Cleaning the battlefield is a tiring job, not as easy as fighting.
"Be careful, hit each other one by one, don't be tricked to death, it's not worth dying at this time." Fang Jue reminded.
As soon as he finished speaking, the surviving Beiliang soldiers rose up in the distance, but they were stabbed by several spears from the alert Xia army.
"Don't worry, General. We'll find out later."
"General, what should we do with those captured soldiers?" Sun Yi came over and asked.
Fang Jue: "I said, surrender without killing."
Sun Yi turned sideways to prevent the prisoners from seeing the shape of his mouth: "But General, our food cannot feed so many people."
"How many prisoners?" Fang Jue asked.
"More than four thousand."
This number also surprised Fang Jue.
"How many people died?" Fang Jue asked again.
Sun Yi replied: "More than two thousand people."
"More than a thousand people escaped, and they were taken away by the general of Linzhou."
Fang Jue glanced at the north, the direction where the Linzhou general was fleeing, and sneered: "Don't worry, he can't escape, the Yulin army is over there."
"That's right, General Lin is well versed in the tactics of the general and he should not let them escape." Sun Yi laughed.
"How many officers did you catch?"
"The lord of Hanzhou is dead, and there are only half of the remaining generals above centurion." Sun Yi was very sorry.
"Have you asked if all Linzhou Camp and Hanzhou Camp have come out?"
Sun Yi said excitedly: "We were about to talk about this. According to them, both battalions are stationed in the valley to the north, waiting to surprise us."
"That means that Linzhou City will be destroyed without an attack." Fang Jue nodded, which was what he expected.
Such a large number of cavalry cannot be assembled by a single Linzhou battalion. Even if the Hanzhou battalion is added, the number will not be enough.
And it can be seen that the remaining cavalry are all second-rate Beiliang cavalry, and cannot compare with the 20,000 cavalry led by Luo Yang himself.
Maybe it's also a makeshift team.
"General, four thousand prisoners is too many. What I mean is that soldiers never tire of deceit..." Sun Yi narrowed his eyes, a fierce light flashed in his eyes.
Fang Jue understood what he meant.
If more than 4,000 people were killed, the accumulated military merits would be huge, and raising so many prisoners would indeed be a problem.
Even if they get the military rations from Linzhou Camp and Hanzhou Camp, the army will still be stationed in the north for a while, and it is impossible to distribute them to these prisoners.
"But I have already said that those who surrender will not be killed. If we go back on our word, how can we recruit people to surrender if something like this happens again in the future?" Fang Jue shook his head and disagreed with Sun Yi's suggestion.
Sun Yi paused for a moment and said, "What about the general's opinion?"
"Let's seize them first. We can't release them. It's not a bad idea to take them back to work as coolies." Fang Jue was not a kind person. In his eyes, these more than 4,000 people were all very good workers.
You can also lower the price at will.
"But we need to eat food on the way back." Sun Yi muttered.
Fang Jue rolled his eyes at him: "Can the pattern be bigger? This little military achievement is nothing compared to defeating three states in a row?"
"Although it is not too illegal to kill prisoners and charge them with military merit, what is the reputation of our Daxia army?"
"That's right..." Sun Yihan smiled.
Then he said goodbye.
Fang Jue watched him walk away, and after meeting Wei Ran and Wei Feng, he shook his head.
Obviously, Sun Yi's suggestion was not just his family's opinion.
"General, there is a letter from Beijing."
When the whole army was sweeping the battlefield, a messenger came from the south.
After many rounds of inspections, he was brought to Fang Jue.
"What news did you bring?" Fang Jue asked.
The messenger said: "General, a message has been sent from Beijing to ask General He Feng of the Suzhou Camp to lead the Suzhou Camp and come here to cooperate with the army in the expedition to the north. Your Majesty has asked you to act accordingly and there is no need to ask the Central Government for instructions on everything."
"oh?"
Fang Jue's eyes lit up. This was great. With this authorization, he could really do whatever he wanted.
"Is there anything else?" Fang Jue asked.
Courier: "Furthermore, Your Majesty hopes that the general will end the Northern Expedition as soon as possible and stop when it is ready, as long as it can be stabilized."
"Why not take advantage of the opportunity to regain more lost ground?" Fang Jue wondered.
"Because His Majesty is already preparing for the Jiangnan Water Conservancy Project. He hopes that the General will return to take charge of the project. The project will be constructed in the spring of next year..."
Fang Jue was speechless: "You want me to go back and take charge? The Ministry of Works can't do this job?"
The messenger said meaningfully: "Well... the project is huge, and the start-up capital is as high as four million taels... Moreover, I heard that Emperor Liang is already negotiating with Luoyang, the war between the two sides has gradually slowed down, and Donghai and Xichu have also sent troops."
After hearing this, Fang Jue knew what the emperor meant.
"knew……"
"You go down and have a rest first. After you have rested, go back and report. I will tell Your Majesty that I understand. I will try my best to go back as early as possible before spring begins." Fang Jue waved his hand.
After the messenger left, several generals gathered around him.
They are all a little confused.
"What do you mean, Your Majesty? If you don't take the opportunity to regain more territory, how can you turn to Jiangnan water conservancy?" Sun Yidao.
"This civil unrest in Beiliang is our opportunity, isn't it?"
"No chance."
Fang Jue said to several people: "Donghai and Xichu have begun to send troops, and the threats from our three parties have caused Emperor Liang and Luo Yang to start negotiations, and maybe they will join hands temporarily."
"Hand in hand?"
"How is it possible that Emperor Liang would join hands with rebellious ministers and traitors?"
Wei Feng agreed: "As far as Beiliang is concerned, we are all foreign enemies. It is possible for them to join forces for the sake of domestic justice."
Even if Luo Yang rebels, he may not care about the frost, cold, and cold states, but the appetites of Xichu and Donghai are not small. If they let the internal fighting continue, Beiliang will really be in trouble.
When the time comes, only the hinterland will be left, and it will be pinched tightly by the three kingdoms, and it will inevitably be divided up by food sooner or later.
Fang Juedao: "For us, time is limited. We can capture two more state capitals at most, but we can't hold the northern state capital of Linzhou even if we win it."
"So your Majesty means to only capture these three states?" Sun Yi said coyly, "Then... wouldn't it be a pity?"
Wei Ran also nodded and said: "Actually, this is similar to what we originally imagined."
From the time of the expedition, Fang Jue had said that it would be best to capture these three states.
At that time, we did not have any more fantasies, because the Beiliang area outside the three states was not suitable for Daxia garrison.
Because the lone army penetrated too far, all the troops stationed in Beiliang Prefecture could be attacked by a group at any time.
As for Shuangzhou, Hanzhou and Linzhou, they have the Bailong Snow Mountain as a natural barrier, plus the Lizhou and Beidu Camps to protect them. These three states are connected with Daxia and can gain a firm foothold.
Linjiang can also block the Beiliang garrison in the northwest.
Therefore, the most ideal situation is to cut off the Bailong Snow Mountain and bring these three states back into the territory of Daxia.
The further expedition to the north is just to fight the autumn wind and kill some Northern Liang troops to accumulate military merit, but it is not beneficial to open up the territory.
"Then we'll end up in Linzhou?" Sun Yi was somewhat unwilling to do so.
Fang Jue smiled and said, "Just accept it as you see fit. The military merits of conquering three states will be enough for you to advance to another level in the future."
Not satisfied yet?
Starting from the fifth rank of civil servants, they have to wait for seniority and wait for someone above them to value them for promotion.
People who have no backing will only be ranked as a third-grade minister if they are lucky.
As for the military attaché, starting from the third rank is also a big hurdle, and going up further is the general rank.
Of course, the position of the general is limited, and some generals are entitled to the salary of the general, but they are still the chief general with real power.
"Then what are the general's plans next?" Wei Feng asked.
Fang Jue said: "Your Majesty has already asked He Feng to come. He will probably be stationed in Linzhou. Let him take advantage."
"What?"
Hearing that Linzhou, which he and others had managed to capture with great difficulty, was actually not stationed by them, he immediately felt a little embarrassed.
"Why, you're not going back to your own state capital?" Fang Jue knew at a glance what they were thinking.
"General, with these three states, Liangzhou and Lizhou are no longer the first line of resistance against the North. The front line is here, and our side is not important..." Sun Yi said bluntly.
He just said it clearly.
Not only Sun Yi, but also Wei Ran also had some ideas.
He also said bluntly: "General, I originally wanted to invite someone to transfer to Hanzhou or Linzhou."
It's true that it's bitterly cold in the north, but whether it's military merit, qualifications, or salary, it's easier to get it than in the city gates of state capitals further inland.
As a third-level general in Liangzhou, Wei Ran wants to advance to the next level as soon as possible, so coming here is the best place.
"That's true." Fang Jue nodded.
He said: "However, the He family voluntarily gave up military power in Gyeonggi Province for the sake of the overall situation. Your Majesty will naturally compensate He Feng and make him the general of Linzhou."
Although they were unhappy, several people nodded, knowing that this would probably come true.
"As for Zhou Desheng, he will also leave Ganzhou. I also promised him..."
Fang Jue looked at the two of them, feeling very helpless. The carrot pit was not enough.
"General!" Wei Ran and Sun Yi both opened their mouths.
Wei Feng said nothing because he knew that the firearms camp could not be controlled by the local army and would inevitably follow Fang Jue back to Beijing.
Fang Jue glanced at the two of them and said helplessly: "There is nothing we can do..."
"But……"
"Then let's win one more state, that's enough." Fang Jue said in a calm tone, as if he was saying to add another bowl if the rice was not enough. This chapter has been completed!