The Turks and the Central Plains Dynasty are old enemies, and can also be said to be natural enemies.
From lifestyle, living environment, to various customs, to social structure, everything is incompatible. God arranged for them to be neighbors, as if just to have fun watching them hate each other and fight.
No matter whether there was a change of dynasties in the Central Plains or a change of masters on the grasslands, their battles never stopped. Even if there was peace, it would be short-lived.
Therefore, when the two sides meet, the Turks will not send people over to ask why the Tang people suddenly sent troops to attack Goguryeo and rob the Turks of their food. The Tang army will not send people over to ask why the Turks betrayed their trust and suddenly sent troops to fight against them.
Everyone clenched the swords and guns in their hands, and their eyes became entangled with each other with red eyes.
The Turks quickly found the "weakness" of the Tang Army. The main force did not come to Pyongyang City, but gathered to the east. Their intention to destroy the Tang Army's pontoon bridge was obvious.
The pressure on the four camps on the shore increased greatly. The Tang troops here were all under Pei Xingyan's command.
The importance of the pontoon bridge to the Tang army is self-evident. At least in the next two months, when the water will not freeze into ice, the pontoon bridge will be the food route for the Tang army, and it will inevitably be the focus of competition between the two parties.
…………
The Turks did not understand that the Tang army was already prepared. The camps on the shore were particularly strong, and the Tang troops guarding the forts were also the most elite of the Tang army.
Attacking the stockade on the shore at this time is actually not a good idea.
The Turks didn't care about this. They focused their main attack here. Some of the tricks were that they relied on the advantage of the cavalry to leave a lot of troops on the flanks of the army, but deliberately did not block the route of the Tang army's reinforcements.
, I want to come to the encirclement point for support.
It's just that they overestimated their combat effectiveness.
This kind of offensive battle is also difficult for the Turks who live on horseback. In the art of war in the Central Plains, short attack the enemy's strength, which is a taboo for military strategists.
…………
The cavalry of the large group used their crude shields to withstand the rain of arrows from the Tang army and came to the camp. They also wanted to throw a noose and pull down the wall of the camp.
However, this simple method did not work for the strong camp built by the Tang army. The cavalry were shot off their horses one after another, and the ropes were either cut or pulled apart, but the wooden fence of the camp was not damaged at all.
The Turks suffered some damage, and in anger, they switched to fire attacks. Under the tight defense prepared by the Tang army, they had little effect.
Bows and arrows became the protagonists of the offensive and defensive battles at this stage. However, as one day passed, before the Tang army could do anything, the Turks could not stand it anymore. They did not bring many arrows and could not afford to consume them with the Tang army. Even in the end,
They could only pick up arrows from the Tang army and use them, but they did not match the rough bows in their hands.
Because of the generational difference in production technology, the bows of the Tang army were smaller, but their bow power was much better than that of the Turks, so the arrows were shorter. The Turks used long bows and large arrows, so the trick of borrowing arrows from straw boats was not possible.
After one round, the Turks suffered a lot and were unable to use the cavalry's strengths at all. The Tang army was able to defend with ease.
The next day, the Turks came again and finally used a stupid method to attack by force.
This is no different from attacking a city. They braved the rain of arrows from the Tang army, came to the base of the camp, climbed up, and fought hand to hand with the Tang army.
After fighting for another half day, the Turkic casualties doubled, and several camps stood tall and stained with the blood of the Turks.
Under the camp, the corpses of Turkic people and horses were scattered everywhere, and the bloody atmosphere was scattered. It also attracted countless jackdaws, flying and circling in the sky, and a group of them landed from time to time to peck at the "delicious food" given to them by God.
…………
The Turks came with great popularity, but at this time they felt somewhat stuck.
All the other units of the Tang Army stood still, obviously wanting to beat the Turks to a bloody head under the camp, draining the Turks' vitality and dampening their vigor.
In the eyes of the Turks, this is not a new method of warfare. For a long time, the grassland nomads have been fighting against the Central Plains dynasties, and they have often faced this kind of situation.
Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, which depends on the strategic environment at the time and the talents of the leading generals. In field battles, the prairie cavalry naturally has the upper hand, but when it comes to holding on, it is the veteran soldiers of the Central Plains army.
This bank.
The Tang army's tactics were appropriate, but the Turks' few men and horses were not enough. So far, although the Turks' injuries were not great, in terms of tactics, they had already suffered a complete defeat.
It is said that those who are good at fighting have no great achievements. Li Jing's leadership of the army was so mediocre. He won three points before fighting. When the enemy was in close combat, the enemy would be very uncomfortable and could not display its due strength at all.
…………
On the third day, seeing the casualties increasing, Ashina Tawen and his generals discussed and argued several times, and almost killed Yeon Gaesumun and sacrificed the flag again.
At this point, Ashina Duowen once again wanted to withdraw his troops and go north.
But the Tang army made another move. Li Jing ordered Zhao Shixun and Liu Rengui to lead the army to attack Pyongyang City.
Ashina was furious when he heard about it. In fact, it didn't matter what he thought. Anyway, his subordinates were angry first. The enemy had no consciousness of being attacked from both sides and regarded the Turkic army as nothing. The so-called tolerable and intolerable, now
If you didn't give the Tang people some color and just withdrew the troops in such a dejected manner, how could you have the face to see anyone?
With just this action, the Turks who had wanted to retreat were left behind again.
But the Turkic army, whose noses were crooked with anger, changed the direction of their attack and turned to the main force of the Tang army attacking the city.
At this time, Ashina Duowen had an ominous premonition, and ordered five thousand cavalry to escort Yuengaisuwen back to the east. He also ordered Yuengaisuwen to defeat the Tang army in the east as soon as possible after returning, and rush to join him.
Yeon Gaesumun was so happy that he didn't even have time to flatter Ashina Duo Wen, so he led others away and ran away.
It had only been two or three days of fighting, and the Turks' abilities were really limited. From top to bottom, their performance could be described as a headless fly.
The cavalry of more than 10,000 people lost the opportunity to make a surprise attack and were extremely powerless when facing hundreds of thousands of Tang troops. They could only show their majesty in a territory like Liaodong.
However, Ashina Duowen was in a hurry and frequently made bad moves.
He understood that he should get the support of the Goguryeo people at this time in order to fight against the Tang army. However, the splitting of troops was not wise. In addition to weakening his own strength, he also completely lost the ability to control the battle situation.
Giving the initiative to Yeon Gaesumun... What's the difference between giving it to Tang Jun?
If the people of Goguryeo were trustworthy, wouldn't the cows fly into the sky?
…………
At the beginning of September in the sixth year of Yuanzhen of the Tang Dynasty, the weather this year was much warmer than last year. Until September, there was no snow yet, but there were several cold rains, which also made people feel chilly.
Due to the division of troops, the Turks' threat to the Tang army was reduced to a certain extent. With thousands of cavalry, as long as the Tang army did not leave the camp to fight with them in the field, the Turks could only surround the Tang army's stronghold and stare.
They did not dare to set up a camp in the wild like the Tang army. If they dared to do so, it would be like building their own prison cage. The Tang army would be able to attack the camp in turn, and even if they could not attack it, they would be trapped inside.
There were less than 10,000 Turks. If they dismounted, they would not be enough to fill the teeth of the Tang army.
The Turks were completely reduced to spectators on the battlefield. As they watched the Tang army resume their offensive on Pyongyang City, they could only shiver in the cold rain one after another.
In early September, the Tang Army's offensive on Pyongyang City became fierce, but compared with the previous capture of the stronghold, it was not so smooth.
The Goguryeo people raised the city as an army, and all men, women, old and young were mobilized. In addition to the Tang army's too violent methods, which frightened the Goguryeo people, the nobles also instilled in everyone the idea of delaying it until winter.
, the Tang people also retreated.
Besides, there are Turks in the periphery, so Pyongyang is not an isolated city, which also gives hope to the Goguryeo people in the city.
The Tang army used many means to attack the city, but in the face of the Goguryeo people who gathered to defend the city, their offensive was repeatedly frustrated and the casualties were increasing.
At this time, Li Jing didn't have any good ideas.
He specifically asked Liu Rengui to leave a road out, hoping to lure the Goguryeo people out to join the Turks, or the Turks to come in.
However, both the Goguryeo people in the city and the Turks outside shrank their heads and remained unmoved. Apparently they felt that the Tang people were extremely cunning and could not be fooled anymore.
Then there was only one way left to attack by force. The Tang army attacked the city for more than ten days and attacked the city wall several times, but was driven back by the Goguryeo people every time.
Although they were defeated several times, the Goguryeo people still had strong defense forces. Because there were still Turks patrolling outside, the Tang army did not dare to attack around the city, and Chen Yuan's troops behind did not dare to easily come to help, so the war became a stalemate.
.
This kind of war of attrition is the last thing the generals want to face, but at this point in the war, no matter how wise the general is, he is like this and can't do any tricks.
It is absolutely impossible for the Turks and Goguryeo people to cooperate inside and outside.
The war entered an obvious stalemate stage. By mid-September, the greatest progress made by the Tang army was to break open the east gate of Pyongyang City, and the column they built also leaned against the city wall of Pyongyang City.
This was the closest the Tang army had come to victory since its attack on the city. Even Zhao Shixun's flags were sent to the gates of Pyongyang. The urgency was evident.
But in the end, the Tang army still failed to invade Pyongyang City.
The Goguryeo people piled countless stones and debris in the corridor of the city gate, blocking the city gate tightly.
On the city wall, the Goguryeo people asked old people and children to pile up the corridors of the city wall, blocking the way for the Tang army to go up to the city. They poured kerosene on the Tang army's columbiners, and then set the columbiners on fire.
Although the Goguryeo people suffered huge casualties, they still blocked the Tang army's offensive and burned the two columbians into fireballs.
The brutal siege battle made both sides clearly aware of each other's determination. In desperation, Li Jing ordered the army to rest for three days, and the Tang army's offensive was frustrated.