Su Dingfang's eyesight was very accurate. The city wall had collapsed just now, but this guy did not give orders immediately. He knew that there was still a lot of boiling oil on the city wall, and the oil had to be burned out, otherwise we would suffer when we passed by. So he delayed for about a cup of tea.
Apart from ordering the artillery to fire, Li Xiang didn't care about anything else because this kind of siege battle was not his forte, so he had to leave it to professionals. Su Dingfang had studied this aspect for a long time. If he couldn't do it, then no one present would be able to do it.
Eight thousand cavalrymen rushed out in an instant. Although they charged at a very fast speed, they obeyed the command during the charge and did not rush up in a swarm. The soldiers riding in the front held bows and arrows in their hands. When they were about to reach the top, they still shot an arrow at the city wall.
Many people also know that there can't be too many survivors on the city wall, so doing this is also buying insurance for ourselves. In case there is only one survivor among ten people, our wave of arrows can send this survivor to the underworld, which also saves our own lives.
"The whole army advances."
Before Su Dingfang's men rushed in, Li Xiang had already ordered the rest of the men to move forward. In fact, there were no surprises in this battle. Li Xiang also ordered the demolition troops to go there. Their task was to blow up the city gate so that Su Dingfang's assault troops could rush in through the gap. There was no need for us to go through that gap. We still had to blow up the city gate and then go in through the city gate openly.
There was still some fighting on the city wall. After our soldiers rushed over, hundreds of people on the wall were still fighting, but some of them were injured, and some couldn't even find their weapons. In the previous bombardment, these people were scared out of their wits. When the Tang army rushed in from the gap on horseback, they just mechanically held their weapons to resist, and the effect was obvious.
Just when Su Dingfang's men took down the city wall, a huge explosion was heard. Li Xiang's blasting team had already blown open the city gate. Even if the army on the city wall was still intact, the siege would not be difficult for Li Xiang.
A large number of infantry rushed in from the city gate. In addition, the prefect of Baiyan City had been killed in the explosion. Although there were still many young and strong men in the city, they did not have a unified command. Many people only knew how to shout and scream. Of course, they soon lost their lives in the shouting and screaming. You might as well find a place to lie down honestly. After the war, I will give you a chance to be a slave.
"Drive out all the people in the city."
Two hours later, the Tang army occupied Baiyan City, and Li Xiang also sent people to report the victory to the capital.
Originally, there were about 50,000 civilians in this city, but later due to the war, most of them followed the army to retreat south of the Taedong River. There were only more than 17,000 civilians in the entire city, and many of them were old, weak and sick.
“How many people were there in that army back then?”
When Li Xiang asked this question, many people didn't understand it, but soon some people understood it.
"To answer the Marshal, there were more than 3,500 wounded soldiers in our unit back then."
It is normal for people to die on the battlefield. You want to behead our wounded and sick soldiers even if you capture them. This is what is wrong with you.
"Four thousand men were launched and beheaded."
After Li Xiang finished speaking, the crowd around him wailed. They also understood the meaning of Li Xiang's words. At this moment, Li Xiang was like a god, directly deciding the life and death of their four thousand people.
War is inherently cruel. If we were not able to capture this city so easily today, we would have to study how to attack again. By then, we might have lost four thousand people. Therefore, killing these people in the city would not be a psychological burden for us.
"Marshal, there are still so many people left."
Su Dingfang pointed at the dark crowd in the distance and said, "Are we going to kill them all? If Li Xiang gave this order, then the remaining people would also rush forward with their swords. Who has made the hatred between us reach this level?"
"Except for the young men and women, let the rest go."
What surprised everyone was that Li Xiang actually issued such an order: We had finally managed to drive them out of the city, how could we let them go?
"Marshal, what does this mean?"
Su Dingfang didn't understand Li Xiang's idea for a moment. If they were released, these people would run south and might become an obstacle to our attack in the future.
"You're not a qualified general. You're a good fighter, but you have to be calculating when you need to. I'm going to let go of some of the old, weak, sick, and disabled. They won't bring us much benefit, and I can't kill them all. If I let them go, they'll return to Goguryeo. These people won't be able to make much difference, but Goguryeo still needs to feed them."
Li Xiang's voice was not loud, but the generals around him heard it clearly. After hearing Li Xiang's words, they all nodded in unison. They had many relatives living south of the Taedong River, and these people would definitely need to eat and sleep after going there, which would in disguise weaken the overall national strength of Goguryeo.
"What about these young ones?"
In addition to those who had just been killed and the old, weak and sick, there were more than 4,000 young men and women left.
"According to the rules, I will become an official slave."
After Li Xiang finished speaking, his men were all very happy. These were the prisoners they captured. Although there was no way to distribute them now, after the war, all participants would have priority in choosing. Some people came from poor families and could not get married, so it would be nice to find a Goguryeo woman, as long as they could carry on the family line. As for the men, of course they would be sold to the rich as slaves. You could do whatever you wanted with them, as long as you paid them.
"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up..."
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince gave the order, and his soldiers began to whip their whips. "You guys are our prisoners now. If you don't obey, we will kill you with a knife. There are no treaties in this era that treat prisoners well. Once you enter the prisoner-of-war camp, your life is worth less than a dog's..."
