"Don't argue about this now. We will wait for the credit to be determined. I will write a military report later and send it to the Marquis of Wu'an. The Marquis of Wu'an will make a decision at that time."
Seeing that Yang Jing continued to argue about merit, Lu Yuan quickly reached out to interrupt him and put the matter aside for now.
Then he looked at the two people beside him and said in a deep voice: "Now the city of Guining Prefecture has been wiped out in one day, the city's guard Gui Lianyun has also died, and the 50,000 soldiers in the city will either die or surrender.
Now heading north from here to the boundary of Fangling Mansion, there is no longer any resistance from Zhou soldiers.
Therefore, I wish that since it is getting late today and the soldiers are tired from fighting for a long time, they will rest in this city for the night.
At dawn the next day, I led my troops to Fangling Mansion again.
What did Marquis Wu Xuan think? "
Speaking of this, Lu Yuan looked at Yang Jing.
Now he has an army of 100,000 men, 80,000 of whom are his direct followers. But the remaining 20,000 were the imperial troops commanded by Yang Jing.
In addition, the other party represents Wu'anhou, the imperial court, and he is also an innate master.
The combined strength and status of these forces also made it impossible for Lu Yuan to make various combat arrangements arbitrarily and by one person. He had to discuss them with Yang Jing.
However, Yang Jing is also very capable on weekdays. He will basically not raise any objections to Lu Yuan's various orders as long as they do not involve core interests.
They will all follow the coach's ideas and will not do anything against them.
At this time, after hearing Lu Yuan's arrangements, Yang Jing said: "Your Majesty's arrangements are very appropriate and prudent. The general will have no objections."
"Shan, since Marquis Wu Xuan has no objection, then this is the decision."
Seeing that Yang Jing had no objection, Lu Yuan showed a smile on his face, then turned to look at Lan Cai'er beside him, and said: "Queen, the city of Guining Mansion has been conquered. This important place is not only the key pass that separates the Zhou people from the two places, but also I had to leave someone to guard the rear route of my surprise attack on the army.
Therefore, I intend to lead 20,000 soldiers and horses to stay in this city after the Japanese king's commander-in-chief leaves tomorrow.
While guarding the retreat of our army, we also took care of the prisoners in the city.
Does the queen have any objections? "
In fact, in reality, in Wushan Mansion and Jingmen Mansion, the Zhou people in both places were restrained by the imperial reinforcements.
Even if they received the news that Guining Mansion had been breached, it was basically impossible to send reinforcements while the imperial army was watching.
Therefore, there is no need to leave 20,000 troops and an innate master here in Guining Mansion.
But who made Lan Cai'er injured at this time?
His wife fought hard for him and was seriously injured. So how could Lu Yuan be so embarrassed and willing to let her go to the battlefield again under certain conditions?
Therefore, it was reasonable to leave Lan Cai'er behind to recuperate in the back of Guining Fucheng, and to take care of her own retreat, just in case.
And not just for Lan Cai'er to cultivate, this trip to the north, even though the Zhou people were caught off guard, was still extremely risky.
If you are not careful, there is a danger of the whole army being annihilated.
Now, among Lu Yuan's remaining 80,000 troops in the Northern Expedition, 30,000 are his direct soldiers, and the other 50,000 are Miao people.
The original 100,000 soldiers lost 10,000 in this Northern Expedition, which already made Lu Yuan feel distressed.
Now that he was heading north to attack Xiangyang City by surprise, he was certainly reluctant to take risks with his direct soldiers and horses in this dangerous strategy.
Therefore, 20,000 soldiers were left behind and placed behind Guining Mansion. Only 10,000 soldiers were left to continue going north.
In this case, even if something went wrong with the surprise attack northward, they would lose at most 10,000 soldiers and 50,000 Miao people.
Although this result still hurt his body, it was still acceptable since it could preserve the vitality of 20,000 soldiers.
So after all these considerations and concerns, Lu Yuan made this arrangement.
As for Lan Cai'er, who didn't know the details of her husband's considerations, she naturally just thought that her husband cared about her. While her heart warmed, she didn't refuse the kindness. She nodded and said, "I listen to your Majesty."
Yang Jing, who was standing next to him, saw this scene and hesitated for a moment, but in the end he didn't open his mouth to say anything against it.
What reasons are there to object to it?
Lu Yuan's reason for keeping Lan Cai'er was indeed legitimate.
It is very important to guard the army's retreat and block the communication between the people on the east and west sides.
You can't say that it's difficult for the Zhou people on the east and west sides to send reinforcements, so you can conclude that there is no chance of an attack here, right?
After all, they can attack Guining Mansion by surprise at this time. Why do you think that the Zhou people can't do it?
Therefore, leaving 20,000 troops and an innate master here is indeed a safe strategy.
'That's all, it's just that we are missing an innate master and 20,000 troops. There are still more than 70,000 people in the remaining army, and with me and Lu Yuan here, it is enough to complete a surprise attack. Yang Jing sighed in his heart and completely resigned to his fate.
Lu Yuan glanced at Yang Jing, and when he saw that the other party had no objection, he nodded in his heart, and then said with a smile on his face: "In that case, the matter is settled.
Tomorrow the queen will lead 20,000 troops to stay in the city and guard the way back.
Marquis Wu Xuan and I led the remaining troops and continued northward. "
At this point, the military discussion came to an end.
Then Yang Jing returned to his camp and began to prepare for tomorrow's expedition. Lan Cai'er was injured and exhausted, and was forced to go back to recuperate by Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan continued to stay in the main tent, writing a battle report that would be sent to Dangyang Camp later, and handling post-war military affairs.
After being busy for more than an hour, when it was almost late at night, Zhou Qing came over in a hurry.
"Your Majesty."
Lu Yuan raised his head and looked at his disciple, with a smile on his face, and then scolded: "Didn't I tell you that when no one is around in private, you should still call me master as usual?"
"Master."
Zhou Qing's heart warmed when he heard his master's heartfelt words, and then he followed the good example and immediately changed his words: "My disciples counted the number of prisoners and killed Zhou people in the middle of the night.
In today's battle, a total of 13,000 Zhou people were killed. Among them, there were 8,000 soldiers and 5,000 civilians.
Another 56,000 Zhou soldiers were captured. Among them were 41,000 soldiers and 15,000 civilians.
In addition, there are still more than a thousand defeated soldiers, or they are still hidden in the homes of ordinary people in the city, and they need to continue to be cleaned up.
There may be some who have taken advantage of the chaos today and have escaped from the city and are missing. "
Zhou Qing reported the results of a busy night.
"Forty-one thousand people!"
Lu Yuan couldn't help but be slightly surprised when he heard this number.
He directly ignored the civilians and focused directly on the number of soldiers.
Things like civilian husbands are basically of no use. They can't fight tough battles and can't do much damage. They can only be used to build momentum.
If you want, Changsha's two million people can pull out three to five million at any time.
But is this useful?
Useless.
Countries like Nanhai and Ninghai have mobilized 200,000 troops this time, which looks huge.
But most of them are civilians, so what use can they have?
When launching a surprise attack this time, the first thing Bai Mengyang thought of was Lu Yuan.
The other two people, Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange, had never appeared in the consideration of Marquis Wu An.
Why?
I have seen through the fact that the opponent's army of civilians is useless, so I never count on the opponent.
Therefore, Lu Yuan was making a surprise attack on Guining Fucheng, while Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange could only command their troops and serve as cannon fodder on Dangyang.
Relying on accumulating lives to gain opportunities for him.
From this differential treatment, we can see how big the gap between soldiers and civilians is.
So when he heard Zhou Qing's report that he had actually captured 41,000 Zhou people's soldiers, Lu Yuan was filled with surprise.
While being pleasantly surprised, he immediately said: "Immediately arrange manpower for these 41,000 soldiers and escort them all back to the south of the Yangtze River. Ask Li Liang and the others to sort them out for me and send these people as far as possible." Collect it for your own use.”
He had just lost 10,000 soldiers, was Lu Yuan still feeling pain?
At this time, 41,000 soldiers were sent. They were really hungry, so someone brought chicken legs.
Although those Zhou warriors were all from the enemy country, it was basically impossible to use them with confidence like one's own direct lineage warriors.
But as long as these soldiers are not sent to the areas bordering the Zhou Kingdom, but stay in the south of the Yangtze River and placed near the Yue Kingdom or the southwestern Yi, then these people are still very reliable.
Anyway, send the people to the south of the Yangtze River first, and then across the river, they will be thousands of miles away from Zhou State.
No matter how reluctant these Zhou warriors were, facing this situation, they could only give up and serve themselves resignedly.
When the time comes, we will re-arrange their marriages in Jiangnan and let them settle down in Jiangnan. When the time comes, their wives and children will be on the hot bed, will they still worry about these people not returning home?
Lu Yuan had a lot of means to deal with these prisoners, so he didn't panic at all at this time.
The only thing that worried him was how he would support these 40,000 additional soldiers.
However, he still had a lot of money at this time. Even after the expenses of founding the country and wedding, he still had 20 million taels in his account.
With so much money, it would be easy to support these 40,000 soldiers for eight years.
Not to mention, Lu Yuan also had the support of the two countries of Nanhai and Ninghai. At this time, he also opened up the territory of Xiangyang County of the Zhou State in the north of the Yangtze River. The taxes from these territories could raise more soldiers and horses.
Therefore, it is possible to support an additional 40,000 people at this time.
Zhou Qing heard his master's instructions, thought about it, and immediately said: "The disciple will arrange five thousand people tomorrow to escort these prisoners back to Jiangnan."
Guining Mansion borders Tianmen Mansion.
But now that all the prefectures and counties in Tianmen Mansion have been recovered by the coalition forces, and the army is passing there, there is no need to guard against Zhou attacks.
Therefore, you only need to send 5,000 people to watch over the prisoners, and then they can be safely sent to the south of the Yangtze River.
"Just do it like this."
Lu Yuan nodded, then thought for a while, and then said: "By the way, send someone to ask if there are any locals among these soldiers and prisoners. If so, ask them to report the whereabouts of their families, and follow They moved to Jiangnan together.
Make it clear to these Zhou people that if you go south this time, there will be no chance of returning north in this life.
If you don’t take your family with you now, then it will never be possible to see each other again in the future. "
Xiangyang County was an important southern town for the Zhou people, with more than 100,000 troops stationed here all year round. Therefore, among the prisoners this time, there should be many locals from Xiangyang County.
Anyway, when these captives are brought back to Jiangnan, they will be given wives and children, and they will be able to settle down and start a business there again. Rather than going to such trouble, it would be better to just take their families away with them.
This saves time and effort, and can enrich the population under one's control. It's the best of both worlds.
As for other prefectures and counties that are not under their control, how can the families of local Zhou prisoners be taken away?
Lu Yuan felt that when he spoke to Bai Mengyang, the other party would not reject his request to send people to pick him up and capture the families of the soldiers.
So the problem is not big after all.
Regarding this matter, Zhou Qing naturally nodded again: "Disciple understands and will do it later."
In this way, the issue of the treatment of prisoners of war will be resolved.
…
Early the next morning, Lu Yuan arranged for five thousand people to transport the prisoners of war back to Jiangnan because of the temporary decision to escort them away.
In this way, there are only 15,000 soldiers and horses left in Guining Mansion.
These people were led by Lan Cai'er and stayed in the city to guard the army's retreat.
As for the remaining 15,000 civilian captives, Lu Yuan paid them a sum of travel expenses and sent them home directly.
Now that Guining Mansion has been captured by him, according to the previous agreement with Bai Mengyang, this mansion will become the territory of Changsha Kingdom in the future, so the fifteen thousand civilians who were forcibly recruited from various places in Guining Mansion will naturally become his people.
Naturally, Lu Yuan would not be too harsh on the people under his rule, let alone kill them at will.
In addition, there is no need to worry about the Zhou people coming back at this time, so there is not much risk in releasing these civilians who are ordinary people.
This would not only reduce killings, but also add a bit of benevolence and righteousness to himself, so he was naturally happy to do it.
After making these arrangements, Lu Yuan led the remaining 77,000 people and headed north to Fangling Mansion together with Yang Jing.
All the way north, the troops are expensive and fast.
Lu Yuan left his main force of more than 50,000 men behind and let Zhou Qing lead him and slowly pursue him from behind with the army's baggage.
And he, together with Yang Jing, led more than 20,000 elite troops to attack lightly, traveling day and night, towards Fangling Mansion.
It took two days and two nights to go over mountains and ridges, passing through Gaoyang, Yongqing, and Baokang counties, but they were all defeated.
Then on the third day, we arrived at Fanglingfu City.
At this time, there was no news in the city that Guining Mansion had fallen and that a county in the south had fallen.
There were only more than a thousand soldiers guarding the entire city.
This small force was naturally vulnerable to the two innate masters, Lu Yuan and Yang Jing.
The two of them only used their martial arts skills slightly, and after killing hundreds of people, the city's defenders collapsed, and then the city fell.
After conquering Fanglingfu City, the soldiers were exhausted, and Zhou Qing had not yet led his troops to arrive. Lu Yuan did not continue to rashly send troops to Xiangyang, but led some people to continue to attack westward.
It took three days to conquer the cities of Xichengfu west of Fangling.
At this point, the entire west of Xiangyang County, Guining, Fangling, and Xicheng were all captured by Lu Yuan.
He then led his troops back to Fangling. After several days of pursuit, Zhou Qing finally arrived with the main force.
Lu Yuan left him with more than 20,000 soldiers and horses who were exhausted after days of fighting.
Then he asked his disciple to continue to attack the Hanzhong Prefecture of Zhou State to the west of Xicheng Mansion while he was cultivating his army, and to tentatively capture the city.
It's best if you can capture it. If you can't defeat it, you can also plunder the local population and move it back to the south of the Yangtze River.
Nowadays, the Dongting County under the rule of Changsha State has lost more than two-fifths of its population after several years of war.
Everywhere in the local prefectures and counties looks deserted.
Such a desolate scene is certainly not very pretty.
Moreover, the larger the population and the stronger the national power, the more luck Lu Yuan can gather.
Therefore, his original purpose for this Northern Expedition was not only to regain Tianmen Mansion and eliminate the threat from Zhou Kingdom.
He even planned to take the opportunity to plunder some of Zhou's population and then move them back to his own territory.
At this time, the behavior is nothing more than executing the established goal.
After arranging the task for Zhou Qing, Lu Yuan did not stop. Instead, he led the 50,000 troops and horses that Zhou Qing had just brought, and took advantage of the large and small ships collected from Fangling Mansion during these days to sail along the Han River. , then went eastward and headed towards Xiangyang Mansion.
And at this time.
After several days of buffering, Xiangyang Mansion finally received news that a Yue army came from the west and had captured Fangling Mansion.
When news of this incident came back, Xiangyang Mansion was immediately frightened.
The governor of Xiangyang County immediately ordered that all counties in Xiangyang Prefecture recruit civilians and mobilize county soldiers to gather in the county town. At the same time, strong men were recruited in the county city to participate in the defense of the city.
This response can be said to be extremely quick and correct.
But in a hurry, how many people can the county gather?
Finally, when Lu Yuan's troops came to the city, only more than 50,000 people gathered in the entire Xiangyang County.
Although the number of soldiers was comparable to that of Lu Yuan's troops, the defenders in the city were basically all civilians. There are only more than 7,000 county, prefecture, and county soldiers as real combat soldiers.
This kind of fighting power can be called weak.
The only thing worth paying attention to is that in the past few days, Xiangyang County urgently asked for help from the neighboring Nanyang County in the north, and then the general of Dongzhu State of Zhou State who was stationed there came urgently and had already settled in Xiangyang City.
With this innate master here and more than 50,000 defenders, it would be difficult to break through this city.
But it doesn't matter.
The real purpose of Lu Yuan's extraordinary force was not to conquer Xiangyang City.
Bai Mengyang's plan at the beginning was just to attack Xiangyang, and then cut off the Dangyang Zhou people's retreat, so that their troops would be frightened and find it difficult to fight again.
At this time, Lu Yuan had reached Xiangyang, and this strategic goal had been achieved.
The next thing to watch now is the reaction of Wu'an Hou Bai Mengyang.
Therefore, Lu Yuan stationed troops outside Xiangyang City and made a few tentative attacks. After finding that the city was difficult to attack, he did not continue to attack.
Instead, they camped outside the city, surrounded the city, and waited for news from Danyang.
…
At this time, hundreds of miles south of Xiangyang, there was a battlefield in Dangyang.
In the coalition camp, due to the long distance, Bai Mengyang finally received the news from Lu Yuan after several days' delay.
After learning that Fanglingfu City had been captured, the Marquis of Wu'an saw the opportunity for a decisive victory. He was overjoyed and immediately summoned the generals to discuss military affairs.
"Everyone, four days ago, the King of Changsha sent back news that he had conquered Fanglingfu City.
According to time calculation, the King of Changsha should have led his army eastward and approached Xiangyang County at this time. "
Bai Mengyang held a piece of brocade silk in his hand, looked at everyone and smiled.
