In the third year of Linde, on September 14th, Xue Rengui captured Liaodong City. On September 20th, Li Ji captured Xincheng.
All the generals of Zuo Xiaowei were surprised that Li Ji did not show any special joy after taking the new city.
The generals thought that Wu Chengsi and Xue Rengui had taken the lead because he was too slow to capture the new city, so they were unhappy.
However, Guo Daifeng knew that Li Ji was worried about Zuo Wujun's situation.
Ever since Wu Chengsi sent a military report more than ten days ago, Li Ji has been looking sad.
Guo Daifeng read the content and knew that the young pacifier decided to take action against the Khitans.
After all, Wu Chengsi was young and energetic, and he had just won a great victory and his self-confidence was inflated, so he could not tolerate the Khitan people detaining the Tang envoy. Guo Daifeng could understand this.
However, this mentality is often the easiest to lose the battle.
Guo Daifeng knew Li Ji well and knew that the veteran had high expectations for Wu Chengsi. Even if Wu Chengsi lost the battle, he would support him.
What this old man was really afraid of was that Wu Chengsi died in battle in Khitan.
This son is the future son-in-law of the Li family. If he dies, it will greatly affect the future of the Li family.
Not only that, the queen could not explain it, but it would also damage the morale of the Tang army and affect the war against Goryeo. This was the reason for Li Ji's frown.
However, this afternoon, when Guo Daifeng came to the commander's tent, he saw Li Ji showing a long-lost smile.
After questioning, Li Ji handed over a copy of the latest military report.
After Guo Daifeng read it, he was surprised, happy, and even a little unbelievable.
Wu Chengsi actually won the battle!
Not only did they behead more than 5,000 Khitan people, they also plundered more than 8,000 people, 30,000 cattle and sheep, and 5,000 war horses, which further triggered civil strife in the Khitan.
"Commander, this is really... amazing." Guo Daifeng didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Young people have their own way of fighting. They are bold, careful, and unstoppable. It seems that I can't do it anymore if I don't accept it." Li Ji twirled his beard and said with a smile.
Guo Daifeng sighed: "General Wu has won two battles in succession. It seems we don't have to worry about him anymore, but..."
"But what?"
"Didn't General Wu's attack like this destroy the imperial court's strategy of using the Khitans to contain the Turks?" Guo Daifeng frowned.
Li Ji stroked his beard and said with a smile: "General Guo, you have to remember that using one party to contain the other can only postpone the problem but cannot solve it. The court's strategy is just a helpless move. It is naturally best to solve the problem. of.”
"But if the Khitans perish, will the Turks take the opportunity to grow stronger?"
Li Ji smiled and said: "General Wu's city is very deep. I believe that since he decided to attack the Khitans, he should have already considered this issue. We don't need to worry too much."
Guo Daifeng nodded and said: "Commander, Yuan Nanmen sent someone over again, saying that Yuan Nanjian and the Mo Brown soldiers are attacking Fuyu City fiercely, urging us to rescue them quickly."
"Don't pay attention to him." Li Ji's face immediately turned cold.
"But the court asked us to rescue Yuan Nanjian. If he is captured by Yuan Nanjian, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the court."
Li Ji said calmly: "Do you think he is really that critical?"
Guo Daifeng frowned: "What do you mean?"
"If he is really in a critical state, it is impossible to send people to ask for help every now and then. Moreover, with our three-way victory, his pressure has been greatly reduced, and his brother has no spare power to defeat him in a short time."
"Then why does he keep asking for help?" Guo Daifeng said angrily.
Li Ji snorted and said: "Fuyu City just blocks the way for the Mo Brown people to enter Korea. It seems that the Mo Brown people have been beating him. He wants to preserve his strength and is unwilling to fight to the death with the Mo Brown people, so let us help him Defeat the brown men."
Guo Daifeng was stunned for a moment, but he was not angry. Instead, he smiled and said: "It seems that he has understood our intention. But it is useless for him to retain his strength. As long as Yuan Nanjian is defeated, he will be unable to stop us."
Li Ji glared at him and said, "Let's wait until we defeat Yuan Nanjian. Don't forget that when the late emperor attacked Goryeo, he returned in vain."
…
On the high slope south of Gongzhuling, the Zuowu Army camp was stationed here.
Wu Youji's team transporting prisoners and supplies has returned. After several days of recuperation, the nearly 10,000 cavalry have returned to their best condition.
Wu Chengsi sat in the commander's tent and read Li Jing's "The Art of War of Duke Wei".
In the past few days, he either read military books or practiced martial arts diligently. Under Han Cheng's guidance, his combat effectiveness was stronger than that of ordinary soldiers.
Through the various art of war that he read over these days, Wu Chengsi discovered an interesting thing - almost all the art of war have one thing in common: they attach great importance to the intelligence collection work before the war.
For example, Sun Tzu's "know yourself and the enemy, and you will be victorious in every battle"; Wu Zi's "advance when you see the possibility, retreat when you know the difficulty"; "judge the strength of the enemy" in Wei Gong's Art of War, etc.
However, there are also differences among all the art of war. Sun Tzu's art of war emphasizes winning by surprise, and there are many ways to turn defeat into victory.
The Law of the Guard is to establish yourself in an invincible position before the war. In addition, the Law of the Guard attaches great importance to the selection of generals.
Brave but contemptuous of death, greedy but fond of profit, benevolent but not tolerant, knowledgeable but timid, strong and self-reliant, cowardly and suspicious, anxious and quick-hearted, etc.
As long as the above points are met, he will not be considered a good general in the art of war.
Compared to Sun Tzu's Art of War and Wei Gong's Art of War, Wu Chengsi preferred Wu Zi's Art of War.
Sun Tzu's Art of War and Wei Gong's Art of War are both pure military ideas, while Wu Qi's Art of War encompasses not only military affairs, but also politics.
In particular, it mentioned something like "It is easy to win, but difficult to defend", which is the issue that Wu Chengsi is most concerned about now.
Regardless of whether it was Baekje, Khitan or Goryeo, the Tang Dynasty could win every battle, but in the end it could never keep the fruits of victory. This was a serious problem.
Faced with this situation, Wu Qi also mentioned a solution.
In a war, if the country consumes more manpower and material resources in victory, the more difficult it will be to hold on to the fruits of victory.
Therefore, Wu Zi’s Art of War advocates war with caution.
Before the war, you must first make all kinds of political, economic, and ideological preparations, and then train soldiers to fight a hundred battles, and win the final battle.
The Tang army was not without talented people. The Tang Dynasty's strategy towards Goryeo over the years was actually very close to Wu Qi's thoughts.
Over the years, Su Dingfang has been harassing the Goryeo Kingdom with a small army, and sent troops to destroy Baekje and cut off Goryeo's allies. In fact, this was all to pave the way for the final battle to destroy the country.
It can be said that Goryeo is already a fish on the chopping block. Wu Chengsi deeply felt this during the battle to attack Nansu City.
The main problem now is to find a way to hold on to the fruits of victory after conquering Goryeo.
Wu Chengsi chose to attack the Khitans in order to eliminate a hidden danger. After all, the Khitan territory bordered Goryeo. The weaker they were, the smaller the threat to the north of Goryeo.
While thinking, Han Cheng entered the camp and said with cupped hands: "General, Da Hemoluo has led 30,000 cavalry and has crossed the Sanggan River and is rapidly advancing towards the tribe of Da He Duogu!"
Wu Chengsi's eyes lit up and he said loudly: "Beat the drum and gather the generals."
It took two days for the scouts to send the news back to Gongzhuling, which meant that Moro had already set out for two days.
It would take four days for Moro's troops to reach the Dugu tribe, and it would take at least three days for the Tang army to rescue them from Gongzhuling.
In other words, Du Gu had to hold on for more than a day before the Tang army could arrive for rescue.
Before the war, Hemoluo must have confirmed that the Tang army was not in Khitan territory, so he dared to attack Dugu's army.
In his opinion, Duogu was vulnerable and could not survive until the Tang army arrived.
Therefore, the key to this battle lies in the rescue of the Xi tribe, the Turks and the Shiwei people.
Their rescue speed of Dugu was faster than that of the Tang army, especially the Shiwei and Turkic troops. As long as they could arrive in time, the coalition forces could hold on until the Tang army arrived in the melee.
A quarter of an hour later, Russell, Black Teeth Changzhi, and Wu Youji all entered the camp. Wu Chengsi told everyone the news and said: "Moluo has already taken action, and all armies are ready to attack immediately!"
Hei Te Changzhi couldn't help but ask: "General, Shiwei people, Turks and Xi people really don't know how to rescue?"
Wu Chengsi smiled slightly and said: "Don't worry, they will lead troops to fight, but they will not rescue the Khitans."
"Why?"
Wu Chengsi crossed his arms and said, "The reason lies in the letter allocating land."
"letter?"
"Yes, let me ask you, why is it that the Khitan people's land area is far less than that of the Shiwei people, but they are more powerful than them?" Wu Chengsi said with a smile.
"Of course it's because the Khitan people's grasslands are richer and have a better climate. Although the Shiwei people's land is large, many places are too cold to live in." Hei Chi Changzhi said without thinking.
"Yes, so for the Shiwei people, what they long for most is the Khitan grasslands, right?"
"That's natural."
Russell's eyebrows twitched and said: "I understand, the land you allocated to the Shiwei people is not only small, but also is barren mountains and Gobi. The Shiwei people will definitely not be willing!"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said, "That's it."
"What about the Turks and Xi people?" Wu Youji asked.
"I know that the Turks have an arrogant character. They will definitely feel insulted when they learn that the land allocated to them is as big as that of the Shiwei and Xi people." Hei Chi Changzhi retorted.
Wu Chengsi said: "As for the leader of the Xi people, Ke Du, he is famous for his cunning. His soldiers and horses are all infantry, so he must be the last to arrive. As long as he sees the other two families standing aside, he will not take action."
Wu Youji suddenly understood: "For the Khitan people, the less land they divide, the better, and the worse the land, the better. Naturally, they would not think that other ethnic groups would feel dissatisfied if their land was divided."
Wu Chengsi stood up and said: "Okay, let's attack quickly. After Moro defeats Dugu, the other three families will definitely attack Moro. As long as we can arrive in time, the Khitan tribe will become history!"