It is said that Wang Yi'en calculated that the officers and soldiers would plow the ground with artillery before attacking, so he moved the defense line a hundred steps back and out of the range of fire in order to reduce casualties. Unexpectedly, the officers and soldiers did the opposite, and instead of suppressing fire, they directly asked the soldiers to swim across the river. Now the general would He was caught off guard. If he allowed them to land on the bank, wouldn't it mean that he had surrendered his position to others? So he ordered the rebels to rush to the river bank and not allow the officers and soldiers to land.
But at this moment, hundreds of artillery pieces rained down with arrows and fell into the rebel formation. They screamed in agony for a while. In the blink of an eye, the rebel army was smashed to pieces. On normal days, they might have collapsed long ago. However, at this time, the rebels knew that there would be no way out if they took a step back, so they could only grit their teeth and rush forward despite the hail of bullets.
Wang Zamao's three hundred warriors felt something bad as soon as they entered the water. Although the water surface of the Qingtong River was not wide, due to the heavy rain in the east, the water in the lake surged and the water entered the river mouth so the water was deep and fast. If not careful, they would be directly killed. From the river to the west, fortunately, there was long-range artillery suppression from the rear, which bought them time. As soon as hundreds of people reached the shore, they rushed forward with their swords. Wang Zamao took the lead, brandishing his sword and shouting, "Capture and kill Bai Wang and make great achievements!"
The sound of artillery fire from the officers and soldiers continued, and the archers fired continuously. Although it was dark at night and it was difficult to see the casualties of the opponent, Chang Yu expected that the rebel army would suffer heavy losses. Li Muxian even frowned and wondered, how could Bai Wang leave such a big gap for us with his caution? Loophole.
You must know that when the officers and soldiers swam across the river, the rebels were a hundred steps away. When they realized something was wrong and rushed over, they were severely wounded by artillery and suffered heavy casualties. At this time, the officers and soldiers crossing the river had already gone ashore and directly covered them up. It can be said that the rebels Serious tactical mistakes were made from the start.
There are only a few thousand thieves on the other side, which means that the main force has gone south. Those who stayed here are the rearguards who have died. According to Wang Tizhong, Bai Wang also has two generals: the brave and militant King of Hell Wang Yi'en, and the resourceful Yuan Sanzhong. If he were the one, he would never commit the crime. This kind of low-level mistake turned out to be true. Wang Yi'en was on the other side. Chang Yu chuckled. The governor once told him to let him see the real King of Hell. Tonight was the moment for his dream to come true.
In the dark night, hundreds of Wang Zamao's soldiers were the first to land ashore to fight with the bandits, attracting all the firepower and attention. At the same time, Wang Zamao and Jin Shenghuan from both wings also landed on the beach with their front and rear feet to fight with the thieves. After being hit hard by the shells, the rebels fought fiercely.
It was too dark and the other side was too far away. Chang Yu, who was watching the battle, could not clearly see the battle situation, but the corners of his mouth slightly raised amidst the sounds of killing. Li Muxian asked in a low voice: "Do we need to ask Lu Daqi to send more men across the river?"
Chang Yu shook his head: "Thousands of defeated soldiers cannot compare with our army in terms of physical strength, morale, or fighting spirit. What's more, we still have a strength advantage and they were severely damaged by artillery. If they can hold it for more than half an hour, he will win!"
Chang Yu's words are correct. In this situation, the two armies fought with strength rather than words, and even with the so-called fighting spirit, Wang Yi'en personally entered the battle formation on the other side and led his troops to fight in an attempt to push the officers and soldiers back to the other side. However, They lost the opportunity at the beginning and allowed the officers and soldiers to rush ashore. In addition, after being hit hard by artillery, their morale was completely depleted. There were only a thousand or so soldiers who could fight against four or five times the number of officers and soldiers. They were beaten back again and again as soon as they made contact, and they were almost helpless. With the power to fight back, no matter how loud you shout, you can't stop the retreat.
Wang Zamao was eager to perform his meritorious service. After landing, he rushed into the enemy formation to attract firepower and was surrounded by the bandits. The pressure was huge and the loss was huge. However, after the officers and soldiers on both wings caught up with him, he changed his mind as soon as the pressure was relieved. Even if he won the battle, he The most you can do is to atone for your sins by being a vanguard, but if you capture the enemy general...
At first when he was on the other side, he thought Bai Wang was still here, but after rushing through and fighting for a while, he felt that the rebel army was only two to three thousand people, so he realized that they were the rear troops. Bai Wang would not be here, but Wang Yi'en and Yuan Sanzhong were there. possible. Sure enough, he caught a wounded soldier on the battlefield and asked about it. After learning that it was Wang Yi'en, he became excited and led hundreds of his soldiers to stare at the big fish. After a while, he discovered the suspected location of Wang Yi'en, so he shouted He shouted and rushed over.
Unlike Wang Zamao's cunning, the Nanjing soldiers on the west wing, led by Jin Shenghuan, fought the toughest battle since they crossed the river. Perhaps Jin Shenghuan's words before the war stimulated them too much. After landing, they went crazy and killed people. The enemy's formation was cut down and killed head-on.
However, the King of the East Wing unexpectedly engaged in psychological warfare. After his subordinates came ashore, they fought and shouted: "Surrender and not kill. Why are we brothers killing each other? There is no way to survive as thieves, so why don't we surrender and build achievements together..." You must know that the rebel army was newly defeated and exhausted. At this time, morale was extremely low. Many people did not want to fight anymore. However, they were deceived by Wang Yi'en's words that the officers and soldiers would not accept surrender. They had no choice but to bite the bullet and fight. At this time, hearing these words The man immediately threw away the knife, hugged his head, knelt down and surrendered. Surrender without killing. The four words actually produced great magic power at this time, causing the east wing of the rebel army to almost lose resistance. This is why Wang Yien was defeated so quickly. one of the reasons.
The sound of killing gradually faded away, and the bonfires on the other side were lit up one after another. Chang Yu's smile became thicker: "It's a little faster than expected." Lu Daqi and other soldiers all cheered. Even a fool knew that the bandit army was defeated.
As expected, Jin Shenghuan sent people to report not long after, and the bandits were defeated and fled with more than half of their casualties. Wang Tizhong and Wang Zamao were chasing the enemy, but Chang Yu was most concerned about: "Where is the boat?"
"Report to the Governor, there is no ship on the other side. According to the prisoners' account, part of it was taken away instantly by Bai Wang and part of it was burned by them!"
Damn it! Chang Yu couldn't help but cursed angrily.
It is not easy for an army to cross the river without a boat. The soldiers can still swim, but the baggage, such as the food and fodder for the artillery logistics of the Shenji Battalion, almost all of the boats on hand were given to Bai Wang by Wang Zamao. At this time, I heard that they were burned. Can not be angry.
However, anger could not solve the problem at this point. He could only recruit fishing boats or ask soldiers to cut down forests and build rafts later, but that was also a matter of tomorrow. Now he wanted to take a rest and reward the entire army!
Chang Yu then assigned tasks to Lu Daqi and others. First, he counted the casualties and trophies of the officers and soldiers. On this day, the officers and soldiers fought from noon to now, but they were exhausted and suffered heavy losses. However, the gains were also huge. First, they broke through Bai Wang's carefully arranged trap in one go. At the checkpoint, many mules, horses, cattle, sheep, food and other trophies were captured. Of course, the two red cannons did not escape either.
At the same time, he ordered the logistics to slaughter the injured horses and the cattle and sheep that had been captured by the bandits. He wanted all the soldiers in the army to eat meat and meat to their heart's content. And this was just an appetizer, and he also spent one hundred thousand taels of silver. A large reward was given to the troops who participated in the battle, which made the whole army cheer for a long time.
Winning battles were rewarded with money, and meritorious deeds were remembered. A merit list was made, and all the soldiers who participated in the battle with meritorious service were listed on it, which would be reported to the court for mention in the future.
Although the night was deep, the ten-mile mountain road was very lively. The soldiers ate meat, drank soup, touched their waists for silver, and boasted about their bravery on the battlefield during the day. Some people fell asleep while talking. They were really too tired. .
The south bank of the Qingtong River was also very noisy. They thought it was a tough battle but they easily defeated the bandit army and achieved great success. The soldiers were very happy. The logistics troops have used rafts to send the wounded soldiers back to the city and delivered meals. Although most of them were surrendered soldiers, their treatment was no different from that on the other side.
Rest tonight, and tomorrow the army will cross the river and advance towards Chizhou City. Chang Yu looked up at the stars and made repeated plans in his mind. The best possibility is to defeat Bai Wang directly outside the city and unable to escape. The worst possibility... then attack the city. Got it!
Chang Yu didn't want to attack the city, thinking that no matter who attacked the city, whether he succeeded or not, the cost to the attacking side would be heavy.
"The Governor is overjoyed, the Governor is overjoyed..." Just at this moment, a voice came from the river bank. A group of people were crossing the river on rafts. Chang Yu raised his eyebrows. Wu Sangui and others next to him also looked confused. This is too late. What else could there be to be happy about?
