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Yesterday, Zhang Qi was the commander-in-chief of all the rebels in Yuanzhou City, but today he went to the city to persuade them to surrender. This contrast made people feel like a dream.
As for the effect of persuading surrender, it was naturally very good. The commander of the South Gate, Jiubadao, even opened the city gate and prepared to lead his men out of the city to surrender.
That morning he had personally gone to check out the Jingguan outside the city. The horrific scene had shocked him so much. Now the army in the city was in a state of uncertainty and it was difficult to fight. How could he not worry that his head would become part of the Jingguan
These people had just joined the rebels and were not very loyal to Zhang Xianzhong. Now that a Jingguan had been built outside the city, and the commander Zhang Qi had come in person to persuade them to surrender, it was natural for them to waver.
Unfortunately, Jiubadao was discovered by Gao Ze just after he opened the South Gate but before he could leave the city. Jiubadao and a dozen rebels who planned to leave the city to "rebel" were killed on the spot by Gao Ze, and the city gate was stained with blood. Qin Mu, who was outside the city, was unaware of this and before he could react, the South Gate was closed again.
Although Gao Ze managed to recapture the South Gate in time, the impact of this incident was far from over. With the precedent of Jiu Ba Dao, he no longer dared to trust anyone easily. Even though he sent his personal soldiers to control the city gates, he still couldn't sleep or eat, fearing that even his personal soldiers could not be relied on and he had to keep patrolling back and forth.
Gao Ze was a man with a bad temper. In this situation, he naturally became even more irritable. Beating and scolding his soldiers was the least of his crimes. If they showed any suspicion, he would kill them immediately in the hope of shocking the situation.
Little did they know that this would make the rebels in the city even more insecure, disunited, and each of them had their own thoughts, creating an undercurrent of unrest.
On a high slope in the north of the city, Qin Mu, Sima An, Liu Meng, Huo Sheng and others were discussing the news just sent back by the scouts.
Sima An pointed at the map and said, "Lü Daqi's 80,000 troops have already arrived at Luofang Town, about four days away from Yuanzhou, while Zhang Xianzhong's 200,000 troops have arrived at Heyao Town. It is only about five days away from Yuanzhou. Although Lü Daqi's troops may have arrived one day earlier than Zhang Xianzhong, Zuo Liangyu's army is poorly disciplined and unruly. It is impossible for them to launch a siege immediately on the day of their arrival. In other words, from a time perspective, Lü Daqi actually has no time to retake Yuanzhou. In order to protect Jiangxi from the rebellion, the gateway to Yuanzhou must be retaken. Now it seems that we can only rely on ourselves."
At this point, Sima An looked at Zhang Qizai who was trying to persuade the rebels to surrender at the foot of the city, and continued, "Although using Zhang Qizai to persuade the rebels to surrender can dampen their morale, I'm afraid it won't work if we want them to surrender immediately. The insiders sent in by the adults will work best, but we can't put all our hopes on them. We only have two days left."
Huo Sheng smiled and said, "Mr. Sima is right. We really only have two days left. Two days are used to attack the city. One day is used to transfer the supplies in the city. On the fourth day, when Lu Daqi arrives, we will retreat to Wanzai to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight."
Su Jin said cautiously: "Should we launch a strong attack?"
"So what if we can't attack by force? It's good to avoid it, but when it's unavoidable, we have to attack no matter how big the casualties are. An army always tries to avoid the important tasks, and it's never a good idea to take shortcuts. Go and prepare first. If the insiders in the city can't work tonight, we will immediately attack the city with all our strength tomorrow morning."
"Yes, sir."
At this time, Zhu Yijin brought Zhang Qizai back to the slope. Qin Mu glanced at Zhang Qizai and said calmly, "Unfortunately, it seems that our deal has failed."
"Are you going to kill me?" Zhang Qizai's voice became a little hoarse, which showed that he had been shouting very hard under the city just now. Once a person's will is shaken, he will become more afraid of death. Since he was willing to go to the city to persuade them to surrender, it was normal for him to work harder.
"I don't want to kill you, but I must abide by the agreement of our deal. If you can successfully persuade the rebels in the city to surrender, I will let you live. If you fail, you can lend me your head. As a defeated general, I will give you a chance to live. It's a pity that you can't even persuade your own men to surrender. What a pity!"
Qin Mu waved his hand after he finished speaking, and Zhu Yijin immediately took the people away. At this critical moment of life and death, Zhang Qi could no longer remain calm and shouted anxiously: "Let me try again, I will definitely persuade them to leave the city and surrender. I know the details of Zhang Xianzhong's army. If Sir Qin spares my life, I am willing to tell you everything..."
There is no one who is not afraid of death, and Zhang Qi feels that it is not worth dying like this. The step of surrender has already been taken, and he might as well take a bigger step.
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll give you one more chance, Zhu Yijin. This time, let all the captives follow him to the city to persuade him to surrender. Calculate the time for one incense stick. If you are late, we won't wait any longer."
"Yes, sir."
Soon, a touching scene appeared outside Yuanzhou City. Zhang Qi and more than a thousand captives arrived at the city and loudly persuaded them to surrender. The scene was very lively. Voices of persuasion for surrender rose and fell one after another, moving them with emotion and reason. Some of them were in tears. Among these captives, many were relatives of the rebels on the city, either fathers and sons, brothers, neighbors, or relatives... ...
"Son, put down your weapons quickly, or else when the city is breached, your heads will be chopped off and used to build a memorial."
"Brother, surrender quickly. Lord Qin promises not to harm us. We can go home after we surrender. Mother is waiting for us at home."
"Erdan, don't hold on. You can't beat the government troops. Lord Qin is a master at using troops. It will be easy for him to capture Yuanzhou City. Surrender now."
"Tie Niu, surrender quickly. Did you see that Marshal Zhang said that Yuanzhou could not be defended and surrendered? Why don't you listen to Marshal Zhang..."
The moving calls from the foot of the city were like the voice of a mother calling her children home for dinner, so sincere, so warm, and full of infinite love. I wonder how many rebels on the city walls were moved by them.
"Don't answer. The soldiers are deceiving you. Haven't you seen the Jingguan outside the capital? The soldiers are extremely cruel and never spare anyone alive. If you surrender, your heads will be chopped off immediately. Don't be fooled. Shoot, shoot!"
Gao Ze shouted loudly on the top of the city wall. Anyone who answered the captives below the city wall would be killed on the spot. A stream of blood dyed the top of the city wall red. There were constant screams and chaos on the city walls.
Under Gao Ze's bloody suppression, the rebels on the city had to start shooting arrows, but the arrows they shot were not only sparse, but also light and had no effect at all.
When the incense stick time was up, Qin Mu decided to add fuel to the fire. He asked the more than 1,000 rebels to withdraw, and then he came to the front of the battle and shouted, "I always keep my promises. I have an agreement with your General Zhang. If he can persuade the rebels in the city to surrender, I will spare his life. If he can't persuade them to surrender, he can lend me his head. You can't blame me now."
Qin Mu said this, clang! He suddenly drew out the Juque sword, and the sword flashed like lightning, puff! Before Zhang Qi could even scream, his head had already rolled several feet away, blood gushed out of his broken neck, and a bloody smell filled the air;
More than a thousand captives could never have imagined that Zhang Qizai's head would fall to the ground like this. They were in an uproar. This was their commander, and Qin Mu was killing him like killing a chicken. The frightened captives saw Qin Mu raising his sword again, and they couldn't help but take a small step back. They were so frightened that they were silent and dared not even breathe.
Qin Mu held the sword and said, "Now, I will also give you a chance to capture Yuanzhou City for me. After you capture it, everyone will be rewarded. I will treat those who are willing to join my army equally. For those who are unwilling to join my army, I will also give you a generous severance pay and let you go home.
If anyone is slacking off and not working hard, I'm sorry, Zhang Qizai is your role model, you can decide for yourself whether to live or die, don't say that I didn't give you a chance;
Of course, you can also take a gamble and surrender to Gao Ze after conquering the city and hide in the city. I don't mind at all. A few thousand more of you won't be too much, and a few less won't be too much. After you hide in the city, you can finally pray to God to protect me from conquering Yuanzhou City, otherwise I will let you know what life and death dilemma is. "
More than a thousand captives looked at each other, and still no one dared to speak. Qin Mu didn't care what they thought, and immediately shouted: "Come on, give them weapons."
Half an hour later, the drums of war rumbled under the city walls. 1,300 prisoners, armed with swords and guns and carrying sandbags, rushed towards the northern wall of Yuanzhou. Their shouts were so loud that the clouds were blocked and the dust was so thick that it covered the entire city.
Qin Mu's 1,700 elite soldiers lined up behind him, with swords and spears like a forest, but their main task was to supervise the battle. Any prisoners who dared to retreat or escape would be shot without mercy.
Gao Ze also came to the north wall to supervise the battle in person. In order to save Yuanzhou, he also used iron-blooded methods. Anyone who dared to be passive and lazy would be beheaded immediately as a warning to others, forcing the rebels on the city to shoot arrows desperately. Arrows rained down like locusts in the sky. Captives under the city were constantly shot and fell down, screaming one after another, but no one dared to escape. Imagine that Qin Mu even killed Zhang Qizai, would he care about killing one more you
Dying in battle outside the city at least leaves your body intact, which is better than having your head chopped off and used to build a mausoleum.
More than a thousand captives braved the hail of arrows and threw sand bubbles into the moat until they had filled a passage in the moat.
The rebels on the city wall saw the heavy casualties below, corpses everywhere, blood all over the city walls, and the gradually sparse rain of arrows. After all, this was a fratricide, and some of the two sides were relatives. How could they bear to kill each other again
The captives under the city carried ladders, rushed across the moat, climbed to the top of the city wall, and shouted to surrender.
"Hurry up and pour the kerosene, quickly!" Gao Ze shouted from the top of the city wall;
Two rebels carried a pot of boiling kerosene as they passed by him. One of them stumbled, perhaps in a hurry or on purpose, and the pot fell over on the top of the city wall. Gao Ze jumped away quickly, but still got his foot hurt by the soup.
The burning pain made him furious, and he swung his sword to kill the two rebels who had upset the oil pan. There was a great chaos on the top of the city, and the captives below climbed up the ladder and easily attacked the top of the city... (To be continued...)
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