Tibet.

Chapter 1382 Negotiations break down
In the imperial study, Zhang Li shook his head and said, "The other party keeps saying that they come with the utmost sincerity, but they don't allow the Tang Dynasty to bargain. This is what they call sincerity."

Li Ye smiled and said, "Perhaps they think that the four points they have put forward are already the maximum concession."

Zhang Li sneered and said, "Compared to Nanzhao's sincerity, I only see arrogance. They keep saying that Tang is the suzerain state. The king refused to come to the court and only sent a minister to negotiate. They clearly have no room for compromise and only want to impose their will on Tang. Your Majesty, they are arrogant and have no sincerity. Moreover, the gap between the two sides is too big. I think there is no need for negotiation."

Li Ye nodded and said, "Please tell the other party again, if you want to talk, sit down and talk properly. If you can't talk, there will be no next chance!"

Zhang Li bowed and said, "I will go right away!"

Zhang Li left in a hurry. Li Ye stood in front of the window and pondered for a long time. He decided to carry out the original plan. He must consider Silla from a long-term perspective, and use the method of nibbling rather than swallowing it up. He should first occupy the legal basis, and then destroy Silla step by step.

Zhang Li took a carriage to the Honglu Temple Guesthouse next to the Hanguang Gate in the imperial city. As soon as he got off the carriage, he saw Yan Quanming, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, running towards him.

"Minister Yan, why are you so anxious?"

Yan Quanming stepped forward and said with a wry smile: "The Silla envoy wants to go back, and I can't persuade him."

Zhang Li frowned. He just arrived yesterday and now he has to go back today. What’s going on?
When Zhang Li arrived at the guesthouse, he saw several carriages parked at the gate. Several Silla officials were moving luggage. Everyone looked very depressed. After all, they had just arrived yesterday and were leaving today.

At this time, Jin Zhenzhi strode out, and his deputy followed him and tried to persuade him, but Jin Zhenzhi had a gloomy face and said nothing.

"Is Minister Jin leaving now?" Zhang Li walked forward and asked.

Jin Zhenzhi stopped and said coldly: "Does Zhang Xiangguo think there is still something we need to talk about?"

Zhang Li smiled faintly, "Of course it is necessary. If we talk, at least Silla is still there. If we don't talk, Silla will probably follow the footsteps of Khitan."

"Humph! According to your rules, is Silla still a country? Depriving us of our land and army, what's the difference between that and being a eunuch?"

"That was never your territory. Goguryeo and Baekje were destroyed by the Tang Dynasty. That was the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but it was shamelessly occupied by Silla. Now the Tang Dynasty wants to take back its own land. What's wrong with that?"

Jin Zhenzhi said proudly: "The territory belongs to the strong. Our Silla has always been the strongest country. The lands of Goguryeo and Baekje were obtained by Silla through strength. What qualifications does the Tang Dynasty have to ask for it? With Silla's 200,000 troops, we will never give up an inch of land to the Tang Dynasty!"

Zhang Li nodded. "It seems that there is no need for us to continue the discussion. I wish Minister Jin a safe journey!"

Jin Zhenzhi sat in the carriage. He opened the window and sneered, "Prime Minister Zhang, we'll see you on the battlefield!"

Zhang Li smiled disdainfully and didn't talk to him.

"set off!"

Jin Zhenzhi shouted loudly, and several carriages started and drove towards Hanguang Gate. They soon left the imperial city and Chang'an.

The only negotiation between the Tang Dynasty and Silla ended in the shortest time due to huge differences between the two sides.

Three days after the negotiations ended, Li Ye issued an attack order to the troops on Jeonra Island and Liaodong.

In early February, Emperor Li Ye's military orders arrived at Jeju Island and Liaodong.

At this time, Jeju Island had assembled an army of 60,000 and nearly a thousand warships, with Ma Lin as the marshal of the expedition to the east and Li Chengshi, the commander-in-chief of the navy, as the deputy marshal.

Ma Lin led 30,000 troops directly from Jeju Island into the peninsula and attacked Gyeongju, the capital of Silla.

Li Chengshi led 30,000 naval forces on hundreds of warships northward. After entering the Han River, he attacked Hanzhou, an important town in Silla.

Once Hanzhou is captured, the situation in Gyeongzhou will depend on it. If Ma Lin's army cannot capture Gyeongzhou for the time being, Li Chengshi will lead his troops to provide assistance.

If Ma Lin had already captured Hanzhou, Li Chengshi would lead his troops to attack Xiongzhou.

In addition, Liaodong Governor Nan Jiyun was also preparing to lead 30,000 troops to attack Silla's North Camp on the Yalu River from the north. Silla's troops were mainly concentrated in Gyeongju, Hanju, Xiongju and North Camp, with a total strength of about 80,000.

The Hanzhou City of the Tang Dynasty is not the Seoul of this year. Hanzhou City is located on the south bank of the Han River. It was originally an important town of Baekje and is now the largest grain-producing area of ​​Silla. A large population lives on both sides of the Han River.

Originally, the Baekje people were the main force. In order to occupy the land on both sides of the Han River, Silla continued to cruelly exploit the Baekje people by various means. Last year, it even triggered a major uprising of the Baekje people, but it was still brutally suppressed by the army led by Kim Jeong-ji. About 300,000 young and strong men of Baekje were massacred, and the nobles of Silla divided up the last fertile land of the Baekje people.

There are currently 20,000 troops stationed in Hanzhou City. Their main responsibility is to maintain order in the plains on both sides of the Han River, that is, to safeguard the interests of the nobles and landlords.

But the garrison in Hanzhou City could never have imagined that a mighty fleet of Tang troops would sail from the Yellow Sea into the Han River and approach the city.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

Urgent alarm bells rang on the city walls, and countless soldiers rushed to the top of the city walls. Even the commander-in-chief Zheng Qingxuan went up to the city walls and looked at the fleet on the Han River in the distance in horror.

In fact, after the Tang army launched the Liaodong Campaign last year, the generals and soldiers of Silla were all discussing that the Tang army would launch an attack on Silla, but the Silla upper echelons did not care about this. They were still fighting for power and considering how to occupy more land.

It was still early spring, and the Tang army had already arrived.

Teams of Tang soldiers disembarked and lined up. Soon, 30,000 Tang soldiers had lined up on the shore, and dozens of large siege equipment were also unloaded from the ship, mainly three folding bridge-laying vehicles.

This type of bridge-building vehicle appeared during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. There are generally two types. One is the straight-through bridge-building vehicle, which has a two-wheeled flatbed cart as its main body and carries a long bridge body on its back. When it reaches the river, it can push the bridge body to the other side and then build it up.

There is also a folding bridge-building vehicle, which uses the same principle as a folding ladder and is mainly used to solve the problem of the bridge being too long.

But in later wars, the more speed, the more important the mobility of the army. Carrying a bridge-laying vehicle was too cumbersome and far less convenient than temporarily cutting down a few large trees to build a bridge across the river. So it was gradually phased out.

But this time, when attacking Silla, there were warships following, and heavy bridge-building vehicles also appeared.

At this time, a Tang cavalryman rode to the foot of the city and shot an arrow letter to the top of the city, demanding that the defenders immediately leave the city and surrender.

This time, the Tang army was fighting a war to annihilate a country. A war to annihilate a country is extremely cruel and there is no justice or benevolence. In a domestic war, one can surrender and become a prisoner of war, and finally be released to go home and farm.

The first step in a war to annihilate a country is to destroy the entire army, and then destroy the nobles and other ruling classes, leaving only ordinary people.

Of course, this time Li Ye used the Nanzhao model against Silla, which was to destroy the army, retain the nobles, temporarily preserve the empty shell of Silla, and then destroy Silla step by step.

When the Silla army received the arrow letter from the Tang army, they naturally would not make any response. No army would surrender if the other side asked for surrender without fighting.

Of course, the Tang army knew this would be the result. They asked the other side to surrender only because they did not want too many casualties in the street fighting. But in fact, the Tang army did not want the other side to surrender.

The 30,000 Tang troops waited patiently and gathered their strength. At dusk, they formed up in front of the north gate.

Li Chengshi looked at the north city gate, which was exactly the same as the city gate of the Tang Dynasty. It was a wooden gate and quite old. There was a suspension bridge and a moat. The moat was three meters wide, which was very suitable for the heavy bridge-building vehicles they carried.

There are many things to pay attention to when fighting street fighting. One key point is to attack the city quickly and take it by surprise, so that the enemy does not have time to deploy for street fighting. Soldiers rush into the city as quickly as possible, and at least 30 to 40 percent of the soldiers will be blocked on the city walls.

Li Chengshi waved his hand and ordered: "The bridge-laying vehicles move forward, and the arrow-torpedo operators prepare!"

Three foldable heavy-duty bridge-laying vehicles slowly moved forward in parallel. There were arrow shields at the rear of the bridge-laying vehicles to protect the soldiers pushing the carts from being harmed by arrows shot from the top of the city wall.

Behind the bridge-laying vehicle followed three hundred soldiers armed with large crossbows, which had been strung and all they had to do was shoot.

Three hundred men lined up in three rows three hundred steps away. The first row lay down, the second row squatted, and the third row held crossbows. Arrows and torpedoes had been installed on the crossbows. The murderous intent was already there, and they were just waiting for the order from the commander.

(End of this chapter)