Although a clan's private army is not a regular army, it still has the reputation of a clan. If it robs villages and towns and robs civilians like mountain bandits, wouldn't it ruin its own reputation?
But now the army is running out of food. We have sent people to Guanlong several times to urge for food, but the answer we received is just "wait a minute." Grandma is weak. People have to eat and horses have to eat grass. How can we wait?
The white-faced middle-aged man opened his mouth to curse, but after careful consideration, he could not make up his mind.
Raising troops to rob villages and civilians is a serious crime at any time, especially now that Guan Long is not raising troops to rebel, but "deposing the prince and bringing order to chaos". In nature, it is still within the rules of the court, and everything must be done in accordance with the righteousness, otherwise It will inevitably lead to a strong backlash.
Several young people saw that he was undecided, so they all tried to persuade him: "We also know that this is not appropriate, but now Li Ji has blocked the city gate, and no one is allowed in or out. We can't go home even if we want to! Now The food is running out and Guan Long doesn't care about it. What will happen to these soldiers?"
"Unless we want to do this, we really have no choice but to do it. This matter is related to Long Li's fault. They summoned us to Guanzhong but didn't even care about the food. Even if we are a little out of line, it won't be a big deal."
"Soldiers need food. If they don't have food to eat, those soldiers don't care who is the head of the family or the husband. They are afraid that they will collapse immediately!"
…
The white-faced middle-aged man was so quarreled that his brain ached, and he had no choice but to say: "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say! But remember to only plunder food and crops, and never harm lives, otherwise it won't end."
"Uncle, don't worry, we will save it!"
"We are not bandits and road bullies, so why do we need to harm people's lives? As long as we hand over the grain and fodder obediently, we won't touch him even a hair!"
The white-faced middle-aged man finally nodded: "Be restrained and don't stir up trouble. Remember this."
"Here!"
Several young people had already gone crazy with the pressure and agreed enthusiastically.
Every man has a heroic dream in his heart. These clans had to send troops into Guanzhong under the coercion and inducement of Changsun Wuji. Although the elders in the family had various considerations, for the young people in the clan, they all thought it was a heroic dream. A God-given opportunity to build a successful career.
In the eyes of these young people, the Guanlong clan is very powerful, and it will only happen sooner or later. If you can participate at this time, you will definitely gain a lot of benefits. Furthermore, who is not excited about such a majestic thing as leading troops to fight?
However, things went against expectations. He came to Guanzhong excitedly, but was placed on the outskirts of Zheng County. The situation in Guanzhong changed even more suddenly. Donggong won successively, Guanlong retreated step by step, and after several battles were fought in succession, Donggong had come back to life.
When more than 100,000 stones of food and grain outside Jinguang Gate were burned down by Fang Jun, the offensive and defensive momentum was completely reversed. The Guanlong clan, which was originally aggressive and determined to win, had to take the initiative to pray for peace talks with the East Palace, and the conditions of the East Palace were very likely to be touched. All the powerful families in the world only have interests...
Coupled with the fact that Li Ji cut off Tongguan and prohibited entry and exit, these private armies suddenly became turtles in a jar and were in constant panic.
The disciples of the noble families who came with the hope of making great achievements and leading the army to conquer have been confined in the camp all day long and are not allowed to go out. For fear of affecting the grand plan of Guanlong, they have long been driven crazy by holding back. At this moment, there is an opportunity for the tiger to come out, how can we not be happy? Crazy?
As for the white-faced middle-aged man's advice, he didn't take it to heart at all.
Each clan is entrenched in one place. Although they respect the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty as the lord of the world, they have supreme authority in their respective territories. They kill and seize as they please. Killing a few rural people is nothing. Officials sent by the imperial court to various places I can only turn a blind eye and close one eye...
That night, a cavalry of three hundred people galloped out of the camp, braved the drizzle, and headed straight to the foot of Huashan Mountain in the southwest direction. There were fertile fields at the foot of the mountain, continuous villages, a large population, and sufficient food.
The cavalry arrived at a village surrounded by hills and facing the river like a wind and cloud. They had already explored the details of this place during the day, so they did not delay. The three hundred people dispersed into countless small teams, each with three to five people, and went straight to Every farmhouse.
The rainy night was frightening, dogs barked one after another, and then fell into chaos.
These soldiers went from house to house, broke into the house, showed bright steel knives, and forced farmers to take out all the food in the house, including grain seeds. Some farmers were panicked, trembling with fear, and had to give in to the soldiers' robbery, while others They argued hard and even resisted, leaving the whole village in chaos.
Gradually, the robbery of grain turned into the robbery of money and silk, and everything that was offered as an apology was looted by the soldiers...
A group of soldiers rushed into a farm. A newlywed couple on the bed had no time to get dressed. The bride's snow-white skin and plump body attracted the soldiers who had not known the taste of meat for several months. They swallowed hard, their eyes shone, and then they swarmed over the bride. Screaming, her mouth was gagged and she was pressed to the bed. The husband tried his best to resist and was killed with a knife. Then these soldiers took turns to rape the bride in front of her husband's body.
Then he was worried that the matter would be exposed, so he killed the bride who had been tortured into a human shape, and then set a fire in an attempt to destroy the evidence of the crime.
It's just that this family was very poor and had nothing to grow. The bed, clothes and quilts were burned for a while before they could survive. The rain outside the house became heavier and the flames quickly extinguished.
As the saying goes, "bandits are like combs, and soldiers are like grates." When any strong army loses control, it will turn into a group of beasts armed to the teeth. Morality and law are gone in their eyes. "Soldiers are the daring of the group." "This sentence is not just talk. The mentality of following the herd will drive these soldiers into madness and destroy their humanity.
The wanton plundering and killing finally led to fierce resistance from the villagers. Countless villagers took up arms and rushed out of their homes to fight against the soldiers in groups. However, no matter how brave the villagers were, how could they compare to these young, strong and well-equipped villagers? A complete private army?
Soon, this army looted the entire village, leaving corpses on the ground. Blood mixed with rainwater gathered into a stream, flowing freely on the ground...
Then rush to the next village.
…
Before dawn, the rain became heavier and heavier, and there was no light in the dark night.
Zuowuweitun is stationed to the west of Tongguan. It has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. It is regarded by Li Ji as the vanguard force to intimidate Guanzhong. It is located at the outermost edge of the hundreds of thousands of Eastern Expedition troops. Once it decides to rush to Chang'an, it will be the first group of troops to leave. .
Several fast horses galloped wildly in the rainy night, and the water accumulated on the ground splashed with mud under their hooves. After a while, they arrived in front of the camp gate, paused for a moment, and then drove straight in until they arrived in front of the Chinese army tent. Then they reined in the horses and turned over and dismounted.
He quickly walked to the outside of the tent door, checked in and went inside.
After a while, Cheng Yaojin strode into the tent while putting on his clothes, and asked: "What happened? It's so late at night that I can't sleep well!"
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, there is a powerful private army in the outskirts of Zheng County that has set up troops to plunder villages, seize food, money, and silk, commit adultery, loot, and burn to death. Several villages have been tortured, and countless people have been massacred on the spot. Three of the villages have been
Slaughter the villages, and no humans or animals will survive.”
The scout, who was covered in rain, took a few quick breaths and reported the situation.
Cheng Yaojin was stunned at first, then became furious and said sternly: "Which family's private army is it?"
"Duan Clan of Nanyang."
Cheng Yaojin became even more angry: "Don't you care about those idiots in Guanlong?"
The scout replied: "The Duans of Nanyang were stationed outside Zheng County, and the grain they brought was exhausted. However, Guanlong failed to allocate grain for a long time, resulting in a shortage of grain for his army. Therefore, he took risks and had to plunder to collect grain.
To maintain the daily needs of the army."
"Get the hell out of here! You can rob the people without food and treat them as livestock? As a soldier of the empire, but you kill the people, how are you any different from an animal!"
Cheng Yaojin was filled with indignation.
Several scouts looked at each other, and one of them boldly said: "Commander Mingjian, they are not imperial soldiers in the first place, they are just private armies of powerful families..."
"I don't care who he is?"
Cheng Yaojin shouted loudly: "Bring me your handsome armor and order all your troops. I'm going to kill this group of crazy thieves!"
"Here!"
After receiving the order, the soldiers quickly went out to inform the various generals, the school captain, and Cheng Yaojin, who were served by their own soldiers and put on their armor and pocket robes.
Not long after, all the lieutenants and generals of the army arrived. Hearing that they were going to send troops to exterminate Duan's private army in Nanyang, a general asked hesitantly: "Commander, think twice, the order given to us by the British Duke is to intimidate Guanzhong and hold the troops still.
Unless there is hope, no troops should be sent out... Do you want to ask the British Duke for instructions?"
Cheng bit Jin Pili's fiery temper, blowing his beard and glaring: "I'm asking for permission! This is my Zuowuwei, it's not the turn of others to point fingers! You don't want to make any noise, hurry up and send out troops with me,
I can take care of everything!"
He had great prestige in the army, and he kept his word. Besides, he was very angry at this time. Who dared to raise objections? Three thousand soldiers and horses were immediately gathered, all of them were brave and fierce elites. Their iron hooves were like thunder, and they braved the rain before dawn to attack.
Duan's military camp in Nanyang outside Zheng County.