Fortunately, although the Zhou army attacked rapidly, it was quite polite to the Bohai navy who surrendered on their knees, and only gathered them in one place and guarded them by a small number of soldiers, neither beating and scolding, looting property, nor asking for their lives.

The battle under the ruined city of Kaizhou lasted only one and a half hours, and the temporary brigade achieved the result of killing, wounding, and capturing 8,000 people of the Bohai Navy (including more than 6,500 prisoners) at the cost of only more than 50 casualties. Such a record is quite good for a general who leads the troops alone for the first time, but Xing Zhengnan is not satisfied. On the one hand, the opponent is too weak. The commander is arrogant and the soldiers lack training, and compared with the elite of the Liao army, I am afraid that even the Bohai people who defended Ningzhou before are far inferior. It's really not good to defeat such an opponent. On the other hand, after some inspection, Xing Zhengnan was disappointed to find that not only did Wang Ji (Da Guangxian), the head of the Bohai Navy, escape before the Zhou army completed the encirclement of the entire camp, but also more than 4,000 elite men and horses of the Bohai Navy who had not been substantially attacked also ran away with the former. The leader of the enemy army fled, and the elite of the enemy army did not suffer much loss, even if there were many prisoners, it was not something to be proud of in Xing Zhengnan's opinion. Therefore, after learning the news that Wang Ji (Da Guangxian) had run away, Xing Zhengnan ordered the 15th Infantry Regiment of the "Flying Dragon Army" to stay outside the abandoned city of Kaizhou, responsible for cleaning up the battlefield and guarding the prisoners. He himself personally led the rest of the horses to set off immediately, all the way west to pursue Wang Ji (Da Guangxian) and the rest of the Bohai Navy -- although the cavalry regiment of the "Flying Dragon Army" division had been arranged in advance to set up an ambush and block the road from Kaizhou to Yalushui (Yalu River), but there was no guarantee that Wang Ji (Da Guangxian) would definitely flee along the main road, it was also a more prudent choice to follow and pursue. As for the Khitan defenders in the abandoned city of Kaizhou, Xing Zhengnan only put forward a request to Yeluxian's "messenger" to "stand by in place, and the Khitan people in the city cannot leave the city one step before he leads the army back", and then handed it over to the other party to deal with it.

Seventy miles is not a long journey for a cavalry team, and it can be completed in an hour and a half at most, if the horses are fast, and the horses are not spared. Although the dim waning moon had some effect on the speed of travel, the remnants of the Bohai Navy, who were eager to flee for their lives, rushed to the city of Dingzhou Laiyuan, which was located on the edge of the Yalu River (Yalu River), before dawn. Originally, according to Wang Ji's (Daguangxian) intentions, the army should have made no stops, just went around the city, crossed the river from the pontoon bridge in the south of the city, and stayed at the city of Shuoning, which was controlled by the Goryeos, to rest - even if it meant that everyone had to continue to gallop for another 130 or 40 miles. It's just that everyone has been in a state of mental tension since midnight, and after running for seventy miles in one breath, they are already a little physically and mentally exhausted. Considering that the chasing soldiers of the Zhou army may be behind them, once the speed slows down, being caught up by the Zhou army in the wilderness will inevitably wipe out the whole army, and everyone can still support it. Now, a city guarded by their own robes was in front of them, and there was no trace of the Zhou army chasing within twenty miles behind them, and the only thought in the minds of most of these defeated Bohai soldiers was to enter the city, dismount, and sleep. For a defeated army and a tired army, once the spirit that supports them to run down is relaxed, it will be overwhelming to drum up again. Second, as the only support point of the Bohai Navy on the north bank of the Yalushui (Yalu River) in addition to the abandoned city of Kaizhou, the strategic significance of Dingzhou to Yuancheng is also very important. With this city in hand, the Bohai Navy can go out of Liaodong at any time, echoing with Muzhou, Ningzhou and other prefectures and counties inhabited by Bohai people, and turning the area south of Liaoyang upside down. The loss of this city will not only sever the connection between Wang Ji's (Daguangxian) department and the Bohai people in the area south of Liaoyang, but also the Yalushui (Yalu water) will also become a natural barrier for him to pass through Liaodong every time.

Of course, for such a strategically important city, the Zhou army will definitely find a way to seize it. However, as far as the current situation is concerned, the strength of the Zhou army that came to reinforce the Khitan defenders of the abandoned city of Kaizhou was only about 5,000. Except for the men and horses who stayed behind in the camp and received the abandoned city of Kaizhou, there were no more than 3,000 people who could really be used to pursue. However, the retreating men and horses on his side, plus the original defenders in the city, had a total strength of nearly 7,000. With 7,000 against 3,000, relying on the cover of the city wall, even if the Zhou army has sharp firearms, his side still has a 6 or 70% chance of winning. Once you hold the city, the next step is to take Dingzhou City and Yalushui (Yalu River) south of the 100-mile area as the foundation, and continue to act step by step according to the established "strategy for recovering the country". In this way, without waiting for the Zhou army to send a large army to capture the city, his own envoy thought that he had already arrived in Kaifeng and asked for canonization. Taking 10,000 steps back, even if the current strength of the Bohai Navy cannot hold Dingzhou City, at least it can use this city to effectively delay the advance of the Zhou army's pursuers, and create favorable conditions for everyone and the lord to withdraw to the area controlled by the Goryeo. In the eyes of Wang Ji's (Da Guangxian) confidants, relying on the city wall, relying on the existing defenders in the city and the temporarily recruited young men should be enough to hold off the Zhou army for a day or two, and this is enough for everyone to withdraw to Goryeo Sekyung (Pyongyang) -- as for the reason why our side was defeated so badly and so quickly last night, it was because the Zhou army was a sneak attack, and it was difficult for our temporary camp to withstand the artillery fire of the Zhou army, which was by no means a true reflection of the strength of the two sides.

Although he faintly felt that it was not appropriate to take a short rest in Dingzhou City, he looked at the subordinates behind him who were already staggering and barely riding on horses, and listened to the statements of the confidants around him who almost agreed with this proposal, coupled with the arrogance and arrogance in his heart that had not completely disappeared because of a fiasco, Wang Ji (Da Guangxian) finally decided to follow the "will of the people" and ordered all to enter the city to rest and recuperate, and then cross the river after everyone recovered their strength.

When the order was passed, there was a low cheer from the ranks behind him, and then a team of Wang Ji (Da Guangxian) took the lead and rushed to the north gate of Dingzhou City, informing the guards in the city to go out of the city to greet the lord - even if everyone was exhausted, but the identity of the lord could not be ignored, and the score should still be sufficient. It's just that what everyone is waiting for is not the Dingzhou guards, but the guards with panicked faces, and a news that they can't and don't want to believe anyway-Dingzhou Laiyuancheng has been captured by the Zhou army.

But facts are facts, and whether you believe it or not, it's all there. The only plan now is how to make everyone give up the idea of entering the city to rest and recuperate without arousing the suspicion of the generals under his command, and quickly walk around the city to get out of danger - although no one knows whether there are Zhou army ambushes around the city, but Wang Ji (Da Guangxian) and his henchmen are very clear, and they are afraid that as soon as the news that Dingzhou has been captured by the Zhou army is announced, the entire team will collapse in an instant, and then they will even lose the last bit of capital for a comeback.

However, the generals of the Zhou army, who captured Dingzhou and came to Yuancheng, were obviously unwilling to give Wang Ji (Da Guangxian) this opportunity. Before he and his cronies could react from the shock and come up with a suitable countermeasure, a volley of shells fell on the defeated troops in Bohai with a piercing whistling. At the same time, dense and fierce gunfire also came from Dingzhou to the far city.

With a series of explosions, and the bloodied robe in the front row falling from his horse, even the stupidest of the Bohai Navy generals understood what had happened, and knew that their last hope had been lost, even if Wang Ji (Da Guangxian) and his henchmen wanted to hide it. As a result, the entire Bohai defeated army collapsed instantly, and it was an unstoppable complete and complete collapse. Not only the ordinary soldiers, but also some mid-ranking officers lost their inch, and were carried by their subordinates to the Yalu River, five miles away, where there were two pontoon bridges they had erected when they had crossed the river a few days earlier.

Standing at the head of the far city in Dingzhou, looking through the telescope at the Bohai soldiers who squeezed me like headless flies and fled towards the Yalu River, Li Cheng, the commander of the cavalry regiment of the Fifth Synthetic Infantry Division of the "Flying Dragon Army", couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and secretly sighed that he could finally get a small credit this time. Seeing that the battle of the Northern Expedition is coming to an end, if he doesn't want to find a way to make some achievements, he is likely to become the one with the least combat achievements among the five commanders of the three synthetic infantry divisions and the two independent cavalry regiments participating in the Northern Expedition. Of course, this is not to say that Li Cheng did not work hard in the operation, but it was completely caused by the original arrangement of the Northern Expedition combat plan. The last Northern Expedition Right Route Army not only had the shortest combat time and the closest combat distance, but also passed through the fewest states and counties along the way, so it is reasonable that Li Chengsuo's record was not as good as that of several other cavalry regiments. Now that he has blocked the three or four thousand defeated soldiers of the Bohai Navy, coupled with the capture of Wang Ji (Da Guangxian), the so-called royal descendant of the Bohai people, how can he be worthy of himself and his more than 2,000 soldiers coming to Liaodong.

Thinking of this, Li Cheng put down the binoculars in his hand and instructed the heralds beside him: "Send a signal and order all battalions to attack according to the plan." A moment later, as two red signal flares rose from the far city of Dingzhou, a half-cavalry battalion that had been waiting for a long time came out from the north gate of Dingzhou City, forming an arc-shaped array, and slowly approached the Bohai Sea router.