Strona 132 z 266

This done, envoys were dispatched to the enemy's camp to arrange

terms of surrender, whereupon the Yen army began shouting for

joy. T'ien Tan also collected 20,000 ounces of silver from the

people, and got the wealthy citizens of Chi-mo to send it to the

Yen general with the prayer that, when the town capitulated, he

would not allow their homes to be plundered or their women to be

maltreated. Ch'i Chieh, in high good humor, granted their prayer;

but his army now became increasingly slack and careless.

Meanwhile, T'ien Tan got together a thousand oxen, decked them

with pieces of red silk, painted their bodies, dragon-like, with

colored stripes, and fastened sharp blades on their horns and

well-greased rushes on their tails. When night came on, he

lighted the ends of the rushes, and drove the oxen through a

number of holes which he had pierced in the walls, backing them

up with a force of 5000 picked warriors.