Chapter 567 Arriving at the Island
Chapter 567 Arriving at the Island
There were many warships on the sea, nearly a thousand of them were loaded with tens of thousands of troops and were sailing towards Goguryeo. Xiao Xia's ship was a giant warship of 30,000 stones, built with ironwood.
At present, in addition to Crab Island, the Jiangnan Army has occupied another large island fifty miles to the south. Goguryeo called it Qiuyi Island, but the Sui army named it Longwei Island after occupying it. This large island covers an area of nearly 20 square kilometers, and the key is that there is sufficient fresh water. The military camp was built on this island, and all supplies and food were transferred to Longwei Island.
Firstly, there was no fresh water on Crab Island. Secondly, it was too small and too close to the river mouth, making it easy for the Goguryeo people to launch a surprise attack.
However, there are still two thousand troops stationed on Crab Island as an outpost of Longwei Island.
After ten days of sailing, one morning, the soldier on the mast spotted an island ahead with his clairvoyance and shouted, "There's an island ahead!"
Xiao Xia walked to the bow of the second floor, raised his clairvoyance to take a closer look, and sure enough, he saw the small black dot. Judging from the compass direction, it should be Longwei Island.
"Send a flag signal to notify the entire army to slow down!"
Xiao Xia's ship was the flagship, with a signal flag hung on the main mast. The large ships behind also hoisted signal flags indicating that they had reached their destination, and the fleet began to slow down.
The big island they saw was indeed Longwei Island. The island was filled with tents as far as the eye could see. Dozens of wooden tower sentry posts were built around the island to prevent sneak attacks from the Goguryeo people.
Longwei Island also has a natural harbor. The fleet sailed into the harbor in a mighty manner and began to dock at the pier in turns to drop off soldiers and supplies.
This time, Xiao Xia brought an army of 50,000 to participate in the war, including 10,000 naval forces and 40,000 elite troops. Why were there so few naval forces? It was because the navy of the Sui Dynasty was too powerful. The crossbows and iron fire mines could sweep away all water warships.
Goguryeo itself did not have any formal navy, but it had several hundred medium-sized ships stationed in the Taedong River.
Among the 40,000 elite troops brought by Xiao Xia, there were 10,000 Shanyue people. They were extremely good at mountain warfare and could climb mountains and cross ridges as if they were walking on flat ground.
After Xiao Xia got ashore, Lai Huer stepped forward and saluted, "Your Highness, you have worked hard on the journey!"
Xiao Xia asked with a smile: "How are the brothers? Are you experiencing any problems with the local climate?"
Lai Huer shook his head. "He hasn't appeared yet. Everything is normal. I have some information to report to His Highness!"
"Let's go to the camp and talk!"
Xiao Xia asked the marching Sima Zhang Zhenzhou to arrange for the soldiers to rest, and he came to the central army tent.
This time, when the Jiangnan Army marched eastward, Xiao Xia personally served as the chief general, and Lai Huer served as the deputy general. The central military tent was naturally prepared for Xiao Xia.
Xiao Xia stood beside the table, staring at a map on the table. It was a defense map of the area around Pyongyang City. It was a relatively simple drawing, but one could roughly see the enemy's defensive focus.
One is Pyongyang City, and the other is Chang'an City, a military city for guarding troops. The map also marks the number of garrison troops, which is about 100,000.
At this time, Lai Huer said: "Your Highness, the Goguryeo people have discovered our existence!"
"How did you find out?"
"It is my responsibility. This big island was originally inhabited by hundreds of fishermen. After we occupied Longwei Island, we couldn't bear to kill civilians. As a result, they buried weapons and attacked us in the middle of the night, killing more than a dozen of our sentries. I suppressed them with force, but dozens of people still jumped into the sea to escape. This place is only about 20 miles away from the land, and the fishermen can swim over."
"What was the reaction of the Goguryeo people?" "A few days later, several ships came and observed us from afar. I sent patrol boats to chase them, and finally captured a ship. After interrogation, I found out that they already knew about our army's existence."
Xiao Xia groaned for a moment and said, "Call all the generals to discuss the military situation, and also call the chief scout general Shen Guang!"
Soon, several generals arrived, including the army's chief historian Zhang Yunqiu.
Xiao Xia said slowly: "Gathering everyone, I mainly want to tell you the intention and strategic goal of our military deployment this time. The intention is very simple, naturally it is to cooperate with the main force of Liaodong, but if the Liaodong Sui army fails, what should we do? So our intention of sending troops has two parts, one is to cooperate with the court in the battle, and the other is that after the court is defeated, we will continue to implement our own plan, that is, to capture the Pyongyang Royal City. , and then continue to return to attack Liaodong."
The generals looked at each other in bewilderment. Xiao Xia's last sentence stunned everyone. What did it mean to return to attack Liaodong? Was it to rescue the imperial army?
Veteran General Zhou Fashang said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, do you think the emperor will be defeated?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Knowing yourself and the enemy will ensure victory in a hundred battles. The problem now is that the Sui army does not know itself or the enemy, is unfamiliar with the terrain of Goguryeo, and does not understand the Goguryeo army and its combat characteristics. In addition, the logistics support is difficult, so the possibility of failure of this Eastern Expedition is very high."
"Then what is the purpose of Your Highness returning to attack Liaodong?"
Xiao Xia smiled and pointed to the peninsula on the map and said, "I actually want to capture the Liaodong Peninsula and cooperate with Donglai County!"
Everyone then realized that His Highness wanted to take over the Liaodong Peninsula. The Liaodong Peninsula is closely related to Hebei and Shandong Peninsulas. It seems that His Highness’s troops this time are not just for attacking Goguryeo.
Seeing that everyone understood his strategic intention, Xiao Xia turned his thoughts back and pointed to the map and said, "Our first step is to completely eliminate all of Goguryeo's ships and destroy their shipyards. In this way, the water will be ours. Even if the enemy has rafts, they will not be able to sail on the sea. We will not land and fight before completely destroying Goguryeo's ships. So tomorrow will be our first battle. We will clear all of Goguryeo's warships. The two old generals will each lead a navy to clear them out!"
Lai Huer and Zhou Fashang bowed and said, "We obey your orders!"
Zhang Yunqiu hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness, I have a suggestion!"
"Changshi, please speak!"
"I think that if the imperial court is defeated, a large number of soldiers will be captured. I suggest that a large number of Goguryeo people be captured. It would be best if we could capture ministers and royal family members so that we can exchange them with Goguryeo."
“This detail is well thought out!”
Lai Huer praised and added: "Your Highness, we can use Crab Island as a prisoner-of-war camp. As long as we clear out the enemy's ships, we won't be afraid of a surprise attack by the enemy to rescue them."
Xiao Xia said happily: "This plan is acceptable. By the way, this time we need the wealth of Goguryeo as our spoils of war to enrich our finances."
Everyone agreed loudly. After everyone dispersed, Xiao Xia kept Lai Huer, Zhou Fashang and Shen Guang. Xiao Xia first said to Shen Guang: "You lead ten scout ships to go north along the coast, and then go south to search for the enemy's ships. Once found, destroy them immediately, whether they are military ships or civilian ships. Don't fight to the death. You must remember that we are now at war. War is always cruel and does not allow for the slightest mercy!"
Shen Guang bowed and said, "Your Highness's teachings, I will remember them!"
Shen Guang took the order and left in a hurry.
Xiao Xia then said to the two veterans, "I have thought of a plan called "cleaning both ends". General Zhou will lead 5,000 naval forces to sneak into the Taedong River tonight, and then clean it out from the inside tomorrow morning. General Lai will lead 5,000 naval forces to clean it out from the outside, also tomorrow morning. I will lead a part of the force to block the sea outside the Taedong River to prevent any fish from slipping through the net. We will use three days to completely clean out the Goguryeo ships."
Both of them agreed with Xiao Xia's idea. If they blocked both ends, the enemy's ships would have no way to escape.
(End of this chapter)