Now that the logistical aspect has been decided, the next step is to decide how many troops to send. However, on the issue of the number of troops to be sent, there are actually many people who have disputed it. Because everyone couldn't figure out how much combat power Goguryeo had and how many troops it would take to defeat them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you can express your opinions, how many troops do you think our Datang will have to send to defeat them? Pharmacist, you speak first. Li Shimin asked.

As the commander-in-chief of the military headquarters, Li Jing took the initiative to speculate: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that it is necessary to have an army of 500,000. ”

"Half a million?" Everyone was shocked.

Because they didn't expect Li Jing to say such a statement, because the 500,000 army was too amazing. Now there is no 500,000 army in the whole of Datang, and if 500,000 troops are dispatched, I am afraid that the whole country's army will be hollowed out.

After hearing Li Jing's words, Li Shimin said unhappily: "Pharmacist, do you really need 500,000?" ”

"The minister thought that the Sui Dynasty sent 1 million troops back then, but it couldn't beat Goguryeo, so our 500,000 is already considered less!" Li Jing said.

And the official of the household department immediately said: "Your Majesty, if you send 500,000 troops, then I am afraid that the people in the rear will also need more than one million, I am afraid that the military expenditure is not enough!" ”

Hearing about military spending, this is actually not enough again. And Li Shimin didn't want to really send 500,000 troops, which was too huge a cost, and Li Shimin couldn't accept it.

However, Jingwen soon came out and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that sending 100,000 troops is enough, but the firearms must be fully equipped!" ”

"One hundred thousand?"

Everyone heard Jingwen's statement, and 100,000 is enough. And from 500,000 to 100,000, it is acceptable for everyone to send 100,000 troops. But 100,000 people, can they really defeat the Goguryeos? In that year, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty made three expeditions to Goguryeo and sent more than one million troops, but he was unable to defeat Goguryeo, but let the Sui Dynasty directly perish because of it. So Goguryeo is not easy to fight. Li Jing said that 500,000 is needed, which is already a very conservative estimate. But Jingwen actually said that 100,000 would be enough, which made everyone puzzled for a while.

And everyone doesn't know who to listen to, and Li Jing is known as the military god of the Tang Dynasty, after all, Li Jing's military exploits are not blown. However, Jingwen also fought several battles and defeated the Turks and Tibetans. The Turks were defeated with everyone, but the Tibetans were not taken seriously by everyone. In their eyes, the Tibetans were nothing more than clowns, nothing compared to the Turks. As for Goguryeo, everyone thinks it is a difficult bone to gnaw. It's not a soft persimmon that's too easy to beat!

"Jingwen, did you say 100,000? This is a military matter, don't talk nonsense! Li Shimin asked.

And Jingwen said affirmatively: "Your Majesty, although the minister thinks that 100,000 is enough, but the minister has another condition, that is, firearms must be equipped with enough." If these 100,000 people were still the ordinary soldiers with pure cold weapons in the past, Nachen did not have the confidence that 100,000 people would be able to conquer Goguryeo. And sending 500,000 or 100,000 troops, the minister thought that it was probably us who would fail in the end. Instead, send 100,000 troops, and we should be able to win. That's logistical. Current transport capacity is a problem. ”

For the productivity and transportation power of ancient times, no one knows this better than Jingwen, a later generation. Many times in ancient times, a large number of troops were dispatched, and the end result was often a failure. From the Battle of Chibi, which laid the foundation of the Three Kingdoms, to the later Battle of Weishui. And there are many battles where less wins more, in fact, they all have one thing in common. That is, the logistics of the crowded side are actually very problematic, and the soldiers on Cao Cao's side actually had a lot of epidemics in the Battle of Chibi during the Three Kingdoms period, that is to say, before the Sun-Liu coalition defeated Cao Cao. The plague in Cao Cao's army is no longer light.

And Cao Cao didn't think about curing the plague, but the medicinal materials were not enough at all. Such an army of hundreds of thousands was gathered together, and the rear had poor transport capacity. And the medicinal materials in the rear were transported to the front line, and they were all a drop in the bucket. So those plague soldiers were not enough at all, and in the end they could only watch those soldiers get sick. This is also the tragedy caused by the failure of the productivity and transportation capacity in ancient times.

As for the Sui Dynasty's conquest of Goguryeo, it was actually not so much that Goguryeo defeated the million-strong army that conquered Goryeo for the first time, but that it was defeated by the Sui Dynasty itself. The Sui Dynasty had an army of millions of people, and the grain and grass in the rear could not be transported to the front line. Goguryeo claimed to have defeated an army of millions, but the army of millions was actually hungry for a few days. A soldier who has been hungry for a few days can only be tragically slaughtered as a result of how much combat effectiveness he can have. Therefore, the Sui Dynasty's conquest of Goguryeo actually caused him to die after he was stupid, and he was not defeated by Goguryeo.

Therefore, the Sui Dynasty's conquest of Goguryeo was because of the pig-like commander, which ended up like this. If the Sui Dynasty hadn't sent so many soldiers to the war, it might have been successful. However, millions of troops were sent, but the final result was a failure, which is why the logistics were not good.

So, the logistics of ancient warfare is a tragic problem. If the logistics are not good, then sending a large army will not help, but will make a mistake. After all, the transportation capacity and productivity of ancient times could not support the countless armies on the front line, and in the end, the logistics system collapsed, and the soldiers on the front line had to go hungry to fight the enemy. If you are fighting hungry like this, then let alone a million army, even a million army will not be used. And the Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, as if he didn't realize this at all, still had to send a large number of troops to fight, but he defeated himself, and the Goguryeo people picked up a bargain.

"Your Majesty, the lessons of the former Sui cannot be ignored, after all, the former Sui actually defeated themselves themselves, not Goguryeo defeated them. In fact, our Central Plains' combat effectiveness is much stronger than that of Goguryeo, but if the logistics grain and grass supply is not available, then this will be a mistake. We might as well recruit more people and send fewer troops, so that we don't have to fear that the Goguryeo people will have a chance to defeat us. The failure of the former Sui to conquer Goguryeo was actually caused by the wrong command of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, and I have so many famous generals in the Tang Dynasty, as well as the emperor's wise commander, so how could it fail? Jingwen said.

And Li Shimin also nodded, obviously agreeing with this, after all, the affairs of the Sui Dynasty were also known, and the transportation capacity in ancient times was also very problematic. (To be continued......)