Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 505 Sir, times have changed

Liaodong City.

At the foot of Xuantu City, Yuwen Tai defeated the lord of Gaimou City and the reinforcements from the domestic city, and then occupied Gaimou City and its surrounding cities.

When this news reached Liaodong City, before the city lord could even grieve, another piece of news arrived.

The King of Qin's envoy has arrived!
"Quickly, quickly, put away all the valuables in the house."

Looking at her husband's pathetic state, the Lady of Liaodong City couldn't help but complain:

"Just an envoy, look at you."

"What do you know? Do you even know who he is?"

The Lady of Liaodong City asked curiously:
"who?"

"He cursed the king twice in the palace in Pyongyang, but the king didn't dare to kill him!"

"so what?"

Seeing his wife's cluelessness, the city lord of Liaodong quickly added:

"Then the king discovered that things were missing from the palace."

The Lady of Liaodong City was taken aback, then asked:

"Did the messenger steal it?"

The Lord of Liaodong City nodded.

"Then why not arrest them?"

"He is an envoy of the King of Qin. Wouldn't arresting him give the King of Qin an excuse to launch a military campaign?"

Upon hearing this, the Lady of Liaodong City became even more disdainful and said:

"Now that war has begun, what's there to be afraid of!"

"This is a woman's opinion; the situation is still uncertain. How can I offend her?"

As he spoke, the Lord of Liaodong urged:

"Take off that dragon and phoenix gold-inlaid jade pendant you're wearing, so this guy doesn't get his eye on it."

After hearing this, the Lady of Liaodong City clutched the pendant on her chest as if it were a precious treasure, afraid of losing it.

……

Zu Ting is here!

This time, he was even more arrogant than he was in Pyongyang!

Amidst the fawning smiles of the Liaodong City Lord and his officials, Zu Ting walked directly to the Liaodong City Lord's seat and plopped down.

The Lord of Liaodong City watched, seething with hatred, yet still wearing a smile.

"Are you all aware that my king is leading 100,000 heavenly soldiers on his way?"

If we hadn't known, you would have died countless times over.

"We all know."

"Then why don't we take all the goods from the treasury and reward the soldiers?"

Upon hearing this, the Liaodong City Lord looked embarrassed. But before he could speak, Zu Ting said:
"Or do you intend to follow in the footsteps of Lord Gai Mou and hang your heads at the Northern Palace?"

"Your humble servant is filled with trepidation!"

The Lord of Liaodong City spoke, and then explained.

“We, your humble servants, are stationed in Liaodong City by order of King Anwon. Our families and relatives are all in Pyongyang. If we surrender now, we fear that King Anwon will blame us!”

Zu Ting snorted coldly and questioned:
"Are you afraid of the Prince of Anyuan but not the Prince of Qin?"

"Your humble servant dares not!"

Zu Ting stood up, waved his sleeve, and said:

"Liaodong was originally the homeland of our Han people, which you have long since seized. My king is kind-hearted and has not yet asked you for the rent you demand. If you do not return it now, you will face certain death when the city falls!"

Zu Ting's aura was so powerful that even the Liaodong City Lord considered surrendering for a moment upon hearing it.

But at the crucial moment, a report came from outside.

When the Lord of Liaodong City returned from his trip, his expression had changed. He walked up to Zu Ting, chuckled, and had the men on either side lift him up, leaving Zu Ting stunned.

"Tell your king that Liaodong was conquered by Goguryeo. Your king was originally a bandit from the north, and now that he has seized the Tuoba clan's kingdom, has he ever thought about returning it?"

"Are you crazy?"

The city lord of Liaodong smiled, sat back in his seat, and said:

"To tell you the truth, the 40,000 reinforcements from the capital will arrive soon, and the city has plenty of reserves. If your king has the guts, come and take them!"

With that, the Lord of Liaodong waved his hand and said:
"see a visitor out!"
-
Zu Ting was thrown out of Liaodong City, and soon after, 40,000 reinforcements arrived in Liaodong City.

With the arrival of tens of thousands of troops, the Lord of Liaodong City breathed a sigh of relief.

This time, he learned from the lesson of Gai Mou Zhu Cheng and refused to leave the city, intending to wait until October.

As soon as it snows in Liaodong, Li Shuang's army will have no choice but to retreat.

In any case, the city's reserves are sufficient to support him in this regard.

Liaodong City is the largest city in Liaodong. Although it was built on a plain, its defenses were not weak.

For over a century, the Goguryeo people have managed Liaodong City like an ironclad fortress. With the addition of 40,000 reinforcements, the lord of Liaodong City is confident that he can defend the city.

After Li Shuang led his army to the city, he did not immediately launch an attack on Liaodong City.

Looking out from inside Liaodong City, one could see that the number of military camps was increasing day by day.

Yuwen Tai and Hebasheng's army also marched south, accompanied by three thousand Fuyu soldiers. On their southward journey, they swept through the fortresses and garrisons surrounding Liaodong City, transporting supplies to the central army camp.

The Lord of Liaodong City remained calm in the face of this.

He was sent by Pyongyang and didn't have a strong foothold in Liaodong. Now, with 40,000 reinforcements under his command, he didn't care at all about the enemy's actions.

A large army, numbering sixty to seventy thousand, gathered outside Liaodong City. On the Liao River, the number of ships arriving from the sea increased daily, transporting a large amount of supplies to the area outside Liaodong City.

In early June of the fifth year of the Datong era, the large army gathered outside Liaodong City officially launched an attack on Liaodong.

Tens of thousands of troops, with heavily armored shield bearers as cover, and supply troops carrying shovels and mounds of earth, filled the moat outside Liaodong City.

The Goguryeo people in the city kept firing and harassing the city, and retaliated.

The Liaodong city lord and his officials and generals were not surprised by this.

This is only the first step in the siege.

The Goguryeo people were very familiar with the military history of Liaodong, especially the Battle of Xiangping when Sima Yi attacked it.

How was Sima Yi able to capture Xiangping City so quickly back then?

Firstly, the main force of the Gongsun clan went out to fight and was defeated by Sima Yi, resulting in a shortage of people to defend the city; secondly, the grain reserves in Xiangping City were exhausted, making it difficult to continue to hold the city.

The second point, in particular, is the fatal flaw.

If Xiangping City had had enough food reserves, Sima Yi would not have been able to capture it so quickly.

The Goguryeo people learned from this lesson and neither sent troops to fight nor did they stockpile enough supplies in the city.

Li Shuang attacked the city according to the usual procedure, and they were confident that they could hold it for three months.

At first, everything went as the Goguryeo people had predicted, and Li Shuang's soldiers dutifully filled in the moat.

But then, when the Goguryeo people were waiting for the enemy to build earthen mounds and cloud ladders so they could continue their siege, they found that the enemy did not act as they had expected.

The supply troops began constructing siege camps in various corners of the west, north, and south of the city, assembling siege equipment that the Goguryeo people did not know what it was.

A rough estimate suggests there are several hundred of them.

On that day, hundreds of assembled catapults equipped with counterweights were ready to be deployed beneath the walls of Liaodong City.

In Liaodong City, under the banners of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, a young king arrived. Amidst the shouts of his soldiers, he drew his sword and gave the order to attack.

A massive boulder, weighing hundreds of kilograms, was launched from a catapult a mile away, crashing down on the thick walls of Liaodong City like a stone falling from the sky.

That thunderous roar told every Goguryeo person.

Times have changed!

……

(End of this chapter)