The prince is more stable

Chapter 575 Post-War Inventory
Treat your comrades as you would your comrades, and treat your enemies as you would your enemies.

The main theme is a clear distinction between love and hate.

A captured defeated general dares to look defiant when entering the commander's tent. Who the hell indulged you in this bad behavior?
As soon as Zhao Xiaoqian said this, the atmosphere in the commander's tent suddenly became cold.

The generals of the Song army stopped talking and stared at Yelu Otera with cold faces.

They were all generals who had fought in many battles, and each of them had killed many people. Now everyone's eyes were focused on Yelu Otera. A terrifying murderous aura suddenly rose into the sky in the general's tent. Yelu Otera shivered involuntarily, as if he was in a cold and icy cellar.

Zong Ze stood up and stared at Yelu Otera, saying coldly, "Didn't you hear what Your Highness said? Your Highness is not used to talking to a defeated general with his head held high. Kneel down quickly!"

Yelu Otera's face flushed red, as if he had been deeply humiliated. He angrily said, "A Liao general won't kneel before a Song minister. Just kill me now, why bother showing off!"

The words sounded righteous, but Zhao Xiaoqian just wanted to laugh.

"You have backbone, but not much," Zhao Xiaoqian sneered. "If you truly had backbone, you should have decisively drawn your sword and slashed your throat before you were captured. Amidst the chaos, there was definitely time for you to pledge your loyalty to the Liao Emperor. But you chose not to, and instead allowed yourself to be captured by our army. Therefore, I'm afraid your backbone is very limited."

This remark exposed Yelu Otera's thoughts, and his face turned even redder with shame, especially when he heard the whispering laughter of the generals in the tent, which made him even more angry and embarrassed.

"Zhao Xiaoqian, whether I have backbone or not is not up to you to decide. We Khitan men are all heroes and will not tolerate your humiliation!"

Zhao Xiaoqian said slowly, "Yelü Otera, Deputy Envoy of the Northern Court of the Liao Kingdom. Am I right? Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council is a high position, but you are of no value to the Great Song. Your life and death are of no importance to us. Do you understand me?"

Zhao Xiaoqian said coldly, "Give him a knife, don't you want to kill him quickly? If you kill yourself, I will respect you as a man. Later, I will send your body to Bianjing and you will still get a reward."

A small dagger was thrown to the ground immediately, and all the generals in the tent looked at him quietly.

Yelu Otera's face suddenly turned pale. He lowered his head and stared at the dagger on the ground, his body shaking uncontrollably.

After hesitating for a while, Yelu Otera finally did not have the courage to bend down and pick up the dagger.

The more noble one's status, the more reluctant one is to die. This is an iron rule throughout history.

Yelu Otera was also a nobleman of the Liao Dynasty. He held a high position and was an important official in the court. Naturally, he was reluctant to die.

Zhao Xiaoqian was right. If he was really that courageous, he should have committed suicide decisively when the army was defeated. Since he did not have the courage to commit suicide to show his loyalty, it shows that he was simply afraid of death.

Seeing that Yelu Otera didn't move for a long time, Zhao Xiaoqian became impatient: "Don't you dare die? It's easy to cut the artery in your neck with a knife. Do you want us to help?"

Inside the commander's tent, the generals' expressions gradually became filled with contempt, but Yelu Otera remained motionless.

Zhao Xiaoqian sneered, "Since you don't dare to die, don't act so unruly and unyielding. If you're afraid of death, you should be afraid of it. You're not a hero, so don't expect us to respect you too much."

"Now, I repeat, I'm not used to talking to people with my head tilted up."

Facing Zhao Xiaoqian's cold eyes, Yelu Otera finally couldn't resist the suffocating feeling of oppression. His knees softened and he knelt down in front of Zhao Xiaoqian with grief and frustration.

Inside the commander's tent, the generals laughed heartily, and Zhao Xiaoqian also showed a satisfied smile.

"That's the right attitude. A prisoner is a captive. Your life and death are in our hands. Who the hell allowed you to have such bad habits that you dare to talk to me in such a defiant manner?"

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at him with a smile, completely ignoring his grief, anger and humiliation.

Once a person falls into the hands of the Song army, it basically means the end of his life. For a beast, the anger of an ant is nothing to worry about.

The reason why Yelu Otera was called into the general's tent was not to interrogate him. That was not Zhao Xiaoqian's job. He did it purely to suppress Yelu Otera's arrogance.

Sure enough, as Yelu Otera knelt down, he seemed to come to his senses in an instant, had a clear understanding of his situation, and became well-behaved.

I have to say, this look is much more pleasing to the eye, the more I look at it, the more I like it.

The Deputy Envoy of the Northern Privy Council of the Liao Dynasty was a high-ranking official, equivalent to the Deputy Prime Minister. The capture of such a high-ranking figure was naturally a great achievement.

Zhao Xiaoqian waved his hand and said, "Send someone to escort Yelu Otera to Bianjing. Beat drums and gongs along the way and loudly publicize his official position so that everyone knows it."

Yelu Otera lowered his head silently, showing a look of shame and anger, but he dared not say anything more.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled amiably and said, "I understand. After all, it's not easy to capture an official of your rank. Publicizing your identity with drums and gongs can also boost the morale of the army and the people of the Song Dynasty, making them happy. I beg your Excellency to cooperate."

Yelu Otera nodded dejectedly.

He also understood that after being captured by the Song army, he had completely lost his freedom and dignity in this life. What else could a defeated and captured general say?

With a wave of his hand, Zhao Xiaoqian ordered the imperial guards to take Yelu Otera away and escort him to Bianjing. Peace and joy returned to the general's tent.

Amidst the conversation and laughter, Zhao Xiaoqian and the generals counted the casualties and battle results.

In this battle, the three armies annihilated a total of more than 70,000 Liao troops. Of the 100,000 Liao troops that invaded the Song Dynasty, only 20,000 escaped. They were defeated miserably and paid a heavy price.

The Song army also suffered some casualties, but fortunately not too great.

The heaviest casualties were in the central interception led by Zhong Jianzhong. In the battle outside Xijin Prefecture, the Liao army's desperate charge eventually broke through the Song army's first line of defense, resulting in about 3,000 casualties.

As for the troops of Zhe Keshi and Zong Ze, they fought extremely smoothly. Although there were casualties, they were basically negligible.

When the weapons of the enemy and us are absolutely unequal, such a casualty ratio is very normal. After all, it is a one-sided crushing massacre.

A lot of spoils were captured, including more than 30,000 war horses and countless swords, weapons and armor. Before the battle, Zhao Xiaoqian had instructed that no prisoners would be taken in this battle, so except for Yelu Otera, no prisoners were left, as they were all killed by the Song army.

Zhao Xiaoqian was satisfied with the result, especially the war horses captured among the spoils.

Including this time, there were three major battles with the Liao army, and a large number of war horses were seized in each time, including 10,000 war horses that were once privately traded with Yelu Chun. Now the Song army has a large surplus of war horses, and it is no problem to equip 100,000 people.

For the Song Dynasty, this was a valuable asset. In the wars between the Song and Liao dynasties, the Song Dynasty was often at a disadvantage. Apart from the Liao army's fierce fighting style, the Song Dynasty's lack of war horses was also an important factor.

After losing the horse-producing areas of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Song army was extremely short of war horses and had to equip infantry armor to fight against the Liao cavalry. Naturally, the two armies would suffer heavy losses in the confrontation.

Now, after three major battles, the war horses captured by the Song army are enough for 100,000 people. This means that the Song army's mobility will be greatly improved from now on, and its disadvantages on the battlefield will be quickly eliminated. The Song army will only become stronger and stronger in the future.

With all of them being cavalry and equipped with firearms, if nothing unexpected happens, the Song army under Zhao Xiaoqian can truly be called invincible.

…………

The Liao Kingdom came to the capital.

The messenger rode into the city in a rage, and the news of the defeat eventually reached Yelu Hongji.

Inside the Liao Palace, Yelu Hongji's face turned pale, and he stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. Fortunately, a palace attendant was quick to catch him.

"All, all defeated? Three armies... all defeated?" Yelu Hongji trembled all over.

The messenger bowed his head and said tremblingly, "Yes, they were all defeated. Yelu Wutera's entire army was annihilated, and 30,000 soldiers were completely wiped out by the Song army. Beiping County Prince Yelu Chun lost most of his 40,000 soldiers. He held Xijin Prefecture with the remaining 10,000 soldiers, and the Song army was eventually forced to retreat."

"Xiao Wuna's troops were intercepted by Song general Zhe Keshi, who led 20,000 soldiers. After a fierce battle, half of Xiao Wuna's troops were killed, and he returned with just over 15,000 men... Your Majesty, all three armies have been defeated."

Yelu Hongji's body trembled even more violently and his face turned pale.

The 100,000-strong army advanced in different directions with high morale, but in the end only more than 20,000 people were left, and more than 70,000 of them were annihilated by the Song army.

Since the founding of the Liao Dynasty, has there ever been such a humiliating defeat?

Under the rule of Yelu Hongji, such a disastrous defeat occurred. How could he face his ancestors?
Yelu Hongji sat down dejectedly. In an instant, he seemed to have aged by dozens of years, and his spine became hunched.

"The Song army... is no longer viable!" Yelu Hongji muttered to himself and closed his eyes in pain.

This war, which he personally planned, not only failed to achieve the results he expected, but ended in such a tragic outcome. Yelu Hongji knew better than anyone how serious the consequences of this war were.

In the three major battles with the Song army, the Liao army lost a total of 150,000 soldiers and horses. This number is so shocking.

Even if Yelu Hongji was the emperor of Liao, he could not afford this result.

Not counting the negative impact of the defeat on the country, just from the perspective of the number of troops, the three major defeats of the Liao Dynasty had already caused too much damage to the country's foundation.

The Liao Kingdom now has a total of more than 500,000 standing troops. After all, it was a country founded by a nomadic people, and each tribe can be said to have soldiers, but there are only more than 500,000 people who are actually counted in the army.

Among these more than 500,000 troops, there are palace troops, tribal troops, Jingzhou troops, vassal state troops and other types of troops.

With so many types of troops, it is inevitable that their combat effectiveness varies. The Palace Army and the Jingzhou Army are considered elite, while the tribal army and the vassal state army are not so good.

In the three recent wars between the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty, most of the troops mobilized by Yelu Hongji were the palace army and the Jingzhou army, mixed with a small number of tribal troops and vassal state troops. Therefore, most of the 150,000 troops lost by the Liao Kingdom were the elite of the Liao Kingdom.

The elite troops suffered such heavy losses, but in return they suffered defeat again and again. How could such a proud man as Yelu Hongji accept this?

(End of this chapter)