Tibet

Guo Huaiyan was awakened by the smoke in his sleep. He got up quickly and asked, "What happened?"

A maid hurried over with a wet cloth covering her mouth and nose, "Master, there is smoke outside!"

Guo Huaiyan also covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth and walked out of the room. The top of the mountain was filled with thick smoke, and the sky was also covered by smoke.

At this time, a family member wearing armor rushed over and reported in a hurry: "Master, go back to the house quickly and close the doors and windows. The smoke is poisonous!"

Guo Huaiyan was shocked. The smoke is poisonous? He asked anxiously, "How are the soldiers?"

"Not very good! Many soldiers have been poisoned, especially the soldiers at the mountainside defense. Now some of them have retreated."

The defense of Diaoyu Mountain is far from as perfect as that of the Song Dynasty. It relies more on terrain for defense. They deployed two lines of defense on the river and at the foot of the mountain, called the front defense. At present, the front defense has been broken, and 7,000 people have been lost.

Then there is the central defense, which is deployed on the mountainside. There are 8,000 people in total, guarding 14 roads up the mountain.

The central defense is the top priority. If the central defense is broken, they will not be able to hold on for long.

The last is the bottom defense, that is, the top of the mountain. Guo Huaiyan deployed the last 5,000 people to use the terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack to ensure that the top of the mountain is not lost.

However, now that the Tang army has started to set fire and poison, the central defense may be in danger. Guo Huaiyan stamped his feet anxiously, "Tell me quickly, how many people have retreated?"

"Currently, more than 700 people have retreated!"

"What?"

Guo Huaiyan's eyes widened. He invested 8,000 people in the defense of the mountainside, and now only more than 700 people have retreated.

He was immediately anxious, "I'll go and see!"

He ignored the guards' persuasion, covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth and rushed out. More than a dozen guards had no choice but to follow him.

The top of the mountain was full of running soldiers, but the smoke was so thick that their faces could not be seen clearly. Only the shadows were shaking, and everyone covered their mouths and noses with wet cloth.

Guo Huaiyan came to the cliff and looked down the mountain. The scene in front of him shocked him. He saw that the mountain was full of fire and thick smoke. Compared with the thick smoke at the bottom of the mountain, the smoke on the top of the mountain was much better, and most of the thick smoke floated into the sky.

The reason why Diaoyu Mountain is dangerous is that there is only one way to the top of the mountain. Guo Huaiyan rushed to this mountain road and asked anxiously: "How many soldiers have retreated from the mountainside?"

General Guo Song hurriedly reported: "Report to the head of the family, 1,200 people have retreated so far!"

Guo Song is Guo Qianren's son. He inherited his father's business and is currently one of the main generals, responsible for the bottom defense, that is, the top of the mountain defense.

Guo Huaiyan asked again: "Have you sent people to the central part to notify them to retreat?"

"I have sent three batches of soldiers down, but there is no news."

"What time is it now?" Guo Huaiyan asked after looking at the smoky sky.

"Reporting to the master, it's almost dawn!"

"When did the Tang army start setting the fire?"

Guo Song thought for a while and said, "It was probably before the first watch, and it has been burning all night."

Guo Huaiyan suddenly became a little anxious, "Why didn't you let the soldiers retreat earlier?"

Guo Song lowered his head and said a little guilty, "We all thought that the Tang army's arson was fake, and the purpose was to force the soldiers defending the mountainside to retreat to the top of the mountain, so that the Tang army could occupy the mountainside without bloodshed. Unexpectedly, the fire became more and more fierce, and the smoke was poisonous. Then I realized that the problem was not good. I sent someone to inform General Luo, but there is no news now. Many brothers on the top of the mountain were also knocked down by the poisonous smoke."

Guo Huaiyan glared at him fiercely and asked, "How many soldiers on the top of the mountain were knocked down by the poisonous smoke?"

"Fortunately, not many, less than a thousand."

Guo Huaiyan was more worried. The smoke on the top of the mountain was not serious. It was just some smoke, and 20% of the soldiers were knocked down. Wouldn't the mountainside be more serious?

At this time, someone shouted: "They are back!"

Guo Huaiyan was refreshed and hurried to meet them. He saw two soldiers coming back from the mountain road. They were burned black and half of their hair was burned. They were in a very miserable state.

These two people were the third batch of soldiers sent by Guo Song to the mountainside to notify the retreat. Five people went to the third batch, but only two came back.

Guo Song asked anxiously: "Where are the other brothers?"

The two soldiers said with a sad face: "We can't come back, General. The way back is blocked by the raging fire and thick smoke. There are soldiers who have been knocked down by smoke everywhere on the mountainside. They are all poisoned. The five of us tried our best to escape back. In the end, only the two of us broke through the thick smoke blockade."

Before the soldier finished speaking, he heard someone shouting: "Master! Master! What happened to you!"

Guo Song looked back in a hurry, and was so shocked that his heart was about to break. He saw that the master Guo Huaiyan was staggering and fainted.

Guo Song was so anxious that he shouted, "Quick! Send them back for rescue."

Guo Huaiyan was also poisoned. He was over 60 years old and could not compare with the young and strong soldiers. He was poisoned and fell into a coma after inhaling a large amount of poisonous smoke.

A big fire burned until the afternoon of the next day. The Tang army kept adding kerosene and oleander powder flakes, throwing a full three thousand sacks. The Tang army didn't know what the results would be.

Until the afternoon, the fire began to gradually go out. A moderate rain came unexpectedly and completely extinguished the forest fire.

Thousands of Tang soldiers began to search the mountain. The whole mountain turned black, and there were trees and various animal remains that were burned into charcoal everywhere.

Soon, the Tang army found a large number of enemy soldiers' bodies at the defense point on the mountainside. Most of them died of suffocation after being poisoned, and many were burned into charcoal by the fire. They were preparing to escape back to the mountain, and finally trapped in the fire and burned to death.

But the top of the mountain seemed to be still safe and sound.

Li Sheng observed the top of the mountain for a moment and decisively ordered: "Send five hundred soldiers with heavy shields up the mountain to test!"

The Tang army immediately sent a group of 500 heavy-shielded soldiers up the mountain.

Five hundred shield soldiers held large shields and walked slowly along both sides of the mountain road. Halfway through, there was a sudden shout from the top of the mountain.

Rolling logs and rocks rolled down one after another, and the soldiers hurriedly lay down. After the boulders passed, arrows were fired from the mountain like raindrops.

The five hundred shield soldiers slowly retreated. Their mission was not to attack the top of the mountain, but to test the reality of the top of the mountain.

The leader will report to Li Sheng: "Commander Qi, judging from the number of arrows fired by the opponent, there are about three thousand archers on the mountain. The number of soldiers is estimated to be more than this number, but it should not be much more. "

Li Sheng looked at the top of the mountain and asked, "How far is it to the top of the mountain?"

"About a mile or so!"

"How far away were they to start shooting and stoning?"

"About one hundred and fifty steps!"

Li Sheng nodded and ordered: "Use the big yellow crossbow to load the big arrows and thunder, and cover the sword and shield army as they charge to the top!"

One hundred heavy crossbowmen immediately came up, each with two cocking assistants. The heavy crossbowmen began to move up the mountain, followed by thousands of Tang saber and shield soldiers.

When they were about two hundred and fifty steps away from the top of the mountain, the leader waved his hand and everyone stopped.

One hundred heavy crossbowmen raised their big yellow crossbows and aimed at the top of the mountain. The assisting soldiers lit the match rope and burned it to a red point. Hundreds of arrows and thunderbolts were launched at the same time and shot to the top of the mountain in an instant. Only a series of explosions were heard from the top of the mountain, and The cry of the soldiers.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the two thousand sword shield troops quickly rushed towards the mountain. Then the second round of arrows was fired, and a series of explosions sounded again on the top of the mountain.

Under the cover of three rounds of arrows and thunder, the two thousand sword shield troops successfully climbed to the top of the mountain, and the arrows and thunder also stopped shooting at the same time.

The top of the mountain was in a mess, with soldiers killed and wounded everywhere, and several sections of the high wall had been blown down.

Suddenly, there was a shout from a distance, and dense arrows were shot from the wall hole. The soldiers of the Tang Army raised their shields and rushed into the wall hole in formation. Although some soldiers were shot in the legs and fell to the ground, most of the soldiers rushed in. Inside the high walls.

Bows and arrows were useless. Thousands of Guo soldiers, led by Guo Song, rushed forward with shouts and fought fiercely with the Tang army soldiers.

Soon, another 6,000 spear soldiers and 1,000 crossbowmen rushed to the top of the mountain. The Tang army began to take full advantage and fought fiercely with the last remaining 3,500 soldiers.

The last battle lasted until dusk when it finally ended. The top of the mountain was covered with corpses. Guo Song, like his father, was stabbed to death by dozens of spears. The 3,500 most loyal Guo family members under him All the soldiers were killed in the battle, and the Tang army also paid the price of more than a thousand casualties.

On the top of the mountain, everyone in the Guo family was driven out. Only then did Li Sheng know that the head of the family, Guo Huaiyan, had died this morning because of severe poisoning.

All 580 men, women, and children of the Guo family were driven down the mountain. In addition, Nanzhao State also betrayed the Guo family and detained all 174 people of the Guo family who were going to be transferred to the Piao Plains and handed them over to the Tang army.

It took the Tang army three days to clean up all the corpses on Diaoyu Mountain, and another five days to transport all the food, materials, and wealth down the mountain from the Western Han River to Chang'an.

At the same time, the emperor Li Ye approved that all the Guo family's men over the age of fourteen be beheaded, and the other family members were exiled to Lingnan, and all their property was confiscated.

All officials who supported the Guo family and the rich and powerful oil officials were responsible for the liquidation.

One month later, all slaves in Bashu were converted into civilians, becoming the second region after Guanzhong to be completely free of slaves.

The front page of "Tang Dynasty Xunkan" records in detail the destruction of the Guo family and the Jia family, as well as the transformation of other Bashu noble families.

Thirty thousand copies were issued and sent to all parts of the country. For a time, all parts of the country were shocked. The powerful people understood the current situation and took the initiative to abolish slavery in order to obtain exemption from inspection, so as to avoid being inspected by pulling out carrots and bringing out the mud.

By the end of the year, the abolition of slavery was completed. There were no more slaves in the Tang Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty entered the civilian era two hundred years ahead of schedule.

===

[New books are also being uploaded simultaneously. After reading this chapter, you can go to "The Chess Game of the Sui Dynasty" to read the new chapter. Don't forget to collect and recommend it! 】