Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 249 Defeat
To the south of Wugang is Xinning, and to the south of Xinning is Dong'an. Shimen Pass is located between Wugang and Xinning. After exiting Shimen Pass, you can reach Xinning a short distance away.
The post road from Wugang to Xinning is located between hills. On the left side of the post road is Tangjialing, and on the right side are also continuous hills and mountains. Shimen Village is located in the center of this post road.

Shimen Village, it was already bright at this time, but there was no civilian in the village. Teams of soldiers were rummaging through the houses and courtyards in the village, trying to find some useful things.
From time to time, soldiers discovered the hidden cellar compartment, and they cheered and rushed in. Then, shrill screams were heard in the house, but soon it returned to silence.
Chen Youlong led his troops to Shimen Village yesterday and set up camp there. Now there are tents for miles around Shimen Village, all of which are Wugang military camps.
In the central mansion of Shimen Village, Chen Youlong looked at the lieutenant general Sun Hua who walked into the room, frowned slightly, and said

"It's already 9am, why don't you break camp and set off?"

"We have discovered several villages nearby. The brothers went there to collect food, but they haven't returned yet. I have already sent people to urge them to leave. We will set off as soon as they come back," Sun Hua replied directly.

Although Liu Chengyin ordered Chen Youlong and others to go out and retake Dong'an, the food and money they provided were not much, just enough to reach Dong'an.

Yesterday, the army entered the post road, but found several hidden villages near Shimen Village.
These villages are usually hidden in the mountains and have not been robbed much, but they are quite prosperous.
The Wugang army was overjoyed when they found out, so they waited until daybreak and immediately sent people out to collect food.
Chen Youlong frowned slightly when he heard this, but he felt helpless. Robbing as he went, this was almost a tradition of the Wugang Army.
Even when they were near Wugang, they often went out to collect food. Now that they had arrived at the new territory, the generals and soldiers in the army could not help but
Moreover, the army's rations were indeed insufficient. Although he was the commander of the camp, the generals and guerrillas under his command also had to ensure that their men were well fed. If Chen Youlong prohibited them from going out to plunder, it would probably cause public outrage.

"Inform all the generals in the army that they are not allowed to leave the team to collect food from today onwards. This section of the post road is dangerous, so we should march out of Shimen Pass first. If we need to collect food, it will not be too late to reach Xinning County."

Sun Hua didn't take it seriously. Although this section of the post road was dangerous, there was no danger for them to travel with their army at this time.

But Sun Hua did not object. Xinning was a county town. These cities were densely populated and rich, so they should be a good place to harvest food.
Seeing Sun Hua's response, Chen Youlong spoke again.

"Has the scout in front come back?"

Sun Hua was about to answer, but Chen Youlong frowned and said

“Did you hear any sound?”

Sun Hua was also stunned when he heard this, and listened for a while, but heard a slight vibration.

Sun Hua's eyes flashed with realization, and he also spoke

"It's the sound of horse hooves. It must be the scouts in the army coming back."

Chen Youlong's expression did not relax at all when he heard this. Instead, his expression became more solemn.
Chen Youliang listened for a moment, then suddenly looked at Sun Hua on the side and said in a deep voice:

"It's not a cavalry sentry, it's the sound of a large number of horses galloping. Have the cavalry in the central army also gone out to collect food?"

Before Sun Hua could reply, the cup lid on the table suddenly bounced up, making a slight ding sound.

At this time, Sun Hua also realized that something was wrong, and Chen Youlong's face suddenly changed. He suddenly turned around and rushed out the door.
rumble

Chen Youlong rushed out of the village courtyard, but just as he reached the door, he stopped at the door with a dazed look on his face.
At the end of the official road, a group of red-armored cavalrymen were seen running towards the Wugang military camp on both sides of the post road.
Hundreds of cavalrymen lined up in a column and galloped at high speed. The thunderous sound of horse hooves pounded the ground, and the mountains echoed continuously.

Under Chen Youlong's desperate gaze, these hundreds of cavalrymen rushed into the front tent of the Wugang Army like red blades. The front tent was like butter being cut by a hot knife, and a piece of it was dented in an instant, and screams of panic rang out.
"It's the Gui army"

Chen Youlong was stunned for a moment, and immediately guessed the identity of this cavalryman who was also wearing the uniform of the Ming army.

These people must have been lying in ambush on the road a long time ago, waiting for them to march here and then ambush them!
Chen Youlong looked at Zhang Hua who ran out in panic behind him, his face solemn, and immediately shouted

"Gather the cavalry in the center and stop them. Don't let them rush to the rear."

There were tents and carriages everywhere in the front. Although the Wugang army in the front was already in chaos, the cavalry of the Tengxiang army was also moving slowly and could not directly kill through the front and bring the chaos to the rear.

At this time, some generals in the rear of the Wugang Army had noticed something was wrong with the front and began to organize the soldiers to form a battle array.

The purpose of Chen Youlong sending the cavalry in the center was to buy time for the soldiers in the rear formation to form a battle array.

The five hundred cavalrymen were divided into teams of dozens of men. They first approached and fired a rain of arrows, then reined in their horses and turned back, not engaging in a fight with the soldiers in the formation.

The Tengxiang cavalry turned back and pulled away for a distance, then rushed forward again, shooting arrows to kill the Wugang soldiers in the front, and drove the soldiers in the front to the rear.
More than 300 Wugang cavalrymen gathered and then quickly went to the front to intercept. These 300 Yunnan horse cavalrymen were the most elite part of the 10,000 Wugang troops.

At this time, hundreds of cavalrymen came to attack, which naturally attracted the attention of the Tengxiang army.
"Gathering Troops"

Ta Xinze, a member of Tengxiang's army, was wearing red cloth armor, just like the other cavalrymen. It was hard to tell that he was Ta Xinze or one of the generals in this unit.

The guards heard the cold shout and immediately raised their flags. The Tengxiang cavalrymen who were originally scattered in various places to kill the enemy also began to gather under Ta Xin Ce.

When more than 200 cavalrymen gathered, Ta Xin Ce did not wait any longer and led his cavalry to charge at the enemy.

The horses that the Tengxiang army was riding were all captured from the Qing invaders. The Tengxiang soldiers sitting on the horses looked half a body taller than the Wugang cavalrymen on the opposite side.

As the cavalry on both sides got closer, the sense of oppression brought by this height became stronger and stronger.

The front cavalry of the Wugang army saw that the enemy was silent and did not retreat, but charged directly. A trace of panic flashed across their faces, and they subconsciously began to slow down their horses.

The front slowed down, but the generals behind kept urging them on. Before the Wugang army engaged in battle, their formation had already become slightly disorganized. The two sides were still more than 120 steps apart. Some of the cavalrymen in the Wugang army had already started shooting arrows in panic, and the rest of the cavalrymen saw the people beside them shooting arrows and also started shooting.

But the Wugang cavalry opened their bows too early, and it was basically impossible to shoot at the Tengxiang army from this distance.
This sparse rain of arrows from the Wugang Army not only shot down a number of their own infantrymen who were fleeing in panic, but also failed to kill even a single cavalryman from the Tengxiang Army.
The Wugang cavalry was about to fire again, but the Tengxiang cavalry had already rushed within seventy steps.
"Draw the bow"

Ta Xin Ce shouted loudly, and the bow in his hand was bent like a moon, and he shot out immediately. A Wugang cavalryman on the opposite side fell off his horse without a word.
As Ta Xin Ce started shooting, the cavalrymen of Tengxiang Army also started shooting in unison. More than 200 iron arrows covered the area. Before the cavalrymen of Wugang Army could fight back, dozens of them fell in the front line.

The Wugang cavalrymen fired arrows in panic to fight back. Arrows flew from both sides at once. Both sides fired again. Dozens of Wugang soldiers fell, and Tengxiang soldiers also suffered dozens of casualties.

The two sides were less than fifty steps apart at this time. Four or five arrows had already pierced Taxinze's armor, but Taxinze was unaware of it. He stared at the cavalrymen on the opposite side and raised his saber.
"Change the knife and charge!"

Taxinze shouted loudly, and then, without caring whether the cavalrymen beside him heard him, he raised his saber, faced the rain of arrows, and rushed towards the opposite side.

At this time, the number of Wugang cavalrymen was still superior, more than double that of Tengxiang's cavalrymen.

But when the Tengxiang army really started to charge, the Wugang army's cavalry vanguard was terrified and did not fight at all, but fled to both sides.
More than a hundred cavalrymen of the Tengxiang Army were like iron spikes, and they actually pierced through the cavalry formation of the Wugang Army.
By the time the Tengxiang cavalrymen began to slow down, there were corpses lying on the ground behind them. The remaining one hundred or so Wugang cavalrymen had become a disorderly army, fleeing to the mountains and fields. The entire Wugang cavalry collapsed.

Chen You looked at the cavalry that collapsed on the post road below, and he was also filled with despair. The three hundred most elite cavalrymen under his command were completely collapsed by the charge of more than a hundred people.

Chen Youlong was about to go to the rear army to gather troops, but at this time, the sound of horse hooves was heard again from the rear. Dust rose up on the official road of the rear army. Four or five hundred red-armored cavalrymen, exactly the same as those in the front army, suddenly appeared and crashed into the rear army again.
The two cavalry units charged into the Wugang army, and the Wugang army could no longer maintain its position and fell into complete chaos.
At this time, a burst of rapid drumbeats sounded again on the official road ahead. Teams of Tengxiang Army infantrymen in scarlet uniforms rushed towards the already chaotic Wugang Army camp to the beat of drums.
Sun Hua, covered in blood, rushed to Chen Youlong under the protection of several cavalrymen and pulled Chen Youlong onto his horse without saying a word.

"General, the Gui bandits are cunning and have set up an ambush. The camp is in chaos and we can't stop them. Move quickly."

Sun Hua and several of his personal soldiers helped Chen Youlong onto the horse. Chen Youlong looked at the red-armored cavalrymen who were constantly driving and killing people on the post road, and his face turned pale.
He glanced at the large group of infantrymen approaching quickly on the post road ahead, and finally no longer had any hope in his eyes. He gritted his teeth, pulled the horse, and fled to the other side of the path under the protection of Sun Hua and others.
On one side of the post road, Ma Bao, Hao Shangjiu, Yan Keyi and others stood on the hill, overlooking the massacre on the post road below.
As Chen Youlong fled, the last bit of resistance of the Wugang army disappeared completely. The Wugang soldiers, without their commander, completely collapsed and fled to the mountains and fields in all directions.
Hao Shangjiu looked at the soldiers fleeing all over the mountain below and said:

"The thousand-plus soldiers in the rear are decent enough. They can barely form a battle array despite the panic. But those in the front are just a bunch of civilians. Why did Liu Chengyin recruit them into the army? Did he really think he could win by having more people?"

Battlefield fighting is not simply about who has more people, but about the degree of organization.
Nearly a hundred skilled infantrymen were enough to disperse a riotous army of refugees that was ten times their number. If they were replaced by cavalry, it would be no problem to double their number.
Putting a group of civilians into the elite will not only not improve their combat effectiveness, but will make the elite weaker.
If you want to win on the battlefield, you must either prepare good horses and armor, prepare food and money, and train day and night to train an elite army.
Or they can learn from the traitors and take a large number of refugees with them. This large number is not just one or two thousand, but ten thousand or even tens of thousands.
Using these large numbers of refugees as a shield, you can kill as many as you want until your formation is scattered, and then attack with your elite troops to defeat the enemy's soldiers.
"What's so hard to understand? These southern soldiers have always been weak. They've been trained over and over again, so they're just like this. Why not find more people to give them courage?"

Yan Keyi curled his lips, his eyes full of contempt.
Yan Keyi said that the southern soldiers were weak, but in fact, they were also southern soldiers. Hao Shangjiu and Yan Keyi were both generals in the Henan Province. In the eyes of the Liao soldiers in the nine borders, they were definitely southern soldiers.

But Yan Keyi obviously didn't think so. Huguang was in the south of Henan Province, so naturally people from Huguang were southern soldiers. They were in the north of Huguang, so naturally they were northern soldiers.
They are brave and good fighters from the north, how could they be the weak and feeble southern soldiers? It's impossible, absolutely impossible.

At this time, down the post road, two thousand Tengxiang infantrymen finally arrived in front of the Wugang army.
The Tengxiang Army's infantrymen were divided into groups of ten, each forming a battle formation to strangle the enemy. The army, which was originally just a scattered fleeing formation, now began to collapse and disappear piece by piece, as if it had been wiped off the ground.

Ma Bao watched the infantrymen rushing down below, and he knew that the outcome of this battle was already decided, and the Wugang army would never be able to turn the tables.
He had just been waiting for the army's commander, but until the infantry had completely charged into the battle formation, he still hadn't seen the commander's reserve troops appear.
At this time, the soldiers in the army were in chaos for a long time, but no one was able to really gather their true strength. This shows that the commander of this army was either killed in the battle or had already fled.
Ma Bao thought of this and said without hesitation.

"The infantry formation has arrived. The outcome of this battle has been decided. Hao Shangjiu, you lead the reserve troops to collect the prisoners."

"The last general takes command"

Hao Shangjiu heard Ma Bao's words and immediately bowed his hands in response.

Ma Bao looked at Yan Keyi on the side and said

"Send someone to report the victory to His Highness, and then order General Shi in the rear to speed up the march and come over to receive the prisoners."

"Our mission this time is to capture Wugang, not to fight this group of militiamen."

"Gather the prisoners as quickly as possible, leave 500 men to guard them, and then move the entire army immediately to surround Wugang. We must not let Liu Chengyin and his men escape."

After Ma Bao finished the arrangement, he looked at Zhu Xuexi on the side and said

"Does Envoy Zhu have any comments?"

"The governor is the commander-in-chief of Tengxiang, a famous general in the court. All military affairs are decided by the governor. I have no objection."

"I would like to add one more thing. Don't kill too many people. Although these people cannot fight, they can work and farm. Your Highness also instructed before he left that we should not kill them indiscriminately."

"What Envoy Zhu said makes sense. Let's do it accordingly and start collecting prisoners immediately." Ma Bao nodded when he heard this.
Seeing that Ma Bao and Zhu Xuexi had reached a consensus, Hao Shangjiu and Yan Keyi both bowed and responded, and then led 300 elite soldiers of the Central Army to the post road below.
These hundreds of people were Ma Bao's reserve troops. They were to be deployed to the battlefield after the generals of Wugang Army appeared and defeat the enemy's main general in one fell swoop. However, it seemed that they were not used at all.
Hao Shangjiu and Yan Keyi led the central army into the battlefield, and the massacre on the post road finally began to stop.

On the battlefield, the soldiers of the Central Army shouted that they would not be killed if they knelt down. Upon hearing this, the soldiers of the Wugang Army did not hesitate at all and directly dropped their weapons and knelt on the side of the road.

The other Wugang soldiers who were fleeing, seeing that the kneeling soldiers were not killed, no longer hesitated, and threw down their swords and knelt on the ground.
The soldiers of the Tengxiang Army tied up the captives with hemp ropes. Instead of resisting, the local soldiers took the initiative to help and tied each other up.

With the cooperation of the surrendered soldiers, Teng Xiangjun and others quickly captured all the prisoners.

The Tengxiang Army collected the weapons and divided the surrendered soldiers into several groups, leaving 500 soldiers to guard them. Then Ma Bao and others led the main force of the Tengxiang Army and marched non-stop towards Wugang City.
(End of this chapter)