Disciplining Emperor Gaozu of Han

Chapter 15 Wilderness Filled with White Bones

In the desolate wasteland by the roadside, bones lay piled up in layers, a vast expanse of white that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Liu Ying roughly estimated that it was at least seven or eight thousand, if not ten thousand.

These skeletons include those of adults, children, and even infants.

Liu Le was too young to have ever seen such a horrifying scene. She screamed in terror, her little face contorted in fear.

"Le'er, don't be afraid." Liu Bang covered Liu Le's eyes, patted her back gently, and comforted her softly.

Having lived in a peaceful era, Liu Ying had never seen such a terrifying scene before. Her scalp tingled, her whole body felt like it was about to split open, and she screamed in terror.

Fortunately, Bi Yi possessed the soul of an adult, and Liu Ying quickly calmed down after her initial shock.

After calming Liu Le down, Liu Bang turned to look at Liu Ying, intending to reassure her as well, but was somewhat surprised to find that Liu Ying had already regained her composure: "Aren't you afraid?"

"Yes, of course I'm afraid." Liu Ying nodded heavily. "If I weren't afraid, I'd be a murderous maniac."

"Not bad," Liu Bang nodded slightly in approval.

"You... are so calm?" Liu Ying opened her eyes wide and looked at Liu Bang, who remained calm, as if the thousands of skeletons by the roadside did not exist.

And Xiahou Ying was the same.

"You get used to it after seeing it so many times," Xiahou Ying said calmly.

"Excellent!" Liu Bang agreed.

"You've seen it so many times, you've gotten used to it?" Liu Ying's scalp tingled again. "Just how many things like this have you seen?"

"You've only seen bones, what does that amount to? Tens of thousands, even tens of thousands, of people were massacred, their screams and cries before death were heart-wrenching. That kind of thing is ten or a hundred times more terrifying than this." Liu Bang's face was calm, as if he were talking about something insignificant.

"A massacre?" Liu Ying didn't believe it.

"Look, the wasteland on both sides of the road was originally a vast expanse of fertile land, with hundreds of households in each mile. Now the fertile land has turned into wasteland, and the people in the mile have either died or fled. It has become a den of snakes and rats." Liu Bang pointed his horsewhip in his right hand at the wasteland in front of him, and then pointed to an abandoned mile not far away.

Liu Ying looked in the direction Liu Bang pointed. Although the wilderness was overgrown with weeds as tall as a person, it was still possible to tell that it had once been fertile land.

The village not far away, just like the one I had seen before, had long been abandoned.

"Dang Commandery is located in a strategic location and is a large commandery in the Central Plains with a population of nearly one million. At present, it would be good if it had one hundred thousand," Liu Bang added.

"How do you know so much?" Liu Ying asked, puzzled.

"I was once the magistrate of Dang Commandery," Liu Bang said proudly.

King Huai of Chu once appointed Liu Bang as the governor of Dang Commandery.

Liu Bang led his army westward to attack Guanzhong and destroy Qin, starting from Dangjun.

Liu Ying was somewhat skeptical and looked at Xiahou Ying, who nodded slightly.

"Such heavy losses among the population?" Liu Ying had no choice but to believe it; the loss of 90% of the population was a terrifying proportion.

"Alas." Liu Bang sighed, a rare occurrence. "Dang County was one of the most tragic places in the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty. Naturally, there were many deaths and injuries. Who could blame them? Dang County was a strategic location fought over by military strategists. It was repeatedly plundered, and each plunder was a military disaster, resulting in countless deaths and injuries."

At this moment, Liu Ying had no idea to refute Liu Bang or even sigh, but was once again frightened by Liu Bang's words.

For Liu Ying, who had once lived in a peaceful and prosperous era, Liu Bang's words were terrifying.

Dangjun was located at the intersection of modern-day Anhui, Henan, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces, a crucial point connecting the four provinces. Its geographical location was so important that it was a battleground for military strategists, and thus it was repeatedly attacked during the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty.

Every attack resulted in a military disaster, with countless deaths and injuries.

After riding forward for a while, they discovered another wasteland piled with white bones, though fewer in number, only about a thousand.

Having witnessed the thousands of skeletons before him, the psychological impact on Liu Ying was not as strong.

After walking for a while, they discovered another pile of bones, numbering as many as four or five thousand.

Along the way, one would frequently find piles of bones, ranging from several thousand to several dozen.

As more and more skeletons were discovered, Liu Ying's reaction calmed down; she stared numbly, no longer showing any fear.

Liu Le was young and didn't have the same resilience as Liu Ying, so he gradually stopped being afraid.

As Xiahou Ying said, you'll get used to it.

You get used to it, and then you become numb to it.

As they were marching, an army appeared ahead. There were only fifty men, dressed in red and carrying a red flag with the character "Han" on it.

This is Liu Bang's army.

"Are we almost at Xiayi?" Liu Ying asked.

"It's just ahead," Xiahou Ying replied.

Liu Bang, however, was on high alert. He took out his bow, nocked an arrow, and pointed it at the ground. If the Han army made any unusual movements, he would shoot them down at any time.

As the Han army drew nearer, Liu Ying realized it was an infantry unit, fifty men per platoon, a platoon of soldiers.

All fifty men were able-bodied, though some were a bit older, around forty years old.

They wore leather helmets and leather armor, carried a bow on their backs, a short sword on their left breast, a long sword at their left waist, and a quiver full of arrows at their right waist.

They marched in formation, their steps perfectly synchronized, clearly demonstrating their well-trained nature.

However, compared to the Chu army led by Zhongli Mo, the difference was not just a little bit, but a significant gap.

Putting aside the fact that the Chu army consisted entirely of cavalry, the Han army was older, while the Chu army consisted of young men in their twenties and thirties, who were physically stronger than the Han army.

Furthermore, the difference in weaponry was vast. The Han army wore leather armor and helmets, while the Chu army wore uniform iron armor. As for the longswords at the waists of the Han soldiers, Liu Ying did not yet know whether they were bronze or iron swords; in any case, the Chu army's swords were all iron.

During the late Qin and early Han dynasties, it was still the Bronze Age, and iron tools were not yet widely used. Qin Shi Huang's powerful army, which swept through the six states, mainly used bronze weapons, hence we are a "Bronze Age civilization".

The garrison commander was a middle-aged man, about forty years old, riding a horse. The horse was no more than 1.4 meters tall at the shoulder and less than 2 meters long, far inferior to the warhorses ridden by Liu Ying and the others.

If placed in Xiang Yu's army, it would at most be used as a draft horse, not worthy of being used as a warhorse.

Liu Bang pulled on the reins and moved his horse to the side of the road, making no attempt to reveal his identity.

Feng County was Liu Bang's territory, and he was already preparing to surrender to Xiang Yu. Who knew if this Han army would obey his orders? If they harbored disloyal intentions, it wasn't impossible for him to behead Xiang Yu.

The same applies to Xiahou Ying.

Liu Ying greatly appreciated Liu Bang's caution and spurred his horse to the roadside.

The garrison leader led his troops to Liu Bang and his men. With a wave of his right hand, the Han soldiers drew their swords and surrounded Liu Bang and his men, their killing intent palpable.

Liu Ying's heart tightened.

Xiahou Ying's expression changed.

The defeat at Pengcheng had a tremendous impact, particularly damaging Liu Bang's prestige, and the possibility of a Han army defection was not low.

Liu Bang raised his bow and arrow, aiming it at the village chief.

"Put it away! Put it away!" The platoon leader's expression changed, and he shouted at the soldiers.

The soldier sheathed his longsword.

Seeing this, Liu Ying felt a little relieved.

Liu Bang held his bow and arrow firmly at the garrison leader, not letting up for a moment.

The garrison commander dismounted, stood on the ground, right knee on the ground, left knee bent, and bowed deeply to Liu Bang, saying, "Greetings, King of Han!"

"The King of Han?" The soldiers were very surprised.

"What are you all standing there for? Quickly pay your respects to the King of Han!" the garrison commander shouted.

The soldiers, like platoon leaders, paid their respects to Liu Bang with great ceremony.

Liu Bang was taken aback. He stared at the village chief for a moment, then put away his bow and arrows, jumped off his horse, and strode over. He helped the village chief up with both hands, placing his left hand on the chief's shoulder and his right hand on the chief's face, and laughed loudly, "Who was it? It's Tian!"

"Does the King of Han remember me?" Tian was greatly surprised.

"How could I not remember?" Liu Bang patted Tian's cheek and laughed loudly, "You're from Chengyang. I dug you out of a pile of corpses."

"Thank you so much, King of Han, for saving my life!" Tian's eyes were red-rimmed, his knees buckled, and he was about to kneel down to pay his respects to Liu Bang again.

"There's no need for that," Liu Bang said with regret. "I'm sorry I couldn't save your family."

"Your Majesty, there's no need to say that," Tian said through gritted teeth, his anger rising. "It's all because of that traitor Xiang Yu's brutality; he slaughtered Chengyang and killed my family."