Song Qiang wobbled on the horse, but he didn't fall off, but his left shoulder blade was injured, so he couldn't hold the knife with both hands.
"General, what's the matter with you?" The soldier next to him saw an arrow stuck in Song Qiang's left body, and was afraid that he would not be able to hold on.
Song Qiang gritted his teeth, collected himself, pulled the corners of his mouth and smiled: "A little injury, what can I do!" With a loud cry, he stretched out his right hand, snapped the arrow, and only the arrowhead was stuck in the bone. "Go on, brothers, and make sure to reach the south bank!"
Seeing that Song Qiang had been injured, the rebels on the south bank turned around and shot arrows at Song Qiang.
Thousands of arrows were shot at Song Qiang. Song Qiang swung the knife with his right hand, and there was another burst of sparks, and many arrows were thrown into the water. But whenever he swung his right hand, his left shoulder blade hurt badly. Gradually, his strength became weak, and the sword in his right hand slowed down.
At this time, the arrows of the rebels did not stop, and they all shot at him, turning him into a hedgehog.
The knife fell into the water, and there was a last cry from Song Qiang's mouth: "Brothers, go... go!"
Plop, Song Qiang fell heavily into the water, splashing a huge splash.
"General!"
Seeing that Song Qiang was dead, the soldiers were very sad.
The Northern Army lost its backbone, and Pan Meichen laughed out loud: "If you fight with me, Pan Meichen, there is only one way to die!" Then he sent an order, "Shoot everyone in the Northern Army to death in the Jinghe River!"
The rebels on both sides of the north bank and the south bank shot arrows at the northern army in the river, and the sound of crying and screaming was endless. The corpses floated down, blocking the river, staining the river red with blood, and the smell of blood came out.
However, no sympathy was seen on Pan Meichen's face. He raised the corners of his mouth and smiled slightly, proud and happy that he had wiped out Song Qiang's army.
"Go to the river to find Song Qiang's body, put his owl's head on a bamboo pole, and bring it outside the north gate of the capital, let Yan Li and Rong Chang'an have a look!"
After finishing speaking, he laughed proudly.
At this time, news also came from the northwest camp that the rebels ambushing nearby wiped out most of the 50,000 northern troops in the camp.
Pan Meichen was even more arrogant after hearing this, thinking that if the Northern Army was defeated, the rest of Yan Li's army would not be worth mentioning.
Ming Jin withdrew his troops and returned to the tent. The rebels carried Song Qiang's body to the tent.
According to Pan Meichen's intention, the soldiers beheaded Song Qiang and put it on a bamboo pole. They waited for tomorrow to send a general to ride to the north gate of the capital and erect it outside the gate to deter Yan Li and break Yan Li's will to resist.
The corner of Liu Yiming's mouth also revealed a sinister smile: "Your Majesty is really powerful. You almost wiped out Rong Chang'an's troops in just one battle. From what I can see, even if Yan Li releases Rong Chang'an to lead the army, what will she use to fight Your Majesty?"
Pan Meichen's yellow-green eyes were as deep as the sea in the dark night: "The only troops Yan Li can send now are Wang Qi's Southern Army and Lin Hai's Yulin Army. I believe that they must be trembling when they know the news of Song Qiang's defeat. , dare not confront me."
Liu Yiming walked to the side of the marching map, pointing to the possible route of the southern army: "How will the king deal with the southern army, they are coming here now."
Pan Meichen snorted disdainfully: "Wang Qi and I are not on the same level. I only need to send 5,000 troops to beat him back to the capital!"
Liu Yiming half-closed his eyes and asked, "Your Majesty is planning to make an appointment?"
Pan Meichen was scheming: "Soldiers are valuable and quick. Now that Wang Qi doesn't know the news of Song Qiang's defeat, send troops immediately. If you are caught off guard, you will definitely gain a lot."
Therefore, Pan Meichen sent a capable general, leading five thousand capable cavalry, to attack the southern army while the sky was dim.
At this time, the snow has stopped, and the sun shines on the earth, melting the snow on the ground. It is not cold when it snows, and it is the coldest when it melts. Most of Wang Qi's southern troops were southerners who were not used to the cold weather. Many had chilblains on their hands, and some froze to death on the road. Although there were 50,000 soldiers, they had no fighting spirit and were demoralized.
Just woke up from sleep, the sky was hazy, suddenly drums and horns were buzzing outside the camp, and there were shouts all around. More than 5,000 rebels attacked together on horseback, with the momentum of a catastrophe. Arrows carrying fire flew towards the barracks one by one, and the barracks quickly turned into a sea of flames. Those who were burnt to death, those shot to death by arrows, those who were too late to wear armor and weapons, and those who were hacked and stabbed to death by rebels are countless.
In the chaos, Wang Qi didn't know how many rebels there were. He thought there were more than 100,000 people. He was terrified and didn't dare to fight. With his personal guards, he left the southern army and fled back to the capital by himself. 50,000 people went to the expedition, only more than 1,000 people came back with him, everyone's face was black, and some of them were still smoking.
Lin Hai was stationed outside the north gate, waiting for Song Qiang to send an order to flank Pan Meichen, but what was waiting was Wang Qi's remnants and defeated generals.
Lin Hai put Wang Qi into the army tent, "What happened? You... Where's your army?"
Wang Qi drank a pot of hot water in one breath, gasped for a while, and then answered Lin Hai's words: "We encountered a sneak attack by the rebels, and almost the whole army was wiped out."
If Wang Qi suffered a sneak attack, wouldn't the strategic plan of attacking Pan Meichen from the north and the south be bankrupt? I don't know what's going on with Song Qiang now? I have to send a letter to Song Qiang as soon as possible, telling him not to lead troops north again.
Just as he was about to send someone to notify Song Qiang, he saw another group of remnant soldiers running ahead, with ragged clothes, shivering from the cold, creaking and creaking on the white snow. From the clothes, it can be seen that it is Song Qiang's army. Seeing these people, Lin Hai's heart sank.
"You... what's wrong with you? Where's General Song?"
Those few remnant soldiers were crying, their faces and hands flushed from the cold: "Commander Lin, our northwest camp was attacked by rebels, and almost the entire army was wiped out!"
Lin Hai opened his mouth wide, too shocked to speak! It took a long time before he asked about Song Qiang.
"What about General Song? He... Where is he?" Lin Hai already had a premonition that something was going wrong.
The remnant soldiers wept: "General Song left the northwest camp and crossed the Jing River to the north bank. We don't know exactly what happened!"
"Report!" A scout suddenly rushed to the military tent and knelt down, his face terrified and sad, "It's not good, there is a rebel general in front of us holding a bamboo pole and coming towards our camp. There seems to be something stuck in the bamboo pole. ... inserting..." Because of the grief, the scout choked up and couldn't continue.
Lin Hai already guessed who it was, but he still hoped in case: "Yes... who is it?"
The scout was speechless: "It seems...it seems to be General Song!"
Lin Hai suddenly fell to the coach position, his eyes widened and his mouth opened wide.
"General Song is dead, so...then who else can stop Pan Meichen!"
Grief, anger, and worry flooded Lin Hai's heart together.
The rebel General Xiao planted a bamboo pole outside the barracks, and smiled: "Go back and tell Yan Li that as long as he gives up the throne and let us King Pan do it, then he can be spared! Being strong is his lesson from the past!"
Even though Lin Hai was in the military tent, he could still hear the other party's arrogant and domineering laughter. Now that both the southern and northern armies were in trouble, the Imperial Forest Army could not advance any further. He had to lead the army back immediately and station under the north gate, otherwise he would be too far away from the capital and might be attacked by Pan Meichen again.
"Remove General Song from the bamboo pole, let the craftsman make a lacquered wooden box, and put his head in it. Order all the soldiers in the battalion to break out of the camp immediately and go back to the north gate to defend."
In order to prevent Pan Meichen from attacking, Lin Hai led 5,000 troops to kill them, and then slowly retreated after the main force of the Imperial Forest Army retreated.