Li Guangyan commanded the Silla Army to attack the city for ten days and suffered nearly 5,000 casualties.
This was still under the condition that the intensity of the attack could be controlled.
If the strength of the attack was increased each time and the interval between each attack was shortened, although it would This will make the battle more intense, but it will also make the casualties more severe.
Maybe there will be more than 5,000 casualties in these ten days.
On the first day of November, Zhao Ziliang sent the commanders of each army to the big tent to discuss matters and asked Li Guangyan: "How was the siege?"
Li Guangyan stood up and clasped his fists and said: "Your Majesty, the resistance of the Eastern Romans is very tenacious.
So far, our army has suffered more than 5,000 casualties.
Although the casualties are heavy, I have also figured out the strength of the Eastern Roman army.
There is really no guarantee that Constantinople will be captured in a short time.”
"If you can defeat Constantinople with only 50,000 people, is it necessary to bring an army of 200,000 people?"
Zhao Ziliang said with a smile.
He thought for a while and said to Li Guangyan: "Constantinople City Wall Tall and difficult to climb, the castle is strong and the attacks are sharp.
They also have 50,000 regular troops who have undergone military training, and can also mobilize hundreds of thousands of strong men.
If they want to fill it with human lives, even if hundreds of thousands of people are put in, it will not be enough.
They have to find a way to find it.
Their defense weaknesses and loopholes are then formulated in a targeted manner Siege plan.
If we have so many slaves, we don’t need them in vain.
Let them make more stone bombs and kerosene bombs.
Before attacking the city every day, they must smash a bunch of stone bombs and kerosene bombs.
No matter how strong their walls are, It's impossible to never fall, If you are hit too much by stone bullets or burned too much, it will still be damaged and collapse.
Don’t stop even if you attack the city.
Don’t be anxious.
You have to think of more ways.
You can’t just act recklessly.
If there are other ways to attack the city, , you can do whatever you want.”
"I obey."
Li Guangyan agreed with his fists clasped and stepped aside.
Zhao Ziliang continued: "Our army of more than 200,000 gathered here will not only consume a lot of food and grass, but also the soldiers will become panicked and cause chaos if they have nothing to do.
What suggestions do you have from this?"
The officials and generals all looked at each other.
Some people were unwilling to use their brains.
Most generals were like this.
It was too difficult and troublesome for them to use their brains.
They all just did whatever the superiors told them.
Thoughts, but civil servants have to rely on their brains to make a living, so after Zhao Ziliang asked this question, the officials started to use their brains.
Li Zongwen stood up and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I suggest that the main force of the army continue to attack westward.
Constantinople is surrounded and cannot receive additional troops and supplies.
If we continue to attack westward, they will not receive reinforcements.
Even if their grain and grass reserves No matter how well prepared the city is, the city wall cannot withstand the constant bombardment of stone bullets day and night, and it will be defeated sooner or later.
The advantage of continuing to attack westward is that it will not allow the soldiers to be idle and waste food and military resources.
At the same time, it will also shorten the time for us to capture the entire city.
Time of the Eastern Roman Empire" After Li Zongwen finished speaking, Li Muchen stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Mr.
Li Zongwen's suggestion is good, but it will also increase the burden on our army's logistics.
If we can capture Constantinople first, the pressure on logistics will be It will be reduced a lot.”
"In addition, if we continue to advance westward without taking Constantinople, how many soldiers and horses should be sent?
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If we send less, most of the soldiers and horses will still stay here to eat free and idle.
If only Silla is left, Officer, are the remaining troops too few?
There are 50,000 regular troops and hundreds of thousands of strong men in the city.
If these people are all armed and driven out of the city by Leo V, there will be too few soldiers and horses left to resist.
Then I am afraid that it will not be us attacking the city, but They are fighting out of the city, and we are about to flee."
It seems that what the public says is right, and what the mother-in-law says is right.
The ministers looked at each other, not knowing which statement to support.
Zhao Ziliang was silent for a while and asked: "How many Eastern Roman troops surrendered on the Asia Minor Peninsula?
Where are these surrendered troops now?"
General He Zhengguang stood up after hearing this.
He was specifically responsible for the guarding and placement of the surrendered troops.
He clasped his fists at Zhao Ziliang and replied: "Your Majesty, 23,000 Eastern Roman troops in the Asia Minor Peninsula have surrendered.
They are currently being guarded separately.
Ankara, Konya and Kayseri” Zhao Ziliang said: "Very good, Chuan Gu has ordered that all these surrendered troops be escorted to Constantinople, organize them into three armies, each appoint an Eastern Roman surrender general to lead them, issue them weapons, and let them Responsible for the siege, the Ninth Army, the Silla Army, and the 50,000 Tang Army stayed to continue the siege and supervise the surrender of the siege. , other troops continued to attack westward, commanded by Wei Gao, with Geshu Jingye still serving as deputy general, and ordered the Egyptian Army to escort the surrendered troops north as soon as possible to join the main army.
From now on, these surrendered troops will fight the siege and attrition war, and they will die.
Let's kill these surrendered troops.
Each of our soldiers is precious, how can they be wasted in siege warfare?"
All the ministers clasped their fists and shouted: "Your Majesty is wise!"
Three days later, Wei Gao, Gao Chongwen and Geshu Jingye led the First Army, Mobei Army, Tubo Army and 50,000 Tang Army to continue the westward expedition.
Zhao Ziliang left the Ninth Army, Silla Army and 50,000 Tang Army to continue to besiege Jun.
Constantinople.
The battle to attack Constantinople continued for another half month, and it soon fell in mid-November.
The weather was getting colder and colder, with heavy snow falling in the sky, and the temperature was even lower at night.
The well railings are covered with ice, and there is no way to siege the city.
As the law continued, Zhao Ziliang had to order a postponement of the attack on the city.
On weekdays, he just sent people to harass, and from time to time he pulled the army out of the camp and set up a position outside the city.
On the one hand, it maintained a deterrent for the soldiers and civilians in the city, and on the other hand, it also allowed the soldiers to move. sinews.
After winter came, the pressure on the army's logistics became even greater.
Sometimes supplies could not be transported for many days in a row, but there was no shortage of food and grass.
Since the beginning of the war, the army had been collecting food and some usable military supplies wherever it went. , but weapons, armor, arrows and other items are damaged and consumed a lot.
Postponing the war can greatly reduce the pressure on logistics and transportation.
After Wei Gao's army set off from Constantinople, the hundreds of thousands of troops were like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
All the cities, big and small, fell in the wind.
Even if there were cities that insisted on defending, they could not stop the attack of the hundreds of thousands of troops.
The army only used less than half They reached Adrianople in a month, and the areas east of Adrianople and west of Constantinople were all captured by the Western Qin army within a month.
Food and military supplies were collected everywhere, but the war also continued as the Stopped by the arrival of heavy snowstorm.
Throughout December and January, the Eastern Roman Empire was in a period of ice and snow.
Even if there were sunny days, the ice and snow would melt, and it would freeze again at night.
The roads would become slippery the next day, making it even harder for the army to move, let alone fighting.
It was not until February 803 AD that the weather began to warm up, the ice and snow completely melted, and the logistics supply lines were restored.
After a winter's rest, the soldiers were all refreshed and their morale was high.
The first siege of Constantinople in 803 AD started on the fifth day of February, and the people in charge were not the Silla soldiers of Silla officers, but the surrender troops escorted from the Asia Minor Peninsula, 20,000 After reorganization, many people were organized into three armies, each with 8,000 men.
The original surrendered generals None of them were in use.
The generals in charge and the main officers were all promoted from the original middle-level officers.
These people were not nobles, but they all had a heart for fame and wealth.
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Being promoted to generals was naturally a sign of gratitude to Zhao Ziliang.
Although loyalty did not count, Not very high, but it certainly won't fall to the East Roman side.
In order to preserve their power and status, and to leave a good impression in front of Zhao Ziliang and other ministers and officials of the Western Qin Dynasty, these surrendered generals exerted all their strength to lead the surrendered troops to attack Constantinople during the siege.
The surrendered generals were also personally supervising the battle from behind.
Anyone who dared to retreat or not show his strength would be shot to death immediately.
In order to compete for favor in front of Zhao Ziliang, and to let Zhao Ziliang take a good look, the three surrendered generals refused to give in to each other during the siege.
The subordinates fought fiercely to see who could kill more defenders.
On the morning of February 8th, the siege battle continued.
The three surrender troops attacked the Theodosius city wall one after another.
The surrender soldiers suffered heavy casualties, but the three surrender generals did not give the order to withdraw their troops until the last one.
Li Muchen smiled and said to Zhao Ziliang: "Your Majesty's sage, you just used a few tricks to let them attack the city desperately.
They never slacked off for a moment, and even provoked competition among them to compete for merit.
Before, they always let those who surrendered to attack the city.
If they work hard and the war is terrible, they will immediately turn around and run away.
No one is willing to work hard.
Now let them compete with each other, and they can't be lazy and slippery."
Li Zongwen said: "The offensive in the past few days has been relatively fierce.
It is estimated that the Eastern Roman Army has been struggling in the past few days and suffered relatively heavy losses."
Zhao Ziliang smiled and said: "So, please give me some encouragement.
In a few days, the surrendering armies in Greece and Thrace will be almost reorganized, and they can take over from these three surrendering armies and continue to attack the city."
That night, Zhao Ziliang met with the three surrendered generals who were commanding the siege in the commander's tent, and said to them: "The performance of the three generals and your soldiers in the past few days has been noticed by everyone.
In general, All are good, but there are still slight differences.
The first army's offensive is not strong enough, the soldiers are not fierce enough when killing the enemy, and they are not decisive enough when climbing the ladder.
The third army is somewhat hesitant.
The situation of the army is better, but there are still some things that make people dissatisfied.
There is a lack of organization during the siege.
Most of the soldiers are brave, but there are also a few who are greedy for life and fear of death.
This phenomenon cannot be indulged.
The best situation is that of the Second Army.
"The soldiers of the Second Army fought bravely and suffered the most casualties.
They almost broke through the city wall defense line several times.
Now I want to commend and reward you.
Come and bring the things up."
Some soldiers came in carrying several large boxes.
After the big boxes were opened, they were all filled with gold and silver coins.
The three generals' eyes were straightened when they saw it.
The general of the Second Army immediately bowed to Zhao Ziliang and said: "The Supreme Being is supreme."
Your Majesty, you are unparalleled in wisdom and wisdom, and your generosity is rare in the world.
On behalf of the thousands of soldiers and generals under my command, I thank your Majesty for your reward."
This made the other two surrendered generals see it, and they couldn't help but feel envious and jealous, but An An was unconvinced in her heart, saying that she must let the soldiers fight bravely next time to try to outshine the other two
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