Chapter 224: Surrender and Rout

Kneel!

Surrender!

As He Chun slowly pressed his blade against Diliya’s neck, the stubborn Great General of the Kushan finally fell to the ground in defeat: “Han People, you have won. I am willing to surrender.”

“Order all your men to drop their weapon s!”

“Drop them, drop all weapons! We have lost. The victor of this war is the Han People. Balu, Paka, stop resisting! We cannot beat the Han People. Surrender!”

With the Main General Diliya speaking, Balu and Paka could only angrily throw down their weapons.

If they didn’t drop them now, they would never get the chance.

Compared to dying in battle, their lives were more important.

After the three generals surrendered, the scattered resistance around them was quickly extinguished by the Han Army. All the Kushan warriors were gathered in one place, and the entire surprise attack came to an end.

From start to finish, it didn’t even take half an hour.

“My Lord, there were 7,324 people inside the Kushan camp, and they are all here. The troops on the outer perimeter have returned to the camp. Not a single person escaped.”

When Li Ji returned with the surrender report to stand before Mo Xiaobai, Mo Xiaobai was excitedly watching the rows of Dayuan Horses. He waved his hand and spoke directly: “The matter of prisoners is not for us to manage. Leave it to the King of Yarkand in the city and have him send people to guard them. Compared to the defeated Kushan soldiers, these Dayuan Horses are the most important prize. Unfortunately, the expedition to the Western Regions has left these horses looking malnourished. If we want them to recover, it will surely take some time.”

As soon as Mo Xiaobai finished speaking, Li Guang walked over, clasping his fist in salute: “This subordinate has brought back all the horses and treasure seized while outside the city these past days, to be placed under your lordship’s disposal.”

“Leave those items to Ziyang for now. We must discuss whether to continue attacking north or to wait here for the main Kushan army to retreat.”

With the successful removal of the Kushan main force’s thorn outside Wang City of Yarkand, Mo Xiaobai naturally began to plan how to deal with the Kushan Vice-King. He turned his head to look at Li Ji, Guo Jia, and Li Guang standing to one side.

“This subordinate suggests we hold our ground and simply wait for the Kushan people to retreat south on their own, before launching a surprise attack from our position,” Li Guang said. Perhaps he had enough of the tactic of resting while the enemy labored, he didn’t think twice and directly suggested holding the line.

However, after Li Guang finished speaking, neither Guo Jia nor Li Ji expressed their agreement.

“Is it so that Fengxiao and you have different opinions?”

“My Lord, I was just thinking that if General Ban drove the Kushan main force down the road toward us, these fleeing soldiers, seeing Congling within reach, might fight desperately to save their lives.”

Guo Jia spoke with a faint smile, then looked toward the northeast: “But if My Lord can lead the army to charge rapidly toward the northern frontier, the Kushan army just about to retreat in panic may not have such stubborn fighting spirit.”

Compared to Li Guang’s idea of resting while the enemy labored, Guo Jia clearly understood the human heart better.

Trapped beasts fighting back are not frightening. What is frightening is when a trapped beast has already torn a crack in the cage; in such a situation, the beast will try its utmost to break the cage free.

Guo Jia’s meaning was clear: before that crack widens, we must add another iron gate around the perimeter to block them.

As long as the Kushan army sees no hope of escape at all, this group of Kushan people who have already lost so much fighting power will have no choice left but to surrender.

Mo Xiaobai nodded slightly, then looked at Li Ji: “Maogong also agrees with what Fengxiao said?”

“Indeed, this subordinate suggests continuing to attack north.”

Li Ji nodded upon hearing this. As a General Administrator with excellent strategic vision, Li Ji’s grasp of battle opportunities was no less than that of a strategist like Guo Jia.

When one should avoid battle, one must avoid it. But when an attack is needed, one must fight with resolve all the way!

“Then so be it. We have rested for quite a long time already. It is now time to let our Soldiers fight a battle to their heart’s content. Order it out: one hour from now, everyone begins their meal. After this meal, we will all move north to attack the main Kushan force together.”

“This battle must make the entire Kushan army kneel and surrender to the Great Han.”

…

Just as Mo Xiaobai made his decision to attack, far away in the main Kushan camp outside Shule, Vice-King Xie stared at the heads before him, feeling a chill run from his head to his toes.

The most prominent among them was the severed head of his general, Susa.

Even after the Han People had cut it off, its eyes were not closed.

“Vice-King, the Han People must have already guessed our plan to seek aid from Qiuci. They made preparations there, which is why they could kill General Susa.”

“We have no other troops to seek help from now.”

“Whether we fight or retreat, Vice-King, please give the order quickly.”

Inside the great tent, several other Kushan generals saw these severed heads. Although they had not witnessed Susa’s death themselves, they could analyze that the Han People must have had plans for this long ago.

Perhaps, Qiuci had already fallen into the hands of the Great Han at this very moment.

The late realizations of the Kushan generals caused Vice-King Xie a splitting headache. He was holding on desperately right now, waiting for the last hope.

Now, the hope had not appeared, but bad luck had already taken hold.

Fight or retreat?

Though it seemed like two choices, Vice-King Xie had really no choice at all.

“Send the order out: retreat south tonight.”

“Warn the soldiers not to make any noise. Otherwise, under the Han People’s watch, we will not be able to leave.”

Vice-King Xie ordered in a depressed manner, slumping against a wooden stool nearby.

Once this battle ended, even if he survived and returned to Kushan, his lofty position there would surely be severely threatened.

His position as Vice-King, second only to the King of Kushan, might very well become insecure.

In contrast to the middle-aged Vice-King Xie, who was still worrying about losing his throne, almost every one of the tens of thousands of Kushan soldiers in the camp who heard the order to retreat wore expressions of joy and relief.

They could finally go home!

By gritting their teeth and holding out for a little longer, they could avoid the terrible fate of starving to death in the Western Regions.

Thinking that they would soon return to Congling and back to their own homeland, these soldiers suddenly regained much of their spirit. They quietly prepared their gear one by one, waiting only for nightfall.

Two hours passed in a flash, and the sky over the Western Regions soon turned dark.

Obviously, the tens of thousands of Kushan troops and horses could not all retreat at once. Vice-King Xie led his generals to organize the troops, sending batches of Kushan soldiers out to the Rear Camp to the south.

After one hour, as many as twenty thousand troops had successfully left. However, the Kushan soldiers still guarding the front camp began to turn pale one after another.

The earth trembled, and dust rose in great clouds.

The Han People had launched an attack!

“Hurry, quickly report to the Vice-King!”

“The Han People are coming!”

“The Han People are attacking! The Han People are attacking!”

“Run fast!”

“Everyone run! The Han People are coming to kill us!”

The Kushan soldiers, who had already lost their fighting spirit, immediately made the same choice upon hearing the news of the Han Army’s arrival.

Abandon their positions, lead their horses, and flee south immediately.

As for the Vice-King’s military orders, who cared about those now?

Only by escaping could they avoid being killed by the Han People.