Xiaoqi

Fortunately, hard work pays off.

After about ten days of trekking, the 6 troops of the East Route Army finally crossed Daba Mountain and Micang Mountain without any risk, walked out of Micang Road, and formally entered the territory of Yizhou Bajun.This means that they passed through the rice barn plank road in a safe and sound manner, passed the most difficult and dangerous journey, and laid a solid foundation for the next attack on Berkshire. It can be said that they have taken a crucial first step , is also a key step to success.

After entering the territory of Berkshire, the whereabouts of the Eastern Route Army were still not revealed.So Zhou Yu and Li Xian discussed and decided to adopt the method of marching day and night, taking advantage of the mountainous forests in Berkshire to hide their whereabouts.If the cities encountered along the way can be detoured, they can avoid direct confrontation and pass by detours; if they cannot be detoured, they will take the method of attacking the city at night, quietly attacking the city, and then speed up the marching speed , Before the whereabouts were exposed, he attacked the next city with lightning speed.

This cycle goes on and on, marching for hundreds of miles in ten days, and continuously attacking cities and villages along the way, until the capture of Anhan City, the army stopped for a while to rest.After all, the long-distance trek for more than 20 consecutive days has exhausted the physical strength of the soldiers, and the entire army is exhausted and unable to fight anymore.Taking ten thousand steps back, even the soldiers can persist for a few days, and even rush to the city of Jiangzhou, the capital of Berkshire, but people can grit their teeth and persist, but the horses can't persist. After all, they are not as strong as humans .

Because of this, Zhou Yu and Li Xian discussed and decided that the army should rest in Anhan City for three days, and then march westward to capture Jiangzhou.

For the East Route Army, whether it can quickly capture Anhan City is very important, because Anhan is not only the dangerous fortress in the north of Berkshire, but also the gateway to Jiangzhou.As long as Anhan City is captured, it is equivalent to opening the northern gate of Jiangzhou, and it will not take long for soldiers to approach Jiangzhou City.And once Jiangzhou is captured, the entire territory of Berkshire can be recovered quickly, which means that the East Route Army has a foothold in Yizhou, and then based on this, it can gradually eat away at it, and within a year or so, it can reach Under the city of Chengdu, capture Yizhou.

After the banquet, all the generals in the hall dispersed one after another, only a few people remained in the hall to discuss the next battle.

Zhou Yu, who used to be a high-ranking commander-in-chief, was sitting in the lower hall, opposite to Li Xian, and four other people, including Lu Meng, Hu Che'er, Zhang Fei and Zhang Wei, were sitting under them.It is worth mentioning that since Zhang Fei was beaten by Zhou Yu, Li Xian often took Zhang Fei by his side and seemed to be his captain; and the general who led the army to attack An Han City this time was Zhang Fei.

It's just that Zhang Fei got into trouble again this time.

Although he led the army to capture An Han City as quickly as lightning, and his own casualties were very small, but he was too cruel and killed too much.When he led his army to capture Anhan City, Anhan City, which originally had a population of 2, ended up with less than [-] people left.That is to say, most of the people and defenders in the city were almost wiped out by him.

According to post-war statistics, in just half an hour, Zhang Fei led 3 iron cavalry and [-] personal soldiers to kill more than [-] people.

It is said that Zhang Fei was the first to rush into the city gate at that time, and then led the army straight to the city guard's mansion to charge and kill.After capturing the Chengshou Mansion, Zhang Fei brazenly ordered the massacre of the city, regardless of men, women, or children, and killed anyone he saw. Thanks to Li Xian's army who arrived in time, he stopped it immediately.Even so, more than half of the people in the city were still massacred, and only those who hid at home and did not dare to show their faces were spared.

It has to be mentioned that none of the defenders of Anhan City survived, and all were killed; all the officials and their families in the city and the county government were all killed, including women, children, old and young, and no one survived.

Afterwards, Li Xian ordered people to quickly clean up the corpses in the city. They must clean up the corpses everywhere in the city before Zhou Yu's army arrived, lest Zhou Yu beheaded Zhang Fei in anger after seeing the hell-like Anhan City.

Even though Li Xian had made a timely remedy, the massacre of the city could not be concealed at all, and it was eventually exposed.At the just-concluded banquet, some people still publicly questioned Zhang Fei why he ordered the massacre of the city.As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar immediately, and all the generals accused Zhang Fei one after another.However, Zhang Fei was very disdainful in the face of everyone's questioning, and did not think he was wrong, claiming that the reason why he did this was to prevent people from escaping out of the city and revealing the whereabouts of the army.

It is a pity that Zhang Fei's explanation is simply untenable and lacks convincingness.After all, the [-] troops had entered Berkshire for several days. Even if so many troops could temporarily hide their whereabouts, they would not last long.

Therefore, all the generals understood that Zhang Fei, who was born in a butcher, was violent, bloodthirsty and brutal.In addition, he had been under house arrest for a long time and was extremely depressed, which made him even more violent. This time he finally led the army to go out, so he was naturally ferocious and wanted to kill, which led to the massacre of the city.

The discussion after the banquet was actually to deal with Zhang Fei.

Originally, Li Xian was worried that Zhou Yu would kill Zhang Fei in a fit of rage, but Zhou Yu didn't go into the details, and just said lightly: "The matter of Zhang Fei's order to massacre the city is still the first in our Xiliang army. For example, the military master book will record this matter, and then report it to the lord, and ask the lord to make a decision. Before the arrival of the lord's military order, there is no need to discuss this matter again."

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Chapter 142

"Why did the governor let Zhang Fei go so easily, why not punish him severely?"

In the inner hall of the backyard, Li Xian and Zhou Yu sat facing each other, while Lu Meng stood aside, listening.While reaching out to pour tea for Zhou Yu, Li Xian once again brought up what happened in the lobby just now. At first he seemed curious, but in fact he wanted to test Zhou Yu's tone and try to figure out Zhou Yu's intentions.

What caused Zhou Yu's attitude towards Zhang Fei to change so drastically that Zhang Fei was spared punishment for committing a big mistake?

What Zhou Yu did just now was completely different from his previous attitude, as if he were a different person.

In the past, Li Xian would never sit back and watch Zhang Fei being questioned by Zhou Yu, because he knew very well that his elder brother Li Li held Zhang Fei in high regard. Zhang Fei should have been executed after he was captured, but Li Li rescued him at the critical moment.Because of this, Li Xian treats Zhang Fei differently under the love of the house and black, and now he even takes Zhang Fei into his account and becomes the number one general of the Eagle Guard.

But this massacre of the city was unusual, it was actually the first massacre of the Xiliang Army since its establishment, and it was so important that Li Xian didn't dare to make his own claim, let alone stand up for Zhang Fei rashly.Therefore, when he arrived with his army, he immediately ordered people to bury the corpse, and to do some things for Zhang Fei, with a little heart, it was worthwhile to get acquainted with each other.

However, once Zhou Yu really convicts and decides to severely punish Zhang Fei and make an example of others, Li Xian will not stand up for Zhang Fei this time.This is because Zhang Fei's crime of killing more than [-] people in Anhan City without authorization is so great that Li Xian can't interfere, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is powerless.

The fundamental reason why Li Xian did not intervene in this matter was that he understood his brother's temper very well.I know that although Li Li has been on the battlefield for a long time and has killed countless people, he never kills unarmed women, children and the elderly in vain, let alone orders the massacre of civilians.

at this point.Needless to say.Throughout the many battles led by Li Li, no matter how difficult the battle situation was or how severe the situation was, Li Li never gave an order to massacre a city, and never killed a commoner in vain.From the moment he was in charge of the Xiliang Army, it has been eight years, and there has never been an order to massacre the city during the battle.Even the barbarians of foreign races were not wiped out.

Therefore, Zhang Fei is the first to break the history that there is no massacre order in the Xiliang army.If Zhang Fei is finally exempted from punishment.As soon as this example is opened, it is inevitable that there will be another massacre of the city in a fit of anger by the generals in the future, and the consequences will be extremely serious and far-reaching.

For this kind of event related to major decisions.Li Xian will not participate without authorization.Not to mention interfering in decision-making, the only thing he can do is to carry out the orders of his elder brother Li Li, strictly support all government orders and military orders issued by Li Li, and do his best to maintain Li Li's prestige.This is Li Xian's firmest belief, and no one can shake it.

This is because in Li Xian's heart, Li Li is both his elder brother and father.Although he and the Li Li brothers were brought up by Li Jue alone.But the person who really treats him best and cares about him the most is his elder brother Li Li, so Li Xian has a deep affection for Li Li that is as deep as the sea.Brother and father, or elder brother as father.

Therefore, Zhou Yu easily let Zhang Fei go, which surprised Li Xian.Fortunately, Zhou Yu's final decision coincided with what he thought in his heart. This kind of important matter related to the whole army must be decided by his brother, and no one else can make decisions without authorization, including him Li Xian and Zhou Yu.

Just as Li Xian was thinking to himself, Zhou Yu picked up the teacup and nodded his thanks to him. After taking a sip of tea, he smiled and said, "The general doesn't know anything. According to the current military regulations of our army, this time Zhang Fei ordered The massacre of the city did not violate military discipline. After all, the war was not over when he ordered the massacre, and there were still many people in the city resisting. The lord once issued a strict order: Do not kill captives and soldiers without authorization, and do not kill civilians wantonly; but for stubborn resistance The enemy still needs to deal a severe blow to it, and we must not be merciful and have the benevolence of a woman in our hearts, so as not to cause unnecessary casualties to our soldiers.

Furthermore, when the army set off, neither the general nor I mentioned the massacre of the city. There was no clear regulation that the city should not be massacred when attacking the city, and the civilians who tried to resist our army's entry into the city could not be beheaded.Therefore, strictly speaking, General Zhang Fei issued an order to massacre the city in order to avoid unnecessary casualties of our soldiers, which did not violate military discipline.

Since Zhang Fei did not violate military discipline, we naturally have no reason and no right to question him, let alone impose strictness on him.These all need to be decided by the lord himself. If the lord doesn't mind this, or if he acquiesces to Zhang Fei's actions, then Zhang Fei will not be punished; If he is not responsible, then Zhang Fei will be punished, ranging from a hundred sticks to a severe punishment and beheading. This was Zhou Yu's answer. He clearly stated his position and attitude, and resolutely carried out Li Li's military orders, and only Li Li's orders were obeyed.

After Li Xian heard the words, he nodded happily, and affirmed: "What the governor said is very true, and the general also has the same intention. It's just that my brother is still in Shu County, thousands of miles away, and can't learn about it in time. In addition, the transmission of the secret letter is quite difficult. It’s inconvenient, it will take at least ten days to come and go. Before the arrival of the elder brother’s order, I don’t know how the governor plans to deal with Zhang Fei. Is it true that he will not deal with it?”

Zhou Yu's expression changed slightly, his brows were furrowed into a ball, he was concentrating on thinking, and remained silent for a while without saying a word.

After a long while, he nodded lightly, and said in a deep voice, "Let's not deal with it for the time being. Let him still work under the general's tent and wait for the Lord's military order. But if I guess correctly, the Lord will not punish Zhang Fei severely. At most Give him a little punishment, let him suffer some flesh and blood.

I remember the lord said to me before leaving: "Since the great chaos in the world, almost all the prefectures and counties of the Han Dynasty have experienced the tempering and baptism of war, and suffered from the disaster of war; but Yizhou has been staying out of it for many years. Even if war breaks out, It is also limited to small-scale local wars, and more than half of the counties and counties have not experienced the suffering of wars.Therefore, in the battle of Yizhou, thunderous means must be used to frighten Xiaoxiao speculators and make them fear our Xiliang army. Only in this way can Yizhou be quickly pacified. '

Therefore, I guess the lord will not convict Zhang Fei, at most, it will be a small punishment and a big commandment, so as to appease people's hearts.That's all. "

Li Xian nodded thoughtfully, and said: "The governor's words are reasonable. Brother has always been kind, but Yizhou is different from other states and counties. Extraordinary means, to be a strong deterrent, only in this way can we achieve miraculous results."

Zhou Yu said: "That's true. However, what Zhang Fei did was too cruel. Such a reckless massacre of the city will inevitably cause the people of all counties to resist desperately. If this is the case, it will be too much, and the result will definitely be counterproductive."

Li Xian thought about it and nodded lightly, expressing his agreement, then changed the topic abruptly, and asked in a low voice: "I don't know what the governor's plan is for the next battle. When will I be able to march to Chengdu and join my brother?"

Seeing that Li Xian no longer asked about Zhang Fei's massacre of the city, Zhou Yu praised him very much, and secretly sighed: "As expected of the lord's younger brother, although he appreciates Zhang Fei's bravery, he does not blindly protect right and wrong. It is very rare to take the overall situation into consideration and know how to advance and retreat!"

In fact, the reason why Zhou Yu evaded the important and dealt with the massacre this time was not to test Li Xian.He wanted to know whether Li Xian would continue to protect Zhang Fei in the face of killing tens of thousands of people without authorization.

If Li Siam does not distinguish between right and wrong, and still protects Zhang Fei, Zhou Yu will have to re-examine Li Siam; reconsider whether he is capable of leading an army in battle, whether it is suitable to sit in Yizhou, and even doubt whether he is worthy Useful, wait.Fortunately, Li Xian clearly discerned right from wrong, took the overall situation into consideration, and was not a fatuous person. Otherwise, Zhou Yu would take back his military power and suggested that Li Li change the candidate to guard Yizhou.

This is not alarmist talk, nor is Zhou Yu arrogant, but has this responsibility and strength.

Right now, the reason why he retreated behind the scenes and handed over the military power to Li Xian, and he was willing to stand in the rear for him was purely to train Li Xian for the lord Li Li. Out of love, he was responsible for Li Li.If Li Xian can be cultivated, then Zhou Yu is also happy to be an adult, to help him once, to help him establish prestige, and to lay a solid foundation for his future in Yizhou.If Li Xian is useless, even if he is the younger brother of the lord Li Li, Zhou Yu will not let him do anything wrong. Not only will he not hand over the military power to him, but he will also bluntly suggest that Li Li should be replaced.

This is Zhou Yu's principle of conducting himself in the world, and it is also a rock-solid firm belief deep in his bones.Everything and every decision he made was based on Li Li's will, taking into account the overall situation, and always held a firm belief in his loyalty to Li Li, so he was selfless and fearless in his heart.This time when he went to Yizhou, Li Li had entrusted Li Siam to Zhou Yu, and he would be responsible to Li Li; even though Li Siam was half a monarch, he would not let himself go and stand by, and he must take care of what should be done. .

Fortunately, Li Xian did not disappoint him, and like him, he always put Li Li's interests first, and everything he did was to maintain Li Li's dominance.

Zhou Yu was very pleased about this, and was really happy for Li Li, because he has a good brother who can be a commander in chief.

While thinking about it secretly, Zhou Yu said confidently: "General, don't worry, we have already penetrated into the hinterland of Yizhou, and it is imperative to capture Bajun. It is only a matter of time. Besides, the current situation is extremely favorable to us. In the rebellion, about [-]% of the defenders in Berkshire were transferred away, leaving the defense of Berkshire empty and seriously understrength. This gave our army an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the gap, and it was also an opportunity for our army to penetrate hundreds of Berkshires. However, there was no direct cause of stubborn resistance.

Now, Anhan City has been occupied by our army, and within ten days our army from the East Road can march to Jiangzhou City."

Chapter 143 Raising the sword to stand up (continued)

Zhou Yu said: "Now, Anhan City has been occupied by our army, and within ten days our army from the East Road will be able to send troops to Jiangzhou City.

However, at present, Zhao Wei's rebel army and Liu Zhang's army are confronting each other under the city of Chengdu.If our army attacks Jiangzhou City at this time, it will definitely affect the fighting spirit of Zhao Wei's rebel army. After all, Jiangzhou is the foundation of Zhao Wei, and he will never sit idly by. Temporary withdrawal of troops back to aid.And that's exactly what I don't want to see happen. "

Having said that, Zhou Yu paused, quickly suppressed his smile, and said solemnly: "In view of this, I have decided that the army will set off in the early morning three days later, and will not be willing to fight along the way, and quickly besiege Jiangzhou City. Surround but not attack, and strictly block all roads leading to Shu County. It is not too late to attack the city until the winner is drawn between Zhao Wei and Liu Zhang.

At that time, if Zhao Wei is defeated, then Jiangzhou is his foundation, and all the officials in Jiangzhou under his rule will inevitably be implicated by him. Their only way out is to open the city and ask for surrender and join our army.In this way, I can take Jiangzhou into my pocket without any effort, and then take over the entire Berkshire and march into Chengdu. "