Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 315 Li Er Wants to Lead the Army Personally, Yet Fears a Surprise Attack! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Goguryeo was a northern regime established by the Buyeo people.

Since the Han and Northern and Southern Dynasties, China had always paid tribute to the Central Plains dynasties or received investiture from them.

However, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, Goguryeo repeatedly challenged the suzerain status of the Central Plains dynasty. It not only "drove away the Mohe and imprisoned the Khitan" and invaded Liaoxi, but also launched southern expeditions against Silla and Baekje, showing a strong momentum of expansion.

Such arrogant behavior naturally angered the Central Plains dynasty.

After all, how dare such a small country disregard the authority of the Celestial Empire and attempt to dominate the region?
This is certainly unacceptable.

As a result, the Sui Dynasty launched four large-scale expeditions against Goguryeo.

Emperor Wen of Sui even dispatched 300,000 troops to attack Goguryeo, but was forced to withdraw due to the epidemic, lack of food supplies, and natural disasters.

As a result, this massive war, before even truly engaging in combat with Goguryeo, resulted in the loss of more than 80% of its troops.

During the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, the ambitious and ambitious emperor personally led three expeditions against Goguryeo, with the first expedition alone involving more than one million troops. The latter two expeditions also exceeded one million troops each.

However, the result was unexpectedly a failure.

Although they achieved a superficial victory in the last attempt, they paid a heavy price.

Even more unexpectedly, the three campaigns against Goguryeo became a fatal turning point for the empire, leading to its decline. Just a few years later, the once prosperous Sui Dynasty collapsed due to the exhaustion of its national strength and the outbreak of popular uprisings.

For Yang Guang, the unruly and insignificant Goguryeo was his Waterloo, while for the Tang Dynasty that replaced the Sui Dynasty, the damned Goguryeo was still a constant source of trouble.

When Li Shimin saw the urgent report from Liaodong handed to him by Wu She, his face instantly darkened. He then threw the report to the ground with a thud and roared, "These mere barbarians dare to play this underhanded trick on our Great Tang! What do they take our Great Tang for?!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuanling's expression turned extremely grim, for he knew without a doubt that a war had broken out in Liaodong.

Moreover, it was Goguryeo that unilaterally mocked the Tang Dynasty.

This was absolutely intolerable for the Tang Dynasty.

Without hesitation, Li Shimin roared towards the outside of the hall, "Guards! Bring Li Jing, Hou Junji, Changsun Wuji, Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Zhijie, and the Crown Prince here!"

"promise!"

The person outside the hall immediately responded and was about to turn and leave.

Just then, an urgent report came again: "Your Majesty! The Crown Prince invites you to the Military Academy, saying that all the generals of the court are waiting for you there!"

"Ok?"

Li Shimin was slightly taken aback, and then subconsciously looked at Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling seemed to realize something and said, "Your Majesty, as far as I know, the Crown Prince has built a huge sand table map in the Military Academy, which is used specifically for troop deployment. Many generals in the court have been frequently going to the Military Academy to practice their tactics recently. Sometimes they even have to queue up. It is said that practicing tactics on that sand table map is almost no different from actual battlefield combat, except that there is no bloodshed!"

"Oh?"

Li Shimin raised an eyebrow, immediately intrigued: "You mean this sand table map is really that amazing?"

"Your Majesty, although I have not seen this sand table map in person, Li Jing and Du Ruhui have both seen it and highly praise it. It is definitely a powerful tool for commanding battles!" Fang Xuanling nodded with a smile.

Li Shimin's interest grew stronger, and without any hesitation, he immediately ordered towards the outside of the palace: "Someone, prepare the carriage, I'm going to the military academy!"

"Yes!"

A voice responded from outside the hall.

Soon, Li Shimin left the palace with Fang Xuanling.

Meanwhile, inside the military academy.

Li Chengqian, holding a bamboo pole, pointed to the sand table map in front of him and looked around at his generals, saying, "The Liaodong region is bordered by the Bohai Sea on the left, the Yellow Sea on the right, and the northeastern hinterland on the back. It is a strategic location with convenient land and sea transportation. Therefore, Goguryeo made full use of this geographical advantage and built fifty-eight mountain cities and a large number of strongholds."

"These mountain cities and strongholds are mostly located at the confluence of mountains, sea, and rivers, making them easy to defend and difficult to attack. They also facilitate the monitoring of the surrounding areas, ensuring Goguryeo's strategic depth and defensive capabilities in the Liaodong region."

"also!"

At this point, his gaze lingered on Li Jing's face for a moment before continuing, "Goguryeo further strengthened its defenses in Liaodong by building city walls and setting up outposts."

"Ultimately, Goguryeo established a defensive system in the Liaodong region with Liaodong City as its core, and focused on building new cities such as Liaodong, Bisha, Wugu, Gaimu, Buyeo, and Baiyan."

"You could say it's a giant tortoise shell."

"That's why they dared to launch a sudden attack on our Great Tang, without fearing that our Great Tang would retaliate against them in a short time!"

After listening to Li Chengqian's analysis, all the generals, including Li Jing, looked at each other in bewilderment.

Although the Tang Dynasty had various diplomatic conflicts with Goguryeo since its founding, the two sides had never engaged in large-scale warfare.

Most of these generals rose to prominence at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and their impression of Goguryeo was still based on the Sui Dynasty era.

Therefore, after Li Chengqian finished his complete analysis, they finally understood why the Sui Dynasty's four campaigns against Goguryeo had ended in failure.

Because Goguryeo was not a small country in the traditional sense; it was a small overlord with a complete defense system.

"Then, in Your Highness's opinion, how should we deal with them?"

Li Jing was the first to snap out of his reverie, frowning as he stared at Li Chengqian and asked.

Li Chengqian laughed and said, "Goguryeo was originally one of the four commanderies of the Han Dynasty. However, due to the turmoil in the Han Dynasty, they became a foreign land. If we send troops to attack Liaodong, Goguryeo will surely fight against our Great Tang with all its strength. At that time, we can send a navy from Donglai to Pyongyang to attack Goguryeo from both land and sea. It will not be difficult to take Goguryeo."

"However, at this time, launching an attack from the sea is not an easy task. And fighting Goguryeo on land would drag us into a quagmire of war, just like the Sui Dynasty's four campaigns against Goguryeo, which could easily result in a crushing defeat!"

Doesn't this mean we still have no way to deal with them?

Yuchi Gong said somewhat dejectedly, "They killed many of our people and plundered three of our cities. I really can't swallow this insult!"

Upon hearing this, the generals' expressions grew increasingly grim, until a tense silence descended upon them.

Consider how long it took the Manchu Qing dynasty to conquer these fortified cities.

For the Tang Dynasty to march from Youzhou to Liaodong was actually no less difficult than it had taken the Manchus about thirty years to march from the Northeast to Shanhaiguan.

More importantly, Goguryeo at this time was not the Korean country of later generations.

After more than a decade of peaceful development, Goguryeo has now developed into a major power.

According to the Old Book of Tang, when Goguryeo was destroyed, it had 697,000 households. Assuming five people per household, that's about 355 people.

It should be noted that at this time, Goguryeo had already suffered four campaigns by the Sui Dynasty, as well as continuous blows from four emperors of the Tang Dynasty, including Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi. Goguryeo was even a devastated state after Emperor Taizong Li Shimin's campaign against it, in which "Houhuangcheng and Yincheng were both captured and fled, leaving hundreds of miles without human habitation."

Therefore, at this time, the population of Goguryeo in Liaodong at its peak may have been as many as 500.

Five million people; even at its peak, the Turkic Khaganate only had three million people.

This shows that Goguryeo could mobilize at least 500,000 troops from across the country, while the Tang Dynasty's current military strength was only over 600,000.

This explains why four emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties spared no effort in attacking Goguryeo.

The geographical location and military strength of Goguryeo were like a sword hanging over the heads of the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Therefore, given that Liaodong nominally belonged to the Tang Dynasty but was actually entirely under the control of Goguryeo, if Goguryeo continued its southward expansion, then...
Let's put everything else aside for now and just talk about Chinese history.

The Khitans first invaded from this place and occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. From then on, the Northern Song Dynasty could only spend a lot of gold and silver to build the most powerful imperial army to prevent the Khitans from invading the North China Plain.

After all, if the Khitans were allowed to invade the North China Plain, they could reach Kaifeng in just half a month and be wiped out in one fell swoop.

The second was the Jurchens, who invaded from this place and achieved the strategic goal that the Khitans had always dreamed of, taking down the Northern Song Dynasty in one fell swoop and creating the Jingkang Incident.

The third time was also by the Jurchens. They invaded from the same place and established the last feudal dynasty in China.

The fourth time was Xiao Rizi. From this place, they gradually annexed the entire North China and swept across several provinces.

Therefore, this is the fundamental reason why, once the new nation was established, it would never allow the Ugly Nation to set foot across the Yalu River.

The lessons of history are all bloody, and we must never repeat the same mistakes.

On the other hand, was Li Chengqian really unable to deal with Goguryeo at this time?
The answer is definitely yes.

However, now is not the time for him to make a move.

Because there is someone who definitely wants to attack Goguryeo even more than he does.

"Your Highness, His Majesty has arrived!"

Just as all the generals fell silent, a report suddenly came from outside the door.

The generals were immediately invigorated and turned to look at Li Chengqian.

But Li Chengqian said with a faint smile, "Please come in quickly!"

"Yes!" came a reply from outside the door.

Soon, Li Shimin strode into the military academy classroom.

"Your Majesty, we, your humble servants, pay our respects!"

The moment the generals saw Li Shimin, they immediately bowed to him.

But Li Shimin's attention was immediately drawn to the sand table map in front of him.

He exclaimed with admiration, "This is good stuff! This stuff is great!"

"Hehe, Your Majesty, I pay my respects!"

Li Chengqian also smiled and stepped forward to bow.

"You did this?"

Li Shimin glanced at the sand table map, then at Li Chengqian, and asked incredulously.

But he smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, Father, this is indeed a sand table map that I ordered to be made. From here, one can get a glimpse of the entire Liaodong region!"

"Excellent! It is indeed almost identical to the terrain of Liaodong in my memory, even more specific and vivid!"

Li Shimin nodded in approval, then turned his gaze to the generals and solemnly said, "You should all know about the urgent report from Liaodong. How dare this small country invade our Great Tang! We must punish them!"

"this."

Upon hearing this, the generals exchanged glances, their faces filled with bitterness.

Li Jing spoke first, saying, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince just analyzed the situation of Goguryeo with us. Attacking Goguryeo now would not be a wise move!"

"How is this not a wise move?"

Li Shimin's face darkened, and he immediately retorted to Li Jing, "Are we supposed to endure this humiliation when they come to our doorstep? This is not the time when I first ascended the throne!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down and let me finish speaking!"

Seeing that Li Shimin's tone was unfriendly, Li Jing quickly repeated Li Chengqian's analysis to him.

He listened, stunned, and eventually fell silent.

After a long pause, he finally looked at Li Chengqian and frowned, saying, "Does the Crown Prince also not support going to war with Goguryeo?"

"Your Majesty, it is not that I do not support going to war with Goguryeo, but that I do not support rashly going to war with Goguryeo."

Li Chengqian explained solemnly, "I'm sure Father Emperor knows that before Goguryeo launched its surprise attack on our Great Tang, it sent an envoy to our Great Tang."

"This is the second time Goguryeo has sent envoys to our Great Tang since I imprisoned the two Goguryeo envoys, Gao Yanshou and Li Siyuan!"

"Although this envoy's mission to our Tang Dynasty was intended to lull us into a false sense of security, Goguryeo could not possibly be unaware of what sending troops to our Tang Dynasty meant. Therefore, in theory, this envoy should be in grave danger."

"Then why did Goguryeo send him to our Tang Dynasty? Was it merely to lull our Tang Dynasty into a false sense of security? I believe that's not entirely the case!"

"Therefore, in my opinion, we should first send troops to the Liaodong border to stop Goguryeo's southward advance, and then wait for this envoy to come to Chang'an to find out the truth before deciding whether to launch a full-scale war against Goguryeo!"

"This"

Li Shimin hesitated for a moment, then looked around at his generals, frowned, and asked, "What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, I agree with the Crown Prince's approach. As the saying goes, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.' Even if our Great Tang is on the defensive, we must understand the specific details before we can deploy our troops. Otherwise, a hasty battle may not yield any advantage!"

Li Jing spoke first as always.

But Li Shimin did not respond to his words. Instead, he glanced at the other generals and finally fixed his gaze on Hou Junji, saying indifferently, "What does the Minister of War think?"

"this."

Hou Junji considered for a moment, then bowed and said, “Your Majesty, I believe that Goguryeo’s crimes are grave and it is indeed necessary to punish it. However, who should lead the attack is of utmost importance. I recall that the two emperors of the Sui Dynasty both suffered defeats at the hands of Goguryeo. This is why Goguryeo has become arrogant and does not take our Central Plains dynasty seriously.”

"Therefore, as the art of war says: victory is the most important thing in war, not protracted battles. True victory is achieved by resolving the problem completely in one decisive battle, just like Your Majesty's great victory over Dou Jiande at Hulao Pass!"

"Indeed! I think so too. To win every battle is not the best thing!"

Clearly, Hou Junji's words struck a chord with Li Shimin.

He not only wanted to wage war against Goguryeo, but also wanted to personally lead the army.

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than Fang Xuanling stepped forward to advise him, "Your Majesty, I also support the campaign against Goguryeo, but we can send two or three valiant generals with an army of forty or fifty thousand, relying on Your Majesty's prestige. Taking it will be as easy as turning your hand. There is really no need for you to personally lead the campaign!"

"Besides."

At this point, he glanced at Li Chengqian subconsciously and sighed, "The Crown Prince is still young, so it is even more difficult for the Emperor to personally lead an expedition!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! We also support the campaign against Goguryeo, but Your Majesty's health is precious, and you must not put yourself in danger!"

"Your Majesty! Rest assured, leave it to us! We will definitely teach those barbarians a lesson!"

"Think twice, Your Majesty!"

Hearing his generals' advice, especially Fang Xuanling's mention of Li Chengqian, made Li Shimin hesitate.

However, at that moment, a new report came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, an urgent report has arrived from the Gurkha Khanate!"

"Ok?"

Li Shimin frowned, then turned to look at Li Chengqian.

Without saying a word, Li Chengqian ordered towards the door, "Bring in the urgent report!"

"Yes!"

Soon, a soldier brought in the urgent report.

"Father, let me read it!"

Li Chengqian readily accepted the urgent report and immediately petitioned Li Shimin for instructions.

Li Shimin knew that the Gurkha Khanate was probably related to Li Chengqian, so he nodded in agreement without saying much.

But then Li Chengqian unfolded the urgent report and read aloud: "On May 10th, Tuli, the Great Khan of the Gurkha Khanate, was suddenly attacked by assassins while convening an alliance meeting. Fortunately, he was protected by Zhishi Sili and was spared from assassination. On May 20th, Tuli's injuries worsened, and Yishi Yinan, the chieftain of Xueyantuo, launched a rebellion, replaced Tuli, and became the new Great Khan. The allied states successively submitted to him."

"On May 25, the Gurkha Khanate was renamed the Xueyantuo Khanate."

"On May 29th, the Xueyantuo Khanate sent troops to approach the border of our Great Tang Dynasty and dispatched envoys to request to marry our Great Tang princess."

Upon reading this, Li Chengqian's face darkened.

This was completely unexpected for him; he never imagined that Tuli would be so incompetent as to have his Khanate usurped.

It should be noted that Tuli was the Great Khan whom he had personally supported.

But Li Shimin said angrily, "This is outrageous! Yishi Yinan murdered the emperor and usurped the throne, which is treasonous. Now he is sending troops to threaten my Great Tang. This is unforgivable!"

After saying this, he gave Li Chengqian a cold look and said in a deep voice, "Does the Crown Prince still not support our Great Tang to send troops to punish them?"

"Is Your Majesty planning to fight on two fronts?"

Li Chengqian did not answer Li Shimin's question directly, but instead asked him a question in return.

Li Shimin paused for a moment, then sneered, "Weren't you very confident in your firearms? What, are you scared?"

"If Your Majesty puts it that way, then there's no point in saying that."

What do you mean by "it's meaningless"?

"It means fight!"

Li Chengqian said directly, "Your subject supports Your Majesty's personal command of the expedition!"

"it is good!"

Li Shimin was overjoyed and was about to order preparations for war when he suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "If I personally lead the expedition, what about the Crown Prince?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian subconsciously touched his nose and chuckled awkwardly, "Your subject will naturally remain in the capital and await Your Majesty's triumphant return!"

Li Shimin: "."

Good guy!
This unfilial son is waiting for me here!?

(End of this chapter)