Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 738 A Rich and Dazzling Seizure

The battle of Daming Prefecture has come to a temporary end, but it has not yet achieved complete success.

Heshilie Zhining made a decisive move to preserve the strength of the Jin army. After the Han army had finished gathering the conscripted soldiers, the Jin army had already crossed the Majia River by relying on the northernmost pontoon bridge that the Dongping army's navy had not yet had time to destroy, and their direction seemed to be towards Yuancheng.

In the afternoon, the Han cavalry, having finished their rest, set off first and arrived near Yuancheng. After confirming the Jin army's movements, they set up camp on the spot and established a siege camp.

The main force of the Han army, infantry, also set out, disregarding their fatigue, and marched towards Yuancheng.

Although Yuancheng was still a fortified city at this time, and had undergone several rounds of reinforcement after being attacked by Wanyan Liang and Geng Jing, it was no longer surrounded by several branches of the Yellow River due to the change of the Yellow River's course. The city only had the Yongji Canal in front of it for defense.

Even so, when Heshilie Zhining used cavalry to clear the outer perimeter and established a tiered defense system using the old course of the Yellow River as a defensive position, the Han army still felt like they were being attacked by a dog biting a hedgehog.

With the Han army's gunpowder reserves, as long as they get close to the city walls, narrow the encirclement, and establish an attack camp within the siege camp, they will definitely be able to find a way to blow up Yuan City.

The key point at this time is that if the Han army wants to get close, it must first remove the military camps built along the old course of the Yellow River, and then fight another battle with the Jin cavalry in the area of ​​several miles between the old course of the Yellow River and the Yongji Canal.

Of course, despite the difficulties, the Han army was ultimately the victor. After establishing camps along the two former courses of the Yellow River, the Han army left the north of the city open, creating a siege camp with one side open.

At the same time, the results of the Battle of Daming Prefecture spread rapidly.

The first to witness the battlefield firsthand, and to cause a great sensation, were naturally the Five Deer Army brought by Lu You.

The Wulu Army was a force composed of local Hebei people with extremely diverse backgrounds. Some were the collateral descendants of powerful Hebei families, some were down-on-their-luck individuals seeking a better future, and some were simply bandits who couldn't make a living. However, they all had one thing in common: they were very young.

From birth, they lived as submissive subjects under the rule of the Jin dynasty, enduring its oppressive taxes and levies. Some may have witnessed turmoil in their youth and heard stories of the Han dynasty from their elders, but none could have imagined that they would witness the majesty of the Han people again in their lifetime.

Looking at the Jin prisoners stripped of their armor and bound, and then at the mountains of armor and weapons piled up, these Hebei people finally accepted a fact in trembling.

The Han army truly won a great victory.

Hebei is really going to be liberated.

Therefore, among the soldiers of Wulu, some wept bitterly, some danced with joy, and most were ecstatic.

Many of them eagerly asked Lu You for orders to act as messengers to spread the news of victory to all directions.

Lu You readily agreed, and various documents and banners were sent out.

However, although Lu You was overjoyed, he still felt a slight melancholy in his heart.

Liu Huai's words, "I grant you the title of Duke of the Founding State," also reached Lu You's ears. This time, Lu You felt that Liu Huai had crossed his bottom line.

However, war is ultimately a catalyst for power, and the victors are not held accountable. Faced with Liu Huai, who had won battle after battle and was now even able to defeat the main force of the Eastern Jin army, Lu You finally dared not speak with his previous attitude.

If Lu You was Liu Huai's personal retainer and subordinate, then at this point, he should have taken the opportunity to establish a hierarchy and make Liu Huai his lord.

The key point is that Lu You considered himself a subject of the Song state, and even though he was extremely afraid of Liu Huai, he still wanted to put up a fight.

This must be very difficult, so difficult that Lu You didn't know how to bring it up. Could he possibly persuade Liu Huai to never fight the Jin army again, since if they did fight, they would only lose?
Lu You sighed deeply, looking at the thick stack of documents on his desk. After another sigh, he began to write furiously, numbing himself with the heavy workload.

Ultimately, this matter still needs to be discussed with Wei Sheng at length.

On May 16, the second day after the great battle, as the Hebei people of the Wulu Army frantically spread the news, almost everyone in Daming Prefecture and several surrounding counties knew about the Jin army's crushing defeat.

If it were said that the Han army came to announce their victory, the people of Hebei might have some doubts. But when the locals returned to their hometowns and spread the word, it instantly became a fact.

The first to react were the military camps that the Jin army had set up outside Daming Prefecture.

Most of these military camps were garrisoned by conscripted laborers, interspersed with many local soldiers and archers. Their direct leaders, or rather, their elected temporary leaders, were naturally local officials from various prefectures and counties.

Among these wealthy and powerful figures were a large number of local tyrants, officials, thugs, and underworld bosses. Naturally, these people were highly resistant to the Han army's policies.

Therefore, even though the Jin dynasty was brutal and ruthless and exploitative, they were still willing to oppose the Han army if they knew they could get some benefits from them.

Even more obviously, expecting these people to be wholeheartedly devoted to the Jin Dynasty, to be loyal to them through thick and thin, and to never abandon them, is utter nonsense. When news of the Han army's decisive victory over the Jin army arrived, Guanxian, Chaocheng, and Nanle in Daming Prefecture all embroidered Han flags overnight, changed their banners, and announced their allegiance to Liu Dalang of Shandong.

By May 20th, after the news of the victory had spread throughout Hebei, people from more than ten prefectures and counties south of Hejian Prefecture rose up in response to the Han army's northern expedition.

That very night, after Liu Huai had arranged the army's logistics routes and met with and encouraged the new batch of Hebei gentry and civilians who had come to surrender, he finally had time to deal with the prisoners and take stock of the spoils.

With huge dark circles under his eyes, whether from worry or exhaustion, Lu You held the documents and said in the military council: "In this great battle, our army suffered a total of 3,572 casualties."

Of those killed in action, 1,321 were killed, and 1,425 were seriously wounded and required to return to the rear to recuperate. The rest suffered minor injuries, which could be treated in field hospitals, and after some rest, they could return to combat.

Even though they knew that even if they won this great battle, there would be many casualties, the officers attending the military council were still somewhat saddened and uneasy about the extent of the casualties.

However, this was, after all, a decisive battle against the main force of the Jin army, so it was somewhat expected.

The heaviest casualties were naturally suffered by the Taiping Army at the forefront, especially the Taiping Army under Shi Baiju. Due to the defeat, more than 2,000 men were decimated, and two of their commanders were killed in battle. Their casualties had exceeded half.

However, for the Taiping Army, this tough battle was ultimately worthwhile.

Because the Taiping Army was ambushed by the Jin army and had nowhere to go, Liu Huai rescued them from a desperate situation.

Therefore, the Taiping generals always felt inferior. Now that they had fought to the death, everyone in the Taiping army could hold their heads high.

Lu You paused briefly before continuing, "Our army suffered heavy casualties, but the results were also astonishing. We beheaded 5,121 people and captured 16,200 prisoners."

Among them, five Jin generals were killed in battle, including five who were military commanders and officers of the rank of commander-in-chief, and thirty-one who were military strategists and officers of the rank of commander.

Ten soldiers and four officers were captured alive. Among them were generals of the rank of commander-in-chief, including Wanyan Mouyan, Liu E, Liu Qing, and Wuyan Chala.

As Lu You read this, his breathing became heavy: "More than 2,400 main warhorses and 3,000 ordinary warhorses were captured. Ten thousand sets of full-body armor were also captured, and some were still scattered on the battlefield and had not been completely cleared away. Spears, arrows, bows, crossbows, and swords were all not counted clearly, but the total number was no less than 300,000."

The generals, including Liu Huai, were breathing rapidly.

War profits, war profits, war naturally brings wealth, but the magnitude of the gains is truly unexpected.

The sources of these seizures are also varied.

Most of those main battle horses were generously donated by Wuyan Chala. When the Jin army dismounted to fight on foot, Liu Huai seized the opportunity and led his armored cavalry in an attack, first scattering all the horses placed at the rear. This explains the large number of main battle horses available.

As for the armor, most of it was taken from the armored soldiers and cavalry of the Jin army, and a few pieces were picked up from the fields by auxiliary soldiers and laborers after the Jin army had lost their armor.

Moreover, these are all iron armors that can be put to use after simple repairs; those that are damaged are not included.

It can be said that after this battle, as long as the quality of the army and the logistics can keep up, it is a certainty that the Han army will have another 10,000 armored soldiers.

Lu You continued, "As for the grain, gold, silver, cloth and various military supplies captured, they are still being inventoried and there are no accurate figures yet, but they are definitely not less than what we have."

Although the Jin army attempted to set fire to their own camp during their retreat, the camp was designed to be fireproof. While there were many things that could be ignited in the rush, the fire was not enough to spread and was quickly extinguished by the arriving Han army. The Han army also seized the Jin army's military supplies.

Seeing Lu You put down the document in his hand, Liu Huai rubbed his hands and said, "You all have worked hard in this battle. The merits of each army have been recorded and will be rewarded after the battle. Time is of the essence, so let's not waste any more words."

"First, we need to replenish the army. Right now, the Hebei rebels are rising up in response to our Northern Expeditionary Army. There are good and bad among them. We can recruit some into the army, but we must be selective and not accept inferior personnel." Liu Huai pointed to Chen Liang, the military advisor accompanying the army: "Chen Dalang, I entrust the task of investigating the situation of the Hebei rebels entirely to you."

Chen Liang straightened his face, stood up, and agreed.

Liu Huai continued, "Mr. Liang, please draw up a plan for how the spoils of war should be distributed."

"Here!"

After easily resolving the two potentially contentious issues with a few words, Liu Huai immediately pointed to the map and drew a circle around Yuancheng, saying, "There are at least 20,000 Jin cavalrymen in this circle. If we want to wipe them out, we have to find a way to break through this barrier. Does anyone have any ideas?"

The generals looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.

(End of this chapter)