Tibet.

Chapter 1478: The Guo Family's Destruction
Guo Huaiyan was awakened by the smoke in his sleep. He quickly stood up and asked, "What happened?"

A maid came hurriedly with a wet cloth covering her mouth and nose, "Master, it's full of smoke outside!"

Guo Huaiyan also covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth and walked out of the room. The top of the mountain was filled with thick smoke and the sky was also obscured by smoke and dust.

At this time, a family member wearing armor came running over and reported urgently: "Master, go back to the house quickly and close the doors and windows. This smoke is poisonous!"

Guo Huaiyan was shocked. Was the smoke poisonous? He asked anxiously, "How are the soldiers?"

"Not good! Many soldiers have been poisoned, especially those at the mountainside defense point. Some of them have retreated now."

The defense of Diaoyu Mountain was far from as perfect as that of the Song Dynasty. It relied more on the terrain for defense. They deployed two lines of defense on the river and at the foot of the mountain, called the front defense. Currently, the front defense has been broken, with a loss of 7,000 people.

Then came the central defense, deployed on the mountainside, with a total of 8,000 people, guarding the fourteen roads leading up the mountain.

The central defense is the top priority. If the central defense is broken, they will not be able to hold on for long.

The last step was the bottom defense, which was the top of the mountain. Guo Huaiyan deployed the last 5,000 men, using the terrain that was easy to defend but difficult to attack to ensure that the top of the mountain would not be lost.

But now that the Tang army has started to set fire and poison, the central defense may be in danger. Guo Huaiyan stamped his feet anxiously, "Tell me quickly, how many people are there in the retreat?"

"More than 700 people have retreated so far!"

"what?"

Guo Huaiyan's eyes widened. He had deployed 8,000 men to defend the mountainside, but now only 700 men had retreated.

He suddenly became anxious, "I'll go take a look!"

He ignored the guards' advice and rushed out with a wet cloth covering his mouth and nose. More than a dozen guards had no choice but to follow him.

The top of the mountain was filled with running soldiers, but the smoke was so thick that their faces could not be seen clearly. Only swaying shadows could be seen, and each of them covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth.

Guo Huaiyan came to the cliff and looked down. The scene in front of him shocked him. He saw that the whole area below the mountain was on fire and there was thick smoke. Compared with the smoke below the mountain, the smoke on the top of the mountain was much better, and most of the smoke floated up into the sky.

Diaoyu Mountain was strategically located because there was only one road leading to the top of the mountain. Guo Huaiyan rushed to the road and asked anxiously, "How many soldiers have retreated from the mountainside?"

General Guo Song quickly reported: "Master, 1,200 people have retreated!"

Guo Song is Guo Qianren's son. He inherited his father's business and is currently one of the main generals, responsible for the bottom defense, that is, the defense of the top of the mountain.

Guo Huaiyan asked again: "Have you sent people to the central region to inform them to retreat?"

"I have sent three groups of soldiers down there, but there is no news."

"What time is it now?" Guo Huaiyan asked, looking at the foggy sky.

"Reporting to the Patriarch, it's almost dawn!"

"When did the Tang army start setting fire?"

Guo Song thought for a moment and said, "The fire was probably started before the first watch, and it has been burning all night."

Guo Huaiyan suddenly became a little anxious, "Why didn't you let the soldiers retreat earlier?"

Guo Song lowered his head and said with a guilty conscience, "We all thought that the Tang army's arson was fake, and the purpose was to force the soldiers defending the mountainside to retreat to the top of the mountain, so that the Tang army could occupy the mountainside without bloodshed. Unexpectedly, the fire became more and more fierce, and the smoke was poisonous. Then we realized that the problem was not good. I sent people down to inform General Luo, but there is no news now. Many brothers on the top of the mountain were also knocked down by the poisonous smoke."

Guo Huaiyan glared at him fiercely and asked, "How many soldiers on the top of the mountain were knocked out by the smoke?"

"It's not too many, less than a thousand people."

Guo Huaiyan was even more worried. The smoke on the top of the mountain was not serious. It was just some smoke, but 20% of the soldiers were knocked out. Wouldn't the situation on the mountainside be even more serious?

At this time, someone shouted: "They are back!"

Guo Huaiyan was cheered up and hurried to meet them. He saw two soldiers coming back from the mountain path. Their bodies were burnt black and half of their hair was burnt off. They looked extremely miserable.

These two people were the third group of soldiers sent by Guo Song to the mountainside to notify the retreat. Five people went in the third group, but only two came back.

Guo Song asked anxiously, "Where are the other brothers?"

The two soldiers said with sad faces, "We can't go back, General. The way back is completely blocked by fire and thick smoke. Soldiers are everywhere on the mountainside, all of them are poisoned. The five of us tried our best to escape, but in the end only the two of us made it through the smoke blockade."

Before the soldier could finish his words, someone shouted, "Master! Master! What's wrong with you?"

Guo Song looked back in a hurry, and was so shocked that his heart almost broke. He saw the head of the family, Guo Huaiyan, staggering and fainting all of a sudden.

Guo Song shouted anxiously: "Hurry! Send him back for rescue." Guo Huaiyan was also poisoned. He was over sixty years old and could not compare with the young and strong soldiers. After inhaling a large amount of poisonous smoke, he was poisoned and fell into a coma.

The fire burned until the next afternoon. The Tang army kept adding kerosene and oleander powder flakes, throwing a total of three thousand sacks. The Tang army had no idea what the result would be.

It was not until the afternoon that the fire began to gradually die out. A moderate rain came unexpectedly and completely extinguished the wildfire.

Thousands of Tang soldiers began to search the mountain. The entire mountain turned black, with trees burned into charcoal and the remains of various animals everywhere.

Soon, the Tang army found a large number of enemy soldiers' bodies in the defense position on the mountainside. Most of them died of suffocation after being poisoned, and many were burned to charcoal by the fire. They were preparing to escape back to the mountain, but were trapped in the fire and burned to death.

But the top of the mountain seemed to be still safe and sound.

Li Sheng observed the top of the mountain for a moment, and decisively ordered: "Send 500 heavy shield soldiers up the mountain to test it!"

The Tang army immediately sent a group of 500 heavy shield soldiers up the mountain.

Five hundred shield soldiers holding large shields walked slowly along both sides of the mountain path. When they were halfway there, a shout suddenly came from the top of the mountain.

Logs and rocks rolled down one after another, and the soldiers quickly lay down. After the big rocks passed, arrows were fired from the mountain, shooting like raindrops.

The five hundred shield soldiers slowly retreated. Their mission was not to attack the top of the mountain, but to test the strength of the top of the mountain.

The leading general reported to Li Sheng: "General, judging from the number of arrows fired by the enemy, there are about 3,000 archers on the mountain. The number of soldiers is estimated to be more than this, but not much more."

Li Sheng looked at the top of the mountain and asked, "How far is it to the top of the mountain?"

"About a mile or so!"

"At what distance did they begin shooting and stoning?"

"About a hundred and fifty steps!"

Li Sheng nodded and ordered: "Use the large crossbows and large arrows to cover the sword and shield troops in their charge!"

Immediately, one hundred heavy crossbowmen went up, each with two crossbowmen assisting them. The heavy crossbowmen began to move up the mountain, followed by thousands of Tang army sword and shield soldiers.

When they were about two hundred and fifty steps away from the top of the mountain, the leading general waved his hand and everyone stopped.

One hundred heavy crossbowmen raised their large crossbows and aimed at the top of the mountain. The assisting soldiers beside them lit the fuse, which burned to a red dot. Then a hundred arrow torpedoes were fired at the same time and instantly reached the top of the mountain. All that could be heard from the top of the mountain was a series of explosions and the cries of the soldiers.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, two thousand sword and shield soldiers quickly rushed up the mountain, and then the second round of arrows and lightning were shot out, and a series of explosions sounded again on the top of the mountain.

Under the cover of three rounds of arrow mines, two thousand sword and shield soldiers successfully reached the top of the mountain, and the arrow mines also stopped firing at the same time.

The top of the mountain was in a mess, with dead and wounded soldiers everywhere, and several sections of the high wall collapsed.

Suddenly, a shout was heard from afar, and dense arrows shot out from the hole in the wall. The Tang soldiers raised their shields and rushed into the hole in the wall in a line. Although soldiers were shot in the legs and fell to the ground, most of the soldiers rushed into the high wall.

The bows and arrows were no longer useful. Thousands of Guo family soldiers, led by Guo Song, rushed forward shouting and fought fiercely with the Tang army soldiers.

Soon, another 6,000 spearmen and 1,000 crossbowmen rushed to the top of the mountain. The Tang army began to gain the upper hand and fought fiercely with the last 3,500 remaining soldiers.

The last battle lasted until dusk. The top of the mountain was littered with corpses. Guo Song, like his father, was stabbed to death by dozens of spears. All 3,500 of his most loyal private soldiers were also killed in the battle. The Tang army also paid the price of more than 1,000 casualties.

On the top of the mountain, all the members of the Guo family were driven out. Only then did Li Sheng know that the head of the family, Guo Huaiyan, had died this morning due to severe poisoning.

All 580 members of the Guo family, including men, women, old and young, were driven down the mountain. In addition, the Nanzhao Kingdom also betrayed the Guo family, detaining all 174 members of the Guo family who were about to move to the great plains of the Pyu Kingdom and handing them over to the Tang army.

It took the Tang army three full days to clear all the corpses on Diaoyu Mountain, and another five days to transport all the food, supplies, and wealth down the mountain and transport them to Chang'an via the West Han River.

At the same time, Emperor Li Ye approved the execution of all males over the age of 14 in the Guo family, exiled the rest of the family members to Lingnan, and confiscated all their property.

The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for liquidating all officials and wealthy families who support the Guo family.

A month later, all slaves in Bashu were turned into civilians, making it the second completely slave-free region after Guanzhong.

The front page headline of "Tang Dynasty Weekly" recorded in detail the detailed process of the demise of the Guo and Jia families, as well as the transformation of other Bashu nobles.

Thirty thousand copies were distributed and sent to all parts of the country. For a time, all parts of the country were shocked. The powerful families understood the current situation and took the initiative to abolish slavery in order to obtain exemption from inspection, so as to avoid being implicated in the inspection.

By the end of the year, the abolition of slavery was accomplished, there were no more slaves in the Tang Dynasty, and the country entered the era of civilians in the Song Dynasty two hundred years ahead of schedule.

===
[The new book is also being uploaded simultaneously. After reading this chapter, you can go to "The Chess Game of the Sui Dynasty" to read the new chapter. Don't forget to collect and recommend it! ]

(End of this chapter)