Chapter 425: Rushing to Pyongyang

Although the Goryeo army had as many as 150,000, the Tang army, from Li Shimin and Li Ji to ordinary soldiers, was quite confident in its combat effectiveness. This is also the case, at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the conquest continued, and the combat effectiveness of the Tang army honed was very strong. Later, with the progress of military reform, the Tang army tended to be regularized and professionalized, which was completely different from the previous half-peasant and half-soldier government soldiers.

In the face of the 150,000 Goryeo army, Li Shimin even smiled and said: "There are three strategies for prolonging life today: leading troops straight forward, Lian'an City as a base, according to the danger of the high mountains, eating the millet in the city, and plundering my cattle and horses. pull out the people in the city, escape with them, and the middle strategy is also; If you don't have intelligence, come and fight with me, and make a decision. Qing Cao Guanzhi, he will make a decision, and he will be captured in my eyes. ”

To put it simply, Li Shimin believes that Gao Yanshou has three strategies to use, the best strategy is to drive outside the city of Anshi, echo with the city of Anshi, send cavalry to harass the logistics supply of the Tang Dynasty, and do not go to war. This strategy is keeping. The middle strategy is to pick up the defenders in the city of Anshi, leave the city with them, and avoid the Tang army. This policy is a retreat. The next strategy was to rush directly over and fight a decisive battle with the Tang army. This strategy is a battle. At the same time, he also asserted that this Gao Yanshou would definitely choose the next strategy to fight with the Tang Army.

The ministers listened to Li Shimin's words with obvious disdain, but they did not refute it, but nodded their heads one by one.

As for the ordinary soldiers in the Tang army, when they heard that the Goryeo army was coming, they drew their swords and were overjoyed, and they couldn't wait to fight the Goryeo army immediately.

Seeing that the army's heart was available, Li Shimin also personally went to each battalion and village to comfort the soldiers and boost their morale.

The Tang army was preparing for a battle, while the Goryeo side was also making careful pre-war preparations. This Gao Yanshou is really as Li Shimin said, ready to fight with the Tang Army.

Goryeo is not without capable people, these people can see at a glance that although the strength of their side is more than twice that of the Tang army, the Tang army's field combat ability is so strong that it is not on the same level as the Goryeo army. If it is to open up a position with the Tang army and fight a decisive battle in the wilderness, it is not yet known who will kill the deer. Moreover, the Tang army also had powerful firearms as support, so the negative impact of the Goryeo army was greater.

Therefore, a person named Gao Zhengyi (to Lu, the official name of Goryeo) suggested to Gao Yanshou: "I heard that China was in turmoil, and heroes rose up. King Shenwu of Qin, invincible, leveled the world, the south is the emperor, the north is obedient, and Xirong contributes. Now the country is coming, and the fierce generals are sharp, and they are all here, and their edge cannot be taken seriously. Today, for the planner, Mo Ruodun soldiers do not fight, protracted, dispatch heroes, cut off their feeding, but ten days, the army food will be exhausted, can not fight, want to return to no way, this without a fight and win also! ”

This high justice is really right. This of his coincides with Li Shimin's best policy. However, Gao Yanshou did not take this suggestion.

It makes sense that Gao Yanshou did not adopt this suggestion. Now there are 150,000 Goryeo troops, plus 20,000 people in Anseong, for a total of 170,000. These 170,000 troops still avoided fighting in the face of 60,000 Tang troops, and if they were deep in order to retreat from the enemy, it really seemed that he was incompetent. Moreover, the daily consumption of grain and grass by the army of 170,000 is not a small amount. Therefore, Gao Yanshou denied Gao Justice's admonition at that time.

Because Li Shimin rushed over on a hurried march, the artillery did not follow, but stayed in Baiyan City. And more than 5,000 gendarmes have been assigned to various large and small cities to be responsible for maintaining law and order and supervising military discipline, so now Zhang Yunwen only has more than 1,000 scouts around him.

In the process of retreating all the way, Zhang Yunwen was also thinking about the current battle situation between the two sides and the possible situation in the future. It really reminded him of something.

According to historical records, when the Tang army attacked the 150,000-strong army of Goryeo with 30,000 people, Li Daozong came up with an idea, saying that he would lead 5,000 elite horsemen to attack Pyongyang. At that time, Li Shimin considered that his own troops were already small, and if he divided another 5,000 people, the weight of victory in this battle would be greatly reduced. So he did not agree with Li Daozong's opinion. However, Li Jing later affirmed Li Daozong's proposal. If the 5,000 cavalry successfully attacked Pyongyang, or even captured or killed Yuangai Suwen, then the war in Goryeo would end early.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yunwen's heart was agitated, otherwise he would also tell Li Shimin to lead troops to Pyongyang?

At that moment, Zhang Yunwen came to Li Shimin's big tent and was ready to tell Li Shimin about the matter.

As soon as he arrived at the big tent, he saw that all the people in the tent were present. Seeing Zhang Yunwen, Li Shimin couldn't help but smile and said: "I was still going to let people look for you, but you came by yourself!" Now that I'm here, let's listen to my arrangements for this battle! ”

After Li Shimin beckoned Zhang Yunwen to sit down, he ordered the leading soldiers to slowly spread out a map and hold it like this for everyone to watch.

"This is the camp of our army, this is the camp of the Goryeo army!" Li Shimin took a slender baton and said, "This is a hill. Yesterday, the company sent scouts to reconnoiter this mountain range and drew a map of the mountain. Everyone loves Qing and looks, the mountains here are an excellent place for our army to ambush. After our army was ambushed in this mountain range, I sent a general to lead my troops and horses to fight the Goryeo army, and feigned defeat and retreated, leading the Goryeo army to this mountain range. When the time comes, our army will be able to defeat the Goryeo army in one fell swoop by virtue of the terrain! ”

When the generals heard this, they nodded silently, and no one raised any objections. After a moment of silence, Li Ji finally spoke: "Your Majesty, the minister has a question. What if those Koreans were not fooled, or if they entered the mountains and took strict precautions to prevent our army from taking advantage of them? ”

Li Shimin smiled when he heard this: "It's not difficult to say that this matter is difficult, but it's just a little troublesome." From today onwards, our army can send generals to lead troops to fight with them from time to time, and every time they clash, they all feint defeat and return, so that in a few days, it will definitely be able to fuel the arrogance of Gao Yanshou and despise our army even more. In this way, the high life extension is in the middle of the plan! ”

After listening to Li Shimin's words, Li Ji nodded and said respectfully: "Your Majesty is far-sighted, and Weichen is not as good as you!" ”

These words made Li Shimin smile on his face, and he looked around at the people in the tent: "Ladies and gentlemen, do you have any opinions?" ”

At this time, Zhang Yunwen came out and said: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister has something to say!" ”

"You say!"

"Now that Yuangai Suwen has raised the troops of the whole country to fight against His Majesty, the rear must be empty. Please lead a group of elite horsemen, rush to Pyongyang, and capture Nayuan Gai Suwen alive! ”

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of everyone in the tent lit up at the same time.

After Li Shimin pondered for a moment, he looked at the rest of the generals in the tent: "Yunwen said this, what do you think of Zhu Aiqing?" ”

Li Daozong was the first to jump out in support: "The minister agrees with General Zhang's words!" At this time, the rear of Goryeo is empty, and it is the best time to attack, and if it is missed, only the army will slowly advance and capture Pyongyang, which will greatly slow down the progress of the war! ”

Li Ji pondered for a moment and said, "If you plan it well, it is very feasible!" ”

Then, a number of generals agreed.

"Okay, Yoon-moon, as long as you can tell me how to march and how to capture Pyongyang, I will agree with you!" Li Shimin saw that some generals agreed, and said immediately.

Zhang Yunwen was silent for a moment: "Regarding this march, the minister thinks there are two ways to go. The first is to lead the cavalry, go by land, go out day and night, send a large number of scouts, and destroy anyone who finds the traces of our army. In this way, it can reach the city of Pyongyang in secrecy. The second is to take the waterway. 5,000 soldiers and horses, about 50 or 60 ships, as long as you ask Zhang Liangzhang to help transport them, you can go directly to the outside of Pyongyang through the Hunshui (Datong River). As for how to break through this Pyongyang city, hehe, Your Majesty, Wechen will bring more than a thousand scouts, are you still afraid that you won't be able to break a Pyongyang city? ”

Hearing Zhang Yunwen say this, Li Shimin didn't say anything, and nodded silently: "Since Yunwen is so confident, then I will allow you to lead the troops to attack Pyongyang City!" As for the march, let's take the waterway! I happened to receive a military report from Zhang Liang's navy, who were heading to Jian'an City after capturing Beisha City, and the navy ships were now heading towards Liaodong Bay. It can be reached in up to three days. When the time comes, you lead the army straight to the mouth of the Liao River, carry the ships of the navy, and go to Pyongyang! Uh, Yunwen, in addition to bringing your own people, as long as you look at the officers and soldiers in the army, and people are willing to go, then you can choose! ”

Zhang Yunwen was overjoyed when he got Li Shimin's promise, and immediately hugged his fists and said: "Oh! ”

So Zhang Yunwen did not participate in the upcoming battle, but walked around the camp and selected people. First of all, Zhang Yunwen is of course looking for those who graduated from the Military Academy, such as Duan Yunsong, Cheng Wuting, Pei Xingjian, etc., these people are of extremely high quality and meet their own requirements very well. When he told these people, the fellows didn't say a word, and immediately agreed. In addition, he also selected some soldiers and elite cavalry who could speak Goryeo, and after gathering 5,000 men, he headed for Liaoshuikou, where he prepared to board the ship.