Chapter 693 Wang Ben goes to his death and receives the surrendered troops!

Chapter 693 Wang Ben goes to his death and receives the surrendered troops!

"Zhang Liang," Wang Ben said through gritted teeth, "you must keep your promise, or you will be punished by heaven!"

Before he finished speaking, Wang Ben suddenly reached out and grasped the sword at his waist. With a "swish", the sword with a cold glow was pulled out.

Before everyone had time to react, Wang Ben raised his sword, a flash of blood appeared, and the sword quickly slashed across his neck like lightning.

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, spraying on the ground, forming a shocking pool of blood. And Wang Ben's body, like a puppet with its strings cut, fell straight down, and fell heavily to the ground with a "bang".

"General! General! General..." As Wang Ben fell off his horse, the surrounding soldiers woke up as if from a dream. They screamed in shock and rushed to Wang Ben's body. They surrounded him, crying bitterly. Their wails rose one after another, resounding through the sky.

At this time, Zhang Liang, who was not far away, was staring at the thrilling scene in front of him. He felt extremely heavy, as if he was carrying a heavy burden. Finally, he took a deep breath, and the huge stone hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground.

In fact, Zhang Liang was very reluctant to fight this battle in his heart. The reason was simple. Although this battle was indeed in his careful planning, he was very clear about the principle that "the army that mourns will win".

Moreover, Wang Ben was now leading the army himself, and his fighting power should not be underestimated. If the two sides really fought to the death, Zhang Liang would not only fail to ensure that Wang Ben would die, but would also need to spend a lot of troops. This would undoubtedly make matters worse for him, who was already short of troops.

Zhang Liang's army had to continue to attack Hanzhong and divide its troops to ambush Wang Ben. It was an indisputable fact that the troops were short of manpower. There was no need to argue about this. Otherwise, why would he seek help from the county garrisons? After all, the training level of the county garrisons was naturally not comparable to that of the regular army. So, this battle was not impossible to fight, but the losses would definitely be great.

As for Zhang Liang's admiration for Wang Ben, it was indeed the truth. However, the so-called recruitment of Wang Ben was a complete lie. In fact, the reason why Zhang Liang said this was nothing more than to put enough psychological pressure on Wang Ben to make him give up the idea of ​​continuing to resist.

In order to achieve this goal, Zhang Liang adopted a strategy of increasing pressure layer by layer, constantly putting pressure on Wang Ben, trying to make him finally collapse completely. In other words, Zhang Liang had a certain estimate of the possibility that Wang Ben might choose to commit suicide. This is also the reason why he has been just talking and not taking action.

It is true that Gao Yao admired Wang Ben, which is beyond doubt. However, it was absolutely impossible to recruit Wang Ben. The reason was actually very simple. Wang Ben's appeal was too strong. How could Gao Yao allow such a powerful figure to exist in the court?

At present, although the entire southern border army has completely fallen under Gao Yao's control, it should be noted that the troop composition of the southern border army is relatively complex.

The Southern Border Army during the reign of Qin Shihuang was a battle-hardened and highly effective army. They had been stationed in the southern border area for a long time and were very familiar with the local terrain and climate. They were a force that could not be ignored.

Later, Gao Yao implemented the plan of recruiting the Baiyue tribe, which further expanded the size of the Southern Border Army. The addition of the Baiyue tribe not only brought new combat power to the Southern Border Army, but also enriched the culture and tactics of the Southern Border Army.

In addition, some new recruits joined the Southern Frontier Army. They were young and energetic, injecting new blood into the Southern Frontier Army.

However, the most important thing is that the surrendered soldiers after the imperial army's conquest were also incorporated into the Southern Border Army. These surrendered soldiers were originally enemies of the Qin Dynasty, but after being conquered, they chose to surrender and join the Southern Border Army.

It can be said that among the 300,000 troops of the four major legions, 60% were originally from the Qin army. Many of these Qin soldiers knew Wang Ben or had served under him.

If Wang Ben was really persuaded to surrender, Gao Yao would probably hate Zhang Liang. After all, Wang Ben was a very capable general. If he came to the southern border to serve as a general, he would probably pose a threat to Gao Yao's position.

Moreover, once Wang Ben arrived in the southern border as a general, it would be like a time bomb, making Gao Yao feel uneasy. Because Gao Yao could not easily kill Wang Ben, otherwise what would the other generals think? Would they think that Gao Yao was not sincere in accepting the generals of the Qin Dynasty? Would they be treated differently in the future? Would they even worry that they would be dealt with like Wang Ben?

These problems would cause the mentality of many generals in the southern border to fluctuate, leading to instability in the army. This was also the reason why General Lu wanted to use this to deal with Gao Yao.

It was only because of Gao Yao's clever moves that General Lu finally gave up this idea. Gao Yao successfully resolved this potential crisis through some means, stabilizing the morale of the Southern Border Army.

So the recruitment was fake, and Wang Ben's death was real. After all, it was a lifetime of reputation. If it were Zhang Liang himself, he would probably make the same choice. After all, once he surrendered, Wang Ben's reputation would be tarnished. Wang Ben would naturally not do it, but ordering his subordinates to surrender was the last thing he could do for these soldiers who followed him.

Wang Ben made this choice because he had completely lost hope. If Wuding Pass was still there, the granary would be only a dozen miles away from it. If he did not retreat but advanced, he might be able to gain a glimmer of hope and lead the remaining troops to defend Wuding Pass. However, Wuding Pass was lost. Even if he survived by chance, it would be almost impossible for him to take a detour back to Hanzhong. Even if it was possible, it would not be much better than Wang Ben going back alone.

Wang Ben resolutely chose to preserve his reputation for loyalty and die to show his determination. He knew that this was not only for his own reputation, but also for the soldiers under his command to have a chance of survival. In the last moments of his life, he used his death to buy a way out for those who followed him.

This was undoubtedly the last thing he could do. The commander was dead, and he died voluntarily, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the morale of the army. The remaining soldiers were demoralized, and facing the gradually approaching southern border army, they were no longer able to fight, and could only lay down their weapons and surrender.

Of course, there were a small number of people who were unwilling to accept defeat and even tried to launch another attack. But such people were a minority after all, and their resistance seemed so insignificant in front of the powerful Southern Border Army that it was easily suppressed.