My Cultivation Starting from Archery

Chapter 311 - 158: Besieged on All Sides [Thanks to "Jia Ling" the Alliance Master]_2

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"Enough talk, if I tell you to hold your ground, then hold it!"

"Hiss—"

"You, you!"

"General, you forced my hand!"

Commander Ma Guocheng plunged his sword into the other’s chest, and several of his men surged forward, hacking the victim into mincemeat from behind.

Then Ma Guocheng raised his long sword high: "Open the city gates, surrender—"

"Boom—"

The stout gates of Changting Prefecture swung open.

Officials of various ranks came out to surrender.

"General Chen!"

"Please have mercy on my men!"

"We are all local garrison troops. After opening the city and surrendering, we will not go through Ghost Gate Canyon, and from now on we are subjects of the Great Sheng Dynasty!"

"..."

The White Horse in its white robe took up residence in Changting.

Having journeyed far, the Xuanjia Army needed a brief respite.

"The twenty-seventh prefecture!"

Xia Cong silently counted in his mind.

On this journey,

he and his comrades such as Xiao Zheng and You Jike watched wide-eyed as every place they passed surrendered at the mere sight of them, without expending a single soldier. From long-neglected small county towns to impregnable prefecture cities, all yielded without a fight.

For the first time, they realized that conquering cities and seizing territories could be as effortless as reaching into a bag to retrieve an item!

A rider in a white robe, atop a white horse.

Countless troops, all surrendered!

What awe-inspiring might!

Xia Cong and his peers were carefully selected from the Capital City, each deemed a genius in his own right, well-versed in Military Books from a young age. Therefore, they each had their own opinions when it came to warfare.

From the start, they could not comprehend the significance of their General’s actions.

The reason they obeyed orders:

On one hand, was due to their impeccable discipline. Different from the corrupt garrison soldiers, as an elite force, adhering strictly to military orders was a top priority. Even if they doubted the commands, they were to carry them out with exacting precision.

On the other hand, General Chen’s awe-inspiring Four Crossings of the Hongze River had captured their patience, prompting them to wait and see what the end would bring.

And the result...

was just like this!

Xia Cong and the others were utterly convinced, almost ready to prostrate themselves like the surrendered Enemy Army.

However, even though they had been close to the General all along, they still couldn’t fully grasp the Magic Skill involved.

In comparison,

people like Lu Shuhua, who had personally experienced the shock of the Four Crossings of the Hongze River, were much less emotionally volatile, not because they weren’t stunned, but because they were almost numb from the sheer awe.

"Aren’t they surrendering a bit too quickly?"

Xie Sishu rode up to ask, "My lord, many places haven’t left many to watch over the surrendered soldiers. Could this make our Foundation unstable?"

"Quick?"

Chen Sansi asked in return.

Not at all quick.

This was the normal course!

First of all, not all soldiers had the Sinking Formation Death Will like his brothers from Po Yang. Most of them defended the cities simply because they had no escape—this was called the desperate resolve of city defenders.

But once Dasheng let the surrendered soldiers flaunt through the streets, this defending resolve would be immediately heavily fractured.

Then, in every place they went, they opened the granaries to distribute food, earning the support of the civilians. Without the civilians’ help, the difficulty of defending a city increased manifold. Not to mention, in some places, the civilians were starving due to excessive conscription of food for the war effort, and as soon as they heard Dasheng soldiers were coming, they would revolt.

Lastly,

many city fortresses housed not only external Camp Soldiers but also many local garrison soldiers, and these two groups were not of one mind.

For the external soldiers, losing the battle bore no consequence; they could even lay down their arms and return home for a festival as if they had never been there.

For the local garrison soldiers, even if the city opened its gates, their families would remain unharmed.

Why fight to the death if the outcome was the same either way?

Sometimes when conflicts arose between the two, one side would foment internal strife.

All these factors combined made surrender the only logical course.

As for Xie Sishu’s concern that surrendering too quickly might lead to instability, it was a groundless fear. Explore stories at NovelBin.Côm

Voluntary surrender and being besieged and forced to surrender were two different situations.

After the city opened its gates,

the defending troops were allowed to leave on their own.

These Array Soldiers, being of low status and plentiful in number, would be exonerated by virtue of their sheer numbers even if they fled back into Qing Country territory; they could not be held accountable.

But what about the Generals who ordered the gates to be opened?

Dare they truly return?

After going back, would Qing Country dare to employ them again?

Knowing that there was no future in returning, and perhaps facing retribution after the war, would these Generals truly go back?

They would not!

Not only would they not go back, but they would also do their utmost to help Dasheng secure control over the cities!

It’s a simple concept: one may explain away a single act of surrender as a reluctant necessity, but no one tolerates a General who betrays twice.

Just like back in Ming State,

Dong An’s Deputy General Li Tiancheng and others were not overtly punished, but who now knew where they were or what their state was?

Not to mention officials like County Magistrate Li from the lower ranks—they would be the most fanatical supporters of the Great Sheng Dynasty!

"Let the entire army rest for the night!"

Chen Sansi gave the order.

Upon entering the city, he rode around under the guise of inspection, his horse Qian Xun taking him hither and yon. Eventually, in a Guanyin Temple dedicated to child-granting, he found several Incense God Sect adherents disguised as monks.

That very night, he stealthily returned and silently slaughtered the cultists, then used the Xuanzhu to extract the Mystical Energy from the incense in the incense burner.

Each time he entered a city, he would conduct this search.

The most abundant thing in Lai State was the child-granting Guanyin Temples, where the incense burned particularly brightly, and the local people said they were highly effective. Women who were unable to conceive would often visit and soon find themselves pregnant.

As for the reason...

Behind the statue of the Bodhisattva, there was a hidden path leading underground, where lay a bed; and every night beside that bed would gather seven or eight burly monks...

The Incense God Sect truly had a plethora of sordid tricks.

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