Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 449: Pushing the Pyongyang Defense Line
Chang'an, Ministry of War.

Chen Qingsi closed the news from the front line and let out a long breath.

This attack by Tubo can be said to have hit the pain point of the Tang Dynasty.

Goguryeo was ready for battle and everything was prepared.

There is no time to delay...

The shock to Goguryeo from Quan Nansheng's defection cannot be ignored. If they pursued the victory and achieved victory at this moment, it would amplify the fear within Goguryeo and thus gain an opportunity to win. However, if they were given too much preparation time and their emotions were appeased, they would miss the opportunity.

Soldiers are a major event for the country.

If you can't even seize the opportunity right in front of you, how can you expect to find the fleeting opportunity?

Therefore, when Quan Nansheng chose to surrender, the imperial court had already begun to mobilize food and supplies for the war against Goguryeo and made preparations before the battle.

As soon as Chen Qingsi returned to Luoyang, he arranged for the talented supervisors to go to Baekje and Liaodong in batches.

At the same time, the imperial court also spent a lot of money on this Fengshan ceremony.

Various expenses flow like water...

This Fengshan ceremony was a rush job for Li Zhi as he was uncertain about his own life span, and it placed a considerable burden on the court's finances.

Tubo attacked at this time because it did not want to give the imperial court a chance to catch its breath.

It has to be said that the Tibetan father and son, Galdongzan and Lunqinling, were indeed powerful.

If it were not for Su Dingfang, who ended the battle early, once the emperor was dragged into the quagmire of war by Tubo, it would have been an enormous harm to the imperial court and a huge blow to people's livelihood.

In the unfortunate event of failure, the imperial court would find it difficult to organize forces to send troops again in the short term.

Qinghai Lake is in danger of being lost.

Fortunately, Su Dingfang backed me up...

Although the Tibetan general Lun Qinling, who was known as the harvester of Tang Dynasty generals, had not yet grown up, he was not easy to deal with, but Su Dingfang defeated him twice, once in 26 days and once in 26 months, and the victory was clean and neat.

When Chen Qingsi read history in the past, he thought that people like Han Xin, Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Li Jing were very powerful, but he could only imagine how powerful they were...

Now Su Dingfang let him know what an invincible god of war is.

Chen Qingsi recalled Li Zhi's slightly frightened expression, thinking to himself: After all these big moves, he should stop making a fuss. The world should also take a good rest and take a breath...

of course……

Everything will have to wait until Goguryeo is destroyed.

Chen Qingsi asked his subordinates to submit the official document in his hand to the Council Hall and give it to the prime minister for review.

Then I sat in my seat for a while, feeling a little bored for a while.

Once the Fengshan matter was resolved, all the matters in Chen Qingsi's Ministry of War were solved in a snap. He suddenly had some free time, but for a moment he was at a loss as to what to do.

"Why not play a military game and see if the battle situation is as you imagined."

Thinking that he had nothing to do, he simply entertained himself in the office.

As the Minister of War, even though he is not on the front line, he knows exactly how our military forces are deployed.

As for the situation of Goguryeo, we have a certain understanding of it. Although there are deviations in some individual aspects, they are not too different.

Chen Qingsi found a map, Go pieces, pebbles and small sticks.

The black chess pieces represent Xue Rengui's troops, the white chess pieces represent Liu Rengui's troops, the small stones represent Goguryeo's troops, and the small sticks naturally represent Silla.

Chen Qingsi first moved Xue Rengui's black piece. He moved the black piece directly from Baiyan City in Liaodong to the east for two hundred miles to Zuben City, and directly joined forces with Quan Nansheng's troops.

This is the benefit of Quan Nangong's surrender.

Quan Nansheng was forced to the northernmost domestic city by his younger brother.

Guonei City was the early capital of Goguryeo. The capital was moved to Pyongyang in the fourth year of Shiguang in the Northern Wei Dynasty. It was the center of Goguryeo's northern defense line.

The surrender of Quan Nansheng meant that most of Goguryeo's northeastern defense line became a decoration, and the Tang army could march straight in without having to pull them out one by one like pulling out nails.

After meeting up with Quan Nansheng, there were two plans. The radical one was to go directly south, cross the Yalu River to attack Jinyi City and Buyeo City, and go straight to Pyongyang City.

If you are more conservative, you can advance to the southwest, attack Ugut City and Daxing City, take Dandong first, and then advance together with the navy to attack Pyongyang City together.

Thinking so, Chen Qingsi picked up the white chess piece representing Liu Rengui.

Liu Rengui's attack direction was much simpler. There were no extra roads from Baekje to the north to attack Goguryeo. As long as he took the mouth of the Paegang River, he could advance to Pyongyang City.

Chen Qingsi naturally moved the chess piece to the foot of Pyongyang.

Liu Rengui had Heichi Changzhi, Cheng Wuting, Zhao Chiman and Shatuo Xiangru under his command. There was no reason for him to be blocked by the Pei River.

Then came the small stick representing Silla. Chen Qingsi looked at the map and thought again and again, and placed the small stick in Jincheng, the capital of Silla, and then went directly north to Woju City.

Goguryeo's system was a feudal lordship system, and the chief of each region, called Lisa, was relatively independent.

Goguryeo had five Lisa tribes, three of which were in the northwest, Quan Nansheng himself was one of them, one was in Dandong, one was in Chenyi City, one was in the south, which was the mouth of the Pei River where Liu Rengui would encounter, and one was in the east, which was in Woju City.

In fact, Woju City is some distance away from Pyongyang, so it’s okay to leave it alone.

However, Silla was still somewhat untrustworthy, and Chen Qingsi was not at ease letting him participate in the siege of Pyongyang.

Silla doesn’t have the courage to play tricks now, but if he just works without putting in any effort and pretends to be weak, he won’t be able to do anything to him.

Putting them in charge of besieging Pyongyang would only lead to bad things. It would be better to let them play with the Lisa in Woju City.

Chen Qingsi didn't care about the map and directly issued an order in the name of the Ministry of War, asking someone to pass it directly to Li Zhi, ordering Silla to attack Woju City.

Generally speaking, the commander-in-chief of the Tang army could mobilize the troops of the vassal states to carry out his orders.

However, the circumstances of this attack on Goguryeo were somewhat special.

Because of the internal strife among the Goguryeo brothers, their strength was greatly weakened, and the court did not send a commander of importance to lead the troops.

From a God's perspective, Xue Rengui, Liu Rengui, and even their deputies Heichi Changzhi, Cheng Wuting, and Li Jinxing are all extremely important figures.

However, at this stage, it was the first time for them to command a force on their own, and it was almost too early for them to command Kim Beom-min, the King of Silla.

Looking at the results of the military exercise, Chen Qingsi's last gaze fell on Pyongyang City...

How to capture Pyongyang is the key.

Chen Qingsi looked at Pyongyang City for a long time, thinking about the news he had obtained in Baekje, and frowned slightly: "It's not easy to attack!" Not to mention that the current black gunpowder is still in the research and development stage. Even if it has the power of gunpowder from the Song Dynasty, Pyongyang City is not easy to attack.

"It depends on whether Zhengze has a way to break through from the inside."

Under the city of Pyongyang.

Liu Rengui, Heichi Changzhi, Cheng Wuting, Zhao Chiman, and Shatuo Xiangru led 20,000 troops and arrived at the city of Pyongyang first.

Their marching trajectory along the way was exactly the same as what Chen Qingsi had deduced.

Liu Rengui led his generals and encountered resistance from Goguryeo at the mouth of the Pei River.

Liu Rengui did not show any courtesy to the other side. He directly sent Cheng Wuting as the vanguard, Heichi Changzhi and Shatuo Xiangru as the left and right wings, and launched a fierce attack. The southern Lisa of Goguryeo was beaten so badly that it could not take care of itself. It was defeated again and again and fled directly into Pyongyang City.

Liu Rengui arrived at the outskirts of Pyongyang with almost no effort.

But when they looked at Pyongyang City, the five people felt their scalps tingling.

They all knew that Pyongyang was difficult to attack, but only when they stood at the foot of Pyongyang and saw it with their own eyes did they understand what it meant to be difficult to attack.

Pyongyang City is not big. A truly strong city is not necessarily large and majestic. On the contrary, it is small and solid, which makes people helpless.

Pyongyang is surrounded by the Taedong River and the Sotong River, forming a natural moat.

In the vicinity of Pyongyang, there is Hegu Mountain Fortress in the east, Huanglong Mountain Fortress in the west, Huangzhou City in the south, and Qinglong Mountain Fortress in the north...

Pyongyang itself is a mountain city, with the peak of Daesong Mountain as its center and the six peaks of Eulji Peak, Jangsu Peak, Bukjangdae Peak, Somun Peak, Guksi Peak and Sujaku Peak surrounding it in sequence. Each peak is a small wing city, guarding the city of Pyongyang in Daesong Mountain.

If Pyongyang is attacked directly, it will be attacked by the six mountain wing cities.

If we attack the Six Peaks Wing City, the surrounding Hegu Mountain City, Huanglong Mountain City, Huangzhou City, and Qinglong Mountain City will come to support us.

Zhao Zhiman said: "It's a tiny place with dozens of mountain towns. If we really want to attack them one by one, how long will it take? Can we just attack from the center and ignore the surrounding mountain towns?"

"No!" Heichi Changzhi and Shatuo Xiangru objected in unison.

The two brothers Heichi Changzhi and Shatuo Xiangru looked at each other.

Heichi Changzhi gave the opportunity to Shatuo Xiangru.

The two were originally Baekje nobles. Baekje and Goguryeo had a tacit relationship and frequent exchanges with each other.

Heichi Changzhi and Shatuo Xiangru had been to Pyongyang together and knew the internal structure of the city.

Shatuo Xiangru said: "The internal structure of Pyongyang City is divided into three cities and one palace, namely Huangcheng, Pyongyang City, Chang'an City, and Anhe Palace. We call Pyongyang, but in fact, in Goguryeo, they called Pyongyang Chang'an. Pyongyang City is an old city for Goguryeo. It is an expansion of Huangcheng, the old site of Lelang during the Three Kingdoms period. Later, because the old site was too small, a new city Chang'an was built, and Anhe Palace was built on the basis of the new city Chang'an."

"To attack Pyongyang, we must first attack Hwangcheng, then Pyongyang, and then Chang'an and Anhe Palace. These three cities and one palace are built layer by layer on the mountains and along the water."

"If we attack from the front, even if the army takes Huangcheng and Pyongyang and advances to Chang'an and Anhe Palace, the surrounding ten mountain cities will gather troops in one place, and the attacking troops will be trapped in a desperate situation surrounded on all sides."

Zhao Chiman listened with a dazed look in his eyes and scratched his ears and cheeks.

Heichi Changzhi said: "If we want to attack Pyongyang, we can't be impatient, we have to take it slowly."

After discussing this point, the generals' eyes fell on Liu Rengui.

Liu Rengui said: "Even with a solid defense line, it cannot withstand internal sabotage. The Quan family of Goguryeo was originally a traitor who stole high positions. Quan Nanjian and Quan Nanchan were not in a legitimate position. Now that our heavenly troops are approaching, the internal situation must be turbulent and they cannot be united. I will try to attack from the inside... But we cannot relax from the outside. They are at the gates of the city. If they fail to achieve anything against the Pyongyang defense line, they will also feel lucky. No matter how difficult this mountain city is, we must take one or two of them to put enough pressure on the other side."

"General Zhao, I heard that you defeated the rebels in a feint attack on the top of Crow Ridge. How about you lead the charge and take the first peak to boost morale?"

Zhao Zhiman did not say much, but just said: "I will obey your orders."

Liu Rengui gave several more orders in succession, "The toughest bone has been given to General Zhao, and the others should not be idle. At least General Zhao should be able to attack the city with peace of mind. General Heichi, General Cheng, and General Shatuo, each of you will lead your troops to protect General Zhao as he attacks the mountain, and do not let anyone in."

"promise!"

While Liu Rengui was tackling the tough problem of Pyongyang, Xue Rengui's troops, as Chen Qingsi had deduced, first joined forces with the Quan Nansheng.

The road ahead was slightly different.

Xue Rengui did not take the radical approach of heading south directly, nor did he take the conservative approach blindly. Instead, he led Quan Nansheng to create the illusion of joining forces with the navy to attack Dandong.

The defenders of Chenyi City and Buyeo City, seeing Xue Rengui's marching trajectory, joined forces to support Dandong.

As a result, they encountered Xue Rengui's ambush...

Xue Rengui personally led 3,000 elite troops, regarded the 20,000 reinforcements of Goguryeo as chickens and pottery dogs, directly broke through the formation and killed the generals, and defeated the reinforcements of Chenyi City and Buyeo City. Then the troops were divided into two groups, one group supported the navy to attack Wugu City and Daxing City and seize Dandong, while he and Quan Nansheng took advantage of the situation to capture Chenyi City and Buyeo City, advanced to the city of Pyongyang, and joined Liu Rengui.

Xue Rengui's army's journey was longer and more difficult, but they arrived only one month later than Liu Rengui.

Xue Rengui and Liu Rengui did not have much in common, and there was even some competition between them.

As the only two generals, they naturally wanted to compete for the credit of breaking the city.

The two men simply exchanged polite greetings, shared military intelligence, and then deployed their troops in their respective locations.

Xue Rengui was thinking back to the military intelligence Liu Rengui had shared with him, while Quan Nansheng was also explaining to him the overall defense situation of Pyongyang City.

Apart from the fact that Liu Rengui's troops captured Beijiangtai and Qingyanli Tucheng in this month, there was not much difference in the news between the two sides.

It can be seen that although Liu Rengui had a competitive spirit, he did not hide the intelligence and his competition was a gentleman's competition.

Xue Rengui said: "Until there is no better solution, let's fight first."

Liu Rengui's troops had already pulled out two nails, and he could not fall behind.

Quan Nansheng looked at the familiar Pyongyang and said, "General Xue, why don't you let me try to persuade him to surrender?"

Quan Nansheng's biggest problem is that he is too kind. Of course, at this moment he has not yet integrated into the Tang Dynasty. The kindness in his heart does not refer to the Tang army officers and soldiers, but to the soldiers and civilians of Goguryeo.

On the way south, Quan Nansheng witnessed Xue Rengui's bravery. His courage was like that of a tyrant reborn. He really treated the Goguryeo army as pigs and dogs and slaughtered them.

The defender of Chenyi City was named Gao Huaixian, a famous and fierce general of Goguryeo. However, Xue Rengui knocked him off his horse with a halberd and then chopped off his head with one move.

After the battle, Quan Nansheng talked about this incident, and Xue Rengui agreed: "No wonder he was able to take me on!"

In Xue Rengui's world, anyone who can withstand one of his blows can be called brave.

Anyone who can pass the Sanhe under his guidance is already considered a rare figure.

Quan Nansheng looked at Xue Rengui, thinking about the outstanding figures he met during the Fengshan ceremony, and realized that Goguryeo could not be saved.

If Quan Nanjian and Quan Nanchan could be persuaded to surrender, war could be avoided and casualties could be reduced.

(End of this chapter)