Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 2968 Defensive Line Collapse
On the north bank of the Liaoshui River, Lu Guogong Cheng Yaojin, who was in charge of the Chinese army, saw the soaring smoke behind Gaimu City, and decisively ordered his soldiers to cross the Liaoshui River against the arrows thrown by the enemy on the opposite bank.

The Liaoshui river here is wide and has abundant water flow, which brings certain difficulties to the forced crossing.Youwuwei soldiers are the elite troops of the Tang army. Under Cheng Yaojin's command, they are well-trained and fierce in combat. Although the enemy's arrows and locusts are scurrying across the river, they still build the pontoon bridge in an orderly manner. .

The Goguryeo defenders of Gaimu City did not know how many enemies were behind them, and they did not dare to abandon the city to prevent the Tang army from forcibly crossing the Liaoshui River. , While quickly dispatching scouts to find out the reality of the Tang army behind them, they sent people to Huaiyuan Town, Baiyan City, and Xuantu City to ask for help.

The arrows of the Koguryo army could not cause too much damage to the Tang army's engineers in heavy armor, and they did not dare to abandon the city to attack. They could only watch as the Tang army spent a whole morning building three pontoon bridges on the Liao River. The team's powerful and murderous soldiers crossed the Liaoshui River and approached Gaimu City.

Originally, it was hoped that relying on the strong city would be able to effectively prevent the Tang army from crossing the Liaoshui River. After a Tang army suddenly appeared behind them and was attacked by the enemy, it was completely declared a failure.

At this time, the envoys of the Tang Dynasty had not even arrived in Pyongyang City, submitted the letter of credence to the treasure king of Goguryeo, and officially declared war...

In fact, there was a debate between the Zhengshitang and the Military Aircraft Department about "war after declaration" or "war without declaration".

Since ancient times, whenever a big country goes to war, it must be upright. The two sides even agree on the time and place, announce the number of troops, and then start the war fairly and justly.Of course, the victor will not be able to make an inch of the enemy's soldiers and seize the opportunity to occupy the enemy's land. The loser should also surrender and withdraw his troops, fulfilling a series of previously agreed war conditions.

However, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the royal family collapsed and the princes were in power. The war orders were no longer issued by the king, but the princes sent troops privately.

Therefore, "the Spring and Autumn Period is a war without righteousness", Sun Wu will say such words as "soldiers are deceitful".

Since then, the so-called "declaration followed by war" has gradually disappeared in the wars between vassal states, and "soldiers never tire of fraud" has become the mainstream of warfare, with far-reaching influence, but in foreign wars, the tradition of "justice" is often maintained.

The Central Plains dynasty is mighty and mighty, and it is the suzerain of the world. It is invincible to attack the superior and the inferior, and to bully the widowed.
To put it bluntly, it is to maintain the majesty of the heavenly kingdom. Before the war, the reason for the war is announced, the evidence of the enemy's crimes is counted, and the support of public opinion is obtained. , when the enemy country is fully prepared, it will be defeated in an upright manner.

As for whether this will allow the enemy country to gain more preparation time and cause the country to pay a greater price in the war, this does not need to be considered.

In the kingdom of China, a country of etiquette, even if more soldiers were killed as a result of losses, as long as the face is maintained, what is a little loss?

Anyway, there is no need for scholar-bureaucrats who are full of "Confucius and Mencius" to take up their swords and face the enemy's arrows and sharp blades in person...

But this time, it was His Majesty Li Er who overcame all opinions and decided to fight without declaring it.

His reason is also very simple. The conquest of Goguryeo is not only to complete his personal ambition and hegemony, but also to eliminate the hidden danger of the empire occupying Liaodong.

Everyone knows that Goguryeo is becoming more and more prosperous. From the time of Cao Wei when Guan Qiujian first conquered Goguryeo until Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty went to the east three times, all of them were to eradicate this "evil neighbor" that might endanger the rule of the Central Plains dynasty. Jiaerlang buried his bones in the land of Liaodong, stained the white mountains and black waters with blood, but he still failed to completely defeat him.

Goguryeo must be destroyed. This is almost the consensus of the Sui and Tang dynasties. For the Central Plains Dynasty, conquering disobedient subjects and destroying enemy countries is a just battle.

Now that the nature of the war has been determined, why care about the means?

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty mobilized the soldiers of the whole country and declared war after submitting the credentials in a dignified manner, but what's the use?The result of war is defeat, so the so-called "justice" is completely meaningless.

In the same way, as long as Goguryeo can be defeated and the loss of soldiers in the war can be reduced, what about "war without declaration"?
Since ancient times, no foreign barbarians have declared war in advance when they invaded China...

Therefore, it was decided that there would be no need for His Majesty Li Er to go to Liaodong in person before going to war, but the British Gong Li Ji, the general manager of the Pyongyang Road March, would sit in Liaodong and wait for the opportunity to break through the Koguryo Liaoshui defense line at lightning speed. .

Now Li Ji is leading the main force of the Tang army, Chen Bing, on the opposite side of the Far East City not far from Liaoshui River, while Lu Guogong, Cheng Yaojin, is leading his soldiers from Youwuwei to go upstream, and cooperate with the vanguard Xue Wanche to complete the surprise attack on Goguryeo, which is located in Gaimu City, an important town in the upper reaches of Liaoshui River. combat missions.

……

Tang Jun's undeclared war did cause the entire Goguryeo army to fall into chaos.

Goguryeo hoarded heavy troops in the various mountain cities along the Liaoshui River, and used the Liaoshui natural moat to hold on to the mountain cities, hoping to greatly hinder the advance speed of the Tang army.Resisting the Tang army is definitely impossible. The Tang army, which has never been defeated in the world, is attacking with all the power of the country. How can a mere Goguryeo be able to resist it?

As long as it can delay Tang Jun's footsteps, it is considered a strategic victory.

If the war can be delayed until the autumn when there is plenty of rain and muddy roads and the winter when the weather is extremely cold and snow-covered, the Tang army will have to repeat the mistakes of the previous Sui Dynasty. Because the soldiers cannot tolerate the bitter cold and the supplies cannot be replenished, they will die. Goguryeo will turn defeat into victory. .

Goguryeo has a population of several million, and it can be regarded as a first-class power in Liaodong except Datang, but its national strength is not enough to compete with Datang.If you want to defeat Datang, you can only rely on the power of time and use the geography and time of Liaodong.

Gai Sa Gao Yanshou, who was trusted by Yuan Gai Su Wen, led the elite soldiers of his headquarters and tens of thousands of Mohe soldiers to garrison Gaimu City in the south, and panicked in the mountain city.

The main force of the Tang army brigade in front of them forcibly crosses the Liaoshui River, and once they pass through, Chen Bing will cover Mou City; behind them, there is an enemy that has penetrated deep into the hinterland, and may cooperate with the main force of the Tang army to attack back and forth at any time...

He, Gao Yanshou, can be regarded as a famous Goguryeo general who has fought for a long time, but faced with such a difficult situation, he is helpless. He can only find out the depth of the enemy behind him first, and then send people to the surrounding mountain cities for help. .

However, he clearly knew that there would probably not be any reinforcements.

The Tang army gathered millions of troops and Chen Bing in Liaodong. Even though the number is a bit exaggerated, there are still 60 to [-] people. The Han people have always attacked Huaiyuan Town, Far East City, Jian'an City, and Anshi City first. , Captured the former site of Xuantu County in the Han Dynasty, and then fought steadily, crossed the Yalu River from Wugu City to the south, captured Boba City and Dahang City, and approached Pyongyang City.

Therefore, Tang Jun's top priority at the moment should be the front line of Far East City and Huaiyuan Town, which are not far from the mouth of Liaoshui River. Gaimu City, which he guards, is only a breakthrough for Tang Jun to break through Liaoshui's defense line.

It is even more likely that after the Tang army broke through the Liaoshui defense line, they would "surround but not attack" Gaimu City, thereby involving Goguryeo's troops in the entire Liaoshui defense line.They even resorted to the strategy of "encircling the spot and fighting for aid", and whoever came to Gaimu City for rescue would be eaten...

And Huaiyuan Town and Liaodong City, which have the most troops, are under the main force of the Tang army, so how dare they divide their troops to rescue themselves?
Anshi City, another important town, is too far away, Baiyan City and Xuantu City have insufficient troops, and self-protection is not enough...

Gao Yanshou found out sadly that he seemed to have only one way to stick to it?

Although Gaimu City has high walls and thick walls, and is built on the mountainside, it has the advantage of terrain, which is not conducive to the Tang army's large-scale charge. However, how long can it last under heavy siege?
Regardless of whether the Tang army can completely destroy Goguryeo in the end, its Gaimu city will be captured by the Tang army sooner or later.

Then the problem came again, the Tang inherited the Sui system, and most of the generals of the Tang army today have some origins, or even the same line, with the soldiers of the Sui Yang Emperor's Eastern Expedition, so they have a deep-seated hatred for Goguryeo.Once the city is broken and captured, will he be beheaded on the spot?

But if they surrendered at this time, it would be regarded as completely destroying the entire Liaoshui defense line, making the Tang army cross the Liaoshui as if entering no one's land.

With Yuan Gai Suwen's cruelty, his family members and children who stayed in Pyongyang City may all be kidnapped and sent to the execution ground for punishment, and none of them will survive.

How to choose, where to go, made Gao Yanshou's hair gray overnight...

(End of this chapter)