Goguryeo front.
Gai Yuansuwen has been here for two days. He came secretly for the first two days, so even some Goguryeo generals did not know that the Prime Minister had arrived at the front line.
The Prime Minister had no choice but to come here. He already knew that Goguryeo had no way out. He had made various plans before, but they were no longer of any use. The Tang Dynasty had already closed the door to negotiations, so they had no other way out except to resist to the end.
Gai Yuansuwen discussed with the King of Goguryeo and decided to go to the front line in person and let the King of Goguryeo provide logistics from behind.
The two seemed extremely harmonious when discussing this matter. It only took them one meal to come to an end. Since the last time the Tang Dynasty closed the door to negotiations, both of them have grown a lot. They both knew that they could not fight anymore. Now if we work together, we may have a 10% chance of winning, but if we continue to fight, we will really be dead.
After Gai Yuansuwen arrived at the front line, he did not notify other generals, but strolled around the front line for two days in disguise. If he had not strolled around for these two days, Gai Yuansuwen might still have some confidence in his heart, but after these two days, he had no confidence at all. The real situation was worse than what was reported.
There were originally two defense lines along the Taedong River, one in the north and one in the south.
Now the defense line in Jiangbei is no longer possible, as it has all been destroyed. They don't even have a spy in Jiangbei. The 200,000 Tang army has blocked the river bank tightly, and anyone who dares to come will be killed immediately.
The Jiangnan defense line was said to have 200,000 soldiers, but after the Prime Minister's inspection, let alone 200,000 soldiers, being able to gather 100,000 soldiers was already quite good. Part of the army was indeed withdrawn from Jiangbei, but after these people set foot on the land of Jiangnan, the first thing they did was to take off their clothes and then flee for their lives in the tide of refugees.
These people are not fools. They have witnessed the power of the Tang Dynasty in Jiangbei. If they continue to stay in the army, they will be irresponsible with their lives. After returning home, they must quickly take their families to escape to the deep mountains and old forests. That way there is still a glimmer of hope. After hiding for a year or two, it is estimated that the outside world will be stable. If they stay at home, when the Tang Dynasty army comes, the whole family may also be slaves.
"Where are Jin Weikang and Zhang Jinnan?"
After arriving at the Goguryeo camp, Gai Yuansuwen revealed his identity and called the two generals who were short of the most men. After seeing the expression on the Prime Minister's face, these two men immediately understood what was going on. They were the ones who retreated from Jiangbei. At that time, each of them had seven or eight thousand soldiers under their command, but now the total number of their men was not even three thousand. How could the Prime Minister not be angry?
"You two have committed such a heinous crime that nearly cost the entire country the price. Drag them away and behead them."
Gai Yuansu Wen was still very ruthless. He knew that he had to use blood to establish his authority at this time. If he just said a few words, these people might not take it seriously. He had to let them see real blood before they could find a way to fill the army with enough people. Although conscripting ordinary people to serve as soldiers did not have much combat effectiveness, it was better than having nothing, right?
"Prime Minister, please spare my life..."
The two men wanted to explain, but the soldiers from the capital of Goguryeo did not give them the chance and directly dragged the two men out. Then two screams were heard, and the two men were already beheaded.
When the other generals saw the miserable condition of the two men, they began to tremble in their hearts. Although their military camp was slightly better than those of these two people, it was not much better. At best, only half of the soldiers were left. The main reason was that these people had nowhere to go. They were purely bachelors, so they could only stay here except for the military camp. It was not that they did not want to run away.
The other generals also knew that fighting with such an army was pure child's play. When the Tang army rushed over, don't expect these people to be able to stand in the front and fight. They will probably be the first to run away. But we can't say this. Even if it is the Goguryeo Kingdom, we have to stay alive first. If you say this, the Prime Minister will probably kill you as a sacrifice.
"Listen up, all the other ministries! I give you five days to make sure you make up the difference. If you still can't make up the difference after five days, even if you're missing one person, I, the Prime Minister, will execute you."
After hearing what the Prime Minister said, several generals stood up to defend themselves. If it were normal times, there would indeed be a lot of people living by the river, and it would not be difficult to make up the difference. But everyone knew that the Tang army had already deployed its troops and Jiangbei was about to cross the river to fight. They were not fools and of course they would not continue to live by the river. They had already fled to the capital. Even if they wanted to make up the difference, they should start from there. Even if we dig three feet into the ground here, I am afraid we will not be able to find enough men and horses.
But these people looked at the Prime Minister's dark face and thought, "If you dare to say it out loud, you will be the unlucky one. Now the Prime Minister has lost his mind, and we have no other choice. In order to save our own lives, we can only pull all the people around here, no matter if they are old or children, women or pregnant women. As long as they are counted as a head, they must be pulled here."
After Gai Yuansu Wen finished speaking, he did not disturb these people. He also thought that they could save time, so he asked them to go out and recruit soldiers quickly, and told them that the new soldiers must be trained.
The generals agreed, but a bitter feeling welled up inside. What if all we captured were women? Even if we trained them, would they be effective on the battlefield? They couldn't care less now. They had to fulfill the Prime Minister's orders first. In all the surrounding towns and villages, even if you were an official's family member, you had to come and fill in the numbers, or you would be killed!!!