The Heyang Military Expedition, when it first set out on the Northern Expedition last year, was composed of one million soldiers and two million civilian workers, totaling three million people.
After more than a year of campaigning, although the expedition's progress was smooth, the resistance of Wei people was extremely tenacious.
This was especially so in the area around Nanyang Prefecture.
The Wei people here would rather eat their children than give in, preferring death to surrender.
Their will to resist was, simply put, indomitable.
Therefore, when facing the siege by Chu forces, the Wei troops in this area launched several counterattacks.
To block these counterattacks and simultaneously to besiege the opponent to death, the Chu Army also dispatched a considerable number of troops for interception.
In this push and pull, casualties were naturally substantial.
The Wei Army in Nanyang Prefecture suffered the deaths of seven to eight hundred thousand men.
