Imperial warlords: Cannons are the only truth

"Sir, are you unable to run anymore?"

"Let me help you..." The guards and staff officers following beside him hurriedly slowed down to help Orlando Xavier.

"No!"

Upon hearing the guards officer's words, Orlando Xavier simply stopped.

"I'm not running anymore!" Orlando Xavier glanced at his entourage who had stopped with him, gritted his teeth, and quickly changed his mind about fleeing: "Where's my officer's uniform I just changed out of?"

“It’s already been thrown away…” one of the accompanying officers replied, puzzled.

"........................"

“Never mind…” Orlando Xavier said with a hint of helplessness and self-mockery, “If it’s gone, it’s gone.”

"Let's stop running."

Orlando Xavier watched the tide of fleeing soldiers and the "red fire" scene of artillery fire filling the sky.

He then pointed to the radio carried by the communications soldier and said to his entourage with an extremely serious expression, "Tell the Daqian Zhenguo Army in plain language."

"Orlando Xavier, commander of the Lanxi Foreign Legion, has surrendered with his troops and requests a ceasefire from the Daqian Zhenguo Army..."

"We have no way out."

Before anyone could raise any questions, Orlando Xavier offered an explanation: "You've all seen it."

"The entire foreign legion has been completely scattered."

"Our army is completely powerless to salvage the situation."

"As for the order from above—that if all else fails, we can break up into smaller units and remain in the southern part of Qianzhou to fight guerrilla warfare and jungle warfare against the Daqian Zhenguo Army—that's utterly ridiculous!"

"How can we wage guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines without any supplies?"

"Are they telling us to live like savages?!"

Orlando Xavier's resentment deepened as he said this: "This is clearly just leaving us to fend for ourselves!"

"They're a bunch of bastards!!!"

"Where can we escape to now?"

"Most of the southern part of Qianzhou has been occupied by the Qian people."

"Soon, the entire southern part of Qianzhou will fall into the hands of the Qian people!"

"Our entire legion has been abandoned!"

Orlando Xavier said with a ferocious expression, "Since the higher-ups don't care about our lives, we can only save ourselves."

"Execute the order!"

Orlando Xavier then looked at the communications officer, signaling him to carry out his orders: "Don't worry..."

With that, Orlando Xavier glanced at the officers with their varied expressions and said, "I will personally negotiate with the Great Qian Zhenguo Army and ensure everyone's safety!"

-------------------------------------

A few hours later.

Headquarters of the 363rd Division of the Daqian Zhenguo Army.

"You're Orlando Xavier, the commander of the Lanxi Foreign Legion?"

Zhao Xingzhou, commander of the 363rd Division of the Daqian Zhenguo Army, looked Orlando Xavier, who was covered in dust and dirt, up and down with great interest.

"Lieutenant Colonel Commander?"

Looking at Orlando Xavier dressed as a colonel with the rank of lieutenant colonel on his shoulders, Zhao Xingzhou had a rough idea of ​​what was going on.

The person in front of you should be Orlando Xavier himself.

After all, even in Xiluo, it's rare to see a lieutenant colonel this old...................

The accompanying translator then relayed Zhao Xingzhou's words to the captured Orlando Xavier.

Orlando Xavier quickly gave an affirmative answer, indicating that he was indeed the genuine commander of the Lanxi Foreign Legion.

He also took the initiative to explain to Zhao Xingzhou the truth about why he was captured while wearing a military officer's uniform.

After listening to the translator's account, Zhao Xingzhou looked at Li Xuanyong, the division's chief of staff, and smiled, "Well, just as I guessed."

"He changed his clothes and tried to run, but ultimately failed and surrendered..."

“General Xavier, you shouldn’t have run away in the first place!” Li Xuanyong, chief of staff of the 363rd Division of the Daqian Zhenguo Army, looked at Orlando Xavier, who had an embarrassed expression on his face: “Leading your troops to charge left and right was just a waste of time.”

"The Anti-Qian Alliance has completely abandoned you. What's the point of you continuing to resist?"

"Chief of Staff, that's not entirely true."

Zhao Xingzhou, commander of the 363rd Division of the Daqian Zhenguo Army, joked, "If you ask me, it really is thanks to General Xavier for all this trouble."

"Otherwise, how could the pie of capturing the commander of the Lanxi Foreign Legion live have fallen into the mouths of our 363rd Division!"

"That's true..."

Li Xuanyong smiled and remarked with some emotion to Orlando Xavier, who had come to him of his own accord: "Our 363rd Division is really lucky."

"Nobody expected that the credit for capturing the foreign legion commander would fall to us."

"Commander, we've probably set a precedent this time!"

"The first case?"

Zhao Xingzhou was a little confused: "What first case?"

Li Xuanyong pouted at Orlando Xavier: "The entire 'Divine Soldier' ​​operation has progressed to this point..."

"The commander of the Lanxi Foreign Legion must be the highest-ranking enemy officer captured by our army so far!"

"Hey! That's right!" Zhao Xingzhou immediately laughed, "A great achievement that falls right into our laps is even more valuable!"

"Commander, Chief of Staff," the military interpreter said to Zhao Xingzhou and Li Xuanyong, who were chatting idly, "General Xavier says he has important information he can provide to us."

“If we agree to one condition, he will reveal all the top secrets he knows about the Anti-Qian Alliance.”

"And he assured us that there was a lot of information in it that would be very useful to us......................."

"Oh? Chief of Staff, it seems there's an unexpected bonus to this windfall!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xingzhou glanced at Li Xuanyong beside him, then quickly instructed the translator to continue asking questions—to see what conditions Orlando Xavier wanted to propose.

"I have only one condition, which is a simple matter for your army."

Upon hearing the translator's question, Orlando Xavier quickly stated his conditions: "I only hope that your army can treat our foreign legion prisoners of war in accordance with international practice."

"At the very least, their personal safety must be guaranteed!"

"We have already laid down our weapons. Your army also said when you tried to persuade us to surrender that your Great Qian Zhenguo Army would treat prisoners of war well..."

After listening to the translator relay Orlando Xavier's words verbatim.

Zhao Xingzhou and Li Xuanyong exchanged a glance, both reading a hint of amusement or exasperation in each other's eyes.

"That's it?" Zhao Xingzhou asked again, confirming, "Just this one condition?"

"Yes, General Xavier said that this is his only condition."

"We hope that prisoners of war from the Foreign Legion can enjoy the treatment due to prisoners of war in accordance with international practice."

He didn't want the same thing to happen to the foreigners to happen to their Foreign Legion...

"It seems that the Western Luo side has quite a 'perfect' persona for our Great Qian Zhenguo Army!"

Zhao Xingzhou smiled and shook his head, saying to Li Xuanyong beside him, "The war with the barbarians ended so long ago, yet its effects are still so strong..."

“Tell General Xavier that our Great Qian Zhenguo Army is absolutely not what they claim it to be, much less some kind of ‘devil’ armed force!”

"Since we have already agreed to follow the rules of war, we will definitely keep our word."

"We would never do something like slaughtering prisoners of war."

"I'm not afraid to tell you—that kind of special treatment is only limited to people from foreign countries."

"For prisoners of war other than the barbarians, those who are willing to lay down their weapons and give up resistance."

"Our Great Qian Zhenguo Army will absolutely provide prisoners of war with the treatment and protection they deserve in accordance with international practice!"