"Whose head is this?" One of the generals behind An Shenqi was Liu Tinghan, who performed well in the Battle of Nankou. Looking at the head he held in his hand, Liu Chengyou asked.
"Back to Your Majesty, this is Yelu Cong, Duke of Qishui County, Liao Dynasty, the envoy to the south!" Liu Tinghan quickly reported, "I am about to present this chief's head to Your Majesty!"
"I have heard of this man. This time the Liao army took the initiative to launch a large-scale attack. This was his suggestion to the Khitan Lord!" Liu Chengyou nodded, raised his foot and moved Yelvcong's head, which was thrown to the ground. It was bloody and bloody. The shape is terrifying, but it seems that one can see the stubbornness of an old Khitan chieftain before his death.
An Shenqi said: "This governor led the Liao army to attack Nankou, which indeed caused a lot of trouble for our army. In the end, it was he who led the army to risk his life and force the attack, disrupting our army's formation and allowing the remaining Liao army to retreat. Provide convenience and buy time. In the chaos, he was killed by Liu Tinghan!"
Hearing this, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but look at Liu Tinghan a few more times. Unlike many fierce generals of the Han army, Liu Tinghan did not have such a violent spirit, and his facial lines appeared softer, giving people a sense of intimacy.
Liu Chengyou said: "With this decapitation, it seems that Hua Luo has a family!"
Liu Tinghan cupped his hands and responded with a very calm tone: "The last general is just a little lucky. If the soldiers of the army had not fought bloody battles, they would not have been able to chase the enemy!"
Listening to his words, Liu Chengyou has a better impression of him. An Shenqi also said good things to Liu Tinghan: "Tinghan Dian's army is well-organized, generous and tolerant, and his soldiers are more submissive. In this battle at Nankou, our army encountered life and death crises several times, the situation collapsed, and the defense collapsed. Among them were him and All the officers and men in the army should remain calm in the face of danger and gather their troops to kill the enemy, so that we can turn the tide!"
"I know that you guys fought very hard in this battle!" Liu Chengyou said with emotion.
Looking at the Han generals gathered here, Shi Shouxin, Han Chongyun, Luo Yanxuan, Dang Jin and others came up in person, shook hands, straightened their clothes, or patted their shoulders, and all they said was: "Thank you for your hard work!"
"I will never forget the merits of this battle, and the imperial court will not hesitate to reward you!" Liu Chengyou did not say any more words, but expressed his stance to them in the most direct and sincere words.
In fact, after this battle, the Han Dynasty will gain another group of military nobles, and a large number of them. In response, all the generals showed a satisfied smile. After experiencing such cruel life and death trials, what they wanted was recognition and rewards from the emperor and the court.
"Go and treat your injuries first. Don't neglect your injuries!" Liu Chengyou expressed his concern for the general.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Liu Chengyou looked at Murong Yanzhao again: "The soldiers at Nankou have been fighting hard for a long time and urgently need to be sorted out. I have to worry about the aftermath of the battlefield, so please take more trouble to arrange it!"
"Yes!" Murong Yanzhao responded with cupped hands.
The fighting in front of the south entrance has completely ended, but it has not calmed down. The matter of cleaning the battlefield has been completely left to Murong Yanzhao to arrange and handle. At the same time, Liu Chengyou specially ordered generals Han Hui and An Shouzhong to assist them. Han Hui was in charge of logistics, and An Shouzhong represented the emperor. All urgently needed supplies such as food, medicinal materials, and clothing were also supplied continuously from Changping. Bring it up.
Although An Shenqi did not participate in the front-line fighting, his energy consumption was no less than that of those fighting men, especially when he was carrying an army of tens of thousands. Now that the war has come to an end, An Shenqi has relaxed physically and mentally, feeling as if he is about to collapse.
It was really not easy for such an old commander. Liu Chengyou felt pity for him and wanted to let him have a good rest. However, An Shenqi forced himself to report the war to Liu Chengyou first.
There was no other way, so Liu Chengyou could only go with him and continue to listen to his report in the commander's tent at Nankou Zhongzhai. After An Shenqi's personal account, Liu Chengyou finally understood what the Han army in Nankou had experienced and why there were such tragic scenes inside and outside the village. Liu Chengyou also understands An Shenqi's almost pathos-like "chatting" better.
"How is Han Lingkun's injury?" Liu Chengyou asked.
An Shenqi sighed: "Although Han Deshun made some omissions in defense, he knew his shame and became brave. When he was chasing the Liao army, he was severely injured. Medical officers have been arranged to help!"
"Wang Yin was killed in battle?" Liu Chengyou asked again.
Upon hearing this, An Shenqi nodded slightly, with a hint of sadness on his face. As a veteran commander of the same age group, An Shenqi felt more deeply about Wang Yin's death.
"General Wang, at the most critical moment, led the men who dared to die and used his own life to buy time for the army to stabilize its defense line!" An Shenqi said.
In this regard, Liu Chengyou was silent for a long time, then sighed softly: "His body?"
"It was snatched back by Liu Tinghan and placed on the left side of the tent!" An Shenqi said.
"Take me to see it!"
Liu Chengyou had a somewhat complicated view of Wang Yin. He was once labeled as a "dead general". Although he was very senior and had some military exploits, he had the habit of being domineering and arrogant warriors for three generations.
Because of this impression, he was abandoned after he committed the crime. But after the battle at Nankou, Liu Chengyou sighed a little more. What forced such an old man to risk his life so much on the battlefield...
Liu Chengyou thought of Sun Li, who had sacrificed his life in the Battle of Luancheng and was destroyed by the force, and then changed his impression of him.
Outside the tent, Wang Yin's body was placed in front of him. His gray beard was stained red with blood and had solidified. The body was incomplete. One arm was missing. There were four arrows stuck in his body. There were no visible stab wounds. .
Crossing his hands in front of his chest and saluting Wang Yin's body solemnly, Liu Chengyou straightened up and ordered: "I am ordering that the bodies of all the generals, soldiers and civilians who died in this battle must be properly buried, and all records must be recorded in the military merit book. No one shall be omitted. Tomorrow, I will personally worship them!"
"yes!"
Soon, An Shenqi fainted, causing everyone around him to panic. He sought medical treatment from a military doctor and found out that he was overtired and mentally exhausted. It is also very dangerous for a sixty-year-old man. In this regard, Liu Chengyou directly asked Zhang Dejun to take care of An Shenqi personally. He was very kind and did a good job.
In the following time, Liu Chengyou began to personally go down to the grassroots, inspecting various armies, encouraging the soldiers, and recognizing their contribution, especially those injured soldiers. In this battle, many Han soldiers were killed and even more injured. Due to the lack of medical treatment and medicine, Liu Chengyou directly ordered doctors to be transferred from surrounding towns, and medicinal materials were transferred from Youzhou to replenish them.
When it was approaching sunset, Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin led their troops back one after another. When they learned that the emperor was lucky enough to pass south, they hurriedly came to pay homage. For the two of them, Liu Chengyou, who was touring the military camp, went to greet them in person, showing them respect and talking about "hard work".
When asked about the situation of the Liao army, Zhao Kuangyin reported: "The Liao army is commanded effectively and has many capable men. It is always defeated without collapse, and retreats without chaos. It divides the rear and blocks them one by one, so that it is difficult to achieve full success. Ministers and others This is too much!"
Zhao Kuangyin first asked himself to be blamed. How could Liu Chengyou take this seriously? He immediately said: "Being able to defeat the Liao army and severely damage its troops is already a great victory. How can we take full credit? Yuen Long does not need to worry about it."
"On my journey, I saw corpses scattered all over the fields, almost filling the road. Our army's casualties were certainly not small, and the Liao army's casualties were even more heavy. After this blow, their intentions were successfully defeated. The overall situation of the Northern Expedition will be completely biased towards our army, and great achievements can be expected. Ah!" Liu Chengyou said.
"What your Majesty said is true!" Chai Rong seemed very calm and responded: "After this defeat, the Liao army has been severely damaged. Even if there is still a city to rely on, it will be difficult to defend it. I suggest that the officers and men should rest and recuperate, and then take advantage of the situation to move out of the fortress! "
"Don't worry yet!" Seeing Chai Rong looking like he was about to pursue and fight the Liao army, Liu Chengyou seemed very calm and said: "The armies suffered heavy casualties in this battle, especially the army at Nankou. More than half of them were killed or injured. In a short period of time, It is difficult to restore combat strength. Since the Northern Expedition, all the soldiers have been fighting continuously and are inevitably exhausted. The overall situation of the war is already firmly in our hands, so there is no need to rush forward!"
Liu Chengyou's words actually basically set the tone for the Han army's subsequent operations, which focused on rest and adjustment. Again, the Liao Kingdom couldn't afford it in the first place, and after this setback, if it continues to be delayed, they will definitely be the ones who can't stand it. Moreover, it would be very difficult to organize a counterattack like Nankou.
Next, the Liao army had to defend even if they didn't want to, and it was difficult to defend. After nightfall, Li Chongjin sent someone to deliver the victory report. The victory gate was easily captured. Moreover, leaving the mountain pass to the north, he successfully captured the empty Ruzhou. At this time, the battle situation in Youbei was completely under the control of the Han army, which was difficult to reverse.
It was not until the 26th, the second day after the Battle of Nankou, that the results of this battle were calculated. On the Han army's side, not to mention the loss of military supplies, the military and civilian casualties exceeded 80,000, and more than 40,000 were killed directly in battle.
The military strength at Nankou was lost to Judah, and many battalion-level establishments were directly destroyed. The losses of the cavalry were not small. Before the war, the total number of cavalry under the Han army was nearly 50,000. After this battle, plus the previous losses, the entire army was left with just over 20,000.
The Han army suffered such a heavy blow, and the Liao army can only be described as miserable. Half of the 200,000-strong army was defeated. After cleaning up the statistics of the battle, more than 70,000 bodies of the Liao army were found around the south entrance. , if the captured, injured, and lost were included, the loss would definitely exceed half.
At the same time, the Han army captured more than 30,000 intact war horses, which was a big gain.
