Chapter 325: Ruthless Ma Mengqi (Thanks to [Zhou Jiaxuan]
Hundreds of letters persuading people to surrender were thrown into Huguan Pass, and it was almost impossible to cover up the matter.
After knowing the contents of the letter of surrender, many soldiers immediately became suspicious, wondering whether they had been abandoned by high-ranking officials.
This isn't the end yet.
After Xu Huang threw out the letter of surrender, he sent loudly-voiced soldiers to take turns shouting outside the city. The content of the shouting was roughly that all high-ranking cadres had run away, and they were just used as cannon fodder to delay time. You should cherish your own life.
, there is no point in risking your most precious possessions for someone who abandons you...
The surrender letter inside the pass and the propaganda outside the pass were a two-pronged approach. In addition, no reinforcements or baggage arrived in Huguan County... Finally, three days later, Deng Sheng could no longer hold on and took eight people inside the pass.
Thousands of defenders surrendered.
In fact, Deng Sheng really had no choice. He didn't even dare to sleep in the past two nights.
If you don't turn on the switch and surrender, maybe one night when you can't hold on and close your eyes, you will be tied up or even beheaded by your own soldiers, and then sent to Cao Jun's camp to ask for surrender...
When Huguankou surrendered, Lu Lingqi said goodbye to Lu Yan, led the Wolf Cavalry Battalion as the vanguard of the army, and headed straight from Huguankou to Huguan County.
Lu Lingqi led the troops first, and Lu Yan led the army to follow up after changing the defenders at Hu Pass.
Although Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu had arrived first, the line from Huguankou to Huguan City still needed to be cleaned, and the checkpoints along the way had to be replaced by their own people to prevent their own retreat from being cut off.
...
Huguan County.
Two powerful cavalrymen suddenly appeared outside the county three days ago.
Xia Zhao initially sent his cavalry to fight with them, but they were killed by the opponent in a confrontation and were completely defeated.
Especially the generals of the two cavalry, they were like the gods of death coming to the world, killing their own cavalry indiscriminately...
After suffering a setback, Xia Zhao no longer wanted to fight with them in the wild. They couldn't attack the city anyway, so Xia Zhao chose to shrink all his troops into the city, leaving the two cavalrymen hanging around outside.
But these two cavalrymen are very abominable,
In order to force the defenders in the city to open the city gate, all the houses of the people in their path were destroyed, and the people were driven to Huguan City one after another.
Looking at the ragged people outside the city with expressions of despair or numbness, "To accept or not to accept?" became a difficult decision for Xia Zhao.
If it is collected, there will be so much food to feed so many people, and the enemy cavalry may rush in when the door is opened; if it is not collected, the reputation of the high-ranking officials will be fatal, and it will also affect the morale of the army.
Morale was also a huge blow.
Although Gao Gan has similar problems to Yuan Shao, it is undeniable that he is still quite talented.
Gao Gan has been in charge of Bingzhou for several years under the orders of Yuan Shao. During his time in power, he was considered to have outstanding political achievements. Moreover, he and his cousin Gao Rou recruited people from all over the world, which is a model of recruiting talents. Therefore, Gao Gan still has a good reputation in Bingzhou.
prestigious.
Unfortunately, as the famous scholar Zhong Changtong commented, high-ranking cadres have great ambitions but not great talents, and they like scholars but cannot choose people. Although there are many lowly subordinates, there are only a few who are talented and can be appointed correctly.
Xia Zhao's lieutenant looked at the people outside the city who were struggling to even stand. He couldn't bear it and said, "General, why don't we open the city and let them in."
Hearing this, Xia Zhao glared at the deputy general and said: "If Cao's army attacks the city gate while the people are entering the city, can you guarantee that they will be kept out of the city? Besides, how can we have so much food to feed these people!"
The lieutenant general opened his mouth to say something, but Xia Zhao did not give him a chance to continue: "Those outside are the Xiliang Army. Wherever they pass, even the wild dogs on the roadside will be scratched by two big ears. You can kill them."
Pass them?"
The deputy general originally wanted to say that it was okay, but when Xia Zhao said this, he suddenly felt unsure.
Yes, the Xiliang army is famous all over the world for its bravery.
At the time, Dong Zhuo defeated all the princes in the world with more than 100,000 Xiliang cavalry. In one-on-one situations, almost no one was their opponent.
Although the current Ma Teng has not reached the height of Dong Zhuo, the deterrence of the Xiliang Army is still there.
After all, the defenders of Huguan City still did not open the city gate to admit the people. When Lu Lingqi arrived, she happened to see the hell-like scene outside the city.
"Did the Xiliang army do it?" Lu Lingqi confirmed to Gan Ning again and again with a livid face.
Gan Ning replied firmly: "The general has personally asked several people, and it is indeed the Xiliang army that did it."
Lu Lingqi shouted angrily, "How is such behavior different from barbarians?"
The people in her hometown were brutally tortured, and Lu Lingqi was naturally furious.
But now the Xiliang army is a friendly army, and it is obviously unwise to conflict with them.
Forced to suppress her anger, Lu Lingqi said to Gan Ning: "Xingba, you lead the army to gather the people. I believe that sir will properly arrange them."
Let's just fight a war. Why harm these innocent people?
Gan Ning was also dissatisfied with the behavior of the Xiliang army, so he clasped his fists and said, "I will go now!"
In a small village more than ten miles north of Huguan City, Zhang Xiu came to Ma Chao and said, "General Ma, it's time to stop, right?"
Ma Chao turned around and saw Zhang Xiu, and immediately laughed and said: "It's General Zhang Xiu! You said a lot, we can almost stop. If we drive a group of people to Huguan City, they may surrender.
.”
Zhang Xiu has lived in the Central Plains for many years. Under the baptism and influence of the Central Plains culture, his thoughts have gradually changed.
"General Ma, Lu Qiaoqi has always loved the people as his own son. If he knows about your behavior, this matter may be detrimental to you..."
Ma Chao came from a wealthy family and never paid attention to the common people. Moreover, Ma Chao was ruthless. In the official history, in order to prevent Cao Cao's influence from spreading to Yongliang and Hanzhong, Ma Chao actually found Han Sui, his mother-killing enemy, and recognized Han Sui as his father.
The mortal enemies cooperated. He even said: "Now Chao has abandoned his father and regards the general as his father. The general should also abandon his son and regard Chao as his son!" It can be said that he recognized the thief as his father.
You know, Ma Teng and his brothers were still serving as officials in Xuchang at that time. If Ma Chao went to join the army, how could Cao Cao let them go?
Obviously, Ma Chao also knew what would happen to his father Ma Teng and his brothers who were in Cao's camp after he raised his army. But in order to achieve success, Ma Chao could "abandon his father" and "recognize his father" in advance. This is an unruly and unruly man.
wolf!
The fact was just as Ma Chao expected. After he attacked the counties in Longshang, Cao Cao executed Ma Teng, Ma Tie, Ma Xiu and others, and the three Ma family clans were destroyed. For the sake of his own great cause, Ma Chao could abandon his father and brothers.
Even for the people of the three tribes, this is much more cruel than Liu Bei abandoning his wives and concubines.
But now, in Ma Chao's eyes, sacrificing some insignificant civilians for a victory is nothing.
Zhang Xiu's persuasion was obviously useless, because in Ma Chao's mind, these civilians were just like insects on the ground...
But Zhang Xiu knew Lu Yan's character very well, and he wasn't sure how Lu Yan would react after knowing what they had done...
After trying to dissuade him to no avail, Zhang Xiu turned around and left expressionlessly, sighing in his heart:
"Sigh... that's all. Although I didn't do it myself, I can still be regarded as an accessory to the crime... When the city of Huguan is destroyed, I'll take the initiative to plead guilty to Lu Qiaoqi and tie himself up..."