Chapter 819: Changes in the attitude of the captives after the public trial.
In the three days after the landing day, the entire huge Han army was operating in an orderly and rapid manner.
After two days of careful feeding and recovery training, the tens of thousands of war horses carried by the Han army this time have regained their combat capability. The elite main force of the Xiaoqi Guards has finally come in handy, which made the commanders of various guards all breathe a sigh of relief. You know, when the entire war was deduced, the Xiaoqi Guards were the only force that could move quickly and were of great strategic significance.
In addition, regarding the public trial and execution of the leaders of the prisoners of war, after a brutal punishment, Qiyun and several confidants of the same tribe, as well as several leaders of the remnants of Maodun, confessed everything they knew, even the time and place of Maodun's final death, and the location of the small tribe where they had hidden.
This was the first time that the Han tribe received the specific news of Maodun's death. Although there were claims that Maodun was dead before, there was no sign of him alive or dead, and there was no relevant personnel to prove it, so the Han tribe officials never believed that Maodun was really dead, and the secret search never stopped.
However, once the news of Maodun's death broke out from his former trusted subordinates, Xue Tu quickly informed Luo Chong of this important information, as well as You Zhi, the intelligence chief of the Han tribe who had been active in the three counties of Honghu and the commander of the Jinwu Guard, and asked You Zhi to immediately assist in the investigation and confirm the authenticity of the news. The interrogation on the part of the Yun side was also very smooth. This old guy was not as strong as the grassland people. Just letting him and several trusted members of the same tribe watch the interrogation process scared several people to pee their pants. When it was their turn, they didn't even have time to torture them, and several people told everything they knew.
These intelligence included the actions of the Xin tribe colluding with the grassland Maodun forces to attack and defend the Han tribe. The main record was the first time that the Xin tribe secretly formed a force to attack the Kaiyuan County of the Han tribe with Maodun, and the fact that the Xin leader secretly had people make a large number of weapons and military equipment to provide to the Maodun coalition.
Because Elder Qi mastered all the projects related to weapon making in the Xin tribe, this statement from the actual patriarch of the Qi clan was very convincing.
During the public trial on the third day, Xue Qingyao called all the people around him who could be called, and under the collective gaze of the more than 3,000 prisoners of war, Xue Qingyao re-asked the content of the previous interrogation, and Qiyun answered all of them one by one.
Under the strong oppression and threat of the Han tribe, he did not dare to play any tricks at all, and finally pleaded guilty to all the charges against the Han tribe. Several other confidants who were close to Qiyun and knew some details also made auxiliary explanations. Finally, with the ironclad evidence confirmed by several grassland people, the local people finally believed the words in the previous public security notice.
The Han tribe was really forced to fight back after being attacked by the Xin tribe. As for why the Han tribe had to wait for more than half a year to take revenge, Xue Qingyao's answer was that there were too many things to prepare for mobilizing such a huge force. In fact, after the Xin tribe attacked Kaiyuan County, the Han tribe investigated the truth of the matter and began to prepare for revenge. It took more than half a year to implement it.
Of course, this is just Xue Qingyao's rhetoric, but it can't be completely wrong, because the Han tribe has been preparing for the past six months because of the establishment of six new guards.
This unprecedented public trial was undoubtedly successful and achieved the pre-planned political purpose, allowing the Han tribe to really have a legitimate reason for the war, which provided a good political foundation for the subsequent takeover of the Han tribe.
After the public trial, Xue Tu personally represented the highest representative of the Han tribe army and ordered the beheading of all the dozen people on trial with the axe given by the leader to represent the military power.
The scene was bloody, cruel, horrifying, and unprecedented in the world. The local people had never seen such a thing as chopping a person's head off the neck. Those who watched the execution immediately labeled the Han tribe's army as dangerous and terrible.
However, Xue Tu and Xue Qingyao gave a speech to calm the people, and once again suppressed the uneasiness in the hearts of the indigenous people and prisoners of war.
"My fellow villagers, and the captured prisoners, the leader of our Han tribe is unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness. When he knew that the people of his tribe were brutally killed by the Xin tribe, he immediately ordered us to lead the army to revenge, but the leader did not want to commit murder in vain, and he also told us many times before leaving.
The leader said that he believed that the people and soldiers of Takeshima were innocent. You were just deceived and fooled by Commander Xin and his minions. The Xin tribe was wrong, but the fault was not yours, but the high-level decision makers.
Therefore, the leader said that in this battle, only the main culprits will be punished, and the people who do not know the truth will not be pursued. In the future, the chief also asked us to convey a message to the elders and villagers on his behalf: it is meaningless to go against the Han tribe. The elders and villagers who dare to harm the soldiers and civilians of the Han tribe will eventually perish.
I hope that the elders and villagers can judge the situation and see the future clearly, and who is capable of bringing you a better life.
I hope that all the elders and fellow villagers can actively stop all support for the Xin tribe leaders, such as sending food, or letting their relatives join the army and work for the Xin tribe leaders. If such behavior is discovered by the Han army, we will treat all the relevant personnel as collaborators. Therefore
, I appeal to you here, if there are people in your family who have joined the army for the Xin tribe, you should find a way to find your relatives as soon as possible. We, the Han army, will not pursue soldiers who voluntarily return home before the battle. If the Xin tribe leaders send people to you to collect and transport food, you can first delay them. , and then sent someone to report to our garrison.
If this happens, our Han tribe will not only not punish, but also reward.
I hope that all the elders and villagers present today can strictly abide by the requirements we put forward today, and inform the people around you as soon as possible, so as to leave a way out for their relatives who may serve in the Xin tribe army. I also hope that all the elders and villagers can take it seriously. "
Xue Tu and Xue Qingyao took turns to speak, and then the military Sima, soldiers and translators at all levels repeated and conveyed them. Finally, all the people and prisoners of war heard these words, which also touched them greatly.
The people are most concerned about their future life and their own practical interests, while the prisoners of war are more direct. They care about their own life and death. When they learned that they would not be executed and had the hope of being free and becoming an ordinary person, the prisoners of war thought differently.
They began to become less negative and resistant, and began to be willing to work hard to gain freedom and strive to become an ordinary citizen as soon as possible.
Labor reform and then going home became their most urgent wish.
At this time, the prisoners of war began to become active.
Someone took the initiative to ask the Han army officer and translator beside him, "Han envoy, what do you mean by labor reform and contribution to Takeshima? When can we go home?"
The "ideological specialists" who had attended the meeting immediately replied, "Labor reform means working, and contributing to Zhudao means working for your hometown.
Our Han tribe wants to promote rice planting on Zhudao, which requires the transformation of rivers and digging ditches. These are what you have to do, as well as paving roads, building bridges, and mining. In short, it is all for the construction of your hometown.
It may take several years, at least five years, and then according to your performance, we will decide who among you will be released home. Those who perform well and work actively will be released first." As
soon as these words came out, the captives immediately started to chatter. You have to know that they are all adults in their teens and twenties. In this era when the average age is not high, five years is not a short time. Some older people suddenly felt that their entire lives had lost hope.
Not to mention whether they are sick or injured, even if they survive five years, what can they do when they go home in the remaining short life span?
It doesn't matter to young teenagers, some of them are only fourteen or fifteen, and in five years they will be twenty, which is the best time of their prime. But those who are eighteen or nineteen, or even over twenty, don't feel so good about it.
Someone immediately asked again, "Han envoy, during these five years of labor reform, can we go home and visit?"
It seemed that he felt that as a captive, it seemed a bit too much to ask such a request, and the Han tribe would not agree, so he quickly lowered his request and asked again, "Even if we can't go home, it would be okay if our women and children can come to see us, is this okay?"
Such a request or policy on prisoners had never been mentioned in the previous meetings, so the translator thought for a while before answering seriously, "I can't answer you this question because I can't make a decision, but you can tell me any request you have, and I will truthfully reflect your needs to the superiors. Whether your request can be met at that time depends on what the superiors mean.
But I can tell you one thing first, the decision of the superiors will also depend on your attitude. If you have a good attitude and are actively reformed, I will be more confident when I convey your request to the superiors on your behalf. If you don't work hard all day and annoy the superiors, of course the superiors will not spend any time to provide welfare benefits for you prisoners. I hope you can understand this yourself, do you understand?"
"Understand, we will work hard. We also hope that the chief can convey what we just said. Five years is too long. If we can't contact our families, we may never see them again." A group of older prisoners immediately expressed their opinions.
"Of course, our Han army is a benevolent army. If it weren't for your Xin tribe attacking our city first and killing our soldiers and civilians, we wouldn't have come all the way here. Don't worry, as long as you perform well, I will try my best to get better treatment for you from my superiors." The translator said to the prisoners again.
"Yes, yes, we will perform well." A group of prisoners nodded like chickens pecking at rice.
Some people even directly revealed that they knew someone from other corps of the Xin tribe, and said that they were willing to contact them on their behalf and persuade them to surrender voluntarily and not to go against the Han tribe. They only hoped that the Han tribe would let them go, not treat them as prisoners, or at least not kill them, etc.
This important information was also quickly responded to by the grassroots translators and the young Sima. The prisoners of war were willing to instigate other Xin tribes' corps for the Han tribe. This was something that Xue Tu and Xue Qingyao had not expected. The two also quickly discussed the feasibility of this situation.
The Xin tribe's corps had a strong racial concept, because several corps were basically divided and managed based on clans as the main units. The group they captured now was mainly composed of the Qi clan and the grassland people, and the other corps were mainly composed of other clans. Letting this group of prisoners of war to instigate another clan's corps should not be very effective, and there is also the risk of exposing their own military operations in advance, so it is not worth operating.
But it is good to have hope after all. If the conditions are really ripe and the Han tribe is sure to win, it is really possible to send people to try it, but don't expect to win the battle by this. All victories must be based on the absolute strength of one's own side.
In the next few days, after the reconnaissance of the scouts and the analysis of the Sima, the permanent garrisons of the three guards, Xiaoqiwei, Yingyangwei, and Baotaowei, were found. Then Xuetu ordered the three guards to move to the garrisons immediately, accompanied by the prisoners of war assigned to them.
The situation in the rear gradually stabilized, and batches of supplies and food were quickly transported to the front line during this time. The forces of the other guards were assembled again. With soldiers, food and weapons in hand, Xuetu immediately looked at the map and began to formulate the next battle plan based on the intelligence collected by the scouts in the past few days.
With the entry of Baotao, Yingyang, and Xiaoqi guards, the Han tribe has actually gained actual control over three of the six counties in Zhudao. The next step is naturally to attack Xianfeng County and Guanhai County to further win the second stage of the war. In the end, Feixiongwei and Hubenwei will strangle the remnants of the Xin tribe in Jiahai County.
Therefore, the military plan for attacking Guanhai County and Xianfeng County was quickly determined in the discussion of the military leaders.
On the other side, in Hanyang County, Luo Chong finally received the long-awaited front-line war report. Although he completely delegated the power of this war to Xue Tu to command, he was inevitably worried. He counted the days every day to see when the army would land, when he could receive the war report from the front, whether the battle situation on the front would go smoothly, etc.
But when Luo Chong finally saw the report from the front-line war report, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Within 24 hours of landing, he won the first battle, and also achieved a record of no casualties, annihilating two enemy corps of 4,000 people, and capturing more than 3,000 people alive. This is enough to show that he did not make a mistake in the first place. The leadership team composed of Xue Tu and Xue Qingyao not only completed their strategic requirements, but also exceeded the task.
Capturing more than 3,000 prisoners of war alive as labor is the most eye-catching part of their performance.
Because these people know very well that in the eyes of his leader, the population is too scarce.
(End of this chapter)
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