More than 100,000 soldiers and civilians lined up at the bridge to welcome Zhao Tai across the river, and the cheers went up to the sky.
The Qi army forcibly crossed the Huaihe River this time, and their fighting was indeed admirable.
Not only did the 80,000-strong army successfully cross the Huaihe River, they also severely damaged the 10,000-strong Mongolian army that was dominating on the south bank.
Since the Mongolian army crossed the river, the imperial army has been huddled in the city. The Mongols would not quietly monitor the city outside the city. Their cavalry went out to plunder every day, ruining the nearby villages.
Facing the Mongolian army's robbery, killing, and insult to their wives and daughters, the people cried out to the heavens and the earth for not responding, and felt so desperate in their hearts.
Now that Zhao Tai is crossing the river to attack the Tatars, he is naturally regarded as their savior.
Although the people suffered heavy losses due to plunder by the Mongolian army, the people in Chuzhou still rewarded the Qi army with pickled bacon, fish, and fine wine.
Zhao Tai looked at the cheering scene and felt, "The military spirit is indeed available!"
After Zhao Tai delivered a passionate speech, Zhao Fan and other officials of the Southern Song Dynasty suggested that Zhao Tai enter Chuzhou to rest. The officials and gentry in the city prepared banquets to celebrate Zhao Tai's success.
Zhao Tai waved his hand. Just after the battle, he still needed to know the results of the battle, visit the injured soldiers, and go to the city for a banquet another day.
When Zhao Tai entered the Qi army's camp, he immediately summoned the generals participating in the war to discuss the results and losses.
In the big tent, Zhao Tai was sitting with a big horse and a golden sword. After a group of generals saluted, they separated on both sides.
Zhao Tai glanced at everyone and landed on Wang Xiu, Lu Wende and others, "This battle can be won. I have seven thousand vanguards to resist the attack of the Mongolian army's fine cavalry. We will fight to the death and not retreat. We have made the greatest contribution. Wang Xiu, Lu Wende, and Lu Wenhuan are out!" "
"The general is here!" The three of them came out with fists clasped, among them Lu Wende and Lu Wenhuan were still wearing bandages, and Wang Xiu's face was mostly wrapped, and blood seemed to be oozing from the white bandage.
Before surrendering to the Song Dynasty, many people in the Zhongyi Army called Zhao Tai king, and they themselves called themselves ministers.
After being recruited by the Song Dynasty, some people still retained this habit. However, Zhao Tai recently used political considerations to ventilate his subordinates through the shogunate, and prohibited his subordinates from calling themselves ministers, so as not to arouse the fear of the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Tai stood up, walked up to the three men, patted their shoulders, and loudly said to the generals: "The three generals have brought out the style of our Qi army! They have brought out the spirit of the army! You and others should follow their example." , follow the lonely king to perform great feats again and defeat the Tartars!"
Previously, Zhao Tai's identity was embarrassing. Before he was recognized by the Southern Song Dynasty, he could only continue to call on the people of Shandong as the loyal king of the Jin Kingdom.
After being officially certified by the Southern Song Dynasty, his identity became the Linyi County King of the Song Dynasty after Taizu of the Song Dynasty.
In the past, because they were ministers of Jin, and Jin was founded by Jurchens, when facing Mongolia, the loyal army rarely used the words "Tatar" and "Liu".
Now that Zhao Tai has the title of king of the Song Dynasty and the orthodox status of the Han family, the word "Tatar" appears in the name of Mongolia.
This will make some Jurchens under their subordinates feel uncomfortable, but the Jin Kingdom is dead. If the Jurchens want to survive, they must put aside their former glory, undergo complete Chineseization, and become part of the Han people. Otherwise, they will only be abandoned and eliminated. .
"Here!" All the generals clasped their fists together, their armors clanking.
There is no doubt that this battle did greatly boost the morale of the Qi army's officers and soldiers.
After all, Kublai Khan entered Shandong before, but forced them into the deep mountains and forests, overwhelming the soldiers and horses of the three towns.
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, walked back and sat down, then smiled and said: "How about the capture in this battle?"
Wang Xiu said with a shocked half-face: "Report to your Majesty, our troops defended the beach in this battle, killed 3,200 enemy troops, and harvested 981 pairs of heavy armor and 981 pairs of vests. There were 300 war horses and 5,408 wounded and dead horses. In addition, there were leather armor, bows and arrows, scimitars, and a number of military flags."
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "We have gained a lot. The Mongolian army's heavy cavalry is basically in your hands. You are proud of it."
Wanyan Chenghu stepped out and clasped his fists, "Report to your Majesty, the last general arrived with his troops. The Mongolian army immediately fled south. The last general pursued and killed them all the way to Gaoyou territory. They beheaded a total of 2,400 horses and obtained 3,000 war horses. The remaining supplies were also It was not captured, but was obtained by the Chuzhou Song Army who followed and pursued it."
This time, the Imperial Guards in Chuzhou City got a big advantage.
The Qi army's cavalry chased them in front, so they followed behind to pick up the spoils. Moreover, the Qi army's infantry was tired and did not attack the Mongolian army's camp after the war. The materials in the camp were also obtained by the Forbidden Army.
Zhao Tai nodded with satisfaction after hearing this, "The Tatars have about ten thousand horses on the south bank. Except for the more than one thousand horses in the direction of Lianshui who retreated completely, the Tatars in Chuzhou suffered a heavy blow, with a total loss of nearly six thousand horses. In this battle, Enough for the Tatars to remember! Haha~"
The result of this battle was indeed brilliant, because what the Qi army killed was not the Mongolian servants, but the Mongolian troops, especially the nearly a thousand heavy cavalry among them.
Not to mention anything else, the gold content of a thousand heavy cavalry alone is equivalent to destroying an army of tens of thousands like Zhang Rou.
Of course, the Qi army suffered heavy losses in this battle. Zhao Tai learned that of the 7,000 forwards, 4,000 were killed, and almost everyone else was injured.
However, Zhao Tai did not announce this battle damage to the entire army, and only a few senior officials knew about it.
The decisive battle with the main force of the Mongolian army has not yet begun. The army needs morale and confidence. If it is not conducive to combat, Zhao Tai cannot say yet.
After the generals reported and summarized the results of the battle, Zhao Tai immediately announced a reward for the three armies. After the army rested for a few days, he would continue southward with the Chuzhou Song Army to relieve the siege of Yangzhou.
It was night, and there were bonfires all over the Qi army camp. The soldiers sat together and enjoyed the food sent by the soldiers and civilians of Chuzhou. They were even allowed to have a glass of wine as an exception.
Of course, if you want to drink heavily during the battle, you can't drink it. Each group can share a pot, and if they are divided equally, they can take a sip to warm themselves up.
At this time, the soldiers sat around the campfire, ate meat, and sang together with their comrades, which was extremely enjoyable.
The soldiers' fear of the Mongols was wiped away. Some even thought that after the Tatars were defeated, the court would definitely give a large reward, and the king would definitely not treat them badly.
While the Qi army soldiers were celebrating, there was another scene on the Mongolian army side.
Sawu'er fled south in embarrassment. When he got rid of the pursuit, there were only less than a thousand riders left by his side.
He didn't know how to explain to Kublai Khan such a huge loss, so he could only stay in Gaoyou and wait for the scattered troops to come and gather together.
He waited for a long time in Gaoyou before more than a thousand cavalry came from the direction of Lianshui, as well as the stragglers who escaped from Chuzhou. In the end, there were only less than 3,000 people.
This is different from Zhao Tai's statistics, but this is not surprising, because the Mongolian troops fled in all directions, some lost their way, some were killed by the Song army, and some who were alone were beaten to death by the common people.
Sawur still wanted to continue to gather the defeated troops, but Kublai Khan, who was besieging Yangzhou, had already received news that Zhao Tai had crossed the river.
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After receiving Kublai Khan's order, Sawur could only lead the remaining defeated soldiers and rush to the Yangzhou camp overnight.
