Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Park Erzhao, the general of the Jeolla Army of North Korea, knelt on the ground cautiously with his head bowed, his hands tied behind his back, and he dared not breathe. From the moment he chose to surrender, he only wanted to survive, and dignity no longer mattered.

The big tent that can accommodate hundreds of people was unusually quiet. After sizing up this person for a long time, the owner of the Fearless Leo finally spoke, "Are you the Jeolla military commander from Korea? I don't understand one thing. When the Qing army attacked Korea, your former king suffered the humiliation of being captured in Dingchou, and hundreds of thousands of people were abducted. It was truly a great shame and humiliation! I launched an attack on Qing to avenge Korea. Why did you help the pseudo-Qing and resist so fiercely? Humph, your country's musketeers have injured many of my warriors. How hateful, how hateful!"

It's over! My life is over! The Hu chieftain holds a grudge against our army's muskets for killing and injuring many of his warriors. This time his life is in danger! Park Erzhao secretly blamed Shen Liu for fighting too hard for the Qing army, putting himself in a dangerous situation. He couldn't help but break out in cold sweat, his clothes were all wet, and he kowtowed like pounding garlic. "Your Majesty, you don't know that the Fire Gun Battalion is not under my command, but under the command of Shen Liu, the assistant envoy of Hyesan in Hamgyong Province. Shen Liu did not know the will of heaven, and was worried that if he was defeated and captured, his subordinates would be incorporated into various tribes as slaves. He led his army to fight to the death, and has already died in battle! I have long wanted to avenge the humiliation of taking the city in Dingchou. Since I followed the king's order to join the expedition, I have not followed his orders and just perfunctorily responded."

"Haha, is that so? I heard that you were ordered to guard the North City and fought very well. My brave general, the Western Region General Buhe Altu, led the army to attack several times, but was driven out of the city by you every time," Sultan smiled.

The smile looked kind and gentle, but Park Erzhao clearly felt a strong murderous aura coming at him, so oppressive that he did not dare to look up. He defended himself by saying, "Your humble servant also wanted to surrender by opening the city, but I was afraid that my king would know about this and I would be punished when I returned to Joseon. That's why I did not dare to surrender the city. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

It would have been fine if I hadn't mentioned Prince Li Jian. Once I did, the Great Khan Lianhua was furious. He slammed the table and said, "A few days ago, I sent envoys to Korea to form an alliance with your king to fight against the Qing Dynasty. Before the ink was dry, he dared to betray the alliance and surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Not only did he provide a large amount of money, food and supplies to the pseudo-Qing Dynasty, he also directly sent troops to help them fight against David. Shameless villain, extremely hateful!"

"Your Majesty, please understand clearly that my king deeply hates the humiliation of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty and has long wanted to attack the Qing Dynasty. However, when Qingningguta Angbang Zhangjing Bahai led his troops south to invade the border, he had no choice but to break the alliance," Park Erzhao explained hurriedly.

Sultan waved his hand and said, "I will hold you accountable for breaking the alliance, but you are a talented person. You can hold the North City with only a thousand soldiers and horses, which shows your ability. I like capable people the most. Are you willing to work for me? Haha, don't worry, David is a benevolent and righteous country. It has always treated prisoners well. It will not make prisoners into banner slaves like the Qing Dynasty did. The saying that you are worried that they will be taken to the Mongolian tribes as slaves after defeat is pure nonsense."

Park Erzhao was a little confused. He thought that he would have a hard time after being captured. Even if he was not beheaded, he would become a slave of the Mongolian nobles. But from what the Hu chief said, not only would he not be killed, but he would use him. How dare you not bow your head under the eaves? He immediately expressed his loyalty, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing me. I am willing to serve you, and I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

"Well, I will organize your 800 Korean soldiers and 1,500 Qing prisoners of war into a battalion, and appoint you as a guerrilla general. Come, untie him," Sultan said calmly. While the guards were untying him, he carefully observed the man's expression. Seeing that the man was full of respect and gratitude, and kept thanking me, he couldn't help but feel suspicious. He fought bravely when defending the city a few days ago, so he should not be a coward. Why is he so cowardly now? Could he be pretending to surrender to fool me?

"I have always been strict in rewarding and punishing. If you make military achievements, I can let the king of Chao appoint you to an important position when you return to the country. With David as your backer, it is not impossible for you to become the Prime Minister in the future." The Great Khan gave him another hope, revealing his ambition to support the power of the personal guards to control Korea. Then he changed the subject and threatened: "If you dare to rebel, I will chase you to the ends of the earth and I will take your head!" Hearing this, Park Erzhao was shocked and thanked him again, this time with a more sincere expression. Seeing that he had almost done enough to win him over, Sultan ordered someone to take him out of the tent.

It was a last resort to organize the surrendered soldiers and prisoners into one camp. Since the attack on Jianzhou, the Great Khan had experienced the military power of the Eight Banners and the Solon barbarians outside the Great Wall many times. Although the enemy was small in number, they fought bravely and caused huge losses to his army. Take the Battle of Sarhu as an example. Although 6,000 enemies were killed, more than 4,000 people were lost. If every city was fought in this way, even if all the land outside the Great Wall was taken, it would be temporarily unable to attack Beijing in the south due to too many casualties. Therefore, the surrendered soldiers and prisoners of war had to be used well and used as cannon fodder for the entire army. This is also the reason why he wanted to recruit the Korean army to surrender.

After Park Erzhao left the tent, Sultan sighed heavily, "I have long heard of the bravery of the Solon barbarians. Since entering Liaodong, we have fought with them many times, and suffered heavy casualties. If every battle is like the one in Sarhu, I am afraid that our army's vitality will be damaged. What should we do?" These words seemed to be spoken to himself, but in fact he was asking for advice from his ministers.

"'If the people from afar are not obedient, we should cultivate culture and virtue to win them over.' I think we should send envoys to the Solon and even the Jurchen tribes to publicize David's benevolence and righteousness and persuade them to surrender," said Wei Xiangshu, the Left Censor-in-Chief.

"Your plan is very good, but empty words alone may not make them surrender willingly," Sultan mused.

"Didn't we capture about 300 Solon people in the Battle of Sarhu? I heard that Your Majesty admired their bravery and planned to enlist them in the army. Why not simply give them food and horses, send them back to their respective tribes, and let them tell the leaders of each tribe that I, David, am a benevolent and righteous army. As long as they surrender, I will never harm them and will also grant them official positions. I heard that the Qing Dynasty gave very low official positions to the leaders of the various Solon tribes, usually just cavalry captains, assistant commanders (Niulu Zhangjing) and the like. Why don't you give them higher official positions, and grant those with a small population the title of captain of a hundred households, those with a large population the title of captain of a thousand households, and those with a population of over 10,000 can be granted deputy captains of a thousand households, captains of a thousand households, or even titles. In this way, the enemy can be disintegrated without a major battle," the Left Censor-in-Chief Hu Lianqi offered a plan.

Sultan's eyes lit up and he praised, "Mr. Hu, this is a good idea. It's just about releasing 300 prisoners and giving them some titles and hereditary positions. It won't cost the court much money, but it can make the various tribes of Solon abandon their evil ways and join the light, and shake the foundation of the Ningguta Qing army!"

"Great Khan, the pseudo-Qing Dynasty sent troops to attack the Daur tribes that refused to surrender a few years ago, and captured thousands of Daur people from the east bank of the lower reaches of the Jieya River (Jingqili River), organized them into a Solon Niulu, and settled them in my tribe along the north of the Nenjiang River. These people are all the same clan or descendants of the Daur people with the surname Dedule who refused to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Because we are close to them, I have some friendship with them and am willing to write a letter to persuade them to surrender for you," Prince Seleng of Henjirige suddenly spoke.

"If so, it would be great. Please help me deal with it!" Sultan laughed. (End of this chapter)