We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

The act of killing prisoners has always been a highly controversial topic.

Although there is a saying that "killing one is a sin, killing ten thousand is a hero".

But when the butcher's knife really falls into your own hands, how many people can wield it calmly?

**zhi looked at the deep pit in front of him in silence. He felt that the deep pit was like a giant eye. When he stared at it, it also looked back at him.

The Khitans in the pit also knew their fate, and noisy cries, curses, and screams echoed throughout the wilderness.

Those voices were filled with the most primitive fear, which made the battle-hardened soldiers of the National Defense Army around them feel a chill, and their hands holding their weapons tremble slightly.

"Qingren, you are not keeping your word. Didn't you say you would not kill those who surrender?!"

"We haven't had a meal in three days. Can you at least let us have a full stomach before we go on our journey?"

"That general up there, I'm going to fuck your ancestors, fuck your ancestors for eighteen generations!"

"Please spare my life. I have children at home. Please let me go!"

Xie An showed an expression of pity and looked at the expressionless ** Zhi: "Old Chen, why don't you let them have a full meal, and then..."

"No!" ** interrupted.

"What's the difference between dying of a full stomach and dying of hunger? If you let them have a full meal, the brothers in the National Protection Army will have to eat less."

"We are deep in enemy territory, without further supplies. The food we carry is only enough for seven days. How many brothers will die if we lose this one meal?!"

"But..." Jie An wanted to refute, but didn't know what to say.

**Zhi closed his eyes and stopped talking.

Jie An knew that persuading him would not work, so he looked at Yang Xuan, who was standing next to him, and said, "Miss, do you also think they should be slaughtered?"

Yang Xuan looked back at the deep pit, a trace of pity flashing in his eyes.

He sighed and said, "Listen to General Chen. He is the commander-in-chief. I will support him no matter what choice he makes."

"Alright!" Jie An saw this and gritted his teeth, "Kill them if you want! But killing prisoners is unlucky, and we can't let Old Chen bear this responsibility alone!"

Jie An turned to face the deep pit, drew the sword from his waist, and roared:

"Bows and arrows ready!"

The soldiers around looked at each other and hesitantly raised their bows and crossbows.

"Do you have donkey hair stuffed in your ears?!" Jie Ming suddenly stood up and snatched the bow and arrow from a soldier.

He aimed at the deep pit below and suddenly drew his bow and released his arrow.

The arrow flew through the air and pierced the throat of a Khitan who was shouting loudly.

"Shoot an arrow for me!"

With someone taking the lead, the soldiers numbly raised their bows and crossbows, and waves of arrows rained down from the sky and landed in the deep pit.

A quarter of an hour later, the deep pit was dead silent, with only a few barely audible groans occasionally being heard.

Several people were watching the whole time, including Yang Xuan, and no one left.

"Whoohoo-"

Jie Ming put down his bow and arrow, gasping for breath.

The man standing by said slowly, "Alright, bury it."

"Okay." Xie Ming replied.

**zhi smiled, a bitter look on his face: "You didn't have to stay here with me. Killing the prisoners was my idea alone, but you also got stigmatized."

"Killing prisoners is nothing but a stigma." Jie An said, "Failure to win the war is the real stigma!"

In the history of ancient warfare, incidents of burying prisoners of war occurred frequently.

The most famous incident was that Bai Qi buried alive more than 400,000 captured Zhao soldiers in the Battle of Changping.

From then on, the god of killing was no longer valued and was eventually forced to commit suicide.

From then on, any general who liked to kill surrendered soldiers would basically have no good reputation.

The monarch also did not like to kill surrendered generals at will.

The night was as dark as ink, the moon was hidden and the stars were sparse. A cold wind blew through the military camp, stirring up dust.

Several people stood outside the deep pit, staring at the hole that was constantly being filled with soil.

"But I don't know...what the young marshal would think."

** thought silently in his heart.

. . . . . .

The next day, noon.

In the National Protection Army camp.

Jie Ming came in from outside, took off his helmet, and cursed:

"The Mohe people are becoming increasingly restless. Some leaders have even begun asking me when we will withdraw our troops."

Jie An glanced at his brother and said:

"These Mohe people are two-faced and have no loyalty at all. When it came to dividing the spoils, each one was more active than the other, but now they're trying to escape."

"but......"

Xie An changed the subject, a look of worry on his face: "Scouts report that the Khitan reinforcements gathering from the east are increasing in number, now exceeding ten thousand cavalry."

"If this continues, the situation is indeed not good. Our army has to not only besiege the city, but also guard against surprise attacks from Khitan reinforcements. The pressure is too great."

The others all looked solemn.

"Given the time, the young marshal should have taken Guangning City." Yang Xuan said slowly, "Even if he didn't, we have attracted most of the Khitan troops, buying enough time for the Ninggu army."

"It's better to abandon the siege and move the camp to high ground, where we can defend from above and wait for reinforcements."

The three brothers of the Xie family nodded slightly, feeling that Yang Xuan’s proposal was highly feasible.

"No, we don't defend!" The man facing the map suddenly turned around and said, "We attack the city!"

Everyone looked at **zhi in surprise.

** Zhi smiled faintly: "The Khitan reinforcements are sure that we are attacked from all sides and dare not act rashly, so we will do the opposite."

"Now that we are free of the Khitan captives, we can commit all our forces."

"On the other hand, after our days of siege, the soldiers in Xiangping City are exhausted and have no desire to fight. We can capture Xiangping City in one fell swoop, defend the city to the death, and keep the enemy outside the city walls!"

"Isn't this... a bit too risky?" Jie An questioned.

** shook his head:

"If the enemy and we were evenly matched, we would have taken a cautious approach. But now the enemy is strong and we are weak, so we have no choice but to take risks and win."

"As long as we can capture Xiangping City in one offensive, the Khitan reinforcements will have no time to react!"

** looked at the others: "How is it?"

Xie An looked conflicted, while Yang Xuan looked thoughtful.

"Brother, let's do it!" Jie Ming suddenly said to Jie An, "If we just sit there and wait for death, the enemy will increase in number. Those damn Mohe people are unreliable. We might as well give it a try!"

"Okay!" Jie An squeezed out a few words from between his teeth, "I'll go gather the brothers, and we'll prepare to move camp!"

"Wait." **zhi stopped Jie An.

"The camp doesn't need to be dismantled. Just stay here and we'll set off directly."

"Why is this? Such a good camp, wouldn't it be a bargain for those Khitans?" Jie An asked in confusion.

** Zhi smiled faintly and said, "Among the things the young marshal left us, there's something called a landmine. Has anyone used it yet?"

"I heard that if this kind of firearm is buried in the ground, it will explode when the enemy steps on it. Its power is no less than that of a grenade."

"Leave the camp to the Khitans, and give them a few great gifts!"