Chapter 297 Recovering Four Counties in One Day (Part 2)

The vanguard force led by Liu Ergou, deputy general of the Tang Army, took less than an hour to build a simple pontoon bridge on both sides of the Liao River for the cavalry of the Tang Army.

The second and third floating bridges are also being built in an intense and orderly manner.

On the west bank of the Liao River, the cavalry of the Tang Army, who were already ready, rode their horses onto the pontoon bridge as soon as the pontoon bridge was built and headed straight to the east bank of the Liao River.

Prince Jian of Qin, who was commanding the battle from the watchtower of the Chinese army, saw that the cavalry troops had crossed the west bank with the help of the pontoon bridge. He immediately decided to lead the Chinese army across the Liao River and ate up the leading Goguryeo troops retreated by Empress Cang in one go.

Wang Jian immediately gave the order: "Come here, please pass this general's order——"

"The cavalry passed quickly from the No. 1 pontoon bridge, and the cavalry must be assembled on the east bank of the Liao River within an hour;"

"The Shenji Battalion, infantry and heavy supplies are waiting for the No. 23 pontoon bridge to be erected to cross the river in an orderly manner. They must assemble on the east bank of the Liao River within three hours;"

"The Chinese army will follow my general and the cavalry to cross the river now. There must be no mistake!"

"The general will get the order!"

Following the order from Wang Jian, the general of the Tang Army's Eastern Expedition, the 200,000 Tang troops gathered on the west bank of the Liao River immediately took action. According to the general's order, they crossed the river in batches through the pontoon bridge in an orderly manner.

On the east bank of the Liao River, Lieutenant General Liu Ergou, in order to seize the fighter opportunity, couldn't wait to count 20,000 cavalry and 3,000 Shenji camp musketeers before Duke Jian of Qin could cross the river, and pursued them in the direction where the Goguryeo army fled.

Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick!

In an instant, the sound of horse hooves on the east bank of the Liao River shook the sky, and more than 20,000 fine cavalrymen of the Tang Army were like a gust of wind and rain, carrying the power of destroying the world and the earth, and rushed straight towards the four counties of Liaodong that had been occupied by the Goguryeo Dynasty for several months.

at the same time.

Cui Dongyuan, the general of Goguryeo's Western Expedition, who ordered the entire army to retreat to avoid the range of the Tang army's red cannons, also led the Goguryeo army to withdraw to a place less than ten miles away from Liaodong City.

"Report——"

At this time, a messenger came to the direction of Liaohe River to report. Among the hastily evacuating Goguryeo marching team, General Cui Dongyuan was found.

The messenger reported out of breath: "Report, General, our army's entire Liaohe defense line has been lost, leaving behind 10,000 soldiers dead and injured;"

"Tang Army, Tang Army has set up three pontoon bridges on both sides of the Liao River. The 200,000 Tang Army gathered on the other side are currently gathering on the east bank of the Liao River through the pontoon bridge;"

"Tang Army, all the Tang Army's cavalry have crossed the river and are chasing our army in the direction of retreat!"

"What?"

After listening to the report of the messenger, Cui Dongyuan, who was riding on horseback, couldn't help frowning and said angrily: "In less than two hours, the 10,000 soldiers who were left guarding the Liaohe defense line were completely wiped out?"

"Assi-"

Cui Dongyuan spat and cursed angrily: "What does Cui Zhenghao (deputy general) do? Ten thousand elite soldiers can't stop the Tang army for two hours?"

As he said that, Cui Dongyuan changed the subject and said sternly: "Come here, please pass this general's order——"

"The army set up an ambush on the spot and waited for the Tang Army's cavalry to catch up. They would first eat up the Tang Army's cavalry and then retreat to Liaodong City;"

"Immediately send messengers to the four counties of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang, and order the troops defending the city to stand ready and be ready to leave the city for reinforcements at any time!"

"The general will get the order!"

Soon, the Goguryeo army that had evacuated hastily began to rely on the favorable terrain to set up ambushes and set up pocket formations to wait for the arrival of the Tang army's cavalry.

At this time, Cui Dongyuan still had a total of 40,000 infantry and cavalry troops, and there were 50,000 reinforcements in the four counties of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang.

In fact, after the Goguryeo Dynasty took advantage of the civil strife in the Daxin Dynasty and sent troops to invade and occupy the four counties of Daxin Liaodong, it has been eyeing the Liaodong region with strong troops, ready to cross the Liao River to plunder the border people in the Liaodong region of the Tang Dynasty. .

After the Tang Dynasty sent troops to Liaodong and pretended to regain the four counties of Liaodong, the Goguryeo Dynasty also immediately sent additional troops to the four counties of Liaodong, expanding the original 50,000 troops stationed in the four counties of Liaodong to 100,000 troops.

And they dreamed of relying on the natural dangers of the Liaohe defense line to fight with 100,000 troops against the 200,000 troops of the Tang Dynasty.

Who would have thought that the natural barrier of the Liaohe River, which Cui Dongyuan, the general of Goguryeo's Western Expedition, was proud of, would be broken through by the Tang army on the west bank in less than two hours.

In this way, Cui Dongyuan's entire deployment was broken, and he had to bite the bullet and set up an ambush outside Liaodong City to intercept the pursuing Datang cavalry.

Cui Dongyuan also made two preparations. If Tang Dynasty's cavalry did not have the help of red cannons, they would still be invincible to the Goguryeo army;

Then, he will let the 40,000 soldiers and horses set up in ambush here to delay the Tang Army's cavalry vanguard at all costs, buying time for the defenders of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang counties to evacuate;

If, without the help of red cannons, the Tang Army’s cavalry would be as vulnerable as the New Dynasty cavalry that had fought against him;

Then, Cui Dongyuan will annihilate the pursuing Tang cavalry vanguard, join forces with the reinforcements from the four counties of Liaodong, and then return with a shot to kill the main force of the Tang army that has just crossed the Liao River and has not yet gained a foothold.

Cui Dongyuan knew very well that in the face of the Tang army, which had hundreds of red cannons as powerful siege weapons, it was unrealistic to hold on to the city. Even in a solid city, it could not withstand repeated bombings from the red cannons;

Therefore, only by feeling the strength of the Tang cavalry on the battlefield in the wild can we deploy the next stage of the battle plan in a targeted manner.

Let's get back to the story.

At noon, the 40,000 Goguryeo troops led by Cui Dongyuan had already formed a formation in this open area ten miles away from Liaodong City, waiting for the arrival of the Tang cavalry vanguard.

Cui Dongyuan, the general of the Western Expedition, personally rode forward, holding a horse spear and proudly standing in front of the three armies.

Behind him was a formation of 20,000 infantry, with 5,000 cavalry on each wing responsible for vigilance. In the mountains and forests on both sides, there were 10,000 ambush cavalry hiding in the forest, just waiting for the Tang cavalry vanguard to enter the pocket formation ambush circle, and then they could close the door and beat the dog, and annihilate it in one fell swoop.

Soon, the Tang cavalry vanguard chased here.

In the end, when they were about to step into the encirclement of the Goguryeo army, they all pulled the reins of their horses and stopped.

"Report--"

"Report to the deputy general, the enemy has already formed a battle formation in front, and the vanguard General Wei is preparing for a trick. Please ask the deputy general whether to continue the pursuit!"

At this time, the messenger of the Tang army also brought the request of the cavalry vanguard general Wei Changhe.

Liu Ergou, the deputy general, naturally discovered the Goguryeo army in front of him, and saw at a glance that the terrain where the Goguryeo army was formed was indeed an area where ambushes were easy to hide.

On both sides of the open land, there were rolling mountains and forests, and in the lush birch forest, it was a natural ambush site!

Liu Ergou couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Cui Dongyuan, this bastard, really knows how to choose a place!