Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 333 Li Jing: Exterminate the Goguryeo Clan! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

The Zhenguan era, Liucheng in western Liaoning.

After a long march, Li Jing's central army finally met up with the vanguard general Su Dingfang's troops here. After exchanging greetings, Li Jing began to deploy the battle plan for attacking Liaodong.

Su Dingfang was not idle during this period. He not only annihilated most of the Goguryeo forces west of the Liao River, but also conducted probing reconnaissance in the eastern part of the Liao River.

During the Tang Dynasty, Liaodong also had a vast expanse of marshes, with many swamps and a complex network of roads that made it impossible for large armies to pass through, forcing them to take detours.

Based on intelligence gathered by Su Dingfang and maps sent by Li Shimin, Pei Xingjian, a disciple of Su Dingfang and a clerk accompanying the army, created a simple sand table for Li Jing to use.

Pei Xingjian is twenty-five years old this year. During the period when Su Dingfang was sidelined, he lamented that no one would pass on his skills. He happened to meet Pei Xingjian and thought that this young man was a good talent, so he imparted all his knowledge to him.

No sooner had he finished teaching than Li Jing was appointed commander-in-chief of the eastern expedition against Goguryeo, and Su Dingfang, as Li Jing's confidant, was also given an important position as commander of the vanguard.

Upon receiving the appointment, Su Dingfang felt that this expedition would be a good opportunity for training, so he recruited his apprentice Pei Xingjian as the military clerk, keeping him by his side to teach him by example and personally instruct him on how to destroy a country.

Li Jing, with his hands behind his back, carefully examined the sand table and said to Su Dingfang:

"Your apprentice is quite good. If all the generals of our Great Tang Dynasty could be this dedicated, we would have nothing to fear in any great battle."

As a military genius of the Tang Dynasty, Li Jing was all too aware of the importance of intelligence work, and creating a sand table was a way to visualize intelligence, making it clear whether it was deploying troops or encircling and intercepting enemy forces.

Pei Xingjian felt a little embarrassed by the praise:
"I only have a superficial understanding and do not deserve such praise from the Duke of Wei."

Su Dingfang laughed heartily:
"I can brag about it when I get back. Among the generals in the court, those who have received praise from Lord Li can be counted on one hand."

Just then, Li Ji, the Minister of War and Grand Commander of the Liaodong Army, walked in carrying a thermos. He glanced around like an old cadre and had someone bring a chair for Li Weigong.
"Shouyue, inform the generals to prepare for a meeting!"

Shouyue is Pei Xingjian's courtesy name. He is currently the youngest in the main tent and is suitable for running errands.

Soon, all the division commanders arrived.

For example, Liu Hongji, the Grand General of the Liaoxi Army, Zhang Shigui, the Deputy Grand General of the Liaodong Army, Xue Wanche, the Grand General of the Pyongyang Army, Niu Jinda, the Deputy Grand General of the Pyongyang Army, and Zhang Jian, the Grand General of the Yingzhou Army, were all valiant generals in the early Tang Dynasty.

This expedition was the complete opposite of Li Shimin's personal campaign. When Li Shimin personally led an expedition, he had to consider the interests of all parties, and even the military achievements had to be balanced. For example, Li Daozong had outstanding military achievements in the early stages, so in order to balance the situation, Li Shimin did not arrange for him to fight much in the later stages of the Goguryeo war.

In addition, Zhang Liang, the chief commander of the navy, had no combat experience at all, but because he was Li Shimin's confidant, he got the position of chief commander. In the end, he led the navy to a disastrous defeat. If it weren't for Cheng Mingzhen's efforts to turn the tide, the navy would have been completely wiped out.

When Li Jing went on his expedition, he didn't need to consider political factors or the interests of all parties. When selecting his troops, he directly selected the valiant generals from the founding period. As for Zhang Liang, who had suffered a defeat in the war against Goguryeo, and Zhang Junyi, who had deserted, they were told to stay obediently in Chang'an.

To prevent any military incidents from occurring in the Western Regions and Xiliang, Li Jing thoughtfully left Cheng Zhijie and Yuchi Jingde in Chang'an as emergency responders, which made Cheng Zhijie so angry that he pulled several strands of Li Jing's beard.

At this moment, all the commanders-in-chief gathered in the main tent. Li Jing did not exchange many pleasantries and went directly to the sand table made by Pei Xingjian to begin deploying troops and assigning offensive tasks.

Before departing from Chang'an, Li Jing reviewed the historical materials brought by Wu Zetian and learned about the entire process of Li Shimin's eastern expedition against Goguryeo. The old general gave a very pertinent evaluation:

"Being too cautious led to missed opportunities!"

More than 20 years ago, when the Tang Dynasty was founded, Li Shimin often took the lead in the first charge, but when attacking Goguryeo, he proceeded steadily and cautiously.

The move that Li Weigong could most praise was Li Daozong's request to lead 5,000 men to launch a surprise attack on Pyongyang, but Li Shimin thought it was too risky and did not agree.

Now, Li Weigong plans to take a small step forward based on Li Shimin's work... Seventy years old is the age to take risks, how can he be restrained?
He began assigning combat missions, with each army, battalion, and colonel having different missions and deadlines, and even the specific time for launching an attack was arranged.

Li Ji, the second-in-command of the Tang Dynasty military, was diligently taking notes on the battle plan in a small notebook. Whenever he thought he was about to catch up with Li Weigong, the old general would show off a new move.

From cleverly seizing Jiangling to capturing Jieli Khan alive, from casually destroying Tuyuhun to today's war against Goguryeo, Li Jing's tactics were different each time.

When capturing Jiangling, he used a feint, scattering the captured ships in the river. Xiao Xian's allies thought that Jiangling had fallen and surrendered one after another. The capture of Jieli Khan was a blitzkrieg, a surprise attack covering hundreds of miles in one go, taking over the Turkic royal camp. The Tuyuhun was a large-scale mobile annihilation war, which depleted Tuyuhun's manpower in one battle, making it impossible for them to organize troops to resist.

Now, in the attack on Goguryeo, the old general has created a comprehensive offensive tactic, where several cities east of the Liao River will face the attack of the main Tang army at the same time.

"Once each unit reaches its designated position, it must launch a full-scale attack at the agreed time. Only in this way can we lure the 150,000 troops of the Goguryeo capital to come here, buy time for Cheng Mingzhen and Chang He to cross the sea, capture Pyongyang first, then cut off their supply lines, so that they cannot attend to both ends, and Goguryeo will surely fall into internal strife!"

Li Jing's strategy was actually not complicated: create a huge commotion in Liaodong to lure the Goguryeo forces to the rescue, thus creating conditions for the navy to land and launch an operation.

He then announced the strategic objectives for this operation:
"The ruins of the Jingguan (a mound of corpses) built by the Sui soldiers still stand on the banks of the Liao River. Therefore, the main objective of this battle is to eliminate the enemy's manpower. We should avoid taking prisoners if possible. If an entire army surrenders, we should order them to dig pits on the site of the Jingguan and then bury them alive to comfort the spirits of our fallen Chinese ancestors!"

This expedition was not only to destroy Goguryeo, but more importantly, to avenge the more than 100,000 soldiers of the Sui Dynasty who died in battle. The vast majority of the troops led by Yang Guangfa were Han Chinese, and they all died on both sides of the Liao River, where the Goguryeo people built huge mounds of corpses.

Now, it's time for the Han people to take revenge!
The reason Li Jing did not bring any foreign generals this time was that he regarded the war against Goguryeo as a war between ethnic groups.

You exterminate my Han people, I will exterminate your race, so that Goguryeo will never exist again!
After the military order was issued, the officers looked at each other in disbelief, realizing for the first time how strong the old general's killing intent was.

Li Ji cupped his hands and asked:

"Lord Li, such a massacre of prisoners is surely punishable by the gods..."

Li Jing waved his hand:
"I will take full responsibility. I would rather be Bai Qi, who is infamous for all eternity, than let my China suffer any more hardship. Everyone here bears responsibility for the survival of such clowns as Goguryeo!"

This is no longer a war between nations; it is a declaration of war by one people against another.

The generals present were all united in their hatred of the enemy, and had no more doubts. They only wanted to follow Li Weigong and wipe out Goguryeo in a good way... As for their posthumous reputation, let the historians make up whatever they want. They were not afraid!

After assigning combat missions to the generals, Li Jing donned his armor, took the precious sword bestowed upon him by Emperor Taizong of Tang, and went to the temporary training ground ten miles outside Liucheng to inspect the troops and hold a rally to swear an oath.

The reason for choosing this location is because there is a huge Jingguan (a mound of deadly statues) site nearby.

Li Jing tested the loudspeaker and addressed the soldiers:
"Thirty years ago, our ancestors perished in Liaodong, their bodies turned into a mound of corpses by the Goguryeo people, a humiliation beyond measure. They say that a blood feud can be avenged in ten generations, but we cannot wait ten generations, nor can the souls of the dead here wait that long. Now, we have arrived. We will repay the Goguryeo people for the slaughter of our Han people tenfold, a hundredfold... Once we cross the Liao River, we will kill anyone we encounter. Every Goguryeo person is a mortal enemy of our Chinese nation!"

The old general was full of fighting spirit, and his few words ignited the soldiers' passion.

Many people were moved to tears, repeatedly shouting:
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

After the mobilization meeting, squads of soldiers crossed the Liao River on the pontoon bridges that Su Dingfang had built in advance, heading straight for their respective mission objectives.

Watching the army cross the Liao River step by step, Li Ji said worriedly:

“Hatred can only ignite temporary courage. In the long run, it will inevitably breed war-weariness in the army. Does the old general have a way to solve this?”

Li Jing had already considered this point:
"The initial ferocity is only to quickly inflict pain on Goguryeo and terrify them. Afterwards, we will shift to the secondary strategic objective, which is to destroy their culture and history. As for the Goguryeo people, we will make them build roads and mine mines later, turning them into servants of the Tang Dynasty. The more ruthless we are in the early stages, the easier it will be to manage them later."

At this point, the old general sighed:

"When our Great Tang Dynasty previously sent troops, it exterminated their royal families but treated their races well. In the end, they became too powerful to control and instead became a scourge to the Great Tang Dynasty... Can you imagine that those dog-like Khitans in the forest could establish the Liao Dynasty and make the Central Plains dynasty pay tribute?"

Li Ji nodded, equally worried:

"Is there still a chance for our Great Tang Dynasty to make amends?"

Li Jing took out the token from his pocket:

"Yes, this thing is very useful. It can make them blend into the ocean of China like water droplets."

While this side was sharpening its swords and preparing to march towards Liaodong, in the world of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty, at the residence of the Left General.

Under Liu Ao's guidance, Xu Meiren went from questioning checkers to accepting it, and then to being unable to stop playing, all in just half an afternoon.

The couple were locked in a fierce battle on the chessboard, their skill seemingly evenly matched, a true testament to their equals... until Wang Mang easily defeated the two novice players, shattering Xu Meiren's dream of becoming a master.

During dinner, Zhang brought up Chen Feng's educational issues:
"The book bestowed by the immortal says that it is suitable to cultivate a child's musical sense when he is a little over two years old. Can Ao'er find a suitable musician?"

Before Liu Ao could speak, Consort Xu, setting aside her airs as the Crown Princess, recommended a suitable candidate:
“There was a palace maid in the palace who was skilled at playing the pipa. Half a year ago, Consort Fu ordered her to play, but she refused and was beaten with eighty strokes of the cane, almost losing her life.”

Zhang asked in confusion:
Why not comply?

Xu Meiren said speechlessly:

"Consort Fu entered the palace with a palace maid surnamed Wang. She was promoted to Consort Fu because she bribed a painter. The palace maid surnamed Wang refused to bribe her and became a servant in the palace. However, the palace maid surnamed Wang was superior to Consort Fu in both appearance and talent. Consort Fu was jealous of this and made trouble for her many times."

While Wang Mang was eating a meat pie, he suddenly thought of Wang Zhaojun, whom his adoptive father Chen Tang longed for, and said:
"Sister-in-law, this person seems to be Wang Qiang, whom my godfather has been searching for... Is her name Wang Qiang?"

(End of this chapter)