Tang Dynasty: The Holy Prince, the Dragon that Reigns Over the World

After the Battle of Baekgang, the news of the Tang Dynasty's victory reached Li Dejian. Li Dejian was overjoyed and ordered the entire army to attack Zhouliu City. The defenders of Zhouliu City waited for the Japanese reinforcements but they did not arrive. They were also subjected to fierce artillery attacks from Li Dejian's troops for several days. For a time, the people were panicked and suffered heavy losses.

On this day, the victorious Tang fleet sailed near Zhouliu City. The Tang army showed the Japanese reinforcements commander Qin Tianlaijin and the Japanese flag to the defenders of Zhouliu City, and shouted: In the Battle of Baijiangkou, the Japanese reinforcements were completely annihilated. You have no external help, surrender quickly.

The defenders of Zhouliu City were terrified and their morale was shaken. The generals knew that the foreign aid had been destroyed and they could not defend Zhouliu City under the attack of the Tang army. So they sighed and ordered the city to open and surrender.

The Tang army successfully occupied Zhouliu City and obtained a large amount of supplies. Li Dejian was kind-hearted and could not bear to kill the Baekje army when they surrendered. However, his deputy general Yuchi Baolin strongly opposed it.

Yuchi Baolin should not have come to the Goryeo battlefield. He should have waited for orders to lead the Xuanwu Army to attack Japan. However, when Yuchi Baolin learned that Li Dejian was going to help Goryeo, he was so eager that he pestered Li Dejian to bring him to Goryeo.

Li Dejian was so harassed by Yuchi Baolin that he had no choice but to agree. Yuchi Baolin sent a letter to Li Chengqian to inform Li Dejian to come to Goryeo, and the Xuanwu Army was temporarily managed by Xue Li.

"Brother Dejian, this is what Dalang wrote to you. We don't want any prisoners in this battle. Anyone who dares to take up a sword or a gun to fight against the Tang Dynasty will be killed.

Besides, there are nearly 4 prisoners, that's 4 mouths to feed. If you let them go this time, more and more people will surrender later. Can we afford to support them? Why are you being so pedantic again? "Yuchi Baolin said dissatisfiedly.

"Baolin, I'm not being merciful. Think about it, when two armies fight, we can kill as many as we want. But if we kill these captives, who will dare to surrender? Wouldn't this strengthen the Baekje army's determination to continue fighting us?

Moreover, they all have families. If we kill them, wouldn't it make the people of Baekje hate our Tang Dynasty and unite against our Tang Dynasty?

In this case, when will the war with Goryeo end? How can the Tang Dynasty maintain long-term stability in Goryeo? Moreover, killing prisoners is unlucky. Once it gets out, it will damage the reputation of Dalang and the Prince's Mansion Army. You and I will be cursed to death by the censors. "Li Dejian explained patiently.

"I'm not like you. You are the commander of an army. I can't control you. If you want to be kind, don't kill the prisoners. I'm not afraid of bad reputation. I'll kill them.

Li Dejian, I'm telling you, don't forget that we brothers grew up together with Dalang. Our glory and title today were given by Dalang. Without Dalang, you and I would be a second-generation nobleman who would just eat and wait for death.

I don't care about good or bad reputation, I only know that Dalang is my brother and my lord. Dalang has been with me through life and death, and has helped me. Whatever Dalang says, I will do it even if I die. "Yuchi Baolin said angrily.

"Yuchi Mangfu, for the sake of your foolish loyalty, do you want to make my lord appear unkind? If you dare to kill the captives without authorization, Dalang's reputation will surely be tarnished. When Dalang inherits the throne in the future, how can the surrounding barbarians submit? Won't they say that our lord is a cruel and tyrannical monarch? It doesn't matter what outsiders say about you and me, but I will never allow Dalang's reputation to be tarnished in any way." Li Dejian was also furious.

"Li Dejian, Dalang has issued a clear order not to take any prisoners. I will kill all the prisoners in Zhouliu City. If you have the guts, you can cut off my head and go to curry favor with those foreign barbarians and censors." Yuchi Baolin was so angry that he slammed the table, drew his sword and threw it in front of Li Dejian.

"You, you bastard. You and I have been brothers for more than 20 years, and you are like this." Li Dejian looked at the sword in front of him, pointed at Yuchi Baolin with trembling fingers, and said sadly.

"Hey, let me tell you, you two. Victory is in sight in the battle of Baekje. The whole country is rejoicing, and the army's morale is high, but the commander and deputy commander of an army started arguing. Oh, they even used weapons. You two, what's going on here?" Li Chongyi and Cheng Huailiang walked into the big tent. Li Chongyi was smiling, while Cheng Huailiang's face was as pale as the bottom of a pot.

"Oh, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Your Highness. Baolin and I had an argument over how to deal with the prisoners." Li Dejian sighed.

"I thought it was something else. Look, Dalang knows that you are kind, so he specially sent a letter to you." Li Chongyi handed the letter to Li Dejian with a smile. Li Dejian was overjoyed and hurriedly took the letter and checked it carefully.

"My dear brother Dejian, I am glad to see you in person. I know that with the abilities of my brother Chongyi and my brother, it will be easy for you to take the Japanese reinforcements and Zhouliucheng. Once the Japanese reinforcements are destroyed, Zhouliucheng will surely surrender.

I know that my brother is kindhearted and will never kill prisoners lightly. However, Baolin is fiery and stubborn, and he will definitely fight with me to execute my orders and not spare the prisoners. You don't have to argue with Baolin.

The land of Goryeo is a newly annexed foreign land of our Great Tang, and the people are not yet obedient. Barbarians do not know etiquette and morality, and do not know the way of heaven. Today, our Great Tang pardons their crime of being the tail of the rebels, and the people are lucky. In the future, if there are still scoundrels looking for opportunities to rebel, and we raise our arms and call for the people to follow them, what should we do?

I think that if you want to rule a foreign land, you must be a king and a hegemon. You must teach and educate the people, and make them grateful for the grace of the Celestial Empire and feel attached to it. This is the way of a king. If they have the intention of treason and want to resist the Celestial Empire, then you must kill all the soldiers and make them fearful with blood, so that they will never dare to have a different mind for eternity. This is the way of a hegemon.

The battle of Goryeo started from Zhouliucheng, and the prince was sent to Goryeo and the surrounding countries. From now on, if you are an enemy of our Tang Dynasty, whoever opens the city to welcome the army and surrenders to the Tang army will be beheaded, and the rest will not be punished or killed. Anyone who resists our Tang army, even if he surrenders, will be killed.

Brother, you are a hero in the world. You should know that people who are not of our race must have different hearts. I hope you will think deeply about this. Your younger brother, Li Chengqian, respectfully submits this. "

After reading it, Li Dejian pondered for a long time and sighed.

"I can't think of what Dalang thinks." After saying this, he handed the letter to Yuchi Baolin. Yuchi Baolin hurriedly took it and said happily after reading it.

"In this way, we can preserve Dalang's reputation for kindness and also eliminate the rebellious intentions of the latter." Cheng Huailiang asked coldly when he saw Yuchi Baolin's anger turn into joy.

"Is General Yuchi satisfied?"

"Satisfied, satisfied. Now that Dalang has the order, I will certainly obey it." Yuchi Baolin nodded and smiled.

As soon as Yuchi Baolin finished speaking, Cheng Huailiang punched him and knocked him down.

"Cheng Erlangzi, what are you doing?" Yuchi Baolin said angrily, covering his face. Li Dejian and Li Chongyi saw this and stepped forward in shock and grabbed Cheng Huailiang. Cheng Huailiang cursed angrily.

"What am I doing? I'm telling you, you bastard Yuchi, we are brothers. We grew up together, joined the army together, and fought together. Dejian is our elder brother and has always taken good care of us. Who gave you the courage to draw your sword against your elder brother?

When you were injured, who took care of you day and night? When you were hungry, who would rather starve than share their food with you? Your conscience has been eaten by a dog.

I tell you, don't be unconvinced. Before I came, Dalang told me that you are fiery and obedient, and you and Dejian will have a dispute over the prisoners. It is normal for brothers to have some disagreements. Don't let this hurt the relationship between brothers. If you are disrespectful to brother Dejian, let me persuade you. I didn't expect you to dare to show your sword.

"Brother Dejian, everything you did was for the good of Dalang and us. You have a bad temper. You are the only one who is loyal to Dalang, but we are not. Tell me whether you should be beaten or not."

Yuchi Baolin lay on the ground, covering his face with shame. After a while, Yuchi Baolin knelt down in front of Li Dejian and said guiltily.

"Brother, I was reckless and bumped into you. Please punish me." Li Dejian hurriedly helped Yuchi Baolin up, holding his hand and said.

"Why did you do this, my brother? It's all for the sake of the Tang Dynasty and to fulfill Dalang's request. How can you blame me? My brother is a kind person, I won't blame you."

"Brother Huailiang, thank you for waking me up." Yuchi Baolin bowed to Cheng Huailiang again and said. The three brothers shook hands and laughed, forgetting their past grudges. Li Chongyi sighed when he saw this.

"Da Lang has such a brother, and our Tang Dynasty has such a brave general, so we don't have to worry about foreign enemies. Da Lang is lucky."

"Prince, do you have anything else to do?" Li Dejian asked with a smile.

"Well, General Su reported that most of Baekje's territory has been recovered. Can we head north next?" Li Chongyi nodded.

"Alright, inform General Su. Ask him to continue sweeping Baekje, and once Baekje is completely pacified, then march north. My army will rest for two days, and then march north first."

"I am willing to be the vanguard." Yuchi Baolin said with a fist salute.

"Go away. You don't even have a soldier. What kind of vanguard are you?" Cheng Huailiang rolled his eyes and said.

"Okay, stop arguing. Let the Turkic Wolf Cavalry be the vanguard, so that Ashina Heluohu can also earn some military merit." Li Dejian waved his hand and said. Yuchi Baolin and Cheng Huailiang were speechless after hearing this.

After two days of rest, the army set out to the north. The coalition forces of the three countries in Goguryeo learned that the Japanese reinforcements had been annihilated and the rear base had been lost. The coalition forces were as sad as if they had lost their parents, and the morale of the army dropped greatly. The soldiers were in a state of panic. The soldiers of the Goguryeo and Baekje armies were even more homesick, and the war-weariness and war-mongering sentiment spread throughout the army.

"Gentlemen, there is no need for me to say more about our army's current situation. How should our army deal with this situation?" Atumihara said with a dejected look on his face.

"Hey, Mr. Atumiharafu. The only way now is to capture Pyongyang with all our strength and capture the three Tang princes before the Baekje Tang army arrives. Only then will there be a glimmer of hope." Yuan Nan continued with a sigh.

"Is it still possible to win?" Fu Yu Yi Ci asked with a look of despair on his face.

"Baga, our army still has some strength left. How dare you shake our morale again? You are so afraid of death that you will ruin our army. You are such a coward. What's the point of keeping you?" The Japanese general Di Jingbinglang said angrily, and then drew his sword to kill Buyeo Yici. Everyone in the tent hurriedly stopped him.

At this time, in the coalition forces, the Jinyiwei disguised as soldiers were spreading panic everywhere and inciting the coalition forces to defect.

"Hey, have you heard? Our army was defeated in Baekje, the reinforcements were wiped out, and the logistics supply base was lost." Jinyiwei disguised as the coalition soldier A whispered. The surrounding soldiers nodded.

"I heard about it. I heard about it."

"Oh, it's over. How can we fight anymore?" said a soldier.

"Don't we still have nearly 30 troops?" said another.

"It's useless. We all know how powerful the Tang army has been in recent days. I heard that there are more than 30 Tang troops from Baekje marching north to fight us. There are still 8 Tang troops ahead." Jinyiwei disguised as Allied Soldier B said.

"I also heard that the Crown Prince of Tang issued an order: the battle of Goryeo started from Zhouliu City. From now on, anyone who is hostile to Tang, who opens the city to welcome the Tang army, or who surrenders when seeing the Tang army, will have the person in charge beheaded, and the rest will not be punished or killed. Anyone who resists the Tang army, even if he surrenders, will have his weapons killed." said the first Jinyiwei who spoke, who was disguised as a coalition soldier.

"What should we do? If we fight, we will die. If we don't fight, we will die too. I don't want to die." said a Goguryeo soldier.

"How stupid! Working for the Japanese and people like Buyeo Yiji. Look at what kind of trouble the Japanese have caused to Baekje. It's better to just run away and save your life." Jinyiwei disguised as Allied Soldier B said.

Everyone was silent, but they seemed to be thinking about something. That night, several Baekje soldiers took advantage of the patrol to escape. Soon, many of the coalition Goguryeo and Baekje soldiers took the opportunity to escape.

After learning about the situation, Atanhirafu angrily rebuked Yuan Nanji and Buyeo Yici. He ordered patrols in the future and Japanese troops to monitor. Although no one escaped, the morale of the Goguryeo and Baekje armies was completely lost, and the soldiers had no intention of fighting anymore.

Seeing that the morale was low and the Baekje Tang army was about to arrive, Atanbirov ordered a decisive battle with the Pyongyang Tang army. As the two armies faced each other, Li Ke rode out and shouted.

"Goguryeo and Baekje soldiers on the other side, now that you have run out of food aid, you have no chance of winning. The Crown Prince of our Great Tang is kind and has ordered that as long as you surrender in this battle, you will not be punished. If you can help our Great Tang kill the Japanese and punish the person in charge, you will be rewarded. Your families are still waiting for you to return home for a reunion, so don't put your lives at risk."

"Brothers, the Japanese invaders have killed our relatives and destroyed our homes. Why should we help our enemies fight? Brothers, since the Tang Dynasty has given us a way to survive, when should we fight back if not now?" A member of the coalition army disguised as a Jinyiwei hiding in the crowd shouted.

"Rebellion! Kill the Japanese invaders and execute the person in charge. Go home and reunite with your family." Another member of the coalition force, disguised as a Jinyiwei, shouted while hiding in the crowd.

At one point, the Goguryeo and Baekje armies were led by the secret agents of the Jinyiwei to attack the Japanese army. Li Ke saw this and led his army to attack them. The Japanese army was attacked from both sides and was surrounded by the Goguryeo and Baekje armies and the Tang army who had revolted in front of the battle, suffering heavy casualties.

Seeing this, Buyeo Yici drew his sword and committed suicide. Yuan Nanji was killed by the chaotic army. The Japanese general Dijing Binglang was chopped into pieces by the angry Baekje soldiers. Atanbirafu fought hard, but was exhausted and captured.

In this battle, Li Ke completely annihilated the Japanese army in Goguryeo. The Tang army fought bravely for a year against the Japanese, and finally won the battle against Goguryeo. The Japanese lost more than 10 soldiers and horses in Goguryeo, which was a great loss.