Sui Shu Interpretation - Reading History to Observe the World. Interpretation of the Twenty-Five Histories

Author: Bai Yulin, Zeng Zhihua, Zhang Xinke / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-07-01
Features:
23. What was the "Three Expeditions to Goguryeo"? Goguryeo was located in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. During Emperor Wen of Sui, the King of Goguryeo, Gao Yuan, allied with the Mohe to raid Liaoxi, but was repelled by the Sui army. He sent envoys to apologize and the conflict ceased. Emperor Yang of Sui, seeking to reclaim the former territory of Liaodong, used the excuse that the King of Goguryeo refused to attend the imperial court and ordered an eastern expedition. The three expeditions against Goguryeo were all personally led by Emperor Yang, with nearly identical routes. The first expedition occurred in the eighth year of the Daye era (612). That year, in February, the army gathered in Zhuojun (now southwest of Beijing), numbering 1.13 million people, divided into twenty-four divisions. Emperor Yang personally led six divisions to bring up the rear. The army moved in a continuous line, with drums and horns echoing, banners stretching for over a thousand miles, directly toward Liaodong. The naval force, led by Lai Huo'er, set sail from Donglai, heading toward Pyeongyang. The Goguryeo army defended the city fiercely. Although the naval force achieved some initial victories when landing, they suffered a major defeat in Pyeongyang. Yu Wenшу and others led a land army of over 300,000 to attack Pyeongyang, but due to lack of supplies, they had to withdraw. The Goguryeo army counterattacked from all sides, and the Sui army suffered a crushing defeat at the Sa River (now the Chongchon River). Only 2,700 soldiers returned to Liaodong after the battle. Unwilling to accept defeat, Emperor Yang launched the second expedition against Goguryeo in the ninth year of the Daye era. Just as the land army was advancing to Liaodong and the naval force was about to set sail, Yang Xuangan suddenly rebelled in Liyang (now Jin County, Henan), besieging the eastern capital. Upon learning of this, Emperor Yang immediately withdrew his troops and returned to quell the internal unrest. The Goguryeo army pursued and inflicted heavy losses on the Sui army. In the tenth year of the Daye era, Emperor Yang launched the third expedition against Goguryeo with the determination to "move mountains and seas." Lai Huo'er's army reached Bishan City (now Dahuishan in Jin County, Liaoning) and defeated the Goguryeo army. Just as they were about to attack Pyeongyang, Goguryeo sent envoys to surrender, capturing and sending back the rebel general Gong Sizheng. Seeing the dire situation in his homeland, Emperor Yang used this as an excuse to withdraw and instead suppressed the peasant uprisings. The three expeditions against Goguryeo inflicted severe damage on the Sui Dynasty. First, the preparations for the expeditions: In the fourth year of the Daye era, the Yongji Canal was dug to connect Henan to Zhuojun for transportation. In the sixth year, the wealthy were ordered to raise warhorses, and a nationwide survey of military equipment was conducted. In the seventh year, General Yuan Hongsi was sent to Donglai (now Ye County, Shandong) to build 300 ships at the coastal port. Officials worked day and night in the water to oversee the labor, with many dying from worms growing below the waist—about one-third of the workforce perished. First, laborers and boatmen from Jianghuai and the south were sent to transport grain from Liyang and Luokou warehouses to Zhuojun. Next, ox-drawn carts were used to transport grain to Liaoxi. The ox-drawn carts never returned, so sixty thousand human-drawn carts (small labor carts) were deployed. Each pair of laborers pushed three stone loads of grain, but the long distance meant they could not even feed themselves, forcing them to flee when they arrived with no grain to deliver. Later, laborers from northern Henan were mobilized to supply the army, while carts from Henan, Huainan, and Jiangnan were ordered to transport 50,000 war carts to Gaoyang (now Hebei). As a result, fleets stretched for over a thousand miles, carrying grain, military supplies, and equipment, with tens of thousands of people constantly traveling back and forth, causing traffic congestion, deaths piled upon one another, and stench filling the roads. The entire nation was in turmoil. Second, during the three expeditions, the Sui Dynasty suffered heavy battlefield casualties. However, during the first and second expeditions, although the battles were fierce, the soldiers' morale was exceptionally high. By the third expedition, the nation was already in chaos, and half the soldiers recruited had already fled along the way. In summary, Emperor Yang's three expeditions against Goguryeo were a failure. Scholars generally attribute the reasons to the following:
1. The emperor personally led the campaign, giving distant commands.
2. No unified commander was appointed, leading to divided authority.
3. The army was overextended and supplies were difficult to sustain.
4. The enemy was still strong, with no opportunity to exploit weaknesses. Among these, the third point is considered the fundamental cause. P20-21