The style of play after entering the Silla Peninsula was different from that in Liaodong, because of the natural moat of the Yalu River, and Goguryeo was too confident in the Liaodong front line, and they did not understand the strength of the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, Datang was able to capture the entire Liaodong region quickly. After winning it, Li Shiji spent a lot of time operating the entire Liaodong region because it was related to the logistical issues of Datang's subsequent stability.
But it was different after entering the peninsula. It was located in the hinterland of Goguryeo and was the important capital and core area of Goguryeo. He was not allowed to spend time trying to persuade him to surrender.
So after Li Shiji rested for half a day across the river, the Tang Dynasty's total of 150,000 troops was divided into three groups. Among them, 100,000 troops quickly advanced along the western coastline of the peninsula towards Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo, while the remaining 50,000 infantry troops were stationed at Zhang Liang. , led by Xue Wanjun, also divided into two routes, crossing the mountainous area in the center of the peninsula and extending to the hinterland of the eastern mountainous area of Goguryeo.
As the main force of the attack, Li Shiji's troops began to surge at a terrifying speed. Every city they encountered, because these cities were not large in area, sent out an army of 10,000 to besiege the city and shout! If you don't surrender, then use the city-breaking mines to blow down the city wall directly!
If you don't surrender even after the city wall is blown down, then attack directly!
Under such circumstances, it turns out that there are very few generals like Hudar in Goguryeo, and these cities are not the elite of Goguryeo.
Under the terrifying bombardment of the city-breaking thunder, the soldiers in these cities had long been frightened. Most of the cities directly chose to surrender. Those that did not surrender also collapsed directly under Datang's charge, and were then occupied again.
At a distance of about three hundred miles from the Yalu River to Pyongyang, Li Shiji marched at an average distance of fifty miles per day. In just six days, he captured more than thirty Goguryeo county towns along the way, and an army of 80,000 arrived at the gates of Pyongyang!
Yuan Gaisuwen never thought that the Tang army would come in such a violent storm. On the second day after Li Shiji crossed the river, Yuan Gaisuwen received the news that Wugu City had been destroyed.
No matter how hard he believed it, it was the truth.
He could only quickly mobilize troops from surrounding cities, because according to his estimation, it would take at least four days for the Tang army to cross the river!
He calculated based on three days, he still had enough time to mobilize enough troops to defend Pyongyang City. By then, including auxiliary troops, he could gather 200,000 troops in Pyongyang. Then, when the Tang army arrived, he would start fighting directly outside the city. .
He knew very well that he could not defend the city.
Because once the city is defended, it means that the Tang army has completed the siege. Pyongyang is the most populous city in Goguryeo. Although it is not as large as Chang'an City with a population of one million, Pyongyang will probably have a population of close to 400,000 and 200,000 including the army. Soldiers, population 200,000.
And how long can Pyongyang’s food last? Support is only for one month at most.
But after they were surrounded, it meant that the Tang Dynasty was not in a hurry, because this also represented the last capital of Goguryeo, and with the rest of Goguryeo destroyed, there would be no other enemies.
Datang could completely encircle them without attacking, gather their troops calmly, and trap them to death directly!
Therefore, his best choice is to start the battle directly in the field, take advantage of the Tang army's arrival, wait for work, and take the initiative to attack. This is the safest method.
But what Yuan Gaisuwen didn't expect was that the Tang army, including rest time, completely crossed the Yalu River in just one day, and it also included 40,000 cavalry!
In the subsequent attack, Li Shiji used the cavalry as the lead. When attacking a city, he first sent the cavalry to bypass the city and set out for at least ten miles to eliminate any scouts, caravans, floating people, etc. that might leak the news.
In addition, many of the messengers sent by Yuengai Suwen to mobilize troops had just arrived at the relevant cities. Before they could evacuate, the Tang army had already arrived.
Therefore, when the Tang army appeared in Pyongyang in six days like heavenly soldiers and generals, the army gathered by Yeon Gaesumun was only one hundred thousand!
Before the troops he originally relied on could gather in Pyongyang, they were directly killed and captured by the Tang troops who rushed in from three directions.
The Tang army that rushed to Pyongyang was even more neat, which caused chaos in the Goguryeo army camp outside the city, which had never expected the Tang army to arrive.
Under such circumstances, Yeon Gaesomun had to make a choice, which was to withdraw into Pyongyang City. The field combat opportunities he had envisioned were no longer available!
When the well-organized Tang army arrived at Pyongyang City, Yeon Gaesumun, who was standing on the city wall, looked extremely ugly.
And Gao Jianwu and all the nobles of Goguryeo were trembling with fear. How did things... come to this point?
But now, no matter what they say, it seems that they can't change the fate of Goguryeo.
Everyone knows that Goguryeo’s demise is imminent!
Not only Li Shiji, but also Li Daozong's performance in this direction was also advancing rapidly. Cheng Yaojin, who had been holding back for more than a year, Li Daliang, Niu Jinda, Xue Rengui and other generals, after receiving the authorization, led 50,000 screaming soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. , and even the attack speed is wilder than Li Shiji!
The advantage brought by the city-breaking mine allowed them to arrive outside Pyongyang only one day later, even though they were originally 60 miles farther away than Li Shiji!
At this point, the Northern and Southern armies of the Tang Dynasty met outside Pyongyang City in Goguryeo! As for Zhang Liang and Xue Wanjun, who are still fighting in the mountains and east, they will definitely not be able to catch up with this battle.
But it's enough, because the Tang army gathered outside Pyongyang has once again reached 150,000!
After the siege, Li Shiji immediately sent the news via telegram back to Chang'an City, thousands of miles away!
"Hahaha! Okay! Okay! Okay!" Li Shimin, who received the news in Chang'an, laughed wildly three times at the court meeting. He had been waiting for this moment for too long, and he didn't expect this day to come so soon.
Moreover, Datang's army completed this national war far faster than Li Shimin imagined! It's only two months before the selected start time! In two months, he destroyed his cheap father-in-law and mobilized millions of soldiers to conquer Goguryeo three times without taking it!
Goguryeo was destroyed 678 years ago!
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations, Your Majesty." The whole court was filled with congratulatory voices, and everyone was overjoyed, because this meant that there were no enemies in the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty in the other three directions except the west side!
This also means that the hinterland of Datang can start large-scale construction according to the plan of the three provinces. By then, Datang will be even stronger!
Li Ke is also very excited. He has made great changes to Datang, but until today, Datang has truly occupied half of the world!
Although he didn't know how big an impact it would have, this was the most important step for Datang to spread its culture to the world!
