Chen Zhihu initially decided to lead his elite troops across the river to pursue the Hezhong Army, but his generals thought it was dangerous and tried their best to dissuade him. After all, the Hezhong Army still had more than 30,000 troops, and Chen Zhihu led 3,000 elite troops to cross the river first to pursue him. There were no strong troops in Xingyang, Daliang and other places.
However, Ye Jiduo in Jinan and Yuan Lishan in Jining were too far apart. Chen Zhihu just smiled openly with his generals with a dismissive attitude: "Liang Chengyi led his troops to escape into the river, like a bereaved dog, his soldiers and horses were so energetic
They were all lost. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians were withdrawing southward without any preparation and no rules. How could they possibly withdraw at the drop of a hat? The situation must have been extremely chaotic. With three thousand elite troops attacking its vital points, it was enough to take advantage of the chaos and defeat them.
"
After a while, the development of the battle situation at Yanqueling completely confirmed Chen Zhihu's prediction before the war.
At this time, the Hezhong Army was determined to flee south. Although the soldiers and horses in the rear were all elites in the Hezhong Army, they could fight with the wind. If they suffered a slight setback, their morale would drop sharply. Even if Liang Chengyi had the advantage in military strength, he did not dare to challenge Chen Zhihu.
Determination and courage to fight for life and death.
There is a shallow stream coming out of the valley. When the army in the river surrounded it, it was divided into two parts with the shallow stream as the boundary.
After noon, Lu Xiong and Leng Zilin attacked one after another. Together with the ambush in the woods to the south, they first defeated the left wing of the Hezhong Army. From the sparse forests on the hills to the river beach, they killed the Hezhong Army and made the river flow with blood.
It flowed into a river, dyeing the water red, but Chen Zhihu's troops did not stop, and then waded across the shallow stream to attack the right wing of the army in the river.
Although the troops who followed Chen Zhihu across the Henan Province in pursuit were only over 3,000 men, they were the powerful Huben troops who had accompanied Chen Zhihu in the Northern War for many years. Dutou under the battalion general dared to lead a hundred or ten men to kill the enemy on his own.
Charge and kill without any consciousness of defeating the masses with a small number. This tiger and wolf army that fought out from the sea of blood originally competed with Huaidong for the title of the strongest army in the world. It is definitely not comparable to the so-called "elite" of the Hezhong Army.
Compare.
Liang Chengyi felt a little dissatisfied when he learned that the pursuing troops were led by Chen Zhihu himself. Furthermore, he also knew in his heart what the current situation of the Hezhong Army was. They fled south in a hurry, their morale was difficult to boost, and they did not have the determination and preparation to fight a tough battle.
After two counterattacks, the troops' position was shaky and difficult to resist.
After the left wing was defeated by the enemy troops, Liang Chengyi saw that the defeat was irreversible, so he withdrew more than a thousand cavalry on the right wing from the battlefield and fled to the mountains and forests to the south.
After all, Liang Chengyi and the others retreated to Ruyang first, and they were somewhat familiar with the terrain. They passed through a shallow canyon between two low mountains that was only one or two hundred steps wide and about two miles long, and then galloped up a mountain ridge.
Pulling his horse back, Liang Chengyi was panting. He looked back at the battlefield in front of the valley. Broken troops were everywhere, leaving the enemy soldiers unable to fight back. He thought to himself that he wanted to eat the pursuers last night, but when he saw what he saw in front of him,
As a result, Liang Chengyi wanted to cry. But he knew that if he could not block Chen Zhihu at the Yushan Pass and let Chen Zhihu cross the Yushan Pass and directly attack the ferry, where soldiers and civilians were mixed, it would be a heartbreaking tragedy.
Liang Daisi then fought out and, surrounded by dozens of riders, came to join Liang Chengyi.
"What should we do?" Liang Dai asked, "First withdraw the troops and horses to the Zhishan camp to collect the defeated troops. We can also rely on the camp to block Chen Zhihu and his men in the north of the mountain. Then we call Fang Keshan and Ju Tao leads the troops and horses to join together. In front of us is Chen Zhihu's place.
Although it is beyond our expectation that the light troops he led are still submerged on the north bank of the Yellow River, it is not false..."
Liang Dai was also afraid of a tough fight with Chen Zhihu. At this time, he did not have the capital to fight hard, but he was not scared out of his wits, and could still rationally analyze the situation at hand.
The three thousand soldiers and horses chasing Chen Zhihu were very strong. Even with double their strength, they were defeated and lost their armor. But in Liang Dai's view, no matter how strong Chen Zhihu's three thousand soldiers were, there was a limit. The Hezhong Army was near the ferry in the south.
Nearly 20,000 troops and horses can still be mobilized to the side of Yushan. Chen Zhihu's troops can fight one against two, but can they still fight against one against five, or against ten?
Liang Chengyi first sent his cronies to rush south on fast horses and mobilize troops to assist Yushan. He planned to go to the camp at Yushan Pass with Liang Dai first. No matter what, Chen Zhihu could not be allowed to drive straight in and attack the ferry.
Just here, the battlefield outside the valley changed. The enemy soldiers did not gather towards the mouth of the Qianxi River, and no longer paid attention to the rout of the army in the river. The cavalry who had gathered first bypassed the sparse forest outside the Qianxi River and did not go here.
He chased after him and ran directly to the Zhishan Pass.
The left wing of the Hezhong Army had collapsed, and the outnumbered situation on the battlefield had changed. Chen Zhihu led 3,000 light troops with half infantry and cavalry to win easily, with very few casualties. The number of cavalry alone was higher than the cavalry beside Liang Chengyi.
Chen Zhihu gave up his stalking in the field, and gave up chasing the defeated troops all over the mountains and plains, and instead gathered his troops to attack the key points, which made Liang Chengyi's expression change greatly. He was afraid that Chen Zhihu would capture the Yushan camp first, so Liang Chengyi drove his horses.
When going down the mountain, we must lead the troops to retreat to the camp at Zhishan Pass before Chen Zhihu's cavalry to strengthen the defense.
Chen Zhihu rode calmly on horseback, looking at the crowd of heads on the mountain ridge not far away. At this time, Liang Chengyi's identity had also been exposed. However, Liang Chengyi was always surrounded by elite cavalry guards. Even if he wanted to behead him, it would be difficult for the Chinese army in Luanhe to do it.
. But seeing Liang Chengyi galloping away from the mountain ridge and leading his troops to flee in panic to the simple fortress in the south, Chen Zhihu smiled coldly and said to Leng Zilin beside him: "As long as we maintain this momentum of rushing and fighting, Hezhong
The general has no chance to restore his morale. Don't worry about where Liang Chengyi is fleeing. We will bypass the mountain and attack the ferry. We will defeat the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians who are in chaos there. This victory will be a victory! Those enemies who are behind will be defeated.
Leave the soldiers to Xingyang, and the troops from Daliang will take care of them..."
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Liang Chengyi quickly retreated from the Zhenshan camp, but his tail was bitten by Chen Zhihu's troops who were chasing him. He lost more than a hundred horses before closing the camp fence and using bows and crossbows to force Chen Zhihu's troops back.
There is a valley for seven or eight miles at the entrance of the mountain. The camp is located on the rocky mountain in the middle of the valley. Naturally, a simple camp cannot fill the valley mouth. Although Liang Chengyi is a big fish, reinforcements are coming from the south. Chen Zhihu abandons the camp and bypasses it.
, and attacked directly south from Chuanzhen Pass without worrying about the possibility of being encircled by the Hezhong Army.
By this time, Liang Chengyi tried to adapt to the situation, but it was too late.
The ruined city of Ruyang is located at the southern foot of Yushan Mountain, but not on the passage from Yushan Pass to Beiru River Ferry.
Around the ferry on the north bank, about 100,000 soldiers and civilians were mixed together. The carriages and horses were in a chaotic mess. They were crowded along the river bank, waiting for the ferry. There was no order at all. This was because Liang Chengyi retreated south too hastily and without much preparation.
Direct consequences. If Liang Chengyi had sent troops to build pontoon bridges on several large rivers between Hezhong and Nanyang, how could he possibly have blocked the Beiru River, which took less than a quarter of the people to cross in three days?
Although upon Liang Chengyi's order, thousands of soldiers and horses were urgently detached to intercept the enemy in the north, but in the panic, the soldiers and horses were scattered and drawn out. They could neither be used intensively nor establish an effective attack zone in the open area between Yushan Mountain and Dayu Mountain.
In the defensive formation, all three groups of troops were easily defeated by Chen Zhihu's troops.
By this time, the defeat of the Hezhong Army on the north bank of the Beiru River had become a foregone conclusion and could not be stopped.
Throughout the afternoon, in the wilderness between Zhishan and Dayu Mountains, the defeated rebel soldiers were everywhere. The refugees at the ferry and the military family members were in panic, either fleeing in all directions, or fighting for the ferry, or ignoring their families, young and old.
They rushed to cross the Beiru River first to escape this disaster.
When countless people jump into the river at the same time, no matter how good the water quality is, they will be pulled by others, hugging them and sinking to the bottom of the water together.
For a time, corpses lay everywhere, and countless soldiers and civilians drowned in the rapids. Even though half of the ferries did not capsize, seeing Chen Zhihu leading his troops to guard the ferry, they did not dare to come to the north bank to pick up people to cross the river.
At sunset, more than 2,000 enemy soldiers were chasing from the direction of Xingyang. Liang Chengyi and Liang Dai had no courage to recapture the ferry from Chen Zhihu, and they had no time to pay attention to the chaos between Yushan and Dayu Mountains, which were fleeing in all directions.
The soldiers and civilians led their troops to flee eastward along the northern foot of Zhishan Mountain.
Passing through the northeastern foothills of Zhenshan Mountain at night, in a ravine dozens of feet deep, I suddenly encountered a group of enemy troops coming from Xingyang. It seemed that people were shouting from all directions: "Capture Liang Chengyi alive, capture Liang Chengyi alive!" It was not clear even at night.
How many enemy soldiers there were? Liang Chengyi and Liang Dai branch broke out. Liang Chengyi personally led 200 cavalrymen to kill a group of enemy soldiers. It was not until dawn that they reached the north bank of Beiru River in the southeast of Yushan Mountain and escaped from the inner port.
The troops gathered with Fang Keshan's troops.
Reunited with Fang Keshan, Liang Chengyi inspected the remaining troops, and there were less than 3,000 people left around him.
Liang Chengyi did not dare to stay, let alone collect the defeated troops to the west. Knowing that there was still a reorganized army in Ruyang City that had not been dispersed, Liang Chengyi just sent people over to order them to break through to the east.
Fearing that Chen Zhihu would lead his troops to pursue him, Liang Chengyi walked southeast along the north bank of the Beiru River overnight, looking for an opportunity to cross the river.
Now that all the baggage on the north bank was lost, and no longer concerned about the refugees and their families scattered by the enemy troops, it was easy for only three thousand remaining soldiers to cross the river. They fled to Changqiao Port in the southeast of Jiaxian County, and when the ferry from the upper reaches arrived, Liang Chengyi led
It took more than half a day for the remaining three thousand troops to cross the Beiru River.
Fortunately, the Beiru River blocked the way, and Chen Zhihu's troops were unable to cross the river to pursue them for a while. The soldiers and civilians who had crossed to the south bank were not in danger of being attacked for the time being. The Liang family and the families of officials and generals were the first to cross the river and escaped.
After crossing the Shahe River and arriving at the southern border of Lushan, less than fifty miles away from Nanyang, Liang Chengyi dared to stop on the south bank of the Shahe River to gather the remaining troops again.
From Shahe to Wuyang in the north of Nanyang Fangcheng, there is no big river blocking it, so it is convenient and quick to escape. Furthermore, the water in Shahe is also strong. When you cross to the south bank, you are not afraid that Chen Zhihu can quickly cross the river to pursue him.
The frightened Liang Chengyi felt a little relieved.
Gathering the remnant troops, including the soldiers and horses who had crossed the Beiru River with Liang Yanshun first, less than 7,000 of the Hezhong Army who fled south to Lushan were left. Liang Dai also successfully crossed the Beiru River and escaped to join them, but the soldiers who fled south with him failed.
There are less than 700 soldiers and horses.
After all, Chen Zhihu first inserted only 3,000 troops. Although they were elite enough, after the Hezhong Army was defeated, there were not enough troops to disperse to pursue the defeated soldiers and the Hezhong Army generals named Liang Chengyi, Liang Dai, Fang Keshan and other Hezhong Army
All the generals escaped successfully.
Looking at the surging sand river water, Liang Chengyi wanted to cry but had no tears.
When Chen Zhihu led his troops to pursue him, Liang Chengyi had a total of 28,000 troops on the north bank of the Beiru River. He was so easily killed by Chen Zhihu's 3,000 pursuers and was completely defeated. In the end, the 28,000 soldiers and horses were not defeated.
When five thousand people were able to escape, not to mention the large amount of baggage and supplies that he brought with the army from Hezhong Prefecture, they were all taken away by Chen Zhihu. As for the hundreds of thousands of refugees who followed the army south, most of them were naturally blocked in Ruyang on the north bank of the Bei Ru River.
, we can no longer go south to Nanyang.
Yuan Jinsheng rushed to Shahe to join Liang Chengyi. Seeing this situation, he was really speechless. He and Liang Chengchong originally expected that Liang Chengyi would lead the Hezhong troops to withdraw to Nanyang and strengthen the defense in the north of Nanyang. Who would have thought that the Hezhong army would give Chen Zhihu such a blow?
Chasing and intercepting halfway, killing and routing?