Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 493 Where is this?

Across the Liao River, the flags of the Goguryeo army stretched out in a continuous line on the opposite bank.

Yuwen Tai led a dozen or so cavalrymen to scout out the enemy's position along the Liao River.

"Almost!"

"My lord, what's missing?"

When asked a question by his general Liu Liang, Yuwen Tai simply replied:

"If this army had arrived ten days earlier, we might not have been able to gain a foothold here."

Yuwen Tai led 3,000 vanguard troops to counterattack Wu Liluo's Goguryeo army and occupied a large area of ​​surrounding land.

The Goguryeo army that originally lived in Wuliluo was destroyed, and the local Goguryeo nobles and their people were enslaved and their wealth was plundered.

It was through such means that the situation was quickly stabilized.

Because Yuwentai was able to find a considerable number of people under his command to replace the ecological niche of these Goguryeo people.

Now that the reinforcements of 5,000 troops have arrived, along with the auxiliary troops of the Khitan and Xi tribes, Yuwentai is not worried about fighting the enemy.

Upon hearing of the battle, Yuwen Tai even felt a faint sense of excitement.

"Go, go back!"

Although Yuwen Tai was the head of the Northeast Circuit and controlled the troops of You and Ying provinces, he could not transfer all of his troops here.

Firstly, logistics couldn't keep up during the dead of winter, and secondly, transferring troops wouldn't achieve the same surprise attack effect as it does now.

Yuwen Tai was well-versed in history books and gradually mastered the rhythm of battles against the Goguryeo people in actual combat.

That is to select elite troops, using their numerical advantage to lure the Goguryeo people out of the city, and annihilate the enemy's manpower in open battle.

However, upon returning to Wuliluo, Yuwentai heard news that greatly displeased him.

Xiandu City was captured by Gao Huan and Hou Jing, and the city was surrendered to them without a single battle.

"These Huai Shuo people, while we're fighting a bloody battle here, they're taking the opportunity to steal the city?"

Why are the garrison troops of Liaodong City, Anshi City, and Jian'an City remaining inactive, allowing them to occupy Xiandu City?

"Did they use their entire army against us?"

……

Among the generals in the tent, some complained, some doubted, and some even cursed. Although Yuwen Tai was dissatisfied, he suddenly understood some things.

"I was wondering why Gao Huan, who was staying peacefully in Ye City, suddenly came to Yingzhou to meddle in Goguryeo's affairs!"

"Does my lord mean that they have long been in cahoots with the Goguryeo people?"

Yuwentai thought about it. He had only considered military issues before, but Gao Huan saw things differently. He did not regard Goguryeo as a whole.

"Things have come to this point, it doesn't matter anymore. It's enough for us to defend this place. If we want to recover Liaodong, we have already gained the upper hand."

"promise!"

……

Dangerous City.

An envoy from Daega in southern Goguryeo secretly arrived at Hyeondu Castle, bringing two boxes.

One box was filled with century-old wild ginseng, while the other box contained precious sable fur.

These two boxes, once taken back to Yingzhou, can be exchanged for a large sum of money with any wealthy Sogdian merchant.

Both ginseng and sable fur were hard currency in Liaodong and even the entire Northeast. Sogdian merchants even traveled from the Western Regions across the vast grasslands to the Northeast to purchase goods, comparable to silk.

"Lord Wei, as agreed beforehand, my commander Da Jia instructed the Nüsa of Liaodong City not to send troops to rescue us. Now, Xiandu City has been occupied by your army. After the matter is settled, my commander Da Jia will send another ten boxes."

Gao Huan looked at the two boxes and nodded unconsciously.

"Tell Rubu Dajia that I have already taken care of all the people he dislikes in Xiandu City."

"Thank you for your trouble. Lord Wei may take all the people and wealth in this city. My troops only need this city."

After listening, Gao Huan smiled and said:

"I do not intend to take the wealth of the people in this city."

"Why?" "If we take everything, how can we win the hearts of the people!"

The envoy's expression changed, and he understood the implication of Gao Huan's words.

"Lord Wei, why have you broken your promise? Don't forget, the army from Liaodong City could come at any time. Do you think your few thousand men can hold them off?"

The words, tinged with a hint of threat, were uttered, but Gao Huan remained unfazed, merely smiling.

"If the Liaodong city guards did not come to the aid of the perilous city, how can we now incite them to attack us?"

Gao Huan saw through the envoy's bluff with just one sentence.

With that, Gao Huan closed the two boxes and returned them to the messenger.

"Tell your chieftain that I want this city, but I won't accept the goods."

"Farewell!"

……

After the messenger left, Hou Jing entered and said:

"You just let him go?"

"Otherwise what?" Gao Huan smiled. "We should always leave some room for maneuver so we can continue to talk later."

Hou Jing chuckled and asked:

"Given all this, is that Goguryeo person still willing to negotiate?"

“A smart person would know that the situation has changed. We have already occupied the city. He can’t take it back. It will not do him any good to break ties with us.”
-
Pyongyang.

The battle reports from the front lines greatly annoyed Gao Baoyan.

He discovered that although Yuwen Tai and Gao Huan had occupied two important towns west of the Liao River, the entire Goguryeo Kingdom still had not united as he had expected.

On the contrary, the conflict in Pyongyang intensified, with each faction shifting blame and blaming the other for their defeat.

The garrison troops of Gaimou City and Liaodong City also failed to cross the Liao River and reclaim the lost territory. Instead, they requested to postpone their advance due to the weather and wait until the weather warmed up before launching an attack.

What Gao Baoyan didn't expect was that after Wuliluo and Xianducheng fell one after another, the person who caused all of this did not stop, but sent an envoy to ask for apologies.

The envoy of the Northern Wei emperor set off from Guangzhou, crossed the Bohai Sea, and arrived at Bisha City before reaching Pyongyang by land.

Goguryeo paid tribute to the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Gao Baoyan was nominally a vassal of the Northern Wei emperor. Of course, Goguryeo had no real obligations; it was merely a nominal submission.

Having no other option, Gao Baoyan summoned his officials to meet the envoy.

The envoy, holding Yuan Baoju's edict, launched into a tirade against him in the palace.

The gist is, "I hit you, and you dare to hit me back?"

Gao Baoyan suppressed the urge to cook the messenger, and only unleashed his fury after the messenger left.

"Ohno Sou, this is outrageous! Outrageous!!"

However, many of the other officials in the palace did not realize that a subject should die for his master's honor, and instead tried to persuade him to stay.

Why bother arguing with Ohno Sawa!
What can you do right now?
Killing the Northern Wei court's envoy to vent his anger only gave Da Yeshuang an excuse to raise an army.
Can't do it!
The officials tried to persuade Gao Baoyan in a tactful manner, and Gao Baoyan knew they were right, otherwise he would have already cooked the envoy alive.

It's one thing to figure things out on your own, but it's another to listen to other people's advice.

Just then, another sound came from outside the hall.

"Your Majesty, the messenger has returned!"

"What's the point of him coming back? Hasn't he scolded me enough already?!"

"He said he was going to read out the emperor's edict!"

Gao Baoyan was very puzzled. Why did Yuan Baoju write two edicts?

"He said that what he was reading this time was an edict from the Emperor of Liang!"

Gao Baoyan stood up and angrily cursed:
"Ohno Sou, I xxx!"

……

(End of this chapter)