Chapter 288

Mao An's knees were kicked hard and he fell to his knees involuntarily. He struggled to stand up, but the guards on the left and right swarmed him and pushed him to the ground.

"Tang Yin, as a minister, you have committed a crime and raised an army to rebel. You don't have to be proud now. You will die in the end!" Although Mao An was pinned to the ground, his mouth was not idle and he cursed loudly.

"Haha!" Tang Yin laughed and said: "Yes, I am a minister, but I am a Feng minister, not a Peng minister. I have never recognized Zhong Tian as the king. What do I mean by committing a crime and raising an army to rebel? I You are fighting against the traitors who have usurped the country! But you, Mao An, have helped the tyrants to commit evil, and you have not regretted your death. You have not repented yet, and you are so arrogant. Why should I keep you?" As he spoke, he waved his hand and shouted: "The axe-hand. Where?"

"Here!" Following the sound of agreement, two men holding ghost-headed machetes came closer from outside and bowed to Tang Yin.

Tang Yin said: "Push Mao An out and kill him!"

"Yes!" The two swordsmen agreed simply, dragging Mao An out. Mao An had long expected that his life would be hard to save. At this time, he did not seek to survive and roared at Tang Yin: "Tang Yin, I will take the first step. I will wait for you on the road to Huangquan, haha... I hate that Geng You didn't listen to my idea, otherwise you wouldn't be able to capture Jicheng..."

Seeing Mao An being dragged to the door of the tent by two swordsmen and axemen, one pulling his hair while the other raised the ghost-headed sword to chop it down, Qiu Zhen hurriedly chased him to the door of the tent and said, "Wait a minute!" After speaking, he quickly returned to his tent and said to Tang Yin: "Sir, this Mao An is good at strategy and military management. Why not stay here and use it for your own use..."

Before he could finish his words, Tang Yin slapped Shuai An fiercely, his eyes widened, and interrupted: "This person is extremely hateful, let alone his loyalty to Zhong Tian, ​​even if he intends to surrender to me, I will not stay! "

"Sir..." Qiu Zhen frowned and wanted to persuade him to see him, but Tang Yin tilted his head and stopped looking at him. He shouted to the swordsman outside the tent: "Kill! What are you waiting for?"

"Yes!" The axe-wielding swordsman looked at Qiu Zhen and then at Tang Yin. He didn't dare to delay any longer. He hurriedly raised the ghost-headed sword, aimed it at Mao An's neck, and slashed viciously.

Phew!

As the light of the sword flashed, Mao An's head fell to the ground. The windlass came out far away, and blood spurted out from his mouth like a red fountain.

Seeing Mao An's head fall to the ground, Tang Yin's anger was still unquenched, and he asked Guyue again: "Can Mao An's family be in the city?"

"Yes! Sir!" Gu Yue nodded.

"Execute them all, no one will be spared!" Tang Yin's tone was as cold as ice.

"Understood!" Gu Yue raised his hand and accepted the order.

Then, Tang Yin turned to look at Lu Qingfeng, who had an earthy face.

As a military general, Lu Qingfeng was not afraid of death, but at this moment his heart was shaking and his face was ugly. Mao An's decapitated body was at the entrance of the tent. It would be an absolute lie to say that he was not afraid at all. He met Tang Yin's gaze, took a deep breath, and said proactively: "Master Tang, please execute me as well!"

Tang Yin chuckled lightly, tilted his head and asked, "I heard that your spiritual martial arts are good?"

"Not as good as Mr. Tang!"

"Oh? How do you know?"

"Master Tang and I have already fought in the city!"

"Oh! So it's you!" Only then did Tang Yin figure out that the Lu Qingfeng in front of him was the general who fought with him in the city.

As the brothers under his command said, this person's spiritual martial arts is indeed good. He said quietly: "Zhong Tian is a rebellious traitor who killed the king and usurped the throne. His heart is abominable and he can be punished. I cherish your spiritual and martial arts. If you are willing to surrender to me, not only will you not be punished for your crime , you will also be given an official position. If you persist in your stubbornness, you have also seen that Mao An is a lesson learned from the past. It is up to you to decide where to go! "

Lu Qingfeng and Mao An were both Zhong Tian's confidants, but Tang Yin had very different attitudes towards them. He did not hesitate at all to execute Mao An, and did not even listen to Qiu Zhenzhen's advice, while for Lu Qingfeng, even if no one came He also wanted to recruit people. From this, it can be seen that Tang Yin valued martial arts over literature from the bottom of his heart.

After listening to Tang Yin's words, Lu Qingfeng felt touched, but he couldn't do such a thing if he were asked to abandon Zhong Tian and switch to Tang Yin. He cupped his hands and said, "I would like to thank Mr. Tang for your kindness, but I will not serve the two masters. I hope Mr. Tang can give me a happy life. I just hope that Mr. Tang will not implicate my family. I can't thank you enough!"

"What if I'm willing to let you go?" Tang Yin looked at him directly.

"Then I will go back to Yancheng and apologize to you." The implication is that even if Tang Yin lets him go, he will still go back and work for Zhong Tian.

well! Tang Yin sighed secretly, this man could really be called a loyal person, but it was a pity that he was different from his own. He was silent for a moment and looked up at the other people in the big tent. Qiu Zhen, Gu Yue and others were also looking at him with big eyes and small eyes. Tang Yin put such a talented Mao An to death immediately. Everyone wanted to see how to deal with Lu Qingfeng.

After thinking over and over, Tang Yin raised his hand, paused in the air for a moment, then swung it downwards and said: "Kill!"

Since people like Lu Qingfeng cannot be used for their own purposes, they must be executed.

Following Tang Yin's order, the swordsman entered the tent, dragged Lu Qingfeng outside the tent, raised his knife and chopped off Lu Qingfeng's head.

Tang Yin said to Guyue expressionlessly again: "Lu Qingfeng's family members cannot be kept, they will all be killed!"

Gu Yue was stunned. Although Tang Yin had not agreed to let Lu Qingfeng keep his family, he had already shown his appreciation for talent. Why did he still want to execute his family?

Seeing his confused expression, Tang Yin said faintly: "If you want to cut the grass, you must remove the roots!" Since you have started killing, you must kill to the end and eliminate the potential threats that may be detrimental to you in the future. Tang Yin is not a good person. On the contrary, his methods have always been sinister and vicious, leaving no room for others.

"I understand!" Gu Yue bowed.

After the direct army captured Jicheng, Tang Yin did not massacre the city, but launched a large-scale killing of the soldiers and generals in the city, especially the generals and officials. Not only did they all execute them, but they also exterminated their clans. The corpses were piled up on the execution ground, blood flowed like a river, and the heads alone piled up into a small mountain.

Tang Yin's iron-blooded and fierce methods played a role in killing chickens to scare monkeys to a certain extent.

The officials of the villages and towns around Jicheng had already come forward to surrender to Tang Yin without Tang Yin raising troops to attack, and promised to abandon Zhong Tian and continue to be loyal to Dafeng. The people below had changed their attitude towards the Feng Army because they were not harassed or killed by the Feng Army. Even though they could not be called supporters, they were not as defensive as before.

The direct army rested for a whole day in Jicheng, and then Tang Yin ordered to continue to move south, enter Baoqing County, and directly take the county seat of Lehu County, Xibaicheng.

When the direct army led by Tang Yin approached Xibaicheng, the other two armies, the Pingyuan Army and the Chifeng Army, also made smooth progress, and penetrated into Xibaicheng from the east and west sides, and formed a pincer attack with the direct army led by Tang Yin, and encircled Xibaicheng.

The main force of the Tianyuan Army entered Lehu County to fight, and they were unstoppable. They marched southward and were about to launch a siege on Xibai City. On the other side, the 100,000 Sanshui Army led by Liang Qi and Shangguan Yuanrang were far less successful. It was not because they encountered enemy resistance, but because the roads in Duji were too difficult to travel.

The vast desert was difficult to travel even with horses and camels, let alone a march of 100,000 people. The journey was difficult and the soldiers were exhausted.

Since the second day of entering the desert, soldiers with heat stroke have appeared one after another. At first, only a dozen or twenty fell ill, but within a few days, the number of soldiers who fell ill began to increase in large numbers. The supplies in the army were already heavy enough, and now they had to carry so many sick people, doubling the burden.

What's more terrible is that no one had expected this situation when they came. There was a shortage of medicines in the army, and the sick soldiers could not get treatment. Many people went from minor illnesses to serious illnesses, and finally died of illness in the army.

Because the desert is hot, the bodies cannot be preserved for a long time and can only be buried on the spot in the desert. At the beginning, the bodies could be buried neatly and marked, but later, as more and more soldiers died of illness, they could not be buried at all.

In addition, the quicksand hidden in the desert is also one of the biggest threats to the army. On the surface, the ground is all sand, but once people walk on it, they will immediately fall into it. It’s okay if others don’t pull them out, but if they go forward to rescue, they will also fall into it and die.

The hardship of marching in the desert is beyond imagination. Liang Qi, who was born in a noble family and was high above, showed his side as a soldier. He gave up his carriage for the sick soldiers to ride, and even gave up his warhorse to use for pulling bags. He walked forward like the ordinary soldiers below.

How could a general who could share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers not be loved by the soldiers? Liang Qi's actions moved the soldiers deeply, and at the same time, they also generated a strong cohesion, so that the Sanshui Army remained cohesive and morale-boosting in such a difficult and dangerous environment.

After ten days of hard work in the desert, the 100,000 Sanshui Army soldiers finally walked out of the desert and approached the junction of Duji, Feng, and Ning. At this time, the number of people reduced by Sanshui Army reached more than 3,000, which can almost be said to be throwing corpses along the way.

The junction of the three countries is a barren mountain. If you want to go to Tongmen from here, the journey is not far, but you must cross the continuous mountains in front of you. There is no way to go, so you can only open the road yourself. At this time, Shangguan Yuanrang suggested to Liang Qi that the whole army should stay and rest, and adjust well before marching. After all, the soldiers below are too tired.

But Liang Qi shook his head to express his opposition. The army is fast and can't be delayed. Moreover, the soldiers are most afraid of resting in the middle of the march, which leads to the exhaustion of momentum. They must reach their destination in one go.

After hearing Liang Qi's words, Shangguan Yuanrang smiled bitterly. His army had just emerged from the desert and was about to enter the mountains and rivers. Even if they could finally reach Tongmen smoothly, they would be an exhausted army. How could they still attack the city?