The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 498: There are many benefits to talking about war on paper

After the first day of military chess simulation, the generals had accumulated some experience. On the second day, they were full of energy and wanted to teach Yang Xuyan a lesson, letting him know that even on paper, they, the veterans, were also good players. However, they never expected that the second day would become more complicated and tedious, making them even more at a loss.

When the military chess game reached the stage where the troops were divided into nine groups and advanced in unison, Yang Guang directly separated the troops into nine small partitions. Each partition had a screen on each side, a table and a chair in the middle, on which were placed maps, military flags, pens, ink, paper and inkstone. There was also a young eunuch serving as a servant. In addition, each general also brought his own chief clerk.

The daily distance to be walked, where to walk, how much food and grass to consume, where to set up camp, how to attack the city, etc. all need to be calculated. What's even more outrageous is that Yang Xuyan actually has a barometer of Goguryeo's entire year in his hand. He sends it to them every day and lets them make their own arrangements. If the instructions are unreasonable, they need to make deductions as appropriate.

What to deduct?

Deduct progress, deduct military supplies, and even deduct morale.

Yes, Yang Xuyan even took into account the intangible thing like morale.

The weight of the troops to be carried during the march needed to be carefully calculated. The generals found that they could not march at all if they carried too much baggage, and abandoning food and grass was against military law. For a moment, the atmosphere in the entire camp became solemn.

Yang Guang's expression was a little stiff, and he could only say in the end: "Decide for yourself according to the possible situation." He would not admit that his order was wrong. The only ones who were wrong were his subordinates. Several generals tried to cheat and forced to advance quickly with a lot of food and fodder, but Yang Xuyan judged that the order was wrong and delayed the journey. Most of them had to selectively abandon some or even most of the baggage and food.

On the other side, Yang Xuyan played the Yizhi Wende card to stop Yuwen Shu, adopted the tactics of feigning defeat, withdrawing different harassments, and even pretending to surrender again and again, which made Yuwen Shu's mouth twitch. He wished he could disobey the king's order and kill this bastard directly in the military chess game.

In June, the war chess game was played, and the navy of General Lai Huer of the Right Guard entered the field. According to the instructions, they entered the Pei River. Yang Xuyan fought and retreated, sacrificing half of the Goguryeo navy, creating the illusion that the Goguryeo navy was vulnerable, and opened all the ports.

General Lai Huer was stationed in Laizhou at this time and was ready to set off at any time. He was not on the banks of the Liao River. General Mai Tiezhang and others who were "killed in battle" on the way took over the command of the navy. At this time, the nine land armies were blocked by Yang Xuyan and did not arrive on time, but the navy exceeded the task, and the generals commanding the navy had differences of opinion.

The navy received an order to cooperate with the army to encircle Pyongyang City. They have already entered the Peregrine River to destroy the Goguryeo navy and can directly attack Pyongyang, but the army has not arrived yet. Should they choose to wait or take the initiative to attack?

Yang Xuyan offered his opinion, "The next move should be considered based on the commander's personality. This is human nature." Mai Tiezhang and the others put their own personalities aside and carefully considered Lai Huer's personality. Ultimately, they decided to go all out and do it. Then...

The navy landed, the navy attacked the city, the navy was cut off from behind, and the navy was completely destroyed!

Mai Tiezhang and the others realized they had been tricked. But after careful consideration, they realized that if Lai Huer had truly encountered this situation, this would have been the most likely outcome. However, this would have disrupted the planned naval support. Yuwen Shu's nine armies, lacking a naval force to transport troops across the river and sufficient rations, realized their final draw when they neared Pyongyang in late July.

What was even more outrageous was that three cavalry units, totaling 15,000 men, appeared on the rear road and swept through the civilian food transport teams, cutting off their food supply. Before this, they had also been dispatched several times and intercepted the letters they were sending to Yang Guang several times.

Yuwen Shu ordered a retreat, but was flooded by Yang Xuyan at the Sa River. The Goguryeo army launched a strong counterattack. The Sui soldiers were short of food and supplies, their morale was low, and they were defeated step by step. They were defeated by Yang Xuyan with the help of the rivers and lakes. After losing the navy, the generals found themselves in a very passive situation and eventually retreated all the way back to the Liao River.

The first expedition to Goguryeo ended with Yang Xuyan's great victory, and the Sui Dynasty's million-strong army and two million civilians were almost completely wiped out. The generals returned to Yang Guang with grim faces. Before, the nine commanders had never seen each other, and they were stunned when they reviewed the situation.

"That's not right. If Goguryeo already had the means to build dams and store water, why didn't they use it earlier, but only at the last minute?" Yuwen Shu tried to salvage the situation, but Yang Xuyan pulled out the Goguryeo flood schedule. "It's not that we don't want to, but we simply can't. This location requires the right weather."

"Does Goguryeo really have so many soldiers? Even a million pigs can tire out tens of thousands of soldiers, let alone..."

"It is precisely the wise who are more likely to be defeated. The most dangerous thing in a marching camp is to run out of food. A hungry soldier is no more threatening than a pig." Yang Xuyan's words left everyone speechless.

"The navy is the key. If it were there, the army wouldn't be defeated, and General Lai wouldn't be so unwise."

"No, General Lai was just following orders. He was actually not wrong. The mistake was that the Ninth Army on land delayed the meeting."

The generals said: "You guys are using such despicable tricks, can you blame us for the delay? Moreover, they have never paid attention to so many details before, especially the problem of transporting civilians on long-distance expeditions."

Of course, the frequent trick of feigning surrender also made them quite helpless. It was simply a powerful weapon to delay time, and it worked every time.

"Actually, this isn't the worst outcome," Yang Xuyan suddenly said. "What if all nine armies marched out simultaneously, and Goguryeo Grand Master Fu Cailin suddenly appeared among them, gathering Goguryeo's elite cavalry and marching straight towards the central camp? What would happen?"

Yang Guang laughed heartily and said, "That's nothing to worry about. I've ordered the army to be divided into three lines. Any offensive action must be reported to each other. No light troops are allowed to advance alone. Moreover, all military actions must be reported to the emperor in advance. If Fu Cailin dares to come, he will be surrounded by a million-strong army. Even a Grandmaster will be killed."

"What if the Goguryeo army hides in the wilderness, clearing the fields and cutting off the food supply? Once the imperial army is exhausted, Grandmaster Fu Cailin sneaks in alone and suddenly appears before the central army tent, relying on the hidden Goguryeo army to capture the king and assassinate him?" Yang Xuyan pressed on. Yuwen Shu and the others shouted angrily, "If you want to get to Your Majesty, you must step over our corpses first!"

"How can the generals, who are so far away at the gates of Pyongyang, help those in need?"

"Your Majesty is heavily guarded. Fu Cailin will be in trouble if he comes alone." Pei Ju (Shi Zhixuan) stepped forward and said, "Even if it costs my life, I will not let this thief get even a step closer to Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xuyan gave him a deep look, a faint smile forming on his lips. "The Grand Master leads the charge, while a famous Goguryeo Grand Master leads the elite Khitan Mohe cavalry into the battle. Why?"

Why? There was no answer, but it was impossible for Yang Guang to personally lead the army all the way to Pyongyang. He couldn't possibly stay away from the Sui Dynasty's territory. Otherwise, how would he deal with the rebellion at home? He mobilized a million troops and two million civilians, and personally commanded the Liao River. Every move was carefully calculated.

But the more sophisticated something is, the more likely it is to have problems. Although Yang Guang is confident that he can join forces with Shi Zhixuan to fight Fu Cailin and remain undefeated, can he, a senior master who has not personally fought for a long time, really face the grand master and remain undefeated?

As the saying goes, a gentleman doesn't stand on a dangerous wall, let alone a king. Being forced to approach the central army camp by Fu Cailin is already a failure. If it really comes to this, I'm afraid I'll be in danger of falling. This side branch kid's reminder is timely. Otherwise, how about mobilizing some more masters of the Demon Sect to come and protect the emperor?

However, Pei Qing and Zhu Yuyan of the Yingui Sect were sworn enemies. If they met, they would likely not join forces but fight to the death. As for the Buddhist sect, there was no need to even think about it. It was already a blessing that they weren't holding back.

However, the prerequisite for this was a large number of cavalry to cooperate with Fu Cailin in attacking the central army. Both a large number of cavalry and Fu Cailin were indispensable. Fu Cailin was a true Grandmaster. If he wanted to conquer the world, no one could stop him. So what about a large number of cavalry? Perhaps he should consider setting up a defensive cavalry formation and leaving enough soldiers and horses to protect him.

By the way, this kid is also a talent. At least he has a lot of tricks and bad ideas that are only on paper. He can be kept around to check for omissions and fill in the gaps.

"There are always more solutions than problems. Let's review it together, find out the loopholes and fill them in to avoid accidents as much as possible. Then I will send an order to Huer. Before the navy meets up with the army, no one is allowed to take any action to attack cities or seize territories without authorization. The key is to protect land and water." Yang Guang's words made everyone respond in unison.

However, Yang Xuyan's joking game this time caused great harm to Goguryeo. The damage caused by Yang Guang's first expedition to Goguryeo was far greater than any other in history, and the losses were much smaller. This was all because of a little game that someone played on a whim.