Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

The defenders at the South Gate shouted in horror.

"what!"

"When will the Tang army get around to the East City Gate?"

With the Taizi River as a defense line, it would be impossible for the Tang army to cross the river so easily!

And why is there no movement at all? Could it be that the people on guard are lazy and sleeping?

The soldier stationed at the East Gate hurriedly said, "General, the Tang army has just appeared on the other side of the Taizi River. I came to report to you as soon as I found out."

"Whoo~"

The commander guarding the South City Gate breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that there was no time to worry about how the Tang army would appear. The most urgent task was to stop the Tang army's attack.

"You go back to defend first. Later, I will arrange for the common people to go over and help you defend together."

"If we can't defend the moat, then forget it. We just need to defend the city walls with all our strength."

The guarding conditions of the moat are average, and the casualties of defending the moat are too high.

There were only 5 infantrymen that could be mobilized in the city. If all the soldiers were kept outside the city, Liaodong City would have no way to be defended.

As for the more than 50,000 civilians, young and old, most of them had no weapons and were of little use except for helping with moving things.

After several soldiers saluted and left, the commander of the South Gate turned around and gave instructions to a personal guard.

"Hurry up and go to the City Lord's Mansion and tell Gao Lisa that the Tang army has appeared at the East City Gate."

"By the way, please ask Gao Lisa to send the guards from the City Lord's Mansion to assist in the defense!"

Apart from the 5 defenders and civilians, the only remaining force in the city was the 500 soldiers guarding Gao Changyi.

"As ordered!"

The last guard clasped his fists and quickly ran down the city wall.

The commander of the South Gate walked to the edge of the city wall and watched the actions of the Tang army with squinted eyes. He felt as if a huge stone was weighing him down.

Half an hour later, half of the soldiers who had gone back to rest came to the city wall.

Another half hour passed before the people, driven by the soldiers, returned to the city wall one after another.

Under the command of the commander of the South Gate, they carried all the city defense equipment, such as crossbows, arrows, rolling logs, bows and arrows, kerosene, and hay, to the city wall.

Tens of thousands of people hid behind the city walls and watched the Tang army slaughter their brothers and relatives who were guarding the river.

Because the moat was only ten feet wide and the number of Tang soldiers building the pontoon bridges was large, it didn't take long for them to build more than ten pontoon bridges.

The heavy armored infantry holding shields took the lead and rushed to the other side of the moat in an instant.

In a matter of minutes, the remaining defenders were wiped out and the other side of the moat was firmly occupied.

Then more and more Tang troops rushed across the pontoon bridge. After the siege ladders were transported across the river, the assembled army began to move quickly towards the city wall.

The commander of the South Gate shouted: "The Tang army is preparing to attack the city, everyone quickly get into battle mode!"

Everyone on the city wall became nervous instantly when they saw the Tang army advancing step by step.

The enemy is at the gates, this is a real siege.

Li Ji led 2 infantrymen to attack the north gate.

Zhang Jian led an army of 8 foreign soldiers to attack the South Gate.

Hou Junji led 2 infantrymen to attack the west gate.

The three armies launched a fierce attack on the three gates of Liaodong City.

"The heavy-armored infantry raise their shields to protect us, the archers suppress the enemy, and the ladders are moved to the bottom of the city wall!"

Above the city wall, the Tang army and the Goguryeo defenders shot countless arrows, and the dense rain of arrows collided in the air, creating sparks.

On top of the city wall.

The commander of the Liaodong city's south gate shouted, "Don't panic, wait until the Tang army gets closer before shooting!"

"Aim your crossbows at the places where the Tang army is densely packed. Don't worry about running out of arrows. There are still plenty in the warehouse!"

The crossbows mounted on the city wall, when pulled by several people, were able to penetrate even the thick shields of the Tang army.

Although the Tang army's offensive was fierce, the defenders of Liaodong City relied on the fifty- or six-meter-high city walls to repel the Tang army time and time again.

After four hours of continuous bloody fighting, none of the 4 elite Tang troops could climb the walls of Goguryeo.

Inside the tent of the commander-in-chief of the Tang army.

The soldier in charge of delivering the message reported: "Your Highness, the 30th siege launched by the three armies was still stopped by the Liaodong City defenders."

"General Li Ji said that the south wind is blowing and there may be heavy rain tonight. In addition, the sky is getting dark, which is not conducive to attacking the city. He hopes that the prince will call back the troops."

Li Chengqian was looking forward to the good news that the army had broken into the city, but after waiting for a whole day, the army still hadn't taken Liaodong City, which made him very upset.

He asked unwillingly: "If the army continues to attack, how long will it take to capture Liaodong City?"

"this..."

The messenger choked.

As a small soldier, he had no way of answering the prince's question.

Du He frowned and said, "Your Highness, since General Li Ji suggested calling off the troops, it means that we won't be able to capture Liaodong City in a short time."

"Besides, the army has been attacking non-stop for such a long time and is already exhausted. Fighting further will only result in more casualties. Let's retreat and rest."

"Wait for the generals to come back, and then we'll discuss how to break into the city."

Since even Du He said so, Li Chengqian had no choice but to give the order.

"Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"

As the retreat horn sounded, the Tang army instantly withdrew from the battlefield like a tide.

An hour later.

Li Ji, Hou Junji and Zhang Jian counted the casualties in today's siege, and then went to the commander's tent to report.

Although the army failed to capture Liaodong City, Li Chengqian still had people prepare a sumptuous meal to reward the three hard-working generals.

Before eating, the three generals reported the casualties of the soldiers.

Li Ji was the first to report: "In this battle, our troops suffered 185 casualties and more than 15 arrows were consumed."

Hou Junji followed closely behind: "Our troops suffered 275 casualties and more than 18 arrows."

Zhang Jian finally said: "My troops suffered 263 casualties and more than 5 arrows were used up."

When the Tang army attacked the city, they did not rush in all at once, but had a designated vanguard team.

In order to minimize casualties and cover the first troops to successfully climb the city wall, the archers never stopped shooting arrows.

As a result, more than 38 bows and arrows were consumed in the siege in one day.

"The casualties are not that great." Li Chengqian nodded with relief. He then frowned and asked, "General Li Ji, why do you think Liaodong City is so difficult to capture?"

Li Ji said in a deep voice: "The city wall is built on a hill. Not only is the terrain steep, but the wall is more than 50 feet high!"

"Not only are there a large number of crossbows on the city walls, but the defenders have also prepared a large amount of rolling logs, kerosene, and hay."

After hearing what Li Ji said, Hou Junji and Zhang Jian nodded in unison.

Hou Junji continued, "When our soldiers rushed up the hillside, it was very difficult to carry the ladders up the hill, and the enemy's rolling logs also caused us great trouble."

"After attacking for so long, we only climbed the city wall five times, and were quickly taken down by the enemy."

Even Li Ji and Hou Junji couldn't attack the city wall, let alone Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian said timidly: "The foreign army I led are all good on horseback, they are not good at mountain warfare."

"We never attacked the walls of Liaodong City once."

Not only did they fail to capture the city, they didn't even get the ladders to the foot of the city wall.

Hearing what the three of them said, Li Chengqian frowned and said, "According to what the generals said, if we use a violent attack on Liaodong City, it will be difficult to capture it in a short time."

"In order to reduce the casualties of our soldiers, we can only change the way we attack the city."

"Do you generals have any good ideas for breaking into the city?"

After Li Chengqian finished speaking, he looked at Li Ji, Hou Junji and Zhang Jian with burning eyes.