Except for the dead and wounded in the battle, the rest of the 100,000-strong army ran backwards. Looking from a distance, they saw broken troops all over the mountains and plains, and behind them were the soldiers of the Second Army who were constantly pursuing them!
This pursuit battle lasted for a full day!
The number of defeated Ming troops killed and injured in the pursuit far exceeded the number of Ming troops killed and wounded in the battle in front of the formation.
When the troops were pursuing, Li Chunjing also received a report from his men, saying that they had intercepted a small group of Ming soldiers, but these Ming soldiers also carried a corpse.
The official uniform worn on the corpse was instantly recognizable. It was a high-ranking official, and a super high-ranking official. Soon the identity of this person was identified. He was really the commander-in-chief of the Ming army, Wang Yiqi!
After Li Chunjing received the report, he immediately said: "Although this man is not very good at fighting, he still has courage. Bury him generously and don't let people say that we, the King of the Tang Dynasty, are not kind, loyal and brave men."
Although each has his own master, to be honest, he still admires Wang Yiqi's courage. He probably knew before the battle that this battle would be defeated, because everyone knows that the Tang Dynasty Wangshi's ability in frontal decisive battles in the wild is among the best.
This is the most powerful tactic. Although there is a big gap in the strength of the two sides, Wang Yiqi's chance of winning this battle will never exceed 10%!
Otherwise, Li Chunjing would not have gone to great lengths to force Wang Yiqi's army out of Jinling City just for such an opportunity to have a decisive battle in the wild.
Although Wang Yiqi clearly knew that there was little chance of winning this battle, he still led his troops to attack for that slim chance, because if he didn't come out, the end would be equally bad.
Ever since Li Chunjing led his army eastward and entered Xuancheng, it was actually possible to declare the outcome of the Battle of Jiangnan. The huge strategic advantage made Li Chunjing the winner whether he went to Hangzhou or faced Wang Yiqi's main army.
A sure win.
Wang Yiqi had no other choice but to lead his army to fight. Otherwise, he would end up trapped in Jinling, but the prosperous land south of the Yangtze River would also fall into the hands of the Tang Dynasty.
There is no point in being trapped in Jinling!
After all, what the two sides are fighting for is not the gain or loss of a city or a place, but the ownership of the entire Jiangnan.
After the pursuit ended, Li Chunjing did not stop, but led his troops to continue north. He wanted to go straight to Jinling City, which was only a few days away. If he walked faster, he could seize the opportunity to capture Jinling City quickly.
At the same time, he also dispatched the Fifth Infantry Division to continue southward and seize Hangzhou.
I dare not say that the entire situation in Jiangnan is complete, but it is basically under Li Chunjing's control.
After annihilating these 100,000 troops, no Ming army in the entire Jiangnan could stop him!
Jiangnan can already be declared under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, and because such a decisive battle was fought, frequent tug-of-wars were avoided. The hinterland of Jiangnan did not suffer much damage from the war, and the vitality was preserved to the greatest extent.
, and this is what Li Chunjing strives for.
After all, the Jiangnan that the Tang Dynasty wanted was not a dead land, but a prosperous Jiangnan!
If a very large-scale tug-of-war breaks out and ruins the entire Jiangnan, then Jiangnan will not be able to provide any help to Datang in a short time.
After the Second Army was divided, Li Chunjing also received the approximate casualty statistics of this battle the next day.
At the Chinese military camp in the wild, the deputy chief of staff of the Second Army was reading out a very, very long list!
"The deputy commander of the 19th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division, Major Li Bing, was killed. The commander of the 1st Battalion, Major Yuan Shang, was killed. The commander of the 3rd Battalion, Chen Chong, was seriously injured. The commander of the 20th Infantry Regiment, Shen Jiajun, was slightly injured.
Chang Song Chong was killed in battle..."
"The above is the casualty list of the school officers of our 7th Infantry Division for this battle. The following is the casualty list of the school officers of the 4th Mixed Regiment..."
The names were read out one by one, and although most of the generals present remained calm-faced, they still couldn't help but feel moved when they heard familiar names.
"In this battle, eleven of our military officers were killed, seven were seriously injured, and eighteen were lightly injured!"
The deputy chief of staff who read out the list did not stop, but turned the page of the report in his hand, and then continued: "The following are the casualties of our army's lieutenant officers in this battle, and the fifth infantry division..."
But before he could speak, Li Chunjing interrupted directly: "No need to read the detailed list, just talk about the numbers!"
The deputy chief of staff said: "In this battle, our army lost seventy-six lieutenants and injured one hundred and thirty-four!"
Li Chunjing nodded slightly, and then said: "Where are the soldiers?"
"The detailed statistics of the soldiers have not yet been released, but according to the general situation reported by various ministries, there are about 5,000 casualties. The larger proportion of losses are the artillery transport troops and the 19th Infantry Regiment that helps defend the left-wing artillery position!"
After hearing this, Li Chunjing said: "Well, the casualties are smaller than what I expected. It seems that we fought pretty well in this battle!"
Hearing Li Chunjing's words, everyone's previous dull look due to the series of casualty lists was swept away. But no, their Second Army stole the show in this battle.
They used 40,000 troops to fight against 100,000 enemy troops, but the result was a rout of 100,000 enemy troops, resulting in heavy casualties.
Although the number of casualties and prisoners on the Explanatory Army side has not yet been released, it is conservatively estimated that at least 30,000 of them were killed and injured, and the number of prisoners was more than 40,000.
Most of the other Ming troops broke up and fled, but there were very few Ming troops who fled in an organized manner, no more than 10,000 people. The others scattered and fled, probably turned around and became bandits or fled back to their hometowns.
To put it bluntly, Wang Yiqi's 100,000-strong army has been completely wiped out and no longer exists.
Compared with the result of defeating 100,000 enemy troops, the thousands of casualties suffered by our own side are nothing at all. At least, they are certainly more than the storming of Jinling City, which was guarded by 100,000 people.
If we really want to storm Jinling City, which is defended by 100,000 people, we don’t know how many lives of soldiers will be lost.
Li Chunjing said: "Get the battle report sorted out and send it out after the meeting. We have been out in the battle for so long. Zhaoqing is probably worried. Let them see the victory report as soon as possible and feel relieved earlier!"
Others immediately said: "Yes, this time we are going to fight in Jiangnan, and the government and the public are paying attention. It would be better to send back the victory report earlier so that His Majesty can rest assured!"
However, Li Chunjing's good news was being sent to Zhaoqing at high speed, but other Ming troops and a large number of officials in the Jiangnan area were already excited.
The 100,000-strong army led by Wang Yiqi was defeated miserably in Jianping, and almost the entire army was wiped out. The news spread to surrounding areas along with the defeated troops that day, and then quickly spread throughout the entire Jiangnan region like a relay.
Many officials in Jinling City are panic-stricken. Whether they are local dignitaries or foreign civil servants, they are all worried because they all know that after Wang Yiqi's defeat, the rebel army will soon come to Jinling City.
.
And with the more than 10,000 officers and soldiers currently in Jinling City, how could it be possible to defend Jinling City!
Wang Yiban's 100,000 elite troops were completely wiped out. The more than 10,000 officers and soldiers in Jinling City were able to withstand the tens of thousands of rebel troops.
And as those defeated troops arrived in Jinling City one after another, this panic spread throughout the city!
The thief army is far from 100,000, but more than 100,000 or even 200,000. The thief army has more than a thousand heavy cannons. The thief soldiers are all brave and fearless of death. There are also
It is said that other places in Jiangnan have already surrendered after hearing the news, and Hangzhou, Suzhou and other places have already rebelled and joined the traitors.
In short, there are all kinds of random rumors.
In the past, when Wang Yiqi was still in Jinling City, he would have suppressed them hard and beheaded those who spread rumors one by one. But now, Wang Yiqi himself is dead, and every other official in the city is thinking about what to do.
In addition to how to save his life, he also had to think about how to report to the Forbidden City, shirking his own responsibilities and placing all the blame on Wang Yiqi and others.
There was even a military rebellion. Other officials in the city united and killed a deputy general of the Jiangnan New Army who was staying in Jinling City. The superficial reason was that the deputy general wanted to rebel, but in fact he was fighting for power.
The catastrophe is approaching, but these officials in the city are still fighting for power and shirking the responsibility for the defeat.
Of course, their fight for power was also because they had differences of opinion on how to defend. Some wanted to abandon the city and cross the river, some wanted to flee to Yangzhou in the north of the Yangtze River, and some wanted to defend Jinling.
And the former deputy general of the Jiangnan New Army was the one who advocated defending Jinling City!
Then, he died!
Since the news of Wang Yiqi's defeat and death reached Jinling City, a large number of people in the city began to flee the city. At first, it was only the family members and children of the powerful, because the powerful could get the news first.
Then there are the ordinary people who are also afraid of being revolted by war and want to flee to other places to avoid the war.
And when there was news that the rebel army was no longer twenty miles away from Jinling City, even the officials in the city began to use various methods to cross the river on a large scale, especially the generals who had no responsibility to defend the territory, and then
Those local princes and nobles in Jinling City.
As for the civil servants in the city, most of them were unable to leave because they were responsible for guarding the territory, and they did not dare to leave. However, some people still began to sneak into the crowds leaving the city to escape.
The next day, the rebels came to the city and set up artillery to attack the city. The defenders were defeated, so they immediately raised their flags and wanted to negotiate.
Li Chunjing met an envoy sent by officials and gentry in the city outside the city. However, the envoy spoke shamelessly in front of Li Chunjing, saying that Li Chunjing was a fake Tang Dynasty and a bandit army, and then said nonsense like Li Chunjing was in imminent disaster.
As soon as Li Chunjing saw it, he knew that this kid had watched too much Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You really thought you had a sharp tongue. He immediately asked the guards to behead the man, and then sent the head back to the city, so that the people in the city could
The officials and gentry sent another smart person out of the city to negotiate, and they directly told him not to send such idiots over again, otherwise they would kill each one!