Daming kill

Chapter 10

This is rout!
In the dark night, the boundless fear spread violently and quickly, and became a kind of idea, causing the huge army to disintegrate.

Everything came so suddenly, and everything seemed so natural.

With no strength to attempt to counterattack, and no battalion to return to aid, Zuo Liangyu's huge infantry group did nothing at all and left their backs to the enemy and the cavalry who had already been defeated.

Fear spreads with astonishing efficiency.

It seems that people don't need to see anything at all, just feel and hear the sound is enough, the river of thousands of people boils as fast as electricity.

In an instant, Li Ping and the others on the nearby official road also began to make a violent commotion like a nest, and there were shouts of "The bandit army is coming! The bandit army is coming!" and the cries of women and children everywhere. The sound, people began to scramble to escape in all directions.

Zuo Liangyu's army has completely collapsed, and there is absolutely no hope of recovery.

This time there was no need to discuss, Zhao Jin immediately ordered everyone to go down the mountain and run eastward.They had to stay as far away from the main army as they could.

At this time, no matter how foolishly you flee along the official road, you can only be scattered and trampled.

But in the dark night and chaos, such a choice may not be a good choice. The rugged and unfamiliar terrain and the dark patches of woods quickly made everyone feel embarrassed and slowed down their speed.

To make matters worse, many friendly forces are clearly following them.Maybe these people just follow blindly in a circle, or instinctively rush towards places with few people, but this also makes a long dragon of dots (torches) behind them.

This is really not a good thing to get rid of the possible pursuit of the enemy.

So, they quickly turned south again, because in theory, the farther south they go, the safer they will be.

Zhao Jin and Li Ping didn't run off alone together. At this time, they really couldn't do it by blatantly abandoning everyone. The two didn't even mention each other.

What's more surprising is that although they ran all the way, although Zhao Jin and the others had no intention of caring too much, their entire sentry remained largely intact.It may be that the dark night and their remote escape route made most officers and soldiers instinctively keep together because of fear.

It may also be the speed that they can't get up all the time.

The terrain factor is only one aspect. What is also important is that they still have 5 people sitting in a mule cart. This kind of vehicle may not be able to run over the two legs of poor soldiers in the dark field without roads. Naturally, it is also convenient for walking The soldiers followed closely.

Not long after continuing southward and unconsciously getting closer to the official road, the other battalions around them began to increase. It seemed that the entire defeated army had completely dispersed.

Most of the people in these camps were scattered in small groups, some rode on mules, and more people walked.Some people passed them, some kept a proper distance from them, and some followed them far behind.

Finally, the horizon in the distance gradually began to show white edges, and the night was about to go away, and all the fleeing people had hope.

After running this night, they have already run far away from Zhuxian Town, and it is estimated that it is tens or hundreds of miles away. The potential that human beings can explode in survival is undoubtedly huge.

In normal times, people with insufficient food and water would never be able to persist so far.

The pursuit of the peasant army behind did not seem to be tight, at least they have not seen a shadow of a peasant army so far, let alone heard any shouts of killing from behind.

The fear basically comes from the infection of the fleeing crowd, and from the word of mouth of the cavalrymen who keep passing them.

Maybe Li Zicheng is also in the circle.

Hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers who had been beating him ran away out of nowhere, and he probably couldn't figure out who to put on him. This was almost a huge advantage for him.

Maybe he will think about fraud!
Taking the opportunity to follow up and try to defeat the Ming army may be just Li Zicheng's instinctive reaction. As for the long-distance pursuit, it is likely not his choice. After all, Kaifeng is his central goal.

In the faint morning light, the exhausted people began to slow down the speed of fleeing south unconsciously, and they slowly began to relax because they had not seen the enemy's oppression with their own eyes.

Enemies don't seem to be hunting down when they're at their weakest.

Maybe the night really gave them enough cover to deter an equally unprepared enemy.

But there are times, especially in times of desperation, when it is better to be less naive.

I'm still out of breath!
The chaos and turmoil that gradually came from ahead caused everyone to stretch their necks to look around.

This chaos and commotion is obviously different from the road grabbing and fighting they saw along the way, so I don't know what happened?
And as they continued to approach, the chaos and commotion became louder, wider, and more intense.

An ominous premonition instinctively rose in Li Ping's heart.

Finally, the chaos turned into a roar like boiling water, and a long turbulent flow of people and vehicles appeared in front of everyone's eyes, and everyone's hearts were pulled hard.

The torrent of fleeing south seemed to be blocked by something and could not move forward. Countless people and horses rushing from the direction of the official road in the west were constantly thickening and lengthening the long wall that could not be seen.

Crying fathers and mothers are everywhere inside the wall, shouts for killing and shouting are everywhere, and thick smoke billows everywhere.

Everyone's faces began to turn pale.

Although they still don't understand what's going on, it's very obvious that their escape route has been cut off.

How could Li Zicheng, such a famous historical ruthless man, easily let go of the fat that fell to his lips?

Unless he has a backhand.

Naive, it's really unacceptable!

In panic, both Zhao Jin and Shi Ming hastily ordered the crowd not to move forward, otherwise, once they were engulfed by the crowd, it would be very difficult to retreat completely.

"Don't move, I'll go and have a look first." Wang Chengwu yelled suddenly, and then galloped away without waiting for anyone's reaction. He didn't even ask Shi Ming, who always followed his lead, for instructions.

This Wang Chengwu rode really well, and he was carrying a bow on his back, I don't know where he got it from, it looks like he is very skilled in bowing and horses.

It should be the best choice for him to go.

Taking advantage of this moment, Li Ping's riders also hurriedly got off their horses to rest and recuperate.Along the way, although they often got off their horses to adjust because they couldn't get up to speed, one night's rush almost broke them down, not to mention the relatively delicate horses.

It didn't take long for Wang Chengwu to run back safely.

Amid the anxious inquiries of the crowd, Wang Chengwu tremblingly said with sweat all over his head: "I can't get through. There is a deep ditch in front of which you can't see the end. There is a peasant army on the other side of the ditch. Some generals are driving people to fill in the ditch to attack, but the peasants The army blocked it very fiercely, and the bottom of many ditches was on fire, which I think is quite embarrassing.”

"Can't see the end on both sides?" Zhao Jin asked suspiciously.

This is a bit of a reversal of common sense, because their Ming army only walked from here to Zhuxian Town not long ago.It's only been a few days?Moreover, it was so close to Zhuxian Town, it would take a gigantic amount of work to quickly dig a deep ditch that could not be seen from the end to the end, and how could this not be noticed by the Ming army.

"I didn't dare to get too close, and I couldn't see it clearly, but I really didn't see the head." Wang Chengwu said firmly.

"But how is this possible?" Shi Ming also reacted.

But Shi Ming just asked instinctively, and his frown showed that he actually believed it.

The complexions of the other people around also began to turn gray, obviously they also believed in their hearts.Because if it is impossible, how can such a long obstacle be formed!
The defeated soldiers are not fools, they have already made a detour.

But at this time, there was a faint cry from the north again, and everyone was shocked.

It seems that the peasant army behind them never intended to let them go. Li Zicheng was probably just waiting for the dawn, otherwise it would be unnecessary to dig a ditch and bury soldiers to block the Ming army's retreat.

"Continue to the east." Zhao Jin ordered decisively without any explanation.

No one questioned it, and no one could think of anything else to do.

So, everyone shouted and gathered, and rushed eastward along the obstacle.Many defeated soldiers of the Ming army also continued to flee.

But after running for a long time, they still couldn't see the end of the deep ditch, and the flow of people running eastward was less and less. Many people's energy was exhausted after running overnight.

In the end, the whole sentry team could even walk safely along the edge of the ditch without worrying about being coerced and crowded, and they could finally have a closer look at the whole picture of the deep ditch.

As expected, the deep ditch was not built. It was more than five meters wide and deep, and there was no defect, not to mention horses and horses. It was almost impossible for people to climb out without the help of many companions.

Li Zicheng is really ruthless.

Such a vast and hidden project requires not only amazing perseverance and determination, but also strong ambition and planning.

In fact, Li Zicheng has been preparing this super large trench for more than a month. It is located about 80 miles south of Zhuxian Town, and its length has reached an astonishing scale of a hundred miles.

Isn't it incredible?Think it's a fantasy?

But this is a real historical event.

It is indeed impossible for the Peasant Army to dig such a large project at once.

In fact, the Peasant Army implemented it intermittently and piece by piece.

It has already been opened three times, and it has gathered millions of soldiers. Li Zicheng does not want to fall short of his success. His deliberation and consideration are very in-depth.

Years of fighting made Li Zicheng almost familiar with the habits of the Ming army.The Peasant Army avoided the possible trajectory of the Ming army's reinforcements in the early stage and the usual reach of the Ming army's scouts, and implemented a large number of civil engineering projects in advance.

After the reinforcements of the Ming army heading south passed by, a large number of manpower was immediately concentrated to dig out the land they passed, so that the project could be completed.

This is also the reason why the Ming army kept running along both sides but could not run to the end.

The defeated army fled in terror for more than 80 miles. If they wanted to bypass this huge trench of hundreds of miles, it would be impossible to think about it without a body like an iron man.

And time does not allow.

Along the way, Li Ping kept seeing groups of Ming soldiers trying to cross the ditch together, but the deep and wide ditch made every effort extremely difficult, and the small group of peasant troops who always appeared on the other side of the ditch also made it difficult. The Ming army was full of despair.

This huge ditch is undoubtedly becoming the death harvest line for the entire Zuo Liangyu army.

Many fleeing officers and soldiers of the Ming army gradually lost confidence and stopped. They sat or lay down numbly, some of them walked around unconsciously, and some of them just knelt there and cried bitterly.

The other troops running along the ditch with Li Ping's small team became less and less, even many of their own sentry had already dispersed, but the ditch in front of them was still invisible.

Li Ping also became more and more desperate, he just instinctively followed Zhao Jin who was still urging him.

When the day was completely bright, the ground suddenly began to vibrate continuously, and the orderly shouts from the north were getting closer and closer, and everyone's faces were completely pale.

All fools know that there is a huge cavalry team coming, but at present, only the peasant army can gather such a neat large cavalry team, and only they can calmly gather into an army.

This is the final blow, this is the real desperate situation.

(End of this chapter)