Chapter 317: Blitz the City and Establish a New King (Part 2)
Faced with the Tang cavalry vanguard approaching the city, Gozang, the treasure king of the Goguryeo Dynasty, finally chose to accept the proposal of Lord Gai Shiwengai and hurriedly led the royal family in the palace to evacuate the royal city of Pyongyang;
Under the personal escort of General Ma Xidong of the Ministry of War, they retreated to Kaesong, more than a hundred miles away, and handed over the capital city that their ancestors had managed for hundreds of years since the Han Dynasty to Lord Gai Shiwengai, who was over sixty years old.
As for the remaining 50,000 guards stationed in the Goguryeo royal city, part of the elite division followed General Ma Xidong of the Ministry of War to escort the treasure king to retreat westward, and the other part stayed in the royal city to surrender to the Tang army to show the sincerity of the Goguryeo Dynasty to submit to the Tang Dynasty.
At 5 p.m.
The 20,000 Tang navy vanguard army, led by the vanguard general Chen Longxiang, finally arrived at the city of Pyongyang, aiming at this Goguryeo capital with hundreds of years of history.
To the surprise of Chen Longxiang and his naval commanders, the gates of the Goguryeo royal city were wide open, with no intention of resistance at all.
An old man with gray hair and gorgeous clothes, supported by a servant, stood proudly at the gate of the Goguryeo capital, as if waiting for someone.
On the walls of the Goguryeo capital, the royal flags symbolizing the Goguryeo Dynasty were still fluttering in the wind, and the Goguryeo guards in armor and swords were still on duty on the battlements of the wall.
However, these Goguryeo guards did not seem to be hostile to the Tang Navy cavalry that arrived.
Seeing this, Jin Wang Chen Longxiang, who was riding on the yellow horse, could not help but be full of doubts. After touching his head with his hand, he said to himself: "Empty city plan?"
As he said that, Chen Longxiang actually rode forward, ready to go alone and meet the white-bearded man at the city gate.
"General——"
Eagle Strike Sima Zhang Xuan reacted and rode forward immediately, lowering his voice and saying: "General, I see that this Goguryeo Royal City is extremely strange, and I am afraid it is a trick!"
Hmph!
Chen Longxiang snorted coldly and replied domineeringly: "Eagle Strike Sima, this general is hoping that there is a trick. If they don't attack this general, how can this general order the massacre of the city?"
After speaking, Chen Longxiang gently patted the yellow horse under his crotch and walked towards the city gate without looking back.
Zhang Xuan, the Eagle Strike Sima, also reacted. Yes, who is this Prince Jin? No matter whether the Goguryeo people want to play the empty city plan or ambush from all sides, they probably can't hurt His Highness at all.
So, he quietly rode forward, keeping a subtle distance from Chen Longxiang, ensuring that he would not steal His Highness's limelight, and could ride forward in time when His Highness needed it.
At the same time.
Standing outside the gate of the Goguryeo capital, Gai Shiwen, who had been waiting for a long time, recognized the young general wearing a golden armor on horseback at a glance. He must be the brave and fierce general of the Tang army mentioned by the generals in the court.
When Chen Longxiang rode his horse and walked towards him step by step, Gai Shiwen seemed to see the shadow of an old friend in him in a trance.
That old friend was the sworn brother of Emperor Zhao Mang of the Great Xin Dynasty, and the first war god of the Great Xin Dynasty.
Gai Shiwen firmly believed that if that old friend had not been ambitious, the dynasty of the Great Xin Dynasty might not have been named Zhao!
At this time, Gai Shiwen, supported by his servants, walked step by step towards Chen Longxiang who was riding a horse.
When the two sides were only ten steps apart, they finally stopped.
Gai Shiwen was the first to speak: "May I ask if the general is the son of Jin Wang Chen Polu?"
Oh?
Hearing this, Chen Longxiang on horseback raised his eyebrows and asked with interest: "Old man, do you know my father?"
Yes!
Gai Shiwen nodded and said: "I did meet Jin Wang Chen Polu once many years ago, so we are old acquaintances!"
Chen Longxiang curled his lips and said: "Old man, I am the second son of the previous emperor, the Jin Wang of the Tang Dynasty, and the vanguard general of the Tang Navy Fleet's expedition to Goguryeo, Chen Longxiang!"
Haha!
After receiving Chen Longxiang's affirmative reply, Gai Shiwen, who had already guessed his identity, laughed heartily.
Then, he said: "Since the young general is the son of an old friend, then you and I are somewhat of an old friend, so I won't beat around the bush;"
As he said this, Gai Shiwen signaled the servant beside him to take out the "letter of surrender" that had been prepared long ago.
Gai Shiwen raised the letter of credence and said to Chen Longxiang in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Major General, this is a letter of surrender written by Gao Zang, the treasure king of the Goguryeo Dynasty, to the Tang Dynasty;"
"Please trouble the major general to present this letter of surrender to Qi Jiguang, the admiral of the Tang Navy and the Duke of Dingguo, and invite the Duke of Dingguo to the city to discuss the surrender!"
Chen Longxiang, who was riding on horseback, stared at Gai Shiwen with his eyes, and then pulled out his sword with a clang, and directly picked up the letter of surrender in Gai Shiwen's hand with the tip of the sword, and then took it in his hand and flipped through it casually.
After a while, Chen Longxiang carelessly stuffed the letter of surrender from the Goguryeo Dynasty under the saddle.
This move immediately made Gai Shiwen look unhappy.
Finally, he couldn't help but ask: "Major General, what do you mean by this? How can the diplomatic affairs of the two countries be treated as a joke?"
Humph!
Chen Longxiang on horseback sneered and said: "Old man, to tell you the truth, I, this pioneer general, was consecrated by Emperor Zhaowu of the Tang Dynasty, my brother himself;"
"I have the right to decide all matters on the front line, including matters where your Goguryeo Dynasty wants to surrender to our Tang Dynasty;"
"By the way, I would like to remind you that our Central Plains Dynasty also has an old saying, which is: if the general is outside, military orders will not be obeyed!"
After saying that, Chen Longxiang smiled jokingly and continued: "So, old man, do you understand what I mean?"
Um?
Ge Shiwen frowned slightly, looked at Chen Longxiang with a confused expression, and said, "Young General, what do you mean?"
Chen Longxiang didn't waste any time and said directly: "Old man, I'll give you a stick of incense to order all the Goguryeo troops in the city to leave the city and surrender."
"otherwise--"
Chen Longxiang changed the topic and said sternly: "This general is about to order the army to attack the city. According to my rules, when the city is attacked, the sword will not be sealed for three days. You can think about it yourself!"
After saying that, Chen Longxiang immediately turned his horse's head, ignoring Ge Shiwen who was still messy in the wind, and loudly ordered: "The eagle strikes Sima——"
"The general is here!"
"Instruct the whole army to prepare to attack the city. After a stick of incense, if the Goguryeo defenders in Pyongyang refuse to surrender, they will all be annihilated!"
"The general will get the order!"
The next moment, Eagle Attack Sima Zhang Xuan hurriedly rode back to the formation, and immediately began to order the entire army to prepare for war and prepare to attack the city.
Seeing that Major General Chen Longxiang was about to move his seal, Ge Shiwen ignored his old and frail body and hurried forward, chasing after Chen Longxiang and shouting: "Young General, please stay -"
Hearing this, Chen Longxiang reined in the reins of the war horse, and the yellow gelding under his crotch also stopped in understanding.
However, Chen Longxiang did not look back, and just turned his back to Ge Shiwen who was catching up.
At this moment, Ge Shiwen couldn't think of scolding his old friend's son for not respecting the old and caring for the young. His mind was filled with how to stop this massacre.
"Major General, please listen to what I have to say!"
Ge Shiwen, who finally caught up, panted and continued: "The young general only needs to hand over my certificate of surrender of the Goguryeo Dynasty to Duke Dingguo Qi Jiguang. When Duke Dingguo comes, I will order the ban on the people in the royal city. The guards leave the city and surrender their weapons, and respectfully welcome Duke Ding into the city!"
brush!
Upon hearing this, Chen Longxiang on horseback suddenly turned his head, and two fierce lights shot out from his eyes, like two sharp daggers piercing Ge Shiwen's chest.
Chen Longxiang said with a gloomy face: "Old man, it seems that you have turned a deaf ear to what I said!"
"The eagle strikes Sima——"
"The general is here!"
Chen Longxiang shouted sharply: "Get ready to attack the city!"
"Wait a minute -"
Almost at the same time, Ge Shiwen's old voice had a vibrato.
Regardless of his own safety, he stepped forward and stopped in front of the yellow gelding. He said almost in a pleading tone: "Young General, I'm old, I'm going to order the imperial guards in the city to go out of the city and surrender to the young general. "
"It's just that I don't know where the young general wants to put our Goguryeo Dynasty with this move!"
snort!
Chen Longxiang on horseback finally had a smile on his face.
However, it was a chilling sneer.
He looked at Gaishiwen condescendingly and said slowly: "Old man, you really think that our Tang Dynasty has gone to great lengths to attack us. We have spent so much effort just to make your mere Goguryeo surrender to our Tang Dynasty. Every year Tribute of gold and silver?”
"Old man, you are too naive!"
As he spoke, Chen Longxiang changed the subject and said sternly: "What I, the Tang Dynasty, want is to establish a new king on the throne of your capital city of Goguryeo——"
"The new king of the Tang Dynasty!"