Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 102 Chasing Death and Chasing North ([-])

After the bandit formation collapsed, Shao Shude walked down from the high platform.

The enemy army was so scattered that even if one or two generals wanted to take in the rout, it was impossible for them to fight back.

In this battle, the beheading of the thief is estimated to be between [-] and [-] levels, and the casualties of one's side are in the hundreds. It was a brilliant victory.I don't know how many times it was the first time to thwart the ambition of the thief army to go north to peep, the third time or the fourth time?Compared with the people in the other [-] counties, the people in the eight counties in the north of Beijing have a lot less military disasters!
At nightfall, a sentry cavalry came to report: "Zhu Youyi sent the thief to save the firewood."

Shao Shude's spirit lifted, this was the vanguard general of Chao Zhong when they entered Chang'an, he once defeated Qi Kerang and Zhang Hongfan in Tongguan, just like Tian Chengsi in Anlu Mountain, he can be regarded as an important figure in the bandit army.

Suddenly someone came to report: "The captive general Huang Wenjing."

I don't know this one, it is probably a middle-level general of the Chaozhong, so it doesn't make much sense.

After dinner, someone finally came to report: "I haven't seen Meng Kai, he must have escaped."

Grass!Shao Shude cursed secretly, the biggest thief was not caught, which greatly reduced the color of this victory.

"Why are you sighing after staying?" Chen Cheng observed his words and expressions, and seeing his lord's expression was worried, he smiled and said: "It is a great achievement to break through more than ten thousand thieves and capture and kill the thieves. Appreciation."

"That's right, Judge Chen reminded me." Shao Shude straightened his face, and said, "Happiness and anger are invisible, Mr. Fang is too, so I need to practice more."

After eating, Shao Shude took two deep breaths, sat in the camp, picked up the military book and read it.

Half an hour later, there were generals and soldiers returning to the camp one after another.The generals were in high spirits, talking and laughing loudly, with high spirits.

Defeating the enemy in an array is always worth boasting, because it symbolizes bravery, which is much more brilliant than defeating the enemy with terrain, ambushes, and tricks.

Zhuge Shuang has fought for most of his life. He once recalled that he felt that six out of ten of the battles he experienced in his life were battles in formations.

Shao Shude had a lot of confidence in fighting battles before, but he was not confident in fighting other forms of warfare under complicated circumstances. Thinking about it now, it was probably influenced by "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".Perhaps in the Three Kingdoms era, most wars were fought face to face between the two armies?What ambushes, fire attacks, luring the enemy, alienation, etc. are not the mainstream?It's just that later generations of literati lacked military knowledge and couldn't write such things, so they "de-technicalized" and "de-detailed"?
"After you stay, why don't you enter the city tonight? There are piles of corpses in the city, and the auxiliary soldiers are still cleaning up. You may enter the city tomorrow." Seeing that his lord had finished talking with the generals, Chen Cheng quickly stepped forward and said softly.

"Hmph!" Shao Shude was overwhelmed by the joy of victory just now, and he hadn't thought of the bandit army washing the city. Hearing this, he immediately became furious: "Who participated in the city washing?"

"Almost all participated." Chen Cheng replied.

"How many people were arrested?"

"More than five thousand people."

Shao Shude's face was cloudy and uncertain.

"After you stay, don't kill the prisoners!" Chen Cheng immediately said when he saw that something was going to go wrong.

Shao Shude remained silent.

"Stay behind, if all the soldiers surrender at this time, and fight against the bandits another day, the bandits will definitely refuse to surrender!"

"Officers above the head of the bandit squad, beheaded!" After being silent for a long time, Shao Shude finally said: "What is the crime of the people of Gaoling? Has no one avenged them? Perhaps other military towns, as long as they are willing to surrender, even those who have eaten people will be killed." I can accept it, but I don’t want to do it! What’s wrong with the people, the collection of food and donations has already made their livelihood difficult, and now they don’t even spare their lives, just to boost the morale of the troops? The two armies should fight. It's upright and upright, what harm is it to the people? Judge Chen doesn't need to persuade him, he has already made up his mind, and the officers above the leader of the team will be escorted to the execution ground tomorrow. , six years of hard labor."

"I want to do something different, even if the thieves don't want to surrender me in the future, I won't hesitate." Shao Shude looked at Chen Cheng and said, "Didn't Judge Chen hear of hanging people and punishing crimes?"

******
"General, I am innocent!"

"Repent, you bastard!"

"If I knew this earlier, I might as well die!"

"Forgive me, don't dare again!"

Outside the city of Gaoling County, all the officers above the level of the Chao Army's surrender squadron were pulled out. There were about seven or eighty people, and the biggest one was a bandit general named Huang Wenjing.The man didn't say a word at this time, neither scolded nor begged for mercy, just looked at the sky, as if he had accepted his fate.

Surrounded by his own soldiers, Shao Shude walked into Gaoling County.

The city has not been completely cleaned up.Looking at a skinny child's body lying in a pool of blood, Shao Shude was once again furious, even the child was not spared, wouldn't it be easier for them to kill only a few dozen people?

Don't have enough food, don't wear warm clothes, and have to go all out to support the soldiers, and when things happen, they are used as a tool to improve morale. In this troubled world, no one really protects them?
Bandit army, it really is bandit army!
But then again, is the official army really much better than the thief army at this time?
During the Qianneng Rebellion in Central Sichuan two months ago, Yang Xingqian led his army to fight against it, but was defeated in several battles. Fearing that he would be convicted for nothing, he even captured a large number of people and sent them up as captives.Xichuan Jiedu envoy Chen Jingxuan didn't care at all, and directly ordered him to be taken to the execution ground and beheaded.Onlookers on the execution ground saw many old and weak women and children waiting to be beheaded, so they asked what was going on, and replied: "We were plowing the fields, and the officers and soldiers suddenly entered the village and arrested them by force. I don't know what crime it is."

This kind of thing was widely spread from north to south, and everyone who heard it was filled with righteous indignation, but the saint didn't care about it, and all officials didn't ask about it.Let the officers and soldiers capture dozens or hundreds of villagers each time as prisoners and send them to death, and even reward them for their merits. How is this bullshit officer army different from the bandit army?

Must do something different.Be kind to the people, maybe you can't raise too many soldiers in a short period of time, it's better to pull out one hundred and eighty thousand troops from any warlord, but the people's hearts are stable, as long as the early stage is not defeated, the later stage will naturally bear fruit.I still remember that the later generations Li Ke used military force to almost squeeze the people of Hedong who had always been prosperous. It is not as good as Zhu Wen's kindness to the people. No wonder he was beaten almost to death. Take this as a warning!
After returning to the execution ground, the Chao Jun officer waiting to be beheaded was so depressed that he didn't even have the energy to curse.

Shao Shude gave them a cold look, turned around and said to the sergeants lined up on the side: "Last year's New Year's Day, Shangyuan, Spring Society, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Autumn Society festivals, each of you received more than ten coins and twenty bolts of silk. Where did it come from? There are more than [-] people in the eight counties of Fuping! It is they who plow the fields and weave cloth, and work hard to make offerings for you. After taking the money and silk, they will naturally do their duty to keep the people safe. The armies have done a good job in this matter, they have defeated the bandit army so many that they dare not look north, and there are countless survivors."

After finishing speaking, he turned around again, looked at the general of the bandit army who was kneeling on the ground, and said: "The people of Gaoling are so innocent, they are still human? Can you be convicted?"

Wei Boqiu made a gesture, and more than a hundred soldiers behind Shao Shude shouted angrily: "Can you be convicted?"

The sergeants in the formation were infected, and they also shouted: "Can you be convicted?"

At first, the voices were a little uneven, but later they asked angrily at the same time: "Can you be convicted?"

The bandit general's face is earthy.Shao Shude ignored them and waved his hand directly: "It's cut off!"

Dozens of heads fell to the ground, and blood gushed out. Chen Cheng felt a little uncomfortable watching from the side, but he still stepped forward, cupped his hands and said, "Hang the people and punish crimes. After this incident, the name of the descendants should be spread throughout Guanzhong."

At the end, he said softly: "Maybe arouse the court's suspicion?"

"I can't control that much anymore. I got angry when I saw this." After finishing speaking, Shao Shude looked at the prisoners of the Chao army who were under strict surveillance in the distance, and said: "It's cheap for these thieves. Take them all back to Suizhou. Six years of hard labor, not less than a day. Let them go to work in the river, regardless of the number of casualties, so as to atone for their sins."

Most of the river control projects in Suizhou are in summer, and winter is not impossible, but the time available for construction is short.

In summer, the scorching sun, continuous torrential rain, and turbulent water should not open the river, but the actual situation is so, there is no way.These hives in Gaoling slaughtered at least two or three thousand people, and their blood debts were heavy.If they don't torture them hard for several years, Shao Shude's heart will be hard to calm down.

Think about Zhu Wen and Li Keyong in later generations who even want to gather people like this, the pattern is just like this.Maybe it doesn't matter to them, but they can't do it themselves.Some ideas of later generations, in this era, in terms of his current position of power, he does not want to stick to it, nor does he have any intention of sticking to it, and even enjoys it.But there are some things he doesn't want to give up.Otherwise, it is no different from those warlords.

(End of this chapter)