Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 259
Daye seven years, summer.

Luo Cheng led his troops to march eastward with the First Army of the Left Wing, leaving Zhuo County, passing through Yuyang County, Beiping County, passing through Lulong, leaving Linyu Pass, and entering Liucheng County in western Liaoning.

Walk between the mountains and the sea.

The road under your feet is exactly the road that Han King Yang Liang, General Wang Shiji, and Prime Minister Gao Jiong led an army of 18 in the 30th year of Kaihuang.

Marching is actually boring.

Get up at five o'clock every day, make meals after o'clock, break out of camp and set off after eating, stop marching when it is getting dark, set up camp, rest overnight and continue marching again.

The first army was followed by the second army, and the distance between the two armies was forty miles.

This happened to be a one-day journey, and the [-] soldiers of the Second World War, the [-] auxiliary soldiers of the First Army, and the other [-] civilians all had their own distances.

One regiment of cavalry led the way in front, one regiment of cavalry at the rear of the apse, and two regiments of cavalry in the middle protected the wings.The four infantry regiments with 8000 soldiers were also divided into front, middle, and rear. Luo Cheng's regiment of 2000 soldiers was arranged by Luo Yi at the front because it was better equipped than other infantry regiments.

They walked ten miles away from the forward cavalry, and they were also ten miles away from the Chinese infantry and luggage behind them.

After leaving Linyu Pass, the further east you go, the more difficult the road will be.

Especially at this time of summer, there are many winds and rains, and heavy rains are often encountered, which delays the progress.Sometimes it rains continuously and the roads are washed away.

So when it rained heavily, they had to stop marching and set up camp.

When the road is destroyed, it is necessary to open a road across the mountain and build a bridge across the mountain.

Fortunately, Luo Cheng's vanguard group also brought two groups of peasants. They did most of the hard work, and they didn't have to worry about food and grass.

In this way, starting from Lu County in early May, Luo Chengcai finally arrived at the destination of the march, Huaiyuan Town in western Liaoning, in mid-July.

Huaiyuan Town is Huaiyuan County in Liaoxi County to the east of Liucheng County. Because this is the farthest place actually controlled by the Sui Dynasty on the northeast frontier, and it is on the west bank of the Liao River, it has long been designated as the outpost for the Liao Campaign.

Therefore, Huaiyuan set up a military town, and together with Luhe Town on the Bailang River and Linhaidun on the Bohai Sea, they became the three strongholds on the front line of the Great Sui Eastern Expedition.

When Luo Cheng was free, he also studied the military maps of western and eastern Liaoning. He was now on the front line, and Luo Yi, the runner-up general of the first army, was his uncle, so he had a lot of resources, and he had access to these confidential military maps.

Luo Cheng discovered that Huaiyuan Town was actually the later Ningyuan City, and Luhe Town was the later Jinzhou.As for Linhaidun, that is Huludao.

Anyone who has read the history of the Ming Dynasty and the history of the War of Liberation knows how important Ningyuan, Jinzhou, and Huludao are in this area of ​​western Liaoning. Isn't this the Guanning line of defense that was defended at the end of the Ming Dynasty?

Liaoxi County was also called Yingzhou in the early Sui Dynasty, and later Yingzhou was changed to Liucheng County, and two counties, Yan County and Liaoxi County, were separated in the east.

This is an important military town guarded by the Central Plains Dynasty outside the pass for hundreds of years. If there was no Yingzhou, the Goguryeo people would have fought across the Liaohe River and even expanded to Shanhaiguan.

There are two main roads from Linyu Pass, which is the later Shanhaiguan Pass, to Liaodong. One is the Bailangshui Ancient Road. Ancient, but also more difficult, all in the mountains.

And there is another road, which is the Liaoxi Corridor, which was repeatedly contested by the Ming and Qing Dynasties in later generations, along the coast.

That is Guan Ningjin line.

Leaving Linyuguan, passing through Linhaidun, Liucheng Town, Luhe Town and Huaiyuan Town to Liaoshui.

Even when the Bohai Sea is not frozen, ships can be sailed directly from the customs or even along the coast of the Yellow River Estuary to Linhaidun Port. In this way, the ability to transport food, grass, and supplies can be greatly improved.

"Our goal is here."

Luo Cheng pointed to a point on the map and said, "Look, now that I, the Sui Dynasty, is all about conquering Liao and sending millions of soldiers, I must definitely fight across the Liao River and point my sword at Pyongyang. But the Goguryeo people are still with us now. There is a territory on the west bank of the Liao River, and this territory is like a thorn stuck in our throat, so before our army crosses the Liao River, we must conquer this territory first."

The fourth child looked down and saw that Luo Cheng was referring to the north of Huaiyuan Town.

"Isn't this the west bank of the Liao River? How come the Goguryeo people still occupy our west bank?"

"What's the matter? Pyongyang City, the current capital of the Goguryeo people, used to belong to one of the four Han counties in the Central Plains in the Han Dynasty. Isn't it also their royal city now, and even the entire Liaodong Peninsula used to be ours. It's just that Over the years, the Goguryeo people took advantage of the turmoil and chaos in the world after the end of the Han Dynasty, and gradually eroded westward. In the early years, they even surrounded Yingzhou with troops, so sooner or later they will fight this battle."

When the Great Sui conquered Liao Dynasty, the people of Goguryeo were prepared for it.

On the east bank of the Liao River, they built a solid line of defense for thousands of miles, relying on the wide Liao River, and established fortresses such as Liaodong City, Xincheng, Baiyan City, and Gaimu City on the east side of the river. Many mountain cities were built, and relying on Liaodong City and other major cities, several huge fortress defense clusters were formed, and then connected together, trying to keep the Sui army west of the Liaohe River.

"Two hundred miles northeast of Huaiyuan Town is Wuliluo City on the west side of the Liaoshui River. Don't underestimate this place, it is very important."

"Why?" The fourth child asked puzzled.

"Because the Liaohe River is vast, especially in the lower reaches of the Liaohe River, the river course has not been dredged for hundreds of years, so this place has become a huge floodplain with a width of hundreds of miles, and there are swamps everywhere, especially in summer, rainwater During the high-occurrence season, this place becomes a country of swamps, difficult to pass through, with dense water networks and ubiquitous marshes, becoming a natural no-man's land that is difficult to cross."

But to the north, the Liaohe River is much narrower. Several large Liaodong rivers, such as Xiaoliaohe and Daliangshui, all flow into the Liaohe River in the lower reaches of this section, which is also far away from the sea. Therefore, it can be said that this river is narrow, the river is slow, and the two sides are flat. , is an excellent location for crossing the river.

One more thing, this Wuliluo City is located upstream of Liaodong City, hundreds of miles away, so the defenders of Liaodong City, the first military fortress in Liaodong City, cannot reach this place, and the counterattack encountered when crossing the river will not be so strong.

"Take down Wu Liluo on the west bank, then a pontoon bridge can be built by the river, and the army can cross the river."

Compared with going directly east from Huaiyuan Town, this Wu Liluo is very important.

There are actually many Wuliluo cities, similar to Dunbao.

"So the mission of our First Army is not to garrison Huaiyuan Town, but to fight Wu Liluo?"

Luo Cheng nodded, "I guess, not only our first army on the left wing, but also the second army will come to fight Wu Liluo. Don't underestimate this city. This is the first must-win on the big chessboard of Zhengliao. The two armies are [-], enough soldiers and horses. The army is still gathering in Zhuojun, and the Goguryeo people probably think that we will officially send troops next year, so we can be regarded as killing them by surprise."

"It makes sense, but I don't think it's possible. Just staring at the map and looking left and right, you can still guess the emperor's will? I don't believe it!" The fourth child shook his head.

(End of this chapter)