Song Zhiwen is not a fool. Although he can only talk about war on paper, he can repeatedly train thousands of soldiers and even scrape enough food and wages from the barren land of Xingquan Mansion to supply the army. All this is enough to show that this person is not a fool.
He is not an incompetent person who can only boast.
On the contrary, this man is an extremely qualified civilian commander. Although he cannot lead an army to charge, he can strategize.
In order to break through the natural chasm of the Lanjiang River, he spent a lot of energy and was extremely well prepared, and he also adopted a strategy of dividing his troops.
Last night, the plan he made went very smoothly. He took advantage of his strength to divide his troops and cross the river, leaving the puppet Tang rebels on the opposite side unable to cope with the situation.
If the puppet Tang thief army is just an ordinary army, this morning, he will be able to gain a huge victory, thereby laying the foundation for the annihilation of the puppet Tang Dynasty.
However, the new army of the Tang Dynasty he encountered was no ordinary army.
It is an army that is completely different from the armies of this era in terms of weapons and tactics. The reason why this army is different from other armies is very simple, it can even be said to be the only one, and that is Li Xuan.
Li Xuan used a lot of common sense from later generations to build the New Army of the Tang Dynasty into a seemingly modern army. Not to mention other things, the muskets they equipped can be said to be beyond the times.
Although they still used a matchlock gun, this matchlock gun used a sight and ruler, a paper shell charge, and a sleeve bayonet.
It can be said that, apart from the fact that the material and technology were not up to par and could not be used to fire, and were forced to continue to use the matchlock firing mechanism, many other details were standard features only for mature modern flintlock guns in the 18th century.
In addition to muskets, there are also artillery, grenades, and even cotton armor and very important tactics.
All these have led to the contemporary New Army of the Tang Dynasty, which is completely different from the army of this era, whether it is the eastern army or the western army.
When fighting such an army, you absolutely cannot use your past experience to deal with it.
It's a pity that Song Zhiwen didn't know that. Even if he knew that the firearms of the puppet Tang rebel army were sharp, he only knew a little bit about it. Most of them used past experience to deduce, and thus came to the conclusion that crossing the river would definitely win.
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However, reality slapped him hard!
When the 600 troops led by Hao Bainian rushed back to the Lanjiang Ferry, with this group of veterans with rich combat experience and strict training joining the battle, the situation on the battlefield became even more unfavorable for the Ming army.
These veterans, especially the musketeers in the First Infantry Battalion and the First Mixed Battalion, are the first batch of musketeers in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty. Some have been in the army for several months, and some have even been in the army for a year.
, the quality in all aspects is not comparable to that of the recruits in the 2nd Infantry Battalion and the 3rd Infantry Battalion.
Their reloading speed is faster, their marksmanship is more accurate, and they can withstand more casualties when arrayed to face the enemy!
The combination of these results in their combat effectiveness greatly surpassing those of the new recruits.
When it was seen that the young and strong cannon fodder was still unable to break through the defense of the puppet Tang rebels, and more importantly, the archers on the ship were also subjected to intensive musket fire and their casualties continued to increase.
Even the protected bowl-mouthed cannons on the bow of the ship were named one by one by the artillery of the puppet Tang rebel army, and were destroyed one by one.
This scene, to Song Zhiwen's eyes, was a sign of a big defeat!
"Sir, I'm afraid this won't work!" A general next to Song Zhiwen said to Song Zhiwen cautiously: "Should we fight another day?"
Hearing this, Song Zhiwen turned around and glanced at the general. The sharp look in his eyes made this Ming army general with the title of Qianhu almost lose his balance. He was afraid that Song Zhiwen would say: shake the morale of the army, pull him down and kill him.
But Song Zhiwen only glanced at him and then withdrew his gaze. If someone had dared to say that before, even just a moment ago, he would have asked his soldiers to pull him down and behead him without hesitation.
In the midst of a war, how can you retreat lightly?
However, at this time, he did not do so!
Because he already knows that today's battle has been lost!
The main force of recruiting soldiers crossing the river on the south side has been destroyed. The more than a thousand guardsmen who crossed the river on the north side have gone to nowhere and have not appeared yet. Now it is impossible to rely solely on the six or seven thousand cannon fodder under their command.
The one who broke through the iron-walled Lanjiang Ferry.
The only solution now is to retreat first!
It's just that the purpose of retreat is not to cross the river for the third time in the future, but to preserve our strength and prevent the puppet Tang rebel army from crossing the river to attack Xingquan Mansion.
After the puppet Tang rebel army won the battle today, the next step was probably to cross the river to attack Xingquan Mansion. He did not believe that these rebels would be willing to stay in Zhengtai County and never come out. They would definitely want to move eastward and occupy
The entire Xingquan Prefecture.
Otherwise, why did they rebel by establishing a country and proclaiming themselves emperor? They could just continue to be their mountain kings.
At this time, Lanjiang must be defended, otherwise, Xingquan Mansion will be destroyed, and so will his fortune and life.
Song Zhiwen was also decisive. After seeing that he could not cross the river, he quickly ordered: "Send the order to lift anchor, and we will return to the east bank!"
Hearing Song Zhiwen say this, a group of Ming army generals behind him all breathed a sigh of relief.
Song Zhiwen could see that there was no hope of victory in this battle. Even if the generals were not very capable, they could still see it.
They were worried before that Song Zhiwen became angry and continued to attack desperately. In this way, after all the young cannon fodder died, it would be their turn.
They don't want to die!
After Song Zhiwen ordered to retreat, the Ming army ran very quickly!
Thanks to the fact that most of the six or seven thousand Ming troops were still on the boats, and those who disembarked were only more than two thousand young cannon fodder, they ran very fast.
They omit the step of boarding the ship and just row back eastward.
As for the young cannon fodder who have landed and are still fighting hard on the river beach, no one cares about their life or death.
After seeing the Ming army retreating, Li Xuan on the hill behind also breathed a sigh of relief!
Today's battle was very dangerous. If Hao Bainian hadn't defeated the main force of the Ming army at No. 2 Ferry in time, they would have been defeated today.
Since the Ming army had retreated, the battle was naturally declared over. Those survivors who were abandoned as cannon fodder of the Ming army simply surrendered on the spot and did not resist.
While the army was cleaning the battlefield, Li Xuan also summoned the generals. On the one hand, they discussed the gains and losses of this battle as before, and on the other hand, they also timely rewarded and punished them. Especially Hao Bainian, who had made great contributions, must be rewarded heavily.
, and a heavy reward must be given as soon as possible to stimulate military morale.
And in the end, it was about discussing what to do next, whether to cross the river and attack Xingquan Mansion, and if so, how?