The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

The tens of thousands of bandits all turned around and ran towards Dazhai, the camp behind.

There were several thousand cavalry in these bandits, and the rest were infantry.

Fang Qifo's soldiers and horses totaled more than 20. There were not so many when he went south that day, and they were restrained all the way. Although he did not coerce the refugees, as the Ming Cult became more and more powerful and more and more people joined the sect, the army became stronger and stronger.

However, even if the number of people keeps increasing, the growth rate of the cavalry is very slow, and most of the soldiers entering the army are infantry.

Because of the lack of horses, there is even a lack of war horses.

Most of the war horses in the Song Dynasty were concentrated in Gyeonggi and the roads along the border, and there were few in the south of the Yangtze River.

Not all the cavalry mounts in Fang Qifo's army were war horses, at least half of them were rough horses. Among them, the war horses were handed over from the officials of various prefectures. Only the officials had horses to ride on weekdays.

These horses are not too many together, and Fang Qifo asked people to pick strong and tall rough horses to fill them in. It is useless to gather thousands of horses. There are fewer soldiers who can ride horses, and even rarer ones who can ride horses to fight.

Seeing tens of thousands of rebels retreating, Zhao Tang felt overjoyed. He knew that this was a rare opportunity. Even though many rebels were killed in the battle inside the city, the number of rebels outside the city was at least three times that of his side.

With so many people, if Fang Qifo survived and regrouped, the siege of Jiangning would still be hard to break.

But right now, Fang Qifo didn't go back. He may be seriously injured and washed away by the river, or maybe the last bow and arrow hit a vital point, but no matter whether it is dead or alive, he will never let go of this opportunity.

He immediately gave an order to the Chinese army, and [-] riders pressed up, neither fast nor slow, and they all shouted words like "Fang Qifo is dead, and the head of Shi Baobao Daoyi is here".

Zhao Tang didn't let the cavalry pursue and kill quickly because he wanted the other party to pass the news back. The bandit battalion over there would definitely be in chaos after hearing the news, and the defense of the entire camp would definitely be slack.

Otherwise, there are all kinds of traps in front of the opponent's camp, general military, and two troops joined together, that would be 10,000+ people, and the family only brought [-] cavalry. If you want to defeat the bandit army ten times as large as your own, and win it, let alone the Song Dynasty, it has never been seen before, even in history!

Under normal circumstances, it is extremely difficult, or even impossible.

Even if he brought all the cavalry, it would be difficult to achieve. After all, these were the cavalry of the Imperial Army, not the Liao cavalry, let alone the Jurchen iron cavalry.

So he needs to make the opponent chaotic. Only when the opponent's army is in a state of confusion and the team no longer has the will to fight, can the cavalry he brings take advantage of the situation to overwhelm the opponent and disperse the 10,000+ bandit army.

Fang Qifo subdued the Dharma, and Shi Baobao Daoyi died in battle. This kind of news will naturally cause chaos in the opponent's camp.

Zhao Tuan wanted to spread the news. Once the bandit army knew it and didn't believe that the other party would not be chaotic, not to mention the bandit army in front of him, even if it was a real army, it would be rare for them to stay in chaos after learning that the commander died in battle and the general vanguard was killed.

There are very few people in the Ming Cult who understand soldiers, as far as Zhao Tong knows, there are not even more than one palm. As for the army on the South Road, there is probably only Fang Qifo.

Therefore, although he did not dare to say that this matter was 100% successful, he was still [-]% sure, so he took the cavalry out of the city on his own initiative.

In the front, Du Po and Zhang Xian opened the way, chasing the bandit army unhurriedly, but some of the bandit army had already rushed back to report, saying that Fang Qifo was dead, Shi Baobao, Daoyi and others were all killed, and the 6 or [-] people who rushed into Jiangning City were also wiped out.

The news immediately exploded in the camp. The Taoists who stayed behind and some leaders panicked. After careful questioning, even Fang Qifo's corpse was picked up by the Song army. They couldn't help turning pale and looking at each other.

At this moment, the members of Mingjiao were better, but those who came from the green forest all ran out like crazy, and then quickly called the soldiers and horses they brought with them, and left the camp without even saying hello.

Seeing these people leaving, the Mingjiao leaders asked the soldiers who delivered the letter, and when they learned that Jiang Ning came out were all cavalry, and they didn't know how many there were, they couldn't help sighing, and also ordered to retreat.

But it was obviously a bit late at this moment, and when he was within a stone's throw of the camp, Zhao Tong sent an order to speed up and rush directly to the camp.

The thieves who had been being chased in the front did not expect this to happen. Originally, they were not chasing fast, and it was not difficult to run, but suddenly those cavalry from the Song Dynasty rushed up, which immediately made them even more panicked, and ran desperately into the camp.

But there were tens of thousands of people rushing to the camp, and they couldn't care about each other. Some soldiers were pushed back and forth so hard that they couldn't even tell the direction, so they started to trample on each other.

There were many archers ambushing in the barracks of the bandit camp, but looking at the appearance outside, they dare not shoot arrows. They are afraid that if they shoot ten arrows, nine of them will hurt their own family members.

In just ten breaths of time, the protective trenches and traps in front of the camp were all filled up by the retreating bandits.

These thieves panicked and did not know the direction. Even though there were countless casualties and filled the trenches dug by themselves to prevent sneak attacks, countless people still pushed down the wooden fence of the camp and rushed in.

But at this time, the leader had given the order, and the people in the camp were all retreating. It was quite orderly, but after these rout troops came in, they immediately became chaotic.

These thieves are not all greedy for life and afraid of death, especially those who joined the Ming Cult very early. They are not afraid of death, but after learning that Fang Qifo was killed, they were all in a trance. After all, Fang Qifo was the left envoy of the light.

And now there is a general trend, it is no longer a matter of fear of death, even if you want to turn around and fight Song Jun, you can't turn around at all, as long as your feet are a little slow, you will be pushed down from behind, and before you turn around, you have already been trampled by the robes, and before you fight Song Jun, you have already turned into a meatloaf.

At this time, the forbidden army was almost unilaterally massacring the bandit army. Their own combat strength was weak and they could not fight a head-to-head battle. Even the cavalry was the same, but they were familiar with this kind of tail-to-tail pursuit.

It's just that if you lose the battle, you will run to the edge of the world and never let you go.

Right now it's easy to kill all the way, the guards' hands are numb, the blades of the knives are curly, the tips of the guns are blunt, and the barrels of the guns are broken.

The advantage of the cavalry over the infantry was even more obvious at this moment. It was like cutting melons and vegetables. The collision of the horses and the inertial blows of big guns and heavy knives could kill the bandit infantry in front without using too much force.

At this time, not to mention the tents, luggage and other items, the bandit army abandoned everything, even food, grass and military equipment, and just fled desperately. At first, they all went due south, heading towards Xuanzhou, but then they all collapsed.

This hunt started early in the morning and ended gradually when the sun turned westward at noon.

The next step is to send soldiers to clean up the battlefield, check the number of enemy deaths and casualties of one's own side, burn the corpses of the bandits, and pull all the captured spoils into the city...

In the evening, Zhao Tuo was furious in the Xuanfu Division, and the dozens of people below were silent like cicadas.

Even Wang Hanzhi, the appeasement envoy of Jiangnan East Road, who was originally sick, was called to discuss the matter, but at this moment he was sweating profusely and trembling.

"They're all dead, how could they all be dead?" Zhao Tuan roared angrily with a livid face, "That's most of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, and they were all killed by the Ming Cult bandit army? How do you ask this king to explain to the officials, how to talk to the court officials!"

There was no sound in the hall, Zhao Tun glanced around, no one dared to raise his head to speak, he stretched out his hand, and with a "bang", he overturned the handsome case in front of him, the huge wooden case tumbled and fell to the front, and the pen, ink, paper, inkstone, and military newspapers on it were scattered all over the floor.

The generals in the hall were alright, but some timid civil servants sat on the ground with a "plop" in fright.

Zhao Tong's eyes fell on Jiangning Tongpan Sun Changjie, and said coldly: "Sun Tongpan, who do you think is negligent in this matter, and how should I write the memorial to the officials?"

Sun Changjie almost burst into tears when he heard the words, he asked who was wrong, why did he ask him?Although he has the right to investigate, how can he talk about such a big event that pierces the sky?

If you really want to talk about dereliction of duty, then everyone present counts as one, and no one can escape!

King Qin couldn't run away, Wang Hanzhi couldn't run away, and neither could he!How big is this?Most of the Jiangnan gentry were wiped out!Those of these gentry families who are officials in the court or work in the local area, which one will let it go?

When he thought of this, his knees went limp, and he knelt down on the ground, his head on the ground, and he didn't know what to say.

"Trash!" Seeing his appearance, Zhao Tong cursed and then turned his eyes to Wang Hanzhi.

Although Wang Hanzhi was equally flustered, he had been thinking about it for a long time just now, looking for an excuse to excuse him, and now he hurriedly said: "My lord, calm down, this matter, this matter..."

Zhao Tong's expression was cold: "What's the matter? If you go up to the court, I'm afraid that you, Wang Hanzhi, will be the first to be beheaded!"

Wang Hanzhi's beard trembled, and he said: "My lord, this is a military disaster, all because of the war, the crime... the crime is all Fang La's fault!"

Zhao Tong looked at him, and paused every word: "It's all because of the war, Fang La's fault?"

Wang Hanzhi nodded hurriedly and said, "My lord, that's exactly the case. Right now, Jiangnan is in chaos. There are wars everywhere, and there are countless casualties. Who can guarantee that there will be no accidents? To be disrespectful, don't mention these gentry, even if you are a lord..."

"My lord, what?" Zhao Tang's face darkened.

Wang Hanzhi said cautiously: "Even the prince will inevitably be injured on the battlefield, who can guarantee that they will be safe?"

"Wang Hanzhi, you are so brave!" Zhao Tang pointed at his nose angrily and cursed, "How dare you curse this king!"

Wang Hanzhi was so frightened that he fell to his knees: "Your Majesty, my subordinates are just discussing the matter as it stands. In wartime, this is a military disaster. No one can predict it. If you really say that you are guilty, it must be Fang La, the leader of the bandit. Isn't it the demon cultist who mixed into the army tonight and led the bandit soldiers into the city, which caused this catastrophe..."

Zhao Tong snorted coldly: "It's mixed into your army on Jiangnan East Road!"

Wang Hanzhi was dizzy when he heard the words: "Yes, it's because the subordinates didn't investigate, the subordinates...the subordinates deserve death."

Zhao Tong said coldly: "My king's soldiers are all brought from Gyeonggi, and people from the Demon Cult can't get in even if they want to..."

When Wang Hanzhi heard the words, he wanted to cry but had no tears: "What the prince said is very true, very true."

Zhao Tong continued: "However, since you said that there was a great chaos in the south of the Yangtze River, it was a wartime, and there were more or less such incidents in every state and county, so it can be considered...excusable?"

Wang Hanzhi kowtowed hurriedly when he heard the words: "My lord Mingjian, my lord Mingjian, my subordinates are sick, and I have been admitted to the official position several times. Even if I want to go to the barracks to investigate in my heart, I still have more energy than I can."

Zhao Tong sneered and said, "It's okay for you to evade it here, it's fine for the officials and the court to evade it!"

Beads of sweat on Wang Han's forehead "cracked" and fell to the ground, saying: "I dare not shirk, my subordinate..."

Zhao Tong interrupted him and said: "It's useless to say these things now, hurry back and draw up the scriptures, and Sun Changjie will also go back to draft the scriptures, and report to Tokyo with the king's memorial tomorrow morning, and everything will be dealt with by the officials!"

Wang Hanzhi and Sun Changjie got up from the ground, staggered towards the door, and just arrived at the door, Zhao Tun coughed from behind, and they stopped immediately in fright.

Zhao Tong said coldly: "You two should discuss how to write the memorial. The heads of the officials of Jiangning City, as well as your own lives, are all written on this paper!"

The two didn't know the importance of this memorial, so they turned around and bowed again, and then went out with each other's support.

After the two left, Zhao Tang looked at the other officials below, and said calmly: "You all go back and discuss it, it's best... also discuss it with Wang Xuanfu and Sun Tongpan. This king has no way to keep you, and this king himself is hard to get rid of. Only you can keep your own family!"

These people hurriedly saluted after hearing the words, and then they couldn't wait to go out to chase after Wang Hanzhi and Sun Changjie.

When there were no outsiders in the hall, Zhao Tun glanced at Wang Ting, Zhe Kecun, Yao Pingzhong, etc., and said with a gloomy expression, "Although today's battle has won a great victory, the Demon Cult has the audacity to do such an outrageous thing. You are also responsible for the disadvantage of the inspection. Go back and think about it carefully. Once the officials ask you, how should you answer!"

Everyone hurriedly bowed to confess their crimes, Zhao Tun said again: "Yao Pingzhong, Zhang Xian stay, everyone else go."

After a while, there were only two people left in the hall, Zhao Tun ordered Zhang Xian to close the door, and then said in a low voice...

(End of this chapter)