Five days and five nights of fighting in one breath, the shouts of the soldiers, the sound of the trebuchet, and the rumbling of the impact never stopped; In the dark night, under the firelight, the corpses were lying everywhere on the city wall, and the blood flowed outside the city. Yizhi Wende and the others looked at the towering banner of the Great Sui on the head of the city, and could only smile helplessly under the starlight in the sky, and ordered the withdrawal of troops back to the camp. It was the first time that Goguryeo comprehended the defensive ability of the Great Sui, and only then did he realize that his Liaodong City would be vulnerable in the eyes of the Great Sui if it were not for the factor of mountains.

The siege equipment brought was actually completely destroyed on the third day, but fortunately, as soon as they arrived in Huaiyuan Town, they arranged for soldiers to go thirty miles away to collect large timber, collect boulders, and keep building equipment, so they lasted for two more days. There was no longer enough equipment to storm the city, and we had to wait another day and night; This gave the Sui army defending the city a chance to breathe, and when it attacked the city again, it was actually equivalent to starting over.

The morale of the Goguryeo troops was not bad, and the siege equipment was withdrawn from the camp as much as possible, and Ulji Wende looked at the tired soldiers who returned to the camp and said, "Add some food to the below, so that the soldiers can have a good rest." Su Wen and Gao Yanshou, this is an opportunity for us to learn, record every change in the defense of the Sui army, and return it to them bit by bit in the future when the Great Sui attacks Liaodong. ”

The Goguryeo generals never doubted the Great Sui's peeping heart on Goguryeo, and no matter how politically it was promoted, they all understood that for the sake of the 300,000 corpses and the face of the Central Plains, that war would break out sooner or later. In the siege of the city for five days and sixty hours, 11,000 Goguryeo soldiers were killed, and the Sui army taught Gai Suwen and others a realistic lesson; Fortunately, the arrows on the ground below the city were recovered, and the officials counted as many as 40,000.

A dark cloud obscured the moon, and the stars seemed to dim a little, and Gai Suvin said regretfully: "It is a pity that our merchants cannot advance to the city, and cannot see the actual situation; can only be calculated from a distance according to the transportation vehicles, that's it, from Yang Guang's faint monarch to the present, I am afraid that there will be no less than 100,000 arrows in the city. And the key to the defense of the Sui army is to shoot and burn effectively, and we charge in the usual way, and the mortality rate is too high. ”

Gao Yanshou and the others were taken aback, according to this ratio, wouldn't it be necessary to lose 50,000 people to attack Huaiyuan City, if the Sui army insisted on street fighting, the number of dead would probably not be less than 60,000; If this is the case, what kind of Yingzhou will be fighting, and tens of thousands of Goguryeo soldiers will be sacrificed for the sake of empty cities, and no one will be able to explain when they go back. But now, can Goguryeo withdraw its troops? If you say anything, you have to take down Huaiyuan Town first.

Fortunately, Xu Shiji did not let Yizhi Wende wait too long, and on the morning of the eleventh day, Su Dingfang suddenly led 10,000 cavalry to sneak up from the east and attack Houzhai in the fog; The defenders were caught off guard and lost the camp, and the number of dead was not large, with less than 5,000 casualties, but the grain and grass of the Goguryeo army were burned by a fire, so that after Gai Suwen and Gao Yanshou recaptured the camp, they did not care about pursuing the Sui army and were busy fighting the fire. Rao is like this, and the Goguryeo army has less than ten days of grain and grass left.

Yizhi Wende understood that the task of Su Dingfang's team was to attack the grain road, and now it was to send a large army to chase and suppress, just on the road of the Great Sui, wasting time in a circle, and Xu Shiji's main force should be at most two days away from Huaiyuan Town, once it was bitten by the main force of the Sui army, plus Qin Qiong and others in the city, it would be difficult for the Goguryeo army to get out. Yizhi Wende immediately ordered a retreat, and ordered Gai Suwen to lead 20,000 cavalry to go first, search for Su Dingfang's cavalry, and at the same time notify Liaodong to send grain and grass supplements.

Gao Yanshou was a little unwilling, he lost 20,000 people in battle, and it was too embarrassing to go back without hurry; But when he was halfway there, seeing the failure of Ezhi Wende's various ambushes and the news from Huilong City, Gao Yanshou had to admire Ezhi Wende's vision. The Lightning River was defeated, Xue Yantuo did not hold Wang Ting, and 20,000 Sui cavalry suddenly appeared in Huilong City, and the 10,000 Goguryeo troops stationed there were almost completely wiped out, the main general Zhu Bao was killed, a large number of fields were destroyed, and food and materials were looted.

Yizhi Wende said appreciatively: "Wang Ting and Su Dingfang are more powerful characters than Qin Qiong, they are not greedy, they are familiar with various tactics, and they will definitely be our fierce opponents in the future." Fortunately, the grain fields in Huilongcheng are only one-tenth of Liaodong, and we can afford this kind of loss, and now we have to worry about Houcheng. ”

Gao Yanshou said in disbelief: "In Huaiyuan Town, Xu Shiji doesn't dare to fight a decisive battle, and he will come to Houcheng to fight?" ”

At this point, the Goguryeo generals still despised the Great Sui, and Gai Suwen snorted dissatisfiedly and said: "If we give up Wuxian City and Changli City, there will naturally be no Houcheng fighting, but can we give up?" ”

Gao Yanshou understood that Goguryeo could not abandon any city and report to Pyongyang after losing tens of thousands of troops, even Eulji Wendeok could not make a difference. The division of troops and defense is the opportunity of the Great Sui, the Sui army is good at attacking the city, and each breakthrough is even better; No matter how Goguryeo responded, the Sui army would come to Houcheng to show their presence in the northeast.

Gao Yanshou bowed down on the horse and said, "The last general is willing to go to Houcheng." ”

Yizhi Wende nodded and said: "Gao Yanshou led an army of 50,000 to Houcheng, hurry up and prepare the equipment for defending the city, and reserve grain and grass; Su Wen still went back to Dragon City, and didn't let Wang Ting succeed again; All the wounded soldiers were sent to Liaodong City, and I led 50,000 people to be stationed in Wuxian City, echoing Gao Yanshou, and supporting each other in case of trouble. ”

Gai Suwen looked frightened, and Yizhi Wende's arrangement was to use himself as a bait to lure Xu Shiji to attack, and then hoped that the reinforcements from Houcheng and Liaodong City would come and break the Sui army inside and out. But the war is impermanent, and Eulji Wende is a spiritual pillar in Goguryeo, Gai Suwen whispered: "Otherwise, I'm in Wushu City, and the general will go to Liaodong?" ”

Ezhi Wende refused, saying: "If Wang Ting takes another city, the Beji people will hear the wind and go down the mountain, and by that time, there will not be enough 20,000 people in the area around Huilongcheng." I am long in strategy, if I really gallop the field and fight with Wang Ting, it will not be half of yours at all, and I still have some confidence in defending the city; If something really happens, light a beacon fire, and the reinforcements from Houcheng and Liaodong City will arrive within three days, and there will be no danger. ”

After Goguryeo divided the troops, Xu Shiji's army really went to Wuxian City, to swallow the bait of Eji Wende, Xu Shiji and Qin Qiong and other troops this time, led a total of 110,000 troops to come, and the posture was a decisive battle. The Goguryeo scouts were aware of the movements of the Sui army, and Eulji Wendeok sent messengers asking for help to arrange plans while lighting a beacon on the beacon tower of Wushu City.

(End of chapter)