"Can the Khmer Station tell us what the final plan of the Thai Jing Garrison is?"
Lin Hai asked the question that concerned him most.
"In reply to Qinghe Bo's question," Jiang Ping saluted. "We were initially suppressed very severely. Especially after the entire Taijing garrison retreated back into the city, there was basically no safe place left. The enemy's density was too high, making it difficult for us to move and we couldn't get any information."
Jiang Ping first explained why his information was so late.
Then he continued, "Later, last night, a lieutenant from the garrison found us. He didn't know our specific hiding place, but he knew that the brothel where Yan Zi was was a place we frequented.
As the city was under siege, the brothels had no business and were closed, so he simply opened the door and wrote on the wall of the brothel lobby, "I hope to contact the Qinghe Intelligence Department. I will come over tonight."
We went to the brothel that night to check on him. He was alone, so we took him to our safe house. That's when we learned about the garrison's plan, but unfortunately, by then we couldn't get the news out."
"Oh? Tell me about it."
"Actually, the plan was devised by Yang Yizhen and Wei Shuma. The garrison troops would force all the civilians in Taijing City to break out together. They would separate the civilians, using the elderly and weak as the vanguard to consume our arrows and destroy the fortifications. Then the main force of the garrison troops would break out together with the young and strong civilians. They would break out as many as they could, and their destination would be the eastern part where Xinyuetu was entrenched."
"Are the people so obedient that they will die just by being told?"
"The garrison spread the word that if Qinghe City fell, they would massacre the entire city, leaving no one alive. Rather than sit and wait for death, it was better to fight to the death. Furthermore, they separated the people, with parents in front and children behind, as if they were using their children as hostages to force the parents to charge into battle. Naturally, parents were fearless in order to keep their children alive."
"The captain felt that the chances of him and his family dying were too high, so he wanted to entrust his young son to us, as a way of preserving his family line."
"That makes sense, but Qinghe has never committed a massacre. Just because they say that, will the people believe it?"
"Yang Yizhen publicly admitted that it was the Cambodian army that massacred the people of Qinghe County on the central battlefield. He said that we were escapees from Qinghe County and came to Cambodia for revenge, so we had to massacre the city as a tit-for-tat. It made sense, and most people believed him. Those who didn't were beheaded on the spot by his order."
"Oh, he's good at making excuses." Lin Hai grinned. "I think this excuse is true. What about Yang Yizhen's family? I heard he has more than one son."
"Most of the high-ranking officials' families, Chinese studies teachers, and students followed the garrison troops to break out. If they didn't die on the way, they would have made it to Xinyuetu. The same was true for Yang Yizhen's children."
“Where are the other high-ranking Khmer officials?”
"Most of them tried to escape during the chaos when the garrison corps broke out. We are still tracking them down." It was Wang Zuo who spoke. After all, Jiang Ping really didn't know the situation outside the city.
"Some of them committed suicide at home, and the last part fled to the Khmer royal palace," Jiang Ping added.
"Oh, yes, it seems the Khmer King has also made an appointment with me? I should go to the appointment." Lin Hai smiled and said, "I didn't expect to meet him so soon. What's the situation at the palace now?"
The person who answered was Ding Lin, who had just returned from the front line: "The palace guards said that they received orders and surrendered to us, but before surrendering, they executed all those who took refuge in the palace, whether they were officials or royal family members.
The only place we haven't entered is Xin Yueping's bedroom, which is still guarded by his guards. Xin Yueping is inside, unwilling to come out, waiting for you, the principal, to see him. Out of basic respect for the royal family, we didn't storm it, but simply surrounded it.
"Okay then, let's go and meet the king of Tiannan and see what he has to say."
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