klisemfg Chapter 330: Running to
Chapter 330: Running to
"Da...da da..." A burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came from the front.
A small group of scouts rushed to Meng Jun and said, "Your Majesty, Haoge's troops are crossing the river, and the navy has cut off the Yangtze River. General Huang asks Your Majesty to send troops quickly."
Meng Jun couldn't help but praise when he heard this: "Having the navy to help us in the battle is like adding wings to a tiger."
After he finished speaking, Meng Jun immediately gave the order: "Order the vanguard to march lightly and reach Wuchang by sunset!"
The military order was quickly delivered to the vanguard Lin Shiqi. After receiving the order, Lin Shiqi said in a deep voice: "Pass the order, except for weapons and armor, the entire army is not allowed to take any other supplies, and the entire army will attack Wuchang!"
"Quick, quick! Speed up, the Tartars are trying to escape!"
…………
The river was full of Zheng's navy sailing on the surface. Most of the Qing army had no choice but to stop crossing the river when they were halfway across. In this situation, no one dared to force their way across the river.
Hauge counted the troops and found that more than 6,000 of Duoduo's men had already crossed the river, and most of the Eight Banners soldiers who were the first to cross the river under Hauge's troops had already crossed the river. There were still more than a thousand Eight Banners soldiers stranded on the south bank, while most of those on the south bank were Mongolian cavalry and Green Camp soldiers, some of whom were killed in the attack on the camp outside Xianning City. At this moment, there were still more than 12,000 Qing troops on the south bank.
Hauge was furious and kept ordering the river defense artillery to bombard Zheng's ships. Even though twenty-two Zheng's warships had sunk so far, Chen Yaoce still did not issue an order to withdraw from the Wuchang waterway.
The deputy general then spoke up again, "General Chen, the warships have been severely damaged, more than 20 have been capsized, and there is still no sign of the King of Zhou's infantry arriving."
After he finished speaking, the deputy general saw that Chen Yaoce's expression had not changed, so he lowered his voice and said, "General, this is for your own good. Guoxing asked you to lead the navy only to help King Zhou conquer Wuchang, not to stop the Tartars from crossing the river. General, if the loss of warships is too great, it may be disadvantageous to you!"
Chen Yaoce's unchanged face finally showed some changes. He looked up at the sky, hesitated for a long time, and then slowly said: "Then wait for another half an hour. If Zhou Jun doesn't arrive, we can only evacuate."
"General..." The deputy general wanted to persuade him again, but Chen Yaoce raised his hand to stop the deputy general from speaking, and said in a deep voice: "Half an hour!"
"Yes, General"
On the north bank of the Yangtze River, Hauge felt more and more depressed the longer he waited. The Zheng army on the river would rather endure the bombardment than stop the Qing army on the south bank from crossing the river. This meant that Meng Jun's troops were about to arrive, and the more than 10,000 people on the south bank were in danger.
Half an hour passed, and three more ships of the Zheng family were sunk. Countless ships were hit by cannons, and even Chen Yaoce's flagship was hit by two cannons.
Chen Yaoce looked at the sky, then turned his head and stared carefully at Wuchang City on the south bank. He sighed in his heart, and then said helplessly: "Retreat!"
The deputy general was already anxiously waiting for Chen Yaoce's order to retreat. Seeing that Chen Yaoce gave in, the deputy general quickly ordered a flag signal to retreat from the Wuchang waterway.
Zheng's warships began to withdraw one after another. Chen Yaoce knew that they were out of the range of the river defense artillery. He still did not hear the drums of the Zhou army. Chen Yaoce said helplessly: "Man proposes, God disposes. What can we do if we fail at the last moment?"
"General, this time our army tried to stop the Tartars from crossing the river, and nearly thirty warships have sunk. More than a hundred ships need to be repaired, and hundreds of soldiers have been killed. This huge price has already been paid justly for King Zhou, and no one can blame the general." The deputy general felt relieved when he saw that they had left the range of the Qing army's artillery. Seeing that Chen Yaoce was a little unhappy, he comforted him.
…………
Hauge's mood was extremely complicated. When Duoduo was defeated, Hauge was worried about the situation in the Qing Dynasty on the one hand, but he was also very happy in his heart on the other hand, because this would give him the opportunity to challenge Dorgon, and even go a step further and take sole control of the government.
However, when it came to his own loss, Hauge found it hard to accept. It would have been fine if he had been killed in battle, but he was cut off halfway across the river. This really made Hauge angry.
When the Zheng family fleet began to withdraw from the Yangtze River one after another and the water surface was clear again, Haoge laughed excitedly and said, "The pirates can't bear the loss anymore and are running away. Give the order and cross the river quickly!"
However, some of the ships were destroyed by the Zheng family, and the transport capacity was weakened, and it would take time for the Qing army on the south bank to prepare for crossing the river again.
Seeing the ships starting to sail towards the north bank, Haoge smiled and said to Leng Sengji beside him, "The pirates paid such a high price, but it was all in vain. If Meng's infantry had come faster, I'm afraid that all of my 10,000 troops would have been wiped out on the south bank."
After Hauge finished speaking, he burst into laughter without waiting for Leng Sengji to reply. However, before he finished laughing, there was a sudden commotion on the south bank. Many soldiers began to scramble for boats. Those who were on the boats did not allow those who were not on the boats to squeeze in. When they got to the back, they even started drawing their swords against each other.
Haoge on the north bank was stunned, but Leng Sengji's face changed drastically and he exclaimed: "It must be the Meng bandits coming!"
At this time, the vanguard of the Zhou army, led by Lin Shiqi, was running forward. Countless soldiers were panting. Deputy General Song Wuque asked worriedly: "General, if the soldiers rush like this, how will they have enough energy to fight when they arrive in Wuchang?"
Lin Shiqi replied: "Once our army reaches Wuchang, there is no need to attack. As long as the army arrives, do you think the Qing army will dare to cross the river? As long as we delay the Qing army, they will be lambs to be slaughtered!"
Before arriving in Wuchang, the Qing army's scouts had already discovered the traces of Zhou's army. Upon seeing this, Lin Shiqi immediately ordered his men to blow the horn.
The sound of trumpets coming one after another made the Mongolian and Green Camp soldiers who were crossing the river know that the Zhou army was coming without the need for Qing scouts to report.
The Mongolian soldiers who were queuing to board the ship immediately became restless, and the crowd involuntarily squeezed forward until the back, when they began to scramble and fight for the ships, because everyone knew that staying on the south bank would be a dead end.
It would definitely be too late to cross the river and transport everyone to the other side at this time. Gulbuha, the commander-in-chief of the Eight Banners of Mongolia, had already boarded the boat, but when he saw that most of his subordinates had not yet boarded, he stood up suddenly, stopped the boatman, and forced him to return to the south bank.
Gulbuha stood at the bow and shouted loudly in a resounding voice: "Stop! Mongolian warriors, you are the eagles of the grassland. I am Gulbuha, your commander-in-chief. I will live and die with you, and I will never run away like a weasel."
The boats approached the south bank, and all the Mongolian soldiers looked at Gulbuha, who then shouted: "We Mongolians will never swing our scimitars at our brothers. We will only fight for honor! Everyone, retreat to Wuchang City!"