Afterwards, in a ruthless collective act of military discipline, Zhao ordered all those on his own side who fled to be beheaded, along with cavalry and infantry commanders who had failed, and seventy-two senior commanders of the imperial guard. In all, 2,000 men were killed. Akin to the decimation practices in the Roman army, and in Europe in the Thirty Years War, this punishment was intended to ‘stir imposing awe’. It also allowed Zhao to replace the purged officer corps, so now his own officers were the power behind the throne.
