novelAbuy Chapter 28 Defeated Soldiers
Chapter 28 Defeated Soldiers
Liu Ying, mounted on his horse, instructed, "I only have two hundred cavalrymen with me, so I'll have to trouble you all to serve as your hundred generals. Each of you should select one hundred of the best archers and horsemen to accompany me on this journey."
"Yes, sir," Li Bi and Luo Jia replied in unison.
The two men had been cavalrymen in the Han army for some time and knew all 240-plus cavalrymen well. They knew exactly who was good at horsemanship and who was not. They quickly made their selection.
Two hundred cavalrymen, their organization disrupted, needed to be reorganized. With the assistance of Li Bi and Luo Jia, Liu Ying quickly completed the reorganization. Below the hundred generals were platoons, each led by a platoon leader of fifty men, assisted by a deputy platoon leader. Below the platoons were squads, each consisting of ten men, led by a squad leader. Below the squads were corps, led by a corps leader.
However, the squad leader himself also serves as a sergeant, so each squad has one squad leader and one sergeant.
Once the group was assembled, Liu Ying rode his warhorse and led two hundred men on their journey.
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More than ten defeated soldiers, dressed in tattered red uniforms, looked like beggars.
They looked exhausted, sitting on the ground, panting heavily.
"We fled all the way from Pengcheng to Yuxian, a journey of over a thousand or two thousand li. We were exhausted."
"Xiang's pursuers are truly despicable; they relentlessly chased after us, and we almost caught up with them several times."
"I'm so lucky to have escaped."
The 30,000 Chu troops that Xiang Yu brought back from Qi were all elite cavalrymen, and they had a clear advantage in pursuing these defeated soldiers. It was no easy feat for these defeated soldiers to escape all the way from Pengcheng to Yuxian.
Deserved.
The rapid hoofbeats rang out, like thunder.
"Still not giving up, Xiang Yu?"
"We're almost two thousand miles away, and they're still chasing us?"
These defeated soldiers, having been relentlessly pursued by Xiang Yu's cavalry, were now like frightened birds. At the sound of hooves, they would leap up and flee in terror. To survive, they exerted every ounce of strength they had, running as fast as the wind.
However, two legs can't outrun four legs, and they were quickly surrounded.
"Han army?"
"Are they really Han soldiers?"
"We've finally found the Han army."
The defeated soldiers, seeing the cavalrymen dressed in red uniforms and carrying flags bearing the character "Han," were overjoyed. They jumped and cheered, "Han army! We are the Han army!"
Liu Ying, riding his warhorse, led his cavalry to surround them, demanding, "Did you massacre hundreds of civilians?"
"Whose baby is this? Is he/she weaned yet?"
"How dare this little brat question us? He's got some nerve!"
The defeated soldiers didn't take Liu Ying seriously and started mocking him.
clap clap.
Li Bi and Luo Jia's whips rained down on him like raindrops, showing no mercy and using tremendous force. Each lash left a deep, bloody welt.
The defeated soldiers were whipped so badly they were scattered like chickens and dogs, screaming in agony, and had no choice but to confess: "Which people are you asking about?"
"You killed quite a few?" Liu Ying exclaimed in surprise.
The sight of hundreds of innocent civilians' corpses horrified him. Judging from the defeated soldiers' tone, they didn't even remember where the civilians came from, indicating that many had been killed.
"It's not that we want to kill them, it's just that they're such scoundrels!"
"Good! We're just taking some things, and they're already fighting us to the death. We had no choice."
The defeated soldiers didn't care at all, as if they were the victims.
"You loot, but the people protect their property. What's wrong with that?" Liu Ying questioned.
"Looting? We were relentlessly pursued by the Xiang bandits since Pengcheng. We lacked food and clothing, so it was only natural for us to take something from the people."
"It is their honor that we are able to patronize them."
Defeated soldiers do not accept blame.
"There are hundreds of civilian corpses there, still warm to the touch. Some of them were stabbed dozens of times. This is torture and murder! Some women were even violated by you! And there are children and infants. What crime have they committed?" Liu Ying asked in a deep voice, his face grim.
"What's wrong? You still want to seek justice for them?"
"Are you out of your mind? These days, who cares about the common people?"
"In chaotic times, ordinary people are like weeds, killed at will."
The defeated soldiers didn't take it seriously at all.
"You have lost all conscience and deserve to be executed!" Liu Ying waved his right hand.
Li Bi and Luo Jia led their cavalry, preparing to charge.
Once the battle begins, the defeated soldiers are no match for them, and they become extremely anxious.
"We are Han soldiers, and you are Han soldiers too, why are you killing us?"
"The Han army will not kill Han soldiers."
The defeated soldiers were terrified.
"It's a disgrace for the Han army to have scum like you!" Liu Ying said, pursing his lips.
Li Bi led his cavalry forward and used his longsword to behead a defeated soldier. Blood splattered as the head rolled off, and the headless corpse fell to the ground.
Soon, more than ten defeated soldiers were killed. Liu Ying ordered his men to cut off their heads and led his men back. Liu Bang had already ordered his men to dig pits and bury the bodies. Liu Ying arranged the heads, inserted grass as incense, and offered a sacrifice.
Then, he led his cavalry and set off again.
~~~~~~
"What? What? Just because we killed some common people, you want to kill us?"
"The common people are like weeds, who cares about them? You want to avenge them? Have you lost your mind?"
"What a fool! He actually dares to try and avenge the common people?"
Another group of defeated soldiers who had massacred civilians were surrounded by Liu Ying. Upon hearing Liu Ying's verdict against them, they were very dissatisfied.
"You have committed arson, murder, looting, and plunder; you have insulted women and slaughtered infants. Your crimes are unforgivable and you deserve to die a thousand deaths!" Liu Ying said menacingly.
"You think I'm afraid? We're heroes who swam all the way from the Sui River!"
"Do you know how many people died in the Sui River? Hundreds of thousands! The corpses piled up layer upon layer, like mountains, and the Sui River stopped flowing."
"We crawled out of piles of corpses, why would we be afraid of you?"
"Let's fight him."
The defeated soldiers, their ferocity flaring and murderous intent surging, gripped their swords tightly, ready to fight to the death.
Although Xiang Yu won a great victory in the Battle of Pengcheng, defeating Liu Bang's 560,000-strong army, he only had 30,000 elite cavalry, which was a serious shortage of troops. If he really wanted to kill, he couldn't kill many.
Therefore, Xiang Yu drove a large number of Han soldiers into the Sui River, and hundreds of thousands of Han soldiers drowned in the Sui River, their bodies piled up one after another, causing the Sui River to stop flowing.
This was the place in the Battle of Pengcheng where the Han army suffered the most casualties.
Of the Han soldiers driven into the Sui River, only a very few lucky ones or those with good swimming skills escaped with their lives.
These defeated soldiers had survived the most brutal battles, which twisted their minds. They slaughtered civilians along the way, and countless people died at their hands.
Liu Ying waved his right hand, and Li Bi and Luo Jia led their cavalry in a charge. These defeated soldiers were fierce, fighting to the death like vicious trapped beasts. However, they were too few in number, and their fate was already sealed.
~~~~~~
"You think I'm afraid of you?"
"We've crawled out of piles of corpses; what haven't we seen?"
"How can you blame us? You should blame that scoundrel Liu Bang. His army of 560,000 couldn't defeat Xiang Yu's 30,000 men, yet he dared to call himself King of Han. He was nothing but a bandit!"
"Excellent! It's all Liu Bang's fault! If he hadn't let his guard down and given Xiang Yu an opportunity, would we have been defeated?"
"If you've got the guts, go and kill that treacherous Liu Bang."
Another group of defeated soldiers who had slaughtered civilians were surrounded and killed. They were extremely brutal and cursed Liu Bang as a scoundrel. They suffered a great defeat at Pengcheng.
~~~~~~
"It's the Han army! It's the Han army!"
"We're saved! We've finally encountered the Han army!"
Liu Ying led his cavalry in pursuit of many defeated soldiers who had slaughtered civilians. They caught up with another group of defeated soldiers, a small number, only about a hundred. They were overjoyed to see Liu Ying and his men.
"Have you robbed any civilians?" Liu Ying demanded.
"Robbery? How can you put it? We did take things from the people, otherwise we would have starved to death. It was not our intention."
"good!"
The defeated soldiers offered their explanations.
"Have you slaughtered any civilians?" Liu Ying demanded again.
"Slaughtering civilians? We're not animals, how could we do such a thing?"
"If someone tries to stop us, we'll at most knock them to the ground; we've never killed a single person."
The defeated soldiers landed with a resounding thud.
"Have you insulted any women?" Liu Ying asked again.
"Insulting a woman? How ridiculous! We're exhausted and hungry from being hunted down, we don't have the energy for such things."
"We're only thinking about escaping; we dare not cause any trouble."
The defeated soldiers found Liu Ying's question ridiculous.
This was the first group of defeated soldiers Liu Ying encountered who hadn't massacred civilians. Somewhat surprised, he asked, "What's your name?"
The leader of the defeated soldiers was a middle-aged man, who also led the group. He quickly said, "My name is Gu."
"Yes, right? You and the others wait here. The King of Han's army is right behind us." These defeated soldiers haven't committed any major atrocities, so we can regroup them, Liu Ying said.