Chapter 184: Urging Surrender

Standing on the eastern wall of Tongyang, Heifu observed the Chu force outside. Several war chariots had already reached the city and were circling Tongyang on reconnaissance, while a few mounted scouts galloped back to report the military situation.

A li away in the distance, the banners of the main Chu army were vivid and distinct as they crossed the stream east of Tongyang. Against the rising sun, Heifu roughly estimated their numbers.

"The Chu army must be over two thousand strong — three times our own force."

Seeing that the Chu numbers had not reached the terrifying scale of tens of thousands, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Zhai Chong laughed and said, "In that case, even if the Chu men attack, we need not fear. This town's perimeter is barely one li, yet we have over seven hundred men. I just made an inspection round — after a night's rest, the soldiers are full of vigor, more than enough to hold off a Chu assault."

At their side, Cheng Shang of Qin Mo, who had climbed the wall with them to observe the enemy, also put in a word: "Centurion Heifu, I have studied the arts of city defense and can assist the Centurion in repelling the foe."

Heifu, however, shook his head. "This is not a question of whether we can hold. Once the enemy realizes it will be hard to take by storm, they can simply halt and wait, keeping us pinned down. Look — the Chu men are coming from the east, which means Qin Qiu has already fallen. We may be able to withstand an attack, but if we become bogged down here in Tongyang, we will face more and more Chu reinforcements, while we remain isolated and without aid."

"Therefore, the first thing we must consider now is not how to hold Tongyang, but how to break free cleanly. We must leave this place within the day; otherwise, the situation will only worsen."

Xu Yang offered an idea: "The enemy has only sent chariots and cavalry to the city walls; the bulk of their force is still crossing Tong Stream and will need a quarter-hour to reach the walls. Why not order everyone to open the west gate and leave the city at once?"

"We wouldn't get far."

Tu Si shook his head worriedly. "Centurion Xu, look — this Chu force has brought at least thirty chariots and nearly a hundred mounted riders. We, on the other hand, have already sent out every horse that could run to deliver messages, and our only remaining chariot is carrying Commandant Li. If we are entangled halfway, we will have no way to break free."

Just then, a Chu chariot soldier halted several dozen paces beyond the wall in the distance. The chariot-right raised a long chieftain's spear high and shouted provocations at the town, his mouth full of vile abuse.

"The Jing fellows have some nerve!"

Zhai Chong flew into a rage. He snatched a horn bow from a nearby soldier, took aim at that armored chariot warrior, and loosed an arrow! True to his origins among the White Di of Shang Commandery, he was an excellent shot. Pity the distance was too great — the arrow landed several paces short of the chariot.

At the sight, the three men on the chariot grew even more insolent. Their jeers carried from afar — all about Qin men having no guts, defeated generals, and the like.

Zhai Chong put away his horn bow and said through gritted teeth, "The Chu men are so arrogant! Shall we charge out and fight them to the death?"

At the defeat at Xiang City, they had been struck from front and rear by multiple Chu columns, with arsonists from Chen Ying thrown in as well. The loss had been baffling, and they felt rather unwilling to accept it. After a night's rest, both morale and energy had somewhat recovered, and the will to fight had returned — after all, they were all relatively elite close-combat personal guards.

"I was just thinking the same."

Heifu nodded. "The art of war says: when our army has crossed the border and is encamped on enemy soil, and the enemy arrives in great force, surrounding us on many sides, and we wish to break out but all paths are blocked — at such a moment, to defend is death, to flee is death. Better to rouse the troops and fight a decisive battle! After defeating this Chu force, we seize their chariots, horses, banners, and armor. Only thus can we withdraw west in good order."

Yet they would be fighting outnumbered against a Chu army fresh from victory and riding high in morale — the outcome was hard to predict. Even if they succeeded in defeating the enemy, their own losses would inevitably be heavy, at least half cut down...

In the interval while they spoke, that Chu force had already reached the walls and deployed into formation. From the look of it, an experienced military officer was directing them methodically.

Next, two war chariots drove straight toward the wall. After the chariots halted, a man dressed as a Qin army officer, under the threat of the dagger-axes and spears behind him, approached the town and shouted loudly:

"I am Liao Ping, the Five-Hundred-Leader ordered by General Li to garrison Qin Qiu. Qin Qiu has now surrendered to Chu. By the mercy of Lord Hu and Lord Qin, all officers and soldiers alike have been spared. Centurion Tu, you need not resist — it would be best to surrender quickly!"

"It really is Liao Ping, who was garrisoning Qin Qiu."

Tu Si spat and cursed, "I've always felt that man, for all his years, is greedy for life and afraid of death. Sure enough, he has surrendered to Chu. Not only has he made himself a 'military traitor,' he has dragged hundreds of soldiers down with him. Pity their parents, brothers, wives, and children — all will be collectively punished and reduced to bondservants."

Under Qin military law, the worst offense was not losing a battle or yielding territory, but surrender.

In Nan Commandery it was somewhat better, but in Guanzhong, steeped in Qin law for over a hundred years, when a father sent off a son, an elder brother a younger brother, or a wife her husband to war, they would all admonish him: "If you break the law and defy orders, should you die, so shall I die — such is the village's governance." The unspoken meaning was: even for the sake of your family, you must obey military orders, fight with all your strength, and never, ever become a deserter, let alone surrender...

Thus, to avoid implicating their families, many Qin soldiers would rather die in battle than surrender.

For Heifu it was the same. Surrender was his worst option. What was more, he knew the grand trend — that Chu was doomed to perish. Surrendering might buy a moment's reprieve, but a few years later, when Chu collapsed in ruin, he would face judgment under Qin law and become a bondservant building the Great Wall for the First Emperor?

Everyone on the wall shared this attitude. That Five-Hundred-Leader had handed over Qin Qiu — this was probably why the Chu men had come so quickly. Had he resisted for even an hour or two, they would already have gotten away safely by now.

Such hypotheticals were pointless, but as he watched the Five-Hundred-Leader waste his breath urging surrender, an idea occurred to Heifu.

"Does the enemy not know there are now more than a hundred men in the town?"

Unfortunately, the Five-Hundred-Leader then went on to tell Tu Si that he should also persuade the Five-Hundred-Leader who had entered the city the night before to surrender together.

"It seems the enemy commander already knows. The Chu scouts observing from a distance must have spotted us entering the city yesterday."

Still, the Chu scouts had only known that several hundred men entered the town and assumed it was a company commander or a Five-Hundred-Leader. They had never imagined that a big fish like Li You was inside the city.

Heifu felt a little deflated. He had been thinking that if the enemy did not know the true strength inside the city, he could stage an "Empty City Ruse," luring the Chu men in to take over the town and then launching a sudden attack. It seemed he would have to make other plans.

At that moment, Zhai Chong began drawing his bow again, intending to put an arrow into that traitor Liao Ping.

Heifu hurriedly reached out and stopped Zhai Chong. He said to the others, "My mind is made up. We will soon assemble everyone in the city and march out to strike the enemy! But before that, perhaps we can turn their own scheme against them — make the Chu men lower their guard and give us a little more chance of victory..."

Xu Yang frowned. "How do we turn their scheme against them?"

Heifu, however, was unwilling to explain just yet. "This stratagem requires Commandant Li's approval, and it must be carried out by someone of great wisdom and great courage before it has any chance of success!"

Earlier, when the Chu men had sent chariots and cavalry to reconnoiter, Heifu had already moved away from the battlements so that those outside could not see his face. Now he said to Tu Si:

"Centurion Tu, keep holding this position and reply to that military traitor — tell him we will send someone out to parley shortly!"

"General Dou, General Sun, the men inside the city say they will send someone to parley shortly."

"It is good that the city has intentions to surrender."

Lord Qin, Sun Feng, breathed a sigh of relief. Not having to fight again was a good thing. Although the Chu army had defeated the Qin in the final decisive battle, Sun Feng still remembered the scene of Li Xin's great army crushing the Chu men outside Qin Qiu like dry twigs.

All he wanted now was to finish his task quickly and return to his fief to repair the walls and houses damaged during the war.

"It seems the Qin men really have been cowed by General Xiang Yan. This is already the third batch of garrison troops willing to surrender."

Lord Hu, Dou Ran, sat on his war chariot. Upon receiving the reply from the surrendered Qin officer, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

As a descendant of the Ruo'ao clan who had migrated east, Dou Ran's family had not lived comfortably these past few decades. The best lands in Huainan and Huaibei had all been taken by the Qu, Jing, and Zhao clans, and recently the Xiang clan had risen to prominence, elbowing its way into the court. The Dou clan, by contrast, had been reduced to second-rate nobility alongside the Sun clan, scraping by in Hu County.

But even that was not bad. If the Qin army destroyed Chu, the Dou and Sun clans would lose even their last holdings.

Fortunately, when the Qin army pressed down with overwhelming force, the Chu people, facing the peril of national extinction, had united as they rarely did. The nobles also gave their utmost, sending their finest soldiers to serve under Xiang Yan's command, and with the resolve of an army in grief, they defeated the invincible Li Xin and spared Chu the fate of annihilation.

After the decisive battle at Xiang City, Dou Ran, who had led troops north from Hu County as reinforcements, was only halfway there when he received new orders: retake the towns that Li Xin had previously captured.

Dou Ran thus led his army westward. With the help of the local Chu people, he smoothly besieged Qin Qiu.

The Five-Hundred-Leader garrisoning Qin Qiu found himself facing not only over a thousand Chu soldiers but also Chu civilians inside the city ready to rise up at any moment, and wisely chose to surrender.

Sun Feng was thus freed from captivity and restored to his title as Lord Qin. The two of them then combined their forces and continued westward with two thousand men. Their ultimate objective was to follow the route Li Xin had taken on his way in and link up with the main army besieging Pingyu.

Although the Qin men inside Tongyang City had shown a willingness to surrender, Dou Ran did not let down his guard. He had his men arrayed in formation and also set up his own command tent. The Chu nobility were very particular about ritual protocol — it would be needed when accepting the surrender shortly.

Once the command tent was erected, a Chu soldier came to report that the envoy sent from the city to parley had arrived.

"Bring him in."

Dou Ran sat in the center of the great tent, with Sun Feng seated beside him. The surrendered Qin Five-Hundred-Leader, Liao Ping, was also seated in attendance below.

Outside the tent stood two rows of Chu soldiers in red leather armor, each holding a halberd in both hands, the halberds crossed in pairs. By now the sunlight had poked its head through the layered clouds, shining upon the blades with a glittering, dazzling glare that lit the path ahead. A dozen or so Chu soldiers turned their heads in unison to stare at the man coming from the city, their round, wide eyes brimming with murderous intent!

The visitor was a dark-faced man, seven and a half chi tall, his hair tied in a right-side topknot wrapped with a red cloth — by the look of him, he was likely a Shangzao. He stared at the path ahead where two halberds crossed, hesitated a moment, then bent low and ducked his head as he slowly advanced, though the trembling of his legs could not be concealed.

"Looks like a coward." Douran and Sun Feng exchanged a glance, their hearts filling with contempt.

Once inside the tent, that Qin man immediately saluted Douran and Sun Feng and, in the thick Jing-Chu dialect of Nan Commandery, said: "This humble one is called Zhong, a Village Chief sent by the Five-Hundred-Man Commander in the city to discuss surrender terms. I pay my respects to you, Generals!"

(End of Chapter)