Thirty thousand Goguryeo soldiers and horses, under the command of Yeon Gaesumun, marched towards Zhangqiu County in a mighty manner. The morale of this army was extremely high, and it seemed that they were not affected at all by the burning of the grain camp in Yucheng.
This is because before departure, Yuengai Suwen promised his troops that after capturing Zhangqiu, military discipline would no longer be enforced. The soldiers could rob Han people in the city at will, and all the financial gains would be their own.
Yeon Gae Suwen's order immediately boosted the morale of the entire army, and all the soldiers were as excited as if they had been given blood.
Is this any wonder? After all, the Goguryeo soldiers at the bottom were not Yeon Gaesumun, and they did not have his ambitions. The purpose of their coming to Qingzhou was just to rob and take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune.
However, after Yuengai Suwen and Li established an alliance, under the pressure of many civil and military ministers of the Tang army, Yuengai Suwen had no choice but to force his troops to strictly observe military discipline and not disturb the people.
However, this approach did not fundamentally solve the problem. On the contrary, due to long-term suppression, the inner desires and killings of the Goguryeo soldiers and horses increased day by day. Now, with Yeon Gaesumun's order, everyone incarnates in an instant. The devil of desire.
Yeon Gaesumun raised his head and stared at Zhangqiu City in front of him for a moment. The city was already filled with soldiers holding crossbows, but the leather armor on their bodies, the crossbows and spears in their hands were crude. Moreover, every time Yeon Gaesumun glanced at a place, he could always see a few soldiers swaying around, looking very panicked and scared.
Yeon Gaesumun sneered, which was what he expected. Qingzhou has experienced wars for a long time, and the local garrison was either transferred away, defeated by bandits, or even assimilated. And it was impossible for the Tang and Sui armies to disperse their forces to recover these counties that were insignificant to the battle situation when the outcome was still undecided.
Therefore, in Yeon Gaesumun's view, the soldiers guarding the city should be just local warriors organized by the local people themselves. It might be okay to deal with a few petty thieves to maintain local security. But if you want to stop your 30,000-strong army, huh, that would be like using a mantis as a chariot!
Yuengai Suwen waved his horsewhip and loudly ordered: "Send my military order, the whole army will cut down trees and build ladders nearby, and attack the city in an hour. After the city is broken, you can do whatever you want!"
The 30,000 Goguryeo soldiers and horses immediately cheered together. Many soldiers rushed to the surrounding mountains and forests. Perhaps they thought they could make a big fortune after breaking the city. These soldiers worked very energetically. Just half an hour later, they were already dead. Dozens of ladders were quickly made.
"Siege the city!"
Yeon Gaesumun was overjoyed when he saw this. Knowing that the morale of the entire army was now strong, he immediately changed his mind and ordered an immediate attack on the city.
Boom, boom, boom! ! !
The drums of the attack sounded, and the 30,000 Goguryeo soldiers rushed towards the city like a pack of hungry wolves, shouting crazily. In their eyes, Zhangqiu County in front of them is no longer a county, but a paradise that will bring them carnival.
"Fire the arrow!"
At this moment, a powerful voice suddenly sounded from the top of the city. At the same time, the country warriors who were originally standing on the city wall stepped back one after another. A group of Sui soldiers with bright armor and full of energy suddenly appeared on the top of the city. Without saying a word, they bent their bows and arrows towards the city. Shoot down the city.
Whoosh whoosh! ! !
Arrows rained down from the top of the city. Goguryeo, who was shouting and charging forward, was suddenly hit head-on. For a time, countless Goguryeo soldiers screamed and fell to the ground after being hit by arrows, which immediately caused chaos in the formation.
"What's going on? What's going on?"
An Dianbao, the fierce general of Goguryeo who was leading the charge at the front, was also startled by the overwhelming arrows. He hurriedly waved the pair of silver hammers in his hands to block the arrows. He took a break and looked up, only to see the defenders guarding the city. In the center of the army, a general with a pale golden complexion, eight-colored eyebrows, and bright eyes stood with his sword in his hand, looking at him coldly.
"Qin Qiong!"
An Dianbao quickly recognized the Sui general, and suddenly felt something bad. He immediately stopped charging forward and turned back to look for Yeon Gaesumun.
"Young General, something bad happened. The general just saw Qin Qiong on the city. I'm afraid the Sui army has already anticipated our movements and made preparations in advance!" An Dianbao immediately told him after finding Yuan Gaisuwen situation.
"How could the Sui army know that we would attack Zhangqiu?" Yuan Gaisuwen was stunned for a moment when he heard this, but then he realized it and gritted his teeth and said: "Li Jiancheng, you are so cruel, you betrayed me!"
Hearing this, An Dianbao asked with some confusion: "Major General, isn't Li Jiancheng our ally? How could he betray us?"
"Hmph, we were indeed allies before, but now we are no longer!" After all, Yeon Gaesumun was a famous tycoon in Goguryeo. In a moment of confusion, he had already figured out Li Jiancheng's intention: "Li Jiancheng is a person who has no influence on himself." He attaches great importance to his reputation, and our looting of Qingzhou will definitely have a great impact on his reputation, so he is eager to distance himself from us.
In addition, if my prediction is correct, the thief Li Jiancheng should have planned to leave Qingzhou, and he was afraid that the Sui army would pursue him, so he used us as bait to cover his safe evacuation. "
Hou Fangyu, the counselor on the side, heard this and hurriedly admonished: "Major General, if things are really as you expected, then the Sui army may have already been surrounded by ambushes. Please order the withdrawal without further delay!"
An Dianbao also nodded and agreed: "Major General, retreat quickly before the ambush of the Sui army has gathered. I'm afraid our entire army will be annihilated if it's too late!"
"Withdraw? General An, Mr. Hou, do you think we can still withdraw?"
Yeon Gaesumun gave a bitter smile and said: "There is no turning back! The reason why the soldiers are still following me now is because I promised them that after breaking the city, they can plunder the Han people in the city. I have ordered the withdrawal now. Do you think they will?" Do you listen? What’s more, our army only has less than two days of food and grass left. Even if we are lucky enough to withdraw in two days, we will collapse without a fight!"
Hou Fangyu's face suddenly turned pale, and he quickly asked: "Major General, what should we do?"
Yuan Gaisuwen's eyes flashed with coldness, and he said in a deep voice: "At this point, there is no other way. We can only sink the cauldron, take advantage of the Sui army's ambush and attack Zhangqiu with all our strength, and then use the city full of Han people We must sacrifice our lives to negotiate with the Sui army and ask them to let us return to Goguryeo. This is our only way to survive now!"
"Okay, Major General, let's compete with the Sui army now!"
An Dianbao nodded solemnly towards Yeon Gaesumun, turned around and returned to the battlefield. He swung a pair of big silver hammers vigorously, constantly hitting the arrows falling from the sky, and approached the city wall as if his legs were flying in the wind. .
"Ding dong, it has been detected that An Dianbao has entered a desperate state, the force is +6, the base force is 100, and the current force has increased to 106."
