Although Hong Linquan had a bad premonition before marching into Jingzhou and was quite pessimistic about the future, he thought that with his 10,000-strong army and the thousands of remaining soldiers in the city, he would be able to fight a battle, even if he could not win.
, but it would be good to just rush into Jingzhou City.
But what he didn't expect was that the puppet Tang rebel army was so sharp. The two sides had just set up their battle formations, and within a few hours, their own army was completely defeated. The defeat was so fast that it made him
The defenders in the city had not yet had time to leave the city and conduct a pincer attack from both front and rear.
At this time, he couldn't help but think of what Wei Yan once said, which was ridiculed by many people: Tang thieves are absolutely invincible.
Although the pseudo-Tang bandit army in front of us is less than 10,000 people, it is still close to 10,000 people. In a fight, our side has no power to fight back. It only lasts a few hours. To be precise, the actual battle does not take more than a quarter of an hour.
The army just started to collapse. Even if Hong Linquan tried his best to mobilize troops to try to save the front, it was all in vain. After another quarter of an hour, the entire front was defeated!
Looking at his defeated troops all over the mountains and plains, and looking at the Tang bandits pursuing him from the front, Hong Linquan was filled with despair!
He was defeated. Not only did he lose the more than 10,000 people on hand, but he also failed to open up the food route. The main force of more than 30,000 people in Xingquan Mansion would definitely be unable to hold on any longer.
It's over, everything is over.
The army was defeated, and he could imagine his own tragic end!
Shangfeng will definitely not bypass him and turn into a thief. Don't even think about it. He is from Henan, and his whole family is in Henan. If he dares to turn into a thief, it won't take long for his whole family to be implicated.
In despair, he slowly pulled out his sword, and instead of shouting something like "I will die if I lose this battle," he directly cut it on his own neck!
After suffering such a tragic defeat, there was absolutely no way for him to survive. For the sake of his family, all he could do now was commit suicide.
Hong Linquan's action of killing himself was so fast that the soldiers around him did not react, and the blood on his neck was already spurting out.
Hong Linquan is dead and committed suicide on the battlefield!
However, whether Hong Linquan died or not at this time did not make any difference to the Ming army's defeat, because the entire army had been defeated, and everyone was focused on escaping for their own lives, but few people would pay attention to Hong Linquan's life or death.
The general on one side has committed suicide, while the general on the other side is looking at the Ming army in front with a smile as they collapse!
This battle was almost a textbook head-on decisive battle. Chen Keqiao himself did not even show any commanding skills during the whole process. The troops fought completely step by step.
Many regiment-level and battalion-level officers have already launched relevant actions without the need for orders from above.
Because in the martial arts school and the imperial school, they learned this fighting mode, and commanding this kind of formal outdoor decisive battle has almost been integrated into their instincts.
"The next pursuit, capture of the defeated troops, and cleaning up the battlefield will be left to you!" Chen Keqiao had already turned around and started walking down the hill where he was watching the battle. At the same time, he continued: "I got up a little early today and was very sleepy.
, I need to go back and catch up on some sleep!"
As he spoke, he yawned, and the chief of staff beside him asked: "What about Jingzhou City?"
Chen Keqiao said: "Why are you so anxious? I'm afraid that Jingzhou City won't be able to fly away. We can wait until I wake up to discuss the matter of attacking the city!"
After that, Chen Keqiao ignored them and went back to the Chinese army camp to sleep, leaving a group of generals under his command speechless.
However, Chen Keqiao has now delegated power to them to handle follow-up matters. This is also a great opportunity for people at the deputy brigade commander, chief of staff and other levels. Although the main war is over, there will still be many things to come.
As for piecemeal warfare, not to mention other things, just chasing the enemy, capturing the enemy, and at the same time guarding against the Ming army in the city jumping over the wall, these are actually very important.
No matter what, this is also an opportunity to command an army. Normally, there is no such opportunity!
Immediately, the brigade commander and chief of staff of the 3rd Infantry Brigade and several regiment commanders discussed it and decided to send the 6th Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Cavalry Battalion to continue the pursuit and capture the prisoners. A garrison regiment cleaned the battlefield and took care of them.
The wounded were injured, and the Fifth Infantry Regiment was gathering up to guard against the Ming army rushing out of the city.
Although these officers have never had the opportunity to command an army or even a brigade before, they can be regarded as mid-to-high-level officers in the Tang Dynasty. They used to hold the positions of regimental commander, battalion commander, etc.
He climbed all the way up and stayed with senior generals such as Chen Keqiao and Hao Bainian. He also learned a lot about the art of command.
Although there were some disputes and uncertainties throughout the process, the subsequent final battle was still supported.
Chen Keqiao's sleep was quite long, and he didn't get up until near evening. When he got up, he saw a group of subordinates waiting for him.
"Tell me, how was the fight back?"
Immediately, everyone started to answer!
"The thieves in the city have retreated back. For safety reasons, our army has not pursued them and has now re-encircled the city!"
"The troops who pursued the defeated troops also returned one after another, and they also brought back thousands of prisoners!"
"The battlefield cleaning has been completed, our wounded have been admitted one after another, and the seized materials are being sorted out!"
After hearing this, Chen Keqiao nodded slightly: "Well, not bad, well done!"
Naturally, everyone said in unison that they didn't dare to take it. It went so well because of your good command, General!
Chen Keqiao naturally didn't take the flattery of his subordinates seriously, but quickly asked the question he was most concerned about: "Has the report of enemy and enemy casualties been released? What are the casualties of our army?"
Immediately, the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Infantry Brigade said: "The detailed reports of each department have not yet come out, but the data has probably come out. Although there are some casualties in this battle, compared to the huge results, it is completely
worth it!
In this battle, our army not only defeated 15,000 enemy troops, killed at least 2,000 enemy troops, and captured at least 5,000 enemy troops, the remaining enemy troops could only disperse and flee. If no miracle occurs,
These defeated enemy troops are no longer able to organize themselves!"
Compared to an army of 15,000 people, killing 2,000 enemy troops is not a large number. However, this battle is not a battle of encirclement and annihilation, but a battle of defeat. It is difficult for this kind of battle to cause too many casualties among the enemy.
Heavy casualties.
For the cold weapon army, there is actually not much difference between defeat and annihilation. Once the opponent is defeated, it will be difficult for the opponent to organize these defeated soldiers. Many of them will surrender and become prisoners, and those who escape will basically become deserters.
Therefore, Chen Keqiao didn't say anything about this result, which was completely expected.
"In terms of trophies, the trophies captured by our army are mainly the ordnance of the Ming army, with very little military rations, and not many horses and other livestock!"
Hong Linquan's army had no food to begin with. Even the livestock and horses in the logistics troops had been slaughtered to serve as rations, and there was not much left for the Tang Dynasty King's division to seize.
"As for our army, the casualties of various units are not large. The third infantry brigade, cavalry, artillery and other regular armies lost about a hundred people, the first battalion of the Liuzhou Independent Regiment lost dozens of people, and the garrison lost about a hundred people.
The total casualties were about 300 people, of which about 200 were killed and 100 were injured.
The reason why the number of killed is less than the number of wounded is naturally because the severely wounded are basically unable to survive. Most of the wounded in the statistics are lightly wounded whose lives are not in danger.
The Fourth Army paid a price of 300 casualties, defeated 15,000 Ming troops, killed 2,000 Ming troops, captured 5,000 people, and the rest fled.
Although the casualties were not small, considering that the regular army only lost about a hundred people, Chen Keqiao thought it was still acceptable. After all, today's battle was not an ambush or a sneak attack, but an upright frontal battle.
No matter how powerful the Tang Dynasty's royal division was in combat, it could not completely avoid casualties.
It is worth noting that most of these casualties occurred before the all-out charge. Before that, the Ming army also carried out fierce resistance, and the main means of resistance were shelling and archery.
But when the two sides entered the stage of hand-to-hand combat, the Ming army collapsed instantly.
When the Tang Dynasty had not yet rushed forward, they were able to fight back with bows, arrows and artillery, but when the Tang Dynasty rushed in front of them, they simply did not have the courage to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Tang Dynasty.
In fact, this is also a common problem faced by many ancient armies when facing modern armies.
In the Battle of Baliqiao in the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing army was not defeated by the British guns and artillery, but by the British bayonet charge!
Speaking of the combat effectiveness of hand-to-hand combat, in fact, modern armies are far stronger than ancient armies. This has nothing to do with equipment, but mainly a matter of tactics and will to fight.
The ability of modern armies to withstand casualties far exceeds that of ancient armies!
"Everyone has worked hard today. Let's have a good rest tonight. There are still many battles waiting for us!" Chen Keqiao did not waste time by leaving these subordinates to continue various discussions, but waved them out.
.
After everyone went out, Chen Keqiao also walked out of the camp and looked at Jingzhou City in the east under the afterglow of the setting sun.
The Ming army in Jingzhou City was obviously frightened and was now heavily fortified, but no matter how tight the defense was, it was only on the surface. The number of defenders in the city was overwhelming, that is, only four to five thousand people. Chen Keqiao even guessed that the number of people in the city was
Did the Ming army have 3,000 regular soldiers?
So now he is hesitant to take the opportunity to take down Jingzhou City.