After returning to the Sarhu Pass camp, the first thing Li Songping did was to summon the generals to discuss how to deal with the prisoners.
Cao Wenzhao, who had been reduced to a bystander in both battles, couldn't help but feel a little depressed. He immediately took the lead and said:
"General, your Majesty specifically gave instructions before leaving that the slaves must be exterminated and their heirs should be exterminated. Why not kill these captives on the spot?"
When the other generals saw that Cao Wenzhao had such a murderous intention, they couldn't help but look at each other. Such killings have not been a good thing since ancient times.
Then several more steady generals said:
"Then Amin surrendered on his own initiative after all. If he or his subordinates were to be trapped and killed, it would not only ruin our own reputation, but the imperial court and His Majesty would also be stained."
"With your Majesty's great ambitions, you will definitely have to use troops in the future. If so, who would dare to surrender to our Ming Dynasty?"
"Although our army won two battles, the boar skin is still alive. He still has a lot of capital. The enemy has not been wiped out. These prisoners, especially Amin, may be useful in the future."
"Amin has made some merits and contributions. I think it would be better to send a horse back to Liaoyang in advance and tell His Majesty to handle it personally. We don't have to be in a dilemma."
"In this case, it will take a day at the fastest. As the saying goes, soldiers are valuable and quick, and the wild boar skin is not an incompetent mediocre person. What if something unexpected happens."
"Yes, you should not be careless when it comes to wild boar skins. This person also knows how to adapt to changes. Otherwise, our army would not have suffered consecutive defeats before."
When Li Songping saw this, he immediately said what he was thinking.
"Everyone, my general's suggestion is that our army temporarily rests at Sarhu Pass and sends more troops to investigate around the old village at night to see what the specific movements of the wild boar skin are."
"Since Ye Bohskin has prepared the pocket formation, I don't think it will be changed easily. Moreover, our army has now destroyed the three banners of Jiannu. I'm afraid Ye Bohskin will not dare to act rashly."
"Neither Xiong Jinglue nor Mao Wenlong are greedy for success. We only need to calculate the time for their two armies to advance according to the previous deployment. When the time comes, the three armies will advance together."
"No matter how powerful this wild boar skin is, it will be powerless when the military strength is so disparate. We will definitely be able to accomplish our task in one battle and completely wipe out the Jiannu."
"As for those prisoners, we can kill half of them first and leave Amin's Xianglan Banner to surrender. At the same time, we will report to Your Majesty. I will act in accordance with the emperor's orders when the time comes. This is the safest way."
The generals also believed that what Li Songping said was indeed the optimal solution, and they all agreed.
Cao Wenzhao, on the other hand, was sulking and feeling quite unhappy. He recommended himself on the spot and personally took charge of the entrapment and killing of Jiannu prisoners.
Li Songping thought about it and did not object. After all, someone had to do it, and most generals were quite taboo about killing and surrendering. Now that someone took the initiative to ask for orders, it was naturally the best.
That same night, Cao Wenzhao separated the more than 5,000 Jiannu captives into batches. After screening, he took away all the nearly 2,000 Xianglan Banner captives.
Amin quickly came to inquire, and the reason he gave was very reasonable. He was afraid that the prisoners would gather in groups and cause trouble, so they were held separately.
Amin didn't think much about it. After all, this was a normal thing. It was impossible for so many prisoners to be gathered together.
Little did they know that only half an hour later, all the prisoners who were taken away were beheaded by the Ming army and their heads were taken off.
…………
…………
Early the next morning, Zhu Youxiao, who lived in Jinglue Mansion Office, had just woken up. Before he got up, he heard Yang Huan's voice outside the door.
"Your Majesty, Yang Huan, please see me."
Zhu Youxiao raised his hand, and the maid in the room immediately opened the door. Yang Huan then entered, knelt down towards the bed where the emperor was and shouted:
"Your Majesty, General Li Songping's messenger has arrived. The messenger said that yesterday, with the support of Amin, most of the Zhenglan Banner surrendered and the entire Xianglan Banner army was wiped out."
"Mang Gurtai, the son of Lao Nu, has been captured alive by our army. Our army is still resting in Sarhu Pass. There are too many captives and surrendered troops. General Li asks your Majesty to deal with it personally."
Upon hearing another victory report from the front line, Zhu Youxiao immediately sat up and stretched out his hand. The maid took the letter from Yang Huan and handed it to Zhu Youxiao.
Zhu Youxiao first checked whether there were any traces of opening. After confirming that there were no problems, he opened it and read it carefully.
Not long after, the whole room burst into laughter. No wonder Zhu Youxiao was so out of sorts.
Although Jiannu was weak at this time, he was a serious concern. Especially for Zhu Youxiao, a later generation, he still had a hatred that no one else had.
Although he repeatedly belittled and despised Jiannu in front of his ministers.
But in fact, in Zhu Youxiao's heart, he had never despised Jian Nu, or Ye Boar Pi himself, otherwise he would not have been responsible for sitting in Liaoyang personally to command and supervise the war.
Now with two battles and two victories, the main force of more than 10,000 Jiannu has been eliminated, and the Ming Dynasty's chances of winning have increased by several percent.
"This Li Songping really lives up to my expectations."
Then I saw him quickly getting up from the bed, shouting to change clothes with a smile on his face, and the two maids quickly came over with their clothes.
Zhu Youxiao was wearing ordinary clothes outside, so it didn't take much time to get dressed.
Without even bothering to have breakfast, Zhu Youxiao hurried all the way to the government office lobby, where there was a giant sand table.
Looking at the positions of the enemy and ourselves on the sand table, as well as the specific strength of Jiannu troops learned from Amin and Dudu, the Ming army was already confident of winning this battle.
However, Zhu Youxiao was still cautious, pacing back and forth, frowning, and still analyzing the situation in a low voice.
"According to what Na Dudu said yesterday, the Xianghuang Banner is just an empty shell. As a result, only four of the Eight Banners of Jiannu are left."
"The number of soldiers Jiannu can fight should be around 25,000, which is already weaker than the North Route Army and the Middle Route Army."
"The Northern Route Army came to report last night. Their march was extremely smooth. They didn't even see Jiannu's shadow. He must not have been discovered. Jiannu's attention was entirely on the middle route."
Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao suddenly realized, and then asked:
"How far is it from Xiong Tingbi's headquarters to Laozhai?"
"Back to Your Majesty, according to the position in yesterday's military report, the Northern Route Army is only one day away from Laozhai at most."
"Saerhu Pass is less than a day's journey from Laozhai. If the Central Route Army marches in today, they can arrive tomorrow."
In this way, the previously planned strategy of separate advances and combined attacks will be completed, Zhu Youxiao thought to himself.
After knowing the specific itinerary and location of the two main forces, Zhu Youxiao did not hesitate and immediately ordered:
"Pass on my edict, ordering Xiong Tingbi and Li Songping to march immediately, without any delay along the way."
"Tell Li Songping that Xiong Tingbi will attack from behind tomorrow, and he must attract the main force of the slave builders."
"In this decisive battle, the Northern Route Army is of vital importance. If we can attack Jiannu from behind on time tomorrow and form a pincer attack from both front and rear, our army will definitely win."
"Tell them that they must send more troops at night to investigate the surrounding situation. They must not divide their troops and advance rashly. Once they find out where the main force of the slave establishment is, they must immediately organize an attack."
"As for those prisoners surrendering, let Zhang Tao lead two thousand cavalry and escort them all back to Liaoyang. We will deal with them after the war is over."