Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 530 Crossing the Sea to Reclaim Liaodong
"Let him fight if he wants! How can we let others take over this land left by our ancestors?!"

Despite the snow and cold winter, the atmosphere inside the Longquan Palace in the capital was extremely tense, because Pei Che's messenger had brought news back to the capital.

Faced with Liu Jilong's tough stance, Da Xuanxi did not back down despite his strength; instead, he resolutely prepared to fight back.

"Your Majesty, if the Han Dynasty is truly as powerful as the memorials submitted by ministers such as Li Juzheng, Pei Ting, and Da Niejian, then engaging in battle with it would be like throwing an egg against a rock."

Gao Jingming, the Right Chancellor of the State Council and a nobleman of the Balhae Mohe people, took the initiative to speak out against it. He was also one of the driving forces behind Dae Hyeonseok's suggestion to promote institutional reforms.

As a member of the Bohai nobility, Gao Jingming naturally hoped that the Bohai Kingdom could resolve its internal conflicts and continue to prosper.

"Does the Right Chancellor mean that I should abandon Liaodong?"

Da Xuanxi raised his voice, and Gao Jingming sighed, "Although I am reluctant to give up Liaodong, Liaodong is not irreplaceable to our country."

"Moreover, after abandoning Liaodong, our country can indeed gather troops in Fuyu Prefecture and hand over the area south of the Dongliao River to the Great Han."

"When the Khitans cross the Liao River and invade during the winter, that will be something for the Han Dynasty to worry about, not for our country."

Compared to remote areas like Liaodong, the economic center of Bohai is mainly the river valleys along the Taibai Mountain (Changbai Mountain) range.

Although Liaodong is flat, its reclamation requires national strength and resources, while Bohai has been a nation for over 180 years.

Not to mention now, even a hundred years ago, the Bohai Kingdom did not have so many manpower and resources to develop Liaodong.

Although Liu Jilong's words were somewhat harsh, he was right about one thing.

Given the size of the Han Dynasty, it would be easy to relocate hundreds of thousands of people to Liaodong for land reclamation, but this would not be possible in Bohai.

Although Bohai has two to three million people, they are scattered in various valleys of the Taibai Mountains. Moreover, due to the complex ethnic composition, the accumulated contradictions among the various ethnic groups have become deeply rooted.

In this situation, if the imperial court ordered the relocation of these tribes in the Hejian Valley to abandon their stable lives and cultivate land in Liaodong, these tribes would definitely prefer to use weapons to force the court to rescind the order rather than relocate to Liaodong.

"If we abandon more than 200,000 people and more than one million mu of farmland in Liaodong, we fear that we will be looked down upon by those around us."

While Dae Hyeon-seok was weighing the pros and cons, Dae Hong-seok, who had entered the government office as a member of the royal family and served as the Left Chancellor, suddenly stepped forward, causing the already wavering Dae Hyeon-seok to stop thinking.

"The Han Dynasty was indeed powerful, but our country is not weak either."

"The Han emperor thinks too highly of himself, simply because he has never experienced the might of our nation's army."

“Our country can display its military might and at the same time send delegations to the Khitan and Xi tribes. While the Han Dynasty is attacking our country, we can lure the two tribes to invade the Han Dynasty’s Hebei region.”

"No matter how powerful the Han Dynasty is, it cannot fight against three opponents alone."

Compared to Takashi Kageaki's words, Daihiro's words are undoubtedly more acceptable.

Even Gao Jingming did not immediately refute, but silently looked at Da Xuanxi, seemingly letting him make the decision.

It wasn't just Gao Jingming who was like this, but all the officials were, which greatly increased the pressure on Da Xuanxi.

Fortunately, he had been governing the country for eight years and was already skilled in various methods. Therefore, after a moment of contemplation, he decisively chose Da Hongsi's suggestion.

"The imperial edict appoints Li Juzheng as the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong troops to resist the Han army. If the situation does not improve, the Liaodong people shall be relocated to Fuyu and Changling, and he shall be allowed to act as he sees fit."

"The Ministry of Rites shall dispatch an envoy to the Khitan and Xi tribes to unite the two tribes against the Han!"

"Your Majesty is wise..."

Faced with a difficult choice, Da Xuanxi ultimately chose to fight against the Han army.

Otherwise, if they were to surrender Liaodong out of fear of the Han army's strength, it would inevitably lead to other surrounding countries following suit.

Under his decree, Li Juzheng, who was far away in Liaodong, received the imperial edict from the capital city in just half a month, while the Ministry of Rites' delegation had already set off for several days.

Meanwhile, Pei Ting and others also crossed the sea back to Liaodong, and thus Pei Ting also learned of the court's attitude.

He was not surprised by this, after all, no one would choose to abandon territory without a fight.

Despite the imperial decree, Pei Ting still offered Li Juzheng some advice in Beisha City.

The first priority was to relocate the people, moving all the people of southern Liaoning to Xuantu. Even if it was impossible, they tried their best to relocate the people to Changling and Fuyu.

The second measure was to build a stone city, with all the strategic passes constructed of stone bricks, in order to block the advance of the Han army.

The third option was simply to seek aid from the capital while holding out and waiting for the Khitan and Xi tribes to achieve their goals.

If the Khitan and Xi tribes achieve success, the Han Dynasty will surely allocate resources to support Hebei. Although the crisis in Liaodong cannot be resolved, it will buy the court time for negotiations.

At Pei Ting's suggestion, Li Juzheng began to relocate all the people of Liaonan to the north, but Liaodong was not only inhabited by ethnic groups such as the Mohe and Goguryeo.

Although the officials left behind in Liaodong by the Tang Dynasty later assimilated with the Khitan, Mohe, Goguryeo and other ethnic groups, they still considered themselves Han Chinese.

Now that they have learned that the Han Dynasty is about to recover Liaodong, most of them have hidden their entire villages in the mountains, hoping to wait for the Han army to recover Liaonan before coming out of the mountains.

Many people thought this way, which is why Li Juzheng only relocated more than 30,000 people north to Liaodong, leaving the vast Liaonan region to the Han Dynasty.

Li Juzheng's actions quickly attracted the attention of the Han spies in Liaodong.

More than half a month later, when the intelligence from Liaodong arrived in Chang'an, it was already the twelfth month of the sixth year of Hongwu's reign.

As the wind and snow swept into Ziwei City, Liu Jilong sat in the main seat, looking down at the military situation. Inside the hall sat the seven Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet and Crown Prince Liu Lie, while Zhang Yanhui, who had come to report the military situation, was also present.

"Your Majesty, I believe that Bohai's scheme is nothing more than forming alliances and joining forces with the Khitan, Xi and other barbarian tribes to invade Hebei."

"Given the strength previously displayed by the border troops, the Khitan and Xi tribes will certainly not be able to successfully invade. The court can then recruit laborers in February to go to Dengzhou, and wait for the sea to be calmer and the winds to be favorable in April to head north to Liaodong."

Facing Liu Jilong, whose gaze was fixed on the military documents, Xie Tong, on behalf of the cabinet, stood up and announced the results of their discussion.

Liu Jilong also agreed with their suggestions. After all, based on his understanding, both the Tang and Ming armies chose to cross the sea to recover Liaodong between March and May, which shows that March to May is a suitable time to cross the sea.

With the experience of predecessors, he naturally had no need to dwell on it, but simply asked, "In the Cabinet's view, how many laborers will be needed for this campaign?"

Although he knew the ratio of land troops to civilian laborers, this was, after all, a naval operation, so he still needed to have the cabinet consult historical records more.

In response, Jing Xiang rose and offered his advice: "I believe that it is unnecessary to recover the area south of the Dongliao River. It is sufficient to send troops to recover the former Goguryeo city of Yeonjin (Tieling)."

"Although there is a lot of land south of Dongliao River and north of Yanjin that can be cultivated, these places are flat and the Liaoze and Liaohe River to the west freeze over every winter, which allows the Khitan to take advantage of the situation to invade eastward."

"It would be better to leave this place to Bohai. The court only needs to guard the strategic Yanjin and defend the three hundred li of Liaoze border area south of Yanjin."

The Liaoze River divides Liaodong and Liaoxi into two parts in a "V" shape. It floods in spring and summer and freezes in winter, allowing nomadic cavalry to cross the Liaoze River and invade Liaodong at any time.

This situation not only exists today, but will also be faced by the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years later.

This is why the Liaodong Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty was built so long and narrow. The reason is that the Ming army directly abandoned Liaoze, where it was impossible to build a wall, and chose to build the border wall on the east and south sides of Liaoze.

Although Liu Jilong could also use this method, he preferred to take the initiative, since the Han army now had artillery and matchlock guns, and perhaps in a few decades they would be able to equip themselves with flintlock guns.

With the sheer size of the Han army, taking control of the Yanshan Mountains and even the vast northeastern region east of the Shiwei Mountains would not be a problem. The problem lies in whether these lands can generate revenue.

If we hadn't entered the industrial age, today's temperatures would definitely be the highest they'll be in the next thousand years.

In addition to reduced food production, the drop in temperature has led to an increase in natural disasters and more wars and conflicts.

While the Western Regions could recover the Ili River Valley, they could also maintain a balance of income and expenditure by planting cotton on a large scale. The Northeast also had to find a way to continue to penetrate deeper into the northeast.

Fortunately, there is Lucheng rice in Northeast China, which is relatively cold-resistant. If we start artificial breeding now, we may be able to cultivate rice that is even more cold-resistant.

After all, global cooling is a slow process, not a sudden drop, giving the Han Dynasty ample time for artificial intervention.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong took the initiative to speak up: "Although the area south of the Dongliao River is adjacent to the Khitan, it is flat. As long as we keep filling the Liaoze with sand, we can cultivate enough arable land."

"Moreover, the imperial court recovered Liaodong precisely so that troops could be dispatched from Liaodong to coordinate with Hebei in a pincer attack on the Khitan, Xi and other barbarian tribes. How could we abandon it because of the barbarians?"

Liu Jilong did not reveal all his thoughts, but the Bohai Kingdom was not stupid either.

If the Han Dynasty had only occupied the land south of Yanjin, Bohai would certainly not have stubbornly defended the isolated and helpless Dongliao River.

Compared to one person suffering, Bohai would certainly prefer two people to suffer together, and in the end, the Han Dynasty would have to take matters into its own hands to deal with the Khitans who were migrating eastward.

"In this military campaign, the area south of the Dongliao River, west of the Pae River (the Taedong River in Korea), and south of Changling Prefecture will all be brought under the control of the imperial court, without any room for discussion."

Liu Jilong has defined the scope of this military campaign. Although this scope has not yet recovered to the extent of the four commanderies of the Han Dynasty and the peak of Liaodong in the Tang Dynasty, he is not prepared to achieve everything at once.

First, take control of Liaodong and the northwestern part of the Korean Peninsula. Once the border settlement is largely settled, then move north to reclaim lost territories.

Learning from the lessons of the Tang Dynasty, Liu Jilong always preferred a steady and pragmatic approach, believing that having actual control over one prefecture was always better than having dozens of prefectures under his control.

A territory under the control of a dynasty may split off when the dynasty is weak, but territory under actual control will not.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at Liu Lie, who was engrossed in handling government affairs and occasionally scratching his head.

"The recapture of Liaodong was led by the cabinet with the assistance of the Crown Prince."

As soon as Liu Jilong finished speaking, Liu Lie, who had been scratching his head, immediately looked up at him and, after a long pause, said, "Your Majesty, I will be going to Jiaozhou to serve as an official next spring."

"It's not too late to go in the fall; it won't delay things."

Liu Jilong smiled and thought to himself that if his eldest son left, he would have to manage state affairs and keep a close eye on the Han army's battles in Liaodong, which would probably be very tiring.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong also said, "If there is no rush, it is not too late to go to Jiaozhou after you have married Madam Zhang."

"Your subject can wait until autumn to go!" Upon hearing his father say this, Liu Lie immediately forced a smile.

Sending him to Jiaozhou right after the wedding is worse than waiting two years.

"Well, children can be taught."

Seeing that the broken windows theory was still working, Liu Jilong stroked his short beard and looked at Jing Xiang and the others.

"Your Majesty, we obey..."

Jing Xiang and the other six people stood up one after another, bowed, and agreed to the matter.

Seeing that they agreed, Liu Jilong instructed, "From now on, the Crown Prince will go to the East Upper Pavilion to govern, and you will all go to the East Upper Pavilion to accompany him."

After giving the instructions, Liu Jilong felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He stood up and instructed Liu Lie:
"I will entrust these remaining thirty-odd memorials to you. I am feeling a bit tired today, so Zhang Lang, come with me to Yaoguang Palace to relax."

"Your subject obeys the decree..."

Liu Lie complained somewhat. At nineteen, he was at an age where he couldn't sit still. If he weren't afraid to challenge others, he would definitely have resigned from this job.

Liu Jilong took in his reaction and couldn't help but shake his head, thinking to himself, "What a lad, he doesn't know the value of power."

But then he thought about it and realized that once the boy went to Jiaozhou to work as an official and learned about the benefits of power, he would naturally change his mind.

If I were to hand over power to him at that time, I'm afraid he wouldn't be willing to let go, even if I asked him to.

Shaking his head, Liu Jilong led Zhang Yanhui out, leaving Jing Xiang and others from Liu Lieyu's cabinet to assist him in governing.

Half an hour later, he led Zhang Yanhui to Yaoguang Palace in Xige City. In front of the palace was Jiuzhou Pond, which covered thousands of acres, with floating states and palaces appearing and disappearing on the pond.

Although it appears desolate due to the cold winter, it has a unique charm.

"Sit down."

"Your subject obeys the order..."

Liu Jilong gave instructions to Zhang Yanhui, and after he sat down, he took the initiative to say, "Erlang and the other boys have also gone to the countryside to join the army, and Madam is sixteen years old now."

"After some thought, I have decided that you can serve as Geng Ming's deputy general in this campaign to recapture Liaodong. Once you return victorious, you will be able to marry Madam."

"The eldest daughter-in-law's beauty goes without saying, but her arrogant and fierce nature is perhaps..."

Liu Jilong didn't know what to say about his eldest daughter, so he could only cough and say, "If Madam has made a mistake, I will naturally not cover it up. The Empress is not an ignorant person either. You can make your own decision."

"The former Tang princess was arrogant and willful, which I disliked. As the first imperial consort of the new dynasty, you must establish the authority of a husband and not let the eldest daughter-in-law lead the younger sisters astray."

With the Tang Dynasty as a lesson, no matter how much Liu Jilong doted on his daughter, he would never allow the princess to ride on the head of her husband.

The saying goes, "A woman should follow her husband wherever he goes." Since Liu Zhi was going to marry into that family, she naturally couldn't act like a princess, but she also couldn't allow herself to be humiliated.

Liu Jilong was naturally not worried about the latter, since Zhang Huaishen, his wife, and Zhang Yanhui were all well-mannered and would not make things difficult for Liu Zhi.

His concern was that Liu Zhi would cause chaos in Zhang Yanhui's household, ruining the marriage.

After all, he was quite satisfied with Zhang Yanhui, and there were few people in the court who could surpass Zhang Yanhui in terms of appearance and ability.

The boy I personally trained is someone that not just anyone can compare to.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at Zhang Yanhui: "This time when you go to Liaodong, don't embarrass the Zhang family!"

"Yes!" Zhang Yanhui solemnly replied, and then talked to Liu Jilong about other matters.

During the brief respite, half a month later the cabinet contacted the three provinces and six ministries to prepare to recruit 200,000 laborers in the Qilu region.

After the imperial edict was issued, Zhang Yanhui went to Dengzhou as the deputy commander of Liaodong, while Geng Ming also began to dispatch 30,000 troops from Qingzhou to Dengzhou.

Of these 30,000 regular soldiers who returned to Liaodong, more than 5,000 were equipped with matchlock muskets, and the armory in Henan Province was still producing them.

By the time they set off in April, they should be able to equip another two thousand men, forming a arquebus force of eight thousand.

The spies planted by Bohai in Dengzhou were well aware of the movements of the Han army, and this intelligence was constantly being sent to Liaodong.

Although the Han army only mobilized 50,000 troops by land and sea, this already put immense pressure on the Bohai Kingdom.

As time went by, the seventh year of the Hongwu reign arrived as scheduled, and the Khitan and Xi tribes formed a brief alliance with Bohai.

Liu Jilong did not pay attention to it, but instead focused on his daily affairs, occasionally checking the memorials that Liu Lie had handled.

People always need to grow and learn. Liu Lie's governance methods gradually transformed from naive to mature.

However, he still lacked understanding of issues related to grassroots governance.

Fortunately, after the restoration of Liaodong, as he personally took charge of local affairs and participated in governance, he would likely become familiar with the shady dealings at the grassroots level, and his methods of governance would then be even more sophisticated.

While Liu Jilong was living a peaceful life, with the arrival of April, the war to restore Liaodong by the Great Han finally began with more than 300 ships anchoring and setting sail.

More than two hundred warships and over a hundred 3,000-ton patrol boats slowly made their way north from the Dengzhou sea area. The scale was enormous, and from a distance it looked like an island moving north.

When Li Juzheng's cavalry, who were stationed in Beisha City, saw more than three hundred large ships approaching, almost completely obscuring the sea, they were terrified and immediately spurred their horses to return north.

"Li Juzheng abandoned the Liaonan region simply to lure our army deep into Liaodong and Xuantu, so that we could fight them on the plains."

"The elite forces of Bohai were mainly Mohe heavy infantry and cavalry. Although the cavalry were mainly stationed in Fuyu to defend against the Khitan, there were also quite a few cavalry in Liaodong."

"In addition, Bohai inherited the tradition of Goguryeo and built mountain cities in Liaodong and Changbai Mountain, using the terrain to guard key routes, making them difficult to deal with."

On the deck, Zhang Yanhui recounted the characteristics of the Bohai Army as he knew them. Geng Ming nodded slightly, then glanced at the generals beside him.

"What do you think our army should do to recover Liaodong?"

Faced with Geng Ming's question, the generals exchanged bewildered glances, while Song Wentong was the first to step forward, bow, and say:
"Commander-in-Chief, I believe that our army should first occupy Liaonan with the navy and then advance towards Pyongyang to prevent Silla from moving north and occupying Pyongyang."

"The 30,000 troops that have recovered Liaodong can land at Pingguo and Jian'an, and then march north to capture Liaodong and Xuantu."

"Once we have recovered Xuantu, we can then divide our forces and use artillery to recover Liangcheng and other mountain cities in Taibai Mountain."

Seeing that Song Wentong's words were not far from what he had in mind, Geng Ming then looked at Zhang Yanhui beside him:

"If that is the case, then Vice Envoy Zhang shall lead 15,000 naval troops to recover Liaonan and the cities of Pyongyang, to prevent Silla from taking the opportunity to advance north."

"He led 5,000 naval troops and 30,000 soldiers to land at Pingguo and march north to recover the cities of Liaodong."

"Your subordinate obeys!" Zhang Yanhui did not express any dissent, after all, Geng Ming was in charge of this battle, and he only needed to follow orders and carry them out.

Seeing this, Geng Ming ordered the neighboring ships to pick up Zhang Yanhui, and then divided his troops into two groups to attack Liaodong.

After the army split into two, Zhang Yanhui became the commander of the eastern route army, with Ma Yin, Liu Jianfeng, and Wang Zhi as the main commanders under him.

"Commander Wang, I order you to lead three thousand troops to occupy Beisha City, and then recapture Beifeng and Shicheng in two days. Can you do it?" Zhang Yanhui looked at Wang Zhi, the son of Wang Shi, who bowed respectfully and replied, "This humble general will certainly not fail in his mission!"

Seeing that Wang Zhi agreed, Zhang Yanhui looked at Ma Yin and Liu Jianfeng: "The navy will move along the east bank of Liaonan. Liu Jianfeng, you will lead 5,000 troops to recover the four cities of Jili, Bozhuo, Wugu, and Daxing."

"I personally led 7,000 troops to recapture the humiliating barbarians and Pyongyang!"

"Your subordinate obeys!!"

After Zhang Yanhui gave the order, the Eastern Route Army began to recapture southern Liaoning and Pyongyang in northwestern Korea, following the route set by Zhang Yanhui.

Meanwhile, Geng Ming, who was heading north along the western bank of Liaonan, was preparing to continue his voyage.

At their current speed with the wind at their backs, they will be able to land at Pingguo and Jian'an tomorrow, then march north with their main army to recapture Anshi and engage Li Juzheng in battle in Liaodong.

"Drive! Drive! Drive..."

The movements of the Han army were carried out under the noses of the cavalry in Bohai. With the cavalry galloping day and night, the military intelligence was finally delivered to Liaodong City at dusk the following day.

When Li Juzheng received the military intelligence, Liaodong City already had 30,000 troops gathered, and there were more than 50 generals in the government office.

"If this military intelligence is accurate, then the cities of Beisha and Beifeng have probably already fallen."

The setting sun shone obliquely through the window onto Li Juzheng's face, making him look gloomy and listless.

Unaffected, he continued to state his speculations, adding, "Of the people in the dozen or so cities to the south, those who could be relocated have already been relocated; those who remain are all traitors with Han Chinese blood."

“These thieves number over ten thousand, and they will likely reveal our intentions to the Han army.”

Li Juzheng raised his head and, facing the gaze of more than fifty generals, said:
"Our army has 30,000 armored soldiers, including 6,000 elite cavalry. There is also enough food in Liaodong City for half a year. As long as we can hold out until winter, the Han army will definitely not be able to hold out and will have to retreat."

His statement is not problematic. The reason why Goguryeo and Balhae were able to defeat the Central Plains army was simply due to favorable weather conditions or the Central Plains army's lack of food and supplies.

However, everyone present knew that Pei Ting had once brought a message that the Han army possessed cotton-padded coats that were a hundred times better than battle coats.

If this news is true, then the harsh winter will only trap them, not the Han army.

After all, if the Han army besieged them in Liaodong City, the Han army could still cut down trees for warmth, while they would burn as many trees as they could.

If this continues, they will inevitably be unable to sustain it...

At this point, everyone was thinking of urging Li Juzheng to order a withdrawal, but Li Juzheng did not do so.

The elite cavalry in the Bohai Army were mostly nobles and members of the royal family. These people were extremely proud, and if an order to withdraw was rashly given, they would definitely cause a commotion.

Only by letting them experience the power of the Han army's artillery and getting them to voluntarily request a withdrawal could Li Juzheng order the retreat.

For him, this battle was not military, but political.

Thinking of this, Li Juzheng was about to say something more, but then he saw the constable strode into the yamen and bow to him in the hall, saying:
"General, Beisha and Beifeng have been lost. The Han army has landed and occupied Pingguo. Thousands of rebels in Pingguo have willingly become the Han army's lackeys, transporting supplies for them."

"Bastard!"

"These traitors have enjoyed a century of peace in our country, and now they have betrayed our nation!"

"They're just a bunch of bastards whose bloodline has been corrupted by the barbarians, how dare they act like this!"

Upon learning that the group of people who had fled from Liaonan had voluntarily surrendered to the Han army, many nobles and officials in the hall began to curse loudly.

Li Juzheng had long anticipated this would happen. Although he was not surprised, he still felt a lot of pressure.

Even after nearly a century, the Han blood in their bodies would still lead these people with mixed bloodlines to join the Han army.

If this is the case in southern Liaoning, then the situation in Liaodong City and Pyongyang City is even more dire.

Fortunately, he had relocated more than 30,000 people from southern Liaoning. If he had left them there, it would have saved the Han army the trouble of recruiting laborers.

"Dig three more layers of trenches. The Han army will be at the city gates in three days at the latest. We cannot be careless!"

"Your subordinate obeys!!"

Upon hearing Li Juzheng's instructions, the generals dispersed, and Li Juzheng sighed deeply after they left.

As he sighed, Geng Ming, who had already landed in Pingguo and completely occupied the city, walked onto the city wall.

He reached out and placed his hand on the rammed earth wall, which was about ten feet high, and couldn't help but say:
"No wonder Li Juzheng abandoned Liaonan. With such a city wall, it would probably only take fifty cannons firing for two hours to take it down."

Behind Geng Ming, Song Wentong and Wang Chongrong nodded in agreement, while standing at the very back was Zhu Wen, who had been sidelined for many years after submitting his pledge of allegiance to Liu Jilong.

Geng Ming couldn't help but look behind him, his gaze sweeping over Zhu Wen as he asked, "Zhu Quanzhong, if I were to order you to lead 5,000 troops as the vanguard, would you be confident that you could bring your army to the gates of Liaodong within three days?"

"This humble general will certainly not fail in his mission!" Zhu Wen was not discouraged by the fact that he had only been given the rank of captain; after all, he had had enough of being ignored.

From the age of twenty to the current age of twenty-seven, he has been neglected for eight long years. Now that he finally has the opportunity to take control of the power, he naturally cherishes it very much.

Furthermore, he realized that he was not important to Liu Jilong, and if he did not perform well, Liu Jilong could simply replace him.

Therefore, he must perform exceptionally well in this battle in order to secure his position in the future.

"Alright!" Seeing Zhu Wen agree, Geng Ming also spoke and looked at Song Wentong:
"Zhengchen, you will lead five thousand troops to serve as the rear guard. You must protect these one hundred cannons and the laborers."

"This subordinate obeys!" Song Wentong bowed respectfully, while Geng Ming looked towards the city gate after he made his statement.

At the city gate, countless civilians dressed in plain clothes were seen carrying supplies for the Han army, regardless of gender. Even though they couldn't understand each other's languages, the smiles on their faces were undeniable.

They were all relatives of officials who were stationed in Liaodong during the Tang Dynasty. Unfortunately, after the An Lushan Rebellion weakened the Tang Dynasty, it was unable to control the situation in Liaodong. In the end, the Tang Dynasty simply moved the Andong Protectorate back to Pingzhou in Hebei.

The Tang Dynasty's actions forced those who were unable to migrate to stay behind, while the remnants of Goguryeo began to win over Bohai and bring them into Liaodong.

After the Bohai people entered, their attempt to migrate was thwarted, and they could only remain and intermarry with the Khitan, Goguryeo, Mohe and other nomadic tribes to leave behind their bloodlines.

Even though their bloodline has been diluted for several generations, they still do not forget their identity.

Upon learning of the fall of the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty's military campaign to reclaim Liaodong, they made preparations and fled into the mountains when Li Juzheng forcibly relocated the people of southern Liaodong.

Upon seeing the Han army's warships approaching the Pingguo coast, they finally left the mountains with their entire families, even leaving their belongings behind, and volunteered to help the Han army transport supplies.

“Each of these working people will be given twenty coins. They will also be instructed to cultivate the leveled fields in the city and be exempt from taxes next year.”

"The last general takes command!"

Liu Jilong granted Geng Ming considerable power, which is why he dared to exempt these former subjects from land redistribution and taxes.

However, Geng Ming believed that even if His Majesty saw these people here, he would make the same choice as him, and the exemption period would even be longer.

Thinking this, Geng Ming sat on the city gate tower and quietly watched the people happily carrying supplies for the Han army.

Half an hour later, as his military orders were translated by the officers under his command, the thousands of survivors immediately became lively, bowing and even kneeling towards the city gate tower.

The Bohai Kingdom was home to many ethnic groups, and the conflict between the nobility and the common people was difficult to resolve.

To support an army of 100,000 with a population of 3 million, the military pay was basically collected from the people. On the surface, it was one-tenth of the taxes, but in reality, when miscellaneous taxes and levies were included, it could reach three or four-tenths of the taxes.

Not to mention that Geng Ming exempted them from next year's taxes, even if the taxes were levied according to the Han Dynasty's tax rate, it would still be a relief for them. Not to mention that Geng Ming also gave them the farmland outside Pingguo City to cultivate.

Seeing the people cheering, Geng Ming was still deep in thought when Zhu Wen took the initiative to say, "Commander-in-Chief, I just asked these remaining people. According to them, Pingguo City previously had more than 10,000 people and cultivated no less than 60,000 mu of land."

"Now there are only two thousand or so remaining people, and these people alone are not enough to cultivate all the farmland in Pingguo."

"In my humble opinion, most of the other cities are in the same situation. Why don't we send people to spread the word among the laborers that as long as they are willing to migrate to Liaodong, the army will provide them with food and land, thus enticing them to come with their families?"

Zhu Wen demonstrated his talent in governing the people's livelihood. Geng Ming nodded slightly after hearing this, and then spoke again:

“The land in Pingguo is barren. Each person can be given 20 mu of land and 6 shi of grain per person. Let’s see how many laborers are willing to move their whole families here.”

"Furthermore, this message was sent to the eastern army, instructing them to check the amount of cultivated land in each city."

"Yes!" Seeing that his suggestion had been adopted, Zhu Wen immediately withdrew to handle the matter.

Since most of the farmland in coastal cities like Pingguo is mountainous or saline-alkali land, the soil fertility is insufficient, so the yield per mu is only six or seven dou.

If the people here want to live comfortably, they need to cultivate at least ten acres of land, which is naturally more arduous than in fertile places like Henan.

Not many people were willing to move their entire families here, and most of them were single men.

Even so, more than a thousand of the first batch of over 30,000 laborers were willing to stay.

Seeing that many people remained, Zhu Wen ordered the news to continue to spread, and at the same time, he led his army north the following morning.

Three days passed slowly, and Zhu Wen led the vanguard of the three armies to successively recover the two cities of Jian'an and Anshi, and brought more than 5,000 survivors to settle in the city.

On the fourth day, he led 5,000 soldiers and more than 10,000 laborers to successfully reach the outskirts of Liaodong City.

Li Juzheng set up multiple defensive measures around Liaodong City, including trenches, sheep and horse walls, barricades, and fortifications.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Wen couldn't help but think more highly of Li Juzheng, but he knew that these things were no match for the Han army's artillery.

He led his troops to set up camp more than ten miles west of the city, and expanded the camp for the three armies that would arrive later.

"This camp can hold at least 100,000 people..."

Standing atop the city wall of Liaodong, gazing at the massive military camp in the distance, Li Juzheng's deputy couldn't help but speak.

In response, Li Juzheng feigned composure: "It is more than 300 li from Pingguo to here. It would take at least three laborers to carry the armor, weapons and rations of one soldier."

"Based on the size of this camp, the number of Han troops should not exceed 30,000, which is comparable to our army."

Despite this, Li Juzheng felt immense pressure, as the Bohai Kingdom had not experienced a war requiring the mobilization of tens of thousands of people in nearly a century.

Only after a few days of actual combat with the Han army will the difference between the two sides become apparent, rather than being summed up by a simple "quite similar".

Li Juzheng turned and walked down the city wall, while the main force of the Han army could only march about thirty li a day because of the artillery.

More than 100,000 laborers traveled from Pingguo to Liaodong, like red army ants, continuously transporting supplies to this place.

It wasn't until eight days later that Geng Ming led his troops to the camp west of Liaodong City, where enough supplies had been stored for the army for half a year.

Geng Ming did not give them much time to rest. It was already mid-April, and Zhang Yanhui on the eastern route was making rapid progress, having already recaptured more than ten cities, including Pyongyang.

Right now, all they need to do is recapture the cities north of Liaodong City, and then they can easily recapture the seven or eight cities at the bottom of the valley on the southern slope of Mount Taibai.

By then, the matter would be settled, Bohai would have no choice but to surrender, and the Han Dynasty would be able to calmly relocate its people to Liaodong to settle its territory.

After the army rested for two days, Geng Ming led his troops out of the camp on the morning of April 18th. A hundred cannons were arrayed and aimed at the fortifications outside Liaodong City, about a mile away. At Geng Ming's signal, all one hundred cannons fired simultaneously...

"Boom!"

In an instant, smoke rose from the Han army's artillery positions, resembling white clouds appearing.

However, the Bohai Navy had no idea what to do at that moment, because as the cannons roared, fist-sized iron cannonballs came whistling in.

The barricades were smashed, the low sheep and horse fences were hit, and the camp walls were breached...

Caught off guard, the Bohai Navy's position was filled with cries of agony, and many soldiers were so frightened by the sound of a hundred cannons firing that they wet their pants on the spot.

"My hand! My hand..."

"Um..."

"Squat down! Squat down!!"

The battlefield echoed with piercing screams. The once proud Mohe noble cavalrymen were now pale-faced, trying their best to calm their restless horses.

On the city gate tower, Li Juzheng and many of his generals also looked rather grim.

Although the sheep and horse wall blocked the Han army's offensive, this was only the beginning. The fact that the ironwood stockade wall could be breached was also far beyond their expectations.

"Strengthen the stockade walls and sheep and horse enclosures!"

"Yes!"

Li Juzheng spoke in a low voice, and the generals behind him responded one after another. He then sent out a fast horse to deliver the order.

The cries of agony on the battlefield were terrifying, but the actual number of wounded soldiers was not many, only about thirty.

More howling came from the soldiers who were frightened by the cannon fire, but they stopped howling after being calmed down.

"The sheep and horse wall and the village wall are well built."

On the Han army's position, Geng Ming stood on the drum cart and watched the artillery test firing. He gave Li Juzheng a high evaluation, but that was all.

"Damn it, if we set up over a thousand cannons, what city couldn't we take?"

As Zhu Wen looked at the Bohai Navy positions after the bombardment, his eyes gleamed, and he already imagined himself commanding thousands of cannons to bombard the enemy city.

While he was thinking this, the gun barrels had been cleaned, and the artillery positions, which had been reloaded with propellant and shells, and had been prepared again with wooden plugs.

Without any orders, the second shelling arrived as scheduled.

"Rumble..."

After the first round of shelling, the soldiers of the Bohai Navy had clearly made great progress.

After the shelling, there weren't many cries of pain on the position, but cracks had already appeared in the thick sheep and horse wall, which horrified the defenders stationed at the sheep and horse wall.

However, compared to them, Li Juzheng, who was on the city wall, nodded and said: "It is similar to what the previous intelligence said. Half a cup of tea can be used to fight a round. Our army can seize this gap to fight them."

"But how should our army fight them?" the adjutant beside him couldn't help but ask.

"Just hold your ground and wait for them to attack." Li Juzheng summarized it simply, and the reason he dared to do so was because he had made thorough preparations.

Liaodong City is bordered by mountains and forests to the east, hills to the north, and rivers to the south; only the west can be breached.

Even if he is defeated, he can lead his army to retreat to Changling Prefecture via the eastern mountain road, while the people of Xuantu and other cities in the north have already moved to mountain cities such as Gaimu and Hengshan.

Even with a small garrison, they could hold out for half a year by relying on the mountain city.

He'd hold out until winter, and then he'd see what tricks Geng Ming had up his sleeve.

As he was thinking this, the Han army had already begun the third round of artillery bombardment. Hundreds of fist-sized iron cannonballs shot out, sending dust flying from the sheep and horse wall.

"Reinforce the camp walls; these sheep and horse walls will probably only hold them off for a day or two."

After Li Juzheng finished speaking, he turned around and walked back into the city gate tower, and the generals began to order the reinforcement of the camp walls in accordance with his military orders.

The Han army's artillery fire was relentless, and the Bohai army could only passively endure the attacks. As for those proud Mohe nobles, they had already led their horses away from the main battlefield in the west and retreated to their camp in the south.

Zhu Wen rode up to Geng Ming's side, dismounted, and bowed, saying:
"Commander-in-Chief, the Bohai Navy has withdrawn its cavalry, seemingly preparing to hold out. Should our army divide its forces and head north?"

"No need." Geng Ming shook his head. He had already learned about the situation in the northern cities through spies.

The mountain fortresses left behind by Goguryeo are not easy to conquer, so there is no need to divide our forces to attack them.

Seeing his reaction, Zhu Wen quickly guessed Li Juzheng's plan and Geng Ming's intentions. Understanding this, he continued to bow and say:

"This humble general believes that we can divide our cavalry to surround the mountain city in the north. Although our army needs to relocate people to Liaodong, the north is too far away and cannot be relocated overnight."

"If we can keep those tens of thousands of people in the north, we can not only save them from waiting during the migration, but also set up many military settlements to maintain the army's needs."

Zhu Wen's words made Geng Ming glance at him and nod, saying, "I will transfer three thousand cavalrymen to your command. Whether the people of those mountain cities in the north can be saved depends on your abilities."

"This humble general will certainly not fail in his mission!" Zhu Wen hurriedly agreed, and then, taking the fish tally given to him by Geng Ming, dispatched three thousand cavalrymen to Xuantu in the north.

Meanwhile, news of the loss of Pyongyang, southern Liaoning, and other places continued to spread through the mountain roads of Balhae Kingdom.

These alarming reports continued to stir up internal conflicts within the Balhae Kingdom, and the Balhae court could only hope that the Khitan and Xi tribes' invasion of Hebei would alleviate the pressure.

(End of this chapter)