Before Qin Liangyu's reinforcements arrived at the battlefield, they saw many defeated troops fleeing for their lives in panic.
After asking, I found out that She Chongming's 60,000-strong army had actually been defeated. It was now completely routed and there were fleeing stragglers everywhere.
She Chongming, who had proclaimed himself the king of Liang Dynasty, had disappeared at this time. He did not know whether he was alive or dead. Some said he was caught by the army's troops, and some said he was bombarded to death by the army's artillery. In short,
There are different opinions, and I don’t know which piece of information is correct.
But the only thing that is certain is that She Chongming was not out of danger at this time, because not even one of the Yi soldiers who ran out said that he had escaped.
Qin Liangyu immediately ordered the army to spread out in a fan shape, even on the mountain trails. As long as people can get in, there will be her search force.
Along the way, there were countless rebels who were covered in dirt and looked frightened. Qin Liangyu had to gather them one by one to prevent them from being desperate and becoming bandits and harming the people.
After walking a few miles, Qin Liangyu met Cao Wenzhao. Seeing him galloping towards him with a group of cavalry, Qin Liangyu quickly greeted him. She had too many doubts in her heart, and now she finally met someone she could ask.
"General Cao, what's going on? Why was She Chongming defeated so suddenly?"
After Cao Wenzhao cupped his fists and bowed his hands in salute, he got off his horse and started talking to Qin Liangyu in detail.
It turned out that during these days, he, leading the two thousand cavalry entrusted to him by the emperor, had been looking for a shortcut to Chongqing.
However, because they were not familiar with this place, they actually got lost halfway through. Fortunately, they brought a lot of dry food and food to ensure that they would not go hungry.
Because they were riding war horses, they could not endure walking through the mountains and forests like the infantry. They could only walk along the roads. As a result, they wandered around the mountains for several days without figuring out the direction.
Yesterday, during the battle between Qin Bangping's troops and She Chongming, the sound of artillery continued, and fire broke out at the battlefield. They ran straight away following the light of the fire.
He accidentally ran to the flank of She Chongming. Seeing both sides fighting hard, after briefly observing the situation, Cao Wenzhao decisively led the cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the flank of She Chongming.
The rebels, who were already in chaos, suddenly encountered a cavalry charge and were instantly plunged into chaos.
She Chongming hurriedly ordered his generals to resist, but the military order could not be passed at all because there were too many rebels and their location was extremely unfavorable.
The front army fought for most of the day, and the people in the middle and behind were still confused. They knew nothing except that they were fighting, and their hearts were filled with fear and uneasiness.
Now being attacked from two sides, these improvised armies, no matter where they still had fighting spirit, began to squeeze each other and collapsed on the spot.
This kind of chaotic scene was more uncontrollable than the bombing of a camp. Even though She Chongming had thousands of ideas and arrangements, he was powerless at this time.
This kind of terrain is not suitable for cavalry combat. In addition, most of Cao Wenzhao's cavalry are Mongolian horses, which are not as advantageous as the southern horses. A slight bump will make it difficult to continue riding on them.
Moreover, Cao Wenzhao did not have two thousand cavalry charging into the formation at the same time. He divided the cavalry into batches, with one group of three hundred men, making a total of three batches. They took turns charging into the formation.
First, they fired with crossbows, then when they got close, they killed the enemies with sabers. After fighting for a few rounds, they quickly retreated to both sides to leave space for those who followed.
Under such a blow, the rebel flanks without a general to command and dispatch were quickly opened. The rebels, who had lost their courage and fighting spirit, did not dare to face the official cavalry, let alone form a defensive formation.
There were also five hundred cavalry on the periphery to block the rebels' escape route and kill those deserters who were intended to do so.
The remaining people directly attacked She Chongming's rear camp, set fire everywhere in the military camp, burned military tents and food supplies, and for a time the fire soared into the sky, lighting up the area for miles around.
She Chongming knew that his defeat was certain and there was no way to save the situation, so he summoned a group of close generals and his Yi soldiers to organize a breakout. Unexpectedly, he was actually rushed out.
The Ming army looked at the position of his big banner and launched a fierce attack in that direction. The artillery of the Shenji Battalion also adjusted their azimuths and angles, and fired volleys of bombardments in the direction where She Chongming was escaping.
However, Zhang Tong, who wanted to make meritorious deeds, was different from She Chongming. He and his elite soldiers still fought to the death, and even launched a counterattack at one point, catching the Ming army by surprise.
Cao Wenzhao saw this fierce general rushing left and right on the battlefield from a distance, and he immediately rode away to challenge Zhang Tong for a duel.
The two generals clashed with each other. It was not like in the movies and TV series, where the battle lasted for 300 rounds and was fought in darkness, but the winner was determined by just one face-to-face encounter.
Zhang Tong was killed by Cao Wenzhao with a single blow, and the former general died. The rebels, who had been able to hold on for a while, were completely doomed. The leader fled, the general died again, and the rebels had no choice but to lay down their weapons and surrender.
After centralizing and controlling these surrendered troops, Cao Wenzhao and Qin Bangping led their troops to pursue them.
But after chasing for a long time, there was no sign of She Chongming, so the two had to search separately.
Later, Cao Wenzhao met Qin Liangyu here who came to support him.
Qin Liangyu secretly lamented that this battle was really thrilling. If Cao Wenzhao had not launched a surprise attack from the side of the rebels in time, the outcome would have been difficult to predict.
After meeting Qin Bangping, the three immediately formulated a search plan. Led by Baigan soldiers and locals who were familiar with the road terrain, they entered the mountain to look for She Chongming.
On the morning of the next day, She Chongming was finally found in a manor not far from Chongqing Fucheng, with hundreds of remnants and defeated generals, where he had been resting not long ago.
She Chongming originally planned to escape back to Chongqing, collect the defeated troops and regroup, but he did not expect that Chongqing had already been lost, and he could only walk upstream along the Yangtze River to return to Luzhou.
Before he could build a boat to cross the river, the flags of the Ming army were erected all over the river bank. She Chongming's eyes turned red when he saw this, and he shouted like a madman, saying that he would kill all these officers and soldiers.
But this could only be his fantasy. The officers and soldiers rushed into the formation and defeated hundreds of him who were hungry, tired, and with weak limbs.
In fact, they didn't want to fight any longer. Anyone with eyes would know that they were going to die, so they might as well give up and surrender, which might save their lives.
Although She Chongming dared to rebel, it did not mean that he had the courage to commit suicide. After he recognized the reality, he reluctantly put down the long sword in his hand and allowed the officers and soldiers to tie him up and offer him as a prisoner to the emperor.
At this point, the Liang Wang She Chongming, who had been so powerful a few days ago and shocked Sichuan and Shu, was quickly defeated by the encirclement and attack of the Ming army. He was captured and tens of thousands of troops were completely annihilated.