The heavens start from saving Daming

Chapter 471 Entering Goguryeo

After the eldest grandson died of illness, Li Er, who was emotionally hit, felt nostalgic for his old friend's passing away.

He asked Yan Liben, a court painter, to draw portraits of many heroes, and then hang them in Lingyan Pavilion as a commemoration.

Originally, Li Er planned to include Li Yunze in the list, but he sternly refused, saying that he had no intention of being hung up.

At this time, the most popular painting style in Tang Dynasty was the so-called sketch realistic style.

Datang has always been very tolerant in culture. In the past, ink and wash painting dominated the painting world, but now a new technology suddenly appeared, which is naturally extremely popular.

Therefore, when Yan Liben painted, he also used the most trendy sketch realistic style. Li Er expressed his appreciation for this and had no objection, and thought it was very good.

Li Yunze has objections to this.

He found Yan Liben, threatened him with secretly selling illustration albums, and asked him to redraw a set of 24 heroes in the style of ink painting.

Yan Liben had no choice but to spend time and effort drawing another set.

This set of 24 heroes in Lingyan Pavilion was brought back to the modern world by Li Yunze as a collection.

It is definitely the original authentic work, and Li Er's seal is used as evidence.

Many of these heroic officials who were included in the portraits had already been buried in the soil at this time, and most of the remaining military officials were old except for civil servants. In fact, not many were able to follow Li Er to Goguryeo in the end.

Although it is said that Li Yunze and Sun Simiao have cooperated to improve the medical level of Tang Dynasty, they have indeed succeeded in prolonging the life span of many people.

But this is only a temporary solution rather than a permanent cure, that is, to live a few more years.

Li Ji is the main general who is scheduled to conquer Goguryeo, and he has already presided over the preliminary preparations here in Youzhou for a long time.

Li Xiaogong did not die suddenly, and was sent to Jiangdu to command the fleet. First, he sent Li Chengqian and others overseas, and then took the fleet to Baekje.

Since Yuchi Jingde rescued the Western Regions last time, he became active again, and this time he also followed Li Er's side as the guard.

Li Jing is really old, but even though he is almost 70 years old, he is still taken by Li Er as a high-ranking participant.

Duan Zhixuan is a man in his prime, so he will have a chance to lead the army by following him this time.

In addition, people like Zhang Liang and Changsun Shunde have long since been given up. They spend all day in the mansion with singing and dancing beauties behind closed doors, so naturally they will not be brought along.

In fact, in addition to the twenty heroes of Lingyan Pavilion, a new generation of generals has gradually grown up, and this time Li Er also brought them all over.

Li Er used Li Daozong to temporarily conquer the up-and-coming Su Dingfang in the Western Regions, and Xue Rengui who rose like a comet. Because of Li Yunze's insistence, his wife Princess Danyang was locked up, thus preventing Xue Wanche and others who were stimulated and rebellious from going out with the army.

Not surprisingly, this time Li Yunze was also appointed as the marching commander, responsible for the logistics support of the army.

Li Er was determined to pacify Goguryeo in one battle, and thus completely defeated the dissenting ministers around him, creating a peaceful environment for the Tang Dynasty.

This battle not only mobilized almost all field soldiers and horses that could be used, but even arranged for Zhang Shigui and others to recruit soldiers again as reserves.

In the autumn of the 15th year of Zhenguan, hundreds of thousands of Tang troops gradually gathered in Youzhou.

The first to act was Zhang Jian, the governor of Yingzhou, who led the frontier army of the Tang Dynasty and the Khitan, Xi, Mohe and other tribes on the grassland who had been obediently tamed after being reduced to harass from the grassland.

After arriving in Laizhou, the fleet under Lee Hyo-gong began to attack, blocking the sea off Goguryeo and Baekje.

The fleets of Goguryeo and Baekje did not dare to fight, and they all hid in the harbor.

In early October, Li Er's envoy arrived in Silla and ordered Queen Seondeok of Silla to send troops to flank Baekje and Goguryeo.

Queen Seondeok, who claimed to admire Li Er, was really frightened. After all, in the eyes of Silla, Baekje and Goguryeo are heavenly existences, so they dare not offend.

But Li Er had spoken in person, and Datang was an existence that could not be offended even more. In a dilemma, he accepted the suggestion of his subordinates, and sent troops to harass him to make a fool of himself and see the direction of the wind.

For the time being, Li Er pretended not to see this sloppy style.

Of course, there will naturally be an explanation when the war is over.

It doesn't matter to be a grass on the wall on weekdays, but at this time it is obvious that it is still a grass on the wall under the background of the national war, so it is really time to be a grass on the grave in the future.

At the end of October, Li Ji, the general manager of the Liaodong Road, personally led nearly [-] cavalry forwards of the Tang Army, crossed the Liaoshui River and approached Xuantu, which was one of the four counties of Liaodong in the Han Dynasty.

In this battle, Li Er was also in the name of recovering the old land of the Han Dynasty, and the four counties of the Han Dynasty were almost all occupied by Goguryeo and Baekje, and the two sides were naturally endless.

Li Ji's strength is strong enough, and his own command ability is also good enough, he attacked Gaimu City by himself, and sent troops to Su Dingfang to attack Xincheng.

Both of these cities were defeated in one battle, because they both used gunpowder to blow up the city walls.

The solid city defenses that once caused millions of Sui soldiers a headache, and could only be filled with their lives, were as fragile as tofu in front of gunpowder, vulnerable to a single blow.

After the city wall was bombed and collapsed, the phalanx of Tang soldiers in heavy armor marched across the ruins and entered the city. Basically, the battle could be declared over.

The striker made rapid progress, and Li Er was overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately set off from Youzhou with the main force.

It is naturally impossible for such a huge legion to gather together.

Li Er arranged for many generals to lead their troops to attack in all directions, forming a wide front to crush Goguryeo.

As time entered winter, Li Xiaogong's navy had to return to Laizhou because of the freezing sea.

And Tang Jun also began to gradually slow down his pace.

The reason why he wanted to dispatch troops in winter was that Li Erda's idea was to gain front-line strongholds through winter campaigns, consume Goguryeo's vital forces, and burn the flames of war into the enemy's territory.

When spring comes, Tang Jun can directly attack across the board, taking advantage of the good weather for the next year or so to wipe out Goguryeo in one fell swoop.

After all, Goguryeo is not a nomadic tribe like Xue Yantuo, a Turkic Huihe, but a real agricultural country with cities as its core.

To deal with nomadic tribes, just destroy their royal court.

But to deal with an agricultural country, it is necessary to capture all the cities everywhere.

Goguryeo's land is thousands of miles away, and it will take time for the Tang army to sweep even all the way.

Therefore, the strategy of sending troops in winter to gain front-line strongholds and destroying the country in one fell swoop in the coming year has been recognized by everyone.

With the arrival of winter, the threats Tang Jun needs to face mainly come from two aspects.

One is naturally the weather, and the cold weather will pose a huge threat to Tang Jun.

Another is the counterattack of the Goguryeo people. Goguryeo, which is more adapted to the cold weather than the Tang army, is capable of launching a large-scale counterattack.

The news from inside Goguryeo is that Quan Gai Suwen, the power minister, and the king Gao Jianwu have stopped fighting and reached a settlement, and they are raising troops, horses, food and grass to prepare for a counterattack.

What came faster than the Goguryeo army was the raging cold wind and heavy snow.

Li Er's movements were very fast, and he quickly reached the city of Liaodong after crossing the Liaoshui River.

When the siege was about to be launched, it was snowing heavily, and the operation had to be suspended.

Tens of thousands of tents surrounded the city of Liaodong, and each large tent had a stove with a sealed chimney burning briquettes to provide heat for the tent.

Huaxia has known the benefits of coal for a long time, and it has been used for a long time.

It's just that because it is not known that direct use of coal will cause carbon monoxide poisoning, charcoal is usually used for heating, and coal is mainly used for ironmaking and other aspects.

However, impurities such as phosphorus in coal affect the quality of iron. It can be said that coal is successful and coal is unsuccessful.

The emergence of coal stoves with chimneys and briquettes solved the problem of coal heating.

When the smoke was discharged into the sky through the chimney through the opening reserved on the tent, the soldiers of the Tang army in the tent could finally sleep beautifully around the stove.

This kind of cognition and technology is nothing to modern people.

But for the ancients who have been troubled by this for thousands of years, it is a technological upgrade that is like a breakthrough.

Its influence is indescribable in words.

At the very least, the current Tang army can camp in the wild in the cold winter months.

In addition to coal, Tang Jun's standard equipment for heating is wool blankets, which can effectively insulate the cold when spread on rubber water drainage pads.

Then put on cotton underwear and wool sweater trousers, put on a cotton coat, and talk and laugh around the fire.

Covered with a quilt when sleeping, even if the temperature drops to a certain degree below zero at night, it can still be carried through.

Li Er's tent was the largest in the entire army. After it was propped up, its area was as large as a small palace.

All the generals in the army gathered here and were discussing the situation of the battle.

There are several coal stoves burning in the big tent, and the warm heat vents out, making the whole big tent as warm as spring.

There are tens of hundreds of captains and generals gathered here, talking and chatting with each other, and the buzzing sound can be heard endlessly.

As an upstart in recent years, Xue Rengui doesn't have any contacts here. After looking around, he walked to the corner and sat on the sleepy Li Yunze.

"My lord."

"Ok?"

Xue Rengui squatted down after saluting, and asked in confusion, "There is something I don't understand at the end, please ask the prince to clarify."

Li Yunze, who squinted his eyes and hugged his arms, said softly, "Say."

"The city of Liaodong is already besieged, why not fight?"

Xue Rengui really didn't understand this, "The location of this place is important, and the area of ​​the city is large enough. If you live in the city after the capture, it will be better than staying outside."

After thinking for a while, he then explained, "Don't blame me, my lord. The army's logistics is very good. The last general just thought it would be better to take down Liaodong City, and it's not like he can't take it down."

At Xue Rengui's level, he naturally knew the secrets of Tang Jun's gunpowder.

With gunpowder, no matter how strong Liaodong City is, it's just a little more.

But at this time, the main force of the Tang army would rather camp in the wind and snow than attack the city, which made the young Xue Rengui unable to understand.

Li Yunze, who didn't even raise his eyelids, asked casually, "Do you study the Art of War?"

Xue Rengui froze for a moment, "I have read it."

"Have you ever read what it means to fight for aid?"

"Around the point to help?"

"If the important cities that can be captured are not attacked, either the coach has a brain problem, or he is waiting for the arrival of enemy reinforcements."

Li Yunze waved his hand, "When you're free, don't compete with others all day long. It's better to read more about the art of war."

While speaking, the coach Li Er, who may have a brain problem, came out from the back tent wearing a golden armor.

After everyone saw the ceremony, Li Er immediately uttered a sentence to remove his suspicion of brain damage.

"My lords, Goguryeo's reinforcements are coming soon!"

(End of this chapter)