A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 557 No retreat
Gao Kaidao returned to his camp with a troubled and unpleasant expression.

Under the blazing sun, the tent was stiflingly hot, and Gao Kaidao's clothes were soaked with sweat.

The weather is hot, but my heart is even hotter.

Liu Shirang once again refused the offer of surrender, and Jieli demanded a full-scale attack on Yanmen City in three days.

Only a portion of the siege equipment was produced, and the number of heavy artillery pieces with five tips and seven flanks was severely insufficient. Even the underground siege battalion, which he personally organized and trained during this period, was still unable to master the method of siege warfare using underground sieges.

But Jieli said that he would personally lead the siege weapons to the front when the city was attacked in three days.

Isn't this going to kill him by forcing him to clear a path?

The auxiliary troops left behind by Yuan Junzhang, the able-bodied men captured by the Turks, and the artisans—that's twenty to thirty thousand men leading the charge.

It's more like filling trenches or blocking arrows.

But when he said a few more words about the difficulties, he was whipped by Jieli.

"Where are they? Where have they all gone?"

The whip mark on Gao Kaidao's face was red and swollen, burning with pain. The sweat flowing over it felt like salt being rubbed into the wound.

A pseudonym came in from outside.

Gao Kaidao kicked him to the ground, yelling, "Where have you all been?"

"Father, it was too hot at noon, so everyone went to find a shady spot to rest and cool off. I didn't expect you to come back in such a hot sun."

Gao Kaidao kicked him to the ground again.
He roared angrily, "I'm about to die, and you're still taking a nap in the shade! It's all because of you bastards that I'm ruined every day!"

Where is Zhang Jinshu?

"Manager Zhang has gone swimming in the river."

"Call them back right away."

Zhang Jinshu, the commander of the Ya Army, was quickly summoned back. As soon as he entered the tent, he was whipped by Gao Kaidao.

"You worthless wretch! I entrusted you with overseeing the training of troops and the construction of equipment, yet you went swimming instead. Dog meat is not fit for the table!"
We will attack Yanmen City in three days. You will lead the charge; if you die, you will be the first to fall.

Enraged, Gao Kaidao whipped and kicked his trusted lieutenant, Zhang Jinshu, giving him several lashes.

"Your Majesty, the siege equipment isn't finished yet, why are we suddenly attacking the city?" Zhang Jinshu asked cautiously, dodging left and right.

"Why? Naturally, it's because there's no time left. Now that Li Yi has stormed into Fanzhi and defeated the Turkic troops, it's like a sharp knife pressed against his ribs."

Li Yi also received an order from Emperor Li Yuan of Tang to command all the armies. Unlike Li Jiancheng, who dared not go north even though he held military power, Li Yi did not dare to make any rash moves.

Although Li Yi is young, he is quite fierce.

They have already mobilized troops from all directions to surround us, with a force of more than 100,000.

Jieli Khan should either capture Yanmen City now, then use the natural defenses of the pass to launch a pincer attack, defeating the enemy piecemeal, and then take Taiyuan; or at the very least, retreat with ease.

If we don't attack the city, we must retreat immediately. Otherwise, if we are truly surrounded and our troops are bogged down beneath a fortified city, trying to escape will be extremely difficult, if not fatal.

Zhang Jinshu was surprised. There were all sorts of rumors circulating in the camp, such as the wrath of the Eternal Heaven and the thunder and fire rain. He didn't know which were true and which were false, but people were certainly in a state of panic.

Gao Kaidao's information was naturally more up-to-date and accurate; he hadn't expected the situation to deteriorate so quickly.

"Then why not retreat to the area outside the pass first?"

"Naturally, it's because Khan Jieli is unwilling to accept defeat. He wasn't the one who lost the battle, and besides, Yanmen City has been besieged for almost half a year, and so many siege weapons have been used."

"Wouldn't withdrawing now be a complete waste of effort?"

"Your Majesty, the siege equipment is only partially completed. Attacking the city in three days is far too hasty. Yanmen City is very fortified. Without sufficient siege equipment, it will certainly be difficult to take it down."

"If we lead the charge, we'll all die beneath the walls of Yanmen City." Although Zhang Jinshu came from humble beginnings as a salt worker and had followed Gao Kaidao all the way, he wasn't lacking in courage.
But to have fought one's way out of the wilderness and survived to this day in the chaos of the late Sui Dynasty is not just a matter of luck, but also requires considerable intelligence.

He wasn't stupid, and he certainly didn't want to die.

"Your Majesty, why don't we submit to the court again?" Zhang Jinshu said hesitantly.

Gao Kaidao narrowed his eyes, staring at him with eyes as sharp as a venomous snake. Zhang Jinshu had been his neighbor's child and his follower. Later, he became his confidant and had always made him the chief of his personal guards.

"You want to defect to Tang?" he asked in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, I am acting in your best interest. If we attack the city in three days, we will certainly fail. Jieli will surely blame us, and we might even be forced by him to swarm the city walls and die in battle."
"It's better to surrender to the Tang than to die in the moat of Yanmen City."

Gao Kaidao snorted coldly.

Do you think Li Yuan can still tolerate me?

Gao Kaidao was indeed feeling some regret at this moment. At the beginning of the year, he listened to Jieli's instigation and enticement, and in a moment of impulsiveness, he rebelled against Li Yuan and proclaimed himself the Prince of Yan.

But it's only been six months.

He has now been forced to fill in the trenches.

But there's no turning back.

If you stretch out your head, it's a knife, if you shrink your head, it's also a knife.

Following Jieli might not necessarily mean death, but surrendering to Li Yuan now would certainly mean death.

"Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, Li Zitong, Li Gui, Xue Rengao—those who were defeated by Li Yuan and surrendered to him, or Du Fuwei and Li Mi who voluntarily submitted to him—do you think they're still around?"

There's no other way but to follow Jieli down this dark path.

Zhang Jinshu whispered, "Your Majesty, but Jieli is no good man either. Just look at the consequences of Liu Wuzhou's defeat and subsequent surrender to him. At that time, Liu Wuzhou still had the two prefectures of Yun and Shuo, but now we don't even have a single city or fortress left."
We have no soldiers or followers; Jieli now treats us like servants.

"Stop talking," Gao Kaidao interrupted him. "Go and make arrangements to prepare for the attack on the city in three days." Zhang Jinshu lowered his head and left the tent, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

Night falls.

Zhang Jinshu summoned more than ten of his trusted military officers.
The tents contained roasted mutton and barley wine.
There was even a group of kidnapped women.

The siege is scheduled for three days later. The mission has been issued, and everyone's brows are furrowed with worry. Those who have survived countless battles are no fools.

As officers, they all knew that their equipment was insufficient and that Yanmen City would be difficult to attack.

They will be at the forefront, facing a mission with a slim chance of survival.

Eat large chunks of meat and drink large gulps of wine.
Embracing on the left and right,

But the atmosphere remained somewhat oppressive.

We've almost finished drinking.
The women's clothes were already quite disheveled.
Zhang Jinshu clapped his hands. "Brothers, don't be in such a hurry. The night is long, there will be plenty of time. I'll have someone send them to your tents. Let's talk about something first."

He waved for his personal guards to take the women away.

Zhang Jinshu's gaze gradually turned cold.

“I have followed King Gao for many years. I started working with him to boil seawater and sell salt when I was eight or nine years old. Later, I joined the bandit Ajiu and followed Geqian to roam Pingyuan County.”

Many years have passed in the blink of an eye.

There's no need to dwell on the past; we've risked our lives to get through these years.

You are all brothers I've met along the way; it's all fate that has brought us together.

Now, we've reached a critical juncture of life and death. For my own sake, and for the lives and future of my brothers, let's discuss our next move."

These dozen or so men were all Zhang Jinshu's confidants and subordinates. They were officers of the Gaokaidao Yajun Army, some were captains, some were chariot cavalry, some were cavalry commanders, and some were only brigade commanders.

Bottle-shaped gate was a major defeat.
Because they were officers of the military, and were close to Gao Kaidao, they escaped the siege and broke through the encirclement.

“Brother, speak your mind. We will all follow your lead.”

A burly man, much older than Zhang Jinshu, still addressed him as "Brother," and the others nodded in agreement, saying, "We'll all listen to Brother."

Zhang Jinshu sighed, "We're all from Shandong, some from Pingyuan County, some from Bohai County, and some from Hejian County."
But they're all from Shandong and Hebei.

We used to follow King Gao in his campaigns in Hebei, and later in Yuyang, which wasn't far from our hometown. But now we have lost our territory and can only rely on Khagan Jieli.

But these Turks don't even look at us properly, and now they want us to attack cities and fill moats. They have no intention of letting us live.

Although we are also officers, perhaps we can survive.
But what about the future?

I think the Turks won't be able to take Yanmen Pass this time, and they'll have to withdraw from the Great Wall soon. What will we Shandong people do then?
Should we become mercenaries for the Turks, or should we herd sheep for them?
Will we ever be able to return to our hometown? A hundred years from now, will we truly become lonely ghosts on the grasslands?

A young brigade commander lowered his head, "Since the defeat at Dingzhou, I hastily crossed the Taihang Mountains westward and have had no further communication with my family in Hebei."

I wonder how my parents, wife, and children are doing at home.

Upon hearing this, many people fell silent.

Although most of them came from humble backgrounds, they followed Gao Kaidao and became military officers one by one, and they also had wives and children. Many of them still had parents and brothers.

My family members also benefited from it in the past.

But now, the family members don't know what happened to them. Were they killed or exiled because they were relatives of the rebels?

"Brothers, I don't want to follow Jieli anymore, and I don't want to go to the grasslands, to become a lonely ghost on the grasslands a hundred years from now."

"And I miss my parents, wife, and children." Zhang Jinshu murmured, his eyes red.

"Does King Gao intend to surrender to the Tang court again? But will the Tang court still accept us?" a general asked.

“I tried to persuade King Gao today, but he was stubborn and refused to listen. When attacking Yanmen City, I will not let King Gao personally lead the charge to fill the moats and scale the walls. Even if all of us are killed, King Gao will still have a place in the Khan’s Golden Tent.”

These words silenced everyone again.

Finally, the young brigade commander looked up and said, "Brother, whatever your thoughts are, just tell everyone. We'll all follow you."

Zhang Jinshu's gaze swept over his other trusted confidants.
These are brothers who have risked their lives on the battlefield, through countless life-and-death situations.

“We will all listen to our elder brother.”

"Alright, I'll say it again: it hasn't been easy. We survived the chaos at the end of the Great Ye Dynasty, and now we're seeing the world finally at peace."
We can't just die like this.
We can't just abandon our parents, wife, and children in Hebei.

"If King Gao is unwilling to surrender to Tang, then we will go and surrender ourselves."

Everyone gritted their teeth and nodded in unison.

This step is not easy to take, but those who survived the chaos of the Sui Dynasty all crawled out of piles of dead bodies.

When disaster strikes, survival is the first priority.

"Brother, when are we leaving, tonight or tomorrow night?"

Zhang Jinshu shook his head.
“We can’t just sneak away like this. Even if we escape to Fanzhi, it won’t do any good. We’ll still be traitors there. We have to redeem ourselves by doing good deeds.”

A fierce look flashed in his eyes; he was determined to go all the way.

If you surrender, you have to bring a pledge of allegiance.

"We'll cut off Gao Kaidao's head, then burn all those siege weapons outside Yanmen City, both finished and unfinished, and then go to Fanzhi City to surrender to Prince Wu'an, Li Sikong." Zhang Jinshu clenched his fists, his voice low.

He killed Gao Kaidao and surrendered to Tang not because Gao Kaidao had whipped him a few times, but because he wanted to live, to live a good life.

(End of this chapter)