Zhang Yue never thought that one day he would be in such an embarrassing situation!
The army was defeated miserably, and he could only flee like a wolf, hiding and trying to escape from the city that he once regarded as his base camp!
Losing battles is nothing. He has lost many battles in recent years, but he has never lost a battle like this!
The Huangzhou Defense Line, on which he had high hopes, could not stop the attack of the puppet Tang rebels. When the Huangzhou Defense Line fell, Hanyang Fucheng, where he was personally in charge, became the front line.
When he learned that Huangzhou's defense line had been conquered, he could actually tell that it was impossible to defend Hanyang Fucheng, but he wanted to break out!
But soon he gave up!
Because he had already learned at that time that Jingzhou had also been captured by the puppet Tang rebel army, which meant that the access to Sichuan had been completely blocked. It was okay to escape to the north, but the 20,000 people stationed outside Hanyang City
However, many puppet Tang rebel troops were stationed outside the city like iron nails, supervising the Chinese army to conduct a tentative breakout.
The result was without any surprise, they were driven back by the main force of the First Army of the Tang Dynasty outside the city!
Relying on the city defenses, they can still hold on to one or two, but outside the city, the huge gap in combat power between the two sides is fully reflected. The 30,000 people under his command will not be able to break through the first army's defense line at all!
While trying to break out of the siege, Zhang Yue also discovered that the puppet Tang rebel army outside the city actually had heavy armored cavalry!
At that time, my forward troops had just left the city, and before they had time to deploy, they were attacked by about a thousand enemy light cavalry. This was nothing, but more importantly, they were attacked by about 500 light cavalry.
The impact of the heavy armored cavalry!
After the forward force composed of 5,000 people was restrained by the frontal infantry of the puppet Tang rebel army, it was attacked by the heavy cavalry on the flanks. The result was tragic. The flank defense line collapsed instantly, leaving no resistance at all.
Finally, Zhang Yue had to order to return to the city!
Unable to break through, Zhang Yue was forced to defend to the death!
But it was impossible to defend to the death. It was fine at the beginning. The puppet Tang thief army was stationed outside the city to prevent them from breaking out and did not take the initiative to attack. However, when the puppet Tang thief army became more and more powerful, the final strength
When there were more than 100,000 people, he was completely desperate!
Holding on in despair and without any will, the defense line of Hanyang Fucheng was severely bombarded and could not be held for a day before it completely collapsed!
This was not only the huge gap in combat effectiveness between the two sides, which resulted in heavy casualties for the defenders. In fact, the exchange of fire between the two sides seemed tragic, but the casualties on both sides were not large. When the Tang Army's assault battalion troops entered the city,
The defenders in the city basically collapsed.
Of the thirty thousand defenders, about seven or eight thousand were killed or wounded. The rest either surrendered on the spot or collapsed and became deserters, and those deserters would probably become prisoners of war in the end.
When the army collapsed, Zhang Yue also thought about simply committing suicide, but he was persuaded by his subordinates, saying that although they had lost this battle, they still had tens of thousands of troops under their supervision, and Sichuan and
Yunnan is still there. As long as we escape, all hope is still there.
Zhang Yue himself doesn't care about life or death, but he is unwilling to give in!
He is really unwilling to accept it. He has worked hard for so many years and established a supervisory standard of more than 100,000 people, which has become the mainstay of the resistance against the puppet Tang thief army. Now, although he has suffered a new defeat, the supervisory standard is still there, in Sichuan and Yunnan.
He is still there, he still has a chance!
So he finally gave up the idea of ​​committing suicide and started to escape with his subordinates!
But at this time, the entire city of Hanyang was already controlled by the puppet Tang bandit army. It would not be so easy for him to escape.
In the afternoon, I was almost discovered by the patrols of the Puppet Tang Bandit Army several times, but I hid all the way and finally hid now.
And half an hour ago, the commander of the Chinese rear guard under his command went out to look for food and never came back, and there were gunshots and grenades from the direction he left. He just knew that the more than 20 people who went out to look for food
The situation was already in danger, and in order to prevent the puppet Tang bandits from following suit, he left with his people at that time.
Nowadays, the sky is completely dark, but there are fires everywhere outside, and gunshots and explosions also sound from time to time, adding a bit of noise to the dark night.
But Zhang Yue knew very well that whether he could escape or not would depend on tonight.
It's easier to hide in the dark.
But at dawn, the puppet Tang bandits completely blocked off the nearby city and searched and captured them inch by inch. It was too difficult for me to successfully escape.
So even though he was very tired, he didn't stay in this small house for long and soon left with the people.
But this time, he did not run away with hundreds of people, but only three of his most direct soldiers, and they were disguised.
As for the others, they are also running away, but in another direction. Another of his confidants will put on his clothes and run away. That confidant is his son, who is similar in stature to him, although there is a difference in appearance.
But it's difficult to tell unless you get close enough to identify it.
Zhang Yue did this because he felt that the goal of escaping with more than a hundred people was too obvious, and now he did not feel that these more than a hundred soldiers could protect him.
There are tens of thousands of puppet Tang rebels in the city now. What use are these 100 people?
It's better for three or two people to have a small target, so they can sneak out of the city while taking advantage of the chaos. As long as they get out of the city, it will be much safer!
Zhang Yue made a good calculation. The soldiers of the 12th Infantry Division who were chasing after him successfully found more than 100 "Zhang Yue" who had escaped in the middle of the night. However, after a fierce battle,
, when they looked for the captured prisoners, well, there was no Zhang Yue at all, only a middle-aged man wearing Zhang Yue's official uniform.
The leader of the 35th Regiment was so angry that he shot dozens of Zhang Yue's soldiers who had played tricks on him and bought Zhang Yue time.
What kind of preferential treatment for prisoners of war, I couldn't care less about it at this moment.
Then, they turned around and started searching for the real Zhang Yue.
But after such a delay, it will not be easy to find Zhang Yue again!
After dawn, they had no clue!
Because now Zhang Yue only has two direct soldiers around him, and there are only three people in total. If you want to hide, you can just find a place to hide.
Therefore, the Tang Dynasty Army who entered the city could only adopt the most helpless method and directly block the entire city. No one was allowed to enter but not to leave!
Then he continued to enforce martial law in the city and began to search for the defeated soldiers in the city. At the same time, he was also looking for Zhang Yue!
But Zhang Yue is like a disappearing drop of water, unable to be found!
For three full days, Zhang Yue was not found. The senior generals who led the team were very annoyed. Moreover, the Holy Emperor did not care much about Zhang Yue's life or death at this time. Anyway, the two main forces of the Supervisor were
, Du Biao Zuojun and Du Biao Zhongjun are both finished.
Moreover, part of the Supervisory Biao Zuo Army and the former army are still in Hubei. When the time comes, they will be killed.
Li Xuan's target was not Zhang Yue alone, but the 100,000 Huguang governors. Killing this army would be equivalent to breaking the governor's back. It would be much easier to enter Sichuan and Yunnan later.
So Li Xuan doesn't care much about Zhang Yue's life or death!
In addition, it has been several months since this personal expedition, and there is no way that Jinling City will never go back. Taking advantage of the end of the Hanyang Campaign to completely lay the groundwork for occupation, the subsequent Southwest Campaign will probably be garbage time, and Li Xuan will not have any
I feel like staying in Huguang again.
Therefore, four days after conquering Hanyang, the Holy Emperor returned to Beijing with a group of important civil and military officials!
Before returning to Beijing, he personally made the deployment. The subsequent battle in Huguang will still be carried out by the First Army, the Second Army, and the Fifth Army together. However, after capturing Anlu Prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture and other places, the Fifth Army will
Break away from these two armies, then go north to Xiangyang, and finally enter the area east of Jiayuguan in western Shaanxi, shouldering the important task of advancing directly from southern Shaanxi, from north to south, and into Sichuan.
However, the Fifth Army will also become an important force of the Tang Army garrisoning the northwest region in the future!
In the vast northwest, it is not enough to rely on only one Fourth Army, and many of the local reserve divisions are actually frontier armies of the former Ming Dynasty. Their combat effectiveness is worrying. They were previously restrained by Huguang and were unable to advance to the northwest region.
After dispatching more main forces, now that the Battle of Huangzhou and the Battle of Hanyang are over, the Tang Army can now free up its hands to increase troops to the northwest region.
The Holy Emperor returned to Beijing with his civil and military ministers, and the Fifth Army also left Hanyang and went directly north to De'an Prefecture, and then to Xiangyang Prefecture!
Even the troops of the First Army quickly left Hanyang. They will quickly move westward. Their planned strategic goal is to capture Anlu Prefecture, then arrive at Jingzhou to join the Second Infantry Division, and then continue westward along the Yangtze River.
Prepare to seize Badong and seize the passage from east to west into Sichuan.
News had come from Badong before that the 7th Mixed Regiment's plan to sneak attack Badong failed because when they finally crossed the mountains and reached Badong, they found that there were already tens of thousands of governor's rear troops in the Badong area.
The troops were garrisoned, and not long after, more than 6,000 troops from the Supervisory Biao Youjun also arrived here bypassing Jingzhou.
Faced with the 16,000 troops guarding this area, the Seventh Mixed Regiment was unable to make a sneak attack or attack by force. In the end, it had no choice but to ask for help from the rear.
As for the Second Army, it suffered a lot of losses in the battles of Susong and Huangzhou, and it also suffered certain losses in the battle of Hanyang!
At the same time, the Tang Army had a tradition that when both armies suffered losses, they would transfer the guns, ammunition and strength of one of the armies to supplement the other.
In this way, one of the troops can be quickly restored to its peak combat effectiveness, while the other unit rests in place, waiting for the replenishment of new recruits, guns, and ammunition.
This time, the Second Army assumed the role of supporting the First Army and the Fifth Army, and allocated a large number of troops, guns, and ammunition to the First Army and the Fifth Army. As a result, it itself was seriously short of personnel.
Guns and ammunition are even more scarce.
Therefore, in the next period of time, at least for half a month, the Second Army will stay in the area centered on Hanyang to rest and replenish!
Seeing that many puppet troops of the Tang Dynasty left one after another, leaving only more than 10,000 troops of the puppet Tang Dynasty garrisoned in the city, and when the large-scale manhunt for the defeated troops in the city was stopped, Zhang Yue, who had been hiding, breathed a sigh of relief! u