Judging from the records of this battle in the history books, the entire course of the battle shows that the Tang army has the following characteristics everywhere:
Soldiers and soldiers are brave and good at fighting, have a high fighting spirit, have a strong desire for war, and dare to fight vicious battles; the generals of the unified army are particularly good at seizing the fighter, daring to take the initiative to attack with a small number of elites without hesitation, and relying on their strong combat strength, they can defeat the enemy several times with fewer victories. This is Tang Jun, that's how he can fight!
This is also the main reason why the Japanese army still suffered a fierce defeat despite having a 4-fold superiority in troops. Compared with Tang Jun, their combat effectiveness is not at all on the same level.
In the early Tang Dynasty, there was no such name as Japan, and at that time it was still called the Uighur Kingdom. The so-called Japanese army, the correct name should be the Uighur Army. It was not until decades after the end of the Battle of Shiraeguchi that the Uighurs issued a decree and called it Japan.
Battle of Baekjeongkou: Refers to a battle between the Tang Dynasty Baekje garrison and the combined forces of the Uighurs and Baekje in August 663 at the mouth of the Jinjiang River in present-day Korea. In the Tang Dynasty, this place was called Baijiangkou.
Comparison of the strength of the two sides:
(1) The total land and water strength of the Tang Army was more than 17,000 people, and more than 100 warships.
(2) The total strength of the Uighur and Baekje armies was not less than 60,000, the Uighur army was nearly 40,000 people, and more than 1,000 warships.
The course of the battle: The Tang army, with its elite troops who were inferior in number, decisively launched an attack and directly attacked the nest of the Baekje coalition army of the Uighur State, Zhou Liucheng, and hit the enemy by surprise.
Battle result: The Tang army won a complete victory in water and land battles.
The Uighur army suffered heavy casualties, suffered a major defeat and fled, and since then it has not dared to cross the sea to the east for nearly a thousand years. Baekje became history, and the dream of a second restoration was completely shattered.
The details of the Battle of Baijiangkou must first clarify the background and context of the pre-war period.
Pre-war background – the arrogant and self-destructive Baekje kingdom.
In the northeast of the Tang Dynasty, in addition to Goguryeo, which spanned liaodong, there were two small states of Baekje and Silla.
Goguryeo straddled Liaodong in a vain attempt to stand side by side with the Tang Dynasty. Baekje, on the other hand, relied on goguryeo to support it, and made good friends with the Uighurs, repeatedly invading Silla.
Silla called for help, and Datang asked Baekje to strike.
Baekje ignored it and did not take Datang seriously. What is this called?
This is a person who has never been punched, I don't know what it is like to be beaten, it is purely the rhythm of the beating.
March 660 AD. (Emperor Gaozong of Tang 5th year)
Su Dingfang, the general of Zuo Wuwei who had run amok in the Western Regions and destroyed the king of the country one after another, was once again appointed as the "Grand Commander of the Shenqiu Road March" shortly after the triumph of the class division, commanding the armies to go out on a campaign against Baekje.
Is it possible for a small country like Baekje to resist the Tang Dynasty?
Within a few months, the Tang army was defeated by the first 10,000 enemies, and the Baekje army collapsed, and the country was destroyed, and the king became a prisoner.
In October of the same year, the baekje king, 93 nobles and more than 12,000 clan members were escorted by the Tang army to cross the sea in triumph. King Buyeo Yici and his sons Buyeo Long and Buyeo Tai, including fifty-eight others, were captured at the Tianmen Gate of Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty.
The second Liu of the Tang Dynasty who remained in Baekje, Liu Renyuan and Liu Renluo.
(1) Zuo Xiao Wei Lang will Liu Renyuan.
Liu Renyuan was the queen of Liu Bao, the Right Emperor of the Xiongnu during the Han Dynasty. From the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Liu clan has been the gatekeeper for generations.
In his early years, Liu Renyan was first a student of the Hongwenguan, and then he was selected as the personal guard of Tang Taizong, who was excellent in martial arts and was said to have the courage of a beast with his bare hands.
After the fall of Baekje, the main force of the Tang army turned to Goguryeo.
Liu Renyan, who had been promoted to the position of general of Zuo Xiaowei Lang, led his troops to the old capital of Baekje;
Zuo Wei Zhonglang made Wang Wendu the Governor of Xiongjin.
The second general led the Tang army to remain in Baekje, with a total strength of about 10,000 people.
The Baekje remnants counterattacked the Tang army.
Baekje's old generals, monk Daochen and Onifushi Fukushin, were not willing to destroy the country, united the remnants, and guarded the city of Zhouliu near the mouth of the Baekje River, recruited troops and horses, and asked the Uighur state for help, hoping to counterattack the old capital and plot to restore the country.
Baekje gathered tens of thousands of people to besiege the old capital city where Liu Renyan was stationed, and the momentum was huge.
Soon after the arrival of Xiongjin Governor Wang Wendu, he fell ill and died, and his troops were leaderless, and the situation suddenly changed, and he was unable to support Liu Renyuan.
As a result, Liu Renyan lost his strategy and was trapped in Baekje City alone, so he had to report to the imperial court Feishu.
At this time, it was urgent to send a capable general to command Wang Wendu's soldiers and horses to assist Liu Renyan.
So who to send?
(2) The revival of the former Qingzhou Assassin Liu Renluo, who had been demoted to a commoner.
When the imperial court gathered a large army to cut down Goguryeo, Liu Renluo, the assassin of Qingzhou, was ordered to supervise the transportation of military food.
Unexpectedly, the grain convoy encountered a hurricane during the cross-sea voyage, resulting in many overturns of grain ships and heavy losses.
As a result, he was held accountable, stripped Liu Renlu of all his positions, demoted from a state assassin to a civilian, and ordered to serve in the military with a crime.
When Baekje was in a hurry, an edict was issued, and Liu Renji became a thorn in the history from a commoner, and was appointed as the inspector (agent) to lead the Fangzhou thorn history, restrain the soldiers and horses of the Governor of Xiongjin, and assist Liu Renyuan in suppressing the rebellion and defending Baekje.
Liu Renluo, who has experienced a major ups and downs, is still full of ambition.
Before taking up his post, Ren Zhi said to his subordinates:
"I will go and level the Eastern Yi and promulgate the Tang Dynasty Zhengshuo, and you will all work together to help me, so why should I not build a meritorious deed?"
When these words were said, all the people under his command were enthusiastically encouraged and highly motivated.
Liu Renluo took over Wang Wendu's old army of soldiers and horses, and recruited a number of Silla soldiers, shendang the military law, organized the troops, and led the soldiers and soldiers straight to the old capital of Baekje.
Along the way, the situation was like a bamboo, and the battle was invincible, defeating the rebels who surrounded the old capital and rendezvousing with Liu Renyuan.
After that, the two Liu joined forces.
The Tang Dynasty is integrated with culture and martial arts, and the history of the state assassination can all lead the army to fight!
Because Kumazukou was a stronghold, the Tang army abandoned the old capital of Baekje and moved its main force to Kumajin Castle.
Liu Renyuan served as the governor of Xiongjin, and Liu Renluo was still supplemented by the inspection and proofreading of fang thorns.
Multiple factors, such as the rebellion in the northwest and extreme weather, forced the Tang to suspend its crusade against Goguryeo and withdraw its troops in an all-round way, and the Tang army stationed in Baekje became a lone army.
February 662 AD.
The Tang army began to withdraw from Goguryeo in an all-round way. Emperor Gaozong of Tang issued an edict to Erliu, who was stationed in Baekje, saying:
"The large army has withdrawn, and the garrison of Kumajin is weak, so it is better to abandon the city and enter Silla first; if the king of Silla stays in Silla and other garrisons, he can first garrison Silla." Otherwise, then the whole army will cross the sea and return to China! ”
From this point of view, Datang is very concerned about the soldiers who stick to overseas!
After Liu Renyan received the edict, he hesitated and was difficult to decide for a while.
Liu Renluo resolutely opposed the withdrawal of troops and vigorously urged Liu Ren to say:
"The minister is for the sake of the country, and there is no difference between death and death, and he cannot be greedy and avoid harm." The Lord wanted to destroy Goguryeo, so he first sought to pacify Baekje, and left me and other garrisons to guard the danger, also for the sake of Goguryeo's henchmen... If we abandon the city today, it will make decades of bloody battles in vain and so on. ”
In short, Liu Renluo tried his best to persuade Liu Renyuan that Baekje Xiongjin City must not be abandoned, and if it persists, it will be able to build a miracle.
Liu Renyuan and the generals of the Tang Army, after hearing Liu Renluo's words, although they understood that they had become a lone army, they were willing to continue to hold Xiongjin and block the enemy's confidants.
Therefore, Liu Ren was willing to go to the imperial court, and Er Liu was determined to hold the city of Xiongjin with a lone army and continue to control Baekje.
The imperial court allowed the withdrawal of troops, but voluntarily stayed alone, which was the high morale and fighting spirit of the soldiers of the Sheng Tang army!
However, at this time, the baekje remnants, after receiving the support of the Uighur kingdom, the new king was established again, the vitality was gradually restored, and the strength was slowly increased.
The Uighurs supported Baekje.
The first month of 661.
Emperor Wuqi personally sailed west to Chikushi County to prepare for the expedition to support Baekje.
Unexpectedly, in July, the emperor fell ill and died. However, the ambition of the Uighur state to compete with the Tang Dynasty became more and more fierce.
August 661.
The advance troops of the Uighur army crossed the sea and the Uighur army officially landed in Baekje.
In September, the 5,000-strong Uighur army escorted the Exiled Baekje prince Buyeo Feng back to the country, and was proclaimed King of Baekje by Onifukun.
As a result, the Uighur Kingdom officially came to the fore and began to send a large number of troops and materials to Baekje in an endless stream to help Baekje fight against the Tang army. In essence, this is an open call to datang.
The arrogance of the new king of Baekje and the determination of Liu Renluo.
The Tang dynasty army withdrew from Goguryeo in an all-round way, and Buyeo Feng, who had returned from the Uighur kingdom to inherit the throne of Baekje, suddenly hardened his waist.
Therefore, an emissary was sent to Xiongjin City to explore the truth, and the emissary met Er liu and asked with a serious question:
"I heard that the army of the Kingdom of God has returned, but I don't know when the two will return, and then my king will send troops to escort them!"
Baekje thought that the Tang army was lonely and would not dare to stay in Xiongjin again.
Liu Renluo deliberately pretended to be angry and said to the emissary: "Since our army has withdrawn, of course I will return home without labor." ”
After the return of the Baekje emissaries, Liu Renji and Liu Ren wished to make a plan:
"The thief has deceived me too much, and now I think that I will withdraw without being on guard, and our army can take this opportunity to rush forward and beat him to the point of attacking him unprepared."
As a result, the Tang army prepared for battle, and suddenly launched an attack on the remaining areas of Baekje.
Baekje did not expect that the Tang army, which had become a lone soldier, dared to take the initiative to attack, and was suddenly caught off guard, and lost the city and land one after another.
Liu Ren was willing to personally supervise the raid on Zhiluo City and break it with one drum.
Then, there were more than a dozen military fences such as the Big Mountain and the Manhole.
Liu Renluo's overseers conquered Da Nang and opened the grain route with Silla.
Erliu again went to the imperial court to explain the situation and requested additional troops to annihilate the remnants of Baekje in one fell swoop.
Therefore, the imperial court sent 7,000 sailors and land soldiers from the three prefectures of Zi, Qing, and Lai to Xiongjin;
He also sent the Right Wei general Sun Renshi to be the commander-in-chief of the March of Kumajin Province, commanding all the armies in a unified manner, and attacking Baekje.
The king of Baekje, Buyeo Feng, was stunned and hurriedly asked the Uighurs for reinforcements, while the Uighurs, who had never fought with the Tang Dynasty, thought they were invincible in the world and decided to recruit a large army to Baekje to fight the Tang army.
May 663.
At this time, the Uighur army in Baekje already had more than 40,000 troops and more than 1,000 warships.
Together with baekje's various departments, the strength of the Uighurs and Baekje far exceeded that of the Tang army.
However, the secret of Datang's victory is to seize the fighter, attack decisively, and directly take the heart of the enemy army.
Liu Renji's suggestion for attack was like this: concentrate his forces and directly attack baekje's new capital, Zhouliu City, located on the edge of the Baekje River.
Tang Army's Military Recruitment Plan:
Sun Renshi and Liu Renyuan led the infantry and horses, and Liu Renluo led the Tang Army's water division, which was parallel by land and water, and attacked Zhou Liu in a hurry.
At the end of August, the Tang army attacked.
When Liu Ren rail's fleet advanced to the mouth of the Baijiang River. Soon encountered the Uighur water army.
More than a hundred Tang warships fought against more than a thousand Uighur warships, and fierce water battles began.
The Tang army ships had few soldiers, but the walls were tall and thick, well-designed, and the soldiers and soldiers were well armoured and brave.
At the beginning of the battle, the Tang Army's marine division seized the upper hand, fired rockets one after another, threw fire downwind, and for a time the flames rose to the sky, more than 400 Warships were burned, the Casualties of the Uighur Army were not counted, and the sea water was soaked with blood red.
Sun Renshi and Liu Renyuan also supervised the infantry to attack from the land, and the combat strength of the 10,000 Tang army infantry and horsemen at that time was not a problem, and it was really not something that the Uighurs and Baekje soldiers could fight.
As a result, the remnants of the Uighur army and the new king of Baekje, Buyeo Toyokura, fled back to the Uighur kingdom.
Buyeo Feng's sons, Buyeo Zhongsheng, Zhongzhi, etc., opened the gates of Zhou Liu and led the people to surrender, and at this point, Baekje was once again destroyed.
The first war in the history of the Uighur state against the ancient Chinese Central Plains Dynasty ended in a fiasco of a one-touch defeat.