Chapter 501: Preparation, a veteran of fake surrender
Under the fiery red sunset, Zhang Xiu felt a sense of despair in his heart. He felt that everything was so powerless. The soldiers on the ground had all taken away the weapons.
After all, even if they agreed to let them go, they still had to be on guard against the possibility that they were pretending to surrender. When Wu Jun lowered their guard, they picked up their weapons again and took Dash Sima, who was just around the corner, as a hostage.
Wu Guo is a veteran "expert" in fake surrender. They faked surrender four times and succeeded three times. However, they fell into the hands of Cao Shuang the fourth time. Such a record is already very good. They often do this, so they will still be wary.
Other countries also deal with them in this way, so it is normal to be careful.
In war, false surrender is a very useful method.
Whether it is to protect yourself when being attacked or to lure the opponent into a trap, you can see people pretending to surrender.
This is the case now. Shu Han, Cao Wei, and Soochow have all committed false surrenders, but the one who played this trick the most and gained the most results was Soochow.
The first time was when Cao Cao's army was pressing on the border. People in Soochow were in a state of confusion, and surrender was a normal thing.
Just like in the "Battle of Guandu", many Cao Cao's people secretly colluded with Yuan Shao.
Cao Cao believed Huang Gai's false surrender, which led to the disastrous defeat in the "Battle of Chibi". It can even be regarded as losing the biggest opportunity to conquer the world.
The second time Soochow used this strategy was in the 19th year of Jian'an (i.e. 214 AD).
At that time, Sun Quan took advantage of Guan Yu's Northern Expedition to tear up the alliance and launched a surprise attack on Jingzhou.
At this time, the alliance between Sun and Liu completely collapsed, and Sun Quan changed his alliance with Cao Cao.
After Cao Pi came to the throne and founded Cao Wei, Sun Quan even did not hesitate to call himself Wei Chen and use the identity of King Wu as the Cao Wei vassal state. This also caused dissatisfaction among the officials of Eastern Wu such as Zhang Zhao and Xu Sheng.
There is a reason for Sun Quan's humble attitude, because after the sneak attack on Jingzhou, he was likely to be attacked by Liu Bei.
In order to avoid war with Liu Bei, Cao Wei stepped in again. In order to ensure survival, Sun Quan did not mind "surrendering" to Cao Wei.
This kind of "surrender" exists, but it is not actual or complete.
Because Sun Quan was only willing to send some tributes, but refused to send his son Sun Deng to Cao Wei as a hostage.
In the end, Cao Pi launched a large-scale attack on Soochow, but by this time the "Battle of Yiling" had ended, and Cao Pi was still a step too late.
During the third false surrender, during the war between Soochow and Cao Wei, there was one battle that was more famous and influential, which was the "Battle of Shiting" that took place in Shiting.
The "Battle of Shiting" was also won by Soochow through fake surrender.
Zhou Li, the governor of Poyang in Soochow, pretended to surrender to Cao Xiu, the chief minister of Cao Wei who was guarding Yangzhou, and even shaved off his hair to show his ambition.
During the Three Kingdoms period, it was common for people in the border areas of all parties to surrender. Zhou Li also showed full sincerity, and it was easy for Cao Wei to believe him.
Emperor Wei Ming Cao Rui also had the idea of attacking Soochow, and Zhou Li's surrender was seen as an opportunity.
So Cao Wei's troops were divided into three groups: Sima Yi attacked Jiangling, Jia Kui attacked Dongguan, and Cao Xiu attacked Wancheng in response to Zhou Li.
However, Soochow was well prepared, and Lu Xun and others led an army of 90,000 to defeat Cao Xiu.
Because of Jia Kui's rescue, Cao Xiu escaped successfully, but he died soon after.
In the "Battle of Shiting", the Soochow army killed a large number of Cao Wei soldiers and "captured more than ten thousand". It was a rare victory during the Three Kingdoms period (in a narrow sense, starting from Cao Wei and Han Dynasty). However, the "Battle of Shiting"
"The meaning is not limited to this.
Prior to this, both Cao Wei and Shu Han had established emperor titles, but Sun Quan was very embarrassed. Although he had his own title and independent status, he did not proclaim himself emperor.
It was precisely by relying on the prestige brought by the "Battle of Shiting" that Sun Quan finally ascended to the throne, officially founded Soochow, and began to "share the dignity of two emperors" with Liu Chan.
And this imperial title was obtained by relying on the strategy of false surrender. From this, it can be seen that false surrender is a common trick of Soochow. This must be the reason why Soochow is often called Jiangdong rat by Cao Wei.
Just because the Wu State could not defeat Cao Wei in a land battle in a head-on confrontation with Cao Wei, it could only use such tricks and could not win a fair and just victory, even in the battle of Yiling.
But there are times when doing so can lead to missteps, just like a few months ago when we lost the land of Jiangbei and a princess of Wu in a false surrender.
The Wu troops entering the city from the east gate began to flood towards the other three gates. Quan Cong believed that the remaining Wei troops in Xiangping City would soon be completely wiped out.
Seeing that there were no weapons around to kill people, Zhang Xiu could only spit: "Bah, Dong Fangru, a traitor, is so spineless. Come on, it's just death. How can I still be afraid? I'm not Dong Fangli."
Such a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death!"
Dong Fang reluctantly advised: "Prefect Zhang, this is for your own good. Are you willing to let your family members follow you to death?"
Seeing that Zhang Xiu was a bit reluctant, Quan Cong persuaded him: "Although I have been in Jiangdong for a long time, I have admired Zhang Taishou for a long time. Zhang Taishou has a great reputation, but he has only been able to occupy the position of governor of a mere county for a long time.
It can be said that you are not meeting your master!
As long as Taishou Zhang is willing to surrender, I can recommend Taishou Zhang to be the Taifu of our Kingdom of Wu. Our Kingdom of Wu is in need of talents like you to serve Your Majesty!"
Zhang Xiu shook his head and said in disgust: "You fellow Soochow rats, don't expect me to work for Biyan'er. This is absolutely impossible!" After speaking, Zhang Xiu rushed through the crowd and jumped from the city wall more than two feet high.
And down!
While running, he said loudly: "Jiangdong rats, if you want me to serve you, please wait until the next life!"
Dong Fang also stretched out his hand to prevent such a tragedy from happening, "Prefect, no!" Unfortunately, it was already a step too late. The next moment, there was only a "bang" sound, and Zhang Xiu was already a bloody mess without even looking at it!
Quan Cong walked to the city wall and looked down. It was indeed the case. Looking at Zhang Xiu's body, he sighed: "Hey, why is Governor Zhang doing this? Even if he doesn't want to go to Jiangdong, it's easy to say!"
Quan Cong then said: "Come here, collect the body of Prefect Zhang and bury it generously to show the loyalty of Prefect Zhang. In addition, we must treat Prefect Zhang's family members well."
A soldier from Wu immediately replied: "No!"
Quan Cong turned his attention to Dong Bai and others aside and said: "If General Dong doesn't dislike it, you can bring your brothers to my general's command and serve as captains first. After you make some achievements in the future, you can get additional rewards."
Dong Fang immediately made a military salute and said: "I naturally cannot ask for more. Thank you so much, Grand Sima. I can't hide it. I have heard of Grand Sima's reputation for a long time. It would be great if I could follow Grand Sima and make more contributions."
Quan Cong nodded with satisfaction, stepped forward to help Dong Fang up and said: "Captain Dong, please get up."...