Qin Official

"The local guide said that this high ridge is called Kongcang Ridge. It is said that during the Battle of Changping, Bai Qi, Lord Wu'an, once falsely placed grain here, hence the name."

After entering Xianyang, Han Xin went to the Yushi Mansion to get historical records about the Battle of Changping. He deduced it on the map countless times, but nothing could compare to this moment, standing on Kongcang Ridge, decades ago. The situation of this decisive battle is clear at a glance.

He pointed to the small town on the other side of the mountain road to the west and said to Zhao Yan, who had been his right-hand man since Hanzhong:

"The Qin army took Duanshi City as its base and attacked the Zhao army along the only mountain road suitable for large armies. At the end of this road, the dangerous Kongcang Ridge lay in front of them."

To the east of Kongcang Ridge is the Danshui River Valley. To the north, the eldest son is Zhao Shangdang, and to the south is Gaodu, the seventeenth city of Han Shangdang. Qin general Wang Lu had taken Han Shangdang, and the people of Shangdang fled to Zhao. The Zhao army placed them in the eldest son, and guarded Changping Pass with Lian Po.

It is said that Lian Po first deployed a defense line at Kongcang Ridge, but because Gaodu was lost, and the support of the Qin army could be transported continuously from Hanoi County through Taihangxing, if he insisted on defending Kongcang Ridge, he would be easily taken back.

Therefore, Lian Po abandoned Kongcang Ridge, retreated to the east of Danshui, rebuilt the Hundred-mile Stone Great Wall, and used Changping Pass as a fortress. He started a back-and-forth battle with the Qin army. In the end, both sides continued to add fuel and troops, and finally defeated Han Xin. The largest battle.

But this time, because both Hanoi and Taihangxing were still in the hands of Zhao general Sima Mao, the Zhao and Wei coalition forces, led by General Lu Goujian, confidently and boldly stationed themselves at Kongcang Ridge.

Zhao Yan said: "But they never expected that the general's strength was no longer what it was when he first broke through Hedong. Furthermore, when the Hengshan Incident came, Zhao's army was unstable and knew the situation. They defeated Gaodu with surprise troops and blocked Danshui. River valley, trapping the Zhao people on Kongcang Ridge."

Bai Qi's tactics in the past were that the Qin army retreated after a detailed defeat, luring the Zhao army to pursue victory, and then used 25,000 surprise soldiers to defeat the Zhao army.

Han Xin's method has different approaches but the same effect.

Zhao Jun naturally chose to break out eastward, but after a battle, they were still a little worse than the Hundred Battles Division that went all the way north. In the end, Lu Goujian died in the battle, and the Zhao army was divided into several groups without a leader. This time, there was no need to wait for the food to be exhausted. After a series of jaw-dropping "daylight thunder", the demoralized Zhao army was controlled and ordered to surrender. Weapons, go to the two walls on the east side of Danshui and wait for them to be released.

As a special force specially set up by Heifu, Xu Fu's warlocks relied on a gadget called "firecrackers". Although they could not kill the enemy, they were perfect in terms of deterrence after the battle. After Wuguan, they made another great contribution.

But there are also those who resist to the end, because these Zhao people firmly believe that the Qin army will trap them and kill them. The numerous bones exposed after being washed by the alchemy water by the water below are proof!

In the past two days, the Zhao people have resisted one after another after they recovered. After all, it is an old battlefield. There are many remnant soldiers here who have been suppressed one after another. The Qin troops guarding them were very nervous, holding crossbows in their hands. If there was any movement, they would fire without hesitation!

So while admiring the works of his predecessors, Han Xin also faced the same problem as Bai Qi back then:

Should these Zhao prisoners be killed or retained?

"Zhao's soldiers are repeated. If we don't kill them all, we may cause chaos."

Zhao Yan agreed to kill him. In the past two days, Zhao soldiers reacted from the shock of being frightened by the firecrackers and launched a resistance that had caused hundreds of casualties to Qin soldiers. If it dragged on, a bigger riot might be just around the corner. !

After all, this is Changping. How can you make Zhao Ren believe that he can survive by stepping on the bones of his predecessors? What a joke.

So just don't do anything and don't stop, just kill him! Anyway, since the army's Eastern Expedition, at least 20,000 Wei prisoners were killed in Hedong. Although it was mainly done by the resentful Xihe Army, they were sent by Han Xin to Shuqiao Valley to attract Li Zuoche's main force.

"Of course I want to stay."

As a supervisor, Hedong Shou Quji had another opinion. He said:

"Previously, the Xihe army indiscriminately killed Wei prisoners in order to build a palace. The regent issued an order. From December onwards, any army that disobeys the general's order and executes prisoners privately will be regarded as a private fight! I heard that the Six Kingdoms When breaking the Xihe River, Zhao soldiers were restrained by Li Zuoche and rarely massacred the city. I sent someone to interrogate and found that most of the Zhao soldiers captured here were farmers recently recruited from Handan and Julu. They had never even been to Xihe. Since we have surrendered, why bother killing them all?"

"The revised "Military Rules" says that capturing prisoners is equivalent to beheading. For officers, capturing ten prisoners is equivalent to beheading one more person. General Han's capture of 40,000 soldiers is equivalent to beheading five thousand more. , In this way, the lieutenants in the army can also discuss it, which will not harm the peace of the world, but also gain more military merits, why not do it?"

Qu Ji heard a saying that when Bai Qi ordered the killing of prisoners, he was not only worried about Zhao soldiers repeating the order, but also because the first meritorious service was given by the military nobility code. If he did not behead enough, the battle of hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command would be in vain.

Although he is the invincible Lord Wu An, there are countless hands pushing him behind him.

So when Bai Qi ordered the killing of prisoners, the Qin soldiers did not have any moral condemnation, but carried it out happily. To them, the Danshui River Valley was a large melon field, and each melon meant a hundred acres of land... …

But now that the regent has made it easier to reform the laws, soldiers can get more rewards without killing prisoners, and they no longer have to make that difficult choice.

"Although the regent revised the law, it did not make it final. He still gave the general the power to make decisions based on local conditions!"

Zhao Yan thought that this was unrealistic: "Our army broke into Shangdang with a surprise force and won the battle with five days of food. However, Zhao's army did not have much food, and it was all transported from the eldest son. Now Zhao Food has been cut off, and our army will soon be exhausted. If we keep 40,000 prisoners, we will have 40,000 more mouths, which will cost thousands of stones a day."

Qu Ji came up with an idea: "We can escort him back to Hedong. Anyi Salt Farm is short of manpower..."

"Who will escort us? How many people will we need?"

Zhao Yan shook his head and said: "Our army in Shangdang only has 60,000 men. We need at least half of them to be escorted before we can feel at ease. If so, will the eldest son attack? If it were any later, Zhang Er and his son might have to escape again."

"Although Qilu Goujian is dead, Li Zuoche in Taiyuan and Sima Mao in Hanoi are still strong. If they join forces to attack the party and save Zhang Er, our army will be at a disadvantage and turn victory into defeat. Who can take the responsibility? Bear?"

"In addition, the captured Zhao soldiers were taken to the east of the river. If they see that they want to go west, they will definitely be irritable. If they start a riot because they are homesick for home, let alone 40,000 people, even if they have 40,000 pigs running around in the mountains, they will be captured for many days. , Commander Xin is not afraid that the situation in Hedong, which has finally settled down, will become chaotic again? Who can bear this responsibility? "

This is indeed a problem that must be faced. Qu Ji somewhat understands how difficult Wu Anjun's decision was back then, but he still insists on the method of killing or not:

"Changping killed 400,000 prisoners, and three generations of Zhao people still hate the Qin people. We are not from Guanzhong Qin, but from Chu, from Nanjun, and from Hanzhong. The regent also changed the laws and orders, and we want to use the king's guidance to conquer the world. , if we still use the domineering method of fighting, this knot will become more and more dead!"

The two had different opinions. Even if they raised this issue to the staff of "Yingying Camp", their thoughts were the same as those of Qu Ji and Zhao Yan.

When there are different opinions, it is time to test a commander's emergency decision-making.

Han Xin settled the matter immediately and put an end to the controversy.

"I have an idea, general."

He looked at Qu Ji: "It won't hurt Tianhe, but it will make the hatred between Zhao and Qin deeper."

Looking at Zhao Yan again: "There is no need to waste food and bring hidden dangers. It can even pave the way for our army to capture Shangdang, and even Taiyuan, Hanoi, and Handan!"

Everyone looked at each other and couldn't think of any way to achieve the best of both worlds: "May I ask the general, what is your strategy?"

"I will obey the regent's order and no longer kill prisoners indiscriminately."

He said: "But not all of them will be left behind. Only the military officers and generals above the rank of corps commander will be picked out and brought to Hedong as ministers. As for the rest of the ordinary Zhao soldiers..."

Han Xin smiled and said: "Let them all go and let them return to Zhao with the news that 'Qin Army will no longer kill prisoners'!"