…
"Everyone kneel down and don't move. If you dare to make any noise, you will be dealt with according to military law! Don't move!"
There is no doubt that the war is going on. This is Bai Qi's trick to lure the enemy and lure Nan Zhen to pursue the enemy.
After more than 200,000 Nanzhen's former troops entered the ambush site of the Han army, Xia Yu and Tian Yan, who were waiting for Lao Yiyi, immediately led their troops to attack from both sides.
How can the exhausted Guiwi army contend with the energetic Han army? Everything collapsed at the slightest contact, and the whole process was so smooth that it was jaw-dropping.
In addition, the Chinese army was cut off by Lu Yu, and Wang He took advantage of the situation in Liulicheng behind. Although the noble widows had hundreds of thousands of people, they no longer had the strength to fight.
In the end, Nan Zhen knew that the situation was over. After a little symbolic resistance, he wanted to kill himself with his sword, but at the moment of death, he lost the courage to die, so he had to dismount and surrender.
Not only did he lose this battle, but he was also so cowardly. Even with such an advantage in military strength, he actually lost, and it was a disastrous defeat!
After two days and nights of statistics, Tian Yan excitedly came to Bai Qi's camp to report the results.
"Reporting to Marshal Bai, statistics from the Zhenfu Division indicate that more than 80,000 enemy troops were wiped out and 470,000 captured in this battle. One of the defeated troops took advantage of the chaos to escape. To avoid an accident, the general did not pursue him.
In addition, 1,100 war horses, 40,000 pieces of leather armor, 13,000 horned bows, and other weapons of all kinds were captured.
This time, our Western Region Protectorate has achieved a complete victory. I don’t think anyone in the court dares to say anything bad about our Northwest Army. His Majesty will be very happy when he finds out! "
Tian Yan became more and more excited as he talked, and everyone in the tent was excited as well.
The noble widow devoted all her efforts to fight against the Western Region Protectorate, but ended up losing everything in the end. Her military exploits were truly outstanding, and they would be enough to leave her name in history if word spread about them.
Xia Yu can even think that it won't be long before the textbooks of Dahan Military Academy will also include this war. In the future, students in the military academy will be able to learn their actual combat results from it. This is a very exciting thing. Something to be proud of!
Only Bai Qi didn't say a word, just clenched his hands into fists, trembling, and he didn't know what he was thinking in his cold eyes.
After a long time, he asked: "Everything went well in this battle, except that no food and grass were captured. I dare to ask you, what should we do with these 470,000 prisoners?"
At this question, all the generals in the tent looked at each other, and then they all slowly calmed down from the joy of victory.
Yes, 470,000 people, that is, 470,000 mouths, even if they only feed themselves with the most basic food for a day, they still need a lot of food.
Although Turbine City captured a lot of money, the losses of the Han army in this expedition were also not small. Statistics show that since the expedition, the Han army has suffered more than 8,300 casualties, which has exceeded 10% of the number of troops in this expedition. The losses are not small. It's not big.
Those injured soldiers need proper care, and the brothers who died in battle also need money and food compensation. In addition, the army commander also needs a lot of food and grass.
Distribute some more to the noble widow army?
They don't want to either.
"Since there is nothing you can do, the only thing you can do is..."
Bai Qi stood up slowly, and then stabbed a dagger hard on the wooden table.
The intention couldn't be more obvious. Since there is no other way, then simply kill them all.
Bai Qi really did this a lot. The first time, he directly killed 20,000 Liaodong barbarians. Later, he followed Liu Ce in the Central Plains and killed tens of thousands more. Not to mention the Western Regions, where massacres of cities and clans were commonplace.
When the subjects of the Western Regions heard Bai Qi's name, they were extremely frightened. A child cried out in the middle of the night to threaten him with "Bai Qi is coming!" The nobles of the royal palace also enshrined Bai Qi's portrait in the hall, burned incense every day, and worshiped it devoutly, just to prevent Bai Qi from getting into trouble and annihilating the country.
Everyone in the court and even the military colleagues were very critical of what Bai Qi had done, but it had to be said that Bai Qi's cruel suppression methods were indeed simple, rough and very effective in controlling the countries in the Western Region.
Without Bai Qi's evil reputation, the countries in the Western Regions would not have surrendered to the Han Dynasty so easily, nor would they have put the plan to set up factories in the Western Regions on the table so quickly.
"Shuai Bai, think twice. There are already countless people in the court who are dissatisfied with what Shuai Bai has done. The Confucian leader of Jiangnan, Wang Daofu, even went to Beijing in person.
He wants to put Shuai Bai to death in front of His Majesty. In order to keep Shuai Bai, His Majesty has already broken with the Confucian scholars all over the world. Don't put any more pressure on Your Majesty. "
"Yes, Commander Bai, this matter is not trivial. If you don't think about yourself, you should also consider His Majesty's pressure, right? Please think twice. Don't do this again unless absolutely necessary!"
It is better to take some of the captured food and grass to appease these noble soldiers. "
Faced with Xia Yu and Tian Yan's persuasion, Bai Qi remained unmoved: "There is no need to persuade the two generals any more. If the court wants to blame me, I, Bai Qi, will bear the responsibility.
His Majesty stood out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. How could a bunch of corrupt officials and corrupt scholars be able to sway his mind? As long as your majesty supports me,
I will clear all obstacles for him without any scruples. Do you know why Your Majesty asked me to take over the post of Protectorate of the Western Regions?
How many meritorious men are there in the army? There are more generals in the direct lineage of the Far East. In terms of seniority, which one is less qualified than Bai?
But His Majesty chose Bai to take over the post of Protector of the Western Region because Your Majesty knew that Bai knew how to divert trouble to the east.
After all, killing the barbarians is a lesser crime than killing my Chinese people, right? No matter how convincing the court officials are,
Your Majesty can handle it calmly. Besides, I am not a violent murderer. Just because there is insufficient food and grass at the moment, I can't take care of those surrendered soldiers.
And let the soldiers under your command go hungry? What's more, there are nearly 500,000 people. Keeping them is a waste of food. If we let them go, there is no guarantee that they will not become rogues and threaten our Han army or Yuezhi's allies.
Only by killing her can we avoid future troubles and make your widow no longer able to threaten my Western Region Protectorate! "
After saying this, Xia Yu and Tian Yan stopped talking.
After a long time, Xia Yu sighed: "It's just that even if you kill prisoners, you have to find a suitable reason..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the governor on the side suddenly said: "Shuai Bai, I have something you don't know whether to say or not?"
Bai Qi looked at this official of the Zhenfu Department who was nearly forty years old and had no income, and nodded: "Old Feng, if you have anything to say, just say it."
Old Feng said: "How Bai Shuai disposed of these prisoners will be recorded truthfully by the subordinates, and there will be no concealment and report to the Ministry of War. This is the responsibility of my Zhenfu Division."
Bai Qi: "I understand this."
Lao Feng: "But I can give Commander Bai an idea. At least it will make Commander Bai famous for trapping prisoners. Besides, holding officials accountable will not have much impact on Commander Bai and His Majesty."
Bai Qi's eyes lit up: "Old Feng, what do you want to say?"
Lao Feng: "Shuai Bai can ask for a ransom and ask the nobles and nobles to pay for the soldiers to redeem them. The person who redeemed them can let them go. If they cannot be redeemed, they can't be redeemed."
Commander Bai can deal with these prisoners as he pleases. After all, their country has abandoned them, so no wonder we came. "
Bai Qi frowned: "The method is good, but I'm afraid I have to wait for several days, right?"
Old Feng said: "I heard that the people from your country's capital who came to negotiate peace have already passed through Turbine City, carrying with them one hundred thousand grains and a lot of gold and silver.
Think of this money as money to redeem people. As for how many people they can exchange, that's just Bai Shuai's words. "
At this moment, someone came to report outside the tent.
"Report~~"
"Reporting to Commander Bai, your widow's envoy has come to ask for an audience."
Bai Qi chuckled: "Please!"
