Tang Xi was also a veteran general. When he saw the enemy attacking his flank, he knew the situation was not good. He did not bother to obey Zheng Yu's orders and hurriedly ordered his soldiers to stop, change their formation, and deal with the 600 infantrymen first.
However, they did not expect that when the Lingnan Army was turning around, Qiu Yizi sent out a group of more than 400 cavalrymen to attack from the right wing, and just rushed into the enemy formation through the gap in the back of the Lingnan Army.
The government troops in front of Tang Xi's troops also took advantage of the chaos of the Lingnan Army to hack and kill indiscriminately among the enemy troops.
At this moment, the retreating "Dangshi Camp" and the Jinnu soldiers suddenly stopped their retreat - the "Dangshi Camp" soldiers raised their shields and rushed over like the Lingnan Army, while the Jinnu soldiers began to fire crossbow arrows at the enemy continuously.
Under the attack from three sides of heavy infantry, light infantry, crossbowmen, and cavalry, the most tenacious soldiers finally gave up. In just one cigarette, more than 700 of the 3,000 soldiers of the Lingnan Army were killed, more than 1,200 were injured, and the rest were captured—not a single one escaped. On the other hand, the government army lost less than 20 men in the melee.
Zheng Yu watched the battle situation clearly from the high platform in the battle formation. Wasn't the quick and efficient action of Qiu Yi's army exactly the encirclement and annihilation operation that he had imagined his side should carry out
Seeing his opponent's arrogant look after his success and hearing the cheers and shouts of the opposing government troops, Zheng Yu felt angry again. He suddenly gritted his teeth and shouted to the messenger officer beside him: "Beat the war drums, and move the whole army out!"
Sun Hao, who was listening nearby, immediately blurted out the word "no".
He had a hundred reasons to persuade Zheng Yu to withdraw this order - although the enemy's number was small, their morale was high and they should not be underestimated; our army had just been defeated and their morale was low, so forcing them to attack would do more harm than good; our army was too hasty to launch a full-scale attack without making full preparations; we had not yet collected enough military supplies, so it would be difficult to deal with the aftermath once we won...
But when veteran general Sun Hao saw Zheng Yu, the second prince of the Lingnan King, with his fat face showing an arbitrary and willful expression, even Sun Hao, a veteran with a lot of experience, finally shut up, sighed, and prayed secretly: "May God bless us, and may our army win as we wish..."
Following Zheng Yu's order, the Lingnan army's cannons roared and war drums shook the sky. The 70,000 Lingnan troops marched in neat steps and slowly advanced towards the government army camp with unstoppable momentum, as if a sandstorm had hit or the night had fallen, and they were determined to tear apart all the forces blocking their way.
Faced with such a group offensive, the government troops were indeed somewhat shocked, and their formation loosened involuntarily, but they finally did not collapse immediately. The six or seven thousand archers in the formation hurriedly walked to the front row and fired at the enemy like locusts.
These archers were obviously not as elite as the crossbowmen just now. The arrows they shot were very weak. When they hit the battle formation of Lingnan soldiers wearing rattan armor, ten arrows might not be able to injure even one person.
The Lingnan troops were not hindered at all by such a weak rain of arrows and continued to advance.
The long-range firepower of the government army failed to work, the archers immediately retreated back to the formation, and the front-row infantry immediately stretched out their bamboo spears, trying to use them to block the enemy's attack as before.
However, the Lingnan Army has been busy making two to three thousand sharp axes in the past two days and handed them over to the strong warriors in the team to chop down the bamboo spears in batches.
Without these troublesome bamboo spears, the Lingnan Army was finally able to engage in close combat with the imperial army, namely the Jiangnan Circuit Army.
The soldiers of the Lingnan Army gathered all the anger and resentment they had accumulated over the past few days into their weapons and vented them unscrupulously against the government soldiers. The Jiangnan Jiedu Army, which was originally not good at martial arts and was not strong in physique, finally showed its weakness. In the blink of an eye, it was at a disadvantage and began to retreat step by step. Fortunately, the generals in charge of the army were calm and tried to maintain the formation, so they did not collapse immediately.
Such progress was enough to excite Zheng Yu, who had made no progress in the past few days. He immediately sent an order: "The reward for today's battle will be doubled, and those who make contributions will be rewarded handsomely!"
Under coercion and inducement, the morale of the Lingnan Army was aroused, and they fought even harder with the government troops.
The government troops were losing ground one after another and were increasingly unable to withstand the relentless attacks of the Lingnan Army. Not only did the front-line soldiers suffer heavy losses, but the entire formation also involuntarily retreated.
Zheng Yu became more and more delighted when he saw this scene. He urged the army to continue attacking forward, determined to achieve success in one battle and completely defeat the enemy during this full-army assault.
However, veteran general Sun Hao saw that his opponent's actions were a little unusual. After enduring for a long time, he finally couldn't help but advise: "Second Prince, I think this situation... seems to be a little bit wrong..."
Zheng Yu was in high spirits, but when he heard Sun Hao was about to talk again, he just replied coldly, "What do you mean?"
Sun Hao was so frightened by his harsh tone that he swallowed his saliva and replied, "Although the enemy army is in a weak position for the time being, it can still maintain its formation. I am afraid that we cannot defeat them immediately. Why not order our army to stop advancing and line up on the spot before trying to advance?"
Zheng Yu glanced at Sun Hao and asked, "Our army is in the middle of an offensive, but suddenly you order the entire army to stop. Aren't you afraid that there won't be another opportunity like this in the future?"
Sun Hao quickly replied, "That's what I'm afraid of. Qiu Yizi is unusual in his use of troops and never engages in a head-on confrontation with others. Why would he take the initiative to challenge us today without playing any tricks? Could he have some other evil plan? I hope the Second Prince will be careful."
Sun Hao's words were very gentle and polite, but Zheng Yu still felt uncomfortable. He immediately retorted, "You are afraid when the enemy wins, and you are still afraid when the enemy loses. If you keep doing this, how can our army ever win? Now our army has defeated the enemy in an upright manner. What is there to be afraid of? Go and chase them bravely!"
Sun Hao wanted to argue, but seeing that Zheng Yu's fat cheeks were as tight as a piece of cast iron, he swallowed back the words that were about to come out. His pair of old eyes were observing the battle situation at the front line with concern and uneasiness.
However, the Lingnan Army made great progress, continuously compressing the government army's defense line, and had already caused casualties of one to two thousand government troops. With such heavy casualties, it was already very difficult for the government troops to maintain their team and not collapse. They had no power to fight back at all, and could only retreat to the camp behind them.
As a result, the morale of the Lingnan Army was even stronger. In just a few moments, they had squeezed all the government troops into the camp. Seeing this, several officers in charge of the front line of the Lingnan Army led their soldiers to surround the government army camp from the north, east and west, but did not attack directly. Instead, they immediately sent messengers to ask Zheng Yu for the next step.
When Zheng Yu heard about the battle situation at the front, he was so happy that he could not express it in words. Without giving any orders through the messenger, he actually came down from the high command platform and rode his horse to the front line.
Although the Lingnan Army has the upper hand at the moment, there are many variables on the battlefield. Not to mention that the enemy may still have a chance to counterattack, even a cold arrow flying from nowhere can take Zheng Yu's life.
Veteran General Sun Hao had been in the military all his life and had seen countless examples of people getting carried away by success and then suffering misfortune. He was about to advise Zheng Yu, but when he thought about how Zheng Yu was currently in high spirits, he realized that no matter how much he persuaded him, it would be difficult to make him change his mind.
Thinking of this, Sun Hao sighed helplessly, and suddenly remembered the kindness of the King of Lingnan to him, so he called up the personal guards around him and followed Zheng Yu to the direction of the government army camp.
Zheng Yu walked around the camp of the government army for a while, observed it carefully, and then returned to the main seat in the north. He said to Sun Hao beside him almost boastfully: "Old General, you have also seen the enemy's camp. I wonder what you think?"
Sun Hao saw that the officers and soldiers in the imperial camp were all covered in dust and were busy looking for cover, like lambs to be slaughtered, looking at the enemy outside the fence with panicked expressions.
Sun Hao also found it strange at first - why was the government army, which had fought back and forth with him a few days ago, so vulnerable today? They were defeated in just one wave of general attack. Could it be that something went wrong within the government army
But now Sun Hao observed the government army's camp closely, and it was indeed a scene of miserable defeat. Even Qiu Yizi's formerly ostentatious flag was drooping listlessly on the flagpole. If he were the main general - especially when the battles in the past few days had been extremely unsuccessful - he would also be happy and joyful for such a victory today.
Sun Hao then replied to Zheng Yu, "The Second Prince is indeed extraordinary. He defeated the enemy in one battle. The famous generals in ancient times were no better than him. I am even more inferior to him..."
After hearing Sun Hao's flattery, Zheng Yu smiled smugly: "Well, then I will order our army to launch a general attack on the enemy camp. Does the old general have any objection?"
Of course Sun Hao heard the sarcasm in Zheng Yu's words, but to be fair, in the current situation, it was only natural to take advantage of the victory to launch a general offensive. If he hesitated any longer, he would appear too cowardly.
Therefore, Sun Hao quickly bowed on his horse and replied, "Second Prince is a mighty man. If we order a general attack now, we will surely win in one fell swoop. If you ask me what suggestions I have... it is better to use fire attack to burn the enemy troops and their camps, thus saving the loss of manpower..."
Zheng Yu glanced at him and whispered, "Have you forgotten, old general? How much food do we have in our camp? How long can we last if we cannot seize the enemy's food? The old general has led the army in battle for thirty years, so he must understand this, right?"
Although Zheng Yu's tone was kind, his words were so heavy that Sun Hao couldn't utter a word.
Zheng Yu continued, "If the place is burned, how can our army replenish its rations? What's the point of winning the battle?"
Seeing Sun Hao's old face flushed red by his questions, he sneered inwardly and issued an order: "Tell all the troops to listen to my order, attack the enemy camp from the north, east and west, and fight quickly and decisively, and annihilate and defeat the enemy. Anyone who is afraid of the enemy and hides the spoils will be killed immediately!"
Sun Hao felt somewhat relieved after hearing that Zheng Yu's orders were very clear and that he followed the military strategy of "surround three sides and leave one open" and deliberately left a gap in the south for the enemy to retreat. He also felt that he had no room to comment in today's battle, so he could only observe the battle situation with peace of mind.
When the Lingnan army saw that the second prince Zheng Yu personally went to the front line to supervise the battle, the morale of the Lingnan army became even higher. After the war drums sounded, thousands of archers shot arrows at the government army.
The government troops hiding in the camp were showered by the rain of arrows, and immediately a burst of blood splashed, accompanied by the splattering blood, and the painful howlings came one after another. Such soul-stirring howls, to the ears of the Lingnan army, were more pleasing to the ears than any high-pitched, refined and popular stringed instruments.