Shengjing.
Khan Palace Great Hall.
Mangultai knelt beneath the Khan's seat with thorny branches strapped to his back.
The Eight Banners nobility stood on either side.
"Execute him!"
"Mangultai deserves to die!"
"Over ten thousand elite soldiers, tens of thousands of Booyi, and more than a hundred thousand young and able-bodied slaves—all lost because of him! Why didn't he lose himself too?!"
"He actually claimed some monster caused a camp mutiny. Ridiculous!"
Dozens of Eight Banners nobles cursed him viciously.
The Eight Banners still operated under a council system at this time.
Etiquette was not yet all that strict.
This time, Mangultai's losses had been far too great.
Even in several major battles against Great Ming forces numbering over a hundred thousand, they had not suffered losses this severe.
Of the more than ten thousand elite soldiers he had led out, he had brought back only two or three thousand. The losses were immense, and the most crucial point was that he had not achieved a single thing.
He merely said that he had killed one huge monster, after which many smaller monsters had emerged.
Then, while camped for the night, three camp mutinies broke out, causing devastating losses.
Who could accept that? The eight thousand Eight Banners men lost were all prime warriors! There were only seventy or eighty thousand able-bodied Eight Banners men in total. One battle had wiped out a tenth of their people. It had broken their bones!
Who knew how many Wild Jurchens they would have to capture to make up for it.
Qierhalang, Amin, and the Beiles both great and minor all condemned Mangultai, demanding his execution.
The losses had truly been too severe. Even after several major wars against Great Ming, they had never suffered so many casualties.
This battle was simply intolerable.