Chapter 188 Gai Suwen, I am your immortal (asking for monthly ticket)
Seeing his side go from being in an advantageous position to being trapped at Gaixia, Yeon Gaesomun did not understand why this place suddenly became his burial place.

Even though he didn't understand, Yeon Gaesomun was a powerful man after all. It was impossible for him to just sit there and wait to die. He had to resist.

"Prince." Su Dingfang stepped forward and said to Li Xiang, "Yeon Gaesomun is like a trapped beast now. If we force him into a desperate situation, he will probably fight to the death. It is better to attack his heart."

"Oh?" Li Xiang pulled the reins: "Attack the heart? You mean..."

"Not all of Goguryeo's soldiers want to fight to the end like Yeon Gaesomun." Su Dingfang began to analyze: "Among these 50,000 people, at least half of them are unwilling to follow Yeon Gaesomun and continue to resist stubbornly. In my opinion, we should persuade them to surrender first, at least to let the Goguryeo soldiers know that our army is unwilling to force them into a desperate situation."

"I agree with what General Su said." Liu Rengui also expressed his support.

Li Xiang nodded and said, "Ding Fang is right. Soldiers are the foundation of the army. If their fighting spirit can be destroyed, Yeon Gaesomun alone will not be able to achieve anything."

It's a rainy day anyway and I'm free to beat the kid, so I might as well beat him regardless of whether he gets any reward or not.

What if Goguryeo really figured it out?
Su Dingfang sent Ding Xiaoer, who had the loudest voice, to shout to the Goguryeo army on the top of the hill to convey Li Xiang's spirit.

In the Goguryeo army, Yeon Gaesomun also heard Ding Xiaoer's roar.

He took a deep breath and looked outside angrily.

The noise was so loud that it was impossible for it not to spread in the military camp.

His original method of inspiring fighting spirit was to "kill all the Tang army", but the Tang army not only did not do so, but also tried to persuade them to surrender. This is...

It's a bit embarrassing.

After thinking it over, Yeon Gaesomun walked out with a few personal soldiers.

After all, the other party has proposed to persuade them to surrender, and it would be unreasonable not to respond.

"Your Highness, Prince of Hengshan!" Yeon Gaesomun walked to the front of the battle and shouted across the hillside: "I am Yeon Gaesomun, I think we should talk!"

When Yeon Gaesomun's words reached the army, Pei Xingjian frowned and said, "Prince, I'm afraid he is up to something!"

"Let's go out and take a look, Rengui, come with me." Li Xiang pointed to Xue Rengui, and several of his personal soldiers went with him.

After reaching the hillside, Li Xiang shouted, "I am Li Xiang, the Prince of Hengshan. I just happen to want to talk to you! Put down your weapons first! There's plenty of time to talk!"

"Your Highness, the Prince of Hengshan! I, Yeon Gaesomun, have long heard of your great name," Yeon Gaesomun replied, "I have also learned a little about your country's history. I have to say that you and your grandfather are not comparable to that rubbish Yang Guang!"

"I have only heard of the great reputation of His Majesty the Heavenly Khan of the Great Tang Dynasty. As the saying goes, like dragons give birth to dragons, like phoenixes give birth to phoenixes. Today's battle is indeed worthy of the reputation! He was able to seize the opportunity and defeat the enemy with fewer troops. The famous generals in ancient times were no more than this!"

Xue Rengui muttered beside him: "This old fellow is full of flattery, it's disgusting..."

Li Xiang turned around and raised his chin towards Ding Xiaoer. Ding Xiaoer understood and looked up and shouted, "Now is not the time to flatter me! Why are you talking so much nonsense!"

"Okay! Let me make it short!" Yeon Gaesomun said again: "I suggest a negotiation solution. You and I are both respectable people. We have no grudges against each other. We had no choice but to fight on the battlefield. If it weren't for the war, I would be willing to get drunk with His Royal Highness the Prince!"

"Da Molizhi, negotiation requires capital. You are now in a desperate situation. With such a small number of troops, you can't fly out even if you have wings!" Li Xiang persuaded: "Don't you want to get drunk with me? Then I advise you to surrender first. I guarantee the safety of you and your men!"

"Your Highness, have you ever heard of any member of the Yuan family who voluntarily laid down their weapons and surrendered?" Yuan Gaesomun shouted loudly.

"I know. Your sons Nanjian and Nanchan surrendered as early as noon!" Li Xiang replied innocently.

Hearing this, Yeon Gaesomun took a deep breath and almost passed out.

My goodness, I thought these two sons had died for their country, but I never expected that they actually surrendered voluntarily?
Damn, are you two still men?
"Your Highness! You still——"

Before he finished speaking, Ding Xiaoer uttered a soul-searching question.

"Yeon Gaesomun! I beg you, my immortal! Just tell me straight out loud, do you surrender or not?"

Yeon Gaesomun was choked by these words.

After a long pause, he shouted back: "Your Highness, Prince of Hengshan, your subordinates are too uneducated! The superiors have their own way of talking, how can they be so rude?"

"What Ding Xiaoer said makes sense. I'll give you a quarter of an hour to think about whether you want to surrender or not. If you can surrender voluntarily, I'll give you a decent surrender because you are a member of the Great Molizhi!" Li Xiang paused and continued, "If you don't surrender, don't blame us for giving you a decent surrender!"

"In that case, there is nothing more for us to talk about!" Yeon Gaesomun said loudly, "Then let's go and fight with real swords and guns!"

"Then why are you talking nonsense to me?" Li Xiang asked back angrily.

Yeon Gaesomun took a deep breath. Why? Of course, it was to delay time and gather troops to launch an assault on the Tang army!

However, in the eyes of an expert, all opportunities are the same.

Yeon Gaesomun thought so, and Li Xiang thought the same.

After Li Xiang stretched out his hand and waved it, there was a sudden shout of killing.

"Capture Yeon Gaesomun alive! Don't let him run away!" Xue Rengui roared.

"Kill! Kill them!" Yeon Gaesomun also shouted loudly.

The Goguryeo army fought like a trapped beast and struggled fiercely. For a moment, the Tang army was unable to break through their defenses.

The fighting continued until the sun was about to set, and those small catapults were finally moved into position with great effort.

The catapult became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the Goguryeo army. Seeing huge rocks mixed in with the arrows in the sky, and the fact that they had not eaten anything since morning, their morale plummeted.

Even for Yeon Gaesomun, a skilled cook cannot cook without rice.

With morale collapsed, it is naturally impossible to organize effective resistance.

When the battle ceased in the evening, Li Xiang specially ordered people to set up a big pot in front of the upwind formation to blow the aroma of food into the Goguryeo military camp.

The temperature difference between day and night in Liaodong area is quite large. It was already a cloudy day and it rained yesterday. The cold wind made people feel chilled to the bone.

"As long as you surrender, you will have food to eat and hot soup to drink!" The Tang army organized the soldiers and began to shout.

Hearing the shouts of the Tang army and smelling the fragrance of the food, the Goguryeo soldiers could no longer sit still.

"Do you want to go eat?" someone asked quietly among friends.

"Is the Tang army lying to us?" Others were a little hesitant, not knowing whether this meal was real or fake.

"Fuck it, even if they are trying to trick us, so what? There is nothing to eat if we stay here, so we might as well surrender!" The man angrily threw his weapon to the ground and said to the people around him, "I will surrender first. If I can get something good to eat, I will come back and call you." As he said that, he trotted to the front of the Tang army.

"Sir, I surrender!" he shouted.

Tang Jun didn't waste any words. He picked up the bowl and filled it with hot soup, and added a piece of steamed bread: "Go down and eat, this is yours!"

Seeing the steaming food, the Goguryeo soldier's eyes became moist.

"Wait a minute, sir. I'll go back and call some people to eat together."

"Hey, what's your name?" Ding Xiaoer grabbed him and asked.

"I don't have a name, everyone calls me Yin San." Yin San replied.

He walked to the front of the battle line and shouted loudly: "Brothers, what the Tang army commander said is true. He also gave me a bowl full of hot soup with meat and vegetables, and steamed bread to eat! Come quickly!"

When the Goguryeo army heard Yin San's words, there was a commotion.

Yin San's friends could no longer sit still, so they immediately dropped their weapons and rushed to the front of the Tang army to eat and drink.

The Tang army was practical and would do what they said. They did not look at the Goguryeo people who came to surrender with any tinted glasses, and provided them with food according to the standard.

Yin San and several of his brothers squatted on the ground with their bowls in their hands, eating and crying.

"It smells so good! This is how people live!" Yin San said with emotion: "In a place far away from the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army can actually eat such good food. It seems that our defeat is not unfair! We fought for a whole day, but we didn't even have a steamed bun to eat!"

"Who said it wasn't true? That stupid commander actually said he would have breakfast after defeating the Tang army. Fuck him!" The people next to him also complained.

This sentence resonated with the Goguryeo people. Although they were skeptical before the battle, they were already convinced after the battle.

What's more, they are now eating hot meals, and the effect of this sugar-coated bullet has even made them develop a fanatical mentality of converts.

When Ding Xiaoer walked in, Yin San put down his bowl, stood up and saluted him.

"Sir!"

"Please sit down." Ding Xiaoer said, and motioned everyone around him to sit down.

He smiled and asked, "How was your meal?"

"Sir, we are eating very well!" Yin San replied.

Ding Xiaoer nodded: "That's good. I came here to tell you about the kindness of the county king. I want to let you know that the county king has shown extra grace. For you who voluntarily surrendered, your previous behavior will not be held accountable. After the war is over, you can leave the army as free people and don't have to be prisoners."

Hearing Ding Xiaoer's words, everyone shouted happily.

There was no hatred between the people of Goguryeo and the Tang Dynasty, and national consciousness was almost non-existent now.

Soldiers eat food, and eating food is the most important thing in being a soldier. In Goguryeo, who joins the army for national hatred or family feuds, or to defend the country? Isn't it all for the military rations?
"But the prince also said so." Ding Xiaoer said again.

Hearing this, everyone's heart began to lift.

Still saying? What? Are you going to regret it?

Who knew that Ding Xiaoer said again: "The prince does not mean to let you go to Goguryeo, but to let you move to the interior of the Tang Dynasty with your family!"

I thought there would be some objection, but who would have thought that these Goguryeo soldiers would be silent for a moment and then burst into cheers of "Long live the Goguryeo army".

Is there such a good thing?
I thought it was a capital crime, but I never expected that by voluntarily surrendering, I would not only have a hot meal but also not have to be a prisoner of war. What's even more amazing is that I could instantly get a Tang Dynasty household registration. This is such a fucking lucrative deal!

The Tang people certainly did not understand why the Goguryeo people were so happy. After all, they automatically had Tang household registration when they were born. They certainly did not understand why foreign barbarians were so eager to become Tang people.

In fact, there is no difference between the Goguryeo people and the Han people. After all, they are all descendants of Jizi Joseon, and in the final analysis, they are all branches of China.

However, the jobs Li Xiang arranged for them were not formal jobs. They were formal household registrations, but the job... was to be foremen supervising a group of prisoners of war who had been forced into labor.

It would definitely not be a good idea to let the Tang people do this, but if we leave it to them...

What no one expected was that one-third of Goguryeo's military camp was emptied overnight, including a considerable number of senior generals.

Now that the generals have all run away, the other soldiers will have even less psychological pressure.

Besides, having hot meals is better than anything else. We can’t let them sit in the Goguryeo camp and sleep in a cold tent with Yeon Gaesomun, right?
In the middle of the night, Li Xiang ordered his men to be on guard at all times to prevent Yeon Gaesomun from raiding the camp.

In the second half of the night, around dawn, Li Xiang immediately ordered Xue Rengui to take a group of troops to raid the Goguryeo camp.

With their horses' hooves wrapped and their soldiers holding their tongues in their mouths, five thousand cavalrymen charged towards the Goguryeo military camp in the thick night.

Five thousand cavalrymen are not a small number. For any country on the peninsula, they are a force that cannot be ignored.

The Goguryeo people were already sleepy and hungry, and they felt extremely cold when they went to sleep. Just as they were about to fall asleep, they suddenly heard the rumbling sound of horse hooves, and they immediately felt that something was wrong.

Sure enough, the Tang army raided the camp in the middle of the night!

However, at this point, they no longer had the will to resist.

Xue Rengui rushed into Yeon Gaesomun's central military camp very smoothly, but what he didn't expect was that Yeon Gaesomun was not in the general's tent.

He caught a person and asked, only to find out that Yeon Gaesomun and his men had quietly slipped away that evening.

Xue Rengui was almost furious when he heard the news. The king of Goguryeo and the king of Baekje had been captured, and even Yeon Gaesomun's sons Yeon Nam-geon and Yeon Nam-chan had surrendered. Now only Yeon Gaesomun was left, and he was just allowed to get away?
Xue Rengui did not dare to delay. He sent people to search while reporting to Li Xiang.

When Li Xiang heard that Yeon Gaesomun had escaped from the dragnet, he became furious.

He threw the military newspaper in his hand to the ground and shouted angrily: "What do you do for a living? You let such a big man run away?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Phoenix Mountain is full of mountains and rivers. If Yeon Gaesomun intends to abandon his troops and escape, our army will inevitably be exhausted at night and it will be difficult to stop him." Su Dingfang advised from the side.

Li Xiang stood up and said angrily: "No matter what, Yeon Gaesomun cannot escape. Even if we have to chase him to the ends of the earth, we must catch him!"

(Ask for monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)