Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

In the reed marsh on the east bank of the Cangjiang River, blood was flowing down the iron armor.

The Chu army's vanguard Zhou Tai stepped over the gate of the village on the fragments of the Jin army's battle flag, his iron boots making a dull sound as they stepped on the blood-soaked wooden boards.

The river wind blew across his visor with smoke, and the sound of the triangular arrow breaking through the air was still buzzing in his ears.

"Count the prisoners!" Zhou Tai's roar tore through the turbid fog.

He thrust his halberd into the mud with his backhand, and the tip of the halberd made of fine iron pierced through half of the Jin army's flag.

The sound of iron chains clashing could be heard in the distance. More than 300 Jin sailors were driven to the beach. Their leather armor was swollen by the river water, and straw ropes were wrapped around their necks to symbolize their status as prisoners.

The Chu army's crossbowmen formed a goose formation on the slope, and the poisoned arrowheads glowed faint blue in the setting sun.

Zhou Tai took off his helmet, revealing his resolute face, which at this moment showed a look of satisfaction.

"All the Jin people's warships have sunk?" He spat out a mouthful of scarlet juice, and the deputy general immediately handed over the blood-stained map.

Suddenly, there was a burst of crying on the beach.

Zhou Tai turned his head and saw two Chu army soldiers pushing the Jin army's flag officer into the shallows.

The muddy river water rushed into the man's mouth and nose, and the crimson battle flag embroidered with a black bird pattern floated above his head.

"General, this man said he wanted to be buried with the battle flag."

Before the personal soldier finished speaking, Zhou Tai had already drawn his halberd and strode forward.

The moment the iron halberd broke through the wind, the crimson battle flag broke into pieces.

"Want to die for the flag?"

Zhou Tai stepped on the flag officer's spine and used the tip of his halberd to tear open the flesh on the back of his neck.

"The rules of the Chu people——"

The blood-stained halberd blade swept across the heads of the entire row of prisoners.

"Those who surrender have their ears cut off, those who flee have their eyes gouged out, and those who want to be heroes..."

He exerted force suddenly, and the flag officer's head flew into the river with half of his spine.

"Hey, bastard!"

As dusk deepened, the Chu army began to burn the Jin army's warships.

Zhou Tai stood on the observation deck in front of the main tent, watching his shadow lengthened by the firelight and twisting as it climbed up the cowhide tent roof embroidered with the word "Jin".

"Notify His Highness and the General immediately and tell them that the Jin army camp has been captured by me and that I am currently capturing prisoners. Please ask His Highness and the General to come ashore and ask for instructions on how to deal with the prisoners."

If there were only a few hundred prisoners, he could have just killed them on his own initiative.

But as more and more people surrendered, he did not dare to kill so many people without authorization.

A few hundred or a few thousand people would not be a problem, but now more than ten thousand people have surrendered, and he dare not take action.

Half an hour later, a bonfire was lit in the water fort.

Under the light of the fire, a large ship docked and Chu Ning was invited into the tent with the respectful welcome of everyone.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Everyone bowed and saluted.

Chu Ning glanced at everyone and saw that no general was missing, so he nodded slightly and smiled:

"This battle was a great victory, all thanks to the concerted efforts of all the generals. Lord Jia has already noted down the credit for this battle!"

"After we conquer Jin, I will reward you according to your merits."

"Now, let's talk about the damage in this battle."

After he finished speaking, General Feng Anguo stepped forward and said with a smile, "Your Highness, all thirty fire dragon boats led by the enemy general Yan Feng were destroyed, and all the one thousand people on board were killed!"

"There were less than eighty casualties among our troops, and none of our ships were damaged."

He did not go into detail about the battle situation at the shipyard, only talking about the damage.

Chu Ning laughed: "Very good, Yue Yongkang wanted to sneak attack our military dock, but he didn't expect that his every move was under my control."

After a pause, he looked at Zhou Tai and asked, "How is the damage on the front battlefield?"

Zhou Tai said excitedly: "In this battle, Jin's 50,000 naval forces lost 30,000 lives. So far, our army has captured 15,000 people, and 5,000 are missing. Most of the ships were damaged and I ordered them to be burned."

"Our army lost about 3,000 men, more than 10,000 were injured, and only 27 warships were damaged."

"The craftsmen have already checked it out. After repair, it is half usable."

After a pause, Zhou Tai said with some distress: "But now the Jin navy has 15,000 people. It's a problem for so many people to eat, drink, defecate and urinate every day."

Chu Ning raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect so many people to surrender.

If it were based on his previous temper and personality, he would definitely order the killing directly.

But the situation of Jin, Zhao, Yan and Qin was different.

The relationship between those three countries and the State of Chu was not good, so he directly killed the captives without any burden in his heart.

However, Jin State originally had a good relationship with Chu State, and because of his relationship with Jin State's former crown prince Ji Yinghao, he would feel guilty if he killed these captives.

As he was lost in thought, the tent suddenly became quiet.

The lights flickered, illuminating Chu Ning's gloomy face.

The generals looked at each other, and many generals who originally wanted to stand up and suggest Chu Ning to kill the prisoners also shut up.

Although they are soldiers and rough guys, they still have some good eyesight.

If the prince really wanted to kill the prisoners, he would have spoken up long ago. There would be no need to think about it for so long.

Even the two counselors Jia Yu and Su Tingmei couldn't help but look at each other when they heard this.

The two thoughtful people immediately understood Chu Ning's thoughts.

Jia Yu was the first to step forward and said with a smile: "Your Highness, our dynasty actually has a good relationship with the Jin State. Perhaps these captives can be used by us."

"Our navy is newly built. Although we can win this battle, it depends on our ships, not the soldiers' experience in naval warfare."

"If these 15,000 people can be incorporated into the navy, it will definitely greatly improve the combat effectiveness of my navy."

As soon as these words came out, General Feng Anguo's eyes lit up, and a hint of excitement appeared on his face:

"Your Highness, Lord Jia is right. Leave these 15,000 men to me!"

But Chu Ning was a little worried and said, "I killed his commander and will take over their capital and cities. Will he surrender sincerely?"

Of course he wanted to keep the prisoners.

But what if these prisoners turn against us in the next battle?

He didn't want to hear news of betrayal behind him while he was fighting fiercely with the Jin army in front.

In response, Su Tingmei chuckled and volunteered: "Don't worry, Your Highness. I am willing to take on this matter!"

"All the captives can be handed over to me. I promise that they will submit to my Chu."

Such confident words brought a smile to Chu Ning's calm face.

"Since Lord Su is confident, I'll leave this matter to you!"

After saying this, Chu Ning stood up suddenly and said loudly: "After this battle, the navy needs to rest for a few days."

"Next, the navy will be responsible for transporting the infantry here, and the infantry will be responsible for the subsequent siege."

"The navy rests and recuperates here, while integrating with the captives."

"Oh, right, send someone to spread the news of the battle here to Jin State. It will be beneficial to our army if everyone in Jin State feels insecure."

"If you still want to use these captives to make a fuss, then I will say that I and their former crown prince Ji Yinghao are friends for life and death, and I will not kill those who surrender from the State of Jin!"

"Yes!" Everyone responded and went down to make arrangements.

But everyone knows that the most important thing to accomplish these things is to subdue the group of captives.

Next, it depends on how Su Tingmei handles this matter.