Chapter 1350 Gore

Chapter 1350 Gore

Chapter 1350 Gore
On the tenth day of the intercalary month, Shao Shen had left Goguryeo County and headed eastward.

On the 12th, the army arrived outside Gaolu Mountain (now Gaolu Mountain in Fushun).

Shao Shen and Shao Yu rode forward side by side to check out a city at the entrance of the valley ahead.

Although it is called a valley entrance, it is actually quite high. It is a typical mountain city built by the Goguryeo people.

In the eyes of the two, the mountain city was built based on the terrain, with an overall irregular shape and actually having five city gates.

The city is about ten miles in circumference, which is not very big, and is about the same size as the three county towns in Xuantu County.

After watching for a while, Shao Yu said, "Yunwen, the Goguryeo people don't know how to build a city."

Shao Shen's mouth twitched.

They are indeed brothers of the same generation, but there is a big age difference between them. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to call me by my cousin's name?
However, after seeing Shao Yu's smirk, he also smiled and said, "It's true that they don't know how to repair the city, and it may not be easy to repair it."

After that, he pointed with his whip and said, "The wall is located on the ridge, with uneven heights. Maybe they didn't bother to build the city wall and the horse face. But they did dig three trenches."

The reason why a mountain city is called a mountain city is, of course, that it is built on a mountain. And the mountain cannot be flat, so the city wall located on the mountain ridge is sometimes high and sometimes low, just like the Great Wall.

City defense facilities are not easy to build either - it's not that they can't be built at all, for example, they can just clear a piece of flat ground manually, but they may not have the national strength to do so.

Simply put, Gaoshan City is a city with walls that are higher than the central urban area. According to observation, this city has two urban areas, east and west, separated by a mountain ridge and connected by a city wall.

There is no doubt that this type of structure seems very strange to the people in the Central Plains.

"This city is actually not easy to attack. We can't use siege equipment. We can only attack the city in a group." Shao Yu asked, "When was it built?"

Chief Clerk Yang You stepped forward and said, "This city was built during the Taishi period of the Jin Dynasty."

"As soon as the Jin Dynasty was founded, Goguryeo crossed the border into Xuantu County to build a city. What a great founding ceremony it was." Shao Yu said.

Yang You also smiled and said, "Your Highness, you don't know that after Sima Yi slaughtered Liao, there were not many people left in Xuantu. Not only did the Xianbei people move south, but the Goguryeo people also came to seize the land. In fact, it was already like this during the Later Han Dynasty. When Emperor Guangwu of Han founded the country, the Goguryeo people built ten cities west of Liao (Xiao Liao River, i.e. Hun River) to prepare for the Han army to occupy almost half of Xuantu."

"What happened next?" Shao Yu asked curiously.

"There is no record in the history books." Yang You said: "Perhaps the Goguryeo people gave in, but their ambitions are indeed not small."

"Father is right. The Goguryeo people are good at stealing." Shao Yu said with a smile, "If you don't care about them, they will slowly move forward to build the city and govern the locals. If you care about them, they will retreat a little, but not completely. This city is clearly in Xuantu's territory, but the thieves openly built the city and stationed troops there. How can we justify the millions of troops who are on the Eastern Expedition if we don't take it?"

"The Goguryeo people built this city for the convenience of looting." Shao Shen retracted his gaze and said, "When the infantry and cavalry arrive here, they can use food and grass, and even enter the city to rest. After gathering their strength, they will rush down from the mountains, rush into the plains, and loot. If the looting fails, there will be places to retreat."

This is the advantage and disadvantage of the terrain.

Xuantu County (roughly including the areas of Shenyang, Tieling, Fushun and Xinmin in later generations) was located on the plain as a whole. The agricultural and animal husbandry conditions were indeed good, but there was no strategic location to defend. The Goguryeo people lived in the continuous hills to the east of the plain. They also yearned for the plain, so they had a strong urge to go down the mountain.

Generally speaking, Goguryeo was easy to defend but difficult to attack, while Xuantu, which was occupied by the Han, Wei and Jin dynasties, was easy to attack but difficult to defend. Originally, there were some mountains in the east as a barrier, but every time there was unrest in the Central Plains, the Goguryeo people devoured part of it.

The newly established dynasty did not necessarily attach importance to these places. In fact, the borders were originally vague. The emperor who controlled the Central Plains had already accomplished his mission and could dance and play music, and did not want to cause trouble on the border. So he had to accept it and let the Goguryeo people advance step by step until they gradually reached the junction of the plains and hills.

In fact, the same is true in the Yalu River area.

During the Bohai Kingdom period, they had Nanjing Yalu Prefecture, and many important cities were located on both sides of the Yalu River. After the Khitan conquered Bohai, the Koreans felt that they were the successors of Goguryeo, so they began to encroach on them. The Khitan sent a large army of "400,000" to fight - well, they were defeated, but they also prevented the further encroachment of Goryeo, and Pyongyang remained an important border town.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Koreans began to encroach on the country, and in one fell swoop pushed the border line to the south bank of the Yalu River, facing Jianzhou Wei.

These people are really annoying, they always do private things.

"It's unreasonable to bypass the first city we advance eastward without attacking it." Shao Shen said, "Prepare for two days, bring the surrendered people up, and attack day and night. This matter will be decided by——"

His eyes fell on He Fen, the commander of Luze Town.

"I obey your command." He Fen didn't want to attack the city, but he had no choice, so he took the initiative to step forward and accept the order.

"Fight well, and you will get credit for taking down the city." Shao Shen smiled at him.

This was his old subordinate, the son of He Lun, the former military advisor of Jiangling Shogunate, who served under him during the expedition to Shu. After being transferred to the position of Shanyu Grand Protector, he went to Pingcheng to serve as a cavalry soldier. Later, taking advantage of the opportunity of Liu Hezhu's death and the return of Liu's descendants to their families for mourning, he temporarily served as the commander of Luze Town, and ended up being a temporary official until now.

"King Yan, you--" Shao Shen looked at Shao Yu again.

"I'll bypass this city and go east." Shao Yu said immediately.

Shao Shen hesitated for a while and said, "Let's do it this way. As a descendant of the Shao family, how can we not go to the battlefield?"

After Shao Yu received the order, he said no more and returned to the western camp.

My father wrote to say that my thirteenth and fourteenth brothers were coming to visit him, but I’m afraid they can’t wait any longer, as I’m going to go into the mountains to play.

At the gate of his central army tent, Xiluo Teng was playing with his short legs.

The tribal guards followed him and carefully watched over him.
Shao Yu felt playful, so he asked someone to bring him a wild fruit. He held it in his hand and slowly approached.

When Xiluo Teng saw this, he immediately ran over and said in a slurred voice, "My king, please give me some food."

"You only know how to eat. What else can you do besides eating?" Shao Yu pinched his chubby face and asked.

"Your Highness, please, I want to eat." Xiluo Teng stood on tiptoe and stretched out his hand to ask for it.

Shao Yu laughed loudly and said, "You can only eat if you call me Grandpa."

"Grandpa." Xiluo Teng shouted in a crisp voice without any moral integrity.

This time, Shao Yu was at a loss. The guards and clan leaders of the Xiluo tribe also looked at their masters stupidly, not knowing what to do.

"Grandpa! Grandpa!" Xiluo Teng almost jumped up.

Shao Yu squatted down, picked him up, shook his head and said with a smile: "For a piece of fruit, is it that serious?"

"I have never called anyone grandpa." Xiluo Teng took the fruit, bit it gently, and smiled.

"This kid!" Shao Yu said with a smile, "Tomorrow I will ask Pan Changshi to teach you how to read and write, and see if you are still naughty."

"Then take me out to play today." Xiluo Teng stated the conditions.

"Okay, as you say." Shao Yu asked someone to bring the horse over. He climbed on it, placed the child in front of him, and rode out.

The cavalry of the Prince of Yan's palace and the leaders of the Xiluo tribe also mounted their horses and followed closely behind.

After leaving the camp, we saw smoke and dust filling the sky in the west and the sound of horse hooves.

After a while, the large group of people stopped more than a hundred steps away, and a young girl rode her horse straight ahead and only stopped about seven or eight steps away.

"My wife is here." Shao Yu said with a smile.

Yuwen looked at him coldly, pointed at him with her whip, and asked, "Which wild woman gave birth to you? You're already this big? Don't you only have one son?"

Shao Yu said with a smile: "I picked it up."

The followers rushed out one after another, and when they saw the Wuhuan people from the Xiluo tribe, Yuwen did not look happy.

The clan leaders also lowered their heads, looking ashamed.

Their tribe used to be a vassal of the Yuwen clan and was directly under the jurisdiction of Yuwen Yidugui, but later they were defeated by the Murong clan and changed their allegiance. It was natural that they felt embarrassed to see their old master at this moment.

Xiluo Teng was unaware of the grudge and was still eating the fruit happily. He was so happy that he even swayed on the horse's back.

"When are you going east?" Yu Wen got a little mad, then started to care about the man again.

"Let's do it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, when Zuo Feilong's guards gather together." Shao Yu said.

"How many soldiers do you have?"

"Take away all the cavalry from the palace, send another thousand cavalry from the Xiluo tribe, and several thousand people from the Left Flying Dragon Guard." Shao Yu said, "After entering the mountains, not every place may be suitable for cavalry to ride, and we won't be able to do it without the Flying Dragon Guard."

"I will go with you and bring three thousand cavalry with me," said Yuwen.

"Nonsense." Shao Yu refused immediately and said, "Why should a woman fight a war?"

Yuwen looked at him with dissatisfaction.

Shao Yu did not give in. He said, "You go south to Mashijin first. There are captives building a city there. I don't know when my royal city will be built. I will probably have to live in Lushun next year. You take your people to have a look first, take the cattle and sheep and other belongings over there, and find a deserted meadow to settle the tribe."

Yuwen was silent for a while, and finally agreed, and then asked: "Will you meet your wives?"

Shao Yu couldn't hold it anymore. Why did this woman say anything?

The officials of the palace were not far away. Upon hearing this, they immediately took a few steps away, obviously not intending to listen any further.

The nobles of the Xiluo tribe rode away quietly to avoid embarrassment.

Shao Yu said helplessly: "They haven't come yet. You go south first and help me see how Lushun County is being renovated. Maybe you will stay here for several years."

After that, he picked up Xiluo Teng and put him on Yuwen's horse, saying, "Take care of this naughty monkey first. He will start learning to read and write tomorrow. Just give him two Hu cakes a day. It will be easy to feed him."

Xiluo Teng looked reluctant.

Yuwen threatened him: "Your grandfather has not yet settled the score for betraying my family, be careful of getting your butt broken."

Xiluo Teng immediately became obedient, even a little trembling with fear.

"My thirteenth and fourteenth brothers will come over in a few days. You should go south later and pick up the gardeners of Yanshan Garden and go to Lushun together." Shao Yu added, "Last year, several acres of rye were planted in Lushun. You can go and see for yourself how it is growing. People who go south should have a place to live. If there are not enough in Lushun, they can be dispersed to Pingguo and move into the empty houses. Don't let them sit idle, clear the stones on the ground first. Well, there should be cultivated land that has been abandoned. See how many there are..."

"Are there any nice clothes?" asked Yu Wen.

Shao Yu was stunned for a moment as he couldn't understand what was going on. What was going on?

"Your brother is here, I can't wear a fur coat." Yu Wen said embarrassedly.

Shao Yu smiled and said, "Let's go to the county town and look for him. Hejian Liu was originally going to be punished, but I saved him. His family is a well-dressed aristocratic family with female relatives, so they won't shorten their dresses."

"Will I look good in a skirt?" Yu Wen asked with a blush.

"It looks great now." Shao Yu said softly.

Yuwen scolded him and rode away on her horse without any hesitation.

Looking at the woman's receding back, Shao Yu stroked his chin.

He recalled the words his father carved on the floor tiles of the fortress that afternoon in Yi Yang.

I didn’t understand it before, but now I slowly understand it. This is the best military strategy.

(End of this chapter)