Chapter 437: Chapter 225: The Key to Victory_2

Translator: 549690339

“Your Majesty.”

Lu Yuan raised his head, looked at his disciple with a smile on his face, and then scolded: “Didn’t I say that when we are in private, just call me Master as usual?”

“Master.”

Zhou Qing felt the warmth of his master’s words and immediately changed his address: “I have counted the number of captive Zhou People overnight.

Today’s battle killed 13,000 Zhou People. Among them, 8,000 were soldiers, and 5,000 were civilian workers.

We also captured 56,000 Zhou soldiers, including 41,000 soldiers and 15,000 civilian workers.

Also, there are more than a thousand fugitive soldiers, either still hiding in the city’s civilian houses or have escaped in the chaos, with their whereabouts unknown.”

Zhou Qing reported the results of the night’s work.

“41,000!”

Lu Yuan was slightly surprised by this number.

He ignored the civilian workers and focused directly on the number of soldiers.

Civilian workers were basically of little use. They couldn’t fight tough battles or inflict much damage. They were only useful for bolstering strength.

If he wanted, he could mobilize three to five hundred thousand from Changsha Country’s two million-plus population at any time.

But is this useful?

No.

For example, in the Southsea and Ninghai countries, they mobilized two hundred thousand troops, which seemed to be a formidable force.

But most of them were civilian workers. What use could they be?

This time when launching a surprise attack, Bai Mengyang thought of Lu Yuan first.

Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange had never been considered by the Wuan Marquis.

Why?

He had seen through the useless fact of the opponent’s civilian army, and therefore had never hoped for the opponent’s cooperation.

So, while Lu Yuan attacked Guining’s Fu City, Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange could only command their soldiers and horses as cannon fodder in Dangyang.

By stacking up lives, they were fighting for an opportunity for their side.

From this different treatment, one can see how big the gap is between soldiers and civilian workers.

So when he heard Zhou Qing’s report that they had captured 41,000 Zhou soldiers, Lu Yuan was full of surprises in his heart.

At the same time, he immediately said, “Arrange for personnel to send these 41,000 soldiers back to Jiangnan. Let Li Liang properly sort them out and make them our own as much as possible.”

He had just lost 10,000 soldiers and was still hurting.

Now, 41,000 soldiers were delivered, which was like being hungry and having someone hand over a chicken leg to him.

Although these Zhou soldiers were from the enemy country and it was basically impossible to use them as his own loyal soldiers, they were still very reliable when placed in Jiangnan and not assigned to areas bordering Zhou Country.

Anyway, send them to Jiangnan first, and then keep them separated from Zhou Country by a long distance.

Even if these Zhou soldiers are unwilling, they can only serve him obediently when facing such a situation.

In the future, arrange for their marriages in Jiangnan, let them settle down, and with their wives and children, their loyalty should be ensured, right?

Dealing with these captives, Lu Yuan has plenty of means, and is not anxious at this time.

The only concern he has is how to support the extra 40,000 soldiers?

But now he still has a lot of silver taels. Even after the expenses of founding a country and weddings, there are still 20 million silver taels in his account.

With so much money, he can support 40,000 soldiers for at least eight years.

Not to mention, Lu Yuan receives support from Southsea and Ninghai countries, and now has captured the territory in Zhou Country’s Xiangyang Prefecture. The taxes from these territories can also support more soldiers and horses.

So now supporting an additional 40,000 people is still sustainable.

Zhou Qing heard his master’s instructions, thought about it, and immediately said, “Then I will arrange for 5,000 men to escort these captives back to Jiangnan tomorrow.”

Guining Prefecture is adjacent to Tianmen Prefecture.

All the prefectures and counties in Tianmen Prefecture have been reclaimed by the United Army, so it is safe for the army to pass through there without fearing attacks from Zhou People.

So, only 5,000 people are needed to escort the captives to ensure their safe passage to Jiangnan.

“Just do it like that.”

Lu Yuan nodded, thought about it, and then said, “Also, send someone to find out if there are locals among these captive soldiers. If so, let them also report their families and move to Jiangnan with them.

Tell these Zhou People clearly that there will be no chance to return to the north this time.

If they don’t bring their families now, they will never see them again in the future.”

As a major southern stronghold of the Zhou People, Xiangyang Prefecture has always stationed more than 100,000 soldiers, so there should be a lot of locals among the captives this time.

Anyway, it is better to bring their families along while taking these captives back to Jiangnan, letting them marry, have children, and settle down. This saves time and effort, and also fills up his territory’s population. It’s simply a win-win situation.

As for how to bring the family members of the captive Zhou People in other prefectures and counties not under his control, that’s another issue.