Yang Guang's "confusing" operation
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Goguryeo was always an extremely unstable factor in the border, and several generations of sui and Tang emperors hated it with itchy teeth.
In order to eliminate Goguryeo, Yang Guang actually dispatched millions of troops and devoted all his national strength to conquest, but the final result was shocking:
The Sui Dynasty went out on expeditions four times, and it was only after inflicting serious injuries on its own that Goguryeo reluctantly obeyed, and because of this battle, it also became the fuse for the demise of the Sui Dynasty.
The battle was more than worth the loss!
During the Zhenguan period, Li Shimin again went to Goguryeo, but in the end it was also the end of the withdrawal.
However, what makes people wonder is that Li Shimin personally conquered Goguryeo this time and won an overwhelming victory, with 2 big-man-level famous generals as the main force, and only 30,000 troops were dispatched to sweep through Liaodong.
So what happened that year that made Li Shimin suddenly decide to retire in the case of victory? In this battle, did Li Shimin really lose?
Later generations always like to compare the two conquests of Yang Guang and Li Shimin, although the two generations of emperors believe that the outcome of this battle was a failure, but in fact there is no comparison.
First, let's look at the results of the Sui Dynasty's expedition to Goguryeo:
Goguryeo was originally a vassal state of China, and successive dynasties did not pay attention to this small country, but by the Sui Dynasty, Goguryeo began to be restless on the border.
During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, he had sent troops to conquest Goguryeo, because At that time, Goguryeo was a small country in the eyes of Emperor Wen of Sui, and it was not put in the eyes at all, so the first expedition was only a hasty reorganization of a army of soldiers and horses.
Because the departure was hurried and the preparation was not sufficient, the battle was easily blocked by Goguryeo.
After Yang Guang ascended the throne, he originally had little interest in Goguryeo, because this small country had a small population and few resources, and was on the easternmost border, and it was very laborious to send troops.
However, at this time, Goguryeo could not speak at all, and they not only began to get close to the Turks, but also began to make deals with some land snakes on the border, which was not only a provocation to Yang Guang, but also a naked humiliation.
In the end, Yang Guang couldn't bear it, and immediately dispatched millions of soldiers and horses, and decided to eliminate this small country in one fell swoop.
Just from the millions of troops dispatched by the Sui Emperor, you can see how much he hates Goguryeo.
However, the Sui Emperor could not be wrong in his ambitions, but at this time he suddenly came to a "divine operation" that confused everyone, and when he first went out on the expedition, he ordered his troops to advance in 24 ways, and ordered that after the capture of Goguryeo, the attack should be stopped immediately, and how to execute him would wait for his arrangement.
This battle was originally the Sui Dynasty had the lead, and the millions of troops alone looked frightening, but because Yang Guang dispersed all the troops, the combat effectiveness was greatly reduced.
The first 300,000 troops to goguryeo were directly destroyed because of plagues, disasters, etc., and the troops behind them barely hit Goguryeo, but the damage caused to the enemy was very limited.
In the middle, it was even more disastrous, and a large amount of materials and soldiers and horses were captured by Goguryeo, which became a disgrace to the Sui Emperor.
Later, Yang Guang went out twice, either encountering rebellion or not enough food and grass, and the last battle was finally won once, but it was very difficult.
At this time, the Sui Dynasty was already worried about itself because of the uprisings in various places, and after Goguryeo begged for forgiveness, it immediately withdrew its troops and went home to quell the chaos, although this war was ostensibly a victory, but the trauma caused to the Sui Dynasty was already immeasurable.
Two big guys do the vanguard, 4,000 vs 40,000, who loses and who wins?
By the time of the Zhenguan period, the Tang Dynasty had reached its peak, in fact, Li Shimin had originally thought of recovering Goguryeo, but at this time, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and he did not want to inflict suffering on the people, so he kept moving.
Of course, the ancient emperors paid attention to the people's hearts, so the main reason for not going to go to Goguryeo was that "the teacher was nameless", and if he committed murder in vain, he would definitely lose the people's hearts.
However, Goguryeo was also very interesting, although it did pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty on time in these years, but its heart was always stirring, until the sixteenth year of Zhenguan, an internal politics became the beginning of the collapse of Goguryeo.
Originally, goguryeo's ruler Gao Jianwu was very pro-Tang, so for more than 20 years, Goguryeo and the Tang Dynasty were considered to be harmonious, but the good times were not long, and Goguryeo emerged a powerful minister named Gai Suwen.
Gai Suwen staged a coup d'état, killed Gao Jianwu, and supported his son Gao Zang to the throne, and Gai Suwen became the de facto ruler.
He first stopped paying tribute to the Tang Dynasty, and then began to attack Silla, almost destroying Silla, and When Li Shimin learned of this, he was furious and immediately issued an edict asking Goguryeo to stop its attack on Silla.
After Goguryeo received the edict, instead of paying attention to Li Shimin, it intensified its efforts and began to provoke the surrounding vassal states with the intention of jointly plotting rebellion.
At this time, Li Shimin had already endured to the extreme: I am a soldier before the salute, since you are so rampant, then don't blame me for not being polite!
Therefore, Li Shimin insisted on personally going out to march despite the objections of his courtiers, and in addition, he also dispatched two pioneer generals, both of whom were famous generals of the Tang Dynasty, namely Li Ji and Li Daozong.
At this time, Li Shimin ordered the army to set off in two ways, the first route was the general Zhang Liang to Pyongyang, and the other team was the main force, led by himself, Li Ji and Li Daozong as a general, assisting Li Shimin.
In fact, the total strength of the dispatch was only 50,000, and the strength of the troops in the hands of Li Ji and Li Daozong was only 10,000, so as a pioneer, the first battle made the two men difficult.
Li Daozong only had 4,000 men in his hands, but the other side launched 40,000 iron horses, so Li Daozong sent troops first, and Li Ji took the remaining troops to the rear of the palace.
Li Daozong quickly launched a charge with lightning speed and caught the enemy by surprise, but Goguryeo also had 40,000 elites and quickly stabilized his position.
After Goguryeo launched a counterattack, Li Ji, in order to boost morale, disregarded his youth and launched a charge with Li Daozong, and the Morale of the Tang army was instantly boosted, and he defeated Goguryeo with a single blow.
Their side had just finished fighting, Li Shimin arrived with the main force, in fact, on the road, Li Shimin thought that his sword was not old, and he should rush to the front to boost morale, but who knew that his vanguard troops would finish fighting so quickly.
The morale of the army in this battle was greatly increased, and in the following series of victories, the Liaodong region was successfully captured, all the way to the city of Anshi.
This was already the last city defended by Goguryeo, and goguryeo's army was bound to resist it to the death, so the battle was extremely difficult.
Goguryeo again sent 150,000 reinforcements, but Li Shimin only had 30,000 soldiers and horses in his hands.
Li Shimin personally carried cement and sucked blood for the wounded
Li Shimin, who has fought countless battles in his life, encountered waterloo in the Battle of Anshi City.
This battle was the last battle in Li Shimin's life, but it ended in failure, of course, the so-called failure is only what Li Shimin believes to be a failure.
Because in Li Shimin's eyes, not completely destroying Goguryeo is a naked failure.
At this time, Zhang Liang from Pyongyang and Li Shimin met with Li Shimin, and under the command of Li Shimin, several generals attacked Goguryeo back and forth, and the soldiers and horses attacked from three roads, each team of only a few thousand soldiers and horses, but the momentum was huge.
This battle was fought for a month without being attacked, Li Shimin was impatient, Goguryeo also resisted with open-mindedness, and seeing that the morale of the army began to decline, Li Shimin decided to do something.
To say that Li Shimin loves the people like a son, what he said is not false at all, there were many soldiers in the army who were injured, the labor force was reduced, and many soldiers carried cement in the fortifications, and Li Shimin followed the soldiers to the battlefield.
He didn't have the slightest emperor shelf, and anyone who saw it would not have thought that this gray-headed soldier was actually a true dragon Tianzi.
Some soldiers were wounded and could not move, Li Shimin personally sucked the blood of the wounded, Li Shimin's behavior immediately stimulated morale, and the soldiers were immediately excited to see their king like this.
This time, the soldiers were so angry that they beat Goguryeo's 150,000 troops to an irresistible one, and the Goguryeo generals died one after another, and chaos began in the army.
So far, Goguryeo had completely extinguished its arrogance, and they no longer took the initiative to attack, and could only passively stay in Anshi City to resist, but the other side did not attack, and the problem came again.
As time passed, the weather became colder and colder, and the Tang army gradually could not hold on. Why is it that Tang Jun couldn't hold on to the door of the house when he obviously hit the door?
Goguryeo is in the northeast of the position, here is originally colder than the Central Plains, in addition to the special terrain here, easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as Goguryeo does not take the initiative to attack, the Tang army is really no way, watching the war once fell into a stalemate, if it is really consumed, the Tang army must be more than worth the loss.
Under comprehensive consideration, Li Shimin finally made a helpless decision: withdraw his troops.
In this battle, Li Shimin claimed to have failed, and this was not only the last conquest in his life, but also a regret in his heart.
Although Li Shimin thought he had failed, if we look at his achievements, we can see how harshly this king demanded of himself.
According to the Zizhi Tongjian, the Tang army beheaded 40,000 enemy troops, captured 100,000 horses and livestock, and 20,000 weapons, captured a total of 10 cities and pools, and moved 70,000 people to the Central Plains.
Importantly, the Tang army only lost more than 2,000.
This battle seriously injured Goguryeo, and if they had not benefited from the terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, I am afraid that within three days they would have been completely destroyed.
The Tang Dynasty under Li Shimin's rule directly hanged the four sides and properly overlorded.
After the end of the war, after Li Shimin counted the number of soldiers in the army, he found that the soldiers had sacrificed more than 2,000 people, which made him cry bitterly for a while, and he personally carved inscriptions for the soldiers, and even gave up his identity to personally prostrate.
It is not surprising that Li Shimin loves soldiers like this, and can rule the prosperous world that affects the world.
Later generations always like to compare the two battles between Li Shimin and Yang Guang, but in fact, the two cannot be compared at all, and who wins and who loses, presumably future generations have already known in their hearts.