Tiger Guards

Chapter 459 A Win-Win Solution
The last day of August, Whitehorse City.

Last year, when Cao Ren conquered Baima, he not only slaughtered the city of Baima, but also the surrounding villages, neighborhoods, and settlements.

Therefore, this narrow strip of land on the south bank of the Yellow River west of Puyang, stretching for over two hundred miles, is now uninhabited.

When Zhao Yun was stationed at Baima, he had already collected the corpses inside Baima City, dug a large pit to bury them outside the city, and even erected a monument.

When Cao Ang led his army westward, the stone tablet erected by Zhao Yun was destroyed by a passing Cao army unit.

However, there have always been two monuments erected, one buried deep underground and the other standing on the surface.

None of that matters anymore. Last night, the entire city of Baima was filled with the sound of weeping, both inside and outside the city. Even the howling river wind could not suppress the cries of Cao Cao's family members.

Gan Ning and Zhang Liao were eager to retreat, abandoning a large amount of unnecessary supplies.

They didn't even have time to count how many people were arrested, let alone investigate the amount of wealth seized.

Even when camping at night, the two sides were divided into east and west sections.

Only by driving these prisoners to the Suanzao camp could a detailed count be obtained.

As dawn broke, Gan Ning stood on the White Horse City wall and looked westward, where the embers of temporary camps were about to be extinguished.

He held a wheat cake in one hand, taking a bite now and then, and a bowl of horse meat soup boiled with dried ginger in the other, his face showing no joy.

He had no interest in bullying women and children, and felt no pleasure or sense of accomplishment from it.

The retreat was too hasty; many prisoners didn't even have time to pack up the food and valuables they had brought with them when they fled.

They simply urged the prisoners to set up carts; those with livestock used them to pull, and those without used their own strength to push.

Younger children sit in the car, while older children walk.

Fearing that Yuan's troops from Liyang would cross the river and pursue them, they were encouraged by whips and sticks along the way, and only managed to reach the vicinity of Baima City for the night.

There were naturally prisoners who tried to escape in the dark at night, but these people had already been beheaded, their headless bodies piled up, their heads loaded onto carts and pulled by captured animals.

After finishing a piece of wheat cake, Gan Ning looked down at the bits of horse meat and dried ginger at the bottom of the bowl, shook the bowl, drank it all in one gulp, and handed the bowl to a guard: "It's time to set off. Don't keep the Grand Marshal waiting."

Xiahou Lan, the military officer who was sitting by the fire behind him, stood up and glanced at the scene outside the city: "The prisoners are frightened and are now suffering from hunger and cold. If we urge them to march quickly, I'm afraid they will not be able to hold on."

"How could they not be frightened when their fathers and brothers slaughtered the white horse?"

Gan Ning countered, saying, "My army only has half a day's worth of rations left. Although we have captured some rice and millet, we can only cook them when we set up camp at night. If we give them to them, what will our officers, soldiers, and horses eat? The more pitiful they are, the better. The more they pass through Yan County, the more they can disrupt the enemy's morale."

Xiahou Lan remained silent for a moment, then said, "I'm afraid it might backfire."

"Let them rebel then, we can't worry about anything else. I can't let the officers and soldiers travel on an empty stomach."

After saying this, Gan Ning picked up his helmet and put it on. His ships were swept away by the overflowing Yellow River, and a lot of prepared dry rations were also washed away with the ships, which was a great loss.

Although the captured millet was much more than the dry rations, with war imminent, where would there be so much spare time to pound the rice?

Fortunately, there were still some dry rations he had left in Baimajin, so he didn't go hungry last night.

In such an environment, even if prisoners were willing to cooperate and help you pound rice, it would be difficult to find enough stone mortars and pestle tools.

Seeing this, Xiahou Lan quickly followed and said to Gan Ning from behind, "They have already been captured by our army. If they die from their injuries or illnesses, it will diminish the merits that the officers and soldiers deserve. If they are seriously injured or ill after being handed over to the Grand Marshal, it will be the Grand Marshal who will suffer the loss."

Gan Ning stopped and turned to examine Xiahou Lan: "What does the military commander mean?"

"Give them some hope; they still have children to raise."

Xiahou Lan said calmly, "What I mean is to tell them that after passing Yan County, the Grand Marshal will prepare rice porridge so that they can have enough to eat."

"Does the Grand Marshal have such leisure time?"

Gan Ning didn't believe it, but felt that it was inappropriate to say it that way, so he composed himself and said, "As the military commander knows, I am a rough man and have always been straightforward. What I mean is that the Grand Marshal is busy with military affairs, how could he have the energy to take care of prisoners?"

"If we can win over the enemy's morale, based on my understanding of the Grand Marshal, he will not refuse."

Xiahou Lan quickened his pace and said, "I also request Xingba to send a military dispatch with me, asking the Grand Marshal to set up cooking stoves outside Yan County to boil rice porridge. Once the women and children arrive, immediately distribute the porridge. By demonstrating such benevolence and compassion, the enemy army will collapse without a fight!"

"The military commander is indeed quite resourceful; I have been disrespectful to him."

Gan Ning composed himself, formally bowed to Xiahou Lan in apology, and then said, "Let's not delay, shall we both sign and publish the book now?"

"good."

Xiahou Lan also smiled, went to get a pen and ink, and wrote the military dispatch together with Gan Ning.

To the east of Baima City was Zhang Liao's garrison area.

Zhang Liao didn't have so many thoughts. He had long been accustomed to wandering with Lü Bu and was also aware of the resilience of Cao Cao's army.

These Cao army families who migrated to Puyang were generally from Liangpei, and were able to move from Yuzhou to eastern Yanzhou, and then to Puyang in central China.

Therefore, this was a family that excelled at migration and possessed a relatively resilient temperament. In chaotic times, how many delicate and frail individuals were there among the families of soldiers?
The incessant crying now is mostly out of fear.

They knew all too well the killings their fathers, brothers, and husbands had committed outside their homes, and now they cried and wailed all the way, feeling as if they were about to die.

Xiahou Lan still had compassion for these captured family members, so he came up with a way to use them and save their lives.

But Zhang Liao's heart was already as hard as stone, and he did not want to meddle with Grand Marshal Zhao by plundering more than 50,000 prisoners, thus ruining the Grand Marshal's goodwill.

Even if Zhang Liao had thought of a strategy to utilize these prisoners, he would not express it to Zhao Ji.

This suggests an arrogance stemming from a desire to coerce Zhao, the Grand Marshal, into coercing him into cooperation.

Having served Lü Bu for so long, Zhang Liao knew very well how to avoid trouble.

To meet them, Zhao Ji sent out 3,000 cavalry ahead at dawn.

Meanwhile, Yu Fan and Wu Fan, who had crossed the river at Guandu, rode north at full speed and entered Zhao Ji's Suanzao camp.

Yu Fan presented Lü Bu's handwritten letter, and Zhao Ji read it without showing any emotion.

He remained calm and felt no guilt, nor did he say that he had caused the epidemic by flooding Ji Ling.

Without seeds, nothing can grow from just soil and water.

It was the war that caused so many deaths, which led to a rapid deterioration of the living environment. Hunger and fatigue lowered the average resistance of the population, and finally, disease broke through the body's resistance.

The large-scale deaths, the corpses floating in the flood, the hot and humid environment, the collapse and chaos of social order, and the large number of people wandering aimlessly, all contributed to the current epidemic in Huainan.

Given the current population density, even if the Huainan epidemic had multiple sources due to flooding and humid conditions, it would not have spread so fiercely without war, mobilization, or movement of people.

War itself is a highly efficient use of human resources; if one group of people becomes infected, it will naturally affect a large number of others.

The disbandment or collapse of the army can be seen as sowing seeds in all directions, with one outbreak after another, causing cross-infection.

Zhao Ji put down Lü Bu's letter expressionlessly, looked down at his hand, and then at Yu Fan, who looked tired but had a good complexion: "I deeply sympathize with the situation in Huainan. Although I am not very knowledgeable about epidemics, I know that they will spread like wildfire. Now that the disaster has started in Huainan, I imagine that soon millions of officials and people in Huaibei, the Central Plains, Qing and Xu provinces, and the counties of Jiangdong will also suffer from the devastation of floods and fires."

Yu Fan composed himself, his expression grave: "Is there any way to extinguish the fire?"

"Since you can understand, why ask me?"

Zhao Ji stared straight at Yu Fan without a smile, then said indifferently, "Perhaps I should kill you all right now and burn you to ashes."

Upon hearing this, Yu Fan could only sigh deeply; such a choice was far too painful.

Let alone him, even Lü Bu would rather have his army decimated than dare to take drastic measures to kill the sick officers and soldiers in his army, which might be less than 10% or even 50%.

Whoever proposes this solution will perish, and whoever implements it will suffer an even more devastating fate.

By turning a blind eye and watching the large-scale deaths of soldiers, the morale of the army remains intact, and there is still the possibility of recruiting new soldiers and expanding the army in the future.

But if we really take drastic measures against the sick officers and soldiers, the morale of the army will collapse, and then it will be completely over.

How could Zhao Ji possibly give Lü Bu a pretext to launch an internal "disease-removing and evil-eliminating" campaign?

If things are accomplished, many negative consequences will befall Zhao Ji; if he harbors a侥幸 mentality and fails to kill all the evil spirits during the "disease-eliminating and evil-removing" process, even more negative consequences will befall Zhao Ji.

What can Zhao Ji do?
He could do nothing but watch as Lü Bu and Yu Fan pretended to be stupid.

Although Yu Fan was straightforward, he was actually quite discerning about the situation. A man who spoke without considering the context would have died long ago and wouldn't be alive today.

This topic was too heavy. He agreed with Zhao Ji's implied strategy, but he dared not say it aloud, not even to Lü Bu in private.

If this responsibility weighs on you and you die, but you save hundreds of thousands of people, it's not a loss.

However, if the world slanders and ruins one's reputation, it will damage the family's honor, making future generations unable to hold their heads high, and even leading to them being unable to find wives and having no descendants.

After a moment of silence, Yu Fan bowed and said, "I request that the Grand Marshal recruit skilled physicians from among the troops to relieve the General's predicament."

“This is a matter of justice, and I, Zhao, have an inescapable responsibility to attend to it.”

Zhao Ji turned to look at Zhang Hong: "Bring me the roster of military doctors, both senior and junior. I will select twenty people to go to Huainan."

"Here."

Zhang Hong stood up solemnly; he disliked this somber topic.

Everyone knows what to do, but no one dares to carry it out.

Even Zhao Ji sensed something was amiss and voluntarily withdrew from the campaign against Yuan Shikai.

Even Zhang Liao noticed it and naturally shifted his position to follow Zhao Ji.

Even if Zhang Liao realized it and actively avoided it, he wouldn't admit it... The potential danger of this matter was too great, and no one dared to admit it.

(End of this chapter)