Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 158 The overall situation has been decided
The tragic defeat of the elephant soldiers triggered a chain reaction, and the enemy army was defeated. Xu Biao fled to the rear army, hoping to gather the defeated soldiers and reorganize the army to fight again.

"Beat the drums! Blow the swan trumpets!" Danchu shouted loudly. When the whole army heard this order, they had to look at the central army flag and accept the commander's order.

There was chaos on the battlefield. The Zhaoyong Army was busy chasing the enemy troops. Only about half of them heard the military order and turned their attention to the central army.

The central army always raises a yellow flag, which means the commander is there. When the battle is about to begin, the central army flag is of vital importance. If the flag is there, the commander is there, and if the commander is there, the soldiers can rest assured.

"Raise the double yellow flags!"

The flag bearers accompanied Danchu and quickly raised a new yellow flag. This meant that the whole army should move closer to the central army. After receiving this order, the whole army had to put down their work and move closer to the commander-in-chief as soon as possible.

The Zhaoyong Army was having a great time killing, and the cavalry battalion had already rushed to the enemy's flank and could not turn back for a while.

Dan Chu waited for a quarter of an hour, and more than three hundred men gathered around him, mainly his personal soldiers and musketeers.

He Guozuo, the captain of the first squadron of personal soldiers, and Ferreira, the commander of the firearms battalion, were nearby and rushed over first, greeting him: "Marshal!"

"Have you seen the big flag of the bandit army?" Danchu pointed at the big flag of the bandit army's center and said, "Where the big flag is, it must be Xu Biao's standard bearer. We charge over, seize the big flag, and cut off Xu Biao's head."

To capture a bandit, you must first capture its leader; to capture an army, you must first capture its flag. Although the Zhaoyong Army has won, it has too few men and horses to completely annihilate the bandit army at once. At this moment, we should take advantage of the victory and kill Xu Biao, which will ensure the overall situation.

"Yes!" With victory in their grasp, the soldiers' morale was high.

"Ferreira, He Guozuo, follow me to attack the enemy's center. We need to surround them first!"

The battlefield was in chaos. The Zhaoyong Army had no time or place to form a battle line, so they simply rushed forward.

The enemy's central army had not yet collapsed, forming a hollow square formation, which attracted a lot of attention on the battlefield. The square formation had about 600 to 700 personal soldiers, with infantry holding spears on the outside, forming three layers, and cavalry and musketeers in the middle, protecting the central army's flag. There were several generals in bright helmets and armor around the flag, and Xu Biao was probably among them.

Three hundred brave warriors suddenly came roaring in, and Danchu led his team to the left wing first, circling around the enemy's perimeter, trying to find the enemy's flaws. The enemy's spear infantry formed three layers, and the spear tips flashed coldly, like a hedgehog with spikes, which was daunting.

As soon as the war horses got closer, the enemy's spears thrust out.

It seems that there is no chance to attack, so we should circle around a few times. When cavalry is facing infantry spear phalanx, in order to reduce casualties, they often circle around the phalanx. After a few circles, the enemy's morale will collapse, or the defense will be relaxed, and the cavalry will take the opportunity to break through.

Danchu rode his horse, drew his bow and drew his arrow, and shot down three bandits in succession. The rest of the soldiers followed suit, riding around the bandits and forming a loose encirclement.

The rebel army was enraged, and the musketeers opened fire, shooting down several Zhaoyong soldiers in succession.

Both sides suffered injuries.

Zhaoyong's army was small and could not withstand the attrition. After running around the bandit army three times, there was no obvious loophole in the bandit army's formation. In the late Ming Dynasty, military generals often spent a lot of money to support their servants. This part of the remaining bandit army was probably Xu Biao's servants, and they were the elite of the bandit army.

It was already the afternoon, the sun was about to set, and we couldn't delay any longer. If we waited until dark and Xu Biao took the opportunity to escape, it would be disastrous.

"Everyone! Follow me and charge into the enemy camp!" Danchu shouted loudly.
This is going to be a tough one.

He Guozuo was guarding the emperor on the side and said, "Why does the general need to take action? First team, follow me!" He rushed in front of Danchu and rode his horse towards the enemy's spear formation.

The battle-hardened warhorse could bravely charge forward against the enemy's bullets and arrows. But the enemy's spears were as dense as hedgehogs, standing straight in front of them. He Guozuo's mount was still timid and unconsciously slowed down.

On the battlefield, there is no practice of charging with the horses blindfolded. Cavalrymen who have good coordination with their horses can shoot arrows and hold lances with both hands on their horses, while cavalrymen who do not have good coordination need to hold the reins with one hand and operate the weapon with the other. If the horses are blindfolded, the horses will be like headless flies, and the cavalrymen will not be able to concentrate on fighting.

He Guozuo only regretted that the warhorse under him was not strong enough, so he controlled the reins with one hand and slapped the horse's waist with the back of his knife with the other hand to urge the horse to move forward. He was a Yao people and was used to using a saber with a thick back and a sharp blade.

The warhorse felt the pain and knew that its master wanted to speed up, so it had to gallop again and rushed towards the shining spears. "Bang--", He Guozuo used his saber to sweep across the spears, cutting off two spear tips, but two spears still pierced the warhorse.

The warhorse neighed in pain and continued to rush forward under the influence of inertia.

With two crisp "crackling" sounds, two enemy spears broke.

Cold weapons may seem simple, but they actually have many requirements. The spear is the most commonly used and cheapest infantry weapon, but the preparation of the spear shaft alone is not easy. A good spear shaft must be soaked in oil, air-dried, light and tough, slightly thicker at both ends and thinner in the middle. Otherwise, it will break once it is hit.

He Guozuo's horse was seriously injured, but he still managed to create a gap in the enemy's spear formation. He took advantage of the situation and fell off his horse, raised his saber, and hacked at the enemy's spearmen.

The enemy troops surrounded them.

With someone leading the way, the others, with great confidence, drove their horses forward enthusiastically. In front of the spear formation, there were sounds of spear shafts breaking.

The gap was getting bigger and bigger. The enemy army tried to fill it, but the Zhaoyong army rode their war horses and rushed in through the gap.

Danchu's arrows were almost exhausted, so he rushed in with a lance in hand. With the commander taking the lead, the morale of the Zhaoyong army was even higher. The enemy's infantry was trampled by the horses and gradually collapsed.

Xu Biao saw that the situation was not going well, so he abandoned the battle and fled with a few of his servants. The enemy's center collapsed, the flag fell, and they were completely defeated and irreversible.

There were many boxes and cabinets stacked in the center of the enemy army, which were obviously valuable supplies. This was probably the reason why Xu Biao did not lead his troops to escape immediately.

Zhao Yongjun was delighted to see this, so he asked someone to open the boxes and cabinets, and indeed, he found a lot of valuables.

"Kill the enemy first, do not covet the spoils of war, those who disobey orders will be executed!" Dan Chu shouted loudly: "Personal soldiers, follow me to chase Xu Biao!"

The horses of the Zhaoyong Army were exhausted, and there were not many who could keep up the pursuit. Danchu rode his jade dragon horse, leaving the crowd in the dust. Looking back, he saw only forty or fifty cavalrymen following him.

On Xu Biao's side, there were probably more than twenty riders left. They did not dare to fight and galloped towards Kunlun Mountain without looking back.

When an army was defeated in battle, it would often flee into the mountains in the hope of making a comeback.

Dan Chu, however, pursued him relentlessly, determined to kill Xu Biao.

However, Xu Biao was eager to survive and had plenty of power, so he ran ahead all the way.

It was getting dark, and Dan Chu watched him escape into a dock.

He Guozuo followed and said, "General, we are outnumbered. Please send a battalion of soldiers immediately to destroy this fort tonight."

There are still a large number of prisoners waiting to be dealt with in Huanghuayi, so how can we mobilize soldiers to fight?

Danchu thought for a moment and said, "You lead the troops to stay outside the fort tonight and keep alert. I will write a letter and shoot it into the fort. If nothing unexpected happens, the fort lord will present Xu Biao's head tomorrow."

He Guozuo was puzzled and half-believing and half-doubting.

Danchu said, "Haven't you heard about Tu Lie'ao?"

He Guozuo suddenly realized. Last year, Tu Lie'ao led his troops to besiege Guilin, but was defeated and retreated to He County. Lu Kezao sent a letter to the local tyrants in He County, and the local tyrants obeyed the order and killed Tu Lie'ao while he was alone and helpless.

(End of this chapter)