hsntnovel Chapter 2247 Taking Credit
Chapter 2247 Taking Credit
The battlefield was divided into several parts. The western part was one of them. Thousands of rebels tried to break out from here, and the resistance was very fierce.
However, as Xue Rengui led two thousand cavalrymen to charge forward, the situation on the battlefield began to change.
There is another group on the east side, where several thousand people also want to escape. With General Li in charge, they are making steady progress and the current situation is very stable.
The situation in the middle front was rather chaotic. The infantry advanced little by little, but Zhou Daowu led the cavalry to charge back and forth.
To be honest, it was the first time for Li Shen to experience such a large army with tens of thousands of people fighting together.
Back then in Qinghai Road, although there were many people, it was a siege, and Li Shen had never seen such a miserable scene.
It’s different now. It’s a battle between two armies. The brave one wins when they meet on a narrow road. It’s a competition of tactics, equipment, morale, and who is not afraid of death.
From the current perspective, Li Shen feels that his side has the advantage, although they have more than 10,000 fewer people.
But the overall comprehensive strength is several levels higher.
Li Shen's command center had advanced two hundred steps, moving forward along with the troops in front. He observed this aspect carefully.
In addition to observing the overall situation, he was also keeping an eye on Zhou Daowu's movements.
Zhou Daowu was followed by a team of a hundred men, all dressed in black and red armor, which was particularly conspicuous. Not only Li Shen could see them clearly, but even the enemy could see them clearly.
The closest to Zhou Daowu was a tall and strong man, holding a Fang Tian Hua Ji in his hand.
He chopped melons and vegetables along the way, and no one could match him. This was one of the reasons why Zhou Daowu was able to charge back and forth so smoothly.
This was the first time that Li Shen had sent out his personal guards for someone other than his father.
In the past, his father would only occasionally use his personal guards when he wanted to play with him, but not often.
The only real protection was during the Qinghai Road incident.
And this was the only time besides his dad.
Li Shen was really afraid that Zhou Daowu would be knocked off his horse and hacked to death while charging into battle.
Or he might damage some parts of his body and affect his sister's happiness.
For this reason, Li Shen had to send Li Tieniu for protection. He wanted military merit but could not take any risks.
The battle did not last long and was over in less than an hour. By the end, these people no longer had the will to resist.
In the end, under the Tang army's promise that those who surrender will not be killed, most people laid down their weapons. Only a small number of people still wanted to resist, but they were instantly defeated.
"Report~~~~~~ Your Highness Prince Ji, the battle is over. General Xue and General Li are leading their troops to pursue the fleeing enemy."
A messenger came running over to report.
"Immediately order the cleanup of the battlefield and the detention of the prisoners."
Li Shen gave the order after hearing this, which he knew.
The so-called cleaning of the battlefield is mainly to count the military merits.
Li Shen also ordered the guard camp to start setting up camp.
"Xuan Ce, I'm very curious. You said there are so many enemy corpses outside. How will the soldiers calculate their achievements?"
Sitting on the hill, looking at the officers and soldiers cleaning the battlefield in the distance, Li Shen suddenly asked curiously.
He knew that the military achievements of the Tang Dynasty were evidenced by the number of heads killed, but how could he tell whether he had killed the person himself?
At that time, I was already blinded by rage and couldn't remember anything.
"Your Highness, generally, merits are awarded based on the number of heads taken," Wang Xuance replied.
"I know how to use heads, but I want to ask how to distinguish them. With so many bodies, what if someone tries to take credit for it?
He took credit for something that didn't belong to him. He only killed one person, but he chopped off two heads. Does that mean the others got less credit?"
This is something Li Shen has always been curious about. There are no cameras to check it, and later generations mostly adopted a collective merit distribution system.
"Your Majesty, I have also heard from others that the army has a strict registration system.
First of all, you need to have your superiors and colleagues to testify. Generally, battles are conducted in squads, and squad leaders are responsible for statistics.
The second is physical evidence. One is the human head, and their weapons also need to be examined.
The third is to have a military officer go to the scene to check the number of enemy troops and then compare it with the number of reported meritorious service members.
Moreover, the documents of military achievements must be reported hierarchically, checked at each level, and signed by all levels.
If anyone takes credit for something, he will be held accountable at each level. The lighter punishment may be demotion or fine, while the worst punishment may be dismissal or execution.
This forces these officials to conduct strict audits and reduce errors.
Moreover, military merits will be publicized for three days. If someone's merits are taken away, he can appeal to the military sergeant or the army officer.
After the appeal, the personal and material evidence will be re-checked, and the whistleblower will be confronted. If it is found that the whistleblower has taken credit for the incident, the other witnesses will be held responsible and punished together.
The lighter punishments include caning and exile, while the more serious ones include mass execution.”
Although Wang Xuance had never led troops, he was born into a family of military generals and had some understanding of military affairs.
He then told Li Shen everything he knew.
Taking credit for something in the military is a big taboo and will be severely punished.
"Execution? Isn't this a bit too severe?" Li Shen's eyes widened when he heard this. This was a collective execution.
Is the crime of taking credit for others’ achievements so serious?
Wang Xuance nodded:
"Your Highness, there are several types of taking credit for others' work. The first type, as Your Highness said, is taking credit for someone else's work. This type of thing carries the lightest punishment.
The second is to chop off the heads of one's own men and pretend to be an enemy soldier to claim credit."
"Cut off the heads of your own people." Li Shen opened his mouth in surprise. Are people nowadays so evil?
There are actually people who would chop off the heads of their comrades to claim credit?
"Your Majesty, this is not a rare thing. It has happened in every dynasty. The military discipline of our Tang Dynasty is strict and the military law is harsh.
But even so, it cannot be completely avoided.
There are still some greedy people who will chop off the heads of dead soldiers and use them as the heads of rebels.
For this reason, military sergeants would go to the battlefield to count the number of rebels and then compare it with the number of reported meritorious service members."
Li Shen was really surprised by Wang Xuance's explanation. He was such an evil person, but he had never thought of this trick.
How evil must this person be.
"Then what other ways are there to take credit?" Li Shen continued to ask.
"Killing innocent people and taking credit for it." Wang Xuance spat out four words.
"Your Majesty, killing innocent people and claiming credit for their crimes is the most serious crime. If this is discovered, the entire squad, or even the entire team, will be held responsible.
When reporting the merits, the clerk would check the head to see if it belonged to an old person, a child, a woman or a child.
For example, in this battle, there were basically no elderly, children, women or young women participating in the rebel army, so when we encounter such incidents, we will hold them accountable and conduct verification.”
"Killing innocent people and taking credit for it!" Li Shen couldn't help but sigh when he heard these four words.
There have been many cases of killing innocent people and claiming credit for their achievements in every dynasty, and no matter how strictly it is prohibited, it still happens.
This is especially common at the border, and even Li Shen, a layman, knows about it.
(I really had this question before, how to record the merits of fighting on the battlefield, so today I looked up some relevant information.
Some dynasties actually beheaded people while killing them, and many people were killed by their enemies during the beheading process.
I believe many of my friends are as curious as I am, so I wrote about the system of the Tang Dynasty.
A three-pronged approach, involving witness testimony, physical evidence, and accountability, can reduce the probability of false confessions.)