The sword strike came swift and fierce, imbued with killing intent.
Upon seeing it, the common folk had already closed their eyes in despair, believing they were about to perish by this general's blade.
However, just as the long sword was about to fall upon them, Xiang Yan intervened.
"Clang!"
His treasure sword precisely halted the general's blade before it could strike the soldiers, blocking the sword aimed at the civilians.
Then, Xiang Yan spoke,
"They are but ordinary citizens, why resort to such measures!!"
"Great General, they have… essentially defected!!"
"Not to this extent, it's not necessary!!"
In Xiang Yan's view, these people were all citizens of Chu.
Even though they harbored thoughts of leaving Chu, they were, after all, ordinary folk.
He could not bring himself to harm such common people.
Therefore, he genuinely wished to let these civilians go.
Yet, before he could express this intention, a general beside him spoke to Xiang Yan.
"Great General, come here for a moment!!"
"Hmm? What is it?"
Hearing this, Xiang Yan felt puzzled, but he followed the general to the side.
Subsequently, the general spoke.
"Great General, do you intend to let these civilians go?"
"I do indeed have such thoughts!"
"If you were to simply let these civilians go, Great General, the soldiers in the army would inevitably have grievances."
"After all, we are currently at war with Qin. At such a time, allowing these civilians to leave will have a certain impact on our soldiers."
"Therefore, if we are to let them go, we must find a pretext!"
"A pretext? What reason would be suitable!!"
Although Xiang Yan greatly desired to let these civilians go, he also understood that allowing them to leave unchecked would undoubtedly incite dissent.
It might even provide Qin with an opportunity to exploit their weakness.
Thus, he had to find a suitable reason to appease the soldiers, only then could he prevent further discontent.
However, he could not immediately think of a suitable reason.
Upon hearing Xiang Yan's agreement with his reasoning, the general visibly smiled.
"Actually, the reason is quite simple. If our soldiers disguise themselves amongst these civilians, and then seize the opportunity to infiltrate Qin and sabotage the Qin army, I believe no other generals would object to such a course of action!!"
"You mean, have our soldiers disguise themselves as civilians?"
"Yes! So many civilians leaving the city, and Qin is willing to accept them, this is precisely a prime opportunity for our soldiers to infiltrate Qin!!"
"Your idea is good, but look at the civilians outside. They are all ragged. If our soldiers blend in amongst them, they likely wouldn't even be able to carry weapons. Entering Qin empty-handed, they might not be of much use!!"
Xiang Yan did not reject the idea of soldiers disguising themselves as civilians and entering Qin.
On the battlefield, no tactic was too extreme; their proposed method was already quite lenient.
However, the problem was that if their Chu soldiers entered Qin without weapons, it posed a significant challenge.
Without weapons, even if they wished to cause disruption within Qin, they likely wouldn't be able to inflict much damage.
Even the army supporting them would lack the capacity for decisive action.
With this thought, Xiang Yan frowned.
But at this moment, the general who had pulled Xiang Yan aside chuckled.
"In terms of combat power, unless we deploy tens of thousands of troops, we might not achieve any significant impact!!"
"What we need to do is deploy a team of elite soldiers to play a crucial role at the critical moment!"
"For example, opening the gates of Qin cities by surprise, or poisoning the Qin's provisions to kill those Qin people."
"Their role is to achieve surprise, not to engage in direct confrontation!!"
Hearing this, Xiang Yan pondered for a moment, then nodded.
Ultimately, he agreed to the plan.
The other generals, upon hearing this strategy, also concurred and allowed these civilians to leave the city of Chu.
Although this would result in the loss of some civilians, it might also secure a chance for victory for their Chu.
Because of this, they were willing to sacrifice these civilians.
The common folk of Chu were completely unaware of this.
They only knew that, due to their pleas, Xiang Yan was willing to allow them to leave Chu and enter Qin.
They could truly survive in Qin, and for each of them, this was an immense joy.
The next day, a large number of civilians gathered at the gates of the border city of Chu, awaiting Xiang Yan's army to open the gates for them.
During this wait, their eyes shone with light, clearly filled with hope for their future lives in Qin.
Of course, some among them noticed that there seemed to be dozens of new people in their group.
However, they didn't react much to this, simply pretending not to notice.
Subsequently, those dozens of soldiers followed this group of civilians out of the city of Chu.
Their appearance was immediately noticed by Lin Tian.
Lin Tian instantly recognized that these dozens of individuals were not right.
This was because their disguises were too flawed.
Although they had tried their best to dress in rags like the other civilians, each of them was robust and showed no signs of having suffered from hunger.
Moreover, while they mingled with the crowd, unlike other able-bodied men, they did not have families to flee with.
Such individuals stood out conspicuously in the crowd.
Yet, these people, hidden amongst the masses, believed their disguise to be impeccable.
Lin Tian glanced at them once and issued an order,
"Do not let them linger here. Arrange for them to leave immediately for their designated resettlement area!"
"At the same time, keep an eye on the able-bodied men without families. If they make any suspicious moves, kill them!!"
"Yes!!"
Upon receiving Lin Tian's order, soldiers immediately carried it out.
Some soldiers directly distributed food to these civilians, using this to differentiate between families and solitary able-bodied men.
After distributing food, they also gave them some money as a life-saving fund.
Such actions moved countless civilians to tears of gratitude; they knelt on the ground, thanking Lin Tian for his great kindness.
Subsequently, when the army soldiers announced that they would be arranged to leave and enter Qin, these civilians readily agreed.
The Chu soldiers who had accompanied the civilians, however, were utterly dumbfounded.
...