Chapter Thirteen: Being Held Hostage

  "General Geshu, you have now been defeated and it's a crushing defeat! Not to mention other things, just with the current situation of the tens of thousands of remaining soldiers at Tong Pass, it is impossible to hold on to the pass. It would be better for you to surrender to the Emperor of Great Yan," Huo Bao Gui Ren said slowly and calmly, not surprised by Geshu Han's astonishment: "The Emperor of Great Yan will eventually take over the world, if you surrender Tong Pass, they will definitely not mistreat you, there will certainly be high-ranking officials and generous rewards waiting for you, and they won't mistreat us who follow you either..."

  "Prince of Yanshan, Tongguan is in a precarious situation. Can we afford to discuss such matters?" Geshu Han's face turned cold as he cut off Huo Baren's words, "Our army has just suffered a defeat and morale is unstable. You absolutely must not have such thoughts..."

  "No!" Fire broke out, and Geshu Han also interrupted the words of his brother, roaring: "Commander-in-chief, your 200,000-strong army is almost completely annihilated. Do you think the imperial court will let you off? Are you still thinking of following in the footsteps of Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi? Even if you want to serve the Tang Dynasty again, will the Emperor and Yang Guozhong, that traitor, let you off? The fate of Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi is your ultimate outcome!"

  As soon as Huo Baozhen mentioned Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi, Ge Shuhan's momentum dissipated.

  This was also one of the things he worried about and considered most, which had been a concern before his defeat. He was always afraid that not listening to the imperial court's orders and not going out of the pass to fight would be criticized and convicted by some people in the court, ending up with the same fate as Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi.

  He knew that the Prime Minister Yang Guozhong had always wanted to deal with him, and that Du Qianyun's troops were stationed in Bashang was also a precaution against him. His subordinates Wang Silie, Pang Zhong and others had long advised him to take measures to lure and kill Yang Guozhong, but he refused on the grounds that such behavior was equivalent to An Lushan's rebellion.

  Now that the army has been defeated, Yang Guozhong has even more reason to deal with him, and may even put him to death, and it would be perfectly justified. The Emperor will certainly be furious and will not lightly pardon him. If he loses Tongguan, his guilt will be even greater, and it is possible that he will be executed along with his entire family. With the remaining defeated soldiers in his hands, it is too difficult to defend Tongguan, even if they can unite their efforts, unless reinforcements from the imperial court arrive immediately.

  Surrender to An Lushan? With his reputation over the years, if he surrendered, An Lushan shouldn't treat him unfairly. Even if he designed to let the court get rid of An Lushan's brothers An Sishun and An Yuangeng, Huo Bao's words made Geshu Han a little moved!

  But he really had to make him decide immediately whether to betray or be loyal to the great Tang Dynasty, which he had served for decades, and he couldn't make up his mind.

  Besides, many of his family members are still in Chang'an. If he surrendered to An Lushan, those family members would definitely be implicated!

  No, absolutely cannot listen to Huo Bairen's words. Not to mention that our family will be harmed, his lifelong reputation will also be ruined in an instant!

  But the great defeat he suffered would certainly not be tolerated by Yang Guozhong, Wei Jian and others. Would they also put him to death? What to do?

  "General, you also know how Yang Guozhong, that treacherous villain, treated you? He designed to get rid of the two great generals who had made outstanding contributions to the court, Fan Qian and Gao Xianzhi, just because he disliked them. You are also someone he cannot tolerate! When the court entrusted you with the same rank as Zhang Jiuling, he strongly opposed it! In Tongguan, he was guarding against you from behind, even thinking of taking advantage of the situation to stab you in the back. If you hadn't detected his plan and gotten rid of Du Qianyun first, who knows, maybe by now you would have already lost your head and been executed as a warning to the world! The court of the Great Tang cannot tolerate you and will surely put you to death; whereas the court of the Great Yan will be extremely delighted with your surrender and will give you important positions. Why must you seek death for yourself and also implicate us brothers?"

  One of the deputy generals of Huo Bao also echoed immediately: "Yes, General, what King Yanshan said is reasonable. These defeated soldiers and generals who rely on Tongguan can't hold the city, it's better to surrender with dignity than to be captured in a sorry state! We will all receive courtesy treatment! I hope that the general will consider our lives and future for us who have barely escaped from the chaotic army, and also consider your own future and life!"

  "Yes, General, we will surrender to the Great Yan Emperor and we will definitely be treated with courtesy. We are not Han people, we are just Hu people who surrendered to the Tang Dynasty..."

  "Marshal..."

  More people followed Huo Bao and Guiren to persuade Geshu Han to open the city gate and surrender, to surrender to An Lushan's army.

  Geshu Han, who was flustered by his subordinates' words, loudly ordered the generals not to make a fuss and let him think for a moment. He walked back and forth in the house with his hands behind his back. The trusted generals beside him, such as Wang Silie and Pang Zhong, had all been sent to guard the city, and there was no one he could consult with. Huo Biren was not his confidant, and he would not listen only to what Huo Biren and his subordinates said and obey them.

  Huobaogui Ren also waved his hand to stop the generals from continuing their speech, waiting for Gesu Han to make a decision, but he secretly hinted to his personal soldiers to prepare for any eventuality.

  After pacing back and forth for dozens of rounds, Ge Shuhan finally stopped his footsteps and made up his mind. With a very majestic gaze, he looked at Huo Bao and others, almost word by word, saying: "Yan Mountain County King, the commander cannot agree to your request! The commander does not want to be a treacherous minister, the emperor has given the commander the greatest trust, and entrusted me with the same Ping chapter affairs and ordered me to command the Tongguan army, I cannot betray the emperor's trust and entrustment! The commander will definitely coexist with Tongguan, and will never do anything that would make him surrender or lose his integrity. You should not say this again, today the commander will treat this matter as if it had never happened, and will not report it to the court. Go back and defend the city quickly, the rebels may attack the city at dawn!

  Guo Ziyi's refusal left Huo Bao extremely disappointed, and he asked again: "General, Yang Guozhong that treacherous minister has been trying to get you killed. Now that you have suffered a great defeat, he will not let you off the hook. Perhaps the imperial edict blaming you for your crimes, stripping you of your position, and summoning you back to Chang'an is already on its way. Are you willing to follow in the footsteps of Fu Qian and Gao Xianzhi?"

  "Prince of Yanshan, you are not allowed to speak again. I will not permit you to spread rumors and shake the morale of the army. Otherwise, you will be severely punished! Get back immediately and return to guard the city. We must be on high alert for the rebel army's attack at dawn!" Geshu Han roared.

  Ge Shuhan commanded troops for decades, experiencing countless major and minor battles. The majesty forged in blood was very intimidating. With a single shout of his order, many generals did not dare to speak again and quietly shifted their feet, preparing to retreat.

  But Huo Bao was not an ordinary general, he was the leader of the Huo Bao tribe, with a similar background to Geshu Han. He had been through countless battles and was even granted the title of Duke of Yanshan by the imperial court, which was higher than Geshu Han's position. Even if Geshu Han scolded him as the commander-in-chief, he wasn't very afraid. Anyway, he had already made up his mind to surrender to An Lushan's rebel army. At this point, he stared at Geshu Han without hesitation and asked again: "Does Commander-in-Chief Geshu really want to stick to his own way, disregarding the lives and futures of us brothers? Is he only considering his own reputation, wanting to fight against the Great Yan Emperor with less than 10,000 defeated soldiers?"

  Ge Shuhan felt something was off from Huo Bao's words, and didn't respond to his inquiry. Instead, he loudly ordered: "Guards, quickly take down this treacherous minister who is stirring up the army's hearts! Wait for further instructions!"

  Ge Shuhan is about to turn against him, and Huo Baojun is not showing weakness either. He immediately orders his own personal soldiers to take the initiative! Four personal soldiers draw their knives and rush in front of Ge Shuhan, holding their knives to his neck.

  Guards outside heard Gesu Han's order and a dozen or so of his personal soldiers rushed in quickly to execute the command, but were cut down by Huo Bao's prepared personal soldiers. Huo Bao and his subordinates' personal soldiers rushed out and quickly subdued and killed Gesu Han's other personal soldiers.

  They acted swiftly and efficiently, without making a big commotion, even the soldiers patrolling on the nearby city walls were unaware.

  After killing all the bodyguards around Geshu Han, Huo Bao Gui Ren walked to Geshu Han, who was held at knifepoint by his own bodyguards and looked extremely defeated. He bowed respectfully and said: "General Geshu, please forgive me for my disrespect. I had no choice but to resort to this tactic, and it's all for your own good. The reasons have already been explained earlier. Please bear with me, General, and I will make amends in the future."

  "Huo Bao, you dare to commit a crime against your superior and hold me hostage? Release me at once, or I will not forgive you!" The detained Geshu Han still showed his fierce general demeanor, sternly ordering, "Do you think that with your orders, you can control Tongguan?"

  But Huo Bao returned with a smile, saying: "General, don't make any more futile resistance. As long as you listen to my request and stop making these defeated soldiers resist at Nantong Pass, surrender to the Great Yan Emperor, give us brothers a way out, then I and the generals under me will still respect you as the general! I beg of you again, General, please pass on the order to abandon resistance, open all the city gates, and welcome the Great Yan army into the city!"

  "It's impossible!" Geshu Han refused without hesitation, "Huobaoren, I, the commander, cannot accept your threat and do such a thing that would ruin my lifelong reputation in an instant!" However, Geshu Han's words no longer carried the same momentum as before.

  "General, you were originally the prince of Tujue Shi, and you surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, which is already a loss of integrity. We are all the same, surrendering again to the Emperor of Great Yan, what's wrong with that? Why mention losing integrity?" Huo Bao Gui Ren sneered slightly at the corner of his mouth, "An Lushan will surely take over the world, the military strength of the Tang Dynasty is too weak, how can it withstand the attack of the Great Yan army? Please, General, do not continue to ignore reality and make futile resistance!"

  Huobaogui Ren said, no longer paying attention to Gesu Han's angry scolding, but instead loudly ordered: "Escort the Commander-in-Chief out of the camp, go to the South Gate, and immediately pass on the Commander-in-Chief's order, let each general come to the South Gate for discussion!"

  Kuosu Han's toughness made Huo Bao Ren change his original intention, he wanted to coerce Kuosu Han to order the other generals, using Kuosu Han's name to summon the generals to discuss matters at the south gate, and then control the other generals. If there were those who were unwilling to cooperate, they could only take drastic measures!