Jiuxi

Chapter 945 943 [Night Talk]

In the afternoon, the wind was cold.

Cleaning up the battlefield is a very hard job. Fortunately, Liu Yuan and Chen Xun arrived in time from Ningling City not far to the south with thousands of auxiliary soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians.

Under the overall coordination of the two capable ministers, all finishing work was carried out in an orderly manner.

The surviving soldiers of the participating armies gathered the bodies of their fallen comrades on the battlefield and collected trophies, which were valuable items from the enemy's corpses in addition to horses, armor and weapons.

Lu Chen turned a blind eye to this. Although he strictly ordered his generals not to withhold military pay and exploit the soldiers' blood, and the soldiers of each army in Dingzhou received substantial treatment, after such a difficult, tragic and world-deciding war, he would not be too harsh and would naturally allow the soldiers to enjoy the joy of victory.

As the data are compiled, the final outcome of this battle becomes clearer.

In this battle, the Jing army was only one step away from being completely wiped out. Only more than 30,000 of the 120,000 cavalry and infantry troops escaped, more than 70% of the remaining soldiers were killed in the battle, and more than 10,000 people knelt down and surrendered.

Needless to say, the impact of Emperor Jing's death. The deaths of Sagai and Abuhan meant that the Huiluo and Juntugu clans were leaderless.

When the Jiagu clan rebelled and was destroyed, only four of the five major Jinglian clans remained. Now that Sagai and Abuhan are dead, and Qing Yugong is trapped outside the city of Pingyang, the Jinglian clan must be in chaos.

The deaths of senior generals such as Alihe Yongji and a large number of middle and lower-level officers were an even more devastating blow to the Jing army.

The Qi army seized countless war horses and weapons, and the food and supplies in the Jing army camp in the north were even more numerous.

By midnight, Li Chengen led the Dingbei Army, which had gained a lot, back, and the casualties of the Qi army in this battle were also roughly counted.

In the main hall of the temporary Marshal's Mansion in Ningling City, Wang Jun, the secretary of the palace, looked at Lu Chen who was sitting on the main seat and said solemnly, "Your Highness, in this battle, the Feiyu Army, including the deputy commander Huangfu Yu, had a total of 5,726 people who died heroically for their country, and the rest were all injured."

This first sentence made the atmosphere in the hall particularly solemn.

The Feiyu Army was not fully organized. Before joining the battle, it had a total of 11,730 cavalrymen, which means that more than half of them were lost in this battle.

The main generals and deputy generals of each army gathered together, and at this moment they all looked at Zheng Chen, another deputy commander of the Feiyu Army.

Commander Li Bingxue had fallen into a coma when he defeated the Jing Army's Third Cavalry Unit of 10,000 due to exhaustion from the long battle and multiple injuries. He is now recuperating in the back hall of the Marshal's Mansion, being personally cared for by Princess Lin Xi.

Zheng Chenhu's eyes were filled with tears and his eye sockets were red, but he didn't say much in the end.

Lu Chen said softly, "Every fallen soldier must be properly treated. The imperial court's reward will not come so quickly. First, their funeral expenses and pensions will be paid. Dezun, you will handle this matter yourself."

The chief officer, Chen Xun, immediately stood up and said, "I obey your orders."

Seeing this, Wang Jun continued, "A total of 5,243 Fengfu soldiers died heroically, and more than 3,000 were injured."

The five main infantry armies participating in the battle today are all at their full capacity of 12,500 men.

The commander of the Fengfu Army, Xu Gui, was wrapped up like a dumpling. At this moment, he no longer had his usual expression of laughter, anger and scolding. Instead, his expression was both sad and proud.

The Fengfu Army had the most difficult task today. When the Changdao Army led their comrades to gain the first wave of advantage and the main force of the Jing Army's infantry began to counterattack, it was Xu Gui and his soldiers who blocked the surging wave. It can be said that without them and the Feiyu Army's persistence regardless of sacrifice, it would have been difficult to achieve such a perfect result in today's battle.

Wang Jun continued his statement, and next, in order of losses from most to least, they were the Guangling Army, Zhenwei Army, Panlong Army, Ruyin Army, Changdao Army and Qixing Army.

The Dingbei Army's cavalry suffered the least casualties. On the one hand, it was because they were indeed very strong. On the other hand, they did not participate in the brutal early battles to lure the enemy, but were mainly responsible for the final decisive battle and pursuit battles. Therefore, the number of casualties was just over a thousand, and there were more than 500 injured, which basically would not affect their combat effectiveness.

In a very solemn atmosphere, Wang Jun summarized: "Your Majesty, generals, the total number of our troops participating in this battle is about 95,000, 6,835 cavalrymen were killed, and 23,213 infantrymen were killed. This is a preliminary statistical data, there may be some errors, I will further verify it."

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

"Compared with the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country, my hard work is not worth mentioning."

Wang Jun's eyes turned slightly red, and he suppressed his grief and recounted the results of the battle in detail.

When he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the hall finally changed.

Xu Gui said with emotion: "Don't be afraid of being laughed at by Your Majesty, I still feel like I'm dreaming. The Emperor of Jing is so arrogant. The 120,000 troops he brought are all elite soldiers from his own lineage, but he was actually defeated by our army, and even he himself died on the battlefield, hey."

"This is all due to the prince's good command, and the powerful weapons like those made the tiger even more powerful."

Liu Yin, the commander-in-chief of the Guangling Army, took over the conversation, his face full of respect.

Panlong Army Commander He Gui looked around and said with a smile, "Your Highness has led us to destroy a country this time. The court should promote you to be a prince, right? If you are a prince, there should be no problem in opening a government office."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall became more heated, and the eyes of the generals became fiery.

Although they tacitly did not mention it, the sight of the soldiers of the three armies cheering "Long live the emperor" on the battlefield during the day was enough to stir waves in people's hearts.

Civil officials such as Liu Yuan, Chen Xun and Wang Jun were calmer than the military generals, but they did not show any signs of nervousness or fear.

Li Chengen's heart moved slightly. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he said, "The court may not be so generous. You should know that the country has never conferred a prince of a different surname for more than 170 years."

As the most loyal general under Lu Chen, his words were obviously not groundless.

Xu Gui said firmly: "Just because it didn't happen before doesn't mean it can't happen now. If the court is too stingy, I will never accept it!"

Liu Yin said sternly: "Yes, whoever dares to disrespect the prince will be my mortal enemy."

He Gui raised his hand and touched his forehead, his voice carrying a hint of murderous intent: "Damn it, I heard that some people in the south were messing with logistics some time ago? I think those people are tired of living!"

Seeing that the time had come, Li Chengen said meaningfully, "I don't have so many ideas. Anyway, I will beat whoever the prince tells me to beat."

How could anyone else be willing to lag behind?
The atmosphere in the hall was so chaotic that it almost blew the roof off.

"Alright." Lu Chen suppressed the noise in the hall with one word and said calmly: "Although Emperor Jing is dead, it is still a long way from the demise of Jing State. It is not time for us to reward people for their merits. Let's all be calm."

All the generals were immediately in silence, and Xu Gui also sat up straight.

Lu Chen looked around at the generals and gave the order: "The Fengfu Army and the Feiyu Army will stay in Ningling City."

Xu Gui and Zheng Chen said in unison: "We obey your orders!"

Lu Chen looked to the other side and said, "The Ruyin army marched out of Teng County and prepared to head north."

Huo Zhen said respectfully: "I will obey your orders."

"The Guangling Army will go to Chenguan Town, more than 30 miles west of Teng County, and station there. The Zhenwei, Panlong, Dingbei, Changdao, and Qixing armies will follow me to Jingzhou and join forces with the Jingzhou troops to wipe out the Jing Army's Western Route Army in one fell swoop."

Lu Chen slowly stood up, looked at the generals and said, "Everyone, I know you are all very tired, but now that the enemy is in a state of panic, it is a great opportunity for our army to recover the country in one go. I will give you two days to do a good job of psychological work on the soldiers. We will set out early the day after tomorrow. Is there any problem?"

All the generals stood up and saluted in unison, saying, "We are willing to die for you, Your Majesty!"

The military meeting ended.

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It was already late at night when Lu Chen washed up and returned to the back hall.

Walking around the screen, he was greeted by a heartwarming scene.

Lin Xi was sitting on the edge of the couch, holding Li Bingxue's right hand with both hands, and talking softly. When she saw Lu Chen walk in, she turned her head and looked at him, her eyes full of heartache.

Li Bingxue leaned against the soft pillow, her usually cold face becoming even more like snow.

She persisted in today's battle from the beginning to the end, almost relying on burning her life to lead the Feiyu Army to fight a bloody path. This level of desperate efforts will inevitably hurt the foundation.

Lu Chen brought a chair and sat beside the bed, and asked softly, "Are you feeling better?"

Lin Xi spoke first: "The doctor has examined her before and prescribed medicine. The injuries on her body are not serious. They will heal after a period of rest. But her internal energy is almost dry. Although I helped her relax her meridians, she will definitely not recover in a short time. She will have to stay in bed for at least a month."

"It doesn't matter."

Li Bingxue smiled and shook her head, saying, "I know my condition. I just need to rest for seven or eight days."

Lin Xi frowned and said, "Are you going to die? You haven't practiced the Upper Mysterious Scripture for a long time. You can barely hold on this time. If you don't strengthen your foundation, your meridians will most likely be destroyed next time, and all your martial arts will be wasted."

"Sister, I——"

"Listen to Senior Sister."

Lu Chen interrupted Li Bingxue, looked into her eyes and said, "This battle is enough to comfort the heroic spirits of the Li family. Leave the rest to us. You should rest assured and take good care of yourself. In the future, we will go together to flatten the capital of Jing State."

Li Bingxue's eyes sparkled, and after a moment she nodded and said, "Okay."

Lin Xi couldn't help but smile and said, "You are really good at talking. I almost wore out my lips just now, but this girl just wouldn't let go."

Li Bingxue showed a rare hint of embarrassment.

"Tell her more about today's results, so she won't be worried."

Lin Xi knew that Li Bingxue was at her most vulnerable at this moment and needed Lu Chen's company and comfort, so she stood up and said, "I'm going to go back and rest."

However, the moment she turned around, Lu Chen raised his hand and grabbed her wrist.

Lin Xi looked at him in confusion.

Lu Chen coughed lightly and said seriously: "This bed can sleep three people."

Although they were already an old married couple, Lin Xi still couldn't help blushing. She glanced at Li Bingxue who was enjoying the show on the bed and said angrily, "You're making trouble again."

"Sister."

Lu Chen sighed softly and said very sincerely: "I have something to say to you."

"Really?"

Lin Xi looked suspicious.

"It should be true."

Li Bingxue took over the conversation and said with a smile: "Sister Lin, how dare he do anything reckless with you here?"

Lin Xi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately he couldn't bear to disappoint this guy. Besides, Li Bingxue was so weak, there was no reason for him to make trouble, so he turned around and stood still, breaking free from Lu Chen's hand, but he didn't know how to continue.

Fortunately, it is a winter night now, unlike in summer when we have to sleep in just small clothes.

After a moment, the three of them lay side by side on this indeed very spacious bed.

There was a dim light in the room, and the hot air from the incense burner spread out. Lu Chen's calm voice slowly sounded.

"Emperor Jing's words are misleading, but they also make some sense. For me, the current situation is both a great opportunity and full of unpredictable dangers..."

(End of this chapter)