But at this point, no matter what he did, it was already too late. Before he could assemble the chaotic rebels, the officers and soldiers rushing out from all sides, with the cavalry as the forerunner and the infantry as follow-up, had rushed directly into the chaotic rebel camp. The rebels were in disarray and offered little resistance. When he saw the color of the helmets and tassels of the officers and soldiers who rushed in, Zheng Tong was so shocked that he couldn't help but blurt out: "Four Battalions?"
I almost never thought that the two battalions sent south by the imperial court for reinforcements would move so quickly. Before Zheng Tong rebelled with the King of Guilin, although he had always served on Guangnan West Road, he was still a senior military attache after all. He was quite clear about the real combat power of the four elite battalions of the imperial court. He knows that his team, even if it is well-organized, is far from the opponent of the four major battalions, let alone right now.
Zheng Tong now feels extremely regretful. Looking at the chaotic camp, the officers and soldiers were chopping vegetables and melons, almost one-sidedly killing the team. At this time, Zheng Tong's decisiveness as a senior military attaché became apparent. Seeing that the situation was out of control, I knew that if the fight continued, the entire army might be stationed here. Rather than resisting here, it is better to escape first and then make plans.
Fortunately, I still have a thousand troops and horses left in Ningguo Mansion. The military attache who stayed behind was also his confidant. Since the current situation has reached such an unmanageable point, it is better to retreat to Ningguo Mansion first and then make plans. Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and took the more than 300 rebels who had barely gathered around him. Relying on the strength of his Tianzhu horse, he turned the horse's head and rushed out towards the south.
As for the man behind him, Zhang Gongming, who was serving as the supervisor, and the chaotic army and horses, he could no longer care about it. However, he didn't do too much. While running, he continued to try to gather the scattered rebels. At least in his opinion, it would be safer to take more people with him along the way. After all, from Moling Pass to Ningguo Mansion, there was no guarantee that they would not be intercepted by the army.
In the end, after many efforts, he finally hurriedly assembled more than 1,300 troops and horses. Among them, except for the more than 600 cavalry remaining from yesterday's battle, most of the rest are high-ranking military attaches. Because they all have horses, whether they are Tianzhu horses for senior military attaches or Dali horses for low-level military attaches and cavalry, the four-legged ones can still run much faster than the two-legged ones.
As for the infantry, even if they escaped, they couldn't keep up with this man's escape speed. Of course, there are a few particularly lucky ones among the infantry. The wise men untied the packhorses carrying the heavy baggage, which were few among the generals. After riding on, a few lucky ones followed on horseback. The unlucky ones, those who couldn't ride horses, finally dismounted and fled on foot after walking in circles for a long time.
After Zheng Tong escaped, he looked at the chaos in front of him. The officers and soldiers were like chopping vegetables and melons, and the sergeants were being chased everywhere. Looking around him, Zhou Ming, who was fighting desperately with more than a thousand soldiers gathered together, saw that there were fewer and fewer soldiers under the successive attacks of the officers and soldiers. Zhang Gongming, knowing that the situation was impossible, finally ordered Zhou Ming and all the sergeants to lay down their weapons and surrender.
If you continue to fight like this, you will just die for the sake of death. Now that the army has been defeated like a mountain, why pay the extra price and kill more people? After hearing Zhang Gongming's words, Zhou Ming hesitated for a moment, sighed and finally dropped the sword in his hand. Zhou Ming dropped his sword, and the subordinates around him dropped their weapons one after another without any hesitation.
Seeing that Zhou Ming had carried out his order, Zhang Gongming led his horse and reins to the front of the two armies' formation. Looking at the officers and soldiers surrounding him with swords and guns pointed at him, he was shocked and said: "Where are your commanders? Or where is Mr. Cao now? Can any general please take me to see him? Don't worry, I will He is just a scholar, with almost no power in his hands, so he cannot harm you adults."
The captain who led the team simply ignored Zhang Gongming's words. He just sneered and said: "Sir, you want to see our adults. You have a beautiful idea. At this time, you still want to see our adults? How can we, our adults, be met casually by you, a rebellious person? Look at how you are dressed. , he is also a high-ranking official among the rebels, so I just happened to tie you up and send you to the capital."
After saying that, he waved his hand and motioned to the surrounding officers and soldiers to tie him up. But there were a few wolves and tigers surrounding Zhang Gongming. It is estimated that Zhang Gongming, a scholar, has long been disliked by the officers and soldiers. It was quite neat and tidy, and he just pulled him off the horse. When you pull out the rope, it's time to tie them up. Behind the captain, a voice came from behind: "Wait a minute."
As the voice fell, a senior military attache rode out from the crowd and came to Zhang Gongming. After looking carefully, he couldn't help but be surprised: "Isn't this Mr. Zhang, a former Hanlin scholar? Didn't you leave your job early because you were not favored by a certain family? Why have you joined the rebel king now? Mr. Zhang, please rest assured. , His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has issued an edict a long time ago that during the process of suppressing the rebellion, arbitrary killings are not allowed."
Zhang Gongming still knew the person who was speaking. It was Cao Rui who was now the military governor of Jiangnan East Road and the governor of Jiangnan military affairs. Both of them had been officials in the capital, so naturally they still knew each other. To be honest, Cao Rui was naturally surprised to see Zhang Gongming here. When Zhang Gongming became an official in his forties, he still regretted his repeated resignations. Just meet here now?
Seeing Zhang Gongming, Cao Rui neither sarcastic nor said much. He just arranged for them and all the captured rebel generals to be escorted to Jiangning Mansion for custody. As for the large number of captured rebels, they were all disarmed and sent to various state capitals for custody. But what surprised him was that in the rebel camp, there was not much luggage, but more than 500 women were found.
Cao Rui asked carefully and found out that these women were rebels and had been plundered from Ningguo Mansion. But now that the war is still ongoing, there is no way to send these women back. And it is even more inappropriate to carry so many women with the army. The helpless Cao Rui could only send people to transport these women to Jiangning and hand them over to the local government for resettlement first. Everything else would wait until the end of the current war.
After neatly disposing of and capturing nearly 15,000 rebels. After leaving a group of soldiers to wipe out the scattered soldiers, Cao Ruicai reorganized the army and continued the pursuit. At this time, he was not worried that Zheng Tong, who had already run away, would really run away. Because since starting the other one from Donglu Mountain, we have already been stuck on the road from Molingguan to Ningguofu. Therefore, he was not in a hurry to mobilize troops to pursue them immediately.
Zheng Tong, who escaped from the battlefield, rushed out with less than a thousand cavalry, and ran desperately towards Ning Guo Mansion. Trying to join up with the thousand troops left there. But this time he was smarter and did not go back directly along the route he came from. Instead, go straight south from Moling Pass, enter Taiping Mansion first, and then take a detour back. In case there might be officers and soldiers waiting for you on the way here.
No matter how arrogant he is, he is still a military attaché. The army and horses that appeared in front of Moling Pass today were at most a large camp. He guessed that another camp was either stationed at Jiangning Mansion or waiting for him on the way here. He knew the tactics of the four major battalions, and the usual one was frontal assault and flanking from both sides. There is only one large battalion of troops and horses at Moling Pass today, and another one must be waiting for him.
It's just a pity that this time he was really smart but was misled by his cleverness. From Moling Pass to Taiping Mansion and then to Ningguo Mansion, there are water networks everywhere. Although the remaining defeated generals following him were all cavalry, the problem was that they had no ships. If you want to cross a river or cross several large lakes, you may not be able to do so. Ouyang Shan, who was responsible for setting up an ambush in Donglu Mountain, had a family background.
As early as after entering Donglu Mountain, he secretly sent troops to control all the ferries along the route and seized all the ferries. After the battle at Moling Pass, he sent out cavalry and scouts to conduct reconnaissance along the route from Moling Pass to Taiping Mansion and Ningguo Mansion. As soon as Zheng Tong escaped into Taiping Mansion, he was discovered by his rangers. After receiving the news, he directly led all the cavalry and crossed over.
When Zheng Tong and his party finally reached Danyang Lake after many hardships and their horses almost died, they could not find a ferry. By the time I wanted to take a detour, it was already too late. Ouyang Shan, with two thousand cavalry, had already outflanked him from behind. When Ouyang Shan led his troops and appeared behind Zheng Tong and his party, the faces of his confidants who rushed out with Zheng Tong couldn't help but turn pale.
They were so anxious to escape for their lives that they didn't dare to rest for a moment. At this time, let alone fighting, they were so tired that even holding the horse's reins was troublesome. The mount beneath him was already dripping with sweat. Some, even standing a little unsteady. Compared to his confidants, whose faces were pale with fear, Zheng Tong was very tough. He also knew that even if he dismounted and asked to surrender now, the court would never let him go.
When the King of Guilin County raised troops, almost all the officials on Guangnan West Road who refused to surrender were in his own hands. Now the master in the capital wants to cut himself into pieces. Therefore, he never thought of surrendering at all. At this time, there was no ferry in front, and there were pursuers behind him. The only remaining subordinates around him had no intention of fighting. Now I have no way to go to heaven and no way to enter the earth.
I have also heard about some of the methods used by the Lord in Beijing to suppress the rebellion in Longyou. He was afraid that if he fell into the hands of the imperial court, he might die even worse. It is better to commit suicide now than to fall into the hands of the court. Zheng Tong pulled out his sword, glanced at his confidants again, and put the sword on his neck: "After I die, you should stop fighting. The heads of those who hold me will fall."
After saying that, he gritted his teeth, slashed the knife across his neck, and fell off the horse. After he committed suicide, his men dropped their weapons, dismounted and knelt on the roadside. By the time Ouyang Shan rushed up with the cavalry, these people were already kneeling on the roadside. The war was over before it even started. Ouyang Shan had no choice but to take people back.
But before he reached Donglu Mountain, he received an order from Cao Rui to rush to Ningguo Mansion immediately. Ouyang Shan, who received the order, did not dare to delay. After evacuating the prisoners and Zheng Tong's body, he took two thousand cavalry ahead and rushed all the way to Ningguo Mansion. But when he, as the vanguard, rushed all the way without stopping and rushed to Ningguo Mansion, the city gate of Ningguo Mansion was wide open.
Officials of Ningguo Mansion, big and small, knelt at the city gate waiting to welcome his arrival. On the roadside, there were hundreds of heads piled up. There were hundreds of rebel soldiers, tightly tied and kneeling on the roadside. A large number of people, holding hoes, shovels and poles, escorted the rebels. Ouyang Shan, who arrived early, did not expect that the thousands of rebels in Ningguo Mansion would be wiped out by the people of Ningguo Mansion.
Ouyang Shan, who was riding on the horse, looked at the Ningguo Mansion official who was kneeling on the ground tremblingly. He just sighed and said nothing. Just tell them to wait for the follow-up team to come back. As for what to do now, we still have to wait for the imperial decree from the imperial court. Ouyang Shan, who was born in an aristocratic family, was aware of some of the tacit rules in the court.
