Chapter 20: Crime and Punishment
The destruction of the Sin Barracks was the most tragic defeat in the history of the Imperial War, according to later statistics, more than 1,000 people in the battalion were killed, and the backbone above the platoon level was lost, and only less than 20 people returned, and even the soul of the Sin Barracks, the blood flag was confiscated by the Tartars, so to speak, the establishment of the Sin Barracks has been forced to cancel and can no longer be restored.
On March 30, Yang Bo ignored the strong warning of the Department of Physicians, accompanied by everyone, to the battlefield of the final battle of the camp of the day......
Although three days have passed, the battlefield is still filled with a tragic atmosphere, everyone stared blankly at the remains of the soldiers on the ground, Zhao Long, who had served as the commander of the recruit company of the criminal barracks, suddenly knelt on the ground and cried: "Brothers, the brothers are all dead!" ”
It can be seen that the cavalry under Hauge swooped down from the western slope, and hundreds of corpses were scattered in a few tens of meters near the official road, and these soldiers were lying or lying, all of them were shot like hedgehogs, according to the report afterwards, due to the surprise attack of the Tatar cavalry, most of the soldiers who were originally on the march did not have time to wear armor, and the casualties from the foot of the mountain to the vicinity of the official road were the most serious, The battle situation was even more tragic one mile from the left side of the circle, many trailers temporarily used to block the cavalry were scattered all over the place, the bodies of many soldiers could be seen near each carriage, the trailers were already empty, most of the armor transported was captured by the Tartars, and about three hundred meters further south along the official road, the corpses of countless Tarnon vests and the corpses of the soldiers of the criminal camp were stacked on top of each other, and the entire ground absorbed a large amount of blood. Turning an eerie black-purple color, the weapons and round shields of many of the Sin Camp soldiers were scattered everywhere, and each shield had seven or eight crossbow arrows stuck in it. This is where the remnants of the Sin Barracks were finally destroyed......
Looking at it all the way, Yang Bo couldn't help but burst into tears, and after a long time, he sighed and said to Zhang Dabao: "Record the deeds of the battlefield and send them to the cadres above the battalion and platoon level and the private school for circulation. Die well deserved! Your propaganda department should dig up their heroic deeds, make them into operas, and make them into storytellers. Tell everyone that they would rather die than surrender, fight bloody to the end, and the heroic spirit will last forever. He is a model for our soldiers. Yang Bo, Yang Bo is proud of them! ”
"Transporting their bodies back to Fort Weiwu, ordering Xiao Mochou to prepare the tablets and portraits of the fallen soldiers, and I will go back to preside over the sacrifice in person ten days later, and you must do a good job for the families of the dead, and the relics and armor and the pension money and rice should also be sent to the families as soon as possible, and you will send people to the door to condole, and the requests made by the families will be solved immediately. If it can't be solved, it will be reported to the negotiation and resolved, and no one will be left behind."
Everyone nodded yes in unison. Yang Bo took one last look at the remains of these soldiers, originally he thought he could find some familiar figures, but to his disappointment, most of the soldiers' heads were cut off by the Tartars, and he really couldn't identify which of these soldiers were.
"Calf, did they find the calf?" Yang Bo asked Han Yan'er, who dealt with the aftermath.
Han Yan'er shook her head, silent......
At this moment, Zhang Shixiong came over with a team of murderous soldiers pressing more than a dozen people, and when he saw Yang Bo, Zhang Shixiong ran over and saluted: "My lord, the villain brought the survivors of the criminal camp to restore the experience of the battlefield at that time, which will be used as the basis for punishment in the future." ”
Yang Bo stared at Zhang Shixiong and said, "Punishment, what are their crimes?" ”
Zhang Shixiong was speechless for a while, thought for a while, and said: "As the chief officials, they fled without a fight, how can they say that they are not guilty?" What is the right or wrong of the battalion commander in charge of this crime, and the Military Discipline Department will review and punish them according to the law, otherwise how to explain to the soldiers who died in the bloody battle? ”
Yang Bo beckoned to Tan Xinghua and the others, turned his head to Zhang Shixiong and said: "1,200 foot soldiers have no battle against the 3,000 vests of the Tartar slaves, and more than 400 levels of beheading, if it is placed anywhere in the Ming Dynasty, it will be a great victory, and now the Military Discipline Department wants to hold them accountable, how can it convince people?" ”
Tan Xinghua, the instructor of the sin military camp, and more than a dozen dejected survivors heard the call of the adults, and came over and knelt in front of Yang Bo, hearing Yang Bo's words, although their expressions were sad, there was a faint look of anger on their faces.
Zhang Shixiong was just about to speak, but Tan Xinghua suddenly said loudly: "My lord, although the villain broke through, the villain also beheaded two Tartars, and Zhao Heng and Liu Chi of the Battalion Physician Division even worked together to kill three Tartars. But what I want to say today is that I did my best! ”
After speaking, Tan Xinghua laughed loudly, and then cried bitterly......
Zhang Shixiong was furious and said sharply: "The Military Discipline Department does not show favoritism, does not bend the law, and what it implements is a list of military discipline punishments. How many Tartars have been killed, no one dares to erase your credit, in the military regulations of the Thunder Brigade, anyone who retreats from the battle, and those who escape, will be beheaded! In our Thunder Brigade, there are only heroes who died in battle and entered the Martyrs' Shrine, and there are no bad breeds who escaped from the battle! Talk about Xinghua, open your dog's eyes and take a look at these brothers who died in battle around you! Look at their bodies and tell me, did you do your best! ”
Tan Xinghua stiffened his neck, but when he saw the remains of the soldiers around him, he suddenly fell to the ground and cried bitterly like a deflated ball.
Yang Bo pulled Zhang Shixiong to the side and asked softly, "Do I have the right to exempt them?" ”
Zhang Shixiong's face changed, and he said after half a day: "My lord, my lord naturally has the right to be exempted, but according to the villain's opinion, ......"
Yang Bo waved his hand decisively: "Needless to say, all the responsibility is on me, and it has nothing to do with them!" ”
Zhang Shixiong said in embarrassment: "There is an order that is not respectful, let them go gently this time, and everyone will follow suit in the future, how about it?" ”
Yang Bo closed his eyes in pain, and said half-loudly: "I can't let them shed blood and tears, I will bear the responsibility, this is not a crime of war, and they did their best!" ”
Zhang Shixiong hesitated: "Since the adults intercede for them, the death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped, so let them collect the remains of the soldiers of the criminal military camp with their own hands, and drive them all out of the Thunder Brigade as punishment after the fact, how about it?" ”
Yang Bo nodded, looked at Tan Xinghua and the others turned around and wanted to leave, at this moment, Liu Chi of the Doctor Division suddenly stepped forward and said: "My lord, Lord Calf, he may not be dead, when the villain broke through, he saw Lord Calf being shot in the leg by a crossbow arrow, turned over and fell to the ground, and was caught by several vests!" ”
Yang Bo was shocked, stepped forward and grabbed Liu Chi and asked repeatedly, "What you said is true?" Do you see the calf being captured? ”
It's a pity that Liu Chi was panicked at the time, and only saw the calf being caught, but then he didn't know what happened, Yang Bo turned his head to Han Yan'er and said: "Count the number of bodies immediately, and see if there will be any survivors who were captured by the Tartar slaves."
Back in Lushun, Yang Bo was in a heavy mood, the destruction of the sin camp sounded the alarm for him, because of the successive battles, the Thunder Brigade couldn't help but have a contempt for the Tartars, and the relieved Tartar slaves gave him a hard blow, the military reform of the Thunder Brigade is imperative, and it can no longer be delayed!
The guard Xiaowu came to report, Zhang Shixiong asked to see him, Yang Bo knew in his heart what he was here for, but he couldn't see it, so he nodded and said, "Please let him in." ”
Sure enough, Zhang Shixiong's first sentence was: "Please also ask your lord to hand over Wang Zao, the chief officer of the criminal military camp, to the Military Discipline Department for questioning!" ”
Yang Bo pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Shixiong, I want to ask you, if I personally led the Sin Camp this time, how many people do you think the Sin Camp will be able to come back in the end?" ”
Zhang Shixiong opened his mouth and shook his head: "Shixiong doesn't know"
Yang Bo walked around a few times with his hands in his hands, and said coldly: "I can tell you, even if I take the sin military camp, in this case, it will be the end of the whole army, do you understand?" ”
Zhang Shixiong shook his head and said: "The villain doesn't dare to agree, Wang Zao, as the chief officer of the criminal military camp, has failed to live up to the trust of the adults, and panicked in battle, resulting in the soldiers being slaughtered, if you don't kill Wang Zao, how can you convince the public?" Tan Xinghua and the others are not the chief officials, plus the adults intercede, they can also avoid death, but Wang Zao is not to blame no matter what, my lord! The Thunder Brigade relies on strict military discipline, and the officers perform their duties, so that the soldiers can use their lives, my lord, my lord, my lord must not destroy the foundation of my Thunder Brigade for the sake of a king, please think twice......"
Yang Bo was furious, pointed at Zhang Shixiong and said, "I said that the responsibility for causing the destruction of the criminal camp lies with me!" Yang has never liked to blame others, and I will never use Wang Zao's head to shirk my responsibility, you don't need to say more, I will give you an explanation for this matter, now, get out of here! ”
Zhang Shixiong stared at Yang Bo with a disappointed face, then took the hat on his head in his hand and knelt in the hall without saying a word.
"If you don't kill Wang Zao, are you going to leave me?" After being silent for a long time, Yang Bo asked slowly.
"Yes, sir!" Zhang Shixiong replied without hesitation
……
That night, Yang Bo summoned Xiucai overnight, but Xiucai didn't know anything and didn't dare to ask.
"Xiucai, I know you've always liked Miss Qiuping in private, haven't you?" Yang Bo asked
"Less, young master?" Xiucai was a little frightened, he suddenly realized something.
"I talked to Miss Qiuping, she promised to marry you, you clean up, and go back to Weiwu Castle with Miss Qiuping tonight, and let Mo Chou preside over the wedding for you!" Yang Bo stretched out his trembling hand and touched the top of Xiucai's head lying in front of him.
Xiucai's face turned pale, and he suddenly cried: "Young master, young master!" ”
Yang Wavechang sighed and said: "You should also get married, become a parent, you know what responsibility is, it's because I don't care about you on weekdays, it's because I can't live with you!" ”
Xiucai cried loudly, he faintly understood something in his heart, and cried: "Thank you young master for your success, Wang Zao can marry Miss Qiuping, and this life will be in vain!" ”
"Go, go!" Yang Bo shook his head, his eyes reddened.
Xiucai straightened his body and bowed down: "Young master, then, young master, please take care of your body, then Wang Zao will go to ......"
Watching Xiucai's lonely figure disappear into the hall, Yang Bo couldn't hold back any longer, and two lines of tears flowed down. (To be continued......)