Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 765 Scorched Earth, Thousands of Miles, No Way to Rescue
When heavy artillery doctrine meets scorched earth tactics, the battlefield is destined to become a meat grinder, where flesh and blood become the cheapest things, and are indiscriminately scattered on the battlefield.

The cruelty of war is hard to describe, especially wars based on hatred, where the cruelty can be a whole new level.

The hill marked as Hill 373 on the map was just a small hill that even hunters wouldn't go to hunt wild boars, but on this day, it became a meat grinder, and in just one day, nearly 100,000 people were crushed into the hillside.

That means it would take half a day to slaughter 100,000 pigs, but with the support of artillery and incendiary bombs, the efficiency of modern slaughter is far beyond what could have been imagined in the era of cold weapons. The lives lost in the struggle for the hilltop could be stacked up to be taller than the hill itself.

The battle reached a stalemate, so both sides temporarily ceased fighting and returned to their camps to rest for the night. This time, the number of people on both sides was visibly reduced. Originally, there would be a dense crowd waiting for food at that time, but now the ranks were reduced by two-thirds.

The situation wasn't much better for the Japanese either. The war had progressed far beyond the control of the gentry in Kyoto, and the hatred between the two sides had reached an unimaginable depth. Both the Japanese and the Mao people were determined to exterminate each other.

But the lords of Kyoto were certainly not going to sit idly by and wait for their doom, so Soga no Iruka even personally met with the grain supervisor of the Great Wei.

“Brother Dolphin, His Majesty’s order is to only distribute grain and not interfere in your internal affairs. I’m sorry, I cannot grant your request. The army of Great Wei is a righteous force; how can it be used to suppress the people?”

Soga no Iruka sized up the powerful general. If he weren't truly no match for him, he would have risked his life to smash a piece of his head in.

Aren't they the ones who caused all this trouble? What are they pretending to be good people for? Can't they just solve this problem with a few words?

"General Su, as long as His Majesty the Heavenly Kingdom agrees to my request, Japan will henceforth be a vassal state and pay tribute every year."

The grain inspector waved his hand and laughed heartily, saying, "I'm sorry, Brother Dolphin. It's not that I'm unwilling to help you, but my rank is too low to see His Majesty. I'm just a grain inspector, a fifth-rank official. If Brother Dolphin is in a hurry, I will definitely put in a good word for you at next year's grand court assembly."

The Grand Court Assembly next year...

If this situation drags on until this time next year, given the current state of affairs, let alone a year, the Japanese will be destroyed by spring. The Japanese can still resist now, but the Mao people are different. The Japanese need to cultivate the land, and once spring comes and there is no food to replenish their supplies, the Japanese will be finished. The Mao people, on the other hand, are good at fishing, hunting, and sailing. Even if they are at their worst, they can still go to sea to forage for food...

"General Su..."

"I'm truly sorry," the grain inspector sighed. "However, I could send someone to deliver a letter to His Majesty on behalf of Prince Soga during the next shift change to plead for leniency. What do you think?"

"Well... that's fine then, thank you very much, Lord Su."

After seeing off the hurried Soga Iruka, the grain inspector returned to his room, where the eunuch who had been following Xia Lin was sitting.

"Father-in-law, the person is gone."

"Hmm." The eunuch raised an eyebrow, a slight smile of disdain on his face. "You didn't just agree to anything he said, did you?"

"Of course not."

"Alright, remember this. The commander-in-chief specifically ordered their country to perish and their people to be wiped out, so we can't leave them any foundation. Go and find a way to get all their grain seeds over here."

"This..." The grain inspector paused for a moment, then said, "What should we do?"

“I don’t care what you do, but if their fields produce even a single grain of rice next year, I will hold you accountable.”

"Yes……"

It's not that the Japanese aren't smart; they are very smart, even shrewd. But their shrewdness is clearly not being used for good.

According to the county records of the coastal areas, the Japanese pirates had been a constant threat to the seas since the Northern and Southern Dynasties. They took advantage of the chaos and turmoil of the Central Plains dynasties to continuously extract profits from it.

Later, when the Great Wei Dynasty conquered the world, they did indeed quiet down for a while, followed by more than a hundred years of groveling and fawning, acting as if they were slaves to the great empire.

However, now the Central Plains are divided into North and South again, and the sea scourge has risen again. Their methods have not evolved, but have become more cruel and terrifying. If such an inferior race is allowed to remain, then, in Xia Shuai's words, it would be a disgrace to future generations.

After all, no one can guarantee that their homeland will prosper for a thousand years. Just as people who eat grains will inevitably get sick, the world is full of ups and downs. But what if, when you're sick, a bunch of scoundrels suddenly come running over from the village and tear down your roof?

I tolerated it once, and I let it go twice, but he does it every time. So don't blame me for setting fire to his house and killing everyone this time.

After Soga no Iruka left this place, he returned to Kyoto without stopping. The first thing he did was to prepare a ship to go to the Heavenly Kingdom in person to meet His Majesty the Emperor and ask the Emperor of the Central Plains Empire to forgive him once, no matter what the cost.

Despite the bad weather, Soga no Iruka embarked on this perilous journey so that his people could continue to live on.

However, it must be said that he did have some luck. After more than twenty days at sea, he finally set foot on the land of the East Asian father, and it was Hangzhou Port.

He crawled on his knees all the way from the moment he disembarked to the residence of the Hangzhou Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, holding the imperial edict aloft, his knees even bleeding from the friction.

"yeah?"

When Inspector Hong went out, he was startled to see a man kneeling in front of him, holding a letter of state sealed with wax. He quickly ordered his men to help the man up.

"What are you doing?"

"I am from Japan..."

"see a visitor out."

Inspector Hong didn't even listen to him finish speaking. After hearing the words "Japan," he turned and left, as if he had made up his mind. Just a few months ago, he had been beaten into a zebra-like state by His Majesty with a belt because of his ineffective handling of the Japanese pirates. Now, this bastard dared to show his face in front of him again.

Looking at the tightly closed gate, Soga Iruka was filled with grief and indignation, and almost shouted "Don't underestimate a young man's potential!" But he dared not. He dared not shout any slogans now, because he knew that the Great Empire had nine ways to destroy him, his country, and his people—a full nine ways!
Having exhausted all other options, he set off for Ningbo Prefecture overnight. At that moment, Ningbo Prefecture was filled with bigwigs from all sides, discussing the upcoming Spring Festival, the National Games, and the issue of war observers.

The entire Ningbo Prefecture was bustling with activity, and even Empress Tang herself came to the scene, which shows how grand the event was.

When Sugo entered Ningbo Prefecture, it was still dark. Xia Lin was squatting in front of the bed, looking at his son and daughter and chuckling to himself. Over the years, he had spent little time with his family and missed the days when his children would be happy. Now that his son was eight years old, he felt a lot of guilt looking at him.

Of course, he also felt guilty towards the little princess and Tang Bao'er, but sometimes he really had no choice. There's no way to have it all in this world, to be true to both Buddha and his beloved.

"looks good?"

Her Majesty the Empress opened the door and asked softly. Xia Lin sighed, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently patted his daughter, who was startled by the sound of the door opening. He smiled helplessly and said, "She's beautiful. How could she not be? Fame and fortune are things you can't take with you when you die, but those two are the only things that bind me in this life." "You're not a good father."

"I know." Xia Lin glanced back at the Empress, then smiled. "Once I'm done with this busy period, I'll take a break and spend some quality time with the children."

"I hope you will do what you say."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty."

Xia Lin sat there until dawn. When the children woke up and found someone sitting next to them, they were startled. But blood ties are a strange thing; even after being separated for a long time, they could still remember each other at a glance.

However, before he could get close to the children, news came that Emperor Jingtai had summoned him. Xia Lin could only bid a reluctant farewell to the children and then set off to return to Emperor Jingtai's side.

As soon as he returned, he saw a man kneeling in front of Emperor Jingtai. He turned his head and glanced at him a few times, but found that he did not recognize the man. So he asked, "Who is this?"

"Prince of the Japanese Kingdom, Su Wo Ru Lu."

Even without hearing the name, just hearing the prefix, Xia Lin's brows furrowed. He walked to the side, lifted his robe, and sat down: "What is it?"

"You should have a good talk with Commander Xia."

"I have come to the superior country to ask Your Majesty and the Marshal to give Japan and its people a way to survive. If Your Majesty and the Marshal are angry, then take your anger out on me. I will not regret dying."

Xia Lin lowered his eyelids. At that moment, a maid brought a cup of tea and placed it next to Xia Lin. He picked up the tea and took a sip, but did not say a word. The atmosphere in the room was strangely eerie.

"Do you really know you were wrong?"

"I know I was wrong, and it's all my own fault."

Xia Lin suddenly threw the cup on the ground, shattering it into pieces, which even startled Emperor Jingtai who was standing next to her.

"You have no idea where you went wrong. You're only here today because you know you're going to die!" Xia Lin roared. "I ask you, did you know that the Japanese pirates were invading our borders?"

Soga no Iruka was in a difficult position to answer with "I know," and even more difficult to answer with "I don't know." All he could do was lower his head and remain silent, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"You know, this is all your doing." Xia Lin's tone gradually softened as he paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. "You invaded my borders, slaughtered my people, burned my houses, raped and plundered, roasted children to eat, and massacred the old and weak for your amusement. The list of crimes is endless, and now you come to beg for mercy? Fine, fine, if that's the case, don't say I didn't give you a chance. Go out now and find the relatives of those killed by the Japanese pirates. You've killed so many people, I don't need everyone's forgiveness. As long as a thousand people forgive you, I'll let you go. How about it?"

Soga no Iruka shuddered upon hearing this: "General... Japan is willing to become a vassal state every year."

"Get lost." Xia Lin flung his arm. "I can keep dogs, but I have no interest in ingrates like you."

"Minerals, timber, grain, and silk within the territory of Japan all belong to the superior country..."

"Don't panic." Xia Lin sat down again: "You'll all be mine after you're gone."

Emperor Jingtai had never seen Xia Lin lose his temper like this before. At this moment, his expression was solemn, his face was flushed, and he looked like a demon about to devour people.

"Have you gentlemen disregarded the dignity of our great nation?"

"Dignity?" Xia Lin leaned forward, squinting at Suga Rulu: "Dignity is something you gave me? I earned it with my own sword, one strike at a time. If I had a sword, whoever I said would be dignified would be dignified. If you don't want dignity, I can still help you be dignified. Go back and wait to die."

Xia Lin finished speaking and swung his arm: "Before I have any patience left, otherwise if I stab you to death with this knife, it will just be a matter of accusing you of assassinating the king."

Soga no Iruka was thus driven out. He stood on the street, weeping bitterly, his helpless appearance evoking pity.

But he was, after all, royalty, and he knew there were other paths he could take. Since this path was blocked, he would take another.

He quickly found the resting place of the Tang Dynasty delegation. He was certainly not worthy to meet the Empress, so he was received by Li Shimin, the Prince of Shu.

"Japan is willing to serve the Tang Dynasty like a beast of burden and be its vassal for generations."

Upon hearing his words, Li Shimin sat down beside him and started eating melon seeds.

"Go on," Li Shimin spat out a mouthful of melon seed shells. "Anything else?"

“Japan’s territory can be incorporated into the Tang Dynasty, and its people will be subjects of the Tang Dynasty for generations.”

Li Shimin chuckled: "So you were kicked out by Tuoba Jing, right? No way, if they don't want it, I don't want it either."

"Your Highness, King of Shu... please, for the sake of our past friendship, save me this once."

Li Shimin tilted his head and looked at him with a smile, his hand still cracking melon seeds. After a while, the Prince of Shu spoke up: "Your plan of using one tiger to devour another won't work. You want to use yourself as bait to catch the two big fish, the Tang Dynasty and the Tian Wei. But I'm sorry, the land of the Tian Wei is also the land of my Tang Dynasty. If you kill the people along the coast, you are killing the people of my Tang Dynasty. If I agree to this, how will the history books record me? Hmm? Speak!"

"This……"

"Answer me!" Li Shimin, a former military man, roared like a thunderclap: "Look at me!"

Soga no Iruka trembled and dared not utter a sound. Li Shimin snorted coldly, crossed his arms, and said, "We will not yield a single penny of what is rightfully ours to the Tang Dynasty. We will not spare a single grudge against what is rightfully ours to the Tang Dynasty. I have heard that you have been putting my Han people on the fire to be cooked like lambs. What a ruthless tactic."

By this point, Li Shimin's hands were already trembling, a reaction to the surge of adrenaline. If it weren't for his strong willpower that kept him in check, he would have torn this bastard in front of him to shreds like a Japanese pirate being torn apart.

At this moment, the Empress came out with her children. Li Shimin immediately bowed and stepped aside. Soga no Iruka saw the Empress as if he had seen a savior, but before he could speak, the older Li Zhi pointed at Soga no Iruka and said, "Mother, is this the Japanese devil?"

Her Majesty the Queen couldn't help but chuckle as she asked, "Who taught you to say such things?"

“It was my father who said it.”

"That's quite fitting." Her Majesty the Empress gave Li Shimin a look: "Take him away, don't let him pollute my eyes."

(End of this chapter)