Chapter 209: Go
Chapter 209: Go (Additional chapter for leader Otsutsuki Tsuki)
Wang Mi soon found out, but he suspected that Liu Ling was insulting his intelligence.
Five hundred cavalrymen charged over a hundred infantrymen, scattered them, and then returned in a miserable defeat?
That’s not all. The fleeing cavalry were swept away by these people, and they were resisted by powerful bows and crossbows, which disrupted the formation of their own 3,000 infantrymen. Then the imperial guards infantry took advantage and won the battle in one go?
He drew his sword on the spot and beheaded the messenger sent by Liu Ling to report the news.
However, although one messenger could be killed, the second or third one could not be killed.
Soon, messengers came one after another, saying that the imperial army marched out of the south of the city in large numbers. Taking advantage of the high morale of the victory in the first battle, they attacked Liu Ling's camp fiercely. Liu Fengxian's several camps were defeated and he was in a mess.
Wang Mi had a bad feeling in his heart.
He had long felt that the Luoyang Central Army was more capable of fighting than the troops from the prefectures and counties, but his men were advancing at a high speed and their morale was high, so he no longer believed it.
After learning your lesson this time, you should be more sober, right?
However, he still didn't believe that more than a hundred infantrymen could defeat five hundred cavalrymen head-on, especially when their formation was broken up.
The battle is over, aren't you afraid? Aren't you running away?
There are cavalrymen everywhere in front, behind, and on both sides of you. Why do you dare to stand there and fight with them?
He really couldn't understand how there could be such fearless elite soldiers in the world?
Unless, these people have long been accustomed to being surrounded by superior cavalry, and have long been accustomed to their own formations being broken up and having to fight in groups of three or five.
He left the camp, carefully checked the fortifications, then mounted his horse and led the Yaozi Camp toward the southwest.
"King Kong slave, what kind of battle are you fighting?" Wang Mi first raised the whip high, then put it away gently.
Liu Ling was too big. After putting on heavy armor, he looked like a bear. Wang Mi was a little scared, although he was reluctant to admit it.
"General..." Liu Ling didn't notice Wang Mi's subtle changes, and said with a red face: "The government army's fighting style is too strange. I have never seen infantry continue to fight after being dispersed by cavalry. I was careless for a moment and suffered a loss."
Wang Mi snorted coldly.
Liu Ling's face was filled with shame. He said, "Afterwards, more than a hundred soldiers rushed into the battle formation. Even though bows and crossbows were fired continuously, they could not be stopped. Those people seemed to be fearless. When the front fell, the back followed, and they rushed forward one after another. The men were so timid that the government troops pressed forward again, and they were completely defeated."
Wang Mi stared at him for a long time, as if trying to determine whether it was true or false.
After a long while, he put away his anger and said, "How many of these elite soldiers do you think we still have in Luoyang?"
"It shouldn't be too many." Liu Ling said, "These hundred or so people should be selected from the entire army. They were promised a huge reward, so they fought desperately and would not turn back even if they died."
Wang Mi didn't know what to say for a moment.
He glanced around from the corner of his eye, leaned close to Liu Ling, and whispered, "Last night, we received a report that Huanyuan Pass was lost, and the government army led by Shao Xun advanced to Yanshi. My brother was defeated and retreated to the city. Shao Xun may have bypassed Yanshi and headed straight for Luoyang."
Yanshi is very close to Luoyang, and each soldier carries several days' worth of dry food, so they can completely ignore the retreat and charge straight ahead.
Liu Ling was surprised and asked, "How long will it take for Shao Xun to get to Luoyang?"
"One or two days at most." Wang Mi sighed and said, "I originally wanted to use the camp to fight the government troops, but now it seems..."
"General," Liu Ling said quickly, "The morale of our troops has been crushed. We can't fight any more in the next two days."
They were defeated in the field battle first; the 3,500 infantry and cavalry were all old veterans, and more than half of them were killed or wounded.
Subsequently, several small camps were breached. Although the casualties were all weak soldiers, it did have an impact on the overall morale.
Now the government troops are exhausted after a long battle and have retreated back to the city to rest. What if they come again tomorrow?
Wang Mi was speechless.
Liu Ling is a very brave man in battle, but he never hesitates when it is time to run. It is unlikely that he will cover the rear. We can only put him in the front as a pioneer so that we can use him with confidence.
"Do you think we can capture Luoyang?" Wang Mi asked.
His tone was somewhat conflicted.
It seemed like he was a little unwilling to accept this. He had already run to the city of Luoyang, but ended up suffering a defeat and was about to run away. He was really unwilling to accept this.
Luoyang, this is Luoyang.
What if you get it? How beautiful would that be?
What if we face the government troops head-on and suddenly there is flying sand and rocks, and the government troops can't open their eyes or breathe through their mouths and noses? Wouldn't that mean we have won?
Well, Wang Mi quickly put an end to this glimmer of hope.
He would never have placed his hopes on these illusory things before, but the temptation of Luoyang was too great, and he couldn't control himself and started to have wild thoughts.
Furthermore, if Shao Xun had not chased him from behind, perhaps he could have waited a few days, fought a few more battles, and seen the situation.
If you really can't win, then just give up and leave without any regrets.
But the conditions are no longer in place right now, and we must act decisively.
"I want to withdraw our troops. What do you think?" Wang Miqi took a step closer and lowered his voice even more.
Liu Ling was not surprised at all, and asked, "Where to retreat?"
"It's impossible to go east of the city." Wang Mi said, "We can only go north, pass Mangshan, and then cross the river to the north."
"You want to..." Liu Ling asked subconsciously.
"When I was a knight-errant in Luoyang, I had a friendship with the Han ruler Liu Yuanhai. After crossing the river and heading north, if there is really no other way, I will surrender to Liu Yuanhai and find a place to stay first." Wang Mi said, "I believe you have also seen that our troops cannot fight hard battles. If we encounter a bit of fierce government troops, we will not be able to withstand it. If we can have a chance to breathe and train well for more than a year, our combat effectiveness will be very good."
"Han ruler Liu Yuan has no one to use and is eager to seek talented people. If I go to him, I will definitely be given a high position and generous salary, and you will also have a future." "Why do you think so?" Liu Ling asked.
Wang Mi glared at him. This was the result of not caring about "national affairs". He only heard him say: "Shi Le, Shi Chao, and the leaders of the Jie people and Wuhuan defected and all got official positions. Shi Le was the King of Pingjin. I went a little later, so I could at least be given a high-ranking general, a minister, or something like that. If I had brought more soldiers with me, I might have been able to get a higher rank."
Liu Ling was a little disgusted and said, "Liu Han is like that. What's the use of being crowned a king? He may not even get a salary, right?"
"Why do you care so much?" Wang Mi said impatiently, "You think I want to surrender to Liu Yuan? Isn't this the only way? Wang Laizi has many subordinates and can train military formations. He was defeated by Shao Xun in a field battle. Is he an easy person to deal with? Ji Sang was defeated by him. Do you think we can fight against Ji Sang?"
"They are about the same." Liu Ling said.
"King Kong slave, don't blame me for not reminding you. Now you have lost all your money and have no strength to fight again. In view of your past military exploits, I will let you go first. If you keep complaining, you can figure out a way yourself." After saying that, Wang Mi turned around and left, very decisively.
The retreat of tens of thousands of people was not an easy matter, even if they had decided to leave a scapegoat to cover their retreat.
It's actually a little late to run now.
After receiving the news from Yanshi last night, we shouldn't have fought today. Not only did we lose soldiers and generals, but we also wasted a day.
But then again, now that we have reached the city of Luoyang, it would be hard to accept leaving without fighting.
It's time to give up now. The sooner you leave, the better.
******
On the seventh day of May, after the victory in the first battle, the morale of the government troops was greatly boosted.
Wang Yan, the Prime Minister, personally went to the top of the city and ordered the governors to lead their troops into battle.
However, most of the bandits did not know the news of the retreat. With bitter faces, they defended the camp tremblingly and fought with the imperial guards coming out of the gates.
For a moment, thick smoke billowed outside the city and the sound of killing shook the sky.
The enemy soldiers were unable to resist and were gradually defeated, so they began to burn their camps, houses and even the city gates and fled in an attempt to stop their pursuers.
In the afternoon, Wang Mi and Liu Ling led their troops to flee northward.
At about this time, a large flag with the word "Shao" on it appeared flying high near Qilijian in the east.
The vanguard was made up of hundreds of cavalrymen. They did not care to conserve their horses at this time. They covered several miles in a flash and rushed directly to the outskirts of the enemy army.
Some people dismounted, fired a series of shots with their crossbows, and then rushed forward in neat rows, chasing and killing desperately, creating more and more chaos.
Next to the infantrymen who dismounted to fight, there were about two or three hundred cavalrymen passing by and rushing up to catch up with the enemy.
One of the generals was wearing the golden armor bestowed by the late emperor, holding a thick lance, and was extremely brave.
Looking from the top of the city, the two or three hundred cavalrymen he led were like sharp knives, which cut through the "cloth" formed by thousands of chaotic soldiers with a "swish".
After breaking through the enemy's formation, he reined in his horse and turned around, followed by more than two hundred riders, and then passed diagonally past a part of the chaotic soldiers.
Wherever he passed, the fleeing soldiers screamed and fell down one after another.
At this time, the defeated soldiers, based on their instinct to seek profit and avoid harm, all headed eastward.
After achieving his goal, the golden-armored general stopped charging and instead slowly swept up the fleeing soldiers, driving them eastward and slowly draining their strength.
"Marquis Luyang is here!" On the Dongyang Gate Tower, Yu Min, who had just returned to the capital from his post as the Zhongzheng of Yingchuan County, clapped his hands and laughed, looking happy.
Wang Yan also smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
The bandits were about to be defeated, but the arrival of Shao Xun completely destroyed their last chance of a comeback. Without any more surprises, how could they not be happy?
Besides, he was quite good at driving sheep. He was a natural at using cavalry and he was also very courageous.
While he was daydreaming, more than 700 soldiers from the palace had mounted their horses again and rushed towards the abandoned camp of the enemy.
It seemed that he wanted to intercept the last group of fleeing soldiers, or he seemed to have other purposes.
"Boom boom..." The sound of drums on the city wall became more and more intense.
Jinyang Gate, Pingchang Gate, Kaiyang Gate, Xuanyang Gate, Dongyang Gate, Jianchun Gate, Daxia Gate, Guangmo Gate...
The gates on the south, east and north sides of Luoyang were opened, and countless imperial guards swarmed out of the city, chasing the enemy and killing them.
The bandit soldiers who were abandoned at the back cried and shouted, with no fighting spirit at all.
The old thieves who escaped first were panting. They ran for their lives for a while, then rested for a while, recovered their strength and continued to flee.
Without a God's perspective, it was impossible for people to spot every fleeing person on an extremely complex and chaotic battlefield. Moreover, the cannon fodder left behind gradually filled the entire field, and the pursuers could not tell who was who, which gave them an opportunity.
Of course, we still have to fight and retreat, and then change direction after nightfall to try to shake off the pursuers.
As for those things that you can't get rid of, it's just your bad luck and you can't blame anyone else.
You will have to go out to fight, this day will come sooner or later, you have to get used to it.
Around Luoyang, nearly 70,000 soldiers were in total retreat, and the war had entered the stage of chasing the enemy to the north.
(End of this chapter)