The Really Important Battle Chapter 168: Licking Wounds
At nightfall.
Sheng Yong looked at the corpse that Jin Zhen had cleaned up.
Jin Zhen, dressed in a marquis uniform, was lying coldly on the bed, as if he was asleep. But Sheng Yong knew that there was a big gap in Jin Zhen's chest, which was blown out by a fire gun. It took a lot of tricks to cover it up.
Sheng Yong looked at Jin Zhen and suddenly sighed and said, "Brother Jin, I'm sorry. We lost."
When it was just taken down. Sheng Yong is still planning to fight again tomorrow.
But after setting up camp, the casualties were counted. Communicate with the general below. Sheng Yong immediately knew that this battle could no longer be fought.
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Without statistics, I would not know, but there are several completely lighted battalions, with a total establishment of 20,000. Although Sheng Yong also knew that not all of these people died at the hands of the Northern Army, but a considerable number of them died at the hands of Sheng Yong.
After all, the order to break up the troops and attack the formation and kill without mercy was issued by Sheng Yong.
In this way, these people are equivalent to those killed by Sheng Yong.
The cavalry suffered the most casualties.
As the elite among the elite, the cavalry has always had a considerable say in the combat effectiveness of the Ming army. Half of the cavalry was lost. If Jin Zhen is still alive, maybe Sheng Yong still has a strong supporter. But Kim Jin is no longer here.
No one supported Sheng Yong on behalf of the cavalry.
What's more, the defeat itself had a great impact on Sheng Yong.
If before the war started, Sheng Yong, as the commander-in-chief, was just unconvinced, but now the dissatisfaction has turned into open hostility.
Many times in the military, it is so direct.
If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t work.
If you can win the battle, you are good. If you cannot win the battle, you are not good. There are no other messy things.
Sheng Yong lost tens of thousands of soldiers, and countless others were injured. The generals alone suffered a lot of casualties. Although Jin Zhen died in the battle, he was the highest casualty in this battle, but he was not the only high-ranking general who died in the battle. .
In this case, Sheng Yong wanted to command the army to fight again.
You will encounter great resistance.
But, resistance itself is nothing? Fu Youde gave the important task to Sheng Yong. Naturally, Sheng Yong will be given some support. Sheng Yong himself is also very capable. If he persists, he can continue to fight.
However, there is a question, that is, if we fight again tomorrow, will we definitely win?
That's what matters most.
In Sheng Yong's heart, he was more determined than anyone else and wanted to win this victory more than anyone else. But every general must respect reality. Many things are not just what you think. It depends on how far the situation goes.
Not to mention when reinforcements from the Northern Army will arrive. To put it simply, will he still have the chance to have such a huge battle with Wu Li tomorrow?
Sheng Yong is not sure.
Soon there was news from outside.
The Northern Army retreated several miles and set up camp on the south bank of the Floating River. Received artillery on the north bank of the Floating River. I have the idea of continuing the confrontation for a long time.
Sheng Yong sent the messenger down. Said: "It seems that we must retreat."
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As Sheng Yong expected, Wu Licai never thought about fighting Sheng Yong again. He is no fool.
Wu Li went back and counted the number of casualties, which made him feel a little sick.
The total number of casualties exceeded 20,000, of which the cavalry were basically disabled. When it comes to a major counterattack, if the cavalry can be used as the leader, the fruits of victory will be greater. But Wu Li didn't do this. Why? Isn't it because the cavalry suffered too many casualties?
The First Army, which totaled 80,000 men, suffered 20,000 casualties, which meant that one person died out of four. I don’t feel it during the war, but after the war, it’s normal for morale to be low.
If such a battle were to happen again tomorrow, Wu Li was not sure that he would win again.
Why should Wu Li fight?
According to the original plan, wouldn't it be better to set up camp and wait for reinforcements?
As long as Wu Li has a stable camp, Wu Li feels that he can hold it even if the army is doubled, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of troops facing him.
Although the camp on the south bank of Fuhe River is not as strong as Anlingbao, at least it faces the river and only needs to defend three sides, plus a large amount of artillery baggage. There was no way anything could go wrong. It only takes three days for the reinforcements to arrive.
As for the enemy's siege and reinforcements, Wu Li also thought of this.
In fact, it was not what Wu Li thought of.
It's in the battle plan.
Therefore, Wu Li did not have any requirements for the speed of reinforcements coming from a mere thirty miles away. Even Wu Li didn't think that this supporting army would arrive first. After all, the Northern Army had more cavalry than the Southern Army. Even after being allocated to each army, there was still a strategic mobile cavalry.
Although the entire battlefield is not small, the speed of cavalry mobilization is not slow either. After three days, they might be the first to arrive.
Therefore.
Wu Licai was so relieved.
At this moment, he divided the army into two parts, and one part went to sleep. Another part is under construction overnight. Build strong fortifications.
To prepare for war.
But, early the next morning.
Wu Li found that the camp opposite was empty.
The Battle of Floating River ended like this. However, this battle was only the opening of the River War. The war is not over yet. But the point is no longer here.
After Wu Li gathered reinforcements, he formed a strategic group of two armies and tens of thousands of cavalry, following Sheng Yong's retreat and pressing forward step by step. After all, it is not easy for hundreds of thousands of people to retreat. Now it is Wu Li who is seeking a decisive battle.
It's not a decisive battle, but trying to drag the opponent down. Waiting for other ministries to come around and eat it.
This is not an easy task.
Sheng Yong wouldn't be that stupid.
In this case, he will naturally avoid being caught by the opponent.
As a result, the two sides re-staged a pursuit and escape battle on the land of Hebei.
However, this place has become an insignificant secondary battlefield.
The real main battlefield has arrived in Botou Town.
Within a few days, the news had reached Botou Town.
Faced with such news, both sides had different joys and sorrows.
Ye Shen was overjoyed.
What he was happy about was not just a reversal of the war, but where the main force of the Confederate army was located. Knowing where the main force of the Southern Army was, Ye Chen could calmly deploy his troops.
Ye Chen thought to himself: "Now let's see how Fu Youde responds to the current situation."
Fu Youde had no reaction after learning that Sheng Yong was defeated and Jin Zhen died. But suddenly he thought of his son Fu Zhong.
He didn't think that Fu Zhong could win in the current situation. In fact, when he sent Sheng Yong to fight, he had already prepared for the worst.
The current result was not beyond his expectation.
Even better than the worst outcome he expected.
Fu Youde expected the worst outcome. Probably Sheng Yong died in battle and the entire army was wiped out. Now Sheng Yong had the chance to save the entire army. Although Fu Youde did not believe that Sheng Yong could completely withdraw his troops. No hope. But Fu Youde also believed that Sheng Yong could not lose all his troops.
This may be good news.
However, things have reached this point. Fu Youde's options are running out. Continue to stop here, waiting for the Northern Army troops to insert themselves behind you from several directions and cut off the canal. He surrounded hundreds of thousands of troops in a radius of one or two hundred miles.
If such a situation forms, it will be a Changping battle between the north and the south.
Fu Youde's headquarters is certainly not owned by the Southern Army. But among the Southern armies, the one that had fought the most with the Northern Army was the one most familiar with the Northern Army's situation.
If Fu Youde's entire army is wiped out, it will not be easy to organize and train such troops.
Now, Fu Youde has made the right decision
All efforts for victory. All that's left is to ensure that the entire army retreats safely to Shandong. At most, they would withdraw to the south of the Yellow River in order to fight again next year.
However, the retreat itself was not an easy task.
In particular, it is very difficult to move an army of hundreds of thousands, not to mention that there are countless armies behind them that are taking a detour. Maybe, it is easy to create a situation where the enemy is blocked in front and the enemy is pursued behind.
But even though the situation was extremely dangerous, Fu Youde still had his own confidence.
At this point in the war, although Fu Youde did not win much, he definitely did not feel that he was inferior to a certain junior, just because the situation was wrong.
If Ye Chen had stopped, Fu Youde wouldn't say anything. But if Ye Chen doesn't know how to measure, then let him see how powerful the old senior is.
