Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

But according to the concubine, the elder brother-in-law had been coming home to take things out recently. Although he didn't know what was in the box the concubine mentioned, he could not think of anything else except gold and silver, as it was carried out from the lady's room and covered tightly with a box.

But what was my brother-in-law going to do with the gold, silver and jewelry he took away from me?

Suddenly, Guo Buren seemed to think of something, and was startled. He picked up the sword beside him, opened the door and rushed out, leaving the concubine behind him, silently raising the corner of her mouth and watching his back as he rushed towards the lady's room.

But before the smile on the concubine's face could spread, a horn sounded from outside.

This is an enemy attack.

When the concubine hurriedly put on her clothes and rushed to the front hall, she happened to hear the soldier reporting to Guo Bu Ren, "General Guo, it's not good. Dayuan has sent troops and they are less than 20 miles away from Loge City."

"What? How could it be so sudden?" Guo Bu Ren's face turned pale. He asked the soldier to investigate again while he hurried out with his sword in hand.

The jealous concubine tried to grab Guo Bu Ren's sleeve, but he brushed her away. At this moment, panic instantly overwhelmed her.

Guo Bu Ren has no time to care about his concubine. If the army really approaches and besieges the city, he, the defending general, will be the first to be defeated.

Even though Guo Bu Ren, who had fought on the battlefield for many years, felt a chill down his spine and his legs went weak at the thought of the powerful gunpowder weapons.

Half an hour later, Guo Buren climbed up the city wall and looked out at the flags covering the sky in the distance, as well as the solemn and murderous Dayuan army crushing towards Loge City.

Guo Bu Ren's voice trembled, "How many...how many people?"

"Reporting to the general, Dayuan has sent out 50,000 troops." The soldier who reported was very nervous as he looked at the army galloping towards them.

fifty thousand!

The key is not how many troops Dayuan sent out. After all, some people from Loge City fled, and some fled, so there are still at least hundreds of thousands of troops left.

But the problem is not how many troops Dayuan sent, but their powerful gunpowder weapons...

Seeing the rumbling of horse hooves in the distance and the shaking of the mountains and the earth, Guo Bu Ren hurriedly ordered to seal the city gates and dispatch troops to defend Loge City to the death.

The order was given, but Guo Bu Ren's mind was racing: should he surrender? Or surrender! Or surrender!

After all, if they fought to the death, judging only by the strength of the two sides, the enemy's 50,000 troops against their hundreds of thousands of troops would simply be a meal for them. In addition, with his many years of experience in leading troops on the battlefield, the outcome was almost certain.

How can they fight against the powerful gunpowder weapons? There is no chance of winning!

It must be said that the Seventh Prince had made a desperate move before, and in the last battle, he used all the gunpowder weapons, which gave the two countries a severe shock. It also gave all the subjects of the two countries the illusion that the Dayuan Dynasty had numerous gunpowder weapons, which caused everyone, including the veterans, to tremble in their hearts when they saw the Dayuan army, and they had the idea of ​​retreating without fighting.

There was no way. It wasn't that they were cowardly, but the opponent's firepower was too strong, and there was no chance for the two weaklings to even fight back.

Those who had the idea of ​​retreating included not only the generals of Loge City, but also the many soldiers below.

Most of them were recruited from other places. After the last battle, civil strife broke out in Tiansheng, and the soldiers on loan had not yet been deployed back; another part were new recruits in the latest wave of conscription.

Having just experienced a round of defeat, these soldiers were pushed onto the battlefield again without even having time to train.

In this snowy and freezing weather, many soldiers had serious mental and physical problems. Some even froze to death every night, and their bodies were carried out and burned every morning.

The lower-level soldiers complained, and the morale of the entire military camp was very low. In addition, various rumors in recent days filled the entire military camp. Even if the upper-level generals wanted to suppress them, the rumors were still spreading among the lower-level soldiers.

Even many soldiers were secretly hoping that they would be defeated quickly so that they could surrender to Dayuan as prisoners of war. If they performed well, they might even become Dayuan's citizens.

It's better than the current empress's chaotic rule, where Tiansheng is split into seven or eight major forces and countless small forces, each ruling its own territory.

In fact, it is no wonder that these people have such outrageous ideas. After all, for the people at the bottom of society, staying alive and having enough food to eat are their biggest hopes.

However, no matter what people in Loge City thought, Dayuan's army had arrived and stopped outside Loge City, but did not rush to attack the city, but waited silently.

Just as Guo Buren's brain was working rapidly, he was thinking about how he could surrender with a clear conscience. After surrendering, he had to not only save his own face, but also maintain his position as a defending general, so that he could still command the original soldiers of Loge City...

But then again, Guo Bu Ren absolutely refuses to admit that he is a loser, nor does he admit that he is wishful thinking.

After all, killing the surrendered is unlucky.

Moreover, in the previous battle, when the million-strong coalition army crushed the border of Dayuan Dynasty, only half of the soldiers escaped. It is impossible that most of the remaining soldiers died on the battlefield, and some of them must have been captured by Dayuan.

As for those captured soldiers, he naturally sent his men to inquire about their fate in Dayuan.

As he expected, Dayuan did not kill the prisoners directly, but gathered the injured prisoners and locked them up in one place. Although they were not given medical treatment, they were given clean water and clean food. Whether they could survive depended on their luck.

However, the surviving prisoners of war would be dispersed and sent to different places to open up wasteland, build city walls, pave roads, build dams, etc., which would ultimately leave a way for the prisoners of war to survive.

If you have special skills, such as blacksmithing, building houses, firing porcelain, etc., you will receive certain preferential treatment.

It doesn't matter if you don't have special skills, Dayuan also gives prisoners of war the opportunity to join the army and accumulate military merits on the battlefield. By accumulating a certain amount of military merits, you can transfer to Dayuan household registration, get rid of the status of prisoners, and become a legitimate Dayuan citizen. Like the native people of Dayuan Dynasty, you can go to school to learn to read and write, and take the imperial examination...

Guo Buren was thinking that since Dayuan could provide entry and exit for those low-level soldiers, if he wanted to recruit generals for his side, there must be better policy support, right?

Just when Guo Bu Ren was still trapped in his own fantasies, suddenly, there was a commotion below.