A leaf obscures the eyes, and Mount Tai cannot be seen. Sometimes even the most astute people make big mistakes in certain situations and never realize they were wrong until the consequences become apparent.
This was the case for Pang Wanchun this time. When he led his army into the Song army's formation, he only had two thoughts in his mind. One was to kill Sun Tu and other major generals, and the other was to shoot down the lights above so that the Song army could not continue. Systematically launch attacks on one's own subordinates. Because only in this way can we take advantage of our larger military strength and reverse the situation.
So half of the seven arrows were aimed at the light signal above. But obviously, Pang Wanchun ignored the most critical point-it was almost dawn, and even if the signal was broken, the Song army could change the flag in time and resume command!
While he was leading his army in a bloody battle to break out of the encirclement, the sky was gradually getting brighter, and in the end it was even brighter. The lights had long gone out, and a full flag had been raised at the center of the Song Army, and he continued to remotely command the army's advance and retreat. Changes in formation. It can be said that his risky charge, involving thousands of subordinates, and even being seriously injured, only resulted in the Song Army losing control of its command for a moment. As daybreak came, the Song Army had already stabilized its position and its offensive was even stronger. Fierce, it really fell short!
It was precisely because he suddenly understood this that Pang Wanchun became so angry that he finally caused several wounds on his body to burst together and passed out. In fact, he was quite lucky. If he had figured out the key earlier, he would have died if he suddenly fell into a coma in the Song Army formation.
But even so, after seeing their coach vomiting blood and falling down, the Wu troops around him were already in a state of confusion. Seeing the Song army attacking again, they had no intention of resisting, so they immediately protected Pang Wanchun and retreated. . This withdrawal completely shattered the delicately balanced battle situation. Sun Tu, who was at a high position, immediately seized the flaw here and immediately ordered the troops to break into the enemy's formation from this side. In order to break through the entire Wu army's defense line and break it into two halves, it will no longer be possible to control them.
Before, when Pang Wanchun's sneak attack failed and he fled in a hurry, Sun Tu actually thought about leading someone in pursuit. But after only rushing out a few steps, he quickly came to his senses. He was the commander-in-chief of the Shandong Army, and he had a heavy responsibility. He could not just rush in and kill like other generals. It is your duty to sit in the middle of the army, deploy troops and generals, and continuously expand the results. So immediately, he reined in his horse and returned, and quickly responded, asking people to raise the flag used during the day to a high place to continue commanding the battle.
Sun Tu's decision was obviously an extremely wise one, and he gained a lot in the subsequent battles. Now that he discovered Wu Jun's weakness, he naturally would not miss the opportunity. At the same time, his mind was turning rapidly, wondering why the enemy army on that side was suddenly so vulnerable.
In just a moment, a bold guess popped into his mind. Although he didn't know whether it was correct, he knew that this was the key to completely determining the victory. He immediately turned around and shouted to the more than ten messengers around him: "You guys Just run up the road, shouting all the way: Pang Wanchun is dead, the rebels will be defeated! Go quickly!"
Just now, they had a head-on fight with Pang Wanchun. Sun Tu shot the arrow into Pang Wanchun's body with his own hands. Then he also saw Dong Ping continuing to pursue him. He believed that with the combat power of Dong Ping's soldiers, they would be able to give Pang Wan, who was seriously injured,
Chun had caused a lot of damage. Even if he couldn't be killed, he might not be able to command the battle anymore.
The retreat and confusion on the enemy's side further confirmed this. Taking this opportunity to spread this unknown true or false news will definitely disrupt Wu Jun's military morale, and at the same time boost his own morale. Even if Pang Wanchun showed his face later, it was not easy to stabilize the morale of the army for a while. Naturally, such a profitable and harmless strategy must be implemented immediately.
The messengers immediately accepted the order, and then quickly ran forward, shouting loudly as they ran: "Pang Wanchun is dead! The rebels will be defeated! Pang Wanchun is dead! The rebels will be defeated!" These people all They are experts with huge voices, and their roars can be heard for miles. Even in today's battlefield, where the sound of killing is loud, their screams spread quickly and fell on the ears of all the enemy and our soldiers.
After hearing the roar, many soldiers of the Song Army were indeed in high spirits and fought even harder. However, the Wu Army who faced them were all suspicious. Under the distraction, they could only be suppressed and retreated, and the casualties increased rapidly. . Some shrewd soldiers of the Song Army immediately followed suit and shouted similar words loudly. As they rushed forward, they shouted: "Pang Wanchun is dead, our army will win, and Huzhou will be destroyed!"
At the beginning, there were only a few hundred people shouting like this, but as the victory continued to expand, many generals reacted one after another and started to roar again and again. Finally, the roars of thousands of Song troops gathered, and the battlefield rang out. A continuous, loud and clear voice: "Pang Wanchun is dead..."
When the two armies are fighting, although the command methods of their respective generals and the heroic fighting of the soldiers below are tested, in the final analysis, the most critical thing is the competition between the morale and confidence of the two armies. A discouraged and panicked army, no matter how fierce it was in the past, will turn into a mob when its morale is in chaos.
Thousands of years ago, Chu and Han clashed, and in the final battle at Gaixia, it was when the Han army was besieged on all sides and the enemy's army was demoralized that the Han army gave the Chu army the final fatal blow, causing it to completely collapse. Today, outside the city of Huzhou, an old scene happened again.
Amidst the tsunami-like roar of "Pang Wanchun is dead" and the fact that his coach did not show up to refute for a long time, everyone in Wu Jun was confused. Maybe some generals still want to lead their troops to resist, maybe some people still have doubts, but panic and despair have spread quickly. When faced with the Song army that was pressing forward from all fronts, they had completely lost the ability to resist. As soon as they encountered each other, many people turned around and ran away. Even if many of them were stabbed and felled by the Song army from behind, they could not change their thoughts of escaping for their lives.
The outcome was decided at this moment. The nearly 50,000 Wu army that was fighting against the city collapsed. More than 80% of the troops had no intention of resisting. They only had the idea of escape. They did not care about their own robes in front of them and behind them. They just screamed and exclaimed. , like frightened cattle, sheep, deer and horses, they rushed forward desperately. Some even slashed their swords and guns into their own robes in order to escape with their lives, fighting for their lives to continue escaping. Others quickly discarded their weapons and took off their armor in order to run faster.
On the entire plain outside Huzhou City, if you look down from above, you can see a strange and terrifying scene. More than 40,000 people were driven like pigs and sheep by more than 20,000 Song troops.
They kept running away, people kept falling, and people kept kneeling. Even if a few teams still wanted to make a final struggle, they were completely engulfed by the Song army, whose morale was boosted and they attacked with all their strength...
The screams behind him made Wu Jun panic even more. Everyone only hated themselves for missing two legs. They didn't dare to look back and could only rush forward. Even after arriving in front of Huzhou City, most people had no intention of entering the city to take refuge. Instead, they continued to flee south around the city.
There was originally a garrison of 2,000 soldiers left in Huzhou City, but under such a general situation, even if Ning Heng wanted to rescue, he was unable to save his life. He didn't even have time to ask someone to close the city gate. The two groups of soldiers who were chasing him had already burst into the city. There was no need for the Song Army to take action, as they were already frightened out of their wits. The Wu Army, who was only aware that they were fleeing for their lives, had already taken the lead in attacking the defenders in the city.
When the Song army followed closely and rushed in, the defenders in the city were completely unable to resist. They were quickly suppressed and either died or surrendered. In only half a day, this Zhejiang fortress had blocked the Song army for more than a month and had been unable to be attacked for a long time. The city was lost. Fortunately, Ning Heng saw the opportunity quickly. After confirming that the city could no longer be defended, he decisively led hundreds of soldiers and quickly escaped from the city, otherwise he would also be buried with Huzhou City.
It wasn't until Sun Tu led his army into the city and confirmed that the enemy could no longer return that he immediately ordered to stop the pursuit and let the troops in front return in time!
To be honest, this victory was really beyond his expectation. Although he thought that Wu Jun would be in chaos after his commander was killed, the enemy's rout of thousands of miles still caught him off guard. It was only then that he realized that these rebels were different from the regular army. Two years ago, they were just a group of peasants and hired workers who had never touched a knife or a gun. People like this may be able to obey orders and fight bravely when the wind is blowing, but once the defeat is certain, they will escape faster than anyone else, and there is no possibility of reining in their troops and turning back to fight.
However, the enemy's collapse was also a problem for the Shandong Army. In order to chase down the defeated army, all the soldiers and horses were completely scattered. Just looking south from the top of the city, you can see the army and horses of both sides over the mountains and plains still chasing desperately. If at this time, a neatly organized rebel army suddenly comes from behind. Even the Shandong Army wouldn't be able to resist the attack.
This is the reason why on the battlefield, you should not chase after the enemy, but give up when you see the enemy. If you blindly kill the enemy for merit, it will bring great danger and trouble to yourself.
If it were an ordinary army, even if the commander issued an order, he would not be able to bring the troops under control in less than half a day. But the Shandong Army is, after all, a well-trained elite division. As the horns of retreating troops continued to sound, except for the soldiers who were still fighting, everyone began to stop and return to the team. After gathering into teams, they marched in an orderly manner. Come back.
On the other hand, the Wu army in front thought that the Song army was about to attack again after hearing the trumpet sound. They were so frightened that they fled faster and could not care about anything. Therefore, on their way to escape, they discarded countless swords, guns, armor, and even some money and other items. In the end, they naturally benefited the Shandong Army officers and soldiers.
It was not until noon that all the troops returned to Huzhou safely.
At this point, the battle around Huzhou finally ended with a great victory for the Song Army. This great victory was even more satisfying than all the previous victories combined, killing more enemies. It was a complete victory!