Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

Zhang Yi was horrified.

Not only did Ma Chao kill Xiahou Yuan, he was also so greedy that he wanted to take over Xiahou Yuan's left camp in one fell swoop.

Looking at the soldiers and horses rolling in front of him and the flag with the word "horse" on it, Zhang Yi let out a long breath, with endless despair rising in his heart.

Yangping Pass could not be defended after all.

Once General Xiahou Yuan died, the remaining 20,000 soldiers and horses at Yangping Pass would be leaderless and would surely collapse.

Hundreds of thousands of Han troops attacked from both inside and outside and easily captured this most important pass in Shu.

Now that Yangping Pass is gone, how could Cao Zhen and five thousand Qin troops possibly defend Nanzheng?

If Nanzheng is lost and Guanzhong is lost, the entire area north of Jiange Pass will be lost.

Once Hanzhong is lost, the gates of Yizhou will be wide open. How long can they hold out?

The demise of the Qin State was a foregone conclusion from the moment Xiahou Yuan was killed.

"Liu Bei has a wise counselor like Xiao Fang to assist him, but Cao Gong's subordinates are all stubborn and self-righteous people like Xiahou Yuan. How can he not perish..."

Zhang Yi looked up to the sky and sighed helplessly.

Just as he was sighing, the Qin soldiers who stayed behind on both sides had already collapsed.

Without waiting for Zhang Yi's order, they were devastated by Xiahou Yuan's death, dropped their weapons, abandoned their posts, and fled towards the rear camp and the direction of Yangping Pass.

In a blink of an eye, more than half of the 7,000 Qin troops who remained had left.

It was too late for Zhang Yi to stop it.

When he came to his senses and looked around, there were less than three thousand people left.

These soldiers were all trembling with fear, staring at him anxiously, waiting for him to make a decision.

Life or death, fight or retreat, it all depends on his thought.

Zhang Yi clenched his fists, his thoughts churning as he weighed the pros and cons.

Xiahou surrendered, and the fall of Yangping Pass was a foregone conclusion.

Even if he fled to Guanzhong at this moment, he would still be doomed to death facing the siege of the Han army.

Even if he saved his life, successfully escaped from Hanzhong and retreated to Shu, what would it matter?

Sooner or later, he will be destroyed along with Cao Cao at the hands of Liu Bei.

In this case, instead of dying for Cao Qin and sacrificing his life, why not surrender to the Han Kingdom?
This thought suddenly popped up in Zhang Yi's mind, and his eyes suddenly lit up, as if everything had suddenly become clear.

"Yes, I am not a minister who made great contributions to Cao Cao, and I have no blood feud with the Han emperor. Why should I die for Cao Qin?"

"It was Xiahou Yuan who did not listen to my advice and was beheaded, which led to the loss of Hanzhong. I was forced to surrender to Han because of the situation. I have done my duty to Qin. Who can call me a disloyal person?"

Zhang Yi's thoughts were churning, and in an instant he had built a way out for himself.

"Swish swish~~"

The sound of breaking air was heard, and the Han army outside the camp had begun to shoot arrows into the camp.

Screams were heard and soldiers were shot by arrows and fell to the ground from time to time.

"General Zhang, we can't hold this camp anymore. Let's quickly retreat to Yangping Pass."

"If we don't retreat now, the Han army will rush over and we won't be able to leave!"

The deputy generals beside him were so anxious that they scratched their heads and urged him.

Zhang Yi's last bit of hesitation disappeared at this moment.

When he raised his head again and looked at the "Han" flag outside the camp, there was only determination in his eyes.

"Xiahou Yuan did not listen to my advice and ended up dead and ruined. As a result, the situation in Hanzhong took a sharp turn for the worse and it is no longer tenable."

"I, Zhang Yi, have tried my best, but unfortunately, God does not bless the Qin State, which is destined to be destroyed by the Han Dynasty."

"We are all men of Shu. There is no need to sacrifice our lives for the Cao family. I have decided to follow the will of heaven and submit to the Emperor of Han."

"Are you willing to follow me and surrender to the Han Dynasty?"

Zhang Yi's voice was like thunder, sweeping around and shouting at the soldiers on both sides.

All the Qin soldiers were shocked.

They originally thought that Zhang Yi would abandon the camp and take them back to Yangping Pass to save their lives.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yi actually led them to surrender to Han! After a moment of dead silence, the Qin soldiers burst into action.

"We are willing to follow the general and surrender to the Han Dynasty!"

"We are willing to surrender to the general and surrender to the Han!"

As these soldiers were from Shu, it was naturally impossible for them to die for Cao Qin when Zhang Yi was determined to surrender to Han.

So, all the soldiers responded in unison and were willing to surrender to the Han.

Zhang Yi breathed a sigh of relief, then drew his sword and shouted:

"Those who do not wish to surrender to the Han can return to Yangping Pass immediately. I will not stop you."

"Those who wish to surrender, open the camp gates and raise the flag of surrender!"

When the order was given, the few people who were unwilling to surrender to the Han fled in panic.

Most of the Qin soldiers obeyed the order, laid down their weapons and opened the camp gates.

A flag was also hung high above the camp wall.

When Ma Chao led his army to attack, Zhang Yi, with several thousand men, was already kneeling at the open camp gate, waiting to surrender to him.

Ma Chao reined in his warhorse, stood proudly with his spear in hand, and looked at the surrendered Qin soldiers kneeling on the ground, with a sneer on his face.

...

The right camp of the Qin army.

Outside the camp, the shouts of the Han army were still deafening.

The raging dust that covered the sky was still vast and mighty, indicating that the Han army was attacking with its entire force.

Inside the camp.

Lei Tong was shouting at his soldiers, fighting desperately to resist the fierce attack of the Han army.

But as he was blocking, Lei Tong gradually discovered that something was wrong.

The Han army's movements were loud and powerful, but their actual offensive was still just that.

Moreover, the Han army that attacked the camp wall had only about 3,000 people, and there was no sign of a large number of Han troops.

This kind of offensive seems to be a bit like "much ado about nothing".

Although Lei Tong noticed something was wrong, with his intelligence, he naturally couldn't think too much about it.

His eyes continued to look towards the west from time to time, hoping that Xiahou Yuan's reinforcements would arrive as soon as possible.

However, no matter how long they waited, no reinforcements arrived.

"It's been so long, the reinforcements should have arrived long ago, why are there still no signs of them?"

Lei Tong muttered to himself, and suddenly an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

Just when he was getting anxious, a scout came galloping over and came straight to Lei Tong.

"General Lei, this is not good, something terrible has happened!"

"The general of the cavalry was intercepted by the Han army rushing down the north slope on his way to support our right camp, and almost all of his 7,000 soldiers were wiped out."

"The General of the Cavalry was also -"

The scout's voice was trembling with fear, and he couldn't even speak.

Lei Tong was horrified, grabbed the scout, and shouted excitedly:
"What happened to the cavalry general? Tell me!"

The scout did not dare to hide it and could only cry:

"General Lei, the General of the Cavalry was killed by Ma Chao in one move!"

A loud thunderclap struck on the head.

Lei Tong let go of the scout, staggered back half a step, and froze in place.

The face was frozen in a moment of shock and horror.

"The General of Cavalry was killed by Ma Chao?"

"How is this possible? How is this possible——"

Lei Tong muttered to himself, as if he had encountered the most incredible thing in his life. (End of this chapter)