Chapter 1112: Releasing the Army
Although the Qi army on the front battlefield had already evacuated, there were still many things left for the Wei army. In addition to the reinforcements for the side battlefields that were still fighting, cleaning up the large battlefield left by the enemy was also a big project.
Since the Qi army on the front battlefield did not evacuate in a large-scale rout, personal weapons such as armor and weapons were basically taken away with them, but a large number of vehicles, horses, tents and other objects, as well as a large number of food and grass materials were still abandoned in their camps.
The Qi army invested more than 100,000 soldiers in this battle. Even if the supply of various materials was not based on long-term fighting, the reserves were still very considerable. Because the Qi Lord Gao Yang and his group of people evacuated in a hurry, the rest of the soldiers who evacuated immediately after them did not have time to return to the camp to pack up the supplies, so most of them stayed where they were.
It was not an easy task to completely clean up the camp garrisoned by more than 100,000 people, especially when the battle ended and it was already late. After sending a certain amount of reinforcements to the side battlefield, Li Tai ordered the rest of the soldiers to enter the enemy camp to clean up and collect the most important materials such as food, horses and weapons before dark, and the rest could only be left for the next day.
Despite this, as night fell, there were still many places in the enemy camp that had not been searched and cleaned up in time. And just the spoils collected in front of him were already very rich and considerable.
In order to avoid being killed by the enemy again and thus being overjoyed, Li Tai did not continue to blindly expand the results of the battle, and directly ordered the right-wing troops of He Ruodun's troops to gather here, while he himself still had a lot of things to deal with.
Compared with the spoils of war such as food and supplies seized, the handling of personnel is much more troublesome. Especially those Qi army soldiers who are still gathered near the river mouth beach, how to deal with them is still a big headache.
These Qi army soldiers still have more than 10,000 people, and cannot be regarded as simple prisoners. Although they were abandoned by Qi Lord Gao Yang and had to abandon their weapons and give up resistance in order to survive, it did not mean that they would surrender to the Wei army willingly.
Especially in the first half of the battle, the two sides fought fiercely on the Piyuan, and there are still a large number of Qi army corpses piled up between the Piyuan lines. There is a deep blood feud between them. Even if these people are intimidated by the strength of the Wei army and dare not resist, it is still not possible to tame them in the short term.
After returning to the north bank of Tongdi River, Li Tai looked at these Qi army soldiers and thought about it, and finally came up with a solution. He did not announce the disposal of these people first, but went to the side battlefield in the northeast behind the Piyuan under the protection of his personal soldiers.
After a whole day of fighting, the Wei army did not invest the most combat personnel in the front battlefield, but in the side battlefield where the Qi army launched an attack from the east bank of Zhuozhang River.
Qi Lord Gao Yang's prediction of Li Tai's thinking was actually correct. Before Gao Yang fled from the battlefield, Li Tai had not given up the plan and preparation to abandon his position and withdraw to the rear. Of course, that was a passive choice when the war was not going smoothly, but because the front battlefield had been going smoothly, Li Tai's backup plan was not used.
If you want to ensure that the army is in a calm situation where it can advance and retreat, then the threat from the flank must not be ignored. The reason why Li Tai sent Gao Le to take the initiative to launch a night attack to lure the enemy troops on the flank was, on the one hand, to encourage the enemy to split up, and on the other hand, to detonate this hidden danger in advance and control it within a controllable range.
In addition to the 10,000 divisions led by Gao Le, there were also 10,000 troops in the central army and more than 5,000 troops under Li Yunxin who came from Wusu City. The troops invested even exceeded the battle on the front battlefield.
This seemingly unreasonable arrangement of troops is to ensure that even if the battle is not going well, the main force of the Western Wei can retreat.
Although there are more enemy troops on the front battlefield, due to the limitations of the battlefield terrain, there are only 20,000 to 30,000 people who can be deployed at one time. In addition, the Wei army has also carried out a strict line layout. Only a small number of elite troops are needed to defend, and it is difficult for the enemy to advance directly on the front. On the side battlefield, it is necessary to attract and control the main force of the enemy to make it difficult to flexibly restrict and block the tactical choices of the Wei army.
At this time, the battle on the front battlefield has been over for a while, but the two sides are still fighting on the side battlefield. Even if the sky has gradually darkened, it still does not stop the battle.
The soldiers of the Qi army here are obviously unwilling to continue fighting. After all, they have heard the news of the withdrawal of the central army. Staying here will only make them an isolated army without help, and there is no point in continuing to fight. The only way is to evacuate as soon as possible.
Therefore, all the soldiers of the Qi army on the battlefield have retreated to the west bank of the Zhuozhang River. They did not continue to spread the battle formation. It is obvious that they are planning to evacuate when the opportunity arises.
However, Gao Le and other generals who were attacking here also obviously discovered the intention of the Qi army, and their attack was particularly fierce. As long as the Qi army's battle formation showed the slightest sign of retreating, the formation would inevitably be unstable under such a fierce attack, which would further evolve into a great rout.
After Li Tai arrived here, he first observed the battle situation and found that although the situation of the enemy troops here was very bad, their fighting spirit and performance in the battle were much better than those of the enemy troops that the Chinese army had fought before. If he wanted to end the battle completely, he was afraid that It will take quite a while, and the enemy's resistance will only become more fierce when they know they will die, and their own troops will inevitably cause a large number of casualties.
This situation is relatively normal. After all, the Jinyang soldiers of the Northern Qi Dynasty are elite soldiers who have experienced hundreds of battles, and their combat effectiveness and will are quite tenacious. The key to the performance on the frontal battlefield is that Qi Lord Gao Yang's approach of treating human life as nothing is too suffocating and despairing, which is why the soldiers are so sad, angry and passive. This can be regarded as a relatively different kind of bittersweet point. Tofu, one thing reduces another thing.
Li Tai raised his hand and ordered the soldiers here to suspend their offensive, and then asked people to shout to the opposite side, allowing the Qi army general to come forward for a dialogue.
After a while, He Baren, who was old and haggard but still cheered up, slowly stepped forward surrounded by his own soldiers. Although they were still at war, He Baren still gestured to Li Tai from afar through the soldiers on both sides. .
Li Tai had never met He Baren before, so after being introduced to him and knowing his identity, he nodded in response, and then shouted to his men again: "The thief leader Gao Yangye has led his troops to retreat, why are you and other soldiers still stubborn and unwilling to surrender? "
Opposite He Baren was silent for a long time before someone called out: "The reason why the two countries are fighting this time is because General Li broke the alliance and came to attack. Our country has its own loyal and brave people who are not afraid of death to defend their homeland. Wei Jun We will not retreat for a day, and we will never give up our weapons!”
Hearing this reply that still had some momentum and determination, Li Tai smiled again, and immediately shouted: "This time the generals are coming to attack, and you will lead your country's Sima Ziru to follow the righteousness, and give a bitter speech to the Lord of Qi." Because of their stupidity and ignorance, the people of Hebei were plunged into torment. They were trying to kill evil people, but they were not killing loyal people. You resisted the king in order to protect your local elders. Although it was abominable, it was pitiable.
The king's teachings fall short, and you are being disrespectful. To punish them without teaching them is to call them cruelty. To teach them but not to transform them is to punish them and call them kingly ways! Today I will forgive you, and you can lead your troops to retreat, and report to the king that the reason why we came to attack was not to kill or injure the soldiers, but to kill the thieves. You are following the king's teachings now, and if you continue to do so in the future, if you still resist the king's orders and do not obey them, you will be severely punished! "
"Does Prime Minister Li really mean what he said?"
He Baren was worried that today's situation would be very unlucky. After hearing Li Tai's words, he opened his eyes in disbelief and asked quickly.
After hearing this, Li Tai did not say any more nonsense. He just waved his hand again and ordered the soldiers here to retreat a certain distance to the rear. When Gao Le, Li Yunxin and other generals heard this, they all said incomprehensively: "My lord, , the situation here is very good..."
Li Tai shook his head to signal to the others to be calm, and then turned to He Baren and said: "Not only are the soldiers here, but also the deserters in the front line, you can lead them away, but you need to remember that after the order is applied, , If you disobey again in the future, you will definitely die!”
"Li Dacheng is very sincere, righteous and generous, which is admirable!"
Seeing that the Wei army was really retreating, He Baren was overjoyed. While he hurriedly signaled the soldiers to evacuate to the east bank quickly, he kept saying compliments to Li Tai. Not to mention what happened in the future, at least being able to escape in this way now was even more incredible to He Baren than the emperor abandoning them and fleeing from the battlefield.
Not long after, all the Qi troops on the west bank withdrew to the east bank. After arriving at the east bank, they burned the pontoon bridge as soon as possible, still worried that the Wei army would renege and continue to attack.
Looking at the pontoon bridge that was burnt by the fire, Gao Le and other generals were not only puzzled, but also unwilling in their hearts: "The bandits from the East are fierce and untamable. If they let go this time, they will not be grateful, but will feel in their hearts." Internal sarcasm..."
Taking into account Tang Gong's face, they did not dare to continue talking, but the meaning was very clear. It was obviously unrealistic to try to win people's hearts by this method. This approach would inevitably cause trouble for the enemy.
Of course, Li Tai could not deliberately indulge the enemy in order to show his benevolence. Then he looked at everyone and said: "The thief is trapped here and has no way to advance. He will definitely fight to the end. But if he is out of danger and his will is relaxed, he will definitely defeat him with one blow. Collapse. Who is willing to lead the crowd to attack him?"
Hearing what Duke Tang said, the generals who were disappointed just now hurriedly asked for orders, but soon another general said: "But the Lord has publicly announced before that he will let the East Thief leave, and now he attacks him again. The thieves will make many slanders, which will damage the Lord’s reputation!”
Of course, Li Tai has also considered this issue, so although the generals who are ordered to pursue the enemy can make more achievements, they also need to pay a certain price. After Li Tai finished explaining the conditions, Li Yunxin finally got the opportunity.