Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1064 Fake Surrender
The governor of Xinxing Prefecture was both happy and surprised. He was happy that the Ming army had been advancing southward with unstoppable force, but for some reason they suddenly stopped in front of Xinxing Prefecture and surrounded it without attacking. He was surprised that the Ming army had penetrated deep into the enemy's territory alone, and it would have been fine if they had not fought quickly, but they dared to act in such a way. He was really surprised.

But the Ming army was well-organized and truly terrifying. Even if it was just a siege, the emerging state officials felt that the city would be captured sooner or later.

Hu Jinli did not expect that the Ming Dynasty would suddenly attack Xinxing Prefecture, so the Xinxing Prefecture official was not a confidant of Hu's party. So the Xinxing Prefecture official thought again and again, chose an auspicious time, opened the city gate, and walked out of the city gate step by step with the officials of the prefecture, holding the black gauze hat in hand.

"Xinxing City is open?" When Li Wenzhong and Lan Yu heard the news, they were completely confused.

Xinxing Prefecture is the gateway to Thang Long City. If Hu Jinyi were to take Xinxing Prefecture, he would be scared out of his wits. They had no intention of taking Xinxing Prefecture.

The two of them surrounded but did not attack in order to use Xinxingfu as bait to lure back Hu Jiyi's main force and give Nguyen Duo Fang and the Le Loi rebels in the south a chance to catch their breath. When Hu Jiyi's main force came back, they would pretend to be short of food and grass and retreat northward.

"Let's go out and take a look first." Li Wenzhong said.

The two men put on their armor and mounted their horses, and went out of the camp to check. They saw that the gate of Xinxing City was wide open, and several Annan officials held their black hats in their hands, looking like they were asking for forgiveness. When they saw Li Wenzhong and Lan Yu, these Annan officials knelt on the spot and shouted: "We, the officials of Xinxing City, are willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty soldiers and become Ming subjects forever."

"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

After saying that, he knelt three times and kowtowed nine times.

"..."In the Ming army camp, everyone was dead silent. The soldiers looked at these Annan officials who were praying for surrender in surprise, and then turned back to see what the two dukes were doing.

"What should I do?" Lan Yu didn't know what to do. He looked at Li Wenzhong inquiringly.

"..." Li Wenzhong's expression was very interesting, as if he was puzzled, suddenly realized, and helpless. After thinking for a long time, he said loudly: "You guys go back to the city. Your plan of false surrender has been seen through by this Duke."

"There is no need to resort to such tricks. You and I should fight openly on the battlefield."

Having said that, he rode away.

Oh, it turned out to be a false surrender! The soldiers suddenly realized, no wonder this man was so eager to surrender before the battle even started. Thanks to the sharp eyes of Lord Cao. Forget it, no need to pay attention to him, bah!

The soldiers turned around and went about their business, ignoring the officials.

Lan Yu's mouth twitched, and he also turned his horse and left. The Annan official saw that the Ming army camp was in disarray, and no one paid any attention to them. He knelt on the ground in shock.

After a while, Fang came to his senses and shouted: "My Lord, please understand, I really want to serve the Ming Dynasty!"

No one responded, and everyone in the Ming army camp treated him as air.

"This... Lord?" A minor official came over and supported the governor, with a strange look on his face, "The Ming army thought we were pretending to surrender, what should we do?"

"…It must be that we are not pious enough." The state official thought about it and came to this conclusion. "As long as the Duke of Ming sees our piety, he will definitely allow us to surrender to Ming."

"Tomorrow, I will follow the example of Lian Po, the famous general in ancient China, and take off my shirt and come to the front of the Ming army to apologize..."

Being shirtless and asking for forgiveness with a thorn stick on his back was a very humiliating thing for these officials. In order to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, he had to go to such lengths. A group of people looked at him with strange eyes.

Seeing everyone's strange looks, the governor said proudly: "Isn't this for the people in the city?"

"Now that the heavenly soldiers of the upper kingdom have arrived, the Hu family is like a chicken and a dog. In the future, Annan will surely fall into the hands of the Ming Dynasty. If we anger the heavenly soldiers of the upper kingdom now, and the Duke gets angry, won't he massacre the whole city?"

"I am building a seven-story pagoda! I definitely don't want to rely on the Ming Dynasty and become a high-ranking official in the future when the Ming Dynasty rules Annan."

Oh! That makes sense! All the officials woke up as if from a dream, and began to think about how to beg for surrender to the Ming Dynasty, so that they could be more eye-catching than the state officials tomorrow and stand out among the officials.

"Lord Cao, there is no reason not to eat the fat meat that is served to you. Why don't you take over Xinxing City today?"

Lan Yu said, thinking that he had a chance to take another city without bloodshed today, he felt a little regretful. Li Wenzhong glanced at him indifferently, then lowered his head to pour tea.

Lan Yu's sword is extremely sharp and is an unparalleled sharp knife. It is even better than Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng who pacified Annan during the Yongle Dynasty in history.

Even if Lan Yu were asked to sweep across the entire territory of Annan, he would be able to do it.

However, what the Hongwu Emperor wanted was a stable Annan, a place of stable production for the Ming Dynasty. Even if Lan Yu could sweep across Annan, at most he would get a broken Annan like the Yongle Dynasty. The nobles, poor families, and remnants of the Chen Dynasty in Annan would emerge one after another like mushrooms after rain, hindering the Ming Dynasty's rule over Annan.

Therefore, Li Wenzhong was needed as the main general to accompany Lan Yu to the battle. The Ming Dynasty had no shortage of famous generals. Lan Yu, Fei Ju, Chang Mao, Zhang Yu, Deng Yu, and Feng Sheng all had the qualities of a famous general and the ability to destroy a country. However, there were only a handful of famous generals, especially those who understood the principle that "war is the continuation of politics", could command thousands of troops, and had enough prestige to overwhelm other Ming generals.

One of them is the Hongwu Emperor who expelled the Tartars and restored China; one of them is Zhu Su, the Prince of Zhou, who had a noble status and proposed this concept; one of them is Xu Da, the military god of the Ming Dynasty, who did not propose this concept but always secretly followed this concept in his marching and fighting; and one of them is Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, who was devoted to the Western Expedition and whose military capabilities while governing the country were steadily increasing.

The last one is Li Wenzhong, Duke of Cao of the Ming Dynasty, who was taught by Emperor Hongwu, influenced by Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and others, and fought in several bloody battles. He was a good warrior with great achievements.

Only with Li Wenzhong, the Ming Dynasty could safely take over Annan as planned by Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Su and Zhu Biao. If it was only Lan Yu, driven by his military achievements, perhaps Lan Yu would have chosen to attack Thang Long City directly, capture Hu Jinyi alive and present him to the emperor in Yingtian.

The Ming Dynasty does not lack Hu Jinyi, what it lacks is a permanent granary.

Li Wenzhong knew this very well, so he said: "Your Majesty ordered us to obey the Fifth Prince, but the Fifth Prince only asked us to delay the main force of the Hu family, and did not ask us to take Thang Long City."

"We should not attack too aggressively, or we will ruin the plans of His Majesty and the Fifth Prince."

"First take Xinxing Prefecture, and then take Thang Long City, and Annan will be within easy reach. Wouldn't that make everyone happy?" Lan Yu asked in confusion.

"It is easy to conquer a country, but difficult to keep it. Your Majesty and the Fifth Prince have already made a plan. We cannot disobey the orders of Your Highness." Li Wenzhong still insisted.

Lan Yu glanced at Li Wenzhong and stopped talking. Li Wenzhong's military achievements, knowledge, and status were far superior to his, and he was also the chief general. Lan Yu was only a deputy general, so naturally he could only obey Li Wenzhong's orders. The two led the army and continued to besiege Xinxing Prefecture without attacking.

(End of this chapter)