Qiu Yizi was in the rear formation. When he saw this situation, he quickly ordered Zhao Chengxiao to wave the command flag desperately, telling the retreating soldiers not to rush around recklessly or flee. They should gather first, reorganize their formation, and then make a plan whether to advance or retreat when the opportunity arises.
Seeing Qiu Yizi so calm, the soldiers felt relieved and gathered in groups around the command flag. However, they were still in shock and kept bending down to catch their breath and wipe the blood.
Qiu Yizi looked up and around, and saw that these defeated troops were like scattered sand without any order at all. He felt that if this continued, the enemy only needed to concentrate its forces for a charge, and these restrained troops in front of them would be completely defeated, and there would be no chance of victory from then on.
So Qiu Yizhi hurriedly ordered Zhao Chengxiao: "Quick, Brother Zhao, count the troops and ask the leading officers to come to me and listen to my instructions!"
Zhao Chengxiao was of course aware of the critical situation, so after hearing the order, he simply agreed and called a few of his personal soldiers to go and do the job.
He was indeed extremely resolute in his actions. In the blink of an eye, he led six ragged captains and centurions, whose armors were in disarray, to run to Qiu Yizhi and report, "Sir, there are still about 5,000 soldiers here. Excluding those who are seriously injured and cannot fight again, there are still about 4,500 people."
Qiu Yizi nodded, glanced at the officers in front of him, and said, "It was because I was not careful that the enemy took the initiative. However, our army has not been completely defeated. After General Cui wins, we will attack from both sides and will definitely be able to defeat the enemy in front of us!"
Qiu Yizi couldn't even believe what he said: since he had fallen into the trap of the King of Lingnan, there was no reason for Cui Nan to be spared. Even if he had not been defeated as miserably as himself, he would probably have been in a tough battle. Moreover, Hangzhou City had been captured by the Lingnan Army at some point in time, and it would be impossible for him to capture Hangzhou City with just the group of soldiers under his command who had no siege equipment - the Lingnan Army was now invincible.
Qiu Yizhi felt guilty. Seeing the officers in front of him also looked terrified, he said, "You are all junior officers. I will promote you to Lieutenant Generals. As long as you kill the enemy with all your heart, you will be rewarded!"
If an ordinary person heard such an order, he would definitely be confused - you, Qiu Yizi, are just a small seventh-rank official, and a civilian county magistrate rather than a military general. Why should you be appointed as a fourth-rank General of the Central Army? Aren't you crazy
However, these officers of the imperial guards were all from the old Youyan Dao, and they had heard long ago that the person leading the army today was His Highness Qiu Yizi, who was highly regarded by the emperor. With his status, even generals of the third and fourth ranks would give him some respect. Since he had said he wanted to promote them, naturally his words were final.
However, the joy in their hearts did not last long, and was gone in a flash - the current war situation was not favorable, and if they could not turn the tide, they might not be able to hold the title of General of the Central Army that they had longed for for half a day, and even their heads would be lost under the official hats.
But Qiu Yizhi said again: "There are battles that can be won, and there are battles that cannot be won. I don't want you to die for the sake of loyalty to the court. As long as you carefully restrain your men and follow my orders, you will definitely be able to turn defeat into victory!"
After hearing this, several officers looked at each other, and finally made up their minds. They bowed to Qiu Yizi and saluted, which was considered as receiving the military order.
Seeing that they had calmed down, Qiu Yizhi felt relieved and ordered, "You go down first and organize your troops. Look at the flags and formations over here. Our army's organization has been disrupted. You should gather up the remaining troops and stand your ground. Don't panic. Wait and see how the enemy changes before taking action. There may still be a chance of victory."
These newly promoted Generals of the Central Army, seeing that His Highness Qiu Yizi's tone and expression were confident, the nervousness and uneasiness they had just felt finally dissipated a lot. They quickly saluted again and withdrew to carry out the order.
Although Qiu Yizi tried his best to stabilize his army temporarily, the war situation did not improve at all.
The Lingnan troops inside and outside the city of Hangzhou, after killing all the attacking imperial guards, filed out of the camp that now seemed to be used to lure the enemy. Seeing that there were still thousands of imperial guards forming a battle formation in front of the camp, they wanted to take advantage of the victory to attack and destroy the enemy in one fell swoop.
Seeing their aggressive momentum, Qiu Yizi hurriedly ordered the crossbowmen to concentrate their fire on the attacking vanguard.
Seeing that the battle was going against their will, the crossbowmen had already drawn their bows and loaded their arrows. Upon hearing the command, they immediately raised their crossbows and shot at the enemy.
The morale of the Lingnan Army was at its high, and they were not prepared for the enemy's shooting. After being shot by Qiu Yizi's troops, forty or fifty of them were killed immediately, and the attack was temporarily blocked.
Qiu Yizi did not dare to be negligent at all. Seeing that the first attack was successful, the crossbowman immediately shot again, which stopped the enemy's offensive.
Qiu Yizhi saw that the enemy's formation was in disarray after the attack, and he had interrupted the rhythm of the attack. He felt that the opportunity had come, and was about to order Zhao Chengxiao to organize a counterattack. However, he saw that the Lingnan Army suddenly stopped the attack on its own initiative, and instead gradually gathered its formation under the command of a general, intending to fight a head-on battle with the imperial guards.
Qiu Yizi calculated in his mind: more than half of his original 10,000 soldiers had been lost, and now he had only 4,000 men available; the enemy originally had 3,000 soldiers, and at most 1,000 casualties, plus the reinforcements coming out of Hangzhou city, the total number would not be less than 4,000 - in this way, the strength of the Lingnan Army was now on par with his own, and the enemy's morale was even higher than his own. If the two sides confronted head-on, he would most likely lose.
Then Qiu Yizhi suddenly had an idea and called Meng Hong over and said, "Meng Hong, shoot the commander to death!"
Meng Hong had done this kind of task countless times. When he heard the commander's order, he did not hesitate. He took careful aim and shot an arrow at the commander.
Meng Hong was indeed a sharpshooter, as his arrow was shot very accurately and went straight into the officer's throat. The officer was seriously injured and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, but he did not die and was carried away by the soldiers around him.
Qiu Yizi was overjoyed when he saw this situation from afar. He thought that without a commander, the Lingnan Army's formation would be in chaos, which would give him a chance to turn defeat into victory.
However, the Lingnan Army was quick to respond. After the officer was carried away, another officer stepped forward to take over the command. He was very smart. When he saw the previous officer being sniped by the enemy, he quickly took off his officer's armor and changed into a soldier's armor. He then used flags, gongs and drums to command the action in the battle formation.
As a result, the officer was mixed in with countless soldiers and could no longer aim.
Qiu Yizi couldn't help but admire the officer for his quick and correct reaction, but he could do nothing but watch his opponent's actions.
However, the number of Lingnan troops increased, and it was estimated that there were more than 8,000 people. It seemed that there were still people coming out of Hangzhou through the camp in front of the South Gate. It was unknown how many troops there were. They were not crowded together like before, but gradually spread out like the imperial guards, which was the formation for a head-on confrontation with the opponent.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizi already knew everything: it turned out that the Lingnan Army was not unwilling to engage in a head-on confrontation with the regular army. They had only shown weakness to lure the enemy - the opponent had more troops and stronger morale, and even their tactics did not give them the slightest chance to take advantage - their side had no hope of winning at all.
As the enemy's forces grew in number and the battle formation gradually took shape, Qiu Yizhi finally gritted his teeth and whispered to Zhao Chengxiao: "It seems that we can't win. Let's retreat quickly!"
Zhao Chengxiao also lowered his voice: "As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. It's also good to withdraw first. It all depends on your opinion."
Qiu Yizi nodded and said, "Our army has just suffered a defeat and morale is low. I am afraid that once an order is given, the army will all collapse and cannot be controlled anymore. I think Brother Zhao will lead the way with 18 personal soldiers and lead the imperial guards to retreat to our camp one by one. How about I personally lead 200 militiamen to hold the line from behind?"
Zhao Chengxiao heard this and shook his head like a rattle: "Not right, not right. I'd better stay behind. These defeated soldiers only obey you, sir. If you are not in the front, I'm afraid others will not be able to control them."
What Zhao Chengxiao said did make some sense, but Qiu Yizi didn't want to leave the battlefield early, so he said: "Brother Zhao, don't argue with me. The situation is critical now. We can't afford to give in to each other. Only if we act immediately can we have a chance of survival..."
Unexpectedly, Zhao Chengxiao took over the conversation: "Your Excellency is right. Now we have no choice but to give in to each other."
He suddenly shouted loudly: "Where is the 'Iron Head Dragon'? Quickly protect the adults and go ahead and command the troops to retreat!"
Although "Iron Head Jiao" was a rough man, he had been through many battles and knew that the situation was critical. Following Zhao Chengxiao's order, he half-dragged and half-pulled Qiu Yizi and carried her down.
Although Qiu Yizi didn't want to leave, he turned around and saw that the Lingnan Army had already formed a battle formation and was about to launch a general attack on him. He could not afford to hesitate any longer, so he shouted, "Iron Head Dragon, what are you doing? I can leave by myself!"
After being shouted at by him, the "Iron-Headed Dragon" loosened its hands a little and let Qiu Yizi go.
Qiu Yizhi said to the imperial guards: "The enemy is strong, let's go back to the camp to meet the reinforcements first, and then fight again!" As he said that, he pointed his sword at an officer who had just been promoted to the rank of General of the Central Army and said, "You follow me and retreat to the earthen hill. The rest of you follow in turn. Don't get confused. Anyone who disobeys my order will be executed immediately!"
After saying that, Qiu Yizi waved his hand again, and under the protection of his eighteen personal soldiers, he retreated to the southwest.
The imperial guards had long since given up on fighting, and it was already a struggle for them to maintain their formation until now. Now that they heard their commander's order to retreat, they seemed to have lifted a heavy stone from their hearts and they ran away in panic.
Seeing that the troops were retreating in a disorderly manner, Qiu Yizhi was anxious and shouted at the top of his voice: "Don't run around! Don't run around!"
However, the troops were completely disorganized. There were roars, cries, and screams all mixed together. Amidst such a cacophony of noise, even Qiu Yizi himself could not hear what he was shouting.
Seeing that the imperial guards on the opposite side were in chaos, the Lingnan army no longer cared about any formation and rushed towards the direction of their opponent's defeat, waving swords and howling.
Seeing this, Zhao Chengxiao, who was in charge of the rear guard, hurriedly ordered his crossbowmen to shoot at the enemy. Instead of retreating, the hundred or so soldiers under his command advanced and counterattacked towards the Lingnan army.
The Lingnan Army's formation was originally loose, and they were wholeheartedly trying to chase down the fugitives. How could they have expected that in such a situation like a flood and a landslide, there were still these two hundred soldiers who were the backbone of the situation. They were killed and thrown into chaos. They were even more worried that the Imperial Army was pretending to retreat, and wanted to ambush them in the same way.
It was this moment of confusion and hesitation that gave the Imperial Guards the opportunity to retreat. In a blink of an eye, all the Imperial Guards had fled like birds and beasts - only Qiu Yizi was left on the battlefield, helpless under the protection of 18 personal soldiers.