Chapter 3801: Burning, killing and looting
Although the private army of a clan 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 was running out of food. They sent people to Guanlong several times to urge for food, but the answer they received was just "wait a minute." Grandma has only two legs. 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.
Sending troops to rob the village civilians is a serious crime at any time, especially now that Guan Long is not rebelling, but "deposing the prince and bringing order to chaos". In nature, it is still within the rules of the court. Everything must be done in accordance with the righteousness, otherwise There will be a strong backlash.
Seeing that he was undecided, several young people 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 supply If they are exhausted and Guan Long doesn’t care, what will happen to these soldiers?”
"Unless we want to do this, we really have to do it. Guanlong has done something wrong in this matter. He summoned us to Guanzhong but didn't even care about the food. Even if we go a little bit 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 there will be no end."
"Uncle, don't worry, we will save it!"
"We are not bandits and road bullies, 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 it, 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 career.
In the eyes of these young people, the Guanlong clan is very powerful and will only succeed sooner or later. If you can get involved at this time, you will definitely gain a lot of benefits. Furthermore, who wouldn’t be 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 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 on conquests were kept in the camp all day long and were not allowed to go out. For fear of affecting Guanlong's grand plan, they had long been driven crazy. How could they not be happy when the tiger came out of the gate at this moment? 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 can kill and seize as they please. How big is it to kill a few villagers? The officials sent by the imperial court to various places could only turn a blind eye...
That night, a cavalry of 300 people galloped out of the camp, braved the drizzle, and headed straight to the foot of Huashan Mountain in the southwest. There were fertile fields at the foot of the mountain and continuous villages with a large population and sufficient food.
The cavalry arrived at a village surrounded by hills and facing a 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 panic-stricken and trembling with fear, and had to comply with the soldiers' plundering. Others argued with reason and even resisted, and the whole village was 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 voluptuous body attracted the soldiers who had not known the taste of meat for several months to swallow hard. Their eyes shone, and then they swarmed towards them. The bride screamed and was gagged and pressed to the bed. The husband tried his best to resist and was killed with a knife. Then the soldiers took turns to destroy the bride in front of the 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 and then they could no longer 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 looting 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 are, how can they compare with these young, strong and well-equipped private armies?
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 was getting heavier, and there was no light in the dark night.
Zuowuweitun was stationed to the west of Tongguan, with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. It was regarded by Li Ji as the vanguard to intimidate Guanzhong. It was located at the outermost edge of the hundreds of thousands of troops in the Eastern Expedition. Once they decided to rush to Chang'an, they would 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 at the camp gate, stopped for a moment, and then drove straight in until they reached the Chinese army tent. Then they reined in the horses and turned over and dismounted.
He walked quickly to the outside of the tent door, and then went inside.
After a while, Cheng Yaojin strode into the tent while putting on his clothes, and shouted: "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, plundering villages, seizing grain, money and silk, raping, looting, burning and killing. Several villages have been poisoned, and countless people have been slaughtered on the spot. Three of the villages have been Kill the village and no longer exist.”
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?"
"Nanyang Duan family."
Cheng Yaojin became even more angry: "Don't you care about those turtles 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 distribute the 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 the people 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 said boldly: "Commander Mingjian, they are not imperial soldiers to begin with, 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 hurried out to inform the generals and captains of various ministries. Cheng Yaojin put on his armor and daggers under the service of his own soldiers.
Not long after, the lieutenants and generals of the army arrived. When they heard that they were going to send troops to exterminate Duan's private army in Nanyang, one of the generals hesitated and asked: "Commander, think twice. The order given by the British Duke to us 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 Lord for instructions? ”
Cheng bit Jin Pili's fiery temper, blowing his beard and glaring: "Please tell me! This is my Zuowuwei, it's not the turn of others to point fingers! You should stop making noise and quickly send out troops with me. I will take care of everything!”
He has great prestige in the army, and he always sticks to his word. Moreover, he is very angry at this time. Who dares to raise objections? Three thousand soldiers and horses were immediately gathered, all of them were brave and powerful elites. Their iron hooves were like thunder, and they braved the pre-dawn rain to attack the Nanyang Duan's military camp outside Zheng County. (End of chapter)