I am a commoner, but I will lead the empress to unify the world

"Look."

Sun Ting shouted and Wu Bi looked over.

It was a corpse with a childish face, blood at the corner of its mouth, a broken arm, and a big hole in its chest.

"How old is this kid? He's only about fifteen or sixteen. He's so young, and he's already on the battlefield. I don't know where he's from."

“I heard that this row is all from the Divine Front Army, and the Divine Front Army used to be the Wei Army, so he should be a native of Wei.

Damn Wei State, they drafted him into the army at such a young age, and our general didn't even bother to look at him before sending him to the battlefield."

"Yeah, they didn't even take a look at the little kid. They should have just let him go home. Instead, they dragged him onto the battlefield."

"Oh, I don't know his name."

"Please lend a hand."

As they saw more and more corpses, the desolation and sadness in their hearts became more and more intense.

There are too many deaths here, too many people of the same age as them, younger than them, and older than them, falling to the ground, never to see tomorrow's sun.

Whose husbands, children, and fathers are they?

No one knew that what was sent to their home was only some cold silver and the news of their family's death.

At this moment, these civil servants, who were well-versed in poetry and books, all had great insights in their hearts.

For them, this is an extremely unforgettable experience, deeply engraved in their minds and will accompany them throughout their lives.

The sky gradually brightened. The exhausted civil servants were too tired to stand up. They sat down on the corpses and bloody mud, gasping for breath.

But the other auxiliary soldiers were still working.

Finally, when it was time for dinner, they dragged their tired bodies and walked into the military camp with difficulty to eat with other auxiliary soldiers.

"Alas, the higher-ups have given the order. Today, let the prisoners clean up the battlefield for you. The regular troops will be watching over them, so you auxiliary soldiers can rest now."

Hearing this, the auxiliary soldiers cheered happily and even had more energy to eat.

Wu Bi, Sun Ting and others also breathed a sigh of relief and could finally take a break.

At this moment, General Zheng, who had led them here last night, found them and said,

"Alas, you civil servants, His Majesty has said that after you finish your meal, you should return to your residence, wash up and rest. After resting for three hours, you should get up and have lunch. After lunch, you should go to the wounded camp to help. After dark, you should go to the city lord's mansion to see His Majesty.

Did you hear that?

"understood."

All the civil servants answered in unison.

……

In the morning, the top leaders of the Yan army held a meeting. Yan Fuyao sat at the top, Shen Changgong and Ma Ling sat on both sides, and below them were the commanders of each army.

Shen Changgong said,

"Each army reports the number of casualties."

"The Divine Front Army suffered over 20,000 casualties."

"The Sky Eagle Army has twelve thousand and thirty-two."

"Nine thousand soldiers of the Pingnan Army."

"The Tianyu Army has over 5,000 men."

"There are probably dozens of Zhennan soldiers, and they are basically chasing and hacking at the enemy."

"The Yuying Army did not participate in the battle and suffered no casualties."

"The Southern Expedition Army... 49,000 men."

Jiang Shun was the last to speak and lowered his head in shame.

Southern King Ma Ling gave him a cold look.

The anger in his eyes seemed as if he wanted to tear Jiang Shun into pieces.

"What about destroying the enemy?"

"We annihilated about 50,000 Chu troops and the Qian army, captured 40,000, and annihilated more than 150,000 enemies."

Shen Changgong nodded and said,

"Well... all told, the enemy suffered about 250,000 casualties or prisoners, and half of the main force of the Qian army was wiped out.

Our army suffered more than 90,000 casualties in total, so let's calculate it as 100,000.

Such a casualty ratio would be considered a complete victory in other countries, but for our army, it can only be considered a pyrrhic victory.

Think about Lao Guan, he is still powerful, the more he fights, the more people he kills, and 350,000 people wipe out more than 1.3 million enemies. "

Although Shen Changgong did not say it explicitly, the generals present still felt hot on their faces.

It was like being slapped hard in the face by Guan Shouchang, who was thousands of miles away.

Shen Changgong continued,

"Don't be discouraged, everyone. After all, we are facing an established power. The Qian Nation is extremely powerful in terms of military strength, equipment, fighting spirit, and experience.

It was also expected that the Qian army would break through and escape this time.

Our army's original purpose was to kill and injure the enemy and consume their manpower, not to annihilate the enemy completely.

Here, I have to praise Jiang Shun. When he saw that he could no longer stop the Qian army, he decisively let go, gathered his troops, and preserved half of the manpower of the Southern Expedition Army. Otherwise, this half of the people would probably not have been saved.

After all, the Qian army was fleeing for their lives, and they would tear to pieces anyone who dared to stand in their way without hesitation.

If any other legion were to do this, no one would be able to stop it. It just happened to be you.

You did the right thing. You decisively let go, allowing the Qian army to escape, and then let the cavalry chase them down. This is much easier than surrounding them and killing them desperately, and it can also cause great damage to the enemy. "

At this point, Shen Changgong looked at the Southern King and whispered,

"Brother Nan Wang, please say a few words. Everyone is feeling uncomfortable."

The Southern King snorted coldly.

"The enemy broke through, that's a fact. What's there to say? Jiang Shun should be punished. The casualties of his unit are equal to the casualties of all other legions combined!

For this reason, he is unforgivable!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shun immediately knelt down and kowtowed while saying,

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I am willing to use this head to comfort the souls of my brothers in heaven!"

Nan Wangteng stood up suddenly and kicked Jiang Shun on the shoulder, kicking Jiang Shun far away. Jiang Shun immediately knelt down again.

"Don't think that I will spare you just because you act like you're not afraid of death!

You were surrounded by the enemy and half of your brothers were killed. This is a fact!"

"I dare not defend myself, but I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Yan Fuyao coughed dryly and said domineeringly,

"Alright, Uncle Wang, don't be violent in front of me. It's so disrespectful."

King Nan clasped his hands to her and then sat down.

"Uncle Wang, this battle is not Jiang Shun's fault, nor is it his fault. If there is any mistake, it was Shen Changgong who ordered him to go to the south to stop the Qian army.

Didn’t Shen Changgong know that the enemy would break through? Didn’t he know that 100,000 men could not stop the full force of 200,000 men and make a desperate attack?

And you, he can't stop him, why don't you take the Zhennan Army to help him?

Victory and defeat are common in the military, and what's more, we are victorious, not defeated."

King Nan frowned and said,

"Your Majesty, if you reward meritorious service and punish faults, how can you govern your army otherwise?"

"Then you can decide on the punishment. Anyway, no beheading, no dismissal, but the rest is up to you."

The Southern King looked at Jiang Shun and said,

"Jiang Shun, His Majesty pleads for you, so I'll spare your life, punish you with a hundred military sticks, and fine you one year's salary. You'll have to make meritorious contributions while serving your sentence. After that year, we'll see how you perform."

"I thank your majesty and your grace."