Of course, now is not the time to hold the fourth prince accountable, but how to explain it to Wanyan Khan.
Nearly half of the troops they led suffered casualties. If it was just a feint attack, even if the opponent had the advantage of firearms, they would only suffer one or two casualties at most before they could react.
With nearly half of the casualties, the grassland army could no longer maintain the initiative in the war against Zhou. To say the least, even if their grassland army was still intact, but the other party had mastered the firearms that were unique to Chu, how could their grassland still be Zhou's?
country’s rival?
These troops are not only from their Wanyan tribe, but also the most elite troops from the other two tribes. Now nearly half of them have been lost in their hands. This is a huge crime.
If the leaders of the other two tribes knew that it was the two of them who had lost so many troops due to their reckless actions, I am afraid that Father Khan's side would face considerable pressure.
Now the third prince has no other choice but to exaggerate the power of Zhou's firearms and report it with embarrassment, hoping that his father will believe it. Otherwise, he and the fourth son may have to go down to keep company with their eldest brother.
After achieving the victory, Su Zhong ordered them to leave the border. The pursuit would be postponed for a while. The first thing they did was to collect these prisoners.
To say that the power of Zhou's firearms is really not that good, they look very powerful, but in fact they can kill very few enemies directly, and most of them are injured.
So Zhou was forced to harvest a bunch of prisoners who were all wounded but still alive.
Now that the grassland has been evacuated, who would want these disabled prisoners?
Now they can't even build their own tents, so they are completely useless. The Zhou Kingdom has to be responsible for finding a good place for these prisoners to settle.
Let's take a look at the news from Chu State. What are their prisoners doing?
Setting up tents, washing clothes, transporting supplies, building pastures, and even prisoner of war camps were all built by the prisoners of war themselves.
Chu State only used a little grain to harvest a large amount of labor force.
But what about their Zhou Kingdom?
Look at each of these prisoners. Not to mention setting up tents and walking, most of them can only lie on the ground and howl.
The deputy general stood next to Su Zhong and looked at the wailing prisoners and sighed: "There are too many prisoners. If we take them in, then our Zhou Kingdom will really be taken advantage of."
Su Zhong asked: "Do you have any ideas?"
Song Ning said: "Why don't we trap him and kill him, it will save trouble."
Su Zhong said: "But I am not willing to give in. The Chu State is managing the captives very well, but we still have to send people to dig holes for them?"
Song Ning said, "There is no way. We can't expect these people who can only lie on the ground and howl to stand up and help dig the hole."
Su Zhong sighed and said, "No! The general is still unbalanced. I have to find a way to squeeze some money out of these prisoners. I can't kill them so hastily."
Song Ning was pessimistic about Su Zhong's thoughts. If they didn't kill them, they would be a bunch of losers. He couldn't give limited medicine to them when he couldn't cure them all.
Moreover, food is also a problem.
The Chu country is the most cost-effective. As long as they are given food, they will work without any wages, and most of them basically retain their ability to work.
What about these people?
They will only consume Zhou's food!
What kind of profit can General Su squeeze out of these prisoners who have lost half their lives but are still alive?
…
Su Chong was also furious. Zhou State had been suppressed by Chu State for too long, which led to one thing.
The state of Zhou wanted to compete with the state of Chu in everything.
If you can't defeat it, you have to rely on financial resources. Anyway, a large amount of Chu State's financial resources are used in military affairs, and the money available for deployment in the treasury every year is very limited.
Now that the State of Chu has the Guoshangyuan, the State of Zhou has discovered that the financial resources of the State of Zhou will be overtaken by that of the State of Zhou, and given another year or two of time for the State of Chu, even the State of Zhao may not be able to rival it in terms of financial resources.
Neither the military nor the financial resources can be compared. The Zhou Kingdom is not as aggrieved as usual.
There has to be something better than Chu, right?
If you can't compare with the big ones, then let's compare with the smaller ones. For example, we can compete to see who can exploit the captives better.
But it is obvious that this batch of prisoners is particularly difficult to take, and they have to rely on the care of Zhou Guo to survive.
Su Chong felt as if several knives had been stabbed in his heart by the State of Chu.
What a coward!
Even if they can't win, let them let Zhou Guo lose so miserably...
Song Ning looked at Su Zhong's leaving figure and sighed, "It's already like this, why don't we just give up? We can't compete with Chu State, why don't we?"
The military strength of our Zhou State can also be compared with that of Zhao State. Isn’t it much easier to think about it this way?
Why do you have to compare yourself with someone you can't compare with?
…
Although the Zhou Kingdom won a great victory this time, this battle also successfully depressed the general Su Zhong, mainly because this group of prisoners was the worst group they had ever taken. There is no exaggeration. Indeed
is the worst.
Since a great victory was won during the day, a celebration banquet was held in the military camp at night, except for those who were left on duty.
There was plenty of meat, and each soldier was even given a small glass of wine.
It's still wartime, so drinking too much can lead to trouble, but a small cup can cheer up.
Because as long as they win another battle, they can get another small cup.
A captain who originally planned to invite General Su Zhong to host the celebration banquet was kicked out by Su Zhong, and Su Zhong's face was full of resentment.
Just when the captain was confused, Song Ning came over and sighed: "Let the commander alone be alone for a while."
The captain wondered: "Didn't we win a big victory? Why is the commander unhappy? It's like losing a battle, ah! Why did he smash the table with a punch full of resentment?"
Song Ning said, "What do you know? The commander-in-chief is pushing himself. He really reminds himself not to be dazzled by the small profits in front of him. The smoother the war goes, the more the commander-in-chief has to push himself. Otherwise, why?
Can you become a marshal? You guys are too impetuous. Learn more from the marshal and remember to push yourself at all times. Do you understand?"
The captain immediately said in admiration: "Yes!"
Song Ning nodded: "Go down."
Song Ning stood at the door and looked at Su Zhong who was so depressed that he almost slapped her face. She couldn't help but sigh. Are you still thinking about extracting oil?
If it really doesn't work, let's just bury it. We can do it in one go. It saves you trouble and I save trouble. Why bother?
In order to feed these captives tonight, a lot of food was lost.
If this continues, the Zhou Kingdom will really suffer huge losses.
