Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

When countless armored and spear-wielding Tang cavalry rushed into the city, these Western Turkic soldiers did not even have the courage to resist.

They threw their weapons to the ground, and then knelt on the ground with other civilians to beg for mercy from the Tang army.

"Tian Jun, spare my life!"

"We surrender, we are willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty!"

"We are willing to be slaves for generations!"

They had long lost the arrogance they had in the previous few months. They begged for mercy from the Tang army in a humbly manner, their tone full of pleading.

These Western Turkic soldiers knew that the Tang army did not want prisoners at the moment, and surrendering to the Tang army would most likely mean death.

But what if?

A desperate resistance would surely lead to their destruction by the Tang army, but begging for mercy from the Tang army would still give them a glimmer of hope.

The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer. The Western Turkic soldiers and civilians thought that the Tang army was going to kill them. Their faces turned pale and they were filled with despair.

"It's over!"

"The Tang army is still unwilling to let us go?"

This group of people had no intention of resisting. They closed their eyes and waited for death.

Just as they were waiting for the spear to pierce their bodies, a loud shout full of energy instantly brought them back to heaven from hell.

"Surrender without killing!"

As the voice sounded, countless war horses left their side and rushed quickly into the city.

what!

The Tang army actually showed mercy to them!

These Western Turkic soldiers and civilians who knelt on the ground to surrender did not feel the slightest bit of grief or anger about the Tang army's capture of the city. Instead, they were filled with joy.

This feeling of surviving a disaster makes them feel like they have saved their lives for nothing.

The Tang army rushed into the city and shouted in unison.

"Surrender without killing!"

Faced with the powerful oppression brought by the Tang army, the defenders in Gongyue City did not resist at all and all dropped their weapons and surrendered.

As for the unarmed women and children, they had already knelt down and surrendered long ago.

Half an hour later.

This battle, which had been brewing for half a day, ended without bloodshed.

outside the city.

Just when the Tang army took control of Gongyue City, Du He sat in front of the fire, roasting a pheasant with a calm expression.

Zhang Shizheng, this fool, went to the grove to relieve himself, and unexpectedly he encountered a pheasant, which he shot with an arrow.

Since he had to wait anyway, Du He had to roast a pheasant to pass the time.

Smelling the aroma of pheasant meat, Changsun Wuji's throat moved.

A moment of silence.

Zhang Sun Wuji asked in confusion, "Duke Hanguo, you never take prisoners, why did you show mercy this time?"

"Could it be that you have some compassion?"

Since Du He came to the Western Turkic battlefield, his behavior has become more and more strange.

Not only did Du He not give him any face, but now he even refused to kill the prisoners. This behavior made him feel extremely unfamiliar.

He didn't believe in his heart that Du He had become kind.

Du He glanced at him, then smiled and said, "We didn't want prisoners before because we, the Tang army, didn't have enough manpower to watch over them. Now that we have enough manpower, we can naturally take prisoners."

"Besides, our Tang Dynasty has been plagued by internal strife over the past two years, and we've lost tens of thousands of young and strong men. If we don't capture more prisoners, who will do the hard labor?"

"I also want to renovate the official roads in the Tang Dynasty. Aren't these people free labor?"

this...

When Changsun Wuji heard what Du He said, he fell silent.

He had always thought that Du He was a ruthless executioner, but he didn't expect that the reason Du He didn't want prisoners was that he didn't want to send troops to watch over these people.

A few breaths of silence.

Du He continued, "Now that the main force of the Western Turks has been destroyed, the defenders of the major cities of the Western Turks have become frightened birds."

"We accept the surrender of the defenders of Gongyue City. In order to save their lives, the people in other cities will most likely open their city gates and surrender."

"This will also speed up our efforts to annihilate the Western Turks."

That's it!

Changsun Wuji nodded with sudden realization.

He had a deeper understanding of Du He.

Changsun Wuji changed the subject and asked, "Duke Han, what exactly are the thunder bombs made of?"

"It actually has the power to destroy the world!"

Ha ha.

This old man still wants to get information from him.

Du He smiled and shook his head: "Duke Zhao, I am just a small civil servant, how could I possibly know about the Thunderbolt?"

"You've asked the wrong person."

A little civil official?

When Changsun Wuji saw Du He's ugly face, he suddenly became angry.

Moreover, it was Du He who was in charge of the development of the Thunder Bomb and he would send materials to those Taoists every once in a while. How could he not know about it?

Seeing that Du He refused to speak, he did not ask any further questions.

It didn't take long.

Su Dingfang rushed out of the city on his horse. He stopped his horse in front of a tree, then strode up to Du He to report.

"General Manager Du, Gongyue City has been taken under our control!"

"We didn't engage in combat in this battle, and the Gongyue City defenders offered no resistance. Aside from 519 Gongyue City defenders being killed by thunder bombs, there were no casualties."

There was a pause.

Su Dingfang continued, "In this battle, we captured over 2 enemy soldiers and over 9 civilians. As for the other gold, silver, valuables, and livestock, we are still counting them."

This battle was entirely due to the merit of Hong Tianlei.

If the thunder bomb had not scared the defenders in the city and then blew up the city wall, there might have been a tough battle today.

After listening.

Du He said softly, "General Su, you will appoint Luo Tong as the commander-in-chief and Li Dejian as the deputy commander, leading three thousand elite cavalrymen to escort these captives back to the Tang Dynasty."

"After the grain, fodder, gold, silver, and valuables are counted, have Luo Tong and the others escort them back together."

Send people to escort the prisoners and gold, silver and other valuables back in advance?

A little too anxious!

Changsun Wuji quickly said, "General Manager Du, if we split up our forces and send people to escort the prisoners back now, will this affect our strength?"

"How about we wait until we capture Suiye and Bohuan before sending people to escort the prisoners and spoils back?"

Currently, the main force of the Western Turkic Southern Court is hiding in the city of Bohuan, with about 4 soldiers.

The main force of the Western Turkic Beiting was hidden in the city of Suiye, with more than 6 soldiers.

Including the people in other large and small cities, the Western Turks still had about 18 soldiers.

This force still poses a threat to their Tang army.

Du He said calmly, "Don't worry, Duke Zhao. The Western Turks have already been defeated by us. They can't cause any trouble."

"Now that the weather has turned cold, we need to send people to escort some prisoners back in advance."

"Otherwise, when the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, transporting hundreds of thousands of Western Turkic civilians back will definitely cause chaos."

Hearing Du He say this, Changsun Wuji could only nod and agree with Du He's decision.

However, he felt a little strange and always felt that there was something wrong with Du He's arrangement.

But he couldn't figure out what the problem was.

After receiving the order, Su Dingfang rode his horse towards the city again.

Another cup of tea passed.

Du He tore off a leg from the roasted pheasant and then distributed the remaining chicken to his personal guards.

As for Changsun Wuji, he could only watch and drool.