You have truly caused me great suffering!

The corpses of Joseon people had filled the moat, and on the city walls, countless men, women, and children who had served as soldiers wept uncontrollably as they looked at the corpses of their fallen comrades piled up in the river below.

These are all their fellow villagers.

When the news reached the city walls, Zhang Boyu was struck dumb. He stood on the city wall, staring blankly at the royal guard who had delivered the message.

surrender?

Zhang Boyu looked down at the city walls. If they surrendered today, what would all their resistance of the past few days have been for?
What do these dead people count for?
He stood there stunned for a long time, then suddenly screamed and fainted.

His bodyguards hurriedly lifted him up and placed him in a seat inside the arrow tower.

Upon waking up, Zhang Boyu suddenly remembered something terrifying: if he surrendered like this, would those people below let him go?
With the war reaching this point, both sides are furious.

And what about the people in the city?
Millions of soldiers and civilians, starving, gnawed all the trees in the city bare.

Would they be willing to surrender now?
If these soldiers and civilians start a riot...
Before the city even opens, they'll probably be killed by the rioters.

Zhang Boyu was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

Is surrendering really a way to survive? Probably not!
He has to save himself!

A fierce glint flashed in Zhang Boyu's eyes.

No drug, no husband.

Since everyone is just trying to survive, let's all rely on our own abilities and not blame each other.

Zhang Boyu then ordered all his personal guards and trusted confidants to come to the city!
They made it look like they were at the forefront, ready to fight the Song people to the death.

Although the Joseon Dynasty was small, it had a full complement of court officials.

Like Goryeo, these vassal states all liked to have a similar system to that used in the Central Plains.

In reality, given their size, they really don't need these officials.

In the main hall of the palace, Li Linxiang, Li Qiande's most trusted eunuch, stood in front of the dragon throne, looking at the Song envoy below.

All the officials in the court knew what the emperor was going to do, but many of them actually disagreed.

To be honest, although the people of the Joseon Dynasty were not good at fighting, they were indeed ruthless.

The war has reached this point, yet they still cling to the idea of ​​holding out and waiting for the rainy season; they've said it so many times that they've even started to believe it themselves.

"I have been deceived by villains and have been unaware all these years that those thieves on the border have been harassing the people of the Great Song Dynasty behind my back."

"Although I am the ruler of a vassal barbarian state, my ancestors have been Han Chinese for generations. How could I not know that the grace of Heaven is boundless and the might of Heaven is equally boundless?"

Bai Shizhong stood below and was overjoyed when he saw that they had backed down.

My life is saved, and I even have a chance to make a great contribution!
If I led my men to open the city gates myself.
He's now hoping the troops outside won't breach the city yet.

“Since the king has been deceived and is sincere in admitting his guilt, I will certainly speak up for the king in Bianjing.”

Li Qiande's spirits lifted, and he stood up abruptly, shouting, "Guards! Guards! Prepare the writing implements and fetch the imperial seal..."

It is already late today, and the fighting outside the city has stopped. The Southern Expeditionary Army will not attack the city at night because it is difficult to drive away the captives.

So we agreed to surrender during the day tomorrow.

The emperor is about to surrender.

The news spread quickly, and the people of Thang Long City flocked to the capital, all of them skin and bones.

The city ran out of food, but everyone gritted their teeth and persevered, refusing to surrender!
Outside the city, the ground was littered with corpses; they were about to surrender, stepping over the bodies of their elders and fellow villagers.

Even among the soldiers and civilians who remained in the city, casualties were severe.

These people, who seemed to have stumbled upon some kind of surrender etiquette, dressed in white, left arms bare, and leading a white sheep. Though in a sorry state, they tried their best to maintain the last shred of their official dignity in front of the people.

"Damn it, what are you doing blocking the way here? You've delayed His Majesty's important business, and you won't be able to atone for it even if you die!"

The elderly Li Changjie looked down arrogantly at the soldiers in front of the city gate. If these civilians who had just picked up weapons could be considered soldiers, his gaze was filled with arrogance and contempt.

Even if I can't defeat the northern barbarians and have to surrender, I can still become an official and ride roughshod over them in the future.

Inside Thang Long Castle, the soldiers and civilians, starving and emaciated, looked at the officials with tears streaming down their faces, but no one moved.

The chief eunuch, Li Linxiang, was enraged. He rushed forward and slapped the eleven or twelve-year-old boy across the face, causing the boy's mouth to bleed and nearly fall over.

He yelled shrilly, "You damned bastard, didn't you hear me? Get out of the way right now! If you dare delay even a moment, I'll kill your head, and I'll kill your whole family!"

The boy suddenly burst into tears: "My whole family is dead! My whole family died fighting for Thang Long City, why are you surrendering!"

At his age, he was still a child, but the supposed million Joseon soldiers and civilians included women, children, and the elderly.

Li Changjie glared at him with disgust, then turned to the other soldiers and yelled, "What are you all standing there for? Useless! You're all useless! Get out of the way!"

He shouted to his personal guards, "Anyone who blocks my way, behead them!"

The child was still standing in front, perhaps out of fear, and didn't move away.

Li Changjie, annoyed that he was blocking his way, raised his official boot and kicked him, angrily shouting, "Get out of my way!"

Although he was old, he was, after all, a eunuch who came from a military background, and unlike other eunuchs, he had some strength.

The kick came suddenly, catching the soldier off guard and causing him to fall to the ground. He screamed in pain, and the soldiers and civilians around him were enraged, causing an immediate commotion.

A burly man, his face flushed, said in a trembling voice, "You're the ones who said you'd fight the northern barbarians to the bitter end, you're the ones hiding in the city living in luxury, while we're the ones fighting outside the city. What gives you the right to surrender!"

Although Li Changjie came from a humble background, he looked down on these peasants even more than those from wealthy and powerful families.

He gritted his teeth and cursed, "Do you want to rebel? What are you all standing there for? Slaughter them all!"

"We refuse to surrender! We will fight the Song army to the death!"

"That's right, fight to the death!"

"We must wear them down! The rainy season is almost here!"

"It must be you treacherous officials who want to surrender! We demand to see His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please come out quickly!"

"It must have been those thieves who murdered His Majesty! His Majesty will not surrender!"

"His Majesty is a great hero who slaughtered the northerners, and he is the emperor of our Great Yue Kingdom. He will not surrender!"

The angry roars converged into a wave of sound.

This ignited the pent-up anger of the soldiers who had been standing silently on either side like a volcano: "Kill them all! Kill these corrupt officials and rescue His Majesty!"

Angry roars rose and fell like a giant tsunami, echoing throughout Thang Long City. Soldiers and civilians pounced on the officials who were about to hand over the surrender documents, like wolves and tigers, tearing and biting, slashing and stabbing, and in an instant they turned them into mincemeat.

Li Changjie was hacked into mincemeat by these lowly people whom he despised.

At this moment, on the city wall, Zhang Boyu already knew about the sudden change in the city.

He sneered, thinking to himself, "Just as I thought."

Surrender? It's not that easy!

Fortunately, he was shrewd and had already sent his own son out of the city overnight to contact the Song people.

As the chaos in the city escalated, the military and civilians began to storm the imperial city.

He withdrew the other troops ahead of time, leaving only his trusted confidant Zhang Boyu, who, as agreed, sent men to open the city gates.

They quickly left the city and knelt on both sides of the city gate.

Countless cavalrymen surged into the city like a torrent.

After the cavalry entered the city, they were very organized, clearly having obtained a map of the city's defenses.

They stormed the city gates and opened three of them.

Wherever they went, they left behind a trail of bloody massacres.

Wu Jie ordered that swords not be sheathed for ten days. For the battle-hardened Northwest Army, ten days was a significant period.
Inside the central military headquarters, Wu Jie smiled and stepped forward to help Zhang Boyu up, who was kneeling on the ground.

Zhang Boyu was somewhat surprised, not expecting that the commander who led such a brutal army would be so gentle and polite.

Wu Jie looked at the Grand Commandant of the Li Dynasty and was very happy, as this man would be of great use to him.

If the Joseon Dynasty were to be directly incorporated into the territory, it would pose a huge hidden danger.

A transition is needed between being mortal enemies and becoming obedient subjects.

Historically, when Wanyan Zongwang conquered Bianjing, he did not dare to occupy it directly, but instead chose to install a puppet ruler.

It will be discarded after a few days.

In Wu Jie's original plan, Zhang Boyu was one of the puppeteers he selected.

In a sense, their journey was a two-way street.

This time, Zhang Boyu betrayed the emperor and the people to save his own life.

To avoid being killed by the Joseon people, he had to rely on the powerful military force in the north to suppress the forces opposing him.
-
Twelve days later, on the 20th of the twelfth lunar month.

When Wang Bing led his army in from the rear, they could see corpses floating downstream from several miles away.

The thick smoke that had been billowing in the direction of Thang Long City is now gradually dissipating.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, even a little radiant.

In recent years, Wang Bing had not won a single battle, but this time he swept through the enemy lines and experienced the joy of a complete rout.

But just as he was about to arrive at Thang Long City, he received news that Wu Jie had already breached the city.

This surprised Wang Bing.

In his view, the cities of the Joseon Dynasty had many merits.

Moreover, the defense of the city was well-organized, and it was only thanks to the powerful artillery of the Prince of Dai that he was able to attack so easily.

Thang Long Castle should theoretically be the most fortified.

Thinking about the predicament of the Joseon Dynasty, he seemed to realize that someone must have surrendered.

When his army finally arrived at Thang Long Castle after more than ten days, the city was basically a dead city.

Boats ablaze occasionally drifted across the river, floating downstream. Corpses were scattered throughout the water, swept away by the current along with various other debris.

The killings within Thang Long Castle have ended, but the killings outside the castle are far from over.

There are many who refuse to surrender.

The Joseon soldiers and civilians, driven to the shore, were so crowded that they could not move.

The water was also full of people, and every moment someone was pushed into the deep water, struggling and thrashing on the surface of the river.

Among the navy, many members of Zhang Boyu's faction also surrendered and chose to block the roads on the water.

Those who fell into the river had long since discarded their weapons. They tilted their heads back and gasped for breath like fish out of water. But it was impossible for a person to stand steadily in deep water. A wave would come, or they would be pushed by their companions and swept to the middle of the river.

Those wearing armor struggled to keep their heads above water for a moment or two before sinking again. Even the unarmored Joseon soldiers suffered greatly after their clothes were soaked.

In this short stretch of river, countless people have drowned.

The defeated soldiers on the shore were also in dire straits, with countless Southern Expeditionary Army soldiers fighting to cut off heads, their screams and cries shaking the heavens and the earth.

Some Joseon soldiers and civilians, armed and fighting desperately, were slaughtered. Others gave up resistance, but it was no use; the Southern Expeditionary Army, with bloodshot eyes, used knives to cut off heads alive, their desperate screams chilling to the bone.

The Red River has become a real Red River, with blood mixed in its waters, just like the River Styx in the legends of hell.

Throughout his journey, Wang Bing simply captured a city and left, without engaging in excessive killing.

Looking at the scene before him, he felt somewhat uncomfortable, but he could also understand it.

Wu Jie led 30,000 men into the Red River Plain; otherwise, he would not have been able to intimidate the million-strong army and civilians of the Joseon Dynasty.

Near the Red River, many soldiers and civilians were not forced to the riverbank, but instead fled south by land. However, the sound of hooves from the Southern Expeditionary Army cavalry was incessant, and cavalry units from all over were out in pursuit.

Wang Bing cracked his whip. According to the scouts, Wu Jie had not entered the city at all.

He remained at Baotian Temple on the outskirts of the city, commanding his troops.

There wasn't much to command; after the order to "not seal the sword for ten days" was issued, the soldiers were left to their own devices.

Bao Thien Wat was the largest royal temple of the Joseon Dynasty, built during the reign of King Thai Tong, and located near Thang Long City.

Inside stands the 12-story "Baotian Tower," symbolizing "national security and peace," and is hailed as "the first tower in Annam."

Not a single monk remained in the temple; they had all been killed long ago.

Wu Jie led his troops with a strong desire to kill, and the reason for this was nothing more than the king's words before he left: "You must be ruthless."

Wu Jie previously believed that the southern expedition might have been motivated by retaliatory intent due to the actions of the Joseon Dynasty on the border.

After arriving, I realized that you really have to be ruthless; they truly don't value their own lives.

If you don't kill them, those thin civilians will kill you.

Wu Jie thought to himself, every word the Prince of Dai said was a golden rule.

Anyone who doesn't listen will definitely suffer a great loss!

Wu Jie had long believed in the meaning of destiny, but the more time he spent with the Prince of Dai, the more firmly he held this belief.

My men have already reported that Wang Bing's army has also arrived, and the two sides have joined forces at Thang Long City, meaning the battle is won.

When Wang Bing rose to the rank of Grand Commandant in the Western Army, Wu Jie and his brother were still lowly soldiers.

He smiled and said to the general beside him, "Follow me to welcome Grand Commandant Wang!" (End of Chapter)