With bursts of enlightenment, Li Xianzhong returned to reality.
In addition to the noise on the battlefield, there were also panicked inquiries from his subordinates.
"General! What should we do?"
"General! Leave quickly! If you don't leave, it will be too late!"
"General! My subordinates must escort the general to escape even if they risk their lives!"
Li Xianzhong looked at his anxious-looking subordinates, and thought a thousand times in his mind. From the humiliation he endured in Xixia and the Jin Kingdom, he thought of the prosperous years after returning to the Southern Song Dynasty.
He made a decision.
"You divided your troops into two groups, fought your way out of the battlefield, rushed to Sichuan and Shu at all costs, and told the Sichuan and Shu armies that the Ming army had new firearms. You rushed all the way to Lin'an and told the Lin'an court that the Ming army had new firearms.
Remember, the Ming army had two types of firearms. One was a firearm comparable to a trebuchet, which could launch huge projectiles and could destroy an army formation with one blow. The other was a firearm held by an individual soldier, which emitted white smoke when fired. , our elite cannot stop it. "
Li Xianzhong decided to rely on his last elite cronies to deliver the news on the battlefield to the Southern Song Dynasty court and the Sichuan-Sichuan army in a timely manner, so that they would not suffer any more losses.
And himself...
"General, what about you?"
One of the guards asked carefully.
Li Xianzhong looked at the overwhelming defeat and smiled bitterly. .
"As a general of the imperial court, deeply trusted by His Majesty, I commanded 80,000 troops to rescue Xiangfan, but here I am trapped in a tight siege, defeated like a mountain, the rescue failed, and the army was completely lost. Under such circumstances, how can I have the dignity to leave the battlefield alive? ?The only thing is death."
"General!!!"
The soldiers were shocked.
"Don't worry about me, and don't care about military law. At the critical moment, I need you to tell the court and the Sichuan-Sichuan army specific information, let them know how we failed, and how I died on the battlefield."
Li Xianzhong made up his mind to die and prepared to fight to the death with the Ming army.
The soldiers were still unwilling to leave, so Li Xianzhong drew a knife and put it on his neck.
"If you don't leave, I will die in front of you!"
Under such pressure, the loyal guards dismounted, kowtowed to Li Xianzhong, and then galloped away in tears.
After all, it is impossible for the Ming army to completely siege this area. The large army cannot leave, but the small army can still try to rush forward.
Li Xianzhong looked at their departing figures, sighed, and then began his final battle.
He took the remaining personal guards and the Chinese troops that could be organized to attack forward, preparing for the final melee with the Ming army. He held up his commanding flag, hoping that his charge would drive the Song army closer to him, and Launch a threatening charge.
This approach was indeed effective. A large number of soldiers of the Song Army who had no masters did approach him, but at the same time, the Ming Army also approached.
A section of the Ming army's cavalry surrounded them and rushed to kill them, but Li Xianzhong led his troops to resist tenaciously. Both sides were furious, going back and forth, and the battle was extremely fierce.
Li Xianzhong obviously had an extremely strong will to fight, and the Song soldiers who followed him were obviously brave, but on the battlefield, organization was more important than bravery.
In just two sticks of incense, all the soldiers around Li Xianzhong were lost, and only the last two or three guards were left to protect Li Xianzhong. Li Xianzhong had lost his horse, was covered in blood, panting, and was obviously at the end of his strength.
When Ma Hongxing heard that Li Xianzhong was surrounded, he was overjoyed and immediately rushed over with his troops. Looking at the embarrassed Li Xianzhong, his heart was full of joy.
"Li Xianzhong, I was lucky enough to let you escape by the Yangtze River back then. This time, I will never let you go. Surrender!"
Ma Hongxing raised the spear in his hand and pointed it at Li Xianzhong.
Li Xianzhong breathed heavily, glanced at Ma Hongxing, and seemed to remember who this person was.
After a moment of silence, he laughed out loud.
"Hahahahahaha, Ming Gou, do you know why I am called Li Xianzhong? I was not called this name originally. This name was given to me by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. The Emperor of the Song Dynasty gave me the name to show my loyalty. If I betray you, will I still have the face? Do you want to survive? You want me to surrender? Impossible!"
Li Xianzhong then stabbed himself to death.
After his death, the last three guards around him were extremely sad and angry, so they followed him and killed themselves with swords.
The commander died in battle and the battle flag fell down. Ma Hongxing ordered the Ming army to shout on the battlefield the news that the Song commander was dead. The remnants of the Song army collapsed completely. They put down their weapons and knelt down to surrender. They gave up resistance and did not continue to fight.
This battle that started at noon ended before the sun set. For a battle involving nearly 100,000 people, it was indeed unusually fast.
Ma Hongxing couldn't stop Li Xianzhong, and felt somewhat regretful.
However, the real regret was not that of Li Xianzhong, but that he found that under the current situation, as long as the Southern Song Dynasty could not have the same equipment as the Ming army, and it did not rain heavily, then the Ming army would almost certainly win against the Song army. In this situation, it was impossible for the Song army to defeat the Ming army.
Facing the Song Army's dense military formation, the artillery hit accurately every time. Not to mention its lethality, it also had great deterrence.
The muskets were also extremely intimidating when facing the Song Army's military formation. The shields that bows and crossbows could not break through, but the muskets within the effective range could break through. Penetrating the shields was like penetrating a layer of paper.
The armor of the Song Army could not provide effective defense against muskets. Even if it could not penetrate, the shock could still kill the Song Army.
In this way, as long as you master the basic command skills of commanding the army to advance, attack, retreat, and defend, you can lead your troops in battle and almost always win.
The upgrade of the Ming army's weapons and equipment made the Ming army almost invincible, and everything seemed to be just a matter of time.
After winning this battle, Ma Hongxing suddenly wanted to know whether the reason for this victory was that the Ming army was too powerful or the Song army was too stretched?
Or maybe both?
After the battle at the foot of Tongbai Mountain, the main force of the Song army was destroyed. Ma Hongxing ordered a group of troops to quickly go south to Zaoyang to assist the Zaoyang defenders in the battle. As a result, when they arrived in Zaoyang, the 10,000 Song troops attacking the city outside Zaoyang had been killed by Zhang Yuejing himself. Leading an army of 10,000 people, they were wiped out completely.
Zhang Yuejing was very happy after learning that Ma Hongxing had won a great victory and that Li Xianzhong was defeated and committed suicide.
But before he had time to enjoy this victory, he decided to take advantage of the situation and launch the next military operation.
Before starting this battle, he laid a plan for the defenders of the Second City of Xiangfan to let them know that the Song Army's reinforcements were coming and that the Ming Army's rear was on fire.
Under such circumstances, the morale of the Second City of Xiangfan was greatly boosted, and in these days, he also clearly requested that the bombardment be slowed down, giving the impression to the Song army in the city that the Ming army's combat power could not continue.
And they did not continue to feel the strong attack of the Ming army, and from this they judged that there was really a big problem in the rear of the Ming army.
Later, on the morning of May 28, the Fancheng defenders and the Xiangyang defenders simultaneously noticed the Song army coming from different directions.
