"The important matter comes first."
Zhao Huan dismounted and stood on the shore. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said with grief, "Sons and gentlemen of the Song Dynasty, I will not let you sacrifice yourselves in vain. I want future generations to remember you. The peaceful and prosperous era of China was built on your shoulders!"
After the emperor finished speaking, the generals and soldiers fell silent.
The sheer number of bodies left behind in battle demonstrates the brutality of the war upstream.
It wasn't until the next day that all the bodies of the fallen Song soldiers floating on the Chu River were recovered and cremated.
By the afternoon of the next day, Zhao Huan used the Qianliwang (a type of telescope) to see that the Liao army on the opposite bank was already retreating.
Zhao Huan dispatched three hundred men to cross the river quickly in several small boats as a reconnaissance mission. The three hundred men successfully crossed the river and, after patrolling the area for several miles, found no enemy troops. Only then did they send someone back to report the news.
Duan Zhijie said, "Your Majesty, could this be a trap?"
Zhao Huan said decisively, "There's no way it's a trap. Yelü Dashi can't hold out any longer. Yue Fei has already crossed the river and could head south at any time. The Liao army on the other side of the river can only retreat to Suyab for defense."
"Issue my military order: all soldiers, cross the river!"
Zhao Huan had originally built some boats here, but he did not rush to cross the river.
The reason he ordered Yue Fei to concentrate a large force upstream was to draw the main force of the Liao army across the river. Once Yue Fei successfully crossed the river, all of the Liao army's defenses on the opposite bank would collapse without a fight.
Zhao Huan had been waiting for this day.
The Imperial Guards quickly crossed the river, and Zhao Huan immediately ordered his troops to besiege Suyab.
As he expected, the Liao army had already entered Suyab, and the battle then turned into a defensive one.
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