The Qin army remained in a standoff with the Chu army, showing no immediate intention to attack.
Within the Chu ranks, however, a sense of unease was spreading.
On a quiet night, many Chu soldiers began to discuss their situation.
"Why don't we surrender to Qin? I truly don't want to fight anymore. I just want to go home and see my family!!"
"I don't want to fight either. I want to surrender. I can't live another day of this constant anxiety!!"
"Let's take a gamble. Let's bet that the Qin army won't kill us and will actually let us go home!!"
The one who suggested taking a gamble had made up his mind, preparing to surrender to the Qin.
These soldiers were not many, only about a hundred in number.
This group of a hundred essentially belonged to the same camp. They shared a common characteristic: they hadn't been home for many years.
They had no idea what had become of their families.
Therefore, they decided to surrender to Qin and return home to see.
Once this decision was made, they set a time.
They chose tomorrow night.
During the day, they dared not attempt to surrender, for if they weren't killed by Qin soldiers, they might first fall victim to Chu archers.
Only by sneaking out through the city gates late at night, when all was quiet, could they hope to survive and surrender to Qin.
After reaching this decision, many of them felt nervous.
To prevent their plan from failing, they told no one outside their immediate circle.
Each of them knew that if the plan was leaked, they would all die.
Thus, they were exceptionally diligent in maintaining secrecy.
Not even Xiang Yan of Chu, let alone the generals commanding these soldiers, knew anything about it.
It wasn't until midnight that these men, feigning patrol duty, stealthily approached the Chu city gates.
They then knocked out the Chu soldiers guarding the gates and quietly opened them.
Following this, they ran out of the city for their lives.
The soldiers on the city walls initially failed to notice their actions.
But when they saw the city gates open, they were struck with extreme shock.
Their terrified shouts echoed to the ears of everyone.
"Bad! Our city gates are open, our city gates are open! Close the gates quickly!!"
The immediate reaction to the city gates opening was to close them.
Only by closing their city gates could they be considered safe.
The other soldiers, hearing these words, naturally looked towards their city gates.
Then, they realized the gates weren't opened from the outside, and there were no Qin soldiers outside, not even the sound of Qin warhorses.
All that could be heard were the footsteps of the Chu soldiers running out.
Consequently, they too began to shout.
"The city gates are open, soldiers are running out, soldiers are escaping!!"
"Alert, alert! We must not let the Qin army take advantage of this!"
"Quick, close the gates, shoot the escaping soldiers!!"
As soon as the city gates opened, all sorts of banging and shouting erupted.
The twanging of bows as archers loosed arrows indiscriminately was mixed in.
This commotion was heard not only by the Chu army but also by the Qin army.
The situation within the Chu city left everyone perplexed, unsure of what they were trying to do in the middle of the night.
However, the moment the commotion started, all soldiers immediately went on high alert.
They had all donned their armor and equipped their weapons.
At this moment, if the Chu army dared to launch an attack, they would retaliate without hesitation.
However, what they saw was not the appearance of the Chu army, but a small group of figures running towards them in the darkness.
Towards this small group of people running towards them, everyone instinctively maintained a vigilant stance, with archers ready to loose their arrows at any moment.
Just then, these people let out a desperate cry:
"Don't kill us, don't kill us, we are willing to surrender, we are willing to surrender, please General Lin spare our lives!!"
"Don't kill us, we want to surrender, we are willing to surrender, please give us a way out!!"
"Mercy, we are just ordinary soldiers who opened the Chu city gates, we only want to live, we only want to go home, please General Lin grant us this wish!!"
"Wuwuwu! I don't want to die, I don't want to die, please, don't kill me!"
Escaping from the military camp had already taken a tremendous amount of courage from many of them.
Now, facing the Qin army, they felt completely devoid of any confidence.
This was their gamble, a gamble for the sake of returning home.
Now, the outcome of this gamble was imminent, making them incredibly tense, and they were unsure if they had gambled correctly.
Especially when the Qin archers drew their bows, ready to release arrows at any moment, it made them even more uncertain if their gamble had paid off.
Fortunately, at this moment, Lin Tian appeared.
"Stop!!"
"Let them come over!!"
Lin Tian's words caused these Chu soldiers to breathe a sigh of relief.
They had almost, almost believed they were about to be shot.
Fortunately, Lin Tian had appeared, and they were temporarily safe.
When they were brought before Lin Tian, many seemed to have been drained of all energy, their bodies becoming weak and limp.
Except for a small number, most of them could not hold on.
Fortunately, Lin Tian did not pay attention to their current state.
"Are you truly willing to surrender?"
"Yes, we are willing to surrender, but we don't know, we don't know if the Great General is willing to spare us a way out?"
"You are surrendering so that you can go home, aren't you?"
"Yes! We just want to go home, we just want to see our families, we don't want to be enemies with the Great General!!"
They truly had lost the will to fight. Opening the Chu city gates was also for the sake of returning home.
This situation was difficult for others to comprehend.
They did not understand why Chu soldiers would take such a great risk to surrender to Qin.
Sneaking out of the city gates in the middle of the night and begging for mercy was something they had only heard of in legends.
They never imagined it would actually happen before their eyes, which made many of them find it utterly unbelievable.
However, Lin Tian understood this situation very well.
He had even anticipated that such a situation would arise within the Chu army.
This was because the situation within Chu was completely chaotic, and many had lost contact with their families.
They had no idea whether their families were alive or dead.
Therefore, they were worried and had taken such a desperate action.
Thus, seeing their hopeful gazes, Lin Tian gave them a definitive answer.
"Very well, lay down your weapons and take off your armor, and you may return home!!"