Li Guoying looked at the Ming army that suddenly appeared behind him and knew that he had fallen into a trap.
Xu Yong also noticed this situation. He ordered the flag bearers to wave the military flag vigorously in an attempt to reorganize the formation and prepare to fight back.
but...
Most of the soldiers were so crazy with killing that they were only concerned with hunting down the Ming army, and no one noticed his actions.
The Dashi Army was chasing from behind, and the Ming Army was running in front.
Both sides quickly ran to the vicinity of the Ming army camp.
The camps on the left and right wings were relatively well preserved, and various obstacles slowed down the Ming army's escape.
The situation in the camp near the central army was completely different.
The chariots, chevaux de frise and antlers outside the camp were severely damaged, leaving large gaps.
When the fleeing Ming army saw the gap here, they immediately rushed here.
"Don't push, or someone will die."
"Run! The bandits are chasing us!"
"Help me...my legs..."
As more and more soldiers poured in, trampling on each other occurred again.
"Kill!" The pursuing soldiers of the Dashi Army soon caught up with the Ming army. They stopped and started to slaughter where they were.
"I surrender, I surrender!" With no way to escape, the Ming army turned around, threw down their weapons, and knelt on the ground.
“Hahaha! Run, keep running! Damn, I’m almost dying of exhaustion.”
The soldiers of the Dashi Army cursed and gasped for breath.
Just when they thought they had victory, deafening shouts of killing came from behind them.
"The Ming army is mighty! Kill!"
The main force of the Ming army behind rushed forward and blocked the retreat of the Dashi Army.
Those Ming soldiers kneeling on the ground had already given up hope, but when they saw the main force of the friendly forces suddenly arrive, they immediately picked up the weapons on the ground and began to fight back.
The situation on the battlefield suddenly changed.
The Dashi Army, which was chasing the Ming Army the moment before, became the target of siege the next moment.
After being stunned and frightened, some Dashi Army soldiers ran away, some raised their hands and knelt down to surrender, and some picked up weapons and started to fight back.
The two armies engaged in a melee.
Feng Shuangli was besieging Yuan Jixian at this time.
The scout reported to him: "The defeated Ming army is rushing here. If we are swept in by them, the consequences will be disastrous. Please withdraw the troops quickly."
withdraw troops?
Feng Shuangli was unwilling to accept this.
His military strength was twice that of Yuan Jixian. After dozens of consecutive attacks, Yuan Jixian's gunpowder, projectiles and arrows were almost exhausted.
Without the help of these long-range weapons, how long can Yuan Jixian hold on?
"Make one last attack. If it doesn't work, retreat."
Under the command of Feng Shuangli, the Dashi Army once again rushed towards the Ming army camp.
A brutal hand-to-hand fight began.
Except for the scouts on guard, all the cavalry dismounted and fought on foot.
They used their flesh and blood to break through the Ming army's defense line and rushed in.
Yuan Jixian's elite central army fought to the death and withstood the desperate attack from an enemy force twice their number.
Seeing that the Dashi Army was suffering increasing casualties after a long siege, Feng Shuangli had no choice but to order a retreat.
Three thousand cavalrymen came like the wind.
More than two thousand cavalry retreated like a tide.
In the central army camp, Yuan Jixian was as steady as a rock.
As the commander of an army, he must not show panic even if the enemy is right in front of him.
"The bandit cavalry retreated?"
"Resigned."
"What about the rest of the tribes?"
The scout replied with an embarrassed look: "It's chaos, inside and outside the camp is in chaos! I'm sorry that I'm incompetent and can't find out the specific situation of each unit."
"Chaos?" Yuan Jixian walked out of the tent in surprise, picked up his telescope and looked into the distance.
After watching for a while, Yuan Jixian made a rough guess in his mind.
It must be that Jin Shenghuan and his men retreated at the last minute, which caused a chain reaction.
"You will all disperse to the various camps immediately, gather the defeated soldiers and fight back against the bandits. The rest of you will carry the central army flag and fight the enemy in battle. Anyone who retreats in battle will be punished by military law."
Yuan Jixian knew very well that the central army flag was the backbone of the entire army.
As long as the flag is there, the morale of the army is there.
As long as he brings the military flag to the front line, the morale of the Ming army will be greatly boosted when they see it.
As expected.
The Ming army, which was fighting, was boosted when they saw the central army's flag and suppressed any signs of resistance from the Dashi Army.
When the defeated soldiers saw the central army’s flag, they stopped and began to move towards the flag.
Under the command of Yuan Jixian, a counterattack began.
The Dashi Army was surrounded from front and back and was caught in a bitter battle.
Feng Shuangli originally planned to lead the cavalry to support Li Guoying and Xu Yong, but he encountered the main force of the Ming cavalry.
It was already daybreak.
Three hours had passed since he led his troops out of the city.
After continuous fighting, the cavalry under his command were already thirsty, hungry and extremely exhausted.
Faced with the well-rested Ming army which was several times larger than theirs, they were willing but unable to do anything.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Feng Shuangli took the lead in fleeing.
If we don't run away, we will be wiped out.
The Ming cavalry, led by their main general, pursued the enemy relentlessly.
Flank attack, frontal block, and attack from behind!
Faced with the Ming army chasing him step by step, Feng Shuangli had no chance to return to Jingzhou City.
In order to avoid being completely wiped out, they had no choice but to flee northward with their remaining troops.
I don’t know how long I ran.
The warhorse slowly stopped.
Feng Shuangli looked back subconsciously.
There was no sign of pursuers behind him, only a few dozen riders following him.
"Huff...Huff..." The warhorse under his crotch was breathing heavily, its body was hot, and its muscles were trembling.
"drive..."
No matter how Feng Shuangli waved the whip, the warhorse just wouldn't move.
Obviously, the warhorse's physical strength has reached its limit.
"General, please take a break. If you keep running, both your horses and men will be ruined." A personal soldier advised.
Feng Shuangli sighed.
He wanted to launch a surprise attack on Yuan Jixian, but ended up being tricked by Yuan Jixian instead.
He is not convinced!
On the way of escape, he kept thinking, if he had held on a little longer, would he have been able to capture Yuan Jixian alive?
In that way, not only would Jingzhou be saved, but the entire Huguang would be returned to the embrace of Dashi.
However, the reality is that he was defeated, completely defeated, and couldn't even return to Jingzhou City!
"Hey, rest where you are. Eat when you need to eat and drink water when you need to drink water."
After hearing this, everyone dismounted and lay on the ground to rest.
They are too tired.
Taking advantage of the break, Feng Shuangli began to think.
Where to go next?
There is no way back to Jingzhou City, and Zhijiang County upstream of Jingzhou will soon be lost.
They carried one day's worth of rations with them, which was only enough for two days even if they lived frugally.
After eating up the march rations, they could only rob the people.
That would expose his whereabouts.
Where to go?
After a brief rest to recover some strength, Feng Shuangli got back on the horse.
"Captain, where are we going?"
"Go... temporarily seek refuge in Chengtian Prefecture! Li Yan is not Li Zicheng, he will not attack us."
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