Chapter 44: Chasing the Dead and Chasing the North (3)
After the formation of the bandit army collapsed, Shao Shude walked down from the high platform.
The enemy troops were so dispersed that even if one or two generals wanted to contain the defeated troops and form formations to return to fight, it was impossible.
In this battle, the beheading of the thieves was estimated to be between level 2,500 and 3,000. The casualties on our side were in the hundreds. It was a brilliant victory. I don’t know how many times it thwarted the thieves’ ambition to peep north.
Is it the third time or the fourth time? Compared with the people in the other twenty counties, the people of the eight counties in the north of Beijing suffered from a lot less military disasters!
At nightfall, a sentry rider came to report: "Zhu Youyi sent troops to kill the thieves and save the firewood."
Shao Shude was refreshed. He was the vanguard general when Chao Zhong entered Chang'an. He once defeated Qi Kerang and Zhang Hongfan at Tongguan. He was regarded as an important figure in the bandit army just like Tian Chengsi was in Anlu Mountain.
Suddenly someone came to report: "We have captured the thief general Huang Wenjing."
I don’t know this person, but he is probably a middle-level general of the Chao Zong, so it doesn’t mean much.
After dinner, someone finally came to report: "I didn't see Meng Kai, he must have escaped."
Damn it! Shao Shude cursed secretly, the biggest thief was not caught, which detracted a lot from this victory.
"Why are you sighing after staying here?" Chen Cheng observed the words and expressions on the side. Seeing that his lord's face was calm, he smiled and said: "Destroying more than ten thousand thieves and capturing and killing several thieves is already a great achievement. When a saint hears this, he will also be greatly rewarded.
Praise."
"That's right, Judge Chen reminded me." Shao Shude straightened his face and said, "Happiness and anger can't be expressed in color. Fang is a great man, so I need to practice more."
After eating, Shao Shude took two deep breaths, sat in the camp, picked up the military book and started reading.
Half an hour later, one after another generals and sergeants returned to the camp. The generals were in high spirits, talking and laughing loudly.
Defeating the enemy with an array is always something to be boasted about, because it symbolizes bravery and is much more brilliant than using terrain, ambush, or tricks to defeat the enemy.
Zhuge Shuang has been fighting for most of his life. He once recalled that he felt that sixty-seven out of ten battles he experienced in his life were fought in formations. The two armies formed a majestic formation to decide the winner.
Shao Shude had great confidence in fighting battles in the past, but he lacked confidence in fighting other forms of war in complex situations. Now that he thinks about it, it was probably due to the influence of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Perhaps in the Three Kingdoms era, most wars were fought between two armies.
Face-to-face fighting, right? Things like ambush, fire attack, luring the enemy, and alienation are not mainstream? It’s just that later generations of literati lacked military knowledge and couldn’t write such things, so they “de-technized” and “de-detailed”
change"?
"After staying here, it's better not to enter the city tonight, right? There are piles of corpses in the city, and the auxiliary soldiers are still cleaning them up. We may be able to enter the city tomorrow." Seeing that his lord and the generals had finished talking, Chen Cheng stepped forward quickly and said softly.
"Hmph!" Shao Shude was overwhelmed with the joy of victory just now and had not thought of the thieves' siege of the city. When he heard this, he became furious: "Who participated in the siege of the city?"
"You can't kill the prisoners after you stay!" When Chen Cheng saw it, he immediately knew that something was going to go wrong and said immediately.
Shao Shude remained silent.
"If you stay behind, if you slaughter all the surrendered troops at this time, and fight with the thieves another day, the thieves will definitely refuse to surrender!"
"The officers above the leader of the bandit team will be killed!" After a long silence, Shao Shude finally said: "What are the crimes of the people of Gaoling? Is there no one to avenge them? Maybe other military towns, as long as they are willing to surrender, even those who have eaten people will be killed.
It can be collected, but I am unwilling to do so! How can the people be blamed? Requisitioning grain and sending donations have already made their livelihood difficult, and now they are even risking their lives, just for the ridiculous purpose of boosting the morale of the troops? The two armies are fighting, and they deserve it.
If you are upright and upright, how can you harm the people like pigs and dogs? Judge Chen does not need to persuade him. He has made up his mind. The officers above the head of the Chao team will be escorted to the execution ground tomorrow, where they will count the charges and explain the punishment. The rest of the thieves will be escorted back to Suizhou.
, sentenced to six years of hard labor.”
"I want to do something different, even if the thieves are unwilling to surrender me in the future, I will not hesitate." Shao Shude looked at Chen Cheng and said, "Don't Judge Chen hear that the people are punished?"
******
"General, I am innocent!"
"I regret surrendering to you, you thief!"
"If I had known this, I might as well have fought to the death!"
"Spare me, don't dare to do it again!"
Outside the city of Gaoling County, all the officers above the rank of the Chao Army surrender squadron were pulled out. There were about seventy or eighty of them. The biggest one was a bandit general named Huang Wenjing. This man said nothing at this time and did not curse.
He didn't beg for mercy, he just looked at the sky, as if he had accepted his fate.
Shao Shude walked into Gaoling County, surrounded by his own soldiers.
The city had not yet been completely cleaned up. Looking at the emaciated body of a child lying in a pool of blood, Shao Shude became angry again. He did not even spare the children. Would it be an advantage for them to only kill these dozens of people?
They don't have enough to eat, they don't have enough clothes to wear, they have to do their best to support the soldiers, and they are used as a tool to improve their morale when things get bad. In these troubled times, is there no one who sincerely protects the people?
The thief army is indeed the thief army!
But then again, are the official army really any better than the rebel army at this time?
Two months ago, during the Qianneng Rebellion in central Sichuan, Yang Xingqian led his army to fight against it. They were defeated in several battles. Worried that they would be punished without merit, they captured a large number of people and sent them as prisoners. Chen Jingxuan, the governor of Xichuan, did not care at all and directly ordered the arrest.
He went to the execution ground and beheaded them all. Onlookers at the execution ground saw many old and weak women and children waiting to be beheaded, and asked what was going on. They replied: "We were plowing the fields when the officers and soldiers suddenly entered the village and forcibly arrested them. They didn't know what the crime was.
.”
This kind of thing spread widely from north to south, and everyone who heard about it was filled with righteous indignation, but the saints didn't care, and the officials didn't ask. They allowed the officers and soldiers to capture dozens or hundreds of villagers at a time, take them as prisoners, and send them to be executed. They even took it as merit and issued rewards.
, what is the difference between these bullshit officers and soldiers and the bandit army?
I must do something different. To be kind to the people, I may not be able to raise many troops in a short period of time. It is better for any warlord to pull out an army of 100,000 or 80,000. But the people's hearts are stable. As long as they are not defeated in the early stage, the results will naturally be achieved in the later stage.
.I still remember that in later generations, Li Keyong went to war and used force to squeeze the people of Hedong, who had always been prosperous, almost dry. He was not as kind as Zhu Wen to the people. No wonder he was beaten to almost defeat, so he took a warning!
After returning to the execution ground, the officer who was about to be executed by Chao Jun was already so sluggish that he no longer had the energy to curse.
Shao Shude glanced at them coldly, turned around and said to the sergeants arrayed beside him: "Last year on New Year's Day, Shangyuan, Spring Society, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Autumn Society, each of you received more than ten coins and twenty bolts of silk.
, where did it come from? There are more than 400,000 people in the eight counties of Fuping! They farmed the fields and weaved cloth, and worked hard to provide for you. After taking this money and silk, naturally they must do their duty to ensure the safety of the people.
.The armies did a good job in this matter. They defeated the rebel army and made them dare not look north. There are countless people alive."
After saying that, he turned around again, looked at the traitor general who was kneeling on the ground, and said: "How can the people of Gaoling be so cruel to do this? Are they still human? Do you think they are guilty?"
Wei Boqiu signaled, and more than a hundred soldiers behind Shao Shude roared: "Are you guilty?"
The sergeants in the formation were infected and shouted: "Can you know the crime?"
At first, the voices were a little uneven, but later they all asked angrily: "Can you know the crime?"
The traitor general's face was earthy. Shao Shudeli ignored them and waved his hand directly: "Behead him!"
Dozens of human heads fell to the ground and blood spurted out. Chen Cheng felt a little uncomfortable watching from the side, but he still stepped forward, cupped his hands and said: "It's a crime to punish the people. After this, the name of the successor should be spread throughout Guanzhong."
Finally, he said softly: "Maybe it will arouse the suspicion of the court?"
"I can't control that much. I got angry when I saw this." After saying that, Shao Shude looked at the Chao Army prisoners in the distance who were under strict guard, and said: "These thieves are easy to take. Take them all back to Suizhou.
Six years of hard labor, not a day less. Let them work on the river, no matter how many are killed or injured, in order to atone for their sins."
Most of Suizhou's river control projects are carried out in summer, and winter is not impossible, but the time available for construction is short.
In summer, the sun is blazing, the rain is heavy, and the water is turbulent. The river should not be opened, but the actual situation is like this, and there is nothing we can do. These gangs in Gaoling slaughtered at least two to three thousand people, and they are piled with blood debts. If they don't torture them for a few years,
Shao Shude was upset.
Think about the later generations of people like Zhu Wen and Li Keyong, but they all gathered together, and the pattern was just like this. Maybe it didn't matter to them, but they couldn't do it. Some of the ideas of later generations, in this era, as far as he is now
Considering the position of power he holds, he doesn't want to persevere, has no intention of persevering, and even enjoys it. But there are some things that he doesn't want to give up. Otherwise, he would be no different from those warlords.