Guo Zifeng looked at the situation in front of him, and his personal guard came over and said something.
"General, Cui Yuanbin and other generals request an audience."
"Cui Yuanbin? Let them in."
Soon, Cui Yuanbin and his generals arrived at his military tent.
When Cui Yuanbin and the other generals saw Guo Zifeng, they took out the letter that Li Xuanshang had ordered someone to shoot in.
"General, the news has spread throughout the army that we are in dire straits, and the morale of the soldiers has completely collapsed."
Cui Yuanbin immediately stood up and said to Guo Zifeng.
Then Cui Yuanbin stepped forward and continued speaking to Guo Zifeng:
"General, our army is about to run out of food and our morale has collapsed. Governor Jiang Xiangyang of Datong is also holding troops and is standing by in Datong. He will not come to our aid."
In other words, we are now an isolated force trapped in a desperate situation, and no reinforcements will come to our aid.
What should we do?
"If all else fails, shall we contact Li Jun on the other side?"
As he spoke, Cui Yuanbin took two steps forward, looking at Guo Zifeng across from him with a serious expression.
Most of the people present looked expectant after hearing Cui Yuanbin's words.
They all knew at that moment that they had no hope left, and continuing like this would only lead to their deaths.
Surrender, however, is the only way to survive.
They weren't born traitors; in fact, they were among the fastest to rescue the capital.
Afterwards, they fought a series of bloody battles against the Jurchens and Li Qin's elite Liaodong forces, and they never backed down.
They have done enough, they have done their utmost, and they have done right by the imperial court.
But today, they are already in a situation where defeat is inevitable, and he should think about himself and his family whose fate is unknown.
In response to Cui Yuanbin's words, Guo Zifeng, sitting in front, looked at Cui Yuanbin and said:
"General Cui, what do you mean by this?"
Do you intend to betray the imperial court and side with the traitor Li?
Guo Zifeng looked at Cui Yuanbin, who had stepped forward to persuade him to surrender, and his tone became stern.
After he finished speaking, behind Cui Yuanbin, a large number of officers who shared the same thoughts looked at Guo Zifeng with the same eyes.
It's clear that they now share the same idea as Cui Yuanbin.
Standing behind Guo Zifeng, one of Guo Zifeng's trusted generals said:
"What do you mean by this? You have been enjoying the imperial court's salary for so long, do you now intend to abandon the court and surrender to the traitor Li?"
After hearing the general's words, Cui Yuanbin stepped forward and said:
"It's not that we don't want to serve the court, but we are simply powerless to do so."
The morale of our troops is completely unreliable now, even if we return to our own troops and rally them to fight.
They probably won't listen anyway; don't forget that the soldiers' families are all in the hands of the enemy.
At that time, I'm afraid not only will they not obey our orders, but they will also cut off our heads and surrender to Li Qin in exchange for the safety of their families.
Moreover, many soldiers now realize that forcibly attacking the enemy's formation is simply impossible and could even cost them their lives.
After all, for them, joining the army is just about getting paid; there's no need to risk their own and their families' lives.
Moreover, those ordinary soldiers had never read the classics and had no idea what it meant to serve the court.
To them, it makes no difference whether they take our pay or Li's pay.
What's more, their families are still in the hands of that traitor Li.
General, you should now consider the situation of our tens of thousands of troops in Xuanfu.
They are all sons and daughters of the people of Xuanfu.
Even if we survive, tens of thousands of Xuanfu disciples will die.
How can we face the elders and fellow villagers of Xuanfu?
After Cui Yuanbin finished speaking, Guo Zifeng, who was sitting in his seat, understood and agreed with him very well.
Indeed, if this continues, some soldiers will actually cut off their heads before surrendering.
If things continue like this, it's only a matter of time before subordinates overthrow their superiors.
But he was the governor-general appointed by the imperial court; how could he surrender to the traitor Li?
Then Guo Zifeng looked at the crowd in front of him and said:
"Alright, I'll think about it. You can go now."
"General?"
Cui Yuanbin saw Guo Zifeng, who was still hesitating, with a look of expectation and anxiety on his face.
However, in the end, he still led his generals out of Guo Zifeng's military tent.
After leaving Guo Zifeng's military tent, one of the generals immediately said:
"The commander is hesitant. If this continues, we're all doomed. You know, we don't have much time left."
"Yeah, are we just going to wait to die together?"
"If all else fails, then..."
One of the generals gestured to his neck as he spoke.
Faced with the general's proposal, all the generals fell silent. Some of them had received favors from Guo Zifeng to varying degrees.
Many of them had been dependent on Guo Zifeng for many years, and none of them were willing to agree to this proposal.
They still hoped that their old leader, Guo Zifeng, could continue to lead them on a path to survival.
However, if this continues, when the food supplies run out, or morale collapses completely and the army surrenders en masse, what will happen?
He didn't even have this last bit of capital left.
However, Guo Zifeng's loyalty to the imperial court made him hesitate, which meant he was dragging everyone down with him.
Because you don't know when the army's morale will completely collapse.
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