Wu Sangui was very fast. Although Nanyang was more than two hundred miles away from Junzhou, the army still only took three days to kill him.
The 30,000-strong Western Army was waiting 20 miles downstream. Wu Sangui didn't pay attention to the mere 30,000 people and directly ordered the army to attack.
First, there was a burst of fierce bombardment from the Furlong machine cannon of the firearms battalion, and then the swordsmen and shieldmen followed the firecrackers and pressed directly behind them. With almost just a charge, the 30,000 Great Western Army who were killed broke up and fled.
Sun Kewang, who was upstream, saw that the 30,000-strong army he sent to intercept was defeated by the opponent. He was frightened to death. He found that he had still far underestimated the combat effectiveness of the front army.
At this moment, the pontoon bridge has been set up, and the army is crossing the river in a steady stream, but at least there are still nearly centaurs stranded on the north bank. In this situation, it is already too late to fight the opponent decisively.
What's even more terrible is that after crossing the river in an orderly manner, as the defeated troops fled, all the Western troops on the north bank were in an uproar and panicked.
Looking at the Ming cavalry chasing them from a distance, and then at the chaotic mass of his own army, which was very difficult to organize defense, Sun Kewang also stamped his feet angrily, gritted his teeth and led his guards onto the pontoon.
Follow the flow of people and run towards the south bank.
Coach Sun Kewang even fled, and the scene on the north bank completely collapsed. Countless people rushed to attack the pontoon, and some even fought with swords.
At that time, countless Daxi troops fell into the water and were trampled and killed by their own people, so that the river water at this section of the ferry was dyed red.
In the end, a full 50,000 people had no time to cross the river. Facing a mere 6,000 cavalry, most of them chose to throw away their weapons and kneel on the ground without any intention of resisting.
Sun Ke, who fled to the other side, saw that there was no one on the pontoon, so he ordered people to set fire to the pontoon.
Almost all the Daxi troops who escaped from behind collapsed on the ground in shock, and their morale dropped to the bottom.
"Brother, after counting, we still have 100,000 troops. This is so damn frustrating. The battle has not even been fought in a serious manner, but half of the troops have been lost. It's simply..."
Ai Nengqi came to Sun Kewang with a heartbroken look on his face, his tone full of complaints, and he obviously had doubts about Sun Kewang's decision to flee without fighting.
"Brother also didn't expect that the Ming army would react so quickly and march so quickly. Although the men and horses were seriously injured, fortunately they finally crossed the river."
Sun Kewang comforted him, but he actually felt a little regretful in his heart.
If I had known this was the case, I might as well have had a fair fight with Wu Sangui in Baisha Town.
"Brother, the loss of men and horses is secondary. The key is that the morale of the army is low now, and the dry food they carry is almost exhausted. What should we do next?"
Ai Nengqi also suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and looked at him with a worried look on his face.
If the torture continues like this, the two hundred thousand brothers will eventually have to be tortured by the eldest brother.
"Now we have to go to Xiangyang first. If the third child takes over Xiangyang, we still have a chance..."
"But what if the third brother fails?"
"Then we can only go back to Sichuan."
Sun Kewang waved his hands, feeling a little annoyed in his heart.
Ai Nengqi opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything after all. He didn't have the slightest hope that his third brother could sneak attack Xiangyang. As for whether he could return to Sichuan, he wasn't worried, but in the end, I'm afraid how many people could go back together.
Only ghosts know.
Tang Tong's army blocked both ends of the official road and occupied the terrain. Wu Sangui's army on the north bank could cross the river at any time.
Sun Kewang did not dare to delay at all, nor did he dare to attack Tangtong and open up the official road. He just rested for a night and then led his army towards Wudang Mountain, a mountainous area in the southeast.
Fortunately, the refugee army had been in and out of the Xunyang area several times, and most of them took three small roads, so they were familiar with the roads. Otherwise, they would definitely be different if they changed to any other army.
Dare to go into the mountains.
From a purely military perspective, the official roads to Xunyang upstream and Xiangyang downstream are blocked by the Ming army. The main force of the Ming army on the north bank is watching with eager eyes. To the south are high mountains. This situation is already a desperate situation for military strategists. Most of them will choose to go directly
surrender.
However, the Daxi Army started out as a refugee army. It has been accustomed to being chased by the Ming Army for more than ten years. As long as there is still a way to go, it will never surrender, regardless of whether it is a road or a jungle mountain road.
The next day, when he learned that Sun Kewang and his remaining soldiers had gone into the forest again, Wu Sangui was also angry and cursed.
Wu Sangui, who mostly fought in the north and had not participated in many campaigns to encircle and suppress the migrant army in the south, was not used to Sun Kewang's panic-stricken escape style.
But I finally understand why the imperial court was never able to completely wipe out the various refugee armies in the past.
These bandits are really good at running away.
This time he was quite well prepared, and Tang Tong did not dare to be passive and slack in the fight. Under such circumstances, he still did not block the attack and allowed Sun Kewang to run away with the remaining soldiers.
Just imagine, if Tang Tong was as ineffective as before, or was afraid of fighting to protect himself, he might not even be able to retain half of the Daxi Army.
However, even though he knew that Tang Tong had tried his best, Wu Sangui still planned to throw all the responsibility on him.
After all, the Great Western Army finally crossed the Han River and entered Huguang. If they want to encircle and suppress them, they will probably have to spend a lot of effort. If they don't let them continue to run around, they don't know where they will go.
Wu Sangui did not let all the army cross the river, but only brought dozens of personal guards across the river to the south bank.
"Tang Tong, do you know your guilt?"
"I don't know, please tell me, General, what is the crime of humble position?"
Faced with Wu Sangui's questioning, Tang Tong was not afraid at all and said straight to the point of his neck.
In the past, he was worried that Wu Sangui would put all the blame on him and leave him unable to defend himself. But now that your majesty and empress are extremely wise, he can file a petition to defend himself at any time.
In addition, there were a large number of martial arts students and military eunuchs in the army who testified, so he was not afraid of Wu Sangui's bluff at all.
"Huh, Xunyang is only a few dozen miles away from this. I have ordered you several times in advance to prepare for the bandit army to cross the Han River south, but the bandit army finally crossed the Han River and escaped under your nose. You still have the nerve to ask now.
What are you guilty of?"
Wu Sangui snorted coldly, pointed at his nose and shouted.
"Huh, there are 200,000 thieves in the army. The general transferred another 20,000 from our town beforehand, leaving only more than 10,000 troops. Not only do we have to defend the main roads from Xunyang to Hanzhong, but we also have to send people to guard them.
The small road leading to Sichuan was finally able to guard the official road and prevent the rebel army from crossing to Xiangyang and Xunyang and forcing them to flee into the mountains. If the general had arrived a day earlier, it would have been difficult for the rebel army to cross the river.
…”
"Fart, our front army marched nearly 240 miles in three days. Which soldier in the world can do this? If you had arrived half a day earlier and blocked it on the shore, how could the bandit army cross the river?"
"Is it possible that the general wants me to march all night? If we are ambushed on the way, who will bear the responsibility?"
"Okay, then I want to ask you, I only let the 20,000 troops you sent into Nanyang, but I didn't let you transfer all the troops and horses from Xiangyang to Nanyang, right?"
Wu Sangui also knew that there was little point in dwelling on this matter, but he did not intend to let go of the Xiangyang matter.
"How do I know that the rebel army will attack Xiangyang? Besides, I don't have many troops at hand. How can I defend Xunyang if I don't transfer them from Xiangyang?"
"Don't make excuses. Xiangyang is an important military town. Even if your troops are insufficient, you should not leave any soldiers behind. You are certainly to blame for this matter. I will definitely report it to His Majesty."
"Since Marquis Wu knew that Xiangyang was an important military town, why didn't he send troops to strengthen the defense of Xiangyang after he led his army to Nanyang? At that time, Xiangyang had not yet been lost, and Marquis Wu had 60,000 elite troops. Even if he only deducted 2,000 and marched south, the rebel army would probably
There’s no way you can succeed, right?”
Tang Tong sneered, Wu Sangui was also mainly responsible for breaking the sky, and he still wanted to put all the blame on him. It was just wishful thinking. Do you think your majesty is a fool?
