Three Kingdoms

The sky and the earth are dark and yellow, and the universe is primitive.

Birth, old age, illness and death are the cycles of heaven.

The world was spinning, and I couldn't stand still. The wind was howling like a ghost laughing.

Accompanied by the scolding of "be honest", the stick was knocked down with a "dong" sound and hit the head. Suddenly there was a "buzzing" sound in the skull and the taste of rust filled the mouth.

Chaotic shouts sounded.

"Move quickly!"

"waste!"

"damn it!"

Blood was flowing from the top of his head, but strangely, it didn't hurt very much, but he still felt weak all over.

No one resisted, everyone was obedient like sheep, whining, embarrassed, and filthy, clustered together in one place, as if all the pain and abuse didn't matter, and it seemed that death in the next moment didn't matter either.

Large swaths of people moved, moved, and moved forward.

I don’t know if it’s my own, or the vomit and feces of others stained on my body, and it spreads out bit by bit with my actions, but most people seem to have lost their sense of smell, their eyes are dull, their eyes are cloudy, and they are like walking zombies. Same, follow, move, go forward.

"Who am I? Where am I? Where am I going?" The wound on his head was exposed in the air, and it seemed that the wind had blown him into a little sense and clarity, and he began to think and function.

Oh, I remembered...

I am Wang Yunfei from Five Lions Pavilion in Yecheng. This Yunfei's name was a good name that my father spent ten large sums of money to ask for from a fortune teller on the street.

Today is the sixth year of Yan Ping, April? Or is it May? I no longer know……

I came here to transport food. Didn’t I say that I can go back after transporting food?

I'm not a soldier, I've never killed anyone, and I don't want to fight, but why is it like this?

go home? correct! want to go home!

Wang Yunfei burst out with all his strength, broke away from the queue, and wanted to run away quickly, towards his hometown, towards his home. In his mind, he seemed to be running very fast, like flying clouds floating in the sky... …

"Damn it! Be honest!" Cao Jun's soldiers waved their sticks, and with a "boom" they knocked down Wang Yunfei, who staggered out of the queue!

Another soldier of Cao's army also came over, hitting and kicking him, "You still want to run away! Bastard!"

Wang Yunfei's body was hit and kicked so hard that he was twitching on the ground, like a fish out of water. Then he was hit on the fish's head with a wooden mallet. He could no longer jump up, and only the tail of the fish was still there. Twitching once or twice from time to time...

"Are you going home?"

"go home……"

"Home……"

Cao's soldiers stabbed him with blood-stained sticks.

"died?"

"died."

"Damn it! This is the fate of being dishonest!" Cao Jun's soldiers no longer paid attention to the dead Wang Yunfei and continued to wave their sticks like shepherds driving their sheep. "Be honest! Move quickly!"

…Here is the dividing line of silence…

Cao Hong sat on his horse and watched his soldiers drive the remnants of Yuan's army and civilians forward. His face was as dark as water and he said nothing.

Some civilians were beaten and killed. Generally speaking, this kind of thing would not even cause any disturbance in Cao Hong's heart. In Cao Hong's eyes, these civilians were like ants. If one or two died, or dozens or hundreds died, it would not matter at all.

However, now it is not hundreds, but tens of thousands!

Even if they are ants, when tens of thousands of ants gather in a pile, they will attract some attention...

The key point is that these ants are also carrying diseases!

Although Yuan Shao made some cover-ups, after Yuan Shao left the camp and lost effective management, these civilians returned to their original habits, spraying vomiting and diarrhea at will, and then such abnormal situations were naturally followed. The original Han hussar soldiers who came from Cao Cao were discovered.

Soon after hearing about the plague, Cao Cao's expression changed...

In order to prevent ordinary soldiers from panic, Cao Cao immediately ordered Cao Hong to gather the defeated generals of Yuan's army and auxiliary soldiers together to minimize the contact between these personnel and Cao's soldiers to avoid widespread infection.

But how to deal with the remaining defeated generals and auxiliary soldiers left behind by Yuan Shao has become the most difficult problem at the moment.

According to past practice, these remaining defeated soldiers and auxiliary soldiers and civilians will be used as spoils of war, just like items, and will be distributed to the heads of various meritorious personnel, or bought and sold, or used as domestic slaves, or simply open mountains and mines to do the most arduous labor. Until the last drop of bone and blood is squeezed out...

What?

Do these remaining defeated generals and auxiliary soldiers and civilians still need food and grass supplies?

Are you kidding me? When would people prepare special food for ants? Don’t the ants themselves all carry meat...

As long as these ants are escorted in batches to the places allocated in various places, the recipients in each place will be responsible for their food problems. Cao Cao will not be wasted in food at all, but he will be able to earn some more money.

Unfortunately, now all these are in vain.

No one would want a batch of plague-infected ants, even if they were given away for free.

So, what to do?

In the camp, Cao Cao sat behind the table.

The sunlight shone in from outside the tent, but it could only stop at the corners of Cao Cao's clothes.

Yuan Shao left a problem for Cao Cao, and for this problem, Cao Cao had not yet decided what to do, or in other words, he was still hesitating whether to do it...

Cao Cao thought about it again and again, but still couldn't make up his mind. He just felt upset and had a tight breath in his chest. He couldn't help but stand up, put his hands behind his back, walked out of the tent, and unknowingly wandered outside Cao Pi's tent. .

"It's tasteless again!" Cao Pi's voice came from the tent, "It's tasteless to eat, it's a pity to throw it away!"

Cao Cao paused.

"My lord..." It seemed that Cao Pi's personal attendant was trying to persuade him, "This is what I saved from my lord..."

"What?" Cao Pi didn't believe it. "This is the only one my father has?! How is this possible? After a great victory, there is not even a whole chicken?"

"Ha ha……"

Cao Cao laughed, opened the tent curtain and walked in, then waved to Cao Pi's attendants. Cao Pi's attendant quickly bent his waist, almost touching the ground, and then retreated in small steps.

"I have met my father..." Cao Pi stepped forward to greet him.

"Yeah." Cao Cao sat down, then looked at Cao Pi up and down for a while, and then said, "What's wrong? Isn't it good that you dislike this chicken soup?"

Cao Pi quickly apologized and said: "How can I dislike the kid... It's just because the kid thought that after a great victory, he should have some... or eat beef and mutton... so he was somewhat disappointed..."

Cao Cao laughed, patted the table, and said slowly: "Of course there are cattle and sheep, but in the army, soldiers are the most important. You and I are allowed to eat, when can we not eat? Why argue? At this moment?”

Cao Pi cupped his hands and said, "Wei, my father taught me a lesson, and I have remembered it..."

Cao Pi rolled his eyes, picked up the bowl of chicken soup, brought it to Cao Cao, and said: "My father has not eaten yet, how dare the child eat first? Isn't it inconsistent with etiquette? Please ask your father to use this soup first..." …”

"Isn't it appropriate for etiquette?" Cao Cao was silent for a moment, then nodded, took the soup bowl, held it in his hand, but did not drink it immediately, and asked, "What did you say just now? It's tasteless to eat, it's a pity to throw it away? "

Cao Pi said awkwardly: "The child is talking nonsense, father, don't blame me..."

"No, you are right..." Cao Cao lowered his head and took a sip of the soup, then handed the soup bowl back to Cao Pi, stood up and said, "Well, I have used it, you can use the rest..."

Cao Pi quickly took it with both hands.

"Remember, you are right..." Cao Cao patted Cao Pi on the shoulder, "But you shouldn't say..."

The soup bowl in Cao Pi's hand shook and almost fell out.

...Here is the dividing line between no soup...

"They've all been cheated..." Cao Cao said in a deep voice to Cao Hong.

"Brother! This...all?" Cao Hong hesitated, "This is nearly 40,000...can this...can..."

Yuan Shao's army went on an expedition. In addition to regular soldiers, there were also a considerable number of auxiliary soldiers and civilians. There are some tents among the regular soldiers, and although the sanitary conditions are not very good, they are much better than those of civilians. Therefore, when the plague broke out, civilians were not spared.

The auxiliary soldiers and civilians who transported grain and grass and did all kinds of hard work accounted for almost half of Yuan Shao's army. When they win, these people only get some scraps, but the pain of failure is often given to them in full measure.

Cao Cao's words determined the life and death of nearly 40,000 people. (notes in this chapter)

"We can't win even if we win..." Cao Cao looked into the distance and raised his head, "The soldiers are exhausted and the warehouses are empty. Within this year, we will no longer be able to fight..."

In such a fight with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao had basically used up all the materials and money he had obtained from Yuan Shu. If Xun Yu hadn't been desperately raising grain, grass and other materials from the rear, I'm afraid... I can't say that it was... A long time ago, because it is already exhausted now, even Cao Cao can't eat a whole chicken.

In addition, there is a hussar in Guanzhong...

If Cao Cao doesn't care about the whole family coming, then the rear of the void may be directly attacked by Fei Qian and a cavalry at any time. You must know that others may have ideas but lack the strength, and the cavalry general Fei Qian The ability to have this strength depends on whether you have this idea, so no matter from which perspective, Cao Cao has no way to continue fighting.

Therefore, Cao Cao must make certain adjustments at the moment to let his soldiers relax before he can carry out the next strategy.

No one wanted them, they couldn't send them out, and they couldn't afford to support them. The large number of auxiliary soldiers and civilians left behind by Yuan Jun became a huge burden.

If it were normal, Cao Cao would be happy to accept them and then assign these civilians to work in the fields. But the current situation is different. There are a large number of plague patients among the civilians, and Cao Cao cannot completely separate the sick, infected, latent and healthy ones. come out……

The soldiers at the grassroots level may not realize the horror of the plague, but Cao Cao cannot take it lightly. After all, if the plague spreads and destroys the entire army, it will only take three to five days.

"Brother..." Cao Hong was silent for a long time before he said, "...it would be better to... abandon him..."

Just leaving it alone is also an option.

Cao Cao shook his head slowly and said: "If we abandon it, the weak will die here, and there will also be those who run away and scatter in all directions. If it spreads to Yanzhou Township..."

Because Yuan Shao had the upper hand at the beginning, this battle was pushed onto Cao Cao's territory. Although this also caused difficulties in supplying Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's final victory, the current situation also means that Huge risk.

Fortunately, the plague has not completely spread, but if we really don't care about anything, then these people will definitely flee in order to survive. Maybe most people will flee back to Jizhou, but there will definitely still be people who will run to nearby areas. In Yanzhou, by that time, the plague will really spread, and it will be too late to control it.

You can't put it away, you can't keep it, you can't keep it.

So they can only kill them on the spot.

"..." Cao Hong was silent for a long time, and finally said, "Brother, after all, it is unlucky to kill prisoners... If... I may be looked down upon by the world..."

"Killing prisoners is unlucky..." Cao Cao muttered and remained silent for a long time.

The so-called killing of prisoners is ominous, but it does not mean that there is anything "ominous". It is a matter of two aspects. First, the opponent feels that the rules have been broken, and then uses the same brutal method to retaliate; the second aspect is to make the enemy feel that they have surrendered. There was no benefit, he would still be killed, so he just fought to the end and gained a good reputation.

At the same time, we must also see that in ancient wars, they often relied on competition between each other's population base, and there were also a few elites who acted as leaders and then fought. In this process, whether the surrendered generals are killed or a large number of the enemy's population is killed, the opponent will be weak for a certain period of time and cannot quickly rebuild the army. Therefore, if the opponent's military backbone still has a large population Being slaughtered will definitely take a heavy toll on one's vitality. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether the benefits of killing prisoners outweigh the disadvantages or the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.

Just like when Bai Qikeng killed Zhao Bing, there were two pros and cons. On the one hand, it stimulated Zhao Guo's hatred of the enemy, causing Zhao Guo to completely become a hard nut to crack. On the other hand, it also caused Zhao Guo to lose a large number of young and strong laborers in a short period of time, and the national strength suddenly dropped by several levels.

"No..." Cao Cao shook his head and finally said, "These are not prisoners... but those who refused to surrender in battle..."

Cao Hong was stunned for a moment, then looked at Cao Cao and said, "Could it be that the elder brother meant..."

"There are no civilians here!" Cao Cao said in a deep voice, "The king's army tried to suppress the rebels and repeatedly persuaded them to surrender, but they refused... Therefore, the day the camp is broken down will be the day of their death! These people who pretend to surrender will not be killed. What’s the use of keeping it?”

"Subordinate..." Cao Hong slowly raised his hands and replied, "