bookcurios Chapter 518 Persuading Surrender
Chapter 518 Persuading Surrender
The moment Gulizar and his remaining troops withdrew from Jinzhou City, the Pingyang Army's sharp scouts quickly noticed the unusual movement.
The news was quickly transmitted back to the Pingyang Army camp like a carrier pigeon.
The general of Pingyang Army acted decisively and immediately ordered the entire army to move out, and occupied Jinzhou City in a swift and fierce manner.
After entering the city, they did not dare to slack off at all and quickly sent an elite team to investigate the intersection.
When they got there, they found that the Huns had already fled without a trace like frightened birds.
At this time, on the Shizhou Army side, Han Ziqing heard the news of the Huns' escape, and a passion for making achievements ignited in his heart. He volunteered to be the vanguard without hesitation.
He gathered Zhu Zhanhui and other capable generals, led the high-morale soldiers, and pursued the Huns in the direction of their escape.
The sound of horse hooves clattered and dust flew as they galloped all the way, chasing for two whole days and nights.
Finally, in Dongwu Town, they found traces of the Hun soldiers.
Gulzar knew that the pursuers were pressing behind him. In order to buy more time to escape, he had no choice but to send out 20,000 slave soldiers to cover their retreat, while he and Gaddafi and the rest of the troops fled in a panic towards the north.
Zhu Zhanhui took the lead and saw the enemy formation in front of him from afar.
He squinted his eyes and looked carefully, only to see that those people were dressed in different clothes and in a disorganized manner. They did not look like a well-trained Hun regular army at all, but more like a group of rabble.
He was suddenly filled with doubts and puzzled. He hurried back to report to Han Ziqing: "General, the group of enemies ahead look very strange. They don't look like a large army of Xiongnu, but more like a group of ordinary people. What is going on?"
Han Ziqing frowned upon hearing this, and after a moment's thought, he slowly said, "They are most likely slave soldiers they captured to fill the gap. These people come from all corners of the country, from every tribe. They lack formal training, so their combat effectiveness is naturally average. However..."
Having said this, he paused, cleared his throat, and continued with a serious expression:
"However, if these people are pushed to the limit and fight to the death, we won't be able to gain any advantage. Go over and take a closer look. If you are sure they are all slaves, you might try to persuade them to surrender."
"Persuade to surrender?" Zhu Zhanhui was slightly stunned, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Han Ziqing patted Zhu Zhanhui on the shoulder and explained earnestly, "That's right, to persuade them to surrender. Most of these people were captured on the battlefield, or were survivors of defeated tribes, who were captured by the Xiongnu and used as coolies.
If we can persuade them to surrender and bring them back to Shizhou, they will be a valuable source of labor and will be of great benefit to Shizhou's development."
As Han Ziqing spoke, he adjusted the helmet on his head, his expression serious and earnest.
"Okay, I understand. I'll go and try it now. I hope I can successfully persuade these people to surrender."
Zhu Zhanhui suddenly understood, his expression became serious, and he clasped his fists in acceptance of the order.
"When you go, bring some soldiers who can speak Korean. They might be useful in a critical moment."
Before leaving, Han Ziqing reminded again.
Zhu Zhanhui knew that since these slave soldiers came from different places, language would definitely be a major obstacle to communication.
So he carefully selected some soldiers from the army who were proficient in various languages and took them with him.
Zhu Zhanhui rode a tall horse and walked majestically to the front of the slave soldiers.
He signaled his men to shout, "We hope to talk to you. We are all forced to do this. If we can avoid fighting, it's best not to fight!"
The sound echoed across the empty battlefield and traveled far away.
Although there were some Huns mixed in the slave army, they did not dare to act rashly when faced with a number of slaves that was more than ten times their own, and they became extremely cautious in their actions.
When they heard the news that Zhu Zhanhui's team wanted to negotiate, they couldn't help but be more cautious.
"What do you think they want to talk to us about?" Some people in the team whispered to each other.
"What else can we talk about? It must be about persuading them to surrender." Another person responded in a low voice.
"Persuade to surrender? Does this mean that we can go home if we surrender?" someone else asked expectantly.
"What the hell do you want? We are noble Hun warriors. How can we surrender easily?" a Hun soldier shouted loudly.
However, another Xiongnu soldier who heard this muttered to himself, "Tsk, how noble! We are just left here to die. What's the difference between us and these slaves?"
For a time, the troops were in turmoil. The Xiongnu leaders noticed the unstable morale and felt that perhaps they should adapt to the situation.
After a few people gathered together and discussed in a low voice, they finally decided to agree to meet with Zhu Zhanhui for a talk.
The meeting place agreed by both parties was in the middle of the battlefield. Zhu Zhanhui specifically emphasized that among those participating in the negotiations there must be slave soldiers who understood the language of the Great Zhou.
After the meeting, Zhu Zhanhui got straight to the point and his conditions were simple: "As long as you give up resistance, we can leave you a way to survive.
If you wish to return to the grasslands, we will not stop you; if you wish to stay and become a citizen of Shizhou, we welcome you too. Everything is entirely up to you.”
A Xiongnu leader frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then said, "General, we need to go back and discuss the conditions you mentioned with our brothers. Please give us a little time."
Zhu Zhanhui looked at the sky, frowned, and said in a firm tone: "Okay, I'll give you time to think about it, but the time to think about it is only one stick of incense.
If we don't get a response from you after one stick of incense, we will launch an attack."
After the Huns returned, they reached a consensus after a short discussion and agreed to give up resistance.
Seeing the army approaching, both the few Huns in the team and the slaves who did not want to die in vain knew that resistance was hopeless.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Zhanhui immediately galloped over to Han Ziqing and excitedly reported, "General, the Xiongnu have agreed to surrender! What should we do next?"
Han Ziqing raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a smug smile, and said:
"After they lay down their weapons, send 10,000 men to guard them here. It would be best to separate them under the pretext of registration. We will continue to advance and properly accommodate them once the larger army arrives."
Zhu Zhanhui looked up at the sky. The sun was setting and night was about to fall.
He stepped forward and said worriedly, "General, it's getting late. We are already small, and we have 10,000 men assigned to guard the prisoners. If we rush forward, we might run into an enemy force that outnumbers us by several times. If a battle breaks out, we will definitely suffer.
It would be better to stop and rest first, and wait for the army behind to arrive before making any plans."
After listening to Zhu Zhanhui's words, Han Ziqing weighed the pros and cons in his mind, thought for a moment, and finally nodded and agreed to his request.