Upon receiving Dong Zhonglou's order, all areas of Nanyang immediately began to take action.
Because Dong Zhonglou had already told them to prepare to flee.
Therefore, they were prepared and did not panic.
Instead, they began to retreat gradually out of Nanyang according to their preparations.
Squads of soldiers, carrying their treasures and their families, began to leave Nanyang City with their troops.
Li Jinglong, who had just arrived in Nanyang City with his remaining troops, did not even have a chance to rest in the city before being led by Dong Zhonglou to continue towards Xiangyang.
After making sufficient preparations, Li Hongji continued to lead his army toward Nanyang.
This time, however, Liu Shengwu and Wanyan Gun's troops were at the forefront.
There's nothing we can do after what happened yesterday.
They found that being at the front of the line was much safer than being at the back.
Even if we encounter Dong Zhonglou and the troops from Huguang yesterday while walking ahead, we will still be safe.
Given the poor fighting capacity of their army.
There's nothing we can do about them.
But if you walk behind these peasant soldiers, who knows what might happen ahead?
If they were to encounter the enemy again and be defeated, the hundreds of thousands of scattered peasant soldiers could then overwhelm those behind them.
So after careful consideration, they decided to take the lead.
Anyway, the next step should be to attack Nanyang City.
They can simply watch from the outside as they see the siege.
Let Li Hongji and his peasant army handle this kind of thing.
Because the peasant army was too numerous, disorganized, and slow to act.
Because of their slowdown, Liu Shengwu and Wanyan Gun's army also moved very slowly.
When the army arrived in Nanyang City, it was already night. They then prepared to set up camp and wait for the peasant army they had captured.
But then they discovered something unusual: there was no firelight on the city wall.
What's going on?
It's so late, why haven't the soldiers guarding the city walls lit torches for illumination during their patrols?
Then Wanyan Gun waved his hand and sent a cavalry unit to investigate.
Soon the cavalry returned and reported:
"Great Khan, it's empty! Nanyang City is empty! Dong Zhonglou has taken all the gold and silver treasures in the city and fled to Xiangyang."
And he's been gone for a long time.
After hearing that Dong Zhonglou had actually run away.
Wanyan Gun immediately said to Liu Shengwu beside him:
"General Liu, you should take over Nanyang City first and see if there's anything else you can take."
I'll lead the army to pursue that good-for-nothing Dong Zhonglou and his useless army. You'll follow with your troops shortly.
After saying this, Wanyan Gun immediately led his Jurchen cavalry in pursuit of Nanyang.
Taking advantage of their cavalry, they quickly pursued the enemy overnight.
Dong Zhonglou's army advanced by both land and water, with some ships carrying his gold, silver, and valuables, and others carrying soldiers.
The remaining part of the army marched together along the way.
After traveling through the night, his army was already exhausted.
But after rushing for a while, they finally arrived at the Han River and looked at Xiangyang City on the other side of the river.
Dong Zhonglou immediately ordered the construction of a pontoon bridge to allow his army to cross the river.
After the pontoon bridge was completed, he immediately took the lead in crossing the river and arrived at the city of Xiangyang with Li Jinglong.
Upon seeing the garrison on the walls of Xiangyang, Li Jinglong immediately ordered them to summon the Xiangyang commander and open the city gates for him.
Meanwhile, the garrison of Xiangyang saw that the general leading the army was Li Jinglong.
Upon hearing his words, the garrison soldier immediately reported to Fan Jianmu, the garrison commander of Xiangyang.
After Fan Jianmu arrived, he saw Li Jinglong in a disheveled state.
Remembering their family's influence in Huguang, he immediately ordered the garrison to open the city gates.
After seeing the city gates open, Dong Zhonglou and Li Jinglong rode in directly. Then, Dong Zhonglou's army and Li Jinglong's remaining troops began to cross the pontoon bridge over the Han River and enter Xiangyang.
Just as the army was halfway in.
A Jurchen cavalry force, consisting of one man and several horses, appeared on the horizon, having galloped through the night.
Meanwhile, Dong Zhonglou, standing atop the city wall of Xiangyang, saw an army pursuing them, specifically Jurchen cavalrymen with their distinctive gold-tailed tassels.
He immediately realized that these were Li Qin's most elite Jurchen cavalry.
He then immediately said to those around him:
“It’s enemy soldiers, it’s enemy soldiers! Quickly, cut the pontoon bridge!”
Close the city gates.
After they finished speaking, no one carried it out, because some of his tens of thousands of troops were still on the other side of the pontoon bridge.
Upon seeing the arrival of the Jurchen cavalry, they began scrambling to cross the pontoon bridge.
However, due to the limited width of the pontoon bridge, many soldiers were pushed off the bridge.
It fell into the surging Han River.
The soldiers who had already crossed the river but had not yet entered the city saw the arrival of the Jurchen cavalry.
They also began to rush into Xiangyang City, hoping to save their lives.
However, due to the large number of people, they began to surge into the city, and many were pushed down and trampled to death.
The city gates of Xiangyang could not be closed due to the continuous influx of people.
When Wanyan Gun, who had rushed over at this moment, saw this scene, he was overjoyed.
This is truly a stroke of luck!
He then immediately ordered the troops to charge, knock the people off the pontoon bridge, and take control of it.
They then quickly captured the city gate.
Meanwhile, the army on the other side of the pontoon bridge, upon seeing the pursuing Jurchen cavalry, whose morale had long since collapsed, began to kneel and beg for surrender.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
