Empire

Chen Ziang and his men, with the power of a great victory, conquered three county towns in a row, and marched forward like a broken bamboo, with their troops heading straight for the provincial capital.

The Black Cavalry garrison in the provincial capital was weak, and they were also panicked in the face of the aggressive Qinghe Army.

The main force of the imperial army was besieging Chen Ru's troops in Qingyang Prefecture at this moment, so there were only more than 10,000 light cavalry left to sweep and pursue the remnants of the Qinghe Army.

However, most of these more than 10,000 light cavalry of the Black Cavalry had been killed by Chen Ziang and his men, and the more than 1,000 people who escaped back became frightened birds.

No one expected that the Qinghe Army, which had become a lost dog, would make a comeback in a short time, and its combat effectiveness was so strong.

Chen Ziang and his men attacked cities and towns along the way, and the towns along the way fell into their hands again.

In a series of small-scale battles, their temporarily assembled troops became more and more courageous, and their combat effectiveness continued to rise.

When Chen Ziang and his men arrived at the provincial capital, there were less than 2,000 Black Cavalry soldiers guarding the city. They were so frightened that they closed the four gates and hurriedly sent out messengers to ask for help.

""Capture the provincial capital within half a day, and the first person to achieve success will be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins!"

Chen Ziang's troops are now full of fighting spirit. Facing the provincial capital with a weak garrison, he is determined to win.

In fact, he can lead his troops to bypass the provincial capital and go directly to Qingyang Prefecture to rescue Chen Ru's troops.

But Chen Ziang insisted on capturing the provincial capital, because he wanted to build momentum and at the same time relieve his worries.

Once he went to Qingyang Prefecture, if the garrison here cut off his retreat, they would be in danger of being pinched, so they had to take the provincial capital.

The howling Qinghe Army soldiers immediately launched a fierce attack on the provincial capital.

In just ten months, the provincial capital has suffered repeated battles, and many of the city walls are in ruins, and there is not even time to repair them.

Now the garrison is not With a force of more than 2,000 men, the outnumbered defenders could not hold out against the fierce attack of Chen Ziang and his men.

The newly promoted infantry battalion commander Zhou Ba lived up to expectations and personally led his men into battle, leading the soldiers under his command to fight bravely.

In order to gain more merit, Zhang Bao, the deputy battalion commander who had been demoted to an ordinary soldier, also rushed up desperately.

The siege lasted less than two hours, and a team of Qinghe soldiers took the lead in climbing the city wall and fought with the Black Cavalry who were defending the city.

Faced with the continuous stream of Qinghe soldiers rushing up the city wall, the Black Cavalry fought to the death.

However, numbers can kill elephants, and the defense lines of the city wall were torn apart one after another. More and more Qinghe soldiers gained a foothold on the city wall, and the Black Cavalry was powerless to turn the tide.

"Can’t hold it anymore!"

"The west of the city was lost!"

"Run!"......

As the number of Qinghe troops around them increased and their companions decreased, the Black Cavalry was soon killed and defeated.

These Black Cavalry were elite cavalrymen and brave in field battles, but it was really difficult for them to defend the city.

Soon the city wall defense line was breached, and the remaining Black Cavalrymen tried to break out on horseback. After all, in this situation, the only outcome of fighting was the annihilation of the entire army.

The remaining Black Cavalrymen rushed out through the north gate, but they were too happy too early.

Soon they desperately discovered that a large group of Qinghe Army light cavalry had been waiting for them outside the city.

These Qinghe Army light cavalrymen belonged to the newly formed light cavalry battalion. They were not good at attacking cities and were ordered to wander outside the city.

The light cavalry battalion saw the infantry brothers fighting lively, and they had been itching for a long time.

At this moment, seeing the Black Cavalrymen escaping from the city, they were like hungry wolves seeing fat meat, and they rushed up with shouts.

There was no suspense in this fight. Facing the Qinghe Army light cavalrymen with an absolute advantage in manpower, these Black Cavalrymen who had no intention of fighting were soon killed.

Chen Ziang and his men recaptured the provincial capital, and their reputation was greatly enhanced. The news spread, attracting a lot of attention.

The Qinghe Army troops stationed in various places saw the provincial capital being captured, and even the commander was killed. For a time, people were panicked, and many people began to pack their bags and prepare to escape.

But who knew that the situation on the battlefield would change so quickly, and Chen Ziang's troops actually rose against the trend, and they actually recaptured the provincial capital.

"This guy named Chen is really brave!"

"Damn, I admire him!"

"We in the Tenth Battalion are not cowards. If you are not afraid of death, come with me to kill the enemy!"......

Chen Ziang's successive victories not only destroyed the Black Cavalry's manpower, but also gave a shot in the arm to the scattered Qinghe Army.

Many of the Qinghe Army soldiers who were hiding or fleeing for their lives had to sleep in the open air and hide from place to place, which was really a miserable life.

Chen Ziang led his troops to victory after victory, which undoubtedly restored the confidence of many Qinghe Army soldiers.

Those Qinghe Army soldiers stationed in various parts of the province were not so panicked. Although they were still waiting and watching, their morale was restored a lot when they learned that Chen Ziang led his troops to recapture the capital.

Many deserters who secretly left the Qinghe Army saw the situation reversed, and they returned to the barracks with nowhere to go.

"General Chen, I am Zhou Hao, the centurion commander of the third battalion. I am willing to obey your orders."

"General Chen, I am the commander of the 1,000-man 15th Battalion. Although I only have a hundred or so men, I am willing to go with you to rescue the deputy commander."

"General Chen......"

Chen Ziang and his men were so famous that the Qinghe army's defeated soldiers and remnants who were hiding in various places came out one after another and gathered under Chen Ziang's command.

Chen Ziang did not refuse any of the Qinghe army's scattered soldiers and small units who came to surrender voluntarily.

You should know that at the peak of the Qinghe army, there were nearly 200,000 soldiers and horses. Although they suffered heavy losses under the attack of the Black Cavalry Army, a lean camel is bigger than a horse.

Facing the Qinghe army that fled in all directions, the Black Cavalry Army was also somewhat unable to catch up, so many Qinghe soldiers fled to mountainous areas and rural areas.

Now that Chen Ziang has regrouped, the Qinghe army soldiers who were hiding in the mountains and hungry could no longer sit still and came to surrender one after another.

Countless streams flowed into Chen Ziang's command, and in a short period of time, their troops swelled to more than 50,000 people.

Although more than 10,000 of them were old, weak, women and children, the number of soldiers who could fight exceeded 40,000, and their strength was greatly enhanced.

With soldiers in hand, Chen Ziang became more confident. He immediately led his troops to Qingyang Prefecture to rescue the deputy commander Chen Ru who was trapped in the siege.

Deputy commander Chen Ru had 50,000 troops under his command. At this moment, their retreat was cut off by the Black Cavalry Army, and they were also besieged by the army led by the fourth prince of the dynasty.

When they lost contact with the provincial capital, Chen Ru realized that something was wrong. Although he didn't know what happened in the capital, he cautiously ordered the defense to shrink and withdraw the troops from the south bank of the Qingshui River to the capital of Qingyang Prefecture.

It was because of Chen Ru's caution that they escaped the danger of being attacked from both sides.

However, the troops were shrunk in the capital of Qingyang Prefecture, avoiding being defeated in the field battle, but also led to them being surrounded.

Chen Ru kept sending messengers to ask for help, and at the same time wanted to find out what happened in the provincial capital.

However, there were cavalrymen of the Black Cavalry Army everywhere, and their messengers couldn't break out at all. Naturally, they were in the dark and didn't know what happened. They could only hold on and wait for help.

However, after waiting for several days, instead of receiving reinforcements, they received the heads of Marshal Zhang Dayuan and Deputy Marshal Xu Fu, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Chen Ru and his men.