Chapter 932 Artifact: Dinghai Shenzhen
Even though nearly thirty years have passed, countless people are still deeply afraid of that era filled with blood and darkness.
The sun and the moon are dim, the mountains and rivers are weeping blood, the sky is mourning, corpses are lying on both sides of the road, and what flows in the Yellow River is not water, but the tears of soldiers.
Liaodong!
The pain in Zhongyuan's heart, the tall built Jingguan, numbness, resentment, horror, and surging black air leaking out from the empty bony eye sockets.
"Liaodong has been part of the Xia territory for 1,600 years. For a long time, everyone has submitted to China as their suzerain. The Sui Dynasty was not strong enough, so the scoundrels took over the territory. I am very upset."
This is what Li Shimin said casually in the early years of Zhenguan. If he did not have to manage Mobei and the Western Regions, he would have started to pacify Liaodong long ago.
In the Taiji Hall, Li Shimin sat with a majestic look on his face. "There is unrest in Liaodong, and the emperor and his ministers are fighting each other. I want to take this opportunity to send troops to conquer the land of China."
All the prime ministers and generals in the hall sat in silence. The Tang Dynasty today was extremely wealthy and had a clean political system, unlike the Sui Dynasty where the country was rich but the people were poor.
The navy has become quite powerful, with thousands of large and small transport ships. The food and fodder stored in Qizhou is enough to supply tens of thousands of troops for years.
It can be said that everything is ready, and with just a single order, the army can be sent to conquer Liaodong.
Now the only thing I am worried about is that all the prime ministers said in unison: "Your Majesty is worth a million dollars, and the throne is uncertain, so you can't lead the army in person!"
After the crown prince leaves the city, it becomes a serious matter for the country to be without an heir. In this situation, the emperor cannot afford to make any mistakes.
The ministers in the palace were vaguely divided into two factions. Naturally, most supported Li Tai, but there were also some like Changsun Wuji who had a bad relationship with the powerful Li Tai and turned to support Prince of Jin Li Zhi.
Almost everyone didn't know that the emperor had already made up his mind to make Li Zhi the crown prince.
Li Shimin did not explain, but looked at the ministers he relied on with complicated eyes. He sat up slowly from the throne, looking around like a lion and tiger touring the territory, "Liaodong was originally the land of China, the wing of China. Emperor Wen of Sui conquered it once, and Emperor Yang of Sui conquered it three times, but they could not get it. As a result, the country was exiled from China, and its people were not illuminated by the light. As a result, our Chinese soldiers died in disasters, and their families were killed. The first Jingguan was built, and it took 30 years, but it was eroded by wind and rain, snakes, insects, rats and ants, how sad it is?
I am now marching eastwards, wishing to recover their land for China, to avenge the Chinese people, to demonstrate the might of China, to display the prosperity of the Great Tang, and to let the world know that Emperor Yang of Sui was incompetent, but it was not us, the emperors of the Xia dynasty, who were incompetent.
As for the heir, I will personally go to Liaodong with Prince Tai of Wei, and have Prince Zhi of Jin stay in Chang'an to supervise the country. Do you have any objections?"
Prince of Wei Li Tai followed the emperor to Liaodong, while Prince of Jin Li Zhi stayed in Chang'an to supervise the country. This arrangement left the group of smart people in the palace a little confused.
The Prince of Jin is still a young boy. What's the point of him staying in Chang'an? It still depends on who will be the garrison minister.
Your Majesty brought Prince Li Tai of Wei with you. Did you want him to gain military merit?
The Prince of Wei is extremely talented and has always had a good relationship with scholars. Now that Your Majesty has allowed him to follow the army, it seems that Your Majesty is really going to make the Prince of Wei the Crown Prince.
As for why Li Shimin had to lead the army in person, all the ministers knew why. It was the same reason as the previous expedition to Gaochang. There was no suitable candidate, so he had to go himself.
In the hands of a monarch who holds great power, there is nothing that Li Shimin cannot do, only things that he does not want to do or is unwilling to do. After Li Shimin spoke those words about revenge for the Chinese people, the issue discussed in the palace had become how to attack Liaodong safely.
"Appoint Luo Xuanling as the general commander of the Jizi Road, lead 30,000 naval forces across the Bohai Sea, attack the Liaodong Peninsula, and establish a stable military supply and granary to support the land army.
Li Ji was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Road, leading 60,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Liaodong by land.
Li Ke, the Prince of Yan, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Liaobei Road, and he led 50,000 cavalrymen to attack Liaodong.
The three armies, with a total of 140,000 Han and non-Han troops, were far less powerful than Yang Guang's army of more than one million, but this was the largest foreign military operation since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Shimin was prepared to conquer one mountain city after another, and he was fully prepared without affecting the country.
One emperor, two princes, eighteen dukes, and seven of the twelve generals of the guards went to the expedition.
Since the first year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin has lost track of how long it has been since he last wore this set of armor.
His blood was boiling. He was a king on horseback, a founding monarch. The battlefield was his showplace. When he rode on a tall horse and galloped across the vast plains, he created the desolation of forests and the rushing of rivers.
He laughed loudly to everyone, "I feel like I'm back to my youth, riding a horse and wielding a sword, destroying enemy chieftains. It has always been this way, and it is the same in Liaodong!"
"Long live your majesty!"
"Long live the Tang Dynasty!"
…
At the dock in Qizhou, countless warships were lined up. These warships came all the way from coastal areas such as Songzhou and Yangzhou to the Shandong Peninsula.
The commander-in-chief of the Jizi Road Army was Luo Xuanling's official position on this expedition. He was also the first naval commander of the Tang Dynasty.
He touched the artifact in his right hand, which was specially given to him by Luo Su. It was naturally the artifact of the Luo family that was specifically responsible for controlling water areas, the Dinghai Shenzhen.
[Earth Rank·Dinghai Shenzhen: Holding this item can calm the rivers, lakes and seas within a certain range. The range and effect are determined by the amount of Qi Points consumed.]
An extremely powerful artifact that can work wonders at critical moments. For the Central Plains dynasty, the biggest worry when attacking an island country is the poor technology of the ships, which will be destroyed in the storm.
When Emperor Wen of Sui conquered Liaodong Kingdom, it was because of a storm that 300,000 troops were wiped out. If this artifact had been available at that time, regardless of the outcome of the war, at least the Chinese people would not have died so miserably.
Luo Su told Li Shimin that the Tang Dynasty would definitely not encounter a storm when attacking Liaodong Kingdom, and it was this confidence given by this magic weapon.
“Your Majesty has appointed me as the commander-in-chief of the Jizi Road Army to lead the navy. I’m sure you all have been a little slack.
I know what you are thinking. Since ancient times, the navy is only needed to conquer the Jianghuai River. The cavalry has always been relied on to conquer the world. But I advise you to put this idea aside and look at the geomancy map. "
Luo Xuanling's voice was very stern, which cheered up Zhang Liang, Cheng Mingzhen and others in the camp. A huge geomancy map appeared behind Luo Xuanling. Luo Xuanling held a staff in his hand and pointed at the three cities heavily, "Liaodong City is the gateway to Liaodong. Once this city is broken, Liaodong will be open.
Anshi City was the iron wall of Jizi City. Once this city was broken, Jizi City would be opened wide.
Jizi City, the capital of Liaodong State, is the city that our Tang Dynasty will eventually destroy this time.
Each of these three cities is easy to defend but difficult to attack. They have all absorbed the essence of our Luo family's mountain city forging. It is quite difficult to capture one, and the time required to capture two is unimaginable.
Liaodong State is located in the north, where the weather is cold and the ground is frozen. When the grass turns yellow and the water dries up, it will be difficult for the soldiers to attack, and the horses will have no fodder to eat, so they will have to retreat. Your Majesty will lead the army to attack from land. If it is difficult to capture Anshi City, you will have to face the choice of bypassing Anshi City.
At that time, Emperor Yang of Sui bypassed Anshi City, but failed to capture Jizi City. Eventually, due to lack of food and fodder, his entire army was destroyed.
The most important thing for our army to cross the Bohai Sea is not how many cities we can capture, but to establish a waterway that can provide a stable supply of food and fodder to the army.
With this food supply route that will not be cut off by the Liaodong State, my army can continue to attack from spring to winter, and from winter to spring, without having to retreat and fail!
Perhaps Your Majesty will have a great victory in the north and will not need us, but once you need us, our route will become the deciding factor between the Tang Dynasty and Liaodong.
Gentlemen, do you know?"
Luo Xuanling's last sentence was full of momentum, and he glared at everyone with a fierce look. As long as he felt that someone still did not respect him, he would immediately kick him out of this expedition.
For this war, Luo Su allocated a full 300,000 luck points to let Luo Xuanling use the Dinghai Shenzhen. For the Luo family, which only has more than 1.6 million luck points in total, this is a huge investment.
Luo Xuanling naturally hopes to save as much as possible, which requires everyone to be united. If anyone causes trouble for him, he doesn't mind letting everyone know what the power of the Luo family is!
When the ship left the dock and headed completely for the sea, the navy immediately felt that the feeling of rivers and the sea was indeed different, and the coastline and the open sea were also extremely different.
Many Tang Dynasty soldiers who thought they would not get seasick actually got seasick in the ocean waves. Fortunately, Luo Xuanling had anticipated this and had a doctor and medicine on board for this purpose.
He was on the flagship, carefully savoring the Dinghai Shenzhen. This powerful artifact had been emitting waves invisible to the naked eye ever since it appeared in the sea.
Luo Xuanling only felt that he had become the God of the Ocean. Although he did not have the ability to create a tsunami, he had the ability to calm those waves.
A tiny bit of luck was infused into the artifact, and the soul of the artifact possessed the scepter in his hand. His eyes suddenly lit up with a crystal light, and he paused the scepter in his hand. A transparent ripple that only he could see spread out from the deck where the scepter was placed to the surroundings, and then a wave containing tremendous power dissipated in an instant, splashing water and hitting the hull, but it no longer had any strength at all.
Take control!
This kind of control over the sea is like that of a god, making Luo Xuanling unable to help but indulge in it.
He looked at the scepter in his hand with a fiery gaze. If there were endless luck points, the sea would be as flat as a flat land, and there would no longer be any waves that could destroy the ship.
Unfortunately, luck points are precious, and this is just an unrealistic wish.
…
The Tang Dynasty could not be said to have come with the entire country as its enemy, but for the Liaodong Kingdom, which was much smaller than the Tang Dynasty, it was still a disaster. In particular, there were a large number of pro-Tang factions in Liaodong Kingdom, who were already clamoring for surrender before the Tang Dynasty army arrived.
Yeon Gaesomun, who had always been arbitrary, gnashed his teeth in anger and said sternly: "What about the Chinese army? A million people will die in Liaodong. A mere 100,000 people will never return."
He was tough in words, but the soldiers of Liaodong were not so tough. The Tang army won victory after victory. The cities in Liaodong could not figure out the direction of the Tang army's attack and closed themselves off, which led to them being defeated one by one by the Tang army. Moreover, the mountains that most of the cities relied on were not foolproof. Facing the siege weapons of the Tang army, they were conquered one by one.
After the victory in the first battle, the Tang army won victory after victory and their morale was high. It was difficult to defend the city, let alone fight in the field. Seeing this, Yeon Gaesomun was finally frightened and hurriedly sent troops to guard Liaodong City. He realized that only Liaodong City, a real mountain city, could stop the Tang army. Once Liaodong City was lost, the entire Liaodong would be completely lost, and would be pressed to the Yalu River next.
The Tang army spent some time thoroughly clearing the cities around Liaodong State, and eventually nearly 100,000 troops gathered under the city of Liaodong.
Li Shimin also met Li Ke again.
In the camp, when Li Ke appeared in front of him, Li Shimin almost didn't recognize him. After the hard battles in Mobei and the wind and sun, Li Ke had become much darker, with a beard on his face and a scimitar on his waist. There was a murderous look in his eyes.
"Your son pays respect to His Majesty, Father. May Your Majesty live long and prosper!"
As soon as Li Ke walked into the tent, he knelt on the ground and paid homage to Li Shimin. Tears welled up in his eyes almost instantly, but it was unclear how much of his tears were true and how much were false.
His eyes swept over the generals in the camp, most of whom were familiar to him. They were all the most famous veteran generals and heroes of the Tang Dynasty. Then he glanced at Prince Wei Li Tai, who had a rather proud look on his face.
Li Ke naturally knew about Li Chengqian's departure from the town. When he thought that the future emperor would be Li Tai, Li Ke felt a little uncomfortable, but he had no choice.
Li Shimin was still very fond of Li Ke. Seeing Li Ke like this, he felt distressed and proud and said, "Ke'er, get up quickly. You have worked hard these years."
"I am unfilial to my father who worries about me. I am not tired of serving my father and guarding the border for my country."
Li Ke stood up and looked around. He sat in the first position on the left hand of Li Shimin. He was the Prince of Yan in the outer town. In terms of various treatments and official positions, he was second among all the princes, second only to Li Chengqian's Prince of Qin. He was also the elder brother of Prince of Wei Li Tai, so of course his status was higher than that of Prince of Wei.
The King of Wei is still excited about becoming the crown prince, especially since Li Shimin has been giving him instructions on military matters these days, which made him a little arrogant. He never guessed that Li Shimin might have other uses for him. He really thinks that becoming the crown prince is a foregone conclusion.
The King of Wei was somewhat unhappy with the slight disrespect shown by Prince of Yan Li Ke, and a fierce look flashed across his eyes. When he became the emperor in the future, it would be impossible for him to leave such a huge force in Mobei in Li Ke's hands, otherwise he would have trouble living in peace day and night.
After the arrival of Prince of Yan Li Ke, the action against Liaodong City officially began. In fact, when the Tang army arrived here, their morale skyrocketed.
Because just outside the city of Liaodong, the largest Jingguan in Liaodong was built, with hundreds of thousands of heads piled together, and it seemed that everyone could hear the wailing of those Zhongxia children.
At that moment, the words in the emperor's edict, "I want to avenge the Chinese people," were fully realized, and the spirit of sharing the same hatred for the enemy appeared in almost everyone's heart.
The army's morale is good, but Liaodong City is not easy to attack. The so-called mountain city, as the name suggests, is a city built in the mountains and mainly relies on the mountain terrain for defense. It is no exaggeration to say that a mountain city can withstand 100,000 troops.
Li Shimin said solemnly: "Now a hundred thousand troops have gathered in Liaodong City. The day before yesterday, we persuaded the generals in the city to surrender, but they have been in Liaodong for a long time and do not know the destiny. Not only did they not surrender, they even mocked my Central Plains Heavenly Soldiers. It is impossible to take it down without a fight. How to attack, generals, please speak."
Li Ji was the general who was mocked by the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong City. He said angrily: "Your Majesty, I think we should destroy Liaodong City with the force of thunder and lightning. The tactics used in Liaodong before should not be used again. We should annihilate all the people in Liaodong City."
The Tang army attacked many cities of Liaodong along the way using the King's Teacher Method. After capturing the prisoners of Liaodong, the officers transported them back to the Central Plains, but many soldiers were released directly. This method helped the Tang Dynasty quickly capture a large number of cities and greatly won the hearts of the people of Liaodong.
But now Li Ji believes that there is no moral reason to deal with the stubborn resistance in Liaodong City, and he should just kill everyone in the city. Once he has this idea, there will be many tactics.
Li Shimin frowned and thought for a moment, "My dear, please tell me what you think."
Li Ji pointed outside and said sternly: "The catapults our army is equipped with are powerful and can knock down all the watchtowers on the top of Liaodong City. If our army builds a dirt mountain outside Liaodong City that is as high as the city wall or even higher, we can throw stones into the city and then pour kerosene on the stones to burn Liaodong City to ashes. Without the stubborn people in Liaodong City to provide assistance to the defenders, let's see how the defenders can defend."
Li Shimin could not deny what Li Ji said, and looked at other people, "What does King Jiangxia think?"
Li Dao Zong glanced at Liaodong City, was silent for a moment, and then clasped his fists, "Your Majesty, there is nothing much to say. Liaodong City has strong defenses, which is rare in my life. The only way is to attack it by force. As for what the Duke of Ying said, we should make a decision after the attack."
The only way is to attack with force!
This was actually the common opinion of everyone present, and it was the consensus before the attack on Liaodong State.
Li Shimin hoped to win without fighting, but it turned out that there was not always such an opportunity. He recalled the siege of Luoyang. The city of Luoyang was reduced from 30,000 households to only 3,000 households. It was the eastern capital of the Sui Dynasty and turned into a ruin in just a few months. It was the most difficult war he had ever fought.
Now it is another siege war, and Li Shimin has a headache because he doesn't like fighting siege wars.
This type of war always made him feel particularly dull. He liked to ride on a horse, looking for a flash of opportunity in the crowd of thousands of troops, and then win the victory after dozens of people rushed into the battle. Thinking of this, he stood up suddenly, drew his sword, and said in a stern voice: "Generals, listen to my orders."
"exist!"
"All the troops will attack in turns, day and night, and take Liaodong City. I promise that, except for women and young children, no one will put down their weapons for three days!"
Taking over Liaodong City is destined to be a tough battle, and it will be a tough battle with heavy casualties, so the reward must be high. Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, has always sympathized with the sufferings of the soldiers, and he will never let the soldiers who have followed him through life and death suffer losses.
"Yes, sir!"
Li Ji was the first to go out. He did not order his soldiers to charge and climb the city wall. In front of Liaodong City, that would only mean death. He ordered the catapults, "Smash them. Smash all the blockhouses. Bring up the crossbow beds and cover them with kerosene. Once the blockhouses are smashed, shoot them."
The catapult that could throw a ball eight hundred steps away with great force, and the crossbow that could shoot a ball six hundred steps away, were like heavy artillery in this era and were the ultimate weapons for siege.
The Li Ji of today is no longer the Wu A'mon of the past. In one war after another, he quickly realized that it is better to attack one point instead of attacking all over. So he concentrated the catapults on one point. Those blockhouses built to resist the catapults had no time to be repaired and were destroyed by the falling boulders.
How can we successfully capture a city?
In fact, it is very simple. As long as there are no enemy defenses on the city walls, the city can be easily captured. But how can we ensure that there are no enemies on the city walls?
Of course it’s not about killing them all. If we could really kill them all, there would be no need to attack the city.
The simplest and most effective way is to temporarily expel them.
The catapults were used to drive away the defensible houses on the city walls, leaving the enemy exposed to the Tang army, while the kerosene arrows were used to drive away the Liaodong soldiers standing on the city walls.
It would be even better if there could be another gust of wind at this time. Will there be wind?
Yes.
If not, then wait. In the land of Liaodong, there is always enough wind. Li Shimin is waiting, and Li Ji is also waiting.
After more than ten days of continuous attack, the Tang army's casualties were not heavy, because there was no real charge without regard to casualties. Li Shimin did not like that kind of fighting style.
During these days, the Tang army mainly used catapults and crossbows to destroy all the defensive measures in Liaodong City.
In addition to the previous siege tools, the Tang army also produced various siege tools during this period and also built rockery.
After hundreds of years of war, the siege tools in the Central Plains evolved rapidly, and only flying tools had not been produced. Among the many siege tools, there was a tool similar to a ladder truck, which was very powerful. Soldiers could stand on the top and attack the soldiers of Liaodong City without climbing the city wall. The most important thing was that they could complete the task of setting fire to Liaodong City from the top.
After confirming that setting fire to the city was effective, the Tang army's attack became more intense, but this intensity seemed to be a cover-up of the real tactical intention.
God will not always favor one side!
When the strong north wind howled, Li Shimin knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived. He decisively ordered, "Raise the fire! All troops attack!"
The suicide squad climbed on high ladders and set fire to the city. The catapults and crossbows that had never rested all day long once again resounded over the sky above Liaodong City. Flames that were dozens of times more intense than before lay across the city.
To the army in Liaodong City, it seemed as if there were countless suns in the sky. These suns did not bring any warmth, but destruction. The roar of terror resounded throughout the city.
Extreme chaos occurred in the city. Taking advantage of this for a long time, all the generals put on armor and charged into the battle line themselves, especially Qibi Heli, who led hundreds of death squads to the top of the city and fought hand-to-hand.
The reason why Liaodong City was able to resist the Tang Army was because of the solidity of the mountain city. Once it was breached to this point, it would never be a match for the Tang Army.
In today's world, the individual quality of the Tang Army is definitely among the best, and only a few of the empire's professional guards can compare to it. However, the size and discipline of the Tang Army make its combat effectiveness absolutely second to none.
More than ten thousand defenders of Liaodong City were beheaded.
The fall of Liaodong City was a fatal blow to the entire Liaodong. The most important thing was that the extremely high quality displayed by the Tang army in this war was terrifying.
Yang Guang was defeated several times at the gates of Liaodong City. He chose to bypass Liaodong City, but ended up sending hundreds of thousands of people to hell.
And now, the city that allowed Yang Guang to destroy the dynasty was conquered by Li Shimin.
When the Tang Dynasty flag was hoisted on the top of Liaodong City, Li Shimin looked south.
The Tang Dynasty's cavalry galloped across Liaodong.
The white mountains and black waters tremble.
All the tribes were trembling with fear and came to his camp one after another to pledge their loyalty.
The pro-Tang faction in Liaodong State knelt before him and shouted that the emperor was invincible.
The entire Liaodong trembled under Li Shimin's majesty.
In the camp, Li Shimin smiled and asked the generals who were going to the battle, "I have not been in battle for more than ten years. Now I am unsheathing this sword in Liaodong. How do you think it is?"
I haven't fought a war for so many years. Now I'm showing my sword. What do you think of me?
"Your Majesty's divine power is unmatched by any emperor in history in the use of military force."
"Your Majesty is gifted by heaven. If you cannot become an emperor, you should be a famous general in ancient times."
"When your majesty comes to the throne, Liaodong trembles with fear, and the rats are terrified. This is the power of the dragon."
All the generals expressed their admiration from the bottom of their hearts without hesitation. The last trump card of the Tang Empire is always the ruler of the empire.
Li Ke looked at his father, who was full of divine power, and did not have the slightest thought of resisting.
He just wanted to stay in Mobei and be a good King of Yan.
Li Shimin felt so happy listening to these compliments, especially since Wei Zheng, that spoiler, was not around. He was very proud of himself at the moment.
"The Sui Dynasty could not recover Liaodong with a million troops, but I can recover it with only 100,000 men. This is why the Sui Dynasty fell and the Tang Dynasty ruled the world."
Li Shimin ruthlessly belittled the Sui Dynasty. When a king reached his current position, he could look at almost all the kings in history with equality, or even condescending eyes. He could look down on all kings with a superior gaze. This was the confidence that his achievements gave him.
"Who else on the Liaodong Peninsula can stop my army?"
Li Shimin asked, and then turned his gaze to Anshi City, the last important military town on the Liaodong Peninsula.
He looked at the city with a scrutinizing gaze. It was just another Liaodong city.
Most of Liaodong Kingdom has fallen under the iron hoof of the Tang Dynasty.
The war against Liaodong State is almost over.
The city of Anshi is just a desperate resistance, just like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
This war will end the moment Anshi City is destroyed.
"In autumn, the men of the Tang Dynasty will return to their hometowns to enjoy the joy of victory and the good harvest in the fields."
As Li Shimin said this, the army set out!
Chen Zhao traveled through time to the end of the Qin Dynasty, with the Mount and Blade system in hand.
In this chaotic era with many heroes rising up, he originally only hoped to survive in this troubled time, but he did not expect that with the sword in his hand, he would be able to participate in the changing situation in the world and carve out a bright future from the sea of blood and corpses.
————
"Emperor Gaozu started out as a soldier. He held a three-foot sword and faced the enemy bravely, always leading the soldiers. He exerted his talent, called on heroes, and turned the chaotic world into order. He pacified the country and extended his power to the four seas. He accomplished an unprecedented feat. How could he be so successful if he was not given the mandate by heaven?" - "Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Emperor Gaozu"
(End of this chapter)
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