After all, the anti-thief army on the opposite side is not an ordinary thieves, and they are powerless when facing a large square formation of officers and soldiers.
Even if these rebel troops don't use infantry to attack them, they can defeat thousands of them alive with artillery bombardment alone.
Resistance is impossible and retreat?
If he could retreat, He Renlong would have retreated long ago, but his army was already deep in the battlefield and had no way to retreat.
Once a retreat is ordered, there is no difference if the entire army is routed.
The end was much worse than Zuo Liangyu's collapse.
Although Zuo Liangyu's troops were defeated and abandoned their armor, most of them were actually able to escape from the battlefield...
But once He Renlong ordered a retreat, his four thousand troops would be completely destroyed in minutes and would not be able to escape at all.
Not to mention, when the two hundred cavalrymen of the rebel army were already chasing Zuo Liangyu, they went directly behind He Renlong's troops.
Strictly speaking, He Renlong's troops were completely surrounded by the bandits.
Unable to hold on, unable to attack, and unable to break through.
He Renlong sighed and then looked back at the bandit army directly in front!
The thief army in front was full of morale and was pressing forward step by step. At the same time, the musketeers of the thief army continued to fire.
At the same time, the rebel artillery did not stop for a moment and continued to fire at his army.
Casualties!
The casualties are coming one after another!
He Renlong knew very well that he was completely finished in this battle.
He didn't even have a chance to escape alone, and what was waiting for him was either defeat and death, or becoming a prisoner of the bandits.
But he is not willing to give in!
The reason why he ended up in this situation without even a chance to escape was all because Zuo Liangyu tricked him.
How could he be in this situation if Zuo Liangyu hadn't deliberately allowed him to attack and then covered Zuo Liangyu's escape.
Zuo Liangyu, I and you are inseparable!
After cursing Zuo Liangyu again with hatred, He Renlong took a deep breath and said: "Brothers have all tried their best, and I have tried my best too. For this reason, we are worthy of your majesty." It’s all princes of the imperial court.”
"Now, it's time to consider the lives of thousands of our brothers!"
Then he turned to a close confidant beside him and said:
"Go over and talk to them. As long as they give us a way to survive, then I will sell my life to him and the lives of thousands of our brothers to Luo Zhixue!"
In despair, He Renlong had to send people to find the Baoxiang Army and try to surrender.
Luo Zhixue also met the envoy sent by He Renlong, but it didn't matter when he heard what the envoy said at first that He Renlong would bring thousands of people to work for him. However, Luo Zhixue soon came to his senses. He immediately asked the envoy: "Are you saying that your department will formally surrender and then form its own army? He Renlong will continue to command this army?"
"Then we are also responsible for your food, wages and weapons, and you have been out of food and salary for a long time. Do you hope that we can allocate 100,000 taels of silver to replace your wages?"
The envoy said: "My general heard that General Luo, you are kind and generous, and you are a top-notch hero here. My general is willing to submit to the general. From now on, General Luo, you will know that I am Heying Bingfeng." refers to."
"As for food and salary, I am dissatisfied with the general. The Ming Dynasty is really not a thing. It has never given us any food and salary. Therefore, the army has been in arrears for a long time. I beg the general to have mercy!"
After hearing what the messenger said, Luo Zhixue laughed!
The messenger sounded nice, but that was what he meant.
He Renlong can surrender to the rural army, but he still wants to maintain an independent organization.
This condition may not be excessive in their opinion, but it is extremely excessive for the Baoxiang Army. Before Luo Zhixue could speak, Xu Zhixian on the side spoke first: "It's absolutely impossible. You think we are fools and you still pay for it." Food will help you raise your troops. What are you dreaming about in the broad daylight? I tell you, either surrender unconditionally or die..."
Luo Zhixue waved his hand to stop Xu Zhixian's words, and then said to the messenger:
"Our Baoxiang Army has recruited countless surrendered troops. There has never been a precedent of allowing surrendered generals to surrender their troops to form their own army, and I do not intend to set such a precedent. If your army is sincerely willing to surrender, then follow our rules. !”
"If your officers are willing to continue serving in the army and I select them, they can be arranged to continue serving in the army, and General He can be awarded the position of special military adviser to the General's Mansion!"
After thinking about it, Luo Zhixue added: This is the second-grade military position of our Baoxiang Army. General Chen Yongfu and Chen, who was previously stationed in Nanyang, were also awarded this position. "
As he spoke, he pointed at Chen Yongfu on the other side of the battalion commander. Chen Yongfu was also paying attention to the situation here. After hearing the direct name, he immediately nodded slightly towards this side.
The two positions of military advisor and internal affairs advisor were specifically established for the purpose of surrendering to civil servants and generals. Because these two positions are nominal positions, in order to increase their attractiveness, it is also to better enable these surrendering officials to We understand.
Therefore, these positions are also compared with the rank. For example, the special military advisor is compared to the surrendered Ming army general and deputy general. consultant.
Other first-class, second-class, and third-class military advisers or internal affairs advisers will also compare their grades one by one.
The envoys who came over did not understand the official system in the Baoxiang Army, and had no idea what the official title of the so-called special military adviser was, but they could still understand the term "Second Grade".
The grade of the second grade is not too low.
But he knew very well that his general didn't care about his rank. What He Renlong wanted was to be able to continue to lead his army in battle, and what he wanted was military power.
To put it simply, in the past he He Renlong led private soldiers to fight for the Ming Dynasty, and later he fought for the rural protection army.
That's all!
So he didn't dare to agree immediately, and planned to report it to He Renlong after he went back.
After all, it doesn’t matter if he promised...
But by the time he returned, He Renlong's troops had already suffered hundreds of casualties, and were almost on the verge of collapse.
When this person went to negotiate, the Baoxiang Army did not stop attacking.
Time is precious for the Baoxiang Army now. The Baoxiang Army still wants to deal with He Renlong's troops as soon as possible, and then free up its main force to pursue Zuo Liangyu's troops ahead.
The Baoxiang Army currently pursuing Zuo Liangyu only has the third infantry brigade and the third cavalry sentry, which is seriously insufficient in strength.
If the number of pursuing troops is too small, not only will it be difficult to obtain too many kills and captures, but there is also the possibility of being killed by the enemy with a single shot.
After all, the retreating Zuo Liangyu's troops numbered tens of thousands, while the pursuing Baoxiang Army only had a little over 2,000 people...
There is a serious imbalance in the strength of the two sides.
In addition to wanting to mobilize troops to pursue Zuo Liangyu's troops, Luo Zhixue and the others were also worried that the other party would delay time in the name of surrender negotiations so that they could reorganize their troops, and even adjust and reload small artillery such as assault cannons, which would in turn bring trouble to subsequent attacks. trouble.
So negotiation is negotiation, but fighting will continue.
To be honest, He Renlong's troops are only on the verge of collapse now, but have not completely collapsed. That is because the 1st Infantry Brigade, Guards Battalion and other troops on the front line know that the two sides are already conducting emergency negotiations, so they do not fight too hard. emergency to avoid unnecessary casualties.
Otherwise, He Renlong's troops could be captured directly.
After the envoy came back and reported the relevant situation of He Renlong's negotiations, He Renlong frowned and said: "It seems that it is impossible to continue to lead troops!"
"But, have you seen Chen Yongfu? What kind of consultant is he working as a second-grade advisor to the Thieves Protection Army?"
A confidant under his command, the general, said: "I did see Chen Yongfu in my humble position. He was in the camp at that time. Although his status is not as good as those of the big bosses, but he can enter the Chinese army's battalion commander and counselor's military aircraft, which is not too bad in comparison!"
He Renlong said nothing after hearing this, but a moment later someone reported that the left wing had been completely defeated. He Renlong finally couldn't help but said: "I ordered surrender!"
"A second-grade consultant is a second-grade consultant. It's better than being a dead person!"
He Renlong finally ordered the entire army to surrender. In fact, without him surrendering, his army would not be able to hold on for long.
Although they have been resisting tenaciously, this also means that they are constantly being killed by artillery fire from the Baoxiang Army and constantly oppressed by heavy armored infantry.
During this period of resistance, the number of casualties had reached 700 to 800.
Such heavy casualties, even if the entire army was not wiped out, were enough to break the bones of the army and even collapse its morale.
After learning that He Renlong accepted his fate and ordered to surrender, Luo Zhixue was not happy at all.
The outcome of He Renlong's troops was already doomed from the moment they were besieged.
A few of them will die in battle, and the rest will be taken as prisoners.
Regardless of whether they surrendered after defeat or surrendered in advance, their fate could not be changed.
The only thing that changed was the fate of a few senior Ming army generals such as He Renlong.
If they do not surrender, these senior generals will either die in battle or become prisoners of war.
Don’t talk about dying in battle, let’s talk about being a prisoner of war!
In the past, the Baoxiang Army had a great interest in ordinary captured Ming army generals, and always wanted to win them over to join the Xiangbao Army, such as Huang Guangmao and Fei Bingqing in the early days.
However, since they went south, the Baoxiang Army often gave no preferential treatment to prisoners of war captured by Ming army generals after defeat. They were usually thrown directly into prisoner-of-war camps.
Those who can receive preferential treatment and obtain the false title of military advisor are the Ming army generals who took the initiative to lead their troops to surrender.
Therefore, the difference between surrender and surrender is still very big for those Ming army generals.
However, there is not much difference between ordinary Ming army soldiers and low-level officers. As long as they are low-level officers and ordinary surrendered soldiers, regardless of whether they are defeated and surrendered or directly lead senior generals to surrender, the Baoxiang Army will use the same method: select qualified ones. The soldiers continued to join the army, and the rest were thrown into the farming camps.
And He Renlong's voluntary surrender also allowed the Baoxiang Army to free up more effective forces in time to pursue Zuo Liangyu's troops.
As a result, it didn't take long for the 1st Infantry Brigade to pass over other friendly forces and prisoners of war under He Renlong's command, continue to advance eastward, and pursue the 3rd Infantry Brigade.
