Chapter 352 General Xiahou surrenders to King Shuang! (4200 words)
The sounds of fighting continued for a day and a night in this nameless wilderness.
One by one, cultivators fell on this land, their blood slowly flowing down, landing on the tips of the grass, then sliding off the grass, staining the soil red.
When the sounds of fighting ceased.
On this frontal battlefield, most of those standing were covered in snow-white scale armor.
The last Wei flag was cut down and fell to the ground.
The Wei army has suffered a major defeat.
"Those who surrender live, those who resist die!"
Several captains of the Northern Wilderness Army used their spiritual power to spread their voices across the plains.
One by one, the Wei soldiers put down their weapons, put their hands behind their necks, and knelt on the ground.
Some Wei soldiers fought desperately to resist.
But it was only the last gasp of their strength; these people soon fell silent.
In the center of the battlefield, the old man in armor seemed to have used up all his strength.
He sighed softly, planted the bloodstained longsword in his hand into the ground, then slowly removed his helmet and sat cross-legged on the ground.
The soldiers of the Northern Wilderness Army simply looked at the old man and did not approach him.
Even in his twilight years, this old man, who was only at the Dragon Gate Realm, was like a tiger, ready to bite a person to pieces at any moment.
As the Northern Wilderness Army surrounding the old man slowly dispersed, the man clad in dragon scale armor stepped forward.
He removed his helmet, handed his spear to his lieutenant, and walked step by step toward the old man.
Finally, Xiao Mo walked up to the old man and sat down cross-legged.
As the sun set, the sky, painted red by the evening glow, complemented the soil of the fields. The sunlight shone on everyone, giving Xiao Mo and the old man a faint golden edge.
"I lost," Du Beiwang said slowly, his tone calm and composed.
"The old general's bravery is no less than it was back then," Xiao Mo said sincerely.
"Hahahaha." Du Beiwang raised his head and looked into Xiao Mo's eyes. "Being praised by a junior who hasn't even grown his hair yet, I should feel awkward, but when you say it like that, I really feel comfortable."
Xiao Mo: "I'm just telling the truth."
Du Beiwang shook his head, looking at the setting sun: "After this great battle, no one in Wei could stop Qin anymore. After that, all of Wei's territory belonged to Qin."
"The world, with its myriad laws, originally belonged to one great nation. For thousands of years, feudal lords have been enfeoffing and dividing the land. The world's affairs, after a long period of division, will inevitably unite, and after a long period of unity, will inevitably divide again. It's time for this to end," Xiao Mo said.
"What is divided for a long time will unite, and what is united for a long time will divide." Du Beiwang repeated Xiao Mo's words, nodding and saying, "Yes, thousands of years ago, the various states originally belonged to the Great Zhou!"
"It's a pity I won't live to see this unification." Du Bei sighed, his breath growing weaker. "However, I have not failed the trust of the two late emperors."
"Does the general have any last wishes?" Xiao Mo asked.
"My last wish," Du Beiwang thought for a moment, "I wonder if it would be possible to trouble King Shuang to bury this old man here, so that I don't have to be brought back to Weidu."
"I'll listen to the old man," Xiao Mo nodded. "Does the old man have anything else?"
Du Beiwang thought about it seriously for a moment, then looked away and turned to Xiao Mo with a grin: "I love your Northern Wilderness's Sangluo wine. Could you let me have one last sip?"
Xiao Mo glanced at Zhao Guang not far away, and Zhao Guang hurriedly went to look for it. He actually found a gourd containing mulberry wine.
Du Beiwang took the gourd of wine and drank it down in big gulps, the wine spilling from the corners of his mouth.
"Good wine, really good wine."
The old man looked at the wine gourd and said with a smile, his cheeks flushed with an unhealthy red, but his voice grew softer and softer.
"That's really strong liquor!"
As the old man finished speaking, the gourd rolled from his hand to the ground, the wine pouring out and soaking the old man's body.
Xiao Mo stood up, took a step back, and bowed deeply.
After clearing the battlefield, Xiao Mo continued to lead his army to Phoenix Mall.
"General." On the way to Fengshang City, Li Jing rode beside Xiao Mo and asked, "Our army needs to write a battle report to His Majesty and the Prince, but this plain has no name and is difficult to write on. We hope that the General will give us a name."
"Name?"
Xiao Mo gripped the reins, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"Let's call it Beiwangyuan."
Hearing Xiao Mo's words, Li Jing was slightly taken aback, but quickly replied, "Yes!"
After the Northern Wilderness army left.
The once desolate plains have completely returned to calm.
On that plain, there is a tombstone with only the name of its owner simply engraved on it.
A pot of mulberry wine was placed in front of the tombstone.
As a gentle breeze swept by, the gourd swayed slightly, as if an old man were holding the gourd and looking north towards his hometown.
After the great battle at Beiwangyuan, Xiao Mo arrived at Feng Mall.
At this time, Feng City only had 5,000 soldiers left to defend it, making it almost indistinguishable from an empty city.
When the soldiers left to guard the city saw the army from the northern wilderness, they were terrified.
Especially after Xiao Mo presented the jade tablet of the Great Pillar of Wei, the Wei soldiers knew that the Great Pillar had been defeated and all lost the will to resist.
The acting city lord ceased his futile resistance and surrendered.
News of the fall of Fengshang City immediately reached the capital of Wei.
When the emperor learned in the court that Da Guozhu had been defeated, and that his original army of 350,000 had dwindled to only 150,000, all of whom had surrendered to Xiao Mo, the Wei king was so angry that he almost fainted on his dragon throne.
Apart from the stalemate between Xiao Shi and Xiahou Nan, the other three battlefronts were advancing, as if no matter what Wei did, it could not stop the advance of the Northern Wilderness army.
At this point, the voices of the surrender faction grew louder than those of the die-hard faction.
I think it's not too late to surrender now.
If it had been any later, and the Northern Wilderness army had reached the capital, then anything could have happened.
The ruler of Wei thought so too.
The reason why the ruler of Wei was able to become a wealthy man even after being driven to the capital was largely because Wei was a small country, and the Qin army did not face much pressure and easily conquered it.
The Qin ruler's acceptance of Wei's surrender could also serve as a pretext for his actions.
The problem is that Wei and Qin are currently locked in a life-or-death struggle, with so many dead and wounded. If he surrenders now, there might still be some justification. But if he waits any longer, even if Xiao Shi agrees to surrender, the Qin soldiers will not.
But...
The King of Wei looked at his throne and felt very reluctant to give it up.
Even if I could be a wealthy man, a wealthy man is never as comfortable as an emperor.
While the King of Wei hesitated, reports of defeats from the front lines kept arriving at his doorstep.
Seventy percent of these battle reports are about Xiao Mo!
Although Xiao Mo's battle line was the furthest from the Wei capital and the most winding, his momentum had reached its peak after he captured Fengshang City and defeated the old general Du Beiwang.
Even in the Wei Kingdom, many generals felt that seeing the Snow-Treading Dragon Riders was not the most terrifying thing.
The most terrifying thing is those Snow-Treading Dragon Riders with Asura-like faces!
At this time, Wei did indeed have a few loyal generals who would rather die than surrender, but more often, they were spineless cowards who rose to power through connections.
The moment they saw the Snow-Treading Dragon Riders with their Shura-like faces, the legs of the generals guarding the city went weak, and they wished they could crawl out of the city and surrender.
As a result, Xiao Mo conquered most cities as if they were empty, with almost no one offering resistance.
Even during the three months that the King of Wei hesitated, Xiao Mo had already reached the middle of the battle line.
If we calculate it this way, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it won't be more than half a year before Xiao Mo is about to make his first move and reach the capital of Wei!
Finally, the ruler of Wei could no longer hold out and wanted to surrender.
However, at the suggestion of his ministers, the King of Wei had a ulterior motive: he sent the letter of surrender to Xiao Mo's camp instead of to the army of the Prince of Zhenbei, or even to the capital of Qin.
Upon seeing the letter of surrender from the King of Wei, Xiao Mo merely smiled, finding it amusing, naturally knowing what the Wei court was thinking.
But how could such a low-level tactic of sowing discord be effective against the overwhelming force of the Northern Wilderness army?
Xiao Mo directly delivered the Wei king's letter of surrender to Xiao Shi's military camp.
Xiao Shi laughed loudly and sent it to the Qin capital without any hesitation.
The King of Qin resolutely rejected the surrender of the King of Wei.
Although accepting surrender at this point could avoid some casualties, there was more than just the State of Wei left in the world.
There were also six major states, including Chu, Yan, Jin, and the most powerful Qi.
If every ruler could fight to the death until they were completely exhausted before surrendering, they could still live a life of luxury and receive a nominal title of king or nobleman.
Leaving aside large countries, what would the rulers of other small countries think?
The King of Qin ordered his army to continue the attack, and they marched straight to the capital of Wei.
In fact, even without the King of Qin saying anything, Xiao Mo had already guessed what the King of Qin was going to do.
So while waiting for the King of Qin to reply, Xiao Mo didn't stop for a moment and captured three more cities in succession.
On the contrary, the news of the Wei king's surrender greatly dampened the morale of the Wei soldiers.
However, Xiahou Nan is also trying his best to make amends.
But Xiahou Nan ultimately couldn't carry the load alone.
Even if Xiao Shi doesn't make any progress, as long as he maintains a stalemate with Xiahou Nan, the other armies of the Northern Wilderness will be able to take over the capital of Wei.
Another half month has passed.
Xiao Shi finally broke through Mingyue City, and Xiahou Nan took the opportunity to retreat, even abandoning two cities, intending to shrink the defensive line and rearrange it.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yichuan, the eldest son of the Xiao family, arrived at the battlefield.
Xiao Shi ordered Xiao Yichuan to lead the charge as the vanguard general, and Xiao Yichuan did not disappoint his father.
When the eldest son of the Xiao family first appeared, he transformed into a giant as tall as a mountain, rampaging across the battlefield, which was extremely shocking.
After his elder brother arrived, Xiao Yishe was in a very good mood, feeling that his elder brother was far superior to Xiao Mo.
Xiao Shi was extremely satisfied with his eldest son's cultivation.
After entering Luguan, Xiao Shi saw through Xiahou Nan's intentions and decided to send someone to guard Huating.
As long as Huating is held, the Wei reinforcements from Guanzhong can be blocked from advancing westward to Luyou, buying time for Xiao Shi to pacify Luxi City, thereby cutting off the connection between Wei and Zhizhou, and gradually nibbling away at Wei.
Therefore, Huating is the eastern barrier of the Luxi defense line; if it falls, the gateway to Luxi will be wide open.
Seeing an opportunity to make a name for himself, especially with his elder brother returning, Xiao Yishe felt he was in a good position again, so he volunteered to guard Huating.
To be honest, Xiao Shi was extremely disappointed in his second son. He even thought that when he returned to the capital this time, he would find him a decent girl so that he could live a leisurely life.
But as a father, he naturally hopes that his sons can achieve something, or at least not be mediocre.
After much deliberation, Xiao Shi decided to give Xiao Yishe one last chance and let him guard Huating.
After all, Huating is easy to defend and difficult to attack, occupying a natural stronghold. As long as he stays in Huating and doesn't come down, everything will be fine!
Moreover, Xiao Shi specially assigned Xiao Yishe elite troops.
Before Xiao Yishe set out with his troops, Xiao Shi even instructed him three times to simply guard the area and not to worry about anything else!
Xiao Yishe said he remembered it.
However, after arriving in Huating, Xiao Yishe did not follow Xiao Shi's instructions to guard the road and build fortifications. Instead, he abandoned the water source and the main road and led his troops up the mountain to garrison.
Wang Ping repeatedly advised against it, but Xiao Yishe refused, citing the advantage of "being on high ground and having unstoppable momentum," and only assigned Wang Ping a small number of troops to provide support from below the mountain.
After Wei general Zhang Hu arrived with his army, he immediately cut off the water supply to the Northern Wilderness Army and surrounded the mountain. Xiao Yishe's army was in disarray due to lack of water and failed to break out several times.
Taking advantage of the situation, Zhang Hu launched a fierce attack, and Xiao Yishe's troops collapsed, with soldiers fleeing.
Wang Ping led over a thousand soldiers to beat drums and hold their ground. Zhang Hu, suspecting an ambush, did not pursue, allowing Wang Ping to gather his remaining troops and retreat.
After the fall of Huating, Xiahou Nan ordered Zhang Hu to lead his troops straight into Luxi, exposing Xiao Shi's flank and putting him in danger.
Left with no other choice, Xiao Shi was forced to abandon the three counties he had occupied and retreat to Wandeng City.
After the Wei army breathed a sigh of relief, they put pressure on Xiao Shi's left and right armies again. For a time, apart from Xiao Mo and Liu Xing's two armies, the three armies' attacks were blocked!
Even more critically, this victory greatly boosted the morale of the Wei army.
Xiao Yishe knew he had committed a serious crime and would be executed according to military law upon returning to the military camp. Given his father's iron-fisted rule over the army, he would not let him off the hook.
Therefore, Xiao Yishe led the remaining troops to cross the battlefield and head towards the State of Chu.
Although Xiao Yishe's defeated soldiers were dissatisfied, they had no choice but to obey his orders because Xiao Yishe had given them a "secret order" to advance.
But unexpectedly, by sheer coincidence, Xiao Yishe encountered Xiao Mo.
Xiao Mo easily captured Xiao Yishe and had him escorted to Xiao Shi's camp.
Looking at his son, Xiao Shi sighed heavily and ordered his beheading.
Xiao Yichuan's pleas for mercy were to no avail.
On the night Xiao Yishe died, Xiao Shi sat alone in his tent for a long, long time, lost in thought.
The following day, Xiao Shi ordered the main army to hold off Xiahou Nan and do his best to reduce the pressure on the other routes. At the same time, he sent troops to reinforce Xiao Mo and even gave Xiao Mo enough autonomy—Xiao Mo's decisions, even if he ordered an attack on the Wei capital, did not need to be reported to Xiao Shi.
In addition, all battle reports from the army will be sent to Xiao Mo's camp.
Although Xiao Mo is on the flank, he already has the presence of a main force.
Two more months passed.
Xiao Mo's army was the first to arrive at the capital of Wei!
Xiao Mo deliberately did not set up a no-fly formation so that the King of Wei could send a message to Xiahou Nan.
really.
The King of Wei ordered Xiahou Nan to immediately return to the capital to defend it! Otherwise, he would be treated as a traitor.
Upon seeing the envelope, Xiahou Nan looked up to the sky and sighed deeply; overnight, his black hair turned completely white.
The following day, Xiahou Nan abandoned the city and led his troops back to the capital.
Xiao Mo had long been prepared for Xiahou Nan to double-team him.
Unexpectedly, Xiahou Nan did not launch an attack, but instead sent an envoy.
"I wonder what insightful advice General Xiahou has sent for us?" Xiao Mo greeted the messenger.
The envoy, Zhangqiu, sighed deeply and said:
"General Xiahou surrenders to King Shuang!"
[I feel like I'm updating too infrequently; this isn't good, it's a bit too slow. I'll save up three days' worth of drafts just in case, and then try my best to update more each day, otherwise it really is too slow.]
(End of this chapter)
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