It's better to share happiness with others than to enjoy it alone."

Zhang Sun Wuji was even more shameless and grabbed two bowls first, one bowl to give to the emperor and one bowl for himself.

"Where are the lotus leaf cakes? You can't eat the mutton in the water basin without lotus leaf cakes." said the eldest grandson.

"We have them all. You can help yourself. They are just ready. You can enjoy them now."

Li Shimin sat down.
He picked up the big bowl, took a big sip, and couldn't help but praise, "The meat is tender and the soup is clear, fat but not greasy, delicious!"

Beside the river, under the big tree,
Holding the old bowl and drinking the mutton from the water basin, it is worthy of being the June delicacy that people in Guanzhong have always been thinking about. Everyone drank it until they were sweating profusely, but they felt extremely happy.

Finally, scoop up a bowl of soup, then cut the lotus leaf cake into small pieces and soak them in the soup, and it becomes mutton soup steamed bun.

Eat and drink

A little wind blows,
It makes people feel like they are mistaking Anshi for Chang'an.

"How many days will it take for the Yuliang Road to be completed?" The emperor asked the Yan Lide brothers.

"It will take three days at most to pile them on the city wall, and then we can rush straight into the city." Yan Lide was full of confidence. Although the project was not small, the emperor had many prisoners.

In the battle outside Anshi City alone, more than 130,000 troops including Gao Yanshou surrendered. The Tang army then swept through some surrounding villages and castles and captured tens of thousands more.

It was because the Goguryeo people saw that the situation was not good that they quickly abandoned the city and fled. Houhuangcheng, Yincheng and other places were all empty, and there was no one left within a radius of hundreds of miles.

Otherwise, you can catch more.

But now in Anshi City, there are 200,000 surrendered soldiers and civilians. They are all going to move to the inland, but before they get on board, they are arranged to repair the fish weir road.

There is strength in numbers. If one person carries ten bags of soil a day, that would be millions of bags.

"Once the Yuliang Road is completed, Anshi City can also be captured." Li Shimin is now very relaxed. Li Ji and Wu Huaiyi in the north captured seven cities in a row, and finally met up in Xincheng, and captured Xincheng in three days.

The emperor was also outside Anshi City, besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements, blocking 150,000 reinforcements. He beheaded more than 10,000 in one battle and forced the remaining 130,000 to surrender.

Now the only tough one left is Anshi City.

But there were only about 10,000 soldiers and more than 20,000 civilians in the city.

But there was nothing that could be done to save the situation.

The four general managers of the sea navy, Wu Heita, Pang Xiaotai, Liu Boying and Zuo Nandang, attacked Wugut, Daxing City and other places respectively, and also reported frequent victories.

Pang Xiaotai attacked and broke through the Daxing City at the mouth of the Yalu River and occupied the city.

After conquering the city, Pang Xiaotai brought his eight sons in a classic siege and attack. They blocked the enemy reinforcements at the nearby Xuehe River, beheaded more than 5,000 people, and captured more than 30,000 prisoners.

At this time, the important town of Guoneicheng in the Yalu River Basin was empty, and all the troops were sent to Liaodong for reinforcement, but they never returned.

There were old ministers of King Yeongryu in the city who took the opportunity to start a rebellion and purged Yeon Gaesomun's men. They then led more than 100,000 households in six cities across the country to surrender to Emperor Li Shimin in Anshi City and handed over their registered residence.

Under this influence,
In addition, the old ministers of King Rongliu of Cangyan Castle surrendered and asked for surrender to the Tang Dynasty with twelve castles, more than 7,000 households and more than 35,000 people.

Now, except for the tough nut of Anshi City,

The Tang army was advancing like a hot knife through butter everywhere, and even many city lords had begun to surrender to the Tang army. Some people pledged their allegiance to Gao Huanquan under the banner of being old ministers of King Rongliu, saying that they would never coexist with Yeon Gaesomun, the five swords who killed the king and his ministers.

In fact, many people were just following the trend, and seeing that Goguryeo could not hold on this time, they thought about surrendering. The emperor accepted all the suggestions.

In such a good situation,
Many people began to suggest that they should simply pursue the victory, march directly to Pyongyang, and destroy Goguryeo in one battle.

The emperor seemed to be moved.

However, whether it was Li Jing or Wu Huaiyu, there were also many ministers who opposed it.

"It's almost July, and we can start thinking about returning victoriously." Wu Huaiyu said directly.

"We can return home after the Mid-Autumn Festival," Li Jing also said.

Zhang Sun Wuji thought it was too early to call for a retreat. "It's cold in Liaodong, but we still have at least two months. Now, all the Goguryeo lords west of Jicui Mountain have been annihilated. Although there are still some mountain fortresses holding on, it will be easy to wipe them out."

"And now the areas east of Jicui Mountain and west of Yalu River are completely empty. The original defenders have been annihilated by us in these battles.

Guonei City and Cangyan City both surrendered voluntarily, and Daxing City was also captured."

Chang Sun Wuji rubbed his big belly, "Such a good opportunity, if we withdraw now, isn't it a pity? Do we have to wait for them to catch their breath before continuing to fight for each city and pond?

We should take advantage of his weakness to kill him. Since the road to Pyongyang has been cleared, why should we miss the opportunity? After taking Anshi City, we will immediately gather 100,000 elite troops and march all the way to Pyongyang. The navy will also go to join us by sea.

How can Goguryeo be defended?
Can you hold it?"

Pyongyang is known as Little Chang'an.

However, the Sui army had once attacked Pyongyang City. Although the enemy deliberately lured the enemy into the city for an ambush, this city was not as good as Liaodong City, Anshi City and other cities in terms of defense.

The emperor stroked his beard.

It's a tempting proposition.

The Goguryeo people must still have a certain amount of military strength, but after these rounds of fighting, the Goguryeo people were completely stunned.
Not only did the Liaodong defense line completely collapse and fall, but they also lost almost all of their troops on the Yalu River line in the rear.

Now it is too late to mobilize the few remaining Goguryeo troops.

If a battle to defend Pyongyang really breaks out, the Tang army will definitely not be afraid of them.

But the distance from Liaodong to Pyongyang is very far.

There are still many uncertainties, especially now that it is almost July and Liaodong gets cold early, leaving the Tang army with only two months to really fight.

Two months is enough to go to Pyongyang and back, not to mention conquering the enemy's capital.

Time is too tight.
And the Goguryeo people still had the ability to resist.

Li Daozon also supported attacking Pyongyang, but he believed that there was no need to send the entire army. He only wanted the emperor to give him 50,000 soldiers and horses, and then the cooperation of the navy would be enough to capture Pyongyang.

Wu Huaiyu said nothing.

The mutton in the water basin was delicious and he was quite satisfied.

Li Daozon might have made a mistake before and was exiled to Suiye. Although he was recalled halfway, he must have wanted to show his loyalty and make some achievements.

As for Changsun Wuji, he is a complete amateur in military affairs.

The current situation in Liaodong does seem to be very good, but it would be too presumptuous to say that it would take only two months to capture Pyongyang and destroy Goguryeo.

A rotten boat still has three pounds of nails,
Although the Goguryeo people had worked hard to build defenses in Liaodong in the past, they had also worked hard on the peninsula. After all, there were Silla and Baekje to the south of Goguryeo, and there were many battles among the three kingdoms.

Back then, Silla and Baekje took advantage of the war between Goguryeo and Sui to seize a lot of territory.

The Sui army's several direct sea attacks on Pyongyang also forced the Goguryeo people to strengthen their defense of Pyongyang to prevent the Sui army from using a decapitation tactic.

"Uncle, it's a bit too late this year," Wu Huaiyu said with a smile, "It will take more than two months to go from here to Pyongyang, not to mention the siege.

To put it simply, even if only 50,000 soldiers from the navy and the army rushed to Pyongyang, they would not come to intercept the mountain fortresses that had not been conquered or surrendered along the way.

But there is one question that my uncle has not thought about, food and supplies. "

"The nearest route to Pyongyang is the Wugut Road. From Liaodong City, we go east along the Taizi River, pass Baiyan City, then enter the tributary Xishui River, pass Lishan City, and then turn into the Wugut River. Go southeast along the river to Wugut City, then go along the river to the Yalu River and cross the river to Pyongyang."

Huaiyu picked up a wooden stick and drew a simple map on the ground.

The Liaodong-Ugut-Pyongyang Road is currently the most important transportation route and the closest and most convenient, but its total length is over a thousand miles.

The most crucial thing is that Liaodong, Baiyan City and Daxing City were all captured and controlled by the Tang army.

However, Lishan City and Wugut City were still in the hands of the Goguryeo people.

In particular, Wuchenggu, also known as Phoenix Mountain City, is located on Phoenix Mountain. It is the largest mountain city among the Goguryeo mountain cities. The terrain is extremely dangerous and it controls the only way from Liaodong City to the Yalu River.

This road was an important transportation route to the Korean Peninsula during the Han and Wei dynasties.

To put it simply, whether it is 50,000 or 100,000 troops, the defenders of Lishan and Wugu may not dare to intercept them.

After all, their main force was almost completely lost when they went to Liaodong, but there were still many troops left behind.

For example, Wugut City had previously mobilized 10,000 troops to rescue Baiyan City. They marched westward along that road, but after losing half of their troops, they retreated back to Wugut City in disgrace.
There are still several thousand soldiers in Wugut City now. If we gather the soldiers in the surrounding areas, we can still get tens of thousands of people.

This small number of troops certainly cannot stop the Tang army from advancing southwards, but if they only defend the mountain city, the Tang army will waste a lot of time attacking them. It is also possible to bypass them.
But the problem is, the army itself can bypass it, but what about the logistical supplies?
No matter whether it is an army of 50,000 or 100,000, it is impossible to rely entirely on food captured on the battlefield. It must have logistical supplies. It cannot rely entirely on supplies at sea. After all, there are many uncertainties at sea. What if there is a storm or something like that and it causes delays?
Therefore,
The Tang army was in great difficulty just because the two cities of Lishan and Wugu were blocked on the road.

There should be no problem in attacking it, but these two months may be wasted here, or even two months may not be enough.

What should we do when the cold winter comes? Should we continue to attack Pyongyang? By that time, there will be heavy snow and the logistics, food, fodder and equipment will not be able to keep up.

Chang Sun Wuji looked at Wu Huaiyu's simple map.

The locations of the two cities of Lishan and Wugu are indeed very difficult.

If you don't take this road, but take the route to the new city of Gaimu in the north, there are still several mountain cities in the middle, and the north is longer and the road is more difficult to travel.

at last,

Li Shimin shook his head.

"When Emperor Yang attacked Liaodong City, he sent Yuwen Shu and nine other generals to lead an army of 300,000 with two months' worth of food and fodder to attack Pyongyang. He wanted to join forces with the Huer Army that came by sea to capture Pyongyang together. Unfortunately, in the end..."

Everyone knows the final result.
These nine armies, with a total of 300,000 soldiers and two months' worth of food and fodder, did not require any logistical supplies and bypassed enemy cities and fortresses all the way, and the Goguryeo people let them pass as well.

In this way, they crossed the Yalu River and arrived at the Taedong River area. Finally, they were lured by Eulji Mundeok's deliberate retreat and attacked when they were halfway across the Taedong River. The Sui army was defeated. At this time, they were only a few hundred miles away from Pyongyang, but they could no longer cross.
Finally they had to retreat, but they had no food supplies. On the way back to Liaodong, they encountered Goguryeo's mountain cities and fortresses. Eventually they were chased and strangled by Goguryeo, and all 300,000 soldiers were wiped out.

These 300,000 troops went deep into enemy territory and were eventually wiped out. The key point was that they had no supplies. Otherwise, they would have been able to hold on even in the Yalu River area. But without food, those 300,000 troops were just lambs to be slaughtered.

"After taking Anshi City, we will take Lishan and Wugu City together, open up this Wugu Road, and prepare for the future."

When the emperor said this, it meant that he had given up on attacking Pyongyang.

In the remaining two months,
In the north, Li Ji, Wu Huaiyi and others continued to sweep the northern cities, with the main target being to capture the important northern city of Buyeo.

The emperor's plan was not only to flatten the cities west of Jicui Mountain, but also to open up the Wugut Road.

"The Andong Protectorate will be moved to Liaodong City,"

Li Shimin said to Su Dingfang, "Duke Xing, you need to lighten your burden. The Andong Protectorate will be promoted to the Grand Protectorate."

The emperor appointed Su Dingfang as the General of the Right Guard, the Inspector of the Protectorate of Andong, and the Governor of Liaodong and the Governor of Liaozhou.

Prime Minister Zhang Liang, the governor of Liaodong and the governor of Liaozhou, would naturally take over the position and follow him back to Chang'an.

Three military governorates were temporarily set up in Liaodong, namely Liaozhou Military Governorate, Xinchengzhou Military Governorate and Jian'anzhou Military Governorate.

Su Dingfang was the Grand Protector of Andong and the Governor-General and Inspector of Liaozhou, while Li Daozon was the Governor-General and Inspector of Jian'anzhou.

The post of governor of Xincheng Prefecture was given to Wei Ting, the current governor of Gaizhou, and he was promoted.

Cheng Yaojin also received a new appointment. The emperor appointed him as the Grand Protector of Shanyu, and asked him to replace the former Grand Protector Duan Zhixuan who died after taking off his armor.

"The day of our return is set for September 9th." The emperor looked at the simple map on the ground and said to everyone, "We still have more than two months before September 9th. We must take Anshi, Lishan, Wugu and Buyeo."

(End of this chapter)