Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

When Li Ji heard Pei Xingjian's suggestion, his eyes moved slightly.

Because the siege was obstructed for several days in a row, he also came up with the idea of destroying Baekje first and then besieging Pyongyang.

However, because all the cavalry under his command were taken away by Su Dingfang, he finally gave up this idea.

Zhang Liang said with some displeasure, "If we bypass Pyongyang City to attack Baekje, it will definitely take a month or two."

"By the time we get back to Pyongyang, it will probably be October, and the sky will be covered in snow and the north wind will be howling."

"Faced with the biting cold, can the soldiers still attack the city?"

He was just a mere Prince's Assistant, one who had not even participated in a few battles, yet he had the audacity to make such a suggestion.

I don’t know what the prince and Du He were thinking, they actually promoted him to the deputy commander-in-chief of the Canghai Road army.

After hearing Zhang Liang's analysis, Li Ji frowned tightly.

What Zhang Liang said made sense. If we abandon Pyongyang and attack Baekje, we might not be able to capture Pyongyang within this year.

When the cold winter came and their supplies were about to run out, they had no choice but to lead their army back to the territory of the Tang Dynasty to rest and recuperate.

Failure to capture Pyongyang would mean that Goguryeo had not been destroyed, and the prince would certainly not accept this.

Compared with Baekje and Goguryeo, conquering Goguryeo is definitely the primary goal of this war.

"Oh! What a dilemma!"

Li Ji sighed deeply in his heart.

Hou Junji glanced at Zhang Liang and frowned slightly. He then turned to look at his future son-in-law Pei Xingjian and spoke encouragingly.

"General Pei, tell me about your idea of abandoning Pyongyang and attacking Baekje first!"

"promise!"

Pei Xingjian clasped his fists and responded.

He then said loudly: "Baekje only has tens of thousands of soldiers, and their weapons and armor are completely different from our Tang army. Moreover, they have to allocate a large number of troops to garrison the newly occupied Silla."

"Baekje's troops are too dispersed, which gives us the opportunity to defeat them quickly."

"If we don't have a particularly good strategy to capture Pyongyang, conquering Baekje first won't lower the morale of the soldiers."

If a siege goes on for too long without success, the morale of the soldiers will drop and they will become tired of fighting.

By then, Pyongyang City would not be captured and Baekje would not have time to deal with it, and would gain nothing.

"General Pei's analysis is good!" Hou Junji praised with satisfaction.

Li Ji also nodded and said, "General Pei's way of making choices is a good idea."

Then Li Ji changed the subject and said with a bit of helplessness on his face.

"However, we only have infantry under our command now, and no cavalry. A march and battle across a thousand miles will take at least two months."

"And the main purpose of our battle is to annihilate Goguryeo, so taking down Pyongyang is our most important task at the moment!"

If the Crown Prince and Du He had not transferred more than 10,000 cavalry to Youzhou to deal with the main force of Xueyantuo, he would definitely have ordered the cavalry to annihilate Baekje.

Seeing that the two military commanders did not agree with his suggestion, Pei Xingjian did not show any displeasure, but sat down quietly.

There was a brief silence in the tent.

After a while.

Li Ji turned to Hou Junji and said, "General Hou, do you think the method of building a dirt hill to break the city proposed by General Zhang is feasible?"

Hou Junji turned his head to look at Pei Xingjian, thought for more than ten breaths, then nodded slightly and said.

"Let's try this method first!"

The situation in Pyongyang City is similar to that in Anshi City. Perhaps by using this clumsy method of building earthen hills, we can break through this fortified city before the cold winter arrives.

The three marching commanders all agreed that the next stage of siege tactics would be to build earthen hills.

Hou Junji called the Junior Architect Qiu Xingyan into the tent and gave him an order.

"Master Qiu, we are going to use the tactic of building an earthen hill. You and the craftsmen should study it carefully and see how to do it."

"promise!"

Qiu Xingyan saluted excitedly.

Only by working harder and solving big problems for the army could these craftsmen accumulate military merits.

Qiu Xingyan also thought that after returning to the capital, he would be promoted to the position of Chief Architect based on his military achievements.

The generals discussed for a while before leaving the tent.

Li Ji suggested to Hou Junji.

"General Hou, we should write a letter to report our siege situation and plan to the Crown Prince."

"See if the Crown Prince and Du He have any other ideas."

As the commander-in-chief of the central army, Hou Junji was the supreme commander when Li Chengqian was not present.

Even Li Ji and Zhang Liang had to accept his arrangements.

Hou Junji said in a deep voice: "Okay!"

...

Inside Pyongyang City.

In the magnificent hall.

Yeon Gaesomun called all the civil and military ministers over.

As for the puppet Gao Zang, he had been completely thrown aside by Yeon Gaesomun and ignored.

Yeon Gaesomun, wearing five large swords, sat on the throne arrogantly, his ferocious face full of nostalgia for this position.

He had been waiting for more than ten years for this feeling of superiority.

The civil and military officials below the hall saw Yeon Gaesomun gently touching the armrests on both sides of the dragon throne as if he was caressing a beauty. Everyone waited quietly and did not dare to make a sound.

After a long time.

Yeon Gaesomun's fierce gaze lingered on the two civil officials, and he asked in a cold voice.

"Your Excellency, when you were on a diplomatic mission to Baekje, did Buyeo Yi-Ji say when he would send reinforcements?"

The elderly civil official with a gleam in his eyes quickly stood up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and saluted respectfully with his fists clasped.

"Report to Molizhi, the King of Baekje said that he will send a large army north within a month to fight against the Tang army together with us."

"Humph!"

Yeon Gaesomun snorted coldly.

He shouted angrily, "It's been more than a month now, where are the reinforcements from Baekje?"

this...

The elderly civil official was stunned.

Now tens of thousands of Tang troops have surrounded Pyongyang. Unless Baekje King Buyeo Uija is a fool, he will definitely not send his soldiers here to die.

What's the difference between fighting the fierce Tang army outside the city and seeking death?

"Qiang!"

Yeon Gaesomun drew out his sword and said with a grim look, "That old devil Buyeo Yici took away our 10 royal concubines and 10 carts of precious jade, and now he doesn't even want to send troops to support us."

"After the Tang army withdraws, I will personally lead the army to destroy Baekje and chop off Buyeo Yici's head to use as a chamber pot!"

He used to play tricks on Buyeo Yici, but he didn't expect that now he would be played tricks by Buyeo Yici.

"I second the proposal!"

A group of civil officials and military generals quickly echoed.

"Buyu Yici, this treacherous villain, deserves to be cut into pieces!"

"After the Tang army withdraws, we will conquer Baekje and take back Silla's territory!"

Several generals pointed in the direction of Baekje and spoke loudly with indignation.