After Iwami and Iki fell to the Tang army, the northern coast of Kyushu Island and the western part of Honshu Island were greatly panicked, and forcibly recruited young and strong soldiers in the territory, intending to respond to the rapid offensive of the elite Tang army with a huge number.

The people of the sea also rushed to Shikoku Island and the central and western parts of Honshu Island to march to the Anyu Province south of Iwami Province, which was occupied by the Tang army, with the intention of recapturing Iwami in one fell swoop.

Just when the people of the sea were ambitious, the battle report of the 20,000 Japanese army and 1,000 warships to conquer Sado Island came back, shocking the Japanese court.

Five days ago, 20,000 Japanese troops sailed out of Echigo-country on 1,000 warships and encountered the Tang Army's naval fleet 30 miles offshore, and the two sides immediately broke out on the sea in a naval battle at the mouth of the Baijiang River, which was not inferior to that of more than 10 years earlier.

In the face of the Tang Army's Yellow Sea Fleet's 80 warships with the smallest standard displacement of more than 100 tons, the small and thin Japanese naval division was inherently at a disadvantage.

If it is in the offshore sea or in the harbor, the Japanese army can also take advantage of the huge number of small boats to bite more ants and kill elephants, but in the rough sea between Sado Island and Honshu Island, the attack of the Tang warships is almost powerless.

What's more, the Tang warships were generally equipped with fierce fire oil tanks, and the flames that spewed out could reach 18 feet, and the nozzle head was facing down to sweep the Japanese warships besieging the Tang warships, and the Japanese warships could be set on fire. The warship was also equipped with a winch crossbow that could fire a three-foot-five-inch long giant arrow, and a single shot of an arrow could pierce a Japanese warship. It can also be used to smash the pole of the enemy ship with the bow and stern of the ship.

Eighty warships of the Tang Army fought against the Japanese army, which had 1,000 warships and 20,000 soldiers and horses, and the wolf howled, and after two hours of fighting, the Japanese army lost 70% of its warships and soldiers and horses and retreated to the port of Echigo.

Wang Aoke originally wanted to take advantage of the victory to land in one fell swoop, capture the port along the coast of Echigo Province as a foothold, and then ask King Yan for reinforcements, and gradually advance inland. As a result, when he attacked Shuicheng again, where the Japanese army harbor was located, due to the tight garrison of the Japanese army, and the extremely strange setting of Shuicheng, Wang Aoke's offensive was frustrated, and he had to abandon his idea and retreat to Sado Island.

The people of the sea almost blew up their lungs in anger, and 20,000 or 1,000 warships were defeated by 3,000 or 4,000 soldiers and horses of the Tang Army's 80 warships, and 14,000 soldiers were lost.

This...... Is there any hope for this to repel the invading Don Army?

After the first battle, it will be difficult for the Japanese state to organize an attack of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses for a long time in the central and eastern parts of the island of Honshu.

Just when the people of the sea were losing Iwami and were worried about the defeat of Sado Island, Li Yu's 50,000-strong army was also assembled at the port of Pusan, south of Dongnae-gun, Silla.

Li Yu personally came to Busan Port and convened the generals to discuss the matter.

In view of Su Mingxiu's capture of Iwami Province, Gao Chongde also occupied Iki Island, counting the Oki Islands and Sado Islands that were previously captured by Wang Aoke, and all the large and medium-sized outlying islands along the Shaohai coast of the Wa Kingdom were owned by the Tang Army.

It can be said that as long as Li Yu wants to, his soldiers and horses can launch a large-scale offensive against the Japanese state from four locations, including three ways on Honshu Island, as long as there is a victory along the way, he can cut Honshu Island in half.

The western part of Honshu Island is too narrow, and the widest part is only more than 200 miles.

At the Busan military conference, Li Yu finally decided on the commander of the expedition, not that he would personally conquer again as the generals had speculated.

As the key object of Li Yu's future training, Xue Ne was undoubtedly favored by Li Yu, so he handed over the heavy task of this expedition to Xue Ne.

Li Yu originally wanted to take Hei Tooth Changzhi as the main commander, after all, he was a first-class general who had passed the test of history, and he had experienced a hundred battles, and before he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, he had repeatedly defeated the soldiers and horses sent by Su Dingfang, the Duke of Xingguo. Later, when Su Dingfang decided to personally lead the army to conquer Heizhichang, he was transferred to the Goguryeo battlefield by the imperial court, and maybe the two staged a dragon and tiger fight.

It's a pity that history didn't give the two a chance to excel.

After Su Dingfang left Baekje, Heiya Tsuneyuki fought his way out of the mountain fortress of Rencun, which was difficult to defend and attack, and almost recovered the whole of Baekje.

It is precisely because Hei Ya Changzhi is a general of Baekje that he is an outsider in the eyes of Andong's generals, even if he repeatedly made military exploits when he led his troops all the way to Silla, it was difficult for generals such as Li Shangdan, Xue Ne, Zhang Shi, and Gao Chongde to subdue him.

In order to avoid the discord between the generals and commanders who recruited the Japanese soldiers and horses with the black tooth Changzhi as the commander, Li Yu finally gave up on him and let Xue Ne go to the Japanese country to realize the opportunity to become famous.

Li Yu looked at the generals of the armies who had conquered the Japanese this time, and said word by word: "If I give you the confidence to destroy the Japanese kingdom within three months?" ”

"Three months? Your Highness, you're not joking, are you? ”

Zhang Shi asked in surprise with his mouth wide open.

The country also has millions of mouths, more than 2,000 miles from east to west, many mountains and few lands, and countless terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Even if the Tang army was invincible and invincible, it would be difficult to cross thousands of miles in the Japanese country and take Kyoto directly within three months.

Li Yu smiled and didn't reply, just looked at Xue Ne, who was the commander-in-chief, and Li Shangdan, the eldest grandson Zhengqi, Qi Biguang and others, who were the main generals of the expedition, and waited for their opinions.

Xue Ne pondered for a long time, and then bowed his head and said: "Your Highness, since ancient times, the army has not pursued rushing to achieve success, otherwise it will be the opposite, and the last general can only say that he will do his best." ”

Li Shangdan, Changsun Zhengqi and other generals also agreed with Xue Ne's words, and made a time analysis for Li Yu to march to the Wa Kingdom and conquer the relevant city fortresses, and the result was naturally impossible to attack the city of Kyoto in three months.

Li Yu just smiled and nodded, still a little disappointed in his heart, the generals he relied on didn't even have this bit of confidence.

You must know that more than 1,300 years later, when Little Japan invaded the behemoth of country Z, it shouted that it would destroy country Z within three months.

Now, Li Yu's generals have no confidence that even the northern part of Honshu Island will not be able to take the weak Wa Kingdom and destroy it in three months.

In Li Yu's view, it was completely possible to seize the coastal zone of Tsukushi Province in the northern part of Kyushu Island and the coastal area of the Shimonoseki Strait in the northern part of Toyokuni (present-day Kitakyushu) and the western tip of Nagato Province. After taking control of the Shimonoseki Strait, an important waterway into the Seto Inland Sea, he could take advantage of the advantages of naval maneuver and transport troops and horses to seize various important points along the way through the Seto Inland Sea to the Goki region, where Kyoto is located, and annihilate the Japanese navy that could go to sea to fight a battle.

It was not necessary to seize the various kingdoms along the way from the western tip of Honshu Island to Kyoto in the middle of the island.

Of course, this can't be blamed on Xue Ne, who doesn't have this understanding.

Li Yu had obtained very few maps about the Wa Kingdom, which made it difficult for Xue Ne to make better strategic plans on the vague map, and they did not have the concept of joint operations on land and sea, so naturally they did not have Li Yu's leapfrogging and advanced thinking as a traverser.

After Li Yu revealed his plan to march into the army, some of the generals greatly appreciated it, and many frowned.

The reason is very simple, Li Yu's plan has a lone army to go deep into Kyoto and ask, halfway Nuo made a mistake, and the way back was cut off by the Japanese army.