national surname chiming

Chapter 227 Crazy Escape
With Zhu Wenzhen's joining, the battle loss ratio between the two sides has further expanded from the original one to two to one to three to more than one to five, and the lives of the bandit soldiers are being harvested rapidly.

And the longer the fight, the more reinforcements from other directions of the official army will arrive.Zhang Xianzhong's army also threw in the last reserve team, but still failed to turn the situation around. He could only watch his side slowly lose blood, and their morale gradually declined.

After all, the front generals of Zhang Xianzhong's army already knew that they had no reserve team, so they all filled in.

The soldiers are still kept in the dark, relying on the belief that "we have more people" for the time being, even if they see their comrades on the left and right continue to die, they will not rush away immediately.If there is no such information asymmetry, I am afraid it will only collapse faster.

Zhu Wenzhen led the cavalry to fight bloody battles, charging back and forth, and the fighting lasted no more than half a stick of incense. After the initial impact and vigor of the Ming army's cavalry were gradually consumed, casualties began to increase.

But at this time, Jin Shenghuan from the siege camp in the east of the city had already brought the main force of the Ming army, and even Shen Shuren was sitting in the camp in person.

Although Zhang Xianzhong also invested in the last reserve team, and the whole battlefield became a mess, but the situation was still developing in a direction that was more and more unfavorable to him.

The last two straws that crushed Zhang Xianzhong finally appeared after the whole battle lasted about two hours, half past hour (10:[-] a.m.).

First of all, it was Zuo Zixiong who led the exhausted army that had retreated from the Hengshanwei battlefield, about 8000 people, into the battle.

Secondly, Lin Chengcheng and Liu Sandao from the west of the city also rushed to the battlefield almost at the same time.

Lin Chengcheng also played up his own banner without hesitation, and made people charge and scold at the same time, disrupting Zhang Xianzhong's morale.

"Zhang Xianzhong is a thief! You fell into the trap of my Futai! You are a rebel! If you hadn't coerced us into rebellion back then, the brothers in the fifth battalion of Gezuo and the other four battalions would not have died so badly! You made it impossible for us to be loyal to the imperial court! Fortunately, Shen Futai ignored the past!

Do you think I really care about your stinky money!But if you keep your word, you don't want to give even these filthy money!You deserve to die today!Sooner or later, the bastards who follow Zhang Xianzhong will be betrayed by him! "

In fact, Lin Chengcheng had long wanted to go into battle and prove himself.

However, it was Shen Shuren who told him to stay safe and not to be impatient, and Lin Chengren couldn't act rashly until Zhang Xianzhong was found to have joined the final strategic reserve team.

Shen Shuren did this, of course, not because he wanted to preserve his strength for Lin Cultivation, but because he was afraid that Zhang Xianzhong would find out that he had been tricked in advance and would not dare to bet again, so that he would not lose enough in the end.

Zhang Xianzhong must have pushed all the chips and bet them all, and Lin Chengcheng will appear again, Zhang Xianzhong will not be able to stop even if he wants to.

It has to be said that the sudden appearance of Lin Chengcheng, and the fact that he was yelling and exposing his old background while charging like this, had a great blow to the morale of Zhang Xianzhong's old battalions in Shaanxi and Henan.

Because many of them knew that the Fifth Gezuo Battalion was originally a comrade-in-arms, Zhang Xianzhong also said in his rhetoric to boost morale all the time, "Although the Shen family army is well-armed, but the people are not united, the people he subdues will not work for him. There are only a few truly reliable direct line troops."

But Lin Chengcheng's personal statement is tantamount to slapping Zhang Xianzhong's lie in the face.

Who said that Shen Shu was unpopular?Even the surrendered peasant army is determined to serve Shen Shuren, is this unpopular?In contrast, shouldn't Zhang Xianzhong's subordinates seriously doubt life?
Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help being furious. As the saying goes, heretics are more hateful than heretics, and two devils are more hateful than devils. He quickly ordered Feng Shuangli to send all the soldiers around him and even the flag formation to block Lin Chengcheng's way. The two armies quickly fought wildly got together.

Lin Chengcheng also held back for a long time without a chance to show off, and today he pointed at Zhang Xianzhong to accept the vote, so he didn't dare to reserve his strength.

In his three battalions, in fact, they had been mixed with sand, broken up and reorganized. Only about two-thirds of the veterans were from the old battalion he brought out from the Dabie Mountains, and one third were Liu San. Sword soldiers, as well as the local recruits in Huangzhou at that time.

But in any case, the proportion of veterans in Gezuo Fifth Battalion is still acceptable, and their combat effectiveness is relatively brave, at least not weaker than Zhang Xianzhong's Henan old battalion, at most it is not as good as Zhang Xianzhong's Shaanxi old battalion.

Before the war, Lin Chengcheng had repeatedly publicized that as long as he fights well, he will be able to fully enjoy the treatment of the official army in the future. The soldiers who have lived poorly for a long time are also looking forward to it, and everyone has a high fighting spirit.

Soon, a bloody massacre of Shaanxi people on both sides broke out in the southwest corner of the battle.Regardless of the cost, Lin Chenggong stormed from west to east to attack Zhang Xianzhong's left flank. For a while, limbs and arms flew around and blood flowed.

Both sides didn't have many firearms, just pure blood, guns and guns, and deadly hand-to-hand combat.

However, Zhang Xianzhong's army was already under pressure in all directions. In the end, the number of people Feng Shuangli brought to fight with Lin Chengcheng was not many, and they were all Zhang Xianzhong's personal guards. It is very distressing to die.

The bloody battle lasted less than half a stick of incense. Zhang Xianzhong, who had calmed down a little, realized that he couldn't go on like this. If all the guards in the flag formation were dead, who would protect him and break through?
The reason why I had a decisive battle with Shen Shuren in Hengzhou was that I was reluctant to bear the indelible burden of the Huguang New Affiliated Army, directly disintegrating people's hearts and making Shen Shuren cheaper, so I wanted to consume each other with cannon fodder and the enemy.

But at this point in the battle, his old battalions of Shanxi and Yu have joined a lot, and he has not figured it out until now. On the battlefield of the main decisive battle, he should have more than twice the force advantage, and he even took the lead. The machine and Shen Shuren are the ones fighting for fuel tactics, but why did it end up in this situation?
While the left wing was demoralized and confused by Lin Chengcheng, the investment of Zuo Zixiong on the right wing also brought disaster to Zhang Xianzhong's army.

After Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry battalion charged for the last time, because they were exhausted and their ammunition was almost exhausted, they finally chose to pull away in a detour.

The main force of Bai Wenxuan's infantry couldn't catch up, so he just fired a burst of arrows to see him off, and then wanted the cavalry from the bandit side to pursue, so as not to let the cavalry of the Ming army have a chance to recover their strength.

But Zhu Wenzhen's pulling away is actually giving Zuo Zixiong's troops room for firecrackers to line up guns - if one's own cavalry has been cutting back and forth in the enemy's formation, the Ming army's musketeers are afraid of accidentally injuring their own people, so it is not good to just randomly open gun.

And Zuo Zixiong's troops directly under him, who had just withdrawn from the Hengshan Guard, happened to have the highest rate of firearms in the Ming army, with almost half of the musketeers. As the final offensive force that crushed the enemy, It couldn't be more appropriate.

As thousands of platoons of guns sounded successively in a stacked formation and advanced gradually, Bai Wenxuan hastily sent out to chase Zhu Wenzhen's rogue cavalry, and soon a large area fell on the open space between the two armies, and the remaining ones were lucky. The surviving bandit cavalry also scattered frantically.

After a while, as the two armies approached within 150 paces, the crossbowmen and spearmen in the front row of the thieves also began to be shot and fell down screaming. The density of firepower was unprecedented for the thieves.

While Zuo Zixiong's troops were killing wildly, they also chanted various slogans against the morale of the enemy troops:

"Zhang Xianzhong is a thief! Wang Shangli's soldiers and horses have been wiped out in Hengshan Guard! Wang Shangli's head is here!"

Among the rebellious army, even if Wang Shangli's head was picked up on the gun barrel, it was not easy to see from a distance, so Zuo Zixiong repeated the same trick as in Hengdong County, and divided Wang Shangli's head, helmet, and armor into several places. Then, show as much as you can.

Although Zhang Xianzhong's soldiers on the opposite side can't see clearly, no matter whether they are convinced or not, this kind of thing can hit morale more or less. What's more, the scale of the officers and soldiers is indeed larger than that shown by the pre-war intelligence, and the reinforcements are almost endless. That is the only explanation that "the reinforcements of the official army in the battlefield behind Hengshanwei have rushed back, and our army's troops in Hengshanwei who robbed food must be more or less fortunate."

In the final analysis, the war is fought against people's hearts. When people's hearts are scattered and morale collapses, everything is over.

"Don't worry about the enemy on the two wings! Let Feng Shuangli come back! The whole army breaks through the encirclement! Smash the enemy in front!" Zhang Xianzhong was finally frightened into a cold sweat by the increasingly deteriorating situation, and finally made up his mind not to be greedy for too much. .

Although the old battalion brothers under his command were also killed or injured, after all, the main force is still there, and it is still possible to break through.

The total number of cavalry in his army is still more than Zhu Wenzhen's.Moreover, Zhu Wenzhen had repeatedly rushed and killed just now, exhausted his physical strength, and suffered a lot of casualties, so it was definitely impossible to continue the pursuit.

Zhang Xianzhong knew very well that at worst, he could still make sure to retreat with all the old cavalry battalions under his command.

At the request of Zhang Xianzhong, Feng Shuangli quickly withdrew most of the banner troops back, and did not get entangled with Lin Chengcheng. At almost the same time, the left wing of Zhang Xianzhong's army was almost collapsed by Lin Chengcheng.

Zhang Xianzhong didn't have time to think about it, and rushed forward with Feng Shuangli and Bai Wenxuan. Lu Datou and Jiang Shoude's camp had already been washed into tatters. A little life, and a few more waves of side fires will be harvested.

Zhang Xianzhong also chose to charge quietly very viciously, instead of letting his big flag follow him, he ordered the guards in charge of the flag to retreat and retreat into the city.

Therefore, most of the friendly troops on the battlefield didn't know that the king was going to run away. Even the Ming army on the opposite side, seeing Zhang Xianzhong's flag retreating back to the city, thought that Zhang Xianzhong knew that he was defeated in the field and wanted to retreat to the cage city to defend.

As a result, although the morale of the Ming army was crazily high and the enemy became more active in killing the enemy, they did not care about chasing and killing Zhang Xianzhong himself in the chaos.All the combat operations of the Ming army still revolved around "trying not to let the enemies who are already sticking to the city withdraw to the city, clearing obstacles for the subsequent siege, reducing resistance, and annihilating as many enemies as possible in field battles."

Zhang Xianzhong's action is tantamount to selling all the Huguang new affiliated troops completely, and at the cost of their chaos and collapse, they broke through the chaos and escaped.

Fortunately, Zhang Xianzhong is very good at escaping his life. He has been fleeing for 14 years, and he has left behind anytime and anywhere. This time he went out to the city for a field battle. Take all the gold and jewelry that you have brought with you, so that you can take it away at any time when you break out.

It's a pity that the silver is already too heavy to carry all of it, and the copper coins and silk are not at all, and they are all left in Hengzhou City.

After all, before Zhang Xianzhong left the city today, he still wanted to take the opportunity to seriously injure or even wipe out a part of the army, and it was impossible to really prepare completely for breaking out and fleeing.It is inevitable to leave a considerable part of the belongings behind.

"No, Zhang Xianzhong is going to run away!" Shen Shuren in the distance has been observing the situation on the battlefield with binoculars, and it was impossible for him to see the flaw at first.

But as the camps of Lu Datou and Jiang Shoude were completely pierced, thousands of rogue cavalry passed through the camp without looking back and continued to run towards the hilly area in the northwest. Looking back to fight again, the top Ming army finally realized that Zhang Xianzhong had really abandoned the army and fled.

"Let Zhu Wenzhen chase after him!" Shen Shuren didn't care about the exhaustion of Zhu Wenzhen's troops at this time. Even though they have been fighting for a long time today and almost everyone has been injured, they still hope that they will try their best to expand the results of the battle.

At the same time, on the frontal battlefield, the Ming army quickly followed through and began to shout the slogan "Zhang Xianzhong has been defeated! Surrender and avoid death!"

Of course, the soldiers of Zhang Xianzhong's army, who were still fighting in chaos, could not believe this kind of slogan directly. Most of them turned their heads in panic, only to see that the banner of the king had already returned to the city. He didn't think about "the king has abandoned them".

But this level of morale collapse is fatal enough.The remaining Huguang New Affiliated Army was almost within a cup of tea, the entire army collapsed, and the remaining seven or eight thousand people were scurrying around like headless chickens.

Zhang Hualong, the governor of the right army, was unable to restrain the troops, and was counterattacked by Jiang Shoude, who was quite resilient.

The old Henan battalion led by Ma Weixing, the governor of the left army, was also the second to collapse. The 5000-man army had already suffered thousands of casualties before, and now it has completely collapsed. Ma Weixing was also killed by Zuo Zixiong's troops in the rebellion.

As for the small part of the old Shaanxi battalion that did not run away in the end, they were also attacked and defeated by Lin Chengcheng and Liu Sandao like crazy tigers, but Feng Shuangli had already been called back to break through by Zhang Xianzhong in advance, so he did not get any high-level The beheading credit.

After a series of bloody battles around Hengzhou, Wang Shangli, Ma Weixing, and Zhang Hualong were the commanders-in-chief of the five armies of the Western Army regime in later generations, and only Feng Shuangli and Bai Wenxuan remained alive to follow.

On Zhu Wenzhen's side, after all, it was impossible to catch up with Zhang Xianzhong himself. After all, his capital was too high, and tens of thousands of people could fight on their own, just for the escape of the main cavalry.

Zhu Wenzhen only chased some stragglers, especially some rogue soldiers who were slow to escape because of greed and carrying too heavy belongings.

There were several rogue cavalry officers who were caught up. They could have run away, but the horses were exhausted by running, or at least they were so tired that they foamed at the mouth and fell to the ground. After losing the horses , was caught up by Zhu Wenzhen.

However, these officers were also bachelors. When they saw Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry coming up, they knelt down and begged for mercy, offering their property on horseback in order to avoid death.

And Zhu Wenzhen had also been ordered by Shen Shuren in advance to give preferential treatment to prisoners of this kind, lest those officers carrying gold hide in the jungle because they were afraid of death and did not dare to show their faces. , Zhu Wenzhen can avoid death, and let the soldiers shout such surrender slogans.

Several captive rogue officers finally opened their sacks and found that they were all filled with gold that was at least the size of several basketballs——

As we all know, a piece of gold the size of a solid basketball has more than 500 taels, which is equivalent to one hundred catties.Carrying gold the size of several basketballs must not weigh hundreds of catties.So greedy, no wonder the horses were crushed to death during the gallop.

Any casual capture of such a cavalry officer would cost at least 5000 taels of gold, which is worth 5 taels of silver, which is really a bargain.

In the end, Zhang Xianzhong's 8000 troops brought only the vast majority of the cavalry to break out of the encirclement. The infantry only had a small number of stragglers who fled, and the total number was only [-] to [-].

The remaining 4 people were either lost on the battlefield or driven back to the leaderless city of Hengzhou. Sooner or later, they will be the food of Shen Shuren.

The main force of Zhang Xianzhong's army in Huguang was completely wiped out, leaving only sporadic bandits.

(End of this chapter)