knife

Chapter 151 The Price of Victory

Ding Ergou knelt on the ground and applied a hot towel to the joints of a corpse in front of him. After a while, he tried to slowly pry the dead man's arm and finally straightened the bent arm little by little.

He breathed a sigh of relief, took another slightly hot towel from beside the fire, and placed it once again on the deceased's knees.

Huang Dafu carried over a set of new brown clothes, placed them beside the deceased, and then, together with Ding Ergou, straightened the deceased's bent joints one by one, allowing him to lie flat on the straw mat.

"In this battle, not counting those from Yuan'an City, out of our thousand men, three hundred and twelve died!" Huang Dafu's voice trembled slightly.

Of the 1,000 infantrymen, 312 died, and almost all the rest were wounded. Even the commander, Xia Zhi, was seriously injured. The ferocity of this battle can be imagined.

The reason for this great sacrifice was that it successfully kept almost all of the Yuan army's 10,000 infantry and cavalry in Yuan'an City.

Very few managed to escape back.

To put it bluntly, these thousand men and Yuan'an City were the bait for this battle. In order to lure Shaliewen into the trap, they had to pay a price.

In Xiao Changche's view, this was perfectly normal. How could one win without paying a price?

But to Ding Ergou, Huang Dafu, and others, it was extremely shocking.

Only after this battle did they truly understand how easy death could be, and how close death was to them.

The deceased had a small wooden plaque hanging around his neck; Ding Ergou and Huang Dafu also wore similar plaques around their necks.

Their names, ages, and addresses were written on it.

Once someone dies in battle, this plaque becomes proof of their identity.

"Yang Sanbao, thirty-seven years old, from Fushanchang Village."

Ding Ergou read it softly.

“Fushanchang Village is in Tai’an City, right? That’s good. Tai’an City has been very peaceful all these years. This person is definitely not an only son. He should have started a family and had children long ago!” Huang Dafu said.

At this point, the two exchanged a glance.

They both came from the Helan Plain.

Before that, the two of them were both single. Now they are married and have children, but the children can only crawl on the ground.

"Ergou, we can't die. If we die, our family will fall apart!" Huang Dafu sighed.

"Life and death are determined by fate, wealth and honor by heaven. Brother Dafu, we can't control these things!" Ding Ergou said with a wry smile, "We're lucky to have survived this battle. Didn't you see that even General Xia had to be carried off the battlefield?"

“Yuan Gou is much better at fighting than Yan Shi!” Huang Dafu said, sitting on the ground. “Who knows how many more battles like this will come in the future? I don’t wish for a long life now, I just hope to live a few more years and raise my children to adulthood.”

“Your wife is a hard worker!” Ding Ergou said.

Huang Dafu shook his head: "She can only endure hardship. If something were to happen to me, she would be at a loss. Unlike your wife, who looks frail but is actually quite capable of making decisions."

Thinking of his wife, Ding Ergou couldn't help but laugh: "Yes, last time we went to war, Jiaojiao used all the money our family had to buy me the best armor. I remember we were short of money then, we owed her. Look at all the scars on my armor, Brother Dafu, your armor has several cracks. This time you must get a better set. Better equipment means a greater chance of survival!"

“Yes, I was reluctant to part with them before,” Huang Dafu said. “I’ve fought many more battles than you. The battles I fought before were easy, and I thought that fighting was just a matter of course. This time, I’ve learned a lot. When I get back, I’ll buy the best armor and the sharpest swords. It will always give us a better chance of survival in the war.”

"We need to train even harder!" Ding Ergou clenched his fist. "Our martial arts skills are still too poor."

At this point, Huang Dafu's face fell: "Ergou, you're only eighteen years old, you have unlimited potential. Maybe one day you'll break through to the solid state, reach the Qi Control level, and reach a new level. I'm over thirty, and this is about it! When you become successful in the future, don't forget to take care of your older brother. It's best if you don't call me to fight such fierce battles, but call me to fight easier ones!"

Ding Ergou couldn't help but laugh: "That would require me to have the ability. Brother Dafu, let's change Brother Sanbao's clothes. These are his armor and belongings; we're going to return them to his family after we've sorted them out!"

The entire camp is in a rather desolate state now.

After the initial euphoria and celebration, an overwhelming sadness descended upon the camp.
With a force of one thousand men, the casualties were a devastating loss, with one-third of them killed or wounded.

Rows of straw mats were filled with the bodies of the dead, while the living endured their grief and tidied up the remains and belongings of their fallen comrades.

Outside the camp, horse-drawn carriages and oxcarts would occasionally pull up thin-skinned coffins.

A few planks nailed together to form a box became the final resting place for these soldiers.

Next, they will return these remains to their families one by one.

Ding Ergou could hardly imagine what a sad scene it would be for those who longed for their loved ones to return home, only to be greeted by a coffin. Heavy footsteps sounded, and everyone knew that their regimental commander, Lü You, had returned.

Every battle Lü You fought looked extremely miserable, but in reality, his injuries were not serious.

Just like when he fought alongside Xia Zhi at the end, Xia Zhi, whose martial arts cultivation was much higher than his, was lying down. He was wrapped up from head to toe like a rice dumpling, but it did not hinder his free movement at all.

His fat body always saved his life on the battlefield.

He plopped down, and it seemed like the ground shook a few times.

Unlike Ding Ergou and his ilk, who were feeling melancholic, Lü You was unfazed by such scenes.

"Come here, everyone!" he beckoned.

"Ergou, are you crying?" Lu You asked, noticing Ding Ergou's reddened eyes.

“We lost nearly a hundred people!” Ding Ergou sniffed. “They were people we spent every day with, and they were just gone like that!”

"What's so bad about that!" Lu You snorted. "If someone collects your body after you die, prepares your remains, and takes you home for a proper burial, that's because you accumulated a lot of good karma in your past life. Some of our buddies used to die and their bodies were left to rot in the wilderness. After a while, when people passed by there again, all they could see were a few bones! This is what the area outside the Great Wall is like. If you're alive, you're lucky; if you die, you're safe from the wind. What's there to cry about!"

Reprimanded by his superior, Ding Ergou dared not argue and simply lowered his head.

"Moreover, this time, our spoils are extremely rich. I just went to the city for a meeting, and the higher-ups have already determined the distribution of the spoils and rewards after the battle!" Lü You said.

"What do you mean?" A large group of people immediately surrounded them.

Speaking of which, this is still what everyone cares about most.

What are we fighting to the death as soldiers in the garrison?
Firstly, to survive, one must fight to the death; secondly, without fighting to the death, how can one become rich faster? Even if the government is benevolent, one can only barely make ends meet by scraping food from the fields.

"Each person will receive one captured warhorse, and the rest will be bought back by the authorities at a cost. The same goes for armor. As for swords, bows, and other weapons, if you don't need them, they will also be bought back by the authorities at a cost. However, the price will definitely be slightly lower than the market price," Lü You said.

"What about the rest?" someone asked in a low, somewhat guilty voice. "Our group acquired quite a bit of illicit wealth this time; will the higher-ups confiscate it?"

"The higher-ups won't take this. It was already agreed that the spoils are ours!" Lü You said, "Er Gou, you know how to count, and Wu Ya, you're mature and prudent. You two are responsible for counting and tallying the specific figures. After the higher-ups issue the money we got from exchanging the livestock and armor we handed over, as well as the bounty for winning this battle, we'll add it all up and distribute it according to the rules. Does everyone agree?"

Everyone nodded.

During combat, you are absolutely not allowed to steal things. If anyone dares to do so, their superiors will at least beat them up, and at worst, they will be subjected to military law on the spot.

The spoils could only be obtained after the war.

In this battle, because it was fought on our own territory, the spoils could only be obtained from the enemy, so the actual gains were limited.

Like the last time they attacked the Yan family, they really made a fortune.

And the distribution of such gains is naturally governed by rules.

The superiors will naturally receive more, the brothers who died in battle will receive more, and those who led the charge to break through the enemy lines will receive more.

In short, you will receive corresponding rewards based on your contributions to the team.

If you want more, you have to make more contributions.

Simply put, it means risking one's life.

"I've roughly estimated that, on average, each survivor will receive about two hundred strings of cash, and the brothers who died in battle will each receive three hundred strings." Lü You's words excited everyone again. "This time, we mainly got a lot of warhorses, and since we defeated the elite Yuan army, the armor we took off was all good stuff, very valuable!"

"If we fight a few more battles like this, I'll be rich!" someone muttered to himself.

"Get lost!" someone cursed. "I never want to fight a war like this again. What I like best is to outnumber the enemy and launch a surprise attack. It's low risk and high reward."

"You wish! How can things be so easy every time? From now on, we're likely to be fighting wars, and there's probably no easy battles." Someone retorted, "Before, we fought when we could win and ran when we couldn't. But can we run now? Your home is here, your wife and children are here, where are your possessions? What will you do when the Yuan people attack? Run? Just like a few years ago, being enslaved like a dog with its neck tied around its neck?"

His words silenced everyone. After a long pause, someone finally said, "Then naturally we'll fight to the death!"

Ding Ergou thought so too.

Anyone who tries to take my land, my cattle, horses, pigs, or sheep, snatch my beloved daughter, or harm my son, then of course I'll fight them to the death!
(End of this chapter)