There are many famous generals under Tang Taizong Li Shimin, and some people may think of Li Jing, who is proficient in the art of war, as well as the five tiger generals Luo Cheng, Qin Shubao, Shan Xiongxin, Wang Bodang, and Cheng Yaojin of Wagangzhai. In fact, Li Shimin also had a general in Wagangzhai at that time, and this person was Li Ji, a generation of war gods.
Li Ji can be said to have the same status as Li Jing, and was later created a British Duke after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty. Li Ji made great achievements in battle in his life, followed Li Shimin to conquer the world, made great achievements, and was one of Li Shimin's favorite famous generals. Many people say that Li Ji's military strategy is not inferior to Li Jing's, and he has also won many battles, but why did it take 25 years for the little Goguryeo to conquer?
1. The name of Wagang will be submitted to Li Tang
Li Ji's original name was Xu Shixun, and he was later given the surname Li by Tang Gaozute for his military exploits to show his merits. Li Ji was originally a fox in Caozhou who followed his father to live in Weinan County, Huazhou since he was a child. Because Li Ji's family was well-off, his father was broad-minded and liked to help others, so Li Ji also followed his father from a young age to pity the poor people and take the relief of the world as his responsibility.
In 611, due to the continuous war in the world, Li Ji defected to Cui Rang and joined Wagangzhai. When Li Ji joined Wagangzhai, he persuaded Cui Rang to spend money to recruit troops and horses to establish his own forces, and soon Cui Rang gathered more than 10,000 people in WagangZhai and became the owner of the village that occupied one side. Later, because he sent troops with the dynasty to attack Wagangzhai, it was fortunate that Li Ji used strategy to help Wagangzhai win the war.
Because of the absurdity of the Sui Emperor, many officials of the Sui Dynasty rebelled, and Li Mi was one of them. Li Ji knew that Li Mi was a heroic figure who rebelled against the Sui Dynasty, so he persuaded Cui Rang to accept Li Mi and make him the new lord of Wagang Village. Li Mi was also quite strategic, and in the early stage, he also expanded his power on behalf of Wagangzhai and captured Xingyang.
In 617, the Sui Emperor sent Wang Shichong to attack Wagangzhai, and Li Mi used a clever trick to defeat the Sui army at Luoshui, and Li Mi was also given the title of Duke of Donghai County. Later, Li Mi saw that the flooding caused by the flooding, which caused hunger everywhere, so he persuaded Li Mi to attack Liyangcang to relieve the victims. The local people are also very grateful to Li Mi, and many people have joined Wagang Village.
In 618, because of the Sui Dynasty general Yu Wenhua and rebellion, after assassinating the Sui Emperor, he raised an army to attack Wagangzhai, but Li Mi and Li Jili should cooperate with the Great Destruction Yu Culture. Later, Li Mi was defeated by Wang Shichong and led the people of Wagangzhai to surrender to Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty. Later, because of Li Ji's loyalty, he was given the surname Li by Li Yuan's appreciation, and Li Ji was loyal to Li Tang throughout his life.
Second, after all the hardships to conquer Goryeo
Since Li Ji returned to the Tang Dynasty, he accompanied Li Shimin in his conquest of the four directions, and also made many merits, and was a famous god of war in the early Tang Dynasty. Li Ji was also favored by Li Shimin, and even on his deathbed, he instructed his son Li Zhi to treat Li Ji kindly, saying that Li Ji's talents could help him govern the country well, and he must be given an official and knighthood.
It is conceivable that Tang Taizong's love for Li Ji was so great that he did not forget the merits he had made for the Tang Dynasty on his deathbed. And this invincible general also spent a lot of time and energy to capture a frontier region of the Tang Dynasty, which was Goguryeo. And what kind of place was Goguryeo that caused Li Ji to take 25 years to conquer?
Goguryeo was originally a frontier region of ancient China, spanning northeast China and northern Korea. Since ancient times, the war between Goguryeo in the Central Plains has been continuous, and Emperor Wen of Sui also sent troops to Goguryeo because Goguryeo did not follow the etiquette of the king of the domain. When he came to Tang Taizong Li Shimin's side, it was because Goryeo wanted to block the offensive routes of other Tang states at that time, which led the Tang Dynasty to send troops to fight.
In 644, after goguryeo refused because the Tang Dynasty demanded that Goguryeo stop the war with Silla, Li Shimin asked Li Ji to march from Liaodong to Goguryeo. Because before the Sui Dynasty Emperor went to Goguryeo, he forced the people to join the army, and the military spirit was scattered. Therefore, when it came to Tang Taizong's side, they let the people voluntarily join the army, and when they marched into Goryeo, no one complained, and they were willing to die to serve the Tang army.
In 645, Li Ji and the Tang army arrived at Xuanju, because the Tang army was vast and unified, and Goguryeo closed the city gates for fear of the Tang army's attack. Li Ji and Zhang Jian attacked back and forth, Zhang Jian captured Jian'an City and Li Ji captured Gaimu City, leaving Goguryeo with no way to retreat. Later, Zhang Liang and Cheng Mingzhen joined forces to capture The City of Peisha, capturing more than 8,000 people.
Goguryeo had no resistance to the Onslaught of the Tang army, and sent 40,000 infantry cavalry to come to the aid, and finally defeated the Tang army and lost thousands of troops. After that, Li Ji and Li Shimin joined forces and together captured Liaodong City, and then Baiyan City.
After capturing Baiyan City, the Tang army set out to march into Anshi City. The Tang army was condescending and chose a dangerous high ground to camp in order to ambush. Li Ji lined up his troops, Tang Taizong ordered the march, xue Rengui led his troops into the Goguryeo army, the Goguryeo army was unable to resist, and suffered a major defeat and loss of more than 20,000 people. The Tang army then intercepted the goguryeo army's retreat.
Later, because Goguryeo stubbornly resisted and had been sticking to the city, and the grain and grass were running out, the Tang army had no choice but to retreat back to Tang. Although Tang Taizong and Li Ji sent troops this time, the Goryeo army lost many cities and generals, but at the same time, the Tang army did not really defeat Gao Junli. Although the Tang army won, it also consumed a lot of manpower and material resources, so Li Ji also had regrets in it.
Although Goguryeo was defeated by the Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo did not think of invading the border. Instead, he began to accumulate strength, pay attention to farming, and prepare for the next war. In 666, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, due to civil unrest among Gao Junli's courtiers, Quan Boy was forced by his brothers to request assistance from the Tang Dynasty, and Li Ji was ordered to quell the chaos and appease him.
In 667, Li Jixian sent troops to attack the western city of Goryeo, and the Goryeo army defeated sixteen cities in a row, while Xue Ingui defeated the Goguryeo army at Jinshan, breaking the three cities of Nansu, Mudi, and Cangyan in succession, and causing the Goguryeo army to lose 50,000 soldiers and horses.
In 668, Xue Rengui and Li Ji jointly attacked the Goguryeo army, causing more than forty cities and pools of Goryeo to surrender. Then the Tang army advanced into the Yalu Gate, captured The City of Chenyi, and besieged Pyongyang. In the end, Goguryeo could not resist the Tang army's attack, And Li Ji led his troops to capture Pyongyang and captured Quannanjian, at which point Goguryeo withdrew and surrendered, and all the cities were under the control of the Tang Dynasty.
summary:
It took Li Ji 25 years to finally defeat Goguryeo, making Goguryeo the governor of the Tang Dynasty. Although the First Tang Army said that the military spirit was unified, And Generals such as Li Ji and Xue Rengui used soldiers like gods, Goguryeo was too remote, and it would take too much manpower and material resources to march from the Central Plains to Goguryeo.
In addition, after the Tang army did not completely defeat Goguryeo in the later period, it returned to the Central Plains, giving Goguryeo the opportunity to develop in the later period. Fortunately, in the later period, Li Ji continued to send troops to fight and finally won victory. Although the victory came very late, the ending was finally fulfilled. At this point, give the world a wake-up call, attack the enemy thoroughly, otherwise the enemy will have the opportunity to start again.