Guo Shao's heart was pounding, and had not yet calmed down from his extreme excitement.
The fighting in front of Deng Fei's army was still going on, and the follow-up troops were advancing along the bloody road. Guo Shao felt that the hooves of his horse were a little slippery, and this was not an exaggeration. The blood on the street was really flowing, like it was raining. The surface of the irregular stone slabs was smoothed, and the undried blood flowed on the stone slabs, making the horse's hooves slip if they were not careful.
The blood gathered in the cracks between the stone slabs, darkening in color and leaving horrifying lines like cracks in the earth.
Many bodies were piled up on top of each other and the smell of blood on the street was sickening, just like a slaughterhouse.
This was not the first time Guo Shao had experienced a battle, nor was it the first time he had seen corpses, but the dense conflicts in the streets were affected by the terrain, and the corpses were very concentrated, which looked very scary. He listened carefully, and screams and pleas for mercy from far and near floated in the air, showing that humans were enduring extreme situations.
Chinese defenders almost never defend the depth and streets, the most important thing is to defend the walls, so there are very few street battles. This is also the reason why the Khitan soldiers were easily fooled after breaking through the gate in the defense of Wuqi Town in Hedong last year. Guo Shao murmured to himself in a low voice, his heart could not calm down, as if he could only clear his thoughts by repeating them.
He immediately ordered his soldiers to go to the north to find Li Chuyun, attack the east gate fiercely to inform Yang Biao's troops, go west from the city to take the west gate to leave the city and inform Wang Zhang's troops, after the south gate is opened, rush straight in from the central avenue of the city, and then attack the west gate.
Guo Shao issued a series of orders, focusing on seizing the water gate on the north side of the three city walls in order to quickly disintegrate the resistance of the Tang army. The messenger on the scene actually had a big loophole, with only a small flag and no evidence. Guo Shao did not have the opportunity to write it himself, and many generals could not tell who wrote it. However, in such a chaotic and urgent situation, the Tang army did not seem to have the opportunity to play tricks.
A large group of Zhou troops rushed along the horizontal street to the south gate. Guo Shao rushed forward and saw that there were still a group of Tang troops fighting desperately inside the city gate and on the city wall. They had been surrounded by the Zhou army's infantry and cavalry. The scene was very tragic, with iron hooves trampling on them and spears and knives slashing them.
This area of the Tang army had suffered more than half casualties, but they still fought to the death. Guo Shao was very surprised. He remembered that someone said that the classical army would collapse if 10% of the troops were killed, but the Tang army at the south gate had suffered at least 50% casualties. There was no chance of winning. The sky was full of arrows thrown by the Zhou army. The Tang soldiers were slaughtered without any resistance.
Someone among the soldiers kept shouting: Put down your weapons and kneel down to surrender to avoid death.
But the Tang army screamed and roared in despair, and they did not surrender or collapse. A general of the Tang army shouted: I would rather die in battle to repay Liu Gong's kindness.
Desperate cries resounded throughout Shouzhou, and Guo Shao could not help but respect this army. Who doesn't cherish life, who is not afraid of death? When a person or even a group of people can reach the point of sacrificing their lives for justice as Mencius said, then they must be sincere.
Guo Shao looked up and suddenly saw a tall old man with gray beard standing on the tower, sighing in the wind. He was Liu Renzhan.
Liu Gongguo Shao shouted loudly, the situation is hopeless, why bother letting the soldiers die in vain? Why not keep a little dignity and accept the defeat
The old man looked over following the sound and shouted: "Who is under the city?"
Guo Shao, the commander of the Shouzhou Recruiting Envoy of the Great Zhou Army, was the main general in this battle.
Hahaha Liu Renzhan laughed wildly.
Guo Shao stopped talking and waited quietly, hoping that Liu Renzhan would give in. Give him some time to regain his senses.
Sure enough, after a while, Liu Renzhan shouted: "Brothers, put down your weapons and accept my greeting. I'm sorry." Then he bowed deeply towards the city.
The soldiers looked back and saw a general dropping his weapon first, kneeling down at the foot of the city. Then there were clanging sounds and countless weapons were thrown down.
Guo Shao also leaned forward on his horse and saluted Liu Renzhan who was bowing.
Liu Renzhan, the commander of the Guo family, said, "I have a request. Please do not massacre the unarmed and surrendered soldiers, and do not massacre innocent people in Shouzhou. If you can agree, I am willing to kneel down and plead guilty. I am willing to lead the Liu family father and son to die to apologize for their crimes."
"Mr. Liu, victory and defeat are common in the battlefield. Although I am the victor, I still respect you very much. I agree to your request," said the great god Guo Shao.
But not massacring the city does not mean not collecting money and sharing the spoils. Guo Shao heard that whenever a strong city was breached, the soldiers would be allowed to massacre to vent their hatred and murderous intent. Could the treasury of the Shouzhou government and the property of the rich compensate for the emotions of the soldiers? Since he had promised Liu Renzhan, he didn't know if he could do it. He immediately shouted to the Zhou army around him: Whether it is the people of China or the soldiers and civilians of the Southern Tang Kingdom, they are all descendants of Yan and Huang. We are fighting bloody battles here to unify the world, to end the war, and to stop the endless civil war from continuing. Killing is not for massacre, but to save the people.
Liu Renzhan, the commander of the Guo family, was slightly excited and said, "The scenery on the tower is magnificent and very beautiful. Why don't you go up to the tower and have a chat?"
Good, Guo Shao answered loudly. The generals and soldiers around him advised: Lord, please let him come down to accept the surrender.
Guo Shao shook his head: Liu Renzhan disdains to do such a despicable thing. Come with me.
Liu Renzhan said something to the people next to him, and several people went down from the city wall. Liu Renzhan said loudly: I will send people to notify all gates to stop resisting. I hope Marshal Guo can keep his promise in public.
Guo Shao did not answer, but put his sword back into the scabbard, thrust it forward, and walked toward the stone steps inside the city wall, surrounded by the generals and their personal soldiers. Both sides were crowded with Southern Tang soldiers, who had just resisted the fighting, but now all looked at Guo Shao in awe.
Walking up to the top of the city wall, I saw a group of Zhou army soldiers rushing towards the south gate outside the city. It was indeed magnificent. Tens of thousands of Zhou soldiers were running outside the city, as if the whole world was a sea of people, and Shouzhou City was just a ship in the ocean. The shouts shook the earth and resounded through the sky.
I have seen you before, but I didn’t expect you to be so young. Liu Renzhan faced the sea of people outside the city calmly, turned around and said to Guo Shao.
Guo Shao laughed and said: I have also seen Liu Gong, it seems like twice, once at the west gate and once at the south gate, and you even wanted to shoot me with a crossbow.
Haha Liu Renzhan laughed so hard that he almost cried.
Guo Shao said: If you had killed me at that time, Shouzhou could have been defended until the food and grass ran out. However, I don't think I really defeated you.
Liu Renzhan was slightly surprised: Marshal Guo was still so modest at such a young age, there was no need for that. He looked at the gap in the city wall on the left, and seemed to understand what Guo Shao was referring to.
Liu Renzhan shook his head and sighed again, gazing at the land of Huainan for a long time.
I am not someone who cannot stand losing. I am quite impressed. If I can prepare for this gap in advance and blow it up, you will not be able to attack me.
No one could have expected this thing to come out for the first time, Guo Shao said truthfully.
Liu Renzhan sighed: "No. After all, I underestimated the enemy and made a big mistake. You dug tunnels outside the city and blatantly piled up earth to build mountains. It was so obvious that it was useless. Why did you do something that was nothing more than a feint to deceive people and distract attention? I was fooled and I despised you because of it. I have lived for most of my life, but I made a mistake here. To despise the opponent is to despise myself."
He also said: The Zhou army is strong. How could a man without any ability be the commander of more than 100,000 troops? How could he be appointed as the commander of the Zhou Dynasty emperor? It's too late to regret.
If I had been a little less careless, even if I didn't know you were going to blow up the city, I would have guessed your intention to paralyze our army with a feint, and I would have been prepared. Then the city defense deployment would not be like this now, and victory or defeat would be unknown.
Guo Shao smiled and said: Mr. Liu still refuses to accept.
Liu Renzhan said: What is the use of being a wise man after the event
Guo Shao said: I can't let you go no matter what. If I let you go, the Southern Tang will survive, and the Huainan Campaign will be more difficult. It's meaningless. Liu Gong's unification of the world is the general trend and the way of heaven. The Great Zhou is the strongest among the countries, and it should take on the mission of this general trend. The sooner the countries are destroyed and the world is unified, the more people can be saved from war, and more women and children can save their husbands, sons and fathers. Liu Gong is very righteous. Don't you understand this truth
Liu Renzhan sighed deeply and said with a wry smile, "I understand. I didn't intend to save my life. But everyone serves his own master. I have been deeply favored by the emperor and have enjoyed wealth and honor for many years. I should die to apologize for my sins."
After saying that, he suddenly drew his sword and said loudly: "I am not at a disadvantage if I am defeated by Marshal Guo."
Liu Gong and Guo Shaoxiang were unable to save him and hurriedly shouted, "My lord is dying, where are his soldiers?"
The guards beside Liu Renzhan had already stepped forward to hug his arms, and some protected his neck. Guo Shao rushed forward and snatched Liu Renzhan's sword.
Liu Renzhan frowned and said: "If you don't let me die, I will not surrender. I will die to thank the emperor, the soldiers and the people of Shouzhou. It is a worthy death."
Living is harder than dying. Guo Shao looked at him and said that a true warrior faces difficult situations head-on, rather than running away from death. I respect Mr. Liu as a hero, why should I be so desperate
There is no point in talking any more, said Liu Renzhan.
Guo Shao pestered him, saying, "Not every Zhou general treats the people of Huainan like I do. Didn't Lord Liu say that he would plead for the people of Huainan? Maybe you could do something for them if you were alive. But now you just give up. Isn't that hypocritical?"
Don't provoke me, Liu Renzhan said, it's just a trivial trick. Liu Renzhan was stunned after saying this, and remembered that he had said this before the war.
Guo Shaodao: Wait for a while and calm down and think about it. If a person is determined to die, no one can stop him.
The city wall seemed to be a stage, and a few people were performing a drama there in front of thousands of people.