Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 506 Welcoming the Royal Army
The army besieged Liaodong City for several days, and hundreds of catapults also concentrated their fire for several days.

Liaodong City resembled a wounded giant beast, utterly disheveled.

With the city walls damaged and the corner towers destroyed, Goguryeo soldiers dared not walk on the walls, fearing that large stones falling from the sky would land on their heads, and even more so that the rammed earth walls would collapse.

Li Shuang did not personally command the battle, but instead handed over command of the front-line army to Yuwentai.

Yuwen Tai then led his army in a fierce attack on Liaodong City day and night.

Inside the large tent, Li Shuang sat upright on the throne, holding a book in his hand and reading it.

In this era, city walls were mostly made of rammed earth, and Liaodong City was no exception. City walls covered with bricks, like those of Taicheng, were relatively rare.

Taicheng's defenses are far superior to those of Liaodong City. Even with the current troops and supplies, Li Shuang couldn't conquer it by force.

After all, Taicheng was the last fortress of a country's capital. When Xiao Yan built it, he did so according to the highest security standards and spared no expense.

Liaodong City, however, was different. Under the relentless attacks of the army day and night, it was already on the verge of collapse.

After hundreds of years of chaos, siege techniques had long been summarized and recorded in military books.

The Six Garrisons started their uprising in the north with 200,000 men, but now only about 20,000 remain in Li Shuang's army. However, these 20,000 men are still a rare elite force in the world. In the course of more than ten years of war, they have learned these siege tactics that have been summarized and refined.

Having fought in numerous battles across the north and south, Yuwen Tai was well-versed in this art.

Several miles outside the main tent, thick smoke billowed from the siege site, but inside the central command tent, all was calm.

The apocalyptic war scene in the distance appeared as if viewed through a filter to those in the central command tent.

Leading an army of thousands requires a fierce general to charge into battle, someone who is fearless and resourceful, and above all, someone who can adapt to changing circumstances.

Leading an army of 100,000 requires the commander-in-chief's ability to coordinate and deploy resources.

In particular, these capable ministers and fierce generals who have emerged from the chaos of war, along with their proud and elite soldiers, need someone with sufficient prestige to sit in the central government in order to keep them in check.

Reports from the front lines arrived one after another in Li Shuang's tent, which Zu Ting then organized and placed on his desk.

Until the most crucial message arrived.

"Your Majesty, our army has already breached a gap of more than two zhang in the southwest wall of Liaodong City."

Even Zu Ting, who had been organizing the documents, couldn't hide his excitement. He wanted to speak, but Li Shuang remained silent, so he suppressed his own eagerness.

Soon, a second one came.

"Your Majesty, Yuwen Tai has assembled a thousand heavily armored soldiers, charged into the breach, and has already taken control."

Li Shuang put down the book, her expression calm, and slowly spoke, exuding a reassuring composure.

"Announce to the entire army: Enter the city!"

Li Shuang didn't need to say anything; under the military merit and nobility system, the post-war distribution mechanism was already well-established.

After the order was given, all the soldiers were in an uproar.

With a thousand heavily armored soldiers holding off the Goguryeo counterattack at the breach, reinforcements from outside the city quickly poured into the city.

After several days of siege, the city's defenders were exhausted and like frightened birds, no match for Li Shuang's high-spirited army.

After half a day of fierce siege, the Goguryeo defenders were completely routed, and all the city gates were occupied. The 40,000 reinforcements, along with the original defenders of Liaodong City, were trapped like turtles in a jar and surrendered en masse.

Several days ago, Zu Ting was thrown out of Liaodong City.

The lord of Liaodong City at that time believed that Liaodong City was impregnable. After all, there was no precedent in past battles for Liaodong City to be breached so quickly.

However, just a few days later, Liaodong City was captured, much to the surprise of all the Goguryeo people.

Zu Ting led his soldiers to the Liaodong City Lord's mansion again, intending to settle old scores, only to find that the lord had already committed suicide.

"died?"

Zu Ting looked at the person in front of him and found that he was not breathing. He shook his head and sighed.

The armored soldiers behind him rushed into the mansion and searched everyone inside.

The Lady of Liaodong City collapsed to the ground. Zu Ting looked at the pendant hanging on her chest, slowly walked over, ignored her struggles, and ripped it off her neck.

Then, Zu Ting waved his hand and said:
"Take him away!" "Yes, sir!"

……

The entire city of Liaodong was quickly pacified, and the city of Liaodong was obtained along with a large amount of reserves and wealth from its treasury, which contained more than 60,000 people.

After the army had finished clearing the area, on the eighth day of the sixth lunar month, Li Shuang officially entered Liaodong City.

Inside the city, officials who had surrendered or been captured from Goguryeo were already waiting.

These people were either secretly pleased because they surrendered early, or filled with anxiety because they were defeated and captured.

But with Li Shuang's arrival, everyone's faces changed, turning into smiles.

A feeling of joy at welcoming the victorious army arose spontaneously.

Li Shuang wasn't particularly excited about this. He'd seen this kind of scene many times before.

Li Shuang looked at the crowd and said loudly:

"I have been ordered by the Emperor to recover the lost territories of Liaodong. Now that Liaodong is under our walls, I will present a memorial to the Emperor. Those who have rendered meritorious service will be rewarded accordingly, and those who repent in time will be able to preserve their wealth and status. I hope you will not worry and that everything will proceed as usual."

"Your Majesty, we thank you!"

……

After everyone left, Li Shuang waved, and Zu Ting came over and asked:
"Your Majesty, what are your orders?"

"Now Liaodong City has fallen, and Nansu City to the north and Jian'an City to the south have also surrendered. Only Anshi and Momi are still resisting. Go to Pyongyang again and tell Gao Baoyan to cede Liaodong."

Zu Ting listened, nodded, and said:
"promise!"

Li Shuang smiled and asked:

"Do you know what to do?"

Zu Ting smiled and said:

"Half of Goguryeo's army has already been wiped out in Liaodong. As for the remaining half, I would like to ask them if they want to continue their advance?"

Zu Ting's meaning was very clear: to scare them.

The Goguryeo people's response was disjointed during Li Shuang's attack on Liaodong.

The same principle applied to supporting cities like Gaimu in the past, and now it applies to Liaodong City as well.

But it was precisely this disconnect in his reaction that gave Zu Ting confidence.

Li Shuang nodded and said:

"I will be there to support you from behind. Go forth!"

"promise!"

……

After dealing with both internal and external matters, in the dead of night, Li Shuang was studying the Han Dynasty treasure that Zu Ting had found—a jade pendant with a gold dragon and phoenix design.

Liu Sixia had already told Li Shuang how to decipher it.

The pendant's ornate appearance is secondary; its most ingenious aspect is its integration of the most profound knowledge from the Han Dynasty and even today.

Astronomical phenomena!

Li Shuang worked all night and finally completed the star map, confirming the location of the hidden tomb.

However, the location surprised him somewhat.

"Mangshan?"

Li Shuang murmured softly, then a smile appeared on her face.

……

(End of this chapter)