Another traitor

The soldiers on the city walls noticed the changes outside and immediately grabbed the spears beside them, standing up unsteadily.

"Hic... Who are you... hic!"

The defeated soldiers outside the city were disheveled and could barely walk steadily.

The leading military officer, covered in dust and with disheveled hair, looked up and shouted in a panic:

"Quick... quickly report to General Khun Thai, the Han... the Han people have launched a sneak attack on the border and have already broken through three cities!"

The soldier's drunkenness was scared away, and he exclaimed:

"What? Are you not talking nonsense?"

The military officer pointed to the defeated soldiers arriving one after another behind him.

"Don't you know just by looking at them like this? Hurry up and open the gate to let us in!"

The soldier dared not open the gate and could only appease him.

"You wait, I'll go report to the Captain."

Soon, a drunken military officer walked to the city wall. Looking at the defeated army below, who were in rags and had lost all their weapons, he felt they posed no threat.

"Hic... They are all our own brothers... open... open the gate... hic!"

"Captain, I fear there might be a trick!"

"Hic... Fear... fear my ass, you... didn't you see they don't even have weapons in their hands? Hic..."

"Yes, yes, yes, you have a good eye, Captain."

"Hic... Go... go arrange for people... hic... to cook some porridge for them... hic!"

The Captain swaggered into the city tower and went back to drinking and eating meat.

Outside the city, a soldier leaned over to Hong Wantong.

"General, the toungoo people won't notice, right? Maybe we should retreat."

"No rush, let's wait and see."

Another quarter of an hour passed, and the city gate slowly opened, with two squads of soldiers standing by the gate.

Hong Wantong was overjoyed. He gave a look to the people behind him and then limped toward the city gate.

When he got close, he discovered that these soldiers were all flushed and reeked of alcohol, which made him even happier.

"Brothers, you certainly live well, to still have wine to drink!"

"It's not as good as you think. General Khun Thai is taking a concubine today, that's the only reason we were issued wine... uh..."

The soldier's words were interrupted by a dagger plunged into his throat. One hand lifted weakly, wanting to point at the man in front of him.

But as the blood flowed out and his life faded, he was ultimately unable to finish.

The twenty soldiers at the city gate were all killed almost simultaneously, and the weapons in their hands naturally became someone else's.

With weapons in hand, Hong Wantong waved his hand, and the soldiers followed, rushing straight toward the drunken soldiers at the base of the city wall.

Just as the City Lord's mansion was bustling with excitement, the North Gate of Khorat was already littered with corpses.

More than a hundred garrison soldiers had all lost their lives, and the city gate was completely controlled by Hong Wantong and his men.

"Light the signal fire, tell General Liao that we have succeeded."

A straight pillar of signal smoke rose up. Liao Hua, who was lying in ambush in the distance, saw it and was overjoyed.

"General Hong has succeeded! The whole army attacks! The Scout battalion will go ahead and bring the weapons and armor!"

By the time the panicked citizens in the city informed the garrison at the other city gates, it was already more than an hour later.

Unfortunately, these garrison soldiers now had no main general present, and the deputy generals were all drunk, with no one to organize them at all.

Some soldiers stumbled to the North Gate and were also taken out one by one.

By the time someone barely managed to organize the soldiers who were still relatively sober, Liao Hua had already led the main army into the city.

Seeing the number of enemy troops and their equipment, these soldiers immediately understood—it was over!

One person threw down his weapon, knelt, and began babbling.

A soldier who understood the Ayutthaya language translated for Liao Hua.

"He says he is not a Toungoo person, but an Ayutthaya soldier who was forced to surrender, and he wants to beg for our mercy."

"Go tell them, no matter where they are from, as long as they surrender, their lives will be spared."

With Liao Hua's promise, these soldiers, who had little fighting spirit to begin with, threw down their weapons and knelt to surrender.

Later, when Liao Hua asked, he learned that ninety percent of these people were Ayutthaya people.

After Khun Thai surrendered, they were forced to join the Toungoo army.

However, in the Toungoo army, they belonged to the lowest status. Doing chores like guarding the gates, standing watch, and chopping wood all fell to them.

Moreover, these people had no right to be promoted; being able to manage eight or ten people was the limit.

Today, Khun Thai was taking a concubine, and the Toungoo officers who guarded them were all absent.

"Hahaha, Heaven is truly helping me. One thousand men, come with me to surround the City Lord's mansion; the others, group into five hundred, take those who know Ayutthaya and go to the other three gates to persuade the enemy troops to surrender."

"Yes!"

The persuasion work was surprisingly smooth; in less than an hour, most of the garrison in the city had surrendered.

As for the Toungoo officers who refused to surrender, the Qian Army didn't even need to lift a finger; they were directly bound and delivered by the surrendered soldiers.

At the City Lord's mansion, the joyous banquet finally ended. Everyone staggered toward the main gate while expressing their defiance to each other.

No one noticed that the attendants at the gate had already been replaced by fully armed soldiers.

Until the fat man walking in the very front had his throat slit by a blade.

The scalding hot blood and the nauseating scent of blood finally woke these people up.

"What... what are you doing? Are you rebelling?"

"How dare you revolt? Are you not afraid of your whole family being killed?"

Several people slumped to the ground, but still shouted fiercely at the killers with weak hearts.

Only then did someone finally realize something was wrong; these soldiers' appearances and attire were not right.

"They are not our people..."

"It's... it's the Han people, it's the Qian Army!"

Liao Hua wiped the blood from his face and revealed a cruel smile.

"Hehe, we've been discovered. Then kill them. Mind you, capture as many alive as you can; these are all labor forces!"

Compared to the soldiers outside, these high-ranking officials and nobles were obviously more spineless.

Facing steel blades and iron spears, they all cowered instantly. From beginning to end, the only one who died was that fat man who was walking in the front.

Khun Thai was dragged out of his bed with his bare butt exposed and was now kneeling on the ground, shivering.

Liao Hua glanced at Khun Thai with disdain.

"With such a thin figure, you have the nerve to marry four wives? Men, drag him out and behead him."

"General, spare my life! General, spare my life!"

Liao Hua did not expect that this Khun Thai could actually speak Chinese, so he raised his hand to stop his subordinates.

"Spare your life? Why should I spare you?"

"I... I can help the General persuade the garrison of the other cities to surrender."

Hong Wantong and Liao Hua's eyes lit up. They looked at each other and revealed knowing smiles.

In the end, it was Hong Wantong who spoke.

"I can make the decision to spare your life and also guarantee your wealth and honor for the rest of your life, but..."

Khun Thai kowtowed like he was pounding garlic, his tone humble to the extreme.

"I understand, I understand. As long as the General gives orders, I will definitely carry them out, I will definitely carry them out."

"Not bad, not bad. My master likes people like you who know how to adapt to circumstances."

"I will definitely know how to adapt to circumstances."

Hong Wantong beckoned to Khun Thai.

"Come, come closer."

Khun Thai immediately climbed up from the ground, bent over, and leaned toward Hong Wantong.

"You do this, and this... do you understand? After it's done, I will ask my master to give you some property, ensuring you won't have to worry about food or clothing in the future."

Khun Thai had naturally heard of those properties. At this moment, his eyes flashed with excitement, and he nodded repeatedly.

"Rest assured, General, I will do my best!"

Over the next few days, under Khun Thai's persuasion, the remaining three county towns of Khorat were all successfully persuaded to surrender.

In this way, not only was the entire territory of Khorat pacified, but the two of them also gained nearly five thousand Ayutthaya auxiliary troops.

Immediately afterward, a plea for help written in Khun Thai's own hand was sent from a county town in the west of Khorat, with Lopburi as the destination.