Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 477
The crow landed on the branch, quacked, called for friends, and watched closely the human fight at the foot of the mountain.

There is too much "food" lying on the ground, and it's all ours!

It is a pity that many were squeezed into the river and became food for fish and turtles.

On the battlefield, since Zhao Kuangning led people to escape, it has entered the stage of chasing death and chasing north.

The collapse of the Loyalty Army was doomed from the very beginning.

The combat power was just like that. He was overwhelmed at the beginning and lost his momentum, and then he was shaken by the infantry of the Weisheng Army, and the armored cavalry rushed forward, and finally collapsed.

It is almost a replica of the siege of Huangchao by the government and army ten years ago.

The difference is that the Chao army persisted for a long time under the siege of Hezhong, Zhongwu, Hedong and other vassal forces, and even counterattacked and killed them. Finally, Wang Chongrong "exploded seeds" and personally led the elite soldiers to fight to the death. Seizing the opportunity, the vertical cavalry attacked fiercely, and the whole army was defeated.

The front army of the Loyalty Army was flanked by infantry and cavalry. After the whole army broke up, the Chinese army also had a phalanx and fled with banners, but most of them were still there at that time, and they were not completely chaotic.

At this time, if a strong man descended from the sky, leading an elite team to actively counterattack and contain the offensive on the other side, perhaps he could gather some troops and retreat slowly.

But Zhao Kuangning is an elegant warrior who loves to collect books, he doesn't have such blood.

His followers surrounded him and walked away. Although he didn't agree, he didn't refuse either. He got on the horse with half a push, and then relied on his "muscle memory" to ride the horse and gallop, faster than anyone else.

The fast horse crossed the pontoon bridge and rushed to the river, the sergeants who stayed there were dumbfounded.

"Marshal..." The ten generals of the Xiangyang Navy looked at the crowd of people rushing up, their legs trembling.

The terrain on their side is low, and they cannot see the battle ahead.

In fact, not to mention them, even the sergeants in the front line may not know the battle situation of other phalanxes.Maybe others have been defeated, and the enemy has copied all the back roads. You don't know it yet, and you are still standing in the phalanx foolishly.

Therefore, a slight disturbance on the battlefield will always lead to various unpredictable things.Everyone will think, is the phalanx on which side has been defeated by the enemy, and I will be surrounded soon?
This depends on the confidence of the sergeants, their psychological endurance, and more importantly, the commander's ability to command the army.

Needless to say, the prestige of the coach is worth tens of thousands of dollars at this time.The soldiers usually trust you and believe in you. If you don't leave or escape, you will be able to stabilize people's hearts.Even after defeating the enemy's attack, they can fight back.

Zhao Kuangning has just succeeded to the throne and has the prestige of an egg!

"Don't get in the way! The commander-in-chief is going back to Xiangyang!" The general scolded, surrounded Zhao Kuangning and boarded the boat.

The staff and cronies followed up one after another.

They are running fast, no one is fighting for it, if they delay for a while, it may not be so easy to escape.

The sergeants untied the cables, pushed the boat away from the temporary pier, and headed for the center of the Hanshui River.

Zhao Kuangning walked out of the cabin suddenly, looked at the chaotic battlefield, and was speechless for a long time.

The figure of a broken soldier has emerged in the distance.

The guards after the breakup had also packed up their equipment and left the field. They boarded seven or eight small boats and kept urging them to leave quickly.

It only takes three days to go down the river from here to Xiangyang, which is faster than cavalry.If the boat is also sailed at night, it will not even take two days.

This battle was fought so badly that more than 2 people probably couldn't escape a few.

After the news spread, no one could tell what would happen in the Land of the Seven States.

Where the two armies meet, the battle is not yet completely over.

Zhao Kuanglin, the governor of Suizhou, worked hard to gather some troops. They fought and retreated to cover the rest of the troops.But it only allowed them to escape for a while, and it seemed meaningless.

On the narrow pontoon bridge, there are crowds of people.

Screams, cursing, crying, and begging can be heard everywhere.

Everyone just wants to run for their lives, everyone wants to run for their lives, but there are only a few pontoon bridges across the river, one has collapsed, one is collapsing, and only the last one is left.

"What a crime! Zhao Kuangning will die! I am about to fight to the death, why are you running away?" A general cried bitterly, threw the weapon on the ground, and did not run away.There are not many brothers left, and they don't know how to face their families when they go back.

A few people next to them looked ashamed, they belonged to the large formation of the Chinese army, they were shaken before the news of Zhao Kuangning's escape, some people left the queue in twos and threes, and the rest of them were not determined to fight, looking left and right, and had no idea of ​​a deadly battle at all .

"Boom!" The last floating bridge broke and collapsed.

There was a huge exclamation from the crowd, and more than a hundred people fell into the water together, splashing huge waves into the sky.

The sound of hooves approached gradually.

The desperate rout stripped off their armor and rushed straight into the river.They hope that the river is not deep enough to allow them to wade to the other side.

"Those who abandon their weapons and kneel on the ground will not die!"

"Those who abandon their weapons and kneel on the ground will not die!"

The cavalry shouted non-stop, constantly disintegrating the fighting will of these rout soldiers who had no way out, lest they jump over the wall in a hurry and continue to resist.

"It's down! It's down!"

"Surrender, whoever serves as a soldier is not a soldier, I surrendered to the commander."

"I can't escape even if I escape, if I don't escape, I surrender."

The defeated soldiers who were blocked by the river threw their weapons helplessly and knelt down to beg for surrender.However, there are still many desperate people rushing into the river, fighting for the chance.

Outside the camp of the Loyalty Army, the Long Swordsmen and Mo Daomen had already broken through the gate of the camp and entered the village.

The enemy army was defeated, not all of them fled, and some sergeants retreated to the camp, intending to rely on the stockade to resist.

If they were given some time to regroup and reorganize their troops, they might be able to use the stronghold to resist for a long time.

But the pursuers almost arrived at the camp with their front and rear feet.

The scramble near the gate of the village only lasted for a moment, and was soon broken by the pursuers, who entered the village.

Zhao Kuanglin, the governor of Suizhou, and dozens of cronies were captured in the village and taken to Xiaojiangkou Military City.

At this time, Zhe Zongben had just returned to the camp and was searching for all the horses he could find. He planned to send a cavalry east to see if he could get some benefits.

Of course he didn't hold out much hope.

The news that Zhao Kuangning and her cronies escaped by boat has already spread.Going down the river from the mouth of the small river, the boat does not need to rest, but the horse needs to rest. It is impossible to catch up anyway.

But he can't catch up with Zhao Kuangning, but he can take the opportunity to occupy part of the city first and expand his own territory.

With [-] horses and an army of more than [-], how can we support them without taking up too much land?

Therefore, the army that had just won had no time to rest.

Except for 3000 people who were left to guard the prisoners and guard the camp, all the rest who could move were sent to Xiangyang.

But he himself stayed in Xiaojiangkou, where things were more important and more difficult.

In this battle, the number of captives currently counted has exceeded 7000, and the number is still increasing, and may eventually reach [-].

Beheading is estimated to be around five thousand levels, and the killing is quite ruthless.

Of the more than 2 troops brought by Zhao Kuangning, except for the 2000 people who stayed at the pier to meet the food and grass in the rear, few of the enemy troops who crossed the pontoon bridge to fight returned, and at most a thousand people.

There are still more than [-] enemy troops in Gucheng County, guarding the transit warehouse.

There were a total of 7000 people at the time of the expedition, and only [-] people returned in the end. It was a miserable failure.

Among the more than 2 people, there were about [-] Yamen troops, and the entire army was wiped out. This was probably the thing that made Zhao Kuangning vomit blood the most.

In Tang, Sui, and Xiang, three important military areas, the mobile forces were wiped out, and the remaining troops could only defend the city, and it was difficult to do anything.

Among the seven prefectures of Xiangyang, the organizational system is still complete, probably only the troops left behind in Dengzhou.They did not go out and survived.

"One prisoner of war beheaded 2 people. I have fought all my life, and I have never had such a big victory." Zhe Zongben said a few words with emotion, and then walked into a room.

The inside was full of soldiers, and Zhao Kuanglin, the governor of Suizhou, had been untied and sat silently on the bed.

"Emissary Zhao." Zhe Zongben sat in front of him with a smile, and said, "I don't need to say anything extra. I heard that your son is famous for his filial piety. Why don't you send a letter to Sui County saying that he will surrender. Lingwu The king of the county is generous and benevolent, after hearing this, he must be overjoyed, the father and son have made meritorious deeds, isn't it beautiful?"

In fact, Zhe Zong didn't know whether Zhao Kuanglin's family was really kind and filial, anyway, try it.The location of Suizhou is still relatively important. You can enter Caizhou by crossing the Huai River in the north. To some extent, it can put more pressure on Zhu Quanzhong than Xiangyang.

"I just want to ask a question." Zhao Kuanglin, who had been silent until now after being captured, suddenly spoke, and only heard him say: "How does the king of Lingwu County want to arrange the Zhao family?"

"Mr. Zhao may wish to think about it. Has the King of Lingwu County ever killed anyone without authorization? The Zhao family, as long as they surrender, everyone will be exempted from crime, and the property and family fortune will be innocent. Don't doubt it, Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Kuanglin thought about it carefully, and indeed he had never heard such news.On the contrary, Zhu Quanzhong had already killed An Shiru in Huazhou and Guo Fan in Caizhou. Although it was said that they "died of illness" to the outside world, everyone was not stupid and knew what was going on.

An Shiru had to "die of illness" because he still had influence in the Huazhou old army.

Guo Fan died of a sudden illness because Quanzhong wanted to fully control Caizhou.

Zhu Quanzhong was too greedy and impatient, and had to hold all power in his hands. Guo Fan was a majestic envoy of the national army (Caizhou), and he couldn't even be a vassal if he wanted to.

Only ghosts work for this kind of people!

Of course, Shao Shude is not a good bird, he is the same as Zhu Quanzhong, and they are both power-hungry people.

"I'm already a prisoner, what can I say?" Zhao Kuanglin smiled wryly, and said, "Forget it. The world is in chaos, and I will appear on the stage after you sing. In the end, I don't know how many people will end well. It's better to kill the family. Mai, return to the old rivers and lakes."

"It's a pity that Zhao Shijun is in his prime of life, so he has the heart of retiring."

"It's nothing to regret." Zhao Kuanglin looked out of the window, where there were green mountains and clear streams, so attractive to him who had just experienced a disastrous defeat and was depressed to the bottom of the valley.

"Tang and Deng Zhou, I don't know if Mr. Zhao can help us to connect with each other?" Zhe Zongben said again.

"These two states are not easy." Zhao Kuanglin came back to his senses and said, "Does Zheshuai know that he is waiting for a price?"

This is an extremely accurate evaluation.

(End of this chapter)