Chapter 263: Three Strategies for Retreat
Close to the north bank of the Qiantang River, the water near the arc-shaped beach is stained red with blood.
Zhang Tianlei stood at the stern of the boat, looking at the temporary camp on the north shore that had not been there for two days and was silent. In sight, the elite and miscellaneous soldiers of the Fang La army were besieging the remnants of the Great Zhou army, while happily packing up the spoils of war, especially swords, guns, armor and ordnance.
Everywhere the golden banner arrived, the soldiers of the Fangla Army there raised their arms and shouted.
Zhang Tianlei clearly felt that someone under the golden flag glanced at him, and it was likely to be Fang La himself.
Zhang Tianlei looked back, but the distance was too far to see the figure clearly.
Recalling the retreat that began two hours ago, Zhang Tianlei, the commander, also felt a little weak.
Yu Yunwen overestimated his ability to command the army, and was soon broken through two sheep and horse walls by the elite of Fang La's army, and the last sheep and horse wall was also in danger.
At the critical moment, Yu Yunwen temporarily handed over the power to command the army to Zhang Tianlei, hoping that Zhang Tianlei, the only reliable one, could turn the tide.
Zhang Tianlei did not have the ability to turn defeat into victory, nor did he agree with staying on the north bank as a live target, so he put forward a plan to abandon the north bank and protect the south bank.
Yu Yunwen nodded in agreement, and Zhang Tianlei immediately put forward three suggestions:
The first and most important piece of advice is a promise to absolve the generals who have failed to fight the war from their culpability, and let them be guilty of their crimes.
The most terrifying thing is not that the low-level sergeants have no intention of fighting, but that the few pit generals under Yu Yunwen are discouraged, thinking that they will not be able to escape the responsibility no matter what. It's already defeated, being captured is death, and escaping will be held accountable, so why fight?
Zhang Tianlei understands the inner thoughts of generals on the battlefield, and his first suggestion is to stabilize the hearts of generals and sections, so that they can make contributions.
The second suggestion was to appease the low-level sergeants and give priority to the evacuation of wounded sergeants.
Before Zhang Tianlei recruited An, he was also a person who single-handedly pulled up a team of green forest people, and knew that the low-level sergeants were the most insecure. If the wounded sergeants are left alone, the morale of the army will collapse in an instant, and it will be good for more than 10,000 people to escape by one or two thousand.
Let the disabled sergeants get on board first, and the rest of the soldiers will be at ease, and the morale of the soldiers will of course be easy to maintain.
The third suggestion is the ultimate killer move obtained by Zhang Tianlei with decades of life experience and accumulation and sublimation.
Zhang Tianlei's big killer move has nothing else, it is to scatter money, send money, and smash money on the spot!
The miscellaneous soldiers of the Fang La army began to turn the three sentry guns, catapults, and a small number of bed crossbows upside down, preparing to let the Great Zhou army, which was cowering on a small river beach, also taste the taste of being smashed into pulp.
Some of the key components of the five-sentry cannon, catapult and bed crossbow were taken away by the Nanyang Instrument Army, and some ordnance was destroyed, ignited and smashed, but there were still a lot of superior ordnance captured by the Fang La Army.
There is no way, Nanyang Mansion, Xuzhou, Xiangyang Prefecture and other important places in the Great Zhou Dynasty have always been short of advantageous ordnance. In order to cooperate with Yu Yunwen, the prefect of Nanyang and other civil officials left a good impression on the court and picked out a lot of good ordnance.
The situation has deteriorated dramatically.
When Fang La planned to completely drive the Great Zhou army down the Qiantang River to feed the fish and try his best to capture Yu Yunwen alive, Yu Yunwen gritted his teeth and implemented Zhang Tianlei's plan.
The standard-bearers and couriers in Yu Yunwen's army were urgently mobilized and shouted everywhere, "Lord Yu guarantees with his reputation that all the sins of generals, sections, and sergeants will be relieved, and Wang'er and others will be guilty of meritorious service!" and circulated Yu Yunwen's handwritten handwritten book with a seal.
The desperate river beach position was suddenly silent for a few breaths, but the announcement was not finished.
"Lord Yu has an order, the disabled sergeant will board the ship first, if there are people with sound hands and feet, and those with minor injuries rush to board the ship, there will be no forgiveness!"
The warriors of the Great Zhou did not believe much in the words of the civil officials, but they believed very much in the guarantees made by the civil officials with their own reputations, especially when there was a written guarantee.
People have no faith, and they don't know what they can do. The scholarly class attaches great importance to personal reputation, and many scholars value reputation more than their lives.
Yu Yunwen's handwriting was circulated everywhere, and the generals above the battalion commander recognized the notes and seals on it, and were ecstatic after confirming that it was correct: If the responsibility for this defeat is really not investigated, what if Lao Tzu fights?
The low-level soldier confirmed the news from the superior and also put down his heart. After being injured, he will not be left behind, which is enough for many soldiers of the Great Zhou Army.
The biggest surprise arrived.
All the clerks, facao, and clerks in the Great Zhou army rushed to various places with boxes and sacks. After half a burnt incense, piles of copper coins, silk cloth, fine salt and jiaozi shimmered, setting off bursts of exclamations.
"Lord Yu has an order, the bereavement and the reward for military exploits will be doubled, and the name will be recorded on the spot!"
"The things of the fallen sergeants will be returned to the township through the post post in the army, the money shop, and the Jiaozi shop. Lord Yu will personally stare at it, and it will not be short of a copper coin or a pound of salt. ”
"Before getting on the boat, make sure that there are no problems with your bereavement and reward, and then take your things and get on the boat. The sergeant who boarded the boat at the back was given two more pieces of money for every incense stick......"
The stubborn Great Zhou army suddenly quieted down, which was certainly not good news for the Fang La army.
In Fangla's army, there were too few soldiers who could operate catapults and other ordnance, and preparations were not completed for a long time. The 100 elites led by Jing Xiaowei were selected, and together with 2,300 elites and 1,000 miscellaneous soldiers, they once again hit the last sheep and horse wall.
Jing Xiaowei, who rushed to kill in front, He Conglong, who commanded the attack, and Fang La, who was watching the battle in the rear, soon discovered that there seemed to be something different about the Great Zhou army that was about to be driven off the river beach.
The junction of the battalions of the Great Zhou Army was no longer so fragile, and soldiers from different units began to cooperate with each other.
The generals of the Great Zhou Army no longer panicked, or commanded in a chaotic manner so that they were rushed to the point of being crushed, but fought to the death.
The remaining equipment of the Great Zhou Army suddenly seemed to have eyes, and they greeted the crowded places with stone bullets, stones, poisonous smoke fireballs, tribulus fireballs, and thunderbolt fireballs.
The sheep and horse wall as a defensive facility always has to leave several passages. Jing Xiaowei led the elite of the 100-square-foot army and rushed towards a passage.
In Jing Xiaowei's eyes, the channel is a gap! As long as you rush to the front of the hand-to-hand combat, you will soon be able to break through a hole and completely defeat the Great Zhou army.
Jing Xiaowei was very crazy when he fought hard, and he fanatically believed that Fang La once said, "The law is equal, and there is no superiority." As long as he can defeat Da Zhou, Jing Xiaowei is willing to give everything.
Battlefield intuition saved Jing Xiaowei's life. His hair stood on end, and he jerked to the side, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw two black shadows flying by.
The black shadow was fast, and the wind stirred up the mud and sand.
One gun and three swords and arrows, the name is very popular, but it is the sharpest weapon suitable for the Great Zhou bed crossbow. The length of this weapon is comparable to that of an ordinary spear, the shaft of the arrow is thicker than a child's arm, and the three pieces of arrow feathers are made directly of iron.
In order to ensure a smooth flight, at the end of the enemy with one gun and three swords and arrows, there is an iron ball under the one-foot-long prismatic steel thorn for counterweight.
Although one gun and three swords and arrows, only the "three bows and eight cow beds crossbow" can exert their full power. However, when fired with a duplex and single-bow crossbow, it is still powerful.
Jing Xiaowei drooped beads of sweat, he looked behind him, and saw that the place where the scream came from just now was no longer like the world.
Two guns and three swords and arrows, one of which penetrated the bodies of the three armored soldiers of the Fangla Army, and then the wooden pole broke, the steel thorns flew, and the iron balls flew with the wooden thorns, and the wooden rods, wooden thorns, steel thorns, and iron balls killed and injured more than ten people.
The other one-shot three-sword arrow directly penetrated the two soldiers, and then the arrow shaft instantly deflected, smashing the five Fangla soldiers to vomit blood and retreat.
The bed crossbow blocked the passage, and one shot and three swords and arrows broke the enemy's morale.
The soldiers of the Nanyang Instrument Army, who controlled the bed crossbow, finally let out a sigh of relief, redeeming some of the frustration that had been repeatedly missed in the panic before, and cheered loudly.
Jing Xiaowei's heart was mixed with panic and fear. After having been in the Yongle Dynasty for so long, he had certainly heard of the power of the Great Zhou instruments and firearms. But it's one thing to hear it, it's another thing to see it in front of your eyes.
One shot and three swords and arrows hit the crowd, and the terrifying power displayed had already shocked Jing Xiaowei. The puncture wounds and burns caused by the tribulus fireball and the thunderbolt fireball made Jing Xiaowei's heart tremble.
In this attack, Fang La's army suffered heavy casualties.
The place where the battle was fought before was large, and under the successive defeats of the Great Zhou army, the true power of instruments and firearms was not brought into play. At this moment, the morale of the Great Zhou army soared, and the Fangla army attacking the narrow river beach was in a dense formation, and the equipment and firearms of the Great Zhou army finally explained what was terrible.
Fang La's army temporarily withdrew its troops and retreated some distance.