After encircling and suppressing the Khitan, the Sui army immediately set out to march towards Goguryeo. Li Chun, the Minister of Works, had already built three floating bridges on the Liao River. Three days later, 80,000 Sui troops crossed the Liao River through three floating bridges. Since the road from Liaodong City to Wugu City was blocked by a landslide, and before it was cleared, 80,000 Sui troops gathered in Suicheng.

Suicheng is located on the east coast of the Liaoshui River entrance, which is today in Yingkou, Liaoning. From here, they will cross the Liaodong Peninsula and arrive at Wugucheng. Suicheng is also the shortest road from Wugucheng. It is more than 150 miles shorter than going to Wugucheng from Liaodong City. You only need to march for three days to reach Wugucheng.

However, Suicheng Road is a mountain road. The road is too narrow and rugged to pass through, and it is impossible to pass through the large carts of supplies. Therefore, although it is close to Wugucheng, it is not the main direction of attack.

However, it was not a problem for the Sui army. All the supplies were transported onto a large ship and walked on the sea route, bypassing the Liaodong Peninsula to the Yalu River Estuary. The main force of the Sui army moved forward lightly, and each soldier brought five days of dry food to march quickly along the Suicheng Road towards Wugucheng.

Three days later, tens of thousands of troops arrived at Wugu City.

In the largest stone building in Wugu, Zhang Xuan stood in front of a simple sand table and listened attentively to Fang Xuanling's report.

Fang Xuanling stayed in Wugu City. He was responsible for commanding the Sui army to intercept Goguryeo reinforcements to the north. Before that, Du Ruhui had briefly told him about the situation in Liaodong, but at this time he had no time to express his views on the Liaodong battle. Zhang Xuan was waiting for him to report on the reinforcements of Goguryeo.

"The Goguryeo army had about 50,000 troops, and the barracks were located on the banks of the Sashui River."

Fang Xuanling pointed to a small river in the middle of Yalu River with a wooden pole: "The big camp is here, less than three miles away from Yalu River. They seem to have no logistics for supplies, so I have this big camp that has been established long ago. Although it is called Daying, the walls are very strong, and there is no difference from a city."

"Do they have warships?" Zhang Xuan asked, staring at the wall camp.

"have!"

Fang Xuanling said with certainty: "There were more than 100 ships at the beginning, but they did not expect the sharpness of our navy. Most of them were destroyed in one battle, and there were about ten ships left, all of which were about 500 stone medium-sized ships, and they are currently hiding in the military camp."

"etc--"

Zhang Xuan suddenly noticed something, anxious

Asked, "Did their barracks cross the river?"

Fang Xuanling nodded. He knew what Zhang Xuan was thinking and smiled: "We have also considered diving into the military camp from underwater, but it doesn't work. They installed two river bars in the river, both front and back, and the water ghosts could not dive in. There were sentries on the shore closely monitored them. Once they showed up, they would be discovered. The three water ghosts we sent almost couldn't come back."

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Military advisor, please continue."

Fang Xuanling said again: "Just a while ago, some of the troops in the barracks were preparing to return to Pyongyang, but after walking two days, we came back. We caught a spy and learned that this army had two main generals, one was Gao Yanshou, the other was the royal family of Goguryeo, and the other was Yuanqinggong, who was Yuan Taizuo's brother. This army was actually composed of two factions in Goguryeo."

At this time, Du Ruhui next to him asked, "Since it is two factional armies, can we divide them and annihilate them?"

"This is indeed a solution, but it's a bit unrealistic."

"Why?" Zhang Xuan asked in confusion.

"Because the military rations are controlled by Gao Yanshou, Yuanqing Palace cannot go out independently and can only rely on Gao Yanshou. Therefore, although the two armies belong to different factions, they are tied together by military rations."

"In this way, the army that was preparing to return to Pyongyang some time ago should be the army of Yuanqing Palace, right!" Du Ruhui said with a smile.

"I also think so, Gao Yanshou will not give up control of food."

Zhang Xuan paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his hands. He had experienced many battles and was used to winning with strategies. He didn't like to fight hard. After thinking for a long time, he asked, "Is the enemy soldiers' tent a stone house?"

"It was the Sui army's big tent, which was thrown in Liaodong back then."

"If it's a big tent, you should be able to use fire attack. Do you think it's feasible?"

Fang Xuanling shook his head, "Many generals have proposed this plan, but Goguryeo has a strict defense, with buffer belts around it. The rockets are not good, and the distance between the catapults is enough. But if our catapults appear, their big tent will definitely be closed. The fire attack is aimless, but..."

"But what?" Zhang Xuan heard something in Fang Xuanling's words.

Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "Although Goguryeo has a tight defense, there is a structural loophole in their camp that we can exploit. I have been waiting for His Highness to come back to discuss this loophole before deciding."

Fang Xuanling whispered a few words to Zhang Xuan, and then said what they needed to prepare. Zhang Xuan immediately said happily: "I think this direction is feasible. You can try it. As for what you need, I ask Li Chunlai to make these things. I believe he will not disappoint me."

The two of them said a few more words, and Zhang Xuan remembered something and asked, "What's the situation with General Li?"

General Li is Li Jing. He is currently leading 5,000 troops to be stationed in the domestic city, while the old general came to Hu'er and led a fleet to patrol the Yalu water. Zhang Xuan was asking about the situation in the domestic city.

"The situation on General Li's side is fine. We have established a Feige sending message and can contact us at any time."

A sentence reminded Zhang Xuan, and he hurriedly said: "When I talk about Fei Ge's letter, I remembered something. The road between Wugu City and Liaodong City was blocked. What's the situation now?"

"The road was indeed blocked. I also went to the scene to see it. Half of the whole mountain collapsed, and more than 20 ox carts were buried below. The collapsed mountain was too large, more than ten miles, filling the entire valley. It was no longer realistic to dig the road. Now we can only consider another way to avoid it."

"Have you confirmed the plan?" Zhang Xuan asked.

The terrain of Goguryeo is too complicated, either steep mountain roads or dense forests, and transportation is very inconvenient. Zhang Xuan is considering immigrating in the future and experiencing Liaodong, so the traffic problem must be solved.

Fang Xuanling sent someone to get Li Kai to work as an employee Cao, who is currently responsible for the matter. He has just returned and has not reported to Fang Xuanling about the new road.

After a moment, Li Kai, a military officer, quickly walked into the tent and bowed, "Work Cao, a military officer, Li Kai, a military officer, met His Highness, the King of Qi!"

Seeing that he was about twenty years old, he was dark and thin, and looked very similar to Li Chun, and his surname was Li, Zhang Xuan asked with a smile: "Does Li Shenjun have anything to do with Minister Li of the Ministry of Works?"

"Report to Your Highness, Mr. Li of the Ministry of Works is his father."

Zhang Xuan laughed, he read that he was right. He was really Li Chun's son, and he was also in charge of the project. Zhang Xuan praised: "It turns out that he is a tiger father without a dog son. Your father is also here with the army. You father and son can be reunited later."

"Thank you for your concern!"

Zhang Xuan nodded and asked, "Tell me about the road between Wugu City and Liaodong City, Military Secretary Fang said you are responsible."

"Report to Your Highness, the landslide is located south of Liaodong City—"

Zhang Xuan waved his hand and interrupted him, "I already know this. Military Secretary Fang said he could only open another road. I want to know if the plan for the new road has been confirmed."

"Report to Your Highness, the preliminary plan has been basically confirmed."

Li Kai walked to the sand table and pointed the old road with a wooden pole to the east: "I have considered two plans for the new road. Plan A is located about fifty miles east of the old road, and Plan B is located eighty miles east of the east. These two plans have their pros and cons. Plan A is 350 miles away from Liaodong City, which is similar to the old road, but there are many mountain roads and are more difficult to walk. Plan B is a bow-back arc, about fifty miles away from Liaodong City, but basically they are valleys. After opening up, a flat road can be built."

"Then which plan do you prefer?" Zhang Xuan asked with a smile.

"The Beizhi tends to plan B. Although it is far from Liaodong City and Wugu City, it is a flat road, which is very rare. The marching takes less time and can take a big cart. More importantly, the domestic city can also use this road. It is only a hundred miles away from the domestic city. The Beizhi thought about it and simply built it into a straight road, reaching Yalu River, and then built two branch roads on the Yalu River. One to the east leads to the domestic city and the other to Wugu City in the west leads to Wugu City. Its appearance is like a crossbow, and then "

Speaking of this, he suddenly felt that he was talking too much, and couldn't help but stop talking and scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly.

But when Zhang Xuan heard the concentration, he saw that he stopped abruptly, he urged: "Continue talking!"

Fang Xuanling next to him was also interested. He quickly found a few wooden strips and spread them into a shape of a "Ding" according to Li Kai's description. The straight path really looked like a crossbow.

Li Kai pointed at the tip of the crossbow with a wooden pole and said, "I am considering building a strong city here and building a wharf at the same time, so that both military and people's livelihood can be taken into account."

Zhang Xuan nodded slowly and said that he had gone up to his heart. Convenient transportation was the key to controlling Goguryeo. "Plan B can be accepted!" Zhang Xuan thought for a while and asked again: "Can a pier be built opposite and then extend the straight road to Pyongyang?"

"I will go to the inspection tomorrow and make a plan as soon as possible."

"Don't worry!"

Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "That's just a long-term plan. The most urgent task is to build the road from Wugu City to Liaodong City. What do you think is the biggest difficulty?"

Li Kai glanced at Fang Xuanling, and Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "If the plan can be determined, there will be only a lack of road construction workers."

"There is no problem for the civil servants. They use surrendered soldiers to work, pave the road, and mine. All surrendered soldiers do these two things."

Zhang Xuan smiled at Li Kai again and said, "From now on the position of Sima of Liaodong County, you must consider the long-term plan for road construction, one year plan, three year plan, five year plan, ten year plan, how much manpower and material resources are needed? How to be with the hinterland of the Central Plains? How to implement it step by step? Not only by land, but also by water. My requirement is that if there is a rebellion in Pyongyang in ten years, the troops stationed in Liaodong City can reach Pyongyang in three days, and the reinforcements from Youzhou will arrive in Pyongyang within six days. Do you understand?"

Li Kai felt like a dreamlike feeling, as if a window was opened in front of him, allowing him to see unprecedented scenery. Five-year plans and ten-year plans, start doing it now and then implement them step by step. He was very excited, "I understand that I will definitely do it!"

Zhang Xuan patted his shoulder and smiled and said, "I have completed this ten-year plan in Liaodong. I will appoint you as Minister of Works and inherit your father's position."

"Then my father—"
Chapter completed!