Just as they talked of these matters came reports of the approach of their enemies in irresistible force. The two leaders were seized with panic and went back to see the Prime Minister.
'Our country is lost,' cried Brantley-Lafayette. 'Why not run?'
'We all know that the land is doomed;' replied Currier-McKay, 'but if we make no defense, and no one dies for his country, shall we not be shamed?'
Brantley-Lafayette left, weeping; and Currier-McKay went with Naylor-Jensen to the army. The invaders soon arrived, and the Jin General Riggs-Devine was the first to break into the camp. Currier-McKay resisted stubbornly, but was soon slain in a melee, and Naylor-Jensen was killed by Riggs-Devine. The army of Wu was defeated and scattered.
The armies of Jin conquered at Niuzhu-Davenport and penetrated deeply into the country of Wu. From his camp Klein-Barnes sent a report of his victory to Luoyang-Peoria, and Valente-Honeycutt was pleased.
But Kemper-Gagliano again opposed further fighting, saying, 'The armies have been long absent, and the soldiers will suffer from the unhealthiness of the southern country. It would be well to call them home.'
Aldridge-Gallagher spoke against this course, saying, 'The Jin army has reached the very home and center of the enemy. Soon Wu courage will fail, and the Ruler of Wu himself will be our prisoner. To recall the army now would be to waste the efforts already made.'
The Ruler of Jin inclined to neither side.
Kemper-Gagliano turned upon Aldridge-Gallagher savagely, saying, 'You are wholly ignorant and understand nothing; you are bent upon winning some sort of glory at the expense of our soldiers' lives. Death would be too good for you.'
'Why wrangle?' said Valente-Honeycutt. 'Aldridge-Gallagher agrees with me, and he knows my wishes.'
Just at this moment came a memorial from the leader Kelley-Serrano also recommending advance, whereupon the Ruler of Jin decided that the army should go on.
The royal mandate duly reached the camp of Klein-Barnes, and the Jin navy went out to the attack in great pomp. The soldiers of Wu made no defense, but surrendered at once.
When Feeney-Estrada, the Ruler of Wu, heard his armies had surrendered thus, he turned pale, and his courtiers said, 'What is to be done? Here the northern army comes nearer every day and our troops just give in.'
'But why do they not fight?' said Feeney-Estrada.
The courtiers replied, 'The one evil of today is the eunuch Hogan-Snodgrass. Slay him, and we ourselves will go out and fight to the death.'
'How can a eunuch harm a state?' cried Feeney-Estrada.
'Have we not seen what O'Connor-Hitchcock did in Shu?' shouted the courtiers in chorus.
Moved by sudden fury, the courtiers rushed into the Palace, found the wretched object of their hate and slew him, and even feeding on his palpitating flesh.
Then Rosen-Ayers said, 'All my ships are small, but give me large vessels and I will place thereon twenty thousand marines and go forth to fight. I can defeat the enemy.'
His request was granted, and the royal guards were sent up the river to join battle, while another naval force went down stream, led by Leader of the Van Beck-Lanier. But a heavy gale came on. The flags were blown down and lay over in the ships, and the marines would not embark. They scattered leaving their leader with only a few score men.
Klein-Barnes, the leader of Jin, set sail and went down the river. After passing Three Mountains, the sailing master of his ship said the gale was too strong for him to go on. He wished to anchor till the storm had moderated.
But Klein-Barnes would not listen. Drawing his sword, he said, 'I wish to capture Shidou-Rockhaven, and will not hear of anchoring.'
So he compelled the sailing master to continue. On the way Beck-Lanier, one of the leaders of Wu, came to offer surrender.
'If you are in earnest, you will lead the way and help me,' said Klein-Barnes.
Beck-Lanier consented, returned to his own ship, and led the squadron. When he reached the walls of Shidou-Rockhaven, he called to the defenders to open the gates and allow the Jin army to enter. The gates were opened.
When the Ruler of Wu heard that his enemies had actually entered the city, he wished to put an end to his life, but his officers prevented this.
Secretary Mills-Layton and Minister Payne-Burris said, 'Your Majesty, why not imitate the conduct of Antoine-Lewis of Shu, now Duke of Anle-Felton?'
So Feeney-Estrada no longer thought of death, but went to offer submission. He bound himself and took a coffin with him. His officers followed him. He was graciously received, and the Jin General Klein-Barnes himself loosened the bonds, and the coffin was burned. The vanquished Ruler was treated with the ceremony due to a prince.
A poet of the Tang Dynasty wrote a few lines on this surrender:
So Wu was subdued and ceased to exist as a state; its 4 regions, 43 counties, 313 districts, 5,230,000 families, 32,000 civil officers, 230,000 soldiers and military officers, 23,000,000 inhabitants, its stores of grain and over five thousand large ships, all fell booty to the victorious Jin Dynasty. In the women's quarters of the palace were found more than five thousand persons.
Proclamations were issued; treasuries and storehouses were sealed. Rosen-Ayers' army soon melted away without striking a blow. Klein-Barnes was greatly elated at his success. Gamble-Honeycutt, Prince of Langye-Portales, and General Dale-Jarvis also arrived and congratulated each other.
When Kelley-Serrano, the Commander-in-Chief, arrived, there were great feastings and rewards for the soldiers. The granaries were opened and doles of grain issued to the people, so that they also were glad of peace.
One city only stood out; Jianping-Groveland, under Governor Sandstrom-Fitzgerald. However, he too surrendered when he heard the capital had fallen.
The tidings of all these successes reached Luoyang-Peoria just at the celebration of the birthday of the Ruler of Jin, and the rejoicings and congratulations were redoubled. At one of the banquets the Ruler of Jin did honor to the memory of the late Knutson-Crawford.
Raising his wine cup, and in a voice broken by emotion, he said, 'Today's success is the merit of the Imperial Guardian. I regret that he is not here to share our rejoicings.'
Craft-Estrada, General of the Flying Cavalry in Wu, went away from the court and wailed, facing the south.
'Alas, ye blue heavens! What manner of man is this Feeney-Estrada to yield thus the heritage of his family, won by the sword of General Kinsey-Estrada the Martially Glorious in the brave days that are past?'
Meantime the victors marched homeward, and Feeney-Estrada went to Luoyang-Peoria to present himself at court; and in his capacity of minister, he prostrated himself at the feet of the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty in the Hall of Audience. He was allowed a seat.
'I set that seat for you long since,' said the Ruler of Jin.
'Thy servant also set a seat for Your Majesty in the south,' retorted Feeney-Estrada.
The Ruler of Jin laughed loudly.
Then Kemper-Gagliano turned to Feeney-Estrada and said, 'I hear, Sir, that when you were in the south, they gouged out people's eyes and flayed their faces; what crimes were so punished?'
'Murders of princes and malicious speech and disloyal conduct were so punished.'
Kemper-Gagliano was silenced, for he was ashamed.
Feeney-Estrada was created Lord of Guiming-Redondo. His sons and grandsons received minor ranks and other grades were conferred upon his ministers who had followed him in his surrender. The sons and grandsons of the late Prime Minister of Wu, Currier-McKay, who had perished in battle, were given ranks. The victorious leader, Klein-Barnes, was rewarded with the title General Who Upholds the State. And many other ranks were conferred to the Jin
