Chapter 1357: Will it take time?

Chapter 1357: Will it take time?

Chapter 1357: Will it take time?

The discussions among Goguryeo officials ultimately yielded no results.

Gao Zhao had been on the throne for only a few years and was still young, full of ambition and having certain ideas of his own, otherwise he would not have taken the initiative to attack and block the main force of the Liang army.

A minister pointed out a clear way for him: wait and see until the Liang army withdraws, as they may not come the next year.

He cared about this in his heart.

To be honest, because Korea was in ruins, he had just ordered the construction of Pyongyang two years ago as a new seat of government. This was a signal that the country would start to vigorously develop the south, and the Jin clans and local chieftains who had been pretending to obey them before would be dealt with one by one, and gradually they would actually control the two counties of Lelang and Daifang.

I have just expressed my stance in front of all the ministers, and now I have to give up these two counties. It will be embarrassing.

Maybe if we delay it a little longer until the Liang army withdraws, we can send envoys to offer treasures and beauties, lower our attitude a little, and appease the Liang emperor, and the matter will be over.

He read history books and knew that at the beginning of a dynasty, officials and people would be more warlike and more patient. But once peace lasted for decades or even hundreds of years, nothing would go smoothly. The cost of sending troops might be several times that of the early days of the founding of the country. The patience of officials and people would drop greatly, and wars might not be fought.

By then, Lelang and Daifang counties would be the legitimate territories of Goguryeo, and no one would mention the occupation decades ago.

Even the city wall in the west that had been breached by Liang soldiers could be slowly recaptured and even expanded further.

When the people of Liang were angry, they just used humble words and generous gifts, and offered some beauties and money. This was a trick that had been tried and tested by all the dynasties of Goguryeo.

If you drag this strategy, it is very likely to succeed.

But this was only the opinion of some ministers. There were also some staunch advocates of war who disagreed, such as Afu and.

Goguryeo had a population of 400,000 to 500,000 and 50,000 combat-capable soldiers, and its strength was far superior to what it had been in the past.

Ninety years ago, the King of Dongchuan could only mobilize 20,000 troops to fight against Guanqiu Jian. At that time, the number of soldiers available for combat in the entire country was no more than 30,000.

Now that it has almost doubled and the national treasury has been greatly enriched, why is it still so humble?
Although you gain something from being servile to the Central Plains dynasty, you will lose face indisputably. Don't you think you don't feel aggrieved?
Reforms began during the reign of King Micheon, and national strength increased greatly. Over thirty years have passed since then, and the self-confidence of the nobles of the Goguryeo tribes and the generals of the court has greatly increased. The desire for expansion is like a prairie fire that cannot be extinguished.

For this reason, they did not hesitate to participate in the Liaodong War. Although they were defeated by Murong Xianbei several times, the fire was cooled down a little, but it was not completely useless. The fire was not extinguished and was even still burning.

So their opinions cannot be ignored.

In addition to these two factions, there is the "surrender faction".

It is not accurate to say that they surrendered, because they would not really surrender to the Liang people. They were still loyal to Goguryeo. It was just a difference in strategy.

For example, Dajia Yitong felt that now was not a good time to invade Pingzhou, so it would be better to return it first and find a way later.

He even discussed it from both positive and negative sides.

On the positive side, it is impossible for the Liang people to invest too much energy in Daifang and Lelang counties. Even if they were returned for a while, they would not be able to manage them well. These two counties are like meat on Goguryeo's lips, and they can be eaten when the time is right.

Now he should lower his posture, serve the great power, speed up the digestion of East Woju and North Woju, and then look for opportunities to completely defeat the old enemy Sushen. When he can mobilize an army of 100,000, he can wait for the right time to act - if the Central Plains is in chaos at that time, he will support turning against China and North Korea.

On the reverse side are the original words of Delai back then. Many people advised the King of Dongchuan not to invade Liaodong, but the king did not listen. Delai looked at Maru and sighed: "I see this place, weeds will grow."

This made Gao Zhao somewhat unhappy.

The previous kings were so frustrated just for the development of the country. If I continue to do so, wouldn’t their frustration be in vain?
But what he said makes sense...

After all the trouble, Gao Zhao finally came up with a compromise solution.

The third group of envoys sent Dajia Yitong with treasures, wealth and beauties to enter the Liang camp, begging them to withdraw their troops and hand over the uncle and nephew of the Murong family.

He appointed Dajia Afuhe as the general and selected several thousand men to attack the Liang camp at night.

Five thousand men were transferred to Heshenggu City to garrison it.

Finally, he sent an envoy through a secret path and went straight to Marudu, ordering the 3,000 defenders to hold their ground and not surrender.

In short, these orders reflected Gao Zhao's desire to win but fear of losing, which was very conflicting.

However, the first step of wanting to win but fearing losing was not smooth. Afu and Dajia's night attack failed, and only a few hundred of the 3,000 people returned. At this time, Yitong had not set out yet...

******
From the 27th until the beginning of August, soldiers arrived at both sides of Yannan River almost every day.

Shao Yu captured some Goguryeo people and ordered them to build a city on the north bank with rammed earth. At the same time, he built several floating bridges to connect the north and the south.

As for him, he arrived at the city of Maru.

For him, the number of troops has greatly increased, and the logistical pressure is also increasing day by day. After all, robbery is a one-time thing, and it is gone after it is robbed. Perhaps there are still a large number of Goguryeo people hiding in the mountains, and food and livestock can be seized from them. There is also food in the mountain city, but this requires a lot of energy. In the case of unfamiliarity, it is not worth the loss.

Goguryeo said that the Liang army "could not last long after transporting food for thousands of miles", which was not an exaggeration, so we need to think of a way...

More than twenty ships sailed to Anpingkou in the southern border of Xi'anping County, Liaodong Prefecture.

On one of the large ships, Shamen Town General Zhongli Ke was negotiating with the town mayor Shi Huhe in Wu dialect.

"How many times did your ancestors go north in the past?" Zhongli Ke asked.

Hu He immediately replied, "Three times in total. On one return trip, I brought an envoy from Goguryeo with me. In the sixth year of Jiahe (237, the reign of the Eastern Wu Dynasty), Goguryeo detained my ancestor, murdered him, and sent his head to Wei. Since then, I have never sailed north again."

Zhong Li Ke sighed: "Sun Zhongmou does have some vision, but he has no vision."

Hu He was silent.

In order to deal with Cao Wei, Sun Quan did indeed do a lot of things that impressed people, but also left them speechless in the end.

The first step was to win over Gongsun Yuan of Xiangping. In the second year of Jiahe (233), Zhang Mi and Xu Yan were sent as envoys, carrying treasures and goods. Thousands of people sailed north on the sea and landed in Liaodong, where they conferred the title of King of Yan on Gongsun Yuan.

Gongsun Yuan felt that Cao Wei was close and Wu was far away. If something happened, Wu might not be able to save him, so he killed Wu's envoy and sent his head to Luoyang. Sun Quan was furious about this and wanted to send troops to Liaodong by sea, but his ministers dissuaded him.

But he was unwilling to give in, so he tried to win over Goguryeo.

However, the five counties of Pingzhou were lined up along the coast, and Goguryeo had not yet captured Dongwoju. If Soochow wanted to contact them, it would be unlikely to land on the seashore and it would be easy to be intercepted by the Wei army. In fact, there was another trick, which was to bypass the Korean Peninsula, go through the Sea of ​​Japan, sail to the vassal area in the east of Goguryeo, and then go ashore to Marundo. However, this route was more dangerous than the Yellow Sea, with greater winds and waves, so it was obviously unlikely.

In fact, the envoys of Eastern Wu entered Goguryeo three times, taking the Yalu River, that is, going up the Yalu River and landing in the city.

But although Goguryeo was full of rebelliousness, it still felt that Eastern Wu was too far away, with even Pingzhou in between, so it did not agree.

Moreover, on the last occasion, he killed the envoy of Eastern Wu - "In the second month of spring in the tenth year of (King Dongchuan), King Sun Quan of Wu sent an envoy named Hu Wei to negotiate peace. The king kept the envoy, and in the seventh month of autumn, he beheaded him and sent his head to Wei."

In February, the Yellow Sea was at its worst with strong northerly winds. Yet, the envoys from Eastern Wu sailed northwards. They were truly fearless of death and ultimately did not die in a shipwreck. Instead, Goguryeo pledged its loyalty to Cao Wei.

But six or seven years later, the King of Dongchuan directly attacked Liaodong, which lured Guanqiu Jian to attack. He was really inexperienced and playful, with a purely abstract temperament.

The killed Eastern Wu envoy Hu Wei was Hu He's ancestor.

Hu Wei did not hold a high position in the Eastern Wu, but he was good at sailing and had also been educated, so they made him an envoy.

Hu He still did his ancestors' business and became the chief of Shamen Town, and was one of Zhongli Ke's confidants.

This time, the two of them sailed northward and entered Goguryeo via the Yalu River. Their purpose was to deliver supplies to the emperor's eldest son. This was an order personally issued by the Prince of Julu. No one else would have this honor. It was not worth it for them to risk the destruction of the boat and the death of people to arrive here.

More than 20 ships carried a total of 100,000 hu of grain, 10,000 bundles of arrows, and other miscellaneous items and tools, and also brought a group of wounded and sick people on the return journey.

Sometimes, Zhongli Kedu sighed for the other generals. The help King Yan received on the battlefield was really incomparable to what you could get.

After passing Anpingkou, the fleet headed north along the south wind without any obstacles.

The wind has weakened a lot compared to the summer, causing the ship's speed to slow down, but if you look at the endless hills on both sides, you will know how fortunate it is to have water access.

Transporting grain along this kind of mountain road is really exhausting. I wonder how many laborers will die in a foreign land.

On the 28th, the southwest wind disappeared and a northeast wind suddenly blew up. The fleet dropped anchor and stayed on the river for a day.

On the 29th, the northeast wind weakened but did not stop. Zhongli Ke did not want to wait any longer, so he ordered his men to row upstream and continue moving forward.

On the first day of August, the southeast wind blew. The fleet adjusted the sails and sailed against the wind and waves, traveling more than 200 miles in one day and one night.

On the third day of August, the southwest wind returned to a weak state, and the fleet saw a towering city built on a high mountain in the distance.

That is Maru City!
On the plain at the foot of the mountain, there are vague ruins of a city, which should be the Guoneicheng, the former capital of Goguryeo.

After being destroyed by Guanqiu Jian, the Goguryeo people felt that the plains at the foot of the mountain were unsafe, so they made the mountain city of Maru as their capital. At the beginning, Maru was called "Weinayancheng", which was only a few miles away from the capital Guoneicheng and was the military citadel of Guoneicheng.

"Dock!" After seeing the right bank of the Yalu River filled with the flags of the Liang army, Zhongli Ke felt relieved and prepared to unload.

"General Zhongli!" As if seeing the arrival of the fleet, a group of knights came from a distance, and the leader shouted loudly.

Zhong Li Ke looked carefully and saw that it was the King of Yan, so he stood on the deck and responded loudly: "Your Highness, I am here to see you."

The knights soon arrived at the shore and looked at the ships one after another with joy on their faces.

"Since we have conquered Jiangdong, we will have no shortage of good navy personnel. Our ships can reach everywhere and we will be able to go anywhere without any setbacks." Shao Yu, the Prince of Yan, got off his horse and laughed, "If we had known that warships could go directly to Marudu, why would we have bothered with that effort? Wouldn't it have been great if we had boarded a ship from Liaodong and sailed all the way here?"

Zhong Li Ke smiled bitterly and said, "The sea is dangerous, I dare not joke with Your Highness. I made it here alive this time, but I may not be sure next time."

Shao Yu just smiled after hearing this.

Of course he knew that sailing was risky and could result in casualties, but to be honest, how could two out of ten cartloads of grain be transported over a thousand miles of land filled with swamps and hills?

Is the loss of grain so great when transporting it by sea? There is a risk, but we can't be so unlucky that eight out of ten ships will sink, right?

Even if the luck is extremely bad and eight out of ten batches sink, it is still more cost-effective than transporting them by land, because fewer people will die in a shipwreck, and far fewer people will be killed, injured or fleeing than during land transport.

The most important point was that no one could cut off the food supply, and the harassment from behind that the cavalry was famous for was ineffective against the fleet.

So, at this moment, he was looking at these huge ships, his heart was beating fast and he was thinking about something.

There are some things that you may not care much about when you hear about them from others, but when you experience them yourself, the impression is really deep.

One hundred thousand bushels of grain! How much will it cost you to transport it to the city of Maru?

My father attaches so much importance to shipping, which others do not understand. Now there is nothing to say.

"With the help of the navy, there is no need to worry about the pills breaking!" he said with emotion.

The ships came to the shore one after another, stopped beside the makeshift wooden pier, and began to unload.

The piers extend ten steps into the water to ensure that the ships will not run aground, but there are only two of them at this time.

Not far away, a group of Goguryeo people were driven down into the river, trembling as they hammered in wooden stakes and laid piers to facilitate loading and unloading.

Zhongli Ke quickly got down to the shore and asked, "Your Highness, how is Maruto?"

Shao Yu smiled and said, "There are 3,000 defenders, but less than half of them are capable of fighting. We attacked for a whole day yesterday and stood on the top of the city twice. The enemy soldiers are just so-so, far inferior to the troops under Liu Cong's command in the past. Once Zheng Sima's elite troops arrive, it will be easy to defeat them."

Zhongli Ke nodded.

He did not doubt the fighting power of the Liang army, the only difficulty was the food and grass. As long as there was no shortage of food and grass, the capital of Goguryeo would be conquered for the fourth time in history.

(End of this chapter)