From the beginning of Laihu'er to seize the Liaodong Peninsula, the Sui army began to transport troops to the Liaodong Peninsula on a large scale, a boatload of troops gathered to the city of Beixu, the open space on the top of the mountain of the city of Beixu has been stationed in an endless big tent, in just ten days, the Sui army from Beihai County and Donglai County respectively transported 60,000 troops to the city of Beixu, together with the 20,000 troops of Laihu'er, a total of 80,000 troops stationed in the Liaodong Peninsula, and nearly 1,000 warships anchored in the bay where the city is located and the bay of Huilong Town.

In order to win this warship, the Sui army used 200,000 stone grain and countless armor and weapons, and also requisitioned 3,000 small boats and 10,000 people, whose role was to load and unload food and materials, which was the advantage of waterway transportation, which could minimize people's labor.

In a stone house on the top of the bay mountain, dozens of civilian and military generals gathered together, and the commander Zhang Xuan stood in front of the sand table to explain to everyone the latest information on Goguryeo's troop deployment and the recent situation of Goguryeo.

"This time, Goguryeo mobilized a total of 100,000 troops from all over the country, plus 50,000 troops to defend the capital, a total of 150,000 troops, they have exhausted their national strength in order to seize Liaodong, and we have also mobilized 120,000 troops, our two sides are equal in terms of strength, but the war is not only the number of troops, but also the combat effectiveness of the army, military equipment and logistics support, etc., rationally speaking, the strength of our two sides is also about the same."

Speaking of this, Zhang Xuan pointed to the sand table with a wooden pole and said: "There are two battlefields, one is the Liaodong battlefield and the other is the Pyongyang battlefield, and the other party obviously knows this, so they did not pour troops to kill Liaodong, but only sent 70,000 troops to fight in Liaodong." ”

"Can the marshal confirm that Goguryeo only has 70,000 troops to Liaodong?" Fang Xuanling next to him asked in a deep voice.

Zhang Xuan generally doesn't like others to interrupt his conversation, but Fang Xuanling is an exception, this is not Fang Xuanling's personal question, all generals have this question, if there are only 70,000 Goguryeo troops in Liaodong, then they will encounter resistance from 80,000 Goguryeo troops when they attack Pyongyang by water, everyone is a veteran general with rich experience, and the worst-case scenario must be considered first in the war, if it drags on into a protracted war, will the Tang army take the opportunity to attack Hebei? Will the Wagang Army attack Qingzhou in a big way?

"The information from Liaodong shows that Goguryeo sent 70,000 troops to Liaodong, and this information is basically consistent with the information we got in Goguryeo."

Zhang Xuan stopped talking, he felt everyone's worry, and said with a smile: "Everyone, please rest assured, although Goguryeo is ready for everything, we will not follow his plan, surprise and attack unprepared, the key to winning this battle." ”

Everyone returned to their barracks one after another, and only Zhang Xuan, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were left in the room, at this time, Du Ruhui asked puzzledly: "Your Highness just said that you got information in Goguryeo, do we also have intelligence points in Goguryeo?" ”

Zhang Xuan smiled and said: "We do have a team of scouts near Pyongyang, but the only information they can give is how many warships are in the water, how many troops are deployed in the estuary, and so on, but they can't get access to high-level core information such as how many troops Goguryeo has mobilized to Liaodong." ”

"Then how can Your Highness say that the information from Pyongyang coincides?"

"I'm just talking!"

Zhang Xuan smiled slightly: "I said this to make the generals believe that we have completely controlled the situation, even the total strength of Goguryeo is 150,000, I also listened to the estimates of the merchants, and there is no accurate information, but the intelligence of the 70,000 Goguryeo army in Liaodong is relatively reliable, in fact, this information is not important, the reason why I convened the generals to discuss the matter is just to inspire their confidence." ”

Du Ruhui was speechless for a long time, and King Qi's convincing analysis turned out to be unbelievable, which made him almost unexpected, but Fang Xuanling could understand, he nodded and said, "It turns out that His Highness can also see it." ”

Zhang Xuan said lightly: "Of course I can see that they don't have much confidence in this battle, and the failure of the three expeditions to Goguryeo has left a shadow in their hearts, and they are all saying that they are worried that Li Yuan will attack Hebei, this is just an excuse, they just want to fight in Liaodong, and they are not willing to enter Goguryeo at all." ”

"Then how is Your Highness going to win this battle?" Du Ruhui asked again.

Zhang Xuan pointed to the mountains and mountains in the north of Goguryeo with a wooden plank and said: "It is very simple to win this battle, the biggest problem in fighting in Goguryeo is logistics, that is, the transportation of grain is very difficult, this is the case for the Sui army back then, and the same is true for the Goguryeo army, so as long as we defeat their logistics support in this battle, the Goguryeo army will definitely be defeated!" ”

At this time, a soldier reported at the door: "Marshal Qiqi, come to the old general to ask for a meeting!" ”

Zhang Xuan said with a smile: "I didn't let him participate in the discussion of the military situation this time, I guess he should be in a hurry." ”

He then ordered the soldiers, "Let him in!" ”

After a while, I saw Lai Hu'er walk in angrily, "Does Your Highness plan to let me retire in the Humble City?" ”

Looking at Lai Hu'er's somewhat angry expression, Zhang Xuan, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui all laughed, and Zhang Xuan asked knowingly, "Why did the old general say this?" ”

Laihu'er raised his eyebrows, "I was not notified to participate in such an important battle gathering, can Your Highness explain the reason?" Could it be that I don't have the qualifications to participate in the conference? ”

"Where did the old general go?"

Zhang Xuan explained with a smile: "The reason why the old general was not informed was because I didn't think it was necessary for the old general to participate, unless the old general was also afraid of fighting in the hinterland of Goguryeo!" ”

"I'm going to be afraid of the Goguryeo?"

Laihu'er seems to have heard the most ridiculous thing in the world, he Laihu'er participated in the expedition to Goguryeo three times, and attacked Pyongyang for the third time, if it wasn't for the Son of Heaven strictly ordering him to stop, I'm afraid Pyongyang would have been looted by his army, Zhang Xuan was his general back then, and he actually said that he would be afraid of the Goguryeo people?

"I'm afraid of the Goguryeo people, Your Highness knows better than anyone else!" Laihu'er clenched his fists and said.

"It is precisely because I know this very well that I did not notify the general to come to the meeting."

Lai Hu'er was so angry that his mind was dizzy for a while, so he didn't hear the words in Zhang Xuan's previous words, Zhang Xuan added the word 'unless', but he didn't hear it, and now when he finally calmed down slowly, he finally understood the meaning of Zhang Xuan's words.

"Could it be that so many generals are afraid to fight the Goguryeo army?" It feels a little strange to come to Hu'er.

Zhang Xuan said with a smile: "Of course they are not afraid of the Goguryeo army, but the Great Sui is very sensitive to attacking Goguryeo, and there are too many rumors, as if there is a sea of swords and fires over there, I need to encourage everyone and enhance their confidence, so I gathered everyone." ”

Lai Hu'er breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Since this is the case, just let me be the vanguard, go directly to Pyongyang, and make a good start, wouldn't it be more effective than His Highness's encouragement?" ”

"I'm really going to make the old general the vanguard, but I'm not going to Pyongyang."

Laihu'er was stunned, and if he didn't go to Pyongyang from the humble city, where would he go?

On the sea about 100 miles away from the mouth of the Yalushui River, a fleet composed of more than 60 medium-sized sea vessels is sailing towards the mouth of the Yalushui River, which is one of the two grain fleets of Goguryeo, which can transport 30,000 stone of grain to the black bone city and the domestic city on the north bank of the Yalushui River at a time, and then continue to transport the grain north by thousands of ox carts, and finally send it to Liaodong City and Xincheng, a complete grain transportation lasted at least a month, so transporting grain to the north to ensure the logistics of the former army was also a very stressful thing for Goguryeo.

The 1,200-strong army responsible for protecting the ship was commanded by a Qian Yong, who was not tasked with fighting the Sui army, but with the scattered pirates near the mouth of the Yalu River and some desperate villagers along the way.

But for this escort army, what they were really afraid of was the Sui warships, they had a relatively smooth journey, and they were about to reach the mouth of the Yalu River, when a row of warships suddenly appeared in front, there were dozens of them, and they lined up, completely blocking the sea surface of the fleet heading north.

Qian Yong's face changed in fright, and he hurriedly ordered: "Turn around!" Turn around and go back! ”

"It's too late!"

One of the boatmen shouted, "There are also their boats in the back." ”

Qian Yong turned around, only to see that dozens of warships also appeared behind, cutting off their retreat, not only behind, but also in the east, making it impossible for them to dock, they had been surrounded by the Sui army on three sides.

Cheon Yong's face turned pale with shock, he trembled, and he didn't know what to do (to be continued.) )