Chapter 294: To Kill or Not to Kill

The rushing river mixed with mud and sand set off huge waves and rushed downstream.

Standing on the bank of the Yellow River, Liu Wei bent down to pick up a golden corn from the wet ground.

The corn grains are very small, and the skin is stained with blood, and when twisted in the hand, except for a dark red mark on the belly of the finger, its presence is almost imperceptible. But Liu Wei felt at this time that the two fingers twisting the corn were unusually heavy, as if what he was rubbing in his fingers was not a small corn, but a huge thing with a solid texture.

The corpses of Hu Cai and the officers and soldiers who transported money and food had been picked out from the battlefield and placed on the blood-stained ground. Most of the bodies were so mutilated that their flesh was torn to shreds, and their faces were unrecognizable.

Looking at the rushing Yellow River, Liu Wei felt as if something was stuffed in his throat, choked uncomfortably, and two lines of tears had already slipped down his cheeks.

"Your Highness!" Standing behind Liu Wei, Guan Qing whispered to him: "General Hu has a total of ninety-three ...... all over his body."

Before Guan Qing's words were finished, Liu Wei raised his arm and spread his five fingers back, stopping her words. He sniffled, raised his other hand, wiped his face with his sleeve, and opened his mouth to say something, but he still didn't say anything.

The Adam's apple rolled a few times, and Liu Wei tried to keep the sound from choking. But he opened his mouth several times, but in the end he still did not succeed.

Looking at the raging waves of the Yellow River, Liu Weigang's dried tears suddenly poured down again.

Zhao Yun stood side by side with Guan Hai and the others a little farther away, and the expressions on each of their faces were very solemn. Although they couldn't see Liu Wei looking at the Yellow River silently shedding tears, they knew that the king of Luoyang, whom they followed, would never have a good time in their hearts at this moment.

Hundreds of officers and soldiers who escorted money and food were all killed on the banks of the Yellow River. Not a single person fled, and not a single person begged to surrender to the Western Liang army.

Hu Cai, who led this team, had a total of 93 wounds all over his body, more than a dozen of which were fatal.

With their resolute faith, they fought with nearly 10,000 Xiliang troops with only a few hundred people. Until the last moment, they were still guarding the money and food they escorted.

Looking at the monstrous waves of the Yellow River, standing for a long time, Liu Biancai raised his sleeves again and wiped his face, and said to Guan Qing who was standing behind him: "You go and tell the soldiers to free up some war horses and take General Hu and the brothers who died in the battle home!" ”

Before speaking, Liu Wei thought that he could restrain his sadness and hold back tears. But at the moment when the words fell, hot tears slid down his cheeks uncontrollably.

Seeing the tears rolling down Liu Wei's cheeks, Zhao Yun and the others were stunned. They didn't expect that Liu Wei, who had always been decisive and extremely strong in their minds, would expose his vulnerability at this moment.

"My war horse, for General Hu Cai!" The Adam's apple rolled a few times, Liu Wei choked up, and said to everyone: "Today, this king personally leads the horse for General Hu!" ”

On the banks of the Yellow River, except for the roar of the waves and the occasional neighing of war horses, there was no sound. There was a solemnity on the faces of everyone present, and some officers and soldiers even raised their sleeves and wiped the tears that ran down their cheeks.

"General Hu is mighty! Brothers who died in battle! Staring at the corpses that were lined up by the officers and soldiers, Liu Wei pulled out the long sword at his waist, raised the long sword above the top, hoarsely voiced, and shouted.

All the officers and soldiers present raised their swords and shouted in unison with Liu Bian, practicing for their former Tongze.

"Pull the captives up!" Standing behind Liu Wei, Zhao Yun furrowed his brows, waited until everyone's shouts fell, and shouted to the soldiers on the side.

The soldier answered, and ran quickly to a group of soldiers guarding the captives. After a while, a group of soldiers brought in a group of prisoners of war who were bound with hemp rope.

The Xiliang army, which surrounded and annihilated Hu Cai and others, was quickly crushed by the cavalry of Guan Qing, Guan Hai and Tai Shici, many people were killed, and many more were captured alive.

Thousands of prisoners, escorted by Liu Weijun's soldiers, arrived at a place only more than ten steps away from the bodies of Hu Cai and others, and lined up in a large square formation.

"Get on your knees!" When the prisoners of war formed a loose phalanx, a group of officers and soldiers of Liu Wei walked behind them while shouting, and if any of the prisoners of war knelt slowly, some soldiers rushed forward and kicked him in the crook of the leg.

Thousands of prisoners of war were clasped behind their backs, their heads drooping one by one, and their faces were full of expressions of mourning, just waiting for Liu Wei to kill them and bury Hu Cai and others.

"Your Highness, what to do with them?" After all the prisoners of war knelt down, Zhao Yun clasped his hands into fists and asked Liu a question.

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Liu Wei frowned, looking at the prisoners of the Xiliang Army, the officers and soldiers present beat their shields with weapons and shouted loudly.

The sound of shouts and weapons striking shields shook the sky, making the prisoners of war tremble as they knelt on the ground.

Tie blushed and stared at the group of prisoners of war, and after a long time, Liu Wei raised his arm and stopped the shouts of the officers and soldiers.

Every officer and soldier shifted their attention to Liu Wei's body, and everyone's eyes flashed with strong hatred and desire to kill. At this time, as long as Liu Wei gave an order, the officers and soldiers would rush up and chop the thousands of Xiliang Army prisoners of war into pulp.

"Luoyang needs the people to be strong!" Looking at the thousands of prisoners of war kneeling on the ground, Liu Wei clenched his fists tightly, gritted his teeth and said, "Divide them into small groups and mix them with the people." When Luoyang City is rebuilt, let them return to Xiliang, if any of them dare to step into the Central Plains half a step again, they will not be spared! ”

When Liu Wei said this, it was obvious that he wanted to let these Xiliang troops live. The officers and soldiers who heard what he said clearly were all stunned and looked at him in disbelief, and even Zhao Yun, Tai Shici and others were all full of astonishment.

Everyone thought that Liu Wei would kill the prisoners of war this time to pay tribute to Hu Cai and others. But he didn't expect that he would let these prisoners of war go and let them go to coolies.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for not killing!" The officers and soldiers of Liu Bianjun's army all looked at Liu Bian's stunned faces, and the prisoners of the Xiliang Army who were kneeling on the ground had already shouted out a voice of gratitude.

He turned his face to the side and waved his hand at the soldier beside him.

The soldiers standing beside Liu Wei responded helplessly, ran to the group of officers and soldiers escorting the prisoners of war, and shouted to the group of officers and soldiers: "Escort the prisoners and return to Luoyang!" ”

The captives, who were tied to long strings like grasshoppers, slowly walked in the direction of Luoyang under the escort of officers and soldiers. Liu Wei commanded a group of officers and soldiers to place the bodies of Hu Cai and others on horseback.

A cold corpse lay on horseback, looking at the corpses of officers and soldiers covered in wounds and already blurred flesh and blood, Liu Wei clenched his fists tightly, and his whole body trembled slightly.

Like the soldiers present, he hated to cut off the heads of all the captured Xiliang soldiers to pay tribute to the officers and soldiers who died in battle.

But he knew very well that he couldn't do that, if he wanted to go more smoothly and farther on the road of conquest in the future, he couldn't slaughter thousands of Xiliang troops at once.

The killing may bring a momentary refreshment, but the subsequent potential threat will also follow. In the future, the enemy will face a rumored army that only knows how to kill, and it will definitely be fought to the death, a refreshing battle, in exchange for more sacrifices, Liu Wei will not do it!

"Your Highness!" Hu Cai's body was carried by two soldiers on horseback, Liu Wei held the reins, and followed the escort team of the captives a little dejectedly, walking in the direction of Luoyang City, when he walked past Guan Qing, Guan Qing, whose eyes were red, called him softly.

Liu Wei did not respond to Guan Qing, he didn't hear Guan Qing's call at all. At this moment, there is only one thought in his heart, to rebuild Luoyang, strengthen his strength, and kill Niu Fu and pacify the Xiliang Army in the future!

The Xiliang Army that died in the battle was hastily buried by the officers and soldiers of Liu Wei, while Hu Cai and other soldiers who died were quietly lying on horseback.

The blinding sunlight cast on the earth, shining on the slowly moving cavalry. The hundreds of dragoons who followed behind Liu Wei marched with their heads held high, but their faces were filled with unconcealable sorrow, and the blood-stained golden feathers on their heads also trembled slightly in the wind.

The scorched black blood stains stained on the feathers, under the sunlight, actually refracted a dark red luster, adding a bit of vicissitudes to the previous battle on the bank of the Yellow River.

Liu Wei did not ride a horse, except for the officers and soldiers who escorted the prisoners, not a single cavalry of more than 10,000 people jumped on horseback. Everyone pulled the reins, led the horses, and walked slowly on the open field. The huge team fell into a depressing tranquility.

"Your Highness, our army has completely annihilated the Xiliang Army in the territory of Henan Yin!" led the team to march only ten miles, a fast horse galloped towards the army from a distance, the knight on horseback reached a place twenty or thirty steps away from Liu Bian, then jumped down, ran to Liu Bian's side quickly, half knelt on the ground, and shouted a word of report.

After listening to the scout's report, Liu Wei nodded slowly, did not speak, just led the war horse and walked forward silently.

Liu Wei walked straight away without saying a word, and the scout half-knelt on the ground, maintaining a posture of clenching his fists and bowing his head and did not get up.

The Xiliang army quietly infiltrated the Yin territory of Henan, and the scouts who were originally responsible for investigating the situation in the Mengjin area were arrested and returned to Luoyang for dereliction of duty.

If the scouts set up along the way could be a little more careful, it would be impossible for the Xiliang army to slip through Hongnong County under their noses and go straight to Yin, Henan.

"Your Highness, the military division ordered the three generals Zhou Cang, Dian Wei, and Jia Xu to enter Hongnong County, and are pursuing the Xiliang Army of the Niu Fu Division, and they should be able to triumph in the near future!" Not long after the team left, another fast horse came from a distance, and the scout on horseback looked like the previous scout, half-kneeling on the ground, reporting military affairs to Liu Bianyu.

Just like last time, Liu Wei didn't pay attention to the scout, he didn't even nod his head, and led the horse straight over.

The army marched, and the two scouts were separated by more than ten miles, maintaining the same posture and half-kneeling on the ground. At this moment, their hearts are full of humiliation.

They were full of hatred in their hearts, but what they hated was not that they ignored their Liu Bian, but that they hated that they had been carried away by victory these days, and they were too careless to make up for their mistakes.

"Yikes!" After some time, the scout who had reported the news to Liu Wei first let out a howl of pain, and his fist fell heavily to the ground, and soybean-sized tears had rolled out of his eye sockets and dripped onto the yellow earth in front of him.