The fighting in the field had stopped. The Qin soldiers who were surrounded by Han Xin and Heifu could not do anything, so most of them chose to surrender. For a time, there were nearly 10,000 prisoners, all of whom abandoned their weapons and lined up to squat in line under the orders of the Southern Expeditionary Army.
"Marquis Wu Zhong does not kill prisoners."
Anlu County's "women's kindness" in sparing those four thousand people became the main reason why tens of thousands of people surrendered today.
Immediately, the news of Feng Wuze's death in battle also spread throughout the battlefield. Seeing Feng Wuze's body being transported on a baggage cart, the surrendered Qin soldiers heard this and were either moved to tears or cried out.
Watching it pass by silently, I mourned for this famous veteran in my heart.
Heifu stepped forward to take a look and saw that the old general had been hit by many arrows and his right hand was missing. However, his face was still as lifelike, but his eyes were wide open and he could not close them...
Wu Chen, who was ordered to pursue and successfully bring back Feng Wuze's body, reported: "Your Majesty, General Feng fought until the last moment and drove straight into the crossbow formation. Although I restrained my men, someone still took aim."
"After General Feng died, his bodyguards protected the body and tried to break out, but we were still able to intercept him. A thousand people died in the battle, and no one survived..."
Hei Fu lamented: "General Feng has seen through my plans several times. If it weren't for the incompetence of his troops, the outcome would be unpredictable."
The Southern Expeditionary Army suffered nearly 20% casualties in this battle. It was the most difficult battle since Heifu launched his army.
The harder it is to win, the more Heifu respects his opponent.
He supported the car carrying Feng Wuze's body and walked forward: "Now that General Feng died on the battlefield, it can be regarded as seeking benevolence and gaining mercy. Fighting against dead officials, and killing short soldiers, short soldiers and generals can be said to share life and death... In this way,
After clearing the battlefield, if there is spare manpower, just collect the corpses of those short soldiers one by one."
Although Feng Wuze was not considered a soldier-loving son, his prestige in the army was still very high. He currently had over 10,000 prisoners, and Heifu still hoped to capture them for his own use.
Hei Fu then personally pulled out the arrows from Feng Wuze's body, took the captured "Wu Xin" flag that was already somewhat broken, and gently covered Feng Wuze's body with it, then stepped back and bowed down.
Loudly:
"Wu Xinhou is a role model in the army. Hei Fu's predecessor has been fighting for more than 40 years. He has made great achievements in battle. He must do what he says and keep his word when he is rewarded. Therefore, he has the name of Wu Xin. Hei Fu has admired him for a long time."
"Unfortunately, General Feng was finally deceived by his traitor and treacherous ministers. Hei Fu had no choice but to join the hunt in Nanjun. Hei Fu did not want to kill each other, leaving the corpses of the strong men on the battlefield. He retreated several times, hoping to meet with the general and explain the cause and effect. However, the general was upright.
You are loyal and loyal, but you don’t want to listen to Hei Fu’s excuse, so you have this difficulty.”
"The two armies are fighting, and the arrows have no eyes. Now that General Feng has passed away unfortunately, I can't help but shed tears! Now he should not be treated as an enemy chief, but should be buried with the courtesy of a king. A thousand soldiers died guarding the general, so
Be buried with him!"
Heifu's words were spread throughout the battlefield, and the slightly sad and angry crying stopped. This move undoubtedly won the great favor of the prisoners.
But at this time, a Qin general who had lost his armor and was escorted by Han Xin sneered: "The traitor is actually mourning for a loyal minister. He is full of hypocrisy and righteousness. If General Feng knew about it, I am afraid he will die with his eyes open!"
But it was Yang Xiong.
Heifu stopped Yuan Yong and other personal guards who were furious, and said with a smile:
"Captain Yang, you are fine."
Although Yang Xiong was captured, he still did not want to salute Hei Fu, and raised his head and said: "You are fine, Hei Fu, but you are different from before. You are no longer the one who entered the camp on his knees, bowed his head repeatedly, and begged me.
The little village chief who takes you to do military exploits!"
"Bold!" Seeing that Yang Xiong dared to insult the emperor, the soldiers pinned him to the ground and ate a mouth full of dust.
Hei Fu was not angry, but shook his head and said: "It seems that Captain Yang is tied too tightly."
Yang Xiong raised his neck and cursed: "It's better to tie it tighter, otherwise if you let me have my hands free, I will kill you, a traitor to the country!"
Yuan Yong spat at him and said: "The defeated general, in order to escape for his life, actually put on the clothes of a soldier and tried to take advantage of the opportunity to escape. What kind of shame can he say?"
Han Xin was listening, and he didn't feel anything wrong with this act of self-defense, but he still bowed down with everyone and said: "Your Majesty, please kill this official!"
Heifu said: "When old friends met, I wanted to talk about old things, but I didn't expect it to end up like this. Anyway... Yang Xiong disobeyed me when I passed my military order, burned Wuchang Camp on fire, and killed countless soldiers of the Southern Expedition. It was a heinous crime.
Behead!"
When Yang Xiong was picked up and dragged to beheaded, he still did not forget to turn around and shout:
"It's a pity...it's a pity that the fire wasn't strong enough that day to burn a traitor like you to death!"
The sound stopped suddenly, and after a while, Yang Xiong's bloody head was sent back.
Heifu only took one look at it, then asked someone to take it down and pass it on to the public, and sighed secretly:
"I just wonder how many familiar faces I will order to be executed next?"
Heifu glanced at the second captured general. This man was in his thirties, but he had complete armor, but his expression was gloomy. His eyes followed Yang Xiong's head away, and he could not take it back for a long time.
But it was Wang Yi, the cavalryman. When he was in Anlu, Wang Yi led three thousand chariots and was defeated by the Dongmen Leopard. But today, his chariots and cavalry troops caused huge casualties to the north wing. If Heifu hadn't been in time,
They sent people to support them and almost broke through the fort.
Hei Fu drove his horse over and asked, "Wang Yi, why didn't you say a word?"
Wang Yi lowered his head and said nonchalantly: "The defeated general is not brave enough. I failed to follow General Feng's order to break the formation and cut down your flag, so I was defeated. Soldiers can be killed but not humiliated. Why do we need so many generals?"
I mean, Wang Yi is just going to die today!"
Although he talked about death, Wang Yi's attitude did not seem to be so determined. His hands were tied, but his legs were trembling slightly.
Heifu understood and said with a smile: "You are the nephew of Marquis Wu Cheng (Wang Jian). General Wang is like a teacher to me. How can I kill his people? Let's save his life and take him down!"
In this way, Hei Fu looked at the captured high-ranking generals one by one. Finally, Wu Chen led a man over. The man bowed down in front of Hei Fu's horse, nodded three times, and said cautiously:
"Xin Yi, the guilty general, pays homage to the king!"
Just after the war, Heifu's generals and staff had a debate about how to deal with Xinyi.
Wu Chen and others despised this man, thinking he was a villain who was selling money to make a living. He had done something similar to him at the Chen (hēn) County camp two years ago, and this time he was ruthless behind Feng Wuze's army.
One stab accelerated their rout.
"If the situation is unfavorable in the future, this villain will definitely repeat his old tricks and betray the king. He cannot be kept. It is better to kill him!"
But Li Cang, who came from Jiangling City, had a different view.
"Not only can't this Xin Yi be killed, but he must also be rewarded generously!"
Li Cang expressed his opinion: "As a military general, Xin Yi should have done his duty to the end like Wang Yi, and even fought to the death like Feng Wuze. But because of cowardice and fear of death, he turned his side in the battle to help the king.
"
"If the prince kills him, then all the Qin officials and generals in the world will tell each other: Xinyi turned against him before the battle, but he was killed by Wu Zhonghou. Therefore, surrendering to Wu Zhonghou has no benefit, and his life is in danger. They will decide
If Huiying City is defended, it is a golden city. If there is a field battle, we will fulfill our duties loyally. No matter how the princes try to persuade them to surrender, they will not rebel again. This will be a great disadvantage to our army."
"For the prince's plan, it is better to give Xinyi generous rewards and respect his status, but deprive him of his soldiers, and then let Xinyi ride on a high chariot and a red wheel to gallop through the counties of Nanjun. Then all the counties will tell each other: 'Xinyi
Surrender first and become rich and powerful'. And I heard that Feng Wuze has been defeated, so I will follow him and surrender, just like water returning to the sea. In this way, all the princes and princes in more than ten counties in Nanjun will be able to pass on the message and decide!"
This idea of Li Cang won the heart of Hei Fu, so he followed the good advice and nodded: "Li Cang's strategy is very good."
This strategy is similar to the strategy of "selling horse bones for a thousand pieces of gold". In order to encourage the Qin officials and generals who would confront him later to defect to him, Heifu actually got off the horse himself, helped Xin Yi up, and said with a big smile:
"General Xin has accomplished extraordinary feats, what crime is he guilty of? Come ride with me into Jiangling in the same carriage!"
…
As the decisive battle outside the city ended with a complete victory for the Southern Expedition, the sporadic fighting inside Jiangling City also stopped.
This is the first big city occupied by the Southern Expeditionary Army since Heifu launched his army more than a month ago. Compared with Jiangling City, Linxiang, and Nanchang, which have a household registration of over 10,000 and a population of nearly 100,000, it is not enough.
"In the capital of Ying of Chu, the chariot hubs are beating, the people are shoulder to shoulder, and the city roads are lined up with each other. It is said that the clothes in the morning are fresh and the clothes in the evening are in ruins..."
This is how people praised Jiangling a hundred years ago. It means that there are so many people in this city. They put on new clothes in the morning and enter the city, but they are crowded at night.
No end...
The household registration here will become a continuous source of troops, and the granary with three years of grain storage will relieve the hunger of the southern expedition army, not to mention the political and geographical location that is of great importance!
"Whoever wins Jiangling wins Jianghan!"
Heifu entered the city from the east gate of Jiangling by car. What greeted him were flowers and cheers...
Inside the city gate, there is a road that can accommodate five or four carriages running parallel. Thousands of Jiangling officials and people are kneeling and worshiping beside the road, drinking pots of wine and welcoming the troops together.
Several old men with nine-foot dove-head crutches came to see Heifu under the guidance of Li Cang.
Although Heifu's identity as a "Nanjun native" made them feel lucky, and although there were many Jiangling descendants in the Southern Expeditionary Army, after all, they were soldiers who had just fought a bloody battle and entered the city with murderous intent, which made the Jiangling people a little worried.
But he saw Hei Fu get out of the car and walk forward quickly, helping several old men up:
"Heifu is also half a Jiangling person. He fought with the rebels outside the city and disturbed the people. He originally wanted to go into the city to apologize to his father, brothers and brothers, but how dare he go the other way and bother the local elders to greet him?"
Seeing that Mr. Hei was so kind and treated the same county and township party as well as the legend said, several old men felt relieved and said with cupped hands: "We are all the three elders of each township in Jiangling. The Marquis of Changwu and the new county governor did not trust the locals and allowed foreign officials to treat them harshly."
The people of Jiangling are burdened with heavy taxes and constant corvee, and we are suffering greatly from it. Now that we heard that Marquis Wu Zhong led his righteous army to save Jiangling from fire and water, the people of the county were all excited and upheld their righteousness. They recommended us to come and welcome them, offering a little wine.
Especially to cleanse the dust of the king!"
As he spoke, he handed over the drink tremblingly.
Li Cang nodded to Heifu, he had arranged all this, and the wine had been prepared in advance.
The black man was not suspicious, and after taking the full drink, he raised the empty bowl high.
His next repeated orders to the army made the people of Jiangling feel completely at ease.
But I heard Hei Fu say loudly: "Although Hei Fu has not returned home for ten years, Jiangling is just like my home. The whole city is full of elders, hurting them as if they hurt my father and brother, and humiliating women and children as if they were insulting my sisters!"
"Therefore, when the soldiers of the Southern Expedition entered the city, they committed no crime in the autumn. If anyone kills a person indiscriminately or takes a needle or a thread from the people, he will be dealt with according to military law!"