In fact, giving this order was Gomez's helpless move, because the country had no way to rescue them, rather than forcing them to really surrender, it was better to stabilize this army in this way, even if they surrendered, they would not become accomplices of the Xia Empire. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of War did so in order to curry favor with both sides, and whatever the outcome of the war in the future, they would leave themselves a good way out, and both sides would regard them as heroes; Whatever the outcome, Isabel and the besieged soldiers will thank them for saving their lives.

That night, Commander Isabel received a telegram from the General Staff and the War Department, ordering that he could lead the army to pretend to surrender to the Xia Empire, and that after surrendering, they could not do anything that harmed the interests of the country, and their families would be secretly protected, and they would be reunited with their families after the war, but the Ministry of Defense would announce that their families had been secretly executed, and the country would rehabilitate them after the war.

Isabel held the telegram in both hands reverently, tears of excitement flowed down, the president and the high-ranking officials were too generous to him, and they came up with such a way to protect him and the besieged army, he couldn't be a villain, he couldn't do anything sorry for the president, he finally made up his mind that he must negotiate with the Xia Empire, even if he surrendered the Xia Empire, he would not fight with the army of the United Venezuelan States, otherwise he would rather not accept the adaptation after surrendering.

After thinking about it for half the night, carefully considering every detail of the meeting tomorrow morning, and feeling that the whole plan was flawless, he fell asleep peacefully in the second half of the night.

At 8 o'clock in the morning of the 21st, after drinking a bowl of gruel, Isabel held a meeting of officers in the tent of the military headquarters on time.

The food they brought out was not much, but when it was bombed, they lost some of it, and now all the officers and men can only drink one bowl of gruel per meal, and only in this way can they hold out for three days.

First of all, the chief of staff of the army read out yesterday's battle losses to all the officers, more than 3,000 officers and men lost their lives, and more than 5,000 people were seriously wounded. The artillery was heavily bombarded, less than a third of the artillery was in good condition, and the artillery suffered heavy casualties; There is a shortage of weapons and ammunition, food and medicine.

Commander Ishabel continued: "In the past, we underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Xia Empire's army, and in the field, we were either their opponents, or it was useless to have several times the number of troops; The Western Front was able to block the offensive of the Xia Empire's army, which was a defensive battle that took advantage of the terrain and many hidden fortresses, and it was a completely different concept from the field battle in this area of Ma Pingchuan; And I feel that yesterday the artillery of the Xia Empire did not do their best, if they all used that kind of burning shells, we would have lost at least half of our personnel. “

Everyone nodded in agreement with the commander's judgment, the kind of bomb that burns as soon as it explodes is really terrifying, and now they all have a feeling of palpitation.

Seeing that no one refuted his words, the commander continued: "In this case, breaking through is undoubtedly self-defeating, irresponsible to the brothers, and we have nowhere to go; Both the east and west directions have been occupied by the Xia Empire; Moving southward, it is still the territory of the Xia Empire, if we hide in the Guyana plateau area, the dense forests are dangerous, and the non-combat attrition will be very serious, we have no troops to replenish, the more soldiers fight, the fewer and fewer soldiers, no ammunition, medicine, food and other supplies, we can't hold on at all; Crossing the Olinoco River to the north is even less likely, and without the escort of warships, our ships simply cannot cross the river. “

"Commander, what do you say?"

"Commander, everyone knows what you analyzed, what is the best way now?"

"Commander, we listen to you, and we will do what you say."

"Commander, give the order!"

The crowd was urging Isabel to come up with an idea. ”

Isabel was satisfied with the attitude of the crowd, and it seemed that he still had control over the troops, so he continued: "Everyone, don't be impatient, listen to me slowly; Yesterday I had already sent someone to contact the Xia Imperial army, they only left us 3 days to think about it, as long as we did not break through, they would not attack us; Today's convening is to discuss our future, which is related to the future fate of everyone here, so I want to hear your suggestions before I can make a decision. ”

Seeing that everyone was silent again, the chief of staff said: "Commander, no matter what you decide, everyone will obey your orders, now is a special period, we must twist into a rope and work together to get through the difficulties in front of us." ”

The deputy commander said: "Commander, everyone, at present we have only two ways to go, either die on the battlefield or surrender to the enemy, but in this case our family will be persecuted, no matter what, it is a dilemma. ”

Isabel said: "There is a third way, which can save your lives and the lives of your families, I wonder if you are willing to choose?" ”

Now, everyone is interested, this is the best of both worlds, whoever doesn't choose is a fool.

"Commander, what's the solution?"

"Commander, we listen to you."

Looking at everyone's anxious attitude, Isabel said unhurriedly: "If you can choose the third way, then no matter what order I give, can everyone obey it?" Certainly not an order that endangers your lives. ”

Everyone hurriedly said: "Absolutely obey the commander's orders." ”

Isabel explained, "Well, since you believe me, I'll give you a general outline of my plan; First of all, I will negotiate with the Xia Empire, agree to surrender to them, and let them accept our terms, although we surrender, but we will never participate in the war in Venezuela, and we will definitely not fight with our original comrades; Second, I will contact the top level in China and announce to the public that our family members have been secretly executed, but in fact they are secretly hidden. ”

"Commander, how can we believe that your words are true?"

"How can I keep my family safe?"

There was a lot of discussion and began to question the veracity of Isabelle's words.

"You still don't believe me, but in fact, my family has the same fate as everyone's family, so don't I worry? I'm taking a lot more risk than any of you here, so why should I? Not for everyone's good? Isabel feigned anger.

Isabelle's words made everyone feel a little embarrassed, and everyone remained silent.

Isabel continued: "I only make one guarantee, after the war, no matter whether the country wins or loses, as long as my family lives alone, all of you here will shoot me black, and I will never blame you; If people don't want to take the risk, just say nothing. “

The chief of staff said: "At present, there will be risks in making any decision, if you are not even willing to take this risk, then go to break through, I am sure that most of the officers and soldiers will be able to escape the enemy's bombardment, but where can everyone go after escaping?" Anyway, I believe that the commander's decision is the most correct, and I resolutely obey the commander's orders. ”