Inside the Goguryeo military camp on the east bank of the Liao River, soldiers who were training were suddenly bombarded, causing heavy casualties. Wounded soldiers lay on the ground groaning in pain, and routed soldiers scattered in all directions. The entire military camp was thrown into chaos.
Inside the central command tent, Choi Dong-won, the commander-in-chief of the Goguryeo western expeditionary army, was awakened from his sleep by the intense sound of artillery fire and the screams and wails of his soldiers.
He didn't even bother with armor or a sword; dressed in his plain sleeping clothes, his hair disheveled, he rushed out and demanded sharply, "What's going on? Where's the explosion?"
call out--
Boom!
However, Cui Dongyuan's answer was a bomb that fell from the sky and exploded less than fifty paces away from him.
Cui Dongyuan witnessed firsthand how a high-quality military tent was torn apart in the instant of the explosion, then burst into flames with a whoosh.
"The Tang army's red-coated cannons?"
As a well-informed Goguryeo general, Cui Dongyuan immediately recognized that the projectiles heading towards the army camp were neither the catapult projectiles that the lower-ranking soldiers knew, nor the so-called palm mines, but the red-clothed cannons equipped on the warships of the Tang army's naval fleet!
The news that the Tang navy's warships were equipped with the powerful new weapon, the Red-Clothed Cannon, was already an open secret among high-ranking officials in Goguryeo.
Several months ago, news spread that the Longcheng naval fleet, which was still flying the "King of Jin's flag," was equipped with red cannons during a naval battle between the Goguryeo Peninsula and the four islands of Japan to eliminate Japanese pirates.
The surviving Japanese pirates spread the news widely after escaping back to the Goguryeo Peninsula.
However, neither the powerful civil and military officials of the Goguryeo Dynasty at that time, nor even the current dynasty, took the Tang army's naval fleet's warships equipped with red cannons seriously.
In their view, the so-called red-coated cannon should be an improved version of a catapult.
After all, these people don't even have the concept of a "cannon".
The projectiles launched by those catapults, after being doused with hot oil and ignited, would still "explode" upon hitting city walls or warships, so there was nothing to be afraid of!
Only now, after witnessing firsthand the might of the Tang army's red-coated cannons, did General Cui Dongyuan of the Goguryeo Dynasty, who was leading the western expedition, suddenly realize that the red-coated cannons equipped by the Tang army were not the same as the red-coated cannons they had imagined.
Realizing what was happening, Cui Dongyuan immediately roared, "Guards!"
"Messenger, where the messenger is, damn it!"
Amidst Cui Dongyuan's angry curses, several armored messengers, their faces filled with panic, finally arrived outside the central command tent, trembling as they replied, "General, General, your humble servant is here!"
snort!
Cui Dongyuan glared fiercely at the men. If it weren't for the fact that the Tang army was about to cross the river, he would have ordered the heads of these messengers to be chopped off.
Cui Dongyuan angrily ordered, "Pass on my command: all commanders and deputy commanders are to gather their troops and withdraw the main force three miles away, beyond the range of the Tang army's cannons!"
"Tell all commanders and deputy commanders to hold their ground and not panic. The Tang army's cannons on the other side of the Liao River weigh over a thousand pounds; it's impossible to move their positions easily."
"Let all the soldiers on the river defense front retreat, let the vanguard of the Tang army cross the river, and then seize the opportunity to annihilate them!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
Soon, the messengers who received the order braved the artillery fire of the Tang army's Shenji Battalion on the west bank of the Liao River to deliver General Cui Dongyuan's order to the vanguard on the Liao River defense line and the garrison troops stationed on the left and right flanks.
Meanwhile, Cui Dongyuan personally directed the central army and cavalry to retreat in an orderly manner in order to avoid the effective range of the red-coated cannons.
Before retreating, Cui Dongyuan gazed at the Tang army's red-coated cannon positions on the opposite bank of the Liao River, where those cannons continued to roar and fire projectiles into the Goguryeo army's ranks on the east bank. He gritted his teeth and roared angrily, "Damn it—"
"Damn Han Chinese Tang soldiers, I will cut off all your heads sooner or later and sink your proud red cannons into the river!"
After uttering those harsh words, Choi Dong-won mounted his horse and retreated towards the Goguryeo Dynasty's territory without looking back.
at the same time.
On the west bank of the Liao River, in front of the Tang army, Liu Ergou, the Earl of Suiyuan and deputy general of the Tang army's eastern expedition, took the lead and, with the soldiers of the supply battalion under the cover of the red-coated cannons of the Shenji Battalion, began to cross the Liao River in small boats.
Accompanying them was a 2,000-strong Shenji Battalion musketeer team and a 3,000-strong Vanguard Battalion.
In an instant, hundreds of boats raced on the wide Liao River. Tang soldiers on the small boats raised their battle flags with the character "Tang" on them and charged toward the Goguryeo army's defenses on the east bank of the Liao River amidst the howling river wind.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Boom, boom, boom!
Seeing the Tang army vanguard begin to forcefully cross the Liao River, the Goguryeo soldiers stationed on the east bank of the Liao River also panicked and used every means to counterattack the Tang army crossing the river, either drawing their bows and arrows or firing their catapults.
However, under the threat of the Tang army's Shenji Battalion's red-coated cannons, most of the arrows and stones fired by the Goguryeo soldiers lost their aim.
They either crashed into the Liao River, creating ripples, or were blocked by the shields of the Tang army's vanguard soldiers.
Even if, by some chance, an arrow struck a Tang soldier on a small boat, it would ultimately be blocked by the heavily armed Tang armor, making it difficult to inflict any real damage on the Tang vanguard crossing the river.
War is inherently a process of ebb and flow.
After Choi Dong-won, the commander of the Goguryeo army stationed on the east bank of the Liao River, issued the order to "withdraw from the entire front and avoid the enemy's cannon fire," the morale and fighting spirit of the Goguryeo soldiers on the east bank of the Liao River collapsed instantly.
The so-called orderly evacuation turned into a chaotic rout.
As a result, even the frontline operations to resist the Tang army's crossing of the river became so perfunctory.
Meanwhile, Tang army deputy general Liu Ergou seized the opportunity of the enemy's demoralized state at the first moment, personally piloting a small boat to cross the Liao River, waving flags, shouting, and cheering for the vanguard soldiers of the main army's trapped camp!
"Soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, the opportunity to recover lost territory, annihilate the enemy, and serve your country is right before you!"
"Sweep away Goguryeo, achieve merit and receive rewards!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill them!"
Instantly, the shouts of battle from the Tang army on both sides of the Liao River shook the heavens.
Moments later, the first small boat carrying the vanguard of the Tang army's elite troops successfully reached the east bank of the Liao River.
Then came the second, the third...
Small boats carrying Tang soldiers arrived at the opposite bank one after another. The soldiers of the Trapped Camp and the Divine Machine Battalion immediately picked up their swords, held their three-eyed gunpowder muskets, and charged into the Goguryeo army's formation one after another.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Bang bang bang!
The next moment, gunshots rang out like popping beans in the fleeing Goguryeo army.
Countless Goguryeo soldiers, with their backs to the Tang army's vanguard, were hit by bullets and fell to the ground dead like rows of sorghum stalks swept by hail.
He died without ever understanding what kind of weapon the Tang army had killed him.
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