Chapter 175: The Law of Eleven Kills

Meanwhile, Wen Chou received a letter from Yuan Shao, feeling both ashamed and moved. They had fought this battle in such a disastrous manner, yet his lord not only did not blame him but also comforted him in the letter.

At the same time, Yuan Shao also sent Guo Tu to join the army and assist Wen Chou. Additionally, Yuan Shao brought along 10,000 troops.

How virtuous, benevolent, and magnanimous he is as a lord!

I will repay this grateful favor with my utmost devotion!

Wen Chu folded the letter neatly and placed it in a beautiful brocade box, arranging it meticulously.

A few days later, during the rest of the army, Wen Chou constantly sought advice from Guo Tu on military strategies. Guo Tu didn't find Wen Chou annoying and instead answered all his questions, even jokingly saying, "I never expected the fierce general to also start learning military strategies, hahaha!"

Wen Chou scratched the back of his head somewhat embarrassingly and said, "Strategist, please don't make fun of me. I am just a defeated general, with my sole focus on redeeming myself through meritorious deeds."

Guo Tu secretly nodded in agreement with Wen Chou's attitude.

Yan Liang and Wen Chou, the two mighty warriors from Hebei, were actually very arrogant individuals. Besides Han Rong, the gun god of Hebei, nobody could match their skills in battle. It's only natural for them to be proud of their achievements. However, their arrogance was dealt a blow during the Battle of Jieqiao when they encountered Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were much stronger than them. Furthermore, although they fought Zhao Yun together, they couldn't defeat him. This was another hit to their pride. Later on, when they saw Dian Wei and Xu Chu, who were capable of fighting on par with Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, they were once again humbled. The significant loss suffered by Wen Chou in particular made him completely let go of his arrogance and become willing to humbly seek advice.

However, Guo Tu's recognition of Wen Chou's humble attitude in seeking advice does not imply his support for Wen Chou's arrogance and consistently facing all the soldiers in this way.

"Baozhi, where did you lose? You won! And it was a small victory! The army of 50,000 conquered the key stronghold of the Cao army, Bai Ma City! It's a great achievement! Although there were some losses, it was just a necessary price to pay."

Wen Chu was stunned, is the military adviser going crazy? How can he speak nonsense with his eyes wide open?

"Absurd! If even you, the commander of the first army, think that you suffered a major defeat, how can the morale of the soldiers in the army be restored? Especially those who were routed." Guo Tu angrily rebuked.

Wen Chou's heart trembled. Yes, how could I, as the commander, rally myself, let alone expect the soldiers to rally?

However, no matter how the two of them tried to motivate morale, the group of soldiers who were previously responsible for attacking the northern gate of Bai Ma City and had experienced the fire were unable to restore their morale and engage in the battle once again.

Guo Tu hesitated for a long time before finally proposing a sinister plan named the "Eleven Strikes of Annihilation"!

This method, which he had read in a book before, was designed to quickly restore the morale of a defeated army to the maximum extent possible.

The troops to be subjected to the "Eleven Draw and Execute Law" will be divided into groups of 10 people each for a lottery. One person will be drawn and executed, usually by being stoned or beaten to death with a stick. The survivors will only be allowed to spend the night outside the Roman army camp without the protection of the Roman troops. Additionally, their rations will no longer consist of wheat and rice, but will be replaced with black beans typically used for feeding livestock.

When implementing the "Eleven Killings Law", all members of the penalized unit must participate in the drawing, regardless of their military rank or previous honors received. It also does not matter whether they have escaped from the battlefield, as they may still be chosen and executed.

The purpose of implementing the "Eleven Kill Law" is to eliminate panic and fear of combat in the army and strengthen the soldiers' determination to fight.

When the ten thousand soldiers received Guo Tu's order, everyone was confused, and some even thought that the order was conveyed wrong or that Guo Tu had gone mad.

Later, Guo Tu dispatched a large army to surround the group of ten thousand people. He stated that if anyone in that group did not respect military orders, Guo Tu would execute all the members of that group!

The group was divided and the lots were drawn amidst some skepticism. The person who drew the death lot naturally did not want to face death, and everyone had defensive thoughts when faced with life and death. As comrades on the battlefield, soldiers of the Yuan Army could not bring themselves to harm their fellow soldiers, so all ten people in one group were taken out by Guo Tu's troops and beheaded. Please note that the @ symbol does not have a specific meaning in this context and will not be included in the translated content.

With the appearance of the slaughtered chicken, the other soldiers under Yuan Jun naturally became more obedient, joining forces to kill those who drew the short straw but resisted going to their deaths. Even though they were once comrades-in-arms, they still swung their butcher knives before facing life or death. No one wanted to die inexplicably while others lived! Not to mention dying together with others, or rather being buried alongside them!

The 10,000-strong army that adopted the "eleven-kill law" instantly reduced its numbers to 1,000. Even though the battle hadn't started yet, this unit lost one-tenth of its soldiers. However, the morale of the army became increasingly high, and the desire for killing in the hearts of the ten thousand troops grew deeper.

At the same time, due to soldiers witnessing their comrades being massacred by their own people rather than the enemy, their morale is low or they have lost trust in their commanders and a sense of belonging to their own camp. Therefore, Guo Tu issued the orders in his own name rather than in the name of Wen Chou. He cannot afford to let Wen Chou lose the trust of the troops.

The earliest documented record of the "Law of Eleven Decimation" dates back to 471 BC when the Roman legion first executed it during a battle against the Volsci.

In 71 BC, Crassus, one of the three Roman triumvirates, known as the "Butcher," executed the "Eleven Decimation Law" in suppressing the Spartacus uprising. In order to eliminate the fear of the Roman legion towards the rebels, Crassus implemented the "Eleven Decimation Law," resulting in the execution of 4,000 soldiers. As a result, the Roman soldiers became more fearful of Crassus than of the Spartacus rebels and displayed unparalleled bravery in future battles.

Caesar's close friend Antony, during the campaign to conquer Parthia, also implemented the "Eleventh Punishment" for the Roman legions that deserted during the battle. There were rumors that Caesar himself also executed the "Eleventh Punishment" during the war against one of the Triumvirs, Pompey. In reality, Caesar only disbanded and reorganized the Ninth Legion on the spot after executing a few ringleaders.

After the army thoroughly regained their morale, Wen Chou nodded in satisfaction and exclaimed.

"Soldiers! Follow me and march towards Puyang!"

"Roar! Kill, kill, kill!"

————————————————————————————————————

I welcome all votes, recommendations, and subscriptions, feel free to shower me with them!

Please bookmark! Please recommend! Please subscribe! Please support! Please give monthly tickets!

Thank you all for your support!

Bookworm Group: 1055064608