The rebel cavalry who rushed to cross the river were the thousands of cavalry left by Song Xie on the north bank, plus the entire five thousand cavalry of the Huguang rebels. Because Jiangnan West Road is the main battlefield, the Huguang rebels have far less cavalry than the Jiangxi battlefield. These five thousand cavalry are already the entire cavalry of the Huguang rebels. The rebels in Huguang, after joining Song Xuan's cavalry on the north bank, saw that Song Xie was in a critical situation on the south bank.
Xie Jinchuan, who led the Huguang rebels, immediately used his main force to build a pontoon bridge on the front and fully supported Song Yan's troops. He combined his cavalry with the cavalry left behind by Song Xie, strengthened the 20,000 light infantry, and detoured upstream to find a crossing point, preparing to detour Cao Rui's left flank. Because Xie Jinchuan knew that he would have no way to continue going south unless he defeated the army and horses in front of him.
As a result, the two armies, which were about to attack their opponents, collided hard on the upper reaches of Hualin River. It was the cavalry's turn to fight. Although Xie Jinchuan's cavalry was about the same number as Cao Rui's front. But the quality is far inferior. Whether it is war horses or cavalry tactics and quality, they are almost not on the same level. After a melee, the cavalry led by Xie Jinchuan was defeated.
After more than an hour of fighting, the number of more than 10,000 cavalrymen was almost half. Furthermore, the formation of his infantry that was fording the crossing was also disrupted by Cao Rui. He relied on his personal soldiers to rescue him desperately, and relying on the Tianzhu horse under him, he managed to break through the encirclement and retreat to the north bank. Seeing his subordinates still struggling on the other side of the river, Xie Jinchuan burst into tears. He had lost so miserably in this battle.
Our own cavalry, from the quality of the cavalry to the quality of the war horses, is almost no match for the official army. Those Longyou war horses, facing the Dali horses, were far superior to those Dali horses in terms of sprinting ability and height. The officers and soldiers even attacked from a high position. As for my subordinates who have never been on the battlefield, they are almost completely different from these. At first glance, they are the opponents of veterans who have fought in old wars.
However, Cao Rui didn't give him much time to sigh. Cao Rui, who obviously discovered that there was a big fish among this group of rebel cavalry, clearly wanted to kill them all. Chasing Cao Rui's defeated army all the way, even the defeated army was ignored. They pursued Xie Jinchuan all the way to his camp on the north bank, and stopped in the face of nearly 100,000 rebels gathered together.
Cao Rui's battle was a happy one. After escaping back to the camp, Xie Jinchuan, who was almost naked, lost all the two rebel cavalry in this battle. Of the more than 10,000 Dali horses used by the scattered cavalry, Cao Rui captured seven or eight thousand. Even the precious Tianzhu horses, more than ten were seized. But these dozen tall Tianzhu horses made Cao Rui very fond of them.
Later, after interrogating the prisoners, they found out that the big fish that escaped was actually the rebel leader in the Huguang battlefield. Cao Rui didn't think so of Xie Jinchuan, who only escaped from his own knife due to his excellent horses. In his opinion, this kind of war horse is more excellent than the party horses widely used in the army, and he appreciates it more. In addition, he also liked the hundreds of Jurchen horses captured.
As a veteran, Cao Rui is still very cautious. No matter how much I like it, I don't keep it as my own. Instead, they are preparing to send all these high-quality war horses to the capital after this war. When the time comes, I will have a fight with the emperor. As for the more than 13,000 captured prisoners, he sent a thousand cavalry to escort them to the south bank. Didn't Zhang Quan say that the reason why he was late was because of the lack of trackers?
These more than 10,000 rebel prisoners were just used as coolies for him. Of course, although this battle was a great victory, Cao Rui was not so impulsive that he could defeat the main force of the rebels in one fell swoop with his current strength alone. He immediately sent people to the north to mobilize Zhao Wuhu's troops and immediately went south. Anyway, the main force of the Huguang rebels is here, and Zhao Wushu has nothing to guard against, so there is no problem in transferring them.
He led the more than 10,000 cavalrymen under his command and swam around outside the rebel camp to monitor, so that while the rebels had no time to look south, he also did not let the main force of the rebels leave his sight. On the other hand, he stabbed a knife from time to time to bleed the rebel camp and weaken the rebels' strength. While waiting for Zhao Wuhu to lead the infantry to arrive. At the same time, he also rushed to the capital with a speed of 800 miles to report the battle situation in the past few days.
Huang Qiong couldn't help but be extremely happy when he received the memorial from Cao Rui. After handing the document to Fu Yuanshan and Lu Mengzheng in front of them, and the Secretary of the Ministry of War, he said: "Cao Rui, if this battle is won, the entire Jiangnan war situation will be basically the same. Now all the rebel kings can fight. Almost all of the soldiers are on the battlefield on Jiangnan West Road. As long as he takes it down, the rebel king will be unable to recover."
"Yu Mingyuan really recommended a good general to me, and even gave me an amazing feeling. Previously, Ouyang Shan captured Ganzhou and Nan'an, captured the false emperor, and drove the rebel king back all the way. Guangdong. Now Cao Rui has trapped 200,000 rebel troops on both sides of the Hualin River. Damn it, Cao Rui fought this battle so happily. I really want to fight side by side with the troops ahead."
Unable to suppress the joy in his heart, Huang Qiong made an extremely rare swear word. Fu Yuanshan and the others in front of him were all old officials, so they naturally regarded the emperor's indecent words as if they had not heard it. However, Fu Yuanshan and others still know the reason why Huang Qiong is so happy. Since the rebellion of the rebel king, the young emperor, no, was still the prince at that time.
As the imperial court's income became increasingly difficult, especially after losing the original income of the Guilin County Prince's Palace, it was almost unable to make ends meet. It had to plan food and grass all day long and cut down every unnecessary penny. Even the expenses in the palace were repeatedly reduced. , fully support the war ahead. He also had to think of every possible way to mobilize troops and generals, and to allocate effective generals to the generals in front, which was a lot of effort.
He even accomplished something that none of the previous emperors, including the former Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, had ever accomplished. Except for the Xijing camp and some troops and horses, the rest of the world's elite troops were handed over to Mingyuan in the north and Cao Rui in the south. He almost never interfered with how the generals at the front fought. With decentralization to such an extent, the level of trust in the generals at the front can be said to be unprecedented in ancient times.
Yu Mingyuan in the north has been unable to open up the situation. After the Liao army changed generals repeatedly, there were even some minor setbacks, but he didn't even issue an imperial edict to reprimand him. Yu Mingyuan and Cao Rui never refuted any of their requests, even if they seemed excessive to them. When the generals at the front fight, they don't have to worry about the jealousy of the king behind them.
But this Lord would rather be alone in the capital, withstanding the pressure of the civil servants in the DPRK, and even the criticism from the people of the world, without interfering in the slightest. Although the Lord of the Manchu Dynasty was an emperor, he was actually under the greatest pressure. Now as long as Cao Rui wins this battle, it can be said that the battle situation in Jiangnan will basically be decided. The pressure on him was suddenly reduced a lot.
Although he looked unhappy, there was a hint of joy in the corner of his mouth, or simply a hidden smile, which showed the joy in the emperor's heart. After hesitating for a moment, Lu Mengzheng still pondered: "Your Majesty, have you told General Cao to be more cautious? The rebels are in Hualin. After all, there are more than 200,000 troops and horses. There is still a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and ourselves. It is better to be more cautious. .”
"After all, the rebels on Fujian Road and Guangnan East-West Second Road are still there. Rumor has it that the rebels are still desperately trying to recruit soldiers. Not only on Guangnan East-West Second Road and Fujian Road, but also on Huguang South Road, they are recruiting Conscription. It has even reached the point where troops are being recruited everywhere. No one knows how long it will take for this rebellion to be put down. Once the losses are too great, it will be difficult to deal with the next step."
Regarding Lu Mengzheng's suggestion, Huang Qiong pondered for a while and then said: "Lu Aiqing, I understand your idea. But we are thousands of miles away from the battlefield, and we don't know what the situation on the battlefield is like. Everything The situation cannot be explained by a few words in a memorial. None of us know the situation ahead as well as the generals in front of us."
"When the war started, I only had the right to make decisions on the spur of the moment, so let them do it. There are too many rules and regulations, which can only tie up the hands and feet of the generals in front. What's more, when it comes to fighting, they are the real experts. Hands. We laymen should not blindly give orders to experts. However, after the Battle of Hualinshui, we still need to be more cautious about the next step."
"In this way, Lu Aiqing will draft an imperial edict in a while. Tell Cao Rui how to fight the battle of Hualinshui, and let him do it. Neither the court nor I will interfere. But after this battle is over, what should be the next step? You still need to be more cautious about how to go. When the time comes, I will tell him as soon as possible. In addition, I also tell him and the generals at all levels to protect themselves. "
"If the imperial court wins this battle, the situation in Jiangnan will be basically settled. Even if the king recruits millions of troops, without the veterans as the backbone, and with the addition of trained military attachés, they will basically be wiped out. The remaining ones will be basically wiped out. A group of new recruits, no matter how many they have, are nothing more than a bunch of rubbish and won’t have much impact. But I still have to think carefully about the next step."
"Also, Fu Yuanshan and Lu Aiqing, you must now come up with a charter and carefully select a group of officials. There is no shortage of preparations for Huguang and Jiangnan West Road, including Guangnan East-West Road and Fujian Road in the future. But you must carefully consider it. , select a group of officials with both ability and political integrity and prepare to be dispatched. Those who have no choice but to become thieves will be carefully screened by the officials after the officers and soldiers arrive."
"I still believe in Cao Rui's ability. As long as there are no big surprises in this battle, there will be basically no big problems. In addition, tell Zhao Wuye that all the 10,000 elite surrendered rebels will be integrated into his Under his command. Also, the dozens of cannons surrendered by the rebels were all transported to several forts built by Jiangning Mansion. As for him, he stayed in Jiujiang Mansion to prepare for the response. "
But when it comes to this, I think of this guy Zhao Wushu, who looks cautious on the surface, but in reality, he has an extremely bellicose character. Huang Qiong shook his head and said helplessly: "I still know the character of that militant Zhao Wuye. I'm afraid that as soon as the De'an rebels surrender, he will immediately go south. At this time, let him return to defend Jiujiang It’s probably too late for the government.”
After hearing Huang Qiong's words, Fu Yuanshan and others looked at each other, but it was Fu Yuanshan who said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry too much. Although the Guilin County Prince's Palace has always been known as the overlord of the sea, those boat people are not the same as the real ones. There is a big difference between the soldiers who have completed their training. The imperial guards at Jiangning Mansion are not like the ragtag pirates at sea."
"Cao Rui left 10,000 new troops in Jiangning, and the general is also his deputy commander in Ruijian Camp. I know Hou Gang a little bit. When he was in the Longyou Army, he was famous for being good at defensive warfare. He is also a mature and prudent person. During this period, the imperial court dispatched fifty cannons ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 kilograms to Jiangning Mansion to build a fort. Therefore, I think there is no need to worry. "
