Chapter 295: Fierce Battle on Liaohe River, the Might of the Tang Dynasty

Two days later.

The battle for the Tang army to recapture the four counties of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang and Daifang officially began.

The commander of the Tang army, who was stationed on the west bank of the Liaohe River, was Wang Jian, Duke of Qin of the Tang Dynasty, one of the "Four Famous Generals of the Warring States Period".

The opponent was Cui Dongyuan, the general of the Goguryeo Western Expedition, who was stationed on the east bank of the Liaohe River.

The battle started at dawn on March 17th, 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 Liaohe River was the Shenjiying of the Tang army.

This expedition to Goguryeo was not only a practical test of the Tang navy fleet's "training by fighting", but also a practical test of the Tang army's Shenjiying's "training by fighting".

In this battle, the Shenjiying sent out a total of 10,000 troops, carrying 300 red-coated cannons and 5,000 "three-eyed magic guns" gunpowder guns, commanded by Tang Ziyi, the former deputy general of the Hu Ben New Army and the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Jingyuan Earl.

At dawn.

The 300 red-coated cannons in the Shenjiying of the Tang Army were lined up on the Tang Army's defense line on the west bank of the Liaohe River. Covered by a piece of red silk, the red-coated cannons were facing the east bank of the Liaohe River and aiming at the Goguryeo defenders' camp.

Qin Guogong Wang Jian, wearing a bright light armor, held a monocular telescope and sat on the central army observation tower, his eyes locked on the Goguryeo army camp on the east bank of the Liaohe River.

At this time, in the Goguryeo camp on the east bank of Liaodong, the soldiers who had gotten up early for training had not yet noticed the coming of the god of death. Only the soldiers on duty on the observation tower were amazed at the endless red silk lined up on the Tang army's defense line on the west bank of the Liaohe River.

The Goguryeo soldiers who didn't know what was going on thought that someone in the Tang army on the opposite side was getting married!

"Report--"

"Report to the general, the Shenji Camp is fully prepared and can launch artillery attacks on the east bank of the Liaohe River at any time. Please give instructions to the general!"

At this time, the messenger of the central army hurriedly came to report. While bringing the combat readiness of the Shenji Camp, he also brought the request of Tang Ziyi, the commander of the Shenji Camp.

"Report--"

"Report to the general, the vanguard troops leading the crossing of the river led by Deputy General Liu are ready and can force the crossing of the Liaohe River at any time. Please give instructions to the general!"

Almost at the same time, another messenger of the central army hurried to report.

At the same time, Wang Jian, the Duke of Qin, who was sitting in the central army lookout tower and looking down at the battlefield, had also used the monocular telescope in his hand to lock the position of the Shenji Camp and the Tang army's vanguard troops crossing the river.

Originally, there was a bridge connecting the east and the west on both sides of the Liaohe River.

However, after the Goguryeo Dynasty took advantage of the civil strife of the Great Xin Dynasty and brazenly sent troops to invade and annex the Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang counties of the Great Xin Dynasty;

In order to prevent the Great Xin Dynasty from increasing its troops in Liaodong, Cui Dongyuan, the general of the Goguryeo Western Expedition stationed on the east bank of the Liaohe River, ordered the destruction of the Liaohe River Bridge and instead built a simple floating bridge on the Liaohe River to facilitate the exchanges and trade between the people of both sides.

After that, as the Tang Dynasty's army frequently mobilized and assembled in the Liaodong area, Cui Dongyuan realized that the Tang Dynasty army had the possibility of sending troops to recover the four counties of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang, and ordered the destruction of the floating bridge on the Liaohe River.

As a result, the Tang army's feint attack troops had to build a pontoon bridge on the Liaohe River first, so that they could cross the Liaohe River to regain lost territory.

Let's get back to the story.

When Wang Jian, the Duke of Qin who led the army to the east to conquer Goguryeo, received a report that the front-line troops were ready, he immediately and decisively issued an attack order: "Come on, someone——"

"Pass on this general's order, the Shenji Camp will launch an artillery attack on the east bank of the Liaohe River, and the vanguard troops crossing the river will forcefully cross the Liaohe River under the cover of the Shenji Camp and build a pontoon bridge!"

"I have received the order!"

Soon, with the order from the commander Wang Jian, the Tang army flag bearers on the central army's watchtower immediately waved the triangular flags in their hands and gave orders to the Shenji Camp and the vanguard troops respectively.

On the Shenji Camp position, Jingyuan Bo Tang Ziyi paid close attention to the direction of the central army's watchtower.

When the flag signal soldier gave the flag signal order "All troops attack, Shenji Battalion fires", Tang Ziyi shouted: "All Shenji Battalion, all..."

"Target, east bank of Liaohe River!"

"Fire..."

Then, the command of Tang Ziyi, the commander of Shenji Battalion, to fire was repeated by dozens of messengers around him to ensure that every soldier on the Shenji Battalion position could hear it:

"Target, east bank of Liaohe River!"

"Fire..."

The next moment, the soldiers of Shenji Battalion, who had been ready for a long time, immediately followed the tactical actions they had trained countless times, and lifted the red silk that was wet with morning dew from the body of the red cannon, revealing the black muzzle.

Then, the actions of loading the projectile and lighting the fuse were done in one go.

On the west bank of the winding Liaohe River, bursts of hissing sounds were heard one after another, which were the sounds of the red cannon's fuse burning shorter and shorter.

At the same time.

On the observation tower of the Goguryeo military camp on the east bank of the Liao River, the soldiers on duty also discovered the unusual movement of the Tang army on the other side of the river.

A centurion frowned and cursed: "Asiba (bastard)——"

"What do the Han people on the other side of the river want to do? They won't let people have peace so early in the morning!"

As he said, he waved his hand and ordered: "Well, you go to the central army tent and report to the general that the Han people on the other side of the river don't know——"

Before the Goguryeo centurion finished speaking, a strange sound came to his ears, which made him look up subconsciously.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh whoosh——

Looking up, the centurion, the Goguryeo soldiers on duty, and the soldiers who were training in the barracks were all startled by the "strange phenomenon" in the sky.

I saw that the dense, black balls were attacking the Goguryeo barracks like raindrops.

And the sound of breaking through the air was also coming from the balls in the air.

"Ah Xiba——"

For a while, the Goguryeo soldiers in the barracks shouted and ran away, trying to avoid the range where the balls fell to the ground.

Although these soldiers did not know what the red cannon was, let alone the power of the red cannon;

But, they were not stupid.

When it rained, they knew to run under the eaves, not to mention the balls thrown from the Tang army's defense line on the other side of the Liaohe River.

If it hit the head, it would be a concussion if not dead.

Some experienced Goguryeo soldiers even found that the Tang army's thing seemed to be a stone ball fired by a small catapult.

However, they still couldn't figure out why the Tang army would fire such a bowl-sized stone ball, which seemed to have no killing power at all!

However, just a moment later, when the shrapnel shells fired by the red cannons mercilessly smashed into the Goguryeo camp, these soldiers suddenly realized that this was not a stone ball at all, but a "palm thunder"!

Boom--

Boom!

Boom!

"Ah Xi Ba--"

"Enemy attack, quickly disperse, enemy attack--"