Chapter 111

This was still with Yu Jin not using his full strength; otherwise, Wang Fang would not have been able to withstand even a single move from him.

These thoughts occurred to both men in an instant. After turning their horses around, they quickly clashed again.

Yu Jin held back a little of his strength, and after ten moves of combat, he beheaded him with a single strike.

"Good!"

Seeing Yu Jin's victory, Cao Cao could not help but shout loudly.

"Mighty! Mighty!"

The army behind him also joined in, cheering for Yu Jin.

Unlike the high morale on Cao Cao's side, the soldiers who had followed Wang Fang out were now filled with fear.

"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

Yu Jin was seen beheading Wang Fang, hoisting the head on his long blade, and shouting loudly at the soldiers of Heguang City.

At this moment, Cao Cao also led his army toward the foot of the city. Seeing this scene, the soldiers of Heguang City were terrified to the point of losing their wits.

Many of the timid ones could not withstand the fear in their hearts; they threw down their weapons, knelt on the ground in terror, and kept shouting:

"Don't kill me, I am willing to surrender!"

Seeing that some had already begun to surrender, the soldiers who were still watching looked at Cao Cao's army, which was approaching rapidly, and immediately stopped hesitating, all choosing to surrender.

By the time Cao Cao arrived, all one thousand of them had surrendered.

Cao Cao waved his hand at the men behind him, and immediately a large number of soldiers stepped forward to surround them, taking their weapons in the process.

"I congratulate you on choosing to surrender. Otherwise, those who dare to oppose the imperial court and oppose His Majesty will only face death!"

After all their weapons had been collected, Cao Cao stepped forward and scolded them loudly.

"We are willing to surrender to His Majesty, we beg the General to deal with us leniently!"

Upon hearing this, the thousand soldiers of Wang Fang shouted respectfully at Cao Cao.

Seeing that everyone was so sensible, Cao Cao stopped trying to scare them. He nodded at them with satisfaction and finally warned them:

"All of you, go down first. Don't think about causing trouble, otherwise, my sword will show no mercy!"

Upon hearing this, the group responded in panic: "We dare not, please rest assured, General, we will absolutely not cause trouble!"

"Take them all away and guard them well. If anyone dares to cause trouble, kill them without mercy!"

Cao Cao waved his hand at the soldiers surrounding them and said coldly.

Immediately, these Han soldiers led the group away.

Seeing that these matters were handled, Cao Cao shouted again to the people on the city walls:

"Listen up, everyone in the city! Now that your commander Wang Fang is dead, if you don't surrender now, when will you?"

"As long as you open the gates and surrender, I promise you that I will absolutely not harm you."

"We are all subjects of the Great Han, and you were only acting under orders. As long as you open the gates and surrender, all past grievances will be wiped clean."

Cao Cao's voice was very loud, and most of the soldiers in the city heard it. At this moment, they all looked somewhat panicked.

"What should we do? Now even General Wang has been beheaded. Should we just surrender?"

At this time, a timid person could not help but speak cautiously to the others.

Upon hearing this, many people's faces showed signs of being moved; this idea was good, and it coincided with their own thoughts.

"General of the Left, you are our commander now. Do you think we should surrender?"

At this moment, someone looked at Wang Fang's deputy, Zuo Ling, and asked him.

Zuo Ling was originally one of Dong Zhuo's colonels. After Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, he left him in Longxi Commandery to assist Li Meng and the others.

After Liu Bian sent troops to Liangzhou, Li Meng transferred Wang Fang and Zuo Ling to Heguang City.

This was to prevent Han Sui of Jincheng Commandery in the north from defecting to Liu Bian and attacking Longxi Commandery.

What they did not expect was that Han Sui did not defect to Liu Bian, but instead opposed him.

Earlier, they had hoped that both sides could cooperate and help each other.

Unexpectedly, by the time they found out, Han Sui had already been killed by Ma Teng and the others.

At the same time, Liu Bian had also dispatched Cao Cao's army to fight them, and Jincheng had also been occupied by Ma Teng.

Li Meng had not transferred Wang Fang and Zuo Ling, fearing that Ma Teng would change direction and attack them.

Zuo Ling was only a third-rate martial general, but in Dong Zhuo's Xiliang Army, he was considered a figure of some standing.

As Wang Fang's deputy, with Wang Fang now dead, he naturally became the highest-ranking person in Heguang City. If these soldiers wanted to surrender, they needed his consent.

At this moment, Zuo Ling saw everyone's eyes fixed on him. His body trembled, and he stepped forward, saying to everyone with a solemn expression:

"Actually, to be honest with you all, I have long had the intention of submitting to the imperial court. It is just that General Wang Fang did not agree; he was the closest to General Li Meng."

"General Li Meng was killed by the imperial court, and he swore to avenge him, so I could not persuade him otherwise."

"Now that General Wang Fang is dead, and we are all troops of the Great Han Empire, there is no need to oppose His Majesty."

Zuo Ling was looking at everyone with sincerity, expressing his thoughts to them.

He had never been very close to Li Meng or Wang Fang, so there was no need to throw away his own life for them.

From the very beginning, he had not been optimistic about Li Meng and the others, feeling that opposing Liu Bian, the orthodox ruler of the Han, would surely lead to failure.

He had not expected that in just over ten days, they would be defeated by Cao Cao's twenty-thousand-strong army.

Moreover, the opponent had not suffered many losses. Just standing on the city wall and looking at Cao Cao's twenty-thousand-strong army surging with momentum below made one feel somewhat desperate.

He did not know where Wang Fang found the courage to leave the city to fight; on this point, he still admired Wang Fang.

However, the soldiers below, hearing that Zuo Ling also agreed to surrender, all cheered.

They shouted excitedly at Zuo Ling: "General is wise..."

To be honest, they were really afraid that Zuo Ling would disagree, in which case they would have had no choice but to tie him up and hand him over to Cao Cao.

After all, they would not throw away their lives for Zuo Ling for nothing.

And in such a situation, resisting the imperial army would also label them as rebels after death.

At that time, they would have no face to face their ancestors in the underworld.

"Since we all agree to surrender, let's quickly open the city gates and welcome the imperial army into the city!"

Seeing that everyone agreed to surrender, Zuo Ling did not hesitate and immediately urged everyone.

Since they had decided, they had to act quickly; Cao Cao and his men outside would not give them too much time.

If the other side grew impatient and ordered a forced assault on the city, they would be too wronged.

"General Zuo is absolutely right. Let's quickly open the city gates and welcome the imperial army into the city!"

After speaking, everyone ran quickly from the city tower toward the city gates.