A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1303: Zeguo Jiangshan Enters the Battle Map

The reinforcements from Goguryeo finally arrived.

Moreover, with two Nosa commanders leading as many as 150,000 troops, it seems that Yeon Gaesomun, the Five Swords of Pyongyang, is also getting anxious.

This is a fight to the death.

"Your Majesty, I think it is a good thing that Goguryeo has sent all its forces to help."

"Oh?"

Wu Huaiyu broke the steamed bun into small pieces and soaked it in mutton soup while analyzing with the emperor, "It's June now, and Liaodong gets cold early, so we probably still have three months to fight.

If the Goguryeo people just hide in the mountain city like this, it will be very difficult for us to attack the mountain city fortresses one by one. It will not only be laborious and time-consuming, but will also result in a lot of casualties.

The worst-case scenario is that after winter, our main force will return, leaving some troops behind to garrison. At that time, we will be cut off from the Central Plains. If the Goguryeo people gather troops to counterattack, the battle will be even more difficult to fight."

After all, this is the territory of the Goguryeo people, and the Goguryeo people are definitely more suited to the winter and cold weather in Liaodong than the Tang army.

"Now Gai Suwen can't sit still anymore and has gathered 150,000 people to come to Anshi to help. This actually gives us an opportunity. As long as we besiege the city and attack the reinforcements, and annihilate these 150,000 troops halfway, then the Goguryeo people will no longer have the ability to counterattack.

They can only hide in small mountain fortresses, waiting to be conquered by us one by one."

When Li Shimin heard this, he thought it made sense.

Most of these 150,000 people were troops from the east of Jicui Mountain to the Yalu River basin, including vassal troops of the Mohe tribes that had surrendered.

They are usually stationed in various castles, and some are temporarily recruited.

It would be very difficult to attack them one by one.

But now they have taken the initiative to gather together and have come all the way to Anshi. The Tang army can easily stop them halfway and engage in a field battle with them.

Even an ambush.

Although these Goguryeo people were numerous, they had lost the defense of the mountain city.
Who was the Tang army afraid of in field battles?
Wu Huaiyu's 6,000 men were able to defeat 40,000 enemy troops under Liaodong City, and Li Ji's 60,000 men also defeated 40,000 enemy troops under Xincheng.

"Besiege the city and attack the reinforcements!"

Li Shimin nodded, stroked his beard and gradually became excited.

As a military emperor, Li Shimin had already seen the huge opportunity in Wu Huaiyu's suggestion. He wanted to eliminate the enemy's main force in one battle. In this way, even if the main force was withdrawn after winter, he would not have to worry about the territories conquered in Liaodong.

"Summon the officials of the imperial camp for an urgent meeting,"

Soon, Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, Ma Zhou, Cheng Yaojin, Liu Hongji and other ministers arrived.

The emperor first informed the emperor that Goguryeo's 150,000 reinforcements would soon arrive in Anshi.

"Huaiyu told me that this is good news. We have a chance to ambush and annihilate the enemy's main force in one fell swoop. As long as we annihilate these 150,000 people, the Goguryeo people west of the Yalu River will no longer have a force that can threaten our Tang army."

"This will not only eliminate threats to the west of Jicui Mountain, but also eliminate threats to the entire west of the Yalu River!"

Zhongshu Ling Ma Zhou looked at the map and said, "I would like to ask you to send someone to mobilize the armies of Duke Ying and Duke Song to move south immediately."

Li Shimin did not speak immediately. The 50,000-man army of Li Ji and Wu Huaiyi was divided into two groups and headed north directly towards Xincheng. They fought and harvested wheat along the way, and their offensive was fierce.

When Li Shimin summoned them to go south again, he was a little hesitant. He felt that with the imperial camp and the troops of Su Dingfang and Li Daozon, they should be able to defeat the large army of Gao Yanshou and Gao Huizhen.

Ma Zhou thinks it is a bit risky and it is better to be cautious.

"Mr. Wei, what is your opinion?"

Li Jing was also looking at the map. He was looking at the route that the reinforcements from Goguryeo would take.
"Your Majesty, I think that although Goguryeo claims to have 150,000 troops, there is actually no need to worry too much. We can wait for the enemy to tire themselves out and besiege the city and attack the reinforcements. As long as we choose a good battlefield, this battle will not be difficult to win."

Li Jing's meaning was also clear. To deal with these useless people, there was no need to go through so much trouble to call Li Ji and others back.

If Li Ji and his men were transferred south now, the Goguryeo troops in Xincheng and other places in the north might also gather south and join forces with Gao Yanshou and his men. It would be better to let Li Ji and his men continue to attack northward.

Finally, they unanimously agreed to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements.

Li Jiwu Huaiyi's 50,000-man army continued to march north to attack Xincheng without being mobilized.

Changsun Wuji and Su Dingfang's army also continued to attack Anshi City, but Li Daozon and Zhishisili canceled their plan to attack Wugut City and returned to Anshi City to wait.

Wu Heita led the navy from the sea and continued to harass Wugut City, while Pang Xiaotai continued to attack Daxing City at the mouth of the Yalu River. The two navies mainly focused on harassment.

Besiege the city and attack the reinforcements.

The key is to choose a good ambush location.

Li Shimin, Li Jing, Wu Huaiyu, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, Cheng Yaojin, Liu Hongji and a group of people stared at the sand table and the map for a long time, and finally found a suitable ambush site.

It was chosen to be located 40 miles away from Anshi City.

This battle is very crucial.
Therefore, Li Shimin did not dare to underestimate the enemy.

"Huaiyu, you lead 12,000 infantry and cavalry and line up at the west ridge of Anshi City."

"Shubao, you and Zhijie will lead 12,000 elite soldiers as a surprise attack, and go out from the north of the mountain through the narrow valley to attack them from behind."

"I, Duke Wei, and Jingde will lead 6,000 infantry and cavalry, beat drums and horns, lower our banners, and head for the northern peak of the enemy camp."

"When the generals arrived, they heard the drums and horns sound, and the whole army charged forward."

Zhangsun Wuji and Su Dingfang continued to besiege the city, trying to make a show of strength and make the Goguryeo reinforcements think that the Tang army was attacking Anshi. Li Daozong's troops who went to attack Wugut quietly returned to the vicinity of Anshi City, and they served as the general reserve for the battlefield.

The 30,000 troops in the Imperial Camp were the ones who actually carried out the mission of ambush the reinforcements.

Among them, there were 3,000 Turkic cavalry, 500 Khitan cavalry, 4,500 Anguo and Shiguo cavalry, and 2,000 Mohe and Buyeo vassal troops.

The tribal vassal army totaled 10,000 soldiers, and the Tang army's imperial camp had 20,000 soldiers.

These 30,000 people were responsible for fighting the 150,000 Goguryeo reinforcements.

There was a big disparity in numbers, but Li Shimin smiled and said, "My Tang soldiers can fight ten to one. We have 30,000 against 150,000, which is a big advantage."

The generals didn't think there was anything wrong with this statement.

After all, if we say this now before the war starts, it would seem like we are underestimating the enemy, but after fighting so many battles, everyone really looks down on the fighting power of the Goguryeo people.

Under the city of Liaodong, Wu Huaiyu's six thousand men defeated forty thousand people and made them flee in panic.

At the Taizi River in Baiyan City, Qibi Heli's 800 Hu cavalry dared to charge at 10,000 reinforcements from Wugu City. Later, Wu Sigong came with 500 cavalry and defeated them directly. When Li Simo arrived with 3,000 Turkic soldiers, he directly annihilated more than half of the 10,000 enemy troops.

"Yan Lide, Yan Liben."

"I'm here." The Yan brothers stepped forward.

"I have a mission for you two, my dear ministers. You are to take some people to Anshi City first, and quickly build tents for accepting surrender, and quickly build a prisoner-of-war camp that can accommodate more than 100,000 people, and prepare food, etc."

Li Shimin said in a domineering manner, "In this battle, I will kill and annihilate all the 150,000 Goguryeo reinforcements."

On the same day,

The whole army marched out immediately.
Let Prime Minister Zhang Liang stay in Liaodong City,

The emperor led 30,000 infantry and cavalry to Anshi City.

Anshi City,
Changsun Wuji and Su Dingfang launched a fierce attack on Anshi City, still using the same old tactics. Catapults threw huge stones, poisonous smoke balls, and fireballs, and crossbow carts bombarded the city walls.

At the same time, Changsun Wuji also sent people to dig soil and put it into bags, and then started to build a hill of earth at the foot of the mountain in Anshi City, preparing to build a Yuliang Avenue that would lead directly to the mountain and fill in a road.

On the mountain city, Liang Wanchun rejected Gao Huanquan's persuasion to surrender and actively prepared for war.
After seeing the fierce offensive of the Tang army, several teams were sent out again to cross mountains and rivers to urge the reinforcements to speed up.

"We must defeat the Tang army under the city before the Tang army's northern route marches south."

The Tang army was busy with civil engineering work at the foot of the mountain, digging soil and piling up the mountain.
Chang Sun Wuji stood there and sighed, "Who could have thought that the siege would end up like this."

Su Dingfang was very calm. "The commander said it well. It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat. If Anshi City is really determined to resist and want to attack it, then this method of building Yuliang Avenue is the simplest, crudest and most practical.

If we really attack the city directly, we will have to use the corpses of countless soldiers to fill the space, and we may not be able to fill it up."

"But the enemy can't just let us pass by, right?"

"Of course not. Liang Wanchun is a good fighter and has a method for defending the city. He will definitely not let us keep throwing carts, throwing stones, shooting crossbows and filling the hill with earth. He will definitely come out of the city to attack and destroy the crossbow carts and the hill. So we wait for him to come. It is difficult for us to attack him on the hill.

But as long as we get out of the city and down the mountain, we can chop him hard, one chop at a time, and see how many times he can hold out."

It's a simple tactic, but it works.

If Liang Wanchun attacks, he will lose the protection of the mountain city and his soldiers will suffer casualties. If he doesn't come, he will have to watch the Tang army build a dirt road all the way to their city wall, and they will still be doomed.

"Duke Xing's move is indeed powerful."

"It's just so-so, but it's very useful for Anshi City. Anshi City's advantage is that it's easy to defend and difficult to attack, but their weakness is that they have few soldiers."

When fighting a war, you must make the enemy follow your rhythm instead of letting the enemy lead you by the nose.

You have Zhang Liangji, I have a wall ladder.

Of course, even more cruel was the emperor's tactic of besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements.

You have 150,000 reinforcements, and the emperor has 30,000 troops waiting in the wings.

"Duke Xing, do you think that His Majesty's 30,000 men can really stop the 150,000 reinforcements from Goguryeo? Should we really not send reinforcements?"

"Situ, don't worry. Your Majesty is the emperor on horseback. Besides, the Duke of Wei, the Duke of Qi, the Duke of Chu, the Duke of E, the Duke of Lu and others are in front of you.
Your Majesty's imperial camp has 30,000 elite infantry and cavalry, and they are preparing an ambush while waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out. There are also 10,000 troops from King Jiangxia nearby.

After Su Dingfang received the emperor's order, he looked at the map for a few seconds and felt relaxed.

It was Changsun Wuji who had previously said in Liaodong City that Anshi City would surrender and that Goguryeo would not send reinforcements to rescue Anshi City. As a result, Liang Wanchun refused to surrender, and the city was still difficult to attack.

The Goguryeo people sent another 150,000 reinforcements.

Changsun Wuji is very regretful now. He shouldn't have said such bad words, which undoubtedly caused his prestige to plummet.

"How about we dispatch 20,000 troops and be ready to provide reinforcements at any time?" Changsun Wuji thought for a moment and said again.

"Let's just follow your orders. Our battlefield is in Anshi City, and our mission is also here."

"But, what if?"

"Nothing unexpected!"

(End of this chapter)