In Liaodong, after the 20,000 troops sent by the Xi people were completely annihilated, the Khitan army that had sent troops halfway suddenly retreated. The Xi people's disastrous defeat made them suddenly realize the Tang army's strategy of siege and reinforcements.
After fierce internal debates, the Khitans finally became pragmatic, gave up the fight for Liucheng County, and began to prepare to retreat the old, weak, women and children to the northern grasslands.
But this was also very risky, as it could easily be annexed by other tribes. However, compared to being completely annihilated by the Tang army, being annexed by other tribes was only a possibility, so the Khitans finally chose to retreat.
At noon that day, the observation soldiers on the observation tower discovered through their clairvoyance that there were signs of the Khitan army gathering in the city. Although the Khitan was careful to conceal it through various means, it was still discovered by the powerful clairvoyant.
There are two observation towers, one on the east and one on the east side, both built on high places. Both are wooden towers, standing on high places. There are three observation soldiers on each observation tower.
In order to prevent being sniped by the Khitan's crossbows, a shield was erected on the sentry tower, several small holes were dug in the shield, and the clairvoyance was put out, and the person hid behind the shield.
The soldiers from the two sentry towers reported to their commander Guo Ziyi at the same time. Guo Ziyi immediately realized that the other party was about to break through.
He immediately summoned his left and right lieutenants Ma Lin, Nan Jiyun, general Zhang Dian and forward Xi Wanli, and the five of them discussed countermeasures together.
Ma Lin pointed at the sand table and said: "There should be Yingxin in the city who is in contact with Songmo Mansion, the Khitan's home base. The reason why they did not retreat before was because the Khitan really wanted to assist Liucheng. It should have been canceled now, so they broke out."
Guo Ziyi nodded, "There is some truth to this guess. What does General Nan think?"
Nan Jiyun pondered for a moment and said: "Beizhi believes that we must be prepared on both sides. If we really want to break through, we must be prepared to intercept and kill them. But if they pretend to break out, what is their true intention?"
Guo Ziyi thought for a while, pointed to the west of the Liao River with a wooden pole and said: "Currently, the Japanese army is still in the Bohai Kingdom, and there is no sign of marching westward. However, the Silla army has 20,000 to 30,000 people approaching the Liao River. It is possible that they want to rescue Liucheng.
It is unknown whether the Khitan army will retreat eastward to join the Silla army."
Zhang Dian said from the side: "I think we should remove the warships on the Liao River and let the Silla army march westward to swallow up this army."
Guo Ziyi nodded, "The warships on the Liao River no longer hinder them from crossing the river, leaving a hundred-mile wide crossing area for both Japan and Silla. If they want to cross the river to support the Khitan, they can do so at any time, but they are not stupid, even the Khitan themselves
We dare not come to support easily, not to mention they have their own agenda."
After a pause, Guo Ziyi said again: "General Nan is right. We need to prevent the Khitans from building plank roads openly and secretly attacking Chen Cang. Although the possibility is unlikely, we still can't be careless. Fortunately, our army has enough numbers and can be divided into two groups. Nan
General, you will lead 60,000 troops to garrison the south and east, and General Ma will lead 100,000 troops to deploy to the west and north. Once it is determined that the Khitans are fleeing north, General South will also send cavalry to support, and the rest will capture Liucheng!"
Ma Lin and Nan Jiyun saluted at the same time, "Obey the order!"
Guo Ziyi said to Xi Wanli again: "Once the Khitans flee north, your 30,000 cavalry will be the main force to intercept them. General Xi, don't let me down!"
Xi Wanli nodded solemnly, "I will do my best in this humble position!"
In Liucheng, Diecifeng did receive the Khan's order to withdraw northward. The Khitan army would not come to rescue Liucheng again and ordered the Khitan army to abandon Liucheng and withdraw northward.
Die Cifeng decided to break out of the encirclement that night. He started making preparations in the afternoon. Part of the army began to assemble. The 30,000-strong army packed up the necessary items and distributed the food and materials in the warehouse to the Khitan people in the city.
Although the Khitan army carefully concealed their presence for fear of being discovered by the Tang army's observation posts, various clues still revealed their intention to retreat.
As night fell, Diecifeng ordered all lights in the city to be turned off. Under the cover of darkness, 30,000 troops began to assemble.
Khitan soldiers all have war horses, which is the key to their courage to break through.
Die Cifeng was extremely nervous. He knew that it was impossible for all 30,000 troops to break out. After all, there were hundreds of thousands of Tang troops. If he could catch the Tang troops by surprise, he might be able to break out half of them.
Die Ci Feng sighed, if he could break through even half of the encirclement, he would be lucky.
He was afraid of being discovered by the Tang Army. The Tang Army had already made preparations. In that case, they would probably be able to break out with only a few thousand people at most, but that could only be destiny.
He had no choice but to resign himself to fate.
"Pass my order to break out at the first watch. Beicheng and Xicheng will set off at the same time!"
At the first watch, the North City Gate and the West City Gate opened at the same time, and 30,000 cavalry troops divided into two groups, like two torrents pouring out of the city, fleeing to the northwest like lightning.
As soon as the Khitan cavalry left the city, they were intercepted by 20,000 Tang troops led by Zhang Dian. In the darkness, tens of thousands of burning kerosene jars were thrown at the Khitan cavalry. The kerosene jars shattered on the ground and flames spread everywhere. The war horses were so frightened that they could not stop. As they were willing to move forward, countless cavalrymen were hit by fire oil cans, and the men and horses were covered in fire. In the chaos, the Tang army fired thousands of arrows, and the Khitan cavalry suffered numerous casualties.
The Khitan cavalry were so frightened that they fought hard to escape, but within a dozen miles of escape, 30,000 elite cavalry, led by Xi Wanli, came in overwhelming numbers. The Khitan cavalry had no fighting spirit. It was also at night, and they had no chance of fighting. Will, try your best to fight the horse and escape, but how can you escape?
The 30,000 cavalry led by Xi Wanli are the most powerful and brave cavalry in the Guanlong Army. They are also the guards of Emperor Li Ye. They are given the military name Longxiang. The Longxiang Army of the Guanlong Army refers to them. There are 50,000 people in total. The other 20,000 people were Li Ye's personal cavalry, and now they were the Longwu Army guarding the palace.
One of the biggest characteristics of this cavalry is that they are good at night fighting. They fought bravely to kill the enemy under the moonlight. They were all extremely brave. They killed the Khitan cavalry so much that they fell off their horses and suffered heavy casualties. This interception lasted for more than thirty miles. , most of the more than 20,000 Khitan cavalry who escaped from the crossbow array were killed, and only about 5,000 people broke out of the encirclement and fled to the northwest.
But there were 30,000 troops led by Ma Lin personally to intercept them. They could not escape at all, and the whole army was doomed to be destroyed.
The next morning, the entire interception battle was over. The Tang army could not guarantee whether anyone had escaped, but when the bodies were counted, more than 28,400 Khitan people were wiped out.
According to witnesses of Tang Army soldiers, it seemed that more than a thousand people successfully broke through.
It is true that only 1,500 Khitan cavalry succeeded in breaking through, Die Ci Feng and his soldiers, and some cavalry.
Die Ci Peak was about to cry but had no tears. Thirty thousand troops broke out, but only about 1,500 people broke out. How could he explain to the general?
But at this point, it was useless for him to cry. He could only lead the breakout soldiers to panic and flee towards the tooth tent like a bereaved dog.
The Tang army entered Liucheng County. This former last stronghold of the Han people in Liaodong had changed beyond recognition. More than half of the 35,000 residents in the city were Khitans, as well as Xi and Goguryeo people. There were only a few hundred Han households, and this Hundreds of households of Han people are no longer completely pure Han people. They have mixed blood, so they are unwilling to escape, and the Khitan will not do anything to them?
The Tang army would not massacre ordinary people, but they would not tolerate them continuing to live in Liaodong.
The emperor Li Ye had already made a decision, and the imperial court had also adopted a plan to deal with the foreign people. In a nutshell, it was just sixteen words: 'Eradicate the nobility, Hanize the common people, organize the people into households, divide and rule.'
This was the most effective way to deal with the Donghu people in Liaodong. It was also the same method used to destroy Goguryeo in the early years of the Tang Dynasty. However, the Tang Dynasty did not do it thoroughly at that time. It did not eradicate the Goguryeo nobles and did not divide and rule, which resulted in huge hidden dangers and the disaster is still there today.
Guo Ziyi deeply understood the emperor's intentions. He also had a political vision and also saw the long term.
The Tang army set up a decomposition camp in Youzhou and escorted batches of people from Liaodong, where they were decomposed to all parts of the world.
Guo Ziyi immediately cleared out the nobles and cleared out the 322 noble families of all ethnic groups in Liucheng. Nearly 2,000 people were left behind, leaving the women and children behind. Hundreds of men over the age of 16 were escorted south first. Of course, they In the end, I will no longer be able to go to Youzhou Camp, and will completely disappear from the world.
Immediately afterwards, tens of thousands of ordinary people packed up their belongings and set off. Most families had livestock carts, and even if they didn't, they could still take their neighbors' carts.
The soldiers of the Tang Army shouted one after another: "Go to Youzhou, the imperial court will accommodate you. There is a way to survive. If you don't want to go, it will be a dead end."
Under the strong expulsion of the Tang army, on the morning of the third day, tens of thousands of Liucheng people were panic-stricken. They packed up their belongings and, escorted by 10,000 Tang army cavalry, drove south in carts with their families.
This is just the first batch of Donghu people to be repatriated south.