At night, the lights flickered in the Chinese army's tent, generals came in and out, and there was an endless stream of people reporting military affairs.
The city of Pyongyang was about to be destroyed, and the generals tried hard to suppress the joy in their hearts. After all, there were many casualties among the soldiers, and the city had not yet been captured. This was not the time to be happy.
But when I was talking to the Governor, my voice was a little louder unconsciously.
Grand Governor Li Jing's prestige in the army increased the moment the Turks came. The previous practice of building camps was no longer a delaying war or a useless move in the eyes of the generals.
When talking to each other, it would seem that there is something wrong if anyone fails to praise the Governor for his wisdom.
After getting rid of the Turks, Li Jing had established authority among the army.
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Gongsun An quickly walked into the camp and waited for the people in front to finish reporting military affairs. Then he stepped forward and presented several sheepskins full of handwriting to Li Jing.
"The people of Goguryeo are asking for surrender again, and this time it is also written by the King of Goguryeo himself..."
Li Jing waved his hand nonchalantly, telling Gongsun An to put it down and not watch at all.
In the days since the Tang army resumed their offensive, several letters asking for surrender were sent out in the city almost every day, and their words became increasingly humble.
But in reality, it was of no use. The Goguryeo people still imagined that they could let them go if they made stupid mistakes like the Tang army and the Sui army.
But their patron saint Yang Guang has already reported to the King of Hell. Who else but Yang Guang would abandon the delicious food brought to his mouth?
Li Jing stood up, moved his legs and feet a little, and asked, "What did the Goguryeo people say this time?"
Gongsun An reported: "They seem to be unable to hold on any longer. In addition to professing tribulation to the Tang Dynasty, the King of Goguryeo is also willing to go to Chang'an in person to plead guilty to His Majesty...
Well, it’s no different from before. We have to wait until we withdraw our troops before we can do it. Could it be that we are being treated as fools?”
Li Jing couldn't help but smile and said to himself that there were many fools when they attacked Liaodong. That is to say, the Goguryeo people did not have people like Hu Sizheng at their disposal. Otherwise, they should have sent a few heads now.
"The shame of the Goguryeo people is a bit thicker than the city wall of Pyongyang. In our words, they won't shed tears until they see the coffin, and they won't look back until they bump into the southern wall.
Send an order to the whole army that the city is about to be breached. After all the troops enter the city, they are not allowed to burn and kill at will. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed."
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At noon on the second day, there was thunderous cheer among the Tang army.
Su Dingfang led his army to break through the west city wall first, and Zhao Shixun immediately captured the east city wall.
Seeing that the situation was over, some Goguryeo people opened the gate of the north city on their own, and groups of Goguryeo people came out of the city to ask for surrender.
The sun, moon and stars flag of the Tang Army was planted on the top of Pyongyang City.
In early October of the sixth year of Yuanzhen of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army broke through Pyongyang City...
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In the palace in Pyongyang City, Goguryeo King Gaocheng sat on the throne with a pale face, as if he were mourning his heir.
At this time, the scale was not very large, but it still had the appearance of a palace. It was not like the simple palaces of Turks, Japanese, and Silla, which were already doomsday-like.
Some people set fire to some houses, and there was little smoke. In addition, the palace people were running around and the sound of women screaming and wailing could be heard endlessly. It was like a scene of national subjugation.
Needless to say, every time at this time, it is normal. It has been performed countless times in the Central Plains, and when it is Goguryeo's turn, there is not much surprise.
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There were quite a few people in front of Gao Cheng at this time.
There were the Gao royal family, their wives and children, including Gao Cheng's family members, and some of his loyal subordinates who did not abandon him when the city was breached.
There was a lot of mourning in the palace, which was not much better than outside.
The two great opponents, Lu Fu, fell to the ground and cried: "Please forgive me, since there are still so many people in the city who want to survive, please surrender early so that the Tang people can do less killing..."
Gao Cheng covered his face and cried, "The inheritance of our ancestors has been destroyed in the hands of this king. How can I face them?"
Seeing that he was still showing off, the people in the palace hurriedly knelt on the ground one after another, crying loudly. Several of his brothers had already started to wink at each other, so they went up to tie up Gao Cheng and send him to the Tang Dynasty, so that he could be exchanged for it.
My family is safe.
Da was still decisive about Lu Hui and knew that he could not wait any longer. He had persuaded Gao Cheng countless times these days and wanted him to trade himself for the safety of the people in the city, but Gao Cheng just refused.
He was still using the things that happened when Sui came to attack as excuses, and everyone was still lucky.
It has been delayed until now, and the Tang Dynasty is about to invade the city. We can't let this idiot be buried with him.
Huizhen waved his hand, and someone immediately came forward and lifted Gao Cheng up. Huizhen shouted, "The death of Goguryeo is Gao Cheng's crime. Everyone will follow me to surrender to appease the anger of the Tang people..."
Some people wanted to step forward to protect Gao Cheng, but they were chopped down to the ground by the warriors who had been prepared. After a period of confusion, everyone wrapped up Gao Cheng and followed the team out.
When the country fell, an extremely ugly scene unfolded. Gao Cheng was betrayed by his relatives and ministers.
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At this time, the Tang army had entered the city in large numbers. The Goguryeo people who had been able to defend the city vigorously before suddenly lost their strength.
The soldiers laid down their weapons and knelt down one after another to ask for surrender. The men, women, and children who helped defend the city all fled back to their homes to hide. There were not even many who took advantage of the situation to rob.
When the nobles delivered King Gaocheng of Goguryeo to the hands of the Tang people, the last breath died out.
This saved the Tang army a lot of trouble, and with Li Jing's military orders in hand, the Tang army was restrained and had no intention of taking advantage of the situation to massacre the city, so blood no longer flowed.
The Tang army quickly took control of the situation in the city, and the generals moved their flags to the city and stationed them in the four cities as previously arranged.
Li Jing was not in a hurry to see Gao Cheng. He first moved the commander's account to the city, ordered people to take care of the government offices in the city and the Goguryeo palace, counted the prisoners, and called Cui Dunli and others to collect Goguryeo classics and atlases.
When the city calmed down completely on the next day, he ordered to search the city for various Goguryeo nobles according to the Goguryeo population register.
Three days later, the battle to attack and defend Pyongyang City was actually completely over.
In this battle, the Tang army suffered more than 6,000 casualties and killed countless Goguryeo people. The Tang army did not keep statistics carefully because many of the Goguryeo people who died in the battle were not soldiers, including men, women, old and children.
It took two days to clean up the corpses in the city. They were all transported out of the city and buried on the outskirts of Pyongyang.
However, the Goguryeo people still alive in the city have carefully counted the number of captives, and it turns out that there are 150,000 to 60,000 people, including those who are hiding, so it is difficult to say how many captives were captured in the short term.
It must be said that the Goguryeo people suffered heavy casualties. According to the surrendered Goguryeo nobles, they had gathered nearly 300,000 people.
Now only half of them are left. If no one escapes, there can only be one outcome, that is, they all die here...
This chapter has been completed!