Upon hearing these words from Goguryeo's Grand Admiral Go Mo, the people in the royal palace could no longer remain calm.
Almost instinctively, General Ma Xidong of the Ministry of War stood up abruptly and asked Gao Wu, "Lord Gao, this matter cannot be taken lightly?"
"At this moment, only three hours have passed since I received the first order for reinforcements from your naval messenger. In just three hours, the naval camp at Nanpu Port, which is guarded by 50,000 troops, has already fallen?"
The distraught Gao Wu didn't answer, but simply nodded heavily in agreement.
Ma Xidong's face was filled with disbelief. Ignoring all court etiquette, he grabbed Gao Wu by the collar and asked fiercely:
"Lord Gao, even if you put 50,000 pigs in Nanpu Port and let the officers and soldiers of the Tang Navy catch them, they probably wouldn't be able to catch them all in just three hours, would they?"
"How could Nampo Port, which the Goguryeo Dynasty had managed for hundreds of years, have been breached by the Tang navy in just three hours?"
Beside him, King Gao Zang, sitting on the throne in the main hall, also reprimanded him sternly with a gloomy face: "Gao Wu, what exactly happened? Tell me the truth, and do not hide anything!"
Faced with his brother's angry rebuke and the questioning of General Ma Xidong, Gao Wu had no choice but to recount, with tears streaming down his face, everything he had witnessed at Nanpu Port to everyone, word by word.
He first described how the Goguryeo naval officers and soldiers immediately dispatched warships to meet the Tang Dynasty naval fleet that suddenly appeared near the port of Nampo.
Then, he also recounted how the Tang Dynasty navy used its red-coated cannons to bombard the Goguryeo navy's warships that had set sail to meet the enemy.
Furthermore, it was stated that under the long-range attack of the Red-Clothed Cannons, the Goguryeo naval warships, which were only equipped with ballistae and crossbows, were powerless to fight back and could only passively endure the bombardment, eventually being sunk by the Red-Clothed Cannons.
Next came the task of the Tang Dynasty's naval vanguard landing on the beach.
Even now, Gao Wu still trembles and feels lingering fear when he recalls the Tang general who was clad in golden armor, wielding a pair of golden hammers, and wreaking havoc in the Goguryeo navy.
So much so that when recounting the landing of the Tang army's naval vanguard, Gao Wu's voice was trembling with tears: "Your Majesty, it is not that my brother and the officers and soldiers of the naval camp are not loyal and brave enough, but that the Tang army's naval vanguard general is unmatched!"
"Your Majesty, I personally witnessed Li Zhengmin, the deputy commander of the naval camp, leading eight hundred cavalrymen to fight against the vanguard of the Tang Dynasty navy, with ten thousand naval officers and soldiers supporting him from behind."
"However, however, that fierce Tang general, clad in golden armor and wielding a pair of golden hammers, was like a god descended to earth. Facing eight hundred cavalry and ten thousand infantry, he not only did not fall into a disadvantageous position, but instead fought against ten thousand men single-handedly, chasing after my tens of thousands of naval officers and soldiers."
"My brother, my brother, sob sob sob—"
As he spoke, Gao Wu, a tall man standing seven feet, suddenly burst into tears in front of his elder brother and a group of court officials, sobbing as he said:
"That fierce Tang general wielded a pair of golden hammers with imposing power, while Li Zhengmin, the deputy naval commander, commanded eight hundred cavalrymen whose horses were all purchased at great expense from Yanqi in the Western Regions; the horses and riders together weighed at least a thousand catties."
"But, but even these cavalrymen, each weighing a thousand pounds, were not a single one able to withstand a single hammer blow from that fierce Tang general. Under his golden hammer, almost every thousand-pound cavalryman could be sent flying several feet away with a single strike;"
"Even the valiant Vice Admiral Li Zhengmin was killed by that fierce Tang general with a single blow, without any chance to fight back!"
After a pause, Gao Wu continued, "The ballistae, catapults, and slingshots on the Nanpu Port docks and beaches—such sturdy weapons—were as fragile as paper before that fierce Tang Dynasty naval general wielding double hammers."
"With one blow of his hammer, men, horses, and weapons were all torn to pieces!"
Finally, Gao Wu solemnly assured them, "Your Majesty, generals and lords, everything I have said is true. The Tang navy not only possesses powerful cannons, but also a multitude of fierce generals."
"Your Majesty, I had no choice but to lead my troops to withdraw from Nampo Port and return to the capital to report this matter in order to preserve the strength of the Goguryeo navy, so that Your Majesty could make a decision as soon as possible!"
"Your Majesty, I know that losing Nanpu Port and leaving the royal city without a defensive barrier is a capital offense. Please, Your Majesty, punish me!"
After saying this, Gao Wu knelt down in the main hall and refused to raise his head again.
After hearing the reply from Gomo, the Grand Admiral of the Goguryeo Navy, who had just returned from the front lines at Nampo Port, the vast palace hall fell into a deathly silence.
The officials who rushed to the court meeting after receiving the imperial edict hadn't even figured out what was going on when they were dealt a blow by the Grand Admiral of the Navy, Gao Wu.
However, the expressions and demeanor of the court officials were all different, and their gazes toward Gao Wu kneeling in the main hall were extremely complex.
Clearly, a significant portion of them were skeptical of what Grand Admiral Gao Wu had said.
What a joke! One person with a pair of golden hammers could rout the Goguryeo navy? If the Tang army really had such a fierce general, why did Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an have to wait more than two years after launching the Jingnan Campaign to completely overthrow the Zhao family's empire and establish the Tang Dynasty?
At this moment, the civil and military officials of the Goguryeo court, for the first time ever, stood on the same side, all believing that the Tang general mentioned by the Grand Admiral Gao Wu was just a fictional character created by him to find an excuse for his defeat and loss of Nanpu Port.
On the throne, King Gojang, the head of the Goguryeo Dynasty, also had a very complicated expression.
Gao Zang knew a little about Gao Wu, his half-brother, who was kneeling in the main hall.
Although he lacked great talent and ambition, he was not one to deceive his superiors or subordinates.
Judging from his reaction, there must be a fierce and capable general in the Tang Dynasty navy who caused Gao Wu, the Grand Admiral of the navy, to suffer a great loss at Nampo Port. In the end, Gao Wu had no choice but to abandon his troops to save his king and lead the remaining troops back to the capital, Pyongyang.
However, whether the Tang general's true martial prowess was as exaggerated as Gao Wu described, to the point of being able to fight against ten thousand men, remains to be verified.
Just as Gao Zang was pondering how to handle the situation, someone in the hall suddenly said, "Lord Gao, since the Tang navy really does have such formidable generals as you describe..."
"Then why are we even fighting? Let's just surrender to the Tang Dynasty!"
"Now you want to bow down and submit?"
snort!
"Too late—"
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