Chapter 330

"You guys, go to the front to scout the road; go quickly and return quickly!"

The deputy general shouted the order.

After giving the order, he said to Hou Yuan: "General, have the government troops left?"

"How is that possible? They just came a few days ago; would they take the initiative to retreat?" Hou Yuan said.

181. Vanguard Troops

"But we have walked for so long, and we haven't seen any traces of a great army passing by. If the government troops really wanted to block our way, they should have built defensive works here." The deputy general said.

"What you said makes sense." Hou Yuan nodded: "Let's wait for the scouts at the front to return."

Although he was just an ordinary general, his fame and ability were far inferior to Meng Tian, Wang Li, and others, but he still had some ability.

If the government troops really wanted to block the road here, they would have to rely on the terrain to build defensive works.

This could delay and prevent the enemy’s charge.

If there were no defensive works, the enemy’s army could charge up quickly, which was extremely disadvantageous for the defending side.

They had passed a relatively narrow road before, which was very suitable for building defensive works.

But the problem was that there was nothing there, not even a shadow of a person.

Hou Yuan waited for a while, and then a horse ran over quickly from the front.

Judging by the rider’s clothes, it was exactly the scout sent out just now.

"Report, enemies discovered at the front; our squad of ten or so people were all captured!" The rider came to Hou Yuan and immediately reported loudly.

"What? Enemies at the front? How many people?" Hou Yuan asked immediately.

"This commoner doesn't know, because as soon as we went over, we were all captured; there was no chance to scout at all." The scout said.

"All captured? Then how did you come back?" Hou Yuan frowned.

He only noticed at this time that the scout had said "all captured" twice.

"They let this commoner come back; they asked me to bring a message to you, General." The scout said.

"Speak quickly!" Hou Yuan said.

"They said please, General, don't... don't..." The scout’s words reached his lips and he suddenly hesitated.

"Speak quickly!" Hou Yuan shouted.

"General, the words they said were disrespectful to you, so this commoner didn't dare to say them." The scout said.

"I want you not to change a single word; tell me everything they said!" Hou Yuan was furious.

"If the General tells you to speak, then speak; you are just passing on a message, the General won't blame you." The deputy general said from the side.

"Yes!" The scout said: "They said please, General, don't be ignorant of current affairs, and don't lose your life for being a lackey for the nobles; it’s not worth it. Not only will your life be gone, but you will also be ridiculed by others; in the future, when people in your hometown talk about you after tea and dinner, they will all say General Hou was stupid and clumsy."

"I am stupid and clumsy? I am so angry!" Hou Yuan was furious: "Also, this General takes obeying orders as his duty; where does the talk of being a lackey for the nobles come from?"

"But..." The scout hesitated again.

"Say whatever you want to say!" Hou Yuan shouted.

"General, the sentence below is what this commoner thinks; this commoner believes we should listen to the Emperor." The scout said with courage.

"What kind of Emperor is Ying Su? He obtained the throne improperly! Why should I listen to his orders?" Hou Yuan was furious.

"But whether it is the new Emperor or the First Emperor, neither of them hopes that we will go to war with Great Qin!" The scout said.

"You..." Hou Yuan was about to get angry, but suddenly felt that what the scout said was not wrong.

When attacking the Xianyang Palace, he had already seen the First Emperor’s attitude.

Although Wei Pao and the others said the First Emperor was coerced, Hou Yuan believed he wasn't!

He believed the First Emperor did not hope for internal chaos in Great Qin.

Besides, the new Emperor was the First Emperor’s biological son; that was one family.

And the First Emperor was the Retired Emperor, and his status in the palace was very high!

"General, what he said is right; we should listen to the Emperor’s orders. Now, whether it is the new Emperor or the First Emperor, neither of them hopes that we will kill each other; this could be seen from the last attack on the Xianyang Palace."

"At that time, if they had taken advantage of the victory to pursue, we would have died many, many people, but they didn't do that."

The deputy general said from the side.

Hou Yuan took a deep breath.

He was very hesitant now!

"General, they also said they have prepared a large number of cannons and can easily wipe us out!"

"The reason they didn't do that is because they know we were forced."

The scout spoke again.

"The soldiers we brought are all peasants who were forcibly conscripted and have not received formal training; the purpose of them sending us here is to die, to scout the road." The deputy general said.

"They also said they will fire cannons at our rear later; if the cannons sound three times and we still don't surrender, the next cannonballs will be aimed at us!" The scout said.

"General, we are surrendering to the First Emperor; there is nothing shameful about this; please make a decision quickly!" The deputy general urged.

Just then, a sharp sound rang out.

Then, a loud bang sounded from the rear of the team.

After a while, a messenger ran over quickly: "General, a cannonball landed a hundred meters behind us; no casualties for now!"

"Cannonballs, Li Li Yuanba, First Emperor..."

Hou Yuan sighed: "Pass my order to raise the white flag and surrender to the First Emperor!"

Things had reached this point, and he had figured it out.

There was no benefit in mixing with that bunch of nobles!

In front of Great Qin’s army, they had no possibility of winning at all.

Dying would be one thing, but the problem was that their reputation would be gone too.

Just as those people said, when people they knew talked about him in the future, they would all put a label of rebellion on him.

When the second cannon sounded, Hou Yuan’s troops had already appeared in front of the government troops holding white flags.

"The guilty minister Hou Yuan requests to surrender to the Emperor!"

Hou Yuan got off his horse, knelt on the ground, and said loudly.

He originally wanted to say he requested to surrender to the First Emperor.

But that would be equivalent to publicly not recognizing the new Emperor.

To avoid trouble, he finally changed it to requesting to surrender to the Emperor.

He was thinking in his heart, anyway, the Emperor in my heart is Ying Zheng; I am requesting to surrender to Ying Zheng.

As for you hearing it as requesting to surrender to Ying Su, that is your business!

"General Hou, please get up quickly!"

A young general walked to Hou Yuan: "Please lead your troops to rest on the left; General Li Xin will come to see you later."

"I am a person with crimes; how can I let General Li Xin see me?" Hou Yuan said.

"General, don't be so polite." The young general said.

Hou Yuan commanded his troops to arrive at the designated location.

All their weapons were confiscated and then looked after by special personnel.

After a while, Li Xin brought his attendants to the front line.

And Hou Yuan was also brought before Li Xin.

"General Li, the guilty person Hou Yuan awaits your disposal!" Hou Yuan bowed immediately after seeing Li Xin.

"Someone, bring a chair for General Hou." Li Xin said.

"General, I don't have the qualifications to sit." Hou Yuan said hurriedly.

"You have merit; why can't you sit? Come, sit down." Li Xin said.

"I don't have any merit; I am a guilty person." Hou Yuan said.

"Let me ask you, the vast majority of the soldiers you brought are peasants, right?" Li Xin said.

"Yes, they haven't received any training, and their combat effectiveness is very limited." Hou Yuan said.

"These people shouldn't be on the battlefield in the first place, and I believe they don't want to oppose the Emperor either."

"You led them to surrender and saved their lives."

"It can be said that you saved the lives of twenty thousand Great Qin subjects, as well as the twenty thousand families behind them!"

"This is a great merit!"

Li Xin said.