Xiang Rong's army came to Ping'an Bridge, where the river was not very wide, and after cutting down some large trees, the Qing army quickly built a temporary bridge. Seeing that the original bridge was destroyed, Xiang Rong was even more determined in his thoughts, and the bandits were delaying time to escape to Yong'an.

On the other side of the Ping'an Bridge, the Taiping army had already finished cleaning the battlefield, and the weapons and horses were all transferred, leaving only more than 100 corpses of Qing soldiers, which were thrown in six or seven columns by the river.

Xiang Rong looked at these corpses with a grim expression, most of these people were veterans who had followed him for many years, a wave of anger erupted from his heart, and he pointed his right hand in the direction where the Taiping Army was leaving and shouted: "Chase, chase me, destroy this gang of bandits!" At this time, he believed that as long as he caught up with the Taiping army, he would definitely be able to defeat them, and the final victory was undoubted.

The forward team was wiped out, and Xiang Rong rushed to the front with his own soldiers at this time, and he did not get off his horse, and chased him in the heavy rain for most of the day non-stop. Now his team has become a long snake, and there are constantly more and more people who are falling behind one after another because they can't bear the hardship. Even if Xiang Rong strictly ordered his own soldiers to punish these stragglers, it was useless, there were too many people who had fallen behind, not to mention that some people did not move even if they were whipped with a whip, and collapsed on the road like dead dogs.

A personal soldier hesitated to come to Xiang Rong's side, and persuaded him stubbornly: "Lord Admiral, it's not a matter of chasing this kind of weather like this, your lordship, you also have to take care of your health." ”

"Get out of here, don't be verbose, the bandits are in front, it shouldn't be far away, you must hold on at this time." Xiang Rong's whole person was in an indescribable stubbornness, and all the things he encountered before made him think that the Taiping Army was running away frantically, and what he had to do at the moment was to compete with the Taiping Army for speed.

"My lord, the team has broken up like this, and we need to rest. Everyone hasn't eaten for most of the day, and even if such a team catches up, it won't be able to fight. Zheng Counselor Ba Deqing followed and persuaded.

Xiang Rong glanced at him, and then looked at the team behind him, everyone was indeed embarrassed, he hesitated and did not speak.

Ba Deqing quickly took a map from his side, opened it, and pointed to a small village on the map, "There is a place called Cao Village not far from here, do you want us to go there to rest?" ”

Xiang Rong nodded reluctantly, just to give Ba Qingde a face, "I can only rest for a while, and when the team behind catches up, we have to chase!" ”

"It's Cao Village in front, work hard." The tired soldiers were so happy, they could finally take a breath, the rain was so heavy, it was good to find a house to shelter from the rain.

"Lord Admiral, something is wrong with this Cao Village, why can't anyone see it? It's so quiet. "They have already arrived at the entrance of the village, and they can enter the village after walking another two hundred meters, and one of the soldiers suddenly felt a little uneasy and reminded.

"It's not surprising that the bandits like to join the religion with their whole family the most, and it's normal for all the people in a village to be taken away by them." Xiang Rong didn't care, "Hurry up and let the brothers enter the village, find a place to shelter from the rain, eat more dry food, we can only rest for a while." Xiang Rong was still thinking about pursuing the Taiping Army at this time.

"Bang!" An explosion was heard from somewhere, followed by the rumbling of various trumpets and war drums.

The Taiping army came out of all corners of Cao Village, some from houses, some from trees, some from tunnels, and more from the back of the village. The "trickle" in these corners quickly converged into a huge wave and slapped towards the Qing army. Cao Village was full of yellow turbans, people in yellow card clothes, and the killing shouts were as earth-shattering as a mountain and a tsunami.

Xiang Rong looked at the Taiping army coming from all directions, and his brain felt as if he had been hit hard, "Impossible!" Aren't they on the run? Why are you still setting up an ambush here? We are obviously no longer in the mountains, how dare they set up an ambush here? Until this time, Xiang Rong couldn't believe his eyes.

After the shock, what followed was Xiang Rongping's despair for the first time in his life, and for more than 40 years, two words that he had never had in his heart appeared, that is, the word "fear". He began to regret why he was not safer, now that his team was scattered like this, how could he compete with so many Taiping troops who were waiting for work?

A mouthful of blood spat out of Xiang Rong's mouth. After all, he was almost sixty years old, and after so many days of chasing in the heavy rain, his body was already thin and out of shape, and his spirit was exhausted. Coupled with the situation that is about to collapse now, such an old general is so angry that his body begins to shake on his horse, and he almost falls off his horse.

"Protect your lordship, come and protect your lordship, let's withdraw first!" Several personal soldiers supported Xiang Rong and protected him and quickly retreated.

The banners of the Taiping Army behind him were unstoppable, and the Taiping Army had been waiting here for a long time. Waiting for work, the energy that was held back was finally released at such a moment. Qin Rigang, who was the leader, led by example, led by example.

Before the battle, Hong Xiuquan specially issued an edict "(pure quotation can be skipped without looking) The soldiers will pray to obey the order of heaven and must not be reversed. I tell the truth, I am not greedy for life and afraid of death in front of me, and then I go to heaven, and I will live forever. If you are greedy for life, you will not live, and if you are afraid of death, you will die. And he is not greedy or afraid of hardship in front of him, and then he goes to heaven and will be free of suffering forever. If you are greedy for peace, you will be uneasy, and if you are afraid of suffering, you will be bitter. In short, obey the commandments of heaven and enjoy the blessings of heaven; Defy the order of heaven and go to hell. The soldiers will wake up with thousands of prayers, and then the rebels are not strange. ”

This dose of religious spiritual tonic soup of Sect Leader Hong has a very blessing effect on many believers who worship God, and at this time, thousands of people are chanting the slogan "Heavenly Father bless", and this unique war prayer of the Taiping army has a great effect on morale.

Xiang Rong's army had already been drawn into a straight line in the pursuit, and at this time there were only a few hundred people here in Cao Village, less than one-sixth of the Taiping army, and they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, physical fitness, and morale, and could not organize an effective defense at all.

As soon as Qin Rigang entered the battlefield, he was like a tiger coming down the mountain, carrying a machete like chopping melons and vegetables, harvesting the heads of the Qing army, as if entering a no-man's land. And the Qing army has long lost its fighting spirit, and they ran away vigorously, only hating their father and mother for missing two legs. The battlefield presented a one-sided slaughter.

"Rejoice! Finally avenged Dongling's revenge. Qin Rigang rose up, "Brothers, hurry up and chase it, don't let the Qing demon escape." ”

The situation in the vicinity of Cao Village was reversed, and the Taiping and Qing armies fell. Now the Qing army is fleeing in front vigorously, while the Taiping army is following behind and chasing desperately, biting the Qing army.