April 17, Ha Chuan.

Yelu Tieli, who was in charge of the cumbersome eastern border of the Sichuan River, urgently reported to Li Fengyun and captured a Goguryeo envoy, who was rushed to the Shuai camp for interrogation because of the secret matter related to Pyongyang.

The interrogation was quickly brought to fruition. Yuan An and Hsiao Yat, who were in charge of the interrogation, told Li Fengyun that Pyongyang was willing to exchange Buyeo's hometown for the support of Su Mojing's troops.

This is an important message, and Li Fengyun immediately summoned Tie Li, the chief commander of the Su Sect, to inform him in detail.

"What do you think about that?"

"Pyongyang has been fighting with me for more than 100 years for the sake of Fuyu's hometown, so how can it be willing to give it away?" Tie Li sneered and said disdainfully, "This kind of trick can't even fool a drooping child, how can I be fooled?" ”

Li Fengyun smiled slightly, and asked with a pun, "And then?" ”

Tie Li stroked his beard and smiled, "I once told Ming Gong that Pyongyang still has high hopes for me, so as long as Ming Gong trusts me and gives me support, I am sure to create an opportunity for Ming Gong to capture Pyongyang." ”

"High hopes?" Li Fengyun looked sarcastic and said disapprehantly, "The situation has developed to this point, and Pyongyang will still have illusions about you Ya people?" Do you still think that you people will live and die with Goguryeo? It's simply not possible. The reason why Pyongyang sent a special envoy in exchange for the support of your Tatar people in exchange for the support of your Tatar people is that it is a plan to delay the army, and it would rather you watch the fire from the other side than fall into the well, turn against them, and give them a fatal stab in the back. In other words, Pyongyang had already anticipated that you Tatars would be treacherous and would take advantage of the fire to loot, so they were on high alert and did not allow you Tatars to cross the Yalu River at all. ”

Tie Li's smile was stiff, his expression was gloomy, and he didn't say a word.

"I urgently summoned Mo Fu here to tell Mo Fu that the anti-plot you offered before will no longer work, and even you Ya people will not even be able to cross the Yalu Water to the east."

Tie Li's face was ugly, his eyes wandered, and he couldn't figure out Li Fengyun's true intentions.

Originally, they also wanted to watch the fire and make a profit from the fishermen from across the shore, but now the Middle-earth army killed the Mischeon directly, and came directly at the Yatar people, who naturally knew the current affairs as Junjie, surrendered and surrendered to Middle-earth, and then followed the Middle-earth army to attack Pyongyang and destroy Goguryeo, so they could get a piece of the pie without much effort, why not?

Therefore, Tie Li was still very sincere in offering a counter-plot, but he seriously underestimated Pyongyang's judgment of the situation, and as a result, it was wishful thinking.

"What is Ming Gong's countermeasure?" Tie Li didn't want to go around the bend, and asked bluntly, "If it is useful to my Lords, but please speak up." ”

"Soldier God." Li Fengyun said without hesitation, "The news of the drastic changes in Haochuan cannot be continuously blocked, and it may leak to the domestic city hundreds of miles away at any time, and the domestic city is the biggest obstacle for us to cross the Yalu water eastward, we must take it as quickly as possible, and then advance and retreat and defend, so as to firmly control the initiative, and the main army can also cross the Yalu water east at any time and kill Pyongyang." ”

As soon as Tie Li heard it, he knew that Li Fengyun wanted the Tatar people to charge into battle, but Li Fengyun's reason made him unable to refuse, even for the Tatar people themselves, if they want to seize the opportunity in today's situation, they must also take the domestic city as soon as possible, once delayed, the news of the drastic change in the Sichuan River will reach the domestic city, and the domestic city will hold on to the city while urgently reporting to Pyongyang, which will inevitably have a serious or even bad impact on the next battle situation.

Tie Li weighed it for a moment and made a resolute decision, "I, the tribes of the Ming Dynasty, are willing to follow the Ming Gong to fight bravely." ”

Li Fengyun nodded in approval, "Tomorrow, the armies will march eastward, and they must not be delayed." ”

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On April 18, under the city of Liaodong, the headquarters of the Eastern Expedition.

Zuo Yiwei's general Yu Wenshu received an urgent report from Cui Hongsheng, the commander of the Xuanfeng Army, and on the way east, he encountered a Goguryeo envoy and insulted the Middle Earth and the Holy Lord, so he angrily beheaded him and presented his head to the headquarters.

Yuwen Shu was furious. Cui Hongsheng angrily beheaded the Goguryeo envoy is fake, and it is true to hinder the council and coerce the command to speed up the attack, and Yuwensu does not want to be coerced, and the Eastern Expedition Command cannot be held hostage by the military's main battle faction, so he is very angry.

But in the face of the facts in front of him, Yuwenshu was also very helpless. The Holy Lord is not on the front line, the center is far away, and only relying on the prestige of the two chief and deputy commanders, Yu Wenshu and Guo Rong, cannot control a large number of senior officers in the army such as Li Jing, Xue Shixiong and Cui Hongsheng, so as far as the current situation is concerned, it is already very remarkable that Yu Wenshu can maintain a united situation, and as for making the generals under his account loyal to him and obey his words, it is purely extravagant.

Now Cui Hongsheng ignored the authority of the Command and Yuwenshu, and took the initiative to kill the Goguryeo Council and the envoy, which is a fait accompli, this move not only has the intention of openly coercing and kidnapping the Command, but also openly slapped Yuwenshu in the face, which can be described as arrogant and aggressive, but this move is deeply in line with the hearts of the army and greatly boosts morale, if Yuwenshu and the Command do not deal with it properly, the consequences will be serious, and the good situation may be ruined.

In the handsome tent, Yu Wenshu's face was gloomy, and his eyes showed a cold light; Guo Rong was expressionless and said nothing; Li Jing and Xue Shixiong looked solemn, but they couldn't hide the excitement in their eyes.

Yesterday's military meeting, although Li Jing and Xue Shixiong lobbied hard, Guo Rong also voted an important vote, and the willingness to actively fight the main battle has formed an overwhelming advantage in the command, but Yu Wenshu was forced by the political pressure exerted by the Holy Lord and the center, coupled with the psychological shadow caused by the defeat of the first two Eastern Crusades, causing him to look ahead and backward, suffer from gains and losses, be passive and conservative, and worry that the rapid advancement to the front line of Yalu Water will have a series of serious consequences, such as the Holy Lord and the center may cause political miscalculation. For example, the main battle faction in the army may seize the opportunity to cross the Yalu water and kill Pyongyang directly, for example, because of the difficulty in the supply of grain, grass and baggage, the tide of the war suddenly reversed, and so on, in the end, Yu Wenshu could not make up his mind to attack, and he has not yet formed a decision to attack.

However, now that Cui Hongsheng slashed the Goguryeo envoy with one sword, the situation suddenly changed greatly, and directly forced Yuwensu to a "dead end", and there was no choice.

For Goguryeo, Middle-earth cut off its path of peace and could only fight to the death, while for Middle-earth, it was the Eastern Expedition Command that cut off the road to peace, forcing the Holy Lord and the Center to meet the wishes of the military, and could only do their best to fight to the death, so that the Third Eastern Crusade deviated from the main purpose of winning the greatest results at the lowest cost required by the Holy Lord, and once the Eastern Crusade army suffered too much loss as a result, it directly affected the outcome of the imminent outbreak of the Great Northern War, and it would inevitably cause fatal damage to the overall layout of the Holy Lord and the center. And Yu Wenshu, as the commander of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, will not atone for his sins.

Guo Rong was the first to break the silence, "What is the purpose of Huangtai Gong's killing of the Goguryeo envoy?" ”

Yuwenshu has no choice but to compromise, can only accept the reality and make a decision to rush to the front line of Yalu water, and can only bear all the political risks arising therefrom, but this political risk is not borne by Yuwenshu alone, but the entire Eastern Expedition Command, so what we need to discuss now is not the issue of attacking decision-making, but how to minimize political risks and how to deal with the aftermath of Cui Hongsheng's "mistakes".

With Cui Hongsheng's prominent status and status, his every move is full of deep meaning, if there are not enough political interests to impress him, he will never be able to risk becoming an enemy of Yuwenshu, dragging the entire Eastern Expedition Command into the water, and openly provoking the Holy Lord and the central authority, and beheading the Goguryeo envoys, so Cui Hongsheng must have a purpose, but what the purpose is, Guo Rong is not sure and can't guess.

No one answered, and there was silence.

In fact, Yu Wenshu, Guo Rong, Li Jing, and Xue Shixiong all had similar estimates on this issue, and they all knew that Cui Hongsheng's move must be directly related to the Anton forces led by Pei Shiju, Li Hun, and Li Pingyuan, which led to two important questions: First, what impact will the cooperation between King Qi, Cui Hongsheng, Pei Shiju, Li Hun, and Li Pingyuan have on the confrontation between the two capitals and the political pattern in which the three major political blocs of Guanlong, Shandong, and Jiangzuo stand on their feet? The wealthy families of northern Hebei and Youyan led by Cui Hongsheng and Boling Cui are working closely with the political forces led by Pei Shiju and the Pei family of Hedong, and with the political forces of Li Hun and Li of Longxi, will they join forces for a new round of imperial war? Does this kind of cooperation between the Shandong and Guanlong people mean that the confrontation between the two capitals and the political pattern of the three major political blocs will undergo major or even subversive changes?

This question is not what Yu Wenshu and the Eastern Expedition Command want to consider, what they have to consider is the second question, does Cui Hongsheng's use of such radical means to coerce the Eastern Expeditionary Army to go straight to Yalu Water, does it mean that the Andong Army really wants to take the middle way to attack Pyongyang? Is it true that 100,000 Andong troops are on their way to Pyongyang?

If this answer is yes, Cui Hongsheng's radical move can be reasonably explained, because the Anton army not only needs support, response and cooperation, but also needs a large amount of grain and grass, otherwise the long-distance attack of the Anton army on Pyongyang is the way to death, and the slightest carelessness will wipe out the whole army, and it will repeat the mistake of the defeat of Sasu, and this consequence is not only unbearable for the Holy Lord, the center and the Eastern Expedition Command, but also for Middle-earth, which is mired in internal and external troubles.

No one answered is actually the answer, even if the ideas of the four generals are very different, but the matter has already been born, the political risk has already existed, even if the Eastern Expedition Command is unwilling, it has to wipe Cui Hongsheng's ass and deal with the aftermath, otherwise once the risk evolves into a crisis, everyone will be affected, and none of them will be able to escape.

"What is Huang Taigong's goal?" Guo Rong pondered for a long time, and then asked, "Will the soldiers come to the Yalu Water and threaten Pyongyang, or will they cross the Yalu Water and kill Pyongyang directly?" ”

Cui Hongsheng's goal is obviously not to attack the Yalu water, not to passively contain the Goguryeo army, but to cross the Yalu water, to pose a substantial threat to Pyongyang, and even force the Goguryeo army to retreat to Pyongyang on all fronts, so that his army can join the Andong army under the city of Pyongyang, and more than 200,000 Chinese soldiers successfully surrounded Pyongyang before the rainy season, and had enough time to siege the city.

However, this battle is not without suspense, on the contrary, the risk is even greater, if the more than 200,000 soldiers of Middle-earth do not have a steady stream of food and grass support, the final result is not optimistic, and it is even possible to repeat the mistake of the defeat of Sasui.

Yu Wenshu was depressed, stroked his long gray beard, and shook his head helplessly.

"Tomorrow, please Pucheng Gong and Wuyin Gong lead the army to rush east, surround the Black Bone City, and the troops will come to Yalu Water."

Guo Rong and Xue Shixiong bowed down to receive the order.

"Please slip Gongxun to open up the grain road from Liaodong City to the west bank of Yalu Water, and ensure that the grain and grass baggage can be safely transported to the west bank of Yalu Water in the shortest possible time."

Li Jing bowed and promised.

"Whether and when the army crosses the Yalu water, the premise is that the grain and grass must be effectively guaranteed." Yu Wenshu looked at Guo Rong, Xue Shixiong and Li Jing, and solemnly instructed, "This is a lesson of blood, a lesson that has been exchanged for the lives of 200,000 soldiers, we must not forget it, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past." ”

The three of them agreed. This is Yu Wenshu's bottom line, he can bear political risks, and he can also deal with the aftermath of Choi Hongsheng's affairs, but he is not allowed to fail militarily, he cannot attack Pyongyang when the conditions are not met, and he cannot gamble with the lives of his soldiers.

Guo Rong hesitated for a moment and asked, "Duke Xu, if the saint comes east......

The Holy Driver came east, the Holy Lord arrived at the front line, the command lost power, Cui Hongsheng and a large number of main battle generals are very likely to make more drastic measures, so the battle situation will inevitably get out of control, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

Yu Wenshu let out a long sigh, as if he was about to spit out all the depression in his heart, "On the way to the expedition, there are many obstacles, even if the Holy Lord has a heart, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve his wish." ”

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(End of chapter)