Two days later.
The battle for the Tang army to recover the four prefectures of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang has officially begun.
The commander-in-chief of the Tang army, who was stationed on the west bank of the Liao River to direct the battle, was Wang Jian, the Duke of Qin of the Tang Dynasty, one of the "Four Great Generals of the Warring States Period".
His adversary was Choi Dong-won, the Goguryeo general in charge of the western expedition, who was stationed on the east bank of the Liao River.
The battle began at dawn on the 17th day of the third month of the first year of the Zhaowu reign of the Tang Dynasty. The first to attack the Goguryeo army stationed on the east bank of the Liao River was the Shenji Battalion of the Tang army.
This expedition to Goguryeo was not only a practical test of the Tang Dynasty's naval fleet, but also a practical test of the Tang army's Shenji Battalion, using combat as a training exercise.
In this battle, the Shenji Battalion mobilized a total of 10,000 men, carrying 300 red-coated cannons and 5,000 "three-eyed divine guns" gunpowder muskets, under the command of Tang Ziyi, the former deputy general of the Tiger Warrior New Army and the founding Earl of Jingyuan of the Tang Dynasty.
At dawn.
Three hundred red-coated cannons from the Tang army's Shenji Battalion were lined up along the Tang army's defensive line on the west bank of the Liao River. Covered by large red silk ribbons, the cannons' dark muzzles were aimed at the Goguryeo garrison camp on the east bank of the Liao River.
Duke Wang Jian of Qin, clad in gleaming armor and holding a monocular telescope, sat at the central command observation post, his gaze fixed on the Goguryeo army camp on the east bank of the Liao River.
At this moment, in the Goguryeo army camp on the east bank of Liaodong, the soldiers who had gotten up early for drills had not yet realized the approach of death. Only the soldiers on the watchtower were marveling at the endless rows of large red silk ribbons that stretched out on the Tang army's defense line on the west bank of the Liao River.
The Goguryeo soldiers, unaware of the situation, thought that someone in the Tang army opposite them was getting married!
"Report—"
"Reporting to the General, the Shenji Battalion is fully prepared and ready to launch an artillery barrage on the east bank of the Liao River at any time. Please give your instructions, General!"
At this moment, a messenger from the central army rushed in to report, bringing with him the battle readiness status of the Shenji Battalion, as well as a request for instructions from Tang Ziyi, the commander of the Shenji Battalion.
"Report—"
"Reporting to the General, the vanguard force led by Vice General Liu is ready to cross the Liao River at any time. Please give your instructions, General!"
Almost simultaneously, another messenger from the central army rushed in to report.
At the same time, Qin State Duke Wang Jian, who was stationed in the central command watchtower overlooking the battlefield, had already used his monocular telescope to lock onto the positions of the Shenji Battalion and the Tang army's vanguard troops crossing the river.
Originally, there was a large bridge connecting the east and west banks of the Liao River.
However, after the Goguryeo Dynasty took advantage of the internal strife of the Daxin Dynasty, it brazenly sent troops to invade and annex the four commanderies of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang and Daifang of the Daxin Dynasty;
To prevent the Daxin Dynasty from increasing its troops in Liaodong, Choi Dong-won, the Goguryeo general in charge of the western expedition stationed on the east bank of the Liao River, ordered the destruction of the Liao River Bridge and instead built a simple pontoon bridge across the Liao River to facilitate the movement of people from both sides and to conduct trade.
Subsequently, as the Tang Dynasty's army frequently mobilized and assembled in the Liaodong region, Cui Dongyuan, realizing the possibility that the Tang army might send troops to recover the four prefectures of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang, ordered the destruction of the pontoon bridge over the Liao River.
As a result, the Tang army's feigned attack force had to first build a pontoon bridge across the Liao River before it could cross the river and reclaim the lost territory.
Let's get back to the main topic.
When Wang Jian, the Duke of Qin, who was leading the army on the eastern expedition against Goguryeo, received reports that the troops at the front were ready, he immediately and decisively issued the order to attack: "Men, come here—"
"By order of the General, the Shenji Battalion will launch an artillery barrage on the east bank of the Liao River. The vanguard troops, under the cover of the Shenji Battalion, will force their way across the Liao River and build a pontoon bridge!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
Soon, with a command from Commander Wang Jian, the Tang army flag signalmen on the central watchtower immediately waved their triangular command flags and gave orders to the Shenji Battalion and the vanguard.
On the Shenji Battalion's position, Marquis Jingyuan, Tang Ziyi, kept a close eye on the direction of the central command's watchtower.
After the signalman signaled "All troops, attack! Shenji Battalion, fire!", Tang Ziyi immediately shouted, "All Shenji Battalion, at your command—"
"Target: East bank of the Liao River!"
"fire--"
Immediately, the order for Tang Ziyi, the commander of the Shenji Battalion, to fire the cannons was repeated in unison by dozens of messengers around him to ensure that every soldier on the Shenji Battalion's position could hear it:
"Target: East bank of the Liao River!"
"fire--"
The next moment, the Shenji Battalion soldiers, who were already prepared, immediately followed the tactical movements they had practiced countless times, and lifted the pieces of bright red silk, which were wet with the morning dew, from the cannon bodies of the red-coated cannons, revealing the dark muzzles.
Immediately afterwards, the actions of loading the projectile and igniting the fuse were completed in one smooth motion.
Along the winding western bank of the Liao River, a series of hissing sounds could be heard, the whirring of the fuses of the red-coated cannons burning shorter and shorter.
At the same time.
On the watchtower of the Goguryeo army camp on the east bank of the Liao River, the soldiers on guard also noticed the unusual movements of the Tang army on the opposite bank.
A centurion, his face grim, frowned and cursed, "Damn it!"
"What are those Han people on the other side of the river trying to do? They can't even let people have some peace and quiet this early in the morning!"
With that, he waved his hand and ordered, "Hey you, hurry to the central command tent and report to the General that the Han people on the other side of the river don't know—"
Before the Goguryeo centurion could finish speaking, a strange sound reached his ears, causing him to instinctively look up.
Whoosh, whoosh whoosh, whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Looking up, the centurion, the Goguryeo soldier on duty, and the soldiers training in the camp were all startled by the strange phenomenon in the sky.
Then, countless dark, round spheres rained down on the Goguryeo army camp.
The whooshing sound came from the sphere in mid-air.
"Damn it!"
In an instant, the Goguryeo soldiers in the camp shouted and ran away in all directions, trying to avoid the area after the round ball landed.
These soldiers did not know what the Red Coat Cannon was, nor did they know its power;
But they're not stupid.
Everyone knows to run under the eaves when it rains, let alone a round ball thrown from the Tang army's defense line across the Liao River.
If that hit you on the head, you'd either die or suffer a concussion.
Some experienced Goguryeo soldiers even recognized the Tang army's weapon as resembling a small catapult launching stone pellets.
However, they still couldn't figure out why the Tang army would launch such small stone balls, only the size of a bowl, which seemed to have no killing power at all!
However, only moments later, when the exploding shells fired by the red-coated cannons mercilessly crashed into the Goguryeo army camp, the soldiers suddenly realized that these were not stone balls at all, but "palm bombs"!
boom--
Boom!
Rumble!
"Damn it!"
"Enemy attack! Scatter! Enemy attack—"
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