"Our army's casualties..." The messenger, his face flushed, looked conflicted.
"What's the matter? Were the casualties high?!" Lü Yi was displeased.
He had personally commanded the battle alongside Liang Xiao, with no oversight missed!
The messenger chuckled dryly, "Marshal and Deputy Marshal, you might not believe it, but we only lost around four hundred men. Two hundred of them were Great Gan cavalry who were unfortunately killed when the enemy counter-attacked while they were in pursuit..."
Liang Xiao and Lü Yi nodded slightly: "Not bad!"
The coordinated use of longbows and Shenbi bows (divine arm crossbows) to achieve such a casualty ratio was not exaggerated. The Anglo-French wars had precedents, and the Shenbi bow was a divine artifact used by Song soldiers to defend against enemies, even being replicated by someone in the Ming Dynasty.
During Qin's conquest of the Six States, Qin's crossbows played a significant role. In the Battle of Changping, Zhao's main general, Zhao Kuo, was shot and killed by Qin soldiers, becoming the last straw that broke the spirit of the already desperate Zhao soldiers, leading hundreds of thousands of Zhao troops to surrender to Bai Qi.
Ancient Roman heavy infantry even mastered the javelin tactics to perfection, directly throwing javelins that were 1.5-2 meters long and weighed 8-10 jin. Each soldier was equipped with one or two javelins…
Sufficient and powerful ranged weapons were the deadly trump cards on the battlefield, and the most effective measures for reducing friendly casualties and increasing the probability of victory.
This was precisely what Liang Xiao had prioritized in the rush to manufacture these divine weapons and sharp tools; otherwise, close-combat troops would inevitably suffer heavy losses. In the face of ranged weaponry, any god-tier melee weapon had to take a backseat.
However, the purple fir wood, precious and invaluable, required for making longbows had a long growth cycle, making it impossible to obtain large quantities in the short term. The purple fir wood of Great Gan and Great Liang had been largely scoured by Xiao Qing, making the production of even twenty thousand longbows a monumental achievement.
The generals were stunned for a moment, then breathed a collective sigh of relief: "Fortunately!!"
They could see that Liang Xiao and Lü Yi dared not be overjoyed, so of course they dared not be either.
After all, Liang Xiao's military law clearly stipulated that upon hearing of friendly casualties, regardless of the number of enemies killed, a moment of silence must be observed for fallen comrades.
During the great victory at Yanzhou, the soldiers had already mourned the Great Gan Iron Guards and the Sky-Holding Guards.
Under normal circumstances, they would have been ecstatic and unable to contain their joy.
Four hundred casualties for fifty thousand!
This was a casualty ratio of 1 to 125, a ratio more exaggerated than even the Yanzhou victory.
After the moment of silence, the soldiers finally showed joy, exclaiming excitedly, "This great victory is enough to account for ourselves to His Majesty and the people!"
Lü Yi merely curled his lips and said, "We still need to take Helan Mountain. Don't rush to celebrate. Be careful of capsizing in the gutter! The battle for the mountain might not have such a favorable casualty ratio!"
The generals meekly agreed, and their spirits subsided.
Only Liang Xiao watched with a faint smile, saying nothing.
We will not return to our country until Helan Mountain is conquered!
Lü Yi had already made a bold promise. Even if they won this battle, if they couldn't take Helan Mountain, he would have no face to show. Naturally, he had to help Lü Yi fulfill his oath.
"What about those prisoners and the Kushan Dynasty cavalry?" Lü Yi suddenly remembered something and asked urgently.
"Yes! We captured over two thousand mercenaries, and around eighteen thousand were killed! The remaining over eight thousand prisoners, judging by their attire and braids, are indeed barbarians!" the messenger explained.
Lü Yi made a decisive order: "Escort the prisoners, prepare rations, and we march on Helan Mountain tomorrow!"
After the messenger left to relay the order, Lü Yi quickly asked Liang Xiao, "Those mercenaries need to be kept for further arrangements. As for the barbarian prisoners, what do you think should be done with them?"
"Execute them all!" Nan Jiyun and Yue Qingtian said in unison.
Lu Changhe, Nie Yuan, and other generals pondered briefly before agreeing, "They should be killed. The enemy won't hesitate to act rashly. These prisoners will also consume our army's rations..."
"Are you all so heartless?" Lü Yi was startled and looked at Liang Xiao. "Listen to our Deputy Marshal's opinion."
Liang Xiao thought for a moment and said, "Did the barbarians not discard the remains of our martyrs on the road? Tie up these prisoners securely, keep them overnight, and bring them to Helan Mountain tomorrow. We will use them for a sacrificial flag ceremony at the foot of the mountain, right before the barbarians' eyes."
This time, everyone, including Lü Yi, was dumbfounded.
This man was even more vicious than they were.
He was nothing like the pedantic scholars they had heard of, always spouting benevolence and righteousness, and always calling for appeasement of foreign tribes…
Seeing their astonished faces, Liang Xiao explained, "Those who are not of our kind will have different intentions. We can't possibly let them go back, can we? These barbarians have likely spilled the blood of Great Gan soldiers and civilians. Perhaps many women and children have suffered at their hands. What sympathy do they deserve? It is only reasonable to make use of them one last time!"
The generals suddenly understood and had no further objections.
The battle for Helan Mountain and the disgrace of Yanzhou had always been a nightmare for the people of Great Gan, especially the three great leaders of the barbarians. They deserved to die a thousand times over!
"Is this to enrage the barbarians to death, or to scare them to death?" Lü Yi chuckled and nodded in agreement.
Because the army was somewhat fatigued after the great battle, and they also had to protect the supplies, the Great Gan army did not march on Helan Mountain during the night. They camped and rested in place, establishing sentry posts and boundaries.
"Ooh, fresh horse meat..."
In the military camp, soldiers held steaming bowls of horse meat soup and ate roasted horse meat, their faces filled with enjoyment.
Since the Eastern Sea had stabilized salt production, the price of salt in the northern regions had dropped, making it affordable for everyone, let alone the army.
The meat soup seasoned with salt tasted much better than the meat soup from two years prior, which was seasoned by dipping in vinegar cloths.
These were the warhorses shot by the barbarians, nearly fifty thousand of them!
Without a doubt, this horse meat became the soldiers' main source of meat supply, temporarily replacing beef and lamb, and it would not be wasted.
As the soldiers ate the horse meat, their spirits were high due to the extremely low friendly casualties, and they couldn't help but chat while eating.
"Didn't we also lose a hundred or two hundred horses? I heard the Deputy Marshal doesn't allow us to skin and eat our own fallen warhorses, only the barbarians' horses. Why is that?"
"You wouldn't understand this! The Deputy Marshal's intention is that as long as there are ample rations, it is best not to eat our own fallen warhorses. These warhorses, though animals, charged into battle with us, contributed to the nation, and are the labor of cavalry. They contributed the most to the cavalry! If they die in the theater of operations, we are only allowed to cut off their ears and hooves as proof and bury them; they are not to be eaten!"
"However, the death of every warhorse must be reported to superiors. If the authorities blame us, we simply need to present the military law established by the Deputy Marshal! The Deputy Marshal's intention is to make us understand what a 'comrade' is. Even warhorses are comrades, so shouldn't living people be cherished and respected even more?"
"Furthermore, the Deputy Marshal also stipulated that when skinning and eating horse meat, we must never let the living warhorses see it, lest they be frightened and affect their future combat effectiveness!"
The soldiers, listening to the explanations of some educated generals, suddenly understood and were even more in awe of Liang Xiao.
In fact, Liang Xiao was also emulating the practice of the God of War, Qi Jiguang, by teaching the soldiers not to lose their humanity and to learn to respect and cherish their warhorses, thereby learning to respect and cherish their own comrades.
On the battlefield, swords and sabers are blind, especially during large-scale close combat. It is difficult to exert individual strength. To have the courage to wield weapons and kill the enemy is already considered a qualified soldier. If they still cannot trust their comrades and assist each other, they will only suffer greater casualties.
King Zhao of Yan bought horse bones with a thousand gold, and Qi Jiguang forbade the consumption of fallen warhorses, but these were just starting points using dead things to impart lessons about living beings.
Lü Yi entrusted the Shadow Guards brought by Liang Xiao to return to Shuofang City to report the victory, hoping to inform the capital as soon as possible.
Because this area was close to the barbarians, the Great Gan soldiers slept with their weapons at the ready, awaiting the morning march on Helan Mountain.