During the Eastern Expedition, Duan Wenzhen, the Minister of War and the Marquis of Beiping, also led the general of the left-handed Guard, and led his troops out of the Nansu Road to attack Goguryeo. He was seriously ill on the way and knew that he would soon die. He submitted a letter to the emperor, believing that the Goguryeo people were insidious and cunning, and would use many means such as surrender and peace to hinder the attack process of the expeditionary army. He warned the emperor not to be deceived, and would never negotiate with the Goguryeo people, and would never accept their surrender. He must intimidate the northern enemy by destroying the power of Goguryeo.

Duan Wenzhen proposed that the rain is continuous this spring and disaster is about to occur. In order to ensure that the army can cross the Liao River within the scheduled time, we must supervise the army to advance quickly and not delay. After crossing the Liao River, we must also strictly order the army to move forward quickly, and to advance in water and land. If the enemy is unintentional, we will directly kill Pyongyang. In this way, if the enemy is unprepared, we will definitely go down in one go. Pyongyang is the capital of the Goguryeo people and the foundation of the Goguryeo people. As long as we conquer Pyongyang, we will destroy the Goguryeo people.

The Goguryeo people who lost their fighting spirit and had lost their confidence and courage could not resist stubbornly, so the rest of Goguryeo cities would be destroyed without attacking. If our expeditionary force failed to conquer Pyongyang at the fastest speed, it would inevitably be blocked by the rainy season in the Far East, the difficulty of attack would be greatly increased, and the supply of food and supplies would be extremely difficult. By then, the Goguryeo people would hold the city and block the heavy troops. Later, the Anjie people would attack and harass and intercept the food routes, and the expedition would inevitably be in trouble.

The Eastern Expedition is related to the fate of the country and the destiny of Middle-earth. It has devoted all its national strength to prevent accidents. In order to prevent accidents, it is necessary to fight quickly and decide one battle. For this reason, Duan Wenzhen begs the emperor and the center to not hesitate or hesitate, and to make a concerted effort to kill Pyongyang. There is no other way than this.

However, the emperor and the central government did not adopt Duan Wenzhen's legacy.

Duan Wenzhen was from Qilu, and was affiliated with the Shandong aristocratic group. Both in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and in this dynasty, he was restrained by the Guanlong people. However, he was civil and military, had real skills, and made the right choice especially at the critical moment of his destiny. In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, he was a close confidant of Yuwen Hu, the first powerful minister of the Great Tomb. In the early days of the rise of the late emperor, Yuchi Jiong and other powerful ministers raised troops to fight against each other. Duan Wenzhen supported the late emperor, but was highly valued by the late emperor. After the war of unification, Duan Wenzhen, who was the king of Jin, was the king of Jin, assisted the late emperor with Sima. From then on, he was loyal to the late emperor and made great contributions to the late emperor's capture of the throne. After the current emperor ascended the throne, Duan Wenzhen was appointed as the Minister of War and entrusted important tasks.

The Ministry of War is mainly in charge of military administrative power, and the highest chief of the Ministry of War is one of the central chiefs and participates in military decision-making. The general of the Twelve Guards has the power to command the military, and in wartime under the authorization of the emperor, and also participates in military decision-making. Decisions such as the Eastern Expedition are far from enough to rely on military decision-making alone. Other core members of the Central Expedition, such as the Internal Secretariat (Internal Secretariat), Na Yan丨Governor), the Secretary of the Shangshu and the Sixth Minister of the Shangshu, etc. all have to participate in the decision-making. However, when it comes to how to fight the Eastern Expedition, it is the military decision-making. Those involved in the decision-making include the emperor, the Secretary of the Shangshu, the Secretary of the Shangshu, the Minister of the Military, and the General of the Twelve Guards.

As the Minister of War of this dynasty, Duan Wenzhen had a high position and a high position, but he only had one vote in military decision-making. Of course, if he was a famous general in the military, with many merits, high morals, and huge power, and his disciples were everywhere in the army. For example, Yang Su, Duke of Yue who served as the Minister of the Secretariat, then he could definitely influence or even decide military decisions. Unfortunately, Duan Wenzhen could not match Yang Su, Duan Su in any aspect. Even if the emperor trusted him, even if the emperor believed that his decision was the best, he would not be able to help him make a word in military decision-making.

The complexity of the military may not necessarily exceed that of the political circle, but because of the particularity of the army, its group interests are even more serious, with tigers and wolves in groups and strong strength. In many cases, even emperors feel tricky and even helpless in the face of these murderous tigers and wolves who are guarding their "territory", so it is very difficult to draw military decisions, especially the interests involved in the Eastern Expedition are too great. Many military forces will fight fiercely in order to compete for profits. Even the emperor, forced by the alliance between military forces, has to compromise and make concessions in the decision-making and drafting.

How to fight the Eastern Expedition to realize the strategic intention of Middle-earth? Judging from the many confrontations between the Middle-earth and the Goguryeo in history, there are only two strategies: one is deterrence, using strength to force the enemy to surrender and win the greatest benefit at the minimum price. This has a successful example, with more diplomatic means than war means; the second is attack, which completely destroys the enemy with bloody killing. For example, the Western Expedition finally evolved into expanding territory, and war means replaced diplomatic means.

If diplomatic means are the main method and war means as the supplement, the strategic intention of the Eastern Expedition will be realized, then the greatest contribution will not be the military, and the interests of the military will be damaged. On the contrary, if war is the main method and expand the territory as the ultimate goal, then while realizing the strategic intention of the Eastern Expedition, the military will also gain the greatest benefit. This is the most welcome of the military, but it is resisted by the political tycoons, especially the tycoons who hold a radical reform stance, have always spared no effort to curb and attack the military in order to minimize the impact of the military on reform. How can the military take advantage of the Eastern Expedition to turn over?

However, if diplomatic means are difficult to realize the strategic intention of the Eastern Expedition, then force must be used. If the Eastern Expedition is mainly based on war means, what tactics should be adopted?

Duan Wenzhen proposed a strategy to "behead", fly thousands of miles, kill Pyongyang directly, and decide to fight one battle. Historically, the way the Middle-earth people and the northern nomadic enemy fighters is like this. One attack is a major goal of killing the enemy's living forces. If I kill all your people and horses, what else do you fight? The reason for using this tactic is that the battlefield is too far away and the transportation of food and grass is inconvenient. You can only use war to support the war, and you can only fight a thousand miles. However, this tactic has great risks. It is essentially a lonely army, without support, and without food and grass to provide assistance. If you are not careful, you will fall into the opponent's "temptation of the enemy" strategy and the entire army will be wiped out.

However, for the initiators, the emperor and the center with the reformists as the core, the political purpose is greater than the military intention. In name, it is to destroy Goguryeo, to establish and improve a new national defense and diplomatic strategy. In fact, it is to use supreme martial arts to strengthen the authority of the emperor and the center, to use strong authority to attack and weaken the conservatives, and to accelerate the reform process. Therefore, the eastward expedition can only win but not lose. Due to this political background, the emperor and the center must win because the eastward expedition must win. Then the military strategy of the eastward expedition must be "steady", take steady steps, and ensure that no accidents occur.

In the late Kaihuang, the late emperor conquered Goguryeo. The navy was buried in the sea due to the storm. The land army delayed the fighter plane because of food and grass, and had to retreat. The expeditionary army ended in failure before entering Goguryeo. This expedition learned lessons and made full preparations and devoted all its national strength. The fundamental intention was to ensure victory. To ensure victory, military strategy must be stable. Since Duan Wenzhen's "beheading" tactic will certainly not be recognized by the emperor and the center. Since neither the emperor nor the center with the reformists as the core cannot agree with Duan Wenzhen's strategy, it can be imagined that in the process of making an unprecedentedly fierce military decision-making game, Duan Wenzhen's strategy with great risks was naturally rejected.

Duan Wenzhen's strategy was rejected, and the people left the center, which can be seen from Duan Wenzhen's status as the General of the Left Guard to command the army on the front line. He was the Minister of War and one of the core members of the decision-making level. Whether it was state decision-making or military decision-making, his opinions were very important. However, in order to ensure that during the Eastern Expedition, the decision-making level spoke with a "voice" and temporarily "expelled" him.

Duan Wenzhen was obviously very stubborn, insisting on his own opinions, and even did not waver or give up his own opinions in his death speech. Duan Wenzhen's unyielding character may be one of the important reasons why he was temporarily "exiled" from the decision-making level by the emperor and the center. His existence will definitely increase the contradictions and conflicts at the decision-making level, which is obviously not conducive to the Eastern Expedition.

However, the course of the war was as Duan Wenzhen expected. From the time of forcing the Liao River to cross the Liao River, everything went wrong and bad luck came. Especially one of the twelve generals of the David Palace, the emperor's absolute confidant in the military, the famous Jiangzuo general Zuo Tengwei General Maitie Zhang, killed in the Liao River, which cast a shadow on the Eastern Expedition.

The death of Maitiebang was due to the very unsuccessful construction of the floating bridge. The reason why the construction of the floating bridge was blocked was due to the surge in Liaoshui, which was caused by the continuous spring rain. Duan Wenzhen had already predicted that the Liaoshui would surge and the difficulty of attack would increase, so he warned the emperor that the marching speed must be fast, and the earlier the crossing time of the river would be the more beneficial to the expeditionary army. However, the speed of the various armies marching was different, and they missed the best opportunity to cross the river, which led to the unfavorable battle in the early Eastern Expedition. The Liaoshui passed through successfully, but the morale of the expeditionary army was hit head-on due to the death of Maitiebang.

The next one is even worse. A Liaodong city has not been defeated for more than two months, completely delaying the war process.

The reason why the Expeditionary Force was unable to conquer Liaodong City was the first mistake in decision-making. The decision-making level always tried to exchange the minimum cost for the best interests, and always planned to use powerful force to force the Goguryeo to surrender unconditionally, and always did not have the determination to use war to achieve the strategic intention of the Eastern Expedition. The Goguryeo was indeed afraid and wanted to surrender. Envoys came one after another, negotiated peace every day, and then broke down the negotiations, and the Expeditionary Force fought again, and then negotiated again. As a result, time was delayed, the morale of the Expeditionary Force was sluggish, and of course the city could not be defeated.

This approach of the decision-making level made the soldiers of the Expeditionary Force know that the emperor and the center were bluffing, and in fact there was no intention to destroy the Goguryeo people with force. In other words, even if the Eastern Expedition was won, the diplomatic methods of the decision-making level were used well. The main contribution was the political tycoons. They ate meat and the military drank some soup at most. It can be imagined how much this would hit the morale of the Expeditionary Force soldiers.

The development of the battle situation was once again dubbed by Duan Wenzhen. The Goguryeo people were insidious and cunning, and used surrender negotiations to delay time. The emperor and the central government were trapped. Although the emperor was angry on the battlefield in the south of Liaodong City on June 11, and scolded the military commanders bloodily, the military commanders also cursed the emperor and the central government bloodily. This is your mistake in decision-making and has nothing to do with our military. If you were determined to destroy the Goguryeo people with force, and after crossing the Liao River, you firmly reject the surrender negotiations of the Goguryeo people, attack cities and villages, and kill Pyongyang, why would you fall into today's passive situation? Now the rainy season is coming, and the large and small rivers in Goguryeo are about to soar, and there is little time left for the expeditionary army to carry out attacks. Unless a miracle occurs, from a military perspective, the possibility of conquering Pyongyang this year is no longer possible, and you can only wait for the next year.

The emperor and the central government quickly made new decisions, rejecting the surrender of the Goguryeo people, and resolutely destroying Goguryeo with force.

The emperor and the central government ordered the military to immediately formulate a new attack strategy based on this decision, requiring the military to conquer Pyongyang, destroy Goguryeo, and win the victory of the Eastern Expedition before winter came.

The change in the attitude of the decision-maker is what the military is willing to see, which is in line with the interests of the military, but the change in the attitude of the decision-maker is too strong. From the previous blind pursuit of stability to the current risky attempt, the military feels uneasy.

In the process of discussing the attack strategy, the right chief of the Shangshu, the Minister of War, Hu Sizheng, Mingya and other central officials naturally obeyed the decisions of the emperor and the central government, and decided to end the war before winter came. In this way, Duan Wenzhen's "beheading" strategy of attacking thousands of miles has become the first choice. However, a large group of military bosses such as Yu Zhongwen, the General of the Left Guard, Jing Yuanheng, the General of the Left Guard, Zhao Xiaocai, and the General of the Left Guard, Cui Hongsheng, and other military bosses opposed it because the current situation no longer has the conditions to implement Duan Wenzhen's policy. If you have to implement this strategy regardless of reality, you will be in danger of defeat. Therefore, the military is now "seeking stability".

Yu Zhongwen and other commanders suggested that they should take steady steps and take action step by step, first conquering Liaodong City, the city of Wugu in central Goguryeo after the rainy season, and then conquering the Yalu River before winter comes. The benefits of this plan are obvious. The Yalu River can ensure that the Expeditionary Force will take Pyongyang with its superiority in the spring of the next year. The Goguryeo people may surrender unconditionally under the double blow of heavy pressure of the country's destruction and exhaustion of financial resources. In this way, if the domestic political crisis becomes increasingly serious due to the extended period of the Eastern Expedition, the emperor and the central government can also accept the surrender of the Goguryeo people, and the political tyrants and military tyrants will share the achievements of the Eastern Expedition equally, and everyone will return triumphantly and everyone will be happy.

But at this moment, the emperor and the center with the reformists as the core have seen a crisis from the changes in the political situation of the Dongdu and the domestic situation. If the Eastern Expedition is delayed until next year, the Eastern Expedition will be completely subject to the domestic financial and domestic political situation. Whether the financial and financial tyranny is difficult to sustain or the political situation is turbulent, it will hit the Eastern Expedition a fatal blow. Therefore, the Eastern Expedition must end this year and must be decided quickly. The Expedition Force must take risks in attack strategies, even if it pays a considerable price for it.

At the critical moment, the military commanders, such as Yuwen Shu, the General of the Left Guard, Li Jing, the General of the Right Guard, Wei Wensheng, the General of the Right Guard, Xue Shixiong, and other military commanders repeatedly weighed the pros and cons, and after comprehensively considering the situation of the war, they decided to "move" and fight to Pyongyang first, meet with the navy of Lai Huer and Zhou Fashang, and join forces to attack Pyongyang. They absolutely comply with and implement the decisions of the emperor and the central government, but the attack time is definitely not enough, and the food and supplies will definitely not be supplied. By then, the emperor and the central government can only order retreat and retreat to Yalu River, which will achieve the intention of the military.
Chapter completed!