On a crude, bloodstained wooden frame, half of Zhao Hu's face was rotten, and the other half was a bloody mess of bones and flesh. The plate armor on his body had been trampled and deformed, and his clothes were covered in blood.
Xu Erniang knelt on the ground, her crying sounding like she was crying out of her heart.
The soldier next to him stammered: Generally, a corpse like this would look miserable, but he didn't suffer much. He became like this only after he died. There were many soldiers and horses on the battlefield, and he would inevitably be trampled if he fell to the ground.
Xu Erniang was speechless. She first burst into tears, then sobbed when she was tired. Later, she just knelt there blankly. It had been too long, and her legs were numb. She didn't move, and she didn't know where to go. She just stayed there blankly.
The soldier tried to persuade him several times, but to no avail. Then he left at some unknown time.
In Xu Erniang's heart, the brief reunion had already moved her. Zhao Hu's appearance and character made her feel that he was a good man. Moreover, such a good man was so kind to her. Unexpectedly, he was gone so suddenly. Xu Erniang felt as if her heart was hollowed out all of a sudden.
After a long time, some laborers came up to carry Zhao Hu's body to clean it up. They also asked Xu Erniang a few questions, but she didn't say anything, so they continued to work. Xu Erniang got up from the ground, almost unable to stand, and limped along with the laborers carrying the body. She didn't know what to follow, and she didn't know what to do.
Later, a civil servant came over and asked Xu Erniang in a nice way: Who is Zhao Hu to you
Xu Erniang opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She felt a little exhausted both physically and mentally.
The civil official was not angry. He looked at Xu Erniang's expression and said kindly: Zhao Hu is a soldier of the imperial army. He served the country and fought hard to recover the lost territory. The government and the court will not forget the hero's contribution. Zhao Hu's family will definitely receive generous compensation.
Xu Erniang stood there in a daze. No matter how great the country or the mountains and rivers were, in her heart, they were not as great as Zhao Hu. She only knew that Zhao Hu was dead.
She didn't care about the pension and benefits. If Zhao Hu gave her the military pay bills and tokens kept in the Tokyo Money House, she suddenly remembered that when she met Zhao Hu before, Zhao Hu gave her the military pay bills and tokens kept in the Tokyo Money House.
Xu Erniang burst into tears again. Everyone around her looked at her in bewilderment, not knowing what had offended her.
The civil servant whispered to the soldier next to him: How come the family of the imperial guards came to the army? Which camp is she in? The civilian force recruited by the healing camp
He then added: My lady, how about we handle this matter this way? You can go back to wherever you are first, and then go home to wait to take care of the funeral arrangements for the deceased. The military government will arrange personnel to send the fallen soldiers of the Imperial Guards back, and the court will also allocate funeral expenses and pensions.
After a while, someone was finally found. It was someone sent by Lu Lan, who persuaded Xu Erniang to go back first.
After some persuasion and comfort, Lu Lan asked Xu Erniang whether she wanted to return to her hometown since Zhao Hu was dead.
Xu Erniang was just sad, and didn't know what to do for a while. She couldn't imagine how she would live after returning home. She lost everything and felt desperate.
In fact, after being kidnapped by the Khitans, she had lost hope. But if there is no hope, there will be no despair.
Xu Erniang suddenly felt helpless and lonely. She didn't want to go home and face the truth. She just wanted to escape. She wanted to hide in a corner where no one knew her. She didn't want to face accusations, nor did she want to be comforted. It wasn't her man who died. What's the point of comforting him
In the central army camp, Guo Shao, who was sitting in the upper position, looked haggard.
At this time, a civil servant walked in quickly, performed the ceremony first, held a letter in both hands, and said: Your Majesty, General Han has an urgent report.
Guo Shao raised his head and waited for Lu Chengyong to pick it up. He took it in his hand and saw the words "victory report" written on it.
Han Tong got the news from the left and assembled his army. He encountered the Liao army who wanted to escape from the West Mountain Route of Deshengkou. The two armies fought fiercely, and the Liao army was in chaos after the battle and was defeated.
Han Tong's troops had fewer soldiers than the Liao army, but they won a great victory; but because of their small number of troops, they were unable to encircle and suppress the Liao army. Although they gained a lot, a large number of the main forces of the Liao army fled on horseback towards the west mountain.
At this time, Li Chuyun and other troops did not have time to join the Xishan battlefield.
It was not until the evening that the Central Army Camp received Li Chuyun's report. The Battle of Wenyu River was won. Li Chuyun's troops first fought against the Liao army and had a slight advantage. After Luo Yanhuan's cavalry approached from the north, the main force of the Liao army fled eastward with light equipment, but was attacked by Li Chuyun's troops and suffered heavy losses.
When Wang Pu saw the report, he hurriedly said loudly in public: In this battle, the victor is still the Great Zhou army.
Guo Shao knew he was trying to boost morale.
Wang Pu saw that the crowd's reaction was not very enthusiastic, and then he elaborated: There were three major battles. The battle of the infantry in Youzhou City, the Liao army's surprise attack on Xishan, and the battle of Wenyu River were all the Liao army's defeats.
What Wang Pu said was true, but Guo Shao still couldn't be happy.
It is meaningless to only talk about the victory rate of the battle. The victory in the defensive battle failed to annihilate the main force of the Liao army and did not play a decisive role. The truth is that the Zhou army was passive everywhere and its morale was disturbed during the siege; the most important defeat was the loss of the general and the emperor's sworn brother.
If a general dies in battle, the army will lose its morale. This is why the late emperor ordered the Jinyang North Route Army to rescue Shi Yanchao when he was surrounded. If the most powerful general of the Great Zhou dies in battle, the army will lose its morale; the main reason is that it will have a psychological impact on the army's morale.
It was the same this time. One of the emperor's sworn brothers died, while the other was seriously injured and their lives were in danger, which had a great impact on the morale of the army.
Guo Shao neither said he would reward Li Chuyun nor blame him.
Wang Pu said: "The Liao reinforcements were defeated and could no longer threaten Youzhou. I think the cavalry can return to the camp to rest first; tomorrow morning, the siege troops will continue the siege according to the deployment."
Guo Shao said: Let’s do as Envoy Wang requested.
The prestige of the Privy Councilor Wang Pu was recognized by the imperial guards, and he was always relied on by the emperor. When he was sick, the emperor would personally seek medical advice for him. Guo Shao had to maintain Wang Pu's prestige at this time.
Before this, Guo Shaoyi had already come to his senses when he saw Yang Biao and Luo Mengzi.
In this battle, the scenes were chaotic everywhere, but the essence of the chaos still existed: the Zhou army attacking the city was harassed by the Liao army.
The Liao reinforcements were essentially a large-scale raid, and it was difficult to truly defeat the elite Zhou troops under Guo Shao in terms of the size of their forces. Guo Shao's mistake was the loss of his great general.
Guo Shao was very angry and racked his brains to learn the lesson.
First of all, they lost the initiative. The invincible Great Zhou imperial army was not yet accustomed to the war mode with the Liao Kingdom. The Liao army did not hope for a decisive battle like other countries, and even did not seem to care about winning or losing. Harassment and running was their strategy.
Secondly, he could not get over the casualties of the two general brothers, and believed that there were still omissions in his own responsibility layout.
Guo Shao kept looking through maps and reports, carefully deducing the battle situation from beginning to end, and was very anxious.
He had fought in many wars in the past. Although it was hard work, the whole layout was very smooth and the rhythm of the war was under control. He had a kind of casual and decisive self-confidence. Even though there were great risks in many cases, the self-confidence allowed him to be unrestrained and enterprising.
For example, in the battle to conquer Southern Tang, letting Li Chuyun lead his army alone in deep into the enemy's territory under an accidental opportunity was a great risk; but it was also a brilliant and courageous move.
But now, the mistake made him lose his rhythm, and he felt a sense of restraint.
Guo Shao flipped through the thick volume of documents on the Battle of Youzhou and returned to his original strategic goal: to capture the city of Youzhou.
Now, he questioned whether he could still capture Youzhou City.
After the Great Zhou army arrived at Youzhou City in advance, it took them half a month to build siege fortifications. Then the siege was not smooth and the artillery failed to effectively suppress the interference of the defenders, resulting in the moat not being filled up quickly; tunnels were dug to bury gunpowder, but water seeped in.
Gunpowder must be buried underground and sealed to produce enough explosive power. After all, black powder burns quickly, and it explodes when the air pressure in a closed space suddenly increases and the pressure cannot be released. Guo Shao knew this very well. When Zhao Kuangyin supported the two Li brothers in their rebellion and besieged Jinzhou, they dug a tunnel but it was not sealed well, so it was useless.
Just then, Wang Pu asked to see him inside.
Wang Pu signaled the attendants around Guo Shao to step back and said with a guilty look: I have failed your majesty's trust.
Guo Shaodao: I am the one who makes the decision.
Wang Pu sighed, and after a moment of silence, he said: The Liao army reinforcements were defeated, but the troops did not receive a fatal blow. Although they need time to regroup, they will sooner or later pose a harassment threat.
Guo Shao nodded, unable to deny this possibility.
Wang Pu said: If the Zhou army's cavalry gathers too much towards Youzhou City, the Liao army will control the peripheral activity area and will most likely harass the Zhou army's rear food supply. Therefore, I think the cavalry should still be deployed in the front to gain depth.
The Youzhou infantry camps must re-strengthen their fortifications and build camp trench walls outside the siege fortifications to prevent this accident from happening again.
Guo Shao dropped his brush and suddenly said: "Envoy Wang believes that given the current situation, we can capture Youzhou City before the main force of the Liao Kingdom moves south."
After hearing this, Wang Pu's expression changed slightly, but he did not answer immediately.
After a long silence, Wang Pu said in a deep voice: Your Majesty has always won every battle, and many people even believe that you are the reincarnation of a god. Before attacking Youzhou, everyone in and outside the court believed that the Great Zhou would definitely be able to recover the lost territory. If we return without success due to the loss of a general, I am afraid that public opinion will be unfavorable.
Not only the people of the world, but Wang Pu also seemed to find it difficult to accept: It will take some time for the Liao Kingdom to gather its main forces. The Bingcaosi, undercover spies from the Privy Council, and secret guards of the Imperial Guards have all been deployed in enemy territory. Our main forces have not been damaged at this time, and there is still time and opportunity.
Guo Shao said: If we judge that we cannot capture Youzhou City quickly, delaying will increase the risk. Moreover, we have a large number of infantry and baggage for the siege, and we can't escape temporarily, so we have to prepare for a rainy day.
Wang Pu was silent.
Guo Shaodao: The situation is no longer on our side. The difficulty of attacking the city has increased and morale has been affected. I intuitively feel that the opportunity to fight has been lost.
Thinking of Luo Mengzi who had become a dead body, Yang Biao who was unconscious, and the thousands of soldiers who had been killed or wounded, he said softly with difficulty: The most difficult thing in the world is to be able to afford to lose.