I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 427 Yanran Mountain is your tombstone!

Liu Ju's first war with the Huns.

In the end, the Han army won a great victory, killing more than 7,000 people in battle and capturing 6,000.

In addition to the more than 2,000 people who were killed by Sima Qian and Su Wu in Jiaohe City, only less than 5,000 Hun cavalry took advantage of the chaos to escape. They did not even look back, as if they had made some kind of determination.

The gate of Jiaohe City has been opened.

While almost all the Han army soldiers and the people of Gushi were celebrating this victory that would go down in history, Liu Ju and the Jianzhang Cavalry led by him, as well as some of the garrison troops stationed in Jiaohe City, were busier than during the war. They were carefully cleaning the battlefield under the scorching sun...

"What a joy! I haven't had such a satisfying fight in a long time!"

Zhao Po Nu was also injured, but it was not serious. It was just that his calf was accidentally scratched by the Huns' arrow, which did not affect his walking.

At this moment, he was holding Wang Hui's shoulders and shouting loudly, and he saw Sima Qian and Su Wu who came out of the city to greet him.

"Congratulations! After this battle, General Zhao and General Wang will surely be granted the title of Marquis."

Sima Qian and Su Wu stepped forward and bowed to congratulate Zhao Po Nu and Wang Hui.

According to the Han Dynasty's previous reward practices, Zhao Po Nu, as the main general in this battle, had such great achievements that it was no problem for him to be worthy of the title of Marquis of a Thousand Households.

As a deputy general, it was reasonable for Wang Hui to be awarded the title of a centurion.

In addition, this battle was a victory for the few, with surprisingly few casualties. I'm afraid this achievement should be even higher...

At least Sima Qian had known about the Battle of Mobei before, and his father had relevant records.

The three-tenths loss of Huo Qubing's troops in the Battle of Mobei was just a rough statistics of the death toll, and the dead military slaves were not included.

During this era, the situation of military slaves was even worse than that of ordinary slaves, and they could not even be considered human beings.

This was reflected in the war against Western Qiang. They were usually cannon fodder sent to die, and were not even given enough food on weekdays. Even if they achieved the merit of beheading a general, seizing a flag, or being the first to climb the ladder, it was not considered a merit and they could not be rewarded... Their only role in the army was to act as human shields to block the enemy's arrows and swords.

It was for this reason that Gongsun Jingsheng treated them as human beings and let them have a few full meals, and they were willing to fight for him.

And in this battle.

The Han army's casualties must have been much smaller than in the Battle of Mobei.

"Congratulations, General Sima and General Su were able to improvise and ambush and kill two thousand Xiongnu cavalrymen, including three Xiongnu princes. With such merits, they may have a chance to be awarded the title of nobility."

Zhao Po Nu and Wang Hui returned the greetings to the two men, their uvulas trembling with joy.

The four of them all made great contributions in this battle. Even if they cannot be granted the title of nobility, they will surely be promoted after returning, and their future is bright.

"This all depends on your Highness's planning."

Several people smiled at each other and sighed. Sima Qian couldn't hold back his artistic germs, so he said a few more words.

"It is indeed amazing to say that Your Highness conquered Loulan and then mobilized Yanqi, Shanguo, and Yuli to send troops together. Every step after that was closely related."

"It's not just the enemy's movements and reactions... I don't know if you feel it, but even the reactions and responses of each of us are all within your calculations. We are all being led by your Highness, and every step is correct. In the end, we have achieved the current advantageous situation."

"Your Highness, you are truly a rare and extraordinary person in the world. I am afraid that I will not be able to write a separate biography for Your Highness this time, otherwise it will be a loss to future generations."

Several people nodded in agreement.

Finally, Zhao Po Nu couldn't help but ask:

"By the way, why haven't I seen His Highness? Where did His Highness go?"

"His Highness ordered us to control the situation in Jiaohe City and take good care of the Xiongnu surrendered soldiers. He then led the Jianzhang Cavalry and part of the city's garrison to clean up the battlefield."

Sima Qian and Su Wu answered.

Zhao Po Nu exclaimed in an exaggerated manner:

"Oh, why didn't you tell me earlier? How can you let His Highness do such a trivial matter personally?"...

The Han army also paid some price in this battle.

Six hundred and seventeen people were killed, one thousand two hundred and thirty-one were injured, and about fifteen thousand war horses were lost.

This casualty ratio is quite large. In the battle of Mobei, Huo Qubing's 50,000 cavalrymen beheaded 74,430 Huns, and he also lost three-tenths of his own troops.

Liu Ju led an army of more than 7,000 this time, and the casualty rate was almost three-tenths, which was the same as that of Huo Qubing.

However, Liu Ju still did not know whether the battle record in the Battle of Mobei only counted the deaths and ignored the wounded, or whether both deaths and wounds were included like Liu Ju did.

The biggest difference in this battle is.

During the Battle of Mobei, Huo Qubing's troops calculated the number of beheadings accurately to the single digit, but the number of deaths was only given a vague proportion in history books.

And at Liu Ju's request.

The number of heads killed in this battle can be vague, the loss of war horses can be vague, but the casualty data must be accurate to the single digit, and implemented to every squad, every Han man who can't even write his name.

Because before the war, he used the method that Gongsun Jingsheng had used before to carve military badges for every Han man, even the military slaves, and entered them all into a register along with their place of origin to ensure that the place of origin of every Han man who died in battle could be traced.

This move does have the intention of winning people's hearts.

But Liu Ju was by no means hypocritical or pretentious.

He understood better than anyone the truth that one general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of men. As long as there is a war, casualties are inevitable, even on the winning side.

Although Liu Ju is not a saint, even after becoming a full-level human, his heart has become harder than before. He will not feel overwhelmed with guilt or heartache because of this.

But at the same time, this did not prevent him from doing what he could for these fallen soldiers, allowing them to leave behind a name so that their families could receive some compensation, and since blood had been shed, there should be fewer tears.

Before nightfall.

The bodies of the fallen Han soldiers were collected, arranged neatly, and their identities were checked one by one and recorded in a book.

After nightfall.

The bodies of these Han army soldiers were piled together, placed on firewood and doused with kerosene, and then burned to ashes with a huge fire.

The weather in the Turpan Basin is hot.

The corpse will rot and stink even before night, and the large amount of bacteria may even cause plague. Even burying it will still pose a huge risk, so burning it is the best way to dispose of it.

Before the fire.

The surviving soldiers lined up in an orderly formation, and a large number of local people came out to see them off.

The flickering firelight reflected on everyone's face. The area outside the firelight seemed to be filled with the souls of the dead, Han people, Xiongnu people, Gushi people, all the dead people, making it feel incredibly crowded.

"Soldiers, have a safe journey!"

Liu Ju stood in front of the battle array and bowed with a resounding voice.
"I, Liu Ju, swear today that your sacrifice will not be in vain. Yanran Mountain will be your tombstone. Each of your names will be engraved on Yanran Mountain, and your stories will be sung by future generations forever!"

“Woo——!”

A dull horn sounded and was carried far away by the southwest wind, like the combined whimpers of Jiaohe, Gobi Desert, and Lonely City, shouting towards the Yanran Mountains in the northeast.

Someone secretly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Someone sobbed softly along with the horn.

Someone looked at Liu Ju's resolute back in confusion:
"What do you mean? What does this have to do with Mount Yanran? The general is dead, the Xiongnu has been defeated, shouldn't we return to the court?"

(End of this chapter)