Xu Zhong hurriedly persuaded: "Leave some seeds, this battle is irreparable, can't the whole army be lost here?" ”

Zhu Ping is also young, and he probably doesn't want to die: "Uncle, retreat, the order can't be passed on to the back." ”

The camp that had not moved behind them was a mile or two away, and in the middle were all defeated soldiers and deserters, and no orders could be passed on.

At this time, Li Jun and other generals also came to persuade him.

Everyone was persuading him, and Zhu Neng knew that no one wanted to fight.

He remembered Tan Yuan, Zhang Wu and Xue Lu and other good brothers in Jingnan, if these people were on the scene, they would definitely not give up, and they would fight again.

After all, it is not an old brother, Zhu Neng closed his eyes very unwillingly, gritted his teeth and said: "Let's go, go back to Guilin first." ”

But Zhu Neng and Xu Zhong obviously underestimated the power of artillery, and the collapse of the official army was faster and more terrifying than they imagined.

Just when Zhu Neng gave the order to collect the defeated troops and retreat in the direction of Guilin, the collapse on the field was no longer controllable, a large number of defeated soldiers rushed to the rear, and the camp behind the official army that did not participate in the battle also began to turn around and run.

Zhu Neng and Xu Zhong retreated while collecting the defeated troops, but it seemed that the more they collected, the less they were, and there were always defeated troops who broke away from the big array.

After many of the defeated soldiers left the main array, they went to the side, and then crouched down and raised their hands, waiting for the rebel army to come.

Zhu Neng was furious and wanted to order the cavalry to be sent over and kill these surrendered soldiers, but Li Jun and Xu Zhong persuaded him.

The brothers fought for half a day, they probably didn't have the strength to run, leave these people alone, the rebels had to feed them with food.

Zhu Neng gave up.

The two armies fought all morning, and after the artillery rang out, it collapsed in less than half an hour, and then it was all pursued by the rebel army.

The officers and soldiers fled all the way and surrendered countless times.

A large number of utensils and baggage were left on the battlefield, and in less than an hour, Zhu Neng fled back to Yongfu County, where he ordered a fire to burn the grain and baggage in Yongfu County, and then continued to flee to Guilin.

But to flee in the direction of Guilin, you have to cross the river.

Before the official army, there were countless ships waiting for them in the Huangyuanshui and Taihe River.

Just as the officers and troops were retreating from defeat, suddenly a thousand cavalry rushed to the river and began to shoot rockets at the boats parked on the shore.

The scene was in chaos again, the officers and soldiers stationed on the shore resisted and extinguished the fire, and the cavalry was also brave, desperately shooting arrows at the boats, running back and forth along the shore, and after losing hundreds of horsemen, they set fire to a large number of boats along the river, and then drove away.

Under normal circumstances, there are thousands of officers and troops stationed on the shore, and they can also fight back against the rebels, and there are defeated soldiers coming back one after another.

But at this time, the news of the previous defeat had already come, and many of the defeated cavalry returned here first, or grabbed boats and ran away, or crossed the river along the bridge.

There was only one bridge at the scene, and a large number of defeated soldiers were crowded on the bridge, and many people could only choose to cross the river by boat.

The rebels suddenly slaughtered a thousand horsemen, and the officers and soldiers scrambled for their lives, and there were few who were willing to resist, so many people rolled into the river.

By the time Zhu Neng got the news, the river had been burned to the ground, and many boats had been burned on the shore, and after so many boats were set on fire, it almost cut off the retreat route of the officers and soldiers who were defeated and fled.

Zhu Neng organized the extinguishing of the fire on the one hand, cleared the passage from the shore to the sea, and organized people to guard the only bridge, but everyone competed to cross the river, and the same camp would cause quarrels.

By about three o'clock in the afternoon, the officers and soldiers were still taking turns to cross the river in panic, when suddenly there was the sound of artillery from the south.

Sentinels from the front soon came back to report that the rebels were moving their artillery down the hill and might push it forward.

When the artillery was about to come and break their bridge, the army was really finished.

Zhu Neng saw that something was wrong, and he didn't dare to stay in Yongfu County anymore, so he immediately found an intact boat to get on first, took Xu Zhong and other generals to escape into the river first, and then ran directly along the waterway to Guilin.

Because there were more people to sit, many cavalrymen had to throw away their horses in order to get on the boat, which caused the number of cavalry in the official army to plummet.

At this time, there was no general to command Yongfu here, the officers and soldiers were in a mess, each fleeing for their lives, and some people shouted that it was better to surrender the king of Han, so they ran to the side, squatted down in place and waited for the rebel army to come.

Less than half an hour after Zhu Neng left, the vanguard of the rebel army had already caught up, and the scene was seen from Yongfu County, and there were officers and soldiers who had not had time to flee in all directions.

Because there will be only two ways for the officers and soldiers, one is the only bridge, and the other is to escape by boat.

It was impossible for hundreds of thousands of people to cross a bridge in a short time, and the ships were burned by the rebels, and many more ran away without waiting for them to be full.

So with the shouts of long live the king of Han around them, countless officials and soldiers chose to surrender one after another, and some of the official and military ships did not leave directly, but docked in place and surrendered to the king of Han.

Night fell quickly.

In the night, Zhu Neng stood at the bow of the boat and turned his head to look at the river.

There were more than a hundred ships that escaped with him, and some more ran out before him and behind him, and according to Zhu Neng's estimate, there would probably be four or five hundred ships running out in the end.

However, more than 300,000 officers and soldiers set out from Guilin in a mighty way, and at that time, the sails covered the sky, stretching for more than ten miles, plus all kinds of grain and grass, at least a thousand ships.

Although a small half of them turned around after sending the official army to Yongfu County, Zhu Neng knew that at least seven or eight hundred remained in Yongfu.

In other words, in this battle, not only the officers and soldiers suffered heavy losses, but also lost nearly half of the ships.

Xu Zhong and Li Jun and other generals were also standing beside him at this time, and the next moment, Zhu Neng seemed to come back to his senses.

He was defeated.

And he was defeated at the hands of unknown generals, and he didn't even know who his opponent was.

The pain and humiliation of defeat soon came to my heart, and then I felt that my whole body was cold, as if I had fallen into an ice cave.

Zhu Neng also suffered defeats in the Jing Disaster, but he has never been so depressed and desperate as he is today.

Because after the defeat in Jingjing, Zhu Neng must believe that he will regain victory.

But now, he felt that he was the southern army in Jingjing, and the Yan army in Jingjing was opposite, and it was impossible for them to achieve victory again.

Boom, whenever he closes his eyes, he will think of the earth-shattering rebel artillery during the day, and the long live of the Han King who roared from the mountains and the tsunami.

The Yan army in the Jingjing also did not have such morale.

The scene of the rebels' momentum refreshed his mind again and again, and this was what made him desperate.

"The rebels' artillery is numerous and fierce, more powerful than our Hongwu cannons, and it has to hit far." Xu Zhong's voice rose slowly: "If the rebels still have more cannons like this, it will be very difficult to fight behind the imperial court." ”

Xu Zhong's meaning is obvious, the king of Han has been in Yunnan for more than three years, which will bring out more than 100 cannons, if he is given a few more years to produce, he will occupy more territory, more cannons, and he will not be able to fight in the future.

Of course, the imperial court could also make cannons, but now the cannons are obviously inferior to the rebels.

Zhu Neng gritted his teeth and said: "I just caught them off guard today, and there will be no such thing in the future." ”

Xu Zhong and Li Jun glanced at each other, noncommittal.

Judging by the power of the rebels' artillery today, there is no artillery attack from the infantry camp.

Even if the official and military formations are pulled apart a little in the future, they still can't bear it.

"Uncle, how many soldiers and horses can we bring back?" At this moment, Zhu Ping asked.

The corners of Zhu Neng's mouth twitched slightly, and he turned his head to look at the river.

There were about 400 boats that ran out, but many of them did not carry a few people, so the sailors hurried away, fearing that they would be burned.

It is estimated that less than 20,000 escaped from the river.

The rest depends on how many people cross the river.

"As long as the brothers have their hearts set on the court, even if they are scattered, they will still come back." Zhu Neng had no choice but to say.

The generals looked at each other, and on the battlefield during the day, many officers and soldiers surrendered quickly.

In the early morning of the next day, Zhu Neng's fleet fled back to Guilin, and Han Guan, who was stationed in Guilin, had already known in advance that the official army had been defeated, and his face was incredulous.

But Han Guan didn't say anything, and welcomed Zhu Neng into Guilin City first.

At this time, there were officers and soldiers who fled back one after another, and all the cavalry returned first, and a large number of infantry battalions were estimated to come back until noon.

Zhu Neng didn't sleep all night and called Han Guan and other generals.

"The rebels are in Vinh Phuc County, and it is estimated that they can get one or two hundred ships, and if they use them to transport artillery, they will be in the city by tomorrow morning at the latest."

The generals looked serious and understood that it was a bit dangerous.

They have seen the rebels' artillery powerful, but Guilin City cannot be defended, Guilin is not defended, it means that Guangxi is completely lost, this kind of news will even affect the general trend of the world and damage the majesty of the imperial court.

And to hold Guilin, just like Tie Xuan Shengyong to hold Jinan, you can nail a nail in Guangxi, and the King of Han can't take Guilin, nor can he enter Huguang along the waterway.

"What does Cheng Guogong mean?" Han Guan asked at this time.

Zhu Neng said: "As of noon today, all the soldiers and horses we have gathered have withdrawn to Huguang, leaving me with 20,000 soldiers and horses, and I have decided to defend Guilin." ”

"You can't become a country." Several generals persuaded one after another.

The corners of Han Guan's mouth twitched, and he scolded in his heart: "What's special, are you pretending?" ”

Xu Zhongjue's Zhu Neng routine is similar to what Zhu Di learned.

Han Guan stubbornly said: "Cheng Guogong is familiar with Huguang, and all departments cannot be without the command of Cheng Guogong, when Cheng Guogong retreats to Huguang, he will be in Guilin for many years, and he has the confidence to hold Guilin." ”

Xu Zhong thought that Zhu Neng was learning Zhu Di's routine, but it was really not.

Zhu Neng really wanted to atone for his sins and stayed in Guilin.

But several generals disagreed, everyone persuaded them, and their son Zhu Yong said a few more words, and Zhu Neng reluctantly agreed to retreat to Huguang.

At this time, Xu Zhong proposed that he was willing to stay with Han Guan.

Zhu Neng glanced at him and decisively refused, but let Li Jun stay.

Li Jun was suddenly scolding his mother again in his heart.

Xu Zhong and Zhu Gaoxu were good at the time of the Jingjing, and Zhu Neng didn't dare to let Xu Zhong stay.

Xu Zhong didn't say anything, and his mood was not at sudden.

His whole family was in Jingshi, and he hadn't thought about rebelling against the imperial court before, but Zhu Neng was so protective of him, which made him unhappy.

The key is that Zhu Neng never listened to his opinion in the battle, and he was stubborn and self-serving, so he suffered a fiasco.

Xu Zhong left the scene sullenly, and according to Zhu Neng's request, collected the defeated soldiers.

During this period, the officers and soldiers fled back one after another, but by noon the next day, they had already seen the rebel forward cavalry, far away outside the city of Guilin.

Zhu Neng and Xu Zhong were a little panicked.

Because at this time they gathered less than 100,000 soldiers and horses.

At the beginning, they had a total of 350,000 troops, leaving more than 10,000 to guard Guilin and bringing out 330,000.

Unexpectedly, it was less than 100,000 when they came back, and except for a small number of cavalry who ran back by land, more cavalry threw away their horses in order to get on the ship, and the remaining cavalry with horses in the official army was only in the early 10,000s.

This is equivalent to the destruction of 350,000 troops in the First World War.

(End of chapter)