Tibet.

Chapter 1336: Yingzhou Victory
In Liaodong, after completely annihilating the 20,000 troops sent by the Xi people, the Khitan army, which had originally marched halfway, suddenly retreated. The disastrous defeat of the Xi people made them suddenly realize the Tang army's strategy of besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements.

After fierce internal debate, the Khitans finally became pragmatic, gave up the fight for Liucheng County, and began to prepare to evacuate the elderly, the weak, women and children to the northern grasslands.

But this was also very risky, as they could easily be annexed by other tribes. However, compared to being visibly annihilated by the Tang army, being annexed by other tribes was only a possibility, so the Khitans finally chose to retreat.

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

There are two observation towers, one on the east and one on the west, both built on high places. Both are wooden towers, standing high up. There are three observation soldiers on each observation tower.

In order to prevent being sniped by Khitan crossbows, an arrow shield was erected on the watchtower, and several small holes were dug on the shield. The clairvoyance was extended out, and people hid behind the shield.

The soldiers in the two watchtowers reported to the commander Guo Ziyi at the same time, and Guo Ziyi immediately realized that the enemy was about to break through.

He immediately called his left and right deputy generals Ma Lin, Nan Jiyun, general Zhang Dian and vanguard Xi Wanli, and the five of them discussed countermeasures together.

Ma Lin pointed at the sand table and said, "There should be an eagle letter in the city that is in contact with Songmofu, the old nest of the Khitan. The reason why we didn't retreat before was because the Khitan really wanted to help Liucheng. Now it should have been cancelled, so we broke through."

Guo Ziyi nodded. "This guess makes sense. What do you think, General Nan?"

Nan Jiyun pondered for a moment and said, "I think we should be prepared for both situations. If they really want to break out, we should be prepared to kill them. But if they are just pretending to break out, what is their real intention?"

Guo Ziyi thought for a moment, pointed to the west of the Liao River with a wooden pole and said, "At present, the Japanese army is still in the Bohai territory, and there is no sign of advancing westward. However, there are 20,000 to 30,000 Silla troops approaching the Liao River. They may want to rescue Liucheng. It is unknown whether the Khitan army will retreat eastward to join the Silla army."

Zhang Dian said, "I think we should withdraw the warships on the Liao River, let the Silla army move westward, and swallow up this army."

Guo Ziyi nodded. "The warships on the Liao River will no longer hinder them from crossing the river. They have left a river crossing area of ​​100 miles wide for Japan and Silla. They can cross the river to support the Khitan at any time, but they are not stupid. Even the Khitan themselves dare not come to support easily, not to mention that they have their own thoughts."

After a pause, Guo Ziyi continued, "General Nan is right. We must prevent the Khitan from repairing the plank road in the open and sneaking through Chencang in secret. Although the possibility is not great, we still cannot be careless. Fortunately, our army has enough people and can be divided into two groups. General Nan, you lead 60,000 troops to garrison the south and east, and General Ma leads 100,000 troops to deploy in the west and north. Once it is confirmed that the Khitan escapes to the north, General Nan will also send cavalry to support them, and the rest will capture Liucheng!"

Ma Lin and Nan Jiyun saluted at the same time, "Yes, sir!"

Guo Ziyi then said to Xi Wanli: "If the Khitan flees 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 will definitely do my best!"

In Liucheng, Diecifeng did receive the Khan's order to retreat northward, saying that the Khitan army would no longer come to rescue Liucheng, so he ordered the Khitan army to abandon Liucheng and retreat northward.

Die Cifeng decided to break out that night. He began to make preparations in the afternoon. Part of the troops began to assemble, and the 30,000 troops packed up the necessary items and distributed the food and supplies in the warehouse to the Khitans in the city.

Although the Khitan army carefully concealed their intention for fear of being discovered by the Tang army's observation posts, various clues still exposed their intention to retreat.

As night fell, Die Cifeng ordered all the lights in the city to be turned off. Under the cover of darkness, 30,000 troops began to assemble.

The Khitan soldiers all had war horses, which was the key to their courage to break through.

Die Cifeng was extremely nervous, as he knew it was impossible for all 30,000 men to break out. After all, there were over 100,000 Tang troops. If he could catch the Tang army off guard, perhaps half of them could break out.

Die Cifeng sighed and thought that it would be a blessing if they could break out halfway.

He was afraid of being discovered by the Tang army, who had already made preparations. In that case, at most only a few thousand people could break out, but that was fate. He had no choice but to leave it to fate.

"Pass on my order. Break out at the first watch. Set out from North City and West City at the same time!"

At the first watch, the north gate and the west gate were opened at the same time, and 30,000 cavalrymen were divided into two groups, pouring out of the city like two torrents, and fled to the northwest at lightning speed.

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 cans were thrown at the Khitan cavalry. The kerosene cans shattered on the ground, flames broke out, and the war horses were terrified and stopped moving forward. Countless cavalrymen were hit by kerosene cans, and both men and horses were covered in fire. In the chaos, the Tang army fired thousands of arrows, and countless Khitan cavalry were killed and wounded.

The Khitan cavalry were terrified and tried their best to flee. However, they had not escaped for more than ten miles when 30,000 elite cavalrymen under the leadership of Xi Wanli came charging at them. The Khitan cavalry lost all their fighting spirit. Especially at night, they had no will to fight at all. They just tried their best to flee. But how could they possibly escape?
The 30,000 cavalrymen led by Xi Wanli were the strongest and most brave cavalrymen in the Guanlong Army. They were also the personal guards of Emperor Li Ye. They were given the military name Longxiang. The Longxiang Army of the Guanlong Army referred to them, with a total of 50,000 people. The other 20,000 were Li Ye's personal guards, and now they were changed to the Longwu Army that guarded the imperial palace.

One of the greatest characteristics of this cavalry was that they were good at night fighting. They fought bravely under the moonlight and were extremely brave. They killed the Khitan cavalry and caused heavy casualties. The killing lasted for more than 30 miles. Most of the more than 20,000 Khitan cavalry who escaped from the fire array and crossbow array were killed. Only more than 5,000 broke through the siege and fled to the northwest.

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

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

According to eyewitness Tang army soldiers, it seemed that more than a thousand people successfully broke through.

It is true that only 1,500 Khitan cavalry successfully broke through, including Diecifeng and his personal soldiers, as well as some cavalry.

Die Cifeng was in tears. Out of an army of 30,000, only more than 1,500 men managed to break out. How could he explain this to the general?

But things had come to this point, and there was no point in crying. He could only lead the breakout soldiers in panic, fleeing towards the tent like a stray dog.

The Tang army entered Liucheng County, which was once the last bastion of the Han people in Liaodong. It had changed beyond all recognition. More than half of the 35,000 residents in the city were Khitans, and there were also Xi 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 bloodlines, so they were unwilling to escape, and the Khitans 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 the decision, and the court had also approved a plan for dealing with the non-Chinese people, which could be simply described in 16 words: "Eliminate the nobles, assimilate the common people, register the people and rule them by division."

This was the most effective way to deal with the Donghu people in Liaodong. This was also how the Tang Dynasty destroyed Goguryeo in the early years. However, the Tang Dynasty did not do it thoroughly at the time. It did not eradicate the Goguryeo nobles, nor did it divide and rule. This left behind huge hidden dangers that continue to this day.

Guo Ziyi had a deep understanding of the emperor's intentions. He also had political vision and a long-term perspective.

The Tang army set up a decomposition camp in Youzhou, and escorted batches of Liaodong civilians here, dispersing them to various parts of the country.

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

Soon after, tens of thousands of ordinary people also packed up their belongings and set out. Most families had livestock carts, and even if they didn't, they could ride on their neighbors' carts.

The Tang soldiers shouted: "Go to Youzhou, the court will settle you down, there is a way to survive, if you don't want to go, then it will be a dead end."

Under the forceful expulsion of the Tang army, on the morning of the third day, tens of thousands of Liucheng residents were in a panic. They packed up their belongings and headed south with their families in carts, escorted by 10,000 Tang cavalrymen.

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

(End of this chapter)