The execution of all the surrendered death-defying soldiers was done for a reason.
First, consider your own long-term plans.
His words of surrender, such as pardoning the rebels and asking for the pardon of their families, were expedient and did not require Sun Quan's approval. If the soldiers who dared to die were spared and the matter was leaked, even if Sun Quan was not guilty, he would not be guilty.
It would also give him the excuse of being good at making opinions. He had long been designated as the crown prince Zuofu and was highly regarded by Sun Quan. He did not want to leave a stain on his career that would be criticized by those with political discord in the future.
Secondly, it is to win the hearts of the soldiers under his command.
In order to motivate the soldiers to work hard, he made a promise before the battle to avenge all the Shanyue tribes. If he broke his promise, he might lose his prestige and the soldiers would no longer love him.
Moreover, the merit of killing Han Zong alone is different from that of annihilating the defecting army.
Not only can you get more rewards from the temple and be awarded to soldiers, but you can also demonstrate your ability to command and solidify your foundation for leading armies in battles in the future. Why not?
In the end, all the soldiers who dared to die were sentenced to death, and they deserved their punishment.
These soldiers and their families had previously been favored by Sun Quan, but they defected with Han Zong and frequently entered Wu territory to kill people and disrupt people's livelihood. They were full of evil and made people and gods angry!
By punishing them now, we are actually complying with the destiny of heaven and driving away the evildoers.
Why not!
After all the killings were done, Zhuge Ke asked his subordinates to send the heads of Han Zong and the death-defying soldiers to Ruxuwu to ask for merit, while he stayed in the valley to supervise the soldiers to build fortifications to prevent Wei from being attacked.
Others are attacking.
Just be prepared.
According to common sense, if the Wei army is currently stationed at Xia Shikou in Shu County, it is impossible for Cao Rui, who rebelled against Wei, to make Han Zongbu come to Ruxuwu alone...
Naturally, when he was cleaning the battlefield and building fortifications, he took advantage of the situation and asked the soldiers to collect the corpses of the death soldiers and build a temple on the spot to show the martial arts of Wu.
This battle soon became known to both armies.
After Sun Quan learned that the Wei State's attack on Lujiang County was in vain and that his real intention was to attack Ruxuwu via the mountain road, he came back in a light boat.
When he arrived, he immediately ordered Han Zong's head to be sent to Xiaoyaojin, intending to hang it on the city head after the reconstruction of the old city of Hefei as a warning, and ordered all ministries to rest and prepare for war. Unavoidable, he not only wrote a book to commend Zhuge Ke, but also
He ordered Gu Li to send the Qingqu Gai of his chariot to Zhuge Ke's tribe to express his great achievements and express his joy.
After hearing this, Cao Rui was filled with melancholy.
It is not a pity that Han Zong died, but his own strategic intentions were stillborn.
Moreover, a lot of time was wasted in implementing this plan, so that Jiang Ji's advice to "drive all the troops to the new city of Hefei to fight fiercely with the bandit Wu" no longer had the chance to be implemented.
It’s late winter in December, and it’s been about four months since Hefei New City changed hands!
After such a long period of time, no matter how incompetent the thief Wu was, he had already prepared the defense deployment properly. Even if the entire Wei army went to the city, it would be difficult to recapture the city.
There were only two choices left for him.
One is to return to Man Chong's words and use Shouchun City as a barrier against the thief Wu, leaving the cavalry to frequently intrude and send all the soldiers back to rest and make plans again when the time is right.
On the other hand, the whole army returned to Shouchun City, and fought fiercely with the main force of the bandit Wu, taking advantage of the opportunity to mobilize reinforcements when being surrounded.
The outcome of the decisive battle will determine the ownership of Huainan.
As for continuing to march beyond Xia Shikou and Xiahou Ba's troops to attack Wancheng, he no longer thought about it.
Repeated defeats in the war made him lose confidence, and he no longer dared to make a desperate bet on whether the "Battle of Shiting" would happen again.
Of course, he has another choice.
That is to send an edict to Guanzhong and order Sima Yi, the governor of Yongliang, to lead the army out of Wuguan and go to Jiangling City. Taking advantage of the fact that the Wei State does not need to guard against Bashu, he followed the example of Cao Pi in the past when he attacked Wu on two fronts and defeated the thieves at the cost of national power. Unable to bear the heavy load and unable to survive, Wu voluntarily abandoned Hefei New City and returned to Jiangdong.
It is difficult to make this choice.
Because the Wei State is no longer the Wei State when he succeeded to the throne!
With the current national strength, we are going all out. If we are not careful, we will step into the abyss of eternal disaster.
The loss of soldiers in defeat was still light. What was terrible was that the first attack against Shu was fruitless and then the thief Wu Wugong was attacked. This made the common people in the world question the theory that Wei had received the destiny of heaven. In addition, people's thoughts were raised due to the frequent wars, the hardship of corvee work and the increase in taxes. The situation is different, rebellion is rising, and the country will be destroyed!
Yes, Cao Rui can't afford to lose either.
And now he has no one to think about.
Needless to say, Man Chong, Jiang Ji, Wang Ji and others had reached a final conclusion during the previous discussions and would not change their minds; Sun Li, on the other hand, hoped that he would be able to live a long life...
It is even more undesirable to go back to Luoyang.
Just a few days ago, a letter came from Luoyang to report that Sikong Chenqun, an important minister in charge of the government, had died of illness.
Although he had previously listened to Wu Zhizhi's words and issued an edict to reprimand Chen Qun, it is undeniable that Chen Qun was favored by the public in terms of Anjingji Court.
Gein Chen Qun was Xun Yu's son-in-law and the third generation leader of the Yingchuan scholar faction.
At the beginning, Cao Cao of the Wei Dynasty started his own business and used Yingchuan scholars to make plans and pacify the local area; he used Qiao Pei clan and villages to lead the troops, conquer unworthy ministers, and guard one area. Although later, as Cao Wei's foundation continued to expand, he recruited talents from various states and counties for use, but Yingchuan scholars still had a strong voice in Luoyang Temple.
For example, when Wei Wen and Cao Pi took over the Han Dynasty, it was Chen Qun who helped implement the nine-rank official system to appease the aristocratic families.
Now that Chen Qun is mourning and Sima Yi is supervising the war, Luoyang Temple will be led by Sun Zi, Liu Fang, Cui Lin and others. It is a blessing to maintain the situation stably, so why should they expect to discuss military affairs?
If not, write a letter and ask the general what he wants?
Cao Rui, who had been thinking about it for several days without any resolution, quietly came up with this thought in his heart.
But soon, he gave up on this idea and rushed back to Shaopei and entered Huaikou to find Man Chong under the escort of hundreds of tiger and leopard riders: a messenger came to report that there was another big movement in the Jiangdong army.
Lu Xun and Zhu Huanbu, who besieged Shouchun City, all returned to Hefei New City!
Even the Quan Cong tribe stationed at the garrison point in Chengde County and at the mouth of Shaopei River where Dongfeishui River enters has also transferred to Xiaoyaojin!
This is the hinterland of Jiangdong. Is there another rebellion in Jingnan or Jiaozhou?
Or could it be that the thief Wu knew that I intended to attack Ruxuwu, so Sun Quan, the thief's son, sent all the army back, intending to fight our Wei army in Nanfeishui?
Regarding the sudden relief of Jiangdong, it no longer meant that Huainan was fully occupied. Cao Rui was puzzled and could not come to a conclusion.
But Man Chong's guess suddenly made him realize.
"Your Majesty, I secretly believe that the reason for this is that Jiangdong has been carrying out large-scale military campaigns in recent years, which has made the soldiers exhausted and the food and fodder stocks unsustainable. And based on the time, the construction of the old city of Hefei should have been completed, so the thief Wu I have the intention to stop the troops and rest, so as to gather strength to attack the situation again in the future."
This answer made Cao Rui secretly annoyed.
If it was true as Man Chong said, no matter whether he adopted Man Chong's plan or Jiang Jicheng's words that day, there was a high chance that he would force Jiangdong to take the initiative to stop his troops...
Now, it's too late.
Because Jiangdong has repaired its fortifications and has a city to rely on, it is impossible to have a decisive battle with Wei in the wild.
