After the arrows were shot, dozens of tall and strong Lingnan soldiers came forward with sharp axes in hand and chopped the fences, wooden doors and other parts of the government army camp into pieces, clearing the last obstacles for the army's movement.
Then there was another round of drum beating, and tens of thousands of Lingnan troops poured into the government army camp from three directions, like a flood besieging a city. The government army could not resist such an attack by the Lingnan army. After a little resistance, they retreated from the south gate where there was no enemy blocking them, and flags, weapons, armor, food, and silver fell all over the ground.
Because of Zheng Yu's order, the officers and soldiers of Lingnan Army did not dare to pick up the spoils privately. They concentrated on fighting hard in the government army camp, searching the tents and huts one by one, vowing to wipe out the government troops.
But half an hour later, the camp that originally housed more than 40,000 Jiangnan government troops was completely occupied by the Lingnan Army. The huge flag embroidered with "Shanyin County Magistrate Qiu" was also lowered, and a large flag with four characters "Lingnan Palace" was raised on the towering flagpole.
Zheng Yu saw it clearly from outside and hurriedly asked a lieutenant beside him to go into the camp to check the situation.
The lieutenant rode into the camp and came out after a cup of tea. He reported, "Our attack went smoothly. The enemy troops either fled or died. There are no enemy troops left in the camp. The rest of the weapons and supplies are also under our control!"
"Good!" The fat on Zheng Yu's face trembled. "Well done! After counting the money and food, I will reward the three armies! Let's go into the camp and take a look."
Sun Hao always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out why. He just asked the lieutenant to go ahead and tell all the troops to guard the camp strictly and keep a close eye on the movements of the fleeing government troops. Then he followed Zheng Yu to the north gate of the enemy camp.
Unexpectedly, after they had taken a few steps, there was a sudden muffled sound in the camp, which scared the excited Zheng Yu so much that he almost fell off his horse. When he looked up, he saw that there was a fire in the camp.
In the blink of an eye, the camp of the government army, which had just calmed down from the gunpowder smoke, was shrouded in a cloud of black smoke, from which a few blue, yellow, or red flames jumped out from time to time. Along with the smoke, there was a pungent stench and choking fire. It was also heard that the Lingnan army in the camp had obviously not expected the fire to happen, and they were already in a mess with shouting and yelling.
The words "fall into a trap" immediately popped up in Zheng Yu's mind.
But Zheng Yu couldn't understand: Qiu Yizi used tens of thousands of main forces as bait to lure him into the government army camp, and then used fire attack to kill the enemy; even if this plan succeeded, he had no soldiers left, and at best he would have ended up in a draw with him - with Qiu Yizi's character, could he accept such an outcome
What Zheng Yu didn't know was that Qiu Yizi's plan had actually gone astray.
Qiu Yizhi was afraid that Zheng Yu would not be fooled, so he used the entire 40,000 troops as bait, and several times provoked the Lingnan Army to enter the camp where kerosene, dry firewood, charcoal, bedding and other flammable items were piled up in advance. He also prepared two large jars of gunpowder in a hidden location in the central army tent, and used several one-foot-long fuses as ignition materials, hoping that when Zheng Yu entered or walked to the central army tent, the gunpowder would explode and blow Zheng Yu to pieces.
However, it was Sun Hao's few words of nonsense outside the camp that delayed Zheng Yu's entry into the camp, and finally allowed the second prince of the King of Lingnan to escape.
Zheng Yu saw that his main force was trapped in the sea of fire, and he did not bother to find out what Qiu Yizi was planning. He quickly swung the whip in his hand and hit the butt of the horse under his crotch hard, wanting to go closer to check the situation, or even immediately command the army to escape from the sea of fire.
But when the horse under his crotch smelled the smoke and dust coming from the front, it refused to move forward. Its four hooves jumped around in place, almost throwing the fat Zheng Yu off its back.
It was the veteran general Sun Hao who rode forward, grabbed the reins of Zheng Yu's horse with one hand, and calmed the angry horse down. Then he said, "Second Prince, the situation on the other side is unclear. You are a noble and beautiful woman, so you can't go into danger lightly. Please return to the camp quickly. If you can trust me, I am willing to stop our soldiers from retreating. What do you think, Second Prince?"
After hearing this, Zheng Yu's eyes suddenly became moist, perhaps because he was uncomfortable with the thick smoke. He quickly held Sun Hao's rough and mottled hands and said, "Then please take care of yourself, old general. I will go back to the camp and mobilize the soldiers to escort you back."
Zheng Yu bid farewell to Sun Hao temporarily, turned his horse and rode quickly towards the camp outside the city of Jinling. Only twenty-five or six personal guards were left by his side.
Zheng Yu led his army a few steps when he heard the crackling sound of a fire behind him, mixed with the sound of hurried horse hooves.
The sound of horse hooves became louder, closer, and more rapid, forcing Zheng Yu, who was moving hurriedly on the horse, to look in the direction of the sound of horse hooves while bouncing on the horse's back.
However, he saw a cavalry of nearly 500 people vaguely appearing somewhere, riding their war horses "Pola La" and chasing him fiercely. Among them, there were about ten people riding very fast, who had overtaken the main group and were about to catch up with him. Zheng Yu was very familiar with the leader of them. It was Qiu Yizi, who had always been against him.
It turned out that after Qiu Yizhi successfully lured the enemy, he led his soldiers to retreat from his own camp, but did not go far away, but observed the situation in the camp from a distance. However, the thick smoke in the camp made it difficult for him to see the specific battle situation in the camp, but he saw a group of cavalry flashing out from the side and running quickly towards the Jinling camp. The leader was extremely fat, and it was the second prince Zheng Yu himself.
Qiu Yizi saw the opportunity and had no time to gather the troops that had fled from the camp. He only left Zhang Qi and Wu Changxi to deal with the aftermath, while he led 500 elite cavalry to chase after Zheng Yu.
The horses these cavalrymen rode were Lingnan war horses that Qiu Yizhi had robbed from the Mingzhou harbor. These horses were short and slow-moving, and they did not run very fast. Qiu Yizhi saw that he was not in a hurry to catch Zheng Yu, and was afraid that Zheng Yu would run too fast and enter the camp and he would not be able to catch him, so he hurriedly urged the Ferghana horse under his crotch and galloped towards Zheng Yu's team.
Qiu Yizi's Ferghana horse was given to him by Dali Khan, the ruler of Bohai State and the loyal and obedient king of the Han Dynasty. It could be said to be a real steed that could run a thousand miles a day. It was used to battlefields and the smell of gunpowder, and it understood its master's temperament very well. It knew that Qiu Yizi was anxious, so it raised its four hooves and galloped forward at a slight spur.
Zhao Chengxiao and Yuchi Jiming, who were guarding Qiu Yizhi, saw that he ran out alone, and fearing that something might happen, they hurriedly urged their horses to follow. When the seventeen personal soldiers including "Black Neck Toad" and "Yangtze Alligator" saw this, they also hurriedly followed.
Although the horses that Zhao Chengxiao, Yuchi Jiming and the seventeen personal soldiers rode were not divine horses like the Ferghana horses, they were fine horses bred on the grasslands of the Bohai Kingdom. They were vastly different from the war horses of the Central Plains. They quickly left the large group of people and horses behind and stuck closely to Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizi felt more at ease seeing that he had reliable guards around him. He looked up and saw that he was keeping pace with Zheng Yu and was gradually overtaking him, so he pointed the whip in his hand forward, turned the horse's head and rushed forward diagonally.
On horseback - especially when galloping non-stop - it is very easy to bite the tongue when speaking, but Qiu Yizi was surrounded by people who were used to it. When they saw Qiu Yizi's gestures and movements, they knew his intentions and immediately changed direction, moving towards the area between Zheng Yu and the Jinling siege camp.
Qiu Yizi's knights were running at top speed. In just a blink of an eye, several horses were exhausted and foaming at the mouth, but they just managed to block Zheng Yu before he entered his own camp.
Qiu Yizi had no time to relax. He gasped and called Zhao Chengxiao and Yuchi Jiming, who had arrived at his side first, to capture Zheng Yu immediately.
The guards around Zheng Yu had seen how powerful Zhao Chengxiao was a few days ago, and they did not underestimate him. However, Zhao Chengxiao and Yuchi Jiming were too powerful in martial arts, and after a few rounds, they killed all the guards around Zheng Yu, leaving Zheng Yu alone on his horse, dumbfounded and at a loss.
The situation on the battlefield is no longer under anyone's control. Although the Lingnan Army fell into Qiu Yizhi's trap, it is unknown how much they have lost and how long the chaos will last. Although the government army succeeded in its plan, it also suffered a lot of losses. It is unknown how many troops can be assembled and reorganized in a short period of time. The Lingnan Army has another 20,000 troops waiting in the Jinling camp. If they are mobilized to fight, the situation will definitely be reversed. But the commander Zheng Yu was blocked outside the camp by the government army...
Because of this, Qiu Yizhi did not dare to be negligent any longer. Seeing that his soldiers had defeated all the guards around Zheng Yu, he hurried forward and bowed to Zheng Yu, saying, "Second Prince, we have not seen each other for a few days. We are finally reunited. How are you?"
When Zheng Yu saw Qiu Yizi, he felt mixed emotions and turned away, unwilling to talk to Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizi was in a hurry now, and would not allow Zheng Yu to delay any longer, so she said directly: "Don't worry that the Second Prince will despise me for being thick-skinned. I just want to borrow something from the Second Prince so that I can turn defeat into victory. I wonder if the Second Prince can lend it to me?"
Zheng Yu was stunned for a moment, then he pursed his lips and cursed: "You little thief, why are you talking so nicely? Don't you just want to borrow my head? If you have the ability, just chop it off, why bother asking so many times?"
“Hahaha!” Qiu Yizi laughed up to the sky, “The Second Prince is ready to die. He really didn’t bring shame to the Lingnan Palace, the Lingnan Prince, and the Zheng family. I admire him. However, I am not an unreasonable person. I will never ask the Second Prince for a head easily.”
Zheng Yu's eyes sparkled when he heard this, and he blurted out, "Then what do you want to borrow?"
"For the sake of the Second Prince!" Qiu Yizi replied, and ordered several soldiers around him, "Why don't you go and ask the Second Prince to dismount?"
Those personal soldiers who were born as bandits had long felt that Qiu Yi had said too much, and upon hearing this order, they immediately rode their horses forward, and pulled Zheng Yu, who was as fat as a ball, off the saddle, and then tied him up with hemp ropes.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "Now is an extraordinary time. I am very rude. After things are settled, I will apologize to the Second Prince." After saying that, Qiu Yizi winked on his horse and rode towards the Jinling camp.
Although the Second Prince Zheng Yu was unwilling, he had no choice but to follow Qiu Yizi's horse.
After walking a few steps, they arrived at the gate of the camp where the Lingnan Army was besieging Jinling City. Qiu Yizi waved to Zhao Chengxiao and whispered something in his ear.
Zhao Chengxiao nodded as he listened. When Qiu Yizhi finished his instructions, he kicked his horse's belly and led "Black Neck Toad" to the camp gate. He asked "Black Neck Toad" to shout loudly: "The Lingnan army has heard this. Tell the second prince to open the camp gate and line up immediately. You are not allowed to carry weapons or wear armor!"