Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Seeing that the Dali soldiers retreated to the camp several miles away shortly after noon, Yang Zaixing immediately sent cavalry down the mountain to scout.

Cao Xun quickly came back and reported: "The enemy was very strange today. I took the cavalry to investigate, but they didn't try their best to stop us. They were scared and ran away after a few arrows. It's like... well, it seems that they deliberately let us pass to let us know that the Dali soldiers are going to withdraw."

Li Shao smiled and said: "The enemy suffered too many casualties in attacking the mountain stronghold, and they couldn't attack it anyway. They wanted to lure us down the mountain to fight in the field."

"Is the enemy really going to withdraw, or are they just pretending?" Yang Zaixing asked.

Cao Xun replied: "I can see clearly with a telescope that the enemy's camps are being cleaned up, and large areas of military tents have been put away."

Although Kunming has a mild climate, Yang Zaixing seems to be a little irritated, and his lips have been chapped these days.

He unconsciously stretched out his tongue to lick it, thinking silently.

Suddenly, Yang Zaixing spoke: "Bi Jin is mature and prudent. Take 800 regular soldiers and more than 1,000 auxiliary soldiers to guard the mountain stronghold. If the enemy takes advantage of the opportunity to attack from Dianchi Lake by boat, immediately light the signal. The rest of the soldiers, come with me to try to chase and see if we can find an opportunity to defeat the enemy."

When these words came out, all the generals were shocked.

They only had 6,000 regular soldiers and more than 1,000 auxiliary soldiers, while the enemy had 40,000 to 50,000.

Under normal circumstances, defending the mountain stronghold is a great achievement, but they actually had to send troops out to chase?

Bi Jin dissuaded him, "General, the enemy is just trying to lure us down the mountain. Why do we have to fall into the enemy's trap? And we have to divide our troops to guard the mountain stronghold and keep the food and grass here, so the troops that can fight will be even weaker."

Yang Zaixing waved his hand and said, "No. The enemy is already scared and their morale is extremely low. This can be seen from the last few attacks on the mountain. When the Dali soldiers heard the sound of the guns, they turned around and fled in a swarm, regardless of whether anyone was hit or not. Why are you afraid of such weak soldiers?"

"Also, don't look at the tens of thousands of enemy troops. Many of them are not wearing armor. They must be recruited from the prefectures and counties (village soldiers). They can't even form a neat formation. The retreat of tens of thousands of people will inevitably cause chaos. We can seize the opportunity to defeat the enemy with one blow!"

Cao Xun reminded, "The war horses of the Dali cavalry are better than ours."

"Not much better. I will lead the cavalry to fight in person!" Yang Zaixing said.

Although there are ponies in the southwestern provinces, the top ones must be Dali horses.

The average shoulder height of Dali horses is generally 5 cm higher than other southwestern horse breeds, and they also have the advantages of other southwestern horse breeds.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, official horse farms were set up in the southwestern Sichuan region and the white area of ​​Guangxi to cultivate mountain war horses. However, there was little success in the selection of horse breeds.

Northern war horses are not suitable for fighting in the southwest, mainly due to terrain and climate issues. Historically, the Mongols bred horses in the southwest, but they did not gain much after a hundred years of breeding.

Therefore, the cavalry war horses under Yang Zaixing were mainly purchased from Dali, and a few came from the tribute of the Song family in Guizhou and the official horse farm in southwestern Sichuan.

Would Dali sell the top war horses to Emperor Zhu?

Now the battle between the two sides has revealed that the shoulder height of the war horses of the Dali cavalry is generally two or three centimeters higher than that of the Guangxi cavalry.

Moreover, the horses are faster.

Only the mounts of generals such as Yang Zaixing and Cao Xun are the best among the southwestern war horses.

At this moment, Yang Zaixing was determined to pursue, and Cao Xun, as a cavalry general, could not stop him. Even, he was a little eager to try, he knew how capable Yang Zaixing was.

Watching Yang Zaixing and his generals and soldiers go down the mountain, Bi Jin, who stayed in the mountain stronghold, had to quickly redeploy his defense.

Bi Jin was from Yanzhou, Shandong, and was a general under Yue Fei in history.

But the main reason why Bi Jin was able to leave his name in history was because he had a good son - Bi Zaiyu!

Bi Jin in this time and space, however, had never met Yue Fei.

He first followed Zhang Shuye to Beijing to defend the king, then surrendered to the Ming army in a confused manner, and then accepted reorganization and transferred back to his hometown in Kaifeng. Then he was assigned to Guan Sheng's men, became a small captain of a miscellaneous army, and followed Zhao Li to cross the sea to attack Liaodong.

After many years of twists and turns, Bi Jin had no stable backing and no decent military exploits, until he was thrown to Guangxi and was appreciated by Yang Zaixing.

A good fighter has no illustrious achievements. Bi Jin is not a good fighter, but he is definitely good at defense.

Many generals under Yang Zaixing were crazy people who liked to fight recklessly.

So every time they went out to fight recklessly, they would definitely hand over their strongholds and food to Bi Jin to prevent their nests from being raided by the enemy.

"Our army is short of manpower, so we have to abandon the first and second stone walls and retreat to the last stone wall."

"Go dig trenches immediately below the second stone wall."

"There is definitely not enough time to dig deep trenches, just dig pits and bumps there so that the enemy cannot rush in at full speed when attacking."

"Move some of the rubble from the two stone walls outside back to make rolling stones."

"..."

Bi Jin arranged the fortifications in an orderly manner, and Yang Zaixing had already led thousands of soldiers down the mountain.

"No, the enemy will really dare to come?"

Gao Zhenshou was not happy but surprised when he heard the news. He was just luring the enemy by the way, and he never thought that the Ming army would really go down the mountain.

Although Laozi suffered heavy casualties in the past two days, he still had more than 47,000 soldiers. You have thousands of soldiers and horses in your hands, not defending the mountain stronghold, and you dare to go down the mountain to chase and fight?

You really don't treat me as a human being!

At this time, the various Dali troops were retreating in an orderly manner, with elite troops arranged to provide cover along the way, and the baggage troops had even retreated more than ten miles to the north.

Gao Zhenshou did not retreat after receiving the news. He called all the generals and said: "The enemy general is a fool. He wants to fight with us on the plain instead of defending the mountain stronghold. We can just annihilate them all!"

"Gao Zhenli."

"Yes."

"You will immediately ride to the northwest camp and lead the 6,000 soldiers there. When we start fighting here, you will take a boat to the west of the mountain stronghold and land. Take advantage of the enemy's lack of troops to attack the mountain regardless of casualties."

"Yes!"

"Gentlemen, we have the advantage in frontal forces, and we will send special forces to attack the enemy's nest. Once the fight starts, the enemy will surely be defeated."

"The prime minister has a brilliant plan!"

After another discussion and arrangement, the generals went back to lead their troops to fight.

Yang Zhongyan looked confused and whispered, "Brother, what are the Ming army doing on the mountain? Their main force is almost reaching Shanchan. He can just defend the mountain stronghold by himself. When the time comes, we will find an opportunity to turn against them. This is obviously a situation of sure victory. Why do they risk going down the mountain to chase them?"

Yang Zhongsu sighed, "The generals of the Ming army obviously don't take us seriously. A few thousand people took the initiative to pursue tens of thousands, and they still think they will win."

"I don't want to surrender to the Ming when they look down on me like this." Yang Zhongyan was very angry.

Yang Zhongsu said, "Send someone to contact Zhang Zheng and ask him to find an opportunity to turn against us. Maybe we can establish a great..."

"Woo woo woo woo~~~"

At this moment, the military bugle sounded.

A messenger came running and said to the generals who had not walked far away, "All units quickly gather the cavalry, the enemy cavalry is coming!"

"What?"

The Yang brothers looked at each other in astonishment.

He rode over to check what was going on, only to see about 800 Ming cavalrymen abandoning their infantrymen and charging straight at the tens of thousands of Dali troops.

"How dare they!" Yang Zhongsu said in horror.

The Dali army had just stopped withdrawing and was still gathering in a panic but in an orderly manner.

The logistics troops could not be withdrawn for the time being, but most of the combat troops were already gathering in formation.

If the Dali army did not have cavalry, Yang Zaixing would have a chance to succeed in the raid with 800 cavalrymen. The problem was that the Dali army not only had cavalrymen, but also had more cavalrymen than the Guangxi cavalrymen, and could quickly stop Yang Zaixing's 800 cavalrymen.

It was still very expensive to raise cavalrymen, and they were all treasures of the princes.

Therefore, when they withdrew, the cavalrymen also evacuated separately, and none of them handed over their treasures. However, the cavalrymen of each unit were not far apart, so they could quickly gather together to resist the enemy and prevent any accidents during the withdrawal.

Yang Zhongyan rode back to lead the Yang cavalrymen. When he returned with the cavalrymen, the Gao cavalrymen had already engaged Yang Zaixing.

Both sides were light cavalry, so they should have shot arrows first.

However, Yang Zaixing led 800 cavalrymen to charge faster, and they charged forward in a cone formation.

Gao Zhenming led the Gao cavalrymen and subconsciously split into several teams, trying to distance themselves from each other and shoot arrows on both sides.

When the two armies were dozens of steps apart, the Ming cavalry accelerated again.

Yang Zaixing even bent his bow and shot an arrow at high speed, and shot a Gao cavalryman in the arm.

The Gao cavalrymen who were fighting face to face saw the Ming cavalry rushing faster, and they were so scared that they shot arrows randomly and quickly avoided them when they were still 20 to 30 steps away.

Ten to 15 steps is the best range for horse bows, after all, not everyone can shoot a strong bow.

The Guangxi cavalrymen all wore light mail armor, so they still had some anti-arrow capabilities. Horse bows shot from 20 to 30 steps away would have little lethality to the Guangxi cavalry unless the warhorse was shot overturned.

Some arrows were also shot from both sides.

More than 20 Guangxi cavalrymen fell at once.

However, they rushed over.

After rushing past the Gao family cavalry that came to stop them, there were two infantry units that had already formed a battle formation in front of them.

Although the battle formation was completed, they were not close to each other, and were a full thirty or forty meters apart.

Yang Zaixing led 800 cavalry to slow down and change the battle formation, and suddenly split into two.

One unit, led by him personally, passed directly between the two Dali armies. The other unit, led by Cao Xun, passed in front of one of the Dali armies.

The Guangxi cavalry came too fast, beyond the expectations of all enemies, and the Dali archers did not even have time to move to the front row to shoot.

Instead, the Guangxi cavalry slowed down and shot arrows at the Dali infantry at close range, causing the two Dali troops to be slightly confused.

"Blow the horn and chase the enemy!"

Gao Zhenming, who was frightened by this way of fighting, suddenly came to his senses and ordered the cavalry to chase in shock and anger.

Passing through the two assembled Dali infantry, the enemy army a hundred meters ahead was still gathering in a panic. Yang Zaixing suddenly accelerated his horse: "Charge!"

The enemy general of that army was also surnamed Gao. In terms of seniority, he was Gao Zhenshou's uncle, but he was only in his forties.

"Quickly form a formation to meet the enemy!" The Gao general shouted in fear.

But his soldiers were even more frightened. Facing hundreds of cavalrymen rushing in, they were in a state of disorderly formation, and some began to flee from the battlefield.

Until the Guangxi cavalry rushed within thirty steps, more and more people fled.

When they rushed within twenty steps, even the Gao general began to flee.

Then, the whole army fled.

Cao Xun led his army to attack from the side, and the Dali army completely collapsed.

Gao Zhenming was chasing Yang Zaixing, and suddenly heard the rumbling of horse hooves from behind.

It was Guangxi infantrymen riding spare war horses and pack horses. All the pack horses were Baise horses, and the average shoulder height was only 1.5 meters.

"Where did so many cavalry come from?"

Gao Zhenming was frightened and panicked. He blew the horn and ordered the Gao cavalry to stop chasing the enemy and gather back to block the enemy behind them, otherwise the more numerous Ming "cavalry" would rush over.

When Gao Zhenming brought the cavalry back to fight, he saw that the Ming "cavalry" dismounted and formed a battle array.

Some Ming "cavalry" even took the tiger squat cannon and baskets filled with gunpowder and gravel from the horse's back...

"Bang bang bang!"

Some Ming soldiers who had just dismounted started firing their guns at a distance of a hundred steps.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Woo woo woo woo~~~"

The sound of chaotic war drums and military trumpets came from behind. Gao Zhenming turned his head and saw that several of his own infantry were dispersed, and countless defeated soldiers blocked the Dali cavalry who came to gather.

Some Dali troops who were originally forming a battle array had no idea what was happening in front of them, and saw countless friendly defeated soldiers rushing towards them.

So, they also began to flee, and even the generals could not stop them.

Zhang Zheng originally wanted to find an opportunity to defect to the Ming Dynasty and assembled nearly 3,000 soldiers early, but he did not move towards the main force of the Dali Army, but just silently waited for an opportunity to give Gao Zhenshou a fatal blow.

The idea was beautiful, but his troops collapsed!

Before he had time to defect, 3,000 soldiers fled on the spot.

Those soldiers did not know that there were only 800 enemy cavalry, nor did they know that there were friendly infantry and cavalry in front of them. They only knew that many of their own defeated soldiers were running, and they must have suffered a great defeat. If they wanted to save their lives, they had to escape faster than the friendly army.

They were too familiar with escaping.

In recent years, when they encountered rebellious barbarians, they often fled while fighting.

Those who survived in the escapes have all mastered various housekeeping skills, and these life-saving skills are even passed down from father to son and brother to brother in the Dali Army.

Therefore, some new recruits who have just entered the battlefield also know when to escape, which is what their fathers and brothers repeatedly warned them.

"Don't run, don't run, we are going to defect to the Ming!" Zhang Zheng shouted hoarsely, almost crying without tears.

Fear spreads like a virus, from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and in a blink of an eye, more than a dozen Dali troops fled.

Gao Zhenshou was so anxious that he beat drums and blew trumpets, constantly dispatching troops to save the situation, but he couldn't stop it at all. Even some organized troops, while being dispatched by Gao Zhenshou to intercept them, actually fled with the fleeing soldiers.

"Don't run, I have decided to surrender to the Ming!"

Yang Zhongsu was also shouting hoarsely, half of his 6,000 soldiers had already fled, and Yang Zaixing's cavalry was even three or four miles away.

In other words, the Yang army didn't even see the enemy, and was led by the fleeing soldiers running in the front.

The cavalry of each surname had completed the assembly, but they were confused by the fleeing infantry everywhere, and many cavalry generals led their troops to avoid them.

Yang Zhongsu took several sons, abandoned the scattered infantry, and rode to join his brother's cavalry.

Yang Zhongyan asked: "What should we do?"

Yang Zhongsu pointed at Gao Zhenming's cavalry and said: "Lead the troops to charge from behind him!"

Gao Zhenming was dealing with the Guangxi infantry who came on horseback, but he did not have the courage to lead the cavalry to charge, so he just rode and shot around the infantry in a sparse formation.

Cavalry and infantry played shooting?

That infantry also had fire guns and tiger squat cannons?

Gao Zhenming became more and more anxious, and his cavalry was so scared that they dared not get close anymore - in fact, they did not lose many people, but they were scared by the firearms.

Further away, the horseless infantry of the Ming army was still trotting forward, trying to come over and join the infantry on horseback.

At this time, the Yang brothers led the cavalry to come.

Gao Zhenming hurriedly said to the messenger: "Raise the flag, let them bypass the enemy formation and attack from the rear of the enemy."

The Yang brothers seemed not to see the flag, and accelerated their charge towards Gao Zhenming's cavalry.

The two sides were getting closer and closer, and Gao Zhenming finally felt something was wrong, but the Yang cavalry was already sprinting at the end.

"Asshole, the Yang family actually rebelled!"

"Father, go!"

The Gao cavalry was attacked from behind by the Yang cavalry, and was defeated instantly without any preparation.

Li Shao, who led this Ming army infantry, immediately shouted: "Get on the horse, there are still enemy troops in front who have not collapsed!"

So, more than a thousand Ming army infantrymen found horses again and rode on them, and the tiger squat cannons and ammunition were also hung on the horses in baskets.

The two Dali troops in front were obviously elite. They were the first to face Yang Zaixing's attack, but until now they have formed a large formation and have not collapsed.

Although they did not collapse, they stood there at a loss.

The Dali generals who led them did not know how to fight next. They didn't even dare to move casually, fearing that their soldiers would be led by the fleeing soldiers.

Until the Ming infantry came on horseback and held up the tiger squat cannon dozens of steps away.

"Run!"

The two Dali elite troops finally couldn't bear the pressure. They had seen wounded soldiers who were hit by the tiger squat cannon but not dead.

Before the tiger squat cannon was fired, the Dali elite troops were scattered.

The whole battlefield became more and more chaotic.

Stretching for seven or eight miles, there were fleeing soldiers everywhere.

Gao Zhenshou was so shocked that he couldn't speak, and was pulled on the horse by his son to urge him to flee.

There were still 3,000 elite soldiers around him who had not fled. If he responded calmly, Yang Zaixing's 800 cavalrymen would not be able to break through.

But with the fleeing soldiers everywhere, could those elites really stay calm?

Yang Zaixing drove the fleeing soldiers all the way, staring at the big banner in front of him, and led the cavalry to rush forward.

Before he got close, Gao Zhenshou's big banner suddenly fell.

But Gao Zhenshou was dragged away by his son and personal soldiers, and his elite soldiers also fled for their lives. The wooden frame used to insert the big flag was knocked over by the fleeing soldiers.

"Defeated, the prime minister is defeated!"

The Dali elite soldiers scattered all over the battlefield who had not yet fled found that Gao Zhenshou's big flag had fallen, and finally determined that their side had been completely defeated, and even suspected that Gao Zhenshou had been killed in the battle.

Yang Zaixing rushed to the big flag, but could not find Gao Zhenshou's trace.

In anger, he led his troops to rush to the enemy again, and chased after any enemy generals he found, regardless of their surnames.

Gao Zhenshou's war horse was extremely majestic, and soon he passed countless fleeing soldiers and fled to the front. In fear, he even lost his son and personal soldiers.

He fled all the way back to Guandu City. After he revealed his identity, the defenders here were horrified.

Gao Zhenshou was invited into the city, and his mind was still dizzy.

He still doesn't understand why his entire army suddenly fled?

He had prepared a plan to lure the enemy in advance, so he should have had enough time to set up a large formation.

The enemy general led hundreds of cavalry to attack suddenly, which was completely unreasonable. What's more ridiculous is that he sent cavalry to stop them, but they didn't stop them at all. Facing the charge of the Guangxi cavalry, his elite Gao cavalry actually forgot the military order and could only avoid it.

What to do?

The Gao family's nest is Guandu City, which is equivalent to Gao's private Wubao.

After more than a hundred years of operation, this place has become the commercial center of the entire Dali Kingdom.

When the cold wind blew, Gao Zhenshou suddenly woke up and rushed to the Gao family's ancestral home on horseback: "Gather the clansmen and retreat to Dali immediately. Just take gold, silver and treasures, don't take anything else."

He didn't dare to defend Guandu City.

The Gao family's ancestral home could only be abandoned.

Shanchanfu City (Kunming) could not be defended either, so he had to lead the army back to Dali City and then summon the princes of the west to serve the king.