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Jingmen is connected to Dahong Mountain in the east, Jingshan Mountain in the north, and the flat and prosperous Jianghan Plain in the south. It is known as the gateway to Jingchu.
Once the army in the north crosses Jingmen, they will be able to enter the flat Jianghan Plain. Most of the Jianghan Plain is now controlled by Qin Mu. It is one of his granaries and he naturally does not want others to interfere.
At this moment, in the south of Jingmen, yellow dust was rolling, flags were fluttering, and Ling Zhan's 5,000 infantry, plus Qin Mu's 5,000 cavalry, were rushing towards Jingmen. "Faster, faster!" Qin Mu kept urging them as he ran back and forth on the road.
On the sixth day of April, Zuo Liangyu hurriedly evacuated Xiangyang and fled to Suizhou in the southeast. Xiangyang was occupied by Yuan Zongde.
Zhao Jian, the general of the left army stationed in Jingmen, was unwilling to follow Zuo Liangyu any longer, so he led his 4,000 troops to join the Qin army.
After Yuan Zongdi occupied Xiangyang, he quickly sent 25,000 troops southward to attack Jingmen, the gateway to Jingchu. Zhao Jian was struggling to hold on, and Jingmen could be breached at any time.
For Qin Mu, if he lost Jingmen, Jingzhou would be directly exposed to the attack of the Dashun Army. This was secondary. The more important thing was that Li Jiu's thousands of cavalry would be cut off from their return route.
Therefore, Jingmen must be preserved.
"Report, sir, Liu Tichun has breached the north gate, and Zhao Jian is leading the remnants in street fighting. Please send emergency reinforcements."
"Send a message to Zhao Jian immediately. Our army will be here soon. Tell him to hold on. Even if he has to fight to the last man, I will repay him double in the future. Go quickly."
“Yes!”
"Ling Zhan, you lead the infantry and follow behind. Su Jin, lead the cavalry and follow me first. Quick!"
"My lord, let me go..."
"This is a military order. If you tremble again, I will execute you!"
At Qin Mu's command, five thousand cavalrymen rushed northward like a flood rushing out of the mountain pass. The earth was rumbled by the iron hooves, and the rolling yellow dust roared to the sky. The crops that had just been planted were not taken care of and were trampled by the horses, leaving a mess.
A large black flag with the word Qin on it fluttered wildly in the wind in front of them. All the soldiers whipped their horses continuously. Although they were very tired after a long journey, looking at the large black flag, their hearts were filled with confidence of victory. This was why Qin Mu insisted on leading his troops into the battle.
He was like a god in the army, and the soldiers had great trust in him. At this critical moment, he personally charged into the battle line, which stimulated the exhausted soldiers to exert their potential.
At the north gate of Jingmen County, General Liu Tichun, the Right Battalion of the Dashun Army, was also shouting, "Quick, charge in and wipe out the remaining enemies. Fang Yong, you take 10,000 rear troops and immediately go around to Huazishan Valley in the south of the city to set up defenses and block the Qin army's reinforcements. Without my order, you are not allowed to retreat a single step. Go quickly."
"Yes, General."
General Fang Yong rode away in response. Near the north gate, people roared and horses neighed, and the sound of killing reached the sky. The Dashun Army rushed straight into the north gate like a tide. The corpses and bloodstains on the ground were repeatedly trampled by countless pairs of big feet. It was a horrible sight.
The tenacity of the defending general Zhao Jian was beyond Liu Tichun's expectation. He had been fighting with the Zuo Army for many years. Since Zhuxian Town, the Zuo Army had never been a match for the Dashun Army, whether in attack or defense, and even developed a phobia for the Dashun Army.
This time, he had a full 25,000 troops, while Zhao Jian had only 4,000. After the city gate was lost, they were still stubbornly fighting in the streets. This was unimaginable for the Zuo army, which had been vulnerable in the past.
Because of this accident, Liu Tichun had to divide his troops to fight, and was in a very passive situation.
The terrain of Jingmen is shaped like a gourd, and Huazishan Valley is the waist of the gourd. The open terrain is narrowed here, with low mountains on both sides and a small lake in the middle, which is more conducive to defense deployment.
Fang Yong led an army of 10,000 to Huazishan Valley, with 9,000 infantrymen forming a battle array, and 1,000 cavalrymen assembled on the right wing, ready to counterattack at any time.
The defense line had just been hastily set up when bursts of muffled thunder-like roars came from the south. The rolling yellow dust was like clouds rolled in by a hurricane. The yellow clouds rolled closer and closer, and the roars became louder and louder, deafening, and the earth trembled slightly.
A large black flag with the word Qin on it, accompanied by the galloping cavalry, did not stop for a moment, but instead kept accelerating, rushing forward towards Fang Yong's defense line. The overwhelming momentum made the lips of the Dashun Army in front tremble slightly, and the joints of the hands holding the swords and guns turned white.
"Shoot, shoot quickly!" Fang Yong roared. The soldiers holding muskets fired first. The bang of the guns was drowned out by the rumbling of horses' hooves. The smoke from the muzzles was forced to drift to the north, making people tear up and cough continuously.
Twenty or thirty of the Qin soldiers who were galloping wildly were shot and fell to the ground. Their horses screamed and rolled over the ground, but more cavalrymen leaped over and rushed towards them like arrows.
The Dashun army only had time to fire one gun and two arrows before the Qin cavalry slammed into the front row of the Dashun army's gun array with an earth-shattering roar and a cloud of yellow dust covering the sky.
Many war horses were stabbed to death by the two-meter-long spears, but the huge inertia brought by the galloping horses was like a mountain pressing down on one's head, smashing the spearmen in front of them into pieces. The bodies that flew backwards and the rolling horses swept down the Dashun army in large numbers.
The Qin cavalry charged heavily into the Dashun army's gun formation without regard for casualties. If one cavalry fell, at least ten times as many Dashun soldiers would be killed or injured. At the junction of the two armies, there were terrifying howlings and blood spurting out. The tragic scene was thrilling and made people's scalp numb.
The Dashun Army had been fighting against the Ming Army for many years, but they had never encountered such a fierce Ming Army, including the Guanning Iron Cavalry that was transferred back from Liaodong to strangle the Dashun Army. They had never used such a life-for-life fighting style.
He is too cruel. He is not only cruel to his enemies, but also to himself. He does not take his own life seriously at all.
Under this desperate and fierce attack, the Qin army suffered more than a hundred casualties and quickly broke through the Dashun army's spear formation, like a huge wave hitting a sandbank. It all happened too fast, so fast that Fang had no time to react, and the 9,000 infantry were completely defeated like an avalanche.
Fortunately, the terrain here was narrow and the Qin army could not deploy its forces for a while. Fang Yong personally led a thousand cavalrymen on the right wing to counterattack from the right slope, and finally slightly blocked the Qin army's offensive. However, many infantrymen of the Dashun Army were unable to escape and were attacked and trampled by the cavalry of both sides, and their bodies were torn to pieces.
Qin Mu held the Juque sword tightly, killing people until his body was covered in blood. Just as the tip of an enemy's spear was cut off by Niu Wanshan, his Juque sword slashed through it fiercely, splitting the enemy's head several feet high. Even so, he was still not satisfied. The tragic deaths of more than a hundred riders in front of him made him feel heartbroken.
Because half of the dead were officers above the rank of sergeant or squad leader, and in the Qin army, only brave men could become officers. This battle was the first battle for many of his 5,000 cavalrymen, and Jingmen was in danger. Qin Mu had to organize the officers to charge, firstly to break the formation quickly, and secondly to show the spirit of the army in the first battle.
But the sacrifice of so many backbones of the army in one battle still made Qin Mu's eyes red. He kept urging his horse, roaring like thunder, and slashing with the Juque sword like a sword. The blood splattered so much that he almost couldn't open his eyes.
The commander's eyes turned red, and the soldiers around him were all in tears, shouting for revenge for their comrades who had died heroically in front of them. The sound of horse hooves, shouts, and killing made the sky and the earth change color.
Upon learning that Fang Yong's 10,000-strong army was defeated, Liu Tichun was shocked. He had heard of the Qin army's bravery, but he did not expect Fang Yong to be defeated so quickly. He had no time to hesitate.
"Pass the order, let the army in the city withdraw quickly." After Liu Tiren gave the order loudly, he led 7,000 troops to quickly deploy in the north of the city. He had been fighting for many years, and Qin Mu's troops were cavalry. If he withdrew without arranging any ambush, all 25,000 troops would surely be destroyed. God bless, let's save as many as we can now.
Qin Mu chased the fleeing soldiers to the north of the city and saw that Liu Tichun had already set up his battle array on Changgang Ridge. He was composed entirely of cavalrymen, and it would be counterproductive to rush up the ridge. So he had to order his troops to kill all they could at the foot of the ridge.
Everything happened too fast. The Dashun Army suffered a heavy blow and was in a panic. Liu Tichun watched Qin Mu's cavalry galloping back and forth, charging and killing repeatedly, with corpses strewn all over the ground and blood flowing like a river at the foot of Changgang Ridge, but he did not dare to lead his troops down the mountain to rescue.
In this battle, Liu Tichun lost nearly 7,000 troops, and when he retreated, he had only less than 17,000 troops left. This was because the Qin army was too exhausted after running all the way and had no strength to pursue, which gave him the opportunity to retreat with more than 10,000 troops.
For the Dashun Army, this battle was not just about the loss of soldiers and horses. What was more important was the Qin Army's fearless fighting style, which made them terrified at the thought of it. From now on, these people would probably be scared whenever they saw the black flag.
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ps: Few clicks, few subscriptions, few monthly tickets, but I persisted. Suddenly, I felt a little discouraged these two days. I couldn’t type a single word when sitting in front of the computer. I had to use all the saved drafts. It felt so annoying, just like when my period came.
Huh, dear friends, please encourage me, click, subscribe, give monthly tickets, and reward me, so that I can regain my confidence... ... ... ... .
In Wang Jie's song "I Want a Real Tomorrow", there is a heart-wrenching cry in the middle. Let's shout along a few times...
.(To be continued..)
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