funbook-pk Chapter 122 A Place to Stay
Chapter 122 A Place to Stay
Guo Si agreed with this reasoning and immediately addressed the crowd: "Immediately assemble the troops and head towards Xicheng. If Gongsun Zan does not accept our surrender, we will break out of Xicheng. If there is really no place for us to stay, we can simply go to the Western Regions, conquer a city, and become carefree kings!"
Seeing that Guo Si had made up his mind, the officers below all breathed a sigh of relief. No one was unafraid of death, especially these men, who cherished their lives even more.
Guo Si immediately dispatched a captain to make contact with Gongsun Zan, and at the same time began to mobilize troops to concentrate in Xicheng.
"You mean Guo Si wants to surrender?" Gongsun Zan asked, looking at the Xiliang army captain in front of him.
The captain said, "Yes, General Gongsun, Li Jue has insulted my general several times. General Guo really does not want to be an ally with such a person. Therefore, General Guo specially sent me to discuss important matters with you."
"Bullshit!" Gongsun Zan suddenly cursed, "Doesn't this general know what kind of person Guo Si is? I think it's because Li Jue ran away that Guo Si couldn't fight alone!"
Upon hearing Gongsun Zan's words, the captain's expression changed drastically. Gongsun Zan's lips curled slightly. Just as he thought, Guo Si's men were truly useless, so easily tricked out of their positions.
Gongsun Zan waved his hand, signaling the captain to go outside and wait; he needed to think things over.
"Young man, what do you think? Should we accept Guo Si's surrender?" Gongsun Zan asked.
“Brother, I suggest we accept. After all, Guo Si still has at least ten or twenty thousand men under his command. If they resist to the end, it will inevitably cause unnecessary casualties. If we accept his surrender, we will have another cannon fodder in the upcoming battle. Moreover, Guo Si's surrender is definitely because Li Jue and his men ran away. They have a grudge against each other, which is very convenient to use. Perhaps without our orders, the two of them can fight to the death,” Gongsun Pu said.
Gongsun Zan hesitated; "Wouldn't that go against what we said before?"
Gongsun Pu smiled and said, "Brother, those words were just a threat, they shouldn't be taken seriously."
"Alright! Then I'll accept!" Gongsun Zan said loudly.
The next day, Guo Si led the remaining 20,000 Xiliang troops in Tianshui City to formally surrender, handing over their weapons and moving into the prisoner-of-war camp. The Battle of Tianshui ended in a victory for Chang'an. The Chang'an army suffered more than 17,000 casualties, including more than 9,700 direct deaths. However, Gongsun Zan gained more than 20,000 Xiliang prisoners, so he actually gained something. But it would take some time to convert the Xiliang prisoners into his own soldiers. In the next battle, Gongsun Zan would still have to rely on the remaining 40,000 Chang'an troops. However, Guo Si's troops could still be used, but they could not be completely trusted, nor could they be given important tasks. Their role was simply cannon fodder!
On the sixth day of the Battle of Tianshui, Han Sui arrived, but he was too late. The Xiliang army in Tianshui had either fled or surrendered, and now Gongsun Zan's flags were planted on all four walls of Tianshui.
Looking at the banners on the city wall of Tianshui, Han Sui was furious. He cursed Guo Si and his men for their incompetence, saying they couldn't even hold out for a week. When he received news that Guo Si's surrender was due to Li Jue and Niu Fu's escape, he looked down on the three men even more. At the same time, he also underestimated Gongsun Zan, believing that Gongsun Zan's victory was merely due to good luck. It was because of this wrong judgment that Han Sui underestimated Gongsun Zan and the Chang'an army in the following battles, plunging himself into an irrecoverable predicament.
At this moment, Chen Er in Yuyang also received a battle report from Gongsun Zan. It must be said that Chen Er's intelligence work was really excellent.
"Although bows and crossbows are concealed, they still lack some lethality, and bows and arrows require a relatively spacious area to be used effectively, so they are not very suitable for street fighting. Crossbows are good, but the Xiliang army probably doesn't have many crossbows, which has led to the Xiliang army's tactics not being implemented well, and instead causing them to suffer losses," Guo Jia analyzed.
Chen Er nodded, picked up a report from the table, and said, "There are still some things we need to pay attention to on the Tianshui battlefield. In this battle, the use of artillery by the Chang'an Army is something our army has not paid attention to in previous battles. In the future, with the popularization of firearms, street fighting will inevitably become a new issue, and we must have corresponding countermeasures. Our army's existing artillery is relatively large. Although it can be used, it is not very convenient. Our future opponents will certainly not be troops like the Xiliang Army that lack firearms. Therefore, the arsenal should develop some miniaturized artillery as soon as possible."
"Make a note of this. After the meeting, report the equipment improvement records to the arsenal and the equipment department," Chen Er said to Cao Zheng.
Cao Zheng was a member of the Cao family and didn't have any special talents. Chen Er was also worried about placing him elsewhere, so he simply made Cao Zheng a scribe in the Wei King's mansion. This way, Chen Er could feel at ease and also give an explanation to the Cao family. After all, Cao Zheng was a member of his family who had come to rely on him, and he couldn't treat him unfairly.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"On the battlefields of the future, firearms will undoubtedly become the dominant force. Our arsenal is currently researching standardized ammunition, so we won't have to worry about severe weather affecting the normal operation of firearms in the future," Chen Er continued. "In addition, the arsenal has recently developed a new gadget at my suggestion. After the meeting, you can come with me to take a look. This equipment will change the way our army commands operations in the future."
"What is it?" Guo Jia asked curiously.
"A piece of equipment that allows the commander to see further and more comprehensively," Chen Er said mysteriously.
Everyone speculated about what Chen Er was talking about. Could it be an even more powerful telescope? Or something else entirely?
No matter what questions people asked, Chen Er remained silent, smiling as he looked at everyone.
"Alright, stop guessing, you'll see soon enough," Chen Er said to the crowd. Then he added, "Can anyone tell us how we should treat Chang'an next?"
Upon hearing Chen Er's words, the group, who had been laughing and joking, quickly straightened up and sat down. Xi Zhicai stood up and said, "In my opinion, our autonomous region only needs to maintain nominal respect for Chang'an in the future. The imperial court now has no power whatsoever, and His Majesty the Emperor is merely a puppet, or perhaps a fig leaf. No one pays attention to such a central court anymore. Even the Prince of Nanyang and the Prince of Chengdu, who were appointed by the Chang'an court, will not pay much attention to the Chang'an court. Therefore, I believe that we should not maintain an overly intimate attitude towards the Chang'an court. This would not only easily lead to misunderstandings among our subordinates, but also cause other lords to become hostile towards us."