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Text Chapter 48 Early Battle of Goguryeo

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    On September 28, the eleventh year of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, a coup occurred in Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo. In the name of inspecting the army, the Yuan clan invited King Rongliu and other ministers. However, King Rongliu had already received information and knew that the Yuan clan  To be disadvantageous to myself, not only refused to go, but also reduced the number of troops to keep the palace secret.

    Seeing that his plan failed, Genji immediately changed his strategy decisively, gathered an army and marched into Pyongyang City, and began to forcibly besiege the palace.  Fortunately, King Rongliu was well prepared. When he saw that the opponent was powerful, he immediately fought his way out of Pyongyang City with his loyal guards and escaped from Pyongyang City. However, in the chaos of the army, his family members and ministers around him were all killed.  The Yuans were captured, and then all of them were beheaded under the walls of Pyongyang.

    King Rongliu, who escaped, was running non-stop, leading his men to evade the pursuit of Yuan's army while gathering troops loyal to him, ready to counterattack at any time. But unfortunately, the troops loyal to him were inferior in both quantity and quality.  Unable to compare with the Yuan family, several counterattacks ended in failure. In the end, he had no choice but to flee to the city of Anshi, which was loyal to him. At the same time, he issued a royal order to the whole country, calling on the wise people of the country to gather together and work together.  Resist the Yuan clan's tyranny.

    Regarding this situation, the Yuan family would naturally not let King Rongliu live in the world, so Yuan Gaisuwen personally led tens of thousands of troops to attack Anshi City. But what everyone did not expect was that the lord of Anshi City, Yang Wanchun, relied on  The dangerous terrain and an extremely elite defensive force actually blocked Yeon Gaesumun's attack.

    After the failure of the siege, Yeon Gaesumun was very angry and was about to increase the siege troops, but at this time, the Tang army, which had been watching eagerly for a long time, couldn't help it.  Regardless of the bitter cold in Liaodong, in the name of helping Goguryeo quell the civil strife, troops were finally sent out in mid-October. However, the first to take action were not Niu Jinda and Li Ji who had been prepared for a long time.  It was Zhang Jian, the governor of Yingzhou.

    Speaking of Governor Zhang, he is still related to Li Min. Zhang Jian¡¯s mother is Li Yuan¡¯s daughter, which is also Li Min¡¯s aunt. The two are cousins, but Zhang Jian is older, both in their twenties this year.  Among the generals of the Tang Dynasty, he was considered a younger generation.

    "In addition, Zhang Jian's leadership ability is second to none.  The key is that this guy is very sinister. Most of the surrounding areas of Yingzhou are barbarian tribes. During this expedition to Liaodong, Zhang Jian recruited soldiers from the Khitan, Xi, Mohe and other tribes.  Whether during a siege or a field battle, he ordered these foreign soldiers to rush to the front to serve as cannon fodder, and to take the imperial soldiers from Yingzhou and Youzhou as supervisors behind them. As long as the front retreated slightly, the imperial soldiers behind would immediately follow with a burst of bows and arrows.  It can be said to be extremely cruel.

    "However, this method is excellent. The barbarians are originally afraid of power but not moral. The more they use such powerful and cruel methods, the more they can stimulate the combat effectiveness of the foreign soldiers.  Therefore, Zhang Jian's vanguard force, which was originally just to test Goguryeo's reaction, sang loudly all the way.  They fought from Yingzhou to Jian'an City, an important town in Goguryeo, and defeated the tens of thousands of Jian'an City defenders who fought.  More than thousands of people were beheaded. Not only Goguryeo was shocked, but the entire Tang Dynasty was also shocked by this fierce young governor.

    However, it was from this incident that the Tang Dynasty saw the weakness of Goguryeo and strengthened the Tang Dynasty's confidence in victory. Therefore, General Niu Jinda by water and Li Ji by land almost unanimously chose to send troops at the end of October.  One to the south and one to the west, like a pair of pliers, they clamped down on the sick beast of Goguryeo.

    As soon as the war started, it immediately showed a one-sided situation. Li Ji, an old man from Yin, adopted the strategy of attacking in the east and attacking in the west. He set out from Huaiyuan Town with great momentum, but in fact he led his troops out of Laocheng and crossed the Liao River. On November 10,  In one fell swoop, they captured Xuantu, which was occupied by Goguryeo. Now the entire Goguryeo was panicked, and almost all the towns were closed.

    At the same time, Li Daozong, who was Li Ji's deputy, also led his army to the new city. However, because there were few people, he had to yell and curse under the city in an attempt to draw the enemy away. However, the defender of the new city did not dare to fight and had no choice but to leave. On the second day of the month,  On the 12th, he and Li Ji's army converged at the foot of Gaimu City. This city was Goguryeo's second fortified city in Liaodong, second only to Liaodong City, which was known as the first fortified city in Liaodong.

    While Li Ji was advancing all the way, Niu Jinda's water army was not idle. After gathering the navy from several states, he crossed the sea in Laizhou and attacked the opposite Bisha City. After landing from the weakly defended west, he faced the enemy.  Facing Bisha City surrounded by cliffs on all sides, Tang Jun finally took out his secret weapon.

    After landing, General Cheng Mingzhen led his army to attack from the front. Deputy General Manager Wang Dadu personally led a group of dead soldiers and braved the rain of arrows to rush to the bottom of the city wall. After cutting several holes, he stuffed three cannons for attacking the city.  blasting tube.  As a result, a large hole was blown down in the west wall of the city. While the Goguryeo people thought it was the anger of the gods, the Tang army rushed into the city in one fell swoop. However, the Goguryeo troops in the city were also the best among the elite. Although the city was broken, they refused to  They refused to surrender and started a street fight with the Tang army. As a result, it took the Tang army two days to clear out the entire Beisha City.

    The Tang Army on the South Route first used gunpowder, and Li Ji¡¯s West Route ArmyHowever, not to be outdone, when facing the fortified city of Gaimu City, they almost completely copied the results of Bisha City, blasting open the city wall and rushing into the city.  The Goguryeo defenders in the city were frightened by the power of the enemy and did not dare to resist. The more than 40,000 defenders in the city were almost completely captured by the Tang army. In addition, more than 100,000 shi of food in the city were also obtained by the Tang army.

    After taking Gaimou City effortlessly, Li Ji rushed to the Liaodong City almost non-stop. Although Goguryeo already knew that the Tang Army had a powerful weapon that could blow open the city wall, it was helpless and could only watch this city.  The first fortified city in Liaodong fell into the hands of the Tang army. At the same time, more than 10,000 defenders in the city were killed, and tens of thousands more were made prisoners.

    Niu Jinda¡¯s army also swept through the Liaodong Peninsula and occupied all the areas south of Anshi City and Wugu City.  In early December, the two armies of Li Ji and Niu Jinda successfully met at the foot of Anshi City, and the Tang Army's early strategic goals were finally completed.

    Now the entire Liaodong has almost completely fallen into the hands of the Tang army, except for the line of Anshi City and Wugu City that is still connected to Goguryeo.  As for Anshi City, the Tang army cannot attack Anshi City for the time being, because the Tang Dynasty raised its troops in the name of helping King Rongliu quell the civil strife, and now King Rongliu is in Anshi City. If the Tang Dynasty does not distinguish between indiscriminate attacks and  Cheng, undoubtedly slapped himself in the face.

    In addition, Anshi City is not that easy to attack. Not only is it a fortified city, but the city lord is also a very difficult opponent. After hearing that the Tang army had weapons to break the city, he was extremely smart and came up with a way to break it.  In the extremely cold weather in Liaodong, he ordered people to pour water down the city wall. As a result, the entire Anshi city turned into a frozen city. Even if the Tang army did not count the consumption of gunpowder, they did not know what they would explode with all their strength.  when.  Moreover, the weather is getting colder and colder now. Even though most of the Tang army is equipped with cotton-padded jackets and quilts made of cotton, many soldiers still suffer from frostbite or even freeze to death.

    In such a harsh environment, after discussing with Li Ji, Niu Jinda decided to disperse the army to several nearby cities and wait until after the winter. However, there were only 10,000 elite cavalry stationed under Anshi City to observe the movements in the city at any time.  .  After this order was passed to Chang'an, Li Shimin also greatly supported it.

    So in early December of the 11th year of Zhenguan, the war that lasted for more than a month finally came to a temporary halt. The Tang army had a high morale after winning consecutive battles. They were looking forward to capturing Anshi City in one fell swoop next spring and then marching directly towards Pyongyang.  , then Goguryeo, an ancient country that has existed for hundreds of years, will no longer exist.  Goguryeo, which had been thrown into chaos by the Tang army's fierce offensive, finally had a chance to breathe and began to rectify its remaining forces, strengthening its guards while waiting for opportunities to counterattack.

    The Tang army on the Liaodong front line fought very happily, but the states and counties in the rear were complaining endlessly. Goguryeo's early unrest not only disrupted its own position, but also disrupted the Tang Dynasty's position. The Tang army  Be prepared. One hundred thousand troops for both armies is not a problem at all. However, the states and counties did not expect that this war would come so suddenly. Therefore, the preparations for various materials were seriously insufficient. In addition, it was a very rare winter to use troops.  The consumption of supplies is even greater. Among other things, the consumption of food alone is a big problem. In order to supply the front line, local governors in many states and counties are even thinking of becoming bandits.

    Li Min also has a deep understanding of this problem. Dengzhou is originally the closest place to the Liaodong Peninsula, so Niu Jinda¡¯s waterway army supplies are almost all loaded from Dengzhou and then transported to the opposite side.  Among the supplies, food and weapons accounted for most of them, and half of these food and weapons were produced in Dengzhou. Li Min couldn't push them away even if he wanted to, because they were imposed on him by Li Shimin.  After all, after nearly a year of development by Li Min, the tax revenue of Dengzhou has not only increased several times, but the people under his rule are also much wealthier than other states.  Since Dengzhou is so wealthy, it is natural to pay more.

    Li Min wouldn't worry if other things were allocated, such as salt, canned food, etc. These are what Dengzhou produces. You can get as much as you want. But weapons and food are a bit troublesome. Weapons are better among them. Dengzhou's local ones  There are also many weapon workshops, plus some bought from other places, which can barely cope, but food is troublesome.

    Dengzhou is not a grain-producing area to begin with. Most of the grain used locally has to be transported from outside. Although canned food is good, Dengzhou mainly produces canned seafood. Now it can only be used as a supplementary food. It is impossible to make it a staple food.  possible.  Moreover, as soon as the war started, documents urging food from the front line came one after another. Fortunately, there were several large granaries before Dengzhou, which could cope with it for a while. However, the grain stored in them could not be supplied in unlimited quantities.  It has been exhausted, but now the war is only halfway through, and the war will continue after the New Year. However, the price of food in Dengzhou has tripled, and the people are miserable.

    In order to solve this problem and to stop worrying about food in Dengzhou in the future, Li Min thought of a good way. After discussing with Zhao Fu, Yan Bei and Liu Rengui, heThey all thought it was good governance, so they worked out a policy in detail and promulgated it.  (To be continued)!  ~!

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