Chapter 58: Gallant and Resolute

  The Sui army's simultaneous shooting of a thousand arrows caught the Goguryeo people off guard, they did not expect the Sui army to have such a luxurious simultaneous shooting of a thousand arrows. The soldiers defending the city suffered countless casualties in a short period of time, and hundreds were injured in a short period of time.

  When Gao Jianwu arrived, he had to remove the door panel and press it against his head to climb up to the city gate. As soon as he climbed up to the city gate, Gao Jianwu felt a chill in his heart. Although the Sui army had been besieging the city every day before, even launching several large-scale attacks, they had never been on this scale today, especially with all sorts of tall siege engines that he had never seen before down below.

  At this time, the Sui army had already charged to the city wall under the cover of arrow rain, and the infantry who arrived first had begun to set up ladders and start climbing.

  "Release the arrows, release them quickly!" Gao Jianwu shouted loudly. If this continues, it won't be long before the Sui army can climb up to the city wall, and that will be troublesome.

  The defenders saw that Wang also climbed up the city wall, and for a while, they felt a great boost in morale. Under the shouting of their commanders, they quickly formed into groups of three or two, with one holding a shield and another shooting arrows. Although many Goguryeo soldiers still fell down after being shot, it was much better than at first.

  "Hao Ming, quickly go to the east, south and north three gates to pass on my order, from each gate again draw out 10,000 men to come to the west city, quickly go. The main force of the Sui army's attack this time is all in the west city. As long as we hold the west city, today we can defend the city."

  Liaodong City, although the first stronghold of Goguryeo, has been besieged by the Sui army twice. This time, it has already been surrounded for nearly a month. Originally, there were over 100,000 people in the city, but when the Sui army arrived, they annihilated 30,000 of them at the Liao River. The siege of the past month has also caused heavy casualties among the city's soldiers, with nearly 30,000 soldiers killed or wounded in just one month. Now, there are only about 40,000 combat-ready troops left in the city.

  With only 40,000 people to defend the four cities, when they encountered the scale of the Sui army's attack in the past, Goguryeo relied on the solidity of the mountain city and defended it every time. Sometimes, when the attack was not very strong, they could even divide the soldiers into two teams and take turns resting.

  But with the scale of Su's army today, Gao Jianwu suddenly felt the tightness of the city's defense forces. This is just the first wave of arrow attacks, but it has already given him a sense of heavy pressure. Although he still doesn't know how to use those tall siege engines behind the Sui army, he has already felt a deep crisis. Is Liaodong City going to fall today?

  The Goguryeo people also began to counterattack the Sui army with bows and arrows, but their archers were completely outnumbered by the Sui army. Although the sparse arrow rain made the advancing infantry fall one after another, for the attacking soldiers, it was as if they had not seen anything, each holding a shield and rushing towards the city wall with Goguryeo's feathers on top.

  In the cavalry camp of Broken Army, Chen Kefu and other generals stood solemnly in front of the array, watching the bloody battle before their eyes, and couldn't help but feel a surge of hot blood. For siege warfare, cavalry was always just a spectator, they could only watch from the side until the city wall was breached.

  Wu Yong's lieutenant, Shen Guang, rode his horse with eyes fixed on the battering ram that had been pushed nearly halfway to the city wall. He excitedly said to the crowd, "See that big fellow? That's a battering ram! Last time we attacked the city, I was the soldier standing on it. The first one they pushed to the city wall this time is probably still my old comrade. Ah, I really want to jump off my horse and follow them all the way up the city wall to kill the enemy, just thinking about it makes me itch."

  Chen Kefu and others smiled, everyone knew that Shen Guang was also a famous figure in this attack on the Liao army. When he came, he was just an ordinary valiant guard, but during the siege of the city a few days ago, he stood on the battering ram with many soldiers to kill the enemy. At that time, he was eager to make meritorious deeds, and he crawled up the high wall of Goguryeo along the thick pole of the battering ram with his mouth holding a horizontal knife, killing several people in a row. Finally, he was brutally beaten down from the city by dozens of Goguryeo strong men using wolf-tooth clubs.

  As a result, when the soldiers in the same car thought he was going to die this time, he actually grabbed a rope next to the car amidst the chaos and quickly wrapped himself around it. As he approached the ground, he finally landed on the lowest level of the cart, standing firmly. Then, with both sides stunned, Shen Guang once again turned and jumped onto the city wall, killing several enemy soldiers.

  This time, Shen Guang became the hero of this Sui army, second only to Chen Kefu. At that time, Emperor Yang Guang personally summoned them and rewarded them heavily. Shen Guang was particularly outstanding and was directly promoted from a partner to a fifth-grade Wu Yonglang general, which can be described as a meteoric rise.

  Chen Kefu followed his pointing gaze to the battering ram that had arrived at the foot of the city wall first, and smiled, saying, "General Shen Guang is indeed a man of great bravery, but you don't have to worry, I've never been concerned about not having the opportunity to make achievements in breaking through enemy camps. As long as our infantry brothers create an opening, it will be our turn to take the stage. General Shen Guang, at that time you will understand, compared to single-handedly killing your way up to the city head, a thousand horses galloping together, with iron hooves trampling everywhere, is even more thrilling."

  The broken army camp leaders all smiled and nodded in agreement. Chen Kefu looked at the battering ram, where the soldiers on it had already begun to fight against the high-ranking Goguryeo people on the city wall with long spears, bows and arrows. The main function of the battering ram was still that thick pole over 40 meters long. Relying on this massive pole, Sui army soldiers pushed the battering ram forward, constantly colliding with the female wall of Liaodong City, also known as the city battlements used by the defending soldiers to resist.

  Without the city walls, the soldiers on the cloud ladder of the Sui army's probability of attacking the city head also greatly increased, and the defensive power of the defending army was also greatly reduced.

  The first chariot near the city wall was surprisingly pushed by Shen Guang and his brothers from last time. Last time, one of them, Shen Guang, rose from a small soldier to a fifth-grade Wu Yong Lang Jiang in an instant. Although they fought bravely that time, they were summoned by the emperor in the end, but only received some gold, silver, and wealth as rewards, which was somewhat disappointing for these soldiers.

  This time in the siege, this team of soldiers came with an even stronger desire to make a name for themselves. As soon as the siege began, they charged ahead of all the other assault troops.

  These soldiers are all as brave and fierce as Shen Guang, known as the "Xiao Guo". The Xiao Guo were formed in the third year of the Kaihuang era when the previous emperor combined the Xiao Wei and Guo Yi armies to create the Xiao Guo Guard. They selected strong and brave soldiers from the army and branded them with a blood eagle on their left arm. In the ninth year of the Daye era, which is this year, the Emperor expanded the military to conquer Goguryeo in the east. Apart from recruiting troops from the provinces, they also recruited new soldiers. These new recruits were mostly from Guanzhong and were strong, brave, and skilled in battle, known as the Xiao Guo.

  By the side of the chariot, a burly and robust warrior said to his comrades, "Brothers, let's take advantage of the opportunity and follow this large pole to charge into the city. Last time we missed such a good chance, we can't afford to miss it again. Uncle Bao, usually brothers admire you and Shen Guang the most, this time you must seize the opportunity, Shen Guang has become a fifth-grade official, you are not worse than him, this time also kill more of the Liao people, and then be promoted to a positive fifth-grade official."

  Another Hanzi hastily said, "That's right, this time the emperor's reward to everyone is really generous. Let's not mention Shen Guang, but that broken army commander Chen Pojun, he's also a big head soldier from our humble beginnings. But look at him now, he's already a high-ranking official of the second rank, and this time he was even granted the title of viscount. I heard that even the Tang Guogong rushed to marry his third daughter to Chen Pojun. Look over there, now he holds an official position of the second rank, with 10,000 elite troops in his hands. A real man should be like Chen Pojun."

  The warriors on the chariot all cheered loudly, for these bravest warriors in the army, making achievements and establishing merits was a dream in everyone's heart. Especially after Shen Guang achieved this dream, they wanted to establish their own merits even more.

  The man known as Uncle Treasure was not very old, his face looked still tender, only eighteen or nineteen years old, but his body was very tall and sturdy, with a yellow face. At this time, he wore a bright armor, holding a wooden pole spear of over one zhang, with a horizontal knife at his waist, and a shield in his left hand.

  Don't look at his young age, but Uncle Bao is already a veteran in the army. Originally, he was not old enough to join the army, and he was from Licheng, Shandong Province. His ancestors were officials of the Northern Dynasty for three generations, but by his generation, his father had died early, and the family's fortunes had declined.

  He, who had learned a good martial art since childhood, was naturally unwilling to go on like this. Coincidentally, Wang Bo rebelled in Shandong a few years ago. At that time, the Eagle Commandery in various places of Shandong urgently recruited a batch of soldiers. Uncle Bao also took advantage of this opportunity to join the army, with the intention of making achievements and revitalizing his family. Unfortunately, after he joined the army, they never had a chance to fight against Wang Bo. Finally, he was transferred to the army of General Qieli Hong'er of the Sui Dynasty.

  In the army of Lai Hu Er, although Shu Bao had also participated in several battles, they were all small battles. Although he was very brave in battle, according to normal promotion standards, he still fell far short and could only continue as a common soldier. However, General Lai Hu Er placed great importance on this little soldier. When Shu Bao's mother passed away, General Lai Hu Er even personally sent someone to offer condolences at his home.

  This time, His Majesty the Emperor has mobilized the imperial guards to conquer Goguryeo again. Kuai Er let his uncle, Bao, come to Liaodong, where he thinks there will be more opportunities to make a name for himself. Last time was a great chance, and if he had seized it and followed Shen Guang onto the city wall, he might already be a general by now - even just a sixth-rank infantry or cavalry commander would have been satisfying.

  Unfortunately, there was no if. Uncle Bao grasped the long gun and held up his shield, looking at his comrades beside him whose eyes were also shining with excitement, then gazing at the Liaodong city wall that was within arm's reach, he couldn't help but tighten his grip on the long gun a few more times.