Diqin Designer

Chapter 481 Surrender is not easy
But they couldn't figure out how to launch an attack with this weapon, as it had neither a bowstring nor the structure of a cannon.

However, we can make some guesses from the name this famous Qin general used for this weapon, suggesting that it may be related to "fire".

Could it be that the Qin people intended to ignite a fire in a bronze pipe and use the power of the fire to launch an attack?

Furthermore, regarding the "Hai Tuo Type II," since it is already a "Type II," there must have been a "Type I," indicating that this is not a weapon recently created by the Qin people. The Qin people had been manufacturing this type of weapon for some time.

The Qin people were indeed well-prepared.

In front of the cannon known as the "Hai Tuo Type II," there were several Qin soldiers dressed in strange clothing, who were probably the soldiers responsible for operating the cannon.

Upon seeing Meng Tian arrive, a Qin soldier ran up to him, saluted, and said, "Reporting to the general, preparations are complete. May I request permission to launch?"

Meng Tian nodded and said, "Permission to launch!"

After listening to the conversation between Meng Tian and the Qin soldier, the group thought to themselves, "Just as I thought!" This was indeed something the Qin people had intentionally prepared to show them.

After receiving Meng Tian's permission, the Qin soldier ran back to the cannon and relayed Meng Tian's order to fire to the other soldiers.

The group stared intently at the scene, but couldn't understand what the Qin soldiers were doing. A moment later, they saw a burst of fire erupt from the copper pipe, followed by a thunderous roar.

The sudden noise startled the group, but they had no time to worry about being startled; they saw a small boat being hit by something on the sea ahead.

The object exploded upon impact with the small boat, sending up flames and smoke, and the boat's hull disintegrated.

A perfectly good small boat was destroyed in the blink of an eye, with a large number of scattered pieces of wood falling onto the sea surface, and the broken hull sinking into the water.

Seeing this, the group fell silent.

I finally understand why the water fortress was captured and ravaged like this, and I also understand why the Qin people were able to destroy their ships in the harbor with just two ships.

With such weapons, who could defeat the Qin people?
If they were to engage the Qin people in a direct battle on the battlefield, they would have no chance against them, not even during the heyday of the six states.

If the Qin people had possessed such weapons when they conquered the six states, those six states would have perished even faster.

Although the Qin people mounted this weapon on their ships, it is immediately apparent that it could also be used in land warfare, indicating that the Qin army must have already equipped itself with this weapon on land as well.

Furthermore, the Qin people seem to be further developing this weapon, the "Hai Tuo Type II," which means that there may be "Type III," "Type IV," "Type V," etc. in the future...

How powerful would that be?
If the Qin people can destroy a small boat with a single attack today, then perhaps in the future they will be able to destroy a city wall or a large ship with a single attack.

What else could possibly stop the Qin people?
How could they possibly withstand such a weapon with the swords and knives they had?

I fear that in a single attack, both men and horses would be shattered, leaving not even a complete corpse.

After firing one shot, Meng Tian did not order more shots to be fired. One shot was enough to let these people know the power of artillery.

Meng Tian looked at the group and asked with a smile, "What do you gentlemen think?"

One of them said, "I have never seen such a weapon before. Its sound is like thunder, and its power is immense. It must be a sharp weapon on the battlefield!"

Another person said, "This weapon is truly an unparalleled weapon. With such a weapon, the Great Qin will be invincible!"

Meng Tian laughed and said, "Then please go back and tell your lords what you saw today."

The group nodded, understanding Meng Tian's meaning: Go back and speak to your lord properly, urging him to sincerely surrender and not to do anything unwise.

After the men left, one of the staff officers asked, "General, are we really going to accept their surrender?"

Meng Tian said, "As long as they sincerely surrender and it benefits us, why can't we accept it?"

Anyway, it doesn't require Qin to pay much. These people are surrendering voluntarily, so there's nothing wrong with accepting them. Even if these people aren't truly surrendering, it won't cause Qin any loss.

Another staff officer asked, "General, are we really going to agree to their conditions and let them return to their homeland?"

Meng Tian smiled and said, "I only said that I would report to His Majesty on their behalf, but I did not agree to this matter."

Meng Tian also asked his advisors a question: "What do you think they will do after they return?"

One of the staff officers said, "This humble general believes that they will choose to bring men here to surrender!"

The other staff officers nodded in agreement with this view.

They destroyed the ships of the six former nobles on the island, preventing them from escaping, and then demonstrated the power of their cannons, showing them that they could not fight back.

These people then only have two choices: one is to continue hiding in the mountains and forests of the island; the other is to surrender to the Qin Dynasty.

But how long can these remnants of the six kingdoms hide in the mountains and forests of the island?
Not to mention issues like food, lodging, clothing, and medicine, there are also foreigners who are their enemies.

Meng Tian simply smiled at the advisor's idea without commenting, perhaps those former nobles from the six states who wanted to surrender would give him another surprise.

However, if there are no surprises, it doesn't matter. The Qin Dynasty has already made a profit; the only difference is how much.

After they returned, they reported what they had seen at Meng Tian's place to Zhao Yue and the others.

Zhao Yue sighed and said, "The General did not rebel after all. He fought to the very end, but unexpectedly he was convicted and his family was implicated. It is truly a shame for the General."

He said this intentionally to use Qu Tong's wrongful conviction to prove the legitimacy and rationality of their surrender to the Qin Dynasty.

Another person said, "I didn't expect the Qin people to send Meng Tian this time. This man is not easy to deal with. The Meng family has served Qin for three generations and is deeply trusted by the Qin Emperor."

"But why would he lead the Qin navy here? And with only a small number of Qin soldiers?"

"Given the trust he enjoys with the Qin Emperor and his military achievements, he should be appointed as a commander-in-chief of the Qin army!"

Another person said, "Didn't you hear what Huang Zhen (one of the five who surrendered) and the others said just now? This Qin navy is special. It is very likely a special army newly established by the Qin people. Don't be fooled by its small number of soldiers and ships. In fact, it is an army that is highly valued by the Qin Emperor. Otherwise, why would the Qin Emperor allow them to carry those cannons?"

“Meng Tian led this Qin army here not to pursue us, but for Yizhou. He just happened to run into us.”

They were really unlucky, as they ran into the Qin navy led by Meng Tian.

"The Qin people named that cannon 'Sea Expansion Type II,' clearly indicating their intention to expand overseas. This Yizhou was already in their plans! Our departure to sea back then was perhaps also within the Qin people's expectations." Upon hearing the last sentence, the people in the tent fell silent. If that were true, they had been led by the nose by the Qin people all along, never escaping their grasp.

A sense of powerlessness and frustration arose in their hearts.

After a moment of silence, another person said, "Then how should we decide?"

One of them sighed, “Is there any other way now? It is we who should surrender to the Qin people, not the other way around. The Qin people only need to besiege us on the island, and after a while, we will collapse on our own.”

"And how can we possibly fight against the Qin people? Haven't you heard Huang Zhen say about the power of their cannons? Those cannons are something that no human can withstand."

Another person said, "I don't know how the Qin people made those cannons. If we had those cannons back then, we would never have let the Qin people unify the world."

Another person worriedly said, "Do the Qin people truly want to accept our surrender? If we surrender, what if Meng Tian follows Bai Qi's example..."

Another person said, "The situation is different now than when Bai Qi was here, and Meng Tian is not Bai Qi. Therefore, I am not worried about whether the Qin people will sincerely accept our surrender, but rather whether the Qin people will truly agree to let us return to our homeland."

One person said, "I'm afraid it will be very difficult. Even if the Qin people let us go back, they will definitely not let us return to our homeland. Nine times out of ten, they will move us to another place."

This is highly likely to happen.

As former nobles of the six states, although they were preparing to surrender to the Qin people, their status meant that the Qin people were unlikely to trust them and allow them to return to their homeland.

They knew in their hearts that this was a pie in the sky offered to them by Meng Tian, ​​but they had to admit that they really wanted to take advantage of it.

As nobles, they could live a better life than ordinary soldiers after fleeing overseas, but if they had a choice, they would not want to stay in this overseas land.

Another person said in a low voice, "I don't care whether I'm still in my homeland or not, I just hope I can go back."

After listening to their speeches, Zhao Yue said, "We must surrender to the Qin people, otherwise we will surely die if we don't perish today. The only question is whether to lead our men to surrender to General Meng Tian, ​​or to wait for more Qin troops to arrive and then coordinate with the Qin people from within to... eliminate them!"

Zhao Yue did not say who he would kill, but everyone in the tent knew that he would kill the King of Chu and other former nobles.

Zhao Yue continued, "Besides these two options, there is actually a third option."

Although the tent was dark and unlit, Zhao Yue could sense that after he said those words, everyone's eyes turned to him, waiting for him to suggest the third option.

"Our original plan was to cooperate with the Qin people from within and without, both to ensure our own safety and to ensure that our surrender to the Qin people was not discovered, and also to make contributions to the Qin people and let them see our sincerity. Only if we have done something beneficial for the Qin people will they value us more and treat us well. If we only surrender to the Qin people without any merit, the Qin people will definitely look down on us."

“If we immediately lead our men to surrender to the Qin people, our contribution will be insignificant to them. Even if they accept our surrender, they will likely not treat us well, and we will have no grounds to negotiate terms with them.”

"Therefore, we must find a way to make contributions and gain the recognition of the Qin people for our achievements."

After listening to Zhaoyue's explanation, some people have already guessed the third option he wanted to mention.

One of them lowered his voice: "You... want to assassinate the king?"

Those inside the tent who hadn't yet reacted were shocked upon hearing this: Zhao Yue actually wanted to kill the king before surrendering to the Qin people and take the king's head to the Qin people!
But after thinking it over, the group realized that if they could succeed, they would definitely be credited with a great achievement by the Qin people. The Qin people would always treat those who had made contributions and surrendered better, right?

There are two different things: surrendering with the spoils the Qin people wanted and surrendering with nothing at all.

The problem is that they don't have many soldiers, so how can they kill the king?
Zhao Yue made no attempt to conceal his intention to rebel and assassinate the king: "The State of Chu has been destroyed, and the King of Chu is long dead. What kind of King of Chu is he? Besides, do any of you have a better idea?"

There was another moment of silence.

After a while, one of them asked, "But how can we succeed, and how can we escape after we succeed? The king's camp is heavily guarded. With our strength, it will be difficult to launch a direct attack."

Zhao Yue said, "It is not difficult to get away after we succeed. The king's prestige is no longer enough to command the people. The soldiers are all afraid of the Qin people and want to return to their homeland."

"After we succeed, we will loudly proclaim that we are acting on the orders of the Qin people. The soldiers will not dare to act rashly. We will also say that as long as they surrender to the Qin people, they can return to their homeland. The soldiers will be tempted, and not many soldiers will stand on the king's side."

"A living king is worthy of their loyalty, but a dead king is not necessarily so!"

After thinking about it carefully, the group realized that what Zhaoyue said was indeed a possibility.

Since fleeing overseas, many soldiers have missed their homeland. If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't escape on the island, and that King Chu and others used rewards and punishments to motivate them—for example, soldiers who performed well could receive more food and be given female slaves from the barbarians, while those who performed poorly would be executed—many soldiers would have deserted long ago.

If no Qin people had come to the island, as long as the soldiers had settled down and had children, their homesickness would have been greatly alleviated, and they would have been willing to stay on the island for a long time and gradually become island residents.

But before the soldiers could fully settle down, the Qin army arrived.

Upon seeing the Qin people arrive, the soldiers of the six states would feel panic and fear, and would also miss their homeland even more.

If they could raise the slogan that the Qin people would accept their surrender and let them return to their homeland, most soldiers would probably choose to stand on their side.

One person said, "This method is indeed feasible, but it would be best to have the support of the Qin people. Once we succeed, we can use it to our advantage and gain their trust. The best banner to resemble the Qin people's would be the banner of General Meng Tian!"

Once they succeed, they will raise Meng Tian's banner. While it may not intimidate everyone, it will definitely intimidate some people.

Zhao Yue said, "Therefore, the main problem is how to assassinate the king. Although the king has many guards, they are not always present, and there are times when they are lax..."

Zhao Yue explained his plan in detail, and one of the people said after listening, "Isn't this too risky? If it fails, we won't even be able to escape. We might as well secretly lead some people to surrender to the Qin people."

Zhao Yue said, "If we don't take risks, how can we achieve great success? Which choice do you all want to make?"

The group was weighing their options: one was a low-risk choice, but without merit, they would have no standing with the Qin people, and it was hard to say how the Qin people would treat them; the other was a high-risk choice, but if successful, they would gain merit with the Qin people.

Moreover, their assassination of the king and the emperor, and the murder of the King of Chu, further demonstrated their determination to surrender, gained them the trust of the Qin people, and dispelled the impression of them as former nobles of the six states in the Qin people's minds.

A few days later, Meng Tian received a message from Zhao Yue and others. He was not surprised at all, as this was the "other surprise" he had been expecting: the former nobles of the six states who had surrendered were killing each other with the remnants of the other six states.

Peaceful surrender is far better than these people splitting up and killing each other.
Regardless of which side wins, it will greatly weaken the power of the remnants of the six states, which is what Meng Tian wanted to see.

The weakening of the remnants of the six kingdoms on the island will make it easier for Qin to deal with them in the future.

Meng Tian laughed and said, "Since your lord intends to accomplish this, very well, I will give you tokens, and I hope you will not disappoint me."

(End of this chapter)