Naturally, the call to surrender was not only aimed at rebel leaders like Zhao Changkong, but also at ordinary rebel soldiers. As long as any rebel soldier put down their weapons, they would be able to save their own lives.
Just as Pang Gui was loudly calling for Zhao Changkong to surrender, the military officers blocking the entrance also began to call for the rebel soldiers not far away to surrender. They had these rebel soldiers throw away their weapons and take off their armor. Then, they could walk over and surrender.
These ordinary rebel soldiers did not really want to rebel. Under such circumstances, they naturally did not want to die with Zhao Changkong. Therefore, people began to surrender very quickly. After that, things got even more out of hand. More and more rebel soldiers began to surrender. Zhao Changkong and the other officers could not stop them at all.
Seeing his subordinates die and surrender one after another, Zhao Changkong fell into despair. Before this, he was still thinking about how to deal with the people around Zhao Yefu. Now, he should be thinking about how to save his own life.
The contrast between before and after was too great. Zhao Changkong stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do. He felt like a hero who had lost his breath.
"Dying before the start of the expedition. This makes heroes cry! Am I going to die here today? "
Zhao Changkong looked up at the sky and sighed.
It was quite comical for a rebel to sigh that he was a hero. Duan Jianwei, who was beside him, looked coldly at Zhao Changkong. Then, he quietly retreated and found a corner to change his clothes. After that, he naturally blended into the crowd of people who surrendered and entered the rear of the army as a captive.
Because there was some blood on his face, Duan Jianwei's acting was quite convincing. There was no problem at all.
Zhao Changkong sighed with emotion for a while. Suddenly, he realized that Duan Jianwei had disappeared. His mood worsened. Was it a death of humiliation from surrendering, or was it a death of a hero with a slit in his throat? This was truly a difficult choice to make, and it was extremely painful.
"Eighteen years later, I'll be a hero again."
Zhao Changkong still slit his throat. After all, he was too ashamed to live. Rather than die in humiliation, he would rather die a quick death.
Zhao Wufu, who was standing halfway up the mountain, looked at his former colleague slit his throat. He sighed in his heart. There was no sadness or joy.
"Why bother?"
Zhao Wufu suddenly uttered such a sentence.
Next to him, Pang Gui slightly smiled and said, "Fifth Minister, the rebel army has surrendered; this counts as a contribution, right?"
Zhao Wufu said angrily, "Of course, it's not a small contribution. However, in the future, you have to do more meritorious deeds so that I can plead for leniency on your behalf. "
"Yes, I will listen to the Five Ministers."
Pang Gui had no other choice but to comply. His life was in Zhao Wufu's hands. Other than obeying, he had no other choice.
Just as the rebels were surrendering one after another, Pang Gui's subordinates had already entered the 3,000 bandits. They were there to persuade them to surrender.
Although the three thousand bandit soldiers did not enter the ambush and did not suffer any losses, the complete annihilation of the rebel army was still a great shock to them. They did not dare to rashly send reinforcements because once they did, there was a high possibility that they would lose their lives as well.
In addition, the three leaders of the three thousand bandits weren't in the group. They were all with Zhao Changkong. In other words, these three thousand bandits didn't have a leader. They were like a sheet of loose sand. Even if they attacked, no one would be able to command them.
"Brothers, the rebel army has won a great victory. Hurry up and surrender!"
"Brothers, as long as you surrender, you can keep your lives. Hurry up and surrender."
"Ever since we surrendered, we've been served with meat and wine every day. We're even happier than when we were bandits."
"Right, I have to tell you that behind you, there are thousands of soldiers coming. You have no way out. If you don't surrender now, when the soldiers behind the rebel army arrive, the situation will be different."
The bandit leaders knew that there was no hope of escaping, so they began to persuade them to surrender.
These scattered bandits were immediately shaken. How could they win against the rebel army? The situation was very clear. If they continued to be stubborn, only death would await them.
"Alright, as long as there's meat and wine, I'm willing to surrender."
A bandit who was just making a living quickly agreed.
Soon, more and more bandits agreed to surrender. These people were originally ordinary people. They had no choice but to become bandits in the mountains because they could not find a way out. Now that there was no way to survive as a bandit, and they could still get meat and wine if they surrendered. Naturally, they would choose to surrender.
Of course, even if they surrendered, it was impossible for them to have meat and wine for every meal. These people were just lying to them. Dongnu Province was still lacking in food, so there was no way for them to have meat and wine to entertain these newly surrendered captives. The reason why Pang Gui and the others were provided with meat and wine was because they were the leaders. If they were ordinary bandits who surrendered, they would definitely not receive such treatment. However, at least they could preserve their lives and eat until they were half full every day.
"How are we going to surrender? Are we going to walk out like this?"
One of the bandits asked.
"As long as you're willing to surrender, leave your weapons where you are. Then, line up in a row and leave the valley."
The leader who persuaded them to surrender said.
These bandits only had one weapon. They didn't have any armor. After all, bandits were relatively poor. They didn't have the money to buy armor. The value of armor was much higher than weapons. Some of the small leaders had some simple leather armor. They were all simple armors made by themselves. They didn't have high defense.
Under the persuasion of dozens of leaders, the three thousand bandits really put down their weapons and surrendered. They did not want to lose their lives in vain.
Zhao Wufu, who was standing halfway up the mountain, finally looked better. He had made a great contribution in this battle. Three thousand elite rebels and three thousand mountain bandits had all been taken care of by him. Wiping out six thousand enemies was no small feat.
"The rebels had eight thousand men along the way. It seems that there are two thousand more behind."
Zhao Wufu said.
Next to him, Li Long nodded and said, "It seems so. However, we've already made such a great contribution. Let's leave these two thousand men to Assistant Minister Li!"
Zhao Wufu said with a smile, "I didn't expect you to be so considerate of others. However, Assistant Minister Li does not need to make a contribution. We, on the other hand, need to make more contributions. Choose two thousand men to follow me."
Obviously, even if there were only two thousand men left, Zhao Wufu still wanted this contribution. After all, it was Ang Lee who killed the eight thousand bandits on the two sides. He only helped a little. Therefore, he naturally wanted to kill all eight thousand bandits in the middle. This way, his contribution would be on the same level as Ang Lee's. In the future, his position in Dongnu Province would be more stable. Although this so-called Dongnu Province would soon disappear, Zhao Wufu still wanted to grab hold of this tail and make a contribution so that he could hold his head high.
At this moment, Ang Lee and his men were about to catch up with the rebel army's logistics team. They were only five to six li away. Using binoculars, they could even see the tail of the rebel army.
"Assistant Minister Li, the rebel army's logistics team is only five li away. Should we speed up?"
Chen Long asked.
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "There's no need for that. We'll just walk slowly. There's no need to fight with the rebel army. We just need to let the rebel army's logistics team know of our existence. The main rebel army and the bandits at the front have probably been dealt with by Zhao Wufu. They should be free to deal with the last logistics team. We just need to watch."
Obviously, Ang Lee did not intend to fight with Zhao Wufu for the contribution. Letting Zhao Wufu get more credit seemed to be more in line with Ang Lee's intentions. After all, with Ang Lee's current position, he did not need to make any contributions.
At this moment, Ang Lee was thinking about how to quickly eliminate the two bandit groups on the south road and completely solve the problem of the bandits.
As expected, Zhao Wufu's men quickly arrived. The rebel army's logistics team had originally planned to retreat, but when they realized that there were thousands of soldiers behind them, they were completely stunned.
Zhao Wufu personally appeared at the front line. He looked at the commander in charge of logistics, Bai Yong, and a trace of regret appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He knew very well that Bai Yong was a good commander. However, Bai Yong had followed the wrong person and rebelled with Zhao Changkong. It was truly a pity.
"Bai Yong, on account of your outstanding military service, as long as you surrender, I will definitely put in a good word for you in front of the queen. I can even let you continue to be a commander."
Zhao Wufu said.
From Zhao Wufu's words, it could be seen that Zhao Wufu valued Bai Yong. This also showed that Bai Yong was indeed a very capable talent. If he was not a talent, he would not have been valued so highly.
Bai Yong would never have dreamed that six thousand of his eight thousand men would be wiped out. Now, he was left with two thousand weak logistics troops. With such little strength, it was obvious that they were unable to contend against Zhao Wufu's elite troops. The worst thing was that a few thousand soldiers had appeared behind them, forming a pincer attack. In this way, even if they wanted to retreat, there was no chance for them to do so.
Bai Yong seemed to have never thought about surrendering. This was because he was as stubborn as Zhao Changkong. He felt that even if half of the ordinary people starved to death, he would not completely give up on the inheritance and submit to the Tang dynasty. This was his belief. Even if he died, he would stick to his belief and would never waver.
"Surrender? The ones who chose to surrender are you! Five Ministers. "
Bai Yong said coldly.
A trace of frost appeared on Zhao Wufu's face. He said angrily, "Bai Yong, don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. There is a limit to my patience."
"So what? Even if I die, I will not betray the country. You are a group of traitors, the dogs of the Tang dynasty."
Bai Yong said angrily.
Zhao Wufu sneered and said, "Bai Yong, you think you are a hero, but don't forget that the people of our country are suffering from hunger. What they want is food. They want to live. In order to live, the people don't care who is ruling them. Surrendering to the Tang dynasty can let the people here live a better life. So, what reason do they have not to surrender?"
"Nonsense. You are looking for an excuse for your surrender. You are all traitors, traitors."
Bai Yong shouted at the top of his lungs, looking a little desperate.
Zhao Wufu laughed and shouted, "Soldiers, are you willing to eat and live a better life, or are you willing to starve all day and watch your loved ones starve to death? Choose for yourself."
"I'm willing to eat and live a better life."
"I'm also willing to eat and live a better life."
"Eat your fill, eat your fill."
The ordinary soldiers of both sides quickly made a very wise choice. They only cared about eating and did not care who ruled them.
"Haha! Bai Yong, did you hear that clearly? The soldiers all choose to eat. Their hearts are not with you. What else do you have to say? Are you going to continue to be stubborn? "
Zhao Wufu sneered and said.
Bai Yong was extremely depressed in his heart. He did have his own beliefs, but there were too few people who shared the same ideals as him. In fact, there wasn't even a single one. This was the most depressing thing for him.
"You, you are all traitors, all traitors."
Bai Yong was so angry that he scolded the people around him.
The centurions behind him exchanged glances with each other and then moved together to tie Bai Yong up.
"Traitors, you are a group of traitors."
Bai Yong, who was tied up, scolded his subordinates loudly. He was simply furious.
"General, don't blame us. Now that we have lost our advantage, we have to wrong you in order to let our brothers live."
One of his trusted centurions said.
"Traitors, traitors."
Bai Yong was furious, but there was nothing he could do. How could his subordinates let him go just because he was angry?
After taking control of Bai Yong, the centurions chose to lead the remaining rebel soldiers and surrender to Zhao Wufu. Because these two thousand people surrendered, they did not suffer the slightest injury, nor did they lose a single grain of food. This made Zhao Wufu very satisfied.
"Congratulations, Five Ministers, for destroying eight thousand rebel soldiers in one fell swoop."
Ang Lee soon met up with Zhao Wufu.
Zhao Wufu smiled and said, "You're too kind. If not for Assistant Minister Li destroying two brigands and capturing Pang Gui, this one would not have had this opportunity. It's all thanks to Assistant Minister Li!"
Li An smiled faintly, tacitly agreeing. He didn't say too many polite words.
"Assistant Minister Li, what should we do next? Let's plan!"
What Zhao Wufu was talking about was naturally the two bandit groups in the west. Now that the main bandit group and the two bandit groups in the east had been completely wiped out, the next step was naturally to deal with the two bandit groups in the west.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "Five Ministers, now the brigands only have two brigands left, totaling less than eight thousand. As long as our army continues to recruit, our forces will be twice that of the brigands. You and I will each lead half of our forces and besiege the two brigands in the west. The rest is to recruit them to surrender."
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