Chapter 4232: Spare your life
Qu Tuquan never expected that the 5,000 men on his side fought with all their might to resist the enemy's attack and refused to retreat, while the more than 10,000 men on Chai Zhewei's side were defeated in a single encounter. The enemy troops took advantage of the situation to cover them from behind, causing numerous casualties to Zuotunwei. , Wolf rushes forward, but his side dare not retreat even half a step, otherwise the morale of the army will be shaken and the end will be the same as Chai Zhewei.
In this way, after the enemy had been chasing Zuo Tunwei for a period of time, they had already come to their own rear, turned their swords and rushed towards their own rear formation...
Except for the equal strength of the troops, the quality of the soldiers, the morale of the troops, and the abilities of the generals were all at a disadvantage. It was expected that the two armies would support each other and build a line of defense to resist the enemy's attack. As long as the enemy's advance momentum was delayed, even if they were defeated, they could slowly He retreated, but unexpectedly he was now deeply surrounded and on the verge of despair.
Seeing the Zuotun Guards who had been defeated in the heavy rain and scattered all over the mountains and fields in chaos, Qu Tuquan gritted his teeth and wished he could dig out all the eighteen generations of the Chai family and show them how Chai Zhewei was born. Such a rat who is afraid of enemies and as timid as a rat?
"General, Zuotunwei has been defeated. What should we do?"
The soldiers and lieutenants around him rushed to kill them bravely and asked anxiously at the same time.
It is obvious that we are now deeply surrounded and attacked from both sides by the enemy. Victory is absolutely impossible.
Qu Tuquan gritted his teeth, his heart pounded, and he shouted with red eyes: "We have the emperor's mandate to intercept the rebels, how can we collapse without a fight and abandon our weapons and surrender? When the new emperor ascends the throne, the world will begin, and it will be up to us. The blood of loyal men has laid the foundation of your majesty’s grand hegemony! You will fight to the death with me, even if you die in battle, it will weigh more than Mount Tai!”
Having said that, you should first slap your horse and wield your sword, and charge towards the increasingly dense enemy troops.
The soldiers and captains around him quickly followed him, fighting bravely without fear of death. They understood what Qu Tuquan meant. Now that they were escaping and the whole army was in chaos, it would be difficult to escape from the rebels' pursuit. Moreover, even if they were lucky enough to escape with their lives, as the losers in the first war after the new emperor ascended the throne, he would inevitably suffer the consequences of His Majesty's death. Your Majesty's crown is stained with dust and your Majesty's prestige is damaged. No matter how kind your Majesty is, how can you forgive me?
The sixth leader of the East Palace is the prince's personal army. Now that the prince has ascended the throne, they, the eagle dogs, will repay with a big defeat?
On the contrary, if he died fighting here, under the background of Zuotunwei's collapse, it would naturally make Donggong Liu's spirit of fighting to the death and never retreat so epic and magnificent. As long as he finally wins this battle for imperial power, his merits will inevitably be judged. Rewards, even the most ordinary soldiers will receive generous rewards.
When a soldier fights through life and death, isn't it just a matter of military merit?
As long as you have military merit, you can have a wife, a son, and reduce your tax burden, even if you die, you will die well.
These soldiers and lieutenants burst out with extremely powerful courage in an instant, following Qu Tuquan in a desperate charge, and at the same time infected the surrounding soldiers. Soldiers are courageous. If someone is timid and shrinks, it will lead to unstable morale and low morale in the army. If an atmosphere of fearlessness and fearlessness pervades, everyone will regard death as nothing.
Under the heavy rain, Donggong Liuliu, who was trapped in a tight siege, not only did not collapse like Zuotunwei, but instead rushed left and right under the leadership of Qu Tuquan, launching desperate charges again and again, killing the superior Youhouwei. They retreated continuously, and the casualties increased greatly.
Cai Zhewei chased Chai Zhewei for more than ten miles, but Chai Zhewei ran away without looking back. Among the rebels, Lieutenant Chi Gong's archery skills could not be used, so he could only be allowed to mix with thousands of defeated troops along the official road, They were scattered across the fields and foothills, like sheep being chased by wild wolves.
Looking back, Yuchi Gong jumped on his horse and returned, and was greatly surprised when he saw that Donggong Sixu, who was like a small boat in the ocean, was struggling to hold on and was not defeated.
Especially when I saw Qu Tuquan fighting with all his strength while clapping his horse and wielding his sword, I couldn't help but admire him in my heart. He took out his longbow again, drew the bow and arrow and stared at Qu Tuquan who was covered in blood in the crowd. He aimed for a long time and suddenly put down the bow and arrow.
He originally wanted to shoot Qu Tuguan and end the encounter quickly, but he changed his mind.
He ordered in a deep voice: "Capture Qu Tuquan alive!"
"Here!"
The soldiers and captains on the left and right promised loudly, and then quickly conveyed the order to the various departments. Then a chaotic scene appeared on the battlefield. Qu Tuquan wore a helmet, shook his armor, slapped his horse and danced his sword. Wherever he went, he was invincible with his sword and the armor on his body. , crotch The war horses had long been stained red with blood, and the rain all over the sky could not wash them away. However, every time he charged forward, the enemy quickly retreated and did not engage in direct confrontation with him. The arrows fired by the crossbowmen in the rear formation also avoided him...
But on the battlefield, I saw a young general fighting left and right as if he was in a deserted place. He was so heroic and brave that he was invincible, just like the resurrection of Marquis Wen and the reincarnation of Xiang Yu.
But at this moment, Qu Tuquan himself had no intention of enjoying this "invincible" state, and instead complained secretly.
He also heard the enemy's order to "capture alive", so he understood why he didn't have even a cold arrow around him, but the number of soldiers, captains, and soldiers around him began to gradually decrease. The enemy army had formed a large circle, relying on its superior strength. Surround him in the middle and let him fight bravely, but like a huge millstone, he crushes the surrounding soldiers bit by bit.
There is no doubt that if the situation continues to develop, he will eventually be left as a bare general...
This frustration of being unable to use his strength made him extremely uncomfortable. He forced an enemy captain back with a knife. Suddenly he stopped his horse, shouted to the sky, and shouted: "Wei Chi Gong, do you dare to fight with me?" ?”
The soldiers behind him also stopped charging.
Yuchi Gong came slowly from a distance with his horse in his hand. He waved his horse to both sides, and the guards of Youhou retreated until they were more than ten feet away, forming a huge circle that surrounded Qu Tuquan. .
Only then did Qu Tuquan have the time to look back and look around. He saw that there were only less than a thousand soldiers left out of the five thousand, and all of them were injured and covered in wounds. Many of them even relied on the support of their robes to keep them from falling behind, and he felt gloomy.
He tried his best to cheer up and looked at Yuchi Gong, who was leisurely approaching the two armies. He gritted his teeth and shouted again: "Yuchi Gong, do you dare to fight with me?"
Yuchi Gong rode his horse and stood in front of the formation. He patted his combat boots lightly with the horse stick in his hand and shook his head and said: "The defeated general will be destroyed in an instant. What qualifications do you have to challenge me? Get off your horse and surrender quickly. I have this in mind." Because of my friendship with your father, I will not treat you harshly, and I will also send you back with all the soldiers under your command.”
He had the opportunity to shoot Qu Tuquan, but gave up at the critical moment.
Just because he accidentally understood that even if King Jin succeeded in winning the throne, could he, Wei Chigong, really be inferior to one person and superior to tens of thousands of people? The king's rule lies in balance. When the time comes, Yuchi Gong and his power from Conglong will dominate the military, and no one can compare with him. This will inevitably make the King of Jin support other forces to check and balance.
The best objects of support are naturally the second-generation descendants of Zhenguan Xunchen.
After all, the struggle for imperial power is an internal struggle and a family matter within the royal family. It is not about the dynasty, let alone a fight to the death. For the ministers, it is nothing more than taking sides. Even if you are in the wrong team, there is no need to kill them all. Even if the new emperor can be as broad-minded as the sea and forget his grudges with a smile, which minister will not immediately change the court and swear allegiance?
Instead of waiting until then to fight with a group of arrogant and domineering second-generation people who have suddenly ascended to high positions, it is better to give some opportunities to outstanding second-generation people such as Cheng Chubi, Li Siwen, and Qu Tuquan now, and take the opportunity to take over the good work. fate, and the subsequent struggle will be limited to the scope of "fighting for power without fighting".
After all, he, Yuchi Gong, has been approaching his sixtieth year, how many years can he live? None of the heirs in the family are successful. If he takes on these second-generation enemies today, of course these guys can't do anything to him, but after he dies, won't Yuchi Gong's descendants become the punching bag?
Moreover, as he just said, whether it is Cheng Chubi, Li Siwen, or even Qu Tuquan in front of him, the fathers of these people have fought side by side with him for many years. Even if their friendship is deep or shallow, how can they have the nerve to treat them as enemies? Such brutal killing?
Qu Tuquan was sitting on the horse, holding the horizontal knife tightly in his hand, with a ferocious face and hesitation.
With his character, there is absolutely no reason to surrender and survive, but if he fights to the end, it will drag down the soldiers around him to follow him and die in vain, which makes him feel unbearable...
Yuchi Gong saw the change in his expression and knew that his heart was moved. He continued: "Now you are deeply surrounded. Not only is there no possibility of escape, but it is also impossible to continue to slow down my advance. As long as I give an order, you can still How long can one cup of tea last? Xiang? It's completely meaningless. On the other hand, these people around you are willing to fight to the death, how can you bear to lead them to death on this meaningless battlefield? It’s going to test my patience.”
Qu Tuquan finally made a decision, threw the horizontal knife in his hand hard on the ground and splashed muddy water, then turned over and dismounted, kneeling on one knee.
"General! No!"
"How can a man be so humble as to survive? We are willing to fight to the death with the general!"
The soldiers on the left and right did not rejoice when they saw that his surrender had saved everyone's life. Instead, they surrounded him one by one, with red eyes and angrily asking for a fight. They would rather fight to death than Qu Tuquan surrender for the sake of their lives.
"Shut up!"
Qu Tuquan shouted angrily, knelt on one knee on the ground and trembled all over. His tightly pursed lips had been bitten, and his eyes were red. He stared at the soldiers, captains and soldiers around him, and said word by word: "Today's defeat." , it’s all my fault, you were ordered to disarm, you are not at fault! Do you dare to disobey the military order? Surrender!”
"General!"
The soldiers knew that Qu Tuquan had always been tough. If he had not taken their lives into consideration, how could he surrender before the battle? He also took all the responsibilities into one body, so that they would not be held accountable for their defeat...
How could such a general not be so beloved?
Qu Tuquan slammed his palm on the ground in front of him, splashing a cloud of muddy water, and shouted in a hissing voice: "Disarm! Surrender!"
"Woooo..."
Seeing him so furious, the soldiers and generals did not dare to say anything anymore. They all cried out and dropped their weapons at their feet with tears of humiliation.
Only then did the Youhou guards swarm forward and escort the prisoners away to avoid any unexpected situation.
Yuchi Gong sat on his horse and looked at the scene in front of him. He couldn't help but nod his head. As a general, he could tightly unite his soldiers around him and follow him through life and death. He already had the shadow of a famous general. This suddenly reminded him that it seemed that all the young people who followed Fang Jun were particularly outstanding. Did these people originally have excellent qualities, or did they become so outstanding because of Fang Jun's influence?
(End of chapter)