After a series of military arrangements for Cui Hui in the Jianghuai War Zone of the Southern Song Dynasty were completed, Zhou Zhi learned of Liu Qi's death.
He suddenly felt a little emotional.
"He died of illness before we could fight. It seems God doesn't want me to fight him."
"Liu Qi can be regarded as a meritorious general. It is a pity that he died like this."
Zhou Zhixue sighed for a while, and then said: "I thought he could do more, and even fight us personally, but now it will never be possible."
"That's true, but instead of surrendering, Yangzhou City hangs up white flags and plans to fight to the end. Is there any danger in this?"
Zhou Zhi asked Zhou Zhixue.
Zhou Zhixue thought for a moment and shook his head.
"I think we should trust our soldiers. Even if the Song army is a sad soldier, it is still a trapped beast. Although Ling Zishi is young, he is also a veteran and worthy of trust. We have our mission, and a quick decision is the best policy. As for Yangzhou City , let Ling Zishi pay more attention, this is his mission."
Zhou Zhi nodded.
"Okay, let's do what you said and fight quickly."
In accordance with Zhou Zhi's arrangement, the Ming army played a triumphant song. After taking Zhenjiang Prefecture, they divided into two groups, one going to Jiankang Prefecture and the other directly to Lin'an, each carrying out their own tasks.
Facing the too-rapid comprehensive defeat in the Jianghuai theater, Song Ting and the Song Army were obviously not mentally prepared.
Originally, the 10,000 defenders Liu Qi arranged in Zhenjiang would not be easily defeated by the Ming army.
As long as they insist on defending, the four thousand Ming army will be unable to do anything to Zhenjiang. It is definitely not easy to gain a foothold on the south bank of the Yangtze River.
However, the remnant troops of the Song Dynasty navy in the north of the Yangtze River retreated in such an embarrassing manner. They also brought false news that the Ming army claimed that Liu Qi had been defeated. As a result, the Zhenjiang garrison Wei Tang was frightened.
After thinking about it again and again, he felt that since Liu Qi was defeated, he must be dead, and there was nothing he could say to be sorry, so he took the lead and ran away with Wu Chao.
The general ran away, and of course his subordinates were unwilling to die, so they scrambled to escape, and even the big families in Zhenjiang also ran away with the army, for fear of being plundered by the Ming army.
Zhenjiang's army fled completely, and the two or three remaining kittens followed the crowd, either hiding among the people, or simply preparing to wait for the Ming army to join the Ming army and make a living.
So when the 4,000 Ming army vanguard arrived in Zhenjiang, they successfully captured the undefended town of Zhenjiang without any bloodshed. Even the remnants of the Song army surrendered and took the initiative to lead the way, allowing the Ming army to successfully obtain a large number of Military baggage.
The Zhenjiang defenders continued to flee southward at a rapid pace.
On April 15, in Jintan County, Wu Chao and Wei Tang, who were fleeing in embarrassment, ran into the 20,000 Lin'an Forbidden Army who were lingering in Jintan County and were unwilling to continue going north.
This forbidden army actually arrived in Jintan County when the Ming army arrived in Lujin Town, and was actually very close to Zhenjiang.
However, the commander-in-chief of this Forbidden Army, Guo Zhe, obtained his position in the Forbidden Army through bribery. He has always been good at protecting himself wisely, and he can only be said to have a vague understanding of military matters.
Before setting off, he heard the news that the Ming army was brave and good at fighting. He also heard that the Ming army had many cavalry, which were as fierce as the Jin soldiers back then. Every soldier liked to tie the enemy's head to the horse and carry it with him. Go, so I feel timid.
After leading the troops to set off, Guo Zuo felt that it would be very dangerous to get too close to the front line. He would not be able to escape and would be punished for losing troops and generals, so he decided to stop at Jintan and wait and see the situation.
Waiting and watching the situation can be said to be a political skill that is sure to make money without losing money. The reason why Guo Zie was able to obtain the position of a senior officer in the Forbidden Army was not based on his military exploits or military ability, but on his political position and ability to wait and see the situation.
Because of this political ability, he was able to gain a firm foothold as a senior official in the Forbidden Army and was not eliminated.
In his opinion, since the old man Liu Qi is so good at fighting, he should just let him fight.
If Liu Qi wins, he will immediately go north to compete for the credit. By then, with his shamelessness and connections in the court, he will be able to get a share of the pie and take advantage of the victory.
If Liu Qi is defeated, it means that the Ming army is too strong and cannot be defeated at all. There is no need to risk death. When the time comes, he will immediately move in, protect the army, take the army away, and hire people to operate it, maybe he can still have some success. offset each other.
No matter how you look at it, this transaction is a guaranteed profit, which is very consistent with his long-standing survival philosophy.
So Guo Zuo kept watching, watching, and watching until Wu Chao and Wei Tang fled in embarrassment with more than 10,000 defeated troops, he directly turned waiting and watching into staking the enemy.
When he heard that Liu Qi was defeated, the army was finished, and Zhenjiang was lost, Guo Zuo was frightened out of his wits on the spot. He forgot all about meritorious service and rewards. He didn't want the army anymore, and ran away with Wu Chao and Wei Tang without saying a word. .
Twenty thousand forbidden troops have nothing to say.
The generals have all run away, what are they still doing here?
Run!
Otherwise, why don't you wait to stay and be slaughtered like a pig by the Ming army?
So most of the Forbidden Army chose to follow the defeated troops from the front line and began the "Great Turn".
They walked very slowly as they moved forward, as slow as a seventy-year-old grandfather limping with a cane. Perhaps the grandfather thought he was a little faster than them.
When he turned in, he ran so fast that Dai Zong, the divine traveler, tried his best to catch up, so he could only hide his face in shame and run away.
This large force fled from Jintan to Liyang, then from Liyang to Yixing, and from Yixing to Changxing.
Finally, on the way to Changxing, due to the small number of cavalry troops and the large number of infantry troops, they were finally overtaken by the Ming army's chasing cavalry in Husu Town.
Geng Xingwen, who led the pursuit force, was so enjoyable.
After the army decided to go south, he led 5,000 elite cavalry as the vanguard of the army, responsible for opening roads, tracking down enemies, and chasing down enemy troops.
After the Ming army occupied Jintan County, they quickly learned that a Song army of 20,000 people had been stationed here before. However, before the Ming army arrived, they ran away with another army that had withdrawn from the north. They ran away very quickly. It's beyond comparison.
Zhou Zhi immediately handed over the pursuit task to Geng Xingwen, asking him to catch up with and destroy the Song army, and try his best to eliminate the effective strength of the Song army and give them a heavy blow.
After receiving the order, Geng Xingwen led his troops to pursue the Song army along the escape route. He did not know whether the Song army ran too fast or he advanced too slowly. He failed to catch up when he reached Liyang, and failed to catch up when he reached Yixing. I didn't catch up, and I didn't catch up until I reached Husu Town.
In the process of escaping, this defeated army was actually constantly losing men.
Of course the leading generals, officers and soldiers had horses to ride, but most of the soldiers did not have horses and could only rely on a pair of iron feet to run as hard as they could.
Of course, two legs can't run with four legs, not to mention that the average big-headed soldier doesn't have enough food and clothing, and doesn't have a few ounces of oil and water in his stomach. He simply can't bear to run long distances, and he is quickly thrown off by the commander and elite soldiers. The team formed a long snake formation to see who could run better.
Of course these defeated soldiers were frightened, of course they were afraid of being killed, so they ran desperately, but sometimes even if they risked their lives, they might not be able to run fast. Instead, they quickly lost their strength and could only collapse on the roadside, unable to move, saying nothing. Can't get up.
Geng Xingwen pursued all the way, and along the way he could find these defeated Song troops paralyzed on the roadside, half-dead. It seemed that there were still a lot of them, but they could not fight. They were so tired that they could not even stimulate their desire to survive. They seemed to have been Desperate and lying in a state of waiting for death.
But he did not have time to capture and kill these defeated soldiers.
What he needs to do is to catch up to the elite main force of the Song Army's escape, rather than capture these half-dead soldiers. He is the vanguard pursuit force and is not responsible for capturing enemy soldiers.
His goal is only to move forward, to keep moving forward.
So he directly sent people to shout to these defeated Song troops.
"Throw your weapons aside! Stay on the side of the road! Stay out of the way! We don't have time to capture you! Again, throw away your weapons and stay on the side of the road! Don't block the way! We don't have time to capture you!"
The defeated soldiers of the Song Army could not resist, so they could only stay on the roadside exhausted, watching the majestic Ming Army cavalry galloping away on their powerful horses, and an inexplicable emotion emerged in their hearts.
