Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2704 Han Xin Crosses the Gaima Plateau, the Duel of the Two Lis Beneath the City of Nianchan

After capturing Xi'an, Xue Rengui did not stay there any longer. He only rested for three days before heading directly to Liangkou.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war, and the reason this battle began in winter was precisely to launch a surprise attack.

The faster they act, the less time Li Tang has to prepare!
The longer they stay here, the more time Li Guangbi will have to prepare in Liangkou.

Liangkou has a more treacherous terrain than Xi'an Ping. Steep cliffs on both sides, like the bared fangs of a giant beast, tightly guard the narrow mouth of the Yalu River where the gushing water flows in.

Nestled against mountains and beside water, this place is the most direct description of that.

The Tang dynasty built a strong pass at Liangkou, and stationed troops on the cliffs on both sides, and also prepared a large number of thunderstones and rolling logs.

Once enemy troops enter the valley, they will be met with a barrage of flying rocks from the cliffs on both sides.

As a key defensive point for Li Guangbi in response to Xue Rengui's army, and as the last and most solid line of defense for the capital, its reliability, at least in terms of its geographical location, is absolutely capable of withstanding the test.

Meanwhile, a biting wind swept across the snow-covered Gaima Plateau, and Han Xin's 50,000-strong army, like a gray torrent, struggled to traverse the rugged mountain paths.

Unlike the frontal assaults of Xue Rengui and Li Mu's armies, Han Xin's army was tasked with flanking and encircling the enemy.

He needed to capture the geographically treacherous Gaima Plateau to protect the flanks of Li Mu's troops.

In a major battle, the various forces are never independent of each other, but need to cooperate with each other.

If Han Xin can capture Gaima Plateau, he will have more options. He can launch an offensive against Wandu from the east and coordinate with Xue Rengui and Li Mu's two major armies to launch a pincer attack.

At the same time, they could also sweep eastward into the former territories of the Tang Dynasty.

However, the climate and environment of the Gaima Plateau serve as their natural defense.

Especially during winter, marching here is practically impossible.

Moreover, although Han Xin has been managing the southern part of the peninsula for the past two years, it is possible to directly solve logistical problems in the southern part of the peninsula.

However, once he climbs the Gaima Plateau, the logistics of supplies will become another challenge.

Transporting grain here is as difficult as the Shu Road, because the pressure of transporting grain is more than ten times that of other places due to the road conditions.

However, Han Xin's strength in military strategy lies in his flexibility and adaptability. He takes practical measures based on the actual situation and avoids fighting to the death or engaging in stagnant battles.

Therefore, after leaving the southern part of the peninsula, he did not focus on conquering cities and strongholds, but instead adopted a strategy of winning hearts and minds rather than conquering cities.

He used every means to win over the rebel forces within the Li Tang dynasty in advance, increasing the internal pressure on the Li Tang while preventing the Li Tang from allocating more troops to his side.

Once he breaks through the Gaima Plateau, he can continue to utilize those rebels, using them as his guides to quickly enter the Tulu River Valley.

Of course, at present, Han Xin's progress is the slowest.

Of the three armies, his army had the longest total distance, requiring a large detour to reach the rear of Wandu.

Moreover, his route was the most difficult, and his overall marching speed was the slowest.

As for Li Mu, he has been attacking Nianchan City for more than a month, but Li Shimin has 15,000 elite troops, plus his 10,000 naval forces, a total of 25,000 troops stationed here, and Li Mu has not made much progress so far.

Li Mu claims to have 50,000 troops, but this only refers to the land forces; Xu Cheng's 50,000-strong navy is also with him. Therefore, in reality, he also has 100,000 troops.

Strictly speaking, Nianchan City is actually within the territory of Lelang, but it was formed because this city guards the Maru and the mainland behind it.

Therefore, the city was heavily guarded.

Li Mu launched a surprise attack on Lelang, but this city was still not captured.

Nianchan City, like other cities, was built along a river. It was constructed on the side of the Lie River and was interdependent with Liekou, forming a solid river defense system to consolidate the city's defenses.

This city has been repaired several times by the Tang Dynasty. The city walls are three zhang high and are made of rammed earth and brick, making them exceptionally sturdy.

At this very moment, Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty personally led his troops to garrison here, confronting Li Mu.

He knew that if this city fell, Li Mu's army would have no further obstacles and could advance straight into the heart of Goguryeo, the city of Gunung!

The capital of the Li Tang dynasty was initially located within the city limits of Kunung, but after capturing Lelang, it was moved to Pyongyang for a period of time due to concerns about transportation convenience.

However, due to the severe damage to the Tang Dynasty's naval forces during this Tang-Jin War, only 5 of the 1 naval troops remained, and it can be said that the entire army was almost wiped out.

At this point, if Pyongyang continues to serve as the capital, its security cannot be guaranteed.

It was under these circumstances that they moved back to the old capital.

After all, when it comes to city defense, Kuni Castle, which is interdependent with Maru, is definitely superior to Pyongyang in this respect.

Inside the central command tent, Li Mu was clad in heavy black armor, the plates of which rubbed together with a steady, soft sound.

He stood before the enormous sand table, his gaze as calm and unwavering as a deep, still well.

The news of Xue Rengui's victory in capturing Xi'anping on the northern front and pressing Liangkou had just arrived, and the generals in the tent were in high spirits and full of fighting spirit.

Regardless of Xue Rengui's route or their own, as long as they break through the next target, they can pose a threat to Wandu and the two cities in the country.

The northern part of the peninsula is indeed geographically treacherous, but after losing the south, the strategic depth lies here. As dangerous as it may be, the number of checkpoints is limited.

Regardless of the direction, as long as one or two lines of defense can be breached, it can directly threaten both Maru and the two cities in the mainland.

This is the disadvantage of having a small land area and being unable to form strategic depth.

Of course, this is also because the Li Tang dynasty had already lost half of Youzhou and the southern part of the peninsula during the first Tang-Jin War, which is why it did not have enough strategic depth.

Without the groundwork laid by the first Tang-Jin war, the second battle wouldn't have been so easy.

At the same time, it was because too many troops were tied up within the Li Tang dynasty, with a full quarter of their forces being used to suppress local rebellions and unable to be deployed to the front lines.

They can't ignore the local situation, and if they don't ignore the local situation, they still can't fight a war in the front!

Putting everything else aside, just the logistics alone means we can forget about ever getting them back on track.

(End of this chapter)