A large amount of grain and grass baggage was transported across the river. It took eight days day and night. The pontoon bridge broke several times. Dozens of people were beheaded for this. With the help of the Tang Army's warships, it was enough to move the army for two months.
All the grain and grass needed were transported across the Zhushui River.
On the north bank of the Xishui River, within a radius of more than ten miles, four camps were built to store grain, grass and luggage.
This undoubtedly slowed down the march of the army and made many military generals doubtful.
Because winter has arrived and the weather is getting colder, the time left for the army to fight is less than two months. Such delaying the war may very well force the army to confront the Goguryeo people in the depth of winter.
If the Tang army failed to eliminate Goguryeo's effective forces during this period, then the Tang army would be in a very dangerous situation, and there would not be many examples of being defeated by cold wind, frost and snow.
Everyone is a person who has experienced battles for a long time, and they will understand such a simple truth. Quietly, there were more voices in the army, but they were all suppressed by Chen Yuan, Zhao Shixun, Li Nian and others.
Li Jing, who was in the army, was still under increasing pressure. It was not until all the food and grass for the army had been transported across the river that Li Jing breathed a sigh of relief.
This battle cannot be lost for Datang, especially for himself.
Originally, he had already planned this battle when he led his army back to the north, and a quick victory was the best option. However, these days of observing the mountains and geography of Goguryeo, and considering various internal and external situations, gradually made him change his previous plan.
idea.
If you work hard and attack far away, the difficulties you will face will increase exponentially. If you want to achieve success, the most important thing is actually not anything else, but a suddenness.
The key to attacking far away is to use the word "attack" to make the enemy unexpected, so that we can make great achievements and return when the right time, place and people are not in my favor.
The Tang army had been stationed on the peninsula for two years, so there was no mention of a surprise attack. Judging from the prelude to the war, the preparations of the Goguryeo people were also very organized, which further proves this point.
Now that we have lost the opportunity for a quick victory, we might as well proceed slowly and act according to the opportunity.
This was also the key reason why he did not order the army to cross the river after it was formed. Instead, he first spoke to the generals one by one and organized the internal affairs of the army before crossing the river.
As the saying goes, think about defeat before thinking about victory. In Li Jing's imagination, all the difficulties that may arise at any time in this battle have been fully considered. It is not that he is pretending to be sophisticated and deliberately playing tricks like Zhuge, but there are some things that he cannot follow the generals.
Clearly stated.
On the one hand, it affects the morale of the army, and on the other hand, it is afraid that when the generals are about to fight, they will be restrained because of their scruples.
Many unexpected situations will occur in war. Li Jing understood this truth. It is important that the leader of the army can consider these surprises in advance and even make good use of them.
Just like the ups and downs he encountered in the first half of his life, in fact, in retrospect, setbacks often coexisted with opportunities, but he failed to seize the opportunities and staggered onto an increasingly narrow path.
This is very similar to war. Fighting opportunities are fleeting. If you miss it, there will be no chance to come back. Fortunately, although he cannot control his own life, he has a natural sense of war.
In fact, it was not only Chen Yuan's troops who were the first to cross the river, but also the three thousand cavalry led by Xun Xiang. However, Xun Xiang's troops did not take the pontoon bridge, but were transported across the river by boats.
After crossing the river, these three thousand cavalrymen did not stop at the shore and went directly to the northeast.
The main force of the Tang army also left a thousand cavalry, including 500 who came with Zhang Gongjin and others, plus more than 500 cavalry recruited from Silla and Baekje. These all stayed in the Chinese army as Li Jing's personal troops. .
After Chen Yuan's troops crossed the river, Zhao Shixun, the general of Zuotunwei, led 50,000 people across the river. After crossing the river, they rested for a while on the bank and then led his troops to march northwest toward Pyongyang City.
This time, the Tang army marched until they were more than thirty miles east of Pyongyang before stopping and setting up camp on the spot.
The Goguryeo people were already waiting in Pyongyang City. At this time, the Goguryeo people had already turned Pyongyang City into a fortification like a hedgehog.
Although Pyongyang City is the royal city of Goguryeo, it is the second strongest city in Liaodong and the peninsula. Well, the first one is undoubtedly Liaodong City on the shore of Liao River.
Pyongyang City is naturally inferior to Chang'an and Luoyang, and it is not even comparable to Jinyang, Jiangdu, Jiangling and other famous cities in the Central Plains.
But when the Goguryeo people gathered their national power and planned to defend Pyongyang City, they still managed it like an iron barrel.
The Tang army had no way of knowing exactly how many men and horses were defending Pyongyang City. Just looking at the current appearance of Pyongyang City, we knew that there were definitely no less than 200,000 men and horses.
When the Goguryeo people defended Pyongyang City, almost all the people were involved. When the Tang army was waiting, the King of Goguryeo issued a royal order and summoned people from all the tribes and villages in western Goguryeo to come to Pyongyang City and built countless fortifications.
All men, women, old and young were recruited, digging trenches and carrying soil, collecting and transporting grain and grass, repairing the city, building camps, etc. In early August of this year, when the war broke out, with Pyongyang City as the core, the Goguryeo people were in the city. On the outer boundary of more than twenty miles, countless camps were built.
Therefore, it was not that Zhao Shixun was unwilling to lead his troops directly to Pyongyang City, but that the distance of more than thirty miles meant that the enemy and we could already look at each other.
Although the detective reports had roughly described the scene here before, when Zhao Shixun came here and really saw it all with his own eyes, he still pulled his beard fiercely.
What the Tang army will face is not a typical siege battle, but a battle like the Battle of Nanyang.
No general who leads the army wants to encounter this kind of situation. Even a strong general like Zhao Shixun is not willing to face such an enemy who relies on the city to defend blindly.
When the Tang army pacified Xiao Mian, Zhao Shixun was seriously injured while attacking Luyang Pass and missed all the subsequent battles to pacify Xiao Mian.
The bloody battle of Nanyang was one of the most brutal. The elite Tang army was unable to attack for a long time. Tens of thousands of warriors shed blood at Nanyang City, and Yuchi Gong and others were blamed.
This time, will the story of the past repeat itself?
Zhao Shixun didn't know. At this time, he just thought that this battle might be difficult to fight. The governor also didn't know what he thought. He was reluctant to let the army cross the river, so that the Tang army had to face a well-prepared enemy. If the army could Would it be better to cross the river in July?
Nowadays, there are many such sayings in the army. Zhao Shixun shook his head and threw all these things behind him. He never pays too much attention to the leader of the army. As long as there is a military order, even if it is an iron wall, he will do it. Lead the troops to dig a hole and come out.
Don't ask how many enemies there are, just ask where they are. This is General Zhao's style of leading troops.
If not for Li Jing's warning, he would have thought that he should stop setting up camp at this time, seize a few camps, test the quality of the Goguryeo people, and boost the morale of the soldiers.
Behind Zhao Shixun's troops, Zuo Wuwei General Li Nian led his troops across the river. Half a day later, Li Nian led his troops to the northeast, following the footsteps of Xun Xiang's troops.
After that, Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui led their troops across the Huishui River, joined Chen Yuan's troops, and continued to build the camp behind Zhao Shixun.
By the time Li Jing led the Chinese army to the land on the north bank of the Zhu River, more than ten camps had been built from where the army crossed the river to Pyongyang City, almost every few miles, and they were all
Under constant reinforcement.
Food, grass and baggage flowed into these newly built camps like running water and were hoarded. By this time, the generals in the army finally understood that the army's rear path was extremely stable.
Even if Goguryeo came to attack with more than 100,000 or 200,000 people, they would not be able to make a fuss on the Tang army's rear path.
This is obviously a rare tactical strategy. Many military generals who like to go straight can't help but feel that this is too timid and inconsistent with the image of the Tang Army's victorious battles. Some guys don't say it with their mouths, but they are already worried in their hearts.
Governor Li was said to be timid of enemies and afraid of war.
If he wins this battle, there will be nothing to say. He is the head of the country and no one dares to find fault with him. But if he loses, just because of these actions, Li Jing is afraid that he will become the target of public criticism and take the blame without discussion.
After the Central Army of the Tang Army crossed the river, Li Jing ordered Du Fuwei, Cui Dunli and others to continue transporting grain and grass to the north bank of the Xishui River. He felt that the grain and grass for the army for two months was not safe yet, and he had to stock up at least 200,000 in the north.
A person can eat three months' worth of food.
Li Jing also ordered Jin Chunqiu, Soga Ezo and others to lead their respective men out to seize the autumn harvest that the Goguryeo people had no time to harvest.
Pyongyang City is located on the eastern plain of the peninsula. The terrain here is flat and the rain is abundant. It is Goguryeo's main grain-producing area. Once the enemy is allowed to enter the hinterland of the plain on a large scale, the results can be imagined.
Even if they could barely escape the disaster, the losses in grain production and animal husbandry this autumn alone would be enough to make the Goguryeo people heartbroken.
At the end of autumn, the grain was abundant. Although the Goguryeo people worked hard to harvest, the aggressive posture of the Tang army caused the Goguryeo people to lose most of their autumn harvest this year.
When Li Jing learned that the Goguryeo people had not destroyed the unharvestable grain in the fields, some of his suspicions were confirmed.
Building strong walls and clearing the country has always been a good strategy to resist foreign enemies. The Goguryeo people did not do things that they had time to do, which only shows that they had some calculations.
Or can you say that you are confident?
Li Jing could even imagine that the Goguryeo people might be planning that after defeating the Tang army, they could snatch the Tang army's food and grass to make up for their losses.
This is really a good idea. If the Tang army had not been short of food and grass, he would have ordered people to set fire to the grain waiting to be harvested on the plains, first to make the Goguryeo people feel sad.