Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 732 The Great Retreat

The biggest difference between a defender and a forward is that the forward can count on the support of the main force. Persistence is hopeful. As a defender, the main force is moving away from him. Once he is dragged back, he will die.The only two thousand cavalry under Dangjin's command were delayed by the Song army. Facing the powerful long-range attack capabilities of the Black Wolf Regiment, the cavalry's combat power could not be displayed at all. Seeing the main force gradually go away, they dare not wait any longer Here, let's run wild.

At Yang Jiye's order, a thousand cavalrymen from Nanshan and Beishan each followed the rout and chased after them. In addition, the engineering battalion continued to use all its catapults to launch gunpowder packages, and the giant crossbow was also firing with all its strength. The momentum was like a general attack. .

The Song army had suffered heavy losses these days, and their fighting spirit was already very low. The collapse of the two wings and the rear quickly caused a domino effect. The brave army who was delayed by the right wing all commanded Gao Zhengxi to organize a retreat, and the troops under his command collapsed. More than 2000 people fled.

The Song army in the middle road had no intention of rescue. The defense line of the imperial guards from the capital of the Song Dynasty and the most elite guards collapsed like an avalanche. The Song army behind the earth wall in the middle gave up all the remaining luggage and fled. infantry.Some of them were like headless chickens, and some were already prepared to hide in the trenches. As soon as the black wolf army appeared in front of them, they immediately came out and shouted to surrender.

Looking down from Nanshan and Beishan, thousands of ants are running wildly in the wilderness below the mountain, and the ground is full of fallen soldiers and armor.Dangjin's carefully planned retreat turned into a major rout. There were about [-] infantrymen left behind on the earthen wall. According to Dangjin's plan, these people were supposed to evacuate at night and take all the useful luggage with them. In the Wolf Legion, many armored soldiers ran so fast that they even discarded their armor in order to escape.

At this time, in addition to Nanshan and Beishang Black Wolf Army who had mounted their horses and chased them out, the Black Wolf Army stationed in the four military villages also began to mount their horses and gather.

Under Dangjin's desperate organization, the two thousand cavalrymen in charge of the right wing braved the gunpowder packs from Nanshan to line up at the foot of the mountain. In the direction of the gap, Dangjin did not give up the troops behind, and the Shenyong Army and Shenwu Army behind them all breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Chen's dragon flag appeared on Nanshan Mountain, and there was chaos at the foot of the mountain. The Black Wolf Army cheered from top to bottom, shouting and chasing after the defeated soldiers, shooting and killing the Song Army who was behind. Fu Guo suffered a disastrous defeat in front of him.

Due to the barriers of the Lanma Ditch and the earth wall of the Song Dynasty, the cavalry of the Black Wolf Legion did not pursue effectively, and the damage was not serious. Of course, Ye Chen arranged for Tuoba Gelu to detour and stop Dangjin two days ago. And Zhe Yuxun led 2 troops to block the [-] reinforcements sent by Song Guo from Jingzhao Mansion.

The Song Army infantry at the foot of the mountain continued to retreat towards the Song Army camp more than ten miles away, and the thousand cavalry from Nanshan who rushed to the front began to attack, and the Song Army also dispersed, and some of them were organized by Dang Jin with great effort. Form a hedgehog battle formation, retreating while guarding against the sprint of the black wolf cavalry.

Of course, the main force covering the retreat of the Song Army was the two thousand cavalry led by Wu Zhen, the deputy commander of the Yunqi Army. Wu Zhen also showed good command ability. The four battalion commanders under his command were also experienced. Galloping suddenly towards the middle, forcing the chasing cavalry of the Black Wolf Legion to retreat, covering the escape of the entire right wing of the Song Army, and maintaining its formation well.

If the [-] cavalry led by Wu Zhen were not defeated, it would be difficult for the Black Wolf Legion to let go of their pursuit. Yang Jiye asked the messengers around him to continuously display semaphores, and the [-] cavalry who had rushed down the mountain on both sides of the Nanshan and Beishan formed a cavalry formation. Accelerate, and attack the two thousand cavalry of the Song Army together in the front. Thousands of horses are galloping down the mountain, and the cavalry's hedge is tragic.

The cavalry of the Song Army also knew that there was no way out, so they confronted the cavalry of the Black Wolf Army regardless of casualties, and attacked for two consecutive rounds.Several commanders of the cavalry battalion of the Song Army had experienced battles and were flexible in cavalry warfare. They tried their best not to confront the Black Wolf Army head-on, but to attack the flanks of the Black Wolf Army cavalry in turn.

Ye Chen shook his head from the top of the hill, looking at the rest of the battle line, the Song Army's rout had already gone away, and they fought hard and fled to the Song Army's camp.Although the trenches and earthen walls in front of the four army villages cost the Song army a great price and still did not conquer the army villages, they also prevented the cavalry of the Black Wolf Legion from chasing the enemy from the front. Only the Nanshan and Beishan on both sides pursued in time. The [-] cavalry that went out were not enough to defeat the [-] Song Army cavalry that covered the retreat.

The most important thing is that Dangjin decisively set their camp of [-] troops on fire together with some supplies and supplies. The [-] cavalry from Nanshan and Beishan, led by Li Guangshun himself, managed to go around the ditches and earthen walls and chased them up. The cavalry of the Song army were also entangled by the cavalry who arrived earlier on the Nanshan and Beishan. When Li Guangshun led the cavalry to bite the Song army, they were ignited by the Song army camp several miles wide and several miles long. It was blocked, and there were even hundreds of wounded soldiers in the camp who hadn't had time to escape, screaming and screaming in the fire, which was shocking and shocking.Even Ye Chen admired Dang Jin's decisiveness and ruthlessness.

On Nanshan, Yang Jiye frowned slightly, and said to Ye Chen: "Your Majesty, the Song Army led by Dang Jin is worthy of being an elite. Although it has already been defeated, this fire bought a lot of time for the Song Army. If we can reorganize the defeated infantry, and with [-] cavalry covering them, if we insist on pursuing, we will inevitably force the Song army to turn around and fight desperately. After all, our number is much smaller than them. If the Song army forms a battle formation, We have no advantage in field battles.”

Ye Chen nodded slightly, expressing his deep opinion of what Yang Jiye said.As for the [-] cavalry of the Black Wolf Legion that had been put on the other side by the fire, the two of them didn't have to worry—because even if Dang Jin led the infantry to turn around and join forces with the cavalry to deal with them, the cavalry's maneuverability would give them plenty of time to escape. What's more, Li Guangshun has already led the main force of the Black Wolf Army to chase after him.Most importantly, the two believed that at this time, Dang Jin would never waste the retreat time he had so hard won for the two thousand black wolf cavalry.

While Ye Chen and Yang Jiye were talking, surrounded by more than 2000 black riders, they rode down the Nanshan Mountain and chased after them at a leisurely pace.

Although the Song army has been defeated, the main force is still there. The commander is a famous general who should not be underestimated. As long as they don't lose, no matter how the Song army deploys and withdraws, as long as the army starts to march, the formation on the road will always be stretched, and there will always be people left at the end, and the formation and psychology will be fragile.

Ye Chen and Yang Jiye's original plan was to wait for the Song army to start withdrawing, and after the formation was stretched, the whole army would pursue from behind.No matter what kind of army it is, it takes a long time to change from the marching state to the battle formation. In fact, being dragged halfway by the Black Wolf Army is more dangerous than being dragged by the four military strongholds, because they do not have a solid camp, and the whole army is in a state of anxiety. In the state, so Yang Jiye himself thought that even without Tuoba Gelu's interception on the road ahead, the Black Wolf Army alone would have a great chance to bite off a piece of Song Jun's flesh.

Ye Chen and his party went down Nanshan Mountain, and after walking about seven or eight miles, they came to the Song Army camp that was still burning.

The camp of the Song army was full of smoke, and there were still fires everywhere. The camp of the Song army extended to the southeast along the four military camps. At this time, layers of fire were lit, the official road was shielded by the fire, and the fireworks blocked the pursuit of the black wolf army. route.When Ye Chen, Yang Jiye and his party passed by, they could also feel the heat wave.

Yang Jiye comforted Ye Chen: "Your Majesty, the Song army fled and gave up all their luggage, tents, food and grass. The loss to them is already heavy. This place is two days away from Gyeongju at the speed of infantry, and they have no supplies. There are not many villages and towns along the way."

Hu Sanguang next to him said: "The general doesn't know. The Song army has prepared in the earth-stone village eighty miles ahead. There should be food and grass in reserve there."

Yang Jiye nodded and did not speak. At this moment, a messenger came ahead, sent by Li Guangshun.

After listening to the messenger's report, Yang Jiye said: "Your Majesty, Dang Jin has the courage to let the soldiers and infantry go first, and he will bring the elite to stay behind and stabilize the morale of the Song Army. Now the only thing to do is to see Huangwan closed. The river is not so easy, has there been any change in Huangwan Pass in the past two days?"

Hu Sanguang said in a low voice: "Yesterday I sent a team of scouts to Huangwan Pass, and they reported overnight that there are about [-] Song troops at Huangwan Pass, and the defenses are tight."

Ye Chen looked calm and thoughtful.Yang Jiye frowned slightly.

At Huangwanguan, Li Guangshun, who led the cavalry in pursuit, stopped one mile away from the bank of the Huangwan River. On the bank were the corpses of more than 300 Song soldiers, and behind him were [-] cavalrymen.

The roadside was full of soldiers who surrendered, about [-] in total. They were all Song Army infantry who were left to the end. Facing the black wolf cavalry, they had no physical strength to escape and could only choose to surrender.Li Guangshun led the cavalry to catch up with many straggling Song Army infantry along the way. Most of these infantry were the elite of the Forbidden Army from the capital.Some were beheaded, a small number fled into the mountains and fields, and nearly half of them chose to surrender.If they were fighting against the Liao Kingdom or the former Dangxiang Bashi, they would not surrender under normal circumstances, but when fighting against the Xiangfu Kingdom, because of Ye Chen's prestige and holy name, they felt no burden to surrender.

Li Guangshun couldn't care less about chasing and killing the stragglers who fled to the fields and forests on both sides, and hurriedly pursued all the way to Huangwanguan, a key point forty miles away from the four military camps.

(End of this chapter)