Xiang Yang comforted himself that they would not pursue him.
He led his troops back to Minzhou to set up defenses, and it would not be too late to wait for his father's hand before returning to attack.
At the same time, on the Western Front battlefield, they were also leading troops to pursue the enemy.
He was cautious in the past, but this time he was like a young boy. He didn't care whether the main army behind him could keep up, and just led the cavalry in pursuit.
Because according to reliable information, there are only 30,000 Ming troops stationed in Lizhou, and the leader is Nan Yanxi.
The enemy retreated this time, providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Nan Yanxi's child has just been born. If he dies, the powerful Ming Empire will fall apart immediately.
Therefore, this is the reason why Xiang Tianxing pursues desperately.
By this time, it was already dark.
Xiang Tianxing sat on the horse and looked forward carefully. On the winding mountain road, a long dragon-like torch was particularly obvious.
The deputy general next to him exclaimed: "My lord...are those in front of you the retreating Ming army?"
"It looks like..." Xiang Tianxing narrowed his eyes and observed roughly: "Look, how many people are there?"
The deputy general received the order, turned over and stood on the saddle, made a rough estimate, and replied: "My lord, it looks like there are four to five hundred people."
"Looking at the speed at which they are traveling, they should all be cavalry... If my subordinates estimate correctly, this should be the unit they are responsible for breaking up the rear."
Xiang Tianxing nodded: "How many people do we have?"
"Back to my lord, this time you pursued me in a hurry. Only three thousand cavalry followed, and the main force is still behind." The deputy general replied: "But..."
"It shouldn't be a problem to eat this group of Ming army cavalry who have been cut off from the rear. Let's just grab the tongue and ask Nan Yanxi where the guy is hiding."
Hearing this, both of them showed uncontrollable excitement on their faces.
Xiang Tianxing immediately ordered: "Speed up the whole army, pursue this group of Ming army cavalry with all your strength, and eat them without mercy."
"Remember to take a few live ones and ask them which team they are from and where Nan Yanxi's guy is!"
"Yes!" the deputy general agreed, turned around and shouted: "Attention, everyone...! Chase the enemy in front, charge!"
"Go ahead...!"
"Woo..."
The soldiers' shouts and the horns symbolizing charge sounded at the same time, and Xiang Jun's leading cavalry dismounted their horses and charged forward quickly.
Xiang Tianxing led his lieutenants and soldiers at the front of the team.
He couldn't wait to find out where Nan Yanxi was and cut him into pieces.
If it weren't for him, he would have sat on the throne of Daxia long ago. Why would he have to leave his hometown and come to Dayan?
Now that he has just established a foothold in Dayan and is about to ascend to the Ninth Five-Year Plan, these guys come to cause trouble again.
Xiang Tianxing really wanted to hate him at this time.
He led the team to rush forward quickly, and in a short time he caught up with the group of cavalry in front.
The strange thing is that both sides are carrying torches, especially Xiang Tianxing's side. They have a large number of people and are rushing towards them. The sound of horse hooves is deafening.
However, this group of Ming troops did not notice it in advance, and did not react until Xiang Jun came within sight.
"Enemy attack... the enemy is catching up... retreat quickly..."
Only then did the Ming army react, shouting loudly and starting to run forward.
At this time, Xiang Jun behind them was already two hundred steps away from them, and the armor and military flags they were wearing could even be seen clearly through the torches held by the Ming army.
The deputy general who was chasing at the front was the first to notice the anomaly and said to Xiang Tianxing: "That's not right, my lord... the group in front is not wearing the clothes of the regular Ming army!"
"Look at that, it looks like it belongs to the Imperial Guards of the Ming Dynasty. Take a look..."
Hearing this, Xiang Tianxing squinted his old eyes and watched hard while riding his horse in pursuit.
At first glance, it turned out that it was indeed the case. Under the afterglow of the Ming army's torches, Xiang Tianxing really saw the look of their armor.
It is not the regular army color combination of black and red, but a rare combination of red, gold and yellow, which emits a unique and shiny reflection under the light of the torch.
"It's indeed the Royal Forest Army! These people must know where Nan Yanxi is!"
Xiang Tianxing exclaimed, feeling overjoyed and hurriedly ordered the troops: "Everyone speed up and chase, don't let them run away!"
"Whoever catches up with the enemy first will be promoted to a higher rank! Charge...!"
"Rush...! Drive...!"
Xiang Jun's soldiers sprinted forward as if they had been beaten to death.
Of course, the Ming Imperial Guards in front would not be captured without restraint. They were the emperor's own troops, and their horses were even more sophisticated.
When they saw that the enemy was pursuing them with all their strength, all the imperial guards were unwilling to fight. They urged their horses with all their strength and ran forward desperately.
One chasing and the other escaping, the two teams raced on the mountain road.
Xiang Tianxing led the army to pursue them all the way. The soldiers behind him kept shooting at the Ming soldiers in front with strong bows, crossbows, and muskets.
The Ming Imperial Guards in front were not to be outdone, and they all used their carbines to fight back.
What they are equipped with are two types of carbines. One is a short-barreled model of the army's rifle. The shorter gun body is easier to use on horseback.
The other is a rotating rapid-fire rifle, also a short barrel model.
One of these two guns has a fast rate of fire and can provide a short burst of firepower, while the other has a long range and high accuracy and is suitable for long-distance point killing.
The two weapons were used together, taking advantage of their advanced performance and range far exceeding Xiang Jun's weapons, causing huge damage to the pursuers behind them.
"Pah...pah pah..."
Sometimes dense, sometimes sparse gunshots rippled through the mountain roads. Occasionally, Ming soldiers were shot or hit by arrows and fell off their horses.
But it was Xiang Jun soldiers who were more numerous. The ratio of casualties between the two armies was huge, even reaching ten to one at one time.
Seeing the soldiers coming around him, Xiang Tianxing became even more angry and loudly urged the soldiers to speed up the pursuit.
"Drive... drive..."
"Chase me! Don't let them run away!"
Finally, under Xiang Tianxing's repeated urging and Xiang Jun's desperate pursuit, the distance between the two armies was narrowed again.
This time, Xiang Tianxing clearly saw the battle flag of the Ming army in front, which represented the sun and moon flag of the Ming Dynasty.
However, Xiang Tianxing was surprised to find that this sun and moon flag was slightly different from what he usually saw.
The material used turned out to be gold and silver silk fabrics, and there seemed to be dragon patterns in the sun and moon, and there were even yellow tassels around the flag.
Because it is made of satin, it will be slightly reflective when illuminated by firelight.
Xiang Tianxing thought he was dazzled, and then turned to ask the deputy general on the side: "Look, the flag the other party is flying... I can't see clearly."
"Yes, my lord!"
The deputy general agreed and squinted his eyes to look hard. Through the intermittent weak light, he also discovered the same thing.
After thinking for a moment, the lieutenant general shouted in extreme surprise: "My lord! It's the imperial flag! It's the flag of the Ming Emperor...!"