After the order was given, the eight thousand light cavalry sped up in accordance with the dispatch and galloped southward.
Cao Zhao's 1,000 light cavalry and 2,000 Wuhuan light cavalry were on the left, Liu Ye and Duan Zhao's troops, Zhen Xiang's troops and 3,000 Wuhuan light cavalry were on the right, rushing from north to south towards the vicinity of Goguryeo city.
The closer Liu Ye got to Goguryeo City, the more confused he became.
The climate in Liaodong is colder than that in Henan, and crops can only be grown once a year, during which time farmers should be working in the fields. However, there was no sign of people in the fields near the city, as if the people had all disappeared from the face of the earth.
With a lot of questions in their heads, the eight thousand light cavalrymen arrived at the gates of Goguryeo, which were tightly closed. Just as they circled the city, someone on the top of the city wall shouted loudly:
"Where are you cavalrymen from? Why did you come to Goguryeo?"
Liu Ye pursed his lips towards Duan Zhao, who shouted in a voice as loud as a bell:
"We are the soldiers of the Wei Dynasty, and we have come to attack the Gongsun clan! If you are sensible, open the city gates and surrender quickly, so as to avoid the loss of lives and the suffering of the people!"
"Wait a moment!"
After a man dressed as a scholar on the top of the city wall replied, he sat in a large basket and was lowered from the top of the city wall. After getting out of the basket, he straightened his robe and walked towards Liu Ye calmly.
Liu Ye and Duan Zhao looked at each other. Although the scene was indeed a bit strange, they still ordered the soldiers to let the man in.
"Greetings, everyone." The middle-aged scholar in his forties stepped forward and bowed, "I see that you are dressed like a general of the imperial court, and there are flags of the Great Wei Dynasty scattered throughout the army, so you must be imperial cavalry?"
Liu Ye did not answer. Duan Zhao sat on his horse and looked down at the man: "We are the imperial army, who are you?"
The middle-aged scholar laughed and said, "From your Henan accent, I guess you must be a member of the imperial army?"
Duan Zhao snorted, drew his knife from his waist and pointed it at the middle-aged scholar: "Gongsun family intends to usurp power and secede, the imperial court sent troops to retake Liaodong. There is no room for you Liaodong officials to be indecisive!"
"Who are you?"
The middle-aged scholar laughed a few times, took a step back, and continued to ask: "Your Excellency came from the north, so I guess there are still imperial troops in the south?"
Duan Zhao's eyes gradually turned cold. He lightly knocked on the horse's belly, took a step forward, and put the knife on the neck of the middle-aged scholar.
"General, we can talk. We are both ministers in the same dynasty. Why do you have to draw your sword?" The middle-aged scholar carefully stretched out his hand to push Duan Zhao's sword away a little, and said cautiously: "General, don't you want the people in the city to open the city and surrender? Why don't you even want to answer these two questions of mine?"
Liu Ye saw the nervousness and panic of the middle-aged scholar, and his mind shifted slightly. He immediately said: "The Great Wei will divide its troops into three routes and raise 200,000 troops to attack Gongsun Yuan. We are only in the vanguard of the northern route."
"The main army entered Liaodong from Banghai Road and should have reached Liaosui by now!"
The middle-aged scholar still insisted: "May I ask what is the general's name?"
Liu Ye said nothing, took out four seals from the brocade bag on the side of the saddle, and threw them to the middle-aged scholar one by one.
Why so many seals?
The middle-aged scholar looked at the first seal that was shining with golden light and did not dare to delay. He hurriedly trotted forward to catch it. After catching all four seals, he checked them without stopping.
The first one is a very small gold seal with a purple ribbon, engraved with the four characters "Marquis of Pingning Township".
The remaining two larger silver seals were engraved with the words "Seal of the Governor of Youzhou" and "Seal of the General Du Liao" respectively.
The last private seal was engraved with the four characters "Liu Ziyang Seal".
The middle-aged scholar carefully examined the shape of the seal and compared it with the seal in his memory. The shape of the county marquis's golden seal was correct, and the official seals of civil officials were called "seals" and military generals were called "chapter", which was also correct.
The middle-aged scholar held the seal in both hands and raised it to Liu Ye's horse: "I didn't know you were here in person, I hope you will forgive me for my impoliteness."
Liu Ye was the only minister in the Wei Dynasty who had all three titles of Marquis, Inspector, and General, and he was worthy of the title of "Lord".
Liu Ye took the seal and carefully placed it in the brocade bag and tied it up. He then asked, "Since you know my name, what do you have to say?"
The middle-aged scholar bowed and said, "I am Chen Ning, the governor of Goguryeo. I am willing to open the city gates and welcome the heavenly soldiers into the city!"
Liu Ye snorted, "Are you the commander of Goguryeo? Where have the troops in the city gone? Where is the governor Xuantu? Can you open the city by yourself?"
Chen Ning stamped his feet anxiously: "I am in your army, how dare I deceive you? There are no troops in the city, all of them have been mobilized by Gongsun Yuan!"
"Gone?" Liu Ye's expression was stern. He dismounted and walked to Chen Ning, grabbed his shoulder and asked, "Gongsun Yuan is the former lord of Liaodong. Why are you calling him by his name? Where did the army go?"
Chen Ning felt a little pained and said repeatedly: "Seven days ago, the army in Xuantu County, led by the governor Qi Jin, all went to the east to Goguryeo!"
"Goguryeo??"
Liu Ye, Duan Zhao, Zhen Xiang and others looked at each other before they realized that Chen Ning was talking about the Goguryeo Kingdom, not the Goguryeo City in front of them.
Liu Ye did not let go: "Where is Gongsun Yuan? Where did Gongsun Yuan go?" Chen Ning's face showed resentment: "What old lord of Liaodong? He is nothing but a thief who oppresses the people! The Wei army came from the west, but he used the reason of Goguryeo's disrespect and led all the troops to attack Goguryeo in the east!"
"Not only did the Xuantu and Xiangping armies all head east, but they also requisitioned all the available food from the people! If this isn't a thief who is cruel to the people, then what is this? This person is not my former master!"
Liu Ye's expression immediately became serious: "Enter the city, enter the city immediately! County Magistrate Chen, if what you said is true, you will have made a great contribution!"
"Hurry up and open the city gate!"
Chen Ning went to open the city himself, and Liu Ye first sent 300 cavalrymen into the city to inspect and occupy the north gate and the main road, and then allowed a large number of cavalrymen to pour into the city.
After carefully interrogating several people in the city, Liu Ye's heart began to beat wildly. A once-in-a-lifetime achievement was right in front of him!
"Berming!"
"I'm here!" Zhen Xiang replied with a bow.
"You lead a thousand light cavalrymen from our army and immediately explore the southwest in the direction of Liaoyang and Liaosui. You have heard what Chen Ning said just now. Tell His Majesty how empty Xiangping is. Don't give up Liaosui and take Xiangping as quickly as possible! I will go east to chase Gongsun Yuan!"
"Yes, sir!" Zhen Xiang bowed briefly and immediately went out to find his headquarters, ready to set out and report the news.
As soon as Zhen Xiang left, Liu Ye stood up in the hall, put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and looked at everyone with a solemn expression:
"Everyone, this opportunity is rare, and the reward of being conferred a marquisate is now!"
"I intend for the entire army to immediately head south to Xiangping and follow Gongsun Yuan eastward. They have so many infantry and baggage that they can't go far. We must stop Gongsun Yuan to the west of Heshenggu City!"
All the two thousand stone and one thousand stone Sima officials in the hall bowed their hands together and said, "We will follow the general's orders!"
After saying that, Liu Ye looked at Chen Ning and said, "The enemy is only the Gongsun clan, and you are still a loyal subject of the Wei Dynasty. I will send a hundred cavalry to inform King Youweiju of Gongsun Yuan's attack. Would County Magistrate Chen be willing to go with the army?"
Chen Ning knew that this kind of thing could not be refused. If he refused, he would die. He immediately agreed: "I obey your order!"
……
Since there were no more troops in Xuantu County, Liu Ye did not leave any soldiers in Goguryeo City.
Liu Ye sent Zhen Xiang's 1,000 light cavalry to find the army headquarters, and took the remaining 7,000 light cavalry south to Xiangping, intending to pursue Gongsun Yuan to prevent him from taking the Heshenggu City of Goguryeo.
At this time, in the Wei army camp west of the Liao River, each camp was making preparations for the war. They added wine and meat to the meals, stopped training and arranged to rest early.
The Wei army camp before the battle was unusually quiet after nightfall.
The next day, just as the sky was getting light, Generals Xiahou Xian, Tian Yu and Xianyu Fu each led 5,000 soldiers and lined up under the faint light in the east.
On the beach on the west bank of the Liao River, there are sixty stone-throwing carts modified by Ma Jun that can fire continuously. On the east side, a floating bridge over the Liao River is gradually being laid out towards the center of the river.
There were 15,000 infantrymen in the front and 15,000 cavalrymen in the rear, all waiting for the emperor's military orders.
And thirty-five miles to the north, far away from here and deep in the Liaoze, six thousand light cavalry including the Xianbei Budugen and the Xiongnu Liu Bao began to cross the river after daybreak.
On the east side of Liaosui, about fifty miles south of Liaosui, Cao Shuang, Duan Mo's troops, and Kebineng's five thousand subordinates, totaling seven thousand light cavalry, were speeding up in the faint morning light and rushing towards the direction of Liaosui City.
Just as the morning sun completely appeared above the distant horizon, the large black banner standing at the gate of the central army camp suddenly pointed to the east.
Fifteen thousand Wei army infantrymen, holding copper coins in their mouths, ran onto the pontoon bridge under the command of their generals and captains.
There were no horns or drums, only the creaking of the pontoon ropes heralded the coming of dawn. The pontoon sank and rose again, and the waves slapped loudly against the wooden boards, like a fusion of iron and blood.
The hundred-meter-wide floating bridge was twisted into a bow under the impact of the Liaoshui River, but it still firmly connects the two banks of the Liaoshui River.
Liaodong in June was already hot, and there was no doubt that early morning was the best time to attack. Even though the weather was most suitable in the early morning, the soldiers in full armor still had sweat on their foreheads.
The Wei army had already set out. As the vanguard reached the middle of the river, the people in the watchtower on the Liaosui City in the east realized that the Wei army was behaving abnormally today, and the shrill sound of trumpets could be heard for miles.
The old general Gongsun Yan, who was still having breakfast in the city mansion, slammed his chopsticks on the table and quickly stood up and walked out, shouting loudly as he walked: "What happened? Is the Wei army attacking?"
A guard at the side bowed and said, "General, the sound of the horn must be the Wei army launching a general attack."
"Come here, put on your armor for me!" Gongsun Yan shouted, "Hurry up and inform General Bei to lead the cavalry out of the city to fight back. We must stop the Wei army from breaking through the siege!"
"Follow the order!"
Gongsun Yan quickly put on his armor, jumped on his horse and ran towards the west wall. While Gongsun Yan was still trying to climb the steps, he found Bei Yan running towards him.
Gongsun Yan was slightly startled, turned around with anger in his eyes and asked: "General, why are you here with me instead of going outside the city to preside over the battle?" (End of this chapter)
