dognovel Chapter 359 It's time to deal with Zhuge Jin.
Chapter 359 It's time to deal with Zhuge Jin.
Upon seeing that Pan Zhang's body had been taken by the Han army, the Wu army, which had been attacking desperately, retreated rapidly like startled rabbits, putting distance between themselves and the Han army. Then they looked at each other, bewildered, as they stared at Pan Zhang's body.
Li Tong spoke up, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Brothers, surrender! Pan Zhang is dead, what's the point of fighting? Who are we fighting for?"
He had also been Pan Zhang's personal guard, and he and the Wu army on the other side had slept in the same bed and cooked in the same pot, so they knew each other very well.
Pan Zhang's personal guard pointed his knife at Li Tong and angrily shouted, "Li Tong, how dare you betray the general as his personal guard? Are you even human?"
Li Tong sneered, "I did betray you, but so what? Don't you know why I betrayed you? Pan Zhang almost beat me to death over such a trivial matter. I only survived to this day because I'm tough, but can I escape it a second time?"
"Furthermore, how do you know that my today won't be your tomorrow? What if one day you end up like me because of some trivial matter? How would you feel? Are you confident you can withstand twenty lashes?"
Pan Zhang's personal guards fell silent upon hearing this.
Li Tong continued, "Anyway, I've already done the deed, Pan Zhang is dead, and General Guan and Peng Qi from the north will soon be attacking. Defeat is inevitable. You either surrender or die. It's up to you."
These words broke the guard of Pan Zhang's personal guards. They looked at each other in astonishment for a moment, and then had no choice but to throw down their weapons and surrender.
Li Tong is right. Pan Zhang is already dead, so what's the point of fighting? Who are we fighting for?
Since defeat is inevitable, why risk your life?
With this thought in mind, Wu Jun knelt down like a tide. The Wu Jun who were fighting Deng Hong behind them were all dumbfounded when they saw this scene. What's going on?
They soon found out what was going on, because Li Tong led the Han army in making a call.
"I am Li Tong. Pan Zhang is dead. Everyone, surrender with me! The Han army treats prisoners of war well. I am Li Tong..."
The combined voices of hundreds of people were deafening and clearly reached the ears of the soldiers of the Han and Wu armies nearby, leaving the Wu army collectively stunned and bewildered.
What? General Pan Zhang is dead? Did I hear that right?
Deng Hong, who was engaged in fierce fighting with Wu's army at the front line, also heard the shouts. Upon hearing the news that Li Tong had killed Pan Zhang, he was overjoyed and immediately ordered his army to retreat, shouting, "Brothers of Wu's army, Pan Zhang is dead, there is no need to fight anymore. You should surrender quickly. The Han army treats prisoners well, and General Guan will not make things difficult for you. Don't forget that your families are still in Jiangdong, in the hands of General Guan."
This advice worked. Some people promptly threw down their weapons and surrendered. Then, as if it were an infectious disease, the trend of surrender quickly spread throughout the army. Wu soldiers rushed to throw down their weapons, fearing that if they were too slow, they would be accidentally injured by the Han army.
The great battle is over; it would be too unfair to be accidentally injured at this time.
Deng Hong was overjoyed upon seeing this and immediately ordered his men to gather the surrendered soldiers. At the same time, he sent someone to report the situation to Guan Xing in the rear.
Soon Deng Hong met up with Li Tong and the others who had come from the gap in Wengzhai. He patted Li Tong on the shoulder and praised him, "Commander Li, the intelligence you asked Yu Yang to bring has been a great help to us. Don't worry, General Guan is fair in his rewards and punishments. You will definitely receive the reward you deserve after the war is over."
These words were spoken in front of both the Han and Wu armies, so Li Tong was not worried that they were false. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "It is all thanks to General Guan's skillful command. This humble general dares not take credit. General, please give me any instructions. I will go through fire and water without hesitation."
Deng Hong said, "Select all the officers and soldiers above the rank of Qu Chang among the surrendered soldiers, and then take them with you to persuade the other Wu troops to surrender and help Peng Qi's army enter the camp."
It's good that you've come to the right person for this matter, because Li Tong knows all the officers and colonels in the army. No one can take advantage of the situation and escape by blending in with the ordinary soldiers.
Li Tong raised his hand and pointed randomly. Whoever he pointed to, Deng Hong would make them throw down their weapons, take off their armor, and come to his side. Soon, all the mid-level officers of the Wu army that could be found gathered behind him. Then he led them deep into the camp, preparing to ask them to help persuade the Wu soldiers who had not yet surrendered to surrender.
These mid-level officers must know the mid-level officers who have not yet surrendered. If the officers who have not yet surrendered see that they will resist even if they do not surrender, their morale will be greatly damaged and they will be easily defeated.
With this in mind, Deng Hong led his troops deep into the camp and began his mission of persuading the enemy to surrender.
Meanwhile, a fierce battle was also taking place at the northern camp gate, between Peng Qi's bandit army and a portion of Wu's army.
Following Guan Xing's orders, Ning Huan led Peng Qi's bandit army to Wu's camp and surrounded the northeast flanks of the camp. Then, he personally led two thousand elite bandits and three thousand ordinary bandits to launch an attack on Wu's camp.
However, the bandit army's combat strength was too weak. The two thousand elite troops they had carefully selected were no match for Wu's army, so they were unable to break into the enemy camp for a long time. Guan Xing's side had already entered the camp, while Ning Huan's side was still lingering in front of the deer antlers.
To put it bluntly, the only purpose of the bandit army's attack was to tie down some of Wu's troops and relieve some pressure on Guan Xing's side.
While the battle at the North Gate was raging, Deng Hong arrived and led his troops straight into the rear of the Wu army. He also had the assembled mid-level officers shout to persuade Sun Qi, the Wu army captain guarding the North Camp, to surrender.
"Captain Sun, General Pan Zhang has been killed in action, and most of the soldiers in the camp have surrendered. We don't even have a chance to break out. Let's surrender."
Seeing the Han army attacking from behind, Sun Qi knew he was doomed. Hearing his own officers shouting, he was filled with despair and had no choice but to order, "Surrender, we're done fighting."
Wu Jun retreated, and Ning Huan, with Bi Kui, finally rushed into the camp. He came to Deng Hong and sincerely praised, "The Han army has managed to break into the Wu army's camp so quickly despite being outnumbered. They are truly worthy of General Guan's troops. Amazing! I admire them greatly."
Deng Hong flattered, "We have to thank the Second Boss for his support. Without you holding back Wu's army, we probably wouldn't have been able to break in by dawn."
As the two were exchanging pleasantries, Guan Xing arrived and called out from afar, "Where's Li Tong? Where's Li Tong?"
He had already received a detailed battle report and felt a great deal of guilt after learning that Pan Zhang had been killed by Li Tong himself. He felt guilty for not trusting Li Tong, so he asked about Li Tong's location as soon as he came in.
Upon hearing the voice, Deng Hongning and others hurriedly went to greet him. Deng Hong then pulled Li Tong aside and introduced him, saying, "General, this is Li Tong, who made the greatest contribution in this battle."
Li Tong hurriedly bowed deeply and said, "This sinful general Li Tong pays his respects to General Guan."
Guan Xing accepted the generous gift without hesitation, then reached out to help him up and carefully examined him, saying, "General Deng is right. You are the one who made the greatest contribution in this battle. I will report to General of Chariots and Cavalry (Guan Yu) to appoint you as a Lieutenant General. Reporting is just a formality, so from now on you are a Lieutenant General of the Han Dynasty."
Although the rank of Lieutenant General is not high, it is a leap of several levels compared to the previous rank of Qu Chang. From now on, he will no longer be a soldier but a general.
Li Tong was overjoyed and bowed again, saying, "Thank you, General Xie, thank you, General Guan, thank you, King of Hanzhong, thank you, Your Majesty the Emperor."
Guan Xing: "..."
No wonder Pan Zhang put you in charge of the military market; you've got pretty high emotional intelligence.
The rest was simple. After Guan Xing personally met with and reassured all the Wu army's officers of the rank of Qu Chang and above, he summoned Deng Hong, Ning Huan, Bi Kui, and others and said, "It's dawn. Today is the third day since we decided to attack Pan Zhang. If I'm not mistaken, Zhuge Jin will be here soon."
"Second Master Ning, please help me one more time. Help me guard the Wu army camp and hold back Zhuge Jin. I will immediately lead my troops to infiltrate and circle around to Zhuge Jin's rear to intercept him. Then we will attack from both sides and try to keep Zhuge Jin here. Even if we can't keep him here, we must cripple him so that he can't return to Yuhan. After the battle, all the supplies in the Wu army camp will be yours, and I will not take a penny."
Ning Huan immediately assured him, "No problem, we Shanyue people have always been ready to fight the Wu army."