"Although the Southern Barbarians are cruel, they are not without value." Lu Zheng said unhappily, "Our Lord's military strength is not superior among the feudal lords. If we can tame these captives and let them fight for our Lord, it will be a great help. Even if they are not willing to be used by our Lord, these strong barbarians are also rare labor. Quarrying stones, paving roads, reclaiming wasteland … These all require manpower. "
In troubled times, one could not dominate the world just because they could fight. They also needed to build and manage. Being militaristic was not the right way.
Indiscriminately killing captives was even worse.
Unless it was a special situation, such as a lack of food and fodder in the army and having to kill captives, under normal circumstances, the captives would be treated as cheap labor and their remaining value would be squeezed out. They would be arranged to do whatever physical work was heavy, using the cheapest investment in exchange for the most generous returns.
Killing all the captives without hesitation would result in the enemy fighting to the death. Since they would die if they surrendered anyway, they might as well fight to the death.
Was there any other meaning other than stimulating the enemy to fight to the death?
"I don't need you to lecture me on these principles." Hearing this, Ge Lin's lips curled into a cold smile. "You come from Dongqing. The Northern Borderline Army was strangled by Liu Xi before they could wreak havoc everywhere. Of course, you can't empathize with them … Which of the people of Nansheng doesn't hate the Southern Barbarians? The Southern Barbarians being alive is the greatest disrespect to the dead! Not to mention killing 50,000 captives today, even if it was 500,000 captives, we would not be lenient. Your father and son were not beheaded by the Southern Barbarians and hung on the backs of horses to show off. Your mother and wife were not humiliated and ridiculed by the Southern Barbarians one after another. You haven't experienced these, so how can you know the hatred of a destroyed country and family? "
[Ge Lin]'s words could be regarded as a humiliation. Even Lu Zheng couldn't help but feel a little angry.
"Hua Yuan!" He shouted angrily.
[Ge Lin] said sarcastically, "Just a few words and you're already angry …"
Lu Zheng did not notice the faint murderous intent in Ge Lin's eyes.
Without waiting for him to make a move, Yang Tao shouted at Lv Zheng from far away. [Ge Lin] glared at Lv Zheng unwillingly.
In a trance, Ge Lin went offline in a second, and the main personality was pushed out.
Yang Tao looked at Hua Yuan's back and frowned. "Mr. Lu, please be careful."
Lu Zheng did not understand. "What does Duke Zhengze mean by this?"
Yang Tao said, "Just now, that person wanted to kill you. If I hadn't shouted, I'm afraid …"
Naturally, he didn't say this to sow discord.
Yang Tao was a forthright and righteous person. He had a lot of things, but he was too little scheming.
Lu Zheng's pupils constricted, and he said hesitantly, "He's a colleague after all. How could he dare to kill someone so brazenly?"
Yang Tao replied, "That's hard to say. That Hua Yuan gave off a strange feeling. It was as if he had suddenly become a different person."
According to his understanding, Hua Yuan was a standard scholar. His horsemanship and archery skills were not good either. Where did he get his murderous aura from?
That kind of killing intent could only be possessed by martial artists who had been on the battlefield for many years.
Lu Zheng did not mention that Hua Yuan had lost his mind, but he was still on guard. After all, the behavior of a lunatic could not be measured by common sense.
This great victory became a watershed in the war between the Barbarian Slaying Alliance and the four factions of Nanman.
The former became stronger as they fought, while the latter gradually retreated.
Every time they failed, thousands of young men from the four factions of Nanman were captured. Without exception, they all died.
As the war entered a white-hot stage, what Lu Zheng was most worried about still happened.
The attitude of the alliance towards the captives inspired the four factions of Nanman to fight to the death.
With the death of a large number of young men, barbarian women and young children also went to the frontline. This made the alliance stop in its tracks.
Even so, the allied vassals still stubbornly insisted on using the strategy of killing all the captives.
Yang Tao wanted to object, but more than half of his men were from Nansheng. As the lord, he could not ignore their opinions.
In just two months, the number of Nanman captives killed was close to 150,000.
In the blink of an eye, it was midsummer.
The scorching sun made the alliance soldiers suffer. The four factions of Nanman, which were initially weak, became more and more courageous as they fought.
The scales that were originally leaning towards the alliance slowly tilted towards the four factions of Nanman.
Yan Lin was not optimistic about the current situation.
"At this rate, if the alliance continues to be stubborn, the four factions of Nanman will definitely fight back …"
Yang Tao looked solemn. "It's hard to say … the alliance's casualties have skyrocketed in the past few battles. It's extremely disadvantageous for us."
The four factions of Nanman were already brutal in their fighting style. Now that they had the buff of facing death, their combat power skyrocketed.
This created a very awkward situation. The weakened four factions of Nanman were harder to deal with than before.
Sometimes Yang Tao did not understand. What was the alliance doing this for?
Killing all the Nanman captives to avenge the people of Nansheng, but in the end, more innocent lives were lost.
The alliance's bad luck did not stop there. After a thunderstorm, some soldiers developed headaches, nausea, nausea, diarrhea, and other symptoms. At first, the military doctors thought that a small number of soldiers were not accustomed to the climate. After a few days, more and more soldiers fell ill. Some even died from diarrhea. Only then did everyone realize that something was wrong. However, the illness had already spread and many people were infected …
They had no choice but to gather the sick soldiers together to take care of them. However, their conditions did not improve at all. Soldiers died every day.
No one knew where the source of the epidemic was!
No, there was one person who might know.
Hua Yuan leaned against the tent to avoid the heat. His cold eyes seemed to be dipped in venom. Even the temperature of the surrounding air was lower than elsewhere.
If Lu Zheng was here, he would know that his colleague had lost his mind again.
That's right, the personality that was online now was Hua Yuan's "elder brother", the guy who cheated Huang Song of millions of dans of food.
"Sir, I've finished reading."
Besides himself, An Cui's heir was also in Hua Yuan's tent. He was the legitimate young master.
The youth looked at Hua Yuan with hesitation in his eyes. "Sir, there's something I don't understand …"
Hua Yuan glanced at him and asked, "What is it?"
"Recently, the epidemic has been rampant in the camp. Do you think it has something to do with the alliance's drinking water?" The youth said hesitantly. "It's not just our army that has a widespread epidemic. According to the scouts, the Nanman tribes are also showing similar symptoms …"
If not for that, the four factions of Nanman would have taken advantage of the alliance's weakened combat power to counterattack.
"Why do you think so?" Hua Yuan asked.
"Previously, I followed you to Dongqing's Lanting Duke to discuss the alliance." The youth said, "I found out that the water in their camp can only be drunk after boiling. Food is also cooked in hot water before eating. In the casualty camp, the water used to clean the wounds of the soldiers is also repeatedly boiled … I asked out of curiosity, and the other party said that this was a rule set by Lanting Duke. Because there are dark things in the water, although invisible to the naked eye, they are harmful to the human body. Once the dark things enter the human body through the mouth, it can easily cause an epidemic … "
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