Chapter 348 Qin Army Surrenders
Chapter 348 Qin Army Surrenders
Yin Shishi said to the two of them, "Your Highness should have received my letter. In the letter, I agreed with Your Highness to attack the West Camp Gate at three o'clock tonight, but the letter was relatively simple and many details were not made clear. I am worried that Your Highness will have concerns, so I would like to ask General Xu to make another trip and tell Your Highness not to have any concerns. We are sincerely surrendering to you."
Xu Min nodded, "I am willing to make another trip to finalize all the details!"
At night, the general Xu Min secretly left Dongying and ran to the southeast.
At this time, Xiao Xia was leading the army northward. They were about ten miles away from the main camp. Using a forest as cover, they marched on the east side of the forest. Their whereabouts were blocked by the forest, and neither the sentries nor the outer patrols discovered them.
At this time, a soldier reported to Xiao Xia: "General, there is an enemy general named Xu Min who wants to see you. He is an old subordinate of yours!"
When Xu Min arrived, Xiao Xia was overjoyed and immediately ordered, "Bring him to see me!"
Soon, Pei Min was brought up. Xu Min was excited and knelt on one knee to salute, "I am Xu Min, the humble servant, and I pay my respects to His Highness!"
Xiao Xia dismounted and helped him up, then ordered the army to rest on the spot. The soldiers set up a marching tent.
Xiao Xia asked his men to call several generals. In the marching tent, a large stone served as a table. Xu Min spread a rough map of the military camp on it and said to everyone, "There are three camp gates in the camp, one each in the east, west and south. The Hexi Army is stationed in the East Camp, the Longyou Army is stationed in the South Camp, and the Qin King's recruited soldiers are stationed in the West Camp. Each of them has 20,000 troops. Your Highness will lead the army to attack at three o'clock in the morning. We will open the camp gates directly to welcome your arrival."
Xiao Xia shook his head. "I will send 20,000 troops to enter the camp from the east gate, but not me. I will lead the army to ambush outside the west camp, set up a trap, and wait for the arrival of the King of Qin."
Xu Min nodded, "Of course that's possible!"
Xiao Xia then said to Luo Shixin and Pei Xingyan: "Each of you will lead 10,000 troops into the East Camp and attack directly towards the king's tent of the enemy's West Camp!"
At this point, Xiao Xia asked again, "Is Yang Jun's royal tent in the West Camp?"
"It's in the middle of the West Camp. It's the largest white tent with tight defenses. I'll take the two generals to the king's tent when the time comes."
Pei Xingyan asked: "How are the sentinels arranged?"
"Sentries are divided into two categories: watchtower sentries and patrol sentries. The patrol sentries are about two miles away from the camp at most. However, the patrol sentries on the east side are our people. General Yin has already called them back. There are only sentries tonight, but they will not send any signals. The camp gate will be wide open, and I will be standing at the door to greet you. If there is any special situation, I will notify you in time."
After all the details were settled, Xu Min hurried back. Xiao Xia ordered the army to split into two groups. Pei Xingyan and Luo Shixin led 20,000 troops to enter the East Camp, while Xiao Xia led 60,000 troops to ambush outside the West Camp.
As the time gradually approached the third watch, Pei Xingyan and Luo Shixin each led 10,000 troops and gradually approached the military camp. They were still very cautious, and Luo Shixin personally led 300 soldiers in the front.
As expected, they didn't see any patrols along the way. The sentry tower should have been able to see them, but no alarm was sounded. They only saw the East Gate gradually open and Xu Min appeared at the gate.
After Xu Min came back to report to Yin Shishi, they also made deployments, requiring all soldiers to wear armor when sleeping, not to take off their shoes, and to keep their weapons with them. At the same time, they dismantled nearly a hundred large tents to form a road leading directly to the king's tent.
At this time, Xu Min and Cao Taiyue led 20,000 troops into the military camp, led by special soldiers. Pei Xingyan and Luo Bing led 20,000 troops and attacked the king's tent directly.
At this moment, the alarm bells suddenly rang in the camp. They were finally discovered by the West Camp. There was chaos in the camp. The soldiers were awakened from their sleep. A patrol team of two thousand rushed up to block the way of the Sui army. They fought desperately to stop the attack of the Sui army.
Qin Wang Yang Jun also woke up. He stood up and asked, "What happened?"
A personal soldier outside the tent said urgently: "Your Highness, the Xiaoxia army has entered the camp. We can't resist them. Your Highness, leave quickly!"
Yang Jun was shocked, wondering how they could suddenly break into the camp. At this moment, he heard screams and shouts of killing, and they were already approaching.
Dozens of personal soldiers rushed into the tent, and Liu Shili said anxiously: "Your Highness, Master Yin Shi has surrendered to Xiao Xia, the East Camp has been lost, and we must retreat immediately!"
Yang Jun was so angry that he cursed, "This bastard! I treated him well, and he dared to betray me!"
It was too late, so Liu Shili led the group and rushed out with Yang Jun. At this time, Luo Shixin led 5,000 soldiers and rushed to a distance of 100 steps. Arrows kept shooting at them, and more than a dozen guards were shot and fell to the ground screaming.
Pei Xingyan led an army of 10,000 to cut off the Yang family's retreat route to the south, separating the South Camp and the West Camp.
Yang Jun mounted his horse and rushed towards the west gate of the camp under the escort of Liu Shili and hundreds of soldiers. The soldiers behind him followed him in retreat.
Yang Jun rushed out of the camp with three thousand soldiers and retreated westward. After walking less than two miles, they saw fire all around and tens of thousands of troops surrounded Yang Jun and his army.
Xiao Xia said loudly: "Uncle Huang, you have nowhere to go. If you are willing to surrender, I will keep you safe for the sake of our relationship. If you refuse to surrender, I will ask you to accompany my grandfather to his grave."
Yang Jun hesitated for a long time, sighed, and ordered: "We are all soldiers of the Sui army, don't kill each other, everyone put down your weapons!"
Everyone put down their weapons. At this moment, a carriage drove up and the cavalry opened the door. "Your Highness, please get in the carriage!"
Yang Jun had no choice but to get on the carriage. The doors were immediately locked and hundreds of cavalrymen escorted the carriage away.
Xiao Xia smiled at Liu Shili again and said, "Brother Liu, long time no see!"
Liu Shili bowed and said, "I didn't know your highness's identity back then, I'm sorry for offending you!"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Please ask General Liu to gather the soldiers. As long as General Liu calms the army, I will not treat you unfairly for the sake of our old friendship!"
Since even the King of Qin had surrendered, Liu Shili certainly wanted to find a way out for himself. He immediately went back, gathered the defeated soldiers, asked them to lay down their weapons, and finally persuaded Qifu Hui to surrender.
This battle only caused a few thousand enemy casualties, but the greatest benefit was gained at the lowest cost. Almost all of the nearly 60,000 troops surrendered to Xiao Xia.
The 60,000-strong Qin army fell apart overnight and was annexed by Xiao Xia.
When King of Jin Yang Guang heard that the King of Qin had been captured and all 60,000 troops had surrendered, he was overjoyed. This was the most critical step. By capturing the King of Qin, his chances of seizing the throne would increase to 70%.
He remembered the last words his father told him: whether he could obtain the throne depended on the third son, Xiao Xia. Now it seemed that his father's words were right.
At this time, a soldier reported, "The King of Qin is coming!"
Yang Guang hurriedly went out to greet him. The carriage stopped. After a moment, Qin Wang Yang Jun came down from the carriage with a pale face. When he saw his brother, he hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, your humble servant greets you!"
Yang Guang was delighted to be addressed as his third brother, as this title was the only one used to address the emperor, and it meant that his third brother had completely submitted to him.
He quickly helped his brother up and said with a smile: "We are all brothers, there is no deep hatred. If I get the throne in the future, I will not treat you unfairly."
Yang Jun said ashamedly: "In fact, I know myself well and I don't want to participate in the fight for the throne. It was mainly because of Lao Wu's repeated instigation that I was confused for a while. Now that I have come to my senses, I feel ashamed!"
Yang Guang patted his shoulder and said, "Don't talk about the past anymore. Go back and have a rest. I will send someone to bring your sister-in-law and nephew back to Chang'an later."
"Thank you, brother!"
Soon, Xiao Xia led the army back, and a guard came on horseback and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, the prince invites you to the big tent to discuss military affairs!"
(End of this chapter)