A rough statistics was made by the Qin army in this battle, which showed that a total of more than 40,000 Xiongnu people were annihilated, while the Qin army lost more than 3,000 people.
The reason why it is said to be a "rough statistics" is because, except for the Pu Lei Army, the other armies do not count their merits based on their heads, so it is impossible to calculate the number of enemies killed.
In terms of merit, the Pu Lei Army should have the greatest contribution, but the Western Region Army killed the most enemies.
The reason why Pu Lei's army is said to have made the greatest contribution is because it defeated 40,000 enemies with 18,000 men and was able to behead more than 10,000 enemies. The number of enemies killed was several times the number of casualties.
The Western Region Army led by Wang Ben had 30,000 troops against the enemy's 20,000.
The Western Region Army surrounded the 20,000 Xiongnu and killed more than 10,000 and captured 3,000. Then they killed thousands more while chasing the deserters.
However, because the Western Region Army did not implement the twenty military merit title system, the credit can only be attributed to each country.
Wang Ben took advantage of this moment to give some propaganda to the soldiers in the Western Regions:
"If you were under the Qin military system, if you cut off a head today, you would be promoted to the first level."
"The collective merit can be upgraded to another level."
"There are also some who have killed several people. I'm afraid they will be promoted to three levels in a row."
“The land allocated is enough for a family of five to have enough food and clothing.”
"However...what a pity! What a pity!"
Of course Wang Ben had ulterior motives for his words, but the Western Region cavalry was very fond of this trick.
The reason is that except for the cavalry of Kucha, Loulan, and Gushi, which have implemented military merit systems, the rest are still slaves.
The military achievements and benefits obtained under slavery all belong to the princes and nobles. It is considered good that they can leave some Xiongnu swords, clothing and other trophies. How can they dare to expect any titles or fiefs?
If other countries are like them, that is, everyone is the same, then there is nothing to say.
But now not only the Qin army, but also several countries such as Qiuci have military merit systems to obtain rewards, but they cannot.
As the saying goes, "People are more irritating than others." How could they be willing to do so? So they asked one after another to join the Qin army.
At this time, Wang Ben pretended to hesitate:
"But... we are just an alliance. If we just take the alliance's troops for our own use, how dare the other countries give up their military power to our army?"
"No, no!"
Wang Ben's words hit the point.
No matter how hard the Qin army tried, they would not blatantly withdraw their military power at this time.
Otherwise, before the Xiongnu are destroyed in front, the western region behind will be on fire, and then both ends will be unhappy.
After thinking for a while, Wang Ben said:
"If not, I will record your contribution first."
"If one day you can persuade your king to join the Qin army, then you will be rewarded based on your merits!"
The soldiers of the Western Regions all agreed.
They completely did not realize that this was Wang Ben who laid landmines for various countries... How could these soldiers get permission to persuade the country to join the Qin army after they returned?
If they disagree and these soldiers are unwilling to give up these achievements, and the Qin army cannot accept them because they want to keep their word... then there is only one way, and that is to overthrow their respective kings.
Wang Ben came from the melting pot of military strategy in the Central Plains, so this little trick was not a trivial matter to him.
However, the countries in the Western Regions rarely use strategies because of their relatively closed oasis culture, so they are certainly not their rivals.
Xunxu, the king of Youxian, was still on the way to escape.
However, at this time, he didn't know where to escape.
To the west is the Western Region, to the south is the Central Plains, to the east and north is the territory of Modun Shanyu...
Ordinarily, there is no doubt that Xunlu should flee to the east and north.
The subordinates also subconsciously ran in these two directions.
However, Xun Yu hesitated alone:
"Last time, he was displeased because he disobeyed orders and was defeated by the Qin army in the Western Regions."
"This trip did not follow Shan Yu's order to attack the Qin army..."
"How can Shanyu spare me?"
"If the number of soldiers lost is small, the Chanyu may not take it seriously."
"However, this trip resulted in the loss of more than 60,000 troops!"
It is normal for the statistics of the Qin army and the Xiongnu to be wrong.
The Qin army thought they had wiped out more than 40,000 people, but the Huns fled in all directions. Many Xiongnu soldiers took this opportunity to hide and never returned to the army. So King Youxian only lost more than 60,000 people.
In other words, King Youxian's army has lost its combat effectiveness and cannot fight anymore.
In this way, how could Maodun Shanyu spare King Youxian?
Even if he wanted to re-boost morale, Maodun Chanyu had to kill King Youxian to establish his authority, otherwise how could he deal with the more than 60,000 dead and injured soldiers?
What's more, King Youxian escaped from the battle, so Maodun Shanyu had sufficient reasons to kill him.
Thinking of this, King Youxian reined in his horse and stopped.
Seeing this, his subordinates couldn't help but asked in confusion:
"Why did King Youxian stop?"
Xunhao replied:
"The Qin army's goal is Dragon City and they won't pursue me too far. We no longer have to worry about life or death."
The subordinate thought it was right, but after thinking about it he asked again:
"But aren't we going to join forces with Shan Yu?"
"In addition, I also want to warn Shan Yu that the Qin army has horse equipment and the cavalry's combat power has doubled..."
Xunxun didn't answer and asked:
"In your opinion, even if we warn Shanyu, can Shanyu be able to defend Dragon City?"
The subordinates were stunned for a moment, then shook their heads:
"Our army has always been good at riding and fighting but not at defending the city."
"Now that even the cavalry battle has been defeated by the Qin army, Dragon City cannot be defended."
Xun Hao asked again:
"If even the Chanyu can't defend Dragon City, what can we do if we go to join the Chanyu?"
"Isn't it going to be defeated by the Qin army again?"
All the subordinates were speechless, and when they thought of the Qin army's performance on the battlefield and their terrifying fighting power, they felt frightened.
It is normal to be afraid. They always thought that they were the kings of the grassland, but who would have expected that they would be beaten to a pulp by the Qin army in the most confident aspect.
As the saying goes, "The higher you climb, the harder you fall."
For the Huns, this was not only a matter of winning or losing a battle, but also a matter of having their self-confidence shattered with a hammer.
If before they thought that the Xiongnu would only "lose" against the Qin army, now, they just want to survive.
After hesitating for a while, one of his subordinates asked:
"Then, in the opinion of King You Xian, it is..."
Xun Hao continued:
"We are helpless, so we might as well station our troops here and wait and see what happens."
"If Shanyu wins, it won't be too late for me to go and respond."
These subordinates were originally feared by the Qin army, but when they heard what Xun Yu said, there was no reason not to agree, so they all nodded in agreement.
But someone asked again:
"King Youxian, what if the Chanyu is defeated by the Qin army?"
Xun Hao only replied:
"discuss later!"
Although Xun Hao didn't say it clearly, all his subordinates already knew it in their hearts.
As a part of the Xiongnu, you should go to rescue whenever you are in trouble, even if you go through fire and water, you will not hesitate to do so.
But Xunxu now plans to station troops here, which is already a capital crime.
In other words, Xun Yu wants to escape from Shan Yu's control.
As for what his plans are after leaving, only Xun Yu himself knows.