The winding boats are the real water killers. They are the Northern Sui Navy, with a large number of highly water-capable soldiers, and are real professional water soldiers.

The hundreds of winding boats are all in the size of five hundred stones, with a head equipped with a sampan, a whistleboat and a raft on the surface. Whenever they are hit by it, they will almost always fall to the front and even be smashed to pieces.

More than a hundred winding boats were extremely fast and rushed into the water of the battlefield in a moment. They came fiercely and knocked over the Tang army's raft one after another, and the soldiers on the raft fell into the water one after another.

At this time, the Sui army's water ghosts lurking on the winding boat attacked. This time, the Sui army's navy dispatched nearly a thousand water ghosts. They were underwater special soldiers, all of whom were white stripes in the waves, wearing only a pair of trousers, and biting an extremely sharp short knife in their mouths.

When they entered the water, they immediately turned into bloodthirsty sharks. The Tang soldiers were most afraid of them. Even Shi Huaiyi, the brave general who was brave enough to fall into their hands, had no resistance.

As the Sui army's water ghosts entered the river, the screams of Tang soldiers were constantly heard from the water surface. Many Tang soldiers who were originally lying on the raft suddenly screamed and then broke down. The soldiers on the same raft discovered that a sharp dagger stretched out from the gap of the raft, cutting off the neck of the soldiers just now. Some soldiers were even cut open by the daggers that passed through the gap.

But there were not many such tragedies. The Sui army's water ghosts had more missions to destroy the rafts crossing the river. The soldiers under the water cut off the ropes, and the rafts suddenly fell apart. The soldiers on the raft fell into the water one after another. They could only hold the wood and cry and beg for mercy.

In just a moment, the complete raft was no longer visible on the river surface. Logs drifted on the water surface. Many Tang soldiers who fell into the water were climbing on the logs. As long as they fell into the water, the Tang soldiers basically had no combat power and their morale collapsed. They only beg the Sui army water ghosts under the water to spare their lives, not to mention that many soldiers were injured with arrows.

One by one, Tang soldiers were carried on the winding boat and knelt on the deck and became prisoners of war. In just half a day, more than 5,000 people were captured. Many Tang soldiers who had just set out collapsed and fled back to the south bank regardless of their fate.

Li Xiaogong, who was watching the battle on the shore, sighed helplessly and said to the left and right orders: "Stop the attack, Ming Jin stop the troops!"

‘Dang!Dang!Dang!’

The bell to withdraw the troops rang, and tens of thousands of Tang soldiers on the south bank breathed a sigh of relief and rushed towards the camp one after another.

In the big tent, Li Xiaogong was completely desperate. The Sui army firmly controlled the battle situation and controlled the rich water. Whether it was building a floating bridge or crossing the river with a raft, they were easily resolved by the Sui army. Even if they broke through to the north shore, they would still be completely wiped out by the Sui cavalry. They actually had no chance of winning.

At this time, three generals Huang Junhan, Lu Shangzu and Wang Renshou walked into the tent and bowed together and said, "See Your Highness!"

Li Xiaogong sighed slightly and said, "We only have three days of food left. The game we hunted, the fruit stems we picked and the fish and shrimp we caught were insignificant. If we don't make up our minds, we can only kill the war horses or chew the bark of the tree."

"What decision does Your Highness need to make?" Wang Renshou asked carefully.

Li Xiaogong glanced at Huang Junhan and said, "General Huang proposed a plan yesterday called the plan to survive by cutting off his arms, that is, to let the soldiers of Nanjun surrender to the Northern Sui Dynasty, and then be sent back to the hometown by the Sui army, and then concentrate food, giving our 20,000 direct troops the last chance to travel west across Jiugong Mountain to Baling County. I think this plan is feasible, what do the two generals think?"

Lu Shangzu and Wang Renshou pondered for a moment, and Wang Renshou said first: "As long as your highness decides, he will obey the orders."

"What about General Lu?" Li Xiaogong turned to Lu Shangzu again.

Lu Shangzu hesitated and said, "I am not worried about other people, but I am afraid that reinforcements from Wuchang will come and we have already left."

"I was worried at first, but now I have to make a choice, either believe that reinforcements will come, and we will continue to wait. If reinforcements do not come, we will have to destroy all our troops; or we believe that reinforcements will not come, and we must use the last bit of food to cut off our arms to survive, and we can't hold on for a day. Now we have to make a decision. I don't know what you think, but I prefer the second possibility."

"I also think reinforcements won't come." Huang Junhan said on the side.

Wang Renshou nodded, "I think so too!"

Lu Shangzu smiled bitterly and bowed, "No matter what choice your highness makes, I will obey my humble duties firmly."

"Okay! Since the four of us have agreed, we are now facing the second choice. Who will lead the army of 60,000 Nanjun to surrender to the Northern Sui Dynasty? One of you three must shoulder this burden."

None of the three said anything, and Li Xiaogong said again: "I know some things are taboo to say, but now we must be honest. If I say this, I don't care about your true intentions, as long as I lead the army to surrender to the Northern Sui Dynasty, whether it comes back in the end, or stay in the Northern Sui Dynasty, I will be a hero of the Tang Dynasty and will not be held accountable. I will send his wife and children to Zhongdu. I, Li Xiaogong, use my personality as a guarantee for this."

The three of them looked at each other. At this time, Huang Junhan sighed and said, "This is the plan I proposed, and it should naturally be my implementation. I will stay. Moreover, I am from Jiangxia. Zhang Xuan will trust me more."

Li Xiaogong glanced at Wang Renshou and Lu Shangzu, and both nodded, expressing their acceptance of the result.

Li Xiaogong immediately said, "Since that's the case, we will start to act now and order all soldiers to hand over the dry food. I will lead my army west tonight."

The three of them bowed together and turned around and retreated. Li Xiaogong called Huang Junhan, "General Huang waited for a moment."

Huang Junhan stopped, Li Xiaogong walked up to him and looked at him silently for a moment, patted him on the shoulder, "Take care yourself, I hope we won't meet on the battlefield in the future."

Huang Junhan's eyes were a little red. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't say a word. Li Xiaogong smiled and said, "I understand in my heart, don't explain it anymore. I fully understand your decision. If I were not the surname Li, maybe I would have the same choice as you."

"Take care of your Highness!"

Huang Junhan knelt down and bowed deeply, got up and walked away.

That night, the Tang army divided into two groups. Li Xiaogong took all the food and took away 20,000 direct troops on the excuse of crossing the river from the west, while Huang Junhan led 60,000 troops from the Nanjun army to continue to stay in the Tang army camp.

Just two hours after Li Xiaogong left, Huang Junhan sent a confidant general to cross the river to surrender to the Sui army.

In the central tent of the Sui army camp, Zhang Xuan and Fang Xuanling could not help but look at each other after hearing Huang Junhan's confidant's statement of surrender. Needless to say, Li Xiaogong took away all the food and left tens of thousands of soldiers in desperate situations for them.

Zhang Xuan then asked Huang Junhan's confidant to take him down first. He asked Fang Xuanling, "What do the military advisor think about this?"

"This matter should not be false. As long as we are cautious, they have no chance at all. The key is whether Your Highness is willing to accept Huang Junhan's surrender, or whether he is willing to accept these 60,000 troops. I think this is the key."

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment: "Frankly speaking, I can understand the difficulty of Li Xiaogong making this decision. Because giving up 60,000 Nanjun soldiers is equivalent to completely giving up the vast territory of southern Jingzhou from the Yangtze River to the South China Sea. Li Xiaogong will definitely be severely punished by Li Yuan because of this decision. I believe he himself understands this, but he has no choice."

"Have Your Highness accepted the surrender?"

“Why not accept it?”

Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "Li Xiaogong's decision will also allow us to successfully capture Jiangxia and even the entire Jingbei without any effort."

Fang Xuanling also woke up and praised with a thumbs up: "Your Highness can see thoroughly!"

That night, Zhang Xuan and Huang Junhan reached specific details of their surrender.

Just as dawn was dawn, teams of Tang soldiers walked to the shore of Fushui, put down their weapons and armor, and then went to the west to cross the river to the north to accept the reorganization of the Sui army. This is the most critical detail. The surrendered soldiers and the soldiers must be completely separated.

Although the decision to surrender came very suddenly for the 60,000 Tang troops, it did not arouse resistance or anger from the Tang soldiers. On the contrary, when Huang Junhan told everyone that His Highness King of Qi had promised to deport them all back to his hometown to reunite with his family, a long-lasting cheer suddenly rang out in the camp.

The food was cut off, the will to war had disappeared, and no one was willing to work hard for the Tang Dynasty.

Ten miles west, twenty two thousand stone ships sailing from the mouth of the Fushui River became temporary ferries, transporting the surrendered soldiers to the north shore, and were immediately taken to the temporary prisoner-of-war camp by the Sui cavalry.

Each time the surrendered soldiers are taken away, there will be no more than 2,000 surrendered soldiers. This is also a common method to deal with surrendered soldiers. The sentiment of surrendered soldiers is often unstable. The gathering of a large number of surrendered soldiers is likely to cause unrest or mutiny, so it is necessary to strictly prevent the gathering of a large number of surrendered soldiers.

On the war horse, Zhang Xuan watched the surrendered soldiers crossing the river with dozens of generals, while Xu Shiji was responsible for leading his army to confiscate the large number of soldiers and armor piled up on the shore.

At this time, several Sui soldiers led Huang Junhan to Zhang Xuan, and Huang Junhan knelt down on one knee and said, "Huang Junhan is willing to serve His Highness for his work, I hope your Highness will include it!"

Huang Junhan was also a famous Tang Dynasty general in history, no less than Qu Tutong. Before surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, Huang Junhan worked as a Yingyanglang general in Xiangyang County for ten years. He was also an important figure in the Huang family. He has been an official for generations, and his grandparents and grandchildren have a high reputation in Jiangxia and Xiangyang.

Although he and Li Xiaogong had a deep personal relationship, Huang Junhan had already been disappointed with the Tang Dynasty. This time he sincerely surrendered to the Northern Sui Dynasty.

Although his plan to survive by cutting off his arm helped Li Xiaogong to evacuate Fushui smoothly, it also ruined all the achievements of the Tang Dynasty's destruction of Xiao Xian.

Zhang Xuan turned over and dismounted, helped Huang Junhan up, and said sincerely: "General Huang was able to lead tens of thousands of soldiers to put down his weapons, end the war, and make indelible achievements for the restoration of the people's livelihood in Jingzhou. I will remember it in my heart and hope that we will work together for the peace and peace of the people of the world to come soon."

"It is a blessing in my life to follow Your Highness!"

Zhang Xuan immediately appointed him as general and was awarded the title of Duke of Wuchang County. He also ordered his personal soldiers to take him to the camp to rest first. Huang Junhan did not expect that he could get such a high position. He was overjoyed and thanked him again and again, and then followed Zhang Xuan's personal soldiers to the Sui army camp.

At this time, Luo Shixin, who was confused, asked Fang Xuanling in a low voice, "Military advisor, I am really confused. Huang Junhan is mediocre in martial arts and not very famous, and he has never heard of any outstanding achievements. Why did the general value him so much and actually give him a high position as a general and a county duke?"

Fang Xuanling also laughed softly and explained to him: "General, don't underestimate Huang Junhan. With him, we can firmly sit in Jingbei, especially Xiangyang County. The Tang Dynasty was deeply loved by the people there. Even if we seize Xiangyang County, there will be constant internal troubles. Huang Junhan has been in Xiangyang for ten years, and many people regard him as their rebirth parents. With him, we have the capital to confront the Tang Dynasty in Xiangyang County. Other Jingbei counties only follow Xiangyang's leader. Xiangyang has stabilized, and other counties will also stabilize. How can such a shrewd person do business that is losing money?"

Luo Shixin suddenly realized that there were so many names hidden in it, and he admired the general more and more. The general was young but had such a deep vision. No wonder he could be the emperor. As long as he followed him loyally, he would not have to worry about the glory and wealth of his descendants.

Luo Shixin became more and more excited as he thought about it, and he wanted to show off his face immediately. He hurriedly stepped forward and clasped his fists and said, "Report to the Grand Commander, since the Fushui War is over, I am willing to lead troops north to support General Luo Cheng!"

Zhang Xuan nodded with a smile, "Okay, you can lead 10,000 infantry and cavalry to head north. The infantry is responsible for seizing the green copper mine. If the defenders are destroyed, let the mine continue to be mined, and the cavalry will join forces with General Luo Cheng, but you must remember that you can show off your power, but you are not allowed to attack Wuchang County."

"Abide by the orders!"

Luo Shixin's face was flushed with excitement, and immediately drove away. Zhang Xuan looked at his back as he was leaving, and felt a little strange. What was this kid excited? Was he stimulated?

He glanced at Fang Xuanling strangely, "What did the military advisor say to him?"

Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "Weichen told him that he would not suffer any losses in doing business with the Grand Marshal. Maybe he wants to become a general."

Zhang Xuan laughed, "This kid is a little too young to become a general. Unless he goes back and gives birth to a son immediately, I may mention it to him again for his son's sake."

"What will your Highness prepare to fight next?"

"Does the military advisor have any good suggestions?"

Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "I thought about it last night. Li Xiaogong retreated westward is not enough to make Li Shenfu surrender. I suggest that Your Highness capture Xiangyang first. Once Xiangyang County is taken, Li Shenfu will not be able to defend Jiangxia anyway."
Chapter completed!