Embarassing leadership skill

In this blog, I am going to share a story which I made up myself. And of course, when I share any story, it is based on true stories.

In ancient wartime China, there were alot of warlords fighting over territories to gain more revenues and power over the country. The Emperor was very worried that these warlords may one day gain enough power to overthrow his throne. Therefore, he gathered all his Premier, advisors and generals to discuss how to deal with these warlords. After weeks of meeting, the Emperor finally decided to send one of the best generals to lead an army to wipe out all the warlords.

General Yi was given a troop consisted of 8,000 foot soldiers and 2,000 horsemen as they set off to the affected province. They set up a base camp at about 50 miles away and was preparing for a fierce fight against the powerful warlords. During the training, there were alot of things happened such as foot soldiers breaking the imperial law. The Premier was very furious of such matter and gave General Yi a final warning that if another soldier breaks the imperial law, he shall beheaded. Upon hearing this, General Yi announced that there will be zero tolerance to anyone who break the imperial law.

After a week of preparation, the troops were ready to go for war. At the same time, a foot soldier broke the law. Upon hearing this, General Yi was mad. He immediately summoned the soldier and his veteran battalion commander who was not aware of his soldiers wrongdoing as he is busy training the army. Alright, a battalion commander is someone who is in charge of a battalion of army and is right under the General. After seeing the battalion commander and the soldier, the General flared at the battalion commander. As he is under the General, the battalion commander kept quiet and accepted the blame.

Okay. I'll stop here. Who do you think is supposed to be blamed and any comments about the actions of General Yi. Should he be beheaded or should he continue to lead the troops to the war?

My view: I would behead the General Yi as he is responsible for every soldier. The battalion commander is innocent as he can't monitor every soldier as he is busy training them for the war. General Yi obviously want the battalion commander to be his scapegoat. This reflected Yi's ability to lead as his action will demoralise the troops.