Tibet.

Chapter 1474 A combination of kindness and power
The terrain outside the valley was open, so the Tang army rushed out of the valley and continued to chase and kill the Liao soldiers. The Tang army's horses galloped, and arrows and tornadoes exploded among the running Liao people, which frightened the Liao soldiers so much that they lost all their fighting spirit and tried to escape for their lives.

However, the Liao soldiers were lucky. There were many mountains in this area. After escaping for more than ten miles, they encountered another mountain blocking the way ahead. The Liao soldiers fled into the mountains and forests and saved their lives.

Despite this, more than half of the 20,000 Liao soldiers were killed by the Tang army, and finally about 8,000 people escaped. They crossed mountains and rivers and took small paths to escape back to the tribe first. Jia Xiu also followed Pengluanbo and fled back to the Penglu tribe.

Two days later, the Tang army arrived at the Penglu tribe. Most of the low-level Liao people lived in the valleys or at the foot of the mountains and made a living by farming, but those Liao people with a little more status lived in the mountains, forming a series of Liao villages from the middle of the mountain upwards.

The Liao king Peng Luanji naturally also lived on the mountain. Although he failed in the first battle, he did not give up. He ordered the construction of strict fortifications on the mountain and pulled all the soldiers up the mountain to confront the Tang army from a high position.

The Tang army did not attack the Liao people living at the foot of the mountain or in the valley; their target was the Liao people in the mountains.

But after more than half an hour, the Tang army still did not see any surrendering soldiers coming down the mountain. Li Sheng shook his head. It is said that the Liao people are stubborn and will not cry until they see the coffin. It is true. He snorted heavily and said, "Bring me two hundred artillery pieces!"

The Tang army had a supply team of 10,000 camels, which also carried artillery.

Soon, the Tang army built artillery fortifications and mounted two hundred cannons. At the commander's command, the two hundred cannons launched an attack on the Liao stronghold on the mountain.

This is the advantage of artillery. Their range is two to three miles, completely covering the Liaozhai halfway up the mountain. One shell after another exploded violently in the Liaozhai.

This was the first time that the improved artillery was used in actual combat, and it displayed tremendous power, leaving all the Tang army soldiers stunned.

The Liao people on the hillside suffered a devastating disaster. Men, women, old and young were blown to pieces. Houses collapsed one after another. The surviving Liao people fled to the mountain crying for their lives.

Many soldiers who escaped were placed in fortifications, and they were also bombed to suffer heavy casualties, with many being buried by collapsed houses.

Although the artillery only bombarded the lowest level of the Liao stronghold, it does not mean that the Liao strongholds above were spared.

Three thousand Tang soldiers gradually approached the Liao village. They fired gunpowder arrows together. In just a moment, a raging fire broke out in the Liao village. The Liao people's houses were almost all made of wood with straw roofs.

Aided by the mountain wind, the fire spread extremely rapidly. In just a moment, it had spread over a hundred feet and swept towards the large Liao village on the mountain.

The Yao people cried and shouted, carrying the elderly and children and running desperately towards the mountains. Many of them could not outrun the raging fire and were engulfed by the rapidly growing flames.

In less than half an hour, the whole mountain was filled with thick smoke and raging flames, and even the surrounding forests were set on fire.

King Liao hid in a cave with thousands of people. He knelt on the ground and cried loudly, full of regret. They were used to the Tang Dynasty's comfort and despised the huge Tang Dynasty. They always thought that the Tang Dynasty was weak and stupid, but once the Tang Dynasty's wrath broke out, they realized how small they were, and were easily crushed to death by the Tang Dynasty like ants.

Two days later, the fire was finally extinguished. Large areas of the Liao villages were burned to ashes, and more than 20,000 people were burned to death. The Liao people finally realized the terrible consequences.

The Liao king Peng Luanji led more than 10,000 survivors down the mountain to surrender, including the uncle and nephew of the Jia family who were tied up.

Peng Luanji, along with several of his sons and a dozen elders, knelt shirtless in front of Li Sheng to plead guilty.

Li Sheng pointed his whip at the uncle and nephew of the Jia family and said coldly: "For these two criminals, you are willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of your own clansmen to bury them. Let's see how you will explain to your clansmen?"

Peng Luanji shed tears and said, "I didn't know the consequences would be so serious. It's too late to regret now!"

"I tell you, my 20,000 soldiers can slaughter your soldiers without losing a single soldier. This is the strength of the Tang army. It is absolutely incomparable to your border troops. I hope you can face the reality."

Peng Luanji didn't dare to say a word and kowtowed to apologize.

To deal with these Liao people, we cannot kill them all as we did in Liaodong, because there are many other tribes. If we really kill them all, we will force them to move towards Tubo.

The only way to solve the problem is to use both kindness and force. Give them a severe lesson, inflict heavy casualties, and then give them a chance to come to the court and admit their mistakes. For at least a hundred years, the Liao people will be obedient to the court.

Li Sheng raised his voice again and said to the dozen elders behind him: "I don't care who you let be the chief in the end, but I want to tell you that within this year, your Liao King must go to Chang'an to pay homage and beg for forgiveness from the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Only when the Emperor forgives, the matter will be over. Otherwise, the Tang army will come again next year!"

Li Sheng then put the uncle and nephew into a cage and led the army back to Chengdu.

Ten days later, Jia Xiu's uncle and nephew were publicly beheaded at Caishikou in Chengdu. The heads of all the important members of the Jia family were hung on the city wall to intimidate other powerful families.

Just three days after the Tang army returned to Chengdu, Li Sheng personally led an army of 50,000 and marched southward towards Hezhou.

A few days later, the Tang army arrived at Panshi County, the seat of Zizhou. Zizhou was also one of the twelve states that supported the Guo family. The governor Xu Huining was Guo Huaiyan's son-in-law, and the Yang family, a powerful family in Zizhou, was also a staunch ally of the Guo family.

The Yang family supported the Guo family's uprising with practical actions. The Yang family also recruited 20,000 troops to defend Panshi County.

Li Sheng led an army of 50,000 to Panshi County. On the one hand, he used catapults to throw fireballs to attack the city. On the other hand, he stationed there, besieged the city and attacked for reinforcements, waiting for the main force of the Guo family to move north.

The main general of Guo's Zhaolie Army was Guo Qianren, Guo Huaiyan's cousin. Like Jia Xiu, he was also purged and dismissed for supporting Yongwang Li Lin. He had always been in control of Guo's 20,000 farmhands and had a very high status in the Guo family.

This time, Guo Huaiyan's rebellion received the full support of Guo Qianren, so Guo Huaiyan appointed Guo Qianren as marshal.

Guo Qianren is over sixty years old. He had some experience in leading troops twenty years ago and participated in two wars against Tubo, but his actual combat experience is by no means rich.

However, no matter how ordinary Guo Qianren was, the Guo family would never let an outsider take charge of an army of 100,000.

At this time, Guo Qianren had learned that 20,000 Tang troops in Yunnan had crossed the Lu River and were advancing towards Luchuan County. Guo Qianren immediately dispatched 30,000 troops to garrison on the north bank of the Jinsha River in Luchuan County to prevent the Tang army from crossing the river.

At this time, Yang Qinying, the head of the Yang family in Zizhou, urgently asked Guo Huaiyan for help.

Guo Huaiyan did not abandon his allies and immediately ordered Guo Qianren to send troops to rescue Panshi County.

Guo Qianren originally did not want to rescue, but the head of the family, Guo Huaiyan, urged him three times. Guo Qianren had no choice but to leave 20,000 troops in Hechuan County, and he personally led 50,000 troops to attack Panshi County.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

As the fierce war drums of the Tang army sounded, ten thousand archers rushed up like a tide, ran to a distance of 150 steps, raised their crossbows and fired thousands of arrows at the top of the city.

Soon, dozens of large catapults were pushed over and joined the battle. Their long arms accurately threw burning gunpowder cans onto the top of the city walls. A raging fire broke out on the top of the city walls and thick smoke enveloped Panshi County, as if the end of the world had come.

The soldiers, civilians and officials in the city were all terrified. They could hardly breathe. Everyone wet towels and put them on their mouths and noses to filter out the smoke and dust.

That morning, dozens of large catapults were pushed towards the county town again. The soldiers on the city wall thought that the city was going to be set on fire again, so they shouted and fled in all directions. Unexpectedly, the Tang army shot huge wooden balls, which exploded in the sky above the city, and tens of thousands of leaflets fluttered down and scattered all over the city.

The leaflet was a letter to the military and civilians of Panshi County. The Tang army issued an ultimatum to the officers and soldiers in the city, demanding that they open the city and surrender before noon, otherwise the city wall would be blown up directly, and the Tang army would rush into the city and kill all the soldiers without mercy.

The first general to surrender will be granted amnesty and all his crimes will be forgiven.

Less than a cup of tea after the leaflets were dropped, the governor Xu Huining led 3,000 troops to open the city and surrender.

When it comes to seizing a chance of survival in desperation, warriors are always less decisive than scholars.

(End of this chapter)