Chapter 299: The Tang Army Is Mighty, Long Live the Emperor

A classic classical cavalry duel began in the open space outside Liaodong County.

This battle was not only a battle to regain the lost territory of the four counties in Liaodong, but also a battle that "made famous and prestige" since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang cavalry went from deputy generals and vanguard generals to thousands of households and people who charged into the battle. Hundreds of households, and even the front-line soldiers, all worked hard and mustered up their fighting will to ride their horses to fight.

The war horses of the Tang cavalry were all Kazakh and Yanqi horses produced in the Western Regions. These horses were tall and strong, with long necks raised high, smooth strides, and responsiveness to the reins. They were hard-to-find cavalry horses.

The cavalry officers and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty on horseback are all veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles. Their coordination and obedience have been perfected in dozens or hundreds of actual battles.

In addition, the advantages in weapons and equipment gave the Tang cavalry an advantage in the confrontation with the Goguryeo cavalry.

Although, Goguryeo's cavalry can be said to be armed to the teeth, and there are more than a thousand armored cavalry (heavy cavalry) with both horses and horses to help out.

However, they were still unable to compete head-on with the mighty Tang Dynasty cavalry.

In just the first round of charge, the 20,000 fine cavalry led by Liu Ergou, the deputy general of the Eastern Expedition of the Tang Dynasty and Suiyuan Bo, overran the 10,000 cavalrymen of Goguryeo who hadtily responded to the battle and fought in a wedge formation seven times. Bits and pieces.

Later, the Tang cavalry used a wild goose formation to kill a carbine on the battlefield, and directly killed the 10,000 Goguryeo cavalry who hurriedly responded to the battle, as well as the Goguryeo ambush troops who were originally hiding in the birch forest and tried to sneak attack the Tang cavalry. .

In a cavalry duel of this scale, unless there is a brave general on both sides who can ride the horse freely between the two armies and turn the tide of the battle on his own;

In most cases, after falling into a fierce battle, the soldiers on both sides could only perform instinctive stabbing movements on horseback until the enemy's cavalry was cut off from their horses;

Or, he was killed by the enemy's cavalry.

Gradually, the Tang cavalry, which had a numerical advantage, gradually took the initiative on the battlefield. With stricter discipline and more tacit cooperation, they took advantage of their numerical and tactical advantages to continuously divide, surround, and attack the Goguryeo cavalry. wipe out.

Of course, the remaining 20,000 infantrymen under Cui Dongyuan, the general of the Goguryeo Dynasty's Western Expedition, were not idle after the cavalry from both sides reached a fierce battle. They raised their spears and formed a battle formation and entered the battlefield;

Either stabbing the Tang cavalry on horseback, or cutting off the horse's legs with the sword in their hands, providing as much reinforcement as possible to their own cavalry.

However, the reinforcements provided by the infantry of the Goguryeo army to the cavalry were much inferior to the reinforcements provided by the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion of the Tang army.

Under the command of Qian Xiaoyang, the deputy commander of the Shenji Battalion, the three thousand soldiers of the Shenji Battalion, after completing the drive away from the Goguryeo ambush in the birch forest, immediately reloaded the three-eyed blunderbuss in their hands, and then held up the gunpowder guns Return to the battlefield.

Qian Xiaoyang's order was still simple and unpretentious: "All the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion obey the order. Only use the three-eyed blunderbuss in your hands to hit the war horses, don't hit people!"

"Shenji Camp, fight the horses, don't hit the people!"

Following the order of Qian Xiaoyang, the deputy commander of the Shenji Battalion, the order was repeated and expanded by the messengers around him until every soldier of the Shenji Battalion could hear it.

Then, the gunfire that frightened the cavalry and war horses of the Goguryeo army rang out again.

boom!

Bang bang!

Bang bang bang!

After a series of gunshots that sounded like exploding beans, the Goguryeo cavalry and horses on the battlefield once again went crazy uncontrollably. They raised their hooves and ran around regardless of the orders of the masters on their backs.

The Goguryeo war horse that was hit by the three-eyed gun at close range fell down on the spot. The area where it was hit by the projectiles had three thumb-thick bullet holes distributed in a triangular shape, and blood bubbles bubbled out.

And those Goguryeo soldiers who had already experienced the power of the Tang Army's red cannons at the Liaohe Defense Line saw that the Tang Army's cavalry (actually the Shenji Battalion) were able to pursue them all the way carrying the "small cannon" and even shot their own soldiers face to face. The cavalrymen and horses were suddenly frightened and retreated one after another towards the Chinese army to avoid the attack range of the Tang army's "small artillery".

As a result, the already weakened morale and morale of the Goguryeo army collapsed under the repeated attacks from the Shenji Battalion.

Seeing this scene, Cui Dongyuan, the general of the Western Expedition who was stationed in the Goguryeo Central Army, knew that his side was defeated. After leaving a team of troops to block the pursuit of the Tang cavalry, he decisively issued the order to retreat.

Not only that, they also sent messengers to the four counties of Liaodong immediately, ordering the Goguryeo troops stationed in the city to evacuate quickly to avoid being besieged and annihilated by the Tang army.

In this way, in a total of less than five hours of fighting, they originally clamored to fight across the Liao River and add the northeastern region of the Tang Dynasty to the territory of the Goguryeo Dynasty;

Cui Dongyuan, one of the leading war factions in the Goguryeo court who advocated confrontation with the Tang Dynasty and the Western Expedition general, after losing more than 30,000 men and horses, immediately evacuated the four counties of Liaodong with the remaining 70,000 men and horses in a hurry, and ran to The Goguryeo military town of Uiju on the other side of the Yalu River finally found a chance to take a breather.

By the time Prince Jian of the State of Qin arrived at Liaodong County, deputy general Suiyuan Bo Liu Ergou had already led his troops into the city. On the city wall of Liaodong County, battle flags with the word "Tang" were placed all over the city wall, making a hunting sound in the evening wind. .

Wang Jian immediately ordered that, except for the Chinese army staying in Liaodong County, the army divided into three groups and rushed to Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang counties overnight, striving to siege and annihilate the Goguryeo army that had no time to evacuate.

In fact, when the Tang army rushed to the three counties of Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang without stopping, the Goguryeo military camp in the city was already empty. The city gates were wide open, and countless grain and grass baggage were not taken away in time.

On March 17, the first year of Zhaowu in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty's Eastern Expedition Army led by Duke Wang Jian of Qin recovered the Liaodong region within one day. The four counties of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang were annexed and occupied by Goguryeo.

The Goguryeo army suffered a major defeat and fled to Uiju Castle in a hurry. They reinforced the city wall overnight and assumed a posture as if they were facing a powerful enemy. While preparing for war, they asked for help from the Goguryeo Treasure King Gojang.

The next day.

After a night of worry, the people of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang and Daifang counties finally had the courage to open their doors after dawn.

When I opened the door and saw it, I was almost shocked.

I saw that under the eaves on both sides of the main streets in Sijun City, there were sleeping soldiers of the Tang Dynasty lying in various places. The city walls and the main roads along the streets were also covered with dragon flags with "Tang" written on them.

On the notice board at the city gate, there is also a "Message to the People of Liaodong" written by the Tang army overnight.

The literate old man read word for word "A Letter to the People of Liaodong" on the notice board: "A Letter to the People of Liaodong——"

"Any place where the dragon flag of the Tang Dynasty's army is planted is Tang soil; all people who obey the rule of the Tang Dynasty are Tang people..."

"From now on, the lost territory of the dynasty recovered by the Tang army will be halved for five years. The taxes of the people in all counties and counties will be halved within five years; all people who are well-educated in poetry and literature can participate in the imperial examination and become officials..."

Wow!

As the white-haired old man read the contents of the notice word by word, the people in the four counties of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang suddenly became excited.

Although, they don’t know what dynasty this Tang Dynasty is;

However, the notice stipulates that taxes will be halved within five years, all students in counties and counties will be able to pass the imperial examination and become officials, and the unowned land will be recovered and redistributed. This series of programs to benefit the people are enough to make the four countries in Liaodong The people in the county cheered.

Among the gathered crowd, I don't know who was the first to raise his arms and shout: "The Tang army is mighty, long live the emperor!"

Immediately afterwards, all the counties and cities became a sea of ​​cheers and cheers, with deafening shouts everywhere:

"The Tang army is mighty, long live the emperor!"

"The Tang army is mighty, long live the emperor!"

"The Tang army is mighty, long live the emperor!"