As for that half hour, Zhao Cheng had not been idle. On the contrary, he had accomplished a great many things.
First, he had the Peace Camp reservists under his command seize the Cao army's armor and firearms, then arm themselves with them.
Though these twenty thousand reservists were now utterly exhausted, they still had the strength to walk and fire their guns. Their condition was simply very poor.
Yet having just won a great victory had fiercely roused their spirits.
Of the hundred thousand men, Zhao Cheng had captured twenty thousand, while all the rest had scattered in rout.
Had Cao Zheng not surrendered, Zhao Cheng would certainly have slaughtered all twenty thousand captives on the spot to guard against any unforeseen trouble. But now, he handed them back to Cao Zheng's command and had him gather the routed soldiers, so they could later tie down Sun Yuantai's forces.
Of course, although Zhao Cheng knew Cao Zheng could no longer betray him, he still dispatched a force of three thousand men, along with a general named Li Weiyi, to supervise him.
This force would be commanded by Li Weiyi, with Cao Zheng as deputy commander. They were to find a place and set up camp.
"Your Majesty trusts me so much?!"
Upon hearing Zhao Cheng's orders, Cao Zheng was instead the first to voice his doubts.
After all, as a surrendered minister, under normal circumstances Zhao Cheng should have kept him at his side as a hostage, using him to control the generals and troops under his command.
Among his hundred-thousand-strong army, only twenty thousand men belonged to the imperial court. The remaining eighty thousand were either his private troops or forces belonging to other powers. They recognized only their own leaders, not the court. Thus, controlling the army