Only less than a thousand Xiongnu who were trapped within the walls of the city broke out.
Among them, Mao Dun was also injured by a crossbow arrow. If his guards had not fought desperately to take him out of the battlefield and there were horses outside the walled city to support him, Mao Dun, the Xian King of Zuo, would have died here.
The Huns suffered more than 7,000 casualties in total, while the Qin army only suffered 300 casualties.
An unexpected surprise was that after the Xiongnu dismounted and fought to break through, they left more than 4,000 horses in the walled city...
This is a high-quality Xiongnu war horse. Normally, Qin people would have to trade dozens of kilograms of tin, copper and other metals to get one at the border, and the horses they get in exchange are inferior Xiongnu horses.
Even so, these Xiongnu inferior horses can still be sold at a good price if transported to the Central Plains.
Of course Shen Bing would not sell these horses if he got them. He was worried about having no war horses to expand the Shenwu Army, but he didn't expect that the Xiongnu would send them to him.
In addition, the Qin army also captured more than a thousand Huns.
Capture of Huns was rare.
This is not to say that the Huns are brave and good at fighting... In fact, the Huns are indeed brave and good at fighting, but they do not have the mentality of "better to be broken than to live in ruins". If they are unable to win and cannot escape, they will often die as soon as possible. Will choose to surrender.
The reason why Xiongnu prisoners are rare is because the Xiongnu have been burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil for many years. All the countries in the Central Plains hate them, so they usually leave no one alive on the battlefield.
Even the northern soldiers led by Li Mu were like this.
The Xiongnu also knew this, which in turn made them dare not surrender... They would all die anyway, so they might as well fight on the battlefield.
The more than 1,000 Huns captured on this trip were trapped within the defensive lines of the city wall and were really frightened.
After Shen Bing visited the battlefield in Jiazhai, he understood why the Huns chose to surrender:
Corpses were piled up like a mountain between the two cities of A and B. There were people and horses lying in a pool of blood in various postures. Each of them had several crossbow arrows stuck in their bodies.
Some of the injured who were not yet dead were struggling and casting horrified looks around them... The Huns' will to survive was so strong that many of the injured were still trying to crawl outside the walled city, seemingly trying to give their last breath. Break out with strength.
However this obviously won't work.
Soon, a soldier from the Qin Army came forward and grabbed his hair. With the back of his bronze sword facing him, he wiped his neck back and forth a few times. The head, which was still screaming in pain, was cut off.
Shen Bing was extremely uncomfortable with this scene, but he knew that it could not be changed.
The Qin army judged military exploits based on the heads of their enemies, and it was impossible to waste precious healing belts or medicines on these wounded soldiers... Therefore, if they wanted to keep these wounded Huns alive, they would have to challenge and overthrow Qin's laws first.
The Hun prisoners who were squatting and being controlled on the other side didn't feel much when they saw this scene.
This is something they have become accustomed to. If they win the battle, they will still deal with the injured prisoners in this way, even if it is an internal war.
The reason why these prisoners did not continue to escape was because the open space between the two cities was filled with the corpses of people and horses, and there were also ropes stretching across the walls... It was because everyone I knew it was impossible to escape alive.
Wei Wei and his old troops were originally soldiers of the Wei State. The Wei State did not border the Huns, so although they had heard that the Huns were powerful, they had never fought against them. Now that they had won the first battle, they were inevitably a bit high-spirited.
So he asked Shen Bing with a happy face:
"General, what shall we do with these prisoners?"
Shen Bing didn't know how to answer.
Wei Wei's question was actually unnecessary. Even if the Huns captured prisoners were sent to do hard labor, not many people would want to do it... The Huns were extremely difficult to train as hard laborers, and they would riot and rebel whenever they found an opportunity. If they could steal a few horses, they would be satisfied. The world is running around and I can no longer catch it.
So the normal procedure is undoubtedly to cut them all.
However, this is more than a thousand people... In one sentence, more than a thousand people will die, which is easier said than done.
But when he saw Fusu beside him, who was pale with fright, Shen Bing had an idea. He cupped his hands towards Fusu and said:
"Master, what do you think we should do with these prisoners?"
Shen Bing kicked the ball to Fusu. He was the son of the Qin State, so it was common sense for him to make the decision. Moreover, Fusu's character would definitely not execute the prisoners.
Sure enough, Fusu replied:
"Why don't we send these prisoners to Handan and hand them over to the king?"
"This can also represent the general's success in the first battle. What does the general think?"
Shen Bing breathed a sigh of relief and replied:
"As the master said, send the prisoners to Handan."
But of course, before sending the prisoners, Shen Bing had to send a fast horse to deliver the battle report.
Shen Bing first praised the Huns very much, and then talked about how the Northern Army bravely defeated the invading Huns.
The final point is:
"I am worried that the Huns' invasion this time is just a test. The food in the Central Plains will be ripe and there may be a war in the next few months."
"There are hundreds of wastes waiting to be done in the North, and manpower resources are in short supply, especially copper and iron ore for making arrows and farm tools. I hope your Majesty will provide reinforcements."
When Ying Zheng heard that Shen Bing had won another battle shortly after taking office, he couldn't help but feel very happy. He waved his hand and ordered:
"The copper and iron ore sent to Yunzhong County will be doubled."
"As for manpower... send another 10,000 laborers!"
Zhao Gao advised from the side:
"Your Majesty, if I send you 10,000 laborers, I'm afraid the grain and grass will be sent to Yunzhong County..."
Ying Zheng said "Oh" and replied without thinking:
"Double the food and grass!"
Zhao Gao said again:
"Your Majesty, but we don't have enough food and grass, how can we still..."
Ying Zheng replied:
"It doesn't matter, you can borrow grain from the people first and pay back double after the harvest."
"Yunzhong County is an important place to enter the customs. If you keep Yunzhong County intact, you can protect the Central Plains from being plundered by the Huns."
"The common people are also shouldering the responsibility."
Zhao Gao said again:
"But Your Majesty, according to the report from the Yanmen County Sheriff, Shen Bing did not strictly guard the key entrance to the pass, and the Huns can still go south around Yunzhong County."
"Shen Bing's move is a sign of cowardice..."
Ying Zheng couldn't help laughing when he heard this:
"If we are too timid to fight, how can we kill seven thousand enemies and capture one thousand enemies?"
"Shen Bing's move is really just trying to catch him!"
There was a black line on Zhao Gao's forehead.
He soon understood that "victory is the last word", and it was untenable to restrict Shen Bing or say bad words when he was winning the battle.
So Zhao Gao did not dare to say anything more and quickly changed his tone to agree.
In fact, only Shen Bing himself knows whether this is the case.
However, it would be correct to say that this was Shen Bing's trick to scare off the Huns, because Touman Shanyu was frightened at the first moment. When he visited Maodun, he sighed:
"If the Qin people in Yunzhong County have these methods to deal with my cavalry, then how come the Qin people in the Central Plains don't have them?"
"In this case, how can we still go south to plunder?"