The Zhou army killed very few people on the battlefield because the contact surface was too narrow; but the panicked and dense crowd was very terrifying, trampling their own people to death and pushing people into the river. There were many rivers in Shu, and most soldiers could swim, but it was difficult to swim in armor. The number of deaths was countless.
Order Dong Zunhui to stop the attack immediately, Guo Shao suddenly shouted.
The civil and military officials who had come to watch the battle were suddenly shocked. People looked at them sideways, thinking that Guo Shao had suddenly gone crazy. Even his brother Yang Biao said anxiously: "Brother, the Shu army is in disarray. Even gods can't command them now. We just need to take advantage of the situation and kill them, and we will win the battle."
Guo Shao didn't seem crazy, his expression was very serious: Why are we fighting? To kill people? If we have to kill people, we shouldn't kill them. He pointed at the chaotic Shu army in front of him and said, "When this area is incorporated into the territory of our Great Zhou, they will be no different from the people of the Great Zhou, all of them are good Han people. I am the commander of the Eastern Army, the messenger.
Victory was at hand, and the Prime Minister Wang Pu, who was supervising the army, became anxious: "Inspector Guo, don't act on impulse. On the battlefield, it's a fight to the death. There is no such thing as justice or humanity."
Shi Yanchao also snorted: Everyone says that Inspector Guo is too soft-hearted. He has fought so many battles but is still like this.
Guo Shao ignored Shi Yanchao and said to Wang Pu: "Of course I am not acting on impulse. If we stop attacking now, we can still win; and we can win more thoroughly and more gracefully." The Shu army's fortress was destroyed in one fell swoop, and the rear army was defeated as soon as they engaged in the battle. They no longer have morale and fighting spirit. What else can they do but surrender
Seeing that all the generals were looking at him, he looked back and said, "The Tiger Guards never reward people for their heads. Our goal is to win and win. To win, we must first try to reduce our own casualties. On this basis, we must also try to reduce enemy casualties in the civil war. Population is not a crop that grows once a year. If a head is cut off, it will not grow again. It is difficult to resolve a blood feud. Remember, we are fighting to unify the world and end the war, not to create tragedy."
Guo Shao was a military general, but even the civil servant Wang Pu was speechless to refute his words.
Wang Pu has seen a lot in the officialdom. Many people defend themselves with high-sounding reasons, and morality is the best article; no matter how wonderful he speaks, he may just use the words of the saints as a tool. Wang Pu is a veteran in the officialdom, but at this time he completely believes that Guo Shao's words are not hypocritical. Guo Shao should think so, because Wang Pu has known him for so long and knows him too well. He is not a bureaucrat. Time reveals a person's true heart. Of course, you can see what kind of person a person is after a long time.
Wang Pu looked at Guo Shao's young face. His eyes were clear and seemed to sparkle with the kind of sunshine that only young people who don't understand the world have, with hope, sunshine and love. But most of these people are shallow and ignorant. Is Guo Shao ignorant
No matter what, the military power is in Guo Shao's hands. The generalissimo of the world's army and the commander of the Eastern Army are in charge of the front camp of the palace. Unless someone mutinis first, Guo Shao can do whatever he wants. He said he wanted to be kind to the Shu army, so he should be kind. He said the world can be more sunny and he should do it according to his daydream. Then everyone has to accept it. Who told him that he was so powerful and centralized? And his approach was not unacceptable.
The Zhou heavy infantry at the front had stopped attacking, and the scene became even more bizarre. On this side, the Zhou army's heavily armored elite soldiers, armed to the teeth, stopped moving, and on the other side, the Shu army was in chaos, with people being trampled screaming, and cries for help were heard on the river.
The Zhou army generals shouted: "Our army commander, General Guo, has ordered a ban on killing. Please be patient and don't crowd. Save the drowning people."
The Shu army generals also shouted loudly, and finally the chaos was slightly calmed down. The Shu soldiers in front were not attacked and stopped running back, and the situation gradually improved. The soldiers of the two armies looked at each other face to face, and were speechless for a while.
Dong Zunhui stepped forward and shouted: The situation is hopeless for you. Tell your commander to surrender and I promise not to harm the lives of the Shu army soldiers.
Soon, the Shu general came up to ask for surrender. This made it faster to break through the Wu Gorge defense line, and the generals were convinced.
Li Dong, the general of the Shu army, knelt on one knee in front of Guo Shao, held up his sword and seal, and said: I am a guilty general who is incompetent and has led the three armies to defeat. I feel ashamed of the emperor's grace. You can kill me or chop me up as you please. I only ask that General Guo, the commander of the Great Zhou, will spare the lives of my soldiers.
Guo Shao took the things, helped him up and said: Don't worry, if I trick you into surrendering and then kill the prisoners, will the Shu army surrender with many strongholds behind
Perhaps Guo Shao's words were too true, so true that there was no reason to doubt him. Li Dong was slightly stunned and immediately moved. After a while, Li Dong could not help but say: The commander of Wushan County is my subordinate. If Marshal Guo believes me, let me send someone to take a letter back and ask him to surrender the city.
Very good. Guo Shao agreed immediately.
Shi Yanchao and the others looked at each other, not knowing whether to scold Li Dong for betraying too quickly or to praise him. In any case, Guo Shao's sincerity played a big role, and even a fool could see it.
So the Zhou army took the weapons of the surrendered soldiers and marched forward without bloodshed.
Guo Shao passed by the floating bridge that locked the river, and saw that the iron chain that locked the river boats was very solid, and it was obvious that it took a lot of effort. But now it was useless. After their commander gave the order, the Shu army above surrendered. As long as the iron chain floating bridge was dismantled, the Zhou army navy could pass.
The next morning, Dong Zunhui led the vanguard, and Guo Shao led the army to Wushan County. They saw the city gate was wide open, and the military officers and officials of the county knelt at the city gate to greet them respectfully.
Guo Shao rode to the city gate and looked up. A green and yellow embroidered tiger flag had been hung on the city wall.
An official in a round-collared robe kowtowed and said: "I heard that the king's army was coming, but I dared not meet them with weapons, so I sealed the treasury and waited for the king's army. The people of Wushan have heard of the reputation of General Guo, who often leads a benevolent and righteous army. We kneel here and lead the Wushan army and people to submit to the Great Zhou, praying that the general of the Zhou army will love the people and not kill innocent people indiscriminately."
Guo Shao turned around and said: Zuo You, you should issue a notice to pacify the people as soon as possible and strictly enforce military law.
After that, Guo Shao led his army into the city and ordered the vanguard to take advantage of the victory and march non-stop to Qutang Gorge. Qutang Gorge, the last line of defense of the Three Gorges, was the key to Shu State, Kuizhou.
It was March 20, 958, the fifth year of Xian De. The Eastern Army set out from Jiangling Prefecture on March 2. Just eighteen days later, they marched 660 miles to Wushan County.
Kuizhou of Shu Kingdom is now Fengjie of Chongqing, the base camp of Wang Zhaoyuan's Eastern Route Army. Wang Zhaoyuan didn't know that Wuxia had fallen yet, and he was cursing Han Baozheng, the commander of the Northern Route Army, as an idiot.
Not long ago, we received news that Han Baozheng, the leader of the northern army, had lost Hanzhong. The Zhou army commander Xiang Gong and another general named Cao Bin broke through Qingniling in two ways; Han Baozheng led an army of 20,000 to fight a decisive battle behind the city of Xingzhou, but was defeated. Han Baozheng escaped with his life, fled back to Hanzhong, abandoned the city and fled south with his troops, retreating to Jianmen Pass. In history, the person who guarded Jianmen was the incompetent general Zhao Chongtao; but Zhao Chongtao was unfortunately caught by Guo Shao in Qingniling a few years ago. Guo Shao blamed him for killing the nun who reported the news to the Zhou army, and had him beheaded.
Wang Zhaoyuan angrily spoke in public in the hall: Han Baozheng is a boastful man, but in fact he is full of nonsense. This is the character of the chief general recommended by Prime Minister Li Hao. Hanzhong is such a big place, but he lost it easily and only defended it for more than ten days. Damn, in more than ten days, even if the Zhou army could make a clean march, it might not be able to catch up.
The staff immediately agreed: It’s a pity that Hanzhong and Dongchuan are thousands of miles apart, and General Wang cannot take care of both routes.
After hearing this, Wang Zhaoyuan immediately shook the goose feather fan in his hand and sighed: "It has been more than 700 years since Zhuge Liang died. There is only one person who can be called Sleeping Dragon in Shu every 700 years. It is not easy to find another Sleeping Dragon to guard the north road. If there is another person as famous as me, the Great Shu will be as solid as a rock."
Jiedushi Gao Yanchou was stunned and speechless, but Wang Zhaoyuan's advisers echoed him seriously.
Gao Yanchou couldn't help but ask: How long can the Three Gorges defense line really hold off the elite troops of the Zhou army
General Gao, are you questioning my deployment? Wang Zhaoyuan sneered, Wuxi defense line Wushan Village is in an offensive and defensive situation. Wuxi defense line is like a copper wall on both land and water. Unless the Zhou army grows wings and flies from the sky, they can never break through my formation. This is defense; the flank Wushan Village is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It can harass the Zhou army at any time. This is attack. I have thought about Wu Gorge in three to five years, hahahaha
Suddenly, a young general rushed into the hall, knelt on one knee and said, "Deputy Envoy Wang, the county magistrate of Wushan County is about to surrender the whole city. The vanguard of the Zhou army is advancing by land and sea towards Qutang Gorge."
There was an uproar in the hall immediately, and Gao Yanchou stood up in shock.
Wang Zhaoyuan's face turned pale: You are not lying about military intelligence
The young general said in fear: "I dare not. I am from Wushan County. I was ordered by the town commander to report the news. I saw the Zhou army with my own eyes. This is the letter written by the town commander. Please read it, Deputy Envoy Wang."
Wang Zhaoyuan hurriedly tore it open and looked at it, his face was even more incredible: Wuxi Lidong was defeated and surrendered. Wushan Fort had been breached by Zhou army a few days ago and it had not been defended for a long time.
Wang Zhaoyuan was furious. The Zhou army was more than 600 miles from Jiangling Prefecture to Wushan County. Even if I didn't send any soldiers, it would take them more than ten days to travel, and they might not be able to reach Wushan County.
Gao Yanchou said hurriedly: This is not the time to ask for punishment. The road in Qutang Gorge is narrow and difficult to travel, and it is impossible to deploy troops. Wang Jianjun quickly ordered people to burn the plank roads along the way to stop the Zhou army.
Wang Zhaoyuan sat there unable to accept the reality, and kept cursing: "The mediocre generals have misled me. My deployment was flawless. How did they do it? Ah,
Gao Yanchou advised: "General Wang, don't blame yourself. In the art of war, if you can't defeat a real sword or a real gun, even the Wolong who appears once every seven hundred years can't do anything. Guo Shao destroyed the two Li's army of 100,000 last year, and it took only fifteen days to attack from a thousand miles away. The opponent is not an ordinary person, let's not underestimate the enemy.
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