Duan Xiushi, who commanded the siege, first heard that soldiers came to report that Li Siye was dead, and his first reaction was that he did not believe it.
But more and more people came to report to the Chinese army that Li Siye died in the battle on the city tower.
Duan Xiushi ordered the military code to go around suppressing the rumors, and at the same time sent Yuhou to the front line to find out the news.
Not long after, the pale-faced Marquis Yu stumbled back to the central army, knelt on the ground with a plop, and said mournfully: "General Li was killed by a firearm in the watchtower of Jiangcheng. Now his body is hung on the city gate by the southerners.
The army is in chaos!"
Upon hearing the news, Duan Xiushi's eyes darkened and he almost fell off his horse.
After spending a lot of time, Duan Xiushi regained his composure and asked Yuhou in a deep voice: "Did you look carefully? Is it really General Li?!"
Marquis Yu: "Not only the last general, but also the other soldiers saw it. It is indeed General Li."
Duan Xiushi's nails dug into her flesh, her whole body trembled slightly, she almost gritted her teeth and said word by word: "Send the order! Stop advancing! Prepare to retreat!"
In fact, Duan Xiushi's order to withdraw troops was given a little late.
The news of Li Siye's death in battle had already spread throughout the front line.
In the past, Li Siye, who was regarded as the god of war among the Tang army, died in Jiangcheng. The morale of the soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty almost plummeted.
At the same time, the defenders of the Southern Tang Dynasty no longer hid their strength. Xue Nanyang led the Shenhuo Guards, who first used the Crouching Tiger Cannon to drive the Northern Tang Army off the city tower, then took out the gunpowder barrel, lit it and threw it off the city wall.
The soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty who launched a general attack under the city gathered together in a dense formation. Secondly, they never dreamed that the Southern Tang Dynasty actually had gunpowder.
Therefore, when the Shenhuo Guard's gunpowder barrel was pushed down from the city wall, the Northern Tang Army had almost no defense.
Accompanied by one after another loud noises, the entire Jiangcheng defense line was instantly covered by explosions and air waves.
Soldiers' limbs, as well as armors, weapons and other objects, fell like hailstones in the violent explosion.
Li Siye's death in battle, coupled with the emergence of firearms in the Southern Tang Dynasty, caused the morale of the Northern Tang army to completely collapse.
The troops of the Northern Tang Dynasty were like an avalanche, with one force leading the other, fleeing the battlefield and fleeing backwards.
People and horses trampled them, and the dead were scattered everywhere like ants.
Soldiers scrambled to escape, and even internal strife broke out. Soldiers fought against each other in order to escape as soon as possible.
Thousands of elite soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty did not die in battle, but ran for their lives, and finally died in the hands of their own families.
General Qi of the Southern Tang Dynasty saw the opportunity and ordered Xue Nanyang to lead 3,000 light cavalry and 8,000 infantry to follow the Northern Tang army, driving them all the way and taking advantage of the chaos to force them to the riverside.
As a result, the most bizarre scene happened on the Jiangcheng battlefield.
The left front wing, right front wing and front army of the Northern Tang Dynasty, totaling more than 40,000 people, were driven away by the 10,000 people of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
There were generals in the Northern Tang Army who wanted to regroup and turn around to fight the enemy, but the soldiers had already lost their will to fight and could only flee for their lives.
These 40,000 defeated soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty were driven all the way and rushed directly towards the Chinese army where Duan Xiushi was.
If the Chinese army is attacked again, it means that the Western Route Army of the Northern Tang Dynasty will be completely defeated, and the situation will become out of control.
If it were an ordinary general, seeing that the situation was over, he might have joined the fleeing team regardless of anything else.
But Duan Xiushi knew in his heart that the Chinese army could not retreat.
To the rear is the Yangtze River. If the West Route Army completely collapses and is forced into the Yangtze River, then all 80,000 people will probably be wiped out.
Thinking of this, Duan Xiushi rode a horse and led his bodyguards to the front line from the Chinese army camp regardless of safety.
When the soldiers of the Chinese Army heard the news of the defeat on the front line, they were all nervous. Suddenly they saw the appearance of General Duan Xiushi, and they suddenly felt at ease and waited for the latter to speak.
Duan Xiushi saw that the defeated troops were about to rush over soon, so he made a decisive decision and shouted loudly: "Send the order, put up shields in the front line, hold flags, and beat drums! The three armies are preparing for battle and are ready to meet the enemy!"
The Chinese army's flag was raised at this time, and the first drumbeat, representing the battle, also sounded on the battlefield.
When the defeated soldiers who escaped from the front heard the sound of drums and saw the flags and banners, some smart deserters had already fled to the side with all their strength, trying their best to avoid the Central Army of the Northern Tang Dynasty.
But even so, there are still many defeated troops who are panicking and want to return to the safe rear without paying any attention to anything else.
Seeing that the defeated troops were getting closer and closer to the Chinese army, Duan Xiushi gritted his teeth and ordered in a deep voice: "Fire the arrows!"
The next moment, an overwhelming barrage of arrows was shot out from the formation of the Northern Tang Army, instantly blocking the sunlight and making the entire battlefield darken.
The arrows fell, and countless defeated soldiers who escaped from the front were shot and killed on the battlefield.
When the remaining defeated soldiers saw this, they were so frightened that they unconsciously stopped escaping.
Seeing that the defeated troops had slowed down, Duan Xiushi ordered the drums to be beaten a second time, and the artillery battalion moved forward to prepare for the battle.
When the defeated troops in the center of the battlefield saw the artillery launched by the Northern Tang Army, they immediately understood that if they did not fight at this time, they would end up waiting to die.
When Xue Nanyang led 3,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry of the Southern Tang Dynasty to appear at the other end of the battlefield, there were generals among the defeated troops who had gathered the remaining troops and relied on each other to form small battle formations and began to move south.
The Tang army launched an attack.
Xue Nanyang was shocked at first when he saw that the defeated troops of the Northern Tang Dynasty turned around to fight, and then ordered to fight.
The defeated troops of the Northern Tang Dynasty had no way of retreat at this time, which was equivalent to a last-ditch battle. Instead, they inspired ferocity and charged forward one after another desperately.
Although the formation of the Southern Tang army was complete, it was in a hurry and was overwhelmed, resulting in a lot of casualties.
At this moment, the Central Army of the West Route Army led by Duan Xiushi began to beat the war drum for the third time.
The Chinese army array of more than 30,000 people began to move forward slowly, slowly approaching the Southern Tang army.
Seeing this situation, Xue Nanyang knew clearly that it was impossible to take advantage of the chaos to defeat the Northern Tang Dynasty. The only option at the moment was to retreat.
Before the Central Army of the Northern Tang Dynasty could approach, Xue Nanyang ordered Zhi Cheng to issue the gold medal, and the Southern Tang Army slowly retreated and left the battlefield.
At this point, the first day of fighting in Jiangcheng came to an end.
Postwar statistics.
In the Southern Tang Dynasty, the losses were less than 3,000 people.
The Western Route Army of the Northern Tang Dynasty suffered more than 27,000 casualties. Among them, the soldiers who died fighting the Southern Tang Dynasty accounted for only one-eighth of them. The remaining victims were all trampled by friendly forces on the way to escape.
Or he was killed due to internal strife.
Among them, if you want to say that the biggest losses are, of course, they are two.
The first one was transferred to the Central Plains and experienced countless battles. As Li Siye's direct troops, most of the 6,000 Anxi Army and Beiting Army in the Northern Tang Dynasty were lost on the Jiangcheng battlefield.
Second, the soul of the Western Route Army, regarded as a model of ultimate martial arts in the world, General Li Siye of the Northern Tang Dynasty, died in Jiangcheng Tower.
These two losses were fatal blows to the Western Route Army.
At the same time, this also cast a thick haze over the Southern Expedition of the Northern Tang Dynasty.
This chapter has been completed!