Chapter 1032: Valiantly Facing Death
Translator:ryangohsff
Editor:Nora
Although he was mostly convinced, Bayan decided to drag the matter on for another day.
The siege on the second day was even more intense, with both sides going all out. Bayan did not bother about the sacrifices, sending up all the surrendered troops to try to use the maximum value of this batch of cannon fodder.
The South Song camp similarly treated it really seriously and struct back resolutely.
As night fell, in the area around Lin’an City, blood flowed like a river and corpses were strewn all over, making one terrified. The South Song camp paid the price of 30 thousand troops today. Not only did they clear out all the castles, but they also wiped out all the surrendered troops.
A ‘sick cat’ that went all out was really dangerous.
Although the goal of Bayan was to clear out the surrendered troops, for all of them to die really stunned Bayan. The strength of the player forces astonished him.
That night, Zhang Hongfan received a second letter from Zhang Shijie.
The contents were simple, and there was only one sentence, “Since your army does not accept our surrender, we can only go all out and live and die together with Lin’an City. See you on the battlefield!”
It seemed like Zhang Shijie had totally given up on surrendering.
When Bayan saw that, he made up his mind. He smiled as he said to Zhang Hongfan, “Now we can discuss with them.”
The next morning, Kublai Khan sent his reply to Bayan to give him the power to make decisions and to discuss with South Song. As a result, Bayan did not need to seek instructions and could decide on his own.
Zhang Hongfan nodded.
“Remember, let South Song send an official with power out to discuss. At most, they can only send 200 men out.” Bayan was still really careful.
“Understood!”
…
16th day of the Battle Map.
The flames of war still flew on this day, and the fighting was really intense.
After replying to Zhang Shijie, Bayan did not stop the fighting to keep it a secret. He only agreed to discuss the surrender at the south outskirts at night.
Morning, a quiet mansion west of the city.
Similarly, to keep it a secret, members of the Grand Council chose this place for their meeting.
Before the meeting began, the atmosphere in the room was really solemn. Since this was a false surrender, based on the request of Bayan, when one went out to discuss, they would run the risk of losing their lives.
The important officials in Bayan’s mind would only be Lu Xiufu, Zhang Shijie, and Wen Tianxiang. Seeing that Wen Tianxiang was now shelved, they were only left with two people.
“I’ll go!” Zhang Shijie said, “I wrote the letter, so naturally, I should go out to negotiate.”
Lu Xiufu shook his head resolutely, “The military depends on you, it’s better if I go.”
Zhang Shijie wanted to say something, but Lu Xiufu did not give him the chance and continued, “Negotiation is also always done by civil servants, so it’s my duty.”
No matter how their abilities were, the way they acted deserved respect.
Lu Xiufu was really calm, and he smiled, “For me to be able to do something for the Imperial Court at my death, I can die with no regrets.”
Such willingness to die made Ouyang Shuo really emotional. He could imagine what Lu Xiufu was thinking about when he carried the young emperor and jumped into the water in history.
Xiong Ba took a look at Ouyang Shuo, and for the first time, he recognized the actions of the latter.
Seeing that Lu Xiufu had made his mind up, everyone collected their feelings and started to confirm the details of the head killing operation.
Ouyang Shuo originally planned to arrange 200 Divine Martial Guards to protect him. However, after thinking about it, they were too eye-catching, and it might spoil the plan.
Whether Lu Xiufu could escape this or not depended on the heavens.
…
Night quickly arrived.
The orange red sun hung at the horizon, and the fresh colors became lighter and lighter. A bunch of eagles continued to circle overhead, giving out ear piercing screeches, making one feel annoyed.
The moment the military order was given, the Mongol army backed down like a flood, leaving tens of thousands of corpses and a broken, dirty battlefield.
Suddenly, the side gate on the south side opened from within.
South Song minister Lu Xiufu exited the city quietly under the accompaniment of 200 South Song Guards. After traveling for a short distance, a group of Mongol cavalry came over. After confirming their identities, they led them forward.
Bayan and his men were waiting on flat ground on the south outskirts.
Seeing that South Song had followed the agreement and only sent 200 guards, Bayan smiled. If he could smoothly persuade South Song to surrender, he would get a lot of credit for it.
After members of both sides greeted one another, they officially entered negotiations.
Everything looked normal, but what they did not know was that the current Lin’an city was largely different.
Based on the plan, on the west side, Lianpo led 50 thousand elite cavalry and gathered at the three gates on the west side. On the east, Zhao Zhuang led 50 thousand cavalry and did the same.
Next was the north side.
Er’Lai led the 30 thousand elite cavalry of the City Protection Legion Corps, along with Feng Qiuhuang’s 30 thousand elite cavalry and quietly gathered toward the south side.
On the south side, Zhang Shijie led the only 20 thousand cavalry of South Song and were ready to go.
For this leader killing operation, the South Song camp was going to send out 180 thousand men, pretty much sending all the cavalry in the city. They had to win and succeed in their sneak attack.
Such a huge military operation naturally alerted the spies hidden within the city. Helplessly, the city was on full alert, so they could not send the intel out of the city.
5:30 AM.
The moment this time was reached, like a gun, the three city gates on the east, west, and south sides opened up at the same time. The 180 thousand elite cavalry charged out of the city from three directions.
The horse hooves rumbled and dust rose up into the air.
The heavens were on their side as the light from dusk shone out eye-catching rays of red light.
On the south, Er’Lai rode on spirit beast Luoshan, leading the City Protection Legion Corps cavalry, he moved at the front of the forces. After exiting the city gates, he did not hesitate and charged right at the negotiation location.
Zhang Shijie followed behind them, forming a fan formation as they closely tailed the vanguard forces.
The cavalry forces on the east and west sides made a huge curve and went down south after exiting the city. Like two huge arcs, they formed a semi-circle and laid out a huge net.
On the south city gate, Wuqi was given orders to take charge of these three groups of troops to complete the encirclement.
The moment the encirclement was formed, Bayan would find it impossible to escape. Long distance quick attacks and encirclement strategies were the South Song specialty, but now, it was being used against them.
…
When the South Song cavalry exited the city, the Mongol army that had just backed down from the frontlines were resting in their tents and were ready to eat.
Looking out at the sudden appearance of the cavalry, the soldiers in charge of sentry duty were totally stunned. In their impression, the Mongols were the ones attacking, and there was no city that dared to exit and attack when the Mongols sieged them.
Although they were stunned, their reaction speed was not slow at all.
They sent someone to alert the camp whilst moving men to welcome the South Song cavalry.
However, that was not of much use.
Although the Mongol cavalry were strong, that was after they formed up.
Since they were just some patrolling forces, in the face of 50 thousand cavalry troops, they could not start up any waves. Before both sides even got close, the patrolling forces had fallen, all being shot down from their horses.
The cavalry on the two wings did not stop and charged south. They had to complete the encirclement.
When the South Song cavalry ran off, the Mongol army had just sent their vanguard forces. Looking at the rumbling smoke and dust, they could not chase up at all.
The entire Mongol Army Camp was in a state of panic. The part that panicked the most was the south side.
Bayan was a careful person, and even though Lu Xiufu had followed the agreement, he still did not let his guard down and arranged for three lines of sentry along the way.
Not long after Er’Lai’s forces exited the city, they were spotted by the front sentry, and an alert was sounded.
When Bayan received the report, his face suddenly turned dark as he said toward Lu Xiufu, “Great, since you all want to false surrender, I’ll take your dog life!”
As he said that, he unsheathed the curved blade at his waist.
Lu Xiufu acted like he was surprised, “What happened?”
“Acting, continue acting!”
Bayan gritted his teeth, “You all really think that you can win against us with one sneak attack?
Seeing that Lu Xiufu really did not know what was going on, Zhang Hongfan said, “Mister Lu, you are still negotiating with us, and they sent out cavalry. They obviously do not care about your life.”
At this time, be it Bayan or Zhang Hongfan, neither knew that the Douth Song camp was going all out. They thought that only Er’Lai’s vanguard forces had come and did not take them too seriously.
Lu Xiufu’s expression changed, “General, this is a misunderstanding. Maybe the news of our surrender was found out by the players, and they want to take revenge.”
Bayan and Zhang Hongfan exchanged glances, not knowing whether Xiufu was saying the truth or not. That was because the sentry had really reported that it was the player forces that were charging over.
“Lock them up, prepare for battle!”
Bayan was really crisp when he did things and made his mind up really quickly.
An order was given, and along with the 200 Guards, they were all taken down by Bayan’s Personal Guards. In the time that it took for them to speak, Er’Lai’s forces had broken through two sentry lines and were heading right for the negotiation venue.
“How are they so quick?”
Bayan was astonished, and for the first time, he felt uneasy.
From the first day, both sides had been limited to fighting on the city walls. The player forces did not have a chance to show the strength of their cavalry. This time, they totally outclassed the Mongol cavalry.
As an experienced general, from the speed of the enemy sneak attack, he could deduce that their combat strength was above the Mongol cavalry.
This conclusion was enough to stun Bayan.
Since Genghis Khan unified Mongol, the Mongol cavalry had swept past Asia and Europe, never ever finding an opponent. In their hearts, the Mongol cavalry were invincible.
The sudden appearance of such a strong cavalry obviously stunned Bayan.
Zhang Hongfan, who was standing at the side, came over when he saw the main general unsettled. He said softly, “Commander, the enemy troop numbers are not certain. They came too suddenly, so who knows whether it’s a plot or not. Why don’t we take our leave and make plans when we understand what’s going on?”
Zhang Hongfan wanted to take a stable and safe approach.
When Bayan saw that, his eyes shook. He was unable to make a decision right away.
