Groups of muddy and embarrassed Song soldiers raised their hands and gathered on the wasteland at the end of the paddy fields under the watchful eye of the soldiers of the cadre army, and the ground was littered with trampled and dirty banners, weapons, and armor and weapons discarded by the Song army when they fled.

In the paddy fields on both sides of the official road, countless corpses were lying or lying on their stomachs, and the green grass seedlings that had been thriving were destroyed in one fell swoop, and the paddy fields were stained red with blood.

Under the supervision and supervision of the cadres, some of the prisoners carried the bodies of their companions or cadres from the fields to the ground and placed them one by one.

In the distance, some cadres and soldiers stood guard with spears in their hands, and groups of Song army prisoners were being escorted over in a steady stream, and these people were hanging their heads one by one, as if their backbones had been broken.

The Song army that died the most was the Song army in the paddy fields on both sides of the official road, they were wearing armor during the battle, the weight was too large, and it was difficult to walk an inch in the mud in the paddy fields, and many people were killed without the power to resist, especially those Song army heavy infantry who jumped into the paddy fields, and they died the most.

There are also those light infantry of the Song army, they were also quickly defeated after the rout in the rear, but when they turned around and fled, they were chased and killed by the infantry of the dry army because they had already exhausted their physical strength, and there were also many Song soldiers who saw that the situation was not good and discarded their weapons and knelt in the paddy field and raised their hands to surrender, which saved their lives.

At the end of the Shen period, the temperature dropped a little, and the last group of prisoners were escorted back, and the last group of cadres who went out to chase and kill the Song army's rout also escorted the prisoners back.

Zhao Junsheng rode a horse and stood in an open field, watching the soldiers of the cadre army gather the prisoners one by one in the open space, and the armor and weapons and equipment on the bodies of these soldiers and prisoners were all gathered and piled aside, and the prisoners were also concentrated in the open space, all squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands.

It didn't take long for Hua Xiong to come over and report: "Your Majesty, the generals and soldiers of the Song army who have been cleaned up and fled have all been captured, the number of prisoners and the weapons and armor captured have been counted, and the number of the two matches. ”

Zhao Junsheng asked, "How many prisoners are there?" ”

"Of the three thousand nine hundred and twenty-six people, there were four thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine Song troops who were killed, and more than half of them were chased and killed by our army in the process of rout!"

Zhao Junsheng asked, "Do you know what this means?" ”

Hua Xiong thought for a while, hugged his fists and said: "The minister understands, if the battle situation is unfavorable in the battle, you must not break and flee, once there is a situation of rout and escape, it is very likely to cause the collapse of the whole army, and you can only fight to the death, maybe you can turn defeat into victory!" ”

Zhao Junsheng said: "You are right, but not all right, think about it yourself, this matter of marching and fighting is by no means something that can be explained clearly in a few words!" ”

If the main general fails to stabilize the morale of the army and control the situation by the fastest and most effective means, the rout of a handful of soldiers is very likely to trigger a large-scale rout, and then cause a complete collapse of the battle line.

At this time, whether the commander can stabilize the situation or not is not determined by his ability and means alone, but only one aspect, as well as a series of factors such as the battlefield situation, the speed and efficiency of his own execution of military orders, and so on.

For example, at this time, no matter how strong the ability of the chief general is, no matter how high his control over the army is, he has no troops in his hands that can be mobilized, and all the troops are contained by the enemy.

For another example, the main general still has some troops in his hands that can be used, but it takes time for the military order to be transmitted, and it also takes time for the implementation of the military order, but it is too late in time, and the military order has not yet been implemented in place.

Zhao Junsheng said again: "Go and put those armors on the captives again, and hand over all the captured weapons, bows, crossbows, arrows and other materials to the baggage team!" ”

"No!" Hua Xiong agreed, and turned to make arrangements, but he couldn't figure out why the captives were wearing armor.

"Come back!"

Hearing this, Hua Xiong turned around and said, "What else does Your Majesty command?" ”

"What about our casualties?"

"Back to Your Majesty, the number of casualties in our army has not yet been specifically counted, but it will not be less than 1,200 people, about between 1,300 and 1,400 people, most of them are infantry!"

Zhao Junsheng waved his hand: "Go, after arranging, order to set up camp and send someone to contact Sima Chuzhi and Li Bao's army to determine their current location!" ”

"Yes!"

Soon, on a wasteland, the men built a stove to make a fire, wisps of cooking smoke rose up, and soon the smell of food came out, and the soldiers had not eaten hot food for several days, and it was inevitable that they would be a little greedy.

At sunset, the camp was set up, and it was located on the wasteland where the Song army had lined up before.

The soldiers had started to eat, and except for the soldiers who were on guard and guarding the captured soldiers, the other officers and men of the cadres began to eat.

When the soldiers had finished eating, the captives had to eat, and in order to prevent them from having the strength to escape, each captive received only half a steamed cake.

In the handsome tent, Zhao Junsheng and several generals discussed the next arrangements while eating.

Zhao Junsheng asked, "Hua Xiong, have you sent someone to contact Sima Chuzhi and Li Bao?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, it has been sent, and the minister estimates that there will be no reply until tomorrow morning at the latest!"

Zhao Junsheng looked at the map while eating, and said: "This place is still two days away from Jiangxia City, if we can receive the news of Sima Chuzhi and Li Bao's army early tomorrow morning, our army will wave its army south to Jiangxia City!" ”

At this time, a voice came from outside: "Report-"

"Come in!"

A small colonel walked in quickly and hugged his fists and said: "Your Majesty, General Xu Yibao sent someone to report that the day after His Majesty led the army to cross the river, the Song army sent a fleet along the Han River to the north to attack the Hanjin Kou Water Village, General Xu led the army to resist the Song Army's naval division for three days, and the Song Army's naval division lost its troops and lost its generals, and saw that it could not win, so it retreated. Now that the Hanjin Koushui Village is still under the control of our army, General Xu said that please rest assured, as long as he Xu Yibao is not dead, the Hanjin Koushui Village will never be lost! ”

Zhao Junsheng nodded when he heard this: "Very good!" ”

After speaking, a scribe next to Zhao Junsheng ordered: "Send a letter to Xu Yibao in my name, commend him for sticking to the Hanjin Koushui Village to repel the onslaught of the Song army's water division, and tell him that I have annihilated Shen Qingzhi's troops here, and there should not be too many Song troops left on the line from Xiangyang to the Yangtze River, but he still can't relax his vigilance!" ”

"No!"

Zhao Junsheng just talked about Shen Qingzhi, and he said, "By the way, how is Shen Qingzhi?" Did you catch it? ”

Niu Dali stood up and hugged his fists and said: "Your Majesty, Shen Qingzhi was caught up by our cavalry in the process of escaping and died in a siege battle, and the Song generals Liu Yuanjing, Zong Yu, Lu Shangqi and others were all captured by our army, and they are currently being held separately and sent to take care of them!" ”

Zhao Junsheng thought for a while and said: "Shen Qingzhi is also a famous general of the Southern Dynasty generation, loyal and respectable, I can't let him die in the wilderness, convey my will, and bury him with the specifications of the Southern Dynasty general!" Don't touch his personal belongings, including weapons, armor, waist tags, tiger charms, and other ornaments and valuables! ”

Niu vigorously clenched his fists and agreed: "No! ”

Guan Jinzhi, the general in charge of guarding the captives, stood up and hugged his fists and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that keeping Liu Yuanjing, Zong Yu, Lu Shangqi and others in the army is really not conducive to the control of the captives and surrendering troops, either send someone to escort them to Chang'an for detention, or execute them on the spot!" ”

Zhao Junsheng looked over when he heard this, and asked, "Then what do you think should be done?" ”

"Your Majesty, please judge!"

Zhao Junsheng said: "Lin Jinghui, I want to know the situation of Liu Yuanjing, do you know?" ”

Lin Jinghui took out a book from his arms, opened it and flipped through it a few times, and then presented it to Zhao Junsheng and said, "Your Majesty, Liu Yuanjing's background and resume are written on it!" ”

Zhao Junsheng took the book and looked at it, looked up and said, "Come here, bring Liu Yuanjing to see you!" ”

The will was conveyed, and soon a soldier brought Liu Yuanjing with shackles into the big tent, this person looked like he was in his forties, not a few years older than Zhao Junsheng, but at this time, this person was disheveled, the battle armor on his body was pitted, and the battle robe and cloak were also tattered and filthy, and his expression was haggard, but his eyes were firm and bright.

The little colonel who escorted him here shouted: "Liu Yuanjing, this is my Emperor Majesty, and I don't want to pay a greeting!" ”

Liu Yuanjing looked at Zhao Junsheng for a moment, looked up at the top of the tent, and snorted coldly: "He is the emperor of you Beiyu, but not my Liu Yuanjing's emperor!" ”

"Bold!"

"Presumptuous!"

"Your Majesty, this person is the general of the defeated army, and he has ended up like this, and he is still disrespectful, please behead him!"

Zhao Junsheng was also observing Liu Yuanjing, and after listening to the shouts of the generals, he waved his hand to stop them, looked at Liu Yuanjing and asked, "General Liu, I heard that your ancestral home is in Xie County, Hedong?" ”

"Hmph, it's not a secret!" Liu Yuanjing snorted coldly, still looking up at the top of the tent.

Zhao Junsheng didn't care, "It is said that Guan Yu, the general of the Shu Han Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms, is also from Xie County, Hedong, it seems that you are still the same townsman as Guan Gong, and Guan Gong is also very arrogant, but he has proud capital, can you Liu Yuanjing be comparable to Guan Yu?" ”

In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is said that Guan Yu is a person from Hedong Jieliang, which is not wrong, because its author, Luo Guanzhong, was a native of the Yuan Dynasty, and during the Yuan Dynasty, the name of Xie County at that time was Xie Liang County.

Liu Yuanjing said loudly: "The head can be broken, the blood can flow, the backbone cannot be lost, I, Liu Yuanjing, will never bow my head to the enemy, you will kill if you want to kill the northern captive, if I Liu Yuanjing frowns, I will not be a hero!" ”

Zhao Junsheng said: "You keep claiming that I and the soldiers of the army are the northern captives, but we are also Han people, I and the soldiers of the army were only born in Hebei, and they are by no means barbarians, your ancestral home is Xie County, Hedong, according to your logic, aren't you also a northern captive?" ”

Liu Yuanjing was speechless, opened his mouth and was powerless to refute.