Chapter 574 Seizing the Peninsula
Chapter 574 Seizing the Peninsula
Wang Junkuo's move was indeed ruthless. The border wall was also built with large stones. When building the border wall, the Goguryeo people only considered safety, but never thought that this mile-long border wall would one day become their catastrophe.
More than a thousand Sui soldiers worked together, and the mile-long side wall collapsed with a loud bang. All that could be heard was a scream of terror. "Boom!" With a loud bang, the heavy side wall fell heavily on the heads of the people crowded below, and dust flew everywhere. Thousands of people were crushed to death by the stone wall.
Not only did it kill thousands of people, it also caused a large section of the stone wall on the fourth-level passage below to collapse, and buried thousands of Goguryeo soldiers on the third level.
The Sui soldiers rushed to the fourth floor, stepped on the collapsed stone wall, and found a Goguryeo soldier still breathing below, so they shot him to death.
In just a moment, more than 6,000 Goguryeo soldiers were killed. The Sui army followed the same method and pushed down the fourth layer of the stone wall. The Goguryeo soldiers on the third layer had nowhere to escape and were knocked down and buried by the stone wall while screaming in despair.
Xiao Xia could see clearly from a distance at the foot of the mountain. He saw sections of stone walls collapsing. The soldiers below had nowhere to hide and were buried by the stone walls amid screams. Even if they did not die, their bones were broken and they were stabbed to death by spears during the subsequent cleanup by the Sui army.
The Goguryeo soldiers who had been defending the entrance to Yaocheng City began to turn around and scrambled to escape to the city wall below. They raised their hands one by one and shouted to surrender, but surrender was of no use. They were greeted by waves of arrows, and in a moment, the city wall was filled with corpses.
Xiao Xia remained unmoved and allowed Luo Shixin to massacre the surrendered Goguryeo soldiers. The fishermen on Longwei Island turned evil for good and slaughtered the Sui soldiers, which left a very bad impression on Xiao Xia. The Goguryeo people had been branded as treacherous by Xiao Xia, and leaving them behind would be a major hidden danger and would endanger the safety of the soldiers guarding them.
Half an hour later, Yaocheng became completely quiet. Teams of soldiers were searching for surviving Goguryeo soldiers, and when they found them, they stabbed them to death with a spear.
All 20,000 Goguryeo soldiers in Beishe City were killed, leaving no one alive, which meant that the Liaodong Peninsula began to change hands.
At this time, Fei Qingnu hurriedly found Xiao Xia to report, "When I was interrogating other crew members, I got another piece of news. There is a high possibility that a plague has broken out in Liaodong!"
Xiao Xia frowned, "How do they know?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, a plague suddenly broke out among the captured civilians, causing the Goguryeo troops escorting them to be infected. This matter has spread widely, and it is said to have started in Liaodong."
Xiao Xia immediately ordered: "All soldiers who have been to the enemy ships must be quarantined. Do not touch the supplies and food on the ships. Keep a close eye on the enemy crew members. If they vomit or have diarrhea, report it immediately!"
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Xia added, "There is a large amount of quicklime in the warehouse in the city. You can use the quicklime to sprinkle all the supplies and food on the enemy ship."
"I humbly obey my orders!"
Because quicklime is an important building material, there is a large stock of it in the city of Bishe, which is just right for disinfection.
Xiao Xia then divided his troops into six groups, leaving one group to guard Bishe City, and the other five groups marched north to eliminate all Goguryeo strongholds on the Liaodong Peninsula and drive the Goguryeo people back to their country. This time Xiao Xia issued an order to collect prisoners of war, as they were needed in Liaodong.
Hundreds of warships also followed the Sui army northward along the coast.
Ten days later, several large armies arrived at the mouth of the Liaohe River one after another, and all the prisoners of war gathered together, numbering more than 10,000 people.
At noon, Shen Guang brought back a Goguryeo hunter who was half Han Chinese and could speak fluent Chinese.
The Goguryeo hunter sighed and said to Xiao Xia, "I advise the general to stop here! It's too tragic. All the people of the Sui Dynasty and Goguryeo died. They were all infected with the disease. The surviving Sui army retreated. The civilians suffered the most. Even if they were not infected with the disease, they would die on the way. No one can return alive."
"Where is the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty?"
"It seems that the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty left by boat, and the remaining soldiers have to walk back. With the plague god raging, how many people can return alive?"
"Have you ever been to Ningyuan Town, old man?"
The old hunter nodded. "I rowed there, but I didn't dare to go ashore. I could smell a foul stench on the Liao River, the stench of corpses. I wanted to get some weapons and bring them back, but I didn't dare to go ashore. I didn't dare to touch anything, so I fled back."
"There's no one left in Goguryeo?"
"There's no one left. Some of the people died, some fled. Even in the northernmost city of Buyeo, many people died. Those who are still alive have all run away. General, go back! There are dead bodies ahead. Come back and have a look in a year." Xiao Xia had no choice but to order the troops to stay camped there and wait for the ship to arrive before returning to Bishe City.
At night, the general You Junda, who was in charge of guarding the prisoners, came to report, "Your Highness, there is an epidemic among the prisoners!"
Xiao Xia was shocked and asked anxiously, "How many people are infected?"
"There are more than a hundred people, all prisoners of war from Jili City!"
Jili City is the northernmost small military city on the Liaodong Peninsula. It was captured by Luo Shixin, who captured more than 800 Goguryeo soldiers.
At this time, Xiao Xia was no longer sleepy and immediately ordered someone to find Luo Shixin.
Not long after, Luo Shixin hurried over and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness!"
Xiao Xia said to him solemnly, "The prisoners of war in Jili City have been infected with the plague. There are more than a hundred of them. Have any of your soldiers become ill?"
Luo Shixin was startled and quickly shook his head, saying, "I don't know either. I'll go check it out right away."
"Wait a minute!"
Xiao Xia called him, "You must lead your troops to Beishe City by boat immediately and manage the ships accordingly. After arriving in Beishe City, if you find any soldiers on any ship suffering from vomiting and diarrhea, immediately isolate the soldiers on the entire ship and prevent them from coming into contact with soldiers on other ships. Then ask the military doctor to treat them. Beishe City has medicine!"
"I understand the humble position!"
Luo Shixin left in a hurry, and Xiao Xia said to You Junda beside him: "Tomorrow morning, give each prisoner two dou of rice and release them all to go home. Soldiers should be careful and not drink water or eat food casually!"
"Yes, sir!" You Junda agreed and left.
The next morning, all the Goguryeo prisoners of war were released. Each of them was given two dou of rice and hurriedly headed towards Goguryeo.
After the prisoners of war left, Xiao Xia began to check his own army. He checked three times and made sure that no one had any abnormal illness. Then he led his army onto the warships and returned to Bishe City.
Three days later, the fleet arrived at Bishe City. Luo Shixin, who arrived earlier, came to report, "Your Highness, none of my men have been infected with the disease!"
The incubation period of the plague is only three days, and it has been six days since the capture of Jili City. If there is no outbreak, then nothing will happen.
At this time, Fei Qingnu also came to report that none of the crew members of the captured ship were infected with the plague, and all the supplies had been sprinkled with quicklime twice.
Only then did Xiao Xia feel completely relieved.
At the same time, Xiao Xia released a Goguryeo cargo ship and asked the manager to take the letter he had written to Gao Yuan back so that the two sides could discuss the exchange of prisoners of war.
After resting for three days, Xiao Xia ordered Fei Qingnu to lead 3,000 troops to garrison Beishe City, and he led the army back to Donglai County.
It was very close from Beishe City to Donglai County, and the fleet arrived at Longtou Port in just two days.
At this time, more than a thousand cargo ships from Longtou Port had transported a batch of supplies back from Longwei Island.
The next morning, Xiao Xia led a group of soldiers and a large amount of medicinal herbs and quicklime back to Longwei Island.
(End of this chapter)