Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 452 The Seventh Army disarmed and surrendered

The next day, the sun rose and the morning glow spread across the sky.

The officers and soldiers of the Wei army endured a night of hardship due to hunger and cold. Instead of waiting for the news that the flood had receded, they waited until the Han army's navy arrived.

But on the vast white Han River, hundreds of boats and boats gradually appeared on the surface of the river amid the rolling waves. On the deck, soldiers wearing armor and holding crossbows stood on the edge of the ship; flags were planted on the ship, facing the wind.

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

The waves in the Han River were turbulent, with some waves more than ten feet high. The turbulent waves beat the hull, but it was smashed by the solid bottom of the ship, making a crisp sound, and it was difficult to shake the Han army's ship in the slightest.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Accompanied by the thundering sound of the military drum, the sound of waves hitting the boat mixed with the thunder of the military drum to form a unique melody.

Nearly a thousand boats cut through the waves, and tens of thousands of Han soldiers were waiting in awe. The sound of military drums and roaring waves shook the sky. Such a huge momentum made the Wei soldiers trapped on the hillside tremble with fear.

Qin Lu looked at the Southern Han navy cruising around the Han River with a look of fear, and asked: "There is no way out now. Do you want to surrender to Guan Yu?"

"You are besieged by the flood, and it is difficult to escape. There is no other way but to surrender to our army."

Of course, Guan Yu also coveted the nearly 30,000 strong men of the Seventh Army. Even if he could not recruit most of the enemy soldiers to fight for his own army due to the status of the enemy soldiers, it was not impossible to select the warriors among them and give them wives and houses for use in the war.

Even taking 30,000 thieves captive and not turning them into soldiers, but demoting them to official slaves or making them into households and letting them mine and farm, they could make a lot of contributions to the Southern Han Dynasty.

While exploring the horse boats, Lu Meng and Pang De's troops received Guan Yu's military orders, and each led thousands of troops to advance. According to the divided areas, they each went to persuade the soldiers of the Seventh Army to surrender.

Guan Yu caressed his long beard and said: "Yuan Jian's words are insightful. The thieves have seven armies and more than 30,000 soldiers. They are the elite of Cao Cao's tent. If we attack them by force, the soldiers will lose a lot." .”

The Nanhan navy anchored on the river, using their high-pitched voices and different words to persuade the trapped Wei soldiers to surrender.

Yu Jin leaned on his spear and pressed his sword. He looked at Qin Lu, who was already ready to surrender, with his bloodshot eyes. He sighed and didn't know what to say.

He suffered from mental torture last night and was hesitant about surrendering or becoming a benevolent person. As he got older, he didn't sleep all night, and he staggered a little when he walked. He had to use a spear to support him before he could walk normally.

After several words, Wei Jun, who was trapped in the Han River, was already moved.

Guan Yu knew the pros and cons of the seven armies under the forbidden tent.

Guan Yu stood with his sword in his hand, his black and white long beard moving in the wind under his chin, his red and phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, showing a powerful and compelling look.

"Now we should order all the ministries to persuade the rebels to surrender by talking about the advantages and disadvantages. If there are any rash moves, use bows and crossbows to shoot them from a distance, and then persuade the rebels to surrender. If there are thieves who will resist stubbornly, gather all the troops to surround them. .”

Guan Yu led ten thousand people to advance and surrounded Yu Jin and several hills around it. Boats and boats were arranged on all sides, and the sound of drums gradually died down.

"General, what should we do now?"

On the boat, the navy of the Han army, led by the general, shouted: "It rained and there was a strong wind yesterday, and I expect you are hungry and cold. Now why not get on the boat and return, follow us back to the camp, and enjoy hot soup and rice." "

"Why don't you return to our army quickly!"

"According to the orders of General Yu of the Han Dynasty, all those who surrender today will be regarded as those who have returned to righteousness, regardless of past losses."

"promise!"

Seeing that the general was approaching the Wei soldiers, Liao Hua raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, the bandits' seven armies, numbering tens of thousands, are trapped on hillsides and embankments in more than ten places. We should attack the weak and force them to surrender, and slowly encroach on the strong enemy. This is not appropriate. Urgent."

As Cao Cao's elites who had been fighting in the south and north for many years, whether on foot or on cavalry, they mostly defeated the southern army's infantry and cavalry. Only a few elites of the Southern Han Dynasty could compete. Now the Seventh Army is trapped on the hilly high ground. Although it is impossible to escape with wings, if it is a head-on confrontation, it may cause a lot of losses to the Han army.

"General!"

"General!"

Dozens of officers, big and small, saw Yu Jin approaching with spears leaning on the ground, and they all gathered around Yu Jin, each speaking his or her own words, making it very noisy.

Looking at the longing eyes of the generals, Yu Jin coughed a few times and said, "Let me observe the enemy's situation and then decide whether to fight or surrender."

With that said, Yu Jin walked out from the crowd, stood on the edge of the hillside, and looked at the current situation.

When I saw Guan Yu and his sergeants riding in boats and boats, they surrounded the hills. A rough calculation of the number of boats and boats showed that there were thirty thousand in total. I vowed to capture all seven armies.

"General!"

Qin Lu pointed to the hillside not far away and shouted: "Yan Shou has led his troops to surrender!"

Yu Jin looked up and saw that on the hill to the left, General Yan Shou led more than 3,000 sergeants under his account to surrender to the Han army. They abandoned their armor and ordnance, wore single clothes, and stepped onto the ship in an orderly manner. Prisoners of the Han army.

The armor and ordnance abandoned on the hill were picked up by other Han army auxiliary soldiers ashore, then loaded onto other ships and sent back to the camp together with the surrendered soldiers.

"General?"

Qin Lu looked at Yu Jin with pleading eyes and said, "It rained heavily yesterday. Many soldiers suffered from hunger and cold and were unable to fight."

Yu Jin subconsciously glanced at the surrounding soldiers, only to see that several soldiers were pale and coughing and runny. This was a symptom of cold.

Yu Jin looked at the fighting boats with "Guan" flags erected on them and sighed loudly again.

After thinking about it for a while, I made a decision in my heart.

Holding a spear, Yu Jin led the people around, walked down the hillside, and shouted: "Can General Guan please meet my old friend?"

After a while, Guan Yu followed Yu Jin's request and took a boat to approach the hill, dozens of steps away.

Guan Yu stood on the undulating bow of the ship, looking at the embarrassed Yu Jin, and said with a smile: "Wen Ze and I have not seen each other for more than ten years, so I am very lucky to meet in Fancheng!" Yu Jin raised his voice and replied in shame: " It is forbidden to be trapped by the Han River and defeated at the hands of the king, perhaps because of God's will!"

Guan Yu stroked his long beard and said with a smile: "When we met in Xuchang in the past, Your Majesty was deeply impressed by Wen Ze's courtesy. Now we have held a banquet in Wuhan and invited Wen Ze to cross the river to reminisce."

As a victor, Guan Yu showed no domineering appearance, and his words mostly gave Yu Jin some face. When Yu Jin was defeated, it was said that the two of them would meet in Fancheng; he was sent to Wuhan and Liu Bei was asked to invite Yu Jin to a banquet.

However, why Guan Yu said this may be due to Guan Yu's own moral integrity, or he was thinking of the days when he was a guest general under Cao Cao.

Yu Jin hesitated for a while and said: "I was ordered by Duke Cao to go south. Now I am trapped in the Han River. The generals are either fighting or surrendering, and there is no unified statement. I wonder if you can ask Yun Chang to give me a few days to calm the troops and abandon it. Jia Shege surrendered to Yun Chang."

"You must never obey me!"

Fei Yi hurriedly said: "This is a strategy to slow down the troops. They want to wait for the flood to recede and then gather all the troops."

"Yu Wenze!"

Guan Yu stopped his smile, his expression darkened, and said: "I treat you with sincerity, why do you bully me?"

As he spoke, Guan Yu softened his tone and said: "The return of the armies is not your responsibility. Now I ask you to disarm your troops and lead your troops to board the ship. Return to camp and enjoy hot soup, rice and vegetables to get rid of the cold wind and rain." .”

Hearing this, Yu Jin stabbed the muddy soil with his spear and said angrily: "Cao Ren, a common man, has no shortsightedness. The defeat of the seven armies today is all caused by you!"

After venting his words, Yu Jin threw his spear to the ground, sighed and said: "I ordered the sergeants on the hill to abandon their weapons, take off their armor, and surrender to Guan Yu."

"promise!"

With Yu Jin's words, the Wei troops on the hill seemed to be liberated, as if they had escaped from death. They all abandoned their weapons and armor, allowing the Han army to surrender.

Yu Jin left the shore and boarded a boat, and presented Guan Yu with his long sword.

Guan Yu took the long sword, looked at the haggard Yu Jin at close range, and said with unbearable heart: "Wen Ze first arrived in Jianghan. He didn't know the conditions of the water and the mountains. He was flooded by the Han River and flooded all the troops. This is excusable."

Yu Jin tilted his head and sighed, and said, "You don't know something. Yan Xing and I were afraid of the water conditions of the Han River, so we asked Cao Ren for orders to move the stronghold, and we reached the camp at Yancheng three or forty miles north. However, Cao Ren ordered Fancheng to be in danger on the grounds that Fancheng was in danger. I moved to the lower camp ten miles north of Fan. Unexpectedly, the Han River overflowed this year and flooded our army's location."

After hearing the secret, Guan Yu laughed loudly and said, "Wen Ze will go into the cabin to rest until he returns to the army to talk about old times with you."

After Yu Jin was taken away by the warriors, Guan Ping sighed and said: "Father, Cao Ren has been in Xiangfan for a long time, but he did not understand the water conditions of Jianghan. The defeat of the Seventh Army today is not due to Jin's fault!"

Guan Yu raised his eyebrows slightly and said with a sneer: "These are words to shirk Yu Jin. Yu Jin is the commander of the seven armies. Although he is controlled by Cao Ren, he can draw the map of the camp and send it to Cao Cao. However, Yu Jin is strict and has no strategy. I believe in Cao Ren’s order. How can the defeat of the seven armies today not be due to the ban?”

Guan Yu saw clearly that it would be unfair to throw all the blame for the defeat of the Seven Armies on Cao Ren. As the commander-in-chief, Yu Jin must share the blame.

With Yu Jin disarming and surrendering, and coupled with the Han army's offensive strategy, almost all the Wei soldiers trapped between the Han River surrendered. However, there are always a small number of people who resist stubbornly. Yan Xing, who is trapped on the embankment, is worried about Xuchang's wife and children and is unwilling to surrender to Pound.

Yan Xing stood up holding a bow and shouted: "Pang Lingming, my brother and my old master are both serving as generals in China. Why don't you cooperate with me now and lead the boats to rescue the seven armies? If we advance, we can break the siege of Fancheng. If we retreat, we can lead the army back." Righteous, but no matter what, I can be reused by His Majesty!"

Pound seemed to feel the strange look in the eyes of the general on the ship, and became furious and cursed: "Cao Cao committed a heinous crime by killing the emperor and usurping the throne. How can I serve a dog thief!"

"Come here, shoot the arrow!"

Following Pound's military order, the sergeant on the deck drew his bow and arrow, and shot the arrow in his hand towards the hilly heights.

As soon as the sound of breaking through the sky was heard, the Wei soldiers on the high ground fled for refuge in the water and lacked armor and shields, so they had no defense against arrows. Arrows rained down like rain, and many of the Wei soldiers howled.

Yan Xing held the spear and fiddled with the arrows. Even though there were some leaks, luckily he was wearing armor and the arrows could hardly hurt his vitals.

Under the threat of a wave of arrows, Pang De stopped the sergeant from continuing to fire arrows and shouted: "Yan Xing, now that the ban has been surrendered, you might as well return and surrender quickly!"

Hearing this, General Dong Heng abandoned the saddle used to block arrows and said: "General Yan, the enemy is surrounded by arrows on all sides. There are many casualties among the soldiers. Why not surrender to the Han army!"

Yan Xing did not respond to Dong Heng's words, hesitating and thinking in his heart.

Seeing that Yan Xing was silent and did not answer, Dong Heng ignored Yan Xing and shouted: "Those who are willing to surrender to the Han army, come with me!"

Seeing Dong Heng being so rude, Yan Xing was angry and shouted: "How dare Dong Heng do this?"

"Now that we are in a desperate situation, fighting to the death is meaningless!" Dong Heng shouted with his sword.

During the verbal dispute between Yan Xingyu and Dong Heng, Pang De had already held his bow in his hand, aiming at Yan Xing on the high ground.

As the deck rose and fell on the river, Pang De's eyes were fixed on Yan Xing. After a few breaths of adjustment, the arrow had locked onto Yan Xing's chest.

"Whoosh!"

The bowstring vibrated and the arrow shot through the air. A sharp arrow slid across the sky and hit Yan Xing's chest. Yan Xing groaned in pain, staggered a few times, and fell to the ground.

Pang De threw down his bow and arrow and shouted: "Yan Xing is dead, why don't you surrender quickly!"

Hearing this, Dong Heng reacted, stepped forward and struck a sword, completely finishing off Yan Xing. Then he led his troops to kill Yan Xing and his followers. Then under Pang De's command, he abandoned his troops and boarded the ship to surrender.

Pang De cut off Yan Xing's head as his own merit, and carried two surrendered generals, Dong Heng and Dong Chao, and more than 8,000 surrendered soldiers.

Pound stood on the bow of the boat, feeling very happy.

However, on the way back to the army, he saw Wei Governor General Cheng He trying to escape to Fancheng in a small boat. He was overtaken by Lu Meng's fake army Hou Ransheng and led a boat to catch up. He died under the long arrow fired by a Han soldier.

Cheng He fell headlong into the surging waves of the Han River. His body was swept up by the waves and disappeared on the river.

Pound looked at Cheng He who had become a benevolent man, and said to his left and right: "Although he is an enemy general, I respect this man's heroism very much!"

(End of this chapter)