Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 144: If You Can't Save Them, Then Kill Them
Killing surrendered soldiers and massacring civilians are two very taboo things in war.

Killing those who surrender will lose the trust of the world. Although you may gain temporary benefits, people will all fear your violence and there will be no long-term peace. You will definitely be punished by heaven.

Those who slaughter the people and harm the innocent may gain power for a while, but as resentment accumulates, they cannot escape the retribution of heaven and the disaster of their descendants.

Among those who killed surrendered soldiers, Bai Qi was the most famous. Among those who massacred civilians, Xiang Yu was the worst. Both men did not have a good end.

It’s just that few people can match the achievements of these two people, which to a certain extent has reversed the views and evaluations of them by later generations.

Wu Jing's achievements were not even worthy of carrying the shoes of Bai and Xiang. Therefore, he urgently needed to find a reasonable explanation for his actions of abducting people and attacking the city, otherwise his reputation would not only be infamous now, but also in the history books.

Those who achieve great things do not care about trivial matters; those who have great ambitions may be involved in evil.

Therefore, those who do evil do not do so out of their own will, but are forced to do so by circumstances.

In Wu Jing's view, as long as he followed the established plan and conquered Wujun and Kuaiji, he would have the achievement in hand and the winner would be the king. The previous evil deeds would naturally be "careless", "or involving evil" and "not his original intention, but done out of necessity".

He pondered for a moment, looked around at the generals, and said slowly: "Your Majesty must save them."

When the generals saw that he finally spoke, they all echoed him.

Seeing this, Wu Jing's suppressed anger surged again. He said in a deep voice, "Although Jun Li has been defeated, Wang Lang is gathering a large army to meet Yan Yi in Qiantang. This presents a godsend opportunity. As long as our army advances quickly to Wucheng, taking advantage of the Yan family's open rear, we can first capture Rencheng and cut off Yan Yi's retreat. Then, we can send a force to intercept Xu Gong's reinforcements and quickly capture Wucheng. The entire area a hundred miles southwest of Wu County will fall into our hands. With the Yan family losing their foundation, Xu Gong's downfall will be imminent. Then, our army will take control of Wu and Danyang counties, march south, pacify Kuaiji, and secure the overall situation in Jiangdong."

After saying this, he closed his eyes slightly and said no more.

The generals looked at each other, all of them somewhat unsure of Wu Jing's attitude. You talk about saving Zhu Zhi one moment and attacking Wujun the next. You've been talking for a long time. What exactly do you want to do? Can you just tell me the truth?

Only Sun Ben, who had worked with Wu Jing for a long time, understood his hidden meaning.

Wu Jing only said that he wanted to save Zhu Zhi, but did not say how to save him. Instead, he talked about everything about attacking Wujun. His attitude was self-evident.

Sun Ben strongly agreed with Wu Jing's attitude. Abandoning Zhu Zhi was the only way to serve the Sun family's interests. A carefully planned war could never be stopped just because of someone's life or death.

Although Zhu Zhi was defeated, Wang Lang replaced his role in the short term, and the situation was still very favorable for his army.

Sun Ben coughed lightly, attracting the attention of all the generals.

Like Wu Jing, he didn't dare to openly express his intention to abandon Zhu Zhi. He only said cryptically, "Since our army has reached Guzhang, we might as well capture Guzhang first. This move should not cross Yan Yi's bottom line. At the same time, we should immediately send an envoy to discuss with Yan Yi about rescuing Captain Zhu."

Upon hearing this, Xu Kun and Huang Gai looked at each other and expressed their agreement. The other generals naturally had no objections and echoed his opinion one after another.

After the military meeting, Wu Jing left Sun Ben alone and said meaningfully, "Boyang, I am old and often feel powerless in military affairs. From now on, I will rely on you to assist Bofu."

Sun Ben's eyelids twitched, and he quickly said, "Uncle is still in his prime, how can you say he is old? My nephew is not very knowledgeable and needs to listen to your teachings from time to time."

Wu Jing sighed slightly and changed the subject, "After taking Guzhang, what are your plans for the next step?"

Sun Ben suddenly felt a headache. After conquering Guzhang, he would have to face Zhu Zhi head-on. He leaned forward, bowed, and said respectfully, "My nephew is dull, and I beg for your guidance, uncle." A vein bulged on Wu Jing's forehead. He said helplessly, "There's no one here. Why don't we write down our thoughts on paper? Heaven and earth know, you and I know, and we must not let anyone know."

Sun Ben nodded slightly, and the two of them took out paper and pen and started writing on the paper.

After they finished writing, they looked at each other and saw that Wu Jing had written "If you fail to save him, you will be killed", while Sun Ben had written "If you fail to save him, you can be killed".

The two looked at each other and saw a hint of helplessness and solemnity in each other's eyes.

Sun Ben quickly fetched a flint, created a flame, and ignited the two sheets of paper.
Two hours later, in Shanyin County, Kuaiji, three hundred miles away, the night was deep and covered the earth.

The hearing hall in the front yard of Shanyinguan Temple was brightly lit, as bright as day.

Dozens of oil lamps were lit on the copper lampstands in the four corners of the main room. The flames on the wicks were jumping continuously, and the emitted firelight reflected on Zhou Xin and Shang Sheng's faces full of anxiety and shame. There was silence all around.

Pfft!
Zhou Xin suddenly knelt on the ground, breaking the oppressive atmosphere in the hall. He clasped his fists and apologized to Wang Lang, who was in charge. "I am incompetent and have caused the loss of most of the frontline troops. This has dampened the morale of the entire army. Please punish me, my lord!"

Upon seeing this, Shang Sheng quickly knelt down, lowered his head and said nothing.

Xu Jing said sarcastically, "Not only were most of them killed, but even including the defenders at Guling Ferry, only two hundred escaped. My Lord, yesterday I advised against starting a war rashly, and today it has come true."

Shang Sheng's heart surged with rage. He glared at Xu Jing and said, "Xu Wenxiu, stop talking nonsense afterward and showing off your verbal skills! Although we were defeated, we fought bloody battles for the Lord's foundation. That's better than those who talk a lot but don't do anything!"

Xu Jing's face flashed with shame and anger, and he shouted, "Who are you talking about? How dare you, a defeated general, speak so arrogantly here!"

"You two are both my right-hand men, and you have also read the books of sages. What are you fighting for?"

Wang Lang scolded lightly, a trace of annoyance flashing across his face.

Xu and Shang immediately stopped talking, glared at each other, and turned away.

Shang Sheng clasped his fists towards Wang Lang and said, "My Lord, there was nothing wrong with our deployment in this battle. We were defeated for two reasons: first, we outnumbered our cavalry, and second, our soldiers were inferior in strength. Although the enemy won, it was a pyrrhic victory. Yan Yi's most elite armored cavalry has been nearly routed by our army, and the rest of the soldiers have suffered heavy casualties."

Xu Gong turned his gaze to Zhou Xin, who was bowing his head and saying nothing, and asked, "Daming, is this true?"

Zhou Xin looked up and glanced at Shang Sheng, thinking to himself, "You are really good at bragging. Only Wang Lang, who is not familiar with military affairs, would believe your nonsense."

He had just arrived and had just been defeated, so he didn't want to expose Shang Sheng. He could only say vaguely, "My Lord, our army is indeed inferior to the enemy. If it weren't for the enemy cavalry's reckless interception, our army would have already reached Guling Ferry."

Wang Lang's expression softened immediately. Losing a mere 4,000 soldiers was nothing to him. Kuaiji had a larger population than Wujun. Even recruiting another 35,000 soldiers, let alone 35,000, would be a piece of cake for him.

What made him angry was the loss of the important place of Gulingdu and the defeat in the first battle, which had damaged the morale of the entire army.

However, he was also well aware of the long-standing problems in the Kuaiji army and knew that Zhou Xin and Shang Sheng couldn't be blamed entirely. He also needed their assistance, so he said, "Victory and defeat are common in the military. Stand up first. However, rewarding merit and punishing fault is a military principle. I will deduct one year's salary from you two. Do you have any objections?"

(End of this chapter)