Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Outside Quanzhou City, the enemy's camps were densely packed. After King Zhao, Biligendalai, led 40,000 elite troops to join forces with King Liao, Sumur, the number of the enemy's forces exceeded 100,000, completely surrounding the city. After several bloody battles, the city's defenders still numbered 50,000. However, with the fall of Xiangshan, a strategic high ground outside the city, the enemy's troops could clearly see the Wu army's movements from the summit and make corresponding deployments. Every move was under the enemy's watchful eye; how could they fight this battle? The morale of the defenders gradually declined.

"Uncle, when shall we attack the city?" Biligendalai asked Sumur excitedly, his young face unable to conceal his excitement at the prospect of war.

This child is quite lively, lacking the composure of his elder brother in his youth. It is said that the women of the Yarkand Khanate are lively and active, and it seems that this child has inherited the temperament of the Virtuous Consort. Sumur pondered to himself, then chuckled: "Nephew Jian, don't be impatient. Attacking the city is both time-consuming and laborious. I have already written to the Great Khan requesting the Wu army flags, seals, and captured Wu army officials that were seized in the Battle of Guni Pass. As long as we let the Wu army officials bring these spoils of war into the city to persuade them to surrender, the defending army will surely collapse without a fight."

"Ah, Uncle, you've thought things through perfectly!" Biligendalai exclaimed with genuine admiration. The old fox is indeed shrewd; while he only thought of killing the enemy and gaining merit, his uncle was thinking of subduing the enemy without a fight!
Wang Hongxun, General Zhenwei of Wu Zhou's personal guard, was dispatched by the Great Khan Lianhua as an envoy to persuade Wu Sangui to surrender. Originally a former subordinate of Wu Sangui in Liaodong, he had been defeated and captured but couldn't bear to die for his country, instead becoming a subject of the Wei state. He was already ashamed, and now, being assigned this mission only compounded his shame. But what could he do? Whether he went or not was not up to him. Since he hadn't wanted to die then, there was no reason for him to die now. He could only do his best in his mission; if more people surrendered, no one would laugh at him for being a traitor.

Inside the prefectural government office, Gao Dejie, the Left Wing General of the Imperial Guard, Ma Xiong, the Governor of Guangxi, and other Wu army generals turned ashen-faced upon seeing Wang Hongxun and the several cartloads of Wu army flags and seals he had brought. While the flags and seals could be claimed to be forgeries by the enemy, Wang Hongxun was a veteran who had served His Majesty for many years; such forgery was impossible. It seemed that the army's defeat at Guni Pass was most likely true.

"Clang!" Tao Jizhi, the Right General of the Imperial Guard, drew his sword and roared, "This man has received great favor from His Majesty, but after the defeat, he refused to die for his cause and instead submitted to the barbarians. Now he has the audacity to come here and disrupt the morale of our army. He is truly a disgrace! I request the Left General to kill him to prove his innocence!"

Gao Dejie realized that this man was sent into the city by the Imperial Guard to undermine morale. If he wasn't killed, the army's morale would collapse. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Wang Hongxun has betrayed His Majesty and recognized a captive as his father. He is utterly shameless. Drag him away and execute him!" Without further ado, the fierce guards dragged Wang Hongxun away.

Wang Hongxun was shocked and cried out, "The Wei army has amassed over 300,000 troops at Guni Pass, all well-equipped and highly trained elite soldiers. Although Your Majesty fought valiantly, you were still no match for them. I was surrounded by the Wei army, and eight or nine out of ten of my men were killed. I had no choice but to surrender to Wei, which is a fitting tribute to Your Majesty. Now, there are over 100,000 elite Wei troops outside Quanzhou City, which you are far beyond your ability to withstand. Moreover, the entire Guangxi and Huguang regions now belong to the Wei Kingdom. Even if you manage to break through, where can you go? In the end, you will still face certain death! It would be better to surrender the city to Wei. The Wei ruler is benevolent and will surely not treat you unfairly..." As he was crying, Tao Jizhi walked up to him and cut him down with a single stroke. He was the oldest general in the Wu army and was utterly loyal to Wu Sangui.

"Our army is merely retreating to Guizhou to rest and regroup before fighting again; it is not a rout. As long as we hold the city, His Majesty will soon send troops to rescue us!" Tao Jizhi shouted after the killing. Ma Xiong, Lin Xingzhu, Han Daren, and other generals remained silent upon hearing this.

Seeing this, Gao Dejie slowly spoke up: "I have already sent someone to Guangzhou to request reinforcements from the Prince of Pingnan. The Wei Kingdom is ambitious and treacherous; once they conquer Yunnan and Guizhou, their next target will inevitably be Guangdong. The Prince of Pingnan understands the principle of mutual dependence and has already agreed to send troops to rescue us. As long as we hold out for a while longer, reinforcements from Guangdong will surely arrive." Hearing this, the generals' expressions softened considerably.

"At this critical juncture for the nation, we must fight to the death to serve our country!" Gao Dejie encouraged his generals.

"Yes!" the generals replied in unison.

After everyone had left, Tao Jizhi quietly asked Gao Dejie, "General Zuo, has the Prince of Pingnan really agreed to come to our aid?"

Gao Dejie shook his head slightly, "That old fox Shang Kexi is always two-faced. Seeing that the situation is unfavorable to us, how could he be willing to send troops to our aid? What he said just now was nothing but a lie to stabilize morale. General, please do not reveal it!"

"General Zuo is too kind. It seems that Quanzhou will be our final resting place!" Tao Jizhi gave a bitter laugh, then took his leave.

Lies can only fool the honest; there are always clever people who won't fall for them. General Han Daren, originally a deputy under Gao Dejie, knew Gao Dejie's character intimately. The moment Gao Daren mentioned that Guangdong had agreed to send troops to rescue them, Han Daren knew it was a lie. Even if it were true, Emperor Zhaowu's army of over 300,000 had been defeated; how many troops could Shang Kexi possibly send to rescue them? General Han believed that continuing to defend the city was a dead end, but given the situation, offering advice would surely cost him his head. He remained calm until the meeting ended and he returned to his camp before writing a letter and summoning his personal guard, Han Lin, instructing him, "When it is late at night and all is quiet, you must be lowered down the city wall and deliver this letter to the guard camp."

"Yes," Han Lin replied and left.
-
When Wang Hongxun's head was thrown down the city wall by the defending soldiers, both King Sumur of Liao and King Biligendal of Zhao thought that their attempt to persuade him to surrender had failed and that a fierce siege was imminent. Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better when another sensible person delivered a letter of surrender.

"Does Uncle think Han Daren's surrender was genuine or feigned?" With Wang Hongxun's head before him, Biligendalai suspected it was a trick by the garrison.

Sumur smiled slightly, "This letter is most likely true. If it were a feigned surrender, the city wouldn't be in such a hurry to execute Wang Hongxun; instead, they would be using Wang Hongxun's words to deceive our army. It seems that Han Daren heard Wang Hongxun's words, was tempted to surrender, and feared Gao Dejie's military law, so he sent someone down the city wall to surrender under cover of night. Regardless, at the beginning of Hai hour tomorrow night (9 PM), gather elite troops to attack the north city. If Han Daren's surrender is genuine, fine; if it's a feigned surrender, execute him without mercy after we enter the city!" At the beginning of Hai hour the next day, Sumur ordered three bonfires to be lit outside the north city. Sure enough, someone on the city wall responded with a torch, and the heavy city gate slowly opened. Xuzhou General Liu Chaofu led 5,000 guards into the city first, followed by Generals Harachi, Qiaoji, and Chief of the Thousand Households Bagabandi, each leading their own troops. Behind them followed the army of Liao King Sumur and Zhao King Biligenda.

"General Han Daren respectfully welcomes the royal army into the city." Han Daren led his troops to kneel and prostrate themselves on the ground to welcome Liu Chaofu, the general of Xuzhou of the State of Wei, who had entered the city first.

"No need for formalities, quickly lead my troops to Gao Dejie's headquarters!" Liu Chaofu, eager to gain merit, interrupted him.

"Please come with me, General!" Han Daren was eager to make a name for himself in front of his new master, disregarding the bond between his comrades. He led his guards straight to Gao Dejie's mansion. On the way, they encountered Tao Jizhi, the Right General of the Wu Imperial Guard, who was patrolling the city, and a battle broke out.

In the midst of the fierce battle, Tao Jizhi caught sight of Han Daren's face and was so enraged that his hair stood on end. "How dare you, you dog!" he roared, leaping onto his horse and charging straight at Han Daren with his sword drawn.

Feeling guilty, Han Dayi momentarily forgot to defend himself, but then a "whoosh" was heard as a cold arrow struck Tao Jizhi squarely in the face, knocking the old general off his horse.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and lead the way!" Liu Chaofu put down his longbow and scolded.

Han Daren finally realized what was happening and led his guards to continue towards Gao Dejie's headquarters. Most of the elite troops within the city were deployed on the city walls, leaving only two thousand of Gao Dejie's personal guards inside the headquarters. Although outnumbered, they were all seasoned veterans, and they fought desperately against the numerically superior guards. Hearing of the turn of events, Gao Dejie showed no fear. He donned his armor, mounted his horse, ordered his men to open the gates, and led two hundred cavalrymen straight towards the guards' banners. The guards, not expecting a counter-charge, were thrown into disarray. Tian Shao, a lieutenant under Liu Chaofu, saw this as a golden opportunity to gain merit and led his men to surround Gao Dejie, only to be cut down instead. After killing Tian Shao, Gao Dejie charged towards Liu Chaofu. Even Liu Chaofu, a veteran of countless battles, could not withstand the onslaught and was forced to flee. Fortunately, the guards of the Halaqi, Qiaoji, and Bagabandi tribes arrived shortly afterward, relieving the siege. Despite Gao Dejie's bravery and skill in battle, he was ultimately outnumbered. After holding out for an hour, the commander's mansion was captured, and Gao himself suffered more than ten wounds before dying in the battle.

Amursana, the fifth son of Wei Zheng, a renowned general who founded the Dawei Kingdom, and the deputy commander of a thousand households, was leading over a thousand Mongol warriors in the city to annihilate the Wu army when suddenly hundreds of Wu soldiers wielding rattan shields rolled toward them. This enemy force was not only brave but also extremely agile, and their rattan shields were extremely sturdy, impervious to arrows. In a short time, they killed over a hundred of their own men.

"How infuriating!" Amursana, wielding his spiked club, spurred his horse forward and smashed the head of an enemy. As he grinned, an enemy general rolled along the ground beneath his horse and slashed off its leg.

With a "thud," the Mongol warrior stumbled and fell, and as he was reeling from the fall, the general swiftly severed his head with a single stroke of his sword.

"Brothers, follow me and charge out of the city!" General Lin Xingzhu, the right-wing general of Wu's personal naval force, shouted to his men, leading his few remaining troops toward the south gate. Outside the south gate was the surging Xiang River, and the rattan shields they carried could be used as rafts.

"Musketeers, prepare!" Commander Cai Lu of Henan Province ordered with a sneer. He was from Fujian and knew that although these rattan shields made of old mountain vines were sturdy, they could still be pierced by muskets at close range.

The guards stood in six ranks, silently awaiting the arrival of the rattan shield bearers. Only when they were about twenty paces away did Cai Lu give the order to fire. A hail of bullets rained down relentlessly. Though the rattan shield bearers were valiant, they could not break through the guards' barrage of fire, falling one after another. Finally, the gunfire ceased, and Lin Xingzhu, the Right Wing General of the Great Zhou Imperial Navy, lay dead in a pool of blood, his eyes wide with resentment.

After being surrounded by the guards, Guangxi Governor Ma Xiong and his son Ma Chengyin lost the will to resist and knelt down to surrender. Looking at the father and son bound like dumplings, Liao King Sumur laughed and said to Ma Xiong, "You surrender now? Isn't it too late?" He ordered them to be dragged away and beheaded.

Thanks to Han Daren's inside help, in the Battle of Quanzhou, the Wei army suffered only 2,000 casualties, yet achieved the feat of beheading over 10,000 and capturing over 30,000. Sumur selected over 10,000 elite troops from the surrendered soldiers and prisoners to join the army, and together with Biligendalai, led an army of 110,000 to Liping Prefecture in Guizhou to meet with King Milas of Qi. (End of Chapter)