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“You are quite clever.”
Ye Qingyun said calmly. In his opinion, these wounded barbarian and Goryeo soldiers were also doomed in the upcoming battle.
After all, the trampling by the assaulting soldiers would be enough to kill them. Rather than that, giving them to these merchants was nothing.
After a moment of thought, he said, “I grant this request. However, the soldiers will not provide you with protection. How many wounded soldiers you can bring back is entirely up to you.”
Ye Qingyun’s words filled the merchants with wild joy. They distributed food to the soldiers and then rushed towards the city gate.
While the two sides were in truce, they could make a huge profit. After all, slave-catching was a highly lucrative business, enough for merchants to risk their lives to collect wounded soldiers.
However, the truce only lasted for one hour. In the afternoon, the barbarians launched an even fiercer assault.
The Great Yu Empire soldiers, having eaten a full meal, now returned to their positions.
Throughout the entire afternoon, Haigucheng witnessed barbarian charges, with cannons and firearms roaring on the city walls, barbarian soldiers retreating, then charging again, and retreating again. In this tug-of-war, the barbarian army suffered more and more casualties.
…
Bisa Castle.
Yue Yun, leading his warships, had already rendezvoused with Liu Chen and the others. At this moment, he frowned as he looked at Bisa Castle on the mountains.
This city, like Haigucheng, was also a difficult place to defend and attack. If Haigucheng hadn’t been attacked from the sea, it would have been hard to take so easily.
And this Bisa Castle was even more of a headache.
“General, this Bisa Castle is also known as the Daeheuksan Mountain Fortress. The entire city is located on the two southern peaks and adjacent ridges of Daeheuksan in the Great Yu Empire’s former territory of Liaocheng Province, extending for over ten li.”
“According to historical records, this city was a mountain fortress built by Goryeo people on Daeheuksan a hundred years ago. It has cliffs on all four sides and faces the sea on three sides, making it extremely difficult to defend and attack,” Liu Chen explained to Yue Yun.
Hearing this, Yue Yun nodded. He picked up his telescope and looked at Daeheuksan, five li away. Bisa Castle was situated on top of this mountain. According to his estimation, the highest point of Daeheuksan was over six hundred meters, from which one could clearly see the surrounding sea.
“Truly a city of formidable terrain.”
At this moment, Yue Yun also had to praise the Goryeo people for choosing such a location.
If they took this city, with the Great Yu Empire’s sturdy ships and powerful cannons, the barbarians would be helpless against Bisa Castle.
He hadn’t understood it before, but now he finally understood the Emperor’s decree. With such a fortress, it was like thrusting a sharp blade into the heart of the barbarians.
However, this also meant that it would be extremely difficult for them to attack this city.
“Prepare the mortars.”
Yue Yun said at this moment. For him, no matter how tough the bone, he had to gnaw it down. The Emperor entrusting him with this heavy responsibility was a sign of his trust.
Upon receiving the order, the accompanying marines immediately brought out the mortars. These cannons were most suitable for mountain warfare.
The fleet anchored in the waters on the east side of Bisa Castle. The marines traveled by small boats to the shore. Between the coast and Bisa Castle lay a vast, barren tidal flat, completely devoid of people.
Leaving Haigucheng this time, he took all the marines with him. After leaving a small number of soldiers to guard the fleet, he and Liu Chen led five thousand men towards Bisa Castle.
When the Great Yu Empire warships gathered at sea, the Goryeo generals in Bisa Castle had already spotted them.
“These few men wanting to conquer Bisa Castle are simply daydreaming.”
Kim Dong, the defender of Bisa Castle, looked contemptuously at the Great Yu Empire soldiers who had already landed. Standing on Daeheuksan at this moment, he could clearly see every move of the Great Yu Empire army.
“General Kim, Haigucheng has fallen. We must not be careless at this time,” Park Jeong-ho advised.
Kim Dong glanced indifferently at Park Jeong-ho. Last time when Beshan was in Bisa Castle, Park Jeong-ho didn’t manage to get any abalone, but instead lost several warships.
For this matter, the King of Goryeo was greatly displeased and demoted Park Jeong-ho to deputy general, while making him the main general of Bisa Castle.
“This Bisa Castle is not Haigucheng. The Great Yu Empire’s army can enter Haigucheng directly from the sea, but Bisa Castle is built on Daeheuksan. They have no way to fly up here,” Kim Dong said confidently.
Not to mention that Bisa Castle was very treacherous, there were already twenty thousand troops stationed within the city. During the war with Japan, the King of Goryeo had repeatedly tried to move the capital here. If not for the King of Goryeo’s infatuation with the prosperity of Ryukyo City, this would have already happened.
Park Jeong-ho frowned. For an ordinary army, Bisa Castle would naturally be easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even with a hundred thousand men, it would be hard to breach it with ladders and swords.
But the Great Yu Empire people used firearms, so everything could not be inferred by conventional wisdom.
He opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. Kim Dong had always been prejudiced against him, and he knew that the commander of Bisa Castle would not listen to him.
Moreover, he currently had no solution. The Great Yu Empire’s army had already attacked, and there was no time for any preparations.
Below Daeheuksan, Yue Yun and Liu Chen walked up the winding mountain path. Soldiers, with firearms slung behind their backs, followed closely.
Witnessing the treacherousness of Bisa Castle firsthand, he increasingly understood why they had to use mortars that two men could carry, instead of field cannons, because a field cannon weighing several hundred jin would be very difficult to transport up.
After walking along the mountain path for half an hour, the city gate of Bisa Castle soon appeared before them.
The city gate of Bisa Castle was five meters high and about twenty meters long, built of stone. On both sides were vertical cliffs.
The moment they saw the city gate of Bisa Castle, Yue Yun and Liu Chen’s expressions changed.
This was the only mountain path leading to Bisa Castle. They could only capture Bisa Castle by breaking through here.
“General, what should we do now?” Liu Chen looked at the Goryeo soldiers on the city gate and frowned.
Yue Yun’s brows furrowed. In this situation, no strategy could be used; the only way was a direct assault.
Thinking of this, Yue Yun said, “We don’t have much time. Once Beshan knows we are in Bisa Castle, he will surely rush here to reinforce. The only option now is a direct assault!”
“Yes, General.” Liu Chen’s expression was solemn. He immediately ordered the soldiers to bring the mortars forward. “Load the lime bombs.”
Under his command, the soldiers loaded the lime bombs into the mortars and fired them towards the city gate of Bisa Castle.
“Boom, boom, boom…”
With a few explosions, white lime powder enveloped the city gate of Bisa Castle. At this point, Liu Chen immediately called two soldiers and had them carry gunpowder barrels to the city gate.
While the Goryeo soldiers had lost their vision, they lit the gunpowder barrels.
“Boom!”
With a deafening roar, the stone-built city gate of Bisa Castle was directly blown away. Rocks fell from the sky, scattering everywhere.
When the lime powder dispersed, Yue Yun and the others saw clearly the scene behind the city gate: the narrow passage behind the city gate was packed with Goryeo soldiers holding swords.