Chapter 53: Accumulated War Fruits

  The city gate opened, and hundreds of young soldiers went out to collect the heads, armor, and bodies of the Jin army outside the city. They burned down the cloud ladders under the city wall, burned the Jin army's shield carts not far away, and again dug open the moat, re-laying the caltrops and other obstacles.

  Under the cover of Ye Jiajun's divine machine camp on the city wall, no Jin soldiers dared to come and disturb.

  And on that side, after a burst of noise, it also fell silent, as if they had started to set up camp and cook.

  ……

  "Come on, everyone, let's eat."

  Xiao Su and Zhuge Yu organized a group of auxiliary soldiers who carried bucket after bucket of rations up.

  The dishes were sumptuous, with large buckets of rice and steamed buns, large buckets of vegetable soup and meat broth, and two large buckets of oily meat chunks. The soldiers from the Xuan Yuan, Xing Tian and Shen Ji camps ate to their heart's content. Ye Xuan had carefully prepared for this day, storing up a lot of rice, grains, pigs and sheep.

  When the auxiliary soldiers brought up the food, smelling the aroma of the dishes, they couldn't help but swallow their saliva. The soldiers who participated in the battle ate really well. However, none of them felt jealous. Everyone looked at the soldiers with admiration and respect, for they had bravely fought against the barbarians with real swords and guns, using their lives to protect the safety of the military and civilians inside the fortress. Both high and low in Luoyun Fortress were filled with gratitude towards them.

  On the city wall, a burst of cheerful voices and laughter. At noon, everyone had not eaten, all the way until after noon, they were fighting on an empty stomach. Now that the food has arrived, they feel extremely hungry. The soldiers sat on the ground in rows on the city wall, each person eating rice and meat with big mouthfuls, and the tension and sadness of just now were swept away.

  Everyone was talking loudly and laughing, just discussing the battle that had just taken place. However, when they talked about the intense fighting and the casualties in their ranks, many people shed tears again.

  On the top floor of the city building, there was also a large table set up inside, with wine and dishes on it. Ye Xuan, Sun Yu, Chen Fei, Su Zhong, Zhuge Yu, Hua Zhen, Zhao Jie, Yang Xiao and several others sat around the table, eating and drinking loudly.

  Chen Fei wolfed down the meat, stuffing piece after piece into his mouth. Ye Xuan smiled as he watched him, picked up the wine jug and poured a small cup for him, saying "Third brother, eat slowly, be careful not to choke."

  Chen Fei just responded vaguely, while Sun Yu frowned at his younger brother and rebuked him, saying "Third Brother, in front of Big Brother, you must pay attention to your official demeanor."

  Chen Fei still responded vaguely, lowering his head, and the meat was still stuffed into his mouth in large chunks.

  Ye Xuan smiled at Su Zhong, who was also eating and drinking with his head down, "General Su, your archery skills are indeed outstanding. You have killed many famous generals in a row, greatly boosting the morale of our army. Your contribution is not small."

  On the right side of the city wall, Su Zhong killed several Jin soldiers with a single shot, splitting the arrow into two parts: one hitting the "Ding Ge Bo Shi Ku" and the other hitting the "Bu Jia Bo Shi Ku", greatly boosting the morale of the Ye Family Army on the city head.

  Sun Yu is nothing compared to him.

  However, after killing the Steppe Aksakal, he left the city wall and went to command the Divine Engine Battalion to attack the Jin army on the right side of the city head.

  At this time, he listened to Ye Xuan's words and quickly stood up saying: "This is all thanks to the superior's cultivation. Let the lower official lead a team of soldiers. The superior's kindness in promoting me, even if I were to jump into boiling water or walk through fire, would be impossible to repay!"

  His appearance was rough, but his voice was soft and fluffy, which sounded quite strange.

  Ye Xuan smiled and said, "General Su, you're being too polite, let's sit down and eat."

  General Su thanked him again and then sat down respectfully, his manner of eating also became much more elegant than before.

  At this time, Ye Xuan smiled again, looked up at the sky and said slowly, "This battle is going to be a tough one."

  Everyone fell silent, and although the Jin army outside the city had suffered a small setback, most of them were still there. Especially since many Jin troops had invaded this time, it was likely that the Ye family's army would have to fight several more fierce battles in the future.

  At this time, Xiao Su came in. He had just bitten several steamed buns outside and directed the auxiliary soldiers to clean up the battlefield. Ye Xuan invited him to sit down and eat, but he repeatedly said it was not urgent and would eat after cleaning up the battlefield.

  At this time, the tall general strode in with big steps, full of energy from head to toe. With a smile all over his face, he saluted Ye Xuan and said: "Report to you, sir! The result of this battle is out. We have beheaded 147 bandit slaves, including 7 notorious bandits, Zhandadai, Zhuangdai, and 19 white-clad soldiers. We also captured 215 long and short knives and guns, 34 bows and arrows, and 15 flags. What a great victory, sir!"

  According to Xiao Su, the Shunye family army also captured 112 sets of armor from the Jin army. They were all high-quality iron-free armor, iron-studded armor, willow-leaf iron armor, and chain mail. The Jin army's workshops stretched for tens of miles, and with their strict management, the armor they produced was all of excellent quality.

  If these armors are divided into cotton armor and iron armor, the number of armors will be doubled, because many Jin soldiers wore double-layered armors. Unfortunately, many armors were broken and needed to be repaired before use. Some captured round shields, knives and guns also had many holes and gaps, which needed to be repaired.

  But this time's results have already been quite rich.

  Then, Xiao Su paused for a moment, he flipped through the document in his hand and solemnly reported the casualties. Including the young and strong auxiliary soldiers, there were 74 casualties among the soldiers who defended the city and participated in the battle. The left sentinel soldiers defending the earthen jar city and the left side of the city wall had 49 casualties, with 27 deaths, 9 seriously injured, and the rest with varying degrees of injury. The rear sentinel soldiers defending the right side of the city wall had 25 casualties, with 15 deaths, 4 seriously injured, and the rest with varying degrees of injury. I have already ordered that the wounded be treated well."

  According to Xiao Su's words, the largest number of casualties occurred in the first wave of arrows from the Qing army. At that time, it was just a burst, and more than 20 people were injured on the city wall of Luoyunbao.

  Moreover, the Qing army's bows and arrows were extremely poisonous. Their arrows shot at vital parts of the Ye family soldiers, many hitting their weak points. The arrowheads were long and heavy, penetrating very deeply, with strong armor-piercing power. Many soldiers who were hit by the arrows lost all chance of rescue due to unstoppable bleeding.

  The subsequent city head wall short arms also met, was very tragic, each team has been killed or wounded. Especially the left sentinel's A team soldiers, they had only more than 50 people, casualties were as many as 17 people, have been crippled, need to reorganize and supplement soldiers.

  As they listened to Xiao Su's words, everyone felt a heavy heart. Sun Yu slammed his fist on the table, full of regret and discontent.

  Ye Xuan also fell silent. In this battle to defend the city, our casualties reached one-seventh of the total number. It is estimated that the exchange ratio with the Jin army was three to one. If it were a field battle, the exchange ratio would be even greater. Although the results are brilliant, the cost is small and cannot withstand losses.

  Actually, some casualties were originally avoidable, but there's no way around it. War experience is accumulated with lives and blood.

  "After a long time, he looked at Xiao Su and said: 'The dead soldiers should be comforted, the wounded should be treated carefully, and those who have made military achievements in battle should be rewarded and promoted immediately!'"

  Xiao Su solemnly bowed and said, "Please be at ease, Your Excellency, I understand."

  Ye Xuan stood up and said, "I want to go comfort those wounded generals."

  Leave Zhuge Yu and Xiao Su in the city head to patrol. Ye Xuan led Sun Yu, Chen Fei and others down from the city building.

  ……