Chapter 298: The Turncoat Soldiers

"Your Highness, the Xiliang soldiers are retreating!"

On the ramparts of Feihu Pass, Chang Wei pointed toward the direction of the Xiliang camp.

Standing on the city wall, one could have a panoramic view of the situation in the mountain pass through a telescope.

However, if one were inside the mountain pass, due to the narrow field of vision, it would be impossible to see the Xiliang movements at all.

Therefore, the Wangfu Army generals in the mountain pass still had no awareness of it.

Zhao Xu picked up the telescope and looked in the direction Chang Wei was pointing.

The Xiliang camp was bustling with activity, with a large number of soldiers leading horses and camels heading west.

At the front of the camp, only three or four thousand Xiliang soldiers were holding their ground.

It seemed they were buying time for the Xiliang soldiers in the camp to retreat.

"Let them retreat," Zhao Xu said.

He had delegated the command of the battle to Chang Wei, but that did not mean he was going to be a hands-off manager from then on.

It was just a matter of letting the generals fight the battle.

Important decisions still had to be made by him.

Chang Wei instinctively wanted to order the soldiers in the mountain pass to launch a full-scale attack.

But upon looking closer, he discovered that the Xiliang soldiers were retreating in an orderly fashion.

Clearly, they were prepared to be pursued; once they were pursued, they could adjust their formation at any time.

And the Prince's Personal Army would not gain much of an advantage.

Thinking of this, he did not oppose Yan Wang's opinion, but instead nodded.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The artillery fire continued.

Half an hour passed, and the main body of the Xiliang soldiers had retreated more than ten li.

The Xiliang soldiers responsible for the rearguard suffered constant casualties under the artillery bombardment, and their defense appeared very chaotic and disorganized.

At this moment, Chang Wei said something to the flag signaler beside him.

The flag signaler immediately signaled an order: "Charge!"

A moment later,

A burst of battle cries erupted from the mountain pass.

The Prince's Army charged toward the Xiliang soldiers in the camp.

At this time, the Xiliang soldiers were still in the terror of being bombarded by artillery.

Looking up and seeing the Wangfu Army soldiers charging over, they fled in defeat one after another.

Their purpose was to act as the rearguard, and knowing there were no reinforcements, having held on for so long, their morale had dropped to the extreme.

The Xiliang soldiers on the wooden platform fired a few stone bullets with their firearms, then turned and ran.

Some Xiliang soldiers even knelt on the ground and chose to surrender.

In less than half an hour, the Wangfu Army soldiers had occupied the Xiliang camp.

Seeing this, Zhao Xu and Chang Wei came down from the city wall and rode toward the camp.

"Your Highness, look!" As soon as Zhao Xu arrived at the camp, Wei Qun angrily dragged a Xiliang soldier before him like a chick.

He kicked him to his knees with another leg.

Chang Wei followed by Zhao Xu's side, and his first reaction was to examine the soldier's face.

After seeing the tattooed characters on it, he frowned.

"Your Highness, these soldiers are not Xiliang people, but Song People living within Xiliang territory," Chang Wei said to Zhao Xu.

Wei Qun said fiercely, "In the past, when fighting against Xiliang, the Imperial Army would always fight them first, and only then would they encounter the real Xiliang soldiers. By that time, the Imperial Army was basically exhausted, so they often lost. When fighting against the Imperial Army, they were truly hardworking!"

Seeming to recall the unspeakable past, Wei Qun kicked the Xiliang soldier again.

"The Xiliang people even gave this army composed of Song People within their territory a name, called 'Turncoat Soldiers'," Chang Wei said. "However, when the war is favorable to Xiliang, they are indeed fierce, but when it is unfavorable to Xiliang, they surrender quickly. It seems this army the Xiliang people left behind for the rearguard is the Turncoat Soldiers army."

Zhao Xu got off his horse and specifically looked at the tattooed characters on the Xiliang soldier's face.

Seeing Zhao Xu's gaze, the Xiliang soldier lowered his head.

At Yanguan, he had witnessed the slave soldiers of the Northern Di.

These soldiers were composed of Song People from the former Ningjin Dusi.

Although their combat power was not as good as the Northern Di, in battle they could still consume a large amount of the side's physical strength as well as defensive resources like arrows and stones.

Now they had encountered such an army once again.

"You dog who forgets his ancestors, fighting against us Song People alongside the Xiliang people, do you know what propriety, justice, integrity, and shame are?" Wei Qun cursed angrily.

His younger brother had been killed on the battlefield by the Xiliang's Turncoat Soldiers.

Since then, he had deeply hated these Song People in the Xiliang army.

Hearing Wei Qun's angry scolding, the Xiliang soldier who had originally lowered his head suddenly let out a low, miserable laugh.

Hearing this, Wei Qun was even more furious; he drew his sword and was about to execute the Xiliang soldier.

At this moment, the Xiliang soldier suddenly raised his head and said angrily, "We are risking our lives for Xiliang, but you have no right to blame us. Before Xiliang was founded, Jinzhou and Liangzhou were both Great Song territory, and our ancestors were also upright Song People."

"They also once resisted the Xiliang people, hoping that the Great Song Imperial Court would drive the Xiliang people out. But what have you done for these hundred and fifty years? Not only have you failed to recover the lost land, but now you have even lost Jinzhou. What face do you have to speak?"

Chang Wei and Wei Qun's expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.

This was a scar in their hearts that they were unwilling to uncover.

The Xiliang soldier had now torn this scar open, and they were both pained and annoyed.

Liangzhou, south of Yin Mountain, and the current Ningjin Dusi.

Since the founding of Great Song, these lands were all Great Song territory.

But now, that place is occupied by alien tribes.

And the comrades who once lived there have now become enemies slaughtering each other on the battlefield.

"Nonsense, that is no reason for you to sell your lives for the Xiliang people!" Wei Qun widened his eyes and drew his sword with a "clack."

"Stop!" Zhao Xu shouted.

Chang Wei grabbed Wei Qun's hand, not letting him act recklessly.

"Even ants cling to life, let alone humans. Furthermore, what he said is not without reason. When a country is weak, it is only the common people who suffer. In these chaotic times, they are merely duckweed drifting with the wind; some things are beyond their control," Zhao Xu said indifferently.

Throughout history, wars have always had puppet armies like the 'Turncoat Soldiers'—the 'Traitor' armies.

Not only are they found domestically, but they also exist abroad.

When someone has a gun pointed at their head to force them to fight, not everyone has the courage to resist.

Although Wei Qun was still angry, he understood this logic, and he said: "But even so, should we go soft when we encounter them?"

"Of course not. When it is time to be ruthless, one must still be ruthless," Zhao Xu said.

Chang Wei and Wei Qun were both stunned upon hearing this, not knowing what exactly Yan Wang meant.

Seeing this, Zhao Xu went to the side with them and continued: "In the future, when you capture Turncoat Soldiers armies, accept those willing to defect to Yanzhou. For those unwilling to defect to Yanzhou, give them travel expenses and let them leave on their own. As for the diehards, either kill them or exile them as slaves to the mines to perform hard labor."

"Huh?" Chang Wei and Wei Qun almost doubted their own ears.

Of the three options Yan Wang mentioned, they only agreed with the last one.

Zhao Xu explained patiently, "This is a strategy. These Xiliang Turncoat Soldiers also fall into three different categories: one type is physically in Xiliang but their hearts are with the Great Song, merely forced onto the battlefield; the second type is muddled and simply seeking survival; and the third type are those who, in order to gain the approval of the Xiliang people, have completely forgotten their roots. Such people must naturally be treated harshly."

Upon hearing this, Chang Wei and Wei Qun gradually began to grasp the meaning.

When they were fighting in Xiliang, the Turncoat Soldiers they captured indeed fell into these three categories.

"Therefore, if you treat the first two types of people the same as the third type, you will push the first two types toward Xiliang, and they will naturally fight the Great Song to the death," Zhao Xu continued.

He paused, then pondered: "However, treating the first two types well will shake their resolve. When they fight us again, they will not fight to the death—first, because they have feelings for the Great Song, and second, because they know they will be treated leniently if they surrender."

"As for those who take the travel money and return, they will invisibly become tools for our propaganda, making the Song People living in Xiliang increasingly waver. Conversely, the Xiliang people will surely be very cruel to those who return with travel money. By comparison, this will make the Great Song people in Xiliang miss the Great Song even more and loathe Xiliang."