Sui and Tang Dynasty Generals

Chapter 86: Collecting Surrendered Soldiers

Beside the moat, corpses lay around the war horses, while in the freezing water of the river, some rebel soldiers struggled to climb ashore, but what awaited them were either bloody spears or arrows.

Among the 500 rebel cavalrymen, dozens died on land, and more were driven into the water, where they drowned or were killed.

At this moment, there were still more than 200 rebel soldiers gathered together facing the encirclement of the Sui army. The rebel soldiers on the periphery continued to fight with the Sui army soldiers with swords or long spears, while the rebel soldiers inside could only watch. Not only could they not help, but the presence of the war horses made it difficult for everyone to move.

At this moment.

Not only the Sui army soldiers who surrounded the rebel cavalry, but also the soldiers and civilians on the city walls were not in a hurry. Everyone knew that these rebel cavalry would be killed sooner or later, either by the sword or by being pushed into the moat.

"kill!"

"kill!!!"

Warriors like Hu Jingyuan, Cao Yong, and Xia Jia were all covered in blood, but no one bothered to wipe it off. Instead, they each held a sharp sword and personally led their soldiers to kill the rebel cavalry.

In the fight with the rebels, when everyone was blood-thirsty and panting, a young man rode slowly towards them in full view of everyone, under the billowing smoke behind them.

When I saw the bloody lance on the boy's shoulder, with a bloody head stuck on the blade.

When the rebel cavalrymen saw clearly that the head was Tu Ye's, all of them turned pale and their eyes were filled with despair.

"kill!!!"

In contrast to the rebel soldiers, the Sui army officers and soldiers roared excitedly when they saw this. Their expressions were full of excitement. They waved their weapons at the rebel cavalry with murderous intent in their eyes.

In the eyes of all the Sui army soldiers, no matter whether Dongcheng could be defended or not, they wanted these rebel cavalry to die here.

But what all the Sui army soldiers did not expect was that the next moment, the young man suddenly gave a loud order to stop the attack.

Hearing the sudden order, not only were the Sui army officers and soldiers puzzled, but even Hu Jingyuan, Cao Yong, Xia Jia and others were also confused. They didn't understand why they had to stop the attack at this time when the rebel cavalry in front of them were doomed to die.

But the young man's prestige, and all the soldiers knew that it was the young man who led them to the current results, so although all the soldiers were puzzled, they still followed the order without hesitation and stopped fighting.

On the top of the East City.

The soldiers in the city and countless civilians also saw that the two sides that were originally fighting beside the moat began to stop fighting.

This scene made all the soldiers and civilians on the city wall look confused and they didn't understand what was going on.

Next to the moat.

Among the many Sui army soldiers, Fu Zihou rode forward under the gaze of all the rebel cavalry, came to the front, reined in his horse and looked at them.

"Surrender or die?"

Fu Zihou looked at the rebel cavalry in front of him and asked softly.

After hearing Fu Zihou's words, not only were the rebel cavalrymen all surprised and doubting their own ears, even the officers and soldiers of the Sui army looked at each other in shock, not understanding why the captain wanted to forgive these rebel cavalrymen. These people were all rebels. What if they entered the city and joined forces with the rebel army outside the city?
On the periphery of the rebel cavalry, some wounded and bleeding rebel soldiers heard Fu Zihou's good words, looked at the head on Fu Zihou's horse spear, and looked at the Sui soldiers around them who all had angry faces.

Faced with the choice given by Fu Zihou, they all dropped their weapons without hesitation.

If they could live, they wouldn't want to die.

It started with a few sounds of swords and spears being thrown away, then more and more sounds came, and soon all the rebel soldiers were willing to throw down their weapons and surrender.

In the minds of these rebel cavalrymen, they had no idea what the consequences would be if the East City of Jinyang was breached by the 100,000-strong army on the plain in the future.

But now they all know very well that if they don't surrender, they will all die.

No matter how they will be treated after surrendering or how they will be disposed of by the Sui army, it is better than being killed by the Sui army now.

"Pass on my order. After they enter the city, no one is allowed to beat or humiliate them. Violators will be punished by military law! And send someone to apply medicine to the injured!"

After Fu Zihou saw that all the rebel soldiers had dropped their weapons and chosen to dismount and surrender, he gave a loud order in public.

"Colonel Captain..."

Hu Jingyuan looked at the rebel soldiers in front of him, and when he heard Fu Zihou's order, he looked at Fu Zihou anxiously. But just as he opened his mouth, he saw Fu Zihou turned his head and looked at him.

At this moment, looking at Fu Zihou's expressionless face and seeing the look in Fu Zihou's eyes, Hu Jingyuan suddenly realized something, and quickly came to his senses and raised his hand towards Fu Zihou.

"Here!"

Hu Jingyuan received the order.

“They won’t bully us!”

"The Sui general ordered us to apply medicine..."

After hearing Fu Zihou's order, the more than 200 rebels who had chosen to surrender were all at a loss.

Having just experienced despair and chosen to surrender, they managed to save their lives from death. They had even made plans for the worst.

As a result, the Sui general not only did not kill them, but also personally ordered that no one was allowed to bully or beat them, and even applied medicine to treat their injuries.

This made the rebel soldiers doubt whether they had heard it wrong. They all looked at each other in a trance, and then they couldn't help but look at the young man among the Sui cavalry.

At least at this moment, for the rebel soldiers who survived the disaster, the young man looked very tall in their eyes, and they were full of gratitude.

"Put out the smoke! All cavalry soldiers, follow me to rescue people!"

After all the rebel cavalrymen dismounted and surrendered, they lost their weapons and were no longer a threat. Fu Zihou gave the order, then took off Tu Ye's head and tied it to the horse's back, then rode his horse with a lance in hand and rushed into the thick smoke again.

Upon hearing Fu Zihou's order, all the cavalry soldiers, holding weapons, followed Fu Zihou and rode their horses into the thick smoke without hesitation.

At the same time, except for the Sui army soldiers who were escorting the surrendered rebels, other soldiers also picked up the long spears and horse lances on the ground and threw the grass balls with billowing smoke into the moat.

Because the moat was deep but not turbulent, several Sui soldiers under the city gate saw this scene, took out the long boards they had prepared long ago, ran to the downstream of the moat, floated the long boards on the water, spanned the two sides of the canal, and blocked these grass balls.

For the defenders and civilians in the city, even if these grass balls have been burned, the remaining parts after extinguishing can still be used after being dried.

At night or in the early morning, when it is safe, people can be sent to use iron hooks and ropes to pull them ashore one by one from the moat and back into the city.

After a while.

Under the gaze of all the Sui cavalry, all the Sui soldiers, and the people on the city walls, as the grass ball emitting thick smoke went out, the strong wind blew away the smoke covering the battlefield. The scene that came into everyone's eyes next instantly calmed everyone down.

On the plain far away from the moat, in front of the Sui cavalry, the civilians, even the rebel soldiers, were all shot to death on the ground. On the corpses lying all over the ground, one could vaguely see that they were all covered with arrows.

From the way those civilians died, it can be seen that some of them seemed to want to escape in the thick smoke, but were caught up and killed by the rebel soldiers. The rebel soldiers who killed the civilians also did not expect that the arrows that shot them were not shot in front of them or in the direction their shields were aimed at, but came from behind the thick smoke and shot from behind them.

Looking at the rebels and civilians on the distant plain without a single survivor, and looking at the tragic state of the corpses, the people on the city walls all felt the cruelty of the rebels outside the city.

Looking at the Sui cavalry on the plain turning their horses around and returning the same way, the people on the city walls did not have a trace of blame or complaint in their hearts.

Because they all saw with their own eyes that Captain Fu led the cavalry soldiers, regardless of danger, and personally led people to charge out of the city to rescue the people. Not only did they fight with the rebel cavalry, but they also never gave up on saving people from beginning to end.

No one had ever thought that the traitors were so inhumane!
Outside the East City, on the distant plain.

In front of the rebel army, Zhen Zhai'er, Tang Zhenhao, Xiang Yifeng and others were finally able to see the entire battlefield clearly after the smoke gradually dissipated.

After seeing the entire battlefield, not to mention Zhen Zhai'er, even Tang Zhenhao, Xiang Yifeng and others, as well as the military captains and counselors behind them, were all looking at the scene in horror.

It wasn’t as tragic and chaotic as imagined!

There was no bloodshed as imagined, with corpses of soldiers from both armies scattered everywhere.

Some were just the soldiers and civilians who were shot dead on the plain.

Even the number of Sui cavalry returning to Dongcheng from afar was not as many hundreds as imagined.

At a glance, the Sui army's cavalry might be no more than two hundred or so!
Two hundred riders!
Thinking of this number and looking at the scene on the battlefield, everyone was a little dazed!
"This……"

"he……"

Tang Zhenhao, Xiang Yifeng, Yang Boyao, Qin Guangzhi and others all looked at each other in bewilderment.

How dare the Sui general from Dongcheng?

Everyone couldn't help but think of the figure who had just stood on the plain, with his back against the thick smoke, facing their army of more than 100,000 alone.

"Great!"

Zhen Zhai'er looked at the scene on the battlefield and quickly figured out everything that had happened.

At this moment Zhen Zhai couldn't help but sigh that Zhang Jincheng's defeat in Hebei was really not unfair at all.

At the same time, Zhen Zhai'er felt more and more regretful in her heart. Such a brave and strategic general should not be buried with the Sui Dynasty!

"But no matter how powerful you are, Jinyang East City is still not West City! There is still no terrain to rely on. Facing an army of 100,000, how long can you hold on!"

Zhen Zhai'er sighed deeply. Although the first battle failed, Zhen Zhai'er still didn't think that Jinyang East City could hold off his army for long.

"You can capture my men, but do you dare to use them?"

Zhen Zhai'er looked at the cavalry soldiers who were captured by the Sui army soldiers under the east city.

Putting herself in his shoes, in Zhen Zhai'er's eyes, under the same circumstances, even if she captured those people, she would never dare to use them.

Zhen Zhai'er was curious about what the East City defender would do if he captured those surrendered soldiers.

"Send an order, leave 20,000 troops to prepare for battle, and the rest to return to camp to rest! Send someone to find out if the cavalry soldiers who were defeated today have any families!"

Zhen Zhai'er gave the order.

"Here!"

"Here!!"

Hearing Zhen Zhai'er's words, the military officials behind Zhen Zhai'er hurriedly obeyed the order.

..............................

Outside the East City Gate.

"Choose a few people from among them and hang Tu Ye's head on the top of the city wall!"

Fu Zihou had just ridden into the city and handed the head to Cao Yong when he suddenly saw many elders from aristocratic families in the city coming forward.

"Sir! We can't let these thieves into the city! They are thieves. Once they enter the city, they will definitely collude with the thieves outside! It will cause a disaster!"

"Sir, we must not let these thieves enter the city..."

"grown ups……"

One by one, the old men that Fu Zihou had met in the barracks, including the old man from the Jian family, the old man from the Wen family, the old man from the Cao family, the old men from the Lin family, the Xu family, the Lu family, all the old men from the noble families in Dongcheng, came to Fu Zihou and tried to persuade him to drive these bandits and soldiers out of the city.

On the streets around the city and on the city walls, there were also people all looking at Fu Zihou. There were too many of them to count and it was very crowded.

Without exception.

Everyone looked at the captured rebels with caution and fear.

No one was willing to let these thieves enter East City.

See this scene.

The captured traitors all lowered their heads in shame and remained silent. However, a moment later, a voice came into their ears, making them all look up.

"Everyone! Since Zihou is the commander of East City, please trust him! Zihou promises you that they will not cause you any worries!"

Fu Zihou rode on his war horse and looked at all the people around him.

Because Fu Zihou had just led his troops out of the city and risked his life to rescue the people outside the city, as well as defeating the rebel cavalry, Fu Zihou now had a high reputation among the people. So when the people heard Fu Zihou's words, although they were still worried, they looked at each other and did not say anything.

As for those elders from aristocratic families who are blocking the road ahead.

"They were brought in by Zihou. As long as Zihou is still in the city, please don't make things difficult for them!"

Fu Zihou looked at the group of old men who were blocking his way, raised his hand and asked softly. With a little bright red blood on his hand and a deep look in his eyes, it was more like a notification than a request.

When the old men saw this, although they were extremely worried, they could only give way reluctantly as their families were now settled in the barracks. Even Fu Zihou's prestige and decisions were beyond their control, so they could only give way reluctantly.

"It will be a disaster!"

"Yes! Thieves have entered the city!"

After giving way, the old men couldn't help but whispered as they watched the rebels being taken away by the soldiers.

In the mansion in the city.

Fu Zihou took off his armor and before he put on his clothes, he saw Cui Wenjin hurriedly coming into the room.

Seeing that Fu Zihou was fortunately covered by his underwear, Cui Wenjin's eyes flashed with shyness, which was fleeting. Then she walked slowly to Fu Zihou's side and took a look at his clothes and armor that were stained with blood.

"Why did you bring those thieves into the city? The people in the city are a little uneasy now!"

Cui Wenjin asked, looking at Fu Zihou curiously, as if wanting an answer, and then she stretched out her slender hand and handed the towel to Fu Zihou to wipe his face.

"Those people are all strong and powerful. Faced with a desperate situation, they will definitely fight to the death. Doing so will only cause more casualties and waste time and effort!"

Fu Zihou took the cloth handed to him by Cui Wenjin and wiped his face, feeling much better.

"If you only care about momentary pleasure and are afraid of the enemy, you will never be able to defeat the opponent! If you are afraid of even two hundred surrendered soldiers, how can you face the 100,000 rebels outside the city! My teacher once said that there are many enemies and few of us. If you can't turn the enemy into a friend, how can you turn defeat into victory!"

Fu Zihou put the towel into the basin and washed the blood off his hands.

"Ancient book? Which ancient book? Who is your teacher?"

When Cui Wenjin heard Fu Zihou's words, he was a little confused and looked at Fu Zihou curiously.

Upon hearing this, Fu Zihou looked at Cui Wenjin and smiled.

"Liu's ancient books!"

After Fu Zihou finished speaking, he washed his hands and put the towel aside.

"Liu's ancient books?"

The more Cui Wenjin listened, the more confused she became. Cui also boasted that she had an enormous collection of books, but from her childhood to adulthood, she had never heard of any ancient books called "Liu's ancient books."

"But what are you going to do to make them... your injuries!"

Cui Wenjin vaguely saw a trace of blood on Fu Zihou's chest. He thought of something and frowned in a hurry, stepping forward and reaching out to tear off Fu Zihou's clothes.

Fu Zihou didn't expect Cui Wenjin to suddenly rush in front of him. Seeing Cui Wenjin staring at his chest with slightly red eyes, he looked stunned and felt a little amused.

This Cui Wenjin is a descendant of the Qinghe Cui family.

She’s a girl from a prominent family in the county, how could she be so... open-minded!
If this gets out, or if someone sees it, they might say that I'm having an affair with Cui Wenjin! I won't be able to explain it no matter how hard I try.

Think of this.

Fu Zihou quickly looked towards the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was no one there.

"Your injuries haven't healed yet!"

Cui Wenjin looked at the hideous wound on Fu Zihou's chest. Only then did he realize that the injury Fu Zihou had suffered before was far more serious than he had imagined.

Thinking of how Fu Zihou had personally led his troops out of the city to fight the rebels just now, Cui Wenjin couldn't help but look at Fu Zihou.

"It's almost healed!"

Fu Zihou turned his head slightly, raised his hand and gently grabbed the clothes, wanting to close the clothes himself before anyone noticed.

Fu Zihou was not used to being looked at by a woman of about the same age other than his mother. Moreover, Cui Wenjin was so close to him that he could smell her faint fragrance. When he turned around, he could see Cui Wenjin's pretty face right in front of him.

"Don't move! I'll tie you up!"

Cui Wenjin glared at Fu Zihou with her slightly red eyes, and then picked up another clean towel from the side.

"I want to do it myself..."

Fu Zihou said quickly, wanting to tell Cui Wenjin that the reason his injury had been slow to heal was because the wound area was large after the sword pierced his armor, but it was actually not that serious, and the bleeding would stop even if he didn't wipe it for a while. But before he could finish his words, he saw Cui Wenjin raise his head in front of him, and the eyes on his fair and pretty face were staring straight at him.

Fu Zihou had never experienced this before. Looking at Cui Wenjin who was slightly angry, he suddenly noticed something, took a deep breath and looked to the side.

At this moment, Fu Zihou didn't know how to remind Cui Wenjin. Cui Wenjin was not a little girl like Li Cha. She was older than him.

Thinking of Qinghe Cui, Cui Yuzhe, and Cui Xin whom he had met before, Fu Zihou was extremely grateful that Cui Wenjin came to Jinyang without using her name.

In this mansion, besides himself, Cao Yong and three others are the only ones who know Cui Wenjin's true identity.

Half an hour later.

Inside the city, on an open space, the rebel soldiers were all sitting on the ground to rest. The injured soldiers not only received treatment from doctors, but water was also brought for the thirsty soldiers to drink.

Except for the lack of weapons and armor, at least in this open space, all the rebel soldiers did not feel any difference.

"Colonel Captain!"

"Captain!!"

Hearing the voices of the Sui army soldiers around them, the rebel soldiers looked over one after another. When they saw the young man, all of them had extremely complicated expressions.

When they were surrounded outside the city and faced hostile gazes from other Sui army soldiers, it was the young man who spoke up and asked them to surrender. When they entered the city and faced hostility from the people in the city, it was also the young man who spoke up for them. Not only did he vouch for them, he also asked the elders in the city who were wearing silk clothes and were obviously from aristocratic families not to make things difficult for them.

As surrendered soldiers of the enemy army, the boy's actions left them speechless.

As a surrendered traitor, the boy's actions made them feel a little at a loss as to what to do.

Now seeing the young man taking off his armor, wearing cloth clothes and carrying a sword, all the rebel soldiers could not help but look over, their eyes all fixed on the young man, wanting to know what exactly he wanted them to do.

They didn't believe that the young man had no purpose in treating them like this.

They are all adults, and they are also rebels. They have experienced and seen the dangers of the world and the faces of Sui officials.

"Are there any of you whose wives and children are known to the rebels?"

Fu Zihou held the hilt of the sword with one hand, and then brought Cao Yong and Xia Jia to an open space. After Cao Yong and Xia Jia put down the boxes, he let Cao Yong and Xia Jia leave, and he was left alone to face the rebellious men around him.

Seeing Fu Zihou's actions, all the rebel men on the open ground couldn't help but sigh in admiration. No wonder he was so young, yet he could kill General Tu Ye alone. This courage was extraordinary.

But when they heard Fu Zihou's questions, the rebel men were all puzzled as to why he asked these questions.

"What does the General want from us?"

Yue Ming was the first to get up from the ground, looked at Fu Zihou, and asked helplessly.

Now that they are captured, their lives and deaths are all in Fu Zihou's hands. All he needs to do is tell them what Fu Zihou wants them to do.

"Zihou wants to know, if the enemy general sends people to capture your wife, children and elders, they will be taken out of the city in a few days at the earliest!"

Fu Zihou spoke softly under the gazes of all the rebels.

"You were brought into the city by Zihou. I'm sure you all know that based on the nature of the rebels outside the city, they will most likely bring your families with them. When Zihou asks you to defend the city, they will use your families as a threat! And right now, even if Zihou lets you leave, I'm afraid those rebels outside the city won't trust you anymore!"

Fu Zihou looked at everyone.

After hearing Fu Zihou's words, all the rebels looked at each other and fell silent.

They were all very curious. If Fu Zihou knew the truth, why did he bring them into the city? Since he couldn't defend the city, why didn't he let the soldiers kill them outside the city?

Thinking of their wives, children and the elderly, many rebel soldiers lowered their heads with a look of loss, and there was a look of despair in their eyes.

At this moment, Fu Zihou bent down and opened the box himself, and strings of money appeared in the eyes of all the rebel soldiers.

"If you stay in Dongcheng, those of you who have families may bring disaster to your relatives. This is not what Fu Zihou wants to see, so Zihou will let everyone leave Dongcheng after a while! These are the money I give to you!"

Fu Zihou looked at the box of money and said to everyone.

Hearing Fu Zihou's words, all the rebel soldiers widened their eyes and looked at Fu Zihou and the box of money in disbelief.

After a while, Fu Zihou will not only release them, but also give them money!

"If the world is peaceful, who would want to be a thief? Fu Zihou has never looked down on you!"

Fu Zihou looked at the pairs of eyes looking at him in disbelief and spoke sincerely.

Just one sentence made all the rebel soldiers pause for breath, and about twenty of them even had red eyes.

"General, do you want us to guard the city for you during this period of time?"

Xue Hong stood up at this time, looked at Fu Zihou and asked, since Fu Zihou promised to let them leave after a while and also promised to give them money, it means that he wanted them to guard the city for him before leaving.

"Do you think it's possible to fill the moat in a few days?"

Fu Zihou asked with a smile.

When Xue Hong heard Fu Zihou's words, he and other rebel soldiers were all stunned. Before the moat was filled, it was indeed impossible for the army outside the city to attack the city.

"Then the general wants us to leave the city during this period of time and fight the army outside the city?"

Among the rebels, Xing Ming, who was big and strong, stood up and looked at Fu Zihou. After hesitating, he opened his mouth and asked.

Fu Zihou heard Xing Ming's words and looked at Xing Ming.

"If we don't have the opportunity, and we go out of the city to fight, the enemy outnumbers us, and we will undoubtedly die. Zihou is not a person who breaks his word! Since I told you to leave, how can I let you die!"

When Fu Zihou said this, he looked at all the rebels and surrendered soldiers in the open space around him.

"Zihou promises you all that from today on, if you need to leave the city, Zihou will be by your side. If the enemy is still there, Zihou will be the first to draw his sword and fight. If we have to evacuate, Zihou will definitely be the last one standing!"

Under the gaze of everyone, Fu Zihou made a promise to everyone, then raised his hand and saluted everyone.

"I hope you can serve Zihou during these days! In a few days, Zihou will fulfill his promise and let you leave the city!"

Fu Zihou said.

Yue Ming, Xue Hong, Xing Ming and all the rebel soldiers on the open ground, when they heard Fu Zihou's promise and looked at Fu Zihou's appearance, they could not help but be moved.

Without Fu Zihou, they would have been killed by the swords outside the city. Not to mention, after entering the city, Fu Zihou guaranteed them and applied medicine to their injured people. Now Fu Zihou even promised to let them leave the city in a few days.

As surrendered soldiers of the enemy army and traitors, what else should they hesitate about?

Then, as one or two people in the crowd stood up, the other rebel soldiers stood up one after another.

Soon, ten people, twenty people, one hundred people, two hundred people...

All the strong men on the open ground stood up, looked at Fu Zihou, raised their hands and saluted Fu Zihou to show their submission.

This scene made all the Sui army soldiers around outside the open space, including Cao Yong, Xia Jia and others, breathe faster. They looked at the young man who was saluted by everyone, their eyes were full of burning heat, and they felt their bodies were filled with blood.

Cui Wenjin was also watching this scene from a distance, her beautiful eyes gazing at the young man, her eyes flickering and her heartbeat unable to be concealed.

(End of this chapter)