Chapter 417 Collapse (Continued)
On the third day of the second month of the tenth year of Jianyan, the Battle of Huolu took place. Within one day, both the Song and Jin sides deployed a total of more than 300,000 troops in a local battlefield covering hundreds of square kilometers, and the victory was decided through an unprecedentedly fierce frontal battle.
The result was that the Song army won a great victory and the Jin army was defeated.
Although it is difficult to verify the specific results of the battle in a short period of time, according to the rough figures later... the Jin army's death toll reached at least 30,000, including direct deaths in battle, being hunted down and slaughtered after collapse, and trampling on each other while fleeing. In fact, there may be more, because the corpses could not be dragged out of the gradually solidified trench; and the number of prisoners, including a large number of wounded, was close to 50,000.
Considering that the Jin army's 16 Wanhu were not at full strength, and probably had only 130,000 or 140,000 troops, the number of captured and dead troops accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total strength of the Jin army.
Among the remaining 50,000 to 60,000 people, only one Wanhu led by Aguda's sixth son Wanyan Erluguan remained intact, while the rest were scattered in a state of collapse on the vast plains on the south bank of the Hutuo River. Even the defeated army that returned to Zhending City became negligible because the Song army captured the floating bridge at the river mouth in time.
At the same time, the casualties of the Song army were actually very serious, with no less than 8,000 killed or missing, no less than 5,000 seriously injured, and the rest of the casualties from injuries and illnesses directly exceeded 10,000.
To be fair, this number of casualties would have caused the morale of the entire army to collapse under normal circumstances. However, with this opportunity for a great victory, the contrast between the two sides was so great that morale was boosted instead.
In fact, early the next morning, the Song army continued its massive advance.
Among them, Wu Jie was in charge of the affairs on the other side of the Taiping River and south of the Hutuo River. He commanded with confidence and divided the troops into three. One part stayed in the original Jin army camp in Huolu to clean up the battlefield and rest... After all, the Jin army's armor and weapons left on the battlefield were probably the most precious wealth of this era; the other part, mainly infantry, marched to the surrounding prefectures and towns in an appropriate and orderly manner to exercise necessary strategic control; the last part, mainly cavalry, Commander Liu Qi's Imperial Camp Cavalry went all the way east, trying to cross the Qinshui River to take Gaocheng in order to block the Jin army's escape route, while the Khitan, Xi, Mongolian, and Dangxiang light cavalry, with a base of thousands of people, spread out in all directions, roughly eastward, indiscriminately searching for and hunting down the fleeing Jin army.
In addition, under the command of Han Shizhong, the left army of the imperial camp used the captured pontoon bridge to cross the river in large numbers and approached Zhending City. They also transferred the wounded and corpses according to the previous order of Emperor Zhao... The wounded and corpses of the Jin army, who had been roughly stripped of their clothes and armor, were delivered almost continuously, including many mutilated bodies, and then they were neatly placed side by side on all four sides outside the city, and the wounded and corpses were mixed together.
In this situation, if Wanyan Eluguan and the Zhending garrison troops had previously only had a literal feeling about the so-called "crushing defeat", with their minds completely blank with shock, now they were completely shocked and felt as if they had lost their hearts.
This was not the end yet. As evening approached, the Song army took the initiative to stop the transportation and retreated to the camp... Perhaps it was out of fear, perhaps it was fear that the city would not accept them, or perhaps they simply could not bear the pain from their wounds, the wounded outside the city suddenly lost control and cried bitterly, and in an instant swept through the entire ranks of wounded outside the city, and the wailing and crying echoed throughout the surrounding areas of Zhending.
Not only that, the defenders in the city came out to support them, and they actually cried along with the wounded in fear. As the wounded entered the city crying, the families of the officers in the city who had failed to find their relatives also wailed. Finally, there was crying inside and outside the city, and even senior officials and generals could not stand the pressure and cried along with the whole city.
The sound was so loud that it could be heard clearly in the newly established camp of the Song army several miles away. The soldiers of the Left Army of the Imperial Camp and the troops of Dong Xian and Shao Yun had to have dinner accompanied by the crying. Amidst the constant discussion, some people even felt sympathy.
"What do the Zhao Song officials say?"
Not to mention the crying all over the city, just say that as the lightly injured Jin soldiers were able to enter the city, an unexpected person was directly summoned by Eluguan, and was publicly questioned by Hong Ya, the Minister of War and the Chief of the Privy Council of the Great Jin Kingdom who was temporarily in charge of Zhending affairs, in a lobby full of high-ranking Jin soldiers.
This person was none other than Tai Shi Nu, who was released back to Zhending City just because no one knew where Wuzhu was. As an envoy who had gone to see Emperor Zhao before the battle, he actually returned safely this time. It was natural for him to be summoned for questioning.
"Let Minister Hong know that I have not seen Emperor Zhao Song since yesterday." The slave of the Imperial Tutor lowered his head in shame, obviously ashamed and angry. "Even though I saw Emperor Zhao Song yesterday and talked to him a lot, he probably didn't care or pay any attention to me, let alone say anything else... I am back alive this time, probably only because of my identity as an envoy, and because the emperor killed too many people yesterday and was too lazy to kill again, so I am lucky enough to survive."
Hong Ya felt a little disappointed. He turned around to look at Wanyan Eluguan who was sitting in the middle. He saw that Eluguan had a stiff face and seemed not to be listening at all. He then looked at the expressions of the people in the hall. As he thought, most of the civil and military officials in the hall were disappointed. Only a few seemed slightly relieved.
After roughly noting down these people, Hong Ya nodded directly to Tai Shi Nu: "Since you are back, it is God's will. There is no need to think too much. Just settle down and wait for the news from King Wei!"
When Taishi Nu came in and didn't see Wushu, he roughly guessed that his master was not here. However, at this time, the superiors were obviously discussing military and national affairs, and the Fourth Prince was not there. How could he, a guard leader, have the right to interrupt even if he was respectable? So he bowed his head and thanked Eluguan and Hong Ya in turn, then went back to rest, preparing to find Hong Ya privately to ask about Wushu's situation later.
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