To the northeast of the Mingwei Fort battlefield, I saw Ottoman cavalry galloping towards their main formation.
One ride, two rides, three rides...
There were more and more, and suddenly it attracted everyone's attention.
Koprulu was naturally reminded by his subordinates. After turning his head to look, he immediately frowned. He was a little confused, what was going on?
Needless to say, the cavalry coming this way should be the army he sent out to plunder the north. Looking at them like that, they didn't come back to report the news, but they escaped. How can this be!
Logically speaking, he sent an army of 50,000 people, but the Ming army only had 20,000 troops at most. How could the Ming army be so powerful that they could defeat an army that was much larger than theirs so quickly?
To be honest, Koprulu didn't believe it. However, more and more cavalry are running this way desperately. All these signs show that they seem to have been defeated!
This situation eventually became the most concerning thing on the battlefield of Fort Mingwei. Even the two sides who were fighting temporarily separated from each other, and then looked to the northeast, wondering what new situation had arisen.
As the saying goes, stand tall and see far.
Hong Chengchou was on top of Mingwei Fort, staring at the northeast with his telescope. He first saw the figures of Ming army soldiers in red shirts behind the large group of defeated Ottoman soldiers.
There is no doubt that the Ming army has won and is chasing the enemy.
To be honest, Hong Chengchou was a little surprised at this time. The interception army he sent should not have such high combat effectiveness!
Although I couldn't figure it out, it was clear before my eyes that the Ming army was chasing the enemy, and it was unmistakable. So, he immediately issued an order to make this clear.
After hearing this, the Ming army officers and soldiers at Mingwei Fort cheered immediately, and their morale immediately increased a lot.
Shouts of "The Ming Dynasty will be victorious" rang out one after another.
But then, more doubts emerged.
In just such a short time, the Ming army and the Ottoman Empire army in Mingwei Fort could see more and more Ming troops chasing and killing them, and it felt endless.
Although the number of people is over 10,000, it is endless. But there is still a big difference in numbers between 20,000 cavalry and 50,000 cavalry. When the densely packed Ming cavalry was seen, everyone was dumbfounded: So many Ming cavalry came?
Some people quickly thought whether the Ming army they had been waiting for for a long time had arrived. Before they could wonder about this, the imperial flag representing Emperor Chongzhen appeared.
The Ottoman Empire army didn't recognize it at first, but Hong Chengchou knew. He also saw clearly through the telescope before others.
Suddenly, even though Hong Chengchou was an old guy, he immediately became excited. He even refused to put down his telescope, stared at the imperial flag, and said loudly: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty is here! Your Majesty leads the army to kill..."
After being reminded, more and more Ming army officers and soldiers also confirmed. An ironclad fact has been confirmed again: as soon as the emperor arrives, the enemy will be pissed off!
Suddenly, the Ming army in Mingwei Fort burst into loud cheers: "Long live my emperor! Long live your emperor!"
At the beginning, the voices were still coming and going, but soon, all the soldiers of the Ming army shouted in unison: "Long live my emperor!"
Contrary to the Ming army, the morale of the Ottoman Empire army suddenly plummeted. As the Ming army officers and soldiers shouted, their morale dropped to the bottom.
Koprulu was a little dumbfounded! He never expected that the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom would actually lead the army. Not only that, but fortunately, when the two armies were fighting here, they drove the defeated army over. This was a double blow to his army.
In a hurry, Koprulu didn't have time to think too much, and immediately issued an order to shrink the army and withdraw the part of the army that was fighting the Ming army. In addition, elite troops were gathered to prepare to block the reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty, and to guide the defeated troops not to attack the formation.
His military order is theoretically feasible. However, this is only theoretical.
The entire Ottoman Empire army was already panicking at this time. Thinking about the legends about the Ming emperor, looking at the boundless and continuous attacking Ming cavalry, and listening to the panicked shouts of the defeated soldiers, how many soldiers would still strictly enforce Koprulu's orders? Military order?
Hong Chengchou was also a qualified commander with discernment. When he saw the movement of reinforcements, he immediately understood what the emperor's plan was. So, he also studded here. With a single order, he sent out all the troops to attack the enemy before them.
"Kill..."
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious..."
"Long live my emperor..."
The shouts of the Ming army soldiers could not be concealed even by the rumble of iron hoofs, and struck straight into the hearts of the Ottoman army.
Under the attack of two Ming armies, the servants in the Ottoman army could not bear it at first, and fled to the rear behind the defeated soldiers who escaped.
This is the most taboo thing on the battlefield. Once someone retreats, it will immediately shake the morale of the army and cause the entire army to collapse.
This situation must be stopped as soon as possible.
However, the elite troops in Koprulu's hands were almost all gone. Even if he sent the remaining elite troops to prevent the army from disintegrating, it would be too late. Whoever allows his army to have too many troops will have to wait a long time.
Just like that, more and more Ottoman troops began to flee. In the end, it was like a dam bursting, and it collapsed, affecting other armies of the Ottoman Empire, and they all fled back.
Seeing all this, Koprulu was dumbfounded and motionless.
His bodyguards looked at their Prime Minister with the naked eye, their spirits became extremely sluggish, as if their essence and blood had been sucked dry by something.
The energetic prime minister turned into a depressed old man, and then became a haggard and dying old man.
These personal guards understood that defeat in this battle meant that the Eastern Expedition failed. This was such a huge blow to their Prime Minister that it became like this.
However, this was not the time for comfort, they all urged anxiously.
"Sir, please retreat quickly. If you don't leave, it will be too late!"
"Yes, run quickly, the empire cannot live without you!"
"..."
Hearing their noise, Keprulu came back to his senses and couldn't help but smile sadly: How could an old man who was so old and half-buried escape the pursuit of the Ming army?
Besides, what if you escape back? The army was thrown here, the main force was destroyed, and other armies were unable to withstand the Ming army's counterattack. At home, when they heard the news of the defeat, they must have been in chaos.
Above the court, those forces that he suppressed will definitely fight back. The consequences of escaping back will definitely not be better than here!
Thinking like this, Koprulu pulled out the decorative dagger from his waist and wanted to commit suicide.
However, of course his personal guards would not let it go and quickly took away his dagger. No matter how much he protested, he started to drive his horse too far.
Even if he was a man when he was young, time is like a butcher's knife, and he has almost killed Koprulu. When jolted by a fast horse, I couldn't sit still at all and looked like I was about to go crazy.
Of course, his personal guards were all elites with extraordinary skills. Seeing this, the commander of the personal guards immediately jumped on his horse, hugged Koprulu from behind, and led him to escape on horseback.
The center of the army is naturally located at the rear. Their escape was of course faster than the others.
The guards sent Koprulu to each other and escaped for twenty miles in one breath. They felt a little safer before they stopped to take a breath.
"Sir, would you like to dismount and rest for a while?"
Following the questioning, the commander of the personal guards felt that something was wrong, and quickly dismounted with Koprulu in his arms to check the situation.
"Ah" screamed, and the guard commander was dumbfounded.
The other guards gathered around to take a look, and were shocked to find that their prime minister, Koprulu, had died of epilepsy on horseback. Judging from his expression, it seems that he died in a more painful way.
At this time, they finally realized that their prime minister's physical condition could not withstand the torment of a fast horse. He must have been very uncomfortable before and wanted to dismount. But everyone was running for their lives, and no one cared about the rumble of horse hooves and the Ming army's shouts of killing. So, the Prime Minister is in tragedy...
These personal guards look at me and I look at you. They all look panicked and don’t know what to do?
At this moment, the shouts of killing from the Ming army behind him became clearer and clearer, and more defeated soldiers fled past them to the south.
He didn't know who it was, but he suddenly shouted and, without caring about anything else, he immediately got on his horse and ran for his life.
When the other guards saw him, they ignored him and immediately fled south. If you move slowly, you will become a target for others to attract the Ming army.
When the commander of the personal guards saw it, he looked at his companions who were fleeing south, and then looked at the Ming cavalry pursuing them from the north. He yelled "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh", and finally knelt down beside Koprulu's body and surrendered.
The main force on the northern route of the Ottoman Empire, among the more than 100,000 troops, the largest number were infantry. They could not escape no matter how hard they tried.
In the pursuit of the Ming Dynasty cavalry, the heads were harvested easily at first, but later, these Ottoman soldiers came to their senses and knelt down to beg for mercy.
When it was almost dusk and the Ming cavalry stopped their pursuit, the whole land was filled with the cheers of the Ming soldiers.
Preliminary statistical results were quickly reported to Emperor Chongzhen who had arrived at Mingwei Fort: In this battle, more than 23,000 enemies were killed and more than 113,000 were captured.
On the Ming army's side, if you don't count the previous battles and just count today's battles, there will only be more than a thousand casualties. It can be said that this is a complete victory!
When Racine, Punchuk and others came to see Emperor Chongzhen for the first time, they shouted "Long live our emperor" more devoutly than anyone else!
