The three choices, whether to fight, whether to withdraw, or surrender, are all in front of everyone.

As the commander-in-chief, he does not have absolute control and command over these people.

There are only more than 10,000 people he can completely and truly command, and the rest are temporarily transferred from all over the country, all of them are local old oilmen, they can't fight, and they can't steal and cheat, otherwise they won't be able to take two small cities with three or four thousand troops stationed in two months.

Since there is no consensus now, then put all the options in front of them and see how they choose.

However, when it came time to choose, the generals couldn't figure out the situation for a while, and their heads were still a little confused, and no one dared to easily say whether to fight or run, or surrender.

Seeing that everyone didn't know what to choose, the lord got up and said: "In this way, I will first show my attitude, whether it is to fight to the south or to the north, the road is impassable, and if you retreat to the west, you are likely to die on the road, I still have a family to support, so I will not make trouble with you, I will give up the right to command the army and surrender to the Song army." If you want to go with me, go together, and if you don't want to go, continue to stay in the military tent, I hope you can negotiate a better way out. ”

After the Lord finished speaking, he glanced around the generals, and then raised his legs and walked towards the outside of the military tent.

The main generals all chose to surrender, so what else to fight, wouldn't it be too long to fight again?

"General, let's go with you, where you go, we'll go!"

One person spoke, and more than a dozen generals and colonels in the military tent got up one after another, followed the footsteps of the main general, and walked towards the outside of the military tent.

The remaining ten people in the tent looked at each other, and the three choices were coiled in their hearts, and they still couldn't make up their minds in a hurry.

"What to do? Hit or withdraw? ”

"How? Taiyuan City is so high, what are we going to fight? I'm ready to go back to Wenshui. ”

"Why can't you fight? Taiyuan City can't be fought, can't we go around the city and go north to Xinzhou? When the time comes, the imperial court will send troops, why can't it be brought back from Xinzhou? ”

"Not to mention, this is really a way, we have horses, if we want to withdraw, they can't catch up with us, and it won't take three days to run to Xinzhou."

"My family members are all in Pingyao, no matter what they do when they go to Xinzhou, I plan to go back to Pingyao."

"What's the use of you all going back, your little place, can they let you go? I think we still have eight or nine thousand people, as long as we join forces and go north to Xinzhou, no one can stop us! When the imperial court sends reinforcements, we will recapture Taiyuan, and then we will have all the fame and fortune, are you afraid that there will be no women? It's no problem to be a groom every night! Do you think so? ”

"Yes, we still have so many people, gather together, and run north, no one really has to catch up with us, keep the soldiers and horses in our hands, we have food everywhere, why surrender and be a prisoner, not to mention that we don't have a chance to fight back to Taiyuan Mansion."

"Okay, I'll go north to Xinzhou with you."

"I still don't feel good, I don't want to eat this bowl of rice in the army anymore, I hand over the military power and go home to farm. Good luck to you guys. ”

"Get out, it's not promising, you deserve to be promoted."

"What's the matter, all those who stay are going north to Xinzhou, right? If there is no opinion, we had better immediately elect a chief general to command the whole army, and there is a mess, but we can't go north. What do you think? ”

"What General Feng said is reasonable, I think General Feng is suitable to be the main general and lead us north to Xinzhou, do you think it's okay?"

"Hey, don't don't, I'm just proposing, I'm not old enough, how can I be the commander of the whole army and command everyone, it's not suitable."

"What's wrong with this, the position of the main general is talented, General Feng is resourceful, I think it's the most suitable."

"Hey, no, no, no, Feng thinks that General He is more suitable, he has been in the army for a long time, has deep qualifications, and can also serve the public, General He is the right person for the main general."

"General Feng, don't shirk it, you proposed the idea, you pointed out this path to everyone, naturally I want to follow you, this position of the main general belongs to you!"

"It's not suitable, it's not appropriate, Feng just said a few words, how can He De take on the responsibility of the chief general and command the generals, I can't afford the position of the chief general. Everyone looks at General Mao, there are many soldiers and horses, and he is older than us, so he is the most suitable to lead us. ”

"My soldiers are all full, and I can't count them. Besides, I'm only a few years older than everyone else, and I have some skills in leading troops, I still understand it very well, so General Feng shouldn't force me to put me on the shelf. You still have to do this position of the main general, so don't shirk it. ”

"No, no, there are a few big brothers here, if you don't do it, how dare I do it."

...........

After the generals in the military tent made up their minds and collectively decided to go north to Xinzhou, they hurriedly began to elect the commander-in-chief.

If the main general can't be determined, the recommendations you come and go in the military tent can't stop, and it won't take long for it to become a mutual praise.

While the generals in the military tent were praising each other, outside the military tent was a different situation.

The main general and a dozen generals stood three or four feet away from the military tent, quietly listening to the high-minded talk and praise in the military tent.

After listening for a moment, the main general waved his hand at the commander of the guards guarding outside the tent.

The commander was ordered, drew his sword and led dozens of people, and rushed into the military tent.

After the absence, screams, shouts, and angry shouts were heard from the military tent, and the various sounds were mixed together, and they were noisier and more heart-wrenching than the hype they had not been so long ago.

However, after a few moments, there was no sound coming from the tent.

The commander of the guards walked out of the tent with the bloody guards, and stepped forward to report to the commander: "If you don't leave any of them, you will be executed." ”

"Good. Order the whole army to set off for Taigu City immediately! The Lord will turn and give orders to the generals who have chosen to follow him.

"Yes, General!"

The generals' faces were ugly, and they were secretly glad that they had just walked out of the military tent earlier, and they were not staying together, otherwise they would be lying in the military tent like them now.

The army set out at once, carrying no baggage except men, horses, and basic weapons, and left the barracks, leaving no one behind.

Before noon, the army rushed to the city of Taigu.

The chief general sent someone to step forward with his bare hands and shout to report that he wanted to see Li join the army.

A quarter of an hour later, Lee's army appeared at the head of the city.

"Li joins the army, we come according to the agreement, if we lay down our weapons, can we guarantee that we will not hurt the lives of our brothers?" The lord asked in a loud voice under the city, and behind him was an army of nearly 20,000.

When the ordinary soldiers heard this, they immediately looked at each other and talked about it, but their voices could not be heard by the lord, and the people in Taigu City could not hear it.

"I can keep them alive. There is a saying, you tell them that those who are willing to follow the Great Song army to eat military rations and earn military merits will stay in the city and wait for reorganization, and those who do not want to continue to be soldiers should take off their clothes and armor, put down their weapons, leave their war horses, and leave on their own! Li Senjun was standing at the head of the city, condescending, and replied loudly.

Some of the soldiers under the city have even heard the reply from the city.

"Okay, I hope that Li Senjun can be counted when he speaks!" The Lord will turn his horse and go toward his army.

Then he immediately issued an order to the whole army: Taiyuan City has been captured by the Song army, in order to protect everyone's life, the whole army surrendered to the Song army, those who are willing to continue to be soldiers and eat the imperial grain, stay in the army and do not move, and those who want to go home will leave their horses and armor and weapons and leave on their own!

For all ordinary soldiers, this news is too shocking, and this choice is also difficult.

Isn't the other party a chaotic people, why did it become a Song army after two months of fighting, and Taiyuan City was captured? This news is difficult to accept.

As for the question of whether to surrender or not, it is not something that ordinary soldiers should consider, they join the army just to eat, just to live, and whoever gives food will give his life to whomever he wants.

But now that they surrender to the Song army, will the other party kill them in retaliation, it's hard to say, after all, they have been fighting for two months, and there are a lot of dead and wounded, how can this hatred be dissolved?

If you stay, you can continue to eat the imperial food, and you don't have to worry about natural disasters and hunger, but you may be bullied, and you may not be able to save your life.

And take off your clothes and armor, put down your weapons, and return to your hometown to farm, from now on you will not be able to eat the imperial grain, whether you can eat or not depends on the sky, although your life can be saved, but you may often have to deal with natural disasters and famine, and you will be busy all day long for a bowl of rice, and it is impossible to change it in a lifetime.

It's a very difficult choice.

But all those under the city must make a clear choice today, whether to stay or leave, there are only two paths, and there is no third way.

The people who want to choose the third way have already died in the barracks, but the ordinary soldiers are not clear, and now they have no more choice.

20,000 people, with different minds, after all, there are take-offs, some gather and some scatter.

After a period of reflection and discussion, many soldiers began to take off their armor, lay down their weapons, and walked out of the ranks and in the direction of their homes.

As soon as someone leaves, many more are influenced by them, and they lay down their weapons, leave their armoured horses, and choose to leave the army and return to their families.

But more people are still thinking about it in the same place, because this is indeed a very difficult choice, and if you choose differently, your fate may be very different in the future.

Li Senjun has been standing at the head of the city, looking at the soldiers who are still standing and leaving in the distance, and in a trance, his mind returns to Shandong, which is thousands of miles away, and he has seen many such scenes that year.

"Li joins the army, this will not work, there are too many people left, just two or three thousand of us, it is not easy to suppress them!" A strong man beside Li Senjun looked at the city and was a little worried.

Li Senjun said: "They have no more than 5,000 people with combat effectiveness, and the others are not as good as the recruits we recruited, what combat effectiveness we have, what kind of battle they have, General Chen should be very clear, as long as he restrains his brothers and does not intensify the contradictions, there will not be much of a problem." ”

After a pause, he continued: "What's more, our army will soon enter Taiyuan Mansion, and these tens of thousands of people will not be able to make a big wave at that time." They are all Han people who have lived in this land for generations, as long as they are sincerely reorganized and eat and live like us, they will soon be able to share our hearts, and it will not be long before they will become our fighting power. ”

"I hope so."