Chapter 37 Holding the Sky with One Arm: The Legend of Liu Rengui (Part 2)

The failure of the Eastern Expedition to Goryeo meant that Liu Renyuan and Liu Ingui on the Baekje battlefield had completely fallen into a situation of fighting alone. At this time, this lone army had held firm in Xiongjin for a whole year.Gaozong was worried that they would not be able to persist for a long time, and finally had to issue an edict-ordering them to abandon Woongjin and withdraw to Silla.He specifically emphasized in the imperial edict: If the king of Silla needs them to stay, they will stay in Silla; if not, they will immediately cross the sea and return home. Gaozong's edict was obviously out of concern and compassion for the soldiers, but it was painful and helpless to make this decision.Because once this army withdraws from Baekje, it means that all the efforts made by the Tang Empire on the Korean Peninsula in the past two years will be in vain!

Liu Rengui could not accept this result. However, when receiving the emperor's order, the soldiers in Xiongjin City were all very happy. Because they miss their homeland and their loved ones too much!It has been two full years since they left their homeland in March of the fifth year of Xianqing (AD 660), and they have been trapped in the isolated city of Xiongjin for a long time, which made them feel aggrieved and useless.In their view, it is better to give up as soon as possible than to languish without hope here. Therefore, at this moment, the generals of the Tang army are eager for the two generals to make a decision immediately-to withdraw their troops and return home.

At this moment, Liu Rengui stepped forward. He told everyone that his decision was to stick to it. The soldiers were in an uproar. Liu Rengui looked around at these haggard and tired Tang soldiers, and began to state his four reasons for opposing the withdrawal. First, "The "Spring and Autumn Annals" is a great righteousness. If a doctor goes out of the border, if he can secure the country and benefit the country, it is okay to act arbitrarily. All the monarchs are subjects of the empire, so they must put the country's interests first. Apart from the determination to die, We have no choice! How can we have our own selfish motives and live in peace?"

Second, "The emperor wanted to conquer Goryeo, so he attacked Baekje first. Now we are like a sharp knife pierced in the heart of the enemy. Although the enemy seems to be numerous and well-defended, as long as we prepare our horses and fight hard, we will launch an attack unexpectedly. , there is no reason why we cannot win. Once the initial victory is achieved, the morale of the army will naturally be stable, and then the troops will be divided to take advantage of the danger, expand the results of the battle, and win the victory in time to the emperor, asking for more troops. The imperial court knows that we are sure of success, and will definitely send out the army. When the time comes The Baekje resistance army will be wiped out if the inside and the outside cooperate. This will not only preserve the vested victory, but also keep the peace overseas forever.”

Third, "Now that the army besieging Pyongyang has retreated, if Woongjin is abandoned again, the remnants of Baekje's enemies will surely revive, and the peace of Goryeo will be even more distant. Moreover, now we are in the center of the enemy with a single city, If you abandon the city and leave, you may be caught in a heavy siege and captured by the enemy; even if you retreat safely to Silla, you will still be under the fence of others, and if something unexpected happens, you will definitely regret it." Fourth, "Fukunobu, the leader of the enemy army, is vicious and cruel. He and Fuyu, the king he supports, are in harmony with each other, and they are suspicious of each other. Internal strife may break out at any time and kill each other. Under such circumstances, we should stick to the end and wait and see what happens. , wait for an opportunity to launch a counterattack, and never give up lightly!"

The officers and soldiers of the Tang army looked at Liu Rengui who was old but still ambitious, and the blood that had cooled down gradually boiled up again in their hearts. It wasn't just Liu Rengui's calm analysis of the battle situation that convinced everyone, but more importantly - the old man's incomparably firm courage, will and belief finally infected and moved them. "In our life, we will inevitably encounter various setbacks and tribulations. At this time, as long as we have a firm belief and work hard, we can overcome the tribulations. In adversity, if you feel that you have really failed, then You will be depressed; if you tell yourself: You must persist! Then you will go through the ups and downs and succeed in the end. As long as the faith is not crushed by bad luck, the light of hope will eventually dispel the clouds of despair!" (Albert Hubbard's "Letters to Garcia")

Liu Rengui is just such a person who has been framed and suffered many times. Even if he was appointed by Emperor Gaozong later, he was ordered to be in danger and placed among powerful enemies.If he hadn't relied on a strong belief, if he hadn't told himself "must persevere", Liu Rengui would never have been able to save this Eastern Expedition from the brink of failure. The vicissitudes of life show the true qualities of a hero! The "light of hope" emitted by the old and vigorous Liu Rengui at this critical moment finally dispelled the "cloud of despair" that shrouded the hearts of the soldiers.Under the influence of Liu Rengui, whether it is Liu Renyuan, who has just been promoted to the governor of Xiongjin, or every ordinary soldier, they all hold the belief of victory and vow to live and die with Xiongjin.

At the same time, Fuyufeng, the king of Baekje, and Fushin, the leader of the army, thought that the Tang army would definitely withdraw from Woongjin, so they sent someone to send a letter, sneering in the letter: "When will the envoys return to the west? Our side Send someone to see you off." Liu Rengui smiled when he saw this letter. Because he knew the opportunity had come. The Baekje army thought that the Tang army had suffered a serious setback in Koryo, and that the troops trapped in Woongjin would soon withdraw, so their long-term tense nerves had been relaxed. This is undoubtedly a good opportunity for Tang Jun to turn the tide of the battle and turn defeat into victory!

After discussing with Liu Renyuan, Liu Rengui and Liu Renyuan decided to launch a counterattack. In July of the second year of Longshuo, the Tang army in Xiongjin City suddenly attacked and launched a blitz against the Baekje Restoration Army with lightning speed. Southwest of the Korean Peninsula) and many other fortresses wiped out a large number of enemy troops and quickly divided their troops to defend them. Before the Baekje army could react, Liu Rengui secretly asked Silla to send troops, and the soldiers pointed directly at a strategically important site east of Woongjin City-Jinhyeon Fortress.

Zhenxian City is a city built on a cliff, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.Fuxin was well aware of its importance, and sent additional troops early on to take strict precautions.However, because the city is dangerous and heavily defended, the Baekje army relaxed its vigilance instead.After Liu Rengui led his troops to Jinxian City, he immediately used the cover of night to climb up the lush vegetation on the cliff, quietly killed all the sentries, and occupied the city by dawn. When the Baekje defenders woke up, They all obediently became prisoners of the Tang army. Taking Jinhyeon Fortress was a turning point in the Baekje War.

Because this city is located on the main road between Baekje and Silla, occupying this city is equivalent to opening up the transportation channel between Woongjin and Silla. From then on, the Tang army can continuously obtain the necessary food and supplies from Silla.If Baekje wants to pull out this nail in their hearts, it is already as difficult as heaven. Afterwards, Liu Ren was willing to quickly report to the imperial court and asked for more troops. Seeing that the dead game of Baekje suddenly came to an end, Gaozong was overjoyed, and immediately appointed Sun Renshi, the general of Youweiwei, as the commander of the Xiongjin Road March, and immediately led 7,000 soldiers across the sea for reinforcements. At the same time that the Tang army launched a counterattack, internal strife broke out again in Baekje. As expected by Liu Rengui, Fuxin and Fuyufeng, the monarch and minister, have always been in harmony with each other, and have always been in a state of mutual suspicion.Ever since Fu Xin assassinated Dao Chen and took over the power, Fu Yufeng felt a serious threat, so he secretly planted a few eyeliners around Fu Xin. One day in July, Fuxin suddenly claimed that he was sick and stayed behind closed doors.Full of suspicion, Fu Yufeng immediately asked his eyeliner to find out the truth, but as expected, Fuxin really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of his visit to assassinate him, and then stand on his own.Fu Yufeng was furious, and simply resorted to tricks, and took his cronies to kill Fuxin on the pretext of visiting a sick person, and eliminated his henchmen. After Fuxin's death, Fu Yufeng was able to get rid of a big confidant's trouble, but at the same time he also lost a strong arm.Fu Yufeng knew that he was not the opponent of the Tang army, so he hurriedly dispatched envoys to Korea and Japan to ask for help, and asked to send troops to deal with the Tang army. After Sun Renshi led reinforcements into Baekje, he joined forces with Liu Renyuan and Liu Rengui, and the Tang army gained momentum. In the autumn of the third year of Longshuo (AD 663), the Tang army decided to launch a full-scale counterattack against Baekje after a long rest.All the generals suggested to take Jialin City first, because this city is located at the water and land hub, and it is a strategic location.However, Liu Rengui put forward a different view. He said: "Jalin City is extremely dangerous. If we take a strong attack, we will definitely suffer heavy casualties; if we adopt a siege tactic, we will fall into a protracted war of attrition. In my opinion, it is better to attack the enemy directly. Zhouliu Fortress, the old nest, is the headquarters of the Baekje Rebel Army, so the so-called eradicating evil, capturing thieves and kings, as long as Zhouliucheng is conquered, other cities will surely fall upon hearing the news." After deliberation, everyone agreed with Liu Rengui's opinion.Subsequently, the Tang army divided into two groups: Sun Renshi and Liu Renyuan joined forces with the Silla army to attack from land; Liu Rengui, deputy general Du Shuang, and Baekje surrendered general Fu Yulong led the navy out of the Xiongjin River, joined forces with the army at the mouth of the Baijiang River, and attacked Zhou Liucheng together. Just before the Tang army was about to launch a full-scale counterattack, Japan had decided to intervene in the war on the Korean peninsula at the request of King Fuyufeng of Baekje, and immediately dispatched a huge navy to support Baekje. On August 26 of this year, when Liu Rengui led the navy to Baijiangkou, the Japanese navy was already here. The first large-scale battle between the Chinese and Japanese navies in history, the Battle of Baijiangkou, kicked off. The Japanese navy has nearly 40,000 troops and 1,000 warships; while the Datang Navy has approximately 13,000 troops and 170 warships. Obviously, the Japanese navy has an advantage in the number of ships and forces.However, in terms of ship size, performance and weaponry, the Japanese army is far inferior to the Tang army.With the two armies having their own strengths, no one is sure which side will win. As the first confrontation between the navies of China and Japan, neither side knew each other's strength, so they were more cautious in this day's battle.The two armies only launched a few tentative attacks on each other, trying to figure out the opponent's tactics and style of play, and then retreated separately.The battle on the first day ended with the loss of several warships by the Japanese army, and the Tang army won a small victory. That night, the senior generals of both sides held a military meeting overnight to discuss tactics to defeat the enemy.The generals of the Japanese army agreed that they should carry forward the spirit of Bushido and take the initiative to attack, "we should fight first, and the other should retreat." At the same time, they used their own numerical advantages to encircle and destroy Tang's ships one by one with interspersed tactics. At the same time, Liu Rengui was also nervously thinking about how to deal with the enemy.Although the number of ships of the Tang Army is small, they are all equipped with cutting-edge weapons such as projectiles and crossbows, which can attack the Japanese army from a long distance. In addition, the Tang Army ships are huge, and they also have a condescending advantage in close confrontation with the Japanese ships. .In view of this, Liu Rengui decided to use fire attack tactics in the second day's battle. On August 27, the decisive battle between the Chinese and Japanese navies at Baijiangkou officially started. On the vast expanse of blue sea at Baijiang Estuary, warships were densely covered with thousands of sails. The Japanese navy adopted the established tactics and took the lead in attacking the Tang army by virtue of its absolute superiority in numbers.When a thousand Japanese warships rushed towards the Tang army in overwhelming momentum, thousands of arrows were fired from the Tang army's warships, and a large number of Japanese soldiers were killed by arrows in an instant. After the two armies fought, the Japanese army quickly inserted into the Tang Army fleet with shuttle tactics, and surrounded the Tang Army's ships with a six-to-one advantage.At this moment, the projectors on the Tang army ship suddenly threw countless fireballs, all of which hit the Japanese ship.In an instant, hundreds of Japanese warships ignited raging fires at the same time, billowing thick smoke into the sky, the sea was full of ghosts crying and wolves howling, and Japanese soldiers jumped into the sea to escape, but all of them became living targets for Tang army archers , Even if they were not burned to death and drowned, they were shot to death by arrows in the end. Unwilling to fail, the beleaguered Japanese navy reorganized four times in a row and launched four charges against the Tang army, but each time a large number of ships were destroyed and many soldiers were killed or injured.On this day, "the sky was scorching with smoke and the sea was completely red", and the Tang army "won all four battles, burning four hundred of its boats". (Volume 201) The remnants of the Japanese army hurriedly withdrew from the waters of Baijiangkou, spread their sails and fled back to Japan desperately.Subsequently, the Tang army advanced in both land and water, and quickly captured Zhouliu City, the headquarters of the Baekje Rebel Army. The Sino-Japanese naval battle that took place in the seventh century AD ended with the overall victory of the Chinese navy. At the same time, the naval battle of Baijiangkou was also the largest battle in the Baekje War. The victory of this battle declared the complete failure of the Baekje Restoration Movement.After the Japanese army withdrew from the Korean peninsula, King Fuyufeng of Baekje lost all hope and had to go into exile in Korea. His two sons Zhongsheng and Zhongzhi led the remnants of Baekje to surrender to the Tang army.Later, Baekje fierce generals Hei Chi Changzhi, Sha Zha Xiangru and others also led their troops to surrender one after another. So far, Baekje was once again conquered by the Tang army, leaving only one general named Chi Shouxin still guarding Ren Cuncheng. Liu Rengui knew that Heizhi Changzhi and Sha Zhaxiangru were both rare generals. In order to show his trust in them and make them completely loyal to the Tang Dynasty, Liu Rengui made a bold decision-to order the two to lead the old army and take charge of the offensive. In Rencuncheng, Tang Jun provided all the food, grass and equipment needed. This move was immediately strongly opposed by everyone.Master Sun Ren said: "These people are all human faces, how can they be trustworthy?" Liu Rengui said: "No. According to my observation, these two people are loyal, courageous, resourceful, trustworthy and righteous people, but they have not met the Lord of Ming Dynasty. If we treat each other with sincerity, they will be grateful and try to repay them. Your lords There is no need to doubt it." Facts have proved that Liu Rengui's judgment is correct. Hei Chi Chang Zhi and Sha Zha had no other intentions than each other. After receiving food, grass and supplies, they immediately led their troops to storm Ren Cuncheng.Chi Shouxin couldn't resist, so he had to leave all the cities, abandon his wife and children, and flee to Korea alone. At this point, the entire territory of Baekje finally returned to the hands of the Tang army. Ever since Su Dingfang fell short on the Baekje battlefield and withdrew his troops sadly, Liu Rengui was ordered in the face of danger and took the initiative to undertake an almost impossible task.No one would have thought that it was Liu Rengui, a 60-year-old man with no military experience, who not only allowed the isolated city of Xiongjin to stand tenaciously in the midst of powerful enemies, but also, at the moment when everyone decided to give up, he stood up with his own belief and courage. The light of hope was lit, and finally led the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty to win the glorious victory of the Baekje War. This is a legend of a hero who turned the tide and lifted the sky with one arm. No matter how many years pass by, Liu Rengui's legendary story will shine immortal light in the yellowed annals of history! After the war, Emperor Gaozong deliberately left Liu Rengui to guard Baekje, and ordered Liu Renyuan and Sun Rengui to return home.Liu Rengui took off his military uniform and began to devote himself to the post-war reconstruction of Baekje.It is said in history that "after the war in Baekje, the houses were withered and the corpses were everywhere. In the beginning of Rengui, the bones were collected, the household registration, the village gathering, the administrator, the channel painting, the bridge erection, the embankment repair, the pond restoration, and the cultivation Sang, to relieve the poor, to support the orphans and the elderly, to establish the Tang Sheji, to promulgate Zhengshuo and temple taboos; Baekje is very happy, and everyone in the country is safe. Then build farms, store embarrassing grain, train soldiers, and use it to map Korea." (Volume 2 ○ a) Liu Rengui finally fulfilled the promise he made when he was ordered in danger - I want to wipe out Dongyi and award the Great Tang Zhengshuo to Haibiao! The demise of Baekje inevitably gave Goryeo in the north a sense of fear. In the first year of Qianfeng (AD 666), Li Zhi, Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, who returned from Fengshan in Taishan, received a news that surprised him-Yuan Gai Suwen, a powerful official in Korea, died. A smile crept into the corner of Li Zhi's mouth. With Yuan Gai Su Wen dead, will the end of Goryeo be far behind?