Tibet

In Liaodong, after annihilating the 20,000 troops sent by the Xi people, the Khitan army that had sent troops halfway suddenly retreated. The Xi people's 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 evacuate the old, weak, women and children to the northern grasslands.

But this is also very risky, and it is easy to be annexed by other tribes. However, compared with being completely annihilated by the Tang army, being annexed by other tribes is only a possibility, and the Khitan people finally chose to retreat.

At noon that day, the observation soldiers on the observation tower discovered signs of the Khitan army gathering in the city through their clairvoyance. Although the Khitans were very careful to conceal it through various means, they were still discovered by the powerful clairvoyance.

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 called in his deputy generals Ma Lin and 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 home of the Khitan. They did not retreat before 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: "I believe that we must be prepared with both hands. If we really want to break through, we must be prepared to intercept and kill them. But if they are pretending 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 prevent 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 don’t dare to 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 Chencang. 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 Nan will also send cavalry to support, and the rest will capture Liucheng!"

Ma Lin and Nan Jiyun saluted at the same time, "Follow 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 must go all out for my 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 plans for fear of being discovered by the Tang army's observation posts, various clues still revealed their intention to retreat.

As night fell, Die Ci Feng 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 soldiers to break out. After all, there were more than 100,000 Tang troops. If he could catch the Tang army by surprise, he might be able to break out half of them.

Die Ci Feng sighed, he would be lucky if he could break through even half of the encirclement.

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, running towards 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 cavalrymen led by Xi Wanli were the strongest and most brave cavalrymen in the Guanlong Army. They were also the imperial guards of Emperor Li Ye. They were given the military name Longxiang. The Longxiang Army of the Guanlong Army referred to them. There were a total of 50,000 people. The other 20,000 were Li Ye's personal guards, and now they were changed to Longwu Army to guard the imperial palace.

The biggest feature of this cavalry was that they were good at night battles. They fought bravely under the moonlight, and each of them was extremely brave. They killed the Khitan cavalrymen and horses, and suffered heavy casualties. This battle lasted for more than 30 miles. Most of the more than 20,000 Khitan cavalrymen who escaped from the fire array and crossbow array were killed. Only more than 5,000 people broke through the siege and fled to the northwest.

But there were 30,000 troops led by Ma Lin himself to intercept them. They could not escape back at all, and were destined to be destroyed.

The next morning, the entire interception battle was over. The Tang army could not guarantee whether anyone escaped, but when the bodies were counted, more than 28,400 Khitans were annihilated.

According to eyewitnesses of the Tang army, it seemed that more than 1,000 people broke through successfully.

Indeed, only 1,500 Khitan cavalry broke through successfully, including Diecifeng and his personal soldiers, as well as some cavalry.

Diecifeng wanted to cry but had no tears. With 30,000 troops breaking through, only more than 1,500 people broke through. How could he explain to the general?

But at this point, it was useless for him to cry. He could only lead the soldiers who broke through in panic and fled towards the tent like a dog that had lost its home.

The Tang army entered Liucheng County. This last bastion of the Han people in Liaodong in the past had changed beyond recognition. More than half of the 35,000 residents in the city were Khitans, and there were also Xi people and Goguryeo people. There were only a few hundred Han households, and these few hundred Han households were not completely pure Han people. They had mixed blood, so they were unwilling to escape, and the Khitan would 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 court also passed a plan to deal with the foreign people. In simple terms, it can be summed up in sixteen words: 'Eliminate the nobles, sinicize the common people, register the people, and divide and rule.'

This is the most effective way to deal with the Donghu people in Liaodong. The Tang Dynasty also did the same thing when it destroyed Goguryeo in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty did not do it thoroughly at that time. It did not eliminate the Goguryeo nobles, nor did it divide and rule, which left huge hidden dangers and left a disaster to this day.

Guo Ziyi deeply understood the emperor's intentions. He also had a political vision and a long-term vision.

The Tang army set up a decomposition camp in Youzhou, escorted batches of Liaodong people here, and decomposed them to all parts of the world.

Guo Ziyi immediately cleared out the nobles, clearing out 322 households of nobles of all ethnic groups in Liucheng, nearly 2,000 people, leaving behind women and children, and escorting hundreds of men over 16 years old to the south first. Of course, they could not go to the Youzhou camp in the end and would completely disappear from the world.

Then, tens of thousands of ordinary people also packed up their belongings and set off. Most families had livestock carts, and even if they didn't, they could take the neighbors' carts.

Tang soldiers shouted: "Go to Youzhou, the court will settle you, there is a way to live, if you don't want to go, it's 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 panicked, packed up their belongings, and under the escort of 10,000 Tang cavalry, they took their families and sat in carts to the south.

This was just the first batch of Donghu people who were repatriated to the south.