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Section 60 Prisoners of War

Li Guoying abandoned his army and fled, and the soldiers in the Qing army camp no longer had the fighting spirit to continue to resist. After obtaining the guarantee that the Ming army would not kill prisoners, they opened the camp and surrendered.

Although the Ming army was the winner, the army was also exhausted and had no idea of ​​pursuing Li Guoying by boat. For three consecutive days, the Ming army was repairing its troops, searching for and suppressing Qing army scattered soldiers and yelling in the mountains, and identifying the captured prisoners. This time, the Ming army captured eleven Qing army generals, including Wang Mingde, Hu Wenke, and all the stations were from Guangyuan, Baoning to Hanzhong. There was even a general who was originally a Xi'an garrison. Most of these generals and their subordinates were transferred from their respective defense areas to Chongqing by Li Guoying half a year ago.

"This time, a total of 472 people were killed and seriously injured in wars in our army, a small half of which were Zhao Qianhu's troops, and were killed by Zhao Liangdong; the 330 auxiliary soldiers were mostly killed by the Qing army after falling behind." Deng Ming is still unable to move now. After Ren Tang and others counted the numbers, they reported to Deng Ming in front of his bed: "There are more than 500 people injured and bedridden, and they are recovering."

Deng Ming nodded. There is still a great hope for the wounded who survived the first three days. There is still a lot of hygiene regulations formulated by Deng Ming have been implemented in the Ming army. For example, when cleaning wounds, you must use boiled water, and the bandages must also be boiled in boiling water, and they must be replaced every day. Some of the wounded were Ming soldiers who were once captured. After the war, the Ming army rescued hundreds of prisoners of war from the Qing army, and many of them were beaten.

"More than 1,800 people died in the Qing army, and more than 1,500 people are still injured. Our army followed the admiral's order and also treated them. We also cleaned the wounds and replaced the bandages every day." Since Huangzhou, Deng Ming ordered the treatment of Qing army wounded people. He also knew that the people below would definitely be a little distorted during the execution and would definitely not treat them equally with his wounded people. However, Deng Ming did not require them to do their best. This is just a major principle. When Deng Ming saw that these people were Chinese, most of them were once poor people, and many of the Qing army's soldiers were forced to recruit.

"In addition to these Qing troops who could not afford to be injured, our army captured a total of 24,000 prisoners in this battle, including 18,000 auxiliary soldiers. Among the remaining 6,000 soldiers, 280 were Li Guoying's Biaoying's guards; more than 600 reinforcements from Wang Jinbao and Zhang Yong's Guizhou were their personal soldiers; the rest were from Chongqing."

After finishing the report, Ren Tang stopped and waited aside, waiting for Deng Ming's order.

Deng Ming thought for a while and ordered: "Wang Jinbao and Zhang Yong's personal soldiers were escorted to Jianchang and handed over to General Di for disposal. Please check the others and see how many people are willing to go to Chengdu with us."

The subsequent screening work took several more days. Seven days after the battle, Deng Ming had recovered a lot and was able to start processing more reports.

During this period, the captured Qing army general Zuo Du was imprisoned with Gao Mingzhan. One of them was found to order to torture a Ming army prisoner to death. Deng Ming was an unforgivable crime of killing prisoners. The personal soldiers who carried out this order were all selected and locked up with reinforcements from Guizhou. They would be sent to Jianchang together by Deng Ming in the future. The soldiers sent to Jianchang will definitely become slaves. As for the general himself, they will be handed over to the relatives and friends of the killed prisoner, and they will be executed to avenge the victims.

After identification, more than 5,500 Chongqing soldiers, more than 1,500 were the personal soldiers of the generals, or had their families in Chongqing, Baoning and other places.

"I plan to put back more than a thousand Qing soldiers and the little three hundred Li Guoying's Biao camp guards." Deng Ming told the guards his plans. When Gao Mingzhan led his troops to attack Chengdu, there were only peasant soldiers in western Sichuan, so Deng Ming did not dare to leave the captured Qing army in Chengdu for fear of something wrong. But now Deng Ming has tens of thousands of Zhejiang volunteers in his hands, and he is not afraid of leaving more than 4,000 Qing army in his past.

However, the last more than a thousand people were either thinking about their family or being raised by Qing army generals for a long time. Deng Ming felt that bringing them back to Chengdu was also an unstable factor. Since that was the case, it would be better to let them go. The guards were already familiar with Deng Ming's temper. They knew that Deng Ming did not intend to kill prisoners, nor did they intend to spend food to raise enemies who might escape at any time. Releasing them was naturally the only choice - Jianchang had just accepted thousands of Qing troops, and sending another two thousand in the short term would probably be too much, which would also pose a certain threat to the safety of Feng Shuangli's army. It was already quite a lot of sent hundreds of Zhang Yong and Wang Jinbao's personal soldiers.

"It's just that Li Guoying's Bian Battalion Guards may be inappropriate if they release them?" Zhao Tianba said: "Why would you sell these 300 people to Tibetans in Sichuan? It would be better to replace some yaks."

Deng Ming shook his head: "The most intense resistance this time was Li Guoying Biao Camp. There was no difference between selling them to Tibetans and killing them, and he would not surrender in the future. I let them go back this time just to let them know that as long as I am not like Zhang Yong and Wang Jinbao, those who plunder the people and do not kill our army's prisoners, I will not take their lives."

Of course, Deng Ming would not let them go back in vain.

Ten days after the battle, Deng Ming put on his armor again and ordered all the captured Qing army generals to be brought to him.

There were as many as fourteen people in the camp, including Wang Mingde, Hu Wenke and other Qing generals who were captured this time, and four were prisoners of war in Chengdu headed by Gao Mingzhan.

"Governor Gao, General Wang." Deng Ming ordered the captives to prepare chairs. After they sat down tremblingly, Deng Ming said to them slowly: "After I checked carefully, you have no bad records in the past, so I plan to let you go back."

Suddenly, there were compliments in the camp, especially Wang Mingde's group, which shouted even loudly. For thousands of years, if you don't surrender after being captured, you will be dead. Therefore, after Wang Mingde and others were captured, they had been fighting against the heavens and man. Their lives were hard to choose from with the safety of their families in the hands of the Qing court. However, after seeing Gao Mingzhan, they found that the four people including the Sichuan Governor seemed quite calm. After meeting, Gao Mingzhan immediately told Wang Mingde that Deng Ming provided them with the food they needed but never persuaded them to surrender, as if they had no intention of beheading them.

After the colleague who killed the prisoner was kidnapped and executed by Deng Ming, Wang Mingde and others were frightened again and felt that the deadline was approaching. But Gao Mingzhan still didn't take it seriously and said that the guy was responsible for his own fault. It was as if Tan Yi was also transferred by Deng Ming to Yuan Zongdi for murdering Tan Wen and brought back to Fengjie, but he was always very polite to Gao Mingzhan and others. It was like when Gao Mingzhan was tied to the ship for exhibition for Chongqing. Deng Ming also told Gao Mingzhan in advance that he had to do it because he was afraid that he would jump into the river and escape. Whether before or after, Gao Mingzhan had never been abused in Deng Ming's army.

"In addition to letting you go back, I also plan to let your personal soldiers and confidants go away. These people have been raised by you, and I am not at ease to stay in Chengdu." Deng Ming then told Wang Mingde and others another good news.

"The admiral is unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness, and the guilt is inscribed within five parts," Wang Mingde stood up excitedly and bowed to Deng Ming.

Hu Wenke and others behind Wang Mingde also jumped up and kowtowed to Deng Ming: "The Admiral is really the reborn parents of the sinners. In this life, I will never dare to be enemies with the Admiral."

"Okay, okay, is it interesting to say that this kind of thing that knows it is a lie?" Deng Ming waved his hand and interrupted Wang Mingde and others' statements. Everyone in the tent knew it. These Qing generals would definitely continue to fight with Deng Ming after they returned: "But I will not let anyone go for nothing. I want you to pay the ransom for your subordinates."

After saying that, Deng Ming took out a list and read it to everyone. In addition to gold and silver, Deng Ming also accepted cloth, pig iron and other supplies. He did not want the other party to exchange it with weapons, because he knew that Li Guoying would definitely not give it: "...In addition to these, if there are agricultural tools, I know that the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi transported tens of thousands of hoes, sickles, axes to Chongqing, and a large number of oxen and iron plows. He originally planned to be used to reclaim military camps in Chongqing, Baoning and other places. Now his 20,000 auxiliary soldiers are in my hands, and these guys are useless to the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi. So, give me a cow, a set of plows and harnesses, and two hoes, a sickle or an axe, and I will put it back to another person."

Seeing Deng Ming's lion speak loudly, Wang Mingde and others were stunned and could not say a word. However, because Gao Mingzhan had been with Deng Ming for a long time and knew that bargaining would not anger Deng Ming, he spoke for Wang Mingde and others: "Admiral, one person is not worth so much. The official thinks that a cow has made a lot of money for two people."

"Of course you won't exchange a cow for an auxiliary soldier. Even if a cow can be exchanged for ten people, I guess you won't come to me. But I'm talking about your personal soldiers. They have been with you for many years and are loyal to you. I don't want them at all. Can the cows be criticized for Jianrui and help you fight?" Deng Ming was not worried that the other party would refuse to replace them. Wang Mingde and others might think that it would be better to survive at first, but now they must have long been to Long Wangchuan and want to rescue all the confidant officers and personal soldiers. In this way, they will not be the commander alone after they go back: "That's it, if you send ten cows, ten sets of harnesses and iron plows at a time, I will give you ten of them. I won't want the remaining hoe and sickle, which is a discount for you."

After saying that, Deng Ming did not talk nonsense with Wang Mingde and the others, so he sent them out of the camp and ordered the navy to take them to Futu Pass and put them down.

"How likely is the Admiral Li Guoying agreeing?" After Gao Mingzhan and others were sent away, Ren Tang asked.

"I think it's very big. These people are different from Zhao Liangdong and others. They are Li Guoying's true confidants." After interrogating the prisoners in the past few days, Deng Ming knew that the Qing army in Chongqing was almost wiped out. The 1,000 Qing soldiers who stayed in Chongqing were reinforcements from Guizhou. Among the 3,500 Qing soldiers who fled back were Zhang Yong and Zhao Liangdong and others. Even if they were not considered combat effectiveness, just from the number of people, the number of guest troops in Chongqing was higher than that of Li Guoying's direct descendants: "Even if Li Guoying is good at winning people's hearts, can you feel at ease with this situation of weak ruler and strong ministers?"

In this battle, Deng Ming used 8,000 war soldiers to fight 11,000 Qing troops in armor and wiped out 7,500 of them, almost equivalent to every Ming army destroying an enemy; if we look at the total force, he defeated 30,000 Qing troops with 24,000 Ming troops, almost annihilated nine-tenths of the enemy.

However, there are still 4,500 Qing troops in Chongqing, and Deng Ming is not sure to use more than 7,000 combat troops to conquer Chongqing, and eliminate Li Guoying, Zhao Liangdong and others through street fighting. Since Deng Ming does not intend to attack Chongqing immediately, it is no big deal to send more than 1,000 Qing soldiers back.

"Li Guoying took all the troops in Guangyuan and Hanzhong, and even the troops in Xi'an arrived in Chongqing." The interrogation of the prisoners allowed Deng Ming to confirm his judgment. The entire supply line of the Qing army on Jialing River was extremely empty: "We will return to Chengdu to digest the fruits of victory. If Li Guoying dares to continue to stay in Chongqing, I will really go out to Jiange to attack Guangyuan and Hanzhong; if he retreats to Baoning, then Chongqing will not be able to fight. The most urgent task is to get the farm tools he brought, otherwise he will definitely burn everything and slaughter the ox when he retreats."

In Deng Ming's view, there are other benefits to Wang Mingde and others when they are put back, that is, when they encounter danger in the future, they will most likely not fight the Ming army to death, and they can promote the Ming army's policies through their oral methods, so that the Qing army dare not hurt the Ming army's prisoners.

...

"You few of you have lost their troops and humiliated the country, and they have the face to come back to see me. You dare to act as lobbyists for Deng Zhe and ask me for military supplies!" After learning that Gao Mingzhan and Wang Mingde and other direct descendants returned safely, Li Guoying was very happy at first, but after he heard the request of Wang Mingde and others, he was furious.

Wang Mingde didn't argue, but just hugged the calves of the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi and cried loudly: "The sinners are incompetent, and they are entrusted by the governor, but many of the people who have fallen into the thief camp are good men of our army. I beg the governor to have mercy."

If Wang Mingde and others could take back their confidant officers and personal soldiers from Deng Ming, and they would have the opportunity to regroup and train new troops as soon as possible, Li Guoying would also plead for them to the court for their value of use; but if Li Guoying refused to agree, they would become useless, and the court would definitely be out of the way if he wanted to punish the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi.

"The soldiers who were guilty of the generals are actually the soldiers of the Governor." Hu Wenke held Li Guoying's other boot and cried with tears in his eyes: "Does the Governor remember the personal guard Qian of the generals who offended him? A few years ago when Liu Wenxiu attacked Baoning, he killed the enemy for the Governor's army. The Governor once praised him personally, and he always remembered it in his heart!"

No one from Gao Mingzhan needed to ask for it from Deng Ming, so he did not squeeze to Li Guoying's boots. However, on the way back and forth, Gao Mingzhan and others had already signed an offensive and defensive alliance with Wang Mingde and others: Gao Mingzhan's group helped Wang Mingde and others convince Li Guoying, and Wang Mingde was responsible for helping Gao Mingzhan speak nice things in the future, and also helped the other three captured generals in Chengdu to regain their military organization and military pay and status.

"Deng Ming's son was greedy for small profits and actually agreed to use plowing ox to exchange for captured soldiers. This is really a blessing for the court and a blessing for the governor." Gao Mingzhan said from another perspective: "The Governor will do his best to rescue the captured soldiers. The soldiers will be loved sincerely and swear to fight to the death for the Governor."

Li Guoying glanced at Gao Mingzhan and was really angry: "Don't say anything in the future. If the court knows that the official compromised with the traitor and agreed to Deng Ming's conditions, then the position of governor will be almost done."

"The Governor is such a bad word. Why is the Governor compromising with Deng Zhe? It is obvious that the Governor is a scheming man who is greedy for the small profits in front of him, so he used the small profit to lure him. As a result, Deng Ming was indeed caught in the eye and put the soldiers back for a few cows." Gao Mingzhan replied immediately. Seeing Li Guoying pondering, Gao Mingzhan hit the railway while the hot: "Don't worry, Governor, as long as we send more Deng Ming's sickles, he will definitely agree to do it according to the Governor's words."

Li Guoying knew that there were many hidden dangers in this matter, and the impact on the morale of the military was unpredictable, but he did need this group of soldiers. Now Chongqing is the generals and troops returning from Guizhou. Zhang Yong, Zhao Liangdong and others can already compete with Li Guoying. If there is no military general who can restrain them, the military pay allocated by the court will inevitably be taken away by them, and they will control more newly trained new troops in the future. By that time, Li Guoying can only hope that the other party will respect him, otherwise he can only act according to his subordinates' expressions.

"Although Zhao Liangdong and others perform well now, who dares to say that they will not be domineering in the future?" Li Guoying thought to himself that this hidden worry had been bothering him for several days. He glanced at Wang Mingde and others who were crying at his feet: "Deng's method of traitor to understand people's hearts is not his bravery. If I flatly rejected these people's requests, not only would he cut off his arms, but he would also have a bad reputation. Zhang Yong and Zhao Liangdong and others might also feel sad about the death of rabbits and foxes; furthermore, if I refuse today, then Wang Mingde and others will definitely hold a grudge against me. If the court really wants to punish them, they will definitely want to bite me. To the confidant who is not saved, destroys his wings, and loses his bad reputation, and takes the blame to himself. I want to free up the position of the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi for others?"

As for the Biaoying Guards, they are even more of Li Guoying's heart. Even if they don't change to other people's subordinates, Li Guoying will try to save his Biaoying Guards.

"This idea was not my idea, it was your plan offered by Gao Mingzhan. It was your guarantee that Deng Ming will keep his promise." After thinking it through, Li Guoying pointed at Gao Mingzhan and said, "You can talk to Deng Ming, and you can use oxen and farm tools to replace people. If this matter is done, the Governor will beg for mercy to the court for you. If it is messed up, he is deceived by Deng Ming and cannot be rescued, or the court will eventually blame you, just jump into the river."

...

Wu Chenming and others were captured by Ming troops. After being rescued by friendly troops, they were in a complicated mood and always felt as if they had done something shameful and shameful.

Today is the first time Deng Ming came out to see the entire army after the war. He asked hundreds of Ming soldiers who were captured for a while to line up in front of the three armies. Wu Chenming, as the person with the highest rank among the captured Ming army, was called to the stage by Deng Ming.

"Fake a defeat of twenty miles and reorganize and fight back. This not only requires the soldiers to fight side by side, but also requires the confidentiality." Deng Ming said loudly to the soldiers in the audience: "In this battle, hundreds of brothers fell behind and were unfortunately captured. They gritted their teeth and refused to reveal our military plans easily, so that the enemy troops would always know nothing about our plans until it was too late. I don't know what you guys are. Anyway, I ask myself, I may not be willing to sacrifice my life without saying a word, and I can't resist the torture and torture for a long time."

As the referee of the boxing match in his previous life, Deng Ming raised one of Wu Chenming's hand high and shouted to the soldiers below: "This is our common victory. Let us cheer to these heroes who have returned safely!"

On that day, Deng Ming, despite his injuries and illness, asked Wu Chenming and three hundred Ming troops to gather together to agree with them with tea instead of wine.
Chapter completed!
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