Chapter 120: Tu Wan is a hero

If it was just started, it was the spontaneous massacre of lower-level officers, on the one hand, for hatred, and on the other hand, because of military merit.

After all, although there have been some changes in the military system of the Ming army, one thing has not changed, that is, the use of heads to calculate military merits.

In this case, it is natural that the more heads, the more military merits.

In this way, how can the lower ranks of the soldiers be interested in the captives, they are interested in the heads.

This is not the case alone.

When the information from all parties was transmitted to Guo Deng, the matter has become more and more intense.

The main force of Annan's army was collapsed, and there was not much room for maneuver on several mountain peaks. Guo Deng also understood that if he didn't stop it, I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to capture many Annan prisoners.

It's just that Guo Deng hesitated.

To be honest, Guo Deng didn't want to kill the prisoner.

It's not that Guo Dengduo is merciful, but that people in this era believe in the mandate of heaven and believe in retribution, especially Bai Qi's words before his death, and Li Guang's last words, which correspond to this.

Bai Qi thought that his sin was to kill prisoners. And Li Guang also felt that the reason why he couldn't be a marquis was to kill prisoners.

But the specific situation, the specific analysis.

First of all, from the political level.

This is related to Zhu Qizhen's opinion.

In the reflection on the abandonment of Annan during the Xuande period, all parties had their own ideas, but the emperor believed that it was not too strict with Annan, but too tolerant.

It was because of this that the middle and upper echelons of Annam retained a considerable amount of opposition, so much so that it was repeated later. If you are like Xu Youzhen and wipe out the two classes of nobles in Goryeo, even if they want to rebel, they can't do it.

And the personal will of the emperor is the policy of the state.

Between leniency and severity, Guo Deng had to consider the emperor's opinion.

Secondly, there is the strategic situation.

He had in his hands a rough estimate of the casualties of this battle.

It is true that the heyday of this war is certain, but it also lost at least tens of thousands of soldiers, not to mention the large army fighting in the rain, Guo Deng is sure that there will be a large-scale epidemic after the war.

Not to mention the Annan Army in the south, known as a million people, which also made Guo Deng a little nervous. Of course, Guo Deng knew that the Annan army did not have a million people, and these millions of people were false.

But how much water there is in these millions of people, Guo Deng is not clear.

So after a big war, Guo Deng is likely to face another battle.

And in the case of casualties and epidemics in the army, where can I afford to divide my troops to see the prisoners.

Not to mention that there are probably a lot of captives.

At least 100,000.

With so many people in custody, there are not a few troops and materials needed.

If he goes south to fight with Li Sicheng, these captives are also a hidden danger.

The last thing Guo Deng thought about was the emotions of the grassroots soldiers of the Ming army.

To tell the truth, Annan's battle has been fought for too long, and the soldiers below are too bitter, from last year's Layue to the present, more than 100,000 soldiers have died in battle and wounded.

Of course, the number of casualties in the Annan army was several times that of the Ming Dynasty. But it still made the atmosphere in the army extremely depressing. The morale of the military is quite low.

Now that there is an important victory, how can Guo Deng go against the will of the army below, I am afraid that the morale of the army will be even more unbearable.

For the generals, they can talk about some long-term plans and national strategies, but for the soldiers at the bottom, they are all fart, they only recognize money.

If the previous war was not bitter, Guo Deng can still suppress it now.

However, the offensive and defensive battle of Lang Son can be called the flesh and blood mill of both sides.

The previous heavy rain and fierce battle were even more heavy losses, and the resentment in the soldiers' hearts did not come out. It's not easy to use.

Even if Guo Deng was unwilling in his heart, he could only pretend not to see it, but he just allocated 20,000 soldiers to support Wang Yue.

Guo Deng's heart suddenly felt a little gloomy, and he said secretly: "Three generations of generals, the taboo of soldiers, I know it today." ”

A massacre has quietly begun.

The specific number of people slaughtered, because there is no statistics, did not say in the end, but this battle beheaded about 300,000, it can be said that corpses are everywhere.

Even after many years, Annam has become Jiaozhou Province, and from Pingxiang to Langshan and then south, it has become a transportation artery, but still does not dare to stay overnight in this twenty-mile blood valley.

It is also known as the place of great evil.

Guo Deng's killing of prisoners this time has both advantages and disadvantages.

The good thing is that Annam is exhausted, and almost an entire generation has died around Lang Son. What's more, Annan's most elite officers, generals, all died here.

The re-formed Annam Army could not be compared with the previous Annam Army at all, and even fell to the point that it was slightly stronger than the Champa Army.

So, although there have been several major battles in the Ming and Annan eradications, none of them are as difficult as this one, not to mention the destruction of the withering and decaying, but it is also dull and deserved.

The disadvantage is that the enmity between the people of Annam and the Ming army is great.

The people of Annam held high the slogan of opposing the Ming Dynasty and recovering Vietnam for decades, and successively served as the governor of Jiaozhou Province, and the most important thing was to suppress bandits, not only mountain bandits but also sea bandits.

And these are the remnants of the Vietnamese army, and it can be said that the real peace war against Vietnam has lasted for decades. Only then did the last bandit holding high the banner of Li Yue be pacified.

That's for later.

Li Sicheng didn't know the situation here. But even if he knew, he wouldn't make any other choice.

Because his choice went to another one, he had no choice at the moment.

Li Sicheng looked at the mountains in the north and could only order a retreat.

The annihilation of Ruan Chi's entire army has become a foregone conclusion, and the general Ding Lie died in battle, and the morale of the army is fluctuating, and it is unbearable to fight again, and now fighting again can only be sent to death.

I can only withdraw to Thang Long Mansion first, and then make a calculation.

It's just that he wants to retreat, how can Guo Deng make him retreat gloomily. Liu Ju pursued with cavalry. If it is placed in the Central Plains, it will definitely be able to chase and kill hundreds of miles.

But in the rainy season, Liu Ju defeated the Annan army. But he didn't dare to pursue, so he retreated early.

The reason why Annan's army collapsed was because the quality was so poor, Liu Ju did not fight with it at all, and the situation of galloping horses alone would collapse.

And the reason why Liu Ju didn't chase was because he found that on the muddy road, the horse couldn't run fast at all, and it wasn't even much faster than a human run.

And there is not much else in the Annan army, that is, there are many people.

Think about it, when the cavalry that lost its speed was surrounded by countless men and horses. What is the end of Liu's gathering. Liu Ju naturally had to retreat first.

The loss of speed of the cavalry is equivalent to the loss of combat effectiveness, coupled with the torrential rain that may occur at any time in the rainy season, the muddy land, and various factors, no matter how you look at it, the battalion will not order a pursuit. Liu Ju's approach naturally cannot be said to be wrong.

It's just not necessarily right.

This incident is talked about after the fact, and there are different theories.

Liu Ju's pursuit startled Li Sicheng, because when he retreated, the Annan army was all in chaos. Completely leaking out the essence of the rabble.

Li Sicheng can't control it except for the tens of thousands of old teams around him who followed him to fight the Battle of Baitengjiang.

If Liu Ju pursued desperately at this time, he might be able to kill Li Sicheng and destroy Annan in advance. But it may also be that Liu Ju's entire army was annihilated in the Annan army. There will also be an early end to the Battle of Annam, which lasted for more than a year.

However, it was also Liu Ju's retreat that gave Li Sicheng a breather. Only by reorganizing the army and reorganizing order can the difficult military task of retreat be completed.

Even so, when he arrived in Thang Long City, he regrouped his troops. But there are only more than 200,000, and I don't know how many soldiers have fled back to their hometowns. For the area north of the Red River, Li Sicheng clearly felt that the decree was not so smooth.

Although these places have not yet surrendered to the Ming army. But depending on the situation, it is already a foregone conclusion.

After all, although the Annan people have a lot of hard bones, not all of them will be hard bones. From the attack and defense of Lang Son to the subsequent battle of annihilation, it can be regarded as a war that broke the backbone of Annam.

No matter how stubborn a person is, he has to think about his future.

Even if you don't think about yourself, you have to think about your family.

When the Ming army went south, it would definitely hit Thang Long City like a bamboo.

After Li Sicheng returned to Thang Long, he immediately began to strengthen Thang Long City and prepare for the upcoming Thang Long offensive and defensive battle.

It's just that the situation he expected for the Ming army to move south immediately did not appear, and the time for the offensive and defensive battle of Shenglong would be slightly delayed for a few days.