Liu Meng led a company of soldiers to meet the approaching forces from Heilong City.
Not long after, he brought those people back.
"I am Ya'erjin, under the command of the guilty general Jie Li Khan. I surrender to the Marquis of the Great Tang, and beg for a way to survive."
Ya'erjin dismounted his horse and knelt before Fang Er, lowering his head and speaking of surrender.
Just as Fang Er was about to say something, a soldier ran from the rear of the formation and whispered a few words in his ear.
After hearing the soldier's report, Fang Er looked at Ya'erjin with amusement in his eyes.
Turning to Li Shimin, he said, "Your Majesty, the enemy general offers the city for surrender."
Li Shimin frowned. "Duke of Wei, what are your thoughts?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, in my opinion, accepting their surrender at this time is not appropriate. Our target is Jie Li. If we accept these prisoners, our future actions will be hindered."
Li Jing stroked his beard as he responded to Li Shimin's question.
"Your Majesty, we have just received a report from below stating that while Ya'erjin was leaving the city, two other groups of men also departed from the north of Heilong City."
Fang Er truthfully relayed the military intelligence reported by the soldier to Li Shimin.
"Tsk tsk tsk, they claim to surrender, but secretly they sent people back to deliver messages."
"Therefore, let Ya'erjin bring all his men out of the city. I haven't had enough fun with the wild chicken necks yet, so it's a good time to have some more."
Niu Jindada said, preparing to return to the armored vehicle to fiddle with the machine gun.
"Old Niu, don't talk nonsense! Whether killing prisoners is right or not is one thing, but even if we have to kill them, there's no need to waste the limited bullets!"
"It would be easier to just have them dig a pit and bury themselves."
Yuchi Jingde, with a cigar in his hand, jumped onto the roof of the armored vehicle and sat down.
This proposal from Da Lao Hei was too outrageous, digging their own graves and burying themselves. He truly lived up to his reputation as the chief instigator of Li Shimin's rebellion, to think of such an idea.
Compared to them, Fang Er felt as kind as a little white rabbit.
After considering for a moment, Li Shimin exhaled his smoke and looked at Fang Er calmly, saying, "Kill them, and bury them! You handle it!"
With those words, he beckoned to Li Jing and the others, "Since we're idle, let's play a few hands of mahjong."
The two groups that had left the city to report were completely ignored. They were now hoping that Jie Li would come to them willingly.
With the forces on the grassland, Jie Li shouldn't be scared away by the Tang army's ten thousand men, right?
Fang Er was dumbfounded by these words.
Having them dig their own graves was just a joke. These guys weren't stupid, and if they were pushed too far and some of their brothers got hurt, it wouldn't be worth it.
So, he walked back to Ya'erjin.
"Offering the city for surrender?"
Ya'erjin nodded frantically. "Your subordinate knows he is defeated and is willing to offer this city, begging the Marquis to spare my life."
"Heh, if Zhang Tian hadn't seen his backup plan from the hot air balloon, Fang Er would have almost been fooled by his act."
"I'm sorry, this Marquis does not accept your surrender. This city is too dilapidated, so I intend to tear it down and rebuild it."
Fang Er said, then walked towards Tie Lao Ba.
Ya'erjin was stunned. Not accepting the surrender?
Didn't the Chinese military classics say that subduing the enemy without fighting was the highest state of warfare?
Before he could react, he heard Tie Lao Ba shout, "Cannon numbers one to five, fire!"
Then came the boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, five consecutive shells fired towards Heilong City.
Clearly, Tie Lao Ba was testing the cannons.
The five shells, with a whistling sound, flew towards Heilong City.
Unfortunately, only one hit the earthen city wall. The Tujue soldiers nearby were directly blown to pieces, and a breach appeared in the earthen city wall.
"All troops, elevate the muzzle by five degrees, three rapid shots!"
"Fire!"
Ya'erjin hadn't recovered from the previous few shots when he saw shells flying one after another from the artillery position towards Heilong City.
Before Li Shimin could finish a game of mahjong, Heilong City, like Dingxiang City, was reduced to ruins by the bombardment.
Ya'erjin was first filled with immense fear, then glared at Fang Er.
"You, you, you~!"
His unwillingness made it impossible for him to complete a sentence.
Fang Er directly kicked him. Seeing this, Liu Meng immediately pinned Ya'erjin firmly to the ground.
"You know fear now? You had quite the nerve to sneak attack Chang'an!"
"Feigning surrender, yet sending two groups of people to deliver messages, what, are you notifying Jie Li to run quickly?"
Fang Er squatted beside Ya'erjin, staring into his eyes and said.
Ya'erjin was dumbfounded. He never expected that his surrender from the south gate, and his subordinates' departure from the north gate to report, would be seen through by the Tang army.
However, after thinking about it, a long time had passed since the reporting teams left the city, so they should be safe.
He then straightened his neck and laughed at Fang Er.
"Hahaha, run? With the Great Khan's thirty thousand elite soldiers and fierce generals, what can you do with such a small force, even with those strange weapons!"
"Just wait! Kill me if you dare! I'll be waiting for you on the road to the underworld!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Seeing the fellow's smug expression, Fang Er put on a scared face for his benefit.
"Oh dear, I'm so scared. Thirty thousand elite soldiers and fierce generals, are you serious?"
"Hmph! Among the Great Khan's eighteen tribes, there are countless capable fighters. You just wait, in less than ten days, the Great Khan will lead a large army to pursue and kill you!"
"What, are you scared? It's useless even if you are scared. Even if you retreat to Chang'an, the Great Khan will avenge this general!"
"Hahahaha!"
Having obtained the information he wanted, Fang Er stopped teasing him and said to Liu Meng.
"Take him away, guard him well, and let him see how his Great Khan, with his thirty thousand troops, dies!"
ps: Second update