To the east of Yingshui River, a mighty black-armored army was marching.
They were still two days away from Xia Cai.
At the vanguard of this army, General Pi Qiang Yu stood on his chariot, with the spring breeze blowing on his cheeks, making him feel very comfortable.
The Qiang general remembered the news from Huainan he had received a few days ago. He turned his head and smiled at the knights on the left and right: "That General Zhao is running very fast. While we were sweeping up the remnants of the Chu army in Huaibei, he led
He directly captured the capital of Chu. Such a desire for success is no worse than that of Li Xin last year. But I don’t know if General Zhao can capture Shouchun and capture the King of Chu alive?"
When the surrounding knights heard this, they knew that their general had begun to be sarcastic again.
Shouchun is a majestic city in Huainan. The city has high walls and strong walls. There are tens of thousands of soldiers guarding the city. Is it possible that only 20,000 to 30,000 people want to break the city?
The knights knew that Qiang Yu had always been at odds with Zhao Tuo. Now that they saw their general making sarcastic remarks, they could only agree: "It is impossible for General Zhao to attack the capital of Chu with an army of 20,000 people. I think in the past few days, I can only do this."
We stopped at the foot of Shouchun City. If we want to break the city, we still have to wait until the generals arrive with their armies."
"Of course. This kid is overestimating his abilities. He thinks he can destroy the country and the king after winning a few battles? I think that coming to Shouchun Jiancheng will definitely dampen his pride. If he doesn't know how to restrain himself, Li Xin will
This is his fate."
As Qiang Tuo spoke, he recalled Zhao Tuo's record of defeating a hundred thousand Qi army. Jealousy burned in his heart, and he sneered more and more: "If Zhao Tuo wants to capture Shouchun with 20,000 people, he might as well expect the King of Chu to take the initiative."
Surrender, haha."
Will the majestic King of Chu, who defends the city with tens of thousands of soldiers, surrender to a Qin general with only more than 20,000 people?
impossible.
…
"The great Chu has perished and surrendered!"
"The gods have decreed that Chu will perish!"
"The one who destroyed Chu is Zhao Tuo!"
Deep in the Chu Palace, even the towering palace walls could not stop the loud sounds of Chu coming from outside the walls.
The King of Chu put his chow in his hands and plugged his ears with silk, but he still could not get rid of the words that were deeply imprinted in his mind.
"A group of rebellious officials and traitors are all traitors of Chu State!"
The King of Chu clenched his teeth and cursed angrily, his face turned ashen.
Because outside the palace wall, the people shouting all kinds of words to destroy Chu were not the people of Qin, but the nobles of Chu who were originally loyal to him.
When these Chu nobles saw that Zhao Tuo had no intention of attacking the Chu Palace, they were disappointed and couldn't help but have other thoughts.
In particular, some people say that the reason why General Zhao was unwilling to enter the city to attack the Chu Palace may be because he suspected that they had second thoughts, fearing that they wanted to lure the Qin army into the city and then collude with the Chu army in the palace to ambush the Qin people.
After all, the Qin army only had more than 20,000 people, which was far inferior to the Chu people in the city.
Although this statement is not very logical, many nobles of the Chu State still chose to agree because they urgently hope that the Chu State will perish.
For those who surrendered, the Chu Palace in Shouchun City was very dazzling, especially the red phoenix flag flying on the palace wall, which was like a reminder of their treason every moment.
.
"Only when the Chu Kingdom dies and surrenders, can we feel at ease."
"There are few Qin soldiers outside the city now. Zhao Tuo wants to maintain the stability of the situation, so he will not take action against us. But if we wait until the Qin army arrives. The Qin people will have the advantage by then, and they will definitely not treat us as favorably as they do now."
"So we must show our loyalty to the people of Qin and perform meritorious service! Only in this way can we gain the trust of the people of Qin. When Wang Jian's army arrives, we can keep our wealth!"
"Yes, we need to be quick. Otherwise, when the Qin army arrives, we will have no chance to make meritorious deeds, and we will not be qualified to ask for benefits from the Qin people."
"General Zhao is unwilling to enter the city and attack the Chu Palace, then we will let the bearer surrender himself!"
With this idea in mind, those Chu nobles in Shouchun City who chose to surrender became aggressive in their methods.
They mobilized soldiers to kill all the people in the city who were loyal to Chu and unwilling to surrender to Qin, and used the heads of these Chu righteous men to ask for merit and loyalty from the Qin army outside the city.
The other side kept sending people outside the palace to persuade them, hoping that Fu Chu could see the situation clearly and surrender voluntarily.
Not to mention, their actions did have an effect.
The Qin army broke through the outer walls of Shouchun, but did not enter the city to kill and loot, allowing Shouchun City to maintain a certain order. The lives and property of the nobles, wealthy people and civilians were not violated by the Qin army. This in itself is a huge attraction.
Except for some of the Chu people within the palace walls, they were truly loyal to the Chu State and willing to die with the country.
A large number of people were actually wavers. Some of them were coerced into the palace by General Ye Bai, and some fled into the palace because they were afraid of the massacre by the Qin army.
When these people saw that there was peace outside the city and that those who surrendered still retained their wealth, the resistance in their hearts dissipated first.
Then I heard that the Qin army was about to arrive. When the palace was destroyed, there was no life or death, and the desire for life kept emerging in my heart.
Whether it was the nobles in the Chu Palace or the soldiers holding weapons, many of them already had the intention of surrender in their hearts.
In the past few days, some people in the Chu Palace have publicly persuaded the King of Chu to surrender.
The king of Chu was furious and beheaded those who tried to persuade him to surrender on the spot.
Although such killings did silence those who wanted to surrender.
But in the palace city, this undercurrent of surrender not only did not disappear, but became more and more turbulent.
Even the two loyal ministers Sun Chang and General Ye Bai, his disciple, could not suppress him. Even King Chu heard that several ministers were plotting to open the palace gate and collude with the traitors of Chu outside the city to sell him to King Chu.
Good price.
This situation made King Chu of Chu even more frightened.
"Although Zhao Tuo has not come to attack, Wang Jian's army is coming soon."
"If Shouchun is still in hand, Bugu can still hold on for a while, but now that only this small palace is left, how can it resist Wang Jian's 600,000-strong army."
"There are more and more rebels in the palace. These people want to betray Bu Gu in order to flatter the Qin people."
"Rather than be betrayed by these traitors and become a prisoner of the Qin army. If I surrender, I can negotiate a condition with Zhao Tuo and let him treat me with courtesy."
Rather than being sold cheaply by others, it is better to sell yourself and negotiate with Qin Jun to get a good price.
Once such thoughts pop up in your mind, it becomes difficult to suppress them.
"It's hard to get enough of it."
When the King of Chu gathered his ministers and announced the decision.
Sun Chang, his disciple, and General Ye Bai were both shocked.
Your Majesty, wasn't he full of blood just a few days ago, and even used the palace's property to encourage the soldiers? Do you want to resist the Qin people to the end?
Why did he actively demand surrender within a few days?
"My ministers are about to fight to the death, why does the king surrender first?"
Ye Bai's eyes were filled with tears. He had made the choice to defend the palace and die together with the king.
Compared to Sun Chang who was speechless, Ye Bai was in tears.
The other Chu ministers all cheered.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
"When the king surrenders, the people of Qin will definitely treat him favorably!"
"The Qin army is so powerful that we will never be able to resist it. Only those who obey the destiny of heaven can keep their wealth!"
…
Amidst the bursts of cheers, the King of Chu pointed at the ministers who were already ready to surrender, and said expressionlessly: "This is the intention of the ministers."
Sun Chang and Ye Bai were silent.
In the palace city, there are so many people who want to surrender.
The King of Chu carried the cud and said again: "Zuo Tu is an important minister of the country, and he is also the most respected person in Bu Gu. Regarding today's surrender, I also ask Zuo Tu to go to Qin to do business. You must let the people of Qin treat you with courtesy."
"Let the Qin general Zhao Tuo give Bu Gu some dignity."
Zuo Tusun often closed his eyes.
Chu died.
After sighing secretly, he finally kowtowed and saluted.
"promise."
…
In the Qin army's camp.
Zhao Tuo was discussing with the generals about choosing a place to build a camp for the upcoming army.
According to the report from the messenger, the army led by General Wang Jian has almost arrived near Xiacai. Judging from the time, it will take at most three days for the entire army to cross the Huai River and reach Shouchun.
While the generals were discussing, Xiqigu, who was in charge of patrolling the military camp, suddenly came excitedly to report.
"General, the King of Chu in the palace has sent an envoy, saying that he wants to surrender to the general!"
As soon as these words came out, the generals were instantly in an uproar.
The King of Chu's request for surrender was completely different from their initiative to attack the Chu Palace.
Only Zhao Tuo was not only unhappy, but also frowned.