Chapter 457: Killing the Captives

Hearing Wang Yansheng's reply and seeing that his face showed no shame, Murong Yanzhao's words immediately became agitated: "We were ordered to march south, intending to take all of Huainan as Han territory, to make the people of Huainan subjects of Han. Military conquest comes first, winning hearts comes after. Slaughter on the battlefield is still within military reason. After this battle, the Huainan bandits are greatly awed by our sovereign's might, their soldiers' morale is shattered, and we can take them down in one stroke."

"For you to commit such cruel and brutal acts here—if word spreads, it will ruin our army's reputation, and will surely rouse the Huainan army's will to resist, and lose the hearts of the Huainan people! By then, how many more of our soldiers must we lose before we can conquer Huainan?"

Murong Yanzhao had always presented himself as calm and humble; it was rare for him to be this furious. Facing his imposing manner, Li Chongjin and Wang Yansheng could not help but feel uneasy. Li Chongjin said: "Chief Inspector, how could we lowly officers consider so much? We were blinded by bloodlust and couldn't stop ourselves! Moreover, in last night's assault, our Husheng Army brothers suffered heavy casualties. The soldiers harbor hatred and need to vent, to avenge their comrades!"

"Utter nonsense!" Murong Yanzhao rebuked angrily: "Where is military discipline? If not for the two of you instigating and indulging this, how could such a heaven-defying atrocity have been committed?"

Wang Yansheng had a hot temper. Being rebuked to his face by Murong Yanzhao, anger rose in his heart, and he stiffened his neck and said: "The men are already killed. It's useless for the Chief Inspector to say more. The two of us are here, at your disposal!"

Staring coldly at Wang Yansheng, then looking at Li Chongjin, he raised his horsewhip and lashed both of them hard twice: "I am of low rank and humble position—I have no authority to punish two Chief Commanders!"

Enduring the two lashes and bearing the pain, Li Chongjin still spoke cautiously to Murong Yanzhao: "Chief Inspector, since things have come to this, tell us how to handle the aftermath. We will obey your orders!"

Murong Yanzhao said nothing, only keeping a stern face and fixing his gaze on Wang Yansheng. Under Murong Yanzhao's stare, the unruly Wang Yansheng still felt a twinge of guilt and averted his eyes. Murong Yanzhao was no ordinary man—he was the Son of Heaven's trusted beloved general. Rumors had long circulated in the army that within a few years, he would surely hold one of the two supreme command positions.

Taking a deep breath, Murong Yanzhao stepped forward and looked at the thick pile of severed corpses by the Fei River. Several hundred Han army soldiers had become executioners, savage and horrifying.

The surviving Tang army captives had already sunk to despair, but seeing the commotion among the Han army and hearing Murong Yanzhao's rebuke of Li and Wang, a sliver of hope returned to them. Fearful yet expectant gazes turned toward Murong Yanzhao.

Sweeping his eyes over those people, a trace of reluctance showing on his face, Murong Yanzhao raised his hand, turned around, and commanded without emotion: "This matter is left to you to handle. Make sure the aftermath is properly settled. Those killed shall be counted as slain on the battlefield. Remember—what happened today, everyone present must keep silent. Whoever dares to spread word shall be punished for sowing discord in the army!"

"Yes!" Li Chongjin and Wang Yansheng subconsciously acknowledged.

Murong Yanzhao said nothing more. He mounted his horse and led his men north toward Xiacai, returning to camp.

"Han Lingkun, was it you who went and fetched Chief Inspector Murong?" After Murong Yanzhao had gone far, Wang Yansheng spotted Han Lingkun hiding to the side and demanded of him.

Seeing Wang Yansheng's fury, Han Lingkun stepped forward and replied in a low voice: "Generals, this humble one was also thinking of the two of you!"

"Do you think I'm easy to bully?" Hearing this, Wang Yansheng said angrily. Having been scolded and beaten, his anger flared, and he directly raised his whip.

Seeing this, Han Lingkun hastily said: "General, calm your anger. Killing captives is ultimately inauspicious. If the two generals reported it afterward, the command tent might have questions of guilt. Now that the Chief Inspector came first, this hidden danger is minimized. Didn't the Chief Inspector just say—let us handle the aftermath, counting them as slain on the battlefield..."

Hearing this, Li Chongjin rubbed his shoulder. Even through the shoulder armor, it still hurt quite a bit. Li Chongjin stopped Wang Yansheng: "What Commander Han says makes sense. The key is—how do we handle the aftermath?"

Wang Yansheng finally calmed down. He looked at the remaining captives, a flash of ruthlessness crossing his face: "We've come this far. What else can we do? Kill them all."

"Then how do we answer to the Chief Inspector?" Li Chongjin pointed north.

At this moment, Han Lingkun clasped his fists and said: "These people, even if they live, will not be grateful—they will only hate our army more, and will surely spread word of our army's wrongdoings in the future. They cannot be kept. Before Chief Inspector Murong left, though he didn't say it explicitly, this humble one believes that was his meaning as well!"

"Han Lingkun, you lad, you're full of schemes!" Hearing this, Wang Yansheng gave Han Lingkun a couple of extra looks, then his expression turned serious as he stared at him: "Since that's the case, the remaining men are yours to handle! The Chief Inspector's order—settle the aftermath properly!"

Upon receiving the order, Han Lingkun was briefly taken aback, but he did not decline. He cupped his hands and answered: "Yes!"

Walking to the front with a solemn expression, Han Lingkun swept his eyes over those pitiful people, let out a heavy sigh, raised his hand, and said to the Husheng Army soldiers carrying out the execution: "By order! Execute these Huainan bandits who harbor treacherous hearts and defy Heaven's might!"

The three words "execute them all" came from Han Lingkun's mouth somewhat lightly, but after that order, another stroke of slaughter was added to the banks of the Fei River.

Han Lingkun led his men to clean up the aftermath and burn the corpses. But by this ancient river, the evil wrought by war could not be completely burned away by any fire...

How could the matter of killing captives be completely concealed? It was just that the Han generals, as victors, had the opportunity to rewrite the historical record...

Li Chongjin and Wang Yansheng's side gathered their subordinates, escorted the spoils, protected the wounded, and calmly returned north to the Xiacai camp.

Through last night's cooperation—fighting in blood, beheading generals, breaking formations—and this morning's shared crime of killing captives, the relationship between Li Chongjin and Wang Yansheng had grown much closer. Li Chongjin admired his fierce bravery, and Wang Yansheng praised his ability to command troops.

"Brother Wang, judging by the Chief Inspector's reaction, I fear this matter won't end so easily!" Riding on horseback, Li Chongjin couldn't help saying, seeming somewhat uneasy.

Wang Yansheng waved his hand and said: "We are men of merit. Would the Commander blame battle-hardened generals over a few Tang soldiers? Otherwise, how could the army's morale hold? Even if word reaches His Majesty's ears, how could he bear to blame us?"

"We just killed a few people, that's all! On the battlefield, who doesn't die? The Huainan bandits numbered fifty or sixty thousand. After last night's pursuit and slaughter, how many survived? These fewer than three thousand—what do they amount to!" Glancing at Li Chongjin twice, Wang Yansheng shrugged his shoulders: "Brother Li, if I'm not afraid, what do you have to worry about? At worst, you still have Chancellor Guo in the court to protect you..."

Hearing Wang Yansheng's words, Li Chongjin voiced agreement, but in his heart he was vaguely worried. Murong Yanzhao's attitude made him hesitate. And it was precisely because of Guo Wei's existence that his heart was uneasy. Toward that uncle of his, Li Chongjin felt both respect and fear. If he committed a crime, Guo Wei would never shield him—at least not openly.

At this moment, Li Chongjin couldn't help but regret—how had his head gotten so hot that he joined Wang Yansheng in killing captives...

The Northern Han army's Xiacai camp was already a scene of jubilation—rumbling noise, even some chaos. But under the commander's orders, officers at every level reorganized their units, and clerks from each camp hurried about. Years of discipline training made the Han army capable enough that it could not fall into disorder.

In the command tent, commanders of various units successively reported victories and announced their spoils. Wang Jun remained as steady as Mount Tai, responding with calm indifference.

"Commander, according to rough statistics, in the battle at Xiacai, our army killed at least seventeen thousand Huainan bandits, captured fewer than four thousand. The rest who froze or drowned are too numerous to count. Except for Zhang Quanyue's army from Luzhou, which fled quickly and gathered a batch of defeated troops to retreat and hold Shouchun, the Tang army was almost completely annihilated. Even if some slipped through the net, they are few and their fighting strength is gone!" Shen Shihou's face beamed with a smile as he offered congratulations to Wang Jun.

"Not bad!" Wang Jun nodded. That was his only reaction.

Before long, Commander of the Hujie Cavalry Shi Yanchao led a troop of riders back to camp. The Han cavalry had also been mostly scattered by the end, each unit pursuing and earning merits on its own.

He went straight to the command tent to seek an audience, and with great excitement presented a severed head to Wang Jun: "Commander, this is the Huainan bandits' commander-in-chief Liu Yanzhen. When this scoundrel was defeated, he fled madly for his life, running nearly a hundred li east. This humble one chased him for a hundred li and finally cut him and his personal guards down from their horses! I present his head to you!"

Hearing this, Wang Jun was indeed intrigued and stood up directly. This time, without Wang Jun's hint, several officers in the tent quickly rose to accompany him. After the great victory, Wang Jun's prestige was even greater; ordinary officers hardly dared to look him straight in the eye.

Throwing Liu Yanzhen's head on the ground, Wang Jun casually poked at the bloody skull with his foot, then laughed heartily: "This is Liu Yanzhen? Quite ordinary! I thought he would be some magnificent figure, that old Li Jing would entrust such a great army entirely to his hands!"

Hearing Wang Jun's words, a Commander in the tent immediately flattered: "When the Huainan bandits marched north, how arrogant this Liu Yanzhen was! Old Li Jing was blind to entrust tens of thousands of elite troops to him. With a small scheme, the Commander turned them to ashes. In this world, who else has the Commander's ability?"

Such flattery, though he knew it was sycophancy, still pleased Wang Jun to hear. Stroking his beard with a beaming smile, he pointed at Liu Yanzhen's head and ordered the young orderly before the tent: "Go, display this bandit Liu's head to all the armies!"

While Wang Jun was basking in the tent full of praise, Murong Yanzhao walked in, and only then did things quiet down. After the generals withdrew, Murong Yanzhao told Wang Jun about Wang Yansheng and Li Chongjin killing the captives.

Hearing this, Wang Jun's attitude made Murong Yanzhao's heart turn cold. Wang Jun waved his hand dismissively: "I already know of this matter. They are merely some captives. The original intent was to inflict maximum casualties on the Huainan bandits and weaken their national strength. Though the two of them acted excessively, their merits outweigh their faults. In last night's assault, the Husheng Army deserves the foremost credit. Moreover, winter has now set in, and the weather will only grow colder. With the army in the south, grain and clothing are already difficult to transport. Too many captives would only increase our food consumption..."

"This way, it will rouse the Huainan people's will to resist!"

"If we don't let them know our army's might, if we don't make the Huainan people fear us, how would they willingly submit?"

Seeing Wang Jun's reaction, Murong Yanzhao sighed and cupped his hands: "Since the Commander has already decided, this humble one has nothing more to say!"

Before dark, Wang Jun received a battle report from Wokou, learning that Zhao Kuangyin had used a stratagem to defeat the Tang army at Haozhou, resolving in one battle the threat of the Tang navy on the lower reaches of the Huai River. Wang Jun only sighed: "I never imagined that Zhao Kuangyin would have such ability!"

However, regarding the victory report from Wokou, Wang Jun quickly expressed anger and dissatisfaction!