Chapter 374: Run! Shengbao (2nd Update)
He Huan and Song Jingshi supported each other and fled back to Yongqing, Song Jingshi still had the intention of going to Gu'an Army for revenge, but He Huan was ready to run away with his descendants. He Huan met the Gu'an Army when he was a bandit, and then He Huan died in the world. He Huan met the Gu'an Army again, if it weren't for Cao Meng's righteous anger, he wouldn't even have a chance to die in the world.
Now that he has become an official soldier, and as a result, he met the Gu'an army again, and He Huan was still ready to make a comparison at first. Because since He Huan pulled the team to start working by himself, He Huan has always taken the Gu'an Army as an example, and he has groped to build his own troops according to the Gu'an Army in his impression. After being returned to Shengbao's command, He Huan spared no effort to collect firearms, trying to turn his troops into a pure firearms army. Although it has not yet reached the level of full firearms equipment, it has begun to take shape. Although he has been preserving his strength and has not participated in many battles, He Huan himself feels that his troops are still the strongest among the various departments under Shengbao. It is precisely because of this bit of wealth that He Huan dared to follow Song Jingshi to compete with Gu'an Army, he wanted to win once, so that Cao Meng, Wu Xiuming and Li Zhi could also see his ability.
But the moment the whistling cannonball exploded, He Huan came to his senses, and his former fantasies were also shattered by this cannonball. His little tricks are still not enough in front of the Gu'an Army, and the original artillery of the Qing Dynasty is definitely not the opponent of the Gu'an Army's "foreign artillery". He Huan, who fled in embarrassment many times in front of the Gu'an army, didn't have the intention of being strong, he just wanted to escape back to Yongqing, pull his troops, and quickly escape from this place of right and wrong. There was a moment when He Huan thought about taking people to join the Gu'an Army, but thinking of Cao Meng, Wu Xiuming, and especially Li Zhi's smiling expressions, He Huan put this idea away from him.
"What about people?" Escaping to the city of Yongqing, He Huan and Song Jingshi were all dumbfounded, Yongqing, who was still rampant in the army when he sent out the army in the morning, actually had no one who was a soldier, only some refugees who were lucky enough to escape wandered in the ruins.
The two searched for a long time, but they did not find any trace of the Shengbao army, and the refugees couldn't ask why. Song Jingshi and thousands of people in Jingdongying disappeared without a trace, and He Huan's 2,000 people were also nowhere to be found. When the two were at a loss, a man dressed as a refugee leaned in.
"Brother He!" The refugee was very careful, as if he was afraid that people would find him.
"Chen Si?" He Huan recognized the person who came, it was one of his personal soldiers.
"Brother He, it's good for you to come back!" After Chen Si confirmed that the person with a dirty face in front of him was He Huan, he cried excitedly.
"Don't cry, what's wrong!" All of He Huan's belongings were gone, and he was already scratching his ears and cheeks anxiously.
"Ke Shuai said that you and General Song were both killed in battle, and withdrew with the army, our brothers think that you must be fine, and I am afraid that you will not find anyone when you come back, so I chose me to stay and pick you up!" Chen Si hurriedly explained the ins and outs to He Huan and Song Jingshi.
Katsuho's reaction speed was much faster than Acton and Goxinga, and as soon as he heard the sound of gunfire, he immediately sent someone to inquire about the situation. Knowing that the Gu'an army was heading south, Sheng Bao judged that Song Jingshi and He Huan were killed without even thinking about it, and immediately gathered the whole army to retreat in the direction of Xiongxian. Katsuho didn't think that Goxinga would personally go south to clean him up, and Acton was not something he could deal with, so he had no intention of resisting at all, and his plan was to run. As long as he runs fast enough to Shandong or Henan, it will be impossible for the Gu'an army to chase him anymore. When the Gu'an army turns the muzzle, he can come back again, and he can be idle if he is idle, or if he goes out for a walk.
As soon as they heard that the strong enemy was coming, they assembled in an hour, and began to flee south at a speed that was incomparable to the Gu'an army. Song Jingshi's Jingdong camp and He Huan's strong camp were judged to be killed because the boss was killed, and the dragons had no leader but to run away with Shengbao. He Huan and Song Jingshi were completely speechless about Shengbao, all their belongings were abducted, and they had no choice but to quickly chase in the direction of Xiongxian.
Although He Huan and Song Jingshi were left behind, Shengbao's escape road was not smooth, and it can be said that it was a step by step. Not long after he ran out of Yongqing, he was beaten by the Fengsheng Agu'an garrison regiment in the junction area between Yongqing and Gu'an. The Shengbao army was originally fleeing in a hurry, and it didn't know how many people and horses the Gu'an army had when they encountered the enemy in a hurry, and they fell into chaos. Katsuho barely held the troops, did not resist at all, dropped a large number of baggage, and rushed over.
Fengsheng Ah really didn't come to ambush Shengbao, otherwise Shengbao wouldn't have been able to rush out without leaving half of the people behind. When Guoxing'a was about to go south to clean up Shengbao, he gave Fengsheng'a a passage and asked him to deploy defenses along the border of Gu'an County, so as to prevent Shengbao's rout from entering Gu'an. Which Cheng thought that Fengsheng'a had just arrived at the border between Gu'an and Yongqing, and before Guoxing'a could make a move, Shengbao ran over. Feng Sheng'a didn't want to intercept him, Fengsheng'a just started to arm, and Shengbao's 30,000 army was killed, Fengsheng'a just wanted to delay Shengbao and buy himself time to defend himself. If you don't want to win Bao, you can't help but fight, Fengsheng Ah casually made two strokes, and Shengbao abandoned a large amount of military funds and fled. Feng Sheng'a only brought five companies over this time, and he didn't dare to use his second-line troops to pursue the enemy thirty times larger.
In order to be able to escape for his life, Shengbao threw away all the burdens, not to mention the looted gold and silver treasures, and even the military rations. Shengbao, who had no choice, could only stop in Bazhou, he was going to Bazhou to extort some food, and by the way, he would loot again to encourage his subordinates. However, when he arrived at the city of Bazhou, Shengbao was dumbfounded, the gate of Bazhou was closed, and there were a large number of soldiers and civilians defending the city, and he was in a posture of fighting to the death with Shengbao. Looking at the eight-star holding the sun flag fluttering at the head of the city, Shengbao understood everything, but he didn't take the mere Bazhou in his eyes. Three or five hundred soldiers, a group of ordinary people who have never seen blood, Shengbao can't beat Guoxing, and can't beat them! However, Katsubo did not have a chance to attack the city, and Goxinga's cavalry had already caught up.
Although Guo Xinga despised Shengbao, he didn't expect Shengbao to be more cowardly than he expected, and he ran away without taking a picture, so Guoxinga was also caught off guard. When Goxinga found out, Shengbao had already been running for half a day, and the infantry and artillery would definitely not be able to catch up with them for a while, so they could only be dispatched by cavalry. Guoxing Aqin led the 1st Light Cavalry Regiment and the Heavy Cavalry Battalion as the main force, and chased them in the direction of Shengbao's escape. Bo Ritu also followed behind with his light cavalry brigade, they can't fight tough battles, but bullying Shengbao's soft-footed shrimp, Bo Ritu is still very confident, and he can also exercise these raw melons and eggs when he comes out to play soy sauce.
Sheng Bao just threatened two sentences under the city of Bazhou, and then the cavalry of Guoxinga came up, where did Sheng Bao dare to hesitate, wiped his head and ran to Xiongxian. Shengbao was also frightened, otherwise his strength was ten times that of Goxinga, and Goxinga's cavalry did not have infantry and artillery to cooperate, so he still had to fight. With this run, his already low morale was completely discharged, and the army of Shengbao had a numerical advantage, but all of them had no heart to fight. However, Shengbao is also a little clever, he chose Xiongxian as the direction of escape, Guo Xinga really didn't expect it.
Guo Xinga believes that Shengbao's base is in Shandong, and in the face of his own threat, Shengbao must want to flee back to Shandong. Therefore, Guoxing'a, who chased to Bazhou, chased down the line of Wen'an and Dacheng, because this was the closest road for Shengbao to escape back to Shandong. Guo Xing'a kept going all the way, and when he ran to Wen'an, he realized that something was wrong, so he could only pick his head and look back. At this time, Shengbaodu had already started to rob in Xiongxian.
Local officials are often called parent officials, because they decide everything for the people. The magistrate of Bazhou is a cadre, knowing that troops are being mobilized in the north, and a sentry is arranged at the county border, so that he can climb the city and hold on when the Shengbao soldiers are in the city. And the magistrate of Xiongxian County didn't have this skill, he thought that everything would be fine if he hung the eight-star flag and held the Japanese flag, which Cheng wanted to win and kill him again. When Shengbao's army entered the city, Xiongxian County didn't even have time to close the city gate, and the people of a county were poisoned by Shengbao.
Fortunately, there was still Guo Xing'a biting behind, Shengbao didn't dare to spend the night in Xiongxian, and after enough looting, he immediately marched into Anxin, preparing to continue to flee south. It is also a cycle of heavenly principles, and retribution is unpleasant. If Shengbao only grabbed grain and grass in Xiongxian, he would have run away, and Guoxinga really couldn't catch up with him. However, the soldiers, who were already accustomed to the wilderness, engaged in a period of rape and plunder in Xiongxian County, which delayed the time. As soon as the Shengbao army left Xiongxian less than fifteen miles, Guoxing's 3,000 elite cavalry caught up with them.
"The three armies lined up to meet the enemy!" Shengbao, who can't run anymore, is finally wise, anyway, there are only three or four thousand chasing soldiers, so it's better to give it a go.
The two armies approached slowly in the wilderness, Katsubo's troops cowered a little, and Goxinga's cavalry was gathering their horses. Looking at Shengbao's army of 30,000, Guo Xing'a was really a little worried. The more than 5,000 flag soldiers outside the border in Bo Ritu are not good at horsemanship, and their actual situation is more in line with the standard of cavalry infantry. Therefore, after the light cavalry regiment and the heavy cavalry battalion began to gallop on horseback, these guys with average horsemanship could not keep up with the footsteps of the main army. With the three thousand horsemen of Goxinga alone, it is not difficult to defeat Shengbao, but it is very troublesome to annihilate Shengbao, and there are too many people in Shengbao. Not to mention 30,000 soldiers with a little combat effectiveness, even 30,000 pigs can be busy for a while. But I'm chasing after you, and it's not like to say hello if you don't say hello, so let's go for a round first and see the result.
"Prepare to attack!" Guo Xing'a didn't do any battlefield mobilization, and randomly drew his saber and motioned for the departments to prepare.
The artillery of the heavy cavalry battalion and the light cavalry regiment set up 110-mm field guns and 100-mm mountain guns that could move with them, and were ready to bombard the enemy's military formation and open a gap for their comrades. The cavalrymen also drew their sabers and prepared for the attack. The new regiment commander Cao Meng still has some opinions, although the cavalry charge can deter the enemy and quickly defeat the enemy, but the casualties of hand-to-hand combat with cold weapons will be very large. Therefore, Cao Meng, who had been riding infantry for almost a year, suggested that the cavalry first dismount, use muskets to disperse the enemy, and finally launch a charge to chase and destroy the remnants of the enemy. Guo Xing'a highly praised Cao Meng's suggestion and told Cao Meng to do so in the future, and then firmly rejected Cao Meng. This time, Goxinga is going to be willful once, he doesn't have time to fight a war of attrition with Katsuho, he has to solve Katsuho with one blow and drive Katsuho to the field to be a groundhog.
"For the honor of the soldiers!" Guo Xinga pointed the tip of his knife in the direction of Shengbaoshuaiqi.
"For the glory of the general!" The soldiers responded in unison, then let go of their horses and began to approach the enemy line.
"Boom, boom ......" artillery began to bombard enemy positions, clearing obstacles for their comrades.
As one shell after another was fired into Shengbao's military formation, turning Shengbao's outer positions into a scorched earth, something that made the Gu'an army jaw-dropping. After losing only a hundred or so people, Shengbao's 30,000 army actually dispersed in a hurry, rushing in the opposite direction of the Gu'an army like a frightened flock.
"Chase!" Guo Xing'a was deflated all of a sudden, Shengbao was still the same Shengbao, running really fast.