Chapter 354 Ling Tong persuades to surrender
Zhao Yun has also won a great victory, and various good news are reported frequently. Sun Jing, whose whereabouts were originally unknown, was also captured by Zhao Yun's troops. Only Sun Ce and Chen Wu are still missing.
At this time, everyone still didn’t know that Sun Ce woke up quickly after vomiting blood.
After vomiting blood, Sun Ce felt much more awake and his strength had returned.
So, Sun Ce stood up, looked at the concerned eyes around him, felt warm in his heart, and laughed: "I didn't expect that I, Sun Ce, could still have warriors like you accompanying me at this time, and I would die without regrets! ”
After saying this, Sun Ce took the spear handed over by his own soldiers, and then swung it in the air: "Gentlemen, let us wait and see if this plan will open a way for you to survive!"
"We are willing to follow your lord up to Daoshan. Go into the sea of fire!”
Seeing Sun Ce regain his strength, Chen Wu and others were overjoyed and charged after Sun Ce.
Sun Ce led the way, Chen Wu and others looked at the scenery, how could ordinary soldiers stop him.
Besides, Zhao Yun only has 10,000 people in his hands. To control the defense line of nearly ten miles, he can only control the roads as much as possible. The defense lines in some wild areas are relatively weak.
With a strong general like Sun Ce breaking into the formation and being caught off guard, the chance of success is obviously greatly increased.
In addition, Sun Ce, Chen Wu and others are very clear about the current situation, and their actions are steady, accurate and fast, and they pay attention to the speed of a surprise attack.
This prevented the surrounding Zhao Yun army from having time to reinforce, and finally allowed Sun Ce and Chen Wu to successfully break out.
But even so, Sun Ce and others suffered heavy losses. The original number of more than two hundred people dropped sharply to more than a hundred, and more than a third of them were killed or separated.
Except for Sun Ce who successfully broke through, there were only a few or a dozen other scattered escapees who took advantage of the difficult terrain in some wild areas and lacked defensive power to escape secretly. Most of the others were almost all trapped.
Liu Feng was not in a hurry and was waiting to clean up the battlefield.
About half an hour later, Zhao Yun led Dong Xi, Gan Ning, Xu Huang, Yu Fan, He Qi and other generals to come to see him.
At this time, except for more than 300 of Sun Ce's nine thousand people who escaped, all the rest were captured and beheaded. Among them, more than 1,600 were beheaded, more than 7,000 were captured, and thousands of weapons and armor were captured.
The 30,000 troops that Sun Ce had tried his best to collect had been wiped out. Only Zhu Zhi's 10,000 troops were left with some fighting strength, but they no longer posed a threat.
By this time, Sun Ce had nothing to worry about. Even if he escaped, he would no longer have the ability to make a comeback.
Not to mention that the military strength of Kuaiji County has been drained long ago. Even if there is still military strength, Sun Ce, who has lost the basic officer corps and the basic base of old troops, cannot control these military forces.
Zhao Yun, Gan Ning, Dong Xi, Xu Huang, and He Qi offered their beheadings one after another.
Zhao Yun captured Sun Jing alive, Gan Ning beheaded Sun Hao, Dong Xi and Xu Huang teamed up to capture Han Dang, and He Qi captured Sun Jiao alive. In addition to the Rui Liang brothers who were captured by Gao Shun before, and Song Qian who was killed by Jia Kui, at least half of Sun Ce's army's famous captain-level generals were wiped out.
Liu Feng was very satisfied and nodded repeatedly in praise.
After being praised by Liu Feng, even the calm and serious people like Zhao Yun and Xu Huang couldn't help but feel secretly happy. As for Gan Ning and Jia Kui, who were cheerful and straightforward, they were even more delighted. .
"The merits of all generals will be greatly rewarded."
Liu Feng was also very happy at this time. After this battle, Jiangdong and Yangzhou could be settled.
Therefore, he did not hesitate to reward the generals generously.
At the same time, he was also calculating money and food in his mind, and wanted to reward the entire army.
This campaign of the Southern Conquest Army really satisfied Liu Feng. Starting from the second half of last year, the Southern Conquest Army, which had only been resting for a few months, started a series of battles, first attacking Yuan Shu and then crossing Jiangdong.
No matter which war it is, it will be more difficult and dangerous than the previous wars.
Originally Liu Feng was worried about whether the Southern Army would cause any trouble. This was not unfounded. Not to mention the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the army in the Tang and Song Dynasties also had various troubles. moth.
Cao Cao's cunning tricks like borrowing the head of a grain officer and looking at plum blossoms to quench his thirst were the result of being forced into panic by the army.
So Liu Feng was very worried about whether something would happen to the Southern Conquest Army, such as complaining that it was too hard, complaining that the rewards were not enough, etc.
To Liu Feng's surprise, the Southern Conquest Army had no complaints and its military morale was always stable, which surprised and delighted Liu Feng.
In fact, the main reason for such a result was that Liu Feng treated his soldiers well and at the same time provided them with adequate supplies. The rewards and punishments were fair, open and just, supplemented by honorary rewards and incentives.
This makes the Southern Conquest Army, to a certain extent, become an army with a sense of honor. Naturally, it cannot be as slippery and chaotic as the armies of warlords who were just living for a living at the same time.
Looking at the battlefield gradually calming down, except for Zhu Zhi's troops, most of Sun Ce's troops had abandoned their weapons and surrendered.
The war has come to an end.
Liu Feng glanced at Zhu Zhi's formation, and then shouted to the soldiers behind him: "Where is A Tong?"
A young man rode out of the queue, then turned over and dismounted, and bowed to Liu Feng: "Return to my lord, I am here."
This young man is only nine years old, but he has clever features and agile skills.
This young man is Ling Tong, who is the son of the powerful Ling family in Yuhang and has just turned nine this year.
His father is Ling Cao, Zhu Zhi's right-hand man and the current captain of Sun Ce's army.
Xu Zhao is a local snake in Yuhang. He has already secretly reported to Liu Feng the Ling family's siding with Zhu Zhi, which was highly affirmed by Liu Feng.
Later, Liu Feng learned that Ling Cao had led more than 500 clan soldiers to Kuaiji with Zhu Zhi. Now, only hundreds of old and weak women and children, as well as Ling Cao's mother and wife, were left in the Ling family.
Liu Feng was naturally very generous and did not accuse the Ling family. On the contrary, he sent Xu Zhao to express condolences and appease the Ling family.
Xu Zhao was grateful. Little did he know that Liu Feng was setting up a stage for him, so he immediately went to Ling Mansion to appease the old, weak, women and children.
I don’t know what Xu Zhao and Ling Tong said, but Ling Tong actually asked to see Liu Feng.
Out of curiosity, Liu Feng agreed to the other party's request and met with Ling Yi.
As soon as they met, Ling Tong fell in front of Liu Feng and expressed his gratitude to Liu Feng for his kindness to the Ling family.
Ling Tong's gratitude is reasonable. His father, Ling Cao, took the Ling family soldiers and ran away with Zhu Zhi. This was a proper confrontation with Liu Feng.
At that time, Sun Ce's army was gathered in the south of Qiantang River, and Ling Cao was under Zhu Zhi's command. This was not a proper enemy.
But Liu Feng did not hold Ling Cao accountable, so he was naturally very kind to the Ling family.
Therefore, in addition to being grateful for Liu Feng's kindness on behalf of the Ling clan, Ling Tong was also willing to go to Liu Feng to recruit Ling Cao to surrender.
This is quite reasonable. Ling Cao was not a die-hard Sun family official at this time. He only sided with the Sun family for Zhu Zhi.
Nowadays, the army conquering the south is powerful and has occupied Yuhang, Ling Cao's hometown. It also represents the imperial court and the emperor, and has the legal principles and status of Yangzhou that comply with the laws of nature.
Ling Tong felt very confident that he could persuade his father to return to Jiangbei. But Ling Tong's suggestion was rejected by Liu Feng, because he knew that Ling Cao would not be able to agree with his temper.
Some people are destined to value honor higher than life, or even higher than everything else.
Ling Cao is this kind of person, and in fact Ling Tong is also this kind of person, but he is still young and doesn't understand his father yet. Perhaps it is family affection that makes him choose to deceive himself.
Although Liu Feng rejected Ling Tong's suggestion, he took him with him.
Liu Feng had previously felt that Ling Tong’s suggestion was not appropriate, but that didn’t mean there was no chance.
For example, Sun Ce's army has been completely wiped out, and Zhu Zhi is trapped in a corner with his remaining soldiers. If Ling Cao did not die in the battle, it would undoubtedly be a very suitable way to persuade him to surrender.
Therefore, after Ling Tong came out, Liu Feng smiled and encouraged: "A Tong, I want you to go to the enemy's camp to persuade you to surrender. Do you dare to respond?"
Ling Tong was not surprised but overjoyed, and immediately said excitedly: "I have received great kindness from the general, and I have been thinking about repaying it day and night. Now that the general has an order, it is too late for Ling Tong to be happy, so why don't he dare!"
"Okay! "
Liu Feng praised loudly: "Although Atong is young, he is very ambitious. In that case, go to the enemy's camp on my behalf to persuade him to surrender. I ordered Zhu Jun to stop fighting against the king's master and surrender as soon as possible." . ”
“Tong Gong accepts the order!”
After bowing to Liu Feng, Ling Tong stood up, mounted his horse, and galloped towards Zhu Zhi’s remaining troops.
Not long after, Ling Tong had arrived in front of Zhu Zhi's formation.
Soon, Zhu Zhi and others received the news.
At this time, the situation on Zhu Zhi's side was also embarrassing. Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Yan and others wanted to persuade Zhu Zhi to persist a little longer.
They are not fools. They naturally know that Sun Jun has been completely defeated and there is no hope.
The fundamental reason why Cheng Pu and others requested Zhu Zhi was because they wanted to buy time for Sun Ce to break out.
Zhu Zhi's current position is undoubtedly the lowest at sea level, and he is also surrounded by people. Therefore, Cheng Pu and others have no idea that Sun Ce has successfully broken through, and they still want to buy Sun Ce some time.
Once Zhu Zhi surrenders and Sun Ce fails to break out of the encirclement, it is conceivable that he will inevitably become the target of public criticism.
As for persuading Zhu Zhi to break out of the encirclement or fight to the end, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others are not crazy. Making such a request will only force Zhu Zhi to be cruel to them.
In fact, Zhu Zhi has always been relatively independent. From the beginning to the end, he was just grateful to Sun Jian and admired Sun Ce and Sun Quan. However, he was not a die-hard Sun loyalist, otherwise he would not have made suggestions two years ago. After Sun Ce's development across the Yangtze River was rejected, he immediately left and went home.
But completely opposite to Cheng Pu and others are Ling Cao, Zhu Cai, Zhu Ran and others.
Zhu Cai was Zhu Zhi's eldest son, Zhu Ran was Zhu Zhi's nephew and adopted son, and Ling Cao was Zhu Zhi's confidant.
The opinions of these three people can be said to represent the attitudes of Zhu Zhi's four thousand hometown children.
Although Ling Cao, Zhu Cai, Zhu Ran and others were impressed by Sun Ce's charm, their contacts were still shallow after all. Moreover, they had always been Zhu Zhi's subordinates, not Sun Ce's subordinates.
Now that Sun's army was defeated and destroyed, even if Ling Cao, Zhu Cai and others were not afraid of death themselves, they still had to make some plans for the clan soldiers under their command.
The sooner they surrender, the better they can save these people's lives.
If Liu Feng is angered, although the other party has no precedent of massacring prisoners, if the other party refuses to surrender, then the children from his hometown will not be able to return to Qiantang Jiangbei.
Although the two sides have conflicting opinions, with Zhu Zhi's reputation and status and the troops he currently has on hand, the decision can be made with one word.
But Zhu Zhi also hesitated for a rare moment. Strictly speaking, the request made by Cheng Pu and others was not excessive, but Ling Cao and the others' concerns were indeed very reasonable.
Because of this, Zhu Zhi was in a dilemma and was unable to make a decision.
At this time, Ling Tong happened to arrive as Liu Feng's envoy, and Zhu Zhi immediately invited him over.
When Ling Tong arrived, Zhu Zhi, Zhu Cai, Zhu Ran, and Ling Cao were dumbfounded. They all knew Ling Tong. Especially Zhu Ran, who is seven years older than Ling Tong. The two have a close relationship and often travel together.
As for Ling Cao, he looked at his big boy in disbelief, and his mind couldn't turn around for a while.
Ling Cao blurted out in shock: "Tong'er, why are you here!?"
"Has father been injured?"
Ling Tong was respectful first. He greeted Ling Cao respectfully, and when he saw Ling Tong shaking his head, he immediately said seriously: "I am here on the orders of General Zhengnan, to persuade General Zhu to surrender."
Everyone's expressions changed, but Zhu Zhi's expression remained unchanged, apparently he had reacted first.
Around the crowd, a young sergeant quietly approached a military commander and whispered: "Brother-in-law."
The man he called brother-in-law had a rather burly figure, but a handsome face. But he was a bit naive. It was Dengdang, the commander of Yuan Xiong's army under Sun Ce.
Seeing his brother-in-law being so out of line, he was shocked and angry, and whispered: "Ziming, what are you doing, why don't you get out of here quickly."
Lu Meng directed at his family The brother-in-law blinked and whispered: "Brother-in-law, the adults are arguing here and are in a stalemate precisely because there is no information from the outside world. Isn't the Ling family's child entering the battle at this time the source of information? Brother-in-law uses this to repay General Zhu. , isn’t it a great achievement?”
Deng Dang was stunned, not understanding what his brother-in-law meant.
Lu Meng became a little anxious. After all, this matter is not difficult to think about, and there are many smart people on the field. Once someone thinks of it first, they will have no credit at all.
So, Lu Meng simply snatched him out from behind Deng Dang.
Lü Meng's movement immediately aroused the vigilance of the surrounding soldiers. Before he even took two steps, the blade was already on his neck.
Deng Dang was immediately frightened to death. His mother-in-law was the only one. If he died here, how could he be worthy of his mother-in-law and his wife?
"Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding!"
Deng Dang shouted loudly, but did not dare to make any unnecessary moves. At the same time, he also remembered Lu Meng's words just now, and hurriedly shouted to Yuan Xiong: "Principal Lieutenant, Ziming has a plan to offer. "
Yuan Xiong's face was a bit ugly at first. Deng Dang was his confidant, and Lu Meng was also a young guy he was very optimistic about. He didn't expect that he was so ignorant at this time.
You must know that the atmosphere in the field is still quite tense at this time, and no one can guarantee that an accident will not lead to a fight between the two sides.
Even if Lu Meng had any ideas, he should have asked Deng Dang to ask him for instructions. How could he just run out like this.
Even if what he says is reasonable, he is also suspected of being greedy for credit.
After all, the disastrous consequences he may cause are far greater than the contribution he made at this time.
(End of this chapter)