Chapter 797: Approaching Ascending Dragon City
In the formation of the Tang army, a continuous cheer immediately broke out, like rolling spring thunder, resounding through the field.
Coach Weng Zhiqi also had a smug smile.
This kind of battle was actually the victory he expected, and there was nothing special about it compared to previous battles. It's a pity that those enemy soldiers who fought desperately against the Tang Army in the battle just died in vain in this Anbei border, which has no meaning.
Weng Zhiqi was sure that now that the Zheng army was destroyed, it would wait until a few days of rest, when the whole army would move south, continue to capture Beimangcheng in the south, and break through the Zheng army's northern defense line in one fell swoop.
And wait until the soldiers and horses of the other two towns of the ninth town of the Tang army sweep away the east of Yunnan, and then they can go south together, and the soldiers and horses of the ninth town of the Tang army with full strength can go straight to the Zheng family's old nest Shenglong City from the north, and completely destroy this capital of Annan.
Thinking of this, Weng Zhiqi's eyes were shining, and his expression became more and more high-spirited.
He immediately ordered the whole army to quickly clean up the battlefield, and then retreat north to Gaoping, and the whole army rested in the city.
On Zheng Jun's side, after nearly half an hour of escaping, Zheng Jie, who was dying, finally returned to the outside of Beimang City under the escort of a group of soldiers and horses.
At this time, Zheng Hui had already led the soldiers and horses in the city, all of whom greeted his arrival outside Beimang City. From Zheng Hui to every soldier, they all looked angry, and everyone looked confused.
Zheng Jie, who had lost blood all the way and whose vitality was already extremely weak, struggled to open his bloody eyes, and before he could see the appearance of the city in front of him, he opened his mouth, and with a whimper, he fell from the horse on his back, and did not move.
"Shizi!"
"General Zheng!"
Zheng Hui and Zheng Hua both screamed in mourning, and they pounced on it, trying to help Zheng Jie up from the ground.
However, they soon gave up their plan to rescue him.
Because Zheng Jie, who fell to the ground, was almost out of breath, and his eyes began to gradually dissipate.
Seriously injured, he ran back, and finally died.
Zheng Hui and Zheng Hua subconsciously glanced at each other, and both of them saw their own fearful and confused looks from each other's eyes.
Okay, this battle was defeated, and the prince was seriously injured and died, and then, where should I go with the only five thousand remnants left?
"General Zheng, now that our army has been defeated, the prince has been killed, and the soldiers and horses who fled back and the defenders in the city add up to less than 5,000, with such a meager force, how can it be the opponent of the Tang army that has won a great victory, and how can it continue to defend here." Zheng Hua looked sad.
Zheng Hui had a complicated look on his face, and said to Zheng Hua: "Now that the son of the world has passed away, and has suffered this great defeat, our army has no ability to fight again, so let's temporarily close the city and defend it." The current plan is to quickly send the body of the prince back to Thang Long City, so that the head of the family can make a quick decision. ”
Zheng Hua looked sad, but he could only nod helplessly, agreeing with Zheng Hui's opinion.
Soon, Zheng Jie's body was decorated, and Zheng Hui ordered Zheng Hua to personally escort the soldiers and horses to escort Zheng Jie's body back to Shenglong City overnight.
And Zheng Hui himself, with the rest of the soldiers and horses, continued to stick to Beimang City, waiting for the next instructions from Thang Long City.
Zheng Hua took the coffin, escorted by a group of cavalry, and galloped all night, and finally arrived at the foot of Thang Long City at noon the next day.
At this time, Zheng Zheng, the head of the family in the city, heard the bad news from his subordinates and almost fainted on the spot.
I really didn't expect that Zheng Jie, the eldest son who was regarded as his successor, was shot and killed by the Tang army in the north under the premise of having a huge advantage in troops, which was simply a huge loss and a cruel blow.
He is old, but the son of the world died violently on the battlefield, this white-haired man sent the heartache of the black-haired man, how can he really say it!
Zheng Zheng got up tremblingly and immediately went out of the city to meet Zheng Hua's subordinates who had just arrived at the north gate of Thang Long City.
Seeing Zheng Hua and a group of cavalrymen wearing heavy filial piety, escorting the black coffin, slowly came to him, Zheng Zheng almost fainted on the ground, but fortunately he was supported left and right in time.
"Jie'er......" Zheng Zheng couldn't hold back, threw himself on the coffin, and cried loudly.
The surrounding officials also shed a few crocodile tears, and then they all came to advise Zheng Zheng, asking him to relax his mind and mourn and change.
Zheng Zheng stabilized his mind, listened to Zheng Hua who was kneeling on the ground, and said in a trembling voice how Zheng Jie died in battle, and how more than 20,000 people were wiped out by the Tang Army, the pain in his heart was like a cone.
What a hate! His own 20,000 elites, the heir he valued the most, were all wiped out in the north in such a way that he almost capsized in the gutter, which is simply an unspeakable shame!
Seeing Zheng Zheng's gloomy and ruthless appearance, Zheng Hua, who was kneeling on the ground, was worried and uneasy, and he asked carefully: "Family master, now in Beimang City, collect the remnants and remnants, a total of less than 5,000 guards, if there are only such troops, I am afraid that it will be difficult to resist the attack of the Tang army, and I am only afraid of ...... at that time."
Zheng Hua's words made Zheng Zheng's heart more and more sad, and he felt like a thorn in his back.
He knew that it was simply impossible for Zheng Hui alone, with less than 5,000 defenders with insufficient fighting spirit, to fight against the Tang army, which was like a wolf and a tiger and had a great victory, and to hold the narrow and sparsely defended Beimangcheng.
And this Beimangcheng, it is still the strongest city in the northern city, if this city can not be defended, the rest of the various cities, not to mention nothing.
Therefore, for the current Zheng Zheng, the northern border is no longer defensible, and the only way to protect the remnants of Zheng Hui's troops is to withdraw them all to the capital.
Zheng Zheng took a deep breath and interrupted Zheng Hua's words sharply: "You go back quickly, pass on my order, and Zheng Hui will abandon the northern defense line and lead all the troops and horses to immediately enter Shenglong City." ”
Zheng Hua was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly asked: "Family master, if you act like this, wouldn't the northern border be ......?"
"Humph! The Tang Army has strong combat power, and there are many firearms to help, how can our army be the enemy! Even if you want to defend the city, it is difficult to last, and it is better to withdraw it to Thang Long City instead of being wiped out by the Tang army separately, and it is the right strategy to rely on the strong walls and garrisons of the capital, rather than long-term maneuvering. Zheng Zheng said with a tense face.
"Family master, it's just that if the Tang army finds out that there are no soldiers and horses stationed in my northern border, won't they hit Thang Long City in one go? Moreover, if the news of the defeat of our army in the north reaches the south, will not the Nguyen clan, who have seized Hue, also be ready to act against our southern border? Zheng Hua was still confused.
"Alas, you are really cowardly and useless." Seeing him so confused and timid, Zheng Zheng couldn't help but sigh: "Do you know that if you stay in the green mountains, you are not afraid of running out of firewood." Now that the Tang Army is so powerful, how can we compete with it! Let me tell you, when the Tang army is under Shenglong City, then Zheng Zhilong's reinforcements will be afraid to come. At that time, we still have more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in Shenglong City, plus 50,000 reinforcements sent by Zheng Zhilong, to give them an internal and external attack, and they will jointly attack the besieging Tang Army, and I believe that they will be able to defeat them in one fell swoop. ”
Zheng Zheng sighed and said, "Zheng Hua, there is always a priority in things. I have already calculated that if Zheng Zhilong's troops want to rush to my Annan, they will be able to arrive in more than ten days at most. In that case, the soldiers and horses in the south of our army will not move, and the Ruan clan will definitely not dare to move lightly. At most, when the Tang army besieged our Shenglong City, it provoked border provocations and captured several of our border cities. And when our army and the Zheng army join forces to defeat the Tang army, and then turn back to clean up the Ruan clan, wouldn't it be difficult to capture it? ”
Zheng Hua looked ashamed, and hurriedly responded, and immediately led those escort cavalry to hurry back. Zheng Zheng watched them leave, but the feeling in his heart was difficult to describe in words.
He immediately ordered that Zheng Jie's funeral should be simple and arrange a burial as soon as possible. Then all the garrisons in Thang Long City were assembled and arranged to be stationed on Thang Long City.
At the same time, the young men in the city were also urgently assembled, and more than 10,000 strong men were pulled to the city wall to defend and use them as temporary auxiliaries.
Two days later, Zheng Hui withdrew all the defenders of the various military forts in the north to Beimangcheng, and then led a total of more than 5,000 soldiers and horses to retreat south to Thang Long City.
Of course, when they left, they did not forget the fortified walls and clear the wilderness, in addition to bringing all the stored food and ordnance, all the military forts in the north were completely destroyed by them, so that the Tang army had no way to use it.
Even the people on the border were all forced by Zheng Hui to move away immediately, and all of them moved to Thang Long City. Zheng Hui hoped that in such a resolute and thorough way, the Tang army would not get anything in the north, so as to increase the difficulty for him to obtain supplies.
After Zheng Hui and others all withdrew, the Tang army was really exhausted, plus more than 3,000 Mo troops to help, they crossed the Beijie River together, and the troops quickly reached the Beimang City.
"General, Beimangcheng is already an empty city, and all the enemy troops in it have been withdrawn, and the people in the city, military rations and equipment have also been taken away."
After listening to the report after the sentry horse, Weng Zhiqi couldn't help frowning.
Soon, the sentinels who were scouting the rest of the military forts also came back to report that the current military forts were all empty cities, and the defenders and civilians inside had already been withdrawn.
Depend on! I really didn't expect that the Zheng army would be so useless, the defeat a few days ago made them no longer have any courage to fight against the Tang army, and they didn't even dare to defend the city and fight, but all retreated south and fled, which was really much beyond their own expectations.
Weng Zhiqi thought about it carefully, and then asked the soldiers to temporarily station in Beimangcheng, and at the same time immediately sent a messenger to urgently report the current situation to Huang Degong, the mayor of the ninth town of the Tang Army in Yunnan.
Within a few days, Huang Degong, who was commanding the battle in eastern Yunnan, received a report and fell into deep thought.
In fact, just two days ago, Huang Degong received a secret report from the Security Division, telling him that Zheng Zhilong had now sent a large army to Annan, preparing to join forces with the Zheng clan in Annan to attack Gaoping Moshi in the north, and then enter Gui together, and attack the soldiers and horses of the second town of the Tang Army in Guidong from east to west.
Combined with Weng Zhiqi's report now, Huang Degong couldn't help but sigh in his heart, seeing that he had come to the aid of Mo in time, it was really a very correct move.
Now that the Zheng clan is retreating to Shenglong City with all its might, and Zheng Zhilong's reinforcements are about to arrive in Annan, how should he deal with it?
Huang Degong thought carefully and finally decided that under the condition that eastern Yunnan had been basically pacified during this time, only the C battalion would continue to sweep away the remnants of the Tusi forces in eastern Yunnan. He led the A battalion and the remaining half of the artillery unit to urgently enter Annam from eastern Yunnan and join the local Weng Zhiqi department.
Huang Degong led the A Battalion of the Ninth Town and all the remaining heavy artillery troops to Annan together, and after joining Weng Zhiqi's B Battalion at Beimangcheng, Huang Degong immediately ordered the Mo army to take the lead and kill all the way to Shenglong City.
The strength of the Tang army plus the 3,000 Mo army, a total of nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses, came from the dragon city in a mighty way.
Since the Zheng army had withdrawn all the soldiers and horses from the Junbao county town north of Thang Long City, the Tang army went all the way south, basically without encountering any obstacles, and the march was very smooth, but it reached the bottom of Thang Long City in two days.
Seeing the arrival of the Tang army, the soldiers and horses at the head of the city were very nervous.
They all thought that the Tang army would definitely take advantage of the current artillery advantage and launch an immediate attack on Thang Long City, so everyone was very afraid of the possible battle next.
Zheng Zheng, the head of the family, also came to Thang Long City in person, and he watched from a distance as the Tang armies from all walks of life arrived, like several waves that finally converged and raged, quickly surrounding the entire Thang Long City as tightly as an iron bucket.
Seeing the Tang army besieging the city on all sides at the head of the city, the ironclad forest was solemn, and Zheng Zheng unconsciously gasped.
Good guy, the Tang Army is so imposing, at first glance, it is an elite division that has been in battle for a long time. It seems that Zheng Jie was defeated by him that day, and his body was killed and the army was destroyed, but it was not for nothing.
Zheng Zheng's heart quickly flooded with inexplicable panic. He secretly thought that such a strong force with such morale as the elite generals of the rainbow soldiers, the more than 20,000 defenders in Shenglong City who were demoralized and had no fighting spirit, would really be the opponent of the Tang army?
It's just that at this time, what choice can I have but to resist hard?
Zheng Zheng let out a long sigh and ordered: "The whole army listens to the order, guards the city, must resist the attack of the Tang army, and protect my capital city of Annan Shenglong!" ”
"Yes...... Under the order. ”
Hearing the weak answer below, Zheng Zheng knew in his heart that he and the 20,000 defenders who had no fighting spirit wanted to block the Tang army's attack on the city and protect the capital of Annan, but he was afraid that it would be useless to stop the car.
In today's plan, I can only hope that Zheng Zhilong's soldiers and horses will reach Thang Long City as soon as possible before the Tang army begins to officially attack the city.
Zheng Zheng's urgent desire was soon completely destroyed by the Tang Army.
Because, after the Tang army left the soldiers and horses of Battalion B to surround Thang Long City, it did not immediately start attacking, but continued to be led by the Mo army, and the soldiers and horses of the Ninth Town A Battalion of the Tang Army turned eastward and captured the coastal areas of the Zheng forces all the way, such as Taiping Port and Halong Port and other major ports, all of which were successfully captured by the Tang army.
When the Tang army captured the coastal areas of Annan all the way, the 50,000 soldiers and horses of Zheng Hongkui's army, who marched from the sea, did not know the drastic changes launched by Annan now, and the entire fleet was still as planned before, and the entire fleet was unprepared and sailed towards the Taiping Port of Annan.
()