Chapter 296 Recovering Four Counties in One Day (Part 1)

In the Goguryeo military camp on the east bank of the Liao River, the soldiers who were practicing were knocked upside down by the sudden shelling. They suffered heavy casualties. There were wounded soldiers lying on the ground and wailing everywhere, and broken soldiers fleeing everywhere. The whole military camp was suddenly in chaos. .

In the Chinese army's tent, Cui Dongyuan, the commander of Goguryeo's Western Expeditionary Army, was awakened from his sleep by the sound of intensive shelling and the screams and wails of soldiers.

He didn't even bother to wear armor and a knife, and he was dressed in plain clothes for sleeping. He rushed out with a disheveled hair and a face, and asked sternly: "What's going on? Where is the explosion happening?"

call out--

Boom!

However, Cui Dongyuan's answer was a bomb that fell from the sky and exploded less than fifty steps away from him.

Cui Dongyuan saw with his own eyes that a high-quality marching tent was torn apart at the moment of the explosion, and then ignited with a bang and burst into flames.

"The Tang Army's red cannon?"

After all, he was the well-informed Goguryeo general. Cui Dongyuan recognized immediately that the projectiles that were attacking the army camp were neither slingshot projectiles that the soldiers at the bottom knew, nor the so-called palm thunder. But the red cannons equipped by the warships of the Tang Army's naval fleet!

The news that the warships of the Tang Army's naval fleet were equipped with powerful new weapons, red cannons, has become an open secret among high-level officials in Goguryeo.

As early as a few months ago, the Dragon City Navy fleet, still flying the "Jinwang Banner", went to the waters between the Goguryeo Peninsula and the four Japanese islands to wipe out Japanese pirates. During the naval battle, there was news that the warships were equipped with red cannons. It spread like wildfire.

The surviving Japanese pirates spread the news widely after escaping back to the Goguryeo Peninsula.

However, the powerful civil servants and generals in the Goguryeo Dynasty at that time, and even within the current dynasty, did not take the Tang Navy fleet and warships equipped with red cannons seriously.

In their opinion, this so-called red cannon should be an improved version of the sling.

After all, in these people's cognition, there is no concept of "cannon" at all.

The projectiles fired from the catapult were doused with fire oil and ignited before being launched. They would still "explode" if they hit a city wall or a warship. There was nothing to be afraid of!

It was only now that Cui Dongyuan, the general of the Goguryeo Dynasty's Western Expedition, who had witnessed the power of the red cannons of the Tang Army, suddenly realized that the red cannons equipped by the Tang Army were not the same as the red cannons they imagined.

Cui Dongyuan reacted and immediately roared: "Here comes someone——"

"The messenger, where did the messenger die? Assi!"

Amidst Cui Dongyuan's angry curses, several armored and panic-looking messengers finally rushed outside the Chinese army's tent, and replied tremblingly: "General, general, the last general is here!"

snort!

Cui Dongyuan glared at several people fiercely. If the Tang army was not about to cross the river, he would have ordered the heads of these messengers to be chopped off.

Cui Dongyuan said angrily: "Pass this general's order and ask the deputy generals to gather the troops. The army will retreat three miles back and be out of the range of the Tang army's red cannons;"

"Tell all the deputy generals to hold your ground and don't panic. The Tang army's red cannon on the other side of the Liao River weighs a thousand kilograms. It is impossible to move the red cannon position easily."

"Let all the soldiers on the Jiang defense front line retreat, let the Tang army's vanguard unit cross the river, and then wait for an opportunity to annihilate them!"

"The general will get the order!"

Soon, the few messengers who had received the general order braved the artillery fire from the Shenji Battalion of the Tang Army on the west bank of the Liao River to convey General Cui Dongyuan's general order to the front army on the Liao River defense line and the supporting garrison troops on the left and right wings. .

Cui Dongyuan, on the other hand, personally commanded the Chinese army and cavalry to evacuate backwards in an orderly manner to avoid the effective range of the red cannon.

Before evacuating, Cui Dongyuan looked at the red cannons of the Tang Army on the other side of the Liao River. The red cannons were still roaring and firing projectiles at the Goguryeo army on the east bank of the Liao River. He gritted his teeth and said angrily: "Axi. Bar--"

"Damn the Han Tang Army. Sooner or later, this general will chop off all your heads and sink your proud red cannon into the river!"

After saying the cruel words, Cui Dongyuan got on his horse and evacuated towards the territory of the Goguryeo Dynasty without looking back.

at the same time.

In front of the Tang Army's formation on the west bank of the Liao River, Suiyuan Bo Liu Ergou, who was the deputy general of the Tang Army's Eastern Expedition, took the lead. With the soldiers from the transport camp, they began to cross the Liao River in small boats under the cover of the red cannons of the Shenji Battalion.

Accompanying them were a 2,000-person Shenji camp musketry team and a 3,000-person vanguard of the trapped camp.

In an instant, hundreds of boats were seen vying with each other on the broad Liao River. The soldiers of the Tang army on the small boats held high a battle flag with the word "Tang" written on it, and rushed towards the defense line of the Goguryeo army on the east bank of the Liao River in the roaring river wind.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Boom, boom, boom!

Seeing that the Tang army's vanguard began to forcibly cross the Liao River, the Goguryeo soldiers stationed on the east bank of the Liao River were also in a panic. They either drew their bows and arrows, or fired the catapults, and used all means to counterattack the Tang army crossing the river.

However, under the deterrence of the red cannons of the Shenji Battalion of the Tang Army, most of the arrows and stone pellets fired by the Goguryeo soldiers were inaccurate;

Either it crashed into the Liao River and caused ripples, or it was blocked by the shields in the hands of the vanguard soldiers of the Tang army.

Even if an arrow is lucky enough to hit the Tang Army soldiers on the boat, they will eventually be resisted by the Tang Army armor armed to the teeth, and it will be difficult to cause substantial damage to the Tang Army vanguard crossing the river.

War is a process of one side gaining and the other side losing.

After Cui Dongyuan, the commander of the Goguryeo army stationed on the east bank of the Liaohe River, issued the order of "full evacuation and avoid the enemy's red cannons", the morale and spirit of the Goguryeo soldiers on the defense line on the east bank of the Liaohe River collapsed.

The so-called orderly evacuation turned into a great rout.

So much so that even the battle to resist the Tang army crossing the river on the front line became so perfunctory.

And Liu Ergou, the deputy general of the Tang army, also seized the opportunity of the enemy's morale collapse at the first time, personally drove a small boat to force a crossing of the Liaohe River, and waved flags, shouted, and cheered for the soldiers in the vanguard of the army's trap camp!

"Soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, the opportunity to recover lost territory, kill all the enemy, and be loyal to the country is right in front of you;"

"Defeat Goguryeo, and be rewarded for meritorious service-"

"Kill!"

"Kill-"

Suddenly, the shouts of killing in the Tang army on both sides of the Liaohe River shook the sky.

After a while, the first boat carrying the vanguard of the Tang army's Xianzhen camp successfully arrived at the east bank of the Liaohe River.

Then, the second, the third...

The boats carrying the Tang army arrived at the other side one after another. The soldiers of the Xianzhen camp and the Shenji camp immediately picked up their swords and three-eyed magic guns and gunpowder guns, and rushed into the Goguryeo army.

Bang!

Bang bang!

Bang bang bang!

The next moment, the sound of gunfire was like popping beans, exploding in the fleeing Goguryeo army.

Countless Goguryeo soldiers with their backs to the Tang army's vanguard were hit by bullets, and then fell to the ground and died like rows of sorghum stalks swept by hail.

Until death, they did not understand what kind of weapon of the Tang army killed them.