I saw in the distance that the men and horses who were chasing Gao Yigong suddenly turned around and ran back.
"What's going on?" Song Xiance couldn't help but wonder when he saw it. He pointed in the distance and said, "Am I right?"
Yuan Zongdi, who was tired but happy, looked up when he heard what he said, and his expression immediately changed.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered the pursuit battle north of Kaifeng.
"Isn't it because the imperial officers and soldiers are also ambushing?"
Although Yuan Zongdi reacted immediately and said this, he couldn't believe it.
If the imperial officers and soldiers really have an ambush, then this routine is too deep!
When Song Xiance heard this, he immediately denied it and said: "How is it possible? If there are still imperial officers and soldiers ambushing us, wouldn't it be that they have plotted against us? How is this possible!"
Subconsciously, he didn't want to admit it, but wherever he looked, more and more Gaoyigong people appeared and were running back. Many of them even threw away their flags and even the things in their hands, just to run faster.
Seeing this, two words popped out of Song Xiance's mind: abandoning the helmet and armor, the army was defeated!
How can this be?
Song Xiance was immediately dumbfounded!
He shouted in his heart: No...this is impossible...
On both sides of the road, the imperial officers and soldiers who had no time to escape and knelt down to surrender, because the bandits were chasing Tian Jianxiu's troops and did not deal with them, now they jumped up one after another and shouted loudly: "Kneel down and surrender. do not kill!"
At this time, not only Yuan Zongdi and Song Xiance saw the anomaly in front of them, but their subordinates also saw it, and they were guessing in fear. Then they heard the shout and were dumbfounded.
In fact, the situation was already obvious at this time. If Gao Yigong had been able to defeat the imperial officers and soldiers, he would not have fled back in such embarrassment at this time.
What to do?
When a bandit leader saw Yuan Zongdi and Song Xiance right in front of him, he quickly ran over and asked, "Do we still have an ambush?"
If there is an ambush, run another one;
But if there was no ambush, it would be over!
"There is a ghost!" Yuan Zongdi replied angrily, and then without saying a word, he said the thirty-six strategies, the best thing is to leave first.
But when he turned the horse's head and saw that Song Xiance was still stupid, he pulled his reins and said, "Commenter, hurry up, let's go in the opposite direction!"
However, Song Xiance collapsed a little. After finally organizing this counterattack, he fell into the plot of the imperial army. Could it be that he was born at the wrong time? Or is it that Li Zicheng's strength has been exhausted?
No, absolutely not!
Song Xiance didn't want to admit it, and shouted to Yuan Zongdi a little frantically: "Don't think that advancing in the opposite direction means you are running away! What are you afraid of? Prepare to meet the enemy. There are 50,000 troops on both sides. I don't believe that you can't defeat the imperial army. !”
Tian Jianxiu's men and horses were less than 20,000. So what if reinforcements come, can they still surpass the two groups here? As long as you fight to the death and don't retreat, this battle will not be considered a defeat!
Yuan Zongdi looked a little ugly when he shouted like this. In fact, once bitten by a snake, I was afraid of well ropes for ten years. I was really a little afraid of the imperial officers and soldiers!
Seeing Song Xiance glaring at him angrily, Yuan Zongdi immediately understood that if he didn't care and ran away, Song Xiance would definitely put the responsibility for this defeat on him after he returned.
And he has already been defeated once. If he is defeated again, and this battle is a battle that the general has high hopes for, and if he is defeated because of himself...
Thinking of this, Yuan Zongdi didn't dare to think about it anymore. Seeing that his men were imitating him and turning around to run away, he immediately shouted: "Anyone who dares to escape will be subject to military law!"
When his personal guards heard it, they roared together.
The men who heard this turned to look at him, and for a moment they didn't dare to run away.
The military order has been issued. If you still dare to run away, you will be beheaded without discussion.
In the end, Yuan Zongdi's men fled either fifty or a hundred steps, but no one dared to laugh at anyone. They all stopped and began to assemble a little timidly, preparing to fight.
When the imperial officers and soldiers saw that the situation was not good, they fled from the official road one after another and did not dare to shout any more.
Seeing this situation, Song Xiance's face finally looked better. He ignored the fleeing imperial officers and soldiers and immediately loudly encouraged morale: "Don't worry, all the imperial officers and soldiers are paper tigers. As long as we are braver, this battle will be won." We can still win!”
"Yes, the brave will win when we meet on a narrow road!" Yuan Zongdi looked at the commotion of his men and began to encourage morale, "Brothers, don't be afraid, even if you lose..."
Originally, he wanted to say that even if he lost, he could just surrender without risking his life, so that his men would not have to worry! However, just as he said these words, he noticed a gaze directed at him.
Without looking, Yuan Zongdi knew that the military advisor was looking at him. In a hurry, he quickly changed his words: "...At least we are also heroes, and we can do it again in eighteen years!"
Defeat again? Song Xiance was very dissatisfied after hearing this, but at this time it was not the time for him to care about such a slip of the tongue, so he continued to boost morale along with him.
However, under this situation, it is so easy to boost morale.
Most of the bandits were not stupid. They did not listen to what Yuan Zongdi and Song Xiance said. Instead, they looked at Gao Yigong's troops who had fled back in the distance, wanting to see how many imperial officers and soldiers were behind them. Pursuit?
If there are less, then there is no problem in gathering together to fight; but if there are more, who is stupid?
………………
Gao Yigong hasn't run for his life in such a hurry for a long time! While he was immersed in escaping, he found that Yuan Zongdi's men and horses in front of him were gathering in the official road. Was he still trying to fight to the death?
Seeing this scene, Gao Yigong wanted to kill Yuan Zongdi. This was blocking his way to escape!
Riding on a horse running at high speed, with fear, he turned his head and glanced behind him. The dust was flying, and all that could be seen were his men, and no trace of the imperial officers and soldiers could be seen.
However, Gao Yigong knew that the imperial officers and soldiers would catch up soon.
So, he turned around and after weighing it in his mind, he didn't want to waste any energy. Seeing that he was approaching the military formation assembled by Yuan Zongdi, he not only did not slow down, but also pretended that he could not see the flag given to him by Yuan Zongdi. He signaled, but took the reins and ran directly down the official road, preparing to bypass Yuan Zongdi's military formation and continue running.
When Yuan Zong saw it for the first time, he immediately became a little angry: "This Gao Yigong is too timid, let me block him, he can gather in front of the formation!"
In this case, Gao Yigong would engage in battle with the imperial officers and soldiers first, which would be a good thing for him.
However, Song Xiance did not agree, but said seriously: "It is only right to gather around the formation. You should prepare to meet the enemy first!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that Gao Yigong's men who had fled first had rushed nearby. They all followed Gao Yigong down the official road and continued running, giving kind reminders as they ran.
"Run quickly, why are you standing there stupidly?"
"There is still an ambush by the imperial officers and soldiers, we have been defeated!"
"There are so many imperial cavalry. If we don't escape, it will be too late!"
"..."
Among these well-meaning reminders, there are also some discordant voices.
"You are great, you are all heroes!"
"What are you shouting for? Let them resist so that we can escape!"
"..."
At this time, there was a lot of noise on the battlefield, and there were all kinds of sounds. Not many of Yuan Zongdi's men could hear these messy shouts clearly. However, some people can hear it after all.
Suddenly, they, who were already panicked, were in chaos again. Even those on the edge of the military formation, after hesitating for a moment, fled the military formation and escaped among Gao Yigong's men.
This kind of thing has a chain reaction effect. Once someone runs away without stopping, the people around him will definitely follow.
The original gathering to fight was actually very reluctant. As a result, the entire military formation was immediately on the verge of collapse!
When Yuan Zong saw him for the first time, for some reason, instead of being furious, he felt relieved.
Only Song Xiance was furious and immediately ordered Yuan Zongdi: "Where is the supervising team? Come forward quickly!"
Yuan Zongdi heard this and was about to answer when his eyes suddenly straightened.
When Song Xiance saw it, he knew something was wrong and quickly turned his head to look into the distance.
Amidst the flying dust, behind Gao Yigong's fleeing army, the fiery red color was particularly dazzling.
What made Song Xiance even more desperate was that the pursuers of the imperial officers and soldiers were actually cavalry. Needless to say, so many cavalry are definitely not Tian Jianxiu’s own troops! Maybe, the main force from the imperial court has arrived!
Doesn't it mean that Duke Xingguo has been rectifying the place in Chengdu and is "chasing stolen goods to provide salary" like the general? There has been no movement, why did it suddenly appear here?
Why?
At this moment, Song Xiance was really desperate. More and more imperial cavalry appeared in the field of vision. It was obvious that the main force of the imperial court had arrived. How could they fight?
"Kneel down and surrender without killing..."
In the distance, a harsh sound came, making the flow of thieves even more chaotic.
This voice also made Song Xiance come back to his senses. Seeing that Yuan Zongdi had already run away without calling him, he immediately cursed and couldn't care less, slapped the horse's butt fiercely and ran away.
If they are like this, it is naturally impossible for ordinary thieves to be stubborn.
Most of the bandits with horses ran back as hard as they could, but those without horses breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the imperial cavalry chasing after them in dense numbers.
Forget it, I can’t run away anyway, and I know the court’s policy, so I won’t run away! If you're exhausted and can't run on four legs, why bother!
Just like this, a war that had been brewing for a long time, and which was originally thought to be a great victory, came to a dramatic conclusion.