Looking at the magical scene in front of him, Ta Tianbao felt a little like he was in a dream. Ta Tianbao said to Xu Shishi: "Old Xu, what's going on?" Xu Shishi said: "The soldier who broke our leg is called Yang Yuwa, who used to be our subordinate to Qihou, and the last time the whole army was reorganized, it was assigned to our thousand households." Qianhu, you took people to chase Chen Xixian in front of you, seeing that there were too many prisoners to catch, but fortunately, at this time, General Song Gaoju came with the army, but there were already many soldiers in their ranks, and they just arrived on the battlefield to see, heh, the prisoners captured now are all Jiading villagers. Immediately the army was in disarray. The captives didn't run away, and the soldiers who captured and surrendered were not caught, and they directly killed and shouted. You call Brother Cheng, and I call Uncle Huang. The whole battlefield became a meeting place for the recognition of relatives, with the captives helping to collect their weapons, and our army going up to help the wounded. ”

Ta Tianbao listened to what Xu Shi said, and it was even more like listening to the ancient anecdotes: "How can this be? It's just a fantasy, if it weren't for you, I would have thought that this was the Qing army coming to Yucheng. Xu Shishi said: "I saw Song Gaoju waiting for the battlefield, and saw the chaotic scene on the scene, I didn't dare to stop anymore, and followed the army to the south, and collected the prisoners along the way." When I stepped forward to change someone, a person came out of the captive, saying that he came to carry the flag, and he was Yang Yuwa's cousin. ”

Ta Tianbao said: "You believe this? Xu Shishi said: "Of course I don't believe it, but Yang Yuwa also said that this person is his cousin." There were several people next to him who said that they were from the same village, and they also came out to prove it. At that time, there were too many troops and it was too messy, and I didn't say much, so I had to let him carry it. I have arranged for a dozen or so of my own soldiers to be around, and if he dares to make any changes, I can kill him immediately. Ta Tianbao saw that Xu Shishi's arrangement was quite proper, so he didn't say anything.

Then Ta Tianbao asked: "Have you ever asked why the soldiers carried the flag for Yang Yuwa?" Xu Shishi said: "Of course I inquired, and the soldier said: 'Now they don't know how many people are alive in the Yang family, this time I met Yang Yuwa, and he wants to protect Yang Yuwa well.'" Ta Tianbao listened and said contemptuously: "Carrying a flag can be protected?" Xu Shishi said: "I also asked him if he helped carry the flag to protect?" On the battlefield, who can know who is alive. ”

Ta Tianbao said: "Then what did he say?" Xu Shi was a little embarrassed and said: "He said: 'I carry this flag for him, not to carry the flag, but to keep this position of carrying the flag for him, which is much safer to go to the battlefield and stand beside the general to carry the flag than to rush forward to fight with the enemy.'" Tell me that you are not afraid of death? ”

Ta Tianbao also suddenly said angrily: "When his leg is healed, I will directly put him in the death squad." At this time, Wan Xinglong, the former magistrate of Bishan, came over and said, "General, don't do this." "When Ta Tianbao saw this magistrate coming, he looked down on him a little and didn't even dare to defend the city. But when he saw him answer, he asked, "Why can't such a person who is afraid of death leave him to eat in the army." ”

Wan Xinglong said: "The general is wrong, the general doesn't know." The soldiers in Sichuan are different from the soldiers in other places. "Ta Tianbao has been fighting for more than ten years, and I have never heard of the soldiers in any place being different when I have fought in dozens of state capitals. Curiously, he said to Wan Xinglong: "Then tell me what is the difference between the soldiers in Sichuan?" Xu Shishi also looked at Wan Xinglong curiously on the side.

Wan Xinglong said: "This Sichuan belongs to the ancient Shu land, with the Qinling Mountains in the north and the Bashan Mountains in the east. Ta Tianbao said: "I know the terrain of Sichuan, what's so strange about this?" Wan Xinglong said: "The topography of Sichuan is a basin, and the road in and out of Sichuan is steep, so that Sichuan is closed to the outside world, forming the xenophobic character of Sichuan people. ”

Xu Shishi said: "It's not strange, there are more xenophobic places in the world these days, and I don't see any special soldiers." Wan Xinglong said: "General, don't be anxious, the xenophobia in Sichuan is different from the xenophobia in other places, and the xenophobia in other places is not only aimed at outsiders, but also because the locals are different in their clans." But Sichuan is different, due to traffic problems, Sichuan has not had a large number of outsiders enter Sichuan for hundreds of years. ”

Ta Tianbao said: "What's wrong with no one entering Sichuan?" Sichuan has become unaware of outsiders," Wan Xinglong said: "That's not it, but the local people in Sichuan have married for hundreds of years, not to mention forming a family, but if you count up to several generations, this is more or less a bit of relatives." So there will be things like you usually earning and I will take away, but if you really meet each other, everyone has to take care of lighting incense, and generally don't kill them. ”

Ta Tianbao sneered: "In the years of war in Sichuan, I haven't seen Sichuan people take care of anything." Wan Xinglong didn't care about Ta Tianbao's ridicule: "It's been true in the past few years, but this is because Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan with a large army, and later the Qing army also followed into Sichuan, and the generals of Kuidong also entered Sichuan from outside?" ”

As a deputy, Xu Shishi now wants to find out where the Sichuan soldiers are, and asked, "You said so much or you still didn't say anything about the special Sichuan soldiers." Wan Xinglong said: "In recent years, due to the continuous entry of many forces outside, some generals and forces have gradually developed resentment and vendetta between them. In addition, some people surrendered to the Qing court and were led by Li Guoying to massacre the people. The cruelty among these generals has grown. This also destroys the weak bottom line in Sichuan, and each family only cares about victory or defeat and no longer cares about the incense of fellow Sichuan people. ”

Ta Tianbao said: "Then there is nothing special about it. Wan Xinglong said: "No, these generals have no scruples, but they cherish this friendship more among the soldiers, but the soldiers are not as extensive as the generals, so they are mostly distinguished by the same clan, the same township, and the same family." ”

Xu Shishi said with some understanding: "So they often hold together in this situation in the army? Wan Xinglong said: "Yes, but they are not just in one army, if they find that the other army also has their own fellow villagers, fellow clans and the like, this battle will have some unexpected results for the generals most of the time." ”

Ta Tianbao was a little unconvinced: "What else is the result of this? It's either a loss or a win. Wan Xinglong said: "Of course not, you could have won, because the soldiers did not make a contribution, but were defeated, or the general you were about to be defeated, and suddenly some soldiers found that there were a large number of fellow countrymen in your army, which was the other way around, and the enemy's team was in a hurry, but you won." ”

Ta Tianbao was dumbfounded when he heard this, could there be such a thing? Xu Shishi didn't dare to believe it: "How can this be, there is a superintendent team in the army, there is a military law team, and if the soldiers dare to do this, they are not afraid of military law?" Wan Xinglong said: "What's so strange about this? The Inspector Team and the Military Law Team are also from Sichuan, and they are all together. ”

Xu Shishi frowned, still feeling unconvinced. Wan Xinglong said again: "Everyone in the world knows a sentence, that is, the world is not chaotic before Shu is chaotic, and the world is not at peace." But from ancient times to the present, except for the massacre of Sichuan by the Mongols and the massacre of Sichuan by the Qing army today, have the generals heard that Sichuan is deserted? ”

After listening to Wan Xinglong's words, Xu Shi and Ta Tianbao really didn't remember when they said that Sichuan was barren. The one who listened to it the most was the land of abundance or something. Ta Tianbao asked Wan Xinglong, "Yes, what's going on?" Historically, as long as there is a war, the population will inevitably decrease, and most places will become desolate. ”

Wan Xinglong said with a smile: "This is the special place of the Sichuan soldiers, as long as the battle is won, they will generally not chase after them, let alone chase down the defeated soldiers and slaughter the surrendered soldiers." Xu Shishi nodded and said: "Yes, I also found out that the army in Sichuan generally rarely has a case of chasing tens or hundreds of miles, why is this?" Wan Xinglong said: "Because in the hearts of the soldiers in Sichuan, it is right for this soldier to eat food and give you strength to fight, but now that they have won the war, why do you still want to chase it?" Besides, there may be relatives of their own families in the army on the other side, or playmates from the same village. Of course they don't chase it, and the road in Sichuan is steep, maybe they will fall off the cliff after chasing them. ”

It was the first time that Xu Shishi and Ta Tianbao had heard that there was such a reason, and they would not chase after them if they had their relatives and fellow villagers in the army opposite. Wan Xinglong continued: "There were even two armies fighting, and it was noon, and the general had to order to bury the pot to make rice, and as a result, the soldiers on both sides ate in the same pot. In the morning, the two armies fought, and in the afternoon, they went back to a village to farm. Therefore, the soldiers of Sichuan are different from the army outside. ”

Ta Tianbao said: "I have been in Sichuan for more than ten years, why haven't I found such a thing?" Xu Shishi also said: "Yes, I didn't find out either, what you said is too untrue." Wan Xinglong saw that the two did not believe it: "This is because in the army of the two generals, outsiders still account for the majority, so when the fight starts, I always feel that the army in Sichuan will either flee or surrender." ”

Ta Tianbao agreed: "Yes, the army in Sichuan is like this, I also feel that there is no combat effectiveness at all, and I can't fight a tough battle." Wan Xinglong said: "Does the general know why the Mongols slaughtered Sichuan after entering Sichuan?" Ta Tianbao said: "I have a Mongolian or not, how do I know." ”

Wan Xinglong said: "On the one hand, the Great Khan of Mongolia was killed in Diaoyu City, and the second is that the casualties of the Mongolian army when they attacked Sichuan were too large, and the Mongols had to raise their butcher knives against Sichuan. From the beginning of the march into Sichuan to the occupation of Sichuan, the Mongols sent large armies into Sichuan no less than ten times, with no less than 500,000 casualties. And time and time again, to no avail. But you say that the army in Sichuan has no combat strength? ”

Ta Tianbao asked rhetorically: "Then why did the Qing soldiers come in at one time now?" Wan Xinglong said: "This question is not easy to answer, there are several reasons, one is that Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty was martyred in Beijing, and the court was in turmoil and fought against each other. There is no even the imperial court anymore, for whom do you let the generals and soldiers of Sichuan fight? Second, when the Qing army entered Sichuan, the resistance to the Qing army was mainly Zhang Xianzhong's army. Although Zhang Xianzhong has established a country in Sichuan, he has not yet received the hearts of the Sichuan people. The third is that the forces of Sichuan were mixed together at that time, the forces left behind after Zhang Xianzhong's death, the original forces in Sichuan, the forces of the Dashun army that came from Kuidong, and the forces sent from Yongli in the south later. The forces of all parties could not work together and had to fight each other, but at this time, the Qing court forces retreated to the area of Baoning, and the overall threat to Sichuan was not great, so the Qing army gained a foothold in northern Sichuan. On the contrary, under the collapse of various families in northern Sichuan, some remnants of the defeated forces have grown step by step. By the time everyone reflected it, the Qing army had already gained momentum, and it was difficult to defeat them, so let alone drive away the Qing soldiers. ”

When he said this, Wan Xinglong seemed to be very angry, and continued: "At this time, the situation in the world, the various forces of the Ming Dynasty are also fighting each other and weakening each other, so that the forces of the Ming Dynasty continue to retreat in the face of the Qing court. Under such a situation, the generals in Sichuan all had the feeling that the Qing Dynasty had seized the world. This is the fourth point. The last point is that after the Qing troops entered Sichuan, they killed innocents indiscriminately, slaughtered cities and plundered people in various places, and caused the population of Sichuan to drop sharply. The sweetness of the Qing army's slaughter of the city made the generals of Sichuan follow suit, and the conquests between them became more and more brutal, and the generals of all sizes lost the hearts of the people in Sichuan. At this time, if you come to resist the Qing Dynasty again, you will lose the support of the people, and you will be able to resist the Qing Dynasty without a population? ”

Xu Shishi said with some understanding: "With these five points, no matter how good the army is, it will not be able to win the battle." Wan Xinglong said: "That's right" Ta Tianbao said: "What does this have to do with what I just said about letting Yang Qiwa be transferred to the death squad?" ”

Wan Xinglong said: "It seems that the general still doesn't understand, the soldiers in Sichuan are hugging the group, and he will be fine if you transfer him to the death squad, this is like a soldier's oil, how can he live." And it will also affect the morale of the general's army. ”

Ta Tianbao said: "Heh, can't I cure him." Xu Shishi thought about Wan Xinglong and said: "Since the county magistrate can understand this, there must be a solution." Ta Tianbao also said: "Then what do you say?" ”

Wan Xinglong said: "The solution is not nothing, that is, the military heart, the general must let the army work together to make these soldiers strong, and the army will have combat effectiveness." When Ta Tianbao heard this, he said: "Isn't it the same as not saying it, isn't the morale of the army just to boost morale, you just said that this is useless to the Sichuan soldiers." This soldier's heart has always been inspired by silver, but these people seem to care about this silver, not to mention what kind of fellow countryman you are talking about? ”