Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5337 One Shot to the Rescue
The defenders of Qucheng were extremely wary of the Tang army's "gunpowder packs" and knew that the city walls could not stop the Tang army's advance. So when the Tang army defeated the elephant cavalry and moved into the city to encircle them, they gathered the last troops in the city and went out to fight the Tang army.

It was already night, and a heavy rain was falling, which prevented the Tang army from utilizing its superior weaponry. The two sides fought fiercely outside the city.

At midnight, both sides, who had been fighting fiercely for a day and a night, tacitly called a retreat.

Liu Renyuan, Yang Zhou, and Xi Junmai gathered in the makeshift central command tent, their respective armies maintaining the siege of Qucheng.

A campfire was lit inside the tent, and an iron pot was placed on top of it. Inside the pot, several large pieces of elephant trunk were stewing, and the broth was thick and fragrant...

Xi Junmai arrived a little late by boat. He sniffed the aroma and exclaimed, "I've only ever seen this in ancient books. It's very rare to find it now. It's delicious!"

Yang Zhou gestured for Xi Jun to take his seat, then got up and took down the iron pot. He used chopsticks to put several large pieces of elephant trunk into separate plates, sprinkled fine salt on the surface, and placed them in front of the two of them. He smiled and said, "It is said that 'the most delicious meat is the elephant.' Today, thanks to the blessed land of Zhenla and the generosity of Jayavarman, let us also taste this delicacy."

Liu Renyuan and Xi Junmai laughed and picked up their chopsticks to eat.

The elephant trunk was stewed until it was soft, tender, and mushy, with a slightly sweet and gelatinous taste, making it extremely delicious.

Xi Junmai took a bite of meat and sighed, "It's a pity there's no wine."

He then asked, "Could this be the elephant that Jayavarman rode?"

Liu Renyuan laughed and said, "Exactly!"

Yang Zhou ate the meat heartily: "Thank you for your generosity, Jayavarman. If we meet again in Chang'an in the future, I will definitely repay you for the kindness of giving me meat today."

After the three finished eating the meat, they filled the iron kettle with water and boiled it over the campfire to make tea. They then sipped the tea from the iron cups.

Outside the tent, the sound of rain was dense, and the rain was pouring down.

Liu Renyuan put down his teacup and let out a satisfied sigh. He said to Xi Junmai, "General Xi, you're a step too late. An envoy just arrived from the city, wanting to negotiate with us and offer conditional surrender."

Xi Junmai took a sip of tea, shook his head, and said, "What is there to talk about? We are in control now, and Zhenla is nothing more than a turtle in a jar."

"You won't even listen to the conditions?"

Xi Junmai said expressionlessly, "Surrender is acceptable, but only unconditional surrender. They have no right to negotiate."

Yang Zhou gave a thumbs up: "Awesome!"

Liu Renyuan said, "With the king captured and the city about to fall, we are like meat on a chopping board, at the mercy of others. Since the three of us are of one mind, let's devise the following tactics to try and capture the city tomorrow."

Yang Zhou said, "This place is damp and rainy, so the fire oil bombs are not very effective, and the projectiles are not destructive enough. Therefore, the navy can only assist from the side and cannot take on the important task of breaking through the city."

"It's alright. It's just a small city called Taqu. We only need to blow up the city walls and rush into the city. The enemy's morale will surely collapse and they will surrender."

Xi Jinping is very confident in winning the bid for the city.

Liu Renyuan nodded in agreement and discussed the details with the two men. The most important issues were how to maintain order within the city after its fall and how to reorganize the surrendered Zhenla army.

Finally, Yang Zhou said with a hint of surprise, "The previous envoy put forward many conditions, but none of them were to release Jayavarman... In other places, if the ruler of a country is defeated and captured, the will to resist of the entire country will basically collapse. But Zhenla seems to be still operating as usual. How strange."

Liu Renyuan said, "It's not surprising. I studied the country of Zhenla in my early years. It was formed by several tribes of similar strength coming together. After destroying Funan as a vassal state, it joined forces with many allies. It's more appropriate to call it a tribal alliance than a country. Jayavarman is indeed highly respected, but his presence or absence doesn't make much difference. We can just replace him with another leader."

Yang Zhou suddenly realized.

These extremely primitive tribal alliances are usually in conflict with each other, making it difficult to unite and work together as one. Internal strife exacerbates their instability, but the advantage is that they will not completely collapse because of a single defeat, because someone else will step up.

After finishing the last sip of tea, Liu Renyuan said, "It's getting late, so let's all go back to our units and rest. Tomorrow at dawn, we'll launch a full-scale attack on the city as planned. We've entered the rainy season, and the rain is getting heavier and heavier. Not only is the climate becoming more and more humid, but the roads are also becoming more and more difficult to travel, which is a great hindrance to us. We can't delay any longer. Let's try to capture Taqu and destroy Zhenla in one fell swoop."

"Here!"

"Here!"

The two stood up one after the other and agreed in unison.

……

At dawn the following day, the rain subsided slightly, and the Tang army launched a full-scale attack on the city.

Although the rain continued to reduce the power of the incendiary bombs, the warships on the river continued to fire their cannons, the booming sound of which rallied their comrades on land.

The Tang army was in high spirits and their morale was soaring. They broke through the enemy's defenses outside the city in one fell swoop. Then, they resorted to the same old trick that had been tested in several wars—planting "gunpowder packs" to blow up the city walls, and then the heavily armored infantry charged in and the whole army stormed into the city to carry out the attack...

Because Jayavarman hesitated and failed to withdraw from Tachuk City in time, his retreat was now cut off by Xijunmai's army. Liu Renyuan attacked the south gate and also sent troops to infiltrate the east gate. The entire Tachuk City was surrounded like a sealed can.

The army inside the city was able to hold out for a while at first, but after the south gate wall collapsed and was breached by the Tang army's heavy infantry, their will to resist collapsed instantly. The Zhenla army roamed around the city, looting money and property. Their orders were broken, their morale collapsed, and they were in complete chaos.

As evening fell, the Tang army advanced to the vicinity of the royal palace, and the civil and military officials of Zhenla lined up to surrender en masse...

When the city of Taqu fell, the kingdom of Zhenla perished.

Squads of Tang soldiers randomly swept through various parts of the city to quell the rioters and maintain order. Those who resisted or committed rape and plunder were slaughtered. By evening, the entire city of Taqu finally quieted down. Countless corpses of rioters littered the streets and alleys. Rainwater diluted the blood, which flowed in meandering streams. Under the organization of officials, the common people, merchants, and disarmed Zhenla soldiers took to the streets to collect the corpses and wash the streets. Cartloads of corpses were taken to the foot of the mountain in the east of the city to be buried in pits to prevent the outbreak of disease.

King Jayavarman, along with his wife, children, royal family, and some ministers, were ordered to take a portion of their property and board a Tang warship to travel downstream with Yang Zhou and Xi Junmai, leaving the Mekong River for Da Nang, before transferring to another warship to travel to the Tang Dynasty.

At the same time, Liu Renyuan remained in Taqu City to implement temporary rule over Zhenla.

Yang Zhou arrived in Da Nang, landed to rest, and dispatched ships to escort Jayavarman and his party to the Tang Dynasty.

Having made preparations in advance, Su Dingfang, together with Yang Zhou, led the fleet from Da Nang, arriving at Basra, the lowest port on the Persian Sea, a month later...

*****
Starting from the snow-capped peaks of the Anatolian Plateau, the Fries River and the Tigris River, like two lifelines, flow tirelessly towards the Persian Gulf in the southeast, where countless streams of snowmelt and spring water converge.

The river's course created a crescent-shaped plain, which the locals called "Mesopotamia," meaning "land between two rivers," and it is one of the oldest cradles of human civilization.

This crescent-shaped region, rich in water and fertile soil, resembles a nourishing crescent moon. Here, the Sumerians pioneered cities, writing, and laws; the Babylonians inscribed their pursuit of order in the Code of Hammurabi; and the Assyrians built a vast empire with their iron cavalry.

From the city-state of Ur to the Hanging Gardens, they illuminated the dawn of history like stars.

When the Abbasid Caliphate, under the rule of the Prophet, expanded wildly and conquered new territories, it marched out of the desert from Medina and conquered in all directions. In the ancient city of Ctesiphon, it defeated the invincible Persian Empire and ruled this fertile and civilized land.

Here, the Arabs realized the importance of foreign trade, but the Persian Plateau in the north blocked the way to the Seven Rivers and the far east. So they built a port city at the confluence of the two rivers to serve as a trade route with Persia, the Seven Rivers, and the far east.

This is Basra, a city built just thirty years ago, the most prosperous port of the vast Abbasid Caliphate.

Under a clear blue sky and azure sea, with masts standing tall and white sails like clouds, more than a hundred Tang Dynasty naval warships slowly assembled on the sea, and then sailed in single file from the estuary into the Shatt al-Arab River, heading towards the city of Basra, fifty miles upstream.

This river is formed by the confluence of the Fritillaria, Tigris, and Karen rivers, which flow from the northern Persian Plateau, about a hundred miles upstream from their mouths, before flowing into the sea.

Millions of years of river erosion have caused a large amount of silt to accumulate at the river mouth, forming vast swamps that are unsuitable for building a city. Therefore, the Arabs chose to build their city fifty miles upstream from the river mouth...

At the mouth of the river, the width was hundreds of miles at its widest point and only thirty miles at its narrowest. The Abbasid navy, which had already observed the approaching Tang fleet, gathered dozens of warships of various sizes here.

The Arab navy lost almost all of its forces in the Persian Sea at the Battle of Shirofu, and the remaining forces were still fighting the Byzantines in the Mediterranean. It was impossible for them to be transferred to the Persian Sea through the narrow Suez Canal. Therefore, knowing that they were outmatched, the Arab navy planned to hold the river mouth and fight to the death using the narrow waterway.

Su Dingfang stood with his hands behind his back at the bow of the boat, gazing towards the river mouth, while the signalman on the mast waved a flag to signal the direction.

The warships assembled instantly, dozens of warships lined up in a row and advanced towards the enemy. Before they even formed a battle formation, they opened fire. In an instant, the sound of cannons boomed and smoke filled the air. The bullets left the gun barrels and splashed water into the sea. When they landed on the ships, they smashed the decks, damaged the keels, and even broke the bottoms.

After three rounds of bombardment, the sea was littered with broken wood and corpses. Tang warships charged forward like a stampede of horses, and soldiers stood on the ship's side to slaughter the remaining enemies with muskets, crossbows, spears and other weapons. In an instant, the sea was stained red with blood.

Because the river mouth was too shallow and large ships were prone to running aground, Su Dingfang and Yang Zhou switched from large ships to small boats and sailed into the river channel along the river mouth. They raised their sails and headed upstream towards Basra.