My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 176: Learn from the past, take Gaimu City first
Tai Chi Palace, inside the Liang Yi Palace.

The ministers were having a military discussion.

It wasn't just one person speaking a few words, it was mainly Li Jing and Li Shimin who were chatting.

After all, in terms of military strategy, Li Jing and Li Shimin are undoubtedly the best.

Others attended mainly to become more familiar with their own military objectives.

Li Jing pointed at the map and said.

"The imperial army set out from Chang'an and arrived in Luoyang. From Luoyang, they marched north along the eastern side of Taihang Mountain, passing Dingzhou and arriving in Youzhou."

"Since ancient times, this road has always been used to connect the Central Plains to the Liaodong region. The terrain is relatively flat, and food and supplies from surrounding states can also be gathered along this road."

"After leaving Youzhou, the army continued to advance northeastwards, entering Yingzhou to reorganize the troops, train the horses, and forge weapons."

Li Shimin nodded and said, "I have issued an edict to the Khitan, Xi and other tribes to cooperate with each other. They can gather in Yingzhou at that time to increase their military strength."

"Now let's see, after the army reaches Yingzhou, will they first take Liaodong City or Gaimu City?"

Liaodong City is the gateway to Goryeo, and Gaimu City is an important military town of Goryeo in Liaodong. Occupying Gaimu City can open a passage to the heartland of Goryeo.

Zhang Sun Wuji pondered for a moment and suggested: "For this Eastern Expedition, we should learn from the lessons of the previous dynasty. When Emperor Yang of Sui attacked Goryeo for the first time, he focused on Liaodong City, the gateway to Goryeo. However, Liaodong City is a strong city and the most important city of Goryeo, with tens of thousands of elite soldiers stationed there."

"Now we have absorbed the remnants of the previous dynasty and strengthened the city's defenses. If the army attacks Goryeo first, it will take a long time and be detrimental to morale."

"I suggest that we attack Gaimu City first. Compared with Liaodong City, Gaimu City is easier to capture. A victory in the first battle can boost morale and intimidate Goryeo and shock its military and civilians."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin nodded slightly, and then looked at Li Jing.

Li Jing nodded and said, "The plan of Changsun Situ is reasonable. Attacking Gaimu City first can also boost the morale of the three armies. However, if we attack Gaimu City directly, Liaodong City will definitely come to its rescue."

"We can first feint an attack on Liaodong City to draw out their forces and disrupt their morale, and then forcefully attack Gaimu City. If the Liaodong City defenders dare not come to the rescue, this will create a good opportunity for our army to capture Gaimu City."

In fact, there are not only Liaodong City and Gaimu City to attack Goryeo, but other directions are also possible.

But from a geographical point of view, Liaodong City is located on a major transportation route and is the only way for the army of the Central Plains dynasty to enter the heartland of Goryeo.

Controlling Liaodong City is equivalent to opening the gateway to the core area of ​​Goryeo.

If Liaodong City cannot be captured, the subsequent advance towards important cities such as Pyongyang will be threatened by the flank.

The most important thing is that the terrain around Liaodong City is relatively flat, which is suitable for the assembly and combat of large-scale troops and is a strategic point.

The other roads are just small paths, let alone an army of hundreds of thousands.

Even if there are only 10,000 or 20,000 people, they are stretched out for more than ten miles, and it is impossible to take care of the front and rear ends, and the combat effectiveness of the large-scale army group can hardly be brought into play.

Only by occupying Liaodong City can we form a stable and continuous output to Goryeo.

It is difficult to attack Liaodong City, but after taking it, it becomes easy to defend it.

Gaimu City also has important strategic significance. Taking over Gaimu City can cut off the mutual connection of Goryeo’s defense line in the northern part of Liaodong Peninsula, making it impossible for the enemy forces to support each other.

At the same time, the occupation of Gaimu City can provide material supplies. The food and other materials stored in the city can alleviate the supply pressure of the Tang army after a long march.

Therefore, no matter what military strategy is adopted to fight against Goryeo, Liaodong City and Gaimu City cannot be avoided.

Li Shimin looked at the other generals and asked, "Do you have any objections?"

Li Ji, Li Daozon, Liu Hongji, Zhang Shigui, Yuchi Jingde and others all shook their heads.

"I have no objection."

In fact, this set of tactics, whether it was Emperor Wu of Han's attack on the Wei Dynasty of Korea or Emperor Yang of Sui's three expeditions to Goryeo, was already a very mature tactic.

Li Shimin nodded and immediately issued an imperial edict.

"Appoint Hou Junji as the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Road Army, commanding 60,000 infantry and cavalry, as well as the Hu troops from Lanzhou and Hezhou."

Hou Junji bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Appoint Li Ji as the Left Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Liaodong Road Army, commanding 20,000 infantry and cavalry."

Li Ji bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Appoint Li Daozong as the right deputy commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Road Army, commanding 20,000 infantry and cavalry."

Li Dao Zong bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

After the land route was finalized, Li Shimin continued, "Appoint Minister of Justice Zhang Liang as the general commander of the Pyongyang Road, with 50,000 troops and 800 warships."

No one has any objection to this.

Although it was a strategy of advancing both by land and sea, the active direction was land. The military goal of the Tang navy was very clear. One was to go around the rear of Korea and form a pincer attack with the army.

Second, after logging in, occupy key points, meet up with the land troops, and provide them with sufficient food and grass, which is equivalent to playing a supporting role.

Zhang Liang bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

The reason why Zhang Liang was chosen was because he was familiar with naval battles, had a calm temperament, and was good at defense but not attack.

After several main lines were finalized, Li Shimin turned his attention to Crown Prince Xing and King Wei.

Then he said, "The Crown Prince led 5,000 elite cavalrymen under the command of the Right Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Liaodong Road Army."

Li Chengqian naturally had no objection to such an arrangement.

"Yes, Father."

Li Daozon was a famous general of the imperial family. He was the cousin of Emperor Li Yuan and the cousin of Li Shimin.

With him taking care of the prince, Li Shimin could feel more at ease.

Even if there were any accidents on the battlefield, it would not harm the prince.

Li Chengqian and Li Daozon were both very clear about this.

Li Shimin continued, "The King of Wei led 5,000 elite cavalrymen to join the Pyongyang Road Marching General."

Li Tai bowed and said, "Yes, Father."

Li Tai was very satisfied with this arrangement. He had been worried that Hou Junji would kill him.

Now that we have gone to the water, the danger will be much less.

At least he was safe before the land and sea forces joined forces.

Among the eight hundred warships, four hundred were built by aristocratic families for Prince Li Tai of Wei.

Although it seems that Li Tai only has 5,000 troops, he can actually control more troops.

Of course, he had to be under the control of Zhang Liang, the commander-in-chief of the Pyongyang Road.

Li Shimin still cared very much about his two sons.

Both of them are composed of 5,000 elite cavalrymen. In an army of 150,000, their combat effectiveness must be top-notch.

Even on Li Chengqian's side, the main force came from Zhechoufu near Chang'an.

But judging from the situation of the Tang Dynasty being completely free, the soldiers of the Zhechoufu near Chang'an were the best source of soldiers for the entire Tang Dynasty.

The soldiers of the Zhechoufu in other regions were far inferior to those around Chang'an in terms of personal quality and combat experience.

Five thousand elite cavalry are enough to resist tens of thousands of infantry.

In almost most cases, you can come and go freely on the battlefield.

Moreover, this time the Tang Dynasty is the attacking party. It is impossible for Goryeo to give up its advantage in defending the city and go out of the city to fight the Tang army in the field. In this way, the safety of the Crown Prince and the King of Wei can be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

"Appoint Yuchi Jingde as the commander-in-chief of the cavalry of the Liaodong Road."

"Appoint Liu Hongji and Zhang Shigui as the commanders of the front line of the Liaodong Road march."

The chief of cavalry is equivalent to the commander of cavalry.

The commander-in-chief of the front army is equivalent to the commander-in-chief of the infantry.

In ancient times, when a general led troops into battle, generally speaking, the number of troops a famous general could control was only about 30,000.

The rest of the troops were led by generals under his command.

It seems that there are only 10,000 or 20,000 people, but in fact there are more when marching.

Because these troops mainly refer to soldiers who can fight, in addition there are a large number of auxiliary troops.

This time, the attack on Goryeo required 100,000 land troops and 400,000 civilians. As the general commander of the Liaodong Road, Hou Junji was limited to managing an army of more than 100,000 people. He would not be able to manage more than that.

Therefore, the troops directly commanded by Hou Junji were 30,000, with the support of about 100,000 civilian laborers.

As the crown prince, Li Chengqian led 5,000 elite cavalry, in addition to at least 20,000 civilian laborers.

Of course, in terms of dispatch, Li Shimin would naturally take better care of the prince. Strictly speaking, the civilians under Li Chengqian's command were already auxiliary troops. They could not only transport food and fodder, but could also be temporarily converted into infantry combat.

After the appointment, Li Shimin discussed with Li Jing and decided on the marching route.

Feigning an attack on Liaodong City and taking Gaimu City first was an early military strategic goal, not an offensive marching route.

The water attack was relatively simple. After gathering in Laizhou, which was Shandong in later generations, we crossed the sea and headed straight for Pyongyang.

The land route is relatively complicated.

After a long discussion between Li Jing and Li Shimin, it was finally finalized.

"The troops were divided into three groups. Hou Junji led his troops from Youzhou to Liucheng, bluffing towards Huaiyuan Town, but in fact he secretly marched north, crossed the Liao River from Tongding, and advanced to Xuantu City in Goryeo."

"Li Ji set out from Yingzhou, first approached Goryeo's Xincheng, crossed the Liao River and headed for Jian'an City, and then the two armies would march to attack Gaimu City."

"Li Daozong set out from Yingzhou, built siege equipment, and pretended to attack Liaodong City."

"After Zhang Liang crossed the sea, he attacked and occupied Beisha City."

Four routes, three real and one virtual.

Li Shimin and Li Jing also fully considered the Crown Prince and the King of Wei.

Hou Junji's marching route and combat objectives were to first pretend to attack Liucheng, then scare Huaiyuan Town, and then secretly cross the Liaoshui River to scare Xuantu City.

After scaring Xuantu City, they attacked Gaimu City.

Li Ji first threatened the new city of Goryeo. If the new city of Goryeo dared to fight, then he would fight. If it did not fight, he would cross the Liao River to scare Jian'an City, and finally join forces with Hou Junji to attack Gaimu City.

The art of war is to advance both the real and the fake.

The reason for scaring this and that was to prevent other cities from sending troops to rescue when attacking Gaimu City.

This made the Goryeo leaders unclear about the true intention of the Tang Dynasty's march and they didn't know where to send their troops for defense.

After all, the Tang army only had a total of 100,000 troops, so they could only concentrate their strength to attack a key city first and achieve a strategic victory.

The Sui Dynasty was different, with millions of troops and millions of civilians.

The game starts with attacking almost every city on the Liaodong frontier at the same time. There is no need to play tricks at all, it is all real.

Emperor Wen of Sui lost because of bad weather and a storm at sea that silenced many ships.

The land roads were in poor condition, so the troops had to repair the roads while marching. Before the battle even started, the Sui army had suffered heavy losses and failed to achieve any substantial results.

However, King Go Won of Goryeo was frightened by the momentum of the Sui army, and wrote a letter to apologize, calling himself "Minister Yuan, the dirt of Liaodong." Emperor Wen of Sui then withdrew his troops.

Emperor Yang of Sui dispatched nine land forces with great momentum and attacked fiercely all the way.

But before the war, Emperor Yang of Sui ordered the Sui generals not to make any combat decisions on their own and must report to him before obeying his orders. This decision severely restricted the generals' command, causing the Sui army to move slowly on the battlefield and miss many opportunities to fight.

The Sui army was unable to capture Liaodong City for a long time, despite having surrounded the city many times. However, every time the city was about to be captured, the Goryeo defenders used delaying tactics and claimed to surrender.

However, the Sui generals did not dare to act on their own due to the instructions of Emperor Yang of Sui, and could only send people to ask the emperor for instructions. This gave the Goryeo army ample time to reorganize its defense.

The navy learned its lesson in the early stages and was relatively successful, but in the process of attacking Pyongyang, it fell into Goryeo's false defeat plan. The Goryeo army pretended to be defeated and retreated, luring the Sui army to advance, and then took advantage of the chaos in the Sui army to launch an ambush attack.

The third battle went smoothly. Emperor Yang of Sui learned his lesson again and attacked the city for more than 20 days in a row, causing heavy casualties to both the Sui and Goryeo armies.

But a fire broke out in the backyard. The logistics chief Yang Xuangan first delayed delivering supplies to Yang Guang, and took the opportunity to rebel in the rear.

After Emperor Yang of Sui learned about this, he was forced to withdraw his troops back to the country to suppress the rebellion, and the third attack on Goryeo also ended in failure.

In fact, there was a fourth time, but at this time, King Go Won of Goryeo was very frightened.

Goryeo was in dire straits due to years of war with the Sui Dynasty, and its people were living in poverty. Large numbers of young people in the country died.

So he sent an envoy to surrender and returned Hu Sizheng, who had fled to Goryeo after Yang Xuangan's rebellion last year, to Emperor Yang of Sui. Emperor Yang of Sui accepted Gao Yuan's surrender and returned to the court.

However, King Go Won of Goryeo did not come to the court as ordered by Emperor Yang of Sui, and the Sui Dynasty failed to truly conquer Goryeo.

Compared with Li Shimin's arrangements for Hou Junji and Li Ji, Li Daozon and Li Chengqian were much more relaxed.

Set out directly from Yingzhou and march towards Liaodong City.

There is no need for a real fight. All we need is a feint attack to tie down the troops in Liaodong City and let the Liaodong City defenders not care about sending troops to support Gaimu City. There is almost no danger at all.

The situation on the side of King Li Tai of Wei was relatively relaxed. Although he had to attack Beisha City, Zhang Liang had 50,000 troops and the defense of Beisha City was not strong, so it was only a matter of time before they took it down.

Of course, Li Shimin would not let the Crown Prince and the King of Wei be in danger.

The hard bones will be left to Hou Junji and Li Ji to chew, and the softer ones will be left to Zhang Liang.

The Crown Prince and the King of Wei only need to follow the army to gain experience in military training.

"Prince, when marching to war, you should consult your uncle more and not act on your own."

After the military deployment and attack route were finalized, Li Shimin gave instructions to the crown prince.

The prince had a deep understanding of military strategy and tactics, but marching and fighting were not the same as playing war games.

Soldiers are alive, but war games are dead. There are too many other factors that influence marching and fighting.

"Yes, father." Li Chengqian replied calmly.

The calmer the situation was, the more worried Li Shimin became.

Then he told Li Dao Zong: "Dao Zong, the safety of the crown prince is now in your hands."

Li Dao Zong replied helplessly: "Yes, Your Majesty."

In name, he is the prince's uncle, but can he control the prince?

Given the prince's current power, it would be easy to deal with the march. After all, there would basically be no problems when marching domestically.

But when it comes to war, the situation is different.

The crown prince is the crown prince, the heir apparent to the throne of the country.

Besides, the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty has great power.

From the perspective of military power, he is the prince's superior.

But when the prince issues an edict to him, will he listen to it or not?
Listen, what if something goes wrong?

If you don't listen, you will be disobeying the prince's order.

When the general is away from home, he may not obey the king's orders, but now the king is right next to you.

If you don't listen, the Crown Prince will order you to be dismissed from your post and your military power taken away, and there's nothing we can do about it.

The other generals were easy to deal with, after all, their subordinates were all their own people, and at most they would disobey orders.

It should be fine to wait until we return to the capital and then ask Your Majesty to make the decision.

But it happened to be him, Li Daozon.

As a royal family general, obeying the imperial power is more important than winning a battle.

The prince's edict had the greatest influence on him.

However, in order to better protect the prince, Li Shimin asked the prince to march with him, which was very helpless.

Thinking of this, Li Daozon couldn't help but look at Zhang Liang with a bit of envy in his eyes.

The King of Wei is different from the Crown Prince.

First of all, the King of Wei’s military capabilities are there and will not interfere with Zhang Liang.

Secondly, the King of Wei had no way to order Zhang Liang.

At this time, Li Chengqian seemed to feel Li Daozon's emotions, so he gave him a reassuring look.

Li Daozon is depressed, how can I feel at ease?

(End of this chapter)