Chapter 2965 The defense line collapses
On the north bank of the Liao River, Cheng Yaojin, the Duke of Lu State who was in charge of the Chinese army, saw the smoke rising into the sky behind Gaimou City and decisively ordered his soldiers to cross the Liao River despite the arrows thrown wildly by the enemy on the other side.
The Liao River here is wide and has abundant water flow, which makes it difficult to force the crossing. The Youwu Guardsmen were the elite troops of the Tang Army. Under the command of Cheng Yaojin, they were well-trained and powerful. Even though the enemy's arrows were like locusts scurrying around the river, they still built the pontoon bridge in an orderly manner. .
The Goguryeo defenders in Gaimou City did not know the number of enemies behind them and did not dare to abandon the city to prevent the Tang army from crossing the Liao River. The defenders could only hold on and sent a small number of soldiers to the coast of the Liao River to delay the progress of the Tang army with bows and arrows. , while hurriedly sending scouts to find out the strength of the Tang army behind them, they also sent people to Huaiyuan Town, Baiyan City, and Xuantu City to ask for help.
The arrows of the Goguryeo army could not cause much damage to the heavily armored Tang Army engineers, and they did not dare to abandon the city and attack. They could only watch as the Tang Army spent a whole morning building three pontoon bridges on the Liao River, one for each team. The army's lineup was at its peak, and the murderous soldiers crossed the Liao River and advanced towards Gaimou City.
The strategy that originally hoped that relying on the fortified city could effectively prevent the Tang army from crossing the Liao River completely failed after a Tang army suddenly appeared behind and was attacked from both sides.
At this time, the envoys of the Tang Dynasty had not even arrived in Pyongyang City, submitted their credentials to the Treasure King of Goguryeo, and formally declared war...
In fact, there was a debate between the Political Affairs Hall and the Military Aircraft Department about whether to "declare and then go to war" or "to go to war without declaring".
Since ancient times, whenever a big country goes to war, it must be done openly and openly. The two sides even agree on a time and place, announce the number of troops, and then start the war in a fair and just manner. Of course, the winner must not go further and kill enemy soldiers or take the opportunity to occupy the enemy's land. The loser must also surrender and withdraw its troops and fulfill a series of previously agreed war conditions.
However, by the Spring and Autumn Period, the royal family collapsed and the princes were in power. War orders were no longer issued by the king, but the princes sent troops privately. War disasters were frequent, and they would do anything to achieve victory.
Therefore, "There is no righteous war in the Spring and Autumn Period", Sun Wu would say such words as "Soldiers are deceitful".
Since then, the so-called "declaration and then war" has gradually disappeared in the wars between vassal states. "Soldiers never tire of deceit" has become the mainstream of war methods, with far-reaching influence. However, in foreign wars, the tradition of "justice" is often maintained.
The Central Plains Dynasty is so majestic that it is the sect leader of the world. It attacks the superiors and the inferiors, uses the masses to bully the weak, and is invincible. How can it harm the majesty of the Heavenly Dynasty by "war without declaring it" and imitate that unjust act?
To put it bluntly, in order to maintain the majesty of the Celestial Kingdom, before the war, the reasons for the war are announced, the evidence of the enemy's crimes is listed, and the support of public opinion is obtained. Then the credentials are legitimately submitted to the enemy's country, severely condemned, and then the troops are mobilized to go to the front line. , when the enemy country is fully prepared, defeat it 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.
China is a land of etiquette. Even if it suffers a loss and leads to the death of more innocent soldiers, as long as it maintains its face, what does a small loss count?
Anyway, there is no need for the scholar-bureaucrats who talk about the "Tao of Confucius and Mencius" to go into battle with their swords and face the enemy's arrows and sharp blades in person...
But this time, His Majesty Li Er decided against all opinions and decided to fight without declaring war.
His reason was also very simple. The conquest of Goguryeo was not only to complete his personal ambition of hegemony, but also to eliminate the hidden danger of the empire entrenched in Liaodong.
Everyone knows that Goguryeo is becoming more and more powerful. From Guanqiu Jian's first eastward expedition to Goguryeo during the Cao Wei Dynasty to Emperor Yang's three eastward expeditions in the Sui Dynasty, they were all aimed at eradicating this "evil neighbor" who might endanger the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty. However, it is unknown how many Han Jiaerlang buried his bones in the land of Liaodong and stained the white mountains and black waters with blood, but he was still unable to completely defeat it.
Goguryeo must be destroyed. This was almost the consensus of the Sui and Tang dynasties. For the Central Plains dynasty, conquering the unconquered and destroying the enemy country was a just war.
Now that the nature of war has been defined, why should we care about the means?
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty mobilized the troops of the whole country, declared war after submitting his credentials in an upright manner, but what was the use? If the result of the war is failure, then the so-called "justice" will have no meaning at all.
In the same way, as long as Goguryeo can be defeated and the loss of soldiers in the war is reduced, what can "undeclared war" do?
Since ancient times, no foreign barbarians have declared war in advance when they invaded China...
Therefore, it was decided that it was not necessary for His Majesty Li Er to arrive in Liaodong in person before starting the war. Instead, the British military commander Li Ji, the commander-in-chief of the Pyongyang Road March, could sit in Liaodong and wait for the opportunity to break through Goguryeo's Liaoning water defense line with lightning speed. .
Now Li Ji led the main force of the Tang army, Chen Bing, on the other side of the Far East City not far from the mouth of the Liao River. Cheng Yaojin, the Duke of Lu, led his Youwu Guard officers upstream, and cooperated with the vanguard Xue Wanche's troops to complete a surprise attack on Gaimou City, an important town in Goguryeo located in the upper reaches of the Liao River. combat mission.
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The Tang army's undeclared war indeed plunged the entire Goguryeo army into chaos.
Goguryeo accumulated heavy troops in various mountain cities along the Liao River, and used the Liao River natural moat to defend the mountain cities, hoping to greatly hinder the advancement of the Tang army. It is definitely impossible to resist the Tang army. The Tang army, which has never been defeated in the world, uses all the strength of the country to attack. How can Goguryeo be able to resist it?
As long as it can delay the Tang army, it will be considered a strategic victory.
If the war can be delayed until the autumn when there is plenty of rain and the roads are muddy, and the winter when the weather is extremely cold and the mountains are blocked by snow, the Tang army will have to repeat the mistakes of the Sui Dynasty. The soldiers were unable to endure the bitter cold and the baggage could not be supplied and fell into a dead end. Goguryeo could turn defeat into victory. .
With a population of several million, Goguryeo was considered a first-class powerful country in Liaodong except the Tang Dynasty. However, its national strength was not enough to compete with the Tang Dynasty. If you want to defeat the Tang Dynasty, you can only rely on the power of heaven and earth and make use of the geography and weather of Liaodong.
Gao Yansu, who was trusted by Yuan Gaisuwen, led his elite troops and tens of thousands of Mohe soldiers to garrison the southern part of Gaimu City. Gao Yanshou was panicked in the mountain city.
In front of us, the main force of the Tang Army is forcibly crossing the Liao River. Once it passes, troops will be deployed to cover Mou City; behind, there is a group of enemies that have penetrated deep into the hinterland and may cooperate with the main force of the Tang Army to attack from both front and back at any time...
He, Gao Yanshou, could be regarded as a famous Goguryeo general who had been in battle for a long time. However, faced with such a dilemma and a difficult battle situation, he was unable to do anything. He could only first find out the depth of the enemy behind him, and then send people to the surrounding mountain cities to ask for help. .
However, he knew clearly that there would probably be no reinforcements.
The Tang army gathered millions of troops to march to Liaodong. Even though the number was a bit exaggerated, there were still 500,000 or 600,000. The Han people had always attacked Huaiyuan Town, Far East City, Jian'an City, and Anshi City first during their several eastern expeditions. Route, capture the old place of Xuantu County in the Han Dynasty, and then move steadily from Wugu City to the south across the Yalu River, capture Bobi City and Dahang City, and approach Pyongyang City.
Therefore, the Tang Army's top priority at the moment should be the Far East City and Huaiyuan Town lines, which are located not far from the mouth of the Liao River. The Gaimu City that they guard is only a breakthrough for the Tang Army to break through the Liao River defense line.
It is more likely that after the Tang army breaks through the Liao River defense line, it will "siege but not attack" Gaimou City, thereby involving Goguryeo's military strength in the entire Liao River defense line. They even resorted to the strategy of "encircling the point to rescue". Whoever came to rescue Gaimou City would be eaten...
Huaiyuan Town and Liaodong City, which had the largest number of troops, were under the front of the main force of the Tang Army. How could they dare to divide their troops to rescue themselves?
Anshi City, another important town, is too far away. Baiyan City and Xuantu City do not have enough troops to protect themselves...
Gao Yanshou sadly discovered that he seemed to have the only option left to cling to this path?
Although Gaimou City has high walls and thick walls, and was built halfway up a mountain with favorable terrain, it was not conducive for the Tang army to launch a large-scale charge. However, how long could it hold out under heavy siege?
Regardless of whether the Tang army could completely overthrow Goguryeo in the end, Gaimou City would be captured by the Tang army sooner or later.
Then the problem comes again. The Tang Dynasty inherited the Sui Dynasty. Most of the current Tang army generals have some connection with the soldiers of the Sui Yang Emperor's Eastern Expedition. They even have the same origin, so they have a deep hatred for Goguryeo. Once the city is broken and captured, will he be killed on the spot?
However, if they surrender at this time, the entire Liao River defense line will be completely destroyed, making the Tang army crossing the Liao River as if they are in uninhabited territory. They can easily outflank Liaodong City from behind, or even go south to attack Anshi City.
Due to Yeon Gae So-moon's cruelty, his family members and children left in Pyongyang City would probably be kidnapped and taken to the execution ground to be punished, and none of them would survive.
How to choose and where to go made Gao Yanshou's hair turn gray overnight... (End of Chapter)