Since the main force of Li Ji's army crossed the border, the Tang Dynasty's war of annihilation against Goguryeo has been going on for more than two months.
In these two months, not only did Li Qinzai's battles achieve remarkable results, but Li Ji's main force was even more devastated. The army had conquered Jiandu, Hengshan, Xincheng, Guiduan and other eighteen cities, and the western region of Goguryeo had been firmly controlled by the Tang Dynasty. In the palm of your hand.
Now Li Ji's army is confronting the main force of Goguryeo on both sides of the Liao River.
The confrontation did not mean that the Tang army was unable to break through Goguryeo's defense line, but that Li Ji deliberately slowed down the pace of the attack and waited for Li Qinzai's partial division to cooperate with him from the east to form a pincer attack on the main force of Goguryeo.
Therefore, Li Qinzai's partial division is now under great pressure. He must basically control the eastern region of Goguryeo in the shortest possible time before he can lead his army westward and complete the established strategy.
There are still two unbroken cities in the eastern part of Goguryeo, Wandu and Guijie.
Maruto is very close to the country, only a few dozen miles away. The inner city is larger, and Maruto looks more like a satellite city, like the relationship between the earth and the moon.
Early the next morning, the army broke out of camp and marched eastward.
Li Qinzai sat on his horse and closed his eyes to rest, but his mind was thinking about the plan to break the city.
It is said that the Tang army now has advanced weapons and is basically invincible whether on land or sea.
But siege is not that easy. Four cities have been broken in succession in the past few days. The casualties of the Tang army's soldiers are also not small. More than 3,000 people have died in the siege battle.
Li Qinzai felt extremely distressed. They were all brave and simple children of Guanzhong, and they were born and raised by their parents. Although the war could not avoid casualties, but in the future he would return to Chang'an after victory. How would Li Qinzai face those who lost their husbands and sons while being rewarded by the emperor? Orphans and widows?
The commander of an army must not only win the war, but also bear more responsibilities, especially the lives of his soldiers.
So now what Li Qinzai is thinking about is how to destroy those two cities at the minimum cost.
Of course, it's no problem to attack the city from the front. Rows of three-eyed muskets cover it, so that the enemy troops at the top of the city don't dare to take the lead. The soldiers below take ladders to the top of the city to fight with the enemy troops. The city is basically captured, but this time This stupid method would cause too many casualties, so Li Qinzai didn't want to use it.
When it was still more than fifty miles away from the inner city of Wandu, it was getting late, and Li Qinzai ordered the entire army to camp.
Sitting blankly in front of the bonfire outside the handsome tent, staring blankly at Xiao Baga roasting a leg of lamb for him, Li Qinzai's thoughts were already flying to the sky.
Wang Fangyi walked over lightly, squatted beside Li Qinzai, and whispered: "Li Shuai, when we arrive tomorrow, should we take Wandu City first, or the inner city?"
Li Qinzai said nothing, still wandering in his soul.
"Li Shuai, Li Shuai...is back!" Wang Fangyi shook him.
Li Qinzai came back to his senses, glanced at him indifferently, and said: "I almost turned into an immortal just now. You shook me like this and broke my fate. Isn't it too much to pay me two boxes of silver cakes?"
Wang Fangyi smiled: "It's not too much. The general will send the silver cake to your home at the end of the war."
Li Qinzai looked at him seriously. The troops under his command conquered several cities. In addition to the fact that the generals gave him a large windfall, they probably also had their hands empty-handed. It seemed that every one of them had made a fortune.
Goguryeo was blocked by the Tang Dynasty for many years. The country was poor, but the people were not necessarily poor, especially the officials. After the city was destroyed, the property in the city naturally belonged to the Tang army.
Judging from this, the ordinary soldiers under Li Qinzai's command have made a fortune to a certain extent. No wonder that during the two days of marching and camping, the soldiers were as happy as if they were bridegrooms every night.
It's quite good. When you are a soldier fighting in a bloody battle, it is too noble to talk about the principles of serving your family and country. Who can understand these principles if you don't even know a few people?
Just for money, he would trade the enemy's head for a military attache, and use his military exploits to earn a few more acres of Yongye land.
Unpretentious and down to earth.
"Li Shuai, the general is in a daze when I see you marching today. What are you thinking about?" Wang Fangyi asked carefully.
"I'm thinking... how to destroy those two cities at the minimum cost. Do you have any good ideas?"
"Li Shuai, since ancient times, the attack and defense of a city have been nothing more than a few methods, such as attacking the city from the front, digging tunnels, hitting the city gates, attacking with fire, bribed the enemy's troops to cooperate inside and outside, etc. In the Art of War, it is said that 'attacking the city is the next step', and the commander has no choice but to do so.
With this, we probably only have these few ways to attack the city."
Li Qinzai frowned. Apart from bribery of the enemy's forces, all other methods were stupid and required human lives. This was exactly what Li Qinzai was least willing to adopt.
Touching his chin, Li Qinzai pondered and said slowly: "Do you think that if the city guard captures his father and hangs it on a flagpole to flutter in the wind, the enemy army will lose morale and we will win without a fight..."
Wang Fangyi opened his eyes in shock.
The coach's thinking is really...unpredictable. How did he come up with this unreliable method?
"Li Shuai... don't make trouble! Let's be serious." Wang Fangyi said with an ugly expression.
"What's wrong with me? Did I say something wrong? If the city guard's father doesn't live in the city, but in a nearby village, let's capture him and hang him on the flagpole..."
"The general and his father looked at each other from a distance. The father and son cried bitterly. The father bit his tongue and committed suicide out of anger for the sake of justice. The general turned his grief and anger into strength and defended the city with all his strength... Tsk, the more he talks about it, the more bloody he becomes!"
Wang Fangyi was already numb to Li Qinzai's unbridled thinking and allowed him to talk nonsense, while Wang Fangyi calmly cut off a piece of roasted lamb leg and slowly put it into his mouth.
People, it is impossible to be normal all the time. It is still early before dawn, waiting for Li Shuai to recover on his own.
After a while, Li Qinzai finally broke free from his mental state and returned to normal.
After a long silence, Li Qinzai suddenly said: "Has General Wang ever heard of 'special operations'?"
Wang Fangyi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.
"The so-called 'special operations' are actually operations by small groups of elite troops, including assassinations, sneak attacks, beheadings, use of space, infiltration and other methods to achieve the maximum effect of destroying enemy cities, fortresses and casualties at the minimum cost...
…”
Wang Fangyi became more and more astonished and said: "What Li Shuai said is Gao Shun's trap in the Eastern Han Dynasty, or the tiger and leopard cavalry under Cao Cao? Our late Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty also had black armor cavalry, and it is said that they are still guarding them today.
palace……"
Li Qinzai shook his head: "You are indeed talking about the famous elites in history, but they are all elites on the frontal battlefield, fighting the enemy face to face with swords and guns and guns."
"I'm talking about 'special operations'... To use an inappropriate analogy, the armies you mentioned are all ferocious divisions, the 'oooooooo' kind. The special operations I'm talking about are sneaky.
"Sui, the kind that sneaks up on you, stabs you in the back, and knocks you out with a sap."
Li Qinzai's words contained too much information. Wang Fangyi was stunned for a long time to digest them, and then he tentatively said: "The 'special operations' Li Shuai mentioned is actually using various despicable methods to approach the enemy and eliminate them..."
Snapped!
The iron helmet on Wang Fangyi's head was inexplicably tilted.
Wang Fangyi immediately corrected him: "In the end, the general will realize his mistake. Li Shuai's method is to surprise and win with surprise."