After finishing the meal, when the prisoners were still missing the food they had just eaten, they were told to gather for a meeting.
At this time, bonfires had been lit on the prisoners' positions, and the heat released by the dozen or so lit bonfires made all the prisoners feel comfortable and warm.
Because of half a day's experience, the prisoners lined up and gathered much faster.
Nearly 10,000 prisoners may sound like a lot, but if they were to line up properly, it would only take up half a football field.
In front of the assembled team, there was a temporary podium made of several tables. There were dozens of Japanese-speaking people surrounding the team to act as translators.
Soon after the team assembled, Kai-fu Lee set off to stand on the podium.
At this moment, there was still some noise. Under the scoldings of the Yijun translators around, the assembled team immediately became quiet.
"Hello, fellow Japanese people, I am Li Kaifu, the commander-in-chief of this Yijun army." Li Kaifu said loudly.
"Today, I stand here just to tell you that this war could have been avoided, but your emperor and shogun repeatedly provoked your majesty and showed that my court was nothing, which led to this battle."
"My Majesty is the Son of Heaven sent by God. He has mercy on the world. Even if there is a war with you, he still wants us to control the army and not harass you, because he believes that the battlefield has nothing to do with you civilians."
"The reason why you are here today is purely because the shogunate dragged you down. And I am here to promise you that as long as you don't make trouble, we will let you go back after we finish this war."
At this time, someone in the team shouted in Japanese: "Thanks to General Tianchao, we will definitely not cause trouble."
Soon, the call spread, and all kinds of grateful voices continued for a while.
Just when all the captives were feeling anxious about the future, Kai-Fu Lee's personal commitment was like a shot in the arm, giving them great peace of mind.
"Okay..." Kaifu Li lowered his hand. The entire team fell silent again.
"I know that many of you are from Edo City. Now that Edo City is surrounded by our army, there must be chaos inside. If our army does not enter Edo City tonight to maintain order, there will definitely be bandits. There were murders and arson happening everywhere.”
"So tonight I will choose some brave people among you to follow my soldiers to maintain order, so that your families will not be harmed again. If you are willing, please go to the non-commissioned officer next to you to sign up for the patrol. .”
After Kaifu Li's words, there was another commotion in the team below, and various discussions started to sound.
If they could go home and have a look, which prisoner wouldn't want to?
"Okay, the next thing is that I hope the war will end soon and you can go home early and reunite with your family. Goodbye!"
As Li Kaifu's words ended, the prisoners, led by Zai Yijun, also clapped their hands.
Shortly after Li Kaifu left, the Yijun sergeants in charge of registration were also ready.
As a prisoner, you can actually sign up to join the patrol, and maybe even go home for a visit. Who wouldn't want to? Moreover, Yijun only has about five hundred patrolmen at most this time, so there are not many opportunities.
So the registration office was immediately crowded with prisoners waiting to be selected.
Although the prisoners are very enthusiastic about joining the patrol, it is not easy to pass the patrol. At least there needs to be someone in the captive team who knows you, and there must be more than three people to prevent you from escaping during patrol, or even killing Yijun soldiers before escaping. In this way, Yijun can know where your home is, and then execute those who escape.
But even so, there is still an endless stream of prisoners signing up for patrols.
As long as you don't run away, you'll be fine.
Soon, the quota of 500 patrol soldiers was filled up, and many people who failed to register were beating their chests.
...
"General, why do we still give preferential treatment to those Japanese prisoners? They didn't treat our people like this." Li Huaqi, a nephew of the clan who left with Kaifu Li, couldn't help but ask.
"We want to dedicate the entire Japanese country to our emperor. But it is far from possible for us alone. So we must get the help of their lower-level people, and the incompetence of the shogunate undoubtedly contributed to this. , of which we only need to pay a pitiful profit." Facing this nephew, Li Kaifu always taught and cultivated him patiently.
"As long as we are in power and control the military, public opinion, resources, and education, we can immigrate people in the future and completely turn this land into our own. This is the true meaning of war. Don't just think blindly. Killing will only create more hatred, which is contrary to our purpose."
"Oh, okay." Listening to Li Kaifu's words, Li Huaqi always felt that something was wrong, but he said it and simply didn't think about it.
That night, under the control of the Yi army, the number of robberies and robberies in Edo City suddenly became less frequent.
The night was finally spent peacefully.
The next morning, under the propaganda of the prisoners, the people in Edo City finally let go of their worries and began to go out to find things to do. In fact, the Yi army did not do anything to burn, kill or loot when they entered the city. They just came to the outside of the general's mansion and surrounded it.
Since there were all the wives and families of Japanese daimyo in Edo City, these were all taken over by the Yijun.
There were too many things to be carried out during this period. When there were not enough people to help transport the supplies, the civilians of Edo City even helped to carry them.
Without him, it was just because Yijun actually gave him a good reward, which made many people who were just watching feel envious and annoyed at the same time.
...
Tokugawa Ieharu didn't take it seriously at first when he was persuaded to surrender by the Yi army outside the shogun's palace. After all, he wanted troops and food, so there was no need to surrender.
But it wasn't until the Yi Army's airship dropped a lot of heavy bombs from the sky and bombed the General's Mansion that there were heavy casualties in the General's Mansion.
And that wasn't the end of it, the Yi army also brought in a lot of heavy artillery and blasted the not-so-high city wall of the General's Mansion. The city wall was completely unable to withstand the power of the cannonball, and a large section collapsed.
At this time, Tokugawa Ieharu understood that the reason why the Yi army was outside to persuade him to surrender instead of attacking directly to kill him was simply to control him and give him a step down.
November 18, the fourth year of natural selection (the twenty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign)
The Edo shogunate announced unconditional surrender to the Japanese army, ending the Edo period in Japan.
