The surrender and its acceptance were solemn but uneventful. There were no sudden twists, no scenes of swaggering bravado and humiliating reversals. Reality was often that plain, with everything proceeding naturally and smoothly.
The more serious and large-scale an event was, the more mechanically and tediously it tended to follow procedure. Yet those mechanical, tedious procedures were often the best way to prevent unexpected trouble.
It was much like applying for a bank loan in real life. If everyone followed the proper, impersonal procedures to the letter, how could banks end up with so many different kinds of bad debts? The same applied to other businesses and other matters. A set of standard procedures was often a code refined through countless trials.
Swaggering displays and sudden twists belonged in fantasies and wishful thinking. Neither the surrendering side nor the side accepting the surrender was made up entirely of morons. As long as everyone remained cautious and honestly followed standard procedure, there was little chance of any major upheaval.
If anyone on the surrendering side really dared to cause trouble, his own people would kill him before the other side even had to act! If he did not die, everyone would die! No one would willingly sacrifice their own life to indulge someone else's hollow posturing.
Likewise, the side accepting the surrender would not indulge in swaggering displays of humiliation at a time like this. That would be stupid, immature, and irresponsible. Someone like that could never become a general, and even if he did, he would only lead his army to defeat. More often than not, he would be the one left humiliated.
The reason was simple. Once the enemy had surrendered, there was no need to show off by humiliating them. Doing so could easily provoke unnecessary conflict and