In just two days, the situation of the battle has actually been decided.
The one who made the most contribution was Li Lin, the envoy of Qing Dao. They fought three battles and won three victories, shocking the southern barbarians——
On the first day of June, at the Battle of Pingqiang River, the Southern Barbarians vanguard general Yang Zhao and the Dongchuan Jiedushi brother Yang Qianzhen were defeated, killing more than 5,900 people.
That night, we first closed Changbin Pass, then defeated the enemy's five thousand troops who marched north to the barrier, beheaded a thousand people, and killed the bandit general Zheng Qi.
Before dawn on the second day of the Lunar New Year, he rushed to the front camp of the bandit army and killed the Southern Barbarian general Gao Xianwen. He beheaded more than 2,400 people and frightened the puppet emperor Zheng Renmin to escape overnight.
Then they launched an extreme pursuit, capturing Rongjing County, Qionglaiguan, Shankou City, Leather Shop and other places, and beheaded more than 500 people here and there.
In two days, he killed two generals and killed ten thousand enemies. There is no doubt about his first achievement.
The department has now returned to Rongjing County for rest and recuperation.
People can no longer run, equipment cannot be used, and they have lost their combat effectiveness in a short period of time.
Wang Jiao, the Youyi envoy from the Youguo army, was appointed as the vanguard attack envoy. He led more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry soldiers southward, advancing quickly with light troops, and arrived at Rongjing County on the evening of the fourth day of June.
Along the way, there were scattered southern barbarian soldiers everywhere. Many people were too lazy to run and surrendered directly, begging for a bite of food.
Others ran into the mountains and went to various nearby tribes, taking detours.
There are of course risks in doing this.
First of all, they discarded most of their baggage. The mountain road is not easy to walk. Apart from people carrying it, they can only carry horses, but the efficiency is obviously not as good as that of large carts. The Xia army went all the way south and captured countless horse-drawn carriages, ox-carts, and donkey carts.
, basically abandoned by the enemy, and now they are all trophies.
Secondly, the mountain roads are difficult and dangerous, and the number of people killed and injured in falls will rise sharply - at this juncture, injury equals death.
Finally, there is the attitude of the tribe. They had launched a rebellion before, which was suppressed by the King of Yan and moved a large number of people away. So they were resentful. This time they followed the Nanzhao soldiers to plunder, which is what they should do. But the war was fought like this
The miserable situation made the tribal leaders disappointed and at the same time very frightened. What help could they provide to the Nanzhao soldiers who were walking back through the mountain road at this time?
Therefore, Nanzhao's rout was destined to suffer heavy losses. It was surprisingly similar to the war more than a hundred years ago - not many people died directly on the battlefield, none of them exceeded 10,000, but they died during the retreat or breakout.
There are so many people there, several times as many as the former.
Wang Jiao is a veteran on the battlefield and knows this very well.
He assigned several teams, each with a thousand men, half Shu soldiers, half Pinlu soldiers, and Fan soldiers from the Luoyan army. They pursued the enemy along the mountain road. He did not ask for many gains, but he wanted to continuously put pressure on the thieves.
, leaving them unable to eat well, sleep poorly, and become highly nervous. Their minds are filled with thoughts of escape, and they cannot think of turning back to resist.
He personally led the Youguo Army, more than a thousand cavalry of the Longxiang Army, the entire Feixiong Army, plus two infantry commanders of the Shengjie Army, and two infantry commanders of the Longxiang Army, totaling more than 12,000 people, along a relatively wide and flat road.
Chase on the Grand Post Road.
On the fifth night of the Lunar New Year, the pursuing army arrived at Hanchang City.
On the afternoon of the eighth day of the lunar month, we arrived in Lizhou.
What is surprising is that a large group of broken troops has gathered here. The number may be three to five thousand, but the composition is unknown. They may be Nanzhao soldiers and horses, or they may be conscripted tribal soldiers, or they may be both.
Wang Jiao sent people who knew the barbarian language to persuade them to surrender, and left a force of troops to monitor them, and then continued southward.
On the ninth day of the lunar month, we arrived at Hanyuan County. There was no one to defend us and we could defeat it without a fight.
On the tenth day of the lunar month, at Baituyi in the south of Hanyuan County, we finally captured a somewhat sizable group of broken troops, totaling about 4,000 people. We wanted to resist at first, but as a result, the terrain here was already relatively open, and we were rushed by the army.
, they dispersed immediately, beheading hundreds of people and capturing three thousand people.
We learned from the prisoners that nearly 30,000 people gathered on the north bank of the Dadu River, including soldiers, tribesmen, and masters. They were noisy and disorderly.
So the whole army accelerated its advance.
In the evening of that day, Tongwang County was already in sight. More than ten miles south of Tongwang County was the Dadu River.
******
On the south bank of the Dadu River, Zheng Renmin climbed onto a high slope and looked north in the distance.
This run was really hard to describe.
When he arrived in Lizhou, he finally had a hot meal and rested for two hours. However, rumors spread from the north that Xia Jun had gone somewhere and had noses and eyes, which made him very upset.
Although all the ministers advised him that a great defeat is the most likely time to produce all kinds of messy news, which is often untrustworthy, Zheng Renmin was still a little panicked and immediately ordered to pack up his things and run away overnight.
The road in the mountains was slippery, and you didn't dare to show off the lights, so you can imagine how difficult it was. Anyway, Zheng Renmin kept hearing various screams of falling off the cliff along the way, and even his own mount rolled down the valley -
- Fortunately, he was caught by the guards, otherwise he would have to go down with him.
He ran nearly a hundred miles from Lizhou to Dadu River in a day and night, leaving his pursuers behind. The price was that when he crossed the river to the south bank, there were only 700 people around him. Even Zhao Shanzheng, an official of the Qing Dynasty, injured his foot and was killed.
The carriage pulled all the way back was really miserable.
When the generals stationed on the south bank of the river heard the news, they immediately sent troops north to respond.
Zheng Renmin came back to his senses at this time. Thinking of the embarrassing situation of the past few days, he felt a little uneasy and felt that it seemed a bit too much. So he "plucked up the courage" to take command across the river on the south bank and ordered a search for all the ships found.
Day and night, we rushed to transport defeated troops across the river, trying our best to preserve the vitality of the country.
One hundred thousand soldiers are not just cats and dogs. Once they are gone, at least one hundred thousand families will be involved. At least half of them are from families in Dali and Shanshan. The relationship is so important that they cannot be lost.
As for the tens of thousands of tribal men recruited in Nanzhao and Xia Kingdom, it is actually not a pity. Just die, what can you do? Admittedly, this will greatly reduce the reputation of Dachanghe Kingdom among the tribes, but it is
At this point, he could still figure out which one was more important.
"Alas! What a shame for the officers and men. This is all Yuan's fault. He should not have launched this northern campaign." The water in the Dadu River was turbulent and extremely difficult to cross. Just under Zheng Renmin's nose, a boat sank into the water. Dozens of people were killed.
The soldiers fluttered for a while, and then they all sank to the bottom of the water. Seeing this, Zheng Renmin couldn't help but shed a few false tears.
Duan Yizong, who was once lost and managed to escape yesterday, also burst into tears.
The situation on the north bank was very pessimistic. There was a lack of food and equipment, low morale, and a lack of unity. There were only so many ships, and various departments were vying to cross the river. They were noisy and even fought, and no one could restrain them.
If Xia Bing comes after him at this time, then...
"Xia Bing is here!" Someone suddenly exclaimed.
"What? So fast?"
"Grandpa is still on the North Shore, what should I do?"
"My son is also on the north bank and won't be able to cross the river until tomorrow."
"It's over!"
Duan Yizong was so excited that he quickly climbed up a big rock and looked north: under the sunset, a cavalry appeared at the corner of the mountain road.
The war horses under the knights' crotches are extremely powerful, and at first glance they are much taller than the Yunnan horses that Nanzhao always keeps.
The cavalrymen were wearing silver helmets and armor, draped in sunset glow, holding long spears, looking majestic.
"Flying Bear Army! Equipped with armored cavalry!" Duan Yizong had studied the inside story of the Northern Dynasty and knew that although it had not accomplished any extraordinary feats, it was an army that was very well-known among the people.
They didn't show up in the previous battle. Did they finally catch up? Yes, they were only three horses per person, so how could they be so slow! If the terrain hadn't restricted their march, they might have arrived a few days earlier.
As soon as the armored cavalry appeared, as expected, it caused a great commotion among the southern barbarians.
The fight at the ferry became more intense. Someone swung a knife and slashed the man who was already on the boat to the river, and then rushed up. But he couldn't cross the river, and someone soon kicked him down.
Some people ran to both sides, trying to hide in the forest.
There were also some clear-headed officers who led their troops to retreat to the high ground, trying to use the terrain to deter the cavalry.
The armored cavalry are the first to charge!
The rumble of horse hoofs sounded, and a thousand horsemen came up at high speed, holding five-meter-long spears in their hands, and drove straight into the marching queue with great momentum.
In Duan Yizong's eyes, the Flying Bear Army was like a rake, hammering hard into the clumped soil, breaking it into pieces, then combing it, crushing it again, combing it again...
The more than 3,000 infantrymen were unable to fight back, and the entire army collapsed on the spot.
The defeated soldiers cried and jumped into the Dadu River. The waves rolled up and they quickly disappeared without a trace.
After scattering the only unit that dared to resist, the armored cavalry turned around and rushed to another place.
The thieves did not dare to resist at all. They ran around shouting and escaping everywhere.
Some desperate people turned around to resist and were directly picked off by Changsha.
Some people knelt down and begged for their lives, but no one would change direction or stop for them, and they were stabbed to death or knocked away.
The vast majority of people panicked, trampled on each other, and jumped into the river, killing countless people.
Duan Yizong cried loudly when he saw it, and kept beating the boulder with his hands, as if this would make him feel better.
During the reign of Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty, Nanzhao had already suffered such a disaster, in which more than 100,000 people were killed or injured and captured, and most of the famous officials and generals withered away.
After more than thirty years, the country had just breathed a sigh of relief, and the result happened again. He didn't know how many people could escape this time. If all the 100,000-strong army were lost, the country would be doomed.
It was impossible to organize enough soldiers to fight against the Xia people.
Zheng Renmin's face looked earth-colored.
He also thought of the war during the Mengshi period. They took advantage of the outbreak of Pang Xun's rebellion and boldly sent troops to capture Yizhou, Yongzhou, and Jiaozhou. The situation was great. But no one expected that Tang Ting would not compromise because of the domestic rebellion.
, on the contrary, after defeating Pang Xun, he continued to fight against Nanzhao. The war lasted for more than ten years. Nanzhao suffered heavy losses. At one time, all men over the age of fifteen were conscripted in the country. The balance of the court was also broken, which eventually led to Mengshi.
Become a puppet.
Thirty years later, will we lose another 100,000 people? Or will it be in our own hands?
He suddenly became suspicious that the smooth march to the north was a conspiracy of the Xia people. They deliberately attracted their main force to Yazhou so that they would be blocked by a river during their retreat and unable to escape smoothly.
No one can answer this question.
A new Xia army cavalry has appeared on the north bank of the Dadu River, and tonight is destined to be a night of killing.
