Tibet.

Chapter 1339: A Feint

The soldiers brought a Han Chinese general from the Bohai Army to Guo Ziyi and bowed. "I am Yang Yan, the grain officer of the Bohai Army. I am here under the order of the commander Ren Tianling to contact the Tang Army. We are willing to surrender to the Tang Army."

Guo Ziyi nodded and said, "We welcome the old Bohai army to return to the Tang Dynasty, but I have to say something ugly. First, the Bohai Kingdom will never be restored, but the Tang army will seek justice for the victims of the Bohai Kingdom. Second, after the Bohai soldiers surrender, they will become part of the Tang army. With the end of the war, the soldiers will gradually demobilize and go home to rebuild their homes. The senior generals in the army will go to the Chang'an Yanwu Hall for further training and become ministers of the Tang emperor.

Please tell General Ren that if you can accept the above three points, the Tang Army will accept the surrender of the Bohai Army tomorrow morning."

Yang Yan nodded, "I understand, I will go back and tell you right away."

Guo Ziyi smiled faintly, "One last thing. If you don't accept my three plans and are unwilling to surrender, then don't fight the Tang army in the end, go north! One of the main purposes of our Northern Expedition is to seek justice for the Bohai Kingdom. If we fight with the Bohai army instead, we will be laughed at by the world!"

Yang Yan bowed deeply, said goodbye in a hurry and left.

Zhang Dian gave a thumbs up and praised: "The old general's last sentence is brilliant!"

Guo Ziyi smiled and said, "In fact, they have no choice. Give them a way out, at least to preserve their meager dignity!"

Yang Yan hurried back to tell Ren Tianling and the generals about Guo Ziyi's request.

Ren Tianling sighed for a long while and said, "All the royal family members have been killed. It is impossible to rebuild the Bohai Kingdom. Everyone, let's be pragmatic!"

Everyone was excited and said, "As long as we can avenge our murdered parents, wives and children, we are willing to serve the Tang Dynasty!"

The parents, wives and children of these generals were all in the capital, including Ren Tianling's two sons and two daughters, all of whom died at the hands of the Japanese army. If their military rations had not been cut off, they would not have surrendered to the Khitan. At this time, family feuds and national hatreds surged in their hearts, and everyone unanimously accepted Guo Ziyi's three conditions.

The next morning, on the vast grassland, two teams of Bohai troops lined up opposite each other and marched towards the Tang army. They left their armor and weapons on the grass in the middle and walked forward unarmed. They were then led by the Tang cavalry to another open space where there were steamed broth and steamed buns. Each of them had a bowl of soup and two steamed buns, and they sat on the grass to eat.

Ren Tianling led six generals forward, knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and said: "I, the former general of Bohai State, Ren Tianling, lead my men to submit to the Tang Dynasty, and am willing to be a subject of His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!"

Guo Ziyi hurriedly said: "General Ren, please stand up quickly. I believe that the Tang Dynasty will never let down 60,000 soldiers!"

After accepting the surrender of 60,000 Bohai Navy troops, the Tang army did not continue to move north. By then, Guo Ziyi had received news that the Khitan tribes had temporarily abandoned Songmo Prefecture and migrated to the north.

Guo Ziyi temporarily led his troops back to Liucheng.

The Khitan can be put aside for last, and the Tang army can attack the Khitan last after pacifying the various tribes in Liaodong.

He immediately divided his troops into four groups, ordering Nan Jiyun to lead 30,000 troops to attack Silla, and ordered Zhang Dian to lead 50,000 troops to the south to attack the Xi tribe. Ma Lin led 50,000 troops to continue to defend Liucheng County, and Guo Ziyi led an army of 100,000, including 60,000 Bohai navy troops, to attack the Bohai Kingdom in a mighty manner.

In mid-April, a large amount of medicine was delivered to Huichuan City.

Li Sheng ordered Qu Huan to lead 20,000 troops to guard Huichuan City and defend against the attack of the Tubo army on Huichuan City. Li Sheng personally led 40,000 troops to cross the Lu River and enter Yaozhou.

Yaozhou was the name in the Tang Dynasty. In the early period of Tianbao, Yaozhou was changed to Yunnan County, with its seat in Anning City, which is next to today's Kunming.

The pattern is very clear. The Tang Dynasty established Yunnan County, and the court's jurisdiction was in the area around Dianchi Lake, while the Nanzhao tribe was in Dali. In the ninth year of Tianbao, Zhang Qiantuo, the prefect of Yunnan, intensified ethnic conflicts, forced Nanzhao to rebel, conquered Anning City, and killed Zhang Qiantuo.

Of course, people later put the blame on Zhang Qiantuo, believing that he was greedy and lustful and forced the Nanzhao King Geluofeng to rebel.

In fact, history is not that simple. It all comes down to a struggle for interests. Nanzhao became increasingly powerful, with a growing population and a huge demand for salt. The salt wells in Yunnan were controlled by the imperial court, and the imperial court made huge profits from selling salt. But in the eyes of Nanzhao, this was an exploitation of them by the imperial court, and the contradictions between the two sides deepened.

At this time, Tubo stepped in, instigated and supported Nanzhao from behind. It was also with the support of Tubo that Nanzhao King Geluofeng rebelled under the pretext that his wife and daughter were insulted.

Without the support of Tubo, how could a small southwestern tribe dare to confront the huge Tang Empire.

In the final analysis, the Nanzhao issue was still a struggle between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo for the southwestern region.
When the Tang army entered Nongdong Jiedufu, they were close to the hinterland of Nanzhao. Nongdong Jiedufu is today's Chuxiong area. The most important county is Yaocheng County, now called Nongdong City. Nongdong Jiedufu is the east gate of Yangzhumie City, the capital of Nanzhao, and was led by the general Meng Chengjin.

Meng Chengjin was the brother of Nanzhao King Geluofeng. He led an army of 10,000 to garrison Nongdong City.

In fact, after the Tang army occupied Huichuan City, Nanzhao carried out a strategic contraction. Of course, this was also Nanzhao's usual tactic, and it worked every time. Once the Tang army went south, they concentrated all their troops near Yangzhumie City, and then used their superior forces to fight a decisive battle with the Tang army that came from afar. At the same time, they asked Tubo to send troops to attack Huichuan City and cut off the Tang army's logistical bases and retreat routes.

Finally, they used the humid and hot climate and difficult terrain to tire out the Tang army. Once the Tang army's morale was unstable, low and physically exhausted, the Nanzhao army began a decisive battle with the Tang army.

Meng Chengjin also had another important task, which was to lure the enemy deep into the territory and lead the main force of the Tang army into the Yangzhumie area, where the terrain was complex and heavy troops were concentrated.

That afternoon, the Tang army arrived at Nongdong City. The weather here was indeed very hot and humid. Although it was only April, every soldier was sweating. Fortunately, every soldier had a heat patch on his navel, and with timely hydration, the body could adapt to the climate here. Each person was also equipped with an wormwood bag to prevent mosquitoes, and the effect was quite good.

Nongdong City is Yao'an County in later generations. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with a vast plateau basin in the middle. The county seat is located on the bank of a river and is surrounded by endless rice fields.

Forty thousand troops and thirty thousand camels camped in an open space.

Li Sheng looked at Nongdong City from afar. It looked just like a county town in the Central Plains, but it was a bit old.

The official road passes through the city, and we must capture the county town before we can continue to move westward.

The top of the city was full of defenders. According to the scouts, there were about 10,000 defenders in the county.

"Order, all troops to rest where they are and attack the city at night!"

The Tang army now has five large catapults, which just need to be assembled temporarily.

The soldiers fetched water, boiled water, and cooked. The camels also lay on the ground to rest, chewing juicy leaves in their mouths.

On the top of the city wall, Meng Chengjin was watching the Tang army several miles away. He was very alert. His nephew Cou Luodong had already escaped from Huichuan Prefecture and brought back some important information about the Tang army.

The Tang army was good at fire attacks. Huichuan Prefecture was burned down by countless rockets from the Tang army. This frightened Meng Chengjin. He first ordered all the people in the city to evacuate, and all kinds of supplies were also withdrawn.

Once the Tang army launched a fire attack, his troops would also have to withdraw quickly.

"General, according to the spies' report, the enemy does not carry siege weapons!" a subordinate reported.

Meng Chengjin nodded and said, that’s right, the opponent must be using fire attack.

He immediately said to his deputy general Yang Maosheng: "You can lead 8,000 troops to retreat first, and I will lead 2,000 troops to retreat last!"

Yang Maosheng said quickly: "The army will withdraw first, and I will lead a thousand people to defend the city!"

Meng Chengjin was just talking. He was the main general and a member of the royal family, so of course he should go first.

He then warned: "Our mission is to lure the enemy deep into our territory. Don't try to be brave or delay. Once the Tang army fires rockets, retreat immediately!"

"I understand the humble position!"

Meng Chengjin then led 9,000 troops to evacuate quickly.

Soon, Li Sheng received news from the scouts that the main force of the enemy had retreated. He sneered and said to General Han Qiu, "Ask the brothers to shoot an arrow into the city and order all the troops in the city to retreat before dark, otherwise no one will survive!"

(End of this chapter)