Chapter 40: Great Victory Unprecedented Since Wanli
Li Laiheng held the banner steady with his own hands, while the other soldiers rushed out and killed all the dozen or so Qing armored cavalry who broke into the Chinese army's main formation.
Obai's counterattack attack of hundreds of cavalry failed to cause much damage to the intruders. Although he created a shocking charge effect for a while, it only served the purpose of breaking away from the front line and did not gain much.
Killing in the true sense of the word.
As the battle line of the Chuang army stabilized again, hundreds of cavalrymen were killed in the formation one after another. Only Yi Bilong fled in panic with more than a dozen people. The Qing army was finally completely defeated. They left behind countless
The Qing Eight Banners soldiers did not even have the courage to turn around and snatch the bodies back.
More weapons, muskets, cannons, broken flagpoles and torn military flags were also abandoned on the ground. Tan Tai escaped first, and Li Guohan's Han military flag was also thrown into the position by him. These Han soldiers
After learning that Tan Tai had escaped, morale collapsed completely, and only Li Guohan was still fighting bravely.
Zhang Pili personally led a group of pro-army cavalry into the artillery position of the Han Army Banner. Many Han Army Banner bannermen with braided hair fell to their knees and begged for mercy in Chinese.
Chuang Jun was first surprised by these Han compatriots whose clothes and hairstyles were completely different from his own, and then he had the idea of rescuing them.
But after a while, dozens of Han army flag soldiers who were begging for mercy in Chinese with Li Guohan suddenly fired bullets when the pro-military standard cavalry relaxed their vigilance and walked over, killing and wounding more than a dozen intruders.
Army soldier.
In a state of shock and anger, Zhang Pizhu could no longer take into account the Chu army's policy of preferential treatment of prisoners and surrendered troops. He personally took the lead in killing all the Han army bannermen in the artillery positions, regardless of surrender or stubborn resistance.
The main force led by Li Laiheng originally deployed in a horizontal formation, and their front was much longer than that of the Qing army. As the Chuang army's front continued to advance and the Qing army was defeated across the board, this longer horizontal line formed a
At the end of the month, the left and right wings of the Chuang army accelerated forward, forming a situation of outflanking and flanking the defeated Qing army.
Tan Tai originally wanted to bring back the more than 2,000 troops that he could still control intact. However, when the Chuang army circled back from both wings, the morale of the Manchurian soldiers finally collapsed. They retreated sharply to avoid being surrounded and surrounded by everyone.
The fate of annihilation. This decision came so naturally that it seemed to have become a common requirement for everyone.
They fled towards the Yellow River in confusion, but the ferry on the south bank of the Yellow River had already been completely blocked by Gu Kecheng.
Gu Kecheng's 3,000 soldiers and horses played a great role in preventing the Qing army from breaking out and fleeing. They blocked the Yellow River, killed all the Qing soldiers who were fleeing and fled, and achieved the victory of hundreds of people at the ferry.
"Failed! Defeated!"
Li Guohan no longer had any hope that the Qing army would break through. He originally thought that the resistance of the Han army flags would buy Tan Tai some time to evacuate, but now it seems that hope has been lost again.
He originally wanted to commit suicide with his sword, but before he could react in the future, he asked Zhang Pikui, who commanded the pro-military standard, to tie his neck with a noose captured from the Manchu soldiers.
Zhang Pili's horse rushed forward, and he tightly grasped the other end of the noose. Li Guohan was suddenly pulled to the ground.
Li Guohan felt the noose tightening rapidly, strangling his neck completely and completely unable to breathe. He grabbed the rope with ten fingers, and his nails dug deep bloody marks on his neck, but the strength of the war horse was not comparable to Li Guohan's fingers.
With a click, Li Guohan's eyes were raised to the sky, and his neck bones were strangled alive.
The Chuang army paid a heavy price during the battle. Afterwards, Gu Junen and the Chief of Staff counted the victims of the Chuang army. Among the more than 10,000 troops, there were as many as 2,326 people who died in the battle.
.
Including the injured, the total casualties are probably over 5,000.
However, during the pursuit phase, the Chuang army basically no longer suffered heavy casualties. Even if the Qing army still resisted stubbornly and made a last-ditch effort to fight against a trapped beast, it only killed and injured dozens of the Chuang army.
In comparison, the performance of the Qing army in the battle stage was really astonishing. However, when their morale collapsed and they were reduced to a fleeing army, their performance was no better than that of ordinary rebels and officers and soldiers. Many Manchus also knelt down and begged for mercy.
, I want to live as a prisoner.
According to estimates from the Department of Military Affairs, the number of Eight Banners soldiers who actually died fighting in the formation was probably about two thousand. The remaining two thousand, except for the few hundred prisoners captured by Gu Kecheng at the ferry on the edge of the Yellow River,
Most of them were killed by the intruders during the rout.
The senior generals of the Qing army, Obai and Li Guohan, were both killed in the battle, while Ye Bilong and Tan Tai were lucky enough to escape.
However, although Tan Tai retreated first, he ultimately failed to achieve his goal of withdrawing most of the Qing troops. At the critical moment, Gu Kecheng blocked several ferries that the Qing troops must pass through when crossing north, leaving Tan Tai with no way out.
However, he had to give up his plan to directly cross the Yellow River and flee back to Yanzhou, and could only choose to flee eastward.
Fortunately, the Xuzhou Suppressor General in the east, after they learned the news that the westward marching regiment had been completely wiped out, they immediately withdrew all their troops back to Xuzhou City and did not dare to stop the fleeing remnants of the Qing army.
This allowed Tan Tai and E Bilong to successfully break out of the encirclement with about 500 remaining soldiers, crossed the Yellow River near Xuzhou, and fled to Peixian County on the north bank of the Yellow River.
In the end, at the cost of 2,300 sacrifices, the Chuang army basically annihilated the 5,000 Qing troops who crossed the river and went south, killing more than 3,000 Eight Banners soldiers, and captured hundreds of prisoners on the south bank of the Yellow River.
But in the battle of Dangshan, the Chuang army had a huge advantage in strength, but it still suffered a lot of casualties. This was a fact that made all the generals of the Chuang army look heavy.
Although encounters and foggy weather limited the superiority of the troops, the army was actually unable to fully deploy all its forces at the first time.
General generals, officers, and soldiers also have the mentality of underestimating the enemy towards Donglu that cannot be ignored.
The actual combat troops actually engaged in the battle should be about 10,000 on the Chuang Army side.
But with a force of 10,000, and the 10,000 of them were the elite of the Huguang Army, against an enemy that was only half of their own, they still paid a higher casualty price than the enemy during the battle stage.
However, judging from the history since Wanli, annihilating more than 4,000 Qing troops in one battle and obtaining the first level of 2,000 is already a super victory unprecedented in the world since Wanli. What’s more, this victory was not achieved by government troops.
, but it turned out to be a group of rogue bandits called Wandering Bandits.
Fang Yiren already knew how powerful Donglu was, but Gu Junen's face was much uglier and heavier. Obai counterattacked and broke through to the charge where the central army of the Chuang Army was, which greatly shocked Gu Junen's psychology, and he had to look at it again.
Let’s take a look at the strength of the Qing army.
Hao Yaoqi was seriously injured in the chaotic battle. General Yuancong of Northern Shaanxi, one of the most qualified among the Chuang army, was still Li Laiheng's first choice when the Huguang Chuang army charged into battle, beheaded generals and captured the flag.
The most noteworthy person should be Ma Bao. He made the right decisions at many critical moments in this battle, completely killing any possibility of the Qing army's comeback or breakout and escape.
Even Zuo Jiao, the personal soldier near Ma Bao, performed well. He captured the head of a Baya Lajia cavalry during the night battle of the cavalry. After the Qing army was completely defeated, it was Jiao Da who rushed to the front and captured many alive.
The Eight Banners are dear to you.
"Waving the flag, you are really fierce! This time it is you who made the first contribution. If the general knows about it, he will definitely praise your bravery as no less than Commander Liu!"
Hao Yaoqi was seriously injured. Li Laiheng hurriedly brought several soldiers over to look after Hao Yaoqi before the battle to clear away the defeated enemy was completely over.
He held Hao Yaoqi's right hand tightly and put his hands together, unable to conceal the joy in his heart and the excitement after the victory, and said: "With a general like this, there is no need to worry about the army!"
"Hey... Guan Guan, have we won yet?" Hao Yaoqi struggled to move twice, but still couldn't get up because his injuries were too severe. He said angrily, "Have we won? These pig-tailed Tatars
Really powerful...! I have also fought against Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, but they are not as fierce as these Tatars."
"Victory, a hearty victory!"
Li Laiheng asked the soldiers around him to quickly take Hao Yaoqi for medical treatment. He was afraid that something would happen to the general, so he hurriedly said: "You all should pay attention, walk carefully, don't bump into Wai Qi... Everything must be done
Be careful."
As soon as the soldiers carried Hao Yaoqi away, Fang Yiren and Gu Junen came over on horseback. The cloth on Fang Yiren's body was stained with a lot of blood, most of which was spattered on Ao Bai after Li Laiheng's headshot.
Fang Yiren dismounted first. His hands were still trembling slightly. He had not yet recovered from the astonishing pressure of Obai's charge. His voice was trembling as he said, "Master of the Palace...General Gu has also arrived."
Li Laiheng nodded and said: "Although Brother Gu did not directly participate in the Battle of Dangshan, he made a great contribution by blocking the ferry and blocking the way for the Donglu to escape north. Otherwise, I estimate that we would only be able to keep two or three people at most.
Thousands of Tatars, it is really difficult to comfort the souls of the brothers who died in the army."
Gu Junen frowned and said: "General Gu did a great job in intercepting the enemy, but this time the Qing soldiers were able to suddenly cross the river and go south. He failed to monitor the Yellow River defenses well. Don't you think he is also to blame?"
Having just won a big victory, Li Laiheng didn't want to open up old scores at this time. Besides, Gu Kecheng was the person arranged by Li Zicheng, and his performance in intercepting the Qing troops was acceptable, so there was really no need to start a fight.
"Let's talk about this later. What matters now is the direction of Ma Muji. Chen Yongfu and Yuan Shizhong, their ten thousand people are not easy to deal with! We have just gone through this fierce battle, with many casualties. Don't just go through the stormy sea.
, but accidentally capsized the boat in the ditch of Xiaoyuan Camp."