He was not only promoted to the chief of the Operations Department of the General Staff for his merits, and was promoted to the third-class earl, but also married the youngest daughter of Fan Fanzhi, the former king of Linyi, which can be described as a spring breeze.

He saw Li Su and said, "See His Royal Highness the Prince." ”

Li Su smiled and said, "Rengui, I have an errand to send you." But you just married a concubine, and now you are sent out, is it a little unkind? ”

Xue Rengui said solemnly: "Your Highness, it is the duty of a minister to serve the imperial court. Rengui can have today's status, all thanks to the support of His Royal Highness the Prince, but there is a sending, and the minister will not give up. ”

Li Su took out the map of Liaodong and gave instructions to Xue Rengui. Xue Rengui said: "Your Highness, the minister will make some preparations and set off in three days." ”

A month later.

Early in the morning, on the west bank of the Liao River, a group of Tang troops appeared by the river, led by a young general in a white robe, climbed a high slope and looked towards the opposite bank.

On a hillside on the opposite bank, there is a grayish-white embankment-like structure about two meters high and hundreds of meters long.

Xue Rengui adjusted his focus and gradually saw the true face of the embankment - it turned out to be human skulls! This is the famous Goguryeo Gyeongkan.

Xue Rengui put down the binoculars. His face was gloomy, his eyes were spewing fire, and he held the Fang Tian Painting Halberd in his hand in his right hand, and due to the force, the green tendons on the back of his hand appeared.

September 20th, Early Dynasty, Taiji Hall.

Zhang Shigui, the governor of Hebei Province, sent an urgent report from Jinzhou (present-day Chaoyang) that Goguryeo had launched a war against Buyeo.

Li Su frowned when he heard this, knowing that Ansheng's days were gone.

Sure enough, Li Shimin was furious when he heard this, and he was about to send troops to conquer Goguryeo. He said, "Damn the Goguryeo, I must destroy them." ”

Li Jing has always been known for his calmness, and after listening to Li Shimin's words, he immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers support your decision, and the ambition of the Goguryeo wolf must be eliminated." ”

Then, Li Jing told a story of his personal experience.

Thirty years ago, Li Jing participated in the war against Goguryeo as a low-ranking officer of the Sui Dynasty.

In 612, Emperor Yang Guangqin of the Sui Dynasty led an army of 1.13 million, known as an army of 2 million, and failed to conquer Goguryeo, killing and wounding millions of people. Li Jing's cousin was killed in that war.

Yu Wende, the general of the Sui Dynasty, led an army of 100,000 to surrender and was all beheaded. The Goguryeo people used their 100,000 heads to build the Jingguan Temple on the east bank of the Liao River as a demonstration of deterrence.

For 30 years, the heads of those soldiers are still there. This is a great shame for the Chinese nation.

Speaking of that period of history, Li Jing felt very sad.

For the Goguryeo people, Li Su also hated it very much. Everyone knows that the Japanese were very brutal to the Chinese in history, and they may not know that in the Japanese war of aggression against China, a large number of Korean puppet troops participated in the war of aggression against China, and they killed the Chinese, which were even more cruel than the Japanese, and many Koreans participated in the Nanjing Massacre.

When the U.S. invaded Vietnam, a large number of South Koreans cooperated with the U.S. military in massacring the Vietnamese, and the degree of cruelty far exceeded that of the Americans.

Yi also expressed his support for waging war against the Goguryeo.

Goguryeo was a large country in the northeastern part of the Tang Dynasty, with a population of 4.5 million and a standing army of 400,000. The territory includes most of eastern Liaoning, a part of western Liaoning (most of Liaoning Province), and the west of the 37th parallel of the Korean Peninsula. Goguryeo is bordered by Buyeo to the north, Joran to the west, and Silla and Baekje to the east.

Goguryeo was an old empire that was founded in 113 BC. The Goguryeo people were very warlike and aggressive, and there have been many large-scale wars with the Han people in history.

The Sui Dynasty was a powerful dynasty, and the fall of the Sui Dynasty was directly related to Goguryeo.

In 612, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty mobilized an army of one million to conquer Goguryeo, but was defeated and lost more than a million people, leading to the decline of the country's strength. In 613, Yang Guang continued to prepare for the conquest of Goguryeo, and he aggressively recruited people, which led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty.

After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo fought with Buyeo and Silla at the same time, fearing that it would be attacked by the Tang Dynasty, so it declared itself a vassal to the Tang Dynasty and paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty every year.

In 639, Goguryeo won victories over Buyeo and Silla, and felt that it was full-fledged, so it stopped paying tribute to the Tang Dynasty and built the Great Wall along the border with the Tang Dynasty. The Goguryeo army often harassed the military and civilians of Hebei Province.

Li Shimin had long wanted to use troops against Goguryeo, but in the past few years, he had to solve the problem of Tubo and Tuyuhun, coupled with the just-concluded war against Linyi, so he had to endure it for the time being.

Buyeo is a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, and has always been friendly with the Tang Dynasty, sending people to Chang'an to meet Li Shimin every year, and paying tribute to a large number of deer antlers, mountain ginseng and other items. Goguryeo's invasion of Buyeo was a contempt for the Tang Dynasty.

Li Su took the lead in asking to lead the troops into battle. Li Jing and other generals also asked for battle. Li Shimin was really popular this time, and decided to drive to Goguryeo in person.

Tai Chi Palace, Li Shimin's study.

The head of the Overseas Intelligence Bureau, Po Tie, reported on the situation in Goguryeo.

Li Shimin said: "Emperor Yang of Sui failed to conquer Goguryeo, but his strategic intention was right. The Goguryeo people were so ambitious that we could not sit idly by and watch them annex Buyeo, Silla, and Baekje. ”

Li Jing said: "The emperor is right. Originally confined to a corner of Liaodong, Goguryeo grew from a small country with a population of only 80,000 to gradually annex the four Han counties and conquer parts of Buyeo, Silla, and Baekje, and developed into a powerful empire of 4.5 million people.

In time, they annexed Buyeo, Silla and Baekje, and their strength would be close to the level of the Tang Dynasty, which would be a disaster for the Tang Dynasty, so they must immediately send troops to destroy Goguryeo. ”

Wei Zheng said with some concern: "Goguryeo is a big country, and Emperor Yang of Sui sent a million troops, but he still hasn't defeated them. The Tang Dynasty sent troops to conquer Goguryeo, so we must be cautious. ”

Li Su said: "Lord Wei doesn't have to worry, this time and that time. Although Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty sent millions of troops, most of them were temporarily conscripted people, and although the current strength of our Tang Dynasty is small, it is well-equipped and well-trained.

Erchen suggested that preparations for war in Goguryeo should be made from now on, mobilizing troops from eight divisions of the Flying Tiger Army, the Luoyang Military Region, and the Liaoxi Military Region, and then recruiting 10 divisions of reserve troops from Hedong, Henan, and Hebei provinces, and then mobilizing some armed police units to be responsible for logistical support, with a total of 300,000 troops immediately marching to western Liaoning for training.

The attack should be launched in mid-November, after the river froze.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent envoys to Buyeo, Silla, and Baekje to send troops at the same time, and they could be promised that after the capture of Goguryeo, the four families would divide Goguryeo according to the number of troops sent and the size of the merit. ”

Fang Xuanling said: "His Royal Highness the Prince's opinion is very good, Buyeo, Silla and Baekje can send troops at the same time, Goguryeo will inevitably be attacked on all sides, and the battle will be in chaos, and the ministers are in favor." ”

Li Shimin accepted the prince's suggestion and instructed him to stay in Chang'an to supervise the country.

Immediately, Datang's war machine kicked off.

East Palace.

Du He and Yu Chi Baoqi begged to see the crown prince Li Su.