Xincheng is a strong city located in the north of the Liaohe River, that is, today's Fushun, Liaoning, Goguryeo also called it Gaimu City, the new city is tall and strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the city is not large, the population is also very small, in fact this is a military city.

Both the Liaodong city in the south and the new city in the north caused great trouble to the Sui army attacking Goguryeo, and it cost tens of thousands of elite soldiers casualties to capture them.

However, even if a few fortified cities in the eastern part of Liaodong were captured, they would have to march hundreds of miles, climb high mountains, and pass through reckless forests to reach Pyongyang, which posed a huge challenge to the army's logistical support, and the defeat of the first Goguryeo War was largely due to the inability of logistics to keep up, and the soldiers were routed between the lofty mountains and mountains.

To this day, if Goguryeo wants to capture Liaodong, it also has to spend huge manpower and material resources to transport grain to the Liaohe River first for logistical preparations for war.

To this end, Goguryeo made preparations for nearly five months, first transporting grain and materials by water to the Wugu City and the domestic city on the banks of the Yalu River, and then transporting the domestic city by land to Liaodong City and Xincheng.

It is precisely for this reason that when Goguryeo got the nine transoceanic boats of the Great Sui, it was like a treasure and became their important weapon for the town, which could be used to directly transport grain from the sea to Liaodong and the Liaodong Peninsula, but unfortunately, in order to redeem the Liaodong Peninsula and 10,000 troops, the last five transoceanic boats were also forced to be handed over to the Qingzhou army.

At this time, Liaodong City had concentrated 30,000 Goguryeo troops, commanded by the general Eulji Wendeok, and Xincheng also concentrated 40,000 troops, commanded by Yuangai Suwen, but attacking Liaodong was a very risky business, and if you were not careful, you would lose everything, which Goguryeo monarchs and ministers were very clear, but once successful, Goguryeo's power would advance to the gate of Hebei.

Huge interests tempted the Goguryeo monarchs, and although they were at odds with each other, they still came together for the sake of Goguryeo's interests, and Gao Yuan finally chose to compromise and ordered Eulji Mundeok to obey the unified dispatch of Yuan Taizuo and cooperate with Yuan Gai Suwen.

At the head of Xincheng City, Yuangai Suwen was reading a letter from his father, which explained his and Yizhi Wende's next plan of action, once the time was ripe, Yizhi Wende would go to Yanjun to seize Yancheng, and he Yuangai Suwen was responsible for capturing Liucheng, as long as these two important cities were occupied, Liaodong was under their control, and the next step was to concentrate forces to capture Linyu Pass, which was through the gate of Hebei.

After reading his father's letter, Yuangai Suwen turned around and asked Zhao Wansheng, a staff member who followed him on the expedition: "My father said that the time is ripe to cross the Liao River and march into Liaodong, I want to know what this time refers to?" ”

Zhao Wansheng is about forty years old, he is a Han from Youzhou, full of poetry and books but his family is poor, especially writing a good handwriting, 20 years ago followed a businessman to Pyongyang to find a chance to make a living, when selling words on the street, he was favored by Yuan Taizuo, and since then he has become Yuan Taizuo's clerk, and gradually won the trust of Yuan Taizuo, and became Yuan Taizuo's staff and military advisor, this time he was entrusted by Yuan Taizuo to assist Yuan Gai Suwen.

Zhao Wansheng smiled slightly: "I think what Lord Mo Lizhi is referring to when the time is ripe is for the Khitan to withdraw from Liucheng. ”

"Withdrawal?"

Yuangai Suwen asked with some puzzlement: "Does Mr. think that the Khitan will not be able to capture Liucheng?" ”

"I don't mean whether the Khitan can take Liucheng, but the Khitan will not want Liucheng, the Khitan people are nomads, what to do with Liucheng, it's just to plunder and leave, but I think it's not easy for the Khitan to capture Liucheng, after all, they are not good at attacking cities, and they have no confidence after several defeats, and it is inevitable to retreat."

Yuangai Suwen nodded, "Sir does have a point. ”

After a pause, Yuangai Suwen smiled and said, "I heard that Mr. does not approve of attacking Liaodong, is it because Mr. was a Sui person?" ”

Zhao Wansheng was silent for a moment and said: "I have been working for Lord Mo Lizhi for twenty years, my wife and children are in Pyongyang, but Gongzi said that I am against it because I am a Sui person, and I have nothing to say." ”

"Yes! Maybe I misunderstood Mr., but why did Mr. oppose it? ”

Zhao Wansheng sighed, "After dealing with Zhang Xuan for so long, does Gongzi think he will give up Liaodong to Goguryeo?" ”

"Of course Zhang Xuan won't, but he will be restrained by Li Yuan, so that he has no time to take care of Liaodong, maybe he will fight back in the future, but what we want is the opportunity now, this is the consensus!"

Zhao Wansheng shook his head, "It's just self-deception, if Zhang Xuan will be contained by Li Yuan, what's the point of him attacking the Liaodong Peninsula?" ”

Yuangai Suwen was speechless, and for a moment he said with a solemn face: "In any case, it has been our dream for decades to seize Liaodong, and it is easy to wait for the chaos at the end of Sui, if we don't seize this opportunity, I'm afraid that future generations will not forgive us." ”

"The problem is here, Goguryeo only sees the benefits and ignores the costs, this strategy is misled by the imperial dream in the wrong direction, it contains huge risks, and it is not advisable at any time, frankly, I think that Jang Hyun's attack on the Liaodong Peninsula is preparing for a counterattack against Goguryeo."

Yuangai Suwen's face immediately sank, "Is Sir ridiculing us for not being able to do our best?" ”

"No, I'm just saying that the direction is wrong, Goguryeo should destroy Silla and Baekje first, unify the peninsula first, and then consider developing to the Central Plains, otherwise once Goguryeo loses a lot, Silla and Baekje will attack from behind our back."

Yuangai Suwen pondered for a long time, and finally nodded, "Maybe Mr. is right, but I can't do anything about it, this is a rare unanimous decision made above, and I can only implement it." ”

"But Gongzi can write a letter to remind Lord Mo Lizhi, asking him to be sure to guard against Zhang Xuan's attack from the Liaodong Peninsula to Pyongyang, this is the consistent line of the Sui army, and I suspect that Zhang Xuan's purpose in seizing the Liaodong Peninsula is to prepare to attack Pyongyang."

This is also something that Yuangai Suwen is very worried about, in fact, there is no need for Zhao Wansheng to remind him, he has already written back to remind his father before, Zhang Xuan's naval army is very powerful, and there are transoceanic boats with strong carrying capacity, and it is indeed very possible for the Sui army to attack Pyongyang, but his father and King Yingyang both think that Zhang Xuan will be held back by Li Yuan's army and have no time to fight with Goguryeo, so they think that this is an opportunity to capture Liaodong.

At this moment, a soldier shouted in the distance: "General, General Otoji has sent someone to deliver the letter!" ”

Yuangai Suwen temporarily put aside the worries in his heart, and walked forward quickly, only to see that several cavalrymen had already entered the city, he walked down the city, and happened to meet the messenger soldier, and the messenger presented a letter to Yuangai Suwen, "General Qiqi, it's urgent information!" ”

Yuangai Suwen hurriedly took out the letter and read it, it was the latest battle situation in Liucheng, the Khitan siege of Liucheng was unfavorable, and was forced to retreat north to return to Songmo, both sides suffered heavy casualties, Yizhi Wende thought that the time was ripe, and suggested that both sides immediately send troops to Liaodong.

Yuangai Suwen handed the letter to Zhao Wansheng, "What do you think, sir?" ”

Although Zhao Wansheng sent a dissatisfaction, he did not have the right to make decisions on the battle situation, he could only make suggestions on specific operations, and in the overall situation, he must implement the strategic plan formulated by the Goguryeo high-level to the letter.

Zhao Wansheng read the letter, nodded and said, "The time is ripe for Lord Mo Lizhi's fingering!" ”

Yuangai Suwen immediately ordered: "The whole army is immediately assembled and ready to send troops!" ”

In the second year of Xingning in the Great Sui, on March 15 of the first year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty, 50,000 troops of Goguryeo sent troops from Liaodong City and Xincheng to cross the Liaoshui River, and Ulzhi Wende and Yuangai Suwen each left 10,000 troops to defend the city, and they immediately divided their troops into two ways, Ulzhi Wende led 20,000 troops to Yancheng, and Yuangai Suwen led 30,000 troops to march to Liucheng, the Liaodong Campaign finally broke out, and Zhang Xuan prepared to counterattack Goguryeo's 120,000 troops had already been waiting for him

(To be continued.) )