It is to send the road to wait for a long time, and to pre-cover the meaning of Chen to come to the court. To the effect that the Tang Dynasty's fleet of more than 2,000 people suddenly appeared near my Tsushima Bichi Island, saying that they were coming to the Wa Kingdom, but they were afraid that there would be many people and a wide range of ships, which would cause misunderstanding, so they led the garrison to attack the Tang fleet, so they first sent Daojiu to report a message.

The date of the appearance of this mission is worth speculating, as November 671 was the time of a tense confrontation between the Kumajin Prefecture and Silla. Later generations said that this fleet came from the Kumatsu Prefecture.

This statement is not valid at all, at that time, the Tang army was alone in the direction of the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion, and the troops were insufficient, and it was impossible to send more than 2,000 people out. The other is that it is from Datang itself, and I think this is more likely. So what is the task of this fleet?

The most likely is that he came to the Wa Kingdom to negotiate the joint dispatch of troops to Silla. But this does not mean that the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion has fallen, what can show that the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion has fallen is the time when Guo Wuchun left: May 672 AD! If the Kumajin Prefecture had not fallen, Guo Wuchun should have remained in the Wa State for diplomatic consultations.

Obviously, Guo Wusong did not complete the task, because when he left the Wa Kingdom, he did not take with him a single soldier of the Wa Kingdom, but only took some military supplies: "1,673 horses, 2,852 ends of cloth, 666 catties of cotton, and armor, armor, bows, arrows, etc." - "Nihon Shoki" Emperor Guo Wushu needs to return as much as possible after hearing the news of the fall of the Kumatsu Governor's Mansion in the Wa Kingdom, otherwise Silla will cut off Guo Wusong's return route by sea and will not be able to return to China along the way!

With the above two pieces of evidence, coupled with the fact that there is no record of Tang and Silla fighting in the Xiongjin Prefecture, it is certain that the Tang army of the Xiongjin Prefecture withdrew to the Tang Dynasty. Then the question arises again, why did the Don Army retreat?

I'll try to keep this question as simple as possible, I've done some reasoning work in the past two days, which is boring and boring. Reason 1: The war is tense and the troops are insufficient. There was a powerful Tibetan on the western front and a Goguryeo rebellion on the eastern front.

It is really impossible to fight a large-scale or protracted war with Silla in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula; Reason 2: Natural disasters in China for many years. The national strength has declined, and it is unable to fight on multiple fronts at the same time. Take a look at the misfortunes suffered by the Tang Dynasty in recent years: "In the first year of the general chapter (668 AD), it was the year of the drought in Beijing and Shandong, Jiang and Huai. Hungry. ”

—— Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 201, "General Chapter 2 (669 AD), June ,...... The wind and rain in Guanzhou, the sea flooded Yongjia and Angu two counties, and the 6843 area of the people's houses was floated. 9,070 people were drowned, 500 cattle were killed, and 4,150 acres of seedlings were damaged. ”

"In the second year of the general chapter, in June, Jizhou was flooded, and the bad house was 14390 area, and the damaged field was 4496 hectares." "In the second year of the general chapter, in the autumn and July, 19 prefectures including Jiannanyi, Lu, Shan, Mao, Ling, Qiong, Ya, Mian, Yi, Wei, Shi, Jian, Zi, Zi, Rong, Long, Guo, Zi, Pu, and Sui were drought, and the people were exhausted. A total of 367,690 households. ”

——"Old Tang Book" Volume 4 Gaozong Benji I, "The first year of Xianheng (670 AD), August ,...... Guanzhong drought, hunger. ”

…… You said, the domestic situation is like this, can Datang continue to send troops on a large scale without sympathy for the people's feelings? So far, these issues have been analysed for two days. My head is numb!

Everyone must have watched it boring too! But that's what history is, its facts are there, and everything that happens is related and has a reason. It's impossible to jump out of thin air. Our predecessors did not leave us with enough, direct information. It is only up to us to dig little by little from the vast historical materials.

Different people may have different reasoning about the same question, but the brilliance of history is here, bringing together all the different ideas. Believing in its true veil will be lifted little by little by us to see it as it is.

The reason why all people who love history are interested in history is also from the continuous discovery and exploration of historical truths, so as to obtain their favorite nutritious meal, and finally satisfy their thirst for knowledge! I think that the most precious spiritual wealth left by history to future generations is to continue to explore!

But! Now let's take a break. Enter the exciting war scenes now! It should be a reward for the energy you have put in these days! Let's move our gaze north from the Kumjin Governorate in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula to the hometown of Goguryeo, where we will continue our military story!

Although the Xiongjin Prefecture eventually fell, the reinforcements of Liu Renyuan and Xue Rengui still played an important role in pinning down the main Silla force on the southern front.

This reduced the pressure on the Tang Dynasty's counterinsurgency operations in Andong Protectorate (i.e., Goguryeo's hometown). As early as 670 AD, when Goguryeo's first rebel force, Jianmu Cen, was just emerging, the Tang government sent Gao Wei to lead an army to suppress it.

We are no longer strangers to Gao Wei, and we got to know this person in detail in the last part of "Tang Destroys Goguryeo". At that time, it was said that what this person was best at was to do the aftermath - the general would destroy the country, and Gao Wei would clean up the mess. In the process of Li Shixun's army destroying Goguryeo, Gao Xian's performance in the two battles of Xincheng and Jinshan was not satisfactory. Actually, he can't be blamed for this, after all, what he's good at isn't here.

Then let's take a look at how well Gao Wei is good at the aftermath: "In the first year of Xianheng (670 AD), Jian Mu Cen reversed. Gao Wei, the general of the Zuojian Gate, was the head of the march of Dongzhou Road, and sent troops to ask for it. ”

, After Gao Wei set off, he did not write about the battle process, but directly wrote the result: "An Shun killed the sword Mu Cen and went to Silla." "In the second year of Xianheng (671 AD), autumn, July, Yiweishuo, Gao Wei broke Goguryeo and left the rest of the people in Anshi."

After the battle of Anshi, Gao Kan led the army to continue to advance, and the front of the army was directed at Pyongyang "In the 11th year of King Wenmu (671 AD), in September, the Tang general Gao Kan and others led 40,000 soldiers to Pyongyang, and the deep ditch and high fortress invaded the belt. ”——

The Goguryeo rebels, who lost the support of Silla, were vulnerable to the defeat of the Goguryeo rebels who lost the support of Silla. Gao Kan was beaten from Anshi to Obifang, that is, from the vicinity of Haicheng, Liaoning today, to Huanghaedo in North Korea, and this qiē only happened in just two months, which shows how low the level of the Goguryeo rebels was.

In 672 A.D., Gao Kan and other troops were still carrying out the work of suppressing bandits near Pyongyang, "In the autumn and July, the Tang general Gao Kan led 10,000 troops, and Li Jinxing led 30,000 troops, and went to Pyongyang for a while, and stayed in the camp as eight battalions. ”

- "History of the Three Kingdoms" In Baishui Mountain near Pyongyang, the Tang army encountered the Goguryeo rebels again, and there was no suspense, Gao Kan and Li Jinxing led their troops to win easily" Gao Kan and the rest of Goguryeo fought at Baishui Mountain. Broken"——

However, the Tang army will not always be so easy, because at this time, the Tang army of the Kumajin Governor's Mansion on the southern front has returned to China, and Silla has been able to free up his hands. Rest assured to march north, focus on assisting the Goguryeo rebel forces in their anti-Tang operations.

The Battle of SeokunJust when the Goguryeo rebels were defeated by Gao Kan and were powerless, the Silla army was dispatched, and under the leadership of Kim Famin, they conquered Han Shi Cheng all the way. Mayi City and other cities marched to Shimen in the area of the Belt and fought against the Tang army. Here, the first large-scale confrontation between the Tang Dynasty and Silla is about to take place - the Battle of Seokmon! Okay, the front is all flat and straightforward, and there is no suspense, but the excitement starts right here.

However, here comes the headache for us again, about the course of the battle. There is a big discrepancy between Chinese and foreign (to be precise, Chinese and Korean) historical sources.

Then let's take a look at how Chinese and foreign historical sources record this battle. Let's first look at the records of domestic historical materials: "In the third year of Xianheng (672 AD), in December, Gao Wei and the rest of Goguryeo fought in Baishui Mountain and broke it.

Silla sent troops to rescue Goguryeo, Kan broke it" - "Zizhi Tongjian" volume 202 "Gao Kan...... Defeated again in Quanshan, captured 2,000 Silla reinforcements ,......" - "New Tang Book" Dongyi "Gao Kan,...... In the third year of Hamhyung, he fought with the remnants of Goguryeo at Baeksu Mountain, and it was broken, and Silla would also resist the official army of Goguryeo. Kan and his lieutenant general Li Jinxing and others led troops to meet Goguryeo and beheaded 3,000 people. ”

—— "Shufu Yuangui" volume 358 and then look at the record of foreign historical materials: "(The Silla army) marched into the army, 500 steps away from Baishui City as a camp, and our soldiers fought against the Goguryeo soldiers. Beheaded (the Don Army) thousands.

Gao Kan and others retreated, chased to the battle of Shimen, our soldiers were defeated, Da A Lu Xiaochuan, Sha Lu Yiwen, Shanshi, A Lu ...... Wait for death. ”

- "History of the Three Kingdoms", Silla Benji, Volume 7, "Tang Army and Yan Yan." Camp in the field of Shimen (that is, Baishui City), Wang (Jin Famin) sent generals Yifu, Chunchang and other royal officials, camped in the field of the party.

At that time, the spear building was alone in the camp, and more than 3,000 Tang soldiers were captured and sent to the general's camp. Therefore, all the buildings said: 'If the spear battalion succeeds alone, it will be rewarded, and it is not for us to gather in vain.' ’

Then the troops dispersed. Tang Bing and Yan Yan, taking advantage of their failure to attack, our people were defeated, and the generals Xiaochuan and Yiwen died. - "History of the Three Kingdoms" Jin Yuxin's biography.

Chinese historians are very irresponsible, only recording the results, such as how many people were captured, how many people were beheaded, how many enemy generals were killed, and ......, but did not record the process.

Compared with China, Korean historians were more responsible, not only carefully recording the results of the battle (defeat), but also describing in detail the process of the battle and the reasons for the victory and defeat.

According to the records of Kim Yu Shin in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", the reason why Silla was defeated was because at the beginning of the battle, Silla won and gained the upper hand, and then the generals (all the buildings) wanted to compete for meritorious service and bravely moved forward, and the formation was chaotic and was won by the Tang army.

Is that really the case? According to Silla, at the beginning of the battle, Silla sent a spear battalion to attack first, achieving the results of "beheading thousands" and "capturing (capturing) more than 3,000 Tang soldiers." For Silla, this is a remarkable achievement.

The generals of Silla were infected by the victory in the first battle, so they "scattered their own troops", did not want to form a formation, disrupted the formation, and charged directly, and the Tang army seemed to have become a lamb to the slaughter in their eyes! But the result of the battle ruthlessly destroyed the lies of the Silla historians!

The total number of Tang troops is only 40,000, and the combat effectiveness is definitely far above the Silla army, if you lose thousands of people in one round, then you don't have to think about it, you also know that this battle will not have to be fought, and the result will definitely be a victory for Silla. Therefore, the Battle of Shimen was not as recorded in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms", the Tang army lost thousands of people and won by luck. So what about the real process?

Shimen is a trap and a trap dug by Gao Kan for Silla! Four years ago, Jia Yanzhong, the imperial servant of the Tang Dynasty, commented to Emperor Li Zhi that Gao Kan was "diligent and thrifty, loyal and resourceful".

From the fact that the supreme commander of the Silla army is Kim Famin, the king of Silla, it can be known that this army is the main force of Silla, plus the local Goguryeo rebels, its number is more than 50,000! And the Tang army commanded by Gao Kan and others was only 40,000!

The Tang army was numerically at a disadvantage. Being in a dangerous situation, with insufficient troops, and without a vanguard general like Xue Rengui, the Tang army could not guarantee victory if he directly arranged his troops and arranged the formation. To win, you must ambush your troops around the battlefield before the battle, lure the Silla army into a trap, and then flank them from all sides!

Combined with historical data, it can be analyzed that Gao Kan's tactics are: early engagement with the enemy - feint defeat - lure the enemy into the ambush circle.

Poor Silla was led by the nose step by step into the encirclement. So the result of the battle is as recorded in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms": "(Silla) was defeated, and the Great Ayu Xiaochuan was ...... Waiting for Death",

The remaining defeated Silla army fled all the way to Silla. Is this the end of the Battle of Shimen? No, for the Tang army, this is just the beginning, the Tang army with the power of victory, pursuing the defeated army of Silla,

When he chased to Wuyi Ridge, he caught up with the defeated army of Silla, and fought indiscriminately, and beheaded the father and son of Ah Zhenhan, the chief eunuch of Silla Julie Prefecture...... Considering the lack of troops and the instability of the rear, the Tang army stopped the pursuit.

Regarding the table of Gao Kan in this battle, the first general of Silla, the Taijiao Gan Kim Yuxin, gave the most appropriate evaluation: "The strategy of the Tang people is unpredictable. ”

What was the most direct impact of this battle on Silla? The Battle of Shimen directly shattered Kim Famin's dream of unifying the three Koreas, and made him re-understand the combat power of the Tang Army. In order to prevent the Tang army from entering Silla, Kim Famin resorted to two strategies.

After he resorted to these two strategies, the Tang army did not continue to attack Silla, so that after the Battle of Seokmon, Silla gained two years to rearmament. What exactly is Kim Famin's strategy? The reason why the Tang army did not take advantage of the victory to attack Silla was really Kim Famin's strategy that worked?

In fact, Goguryeo was not as good as the Tang Dynasty or even the Great Sui in the Central Plains in terms of its city defense skills and field combat capabilities, and there were three general reasons for his success in front of the Great Sui and part of his success in front of the Tang Dynasty: First, the strategy was correct.

Knowing the strengths of oneself and the shortcomings of the enemy, making full use of the advantages of time and location, and the shortcomings of the opponent's logistics, to fight a defensive battle from city to city.

In the era of cold weapons, as long as the defending side of the city is strong and has mastered the appropriate combat skills, even if the disparity in strength is huge,

It is not difficult for the defenders to hold the city and play a large casualty ratio. Goguryeo was very successful in Goguryeo, but in fact, the defense of Liaodong and Anshi was not a top-level example in the Central Plains.

Second, strength dictates. Among the three Koreas, Goguryeo has the strongest military strength and the strongest will to fight. Goguryeo's military strength was not enough to fight with the Central Plains Dynasty in a field battle, but it was enough to defend the city. (To be continued.) )