Chapter 154: It Turned Out to Be an Old Man (Part I)
Yelu's enemy martyrs were scattered, but Mutel, who was killed from outside the pass, did not chase after him, but after waving his army to cover up for a while, he escorted more than 1,000 and nearly 2,000 prisoners back to the original Khitan army camp that had been broken by him. After entering the camp, Muttel first sent a telegram to Yuguan, Youzhou City, Juyong Pass, and even "Liangyuan" through the radio, informing the brothers of the battle situation at Gubeikou Pass. Then, instead of stopping there, he ordered the captives to dismantle their tents, carry grain, grass and military supplies, and take away everything they could, and burn them all that they could not.
It wasn't until he saw the raging fire in the camp of the original Khitan army that he took the prisoners and took the spoils to Gubeikou Pass - whether it was the Battle of Baoxingzhuang, the Battle of Youzhou, or the Battle of Yuguan, there were "security forces" to cooperate, and a large number of people could be requisitioned on the spot, so the work of cleaning up the battlefield and cleaning up the spoils of war had its own corresponding personnel to complete, and there was no need for leading generals like Mutel to worry about it. However, the number of defenders of Gubeikou Pass is very limited, and the villages and towns in and outside the pass are far less numerous than those in the previous places, and it is difficult to recruit enough people to serve as porters and carry things for a while, so the work of cleaning up the battlefield and cleaning up the spoils of war can only be taken care of by Muter, and drives the only Khitan captives at his disposal to be "porters".
Because the Khitan army was a crushing battle rather than an encirclement battle, not only were the prisoners captured in this battle limited - the total number of prisoners captured by Mutel's troops and the defenders of Gubeikou Pass was less than 3,000, and there were even fewer high-ranking officials or generals among the prisoners. Therefore, on the way to Gubeikou Pass, where he was escorting the prisoners and booty, Mutel deliberately stopped at the place where Yelu Enemy Lie and the high-ranking generals of the Khitan Army were attacked by artillery, and asked the soldiers of the Third Regiment and the Seven Battalions of the "Flying Dragon Army" who were supervising the cleaning of the battlefield there about the deaths, injuries, and captures of high-ranking figures of the Khitan Army, hoping that there would be some gains here to make up for this shortcoming. It's a pity that the situation on the Guancheng side is not much stronger than that on the Khitan army camp. Because the artillery fire attack was too fierce and accurate, basically all the high-ranking generals and officials of this Khitan division from Yelu to the enemy were buried in it. So far, the cleaners have found only three wounded from the pile of dead men who still have a breath of air. Judging by the clothes they were wearing, the highest rank among them was only a commander, which was not as high as the several commander-level officers that Muttel had captured in the Khitan army camp.
This situation made Muttel feel a little disappointed, and felt that this battle was a little unenjoyable, far less than the joy and relief that he had participated in the two battles of Baoxingzhuang and Yuguan before. However, this disappointment was only a slight disappointment in the case of a big victory, because it was not able to achieve the icing on the cake, and it did not have any impact on the results of the entire battle of Gubeikou. Therefore, after being greeted into the Gubeikou Pass by all the officers above the company level who were guarding the Gubeikou Pass, Muttel did not care about resting, so he immediately called a meeting of all the officers above the platoon level in the pass, spoke highly of their performance in this battle on behalf of the Military Department and the committee, and greatly praised the heroic and tenacious spirit of the officers and men guarding the pass and their belief in living and dying with the city. Although Muttel only gave everyone verbal praise and praise, whether it was Zhang Zheng's subordinates, who had been guarding the Gubeikou Pass for two days and nights, or the two reinforcements that had been running all the way from nearly 300 li to 7 or 800 li, they were all extremely excited and proud in their hearts -- after all, this was the first time that the "Qingyuan" brothers had praised a specific team under their command in person. Of course, in addition to this kind of verbal commendation, for meritorious personnel, after the war is completely over, they will also be rewarded with honors, official positions, financial and other aspects, and the crossing team has never been stingy in this regard. …,
In view of the fact that the cavalry troops had been running from Yuguan to Gubeikou Pass in only one day and one night, after receiving a telegram from Muttel about the battle situation, the committee asked him to rest at Gubeikou Pass for two days, and then continue to march westward on April 19 of the lunar calendar, and cooperate with the troops at Juyong Pass to encircle and annihilate the 50,000 horses of Yelu Tzu Lie's department. In this regard, Muttel felt that it was inappropriate. He believes that Gubeikou Pass is only more than 200 miles away from Juyong Pass, and there are many Khitan army escapees in the first battle of Gubeikou Pass, and it is likely that some of them will flee to the Yelu Tart Lie Department outside Juyong Pass. In that case, Yelu Tartlie, who was already jealous of the defenders of Juyong Pass and did not dare to rashly carry out large-scale siege battles, but only sent a small number of troops to harass him every day, was likely to withdraw his troops immediately in order to protect himself, so as to avoid the sharp edge of the crossing team.
For this reason, Muttel suggested that the cavalry troops should only rest at Gubeikou Pass for one night, and then set off for Juyong Pass the next day. Although there is some truth in Mutel's opinion, considering that since the first battle of Baoxingzhuang, his side has won many battles in a row, whether or not Yelu Tart's troops are completely annihilated does not affect the final outcome of the war. After defeating the Khitans, there were far more direct and threatening contradictions than those of Yelu Tartlie, so after careful study, the committee decided to attach to the original Jihua and asked Mutel's headquarters to rest at Gubeikou Pass for two days and set off again on the 19th day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar. Seeing that the committee was resolute, Muttel could no longer insist on his opinion, so he had to accept the committee's order and lead the cavalry troops to station at Gubeikou Pass.
After dinner that night, Mutel spent more than an hour in his quarters, the most spacious and comfortable courtyard in the Guancheng Bureau, to finish writing the battle report on this long-distance attack and the destruction of the Khitan army camp. Due to the narrowness of the Gubeikou Guancheng, Muttel felt that it was not enjoyable to wander for a while, so he found a defender who was familiar with the nearby terrain to lead the way, went out of the north gate of the Guancheng, walked slowly along the winding tide river, and continued to admire the moon and wander.
Not far from the customs, tents appeared one after another in front of him. Although the Khitan prisoners captured in this operation are limited, due to the limited area of the Gubeikou Pass, and a large number of crossing team arms must be stationed, there is really no place for the prisoners to use, so the prisoner of war camp here is set up on the official road north of the Guancheng - fortunately, there is a steep cliff on one side of the official road, and a deep and rapid tide river on the other side. Or the Khitan soldiers who are as dexterous as apes, otherwise, they are not afraid that these Khitan captives will escape.
Although the initial plan was to write a report to breathe, when Mutter came to the left side of the prisoner of war camp with a few guards, he decided to go in and have a look.
Before the group reached the gate of the prisoner of war camp, the guards guarding the camp gate had already stepped forward to inquire. Seeing that it was Mutel, the other party hurriedly came over to give a salute, and at Mutel's request, sent someone to lead the way for him and inspect the situation in the prisoner of war camp.
Because the prisoner of war camp was built along the river and the mountain, its width was really limited, so although it held less than 3,000 people, it still stretched ten miles away. As for Muttle, he naturally did not have the leisure to walk through the entire prisoner of war camp, and he only walked and watched less than a mile away, and then he was no longer interested enough to look any further.
Just as Mutel was about to turn around and return to the castle, a whisper came from a tent that caused Muttel, who happened to pass by the tent, to stop and listen carefully to the tent.