The soldiers of the Han army were all frightened. They saw with their own eyes that hundreds of thunder cannons fell into Wu Yi's side, and then made a violent explosion.
After the explosion, Wu Yi had already fallen from his horse, and his whole body was burnt black.
"Quickly retreat!"
"Quickly retreat!"
The old general Wu Yi was killed, and the remaining Han soldiers were killed.
If you dare to continue charging into the formation, one of the burly junior high school students rushed out with his companions carrying Wu Yi's body.
More than 10,000 Han troops wanted to borrow rocket launchers and then storm the city.
Who would have thought that in just half an hour, most of the more than 10,000 Han troops would be killed or injured?
Only a few people took advantage of the chaos and retreated.
"Chase me!"
Just as the soldiers were retreating with Wu Yi's body on their backs, Guanqiu Jian gave an order, and the Wei cavalry who had been waiting for a long time rushed out of the city gate and attacked the retreating Han army.
"Your Majesty!"
Zhuge Liang saw that the defeat was certain, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty will go first, and the veteran will take the lead."
"Father!"
Liu Chan was also panicked. He had experienced many wars more than 20 years after traveling to this world. This was the first battle he had lost, and it was obvious that he could not turn the tide of the war.
The intensive artillery fire of the Wei army quickly crushed the Han army, and the soldiers fled in all directions. Even if he, the emperor, pressed the enemy in the rear, he could not stop the defeat.
"My father-in-law goes first, and then I leave it to you!"
Zhuge Liang is already over 70 years old, so Liu Chan naturally doesn't want to run away first and leave the old prime minister to take care of him.
He originally brought 120,000 people this time, but today, only more than 30,000 people crossed the Hongnong River. He originally wanted to take advantage of the rocket launchers.
Hongnong City will be captured soon.
Now that the former army was severely defeated, the Wei army's cavalry came out of the city to cover up the attack.
Haha——
With less than 20,000 horse and infantry left, how could they stop Cao Wei's cavalry with high morale?
"Your Majesty, don't say anything more," Zhuge Liang said loudly: "Your Majesty, please retreat first, I will find my own way to escape."
Before Liu Chan could refuse, Zhuge Liang ordered the imperial guards around him to escort Liu Chan to retreat first, while Zhuge Liang organized troops and horses to resist the enemy.
Two hours later.
West Bank of Hongnong River.
Inside the Han army camp.
Liu Chan's face was ashen. He originally wanted to make a quick decision, quickly enter Luoyang, and then attack Cao Wei in one fell swoop, fulfilling the long-cherished wish of his late lord.
It's better now, let alone Luoyang.
Now even the small Hongnong City cannot be captured.
"Your Majesty!" Zhuge Liang said with relief: "Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists. Although our army suffered a setback today, the losses of our army were not serious. There are still 100,000 troops here."
"The old minister has set up defenses on the river bank, and the Wei army definitely does not dare to cross the river to pursue."
"Xiangfu!" Liu Chan suddenly sighed and said, "The defeat of this battle is...
It’s all my fault, it’s my self-righteousness.
Blind respect for the great,
We underestimated Cao Wei and suffered this disastrous defeat."
"If I had listened to my father-in-law's words, how could I have suffered such a defeat?"
Zhuge Liang didn't say anything, but Liu Chan really blamed himself. When he decided to attack Wei in advance, Zhuge Liang proposed using the Hanwang Cannon to quickly attack Cao Wei.
But——
The self-righteous Liu Chan felt that even if Cao Wei developed gunpowder, it would be impossible for Cao Wei to build a rocket launcher in just two months. Even if he built a rocket launcher, he would not be able to mass-produce it for battlefield use.
And there is.
Liu Chan told Zhuge Liang that no matter they were the Han Dynasty or Cao Wei, we were all descendants of Yan and Huang. In the past few decades, too many people had died in the melee. The power of the Hanwang Cannon was too powerful. It was best not to use it lightly unless it was absolutely necessary. In addition, the barrel of the Hanwang cannon was too heavy and was extremely inconvenient to transport, but the rocket launcher was different. Zhuge Liang continued to improve the three-bow crossbow, which was pulled by horses when moving. The rocket launcher was also easy to carry and could be carried by soldiers. p>
A 120,000-strong army, even if each soldier carries one, they can carry 120,000 rocket launchers.
So arrogant.
Arrogance struck by lightning.
Now it finally comes true.
"Your Majesty!" Zhuge Liang put down his feather fan and said, "Now is not the time to blame yourself. Our army has suffered this first defeat, and the morale of our officers and soldiers needs to be boosted. If Your Majesty blames himself for this, how should all the officers and soldiers of the army go to war again?"
Zhuge Liang did not think that the failure of this battle was due to Liu Chan.
Although he originally proposed using the Hanwang Cannon, Liu Chan's idea at the time was not wrong. The Hanwang Cannon was too powerful to be used against Cao Wei. In fact, the rocket launcher was enough and easy to carry.
I just didn’t expect Cao Wei’s production speed to be so fast.
And their confidentiality measures are so thorough.
In the past two months, in addition to the spies arranged by Emperor Liu Chan in Luoyang, the spies in Luoyang have been sending back news. In fact, the imperial court also arranged spies to lurk in Luoyang.
But——
Whether it was the emperor's spies or the imperial spies, the news they sent back was that Cao Wei was developing rocket launchers, and mass production had not started a month ago.
In a country without rocket launchers, is it necessary for the Han Dynasty to use the Hanwang Cannon?
No!
Therefore, the responsibility for the Han army's disastrous defeat did not entirely lie with Emperor Liu Chan.
The morale of the Han army was low due to the defeat, but the Wei army in Hongnong City was rejoicing. The prefect Wen Qin even held a banquet to reward the three armies to celebrate Wei's first victory over the Han army in more than ten years.
"Zhong Gong!" In the prefect's mansion, Wen Qin raised his wine glass and said to Guan Qiu Jian: "Today our army defeated the Han army greatly because the general brought troops to the rescue in time. Wen Qin would like to take this glass of wine to express his gratitude to the Hongnong soldiers.
General!"
"Please!"
Guanqiu Jian also picked up his wine glass, gestured to the generals, and then said with a smile: "Master Wenfu, I don't dare to claim this credit."
"Our army can achieve such a great victory in this battle because Your Majesty has blessed the heavens and created a battlefield weapon for our Wei Dynasty." Guanqiu Jian drank the wine in one gulp and said with a smile: "If it hadn't been for the thunderbolt given by Your Majesty,
Cannon, even if I arrive early, how can I defeat the Han army?"
"Zhong Gong is right!" Wen Qin nodded.
Then Wen Qin frowned slightly, sighed, shook his head and sighed: "General Zhong Gong, do you know that before the general arrived, Wen was prepared to die on the battlefield."
"The Han army used rocket launchers to destroy Soochow before, but we, the Wei Dynasty, did not have such sharp weapons. Faced with inferior troops and inferior weapons...sigh..." Wen Qin sighed, and the generals in the hall also sighed.
, at that time, no one present would have thought that the Wei Dynasty could actually defeat the Han army.
They were all prepared to die. As generals of the Wei Dynasty, it was natural for them to sacrifice their lives for the country, but they were a little unwilling to do so.
Because if they died in battle like that, they would feel very aggrieved.
If he was on the battlefield with the Han army and died fighting with real swords and real spears, he would have no complaints. But if he died because the weapons were not advanced enough, they would feel particularly aggrieved.
"Hahaha!" Guanqiu Jian laughed loudly when he heard this: "To be honest, your Majesty ordered me to lead troops to help Hongnong. Although Your Majesty gave me 50,000 elite troops, I was still afraid."
"I'm not afraid of dying in battle, I'm afraid that with tens of thousands of soldiers, we will be bombed to death inexplicably before we even touch the Han army..." As he spoke, Guanqiu Jian drank another glass of wine.
Then he said happily: "But when His Majesty said that he would also give me a rocket launcher and a thunderbolt cannon unique to the Wei Dynasty, I couldn't wait to fly to Hongnong City immediately and defeat the invincible Liu Adou with you."
"Hahaha!"
Everyone burst out laughing when they heard this, but Wen Qin was still curious and asked Guanqiu Jian, "How can we, the Wei Dynasty, build so many thunder cannons and rocket launchers in such a short period of time?"
After all, the gunpowder test explosion occurred two months ago. Although Wen Qin was in Hongnong, of course he knew about such a big thing.
In two months, the imperial court actually produced so many advanced weapons.