Peng Yue stabbed Xiang Shanzhi to death, and his soldiers were immediately demoralized and scattered like birds and beasts. Tongguan soon declared its fall.
After Peng Yue captured Tongguan, he immediately sent a messenger to contact his rear army. There were nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses in his headquarters, led by his lieutenants, hiding in a valley more than fifty miles west of Tongguan to avoid the Tang army's sentry cavalry. After receiving the news that Peng Yue had captured Tongguan, the nearly ten thousand troops began to march rapidly and rushed to Tongguan to strengthen Tongguan's city defense.
At the same time, after Li Jiancheng received Li Yuan's order to quickly withdraw his troops and return to Chang'an, he hurriedly sent generals Guo Wei and Huangfu Song to lead 20,000 elite troops to set off first, while he went to find Kublai Khan and Lun Qinzan to discuss the next step. Response plan.
At this time, Kublai Khan only knew that Ogedai's entire army had been annihilated, Temujin had led his army to retreat to Taiyuan, and the news that Yelv Dashi had set off a rebellion behind them had not yet come. The order Temujin sent to Kublai Khan was in the hope that Kublai Khan could make a breakthrough on the Hongnong front line to relieve the pressure on his side.
However, with the return of the main force of the Central Plains Corps led by Yang Gao and Xue Rengui, the strength of the Sui army in Hongnong was almost the same as that of the three coalition forces. Moreover, the army led by Yang Gao had just defeated the Tang army and the Turkic army in Jingxing, Hebei Province, and their morale was positive. prosperous.
Kublai Khan knew that with the current balance of power between the two sides, it would be difficult to achieve a breakthrough. But he was also unwilling to do so, and was extremely conflicted in his heart. Li Jiancheng proposed withdrawing troops, but his position was neither veto nor support.
The commander-in-chief of the Tubo army, Lun Qinzan, had a more determined attitude. After all, the tragic defeat in Hebei had nothing to do with their Tubo army. He eagerly hoped to defeat the oncoming Sui army and then go to the Central Plains to rob it.
Just when it was hard to decide the outcome of the dispute, Guo Wei and Huangfu Song sent urgent military reports. Not long after they set off on a rapid march, they ran into the defeated soldiers who had escaped from Tongguan.
At this time, Li Jiancheng and Lun Qinzan no longer argued, and quickly deployed their troops to capture Tongguan to ensure the safety of the rear.
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In Liaodong, with Wanyan Aguda being captured, the entire Jurchen force was wiped out. Han Xin, the governor of Youzhou, led the army to march all the way to regain a large area of lost land in Liaodong, and the soldiers were approaching the Jurchen to go to Beijing.
However, as the situation in Hebei changed, Yang Gao mobilized 30,000 elite cavalry led by Huo Qubing from Han Xin's army, and Goguryeo accepted the alliance of the Tang Dynasty envoys. Cao Cao, who held the power of Goguryeo, sent his younger brother Cao Ren to lead the two Ten thousand elite troops entered Liaodong to support the Jurchens.
At the same time, Cao Cao mobilized troops and horses to recruit soldiers in Goguryeo. In addition, because the Jurchens and Goguryeo fought hard not long ago, both sides suffered heavy casualties. There were still many objections to supporting the Jurchens in Goguryeo. Cao Cao also wanted to think about it. Find ways to suppress these voices and stabilize the domestic situation.
Three months later, Cao Cao used iron-blooded means to suppress several of the most vocal political opponents, assembled an army of 60,000, and sent troops to Liaodong.
In view of the changes in the strength of both sides, Han Xin, the general manager of Youzhou, immediately gave up the plan to attack Shangjing and switched to defensive. Cao Cao led his army to join forces with the Jurchens. Both sides gathered an army of 130,000 to counterattack the Sui army and recaptured many cities.
However, with the victory of the Hebei Campaign, Huo Qubing led his army back to Liaodong, and the strength of both sides changed again. The two armies formed a confrontation for a while, and it was difficult for both sides to achieve a breakthrough.
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On the majestic Yellow Sea, a huge fleet composed of thousands of warships was cutting through the waves and marching toward the Koryo Peninsula.
This fleet is the Japanese army led by Lai Huer and Qi Jiguang. After wiping out the main force of Oda Nobunaga in the Japanese country, they have been resting in the Japanese country until Yang Gao sent a decree not long ago, ordering them to set sail from the Japanese country. Take Goguryeo directly.
After Lai Hu'er and Qi Jiguang accepted the order, they left generals Zhang Jue and Zheng Chenggong to continue to lead their troops to eliminate the remaining resistance forces in the Japanese country. The main army boarded the ship and set sail for the expedition to Goguryeo.
On the handsome ship, a big battle flag with the word "lai" was fluttering in the sea breeze. The navy commander Lai Guer stood on the bow, his eyes were like lightning, looking at the Koryo Peninsula that had come into view, and he was filled with thousands of thoughts. flooded my mind.
This is not the first time he has taken this sea route. Yang Guang conquered Goguryeo three times, and Lai Huer has always been the navy commander. In the first expedition against Goguryeo, Lai Hu'er led the naval force into Goguryeo from Xishui, defeated the army led by Goguryeo King Gao Yuan sixty miles away from Pyongyang, and killed Gao Yuan's brother Gao Jian.
Later, because Laihuer ignored the advice of Zhou Fashang, the deputy chief of the navy, he selected 40,000 elite soldiers and marched directly to the city of Pyongyang. They entered the city and looted wantonly. The army was in chaos and was defeated by the Goguryeo ambush.
The second expedition to Goguryeo was due to Yang Xuangan's rebellion. Lai Hu'er hurried back to suppress Yang Xuangan's rebellion before he went to sea.
In the third expedition against Goguryeo, Lai Huer once again led the navy across the sea, marched into Shebei City, defeated the Goguryeo army, and prepared to march to Pyongyang. He forced King Gaoyuan of Goguryeo to send an envoy to surrender, and sent back the traitor Hu Sizheng of the Sui Dynasty.
Lai Hu'er originally wanted to take advantage of Goguryeo's exhaustion to send troops to surround Pyongyang and capture Gao Yuan, but due to the opposition of Chief Shi Cui Junsu and the generals, Lai Hu'er had no choice but to retreat, which also made Lai Hu'er regretful in his life.
Just when Lai Hu'er was filled with emotion, a burst of footsteps came from behind. Lai Hu'er turned his head and looked. Sui Army General Qi Jiguang had already walked behind him, raised his hands and said, "General, Bishe City has arrived."
Lai Huer nodded, waved his hand and ordered: "The army is logged in, and we will go to Bishe City to rest first."
The fleet slowly docked towards the land, and the long planks of the ship were set up on the bluestone on the shore. Groups of Sui troops came out of the cabin one after another and came ashore in an orderly manner, and began to set up tents on the shore.
The number of troops in this expedition to Goguryeo was about 80,000, including 15,000 cavalry and 10,000 heavy infantry. When Cao Cao led the main force of Goguryeo to march into Liaodong, and the entire Goguryeo country was empty, Lai Huer was confident that with these 80,000 His army was enough to sweep across the entire Goguryeo, and the Sui army defeated Goguryeo three times in one blow.
"My opinion is that we should gather superior forces and march directly to Pyongyang."
In the temporary military tent, Lai Hu'er stood in front of a map and said in a deep voice: "The late emperor already dealt a heavy blow to Goguryeo during his three campaigns. Later, Goguryeo suffered a disastrous defeat in Qingzhou, and also suffered heavy losses when competing with the Jurchens for Liaodong. Their army His strength has declined seriously. According to the intelligence of General Manager Han, the number of Goguryeo troops confronting him is about 80,000, and the number of troops left behind in Goguryeo is about 40,000. Excluding the troops guarding key places, the number of troops guarding Pyongyang City The army can only have 20,000 people at most.”
82 Chinese website
