The city gate was wide open. Gao Yuanbao, disheveled and dressed in white, came out with his wife, concubines and several grandchildren to surrender. He was followed by the Quan family, the Lu family and the Pei family. These were the four major families of Pingzhou Goguryeo, which belonged to the ruling family.
Of course, there are some small and medium-sized families, but they have little influence. It is mainly these four families that rule the Goguryeo people in Pingzhou.
"The sinful minister Gao Yuanbao has betrayed Heaven's grace and deserves death."
Gao Yuanbao's voice trembled. He had already guessed the fate of his two sons, which made him feel like a knife.
At this time, the main general who came forward was Guo Ziyi. He said calmly: "On the shore of the country, are you the king's ministers? There is no Goguryeo in the world, only the people of the Tang Dynasty. It is indeed a serious crime for you to train the army without authorization and fight against the imperial court. I have no power."
As punishment for you, I have to send you to Chang'an to be punished by the imperial court."
He waved his hand and said: "Take them down!"
Hundreds of soldiers came forward, put more than a hundred people from the four major families into carriages prepared in advance, and escorted them away. From then on, no one knew about them anymore. They may have died or they may have been exiled.
to the far west.
The army entered the city and asked all Goguryeo people to pack up their things and assemble outside the city. They would be sent to Youzhou.
Suddenly, the city was filled with cries. Some people were crying because their sons and husbands had died in the war, and even more people were crying because they were driven out of their homes.
Guo Ziyi's heart is as hard as iron and he has no mercy at all. He also knows that the problem of the Goguryeo people must be solved once and for all, otherwise disaster will happen sooner or later.
Groups of people supported the old and the young, holding large bags and small bags in their hands, and were driven out of Pinglu City. Basically all the Pingzhou Goguryeo people lived in Pinglu City. This was done by their ruling class to facilitate management.
He took measures to drive away all the Han people in the city and move all the Goguryeo people scattered around into the city.
In the end, it facilitated the liquidation of the Tang army. There were more than 180,000 people in total, less than 200,000, about 40,000 families, with an average of one soldier for every two families, forming an army of 20,000 people.
Now all 20,000 soldiers have been killed, leaving only more than 10,000 young and strong men, and the rest are almost all old, weak, women and children.
The procession moved slowly, and there were thousands of carts with old people and children sitting on them. They left their homes in despair.
Just a few days after the Goguryeo people were cleared out of the city, Han people living in various places in Pingzhou rushed into Pinglu County to seize houses and search for property. Soon, they became the new owners of Pinglu County.
This is the historical cycle of every city. Wave after wave, the old ones are cleared out, and new people come again. This is the so-called iron camp and flowing soldiers.
Don't expect that the city you live in will have traces of several generations of ancestors. In fact, it is only a few generations, and it may be longer now. During the war, human life is like a leek, one crop grows after another.
Two hundred thousand Goguryeo people lined up in a long queue and were escorted to the Youzhou refugee camp.
But they were lucky. They met the kind-hearted Guo Ziyi. While adhering to his principles, Guo Ziyi also tried not to abuse these people, letting the elderly and children sit on the cart, and other young and middle-aged people.
While walking, Tang troops distributed food along the way.
The team rested for a night, and early the next morning, 200,000 people continued to stumble westward. At this time, only 20,000 troops of the Tang army led by Li Sheng remained among the Tang troops who escorted them.
Guo Ziyi led 30,000 cavalry and went north to Yuyang.
Two days later, two armies of 30,000 men met south of Yuyang County, which meant that the final battle of annihilation was about to begin.
There is a model of Yuyang County on the table in the big tent. This was brought by Lai Yi and given to him by Li Ye who sent someone from Youzhou.
Guo Ziyi carefully looked at the model of the county seat. Yuyang County is at best a medium-sized county with a capacity of only tens of thousands of people. Now it has squeezed in 30,000 troops, plus a small number of Goguryeo people living in Jizhou.
There shouldn't be too many Han people in the city.
"Do you have any specific information?" Guo Ziyi asked.
"have!"
Lai Yi handed a piece of information to Guo Ziyi, "This is what an official in the city named Fu Yuangui managed to bring out to us."
Guo Ziyi took the information and looked at it. There were less than a thousand Han people in the city, only a few hundred. They were basically the family members and servants of officials. There were no ordinary people left.
"Is this Fu Yuangui still in the city?" Guo Ziyi asked.
Lai Ai smiled in surprise and said, "He should be in Pinglu County! He followed his boss Wang Zuyou to Pinglu County for negotiations. Didn't the old general meet him?"
Guo Ziyi shook his head, "After Pinglu County surrendered, we did not encounter Zhu Si's officials. They should have left Pingzhou and returned."
"No!"
Lai Yi was very sure: "In fact, all the official roads leading to Yuyang County have been blocked by the scouts of the Beizong faction. If they come back, they will definitely be discovered by the Beizong faction, and Fu Yuangui will not come back again. It is possible that they have gone
Youzhou.”
Guo Ziyi said slowly: "Don't worry about him, we will attack Yuyang County tonight!"
The battle plan for Yuyang County has long been formulated. This plan is called Burning the City with Fierce Fire. As you can tell from the name, it means burning Yuyang City with fire, forcing the enemy troops in the city to come out, and then using the cavalry to destroy them.
Although this plan will cause harm to the people in the city, there is no other way. This is war. War is the most cruel social elimination. Only the strong can survive.
What's more, Zhu Si's idea of expelling the people and replacing troops drove away most of the people and did the Tang army a big favor.
At two o'clock in the morning, 60,000 Tang troops surrounded Yuyang County from all directions. The cavalry was responsible for surrounding the city gates. There were only two city gates in the north and south of Yuyang County, which had been completely blocked by the cavalry.
Thirty thousand infantrymen approached the city wall, about 200 steps away from the city wall. They raised their crossbows and aimed gunpowder arrows at the city.
At this time, Zhu Si, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by a fierce knock on the door.
"What's the matter?" Zhu Si asked angrily.
"Reporting to my lord, tens of thousands of Tang troops outside are about to attack the city!"
This sentence was like a basin of cold water splashed on the face. Zhu Si sat up and asked in horror: "Does General Li Chenglie know?"
"He knows that he is already deploying defenses!"
Li Chenglie was Zhu Si's deputy general and a Xiren general. He was once Shi Siming's general and had rich practical experience.
Zhu Si breathed a sigh of relief and said to the concubines sleeping beside him: "Hurry up and put on my armor, I want to go to the city!"
The women worked hard to dress Zhu Si and put on the rules. Zhu Si left the house and got on his horse.
At this moment, he saw a string of bright red lights flying in the sky. Zhu Si was stunned for a moment, what is this?
Immediately afterwards, flames appeared in the air from all directions and flew towards the city. Balls of fire rushed into the city, and everything in the city was ignited.
Zhu Si was shocked and shouted: "Sound the alarm, everyone, get up!"
"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"
The alarm bells rang loudly in Yuyang County. At the same time, the second round of gunpowder arrows flew into the city. Sixty thousand gunpowder arrows had already entered the city, and fires broke out everywhere in the city.
At this time, sixty large trebuchets rumbled forward, targeting the defenders at the top of the city.
When the whole city is burning with fire, the city walls are the only place to escape.
Thirty thousand soldiers of the Tang Army fired gunpowder arrows into the city in an orderly manner. Although the soldiers on the top of the city also fired arrows at the Tang Army in counterattack, it was basically ineffective.
The Tang army's positions were spread out, it was night, and the distance was far away. Even if the arrows could hit them at a distance of 250 steps, they would still be weak and could not penetrate the armor and helmets of the Tang soldiers.
Sixty large trebuchets also started firing, and burning clay pots filled with kerosene were thrown towards the city. In an instant, fires broke out everywhere on the city, and even ignited the fire pits stored by the defenders on the city.
Oil tank.
In fact, the fire was not the most terrifying thing, but the thick smoke was the most deadly threat. An hour later, the entire Yuyang County was enveloped in billowing thick smoke.
The south city gate suddenly opened, and a large number of Khitan soldiers stumbled out, covering their mouths and noses. There were more than 4,000 of them. They would not suffocate to death in the city, nor would they obey orders.
Four thousand Khitan soldiers began to break through to survive. They ran desperately, and the rest broke through the Tang army's blockade.
But what greeted them was ruthless killing by the Tang army's cavalry.
The reason is very simple. The 10,000 troops who followed Zhu Si were all Hu people, and then came the 10,000 Goguryeo troops, which were the Goguryeo troops in Jizhou. The main generals were Wang Siyi, the former Meihua Guard commander who fled back to Jizhou from Luoyang, and Wang Sili, the general.
Brothers.
Finally, there is the 10,000 Khitan army, which is the vanguard of the Khitan people's attempt to invade Youzhou. Their joining Zhu Si's army also reflects the Khitan's support for Zhu Si.
These 30,000 people are an army that the Tang army will not accept surrender and will definitely kill them all.
Xi Wanli shouted: "Send the order to the whole army, if they do not accept surrender, kill them all!"
