Tibet

In the imperial study room, Zhang Li shook his head and said: "The other party kept saying that they came with the greatest sincerity, but they did not allow Datang to have any bargaining. This is what they call sincerity."

Li Ye smiled and said: "Perhaps they think that the four points they have come up with are already the ultimate concession."

Zhang Li sneered and said: "Compared with Nanzhao's sincerity, I only saw arrogance. He kept saying that the Tang Dynasty was the suzerainty. The king refused to come to Hajj. He only sent one minister to negotiate. The other party made it clear that there was no room for compromise. , I just want to impose my will on Datang, Your Majesty, the other party is arrogant and has no sincerity, and the gap between the two sides' demands is too big, I think there is no need to negotiate. "

Li Ye nodded, "Please tell the Prime Minister again that if you want to talk, sit down and have a good talk. If you can't talk, there won't be another chance!"

Zhang Li bowed and said, "Wei Chen is going now!"

Zhang Li left in a hurry, and Li Ye stood in front of the window and pondered for a long time, but still carried out the original plan. We must consider Silla in the long term, using the method of cannibalizing rather than swallowing, first occupying the legal principles, and then destroying Silla step by step. .

Zhang Li took a carriage to the guest house of Honglu Temple next to Hanguang Gate in the Imperial City. As soon as he got off the carriage, he saw Yan Quanming, the Minister of War, running towards him.

"Shilang Yan, why are you so anxious?"

Yan Quanming stepped forward and said with a wry smile: "The Silla special envoy is going back. I can't persuade him due to my humble position."

Zhang Li frowned. He just arrived yesterday and is going back today. What kind of trick is this?

Zhang Li came to the guest house and saw several carriages parked at the gate. Several officials from Silla were carrying luggage. Everyone looked very depressed. After all, they only came yesterday and were leaving today.

At this time, Jin Zhenzhi strode out, and his deputy followed him to persuade him, but Jin Zhenzhi had a gloomy face and said nothing.

"Is Minister Jin leaving now?" Zhang Li stepped forward and asked.

Jin Zhenzhi stopped and said coldly: "Does Zhang Xiangguo think there is anything else we need to talk about?"

Zhang Li smiled lightly, "Of course it is necessary. If we talk, at least Silla will still be there. If we don't talk, Silla will probably follow the footsteps of the Khitans."

"Hmph! According to your rules, can Silla still be called a country? If we are deprived of our land and army, what is the difference between that and eunuchs?"

"That was not your land in the first place. Goguryeo and Baekje were destroyed by the Tang Dynasty. They were the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but they were shamelessly invaded by Silla. Now the Tang Dynasty wants to take back its own land. What's wrong with that?"

Jin Zhenzhi said proudly: "Territory is for the strong. We, Silla, have always been the strongest country. The land of Goguryeo and Baekje was obtained by Silla through strength. What qualifications does the Tang Dynasty have to ask for?" With twenty Silla Wan Dajun will never give up an inch of land to the Tang Dynasty!"

Zhang Li nodded, "It seems there is no need for us to talk any more, so I wish Jin Shizhong a safe journey!"

Jin Zhenzhi was sitting in the carriage. He opened the window and sneered: "Zhang Xiangguo, see you on the battlefield!"

Zhang Li smiled disdainfully and did not talk to him.

"Set off!"

Jin Zhenzhi shouted, several carriages started and drove towards Hanguang Gate, and soon left the imperial city and Chang'an.

The only negotiation between the Tang Dynasty and Silla ended in the shortest possible time due to huge differences between them.

Three days after the negotiations ended, Li Ye issued an attack order to the troops on Tamna Island and Liaodong.

In early February, Emperor Li Ye's military orders arrived at Tamna Island and Liaodong.

At this time, Tamna Island had assembled an army of 60,000 people and nearly a thousand warships, with Ma Lin as the marshal of the Eastern Campaign and the naval commander Li Chengshi as the deputy marshal.

Ma Lin directly led 30,000 troops from Tamna Island into the peninsula and attacked Gyeongju, the capital of Silla.

Li Chengshi led 30,000 naval troops to the north on hundreds of warships. After entering the Han River, he attacked Hanzhou, the important town of Silla.

Once Hanzhou is captured, it will depend on the situation in Qingzhou. If Ma Lin's army cannot capture Qingzhou temporarily, Li Chengshi will lead his army to assist.

If Ma Lin had already captured Hanzhou, Li Chengshi would lead the army to attack Xiongzhou.

In addition, Nan Jiyun, the governor of Liaodong, was also preparing to lead an army of 30,000 to attack the Silla North Camp on the Yalu River from the north.

Silla's troops were mainly concentrated in Gyeongju, Hanju, Xiongju and Beidaying, with a total strength of about 80,000.

Hanzhou City in the Tang Dynasty is not the current Seoul. Hanzhou City is located on the south bank of the Han River. It was originally an important town of Baekje and is now the largest grain-producing place in Silla. A large number of people live on both sides of the Han River.

Originally, the Baekje people were the main force. In order to occupy the land on both sides of the Han River, Silla continued to use various methods to brutally squeeze the Baekje people. Last year, it triggered a major uprising of the Baekje people, but it was still brutally suppressed by the army led by Kim Jung-ji. , slaughtered about 300,000 young and strong men of Baekje, and the nobles of Silla divided up the last fertile land of the Baekje people.

There are currently 20,000 troops garrisoned in Hanzhou City. Their main responsibility is to maintain the order of the plains on both sides of the Han River, that is, to safeguard the interests of the great nobles and landowners.

But the garrison in Hanzhou City never dreamed that a mighty Tang army fleet sailed from the Yellow Sea into the Han River and left the city.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

A rapid alarm bell rang on the top of the city, and countless soldiers rushed to the top of the city. Even the commander-in-chief Zheng Qingxuan also went to the city, looking at the fleet on the Han River in the distance in horror.

In fact, after the Tang army launched the Liaodong Campaign last year, Silla soldiers were talking about the Tang army launching an attack on Silla. However, the upper echelons of Silla were not interested in this. They were still fighting for power and considering how to occupy more land.

It was still early spring, and the Tang army had arrived.

Teams of Tang soldiers disembarked and lined up. Soon, 30,000 Tang soldiers had lined up on the shore, and dozens of large siege equipment were unloaded from the ship, mainly three folding bridge-building vehicles.

This type of bridge-building vehicle appeared during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Generally, there are two types. One is a straight-through bridge-building vehicle, which is a two-wheeled flatbed cart with a long bridge body on its back. When it reaches the river, it pushes the bridge body to the other side and puts it on.

There is also a folding bridge-building vehicle, which is based on the same principle as the folding ladder, mainly to solve the problem of the bridge body being too long.

But in the subsequent wars, the faster the army, the more attention was paid to the mobility of the army, and carrying a bridge-building vehicle was too cumbersome to carry, and it was far less convenient than temporarily cutting down a few large trees to build a bridge on the river, so it was gradually eliminated.

But this time when attacking Silla, there were warships following, and heavy bridge-building vehicles also appeared.

At this time, a Tang cavalryman galloped to the city and shot an arrow letter to the top of the city, demanding that the defenders surrender immediately.

The Tang army was fighting a war of annihilation this time. The war of annihilation was very cruel and there was no benevolence and righteousness. In the domestic war, you could surrender and become a prisoner of war, and finally be released to go home to farm.

The war of annihilation first requires the elimination of all the troops, and then the elimination of all the nobles and other ruling classes, leaving only ordinary people.

Of course, the Nanzhao model that Li Ye used against Silla this time was to eliminate the army, retain the nobles, temporarily retain the empty shell of Silla, and then destroy Silla step by step.

The Silla army received the arrow letter from the Tang army, and they naturally would not respond. No army would surrender if the other side asked for surrender without fighting.

Of course, the Tang army also knew that this was the result. The Tang army asked the other side to surrender just because they did not want too many casualties in the street fighting, but in fact, the Tang army did not want the other side to surrender.

Thirty thousand Tang soldiers waited patiently and gathered their strength. At dusk, the Tang army formed a battle formation in front of the north gate.

Li Chengshi looked at the north gate. It was exactly the same as the city of the Tang Dynasty. The gate was a wooden gate and was relatively old. There was a suspension bridge and a moat. The moat was three feet wide, which was very suitable for the heavy bridge-building vehicles they carried.

There are many things to pay attention to when fighting street battles. One key point is to attack the city quickly and take it down unexpectedly, so that the opponent has no time to deploy street battles. Soldiers rush into the city at the fastest speed, and at least 30% to 40% of the soldiers will be blocked on the top of the city.

Li Chengshi waved his hand and ordered: "Bridge-building vehicles move forward, and arrow-blasters are ready!"

Three folding heavy bridge-building vehicles slowly moved forward in parallel. There was an arrow shield behind the bridge-building vehicles to prevent the soldiers pushing the vehicles from being hurt by arrows from the top of the city.

Behind the bridge-building vehicles followed three hundred soldiers holding large yellow crossbows. The large yellow crossbows were already strung, and they only needed to shoot.

Three hundred men lined up in three rows three hundred steps away. The first row lay down, the second row squatted, and the third row held crossbows. Arrows and torpedoes had been installed on the crossbows. The murderous intent was already apparent, and they were just waiting for the order from the commander.