Yao Zhong was relatively lagging behind in acquiring military intelligence.
At this point, there has always been a very obvious gap between the Song Army and the Ming Army. The Ming Army valued intelligence more than anything else. The Song Army certainly valued intelligence, but its level of intelligence collection was really beaten by the Ming Army.
It can be said that Yao Zhong was unlucky.
A group of cavalry sent by Li Xianzhong desperately to inform Yao Zhong about the battle information of the Ming army was pursued and surrounded by the peasant army in the Jingmen area.
Although they fought desperately, they still could not escape and were surrounded and annihilated by the peasant army. They all died in the battle and failed to enter Sichuan. They told Yao Zhong the news of the Ming army's battle and the defeat of Li Xianzhong.
Therefore, Yao Zhong not only did not know that the Battle of Xiangfan had been fought and that Li Xianzhong's reinforcements and the Xiangfan Song Army had been wiped out, but he also did not know that the Ming army was equipped with the latest firearms, and he did not know that the peasant army in front of him was actually a genuine Ming army or a genuine Ming army. A particularly elite one.
All channels through which news can be transmitted have been blocked by the peasant army. It will be difficult for the Sichuan-Sichuan Song Army to obtain effective information in the near future, unless they come and take a look themselves, then they will know what happened.
So, all this is destined to be a tragedy.
Zhang Yuejing was thinking about enjoying the scenic spots on both sides of the Yangtze River in the land of Sichuan and Sichuan when he had time, feeling the freedom and ease of "Chaoci Baidi Caiyunjian" and "Apes on both sides of the bank can't stop crying", and by the way, thinking about what Zhao Yucheng said , and found out that Song Jun was coming. .
He was a little surprised.
"So fast? Logically speaking, it has to be August, right? The fastest should be July. Yao Zhong was a bit too fast. Did the Southern Song Dynasty also have such efficient operation efficiency?"
"Poop quickly, it's better to finish it earlier, so as not to delay it later and waste some money and food."
Su Jianian, secretary of the trapped army, smiled and said: "I just don't know if Yao Zhong has learned about the Battle of Xiangfan."
"Probably I don't know. If I knew, I probably wouldn't come."
Pei Le, the deputy general of the trapped army, smiled and said, "Commander, shall I take command of this battle?"
"Okay, let's see how well you direct."
Zhang Yue nodded and said: "Yao Zhong is said to be a general of the Southern Song Dynasty, but he is probably from the same group as Wang Yan. Don't keep him. Kill him if you can. In the future, these generals will no longer be needed in the land of Jiangnan." Waiting for someone."
Pei Le and Su Jianian immediately understood what Zhang Yuejing meant.
"Understood."
The two immediately went to prepare for this battle and waited for the arrival of Yao Zhong's army.
Yao Zhong had no idea that he was about to face a cruel battle. He didn't even pay attention to the fact that the sentry told him that he saw some new black iron pipe-like weapons equipped by the Ming army. He didn't think they were fatal. thing.
Under such circumstances, Yao Zhong and the Ming army began to fight.
However, this battle was destined to be unequal from the beginning, and Yao Zhong was destined to fail from the beginning.
Through the erection and bombardment of a large number of artillery, the Ming army stunned the Song army ships on the water, which originally had the advantage in quantity and combat effectiveness, and suffered heavy losses. A large number of Song army warships were sunk by Ming army artillery.
A large number of Song army sailors who were good at water warfare fell into the water and died because their ships were broken and capsized. They could hardly get close to the Ming army's water camp, and they were almost wiped out without being able to carry out the gang-hopping operations they were good at.
The Song army also tried to use firearms to fight against the Ming army, but they were really unable to compete with the Ming army's firearms that were ahead of their time. Fireballs, fire caltrops, and sky-shaking thunder were all more symbolic than practical. significance.
Faced with such a situation, Yao Zhong was not only frightened but also horrified.
He never thought that the Ming army was actually equipped with such terrifying weapons, and he didn't know what these terrifying weapons were about.
However, he knew very well that this battle could not continue like this.
He lost the opportunity. Now that the navy has been defeated, it is difficult for the infantry to win independently in such a place. It must quickly leave the battlefield to regroup, stabilize its position, and roar in Xutu.
So Yao Zhong ordered the army to retreat, trying to return to the Badong area to preserve his main force, and then think of a solution.
Pei Le commanded the Ming army to win the blocking battle against Yao Zhong, and Yao Zhong was defeated.
But this is not the end.
Before the war started, Pei Le ordered Xu Ang, the commander of the second division of the trapped army, to personally lead his troops over the mountains and ridges. He led an elite group to walk on mountain roads and trails, and used Yao Zhong's retreat route at a very fast marching speed.
Xu Ang promptly blocked Yao Zhong's army on its way back to Badong County, making it unable to move and in trouble.
Yao Zhong sent troops to attack several times, but Xu Ang held on to his dangerous positions, so that the Song army could not retreat.
Then the main force of the Ming army went upstream and bombarded Yao Zhong's temporary camp with artillery. After disrupting them, the army attacked from front to back and defeated the Song army in one go. A large number of Song soldiers were forced to have no choice but to even try to dive to survive.
However, the success rate of diving to survive in such a place is really not high. Many people are swept away by the current, and their life or death is unknown.
In the chaos, in order to survive, they even killed each other and tried to find a way out through killing each other. However, because the road was too narrow, the Song Army's intentions failed.
Although they are elite, the Sichuan-Shu army is still a feudal army after all. It is impossible to expect them to persist to the end. Once more people die, no matter how powerful they were when they were organized, they will be defeated now.
A defeated army has no combat effectiveness.
Yao Zhong knew this well, but Yao Zhong knew even more that this was a battle that could not be lost. He fought desperately and led his personal guards to attack the Ming army many times, but could never open up an effective path.
Faced with such a situation, Yao Zhong finally despaired.
Some of his soldiers expressed their willingness to risk their lives to protect Yao Zhong's successful retreat, but Yao Zhong sadly refused.
"I attacked rashly and did not find out the true situation of the Ming army, so the army fell into this situation. This is my mistake and the crime I committed. The Song Dynasty is facing such a crisis because of me. How can I be embarrassed? Where to survive?”
So Yao Zhong simply gave up his life and led his personal guards to attack the Ming army's central army desperately, trying to compete with Zhang Yuejing and Pei Le, who led the central army in pursuit.
As a result, they collided head-on with the musketeers of the Ming army.
The musketeers remained motionless under the orders of their officers.
"Raise the gun! Release!"
The well-trained Ming army musketeers raised their matchlocks and pulled the triggers at the oncoming Yao Zhong soldiers.
A series of gunpowder explosions sounded, and clouds of white smoke rose into the sky, followed by lead bullets pounding into the bodies of Yao Zhong and his soldiers.
These soldiers are very brave and brave. Yao Zhong spent a lot of money to train them. They can eat meat every day and need to work hard every day to make them strong and full of energy.
Every critical moment, Yao Zhong would let them rush into battle. When they rushed into battle, they were very brave and made contributions in battles many times. Yao Zhong felt that with their strength, even if they could not win in the end, they could still do it by changing their limits. of.
But facing the muskets, the physical advantages of these Song soldiers were greatly reduced.
Before these Song soldiers could rush forward, they were all wiped out under musket fire.
Some were punched through the chest, some had their arms and legs broken, some were punched through the neck, and some had their heads smashed.
Yao Zhong rushed with him and was shot six times. The most deadly lead bullet pierced his helmet, shattered his skull, and killed him on the spot.
Song general Yao Zhong, who had long been famous for guarding northern Sichuan, died on the bank of the Yangtze River.
After Yao Zhong's death, the 30,000-strong Song army faced a dead end.
With a solid defense in front and a ferocious pursuer behind, they were unable to advance and retreat, and finally surrendered on a large scale without any doubt.
After the war, some statistics showed that in addition to those who died in battle and drowned, about 23,000 people chose to surrender. The main force of the Song army stopped resisting and became prisoners of the Ming army.
After that, because there was no plan to attack Sichuan and Shu, the Ming army did not further attack Sichuan and Shu. Instead, they returned to Zigui. After setting up defenses in Zigui, Zhang Yuejing personally escorted these Song prisoners back to Xiangfan.
This day is the ninth day of July in the fifth year of Hongwu.
The last strategic mobile force of the Song Army was completely annihilated by the Ming Army. Since then, the Southern Song Dynasty has completely lost the ability to proactively launch strategic offensives on three fronts. More than half of the country's military strength has been lost, and there is not even much defensive strength left.
