Chaos movements came from the distance, interrupting Zhao Mengqi's thoughts.
Geng Zhi reminded, "Your Highness, the rebels are about to break out."
Zhao Mengqi listened carefully and found that it was indeed the sound of a large number of people running, and there were faint shouts of killing coming from behind.
He first asked people to escort Pu Shiwen and others and their horses to the back of the formation, then put on his mask and said, "Send the order, prepare to intercept!"
As the saying goes, don't stop when you return to the enemy. If these defeated troops find that their way out is cut off and they are in a desperate situation, they may make a desperate move and launch a desperate counterattack.
Rabbits bite when they are anxious.
But if these 'rabbits' are allowed to escape, whether they run back to Quanzhou or disperse somewhere, it will be very troublesome.
Zhao Mengqi only had a thousand men around him who were responsible for blocking the road. In addition, there were five hundred men on each side of the front, setting up a pocket formation. The purpose was to catch all the defeated troops in one fell swoop and reduce trouble.
For this reason, it is natural to be prepared for a fierce and bloody battle.
At this time, the night was getting darker, and judging from the sound, the distance between the defeated troops was within two hundred feet, Zhao Mengqi ordered again, "Raise the fire!"
Drums and trumpets sounded, the first torch was lit, giving off a red light, and then a fire dragon quickly extended to both sides.
Then, the mountains and paddy fields on both sides looked like two arms, with long fire dragons extending out from each side. They seemed denser and longer than the middle.
Running at the front of the defeated troops were Baiyan Jiao and twenty or thirty of his confidants.
This guy saw that the opportunity was not good and ran away decisively. In addition to the fact that there was no horse and two legs could not run with four legs, they had been far ahead for more than ten miles.
Seeing that we are getting closer and closer to Fengtou Mountain, we will soon be able to board a sea ship and escape.
Suddenly there was a drum sound in front of him, which almost broke Baiyan Jiao's heart, and the fire that came up immediately illuminated his white eyes red.
Nearly thirty people stopped in panic, panting.
"Ahead...there are officers and soldiers in front!?"
"Damn it! Where did this come from?"
"Big...big...big master, where should we run?"
"It's all blocked up. Where can we go? The boss, the officers and soldiers won't give us a way to survive, so we might as well fight them!"
"Yes, let's fight! Even if we can't rush through, we still have to bite off a piece of meat from them. Eighteen years later, we will be a hero again!"
In desperation, a group of people clamored to fight against the officers and soldiers.
"Shut up!" Baiyan Jiao was so upset by his subordinates that he yelled angrily, "What are you trying to do? Is it really possible that he will butt his head and bite him with his teeth?"
In order to run fast, they didn't expect there would be an interception in this direction, so they threw away all their weapons.
After roaring, the white-eyed dragon hurriedly looked around, spinning like a top, trying to find a way out.
In front is a strict military formation, filled with murderous intent.
There are mountains on the right, and beyond the light of the fire is a deep and dense forest, where many ambushes are hidden.
The left side is still four or five miles away from the coast. Even if no one intercepts it, the paddy fields will be muddy and difficult to navigate.
The other defeated soldiers behind them naturally discovered this, but driven by the pursuers, they saw that they were getting closer and closer.
There is really no way from heaven to earth.
"Master, please come up with an idea quickly!" His subordinates urged him one after another.
The white-eyed dragon's two small eyes rolled rapidly, and then he looked at his dog-headed military advisor, "Sir, do you have any clever ideas now?"
The military advisor didn't want to die, so he immediately thought of a solution, and soon he came up with a plan.
"Now we are obviously in a dead end with no way out. If we want to save our lives, we can only try to surrender. The officers and soldiers are more disciplined and will not kill prisoners easily. As for the future, we can just act on our own initiative."
The white-eyed Jiao thought for a moment, "Yes, we have been caught by the government before, but afterwards we were not free and happy. As long as we don't die, we will always have a chance."
Then the military advisor continued, "But to be on the safe side, we not only have to surrender, but it is best to also perform meritorious service!"
All the subordinates were moved when they heard this, but they were also very confused. Baiyan Jiao asked directly, "Meritorious service? What do you mean?"
"As long as we persuade more people to surrender and save some trouble for the officers and soldiers, wouldn't it be a meritorious service?" the military advisor explained.
"It makes sense! A military advisor is a military advisor. Please tell me what to do."
Baiyan Jiao slapped his thigh, his expression became excited.
After waiting for the military advisor's instructions, everyone turned around and shouted in unison at the approaching broken soldiers.
"Brothers, don't run away. The Pu family and the Liu family have made peace with the government. The government and the army have said that as long as we are captured without restraint, they will not kill us!"
"Stop, everyone, stop. You can't run away. If you offend the officers and soldiers, then you will really be dead!"
"Then Pu Guan and Liu Guan have surrendered, so why are we wasting our efforts? We are all minions, and it is important to save our lives!"
The rebels were so tired after being tossed back and forth for more than two hours that they didn't bother to tell the truth after hearing these words that they didn't know were true or false. They stopped when they did, and some even sat down on the ground.
In addition, some people were persuaded by Baiyan Jiao and the others to shout together.
Just like the spread of the virus, more and more defeated soldiers joined in the shouting, and finally converged into shouts with venting emotions.
"Surrender! We all surrender!"
Looking at this scene, Zhao Mengqi raised his hands awkwardly.
Shi Cheng stared at his hand eagerly, but didn't see him wave it for a long time, "Your Highness, are you still firing this cannon?"
Zhao Mengqi turned to look at Shi Cheng, then at the four mortars, six direct guns, and twenty rocket launchers that were ready for launch...
Then he took off his mask and shrugged, "Do you think this is still necessary? Just be prepared."
Shi Cheng's eyes were full of disappointment. He finally had a chance to fight, but he seemed to be holding on to it. It was really suffocating people to death.
Moreover, it would be too troublesome to clean up if the ammunition is loaded and not fired.
Shi Cheng felt very suffocated, and Zhao Mengqi was even more suffocated.
I finally had the opportunity to go into battle in person, but it fell through again...
I practice so hard every day, but God doesn't give me face, so there is always no place for heroes.
At this time, a figure waved a piece of white cloth and ran slowly towards the front of the formation while shouting, "Master, don't do anything, I'm here to ask for surrender..."
Geng Zhi led his men forward, searched the man behind him, and then turned him over to Zhao Mengqi.
"General, we are good people. If it were not for the Pu family's intimidation, we would never dare to commit rebellion. Now we have come to our senses and decided to return to justice. Please accept it, General."
When Zhao Mengqi heard that this man was very articulate and knew how to avoid important matters, he could not help but look at him carefully and asked, "A scholar?"
Under the eyes that seemed to be able to penetrate everything, this man was in a state of confusion, "I have been studying... for several years..."
"What's your name? Where are you from? What do you do?"
"Qi Tianliang, a small citizen, is from Jinjiang County, Quanzhou. He is an accountant..."
Zhao Mengqi's eyes narrowed, "Huh!?"
Qi Tianliang was caught by the gaze, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He did not dare to lie or hide anything anymore, "Xiaomin used to be an accountant on a merchant ship, but was later robbed by pirates, and then became the pirates' strategist. Our leader is called Zou Jin, nicknamed White-Eyed Jiao, was the one who persuaded the common people to surrender to the army and persuade others to surrender when he was desperate."
"Oh, so you still have a lot of merit..."
Zhao Mengqi originally wanted to go into battle to have fun, but now that it was ruined, he couldn't help but feel a little angry, and his tone seemed a little unkind.
Qi Tianliang probably had a misunderstanding and thought that Zhao Mengqi was speaking sarcastically, so he hurriedly made up his mind, "Actually, the white-eyed Jiao is actually a loyal lackey raised by the Pu family. He specially picked out the merchant ships of the Pu family's opponents at sea to plunder, and the white-eyed Jiao did not sincerely surrender." , he plans to escape this disaster and then find an opportunity to escape back to the sea. His home base is on an island off Chaozhou, and there are still many people left behind..."
Zhao Mengqi was amused by his lack of self-defense, "Except for the white-eyed dragon, do you know anything about other pirates?"
"Back to the general, there are dozens of large and small pirates in the South China Sea. The common people know something about the situation...if the general wants to suppress the bandits, the common people can be guides."
Qi Tianliang knew how to embody value and give himself a chance of survival. Perhaps he had this in mind when he took the initiative to take the risk to "please surrender".
Zhao Mengqi definitely wanted to suppress the pirates, so after thinking about it he said, "Very good, we can discuss the suppression of the bandits later. You go back now and tell the rebels that I accept their surrender and ask them to throw away all their weapons." , get out of the way, lie down on the ground, and wait for the officers and soldiers to come and deal with it."
This king?
Qi Tianliang's eyes widened in shock, "You...are you His Highness King Yan?"
"What? Doesn't it look like it?" Zhao Mengqi raised his eyebrows.
"No, no, Xiaomin didn't expect that His Highness, with his dignity, would come to the battlefield in person..." Qi Tianliang reacted and was immediately overjoyed, "Xiaomin, go now, go now."
What happened next went smoothly, with eight or nine thousand rebels lying on the ground obediently, waiting for the officers and soldiers to come up and tie them up in strings.
Soon after, Chen Wei, Lu Changqing and others also came to where Zhao Mengqi was.
Chen Wei complained as soon as he came, "Your Highness, Your Highness, you really deceived your own people with this unexpected plan."
"Aren't you worried that the bachelor won't agree?" Zhao Mengqi babbled and couldn't help but touch his nose, "Hey, if I had known that the traitor was such a novice, I wouldn't have had to do all these bells and whistles. As a result, I have basically done nothing now, but It also shows that the bachelor's sword is not old, and he can win such a beautiful victory despite being outnumbered, which really makes me admire him."
"Haha, the credit for this cannot be attributed to the veteran. Firstly, it is due to His Highness's proper arrangements, and secondly, it is also due to the bravery of the soldiers. His Highness's strategy of bypassing the enemy is still necessary. After all, you should be lenient if you anticipate the enemy. If it were not for this traitor The thieves have improper tactics and are too aggressive. The battle will definitely reach a stalemate, and only Your Highness will break the situation. Besides, if His Highness hadn't stopped them, most of these traitors would have escaped."
Obviously, Chen Wei still admires Zhao Mengqi's strategy.
Zhao Mengqi smiled and said, "This battle is over. Let's not say more. The rebel ships and the sailors of the Pengdi Division have been captured. Next, we will discuss the follow-up actions. I plan to go straight to Quanzhou after the battlefield is cleared. , what do the bachelors think?"
