Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 551: 545. Burning Chang'an
"Crackle... huff and puff..."

"Help! There's a fire! Put it out!"

"Run! Run out of the city!"

A day later, Cao Zhen's army left Chang'an and continued to move eastward. However, Chang'an was turned into a sea of ​​fire under the efforts of more than a thousand soldiers left by Cao Zhen.

Although Cao Zhen issued the notice yesterday, some people did not believe that Cao Zhen would dare to burn down Chang'an, so they stubbornly refused to evacuate. Some people were unable to evacuate due to physical problems. Even if someone helped them, it was wishful thinking for all the old, weak, sick and pregnant people to leave Chang'an within a day.

Today, when the fire started, everyone realized that Cao Zhen was not joking and he really dared to light the fire.

"God damn Cao Zhen! God damn Wei! Even if I die, I will not let you go even if I become a ghost!"

The noble families who once supported Cao Wei, now faced with a life-and-death situation, no longer cared about their empty face and started cursing.

Now the fire in Chang'an City is out of control. Although these people have tried to save themselves and used all kinds of pots and pans to try to put out the flames, the fire is fueled by the wind, and these actions are just a drop in the bucket and are of no help.

Soon, in addition to the wailing and crackling of the flames, there was also a smell of meat and burnt food in the air. Needless to say, the meat smell was the smell of people who were burned to death because they did not have time to escape, and the burnt food smell was the smell of their bodies being carbonized by the fire.

When disaster strikes, all kinds of human nature are fully displayed. There are heartless people who abandon their families and run for their lives; there are ruthless people who are still thinking about getting rich and robbing other people's homes; there are evil people who take the opportunity to destroy evidence because they don't know what they did in the past...

Of course, there is good as well as evil. Countless people spontaneously organized themselves to save themselves and flee. Even some aristocratic families had to cooperate with the untouchables whom they looked down upon in normal times in order to survive.

Water and fire are merciless. In the face of the raging flames that devour everything, there is no high or low, and the flames will not be picky about status.

"Alas, such behavior is against the harmony of nature. When this matter is over, I will ask for punishment from Your Majesty to apologize for my crime."

Cao Zhen's army had left Chang'an for dozens of miles, but the fire in Chang'an was still clearly visible even in the daytime. It was not even known whether it was a psychological effect, but many people heard screams, wails, and cries for help coming from afar.

Not only was Cao Zhen somewhat listless, the morale of the entire army was low. As the Guanzhong Army, many of them even came from Chang'an. Although they were soldiers and had the opportunity to move their families to a safe place in advance, it would be a lie to say that they didn't feel a little uncomfortable when they saw their general ordering their hometown to be burned.

Moreover, as people from Chang'an, even if they had no knowledge or common sense, they were familiar with Dong Zhuo's past affairs, and many of them even saw it in person. When Dong Zhuo went from prosperity to decline, he burned Luoyang and moved west to Chang'an.

Now that Cao Wei has burned Chang'an and is heading east back to Luoyang, these people don't believe that there is no sense of destiny in this.

Similarly, the generals who followed Cao Zhen were also somewhat dejected. Now that they were forced to burn down Chang'an, they estimated that this matter would definitely be notorious and would be recorded in history. And these generals who followed Cao Zhen could not guarantee that they would not be condemned by the people of the future along with Cao Zhen.

"Don't think too much. If Luoyang is lost now, we may not be able to wait for those things after our death. So, generals, cheer up and go to Hongnong County immediately. Junyi, send out scouts in advance to see what the situation is in Luoyang and what the Han army is doing now. If conditions permit, enter Luoyang and inform His Majesty of our army's movements."

Although Cao Zhen knew that he would be cursed for eternity, he had no time to care about these things at this point. All he had in his eyes was the last breath of the Wei Dynasty.

On Zhuge Liang's side, since the Wei army had completely abandoned Fufeng County, the Han army would naturally not hesitate to move forward. Zhang Fei and Deng Zhi's suspicious troops in Jigu immediately turned into a separate army, leaving Xiegu from Baoxiadao, and preparing to join the Han army behind Zhuge Liang's army. Wei Yan, who had originally stayed in Hanzhong, was unwilling to remain unknown in this mighty Northern Expedition, so he simply took a risk. When he learned that Zhuge Liang and Cao Zhen were deadlocked in Jieting, he simply led 10,000 Hanzhong troops to take the Tangluo Road. Now he has arrived at the Wei River and will soon join Zhuge Liang's army.

Zhuge Liang's Sichuan Army now has over 100,000 soldiers and horses, and their momentum is extremely huge. Even the current Chang'an City would find it difficult to resist.

"Prime Minister, the Wei army... the Wei army actually set fire to the city!"

However, soon, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao, who served as the vanguard, sent scouts back to inform Zhuge Liang of the changes that had occurred in Chang'an.

"What?! This Cao Zhen is really bold!"

Jiang Wei, who was sitting nearby serving Zhuge Liang, could not help but stand up and scold Cao Zhen when he heard the news.

"pat"

Suddenly, there was a sudden sound, which made Jiang Wei turn his head to look at the source of the sound. In Jiang Wei's memory, Zhuge Liang, who was always calm, dropped the goose feather fan that he never put down on the table when he heard the news.

“Master…?”

Jiang Wei was somewhat surprised by Zhuge Liang's loss of composure and asked in a low voice.

"The people are suffering, the people are suffering. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Chang'an City, and Cao Zhen has only been back in Chang'an for two days. How can they escape this disaster?"

Zhuge Liang sighed deeply. When he was young, he saw Cao Cao massacre Xuzhou, and his Zhuge family fled to Jingzhou because of this. Now he saw Cao Zhen burning Chang'an, which made him feel touched and paused.

"Master, what about us now...?"

Jiang Wei immediately thought of the key and asked Zhuge Liang. Although he didn't say anything, both of them were smart people. Jiang Wei's meaning was very simple, that is, how should the Han army deal with it?
Should he follow Cao Zhen's wishes and waste time in Chang'an City so that they can reach Luoyang smoothly, or should he be ruthless and leave only part of the army behind while the others go after Cao Zhen?

"The people are so innocent. Chang'an City must be taken care of. From now on, these people will be the people of our Han Dynasty. How can I just stand by and watch?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head. There was no need to hesitate. If he could abandon these people, what difference would there be between him and Cao Zhen? What difference would there be between the Han Dynasty and the Wei Kingdom, which would do anything to achieve its goals?
"Immediately send a message to Guan Xing and Zhang Bao, asking them to rush to Chang'an as quickly as possible to put out the fire and save people. Then have the army speed up and march to Chang'an immediately. Send a pigeon to notify Hanzhong to allocate an additional batch of supplies and send them to Chang'an as soon as possible.

In addition, I need to personally write a letter and give it to the Grand Commander to inform him of the whole story."

Zhuge Liang immediately made the decision and told Jiang Wei everything that needed to be done. Jiang Wei immediately took the order and went down to handle some of the tasks for Zhuge Liang.

(End of this chapter)