Tiger Guards

Chapter 408 Each Has Its Own Choices
In Xuchang, Lü Bu stood alone at the highest point of the western pavilion of the military headquarters, surveying the entire city.

He was in a difficult situation. Reason told him that he should order Zhang Liao to immediately surround and kill the remaining infected soldiers left behind by Ji Ling.

But if he did that, the officials and the public would label him as a violent person.

If the high-ranking officials were to make the decision, they would most likely handle it in a conventional manner, that is, execute the military officers and spare the vast majority of the soldiers.

In the face of an epidemic, who cares whether you are a military officer or not?

We would rather not have these remnants and disperse them than incorporate them into our ranks.

Out of concern for his fellow villagers and former subordinates, Lü Bu pondered for a moment, then turned and went downstairs. He said to Yang Jun, who had been waiting for a long time, "Send an order to Tian Yu, the Left Supervisor of the Imperial Guards, to lead the Imperial Guards cavalry to Ruyang and bury all the rebel soldiers alive."

Yang Jun was momentarily stunned, and cupped his hands in greeting: "General, if this is the case, then we will lose the support of the people of Huainan."

"If we don't kill them, even more men and women will die."

Lu Bu stared at Yang Jun: "Ji Cai, you are a wise man. Zhao Yuansi withdrew from Ruyang because he cherishes his reputation. Now Nanyang is suffering from severe flooding, and we cannot allow the epidemic to ravage the Yan and Yu regions. Yuan Shu has fled alone several times. If the heroes of Huainan had not already harbored rebellious intentions, how could Yuan Shu have coerced them? That's enough, don't ask any more questions."

"Here."

Yang Jun had no choice but to agree and went to the desk to personally write down the military order.

Lu Bu personally reviewed the document and, after confirming that the contents of the military order were correct, signed it and instructed Yang Jun to take the draft document to the formal procedures.

Only after completing the formal procedures would someone like Tian Yu dare to lead the Han and Hu cavalry of Youzhou to Ruyang to carry out a large-scale execution mission.

Otherwise, no one would dare to carry out such an order; Lü Bu was truly reluctant to let his old subordinates from Bingzhou shed blood again.

He had witnessed the tragic feud between the Bingzhou and Liangzhou people. The two sides were originally fighting together, with Bingzhou people assigned to the Liangzhou army and Liangzhou people assigned to the Bingzhou army.

As a result, after he killed Dong Zhuo, hatred between the two sides erupted, and they killed each other's internal dissidents.

Even if they have a good relationship and are comrades-in-arms.

They just started killing each other in a chaotic frenzy, and even now it's still unclear which side started it.

It is also possible that Huangfu Song's attack on Meiwu and his massacre of Dong Zhuo's relatives triggered the Liangzhou people's revenge, and then the Bingzhou people followed suit and began to slaughter the relatives and hostages of the Liangzhou generals around Chang'an.

In short, before Li Jue and his men launched their counterattack on Chang'an, both sides had purged their military opponents, leaving no room for reconciliation and turning them into irreconcilable enemies.

Although it was all his orders that were carried out by the people of Youzhou, it did alleviate some of the resentment of the people of Huainan.

As for things further ahead, that's beyond Lü Bu's consideration.

Moreover, defeated soldiers have no human rights. In recent years, various parties have been fighting each other. Although there have not been many examples of large-scale executions of surrendered soldiers, there have been far too many examples of forced conscription, plundering, and harming the people.

Previously, during the suppression of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Yellow Turban army was a rebel army, so they were able to execute tens of thousands of people and build mounds of corpses.

Since the beginning of the struggle between warlords, Dong Zhuo's side initially represented the imperial court. When dealing with the rebels in Guandong, they mainly used executions. After capturing the rebel prefects, they would not try to persuade them to surrender, but would instead boil them alive.

Now, amidst the chaos of conflict, apart from Cao Cao's large-scale massacre of surrendered soldiers, refugees, and disaster victims, the other parties have remained relatively restrained.

Logically speaking, the people of Huainan are currently rebels, and not executing their entire families is already a lenient treatment. How can we let these rebels go just because we are worried about their resentment?
Under this logic, it is perfectly normal for Lü Bu, as the supreme military commander of the empire, to issue an order to execute the rebels.

Before long, Yang Jun brought over the completed official document, which was personally stamped by Lü Bu.

After the riots in Xuchang, Lü Bu personally took care of his seals to prevent a repeat of the "empty seal incident".

After using the seal, Lü Bu saw that Yang Jun was in a daze and said, "Ji Cai, now that things have come to this, what good plan do I have? Even if Yang Ziqi were to be resurrected and Yang Wenxian were to be brought out of prison, along with Zhao Situ, Zhongshu Ling, Wei Jiangjun and others, they would all know what to do, but would they be willing to say it outright?"

Feeling utterly exhausted, Lü Bu lamented, "They all know that sheltering and treating the infected rebels will bring disaster and cause more people in Yan and Yu to suffer. It's like putting out a fire; they would never give the order to extinguish it. They would rather let the fire burn than pretend they don't know anything in order to protect their good reputation."

"Yes, it was my oversight."

Yang Jun composed himself and said, "If Cao Cao were here, would he hesitate and be in such a dilemma as the General? Nor would he remain aloof like the Grand Marshal."

Based on his understanding of Cao Cao's army, he knew that facing such a defenseless remnant, Cao Cao wouldn't even have the power to control the Qingzhou soldiers, let alone give them orders. He could only watch as the Qingzhou soldiers left their camp on their own to scramble for the heads of the remaining soldiers and various household items. Although Zhang Liao and Wei Yue at the front lines appeared cold-blooded, they were by no means cruel. They maintained control over the army and did not arbitrarily hunt heads, claim credit, or plunder the remaining soldiers' supplies.

Zhao Ji did the same, suppressing the soldiers' greed, resisting temptation, and voluntarily withdrawing from the battlefield.

Lu Bu was in a difficult position and issued the execution order.

If Cao Cao's army were to come, who among Cao Cao and his men would hesitate?
Lu Bu wasn't sure how sincere Yang Jun's words were, and he was quite tired at the moment: "That's enough. I'll discuss the Chen County battle with Yuan Si again tomorrow. Cao Cao can enter Chen State at any time by crossing the Honggou Canal. I don't want Yuan Si to fight Cao Cao, but if Cao Cao takes the initiative, I won't hold back against him either."

Yang Jun's expression relaxed considerably. Bearing the blood feud of his mentor, guiding Lü Bu or Zhao Ji's forces to eliminate Cao Cao was Yang Jun's responsibility and moral obligation as Bian Rang's disciple.

Now it all depends on whether Zhao Ji can seduce Cao Cao. If Cao Cao dares to make the first move, then everything will be much easier.

The key point is that Lü Bu has already softened his stance.

If Zhao Ji really had a chance to annihilate and severely damage Cao Cao in one battle, wouldn't he be able to find evidence after capturing so many prisoners?

After losing his army, even if Cao Cao survived, who would listen to his explanations?
But Yang Jun wasn't moved; as the saying goes, times change.

Previously, Ji Ling had defended half of the Ruyang military camp, and the situation on the Xuzhou battlefield was unclear.

Now that Ji Ling has abandoned his army and fled, the only remaining issue on the Chen battlefield is the encirclement and annihilation of Yuan Shu, greatly diminishing Cao Cao's importance.

On the eastern front, Liu Xun defected to the enemy, greatly increasing the influence of the imperial court.

Under these circumstances, Lü Bu no longer cared about Cao Cao's survival, nor did he care about Yuan Shao's attitude.

If Zhao Ji and Sun Ce's offensive was swift enough to capture Chen County before Cao Cao's army arrived... then Cao Cao could be charged with a series of serious crimes, including a perfunctory attitude towards protecting the country, a lack of loyalty to the people, disregard for the survival of the nation, and collusion with the treacherous minister Yuan Shu.

Lu Bu was also annoyed by Cao Cao. Only by killing Cao Cao could Zhang Yang take over Yan Province and use him as a shield to resist Yuan Shao's encroachment.

As for whether Zhao Ji and Sun Ce dared to besiege Cao Cao, Lü Bu could only wait for the outcome and would never intervene.

Meanwhile, in Zhao Ji's temporary camp on the western outskirts of Chen County.

Sun Ce handed over a letter written on an arrow: "The Grand Marshal's power is awe-inspiring. Yuan Shu requests permission to leave the city tomorrow to have a dialogue with the Grand Marshal on the battlefield."

Zhao Ji glanced at the contents of the arrow-shaped letter and, wanting to know more about Yuan Shu, asked, "What does Lord Sun think of Yuan Shu?"

"This man comes from a prestigious family and was renowned in Luodu when he was young. However, he is brave and reckless, and has a chivalrous air about him."

Sun Ce pondered for a moment, then continued, "It's just that Yuan Shu has suffered repeated defeats at the hands of Cao Cao, and his fighting spirit has long been lost. Now, under the intimidation of the Grand Marshal, in my humble opinion, this man may also be considering retreating."

"Since he is so eager to see me, I will keep my appointment tomorrow."

Zhao Ji flipped through the arrow-shaped letter written on the cloth strip, and suddenly changed the subject, saying, "Lord Sun should also prepare to break camp. If we can force Yuan Shu to abandon his army and flee tomorrow, then Lord Sun should be even more vigilant against Cao Cao's harassment. In my opinion, Cao Cao's army is mostly with him. If Lord Sun can rush to Qingzhou, go north to Lishan, and enjoy the advantage of Mount Tai, he can easily conquer the Qi region."

"Here."

Sun Ce readily agreed and immediately suggested, "To be honest, Grand Marshal, I am confident that I have done my best. Tomorrow, when I face Yuan Shu in battle, I would like to try to capture this villain alive."

"No rush, I want to see just how much courage he has first."

Zhao Ji reassured Sun Ce, who was the one who most wanted to take Yuan Shu's head, and who desperately needed to clear his name.

Sun Ce's desire for Yuan Shu's head seemed to be even stronger than his desire to defeat Cao Cao.

The former concerns the overall reputation of the Sun family father and son within the country, while defeating and severely damaging Cao Cao is not so urgent for Sun Ce.

Whether Sun Ce defeated Cao Cao here or in Qingzhou, it made no crucial difference.

On the contrary, if Sun Ce had defeated Cao Cao in Qingzhou, he would have been able to capture most of the prisoners.

Unlike here, what would Sun Ce gain by cooperating with Zhao Ji to annihilate Cao Cao?
If Zhao Ji were to annex Cao Cao, such a powerful ally would become a major threat to Sun Ce.

(End of this chapter)