The Qin army, sandwiched between the coalition forces trapped in the valley and the reinforcements from outside the valley, were secretly packing their bags at this moment, discarding most of the unnecessary supplies, gathering them into several large piles, and preparing to burn them before leaving.
Yes, the Qin army is indeed retreating now. Taking advantage of the dark night, the generals of the various armies who had already received the order signaled their soldiers to take action quickly, travel lightly, and escape under the cover of night.
This was not a sudden idea today, but was secretly prepared a few days ago, but only a few people knew about it, some of the generals' confidants.
The real information has been hidden, for fear of leaking out and being known to Li Mu outside the mountain. If an ambush is set up or someone kills them along the way, the loss will be huge.
All the Qin troops had calm faces. They did not show any resistance or surprise about all this. What they had experienced in the past few months had already made them calm in the face of any unexpected situation.
It's just that there is no expression on their faces, but is that really what they feel like
I don't know how many people are secretly grieving in their hearts. They have lost relatives, friends, and brothers here. How many people are thankful that they survived this meat grinder battlefield. Or maybe there are people here who are very angry. They don't want to evacuate, and they want to continue fighting the coalition forces to the end.
But all this will eventually come to an end.
No matter what they think, their superior's orders cannot be disobeyed and they must carry them out. Evacuation will be the only outcome they can get.
This time the retreat was peaceful, and no suspected robbery or killing occurred. On the contrary, not even a single coalition soldier was seen, as if they suddenly disappeared from around the valley.
Has it really disappeared? No, there isn't.
The main reason why they could evacuate so easily was that not only did they not want to fight, but the coalition forces also didn't want to fight.
At this point in the war, it can be said that it is coming to an end. The battles in the upper, middle and lower battlefields have subsided, leaving only some aftermath that is still turbulent.
Among the six countries that participated in the war, each suffered heavy losses and exhausted their national strength. In addition to the vast territory and rich resources of Chu State, it can barely support itself without caring about these losses. Several other countries are barely holding on and are on the verge of collapse.
Zhao and Wei are no exception. Nowadays, all men in the country over the age of fifteen have been drafted into the army, and the cultivation of farmland is handed over to young children and strong women.
Domestic production and operation have gradually stagnated or even regressed. It is about to become unsustainable and a large-scale famine will occur, starving a large number of people to death.
Under this situation, Li Mu naturally did not want to fight. He deeply understood that although he could take advantage of the situation to cover up the attack, he would have a high chance of defeating the remaining 30,000 Qin troops.
But in turn, he would have to lose at least more than 10,000 soldiers. Even though these 10,000 soldiers are not that many, they are nothing compared to the more than 10 or 200,000 people he lost before
However, these 10,000 people represent 10,000 families and the happiness of 70,000 to 80,000 people. When these people died, not only Zhao and Wei lost a large number of young men, equivalent to all the men in a county. It will also implicate the families behind them, adding more than 10,000 families wearing white cloth in the two countries. Why bother!
Even if the 30,000 Qin troops are allowed to withdraw, what can Qin do with its current situation? They just retreated to Guanzhong and lingered for a while.
Therefore, out of this consideration, Li Mu did not pursue, but instead restrained his soldiers, and quietly watched the Qin troops retreat, leaving these Qin troops safe and sound, and left this place of death and injury in fear.
Then, when the sun brightened the next day, the reinforcements outside the valley finally joined the remaining troops in the valley.
The moment the remnant troops in the valley came out of the valley, they were all bursting with tears and losing control of their emotions. They all lay on the ground and cried bitterly.
Although it was only just over three months, this period of time felt like a lifetime ago, making them feel as if they had gone through several reincarnations, and their whole bodies became filled with vicissitudes of life and exhaustion.
During the days in the valley, they were short of food and clothing, endured the biting cold wind, and were constantly threatened by the Qin army. Their fear and trembling were difficult to describe in words.
If it weren't for the fact that the kings of the two countries were with them, they would also be besieged by those Qin troops, which would give them a little bit of support.
"At least our king is still with us."
This is what all the living soldiers in the valley say before going to sleep. Only these words can make them fall asleep reluctantly and feel a little sense of security.
Likewise: "At least, we have reinforcements outside, and we still have hope!"
This sentence is what all the soldiers say before every battle, and it never stops. This is the motivation that supports them to continue fighting, and the desire for life supports them.
Now that the 30,000 of them have finally made it to this moment, having endured the deaths of nearly 100,000 of their comrades, and finally making them the lucky ones who survived, how can they not be excited
You must know that during the period of being trapped, they were hungry and did not let go of the corpses in the robes, using them as food to satisfy their hunger and as sustenance for their own survival.
In their eyes, the comrade's skinny and withered body, the withered yellow skin, the sunken eyes, the dirty body that had not been bathed for months because of the blood and sweat mixed together. They regard it as a delicacy, and every battle is a full meal for them.
No one knows what will happen to them after they die, or when their corpse will be eaten by others? Therefore, they were all extremely fearful and would do anything to survive on the battlefield.
There are also countless colleagues who committed suicide because they couldn't bear this kind of life. Or maybe those colleagues, because of their desire to survive, were used as a shield and ended their miserable lives.
After experiencing this incident, the psychology of these soldiers has become distorted. It can be said that they are all useless.
Even if they may have become bloodthirsty and cruel because of this experience, they have become a veteran soldier who is good at fighting. However, their destructive power will also increase exponentially, making it difficult for even their commanders to control them.
In the hearts of King Wei and King Zhao, their days in the valley were actually extremely frightening and difficult.
Because neither of them knew when these soldiers, who had been pushed to the extreme and were mentally strained to the point of collapse, would break out into a mutiny and kill them both
So they made up their mind that after breaking through, these soldiers must be dealt with in a way, preferably as cannon fodder and consumed on the battlefield.
(End of chapter)