Editing Goguryeo (section)

====Goguryeo–Silla War, Goguryeo-Tang War and the Silla–Tang alliance====
{{Main|Goguryeo–Tang War|First campaign in the Goguryeo–Tang War|Siege of Ansi}}
[[Image:History of Korea-645.png|300px|thumb|right|First campaign in the Goguryeo–Tang War.]]

In the winter of 642, [[Yeongnyu of Goguryeo|King Yeongnyu]] was apprehensive about [[Yeon Gaesomun]], one of the great nobles of Goguryeo,<ref name="Medieval Chinese Warfare 300-900">{{cite book|last1=Graff|first1=David|title=Medieval Chinese Warfare 300–900|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1134553532|page=196|url={{GBurl|id=gpmBAgAAQBAJ|p=196}}|access-date=3 November 2016|language=en|date=2003}}</ref> and plotted with other officials to kill him. However, Yeon Gaesomun caught news of the plot and killed Yeongnyu and 100 officials, initiating a [[coup d'état]]. He proceeded to enthrone Yeongnyu's nephew, Go Jang, as [[Bojang of Goguryeo|King Bojang]] while wielding de facto control of Goguryeo himself as the Dae Magniji ({{Korean|hangul=대막리지|hanja=大莫離支|labels=no}}; a position equivalent to a modern era dual office of [[prime minister]] and [[generalissimo]]). At the outset of his rule, Yeon Gaesomun took a brief conciliatory stance toward Tang China. For instance, he supported [[Taoism in Korea|Taoism]] at the expense of [[Korean Buddhism|Buddhism]], and to this effect in 643, sent emissaries to the Tang court requesting Taoist sages, eight of whom were brought to Goguryeo. This gesture is considered by some historians as an effort to pacify Tang and buy time to prepare for the Tang invasion Yeon thought inevitable given his ambitions to annex Silla.

However, Yeon Gaesomun took an increasingly provocative stance against [[Silla|Silla Korea]] and [[Tang dynasty|Tang China]]. Soon, Goguryeo formed an alliance with Baekje and invaded Silla, Daeya-song (modern Hapchon) and around 40 border fortresses were conquered by the Goguryeo-Baekje alliance.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cartwright|first=Mark|title=Goguryeo|date=2016-10-05|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Three_Kingdoms_Period_in_Korea|website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]}} Retrieved February 28, 2021</ref> Since the early 7th century, Silla had been forced on the defensive by both Baekje and Goguryeo, which had not yet formally allied but had both desired to erode Sillan power in the Han Valley. During the reign of King [[Jinpyeong of Silla]], numerous fortresses were lost to both Goguryeo and the continuous attacks took a toll on Silla and its people.<ref name="100.nate.com">{{cite web |script-title=ko:진평왕 |url=http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=K&i=271861&v=42 |website=[[Academy of Korean Studies]]| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610011238/http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=K&i=271861&v=42 | archive-date=2011-06-10 }}</ref> During Jinpyeong's reign, Silla made repeated requests beseeching Sui China to attack Goguryeo.<ref name="100.nate.com"/> Although these invasions were ultimately unsuccessful, in 643, once again under pressure from the Goguryeo–Baekje alliance, Jinpyeong's successor, [[Queen Seondeok of Silla]], requested military aid from Tang. Although Taizong had initially dismissed Silla's offers to pay tribute and its requests for an alliance on account of Seondeok being a woman, he later accepted the offer due to Goguryeo's growing belligerence and hostile policy towards both Silla and Tang. In 644, Tang began preparations for a major campaign against Goguryeo.<ref name="Medieval Chinese Warfare 300-900"/>

In 645, [[Emperor Taizong of Tang|Emperor Taizong]], who had a personal ambition to defeat Goguryeo and was determined to succeed where [[Emperor Yang of Sui|Emperor Yang]] had failed, personally led an attack on Goguryeo. The Tang army captured a number of Goguryeo fortresses, including the important [[Yodong Fortress|Yodong/Liaodong Fortress]] (遼東城, in modern [[Liaoyang]], [[Liaoning]]). During his first campaign against Goguryeo, Taizong famously showed generously to the defeated inhabitants of numerous Goguryeo fortresses, refusing to permit his troops to loot downs and enslave inhabitants and when faced with protest from his commanders and soldiers, rewarded them with his own money.<ref name="Medieval Chinese Warfare 300–900">{{cite book |last1=Graff |first1=David |title=Medieval Chinese Warfare 300–900 |date=2001 |publisher=Routledge |page=197}}</ref> [[Ansi City]] (in modern [[Haicheng, Liaoning|Haicheng]], Liaoning), which was the last fortress that would clear the [[Liaodong Peninsula]] of significant defensive works and was promptly put under siege. Initially, Taizong and his forces achieve great progress, when his numerically inferior force smashed a Goguryeo relief force at the [[Battle of Mount Jupil]]. Goguryeo's defeat at Mount Jupil had significant consequences, as Tang forces killed over 20,000 Goguryeo soldiers and captured another 36,800, which crippled Goguryeo's manpower reserves for the rest of the conflict.<ref name="Medieval Chinese Warfare 300–900"/> However, the capable defense put up by Ansi's commanding general (whose name is controversial but traditionally is believed to be [[Yang Manchun]]) stymied Tang forces and, in late fall, with winter fast approaching and his supplies running low, Tang forces under the command Prince Li Daozong attempted to build a rampart to seize the city in a last ditch effort, but was foiled when Goguryeo troops managed to seize control of it. Afterwards, Taizong decided to withdraw in the face of incoming Goguryeo reinforcements, deteriorating weather conditions and the difficult supply situation. The campaign was unsuccessful for the Tang Chinese,<ref name="World History P464"/> failing to capture Ansi Fortress after a protracted siege that lasted more than 60 days.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Yi|first1=Ki-baek|title=A New History of Korea|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674615762|page=48|url={{GBurl|id=g2mdVwXpMzwC|p=48}}|access-date=2 November 2016|language=en|year=1984}}</ref> Emperor Taizong invaded Goguryeo again in 647 and 648, but was defeated both times.<ref name="Kim">{{cite book|last1=Kim|first1=Jinwung|title=A History of Korea: From "Land of the Morning Calm" to States in Conflict|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253000781|page=50|url={{GBurl|id=QFPsi3IK8gcC|q=%22In+647+and+648+Taizong+again+dispatched+expeditionary+forces+to+invade+Kogury%C5%8F%2C+but+these+attacks%2C+too%2C+were+repulsed+by+Kogury%C5%8F.+Taizong+never+accomplished+his+ambition+to+conquer+Kogury%C5%8F+in+his+lifetime.%22}}|access-date=2 August 2016|language=en|date=2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Ebrey|first1=Patricia Buckley|last2=Walthall|first2=Anne|last3=Palais|first3=James B.|title=East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, Volume I: To 1800|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1111808150|page=106|url={{GBurl|id=CWE8AAAAQBAJ|q=%22Still+convinced+that+he+could+defeat+Koguryo%2C+Taizong+dispatched+two+more+expeditions+against+it+in+647+and+648%2C+neither+of+them+successful.%22}}|access-date=4 August 2016|language=en|year=2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Tucker|first1=Spencer C.|title=A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1851096725|page=406|url={{GBurl|id=h5_tSnygvbIC|q=%22In+645+he+led+Tang+forces+to+conquer+Koguryo+but+was+defeated.+Again+in+647+and+648+he+sent+out+expeditionary+forces+to+invade+Koguryo%2C+but+these+attacks+were+also+repulsed+by+the+Korean+kingdom.%22}}|access-date=4 August 2016|language=en|date=2009}}</ref><ref name="Wei">{{cite book|last1=Chen|first1=Jack Wei|title=The Poetics of Sovereignty: On Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674056084|page=43|url={{GBurl|id=5wlDivOQGakC|p=43}}|access-date=4 August 2016|language=en|year=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Guo|first1=Rongxing|title=Intercultural Economic Analysis: Theory and Method|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1441908490|page=42|url={{GBurl|id=dbJ3LsL6jJMC|q=%22The+subsequent+dynasty%2C+Tang+%28AD+618%E2%80%93907%29%2C+dispatched+three+unsuccessful+expeditions+against+Koguryo+in+AD+644%2C+648%2C+and+655.%22}}|access-date=4 August 2016|language=en|date=2009}}</ref>

[[File:Korean ambassadors to the Tang court, 7th century CE.jpg|thumb|Painting of envoys from the Three Kingdoms of Korea to the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] court: Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo. ''[[Portraits of Periodical Offering]]'', circa 650 AD, Tang dynasty]]
[[File:Korean ambassadors during a audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab, Samarkand.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|Goguryeo ambassadors during an audience with King [[Varkhuman]] of [[Samarkand]]. They are identified by the two feathers on top of their head.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Library |first1=British |title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith |year=2004 |publisher=Serindia Publications, Inc. |isbn=978-1-932476-13-2 |page=110 |url={{GBurl|id=ArWLD4Qop38C|p=110}} |language=en}}</ref> 648–651 AD, [[Afrasiab murals]], Samarkand.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baumer |first1=Christoph |title=History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set |date=18 April 2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83860-868-2 |page=243 |url={{GBurl|id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ|pg=RA1-PA243}} |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |title=Maracanda/Samarkand, une métropole pré-mongole |journal=Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales |date=2004 |volume=5/6 |page=Fig. C |url=https://www.cairn.info/journal-annales-2004-5-page-1043.htm}}</ref>]]
Emperor Taizong prepared another invasion in 649, but died in the summer, possibly due to an illness he contracted during his Korean campaigns.<ref name="Wei" /><ref name="Kim" /> His son [[Emperor Gaozong of Tang|Emperor Gaozong]] continued his campaigns. Upon the suggestion of [[Muyeol of Silla|Kim Chunchu]], the Silla–Tang alliance first conquered [[Baekje]] in 660 to break up the Goguryeo–Baekje alliance, and then turned its full attention to Goguryeo.<ref name="oceania">{{cite book|last1=Ring|first1=Trudy|last2=Watson|first2=Noelle|last3=Schellinger|first3=Paul|title=Asia and Oceania: International Dictionary of Historic Places|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136639791|page=486|url={{GBurl|id=voerPYsAB5wC|q=stalwart+defenses}}|access-date=16 July 2016|language=en|date=2012}}</ref> However, Emperor Gaozong, too, was unable to defeat Goguryeo led by [[Yeon Gaesomun]];<ref name="oceania" /><ref name="maps">{{cite book|last1=Injae|first1=Lee|last2=Miller|first2=Owen|last3=Jinhoon|first3=Park|last4=Hyun-Hae|first4=Yi|title=Korean History in Maps|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1107098466|page=29|url={{GBurl|id=46OTBQAAQBAJ|p=29}}|access-date=4 August 2016|language=en|date=2014}}</ref> one of Yeon Gaesomun's most notable victories came in 662 at the ''Battle of Sasu'' (蛇水), where he annihilated the Tang forces and killed the invading ex-rebel [[Nanman]] general Pang Xiaotai (龐孝泰) and all 13 of his sons.<ref>{{cite book|last1=이희진|date=2013|script-title=ko:옆으로 읽는 동아시아 삼국지 1|publisher=EastAsia |isbn=978-8962620726|url={{GBurl|id=GfevAwAAQBAJ|pg=PT348}}|access-date=4 November 2016|language=ko}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|script-title=ko:통일기|url=http://www.culturecontent.com/content/contentView.do?search_div_id=CP_THE003&cp_code=cp0901&index_id=cp09010004&content_id=cp090100040001&search_left_menu=1|website=한국콘텐츠진흥원|publisher=Korea Creative Content Agency|access-date=4 November 2016}}</ref> Therefore, while Yeon Gaesomun was alive, Tang could not defeat Goguryeo.<ref>{{cite book|last1=김용만|year=1998|script-title=ko:고구려의발견: 새로쓰는고구려문명사|publisher=바다출판사|isbn=978-8987180212|page=486|url={{GBurl|id=0iN1PAAACAAJ|q=%EA%B3%A0%EA%B5%AC%EB%A0%A4%EC%9D%98+%EB%B0%9C%EA%B2%AC}}|access-date=4 November 2016|language=ko}}</ref>