Tang Taizong Li Shimin conquered Goryeo, why did he fail when he had more than enough troops?

The Sui Dynasty finally died under Yang Guang's perverse actions, and died a tragic death, replaced by the Tang Empire, which is still praised today. Dragon, Tiger, Fengyunhui, this is a heroic era, after Emperor Taizong Li Shimin ascended the throne in the early Tang Dynasty, Pingnan swept away the north, the border troubles around China were almost swept away one by one, and the country entered an unprecedented high-speed development path, at this time the Koryo problem once again crossed the face of China.

The Sui Dynasty suffered several tragic defeats in Goryeo, hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers fell on the land of Liaodong, the Tang Dynasty from Emperor Taizongwen to ordinary soldiers and civilians, who did not want to get this account back? At that time, Li Shimin said something like this: "The existence of the old China in Liaodong has been ignored since Wei was involved in the Zhou Dynasty. The sui clan of the four masters, mourning the law and returning, killing countless Good Chinese good. ...... Long nights of thought and resignation. It will be a revenge for China's fu disciples!" And then, as soon as the edict of the conquest of Goryeo was issued, thousands of volunteers who volunteered to join the army in private costumes and volunteered to join the army and serve the country immediately said: "I do not ask for the reward of the county officials, but I am willing to serve liaodong to death!" It can be seen that the Tang Dynasty from top to bottom has not forgotten to recover its homeland to avenge the snow and hatred, Liaodong can only be the Chinese Liaodong forever, every inch of this land is soaked with the blood of Chinese!

The Sui Dynasty failed in its three conquests of Goryeo, and Goryeo built the bones of the fallen sui soldiers into a jingguan. (In ancient warfare, in order to show off their martial skills, the victor collected the corpses of the enemy, and the high tomb made of sealed soil was called "Jingguan") "After the body is dead, it is buried in Shanyang." The mountains are majestic, the heavens are majestic. The mountains have wood and the country has died. The soul returns to see the rivers and mountains. The cold wind blew, and the thin soil on the Jingguan was blown away, immediately revealing the sensen white bones below, and the so-called corpse mountain and blood sea were not just an adjective. The loyal souls of hundreds of thousands of martyrs are constantly shouting and calling here. The chinese did not let them wait for a long time, and soon after Li Shimin came to power, in the fifth year of Zhenguan (631 AD), he immediately sent Sima Changsunshi of Guangzhou into Goryeo to destroy the Jingguan and bury the bones of Chinese soldiers one by one. This operation was a clear signal that the Tang Empire in Chang'an had not forgotten the last territory of Goryeo. Naturally, the Goryeo side naturally received this signal, so Goryeo Rongliu King Gao Jianwu began an unprecedented major project, he spent sixteen years in the northeast from Buyeo City (now Siping, Jilin) to the south to build a Great Wall of more than a thousand miles as a barrier, as a capital against the Tang army, the smell of gunpowder between the two countries again became stronger.

Of course, the destruction of Gyeongkan was only an indication of the Attitude of the Tang Dynasty, and the attention of the Tang Dynasty in Guanzhong was still focused on the nomadic peoples in the west and north, and after the destruction of Gaochangguo in the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, the Goryeo issue was put on the agenda.

Everything has a gradual process, although Emperor Taizong has this idea in his heart, but it does not mean that he can fight if he wants, and the art of war has clouds: "Go to the army and cut down the plot." "Diplomatic and political behavior before the war always has to be a move, after all, Qiang Sui can be said to have died on the conquest of Goryeo, which has created a shadow for the latecomers, and even this shadow will be infinitely exaggerated and even deified." Later generations of the Yuan Dynasty did not succeed in their two conquests of Japan, but because of the typhoon, they lost soldiers and generals, which gave Zhu Yuanzhang a lot of psychological pressure, causing the Ming Dynasty to not attack Japan because of the fear of the "Mandate of Heaven". Of course, the Tang Dynasty was full of heroes at this time, and finally broke this so-called "Mandate of Heaven" by its own strength, and in the end, the Ming Dynasty I could only passively defend against the Wokou, which reflected the huge difference between openness and self-preservation.

At that time, the first step in the preparation of the Tang Empire was to send envoys into Goryeo to investigate the terrain, landforms, weather and hydrology, customs and customs, and other information, and to do all the preliminary reconnaissance work for the advance of the army. Therefore, in July of the fifteenth year of Jeongkan (641 AD), he sent his official Langzhong Chen Dade to take advantage of the opportunity of the envoy to Goryeo to reconnoiter its "mountain and river customs". After Daedeok entered the territory of Goryeo, he first bribed the local officials with silk Ayaqi and told him: "Wuya is a good landscape, this has a victory. Therefore, local officials willingly served as guides and took them on a tour, "everything.". Everywhere he went, Daedeok met many Chinese who remained in Goryeo and told them about the changes in China and the news of their "relatives surviving". At the time of parting, the Chinese "looked at them and wept, all over the countryside." After more than a month of reconnaissance and investigation, he returned to Chang'an on August 10 and gave a comprehensive and detailed report to Emperor Taejong on the geographical situation of the mountains and rivers in Goryeo.

The Tang Dynasty's mind was clear in the mind of the Goryeo king Gao Jianwu, who was actually quite strategic, and while building the "Great Wall" for armaments, he stepped up his attacks on Baekje and Silla, intending to wipe out all the Tang allies on the Korean Peninsula in order to relieve his worries, and on the other hand, he frequently sent envoys to pay tribute in the second year of Wudeok (619 AD), four years (621 AD), and seven years (624 AD), and sent back to the Tang Dynasty with each other, posing a friendly gesture. In the era of Emperor Taizong, he presented a domain map in the fourth year of Zhenguan (630 AD), and in the fourteenth year of Zhenguan (640 AD), he sent the crown prince Huan Quan into the dynasty and contributed fang objects. After such a few hand moves, although the Tang Dynasty had the intention to send troops, but could not find any excuses, at that time, the war especially paid attention to a hanging of the people, the so-called way to cut down the road, the posture of Goryeo was so low, so it prevented the Tang Dynasty from sending troops.

We would like to say that Gao Jianwu's action was actually the best way to deal with the Tang Dynasty at that time. When Gao Jianwu was young, he once led five hundred dead soldiers to repel the army of lai'er who had killed into Pyongyang City, he was not a coward, but he clearly realized that China in the era of Emperor Taejong was no longer the China of the Sui Dynasty, and Tang Taizong's military ability was one of the most outstanding military experts even throughout the history of China, not to mention that the current Tang Dynasty famous ministers were like clouds, and the border troubles were basically swept away, and if Goryeo continued to be unruly at this time, Then the anger accumulated by all of China during the Sui Dynasty's conquest of Goryeo would fall on Goryeo's head, and it would be too late to regret it.

However, although Gao Jianwu's side of the wishful thinking crackled, but people are not as good as heavenly calculations, he is indeed well aware of the international situation, there is no exhaustive strategy, but people have no far-reaching worries, there will be near-term worries, a palace coup d'état killed Gao Jianwu and his ministers cleanly, and the goryeo eastern lord Quan Gai Suwen, who succeeded in the coup, officially came to power.

Immediately after Izumi Somon came to power, Goryeo's foreign policy changed by one hundred and eighty degrees, and Goryeo formed an alliance with Baekje to attack Silla with all its might, seeing that Silla was powerless to resist and the destruction of the country was imminent, Silla could only send envoys to Tang for help. Although such stories have happened many times in the Tang Dynasty, the previous Gao Jianwu was vain and snake after the arrival of the Tang Dynasty emissaries, and at most wrote a statement of apology and the like, so that everyone could get by. However, Kwon Gai Su Wen was different, and Emperor Taejong of Tang sent Sinong Tri Shōgun to hold the Goryeo Book and stop his attack on Silla. In the first month of the eighteenth year of Zhenguan (644), The Seung-ri Hyun-jin arrived in Pyongyang, and Mo Lizhi's army invaded Silla in the south, destroying its two cities, and the Goryeo king Gozo sent envoys to summon the Capital Division. When Gai Suwen returned to Pyongyang, his attitude was extremely arrogant, and he told Xuan Ji that if Silla could not return the 500-mile land occupied by the late Sui Dynasty to Goryeo, "the fear of the army was not enough." Of course, xuan awards are not easy to provoke, and immediately retort to each other: "The past can be traced back!" As for the cities of Liaodong, they are all Counties and Counties of China, and China is not yet self-explanatory, and Goryeo must seek its homeland. At this time, Gai Suwen regarded himself as the leader of the Eastern Alliance and embarked on a path of all-out confrontation with the Tang Dynasty, and naturally this time the Tang Dynasty's mediation failed. Not only that, But Goryeo also sent envoys to the north of mobei to use "thick profits" to provoke the relations between the Xueyantuo Khanate and the Tang, with the intention of containing the Tang Dynasty in the north. In terms of combat readiness, on the one hand, it strengthened the "Great Wall" built during the Gao Jianwu era, on the other hand, it gathered troops in a vast area between Liaodong and Yalushui (present-day Yalu River) and the Ganshan Mountains, built military strongholds, and vigorously strengthened Liaodong City (Lingliaoyang, Liaoning), Baiyan City (present-day Liaoyang East, Liaoning), Buyeo City (present-day Siping, Jilin), Xincheng (present-day Fushun North, Liaoning), Gaimu City (present-day Fushun, Liaoning), Anshi City (northeast of present-day Gaizhou, Liaoning), WukuoCheng (present-day Fengcheng, Liaoning), and Beishacheng (southwest of present-day Pulandian, Liaoning). The defensive forces of Zhucheng used this as a second line of defense in an attempt to block the Tang army's land and water offensive routes and landing ports, and to carry out a fortified and clear field in these places, in an attempt to take advantage of the opportunity to counterattack when the Tang army was short of food.

If such obvious hostilities are still tolerated, then the Tang Dynasty's ruling authority as the whole of Greater East Asia will be seriously weakened, even collapsed, and even the surrounding ethnic groups that have been pacified may be repeated again, which is obviously intolerable to the Tang Dynasty. In addition, whether it is Li Shimin personally or the national sentiment of china as a whole, it is basically hoped to fight this battle, so a big war is inevitable. Against Goryeo, the Tang Dynasty's war machine was once again running at high speed.

Emperor Taizong learned the lessons of that time according to the war situation at the time of Emperor Zhao, and came up with various ways to avoid these lessons. In order to solve this problem, the Tang army carried a large number of edible cattle and sheep, so that the cattle and sheep marched with the army, and they could also carry heavy loads along the way, which greatly reduced the burden of soldiers and state capitals along the way. In addition, the conquest of Goryeo did not carry out a national conscription, but adopted the conscription method, the so-called "all take the wish to do it", as a result, after the edict was issued, "recruit ten to get a hundred, recruit a hundred to get a thousand, and those who are not allowed to join the army are indignant and depressed." A total of 100,000 soldiers were raised, which can be described as a real volunteer army. Such an army not only has high morale and excellent quality, but also does no harm to the country, unlike the forced conscription in the era of emperors, which will cause great damage to the national economic production, and the reduction of the number of soldiers in turn greatly reduces the pressure on the rear defense logistics, and will not harm the country.

On July 20, 188, Zhenguan went to Hong (州治 present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi), Rao (州治今, Jiangxi Nayang), and Jiang (州治今江江, In modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi) to supervise the construction of 400 ships transporting military grain; On July 23, Zhang Jian, the governor of Yingzhou, and others led the governors of You, Battalion 2, and khitan and Jing (because the Jing were divided into a very large number of tribes at that time, and some of the Jing were controlled by the Khitans, so they attacked Goryeo together with the Khitans. and other tribal soldiers made tentative attacks on Liaodong to "see its situation"; He also took Wei Ting, the secretary of the Tai Changqing, as the envoy, and Cui Renshi, a servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, as his deputy, who was responsible for the transportation of grain and grass in the Hebei states; Xiao Rui, a servant of the Imperial Household, transported grain from the Henan states into the sea and stored it on Wuhu Island (present-day Huangcheng Island in southeastern and northern Shandong) to supply water to the needs of the army.

On October 14 of the same year, Tang Taizong rode from Chang'an to Luoyang, intending to drive the imperial conquest, leaving fang Xuanling, the chancellor, and Li Daliang, a general of the Right Guard and Shangshu of the Ministry of Works, to guard the Capital Division. In early November, Zhang Jian, the governor of Yingzhou, and other marshals of Tang Army entered the west bank of the Liaoshui River, just as the river was flooding and could not be crossed for a long time. Emperor Taizong, fearful and cowardly, recalled Luoyang to punish him. After Zhang Jian arrived in Luoyang, he told Emperor Taizong about the dangers of the mountains and rivers along the Liaoshui River and the beauty and evil of water and grass, and Emperor Taizong was pleased, so he returned to western Liaoning and waited for the opportunity to cross the river and move east. On November 14, 1888, the edict ordered Shangshu Zhang Liang of the Ministry of Punishment to be the commander-in-chief of the march of Pyongyang Province, and the governor of Huzhou (now part of Sichuan) Zuo Nandang as his deputy, leading 3,000 troops from Jianghuai, Lingnan, and the prefectures of Chang'an and Luoyang, with 500 warships, crossing the sea from Laizhou to Pyongyang; He also ordered the crown princes Zhan Shi and Zuo Wei to lead Li Ji as the commander-in-chief of the march of Liaodong Province, and Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, as his deputy, and led 60,000 troops to Lan (州治今, in modern Lanzhou, Gansu) and He (州治今, In modern Linxia, Gansu) to lower Hu troops to Liaodong. Then, the two armies marched in tandem. On November 30, the Zhulu Army gathered in Youzhou. Emperor Taizong also dispatched Jiang Xingben, the commander-in-chief of the march, and Qiu Xing, the Shaofu Shaoqing, to supervise the craftsmen to build siege equipment such as ladders and crashes at Anluo Mountain. At this time, there were countless warriors and those who contributed siege equipment from all over the world, and Tang Taizong personally read and watched, choosing one by one. Soon after, the emperor issued a proclamation to the world, stating the five ways of victory in this eastern expedition to Goryeo: "One is to strike a small blow with a big blow, the second is to repay rebellion, the third is to cure chaos, the fourth is to wait for work, and the fifth is to be happy and complain." It is used to mobilize the people and strengthen the soldiers' belief in victory. On December 2, the Xiazhao army and Silla, Baekje, Xi, and Khitan attacked Goryeo separately. On February 12, Emperor Taizong of Tang personally commanded the Sixth Army from Luoyang to the north, and on March 19, arrived in Dingzhou, leaving the crown prince here to supervise the country, so that Fang Xuanling, Together with Gao Shilian, Liu Bo, Ma Zhou, Zhang Xingcheng, and Gao Jifu, could jointly assist the government, and was able to engage in cheap work without repeating the request. On March 24, Emperor Taizong led his troops from Dingzhou to the north and marched to Liaodong, and by this time, everything was ready, and the horn of war had begun to sound.

Tang Taizong's prior consideration was undoubtedly well thought out, and with Emperor Zhao's previous experience, he acted more cautiously, but because of this, it was inevitable that some aspects would be overcorrected. In terms of the number of soldiers, the attack on Goryeo only sent 100,000 horses, but this number is obviously far from enough, Goryeo was basically the first power in the northeast at that time, the strength is naturally very strong, only 100,000 horses to attack, in terms of the number of troops, but became a weak side. Moreover, the Goryeo state is no better than the steppe khanate, as long as the army is strong in combat, it can solve everything. In the Goryeo kingdom, there were a large number of fortress-style castles, and the war was often fought later in siege warfare, and siege warfare was often more important than the number of troops than combat effectiveness. Emperor Taizong's departure from the army this time was also because he was old and did not bring the famous general Li Jing out on the expedition, and Emperor Taizong's starting point was good, but I thought that this was obviously a big mistake. Li Jing can be said to be one of the few all-round generals in China's history, at home and abroad, plateau warfare, plain warfare, desert warfare, siege warfare, defensive warfare, and water warfare almost all have experience in fighting, and win hundreds of battles, for attacking a country like Goryeo, obviously Li Jing can adapt better than other generals, and can play a greater role. Finally, with regard to diplomacy, Taejong underestimated the complexity of the international situation in Northeast Asia, ignoring Baekje, a country that ostensibly respected China but actually harbored a ghost fetus, and as a result, Baekje's performance in the future seriously hindered Taejong's overall strategy of pro-conquest.

Then encircle Liaodong

At the end of March of the nineteenth year of Zhenguan (645 CE), the general Li Ji (李勣兵) sent troops to Liucheng (present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning), but on the other hand, he made a big fuss and pretended to cross the Liaoshui River from Huaiyuan Town (present-day northwest of Liaoyang, Liaoning), so Goryeo placed its heavy troops on the side of Huaiyuan, at which point Li Ji was surprised, and after arriving at Liucheng, he quickly marched north, through Yongdao to Tongding (present-day Xinmin, Liaoning), crossing the Liaoshui In an unexpected place where the Goryeo people were, making the Liaoshui barrier that the Goryeo people relied on lose its effect. Li Ji's move to attack the east and the west was actually forced, Goryeo overhauled the Great Wall on the border, if the frontal march, then the only road that can be taken is the famous swamp area in Liaodong, and Goryeo is tightly fortified in this area, Li Ji's vanguard troops are not many, and it is obviously not possible to face it head-on, so it can only take a detour. After the news of the Tang army crossing the Liaoshui Reached Goryeo, the whole country was shocked, and the cities were closed to themselves and did not dare to attack. On April 5, Li Daozong, deputy governor of Liaodong Province and the king of Jiangxia, arrived at Xincheng (present-day Shenyangdong, Liaoning) with thousands of troops, and Cao Sanliang, the governor of Liaodong Province, led more than 10 horsemen to press the city gate, and the soldiers and civilians in the city were terrified and rioted, and did not dare to resist. Zhang Jian, the governor of Yingzhou, with Hu Bing as his forward, marched toward Jian'an City (建安城, in present-day southwestern Gaizhou, Liaoning), defeating the Goryeo soldiers who had come to meet the battle, annihilating thousands of enemies.

On April 15, Li Ji and Li Daozong led the main force of the Tang army to attack the city of Gaimu from the west and north. After fierce fighting, Li Ji's troops took the lead in attacking the city, capturing more than 20,000 goryeo mouths and capturing more than 100,000 stones of grain. The success of the siege enabled the Tang army to capture a large amount of logistical grain and grass, which made it almost unnecessary for the Tang army to continue to transport much grain from the country, which further reduced the logistical burden of the Tang army, which was not heavy, and also made the Tang army have a stronghold in Liaodong. We can also see from the capture of Gaimu City how deeply rooted the Goryeo people are in the strategic thinking of relying on the fortress and holding it for a long time, as mentioned before, at that time, the average grain that an adult man could consume in a year was 7 stones, and the grain of 100,000 stones was almost enough for the military and civilians in the city to consume for a whole year, and the Central Plains army wanted to achieve a long-term siege of the city in the environment of Liaodong, which was obviously extremely arduous, and the Goryeo people obviously made very thorough preparations in this regard after a long period of operation.

Then, Li Ji marched south and marched towards Liaodong City. At this time, the water army led by Zhang Liang, the commander-in-chief of the Tang Pyongyang Road March, crossed the sea from Donglai (present-day Laizhou, Shandong) and attacked the city of Peisha. The city is built on a mountain, surrounded by steep terrain, only the west gate can be climbed. Cheng Mingzhen, a forward of the Tang army, arrived at the city late at night, and Wang Wendu, the deputy governor, led his troops to risk death to enter the city. On May 2, the city was attacked, capturing more than 8,000 men and women in the city. The grand governor Jang Liang also dispatched the governor Yau Hyo-chung and other Yao soldiers to Yalushui to harass the last line of defense north of Pyongyang, the capital of Goryeo.

In early May of the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, Li Ji and Emperor Daozong led more than 4,000 horsemen of the forward army to arrive at Liaodong City. On the eighth day of May, Gai Suwen sent 40,000 infantry to aid the Liaodong defenders. At this time, the generals of the Tang army felt that the enemy was outnumbered, so they advocated deep ditches and high bases, and then attacked after all the main forces were assembled. Li Daozong, the deputy commander-in-chief, believed that when the enemy reinforcements were "tired from afar," they should take the initiative to meet the battle and "attack will be defeated." Li Ji agreed, and at this time, the general Guo Yidu Lieutenant Ma Wenju also took the initiative to ask for battle, and in the face of ten times the enemy, he was arrogant and dry in front of the battle, and shouted: "If you don't meet a strong enemy, how can you show a strong soldier!" The horses charged at the enemy position and were invincible. As a result, the two armies fought a major battle under Liaodong City. After the Goryeo army was attacked by Ma Wenju, it organized forces to fight back desperately, and the marching commander Zhang Junqi's troops encountered the counterattack of the superior goryeo forces, could not resist, and retreated backwards, and the Tang army fell into an unfavorable situation. Li Daozong saw that Zhang Jun's troops were in chaos, and immediately went to command himself, and after collecting scattered pawns, he climbed to the top and saw that the Goryeo army formation had been disturbed by Ma Wenju, so he led the Horse to rush in, left and right, and the situation was unstoppable, making the Goryeo army even more chaotic. Li Ji led the crowd to clash with his successor, and the Goryeo army finally collapsed, and more than 1,000 people were annihilated. On May 10, Emperor Taizong of Tang personally led the Sixth Army to cross the Liaoshui River through Beiping (present-day Lulong, Hebei) and Liaoze (between present-day Beizhen, Liaoning and Central Liaoning), at this time the problem encountered by Emperor Taizong was exactly the same as that of the Sui Emperor, when Liaoze was more than 200 miles in the mud, people and horses were not accessible, and the army of the great master Yan Lidebu was barely able to get through, and at this time there were still many bones of Sui army generals floating on Liaoze, and Emperor Taizong ordered people to collect and bury them. After crossing the Liaoshui River, Emperor Taizong ordered the bridge to be destroyed, in order to show the soldiers their determination to fight a battle against the water. Emperor Taizong left a large army at Mashou Mountain (mashou mountain in present-day southwest of Liaoyang, Liaoning), and since he rode hundreds of horses to Liaodong City, rewarded Li Daozong with consolation, chao bai Ma Wenju as a lieutenant general, and rewarded meritorious soldiers, and beheaded Zhang Junqi, the general who had retreated from the battlefield.

Liaodong City is of special significance to the Tang Army, and the three marches of Emperor Zhao all stop at Liaodong City, so for the Tang Army, Liaodong City is a hurdle that must be crossed.

After repelling the Goryeo reinforcements, Li Ji immediately commanded the Tang generals to "fill in the soil" and prepare to attack Liaodong City. Emperor Taizong of Tang also delivered the soil on horseback, so he accompanied the officials and the generals to send the soil to the city. Within a few days, the ditches under the city were filled. Then, Li Ji ordered the siege of the city with a throwing car first. The siege was huge, and could throw boulders weighing more than 300 kilograms a mile away, destroying everything, and the Goryeo defenders were very afraid. In order to defend against boulder attacks, the defenders used giant logs to build blocked battle towers on the city and used thick ropes to tie a net in an attempt to intercept the flying stones, but they were still destroyed by the boulders thrown by the carts. Subsequently, The Tang army used a crash to clear the auxiliary building near the left side of the main city of Liaodong, and all of them fell. In this way, the Tang army besieged the city for more than 20 days in succession, day and night. Li Ji, Zhang Jian, and others led Xiao Rui and khitan and other ethnic minority soldiers to attack the south of Liaodong City. Li Daozong and Zhang Shigui and others attacked the west of Liaodong City, Li Hongji and others led troops to fill their trenches, and Tang Taizong also led the six armies under his command to help, encircling Liaodong City for tens of hundreds of weights. On May 17, the south wind blew strongly, and Tang Taizong fired a salvo of firebolts, igniting the southwest city tower, and the fire burned the houses in the city, and the flames soared into the sky, and then ordered the elite soldiers to climb to the top of the pole and climb the city wall in one fell swoop. The Goryeo defenders raised a large shield to counterattack with short troops in an attempt to retake the city wall, the Tang army attacked with spears, and the Tang army behind it smashed down with stones on the city wall, and the Goryeo army finally could not resist, and was annihilated by more than 10,000 people, captured more than 10,000 Goryeo troops, captured more than 40,000 men and women in the city, and obtained 500,000 stones of grain. Emperor Taizong of Tang then placed Liaozhou in Liaodong City, and raised a beacon into the blockade to inform the crown prince of Dingzhou, where the crown prince lived.

Blood Battle White Rock

On May 28, 645, in the nineteenth year of Zhenguan (645), the Tang army advanced towards Baiyan City (白岩城, in modern Liaoyang, Liaoning) after a short rest in Liaodong City. The next day, the Right Guard general Li Sima was hit by a stray arrow, and Tang Taizong personally sucked the blood for him, and the generals of the Tang army were all moved, so everyone fought to the death without fear of life and death. Gai Suwen sent more than 10,000 defenders of Wu Bone City to rescue Baiyan City. Tang general QiFu He Li led a strong ride of 800 to meet the attack, stepped forward and rushed into the enemy position, the iron horse clashed, and was invincible. The Goryeo army resisted with spears, and for a time the spears were indiscriminately pierced in the battle line, and Qifu Heli went deep into the enemy position, and was stabbed in the waist by the enemy, and the blood flowed like blood. Shang Renfeng Yu Xue Wanbei rode to the rescue, and among the multitudes, rescued He Li. He Li was courageous and courageous, slightly bandaged, bundled sores and fought again, and the side fought from the horse, the Goryeo reinforcements collapsed, and the Tang army pursued and killed more than ten miles, beheading more than a thousand levels and returning. After Qifu Heli's wound worsened, Emperor Taizong personally medicated him and captured Gao Tubo, a Goryeo soldier who had stabbed He Li at that time, and disposed of any force. However, Qifu Heli, a minority general, did not dispose of Gao Tubo casually because of his personal grudges, but said: "He is his master who risks a white blade to stab his subjects, and he is a loyal and courageous man, and he does not know each other at the beginning, and he does not have a grudge." So he let the man go. Among the famous generals of the early Tang Dynasty, although the reputation of Qifu Heli was not prominent, this person was by no means inferior to other generals in terms of battle merit or virtue, and the reason why he was not famous was that his chances of serving as the main general were relatively small, but in the major important battles of the early Tang Dynasty, such as Li Jing's breakthrough of tuguhun battle, Li Ji's breakthrough of Xue Yantuo, Gao Junji's breakthrough of Gaochang and other important battles played an extremely important role, and it can be said that he was the "best deputy general" at that time.

On the first day of June, Li Ji led his troops to arrive at Baiyan Castle. The city is surrounded by mountains and water, and is surrounded by dangers on all sides. However, the lord of the city, Sun Daiyin, was as timid as a rat, and when he heard the news that Liaodong City had been attacked by Tang, he immediately sent an envoy to surrender. But when the Tang army arrived at White Rock City. He felt that the terrain of his city was dangerous, and there were reinforcements from The City of Bones, so he repented of his original decision and tried to resist with danger. However, the reinforcements of The Bone City were easily broken, and Li Ji led his army to surround the city pool, attacking the city with throwing cars and crashing cars, flying stones and flowing arrows, and gathering rain in the city. Soon, Tang Taizong also led the Sixth Army to the northwest of Baiyan, and after hearing Sun Daiyin's remorse, he was furious and ordered the army: "The city should be rewarded with characters." As a result, the Tang army's offensive became more fierce. Sun Daiyin's wishful thinking could not be sounded at this time, seeing that the Tang army's offensive was great, the city was also crumbling, and Emperor Taizong had a word first, and the fate that awaited him after the city was destroyed must be extremely miserable, so he quickly sent his henchmen to surrender. It was agreed that after the Tang army came to the city, it would take "throwing knives and knives as a letter". Emperor Taizong then handed the banner of the Tang army to the emissary and said, "He who will surrender, it is advisable to build a city." However, in this way, the generals of the Tang Army did not do anything, and originally hoped that there would be great gains in laying down the city, but as soon as the people surrendered, the previous efforts would be in vain. Therefore, dozens of Li Ji's soldiers entered the court and said, "Therefore, the soldiers and pawns are fighting for the stone, ignoring their dead, and coveting the ears." Let the city be lifted, but it is even more affected by it, the heart of a lone warrior. Emperor Taizong was an immediate emperor, and naturally he would not use the corrupt set of benevolent morality to persuade his soldiers, so he said: "The arsonists kill people and capture their wives and children, and they cannot bear it." Those who have meritorious service under the general's command will be rewarded with treasures, and the general will redeem this city. "The displeasure of his soldiers was appeased by means of a heavy reward.

Soon, Sun Daiyin did indeed plant the flag of the Tang army on Baiyan City, and the soldiers and people in the city thought that the Tang army had already landed in the city, so they surrendered. As a result, the Tang army won tens of thousands of men and women in the city. Emperor Taizong of Tang set up an account to be surrendered, and rewarded the people of the city with food, and gave them brocade for more than eighty years old. The soldiers of his city in Baiyan were all comforted, distributed to the food and food, and released, and let them do as they pleased. It also takes White Rock City as the rock state, and Sun Daiyin as the thorn history. More than 700 Goryeo soldiers who had been sent by Gai Suwen to aid Gaimu City and captured by the Tang army (present-day southwest of Pyongyang, Korea), were moved by Tang Taejong's policy of favoring prisoners of war and asked them to serve in the army. However, Tang Taizong said: "Ru fights for me, and he will kill Ru's wife if he leaves the branch", so he rewarded him with grain and paid him and sent him all away. On June 3, Emperor Taizong of Tang changed the city of Gaimu to Gaizhou.

In the afternoon of the same day, the sound of pigs and chickens chirping was heard in the city of Anshi, and Tang Taizong estimated that the Goryeo defenders might attack the Tang camp at night, so they strictly equipped the troops. Sure enough, hundreds of goryeo people descended the city in the middle of the night, Tang Taejong personally rushed to the city, the Army of The Goryeo Army attacked, dozens of goryeo troops died, and the rest could only retreat to the city. The next day, Emperor Taizong of Tang ordered Emperor Daozong of Jiangxia to build a tushan mountain south of Anshi to force the city. The defenders of the city also increased their city and resisted the Tang army. The soldiers of the two sides fought in parts, and it took six or seven rounds a day. The soldiers of the Tang army used the cannon stones of the rushing car to destroy the building, and the defenders of the city used wooden fences to plug the holes that had been punched out. Li Daozong was injured in the foot during the construction of Tushan Mountain, and Tang Taizong personally acupuncture him. Therefore, the construction of the mountain is endless day and night, which has lasted more than 60 days, employing more than 500,000 people, and the top of the mountain is only a few inches away from the city, down to the city. The Daoist sect Guo Yi Fu Fu Ai prepared the top of the Tu Mountain with the enemy. Because the top of the mountain was too high, the foundation was not solid, there were too many soldiers, and the earth mountain collapsed, crushing a corner of the city wall. At this time, when Fu Ai left his post without permission, hundreds of Goryeo defenders came out of the city and occupied Tushan, "defending it". Such an excellent opportunity to conquer Anshi City was so wasted, and instead turned into his own defensive barrier by the other side, how could Emperor Taizong not be angry? Therefore, Fu Fu'ai was beheaded and paraded to the public, and the generals led their troops to retake Tushan. But after 3 consecutive days of attacking, none of them worked. Emperor Daozong went barefoot to his subordinates to plead guilty, and Emperor Taizong, with his merits in breaking gaimu and Liaodong, granted a special forgiveness without sin. At this time, the unremitting defense of AnshiCheng finally dragged the Tang army into September, and the frost in the Liaodong region fell early; The grass was dry and frozen, and the army food was about to run out, so Taizong ordered his division on September 19 to besiege Taejong and conquer Goryeo.

Before returning to the division, Emperor Taizong greatly admired the tenacity of the lord of Anshi City, and specially gave him a hundred silk horses as a reward. And the city lord Yang Wanchun also went to the city to thank him and sent the Tang army back to China. The Battle of Anshi Castle showed a very high standard on both the offensive and defensive sides, and the so-called heroes cherished heroes, although as opposing sides, they all showed Asian chivalry in the end, which can be described as a good story in the history of war.

Throughout the conquest of Goryeo, Emperor Taejong not only went to the front line to kill the enemy, but also did the hard work of building siege fortifications, paving roads when crossing swamps, etc., and finally returned with the same rags as the soldiers, insisting on not changing his yellow robe, which was already full of holes. The song of "no clothes" has been sung for a thousand years, and Emperor Taizong is probably one of the most famous kings.

During this eastern expedition, the Tang army attacked and uprooted 10 cities, including Xuanju and Hengshan, Gaimu, Momi, Liaodong, Baiyan, Beisha, Maigu, Yinshan, and Houhuang, and moved 70,000 people from the three prefectures of Liao, Gai, and Yan into Shanhaiguan. A total of 40,000 enemies were annihilated, two of his generals were demoted, 3,500 of the generals and the sons of the officials and chiefs, and 100,000 soldiers were sent back to the mainland, and Cheng Liang was released to return to the mainland. Fifty thousand each of the cattle and horses and a large amount of grain were obtained. The Tang army itself lost nearly two thousand, and 78 out of 10 dead horses.

Xue Rengui

On June 11, 645, in the nineteenth year of Zhenguan (645), Emperor Taizong of Tang led an army from Baiyan and advanced towards anshi city. On the twentieth, they arrived at the north of the city and immediately sent troops to attack the city. The next day, Gaisu Wen sent 150,000 people from the northern slave division of Goryeo to rescue Anshi, and a famous battle in the history of Huashan.

At the beginning of the great war, the situation of the Tang army was actually extremely unfavorable. I have already said that the shortcomings of the Tang army's undermanned numbers in order to ensure logistics were exposed at this time, and before attacking Anshi City, the Tang army had already captured eight cities in Goryeo, and these cities needed to be defended by separate troops to prevent recurrence. The total strength of the Tang army was only 60,000 army and 40,000 water troops, the water army did not converge at that time, Zhang Liang's water army was still on the way to attack Jian'an City, and the strength of The strength of Taizong's side was only 50,000 at most, some of which needed to maintain logistics and transportation, and some of which needed to continue to surround Anshi City to prevent the enemy from attacking inside and outside, so that the strength that could meet the battle was only 30,000 people. The ratio of enemy and enemy strength has reached a point of 5:1, and it is also fighting abroad, which is extremely dangerous.

In the face of such a situation, the Tang army from Taizong to ordinary soldiers and soldiers were very optimistic, and Taizong said at that time: There are three strategies for prolonging life: to lead the troops straight ahead, Lian'an City as a fortress, according to the danger of the mountains, the millet in the city, the longitudinal and stunted and plundered my cattle and horses, the attack cannot be sudden, and if you want to return, you will be hindered by mud, and you will sit in the trap of our army, and the upper strategy will also be; Pull out the multitudes in the city, and with them the night, the middle strategy also; Don't be smart, come to fight with me, and make a decision. Qing Cao Guan Zhi, he will make a decision, and he will be captured in my eyes. And ordinary soldiers", "smelling Goryeo to the end, all draw their swords and knots (such as the streamers of swallowtails), and they are happy. It can be seen that Tang Jun is full of confidence in his field combat ability.

The Goryeo side, on the other hand, was obviously confused by its overwhelming superiority and began to ignore the Tang army. Of course, there were not people in the Goryeo army who did not understand, and at that time, there was a person named Gao Zhengyi who said to Lu Guan: "I heard that China was in chaos, and heroes rose up together." Qin King Shenwu, invincible, Suiping the world, the south for the emperor, the north Yi please serve, Xi Rong donated. Now the country has fallen, and the fierce generals are sharp, and they are gathered here, and their sharp edges cannot be taken seriously. Now for the sake of planning, Morroton's troops do not fight, protracted, dispatch Xiaoxiong, cut off their feeding, but in the tenth day, the army will run out of food, can not seek war, want to return to nowhere, this is not a war and victory. This plan was precisely the last thing Emperor Taejong wanted the Goryeo army to implement. However, under the condition of having absolute superiority in troops, they avoided fighting, and the 150,000 troops refused to defend, and the consumption of materials was even more amazing, so it was obviously extremely difficult to accept such a strategy from top to bottom, so the Goryeo commander Gao Yanshou rejected this strategy at that time, decided to take the initiative to attack, and broke the Tang army in one fell swoop, so he led the army straight forward and drove to a place only forty miles south of Anshi City.

In order to lure the enemy deeper, Emperor Taizong of Tang ordered the left guard general Ashinasheer to challenge more than a thousand Turks. As soon as they made contact, the Tang army pretended to be invincible and retreated backwards. The Goryeo soldiers, believing that the Tang army was vulnerable, pursued them and marched straight to Liushan (located southeast of present-day Haicheng, Liaoning), 8 miles east of Anshi City, and formed a formation along the mountain for more than 40 miles.

Tang Taizong and the eldest grandson Wuji led hundreds of horses to climb the high hill and observe the terrain. They know everything about where they can ambush and enter and leave. At this time, Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, believed that Goryeo poured all its troops to rescue Anshi, and the garrison of the capital city of Pyongyang must be empty, so please allocate 5,000 elite troops to take Pyongyang directly. But Tang Taizong did not agree. Li Daozong's suggestion was later affirmed by Li Jing, who believed that if this strategy had been adopted at that time, then this move of cutting down Goryeo would have been fully successful. Of course, we analyzed the situation at that time, and it was also reasonable for Li Shimin not to adopt this strategy, because at that time the Tang army was seriously insufficient, the soldiers were afraid that there were not many, and the risk of having to allocate 5,000 people to raid Pyongyang at this time was too great, although Taizong's lifelong conquest and risk of war and risk could be described as everywhere, but now That Emperor Taizong had become a son of heaven, the harvest of risks and the risk of failure at this time were too disproportionate, and finally he did not agree.

That night, Tang Taizong made the following deployment: Order Li Ji to ride the infantry 1 . 50,000 deployed in Xiling to lure the enemy to attack; Ling Changsun Wuji led Niu Jinda and 11,000 elite soldiers to think that they were surprised soldiers, ambushed in the narrow valley north of the mountain, and when they were about to attack, they rushed out from behind the enemy. He personally rode 4000, took the drum horn, rolled up the flag, and climbed the North Mountain. He also ordered all the armies, with the sound of drums and horns as a trumpet, to attack in unison. He also ordered Yuji to set up a surrender tent on the side of the hall, and said confidently, "Tomorrow at noon, Na Surrender will be here!" It was night, and perhaps The Heavens could not bear the fate that the Goryeo army would face tomorrow, so a meteor fell into the camp of Gao Yanshou, but Gao Yanshou still did not feel anything.

On June 22, Gao Yanshou found that Li Ji was deploying a position on the opposite side, so he reorganized his non-commissioned officers and lined up to meet the battle. After Tang Taizong ascended the North Mountain, he saw the dust flying in the narrow valley, and knew that the eldest son Wujie had entered the designated place with his troops, and immediately ordered the drums and horns to sound in unison. As a result, the soldiers and horses of the Tang Army marched in unison. Gao Yanshou did not prevent himself from being surrounded, and he was greatly alarmed, and he quickly divided his troops to resist, but was the well-arranged army formation so easy to adjust? Confusion was created at the time of the movement. At this moment, the wind and clouds changed, the rivers and mountains changed color, the clouds were dense, countless thunderbolts split from the air, and a white-robed Tang general came out with the thunder and lightning Prancing Horse, holding a long halberd, holding a bow at the waist, shouting to enter first, and moving forward, but the Goryeo army was invincible but left. Li Ji formed a formation with spears and advanced head-on, and Changsun Wuji made a surprise attack after him, and Emperor Taizong, as a pioneer soldier, led 4,000 cavalry down from the North Mountain, attacked the flank of the Goryeo army, and under the siege of three sides, the Goryeo army collapsed, and the Tang army beheaded 20,000 ranks.

Gao Yanshou retreated to the mountain in defeat, collected the remnants of the army, and fixed himself on the mountain. Emperor Taizong of Tang led the Tang army to surround the remnants of the Goryeo army. The eldest grandson dismantled all the bridges and cut off their way back. Gao Yanshou and Gao Huizhen, etc., when they were desperate, had to lead their troops 3. 68 million people please descend and kneel. Enter the military gate and bow down to ask for your life. Emperor Taizong of Tang selected 3,500 chieftains below the rank of Emperor Taizong, conferred them on military posts, moved them to the interior, killed 3,300 soldiers, and released all the rest of the soldiers and returned to Pyongyang. The released soldiers all raised their hands and cheered. The Tang army received 50,000 horses, 50,000 cattle, mingguang armor, and countless other military equipment. After this great defeat, the whole country of Goryeo was shocked, and the defenders of Houhuangcheng (present-day Shenyangnan, Liaoning) and Yincheng (present-day Tielingling, Liaoning) all fled on their own, and there were no people for hundreds of miles.

When you see this, you will definitely wonder, who will be that white-robed Tang who is like a god under the heavens? That is Xue Li, who is greatly famous in the novel interpretation. Xue Rengui's name is Rengui, and he is famous for his characters, so most of the later generations do not call names but directly call themselves characters. He was a native of Longmen (Linghejin, Shanxi), and on this expedition to Liao, he took the initiative to visit the general Zhang Shigui to recruit him, and when he reached Andi, Youlang surrounded Liu Junang as an enemy army, and seeing that the enemy could not resist, Xue Rengui single-handedly went to the rescue, he jumped on the horse path, beheaded the enemy general with his hand, hung his head in the saddle, and the thieves were intimidated, and Xue Rengui became famous. This time xue Rengui was proud of himself and brave in the battle of Huashan Mountain, and he had long been prepared to make a splash, so he changed into a white robe, which was very different from the color of other people's armor, and rushed to the front when he was about to fight. Coinciding with the combination of thunder and lightning in the sky, his white robe was even more conspicuous in the darkness. so-called

The young man is bold and brave enough to regain his knowledge.

The sword went out, and the isolated city was surrounded.

Kill people on the water, walk horses and fish yang return.

Staggered gold lock armor, monty mink rat coat.

Return home and hunt, the bow arrow is as fast as flying.

Ground eagle dog disease, grass deep fox rabbit fat.

Belt two ribbons around the waist, turning the eyes into brilliance.

Gu said that today's war, why follow Jianwei?

In this way, he was indeed noticed by Emperor Taizong, who was watching the battle on the mountain, and after the war, he was rewarded with meritorious deeds, and was given two horses and forty silk horses, and was promoted to guerrilla general and Yunquan Fu Guoyi, still making the north gate chief, and giving ten slaves, so Xue Rengui began to be famous in the world.

After this war, Emperor Taizong changed the Six Mountains to the Foot Mountain, and ordered the general to make the "Broken Array Map", and the book attendant Xu Jingzong was appointed as Wen Leshi to commemorate his merits. He was awarded the title of Gao Yanshou HongxuQing and Gao HuiZhensi Nongqing.

On the other hand, when Emperor Taizong was engaged in the Battle of Taejong, the water army led by Zhang Liang, the commander-in-chief of the Tang Pyongyang Road March, continued to advance northwest after capturing the city of Peisha, and when it reached Jian'an City (present-day Qingshiling, Gaizhou, Liaoning), the Tang army's barrier had not yet been reinforced, most of the soldiers went out to collect and graze, and the Goryeo defenders in Jian'an City suddenly attacked, and the Tang army was alarmed. Zhang Liang was a mediocre talent, plain and cowardly, and when he saw the enemy army killed, he sat on the bed, looked directly at it and did not say a word, and was frightened like a wooden chicken. However, when the generals saw that his look was unchanged, they also thought that he was calm and courageous, and that his military spirit was slightly fixed, and that Zhang Jinshu, the general manager, and others were drumming up the whole army and attacking the enemy. The Goryeo defenders could not resist, so they had to flee the city in defeat, and the infant city defended itself and did not dare to fight. Such a victory can also be called a joke in the history of war.

Stop at Anshi City

On July 5, Emperor Taizong of Tang moved his military camp to the east of Anshi City and discussed the siege strategy with Li Ji and others. The lord of Anshi City at this time was called Yang Wanchun, whose man Xiao Yong, his soldiers and horses were excellent, and the terrain of the city was extremely dangerous, when Mo Lizhi rebelled, Yang Wanchun disobeyed Mo Lizhi's usurpation of power, so Mo Lizhi sent a large army to attack Anshi City but failed, so he had to acquiesce to Yang Wanchun's rule in Anshi City. Tang Taizong knew that Anshi City was a difficult bone to gnaw, and Yang Wanchun made up his mind to hold the city and never fight with the Tang army head-on, and it was very difficult for the Tang army to hard attack anshi city, so he proposed that She'an City and attack Jian'an in the west, at this time, the water army led by Zhang Liang was also besieging Jian'an City, and the two armies attacked "Jian'anDe, then An City is in my belly"; However, Li Ji believed that if the west attacked Jian'an, it would be too far away from Liaodong City, the grain base of the Tang Army, and if Goryeo cut off my way back, the situation would inevitably be a crisis, so he insisted on "attacking An City first". At last. Tang Taizong agreed to Li Ji's plan in line with the principle of employing people without doubt. In fact, Emperor Taizong's decision at this time was still correct, if he besieged Jian'an, he could leave a part of the army in Anshi City and send another member to continue to besiege the city, and the defenders of Anshi City would never dare to go out of the city to fight in the field, and if the Defenders of Anshi City dared to go out of the city to fight in the field, it was even more the middle and Tang armies. When Emperor Taizong arrived at Jian'an City, he could get Zhang Liang's 40,000 water army to supplement it, so even if the number of troops left in Anshi City was a little larger, it would not affect the capture of Jian'an City, and the performance of the Defenders of Jian'an City before it was obviously not difficult to capture, but unfortunately the development in history was not always satisfactory.

On August 10, Emperor Taizong of Tang moved his military camp south of Anshi, cutting off the connection between Anshi and Jian'an. He then ordered Li Ji to attack the city. Li Ji and other Goryeo descended camps under the city of Anshi and recruited the generals in the city. But the city stood still, and every time he saw the taizong flag covered, he would take advantage of the noise of the city and resist with a bow and arrow. Emperor Taizong was furious, and Li Ji took the opportunity to ask for the day of Kecheng, and the man did his best. When this word reached the city, the defenders were indignant, and everyone fought to the death, so they could not conquer for a long time. At this time, Goryeo sent a proposal to Goryeo to reunite with his wife in order to move the hearts of the defenders of An city; He then moved his troops to attack Wukuo City (south of present-day Fengcheng, Liaoning), where the defenders were weak and could reach Xike. In the end, the army moved south, and Pyongyang could be easily obtained. The generals of the group also suggested that they should meet with the water army led by Zhang Liang, and vigorously attack the black bones, "crossing the Yalu Water and taking Pyongyang directly, in this move." Tang Taizong was about to adopt this suggestion, but the eldest son Wuji tried his best to stop it. He believed that if the troops were moved, the Goryeo defenders of Jian'an and Xincheng would "follow me," and our army would be worried about the enemy on its stomach and back. Therefore, he advocated breaking the city of An first, then taking Jian'an, and then driving forward for a long time, "this all-round strategy". Changsun Wuji's suggestion was of course a foolproof strategy, but this plunged the Tang army into the process of fighting head-on with many "nails" established by Goryeo one by one, and the war was bound to be protracted, and when the Tang army pulled out all the nails, how many troops could it have to attack the capital of Goryeo, Pyongyang? Obviously, according to this policy, it became an impossible task to attack Goryeo in one fell swoop. In fact, in short, it was still the disaster that the Tang army did not have enough troops, if the Tang army had a little more troops, why did Emperor Taizong, who was stationed in the Battle of Taizong, be stingy with those 5,000 people? Now, it is even more possible to divide the troops to attack Jian'an and the black bone cities, attack more points, and will not be trapped under the city of Anshi.