Chapter 42 Escape

Gao Jianwu rode a black donkey and stood on a hillside several miles away from Beishui (Datong River). Looking into the distance, the hot sunlight of moxibustion was shining on him. Gao Jianwu seemed to be motionless without any sense. Behind him were hundreds of listless Goguryeo soldiers, half of whom were bare-handed, while the rest were holding some sharp bamboo sticks, iron hooks and other objects on their hands as weapons. Only a few people also had standard swords and guns.

Pyongyang City has been surrounded for a month. In the past month, the Sui army has not attacked Pyongyang City for much time. It only uses the navy to break into the Beishui River to surround the annihilated naval forces led by Gao Jianwu.

The Bei River originated from the Langlin Mountains of Hamkyung South Road. It is more than 880 miles long and has many tributaries. Gao Jianwu originally thought that the remaining ships would be safe after hiding in the Bei River. However, the Sui army seemed to regard his remaining naval army with only more than 4,000 people as more than Pyongyang. He sent a navy to search through the rivers, and finally blocked Gao Jianwu's fleet in the Nanjiang tributary of the Bei River. In a big battle between the two sides, the remaining ships in Goguryeo were pushed and destroyed by the Sui army. Seeing that the situation was not good, Gao Jianwu finally escaped to the shore after his subordinates rescued him. Now the more than 10,000 naval troops he led were only more than 500 people behind him.

It was only a day before the battle. Standing on the hillside, Gao Jianwu could clearly see the driftwood floating on the Beishui River, and occasionally a corpse could be seen flowing downstream. Gao Jianwu couldn't help but feel ache. The more than 10,000 naval troops were all his efforts, and now they were all left to the point.

A subordinate walked up to Gao Jianwu and saw that Gao Jianwu was stunned when he looked at Jiang Shui. He opened his mouth a few times and swallowed it. Finally, he couldn't help saying: "Prince, let's go. As long as we join Lord Mo Lizhi's army, we can avenge this."

Mo Lizhi was equivalent to the position of prime minister. At this time, Mo Lizhi of Goguryeo was Yuan Taizuo. Yuan Taidao's eldest son was Yuan Gaisuwen, who later killed the lord and regent of Goguryeo. The Yuan family was a famous family official of Goguryeo. The previous Mo Lizhi was Yuan Taidao's father Yuan Zili. Half of Goguryeo's military and political power was almost controlled by the Yuan family. At this time, Yuan Taidao controlled more than 100,000 troops on the front line and Baekje and Silla. This army was still the strongest army in Goguryeo.

Yuan Taifa's army was only more than 700 miles away from Pyongyang. Pyongyang was besieged for a month. Yuan Taifa had already received the news. It was difficult to move forward. In a month, Yuan Taifa's army had already returned. However, whether it was because he was too confident in Pyongyang or Yuan Taifa's army had other plans, he did not return immediately after receiving a request for help from Pyongyang. He was still on the front line and the troops of Baekje and Silla.

There was Beishui blocking the road ahead, and they lost their ships. It was impossible to return to Pyongyang City. Now they had to surrender to the army that was too deceitful. Gao Jianwu nodded, no longer felt sad, turned the donkey's head, walked down the hillside, and waved his hands to more than 500 subordinates who were still following him: "Let's go find Lord Mo Lizhi."

"Yes." Hundreds of Goguryeo soldiers answered lazily. After they got ashore yesterday, they threw away all their things in the mountains in order to avoid being chased by the Sui army. They walked downstream for dozens of miles of mountain roads. In the evening, they found a village camping in this small village. When they heard that Wangdi led the team to come, everyone took out almost all the food from their homes to entertain them in fear. Unfortunately, it was just June that it was about half a month before the food was harvested. It was the time when the whole village was not enough to eat the food. The food in the whole village made the deserter eat half full. They set out early today and marched for more than ten miles. They were already hungry, so naturally they didn't have much energy to answer.

Goguryeo has a land west of the Liao River and does not lack horses. It is just that the mountainous terrain of the peninsula is not suitable for cavalry combat. Horses are mostly used in Liaodong. Gao Jianwu commanded the navy. A small number of horses in the army were either drowned in the Nanjiang River or fell into the hands of the Sui army in the battle yesterday. Gao Jianwu's donkey was also a livestock that was requisitioned from the farmers in that small village last night. The others naturally had to walk with their feet, and the team was moving very slowly.

They were naval troops, usually taking boats and sailing on the sea. There were almost no such long-distance marches. After several miles, some people began to fall behind one after another. Several deputy generals were secretly anxious. Although they were dozens of miles away from the Nanjiang River that they were defeated yesterday, they were not safe before they joined the Yuantai Tao army. Yesterday, the Sui army only cared for the captives, and perhaps they were not allowed to go ashore to pursue. If they got Gao Jianwu's identity from the prisoners, the pursuers would definitely follow them. Such soldiers who fell behind all the way were equivalent to pointing the direction for the pursuers, and they were afraid that they would not take much time to catch them.

A deputy general suggested: "Prince, this will not work. I am afraid that the Sui dogs will chase you. For the sake of the prince's safety, it is better to divide the team into two directions. The prince takes the elite troops first. The remaining soldiers who cannot walk may as well take a break before heading behind."

The other deputy generals lit up their eyes when they heard this. This would not only protect Gao Jianwu's whereabouts, but no one would fall behind. It could be said that they would kill two birds with one stone. However, if the Sui army chased after him, the team behind would be in danger and could hardly escape.

Gao Jianwu glanced at his exhausted subordinates, and naturally knew that if this continued, the Sui army would pursue him, it would be difficult for him to have the opportunity to join Yuan Taifa's deceitful army. However, more than 500 people are his only remaining subordinates. If he wanted to abandon half of them, the other half would be disappointed. The proposal of the deputy general hit his mind and was quickly afraid of the deputy general's shoulders, and his face was full of sincerity: "Since that's the case, I will ask General Li. These people are all loyal and kind people of my Goguryeo. General Li must bring them back safely."

The general surnamed Li was reluctant to slap him in the mouth. He wanted to please Gao Jianwu when he was in trouble and would have a chance to make a fortune in the future, but he didn't expect that this errand would fall into his hands. No wonder the other few people showed joy on their faces when they heard their proposals. They thought they were smart, but they turned out to be the stupidest person.

But at this moment, he could not hesitate, so he had to smile bitterly and said, "I thank my prince for trust."

After being divided into two teams, Gao Jianwu only set out with more than 200 strong men, and the rest of the people handed over to the deputy general surnamed Li. The speed of the team really accelerated a lot. Half an hour later, the two teams were gone. They rushed desperately every day, and they stopped to eat and play the top when they met the village. A few days later, Gao Jianwu and his group had already walked 200 miles away and left the other team far away. I don’t know if the other team was pursued by the Sui army.

The forced marching for several days made the team of people look like beggars. Although Gao Jianwu had a donkey, he still had to walk on the donkey most of the time, and he felt that such a life was extremely miserable.

"Prince, take a break. We have already walked two hundred miles. As long as we judge, the Sui Dogs will definitely not chase after you."

Gao Jianwu looked at a mountain range that was towering into the clouds, nearly a thousand miles long in Hengdan. This mountain range is the Hufeiling Mountains. After crossing this mountain range, it is the largest plain on the peninsula: the Han River Plain. Since Goguryeo lost the Han River Plain more than 50 years ago, he wanted to capture it again. A year ago, Goguryeo's army of Moli Zhiyuan was too scattered to suffer heavy casualties and wounded to conquer the pass set up by the Silla people in the Hufeiling Mountains and re-enter the Han River Plain.

Now that the army evacuated, the pass that had been seized by tens of thousands of lives a year ago would have to be handed over to the death. Gao Jianwu could understand Yuan's feelings. No wonder Yuan's too deceitful has been reluctant to withdraw his troops. I believe that these Tianyuan too deceitful have been supervising the construction of the passes of the Hufeiling Mountains, and at least they should leave a passage for Goguryeo to re-enter the Han River Plain.

As long as they arrive at Hufeiling, they will definitely be safe. They just run to death on the mountain. With their current physical strength, they will take at least two days before they can reach Hufeiling.

Gao Jianwu really felt that he was unable to maintain his physical strength. When he nodded and rested, a whirl of horses came, and everyone was shocked. Some people immediately panicked: "The Sui army is chasing me, run, run."

The defeat with the Sui army on the waters was a great defeat, and before they could see the Sui army, they turned the situation to the worst direction. Gao Jianwu was also panicked, stepped on the back of the donkey and was about to rush forward. A deputy general quickly pulled the reins. Gao Jianwu was furious and was about to use a whip to pull the deputy general's hand away, the deputy general hurriedly said, "Prince, it seems that the horse's screams are coming from the front."

Gao Jianwu listened carefully and the horse's screams were indeed coming from the front, and the sound of horse's hooves was clearly heard. His face suddenly became pale and he asked in a trembling voice: "Did the Sui army run to the front?"

"Prince, it may not be ours." The deputy general said calmly.

The soldier who was about to leave just now also heard the sound coming from the front. He stopped immediately and looked forward in surprise. He didn't know what to do, so Gao Jianwu had to issue an order: "Hide it, hide it all."

Everyone suddenly realized and went into the woods next to them. After a while, everyone had already hidden themselves. They stretched their heads and looked forward. After a short while, a team of soldiers appeared from the front. The soldiers were wearing thin coats and straw sandals on their feet. The swords in their hands were exquisite, and they emitted a wave of cold light in the sun. The team was moving in moderation, which made people feel a murderous aura rushing from afar. The military flag given by the King of Goguryeo was floating high above their heads. Only the elite Goguryeo soldiers who had been fighting with Baekje and Silla for a long time could have such momentum.
Chapter completed!