Soon, Azashili arrived with Haisanan Daxi and Truhuqar.
If Azashili was reluctant to send troops at first, it was because he wanted to preserve his strength and did not want to sacrifice his life for the Ming Dynasty. But when he saw that the Ming Dynasty had such sharp cannons that could easily blast through the ice wall and kill the Khan's troops to a rout, Azashili regretted that he had just backed down.
If Han Du's strength was similar to his, then he wouldn't care much about Han Du's opinion of him. But judging from the situation just now, Han Du's strength far surpassed him.
Only then did he truly understand that when Han Du was ready to fight them to the death outside Guangning City, he was really not trying to scare them, but was really capable of defeating them.
The situation has changed, and Azashili's mentality towards Han Du will naturally change accordingly. Now even if one of Han Du's soldiers went to deliver an order, Azashili would rush over without stopping, hoping to restore his impression in Han Du's mind with a better attitude.
But before Azashili could rush to greet Handu, he immediately saw Elbek, his hands and feet bound, sitting in the snow.
Immediately he exclaimed: "Niguchi Sukqi Khan?"
"Huh?" Although Han Du couldn't understand Mongolian, he still heard the word "Great Khan" clearly and immediately asked: "Is it the Great Khan of Beiyuan?"
Before Azashili could speak, Xu Chengfei explained to Han Du, "It's Nikuchi Sukqi Khan."
"What's going on?" Han Du was stunned for a moment, pointed at Elbek and asked, "Isn't his name Elbek? Why is it Nikuchi Sukqi Khan again?"
Azashili quickly explained: "Returning to the Marquis, he is Elbek, and he is also Nikuchi Sukqi Khan!"
Seeing that Elbek was a prisoner of the Ming army, Azashili had no idea at all. Now he could only save his tribe by completely surrendering to the Ming Dynasty.
Han Du understood at this moment that the title of Nikuchi Sukqi Khan should be a title, and Elbek was probably the fat man's real name.
Han Du excitedly asked Azashili: "So, is he the Great Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty?"
Azashili bowed and said, "That's right. Congratulations to Mr. Hou for capturing the Great Khan of Beiyuan alive and making another outstanding contribution to the Ming Dynasty!"
"Hahaha..." Han Du waved his hand towards Azashili and accepted his congratulations.
Then he smiled at Zeng Xuan and said: "You heard it, what you caught is the Great Khan of Beiyuan, why don't you take him down quickly and keep him under guard. Your glory and wealth for the rest of your life will all be on him. If he is missing, One hair and you’ve lost a lot!”
"Put it down, Mr. Marquis, and the general will keep a close watch on him. He will never let him escape, nor will he lose even a hair!" Zeng Xuan was more excited than anyone else. He captured the Great Khan of Beiyuan with his own hands. This was the Ming Dynasty. This is the second time since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
The person who captured the Great Khan of Beiyuan last time was Han Du, and because of this Han Du was granted the title of Marquis of Zhenhai!
Although this Elbek is not as good as the previous one captured by Han Du. But even if you can't be granted the title of marquis, it's not a problem to be granted the title of earl, right?
Zeng Xuan never dreamed that such a beautiful thing as a knighthood would happen to him.
...
It took two full days to make a clear count of the gains from this battle.
This battle completely destroyed the Northern Yuan Dynasty, defeated more than 100,000 Northern Yuan cavalry, and captured hundreds of officials below Pingzhang. Although the gold and silver utensils were immediately seized by the Ming army soldiers, more than 80,000 horses, camels, cattle, and sheep were left behind.
In addition, there are more than 30,000 women and children.
The trouble now is the more than 30,000 people. For this reason, Han Du convened everyone in the commander's tent for discussion.
Han Du sat on the main seat, Xu Chengfei, Zeng Xuan, He Wenxin and other Ming army generals sat on the left; Azashili, Haisanan Daxi and Tuluhuqar sat on the right.
A bonfire was burning in the middle, bringing warmth to this handsome tent in the howling wind and snow.
But a long time passed, and there was only the crackling sound of the bonfire burning in the handsome tent. The firelight illuminated everyone's eyes brightly, but no one spoke.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Han Du had no choice but to speak: "Everyone, let's talk about what should be done with these women and children? There is no distinction between superiority and inferiority here today, everyone can speak freely!"
Haisanan Daxi and Truhuchar exchanged a look. They really wanted to take these women and children into their pockets, but Azashili disagreed. They were already jealous of Han Du. If they took these women and children under their control again, what would they want to do in Han Du's eyes? Reunify the grasslands?
Didn't you see that Elbek, who wanted to command the grassland again, is now being guarded by others?
Azashili resolutely stopped the two of them and sternly warned them not to mention the matter in front of Handu.
As a result, Azashi and the three of them sat with relaxed expressions on their faces, as if their eyes only focused on the barbecue and wine in front of them.
Han Du felt a little relieved when he saw that there was no movement from Azashi and the other three.
Then he asked Xu Chengfei, "What do you think?"
Xu Chengfei pondered for a moment, then raised his head and said, "These are all prisoners, why don't we take them all with us."
"Marquis Kuang Yi..." Zeng Xuan spoke up immediately, spread out his hands and said, "These are more than 30,000 women and children. How can we bring them with us? In my opinion, it's better to kill them all."
Han Du took a deep look at Zeng Xuan.
When Xu Chengfei heard this, he immediately disagreed and said angrily: "Kill? You also know that these are women and children. They are not soldiers. Killing defenseless women and children. You are still a seven-foot man. Can you say such a thing?"
Zeng Xuan immediately shook his head and sighed: "Master Hou, it's not that the general is cruel. It's just how do we take these people away? There are more than 30,000 mouths. They have to open their mouths to eat along the way. We have so much food. Are you here to feed them? Even if we have food for them, their traveling speed will definitely slow down the army. Every extra day in this ice and snow brings us one more risk. What's more, even if If we take them on the road, they may not be able to withstand the blizzard that may appear at any time, and they will be dead by then!"
Zeng Xuan's words silenced Xu Chengfei for a while, forcing him to face the most realistic problem, that is, there was not enough food for the army.
When Han Du originally set off for the expedition, although he brought as much food, grass and baggage as possible, he never expected to go deep into Mobei and reach such a far place. As a result, food is naturally tight.
Fortunately, tens of thousands of cattle, sheep, horses and camels were seized, which temporarily resolved the army's food shortage crisis.
But if you have to take more than 30,000 women and children, it will be different. If the army does not leave this desert land, I am afraid that even the soldiers will not have food to eat.
Food is the lifeblood of an army. Without food, the entire army will be annihilated.
Moreover, Zeng Xuan's words are not unreasonable. Even with these women and children, they may not be able to survive the severe cold weather of the snowstorm.
"Then, how about we leave some food for them and let them fend for themselves here..." Xu Chengfei couldn't bear it and had to come up with this unbearable method of death.
Zeng Xuan shook his head and smiled disapprovingly, and said: "Have you ever thought about it, Lord Marquis, that even if we give them food, they can survive? We did not kill all the Meng Yuan cavalry in one fell swoop. Several hundred cavalry broke through the siege and charged. Get out. If these people can't find food outside, they will definitely die. These people will hide outside for ten days at most, and they will definitely come back here again. Even if we leave the food, we will only benefit these people in vain. , it won’t be of any use. These women and children deserve to die, they will die anyway.”
Xu Chengfei said nothing, lowered his head and pondered.
Han Du saw it, paused and added: "And if this happens, a tribe will rise again here in a few years. We have climbed the ice and snow and traveled thousands of miles to get here. I'm afraid it won't be a few years. , I have to do it again..."
After all, these words were cryptic, but Xu Chengfei heard them clearly.
To be able to come here this time, all the soldiers in the army came with the determination to die. If we have to do it again, we don’t know the price we will pay.
What will it look like? There is even a great possibility that the Ming army will never have a chance to come here again.
If these women and children are allowed to live, it will leave hidden dangers for Ming Dynasty.
"Then let's wait here for ten days and kill all those who escaped?" Xu Chengfei looked up at Han Du's eyes and asked fearlessly.
Han Du faced Xu Chengfei's gaze calmly and shook his head after a moment, "I'm afraid not!"
He sighed and said: "This time, we have wasted too much time chasing all the way here in order to defeat the Beiyuan Khanate. Don't forget, our target is the Tatar tribe. I'm afraid the other three armies will be early. We're going deep into the grassland, and we still don't know what the fight with the Tatars will be like. If we stay here for ten days and don't say how much food we will consume, I'm afraid we will miss something important!"
After hearing this, Xu Chengfei had to lower his head. He knew that more than 30,000 women and children could not be saved.
Han Du sat on the main seat and glanced at everyone calmly.
This is the truth, but to order the killing of all more than 30,000 women and children... Han Du was also very embarrassed by such an order. Even if there is no problem on the Ming army's side, what about Wu Liangha's side? What would they think? After all, strictly speaking, they and these women and children are all Mongolians. Although the status of women and children on the grassland is extremely low, almost equal to goods, killing so many unarmed women and children in front of them may also inspire them. of resentment.
If you want to deal with these women and children, you must have a reason that can be accepted by the three guards of Wuliangha.
What reasons can make Wu Liangha accept it?
Han Du suddenly became deep in thought!
Xu Chengfei, Zeng Xuan, He Wenxin and others also understood the difficulty of giving orders, but they could not think of any good solution. They had to lower their heads and look at the wine glasses in front of them, not even daring to look in the direction of Han Du.
