Just when Cao Ergou led the third and fourth companies to pursue the Mongolian Centuries and the Qingcheng New Affiliated Army, Wang Youfu's fifth company and Tang Xiangwei's sixth company also rushed out of the back door under the command of Ouyang Xuan, catching Zhao Shicai off guard. . At this time, the newly attached troops in Dayi had been struggling for most of the day. Their morale was low, they were tired and hungry, and they fled even faster. Zhao Shicai had no choice but to follow the defeated troops and flee towards Wanjiazhai, which was the only place they could escape. Fortunately, the Pili Army retreated to Wanjiapu after chasing for a while. At this time, Zhao Shicai's troops were trapped on the mountain road between Wanjiabao and Wanjiazhai, unable to move forward or retreat, just like the minced meat sandwiched in the bread slices.
At this time, on the mountain road leading to Hengyuan Village, the Mongolian centurion fled at the front with his men, followed by about 200 newly affiliated troops from Qingcheng County who retreated. Running wildly on the mountain road consumes a lot of energy. Most of these newly affiliated soldiers come from plain areas and have neglected training on weekdays. They can't outrun the soldiers of the Perak Army. Therefore, some people constantly collapse to the ground due to exhaustion and are captured by the Perak Army who are chasing them. . When three companies and four companies chased them to the mountain pass, most of the 200 new auxiliary troops were captured, and only a dozen of them slipped through the net. Because the new auxiliary troops at the rear delayed the pursuit of the Perak Army, except for the loss of more than 30 men by artillery, the rest of the Mongolian Centurion escaped from the mountain.
Cao Ergou ordered Liu Zhong to lead the fourth company to escort the prisoners captured along the way back to Wanjiazhai, while he led Yu San's third company to confront the Mongolian Centurion at the mountain pass. After the Mongolian centurions reached the plain outside the mountains, they did not rush to Hengyuan Village two miles away. Instead, they mounted their horses and fought back. In the mountainous areas, it was impossible to ride horses due to the winding and rugged roads, which seriously weakened the Mongols' combat effectiveness. In the plains, the Mongols were like fish in the sea. The Mongolian centurion prepared to launch a counterattack as soon as the pursuers came out of the mountains.
Cao Ergou also knew that although the third company was fully equipped, they did not bring artillery in this lightly-armed pursuit, and they did not even bring many folding shields and grenades. There was absolutely no match for these sixty-odd Mongolian cavalry in the plains. As soon as they left the mountain pass, they would be massacred one-sidedly, so they did not leave the mountain pass. This mountain pass is called Qingfengling, with cliffs on one side and the Wenjing River on the other. In this terrain, the Pili Army only needed to set up a defensive formation at the mountain pass. The Mongols did not dare to let their light cavalry charge towards the giant shield and spear array. The Mongolian Centurions were unable to use the outflanking tactics they were good at. They fired arrows from a distance and were blocked by a tight shield formation. Occasionally, they would be counterattacked by grenades when they rushed close. For a while, the two sides formed a stalemate. Of course, Cao Ergou was not blindly defending, he was waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from the rear. According to Ouyang Xuan's order, the fifth and sixth companies will come with artillery to support them after driving Zhao Shicai's troops away from Wanjiabao.
When the fifth and sixth companies arrived to meet up, it was almost dusk. Because they were in a hurry, they only brought four squatting tiger cannons and two mother-child cannons. Because he was afraid that the direct fire of the mother-child cannon would accidentally injure the defensive soldiers in the front team holding huge shields and spears, Cao Ergou ordered the less powerful but curved Tiger Crouching Cannon to bombard the Mongolian cavalry. Of course, the lower power is only relative. When the shell hit the Mongolian Centurion, it still caused the Mongols to explode. In fact, the Mongolian centurions were facing the mountain pass in a fan shape, and their formation was not dense. However, the simultaneous firing of four cannons also knocked several Mongolian cavalry off their feet. This Mongolian centurion suffered a heavy loss in Wanjiapu and had long been frightened in front of the artillery. Seeing that the Pili Army had brought this big killer weapon again, they were even less interested in fighting. After loading the dead and wounded soldiers onto the spare horses, they hurried towards Hengyuan Village.
The Mongolian Hundreds did not enter Hengyuan Village because a raging fire was burning in the southeast corner of Hengyuan Village. In fact, before the Pili Army's shelling just now, some Mongolian soldiers discovered a long column of smoke rising from Hengyuan Town, but this did not attract the centurion's attention. After all, this was the new addition to the garrison at dusk. When the army lit a fire to cook. When they fled in panic after being shelled, the Mongolian soldiers discovered that the smoke had become much thicker. When I got closer, I realized that it was not smoke from cooking, but the fodder stored in the village to feed the horses had ignited. The new troops guarding the village were frantically fetching water to extinguish the fire. However, it was early winter and the weather was dry. The fire became bigger and bigger. Not only was the forage unsafe, but all the wooden walls in the southeast corner were burned down. The Mongolian centurion took a look at the Perak Army that was slowly coming in formation from the direction of the mountain pass, and then looked at the dilapidated city defenses of Hengyuan Walled City, and then led his men to bypass Hengyuan Walled City and head straight towards Chongqing Fucheng. .
There are more than 200 new auxiliary troops guarding the food and baggage of Hengyuan Village, mainly Xiong Ben's men. These people are all bandits he has recently recruited. "If you have milk, you will be a mother." In the eyes of these bandits, whether they become bandits, join the army at Xiongben, or become a new Mongolian vassal, they all do it for the sake of food, promotion and wealth, and they have no psychological barriers. They heard about the battle situation at Wanjiabao from the newly-affiliated troops in Qingcheng County who had escaped. Now that they saw the Mongolian cavalry retreating towards Chongqing Mansion, and a large number of Perak Army soldiers coming towards Hengyuan Village in the distance, they also followed suit. Throwing down buckets and other fire-fighting tools, they fled toward the outside of the village.
While most of the New Affiliated Army soldiers were fleeing, dozens of New Affiliated Army desperadoes rushed towards a house in the center of the stronghold. They didn't escape not because they were brave by nature and wanted to stay and fight the Perak Army to the end, but because there was a warehouse where wages were stored, and there was a large amount of money. The guards of the silver warehouse were twenty personal soldiers left by Zhao Shicai. These soldiers were very loyal and refused to retreat in the face of several rebels who were already there. Those who dare to rob for money at this time are those who lick blood with their swords and kill their own people without any psychological burden. However, after these desperadoes killed all the soldiers guarding the money warehouse, only about twenty of them were left.
"The mantis stalks the cicada before the oriole lurks behind." When these desperadoes tried their best to break open the door and break the lock, and finally got their pay, they found that their way was blocked by more than a dozen tough men with knives and swords. Living. These tough men are the soldiers of the Perak Army Guard Battalion Reconnaissance Company, and are the most elite soldiers of the Perak Army. Following Xia Hu's orders, they lurked in Hengyuan Town before the new auxiliary troops assembled in Hengyuan Village and entered the mountains. The raging fire in the southeast corner of the forage yard just now was their masterpiece.
Zhao Shicai originally chose this small, sturdy house with only one door as a warehouse to prevent the money from being stolen. Although the number of desperadoes from the new auxiliary army who robbed wages was greater than that of the soldiers of the reconnaissance company, the entrance was narrow, but they became turtles in the urn. The soldiers of the reconnaissance company tightly guarded the door, stabbing every one who came out. After stabbing several people, no one came out again. The soldiers of the reconnaissance company did not rush in, but just threw a grenade into the house. After the intensive explosions, the clamor in the warehouse turned into screams, and finally turned into wailing. The soldiers of the reconnaissance company were quite careful. They threw grenades twice more and waited until there was completely silence before walking in cautiously.
