Chapter 604 Forced to Surrender
Chapter 604 Forced to Surrender
The ships had sent 100,000 civilians back to Hebei, giving each of them three dou of rice and letting them go home on their own. The fleet then returned and began to transport various food and supplies to Donglai County.
At this time, Xiao Xia led an army of 30,000 troops southward from the western route of Goguryeo. The western route was very close to the sea, and 300 large ships provided them with supplies along the way. They replenished supplies once at the mouth of the Cheongcheon River, crossed the Cheongcheon River and continued southward. Two days later, the army was only 30 miles away from Pyongyang City.
All the soldiers stopped to rest and eat, and each of them drank a bowl of medicine to prevent the plague. Their medicine was made by boiling isatis root, mugwort and honeysuckle together. These three medicines are very effective in treating plague in folk medicine, and practice has shown that they are more effective in preventing plague.
At this time, a soldier came to report that the King of Goguryeo sent an envoy. The envoy was Yuan Wending, whom Xiao Xia had met before. Yuan Wending was shocked to see that the commander was actually Xiao Xia. He thought that the emperor of Sui Dynasty was leading the army in person.
Seeing his surprised face, Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Does the ambassador think that the emperor is leading the army in person?"
Yuan Wending shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I really didn't expect it was Your Highness. May I ask Your Highness, how is General Yizhi doing?"
Xiao Xia said calmly: "On the battlefield, it's a life-and-death struggle. Since he lost, how can the ending be good? He was seriously injured and can't be cured."
Xiao Xia waved his hand, "Bring them all up here!"
More than a thousand ordinary Goguryeo people from Wugut City were brought up. Xiao Xia said, "These are ordinary people. Give them to the ambassador to take back."
Yuan Wending nodded, "There should be more prisoners of war!"
Xiao Xia said without comment: "Of course there are still prisoners of war, but whether to release them depends on your attitude!"
Yuan Wending bowed and said, "Goguryeo has been devastated by the plague and is extremely weak. It is no longer able to resist the Celestial Empire's army. Goguryeo is willing to surrender to the Celestial Empire. I beg Your Highness to grant my permission!"
Xiao Xia said calmly: "The imperial court has withdrawn its troops. Now attacking Goguryeo has nothing to do with the imperial court. I have the final say!"
"I beg Your Highness to be lenient and spare Goguryeo!"
Xiao Xia shook his head. "I still suggest that you fight me. Maybe you can defeat me. My surrender conditions are very harsh. You will definitely not be able to accept them."
"Your Highness, please speak clearly!"
"I have only one condition: Goguryeo retreats to the south of the Taedong River, and both sides use the Taedong River as the border!"
Yuan Wending opened his mouth for a long time without closing it. He actually let Goguryeo retreat to the south of the Taedong River. How could this be possible?
"Your Highness, is there no room for negotiation?"
Xiao Xia shook his head. "I advise you to save your troops and keep them for dealing with Silla and Baekje! If you must fight the Sui army, I will definitely accompany you."
Xiao Xia immediately ordered Yi Ji Wende's nephew and dozens of personal soldiers to take Yi Ji Wende's body back to Pyongyang City, and Yuan Wending also said goodbye.
At this time, Xue Wanche stepped forward and said to Xiao Xia: "Your Highness, be careful that the other party will use the plague corpses to deal with us!"
Xiao Xia nodded, "You reminded us in time, we must be prepared!"
At this time, a scout reported that the supply fleet had arrived at the mouth of the Taedong River, and Zhou Fashang also led an army of 10,000 to Longwei Island.
Xiao Xia ordered all the soldiers to wear masks, sheepskin gloves, and hang mugwort bags close to their bodies. The army marched slowly, with scouts exploring in front.
This time, Xiao Xia's 30,000 troops include 20,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry. Because Yang Xuangan rebelled, Xiao Xia did not want to spend too much time and energy on Goguryeo. If he destroyed Goguryeo, he would need a lot of energy to deal with the aftermath, which would even benefit Silla and Baekje. It would be better to drive the wolf of Goguryeo to the south and let it play a game of Three Kingdoms with Silla and Baekje. "
The best thing would be to use intimidation to force Goguryeo to surrender on the battlefield rather than politically surrender.
Yuan Wending rushed back to Pyongyang and reported Xiao Xia's conditions to Gao Yuan, who was also stunned. They were asked to completely give up the area north of the Taedong River? How... how could this be possible?
Gao Jianwu was furious and said, "I would rather die with my country than accept such a humiliating condition!"
"What does Mo Lizhi think?" Gao Yuan asked Yuan Taizuo again.
Yeon Tae-jo had kept his eyes closed and remained silent. After a while, he opened his eyes and said, "If it really comes to the point where the country is destroyed and broken into pieces, it would be better to go south of the Taedong River, destroy Silla and Baekje, work hard for decades, and then retake the lost territory. This is what a strong person does. Tolerating humiliation is not weakness. Tolerating humiliation is to recognize the reality and create conditions for re-emergence. To destroy the country at the cost of showing courage is not what a wise person does." Gao Jianwu glared at Yeon Tae-jo and said, "We still have 40,000 troops, and the other side has only 30,000. Can't we defend the city with 40,000 people?"
Yuan Taizuo said calmly: "If they can't even defend Wugut City, how can they defend Pyongyang City?"
"If we use the plague corpses to launch a counterattack against the Sui army and throw the corpses into their camp, they will be infected with the plague and defeated!"
"no!"
This time, it was Gao Yuan who flatly rejected his brother's plague plan. He said coldly, "The people of Wugut City have also said that the other party takes medicine every day to prevent it. Using the plague will only backfire in the end. Everyone in our city will die!"
Gao Jianwu's eyes flashed fiercely for a while and he suddenly said, "We can ambush the army first, then open the city gates and let the Sui army enter the city to plunder. When our ambushed army rushes out, we will definitely catch them off guard."
This plan is not bad, and Gao Yuan is tempted.
When Xiao Xia led his army and was five miles away from Pyongyang City, he received news that the city gates of Pyongyang were open and there was not a single defender on the city wall.
The generals didn't know the other side's intentions. Xiao Xia sneered. Isn't this the same trick used against Lai Huer in history? Let the Sui army enter the city to plunder, and then they will fight their way out.
Xiao Xia immediately ordered, "Where is General Xue Wanche?"
"The humble position is here!"
"You lead 10,000 cavalrymen to fire gunpowder arrows into the city. You only need to fire one round!"
"I humbly obey my orders!"
Xue Wanche led 10,000 cavalrymen straight to the west city wall. The 10,000 cavalrymen formed a long circle under the wall and fired gunpowder arrows into the city with crossbows. Thousands of arrows were fired at the same time, and a big fire broke out on the west side of the city.
Gao Yuan, who had been feeling uneasy, saw the enemy firing rockets into the city and realized that his strategy had been discovered by the enemy. He immediately shouted, "Leave the city and surrender!"
Gao Jianwu led 5,000 troops to ambush near the south gate. When he heard that they were going to leave the city to surrender, he was so angry that he shouted, "Never surrender!"
He immediately led 5,000 soldiers to charge outwards, attacking the central army where Xiao Xia was. Xiao Xia was furious and shouted, "Prepare your bows and crossbows!"
Ten thousand infantrymen and ten thousand cavalrymen raised their bows and crossbows. As the enemy army got closer and closer, Xiao Xia gave an order, "Shoot!"
Twenty thousand soldiers shot arrows at the same time, and arrows covered the sky and the earth and shot at the five thousand enemy troops. The soldiers screamed and were hit by arrows one after another. Half of them were killed in an instant. Gao Jianwu, who was running in the front, was hit by hundreds of arrows along with his horse, and was shot like a hedgehog. Then the second round of arrows was shot, killing more than fifteen hundred people. In just two rounds of forty thousand arrows, four thousand enemy soldiers were killed. The remaining one thousand turned around and fled, but encountered Xue Wanche's cavalry who had returned.
The cavalry refused to accept the surrender and slaughtered more than a thousand men.
At this moment, Yuan Wendi rushed out on horseback, holding a white flag in his hand, and Xiao Xia ordered the soldiers to stop shooting arrows.
Soon, Yuan Wending ran to him, panting, "Our king has already ordered us to surrender, but Gao Jianwu is so brave that he refuses to obey orders and goes out of the city to fight without permission. We accept your terms and retreat south immediately!"
Xiao Xia asked coldly: "How many troops are there in the city?"
"There are still 35,000 people!"
"Order the troops to leave the city and lay down their weapons and armor. Then I will give you three days to retreat to the south bank."
"Your Highness, we need to build a floating bridge. I'm afraid three days won't be enough."
"I'll build the floating bridge, you just pack up and start evacuating tomorrow!"
(End of this chapter)