Meng Ao, Wang He and Sima Jin were all veteran generals of the Qin State who had fought in countless battles in their lifetime.
But it was the first time they had seen such a scene.
The gates of Shanwu City were opened, the entire army and the entire city were in mourning, and the armored generals personally carried the coffin out of the city.
Meng Ao's heart tightened when he first saw this army, and he was very surprised when he learned that they were going to surrender.
Sima Jin personally tried to persuade Sima Shang to surrender and was ready to accept his surrender, but he was also very surprised at this moment.
When he tried to persuade them to surrender, he didn't expect that Shanwucheng's entire army would surrender.
Sima Jin, who followed Bai Qi to conquer the Three Jins, was well aware of how difficult the Zhao army was to defeat.
Sima Shang might surrender for fear of being killed, but the other generals in Shanwu City would not surrender, and the Zhao people in Shanwu City would not surrender either.
There is also Pang Nuan, a famous veteran general of the State of Zhao, in the city who can suppress the situation in Shanwu City.
But as long as Sima Shang surrendered to Qin and opened the gates of Shanwu City, or caused chaos in the city defenses of Shanwu City, the Qin army could quickly capture Shanwu City.
Sima Jin did not lie to Sima Shang.
The more successfully the Qin army attacked Shanwu City, the less damage it would inflict on the Zhao people in Yanmen County. If Shanwu City put up too much resistance and the Qin army suffered heavy losses, then even with the restraint of General Meng Ao, the Qin army would still massacre the entire city to vent its anger when it entered.
When others heard what the Qin army did, they would not even think that the Qin army was massacring the city.
Because all the people in the entire city of Shanwu were enemies of the Qin army, the Qin army was just cleaning up the battlefield normally.
Sima Jin never expected this scene.
The tough city of Shanwu surrendered just like that.
All the Qin soldiers were at a loss.
Lin Zhi and Meng Ao inquired about the news in the city, pieced together the details from the parties involved, and remained silent for a long time.
Meng Ao changed into plain clothes and personally saw Sima Shang off.
While Lin Zhi wrote a letter to Prince Chu of Qin, asking him to issue an edict praising and rewarding Sima Shang and treating Sima Shang's family well, he also personally arranged Sima Shang's funeral.
"The general was prepared to surrender. His family is in Handan."
Sima Shang's colleague said.
In the original history, Sima Shang was killed together with Li Mu by King Qian of Zhao.
Not all generals can escape when their king wants to kill them. Sima Shang is just an ordinary general. Even if he escapes without caring about his family, with his ability, he cannot erase the negative effects of "betraying the master".
He could only become a commoner.
According to historical records, Lian Po attacked Le Cheng in anger. Le Cheng and Lian Po fled Zhao State one after another, and neither of them was reused.
In this world, Le Cheng resigned and fled because of Lian Po's massacre of the Yan people, and now he has almost disappeared.
Generals who were "given away" by the monarch, such as Lian Po, Li Mu, or Tian Dan, the greatest contributor to the restoration of Qi, were easily reused by the monarchs of other countries.
For example, Meng Ao, Zhao She and others were not valued in other countries. If they resigned normally and found another general in another country, they would not be rejected by the monarch of other country.
But even if he was framed by the monarch, as long as the general defected, his chance of leading the troops would almost be cut off.
The monarch needs the absolute loyalty of the generals. Even if the monarch is at fault, the generals cannot betray him. Otherwise, how can the monarch feel at ease when the generals have so many soldiers
Sima Jin thought that he could make Sima Shang live in order to escape death by giving him a reason: "If you come to Qin, I will promote you, and Wu Chengjun will continue to use you."
Sima Shang did not take the ladder he gave him, but instead achieved what Sima Jin called "surrender" by dying.
"As we are both Sima clan, I will unite with your family. Your people are my people, please go slowly."
Sima Jin made this promise in front of Sima Shang's coffin.
Lin Zhi sighed, and as the prime minister of Qin, he appeased the soldiers and civilians of Shanwu City and arranged for the surrender of generals and soldiers.
Because Yanmen County is a border county, except for a few high-ranking generals, most of the soldiers are locals and are easier to arrange.
With Sima Shang dead, it was almost impossible for Shanwucheng to turn to King Zhao again. Lin Zhi was relieved to disband the Zhao generals and soldiers who were willing to stay and incorporated them into the Qin army, so that the Qin army could help the Zhao army get used to the Qin army's rules and regulations.
Lin Zhi knew that although Li Mu had left Yanmen County for more than ten years, his reputation still existed in Yanmen County.
He promised the former generals of Yanmen County that if they wanted to go to Li Mu now, he would arrange for them immediately. In the future, he would also let Li Mu handle all the affairs of Yanmen County.
The former generals of Yanmen County trusted Lin Zhi very much.
Lin Zhi's reputation as the son of Lin Xiangru and the friend of Lord Changping and Lord Wucheng made him one of the best candidates to appease Shanwu City.
When Prince Chu of Qin learned that Yanmen County had surrendered, he felt very complicated.
Despite his illness, he went to Yanmen County to appease the people of Zhao and promised to exempt them from taxes and corvee for one year so that they could recuperate.
He personally wrote an obituary for Sima Shang.
Sima Shang went to his death despite the false accusations made by King Zhao, which was his "righteousness" to King Zhao; when he died, he urged Shanwucheng to surrender to Qin, which was his "benevolence" to his subordinates and the people of Zhao in Yanmen County.
The word "benevolence and righteousness" is nothing more than this.
King Yan of Zhao also learned about Shanwu City.
He immediately rewarded Guo Kai generously, believing that Guo Kai had indeed made a correct judgment. Sima Shang and other former generals of Yanmen County were loyal to Qin and had long wanted to betray him.
It was a pity that he did not discover the true identities of Sima Shang and others earlier.
"If I had known this would happen, I should have immediately replaced all the generals of Yanmen County after Xinling Jun's death." King Yan of Zhao said angrily.
Guo Kai said: "All those who have had a history with Zhu Xiang, Lian Po, and Li Mu should be loyal to the Qin State. It is rumored that Zhu Xiang is a demon who can use magic and loves to deceive people. Your Majesty must be on guard!"
King Yan of Zhao deeply agreed with this.
He wanted to put Sima Shang's family in prison immediately, but he still didn't have the courage to issue an edict to touch the Lin family.
Sima Shang's family received the news and were sent away before King Yan of Zhao issued an edict to arrest him.
Among these people were ministers from Zhao, knights from Zhao, and people arranged by Qin.
The multiple different forces worked together tacitly without any coordination and protected Sima Shang's family to enter Qin.
After the Lin family learned about this in their hometown, the elders discussed it and gritted their teeth to dig up the coffin of their ancestor and secretly migrate to the Qin State.
With King Zhao Yan's narrow mind, he would probably vent his anger on them.
Originally, the "scholars" of the seven countries traveled around the countries to serve as officials. As long as they did it through legitimate means, their families would not be the target of anger from the monarchs of other countries.
This is the unspoken rule of this era.
If you break this unspoken rule, no scholar will dare to come to your country to serve as an official.
Moreover, even if the family members were harmed, they would only be harmed by the living ones. For example, Zhao Wangyan wanted to dig up the tombs of his ancestors, which was too absurd.
However, King Yan of Zhao was a man who could make a prostitute his concubine and make a prostitute's son the King of Zhao. No matter how absurd things happened to him, it would not be surprising.
Pang Nuan was captured unexpectedly, and his soldiers had no time to react before they surrendered because their commander was captured.
Prince Chu of Qin tried to persuade Pang Nuan to surrender.
Pang Nuan was promoted by King Yan of Zhao and would rather die than betray King Yan of Zhao.
Under Lin Zhi's persuasion, King Zichu of Qin released Pang Nuan alone on the grounds that he admired Pang Nuan's noble character.
Pang Nuan thought that Lin Zhi was still loyal to Zhao State and was very grateful to him.
"Zhao Yan is about to touch Lord Lin's tomb, but he still believes that you have feelings for Zhao." Qin Wang Zichu put his hands behind his back and said unhappily, "You are pretending to be so serious on the outside."
Lin Zhi did this because it was impossible for Qin to quickly annex Zhao within one or two years.
King Yan of Zhao was a narrow-minded and suspicious person. He would definitely continue to rely on Pang Nuan, whom he personally promoted. However, Pang Nuan was old, and if King Yan of Zhao relied too much on him, once Pang Nuan died in the future, Zhao would no longer be a threat.
Moreover, someone must be found in Handan City to be responsible for Yanmen County's surrender to Qin. Sima Shang is dead, and there will definitely be people who want to replace Pang Nuan and criticize Pang Nuan.
King Yan of Zhao was about to fight with the ministers again, exacerbating the chaos in the Zhao court.
Although this time King Yan of Zhao was on the right side.
Lin Zhi asked, "Who made me the son of Lin Xiangru?"
Qin Wang Zichu: "… If Lord Lin is still alive, he will definitely strike you to death with a thunderbolt."
Lin Zhi said: "How can... "
"boom!"
Thunder roared in the sky which was originally covered with dark clouds.
Lin Zhi: “…”
Qin Prince Chu: "..."
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, it's raining, let's take shelter... Eh? Why are you so pale? Did you catch a cold? Imperial Physician, Imperial Physician!"
The imperial physician came and prescribed tranquilizers for the King of Qin and the Prime Minister.
Zichu and Lin Zhi held the tranquilizer.
"Crow's Mouth!"
"Oh, this is my golden words!"
The news of Zhao State has not yet reached Southern Qin.
Information was not easy to transmit. When Li Mu learned about the events in Yanmen County, half a year had passed and both Jiuyuan County and Yunzhong County had surrendered.
Jiuyuan County and Yunzhong County were both deeply influenced by Li Mu and Xinling Jun, and there were many of their former subordinates in the army.
They saw with their own eyes that Yanmen County had tried its best to resist the Qin army, and its commander Sima Shang was actually sentenced to death by King Yan of Zhao. They couldn't help feeling sad and afraid that King Yan of Zhao didn't trust them either.
Yanmen County was occupied by the Qin army, and Yunzhong County and Jiuyuan County were isolated cities with no supplies or reinforcements. It was useless to resist to the death, so they might as well surrender.
After surrendering, maybe he would have a chance to return to General Li Mu's army and gain some military merits in the Qin State.
In response, many Qin army generals said to them, "You're dreaming."
Just like everyone wanted to serve under Wu'an Jun in the beginning, now the Qin generals want to serve under General Li Mu and General Wang Jian, and they are so eager to do so that they will not let the Zhao general grab a piece of the pie.
General Zhao: “?”
They understood General Li Mu's position in Qin, but we were General Li Mu's original generals! It was only natural for us to return to General Li Mu's command!
The surrendered generals of Zhao and the generals of Qin had a serious dispute over the matter of Wucheng Jun, which eventually developed into a fight, and they were all punished.
After being punished, their relationship suddenly improved a lot and they were even close to each other.
Meng Ao said sourly: "If my son wasn't really useless, I would definitely be jealous of Li Mu and try to trip him up."
The King of Qin and the Prime Minister have returned to Xianyang, so he can talk nonsense now.
Wang He reminded him, "Isn't Meng Wu now Li Mu's deputy general? The position they are fighting for is Meng Wu's. Not only Meng Wu, but your grandson Meng Tian has also been a general under Li Mu for a long time and has made great contributions long ago."
Meng Ao immediately stopped feeling sour. He laughed three times and felt proud.
Sima Jin muttered: "I still want to continue to follow Wu Anjun. I heard that Wu Anjun is also in Nanqin, maybe Wu Anjun will put on armor again."
Wang He was silent for a long time, then said, "I want to, too."
Meng Ao: “…” I’m not bad either! I’m basically invincible! Why are you all thinking about other commanders in front of me!
angry!
Meng Ao slapped his head and said: "If Wu'an Jun is the general, then my son and my grandson will also be Wu'an Jun's deputy generals!"
Wang He and Sima Jin: “…” Okay, they started to feel jealous.
Bai Qi, who didn't know about what happened in Yanmen County, had already put on armor.
Zhu Xiang and Ying Xiaozheng originally planned to send troops during the lean period between March and April, but Bai Qi set out during the spring ploughing season, catching Zhu Xiang off guard.
There is a shortage of workers for spring ploughing. Wu Anjun, please listen to my advice!
But it is obvious that Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an, is usually a very kind person, but when it comes to the use of troops, even when facing King Zhaoxiang of Qin, he can be stubborn to death.
Spring plowing and autumn harvest are things that other people should worry about.
Since he was the commander-in-chief, all he thought about was how to maximize the results of the battle.
The Southern Chu State established its capital in Shouchun.
Shouchun was originally the place where the King of Chu wanted to move the capital. After the Chu State split, the half-built Shouchun City was given to the King of Southern Chu.
Shouchun is protected by the Huai River in the north and Chaohu Lake in the south.
Juchao is the most important city near Chaohu Lake and also the most important grain-producing area in Southern Chu.
No one knew how Bai Qi arrived at Juchao City quietly.
Just like in the Battle of Huayang, no one knew how Bai Qi managed to reach Huayang quietly in just eight days with an average of a hundred miles a day.
Given the quality of the soldiers of that era, it was hard to imagine that they could march day and night for eight days and cover a hundred miles a day and still have such strong combat effectiveness.
There are very few countries in modern times that can accomplish such a feat.
What is even more unimaginable is that many times the soldiers Bai Qi led were not soldiers he trained himself.
It seemed that no matter whose soldiers were in his hands, they would be full of strong willpower, fighting power and obedience, just like his arms and fingers, able to carry out any incredible commands.
Chaohu City was captured in one day, and there was no time to ask for help.
Even though they were so close, when Bai Qi led his troops into the city to take a break, Shouchun was still intoxicated by the music and singing.
The State of Qin was fighting the States of Han and Zhao. Southern Qin was very far away from the battlefield, so of course the ruler and his ministers of Southern Chu had no sense of vigilance at all.
Although the Qin State had rebuilt the city on the north bank of the Yangtze River, they relocated the Chu people from a large area of land between the Yangtze River and built a long defense line with a fortress every thirty miles, claiming that it was as strong as the Great Wall built by Zhao, Yan, Wei, and Qin to resist the southward invasion of the northern Hu.
The Chu people who were driven away from their homeland became the best laborers, and under heavy labor service they built the Southern Great Wall for the Southern Chu State.
This year the Southern Great Wall was completed, and the rulers and ministers of Southern Chu thought they could rest easy and were enjoying themselves.
Bai Qi, however, seemed to have turned on a satellite and passed right under the nose of the so-called Great Wall of the South, bypassing sporadic surveillance.
At this time, in order to resist Qin's no-man's land, Southern Chu became the best cover for the Qin army.
The Qin army took dry food and water with great perseverance and stole Juchao with almost no loss.
After resting for a day, Bai Qi was no longer in a hurry.
He swaggered towards Shouchun, set up his troops and set up camp at the gate of Shouchun.
It’s just Shouchun City. It would be easy for Bai Qi to take it down.
But Bai Qi's strategic goal has never been to capture a city or a place, but to annihilate the enemy's vitality.
Relying on the large granary of Chaohu Lake, he surrounded the city without attacking it, in order to besiege the city and attack its reinforcements. He used Shouchun City as bait to annihilate the few elite troops of Southern Chu.
If possible, he also hoped that the King of Chu would send troops to rescue.
He would not attack Chu now, but the death of Chu's young and strong soldiers would reduce their territory. The area of Chu had shrunk a lot, and every death of a young and strong soldier would make them decline a little.
Bai Qi openly displayed his flag and allowed Southern Chu and Chu to come to the rescue at will.
Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an, took command again. When the people of the six states learned of this, the Marquis of Wu'an had already surrounded Shouchun, the capital of Southern Chu.
This matter immediately overshadowed Yanmen County's surrender to Qin and became the most concerned issue for the seven countries.
Even the King of Chu was so frightened that he sobered up.
A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow. When Wu Anjun appeared, even the now popular Wu Chengjun could not be compared with him.
Wu'an Jun defeated Wei and Han and reduced them to third-rate countries, made Zhao unable to recover, and even burned the ancestral tomb of the King of Chu.
Such a person, even if he has been silent for more than ten years, will stop crying like a baby when he is brought up.
What's more, the children that Wu'an Jun had frightened have now grown into young adults.
They grew up hearing about Wu Anjun's reputation. Although they had never seen Wu Anjun, Wu Anjun's long silence not only did not make them despise Wu Anjun, but made Wu Anjun's reputation even more terrifying as it spread. Nan Chujun was at a loss in Shouchun City. He wanted to ask for help but did not dare to send anyone out of the city.
Bai Qi became impatient and sent people pretending to be the King of Nanchu to seek help from various places.
The King of Chu threw away his mysterious cloak and urgently convened a court meeting to discuss who should save the Southern Chu State.
Southern Chu was the barrier between Chu and Qin, and Shouchun was very close to Chendu. If Shouchun fell and Southern Chu was destroyed, Chu would be in real danger.
Li Yuan, who had been trying to take credit everywhere, now shrank back.
No matter how arrogant and stupid he was, he didn't think he could beat Bai Qi.
Bai Qi, the god of killing, will not leave anyone alive when he shows up. He doesn't want to die on the battlefield.
After much deliberation, the king and his ministers of Chu believed that only Xiang Yan was useful.
Xiang Yan wrote a letter from his fiefdom to volunteer, but the King of Chu did not dare to let Xiang Yan go.
He was so afraid of Bai Qi that he still had nightmares about Bai Qi every night for the past ten years.
Bai Qi drove his king and father all the way from the south to the north, burned the capital and ancestral tombs of Chu, making his king and father one of the most cowardly kings of Chu in history.
The King of Chu was a hostage in Qin at the time and was almost frightened to death.
The King of Chu urgently needed a sense of security.
He knew Xiang Yan was the most suitable person, but he couldn't send Xiang Yan.
He summoned Xiang Yan to Chendu.
Only when Xiang Yan is by his side can he sleep peacefully.
After Xiang Yan arrived in Chendu, he asked for battle again.
If the Southern Chu Kingdom was destroyed, even he would be powerless to save it, and it would only perish under the attack from the north and south of Qin. Now the only chance for Chu to win was to save the Southern Chu Kingdom.
Xiang Yan also persuaded the King of Chu that if he saved Southern Chu now, Southern Chu could be annexed back to Chu.
The King of Chu knew that what Xiang Yan said was right.
Intellectually, he knew he should do this. But he couldn't.
He felt palpitations when he mentioned Bai Qi, and got headaches when he thought of Bai Qi. His dreams at night were filled with the terrifying figure of Bai Qi returning triumphantly, which he saw from afar in Xianyang City.
The pressure was so great that the King of Chu even showed signs of madness.
He was already old, and the death of Chunshen Jun had traumatized him greatly.
Since Chunshen Jun's death, the King of Chu often dreams of Chunshen Jun coming to his bedside to question him. That's why the King of Chu is obsessed with ghosts and gods. He has to sleep among many wizards and witches to fall asleep.
Long-term lack of sleep has destroyed his spirit and made him stay awake less and less.
The comeback of Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an, was like the last straw that broke the camel's back and completely crushed the King of Chu.
Not only did the King of Chu not allow Xiang Yan to send troops, most of the royal family and ministers in the Chu court did not want Xiang Yan to leave.
They also knew that Xiang Yan was the most powerful general of the Chu State. What would they do if Xiang Yan went to Southern Chu
Now that Han has surrendered, the three northern counties of Zhao have all come under the wing of Qin.
What if Qin's army marches southward? Who can resist Qin
Southern Chu State and Chu State are separated by the Huai River, which is much safer than the current northern border of Chu State!
Xiang Yan was bound in Chendu and could only lead his troops to garrison in the north to prevent the Qin army from moving south.
The King of Chu randomly appointed a general and sent 100,000 troops across the river to support the State of Southern Chu.
Bai Qi had already waited at the Huai River.
After he arrived in Southern Chu, the feudal lords of Southern Chu did not dare to rescue Shouchun City even after receiving the letter. They stayed indoors and only built fortifications near the city.
No one dared to come to the rescue.
No one dared to fight a field battle with the Qin army led by Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an.
Bai Qi stayed around Shouchun City to gather his strength and wait for the arrival of the Chu army.
The Chu army crossed the Huai River in a mighty force. When they were halfway across the river, Bai Qi's ambushed troops rushed out.
The Chu army that had already crossed the Huai River was in a panic, and many of them turned back and jumped into the Huai River.
In this battle, the corpses of the Chu army almost blocked the Huai River.
When the Chu army on the north bank of the Huai River saw this scene, they dared not continue to cross the Huai River to provide support, nor could they turn around and leave. They could only watch the other half of the army being easily divided up by the Qin army.
Bai Qi is old and is no longer old enough to ride a horse and fight in person.
He was sitting in the chariot, like an old man that could be seen everywhere, only his cold eyes were captivating.
He looked at the wailing Chu army with no fluctuation in his eyes, as if he was looking at a group of cold warriors.
Bai Qi defeated the Chu army at the banks of the Huai River, and the Chu army dared not go south to support.
Seeing this, Lord Nanchu had no choice but to leave the city and surrender.
Before Bai Qi could even attack the city, the sturdy Shouchun City surrendered under the powerful pressure of the title "Wu'an Jun".
Shouchun City surrendered, and Bai Qi slowly encroached on other cities in Southern Chu.
Wang Jian had already been sent out as Bai Qi's detachment when Bai Qi went out to fight. If the feudal lord of Southern Chu and the King of Chu sent a large army to rescue, Wang Jian would join Bai Qi in attacking from both inside and outside.
Now the feudal lord of Southern Chu was waiting to die, and the Chu army was blocked at the Huai River. Wang Jian led his troops and attacked the cities of Southern Chu separately with Bai Qi.
The Southern Chu State was never popular.
Zhu Xiang's good reputation in Southern Qin not only attracted many Chu refugees from Southern Chu, but also made the Chu people who did not leave the cities of Southern Chu more willing to join Zhu Xiang.
Everyone knows how cruel Bai Qi is when it comes to killing people.
Bai Qi's title of "human butcher" did not start from the Battle of Changping. He had already had this title in his early days as a general. So even if he did not kill prisoners in the Battle of Changping in this world, the title of "human butcher" was still very loud.
Although the Qin State now claims to be a benevolent and righteous army, it is indeed very restrained when fighting and there is no killing of prisoners.
But this is Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an, Bai Qi the "Human Butcher".
When Bai Qi declared "Don't kill those who surrender", this sentence became "Kill those who don't surrender" in everyone's ears, and finally became "Kill those who surrender not fast enough".
As a result, all the cities in Southern Chu surrendered with tears and begging for mercy, and when they surrendered, they specifically asked to see Lord Changping.
At this time, only the benevolent reputation of Lord Changping could appease them.
They are worried because Changping Jun is not coming!
Zhu Xiang was originally busy with spring ploughing, but was called to the battlefield by Bai Qi to persuade him to surrender.
Whichever city he went to, that city would immediately open its gates and surrender.
Bai Qi simply sent small groups of troops to guard various cities, and asked Zhu Xiang to come one by one with number tags to persuade them to surrender.
After the Southern Chu State was conquered, there was a shortage of people to farm the land, and Bai Qi was too lazy to annihilate the Southern Chu soldiers who had completely lost their will to fight.
The number of people Bai Qi left in the city ranged from as many as ten thousand to as few as a few thousand.
If the soldiers of Nan Chu in the city rushed out at this time, they would definitely win.
But no one dared to leave the city.
When they saw Bai Qi's flag flying outside the city, they became panic-stricken and did not dare to fight him.
If it was just Bai Qi, they would be worried about Bai Qi's murderous intent, and might even gain courage from being on the verge of death.
As the saying goes, even a rabbit will bite when it is cornered.
But there was also a Lord Changping in Southern Qin.
Everyone knew the benevolence of Lord Changping. As long as Lord Changping accepted their surrender, even Lord Wu'an would not raise his butcher knife again.
Therefore, the existence of Changping Jun gave them hope of survival and weakened their resistance to the Qin State.
With Bai Qi and Zhu Xiang playing the good cop and the bad cop respectively, all the cities of Southern Chu surrendered to Qin in just half a year.
The Southern Chu State was destroyed.
The name of Bai Qi, Marquis of Wu'an, once again resounded throughout the world.
(End of this chapter)