Chapter 397

"You several go scout ahead, return quickly!"

The deputy general loudly issued the order.

After giving the order, he spoke to Hou Yuan again: "General, have the imperial troops left?"

"How is that possible? They only arrived a few days ago; would they voluntarily retreat?" Hou Yuan said.

181. Vanguard

"But we have walked for so long and seen no traces of a great army passing. If the imperial troops truly intended to block our path, they should have built defensive works here," the deputy general said.

"What you say has merit." Hou Yuan nodded: "Let us wait for the scouts ahead to return before deciding."

Although he was merely an ordinary general, his fame and ability far inferior to Meng Tian, Wang Li, and others, he still possessed some capability.

If the imperial troops truly intended to block the road here, they would have to rely on the terrain to build defensive works.

This could delay and stop the enemy's charge.

Without defensive works, the enemy army could charge up quickly, which would be extremely disadvantageous for the defending side.

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

But the problem was that there was nothing there, not even a single person in sight.

Hou Yuan waited a while, and saw a horse from ahead gallop over quickly.

Judging by the rider's clothes, it was indeed the scout sent out just now.

"Report! Enemies found ahead, eleven of them! Our entire squad of over ten men has been captured!" The rider arrived close to Hou Yuan and immediately reported loudly.

"What? Enemies ahead? How many?" Hou Yuan asked immediately.

"This humble one does not know, because as soon as we went over, we were all captured; there was no chance to scout," the scout said.

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

Only then did he notice the scout had said "all captured" twice.

"They let this humble one return; they asked this humble one to bring a message to you, General," the scout said.

"Speak quickly!" Hou Yuan said.

"They said please General do not... do not..." The scout suddenly hesitated as the words reached his lips.

"Speak quickly!" Hou Yuan shouted.

"General, what they said is disrespectful to you, therefore this humble one dares not say it," the scout said.

"I order you not to change a single word; tell me everything they said!" Hou Yuan roared.

"General, if he tells you, then tell; you are merely delivering a message; the General will not blame you," the deputy general said from the side.

"Yes!" The scout said: "They said please General do not be unpractical; it is not worth losing your life to be a lackey for the nobles. Not only will your life be gone, but you will also be mocked by others; in the future, when your hometown people speak of you over tea and after meals, they will all say General Hou is both stupid and foolish."

"I am both stupid and foolish? I am furious!" Hou Yuan flew into a rage: "Furthermore, this General takes obeying orders as his duty; where does the talk of being a lackey for nobles come from?"

"But..." The scout hesitated again.

"If you want to say something, say it quickly!" Hou Yuan shouted loudly.

"General, the following sentence is spoken by this humble one; this humble one believes we should obey the Emperor," the scout said, summoning his courage.

"What kind of Emperor is Ying Su? He obtained his position improperly! Why should I obey his orders?" Hou Yuan roared.

"But whether it is the New Emperor or the First Emperor, neither wishes for us to go to war with Great Qin!" the scout said.

"You..." Hou Yuan was about to fly into a rage, but suddenly felt the scout was not wrong.

During the attack on Outside Xianyanggong, he had already seen the First Emperor's attitude.

Although Wei Pao and others said the First Emperor was coerced, Hou Yuan believed otherwise!

He believed the First Emperor did not wish for internal chaos to occur in Great Qin.

Besides, the New Emperor is the First Emperor's own son; that is one family.

Moreover, the First Emperor is the Retired Emperor, holding a very high status in the palace!

"General, he is right; we should obey the Emperor's orders. Now, whether it is the New Emperor or the First Emperor, neither wishes for us to kill each other; this can be seen from the last attack on Outside Xianyanggong."

"At that time, if they had pursued while victorious, many, many of us would have died, but they did not do so."

The deputy general said from the side.

Hou Yuan took a deep breath.

He was now extremely hesitant!

"General, they also said they have prepared a large number of cannons that can easily annihilate us!"

"The reason they did not do so is because they know we were forced."

The scout spoke again.

"The soldiers we bring are all conscripted farmers who have not undergone regular training; their purpose in sending us here is to die, to act as scouts," the deputy general said.

"They also said they will fire cannons at our rear shortly; if the cannons fire three times and we still do not surrender, the next shells will be fired at us!" the scout said.

"General, we are surrendering to the First Emperor; there is no shame in that; please make a decision quickly!" the deputy general urged.

Just then, a sharp sound rang out.

Immediately after, a loud boom echoed from the rear of the formation.

In a short while, a messenger ran over quickly: "General, a shell landed one hundred meters behind us; there are currently no casualties!"

"Shells, Li Yuanba, First Emperor..."

Hou Yuan sighed: "Issue my order to raise Bai Qi and surrender to the First Emperor!"

At this point, he had also figured it out.

Mixing with that group of nobles brings no benefit!

Before the army of Great Qin, they have absolutely no possibility of victory.

If death comes then so be it; the problem is that our reputation would also be lost.

Just as those people said, when the time came, anyone who knew him and spoke of him would slap a label of rebellion on his head.

When the second cannon boom sounded, Hou Yuan's troops had already appeared before the imperial soldiers, holding up white flags.

"Criminal subject Hou Yuan begs the Emperor for surrender!"

Hou Yuan dismounted, knelt on the ground, and shouted loudly.

He had originally meant to say he was surrendering to Shi Huang.

But that would have been tantamount to publicly refusing to recognize the new Emperor.

To avoid trouble, he ultimately changed his words to surrendering to the Emperor.

In his heart, he thought: After all, the Emperor in my heart is Ying Zheng; I am surrendering to Ying Zheng.

As for you hearing it as surrendering to Ying Su, that is your problem!

"General Hou, please rise quickly!"

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

"I am a person bearing guilt; how could I have General Li Xin come to see me?" Hou Yuan said.

"General, there is no need for such courtesy," the young officer said.

Hou Yuan directed his men to the designated location.

Everyone's weapons were confiscated and then placed under the guard of special personnel.

In a short while, Li Xin arrived at the front lines with his attendants.

Hou Yuan was also brought before Li Xin.

"General Li, criminal Hou Yuan awaits the General's judgment!" Hou Yuan bowed immediately upon seeing Li Xin.

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

"General, I am not qualified to sit," Hou Yuan quickly said.

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

"Where is my merit? I am a criminal," Hou Yuan said.

"I ask you, are the vast majority of the soldiers you led farmers?" Li Xin said.

"Yes, they underwent no training; their combat capability is extremely limited," Hou Yuan said.

"These people should not have been on the battlefield in the first place; I believe they did not wish to oppose the Emperor."

"By leading them to surrender, you preserved their lives."

"One could say you saved the lives of twenty thousand Great Qin commoners, and the twenty thousand families behind them!"

"This is a great merit!"

Li Xin said.