The sight of more and more Ming troops arriving sent Huang Taiji's spirits plummeting.
He had fewer than five hundred soldiers by his side, yet the Ming army surrounding them numbered at least two to three thousand, and more were arriving continuously!
There was no possibility of turning the tide. With no escape route and his great ambition unfulfilled, he…!
*Pfft*
Overwhelmed by grief and indignation, he spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning deathly pale.
"My Lord!"
"Your Majesty!"
His last two personal guards and Jī'ěrhālāng looked at him with concern.
Beside him, Dàishàn sneered at him, then spurred his horse forward. As soon as he encountered Wáng Tíngchén's forces, he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I, Dàishàn, am willing to surrender to the Great Ming!"
*Pfft*
Upon hearing Dàishàn's declaration of surrender, Huang Taiji spat out another mouthful of blood and then fell from his horse.
"My Lord!"
The two personal guards rushed to support him in a panic. Looking around, they saw that of the nearly five hundred men who had been with them, less than a hundred remained.
The riderless horses stood about, looking around uncertainly, not knowing where to go.
And their masters had already fallen to the ground, their breath extinguished.
At this moment, with Dàishàn leading the way and facing the threat of death, Jī'ěrhālāng made the same choice.
"I, Jī'ěrhālāng, am willing to surrender to the Great Ming!"
With a loud shout, he urged his horse towards Wáng Tíngchén's position.
When he reached the household guards under Wáng Tíngchén's command, he dismounted his horse, dropped his weapon, spread his arms, and allowed the guards to bind him.
*Pfft*
Hearing this, Huang Taiji spat out yet another mouthful of blood, this time passing out completely.
Dàishàn was his second elder brother, and Jī'ěrhālāng was his cousin!
At the end of his rope, his own blood relatives had so unhesitatingly chosen to abandon him, dealing a devastating blow to his spirit.
"My Lord!"
The two personal guards holding him cried out instinctively as Huang Taiji slumped to the ground after spitting blood.
The remaining cavalry, who were still resisting, heard the cries and looked over. Upon realizing that Huang Taiji was unconscious and his fate unknown, they immediately chose to surrender.
"With our lord like this, what's the point of fighting?"
"We surrender! We surrender!"
One by one, the cavalrymen dismounted, dropped their weapons, knelt on the ground, and covered their heads with their hands, shouting to the men under Cáo Biànjiāo and Wáng Tíngchén.
Wáng Xuáncè, observing the shift in the battle, revealed a knowing smile.
These two indeed lived up to the Duke's care for them.
Not long after, Huang Taiji, bound like a roasted turkey, was thrown before Wáng Xuáncè. Cáo Biànjiāo grinned and said:
"General Wáng, this man is Huang Taiji!"
An hour later, within Yìzhōu city, a squadron of scouts galloped out of the city, heading directly towards the pass, the leader carrying a flag signifying urgent military intelligence on his back.
In the city, Zǔ Dàshòu, at Wáng Xuáncè's request, had organized a victory banquet. Once everything was ready, he personally went to the small courtyard where the special forces were resting.
"General Wáng, we owe much to your unit's assistance in the continuous battles. Your unit's contribution in capturing the rebel chief this time is invaluable."
"I have arranged for some food and wine. Please, General Wáng, join us at the parade ground."
Upon hearing this, Wáng Xuáncè almost kicked him. Had they gotten a taste of success so quickly that they were getting carried away?
"Let's go!"
He thought for a moment, then followed Zǔ Dàshòu towards the parade ground.
Inside the parade ground, more than a dozen tables were set. All generals above the rank of hundred-household under the various commanding generals were present. Seeing Wáng Xuáncè arrive, they all stood up in unison.
"Greetings, General Wáng!"
Wáng Xuáncè's sharp gaze swept across the assembled crowd. Most of them offered him obsequious smiles.
Only Cáo Biànjiāo, Wáng Tíngchén, Yáng Guózhù, and the people beside them looked displeased.
He walked to the nearest table, grabbed a wine jar from it, and smashed it onto the ground.
With a loud *clang*, the wine jar shattered, and the aroma of wine instantly filled the air.
Everyone was startled by his sudden action.
"General Wáng, what is the meaning of this?" Zǔ Dàshòu quickly asked from beside him.
*Bang bang bang bang bang*
But the response he received was Wáng Xuáncè's gunfire!
Jumping onto the table, he stomped on all the dishes, then let loose a burst from his AK at the sky.
As the gunfire ceased, Wáng Xuáncè looked at everyone coldly.
"What! Capturing Huang Taiji has made you so arrogant?
At such a crucial moment, instead of resting and planning how to pursue victory, you're here holding a banquet?
Is this your military discipline?
If this is how you conduct yourselves, then you deserve to be beaten by the barbarians until you can't even raise your heads!
What kind of people are you all! Have you conducted post-battle summaries? Have you inventoried the captured supplies?
Have you interrogated the intelligence from the barbarian stronghold? Have you produced follow-up operational plans?
The entire assembly fell silent, rendered speechless by his barrage of questions.
Zǔ Dàshòu's face flushed with embarrassment as he tried to defend himself.
"General Wáng, everyone has been on the march for days. I thought, following this great victory, it would be good for everyone to relax. There's no need to get so angry, is there?"
Wáng Xuáncè crouched down, looking up at him, and coldly sneered: "Relax? Do you have the right to?
What is a soldier?!
To protect the country, secure peace, and guard the people – that is the duty of a soldier!
From the moment you picked up your weapons and put on your uniforms, you lost the right to relax!
As soldiers, you must always be prepared for any battle!
What has happened must be promptly reviewed for gains and losses, and lessons learned!
What has yet to happen must be anticipated, and plans made for how to respond when it does!
I have only been here for a few days, but I have gained some understanding of the situation in the Great Ming!
Outside the pass, the barbarians lurk; within the pass, refugees wreak havoc; in the south, tribal chieftains rebel; overseas, Japanese pirates covet and encroach!
You soldiers of the Great Ming, supported by the court, are the bulwark for tens of millions of common people.
If you relax, these common people of the Great Ming will live their lives in constant fear!
You take the court's stipends, the people's hard-earned taxes, and relax here, while leaving those wolves and tigers to the defenseless populace!
Now tell me, what right do you have to relax! Who gave you the right to relax!
The commanding generals looked at each other, none daring to speak.
The hundred-household and thousand-household officers were so ashamed they wished they could crawl under the tables.
"Hahaha! Excellent! General Wáng speaks the truth, and it's exactly what I, Cáo, wanted to say!"
Amidst the silence of the parade ground, Cáo Biànjiāo's voice suddenly rang out. Looking disdainfully at the other commanding generals, he continued:
"Since General Wáng has broken the ice, I, Cáo, will also say a few words."
"When fighting the barbarians, none of you showed such bravery, yet in secret, you committed acts of killing innocents and claiming false merit!"
"Now that the Great Tang's Heavenly Soldiers are here, every battle offers easy merit, yet even so, some people are still slacking off!"
"It is a pity that my rank is insufficient, otherwise, I would surely send those with dirty minds to the Emperor to explain themselves thoroughly!"