Gentlemen, listen to the sword chant

Chapter 64 The Way of Fishing, Rectifying Military Discipline

On December 23, the 24rd year of Tai'an, Tang Hao, the general of Yuebei, accepted the surrender ceremony of the Dongying Army in Kuaiji. Since then, the entire northern part of Yuezhou has been occupied; In order to prevent the people from being displaced by the war, they had no choice but to surrender to the Allied Forces of Dongying. So far, all ten cities in Yuezhou fell into the hands of the Dongying people.

The world was in an uproar.

The situation in Wuyue continued to heat up for half a year, and all parties prepared for half a year, but when the war really came, it was thunderous and rainy. Yuezhou, which claims to have millions of soldiers, was struggling under the swords and guns of the Dongying people. three months.How terrible is it to destroy Yuezhou in three months?While people were shocked, they couldn't help being suspicious. They wondered whether the Dongying people were too brave, or the men from Yuezhou were too weak. Whose responsibility was it that Yuezhou fell so quickly?
This battle became a topic of discussion among princes from all walks of life in the fourteen prefectures of the Great Liang Empire. It was also a large-scale battle involving the most troops, the most casualties, and the widest spread in the past ten years, and it attracted much attention.Many famous figures also emerged during this war, such as Ning Zhiyuan, governor of Yincheng County, and Lu Chen of Hecheng, who were all buried with the highest standards by the Allied Forces of Japan. Two cuts and two tigers will shake the morale of the army.In the end, the war ended with Tang Hao's remnants disarming and surrendering.Of course, compared to North Vietnam’s stubborn resistance, Vietnam’s King Yue became a laughing stock, making the world ridicule. Juquan surrendered without a fight, betrayed the country and sought glory, and was scolded as a "national traitor", "national traitor", "... "

A military strategist objectively analyzed this battle. The root cause of Yincheng's defeat was that Ning Zhiyuan could not unify the thinking of the coalition forces, so that the military orders could not be implemented. In addition, the troops were scattered and disciplined was not strict. In the end, the Dongying people took advantage of the loopholes. Among them, the annihilation of the navy fleet before it started the battle was the direct cause of the subsequent defeat.The fall of Hecheng caused all the armies to fight in a hurry, and the morale of the army was lax. Simply, Lu Chen's street fighting was the only bright spot in this battle. Lu Chen was a rare hero in this world. The military and political system in the north, not the Dongying people, if he was given enough time to prepare, he might not be able to defend Hecheng.The fundamental reason for the fall of Vietnam was that the army was corrupt, and the generals of the various clan forces were empty, and there was a serious behavior of eating empty wages, so that the combat ability of the Vietnam army was generally not high, and most soldiers were just eating and waiting to die. , in the event of setbacks, they will be carried loosely, and when they see the enemy's formation, they will throw away their helmets and armor in fright.What is shameful is that the king of Yue surrendered without a fight, reached a conspiracy with the Dongying people, let [-] Dongying elite soldiers go to the appointment in disguise, go deep into Yuhang, and steal Cheng Shouyu's old lair, leaving the Vietnamese army in a leaderless situation, and the army was defeated like a mountain.Different from Ning Zhiyuan and Lu Chen, General Tang Hao fought stubbornly for half a month, and finally surrendered helplessly. He will not be safe in the end of his life, and he will be labeled a "traitor" for life.

……

Zhongzhou, Luoyang.

It was snowing heavily, and a soldier dug a small hole in the palace lake. "Nine thousand years old" Huang Shi was guiding the little prince in his arms to fish. There were more than 30 young eunuchs who lowered their eyebrows and nodded, but they didn't make a sound, as if they were afraid of scaring away the fish in the lake.

The little prince's face was flushed red from the cold, he scratched his ears and cheeks from time to time, and sometimes glanced at the old eunuch Huang Shi who was concentrating on it.

"Your Highness, have you forgotten what the old slave said? When fishing, you must be patient and careful. If your temperament and mentality are not good, how can you catch the fish?" Huang Shi smiled kindly and rubbed the prince's forehead with pity.

"But, it's so cold... In this weather, can any fish take the bait?" The little prince asked weakly, with a harmless expression on his face.

"Your Highness, the outcome of some things is not important. What we have to do is to do our best, and we will have no regrets."

"But..." The little prince was puzzled, scratched his head, and couldn't figure it out even more: "But after making such careful preparations, wouldn't it be even more regrettable if we still couldn't catch any fish?"

"Hahahaha." Huang Shi laughed, but did not explain.

At this time, outside the palace, Yan Dong, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, came slowly, but was stopped by Jin Yiwei.

"What do you mean by stopping me?" Yan Dong frowned, "I have something important to report to the Chief Manager."

The two guards in Jinyi looked at each other, and one of them said coldly: "Master Shangshu, it's better not to bother the chief steward teaching the little prince at the Huxin Pavilion."

Yan Dong's expression was displeased, what's wrong with him, still fishing?The Dongying people defeated Yuezhou across the board in three months, and the next step is to point their swords at Wuzhou. Is there still leisure to go fishing?Now that his ass is on fire, Yan Dong felt resentful inside, so he had to patiently say: "You go and report it, it's about Shanhe Sheji." Saying that, Yan Dong took out two golden tickets and stuffed them to the two guards in Jinyi.

One of them hesitated for a moment, nodded, clasped his fists, and went in.

Yan Dong's heart is complicated and depressed, he felt a sense of sadness, when did my Great Liang Empire become like this?The eunuch is in power, controlling the court, covering the sky with one hand.

"Hehe, I miss Yan Dong, who will give money to an eunuch one day after all his life."

He thought so.

In the middle of the lake, a Jin Yiwei came silently, and whispered in Huangshi's ear: "My lord, the Minister of the Ministry of War asks to see you."

Huang Shi held the little prince's hand kindly. At this moment, the swim bladder moved, and the little prince danced happily, a smile appeared on his immature face, and he turned his head and said: "The fish is hooked, the fish is hooked, and I will have fish soup tonight."

"Yes, the fish is hooked, Your Highness." Huang Shi winked at the Jin Yiwei, and the latter took the order to retreat.

Huang Shi took the little prince by the hand to operate, and a big golden carp was dragged up, flopping on the ice, the little prince cheered, "The fish is hooked, the fish is hooked." In this scene, his heart was heavy and a little complicated, and he sighed in his heart, did he look like that fish?Involuntary, but helpless.

"My minister sees Your Highness, Your Highness is blessed and safe."

Yan Dong patted his knees, silently knelt down to salute, and then said: "Meet the Chief Manager."

His heart is extremely complicated. He was born as a martial arts champion and won the respect of the first emperor, but now he kneels down to an eunuch.

Huang Shi didn't speak, just smiled and looked at the excited little prince in his arms.

Yan Dong just knelt like this.

After a long time, Huang Shi put away the fishing rod, and then said calmly: "Master Yan, Your Highness let you get up, it's cold, and the ground is cold, so it's easy to catch cold."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Yan Dong stood up silently, his knees were already soaked and bitingly cold.

"What's the matter, Master Yan?"

Yan Dong sighed, thinking, why are you pretending to be stupid?I had no choice but to talk about the fall of the entire territory of Yuezhou in detail, and finally said: "Your Highness, Chief Manager, Yuezhou has been an inseparable part of the Great Liang Empire since ancient times; Wuyue is also the southeast granary and trading port of Great Liang. The economy of the Great Liang Empire plays an important role, and now the Japanese are fighting unannouncedly and have their hands in our Great Liang society, so they should raise their troops to punish the thieves and expel the Japanese slaves to appease the people's grievances."

Yan Dong spoke carefully, Huang Shi listened carefully, and the two fell into silence.

for a long time.

Huang Shi said hoarsely, "Wait a little longer."

"What?" Yan Dong looked confused, extremely surprised, and thought he heard it wrong, but saw Huang Shi stood up holding the prince, and said softly to the prince: "Your Highness, the fish has also been caught, we should go."

Yan Dong's face was livid, and he watched the group of people leave. He stood alone on the ice, "A traitor is ruining the country."

He didn't understand why the Great Liang Empire became like this.

"The traitor is in charge!"

Wait, wait for what, wait for Wu Yue to fall completely?

……

Guangling.

After the fall of Yuezhou, King Wu convened a council immediately. No one expected that the war would end so quickly and suddenly.

"Now Wuyue has become the laughing stock of the world." King Wu sighed, feeling a lot in his heart. In the war in the Western Regions, a generation of tycoon Lin Tanlang defended the Yumen Pass, with a mere [-] soldiers, under the iron hooves of the wild people, they ran out of food. Gu, lost the horse fodder, insisted on holding on for forty days, and finally waited for reinforcements.Now Yuezhou's million-strong army formed a battle line, a hundred times more soldiers than Lin Tanlang, but they only lasted three months in front of the Dongying people, how sad?

He had imagined how this war would unfold, but the outcome was beyond everyone's expectations.

While King Wu was shocked, he only felt a chill down his back.

He seemed to have been drained of all his strength, lost all fighting spirit for a while, and lowered his head as if surrendering, "Sir, in your opinion, what should we do?"

Qi Lianzi's old face showed neither joy nor sorrow, as if he had expected this ending and was not surprised. He analyzed the cause and effect of Yuezhou's defeat in detail, and then said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. I, Wu Nan, have done enough before the battle. In order to prepare adequately, carry out military reforms, put an end to the phenomenon of empty pay and clan monopoly, and the military orders at all levels and ministries are implemented and strictly enforced. It will take time for the Dongying people to smash them from the outside."

King Wu sighed, he lost his confidence, no matter how elite the soldiers and horses are, no matter how strong the battle line is, there is still one problem that cannot be avoided, that is, the number of troops is too small.

Right now he is really alone and helpless, Wuzhou Mu Xishen in the north has no movement at all.

A few days ago, the King of Wu wrote to Xi Shen several times. Xi Shen responded in this way, to the effect that he was too busy to take care of himself, and he really couldn't spare any troops. Besides, he only obeyed the order of the imperial court, and expressed his deep apology while letting Wu Wang likes to do it for himself.This made Wu Wang very angry, and Xi Shen's attitude showed that he wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger.First, the area controlled by Wuzhou Mu is in the north of Wu, so there is no need to worry about Japanese invasion for the time being, so you can sit back and relax; second, if the Dongying people launch a full-scale invasion of Wuzhou, the imperial court will definitely not sit idly by, and will definitely issue documents and edicts to seek thieves The princes of the world reached an alliance and formed an alliance in Wuzhou.It is precisely because of these reasons that Xi Shen can be confident.

"Sir, do you want to evacuate the people?" King Wu asked bitterly.

Qi Lianzi hesitated for a moment: "Let's withdraw."

With the lessons learned from Yuezhou, the king of Wu has no confidence. Instead of evacuating the people hastily after the war starts, it is better to start evacuating now.

……

Yuhang.

It used to be "a gift from heaven, a paradise on earth", but now it has been baptized by the flames of war, and it is devastated. Looking around, it is full of refugees under centralized management.

Uesugi Qi, the deputy commander of the Allied Forces of Japan, entered the city lord's mansion and held a commendation meeting. First, he condoled the dead soldiers, and then rewarded them for their merits.Now that North Vietnam has been captured, Vietnam has bowed its head and proclaimed itself a vassal. The military government and the cabinet have to send officials to take over and manage the various counties.

Now the top priority is several political and military strategies.

First, the issue of order.There are more than 1000 million people in the counties and towns in northern Vietnam. This is a huge number. If it is not handled properly, it will arouse people's resistance. Their hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops will be difficult to suppress in a short time. If they break out again It is difficult to end any peasant uprising or armed conflict.Don't look at the fact that the Japanese Allied Forces captured so many counties and cities with the force of thunder, but in fact, the Japanese Army is also seriously injured and needs a period of time to recuperate.In terms of order, Uesugi adopted a gentle policy, that is, to open the granary and provide relief to the victims.Uesugi knows a truth that there will always be many poor people in the world. He knows that during Cheng Shouyu's reign, politics was corrupt, and many officials and clans took advantage of their positions to extract taxes, eat the flesh and blood of the common people, Uesugi took advantage of this.After the Dongying army entered the city, they did not burn, kill, loot, or invade the houses. Instead, they concentrated on managing the refugees to appease the civilians. In winter, in this way, Uesugi won the favor of the people. Although it is not the support of the people, it also calmed down the emotions and stabilized the order.

Second, political issues.Now that Yuezhou has been fully captured, and tens of millions of people are stranded in Yuezhou, a new order should be adopted. First, in order to consolidate its regime, the armies will successively enter major cities and towns in batches, and recruit soldiers and horses to form "pseudo-armies". Because the people called the Dongying Allied Army the "Imperial Army", this puppet army was called the "Imperial Association Army".Uesugi Qi knew very well that people's hearts are sinister and human nature is complicated. Taking advantage of this, he recruited a large number of puppet troops to assist the Dongying Army in managing the people.The common people are ignorant, lacking family and national sentiments, and worrying about gain and loss for a small official position, not to mention that Dongying people are now in power and puppet soldiers. They can not only protect their families from war, but also have salary and food for the winter. Why not for?It was almost the first day when Uesugi issued the document. Once the notice was posted, countless people responded. Suddenly, there were no longer a few people who joined the army.This is different from Cheng Shouyu's conscription. Cheng Shouyu recruits soldiers to fight wars, while the Dongying people recruit soldiers to manage the people. To put it bluntly, many people just make a living. They can protect their families and earn a fortune. Why not do it?

The third is military issues.Half of the plans of the military government and the cabinet were implemented, and 1/3 of the troops were invested in the Yuezhou battlefield. They should strike while the iron is hot and take Wuzhou in one fell swoop.Only those who dominate the two states can have enough bargaining chips to negotiate with the imperial court of the Great Liang Empire.

At the meeting, Uesugi read out His Majesty's imperial edict, to the effect that the army of the temporary military government will arrive in the East Bay in ten days, so that Uesugi will be ready to destroy Wuzhou in three months.

In the main hall, the aroma of wine is tangy.

"To the victory of our army, cheers."

"cheers!"

In the evening, Shang Shanqi went out of the city and inspected. He was strict with his subordinates and had extremely high discipline requirements for the soldiers. Wherever he passed, the officers and soldiers patrolling the city stood and saluted him.However, passing by a mansion, he suddenly heard a woman's cry from inside, the mansion was full of beauty, Uesugi frowned, his face was ashen, just walking past, two soldiers were shocked, "commander."

"Who is in the mansion?" Uesugi's attitude was very indifferent. He repeated orders and repeated orders not to disturb the people after entering the city. After all, the order has just been established. If you want to consolidate the rule of the Dongying people, you have to follow the people's will. Wouldn't it make the more than 20 soldiers who died on the front line bleed for nothing?

The soldier looked terrified, "It's General Tanaka."

"Step aside."

"As ordered."

Uesugi entered the mansion, crying even louder in his ears, intermittent, very miserable, and Tanaka's sinister laughter, he silently pushed open the door, under the yellow light, Tanaka was shirtless, holding a man The crying woman was forced into a corner, and the ground was covered with tattered clothes. Besides that, there was a man's body with a long knife stuck in his chest.The woman's husband's bones were not yet cold, but Tanaka did vicious things. Suddenly, he saw the woman look up, Tanaka seemed to realize something, turned around, and saw Uesugi with a livid face.

"thump"

Tanaka knelt down in a hurry, his appearance was very funny, his upper body was naked, his belly was full of disgusting fat, he didn't look like a martial artist at all, but like a wandering drinker.Tian Zhong said inwardly that he was sorry, he was thinking wildly in his mind, thinking about how to make excuses, and respectfully said: "Pavilion Master..."

"Call me handsome." Uesugi Qi's tone was very cold.

"Master..." Tanaka trembled.

"Tanaka Hitoda, as a fourth-rank leader in the army, you know the military law yourself, why do you despise the commander's military order?" Uesugi stared at Tanaka.

Tanaka was dripping with cold sweat, lowered his head, not daring to say a word.

"You really can't control the one or two inches in your crotch?"

Sensing Uesugi's murderous gaze, Tanaka hurriedly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Commander, I dare not, I was wrong, please forgive me."

Uesugi looked at the woman in the corner who seemed to be stupefied by fright, his eyes changed slightly, he opened his hand, and the long knife that was pierced into the man's heart flew into his hand with a "swoosh", he raised the knife and dropped it, There was only a scream from Tanaka, and the blood below was bloody. Tanaka's sound of killing a pig was heard far away in the night, and he rolled on the ground.

The two soldiers came over when they heard the movement, and when they saw this scene, they both felt chills in their lower bodies.

so cruel...

"Take this person down, and behead him in the morning and afternoon to show the public, so as to appease the people's grievances."

Tanaka, who was in great pain, was shocked when he heard the words, and stopped crying, and immediately crawled to the feet of Shang Shanqi, crying bitterly: "Commander, you can't kill me."

"Commander, I'm Tanaka, a samurai from Xiaoqianye Kendo Gym, and I'm your younger brother."

"Marshal, I have merit in beheading Cheng Shouyu, you can't kill me..."

"..."

Uesugi had no expression on his face, he turned around and waved his hand, "Take it."

The two soldiers looked at Uesugi's tall body, they didn't dare to say anything, and immediately carried Tanaka out, Uesugi watched the woman in the corner crawling towards the corpse, and burst into tears.Shang Shanqi hesitated for a moment, and closed his eyes. At this moment, the long knife roared, and in an instant, the woman's head fell to the ground, and Shang Shanqi strode away.

this day.

Uesugi Qi acted resolutely and launched a campaign of suppression.

All those who entered the house and raped civilian women were arrested one by one, regardless of military rank.

Lasted all night.

Early the next morning, in front of the Yuhang City Tower, more than 100 Dongying people were tied up by Wuhuada. Those with the highest rank, such as Hitoshi Tanaka, and those with the lowest rank also had many ordinary soldiers.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in front of the tower.

Uesugi has no choice but to do this. No one knows how fragile the current situation in Yuezhou is. Emotions, such as exaggerating family hatred and national hatred, can easily start a popular uprising.Tens of millions of people are enough to swallow their hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops alive.Moreover, Uesugi Qi didn't mind using such a beheading demonstration to swear the military discipline of Japan.

Toshi Miyamoto couldn't bear seeing Tanaka's miserable appearance. After all, he was a senior brother who joined the Kendo Gym together. There was a deep relationship between them. After all, Tanaka is the first offender. Our army was able to successfully capture Yuhang. He contributed a lot, Commander, please offset the merits and demerits and show favor to him..."

Uesugi snorted coldly: "Miyamoto, do you also regard military law as nothing?"

Toshi Miyamoto hesitated for a moment, he felt that Uesugi was too serious, he just robbed some property and played with a woman, is it necessary to make such a big deal out of it?He was upset and said: "Commander, we just killed the army of these people on the battlefield. Among those troops, there were their sons, husbands, and fathers. Now that we have won the battle, we turned around and said that we want to protect them? Will they accept this love? Marshal, don't deceive yourself so much, we are invaders, when we set foot on this land with weapons, we have a deep hatred with them, no matter what you do, they will only watch It's a joke, you can't say 'dog eats dog' behind our backs..."

Uesugi stared straight at him, Miyamoto Jun was shocked and lowered his head.

Tens of thousands of people stared at this scene.

In front of the city tower, more than 100 soldiers were tied up and knelt on the ground. Some cried bitterly, some were ashamed, and the cry was loud.

Tanaka had a ferocious face, he raised his head unyieldingly, and looked at Shang Shanqi through the eyes of thousands of people, he was neither angry nor convinced, he yelled angrily: "Shang Shanqi, you can't kill me, I am Commander Takeshita of the military government I personally appointed the leader of the fourth rank, I went through life and death for the allied army, and made great military exploits, and now you actually want to kill me for a woman from Daliang, I don't accept it!"

It was Uesugi Qi's indifferent face that answered him.

Tanaka felt sad from his heart, "Uesugi, you are so cruel, you actually want to kill your fellow disciples and your compatriots for the sake of a woman you don't know, think of me, Tanaka, who is loyal and loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, You are going to kill me!"

He was answered by the executioner's indifferent gaze.

"The time has come."

"Execution."

"Swish"

The executioner raised the knife and fell, and more than 100 heads fell to the ground.

Tens of thousands of people watched this scene numbly, there was no cheering, no shouting, only silence, and occasionally whispering.

Miyamoto Jun watched this scene, sighed, and left silently.

Uesugi suddenly felt a twitch in his heart, his lips moved slightly, he wanted to say something, but he never said it, he stared at the gradually dispersed crowd of onlookers, at the silent soldiers, he felt his throat dry , muttering to himself: "Did I do something wrong?"

(End of this chapter)