Fang Er also rushed to Chai Shao's side from Shanhai Pass.
"How is your side?"
Chai Shao hurried over to Fang Er, asking for details.
"That scoundrel is too cunning. He only brought seven cannons. I detonated all his gunpowder, so now they're just for show."
"The current problem is to end the war here as quickly as possible, and then find a way to sneak into Goguryeo and disable the remaining cannon."
The cannon left by Yeon Gaesumun made Fang Er extremely displeased.
"Otherwise, once things are settled in Beiping, I can go home."
"This damn cold! I don't dare to touch my gun when I wake up in the morning! I'm afraid my hands will stick to the barrel!"
"Hahaha! Well done, Xiao Fang! Don't worry, without gunpowder, watch how this old brother deals with these bastards!"
When Chai Shao heard that Yeon Gaesumun's gunpowder was gone, he immediately became excited. Without gunpowder, they could be molded as he pleased.
He reassigned five cannons and ten trebuchets to Fang Er, ordering him to take Yuchi Baolin and defend the northern gate of Beiping.
With five hundred arquebusiers, fifty Ru Annihilators, plus the five hundred men led by Yuchi Baolin, Fang Er commanded a force of one thousand men, their cannons pointed directly at the northern gate of Beiping.
Yeon Gaesumun's face turned green when he saw this. "So, this northern gate is reserved for me to get caught in a trap? I enter, and immediately I'm blocked?"
Unable to fight or defend, Yeon Gaesumun reluctantly sent out an envoy carrying a white flag, who emerged from the city wall in a basket. Negotiation! The target was Chai Shao. Fang Er was completely ignored. However, Chai Shao was courteous enough to send someone to invite Fang Er to join the discussion.
In the Tang army's tent, Chai Shao sat in the main seat, with Cheng Yaojin and Zhang Gongjin on either side. Below stood Dae Sil Dong, the envoy from Yeon Gaesumun.
"I am Dae Sil Dong, I pay my respects to General Chai, and to General Cheng and General Zhang."
"Yeon Gaesumun sent you here. What does he have to say?" Cheng Yaojin, seated on his horse with his legs crossed, gave him a sidelong glance.
"The Great General is willing to retreat and return Yan Prefecture and Liaodong Prefecture. He requests the Tang army to cease hostilities."
Fang Er, entering from outside the tent, chuckled upon hearing this. He stepped forward and kicked Dae Sil Dong down.
"Heh, that pretty boy thinks highly of himself! He interferes in our Great Tang's internal affairs, steals our nation's vital weapons, and now that he can't win, he wants to leave after admitting fault? Who the hell gave him the gall?" Fang Er pointed at his nose and demanded loudly.
Dae Sil Dong, looking at the teenager before him, was greatly alarmed. "A young man even younger than the Great General! And he can be so unrestrained in this Tang army tent! This! Could he be a Great Tang prince?"
"May I ask what this young master's name is?" Dae Sil Dong got up from the ground and bowed respectfully to Fang Er.
"You don't need to know who I am, and you are not qualified to know! Go back and tell Yeon Gaesumun, there are four conditions!"
"First, return those eight cannons! And all the craftsmen who came into contact with the cannons!"
"Second, compensate our Great Tang for military expenses of one hundred thousand guan!"
"Third, from now on, you shall bow your head in submission and pay tribute to our Great Tang!"
"Fourth, hand over Luo Yi, dead! Not alive!"
"These four points must be met. If even one is missing, I believe General Chai will be more than happy to bombard Beiping into a wasteland!" Fang Er listed the conditions, counting on his fingers, to Dae Sil Dong. After speaking, he glanced at Chai Shao's expression.
Chai Shao nodded at him with great satisfaction. Fang Er's conditions were insidious. If Yeon Gaesumun dared to agree, even if he returned alive, his military career would be over. Moreover, if he handed over Luo Yi's corpse, then in the future, no one would actively attach themselves to Goguryeo. These conditions clearly indicated no desire for peace, yet left Yeon Gaesumun a sliver of hope.
Dae Sil Dong listened to Fang Er's words. With every sentence Fang Er spoke, his heart sank. By the time Fang Er finished, he could already guess Yeon Gaesumun's reaction upon receiving the message.
He walked out of the Tang army camp in despair. Returning to Beiping City in the basket, he nervously relayed Fang Er's conditions to Yeon Gaesumun.
As expected, after hearing it, Yeon Gaesumun's face turned so grim it looked like water could drip from it! "The Tang army is bullying us too much!"
"Wei San, you will exit from the east city wall and make sure to find a way back to notify the navy to come for support!"
"The Tang army wants to trap us to death and force me to agree to their terms, so they probably won't try to kill us outright in the next two days! Inform everyone, pay attention to avoid cannonballs and explosive packages, and try to hold on until the navy arrives to support us!"
Beiping City is east of the Bohai Sea, less than ten li from the coast. If the navy came to support them, and the entire army rushed out from the east city wall, they should be able to break through. Chai Shao and Fang Er hadn't anticipated this. They had only focused their attention on the north and south city walls.
Three days later, dozens of large ships docked by the sea. Wei San led a horse from a ship and galloped towards Beiping. An opening had been dug under the east city wall of Beiping at some unknown time. He entered Beiping through the tunnel, found Yeon Gaesumun, and quietly informed him that the navy's ships had arrived.
Yeon Gaesumun found Luo Yi. "General Luo, the Tang army's offensive has weakened considerably these past two days. I have a premonition that they must be plotting something, so I request General Luo to lead troops to guard the west city wall."
Luo Yi had been confined to his room drinking heavily these past two days. He had no idea Yeon Gaesumun intended to flee. Thus, he accepted the defense of the west city wall and led his thirty thousand troops to the west city wall. Originally, the crowded Beiping City had Goguryeo soldiers and Yan-Liao troops mixed together. With this maneuver, the two sides were directly separated.
Chai Shao, upon learning that Luo Yi had appeared on the west city wall with his troops, was somewhat bewildered. He thought the scoundrel was trying to escape. Thus, he dispatched two thousand men with trebuchets and explosive packages, bombarding the Yan-Liao army on the west city wall indiscriminately. Luo Yi thought Yeon Gaesumun had guessed the Tang army's intentions. He had no idea that Chai Shao was attacking there simply because he had appeared there!
Meanwhile, within the city, Yeon Gaesumun gathered his confidantes. "The navy's ships have arrived, but it's impossible for everyone to leave! Firstly, the ships cannot carry so many people, and secondly, someone must remain in the city to provide cover. Therefore, leave some of the unimportant soldiers behind, do not let any news leak, and we will exit the city in half an hour!"
With his order issued, the Goguryeo soldiers on the city walls began a large-scale rotation. Chai Shao and Fang Er outside the city had never expected Yeon Gaesumun to use such a "cut off the tail to survive" tactic. When they received reports from scouts that a large number of Goguryeo troops had dismantled the east city wall and jumped towards the sea, both their hearts sank! "This scoundrel! He's truly slippery!"
At this moment, the remaining Goguryeo soldiers in the city and Luo Yi on the west side, noticing the decreasing number of people in the city, also realized something was wrong. They each sent people to investigate. "Goguryeo! They have no martial ethics!" Upon discovering the truth, Luo Yi could no longer suppress his grief and anger, spitting out a mouthful of blood, he collapsed to the ground.