Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Marshal Li's words of encouragement to "Celebrate the New Year in Thang Long Palace" are still in my ears. There is still more than a month left before the full plan is reached. Time is still very tight, so in the face of the last organized resistance of the enemy forces on the southern front, the Ming army Without hesitation, he chose to cross the river by force.

However, this time the Ming army did not have to kill people themselves, but chose to let the servant army lay the pontoon bridge first.

Of course, the reason why they had to cross the river in front of the enemy camp was not because the Ming army was strong, but because there were only a few places where the glue could barely build a pontoon bridge. But no matter where it was, there were enemy camps guarding the river. Li Jinglong just chose He found a place that he thought was suitable for forced crossing.

It would be best to cross by force. If not, the Ming army has other options.

At the same time, facing the enemy camp on the other side, the Ming army's artillery unit also began to perform.

"Bang bang bang~~"

Bursts of dull cannon fire sounded.

The artillery of the Ming Army was mainly composed of mortars and field artillery. Field artillery fired solid shells and shotgun shells, while mortars fired stone bullets or iron balls. Since they did not need to shoot from a long distance, and they faced fixed enemies, Camp, so a mortar with a large firing angle and low muzzle velocity is a good choice.

Under the cover of large-caliber mortars, dozens of heavy stone bullets flew to the other side with the sound of howling wind, hitting the indigenous soldiers and serfs of Annan.

Yes, serfdom was still practiced in some places in Annan, and even Lee's Korea at this time was considered progressive compared with it.

"Bang bang bang~~boom~~~"

Dense shells fell like raindrops all over the enemy camp, smashing the houses in the camp into ruins. The roofs of some houses were overturned, revealing the dark pits inside. I don't know what they were.

Covered by such artillery fire, the enemy obviously did not dare to attack rashly and could only retreat and defend.

Along with bursts of screams and exclamations, many sentry towers and barracks collapsed, and mutilated corpses hit by boulders were thrown into the sky. Blood dyed the grass on the river bank red.

The expressions of the Ming army who were in formation did not change at all, and they even looked at everything in front of them indifferently.

Because they know that this is just a warm-up.

At this time, under the cover of artillery fire, the soldiers of the servant army were setting up a pontoon bridge in the rushing glue. As soon as the pontoon bridge was completed, they could immediately cross the river and then attack the enemy camp.

However, due to factors such as current speed and shoals, this kind of small pontoon bridge is not easy to build successfully. The structure of the boat that serves as a support point needs to be relatively stable at every point in the river, and it must be nailed with wooden piles, otherwise it will easily break. , this is very dangerous for the miscellaneous soldiers of the servant army, and they will be washed away by the current if they are not careful.

Sure enough, either because their feet slipped or because of strong waves, in just a short period of time, a dozen soldiers of the Annan slave army were swept away by the river without a trace.

However, the craftsmen of the Ming Army had rich experience in building bridges, and soon under the guidance of several carpenters, a simple pontoon bridge was built.

The servants followed suit and built three more pontoon bridges.

Then, rows of Annan servants armed with crude weapons rolled and crawled across the pontoon bridge under the supervision of their superiors' whips.

As soon as these servants stepped across the pontoon bridge, Annan soldiers came out of the camp on the opposite side and launched an attack, trying to prevent them from crossing the river.

"Jiliguala!"

With a loud shout in the local language, the Annan soldiers in the camp began to charge.

At this time, the servant army crossing the river finally reacted and kept firing bows and arrows, but their accuracy was really a bit ridiculous.

Soon, soldiers from both sides were at war.

"ah"

"Pfft!"

As soon as the two sides met, they were obviously compatriots, but they started to kill each other crazily as if they had seen the enemy who killed their father. Objectively speaking, the Annan soldiers guarding the river were better equipped than these servants. Although they did not have iron armor, they had leather armor. There are still some. These soldiers of the Annan Army have about half the armor rate. The inferior swords can't cause much harm to them. Often only hitting the chest or abdomen, or the head can cause them greater trauma, but they Still holding on with gritted teeth, he used all his strength to fight forward.

Although the Ming army psychologically did not mind firing artillery regardless of whether they were friendly or enemy, they still did not do such a thing considering the feelings of the generals of the servant army, so they could only watch the servant army fall into a disadvantage.

In a brief round of fighting, although the Annan army guarding the river lost dozens of people, the servant army suffered even greater losses. After just a few encounters, hundreds of people fell under the sword of the Annan army.

"Let the soldiers attack."

Probably testing the combat effectiveness of the troops guarding the river in Annan, Li Jinglong no longer hesitated and issued the order.

These recently recruited servant armies composed of farmers and local powerful men are definitely no match for Annan's regular army, and the other party is only a security force responsible for guarding the river. There must be a large-scale mobile cavalry force ready to raid the Ming army, so next The challenge faced down was the final problem for the Ming army to cross the river.

Five hundred elite heavy infantrymen of the Ming Army began to cross the river. These infantrymen wore heavy armor and carried heavy weapons, and slowly pushed towards the enemy's position.

Although the Annan Army's defense line was tight, due to the lack of armor-breaking means, it could not stop the Ming Army's heavy infantry advance across the river. It only took half a stick of incense to force them back to the camp.

Seeing their comrades constantly falling to the ground and wailing, the generals of the Annan army became anxious and asked for reinforcements.

After a while, more than a thousand elite cavalrymen of the Annan army stationed in the military camps around Jiaoshui City, who had learned the information about this place before, joined the battle group and started a desperate struggle with the Ming army.

It has to be said that these Annan cavalry armed with scimitars, spears and bows and arrows were indeed extremely brave. After taking advantage of the number, they actually went head-to-head with the heavy infantry. Not only did they not fall at a disadvantage, but they took the advantage.

The Ming army had been active on the south bank of Jiaoshui before. The Annan army, which was always paying attention to the movements of the Ming army, responded quickly. After determining the place where the Ming army would cross the river, the second batch of cavalry also quickly arrived at the battlefield, and was about to cross the Ming army halfway. And strike.

"kill!"

Following the roar of the Annan cavalry general, the second batch of Annan cavalry, numbering 1,300 people, quickly rushed forward on horseback. Seeing so many cavalry rushing over, the servant army was immediately frightened to death.

"Run!"

"Run back! Run away!"

The heavy infantry of the Ming Army were able to maintain a tight line and guard the other end of the pontoon bridge. They were not shocked by the momentum of the enemy's cavalry. However, the servant army was different. These guys had never seen such a formation before. It was a mess.

In Annan, the cavalry is the strongest branch besides the elephant soldiers. When fighting on the plains, once the cavalry is dispatched, the rebellious chieftain forces will basically be crushed to death. Unless you hide in the deep mountains and old forests, otherwise Don't even think about escaping capture alive.

However, the number of cavalry in the Annan army was small, so they were rarely dispatched. This also made the servant army composed of local people in Annan never encounter a real cavalry charge, let alone the unstoppable momentum of a cavalry charge.

Soon, the Ming army soldiers came into contact with the enemy cavalry, as if two torrents collided fiercely.

Whether it is the Ming army or the Annan army, they cannot use their fists and kicks at all on the not-so-wide river bank. They can only rely on their fighting qualities and constantly wave their weapons to fight the enemies on the opposite side.

However, this was unfair to the Ming army. The battlefield was on the north bank of the Jiaoshui River, and because the camp here was relatively remote, it was built very large and squeezed the battlefield. As a result, the Ming army was somewhat timid in fighting. But at all The reason is that the glue is too fast, and there are only a few places where pontoons can be built to cross the river.

Without any terrain to rely on, it would be too difficult for the Ming army to defend this bridgehead with a small number of troops.

However, Li Jinglong seemed to have expected this. When the Ming army's heavy infantry crossed the river, he issued an order.

There is a depression on the south bank on the right side of the enemy camp guarding the river ahead.

This depression is not big, but it is not too deep either. Although it is a depression, there are actually many shoals in it that can be used as an extended foothold for the Ming Army's musketeers.

Although according to the normal width of the glue, the Ming army's conventional long-range projection methods, such as crossbows, fire guns, etc., cannot hit the enemy on the other side and thus support the friendly forces on the bridgehead, but if it can be extended to the south bank, then it can Forming a "convex" position, with gunmen arrayed on the protruding part to fire, the range can be reached.

When the heavy infantry was crossing the river, Li Jinglong looked at the depression and gave a decisive order to repair it.

The Ming army's engineering power was very strong. Soon, a large number of sandbags and wooden boards were laid out, and a simple breast wall was built with sand to block the river water and protect the gunners.

When the second batch of Annan Army cavalry arrived, Li Jinglong was not in a hurry to let the fire gunmen join the battle across the river. Instead, when a flaw appeared in the enemy's neat formation, he ordered: "Send my general's order, and the fire gunmen are ready! "

Then, under the command of hundreds of households, the firearms troops began to organize into the "convex" terrain that was filled in the river beach. Hundreds of gunmen lined up behind the simple breastworks, began to load gunpowder, and aimed at the target ahead.

These gunmen are indeed elite. They are well-trained and move quickly and quickly. Almost as soon as they put the ammunition into the chamber and compact it with the loading rod, they can immediately adjust their posture and prepare to pull the trigger.

After repeated training of this action, it only takes about thirty breaths to complete one round. Although the military technology point of [paper shell fixed-loading ammunition] has not been announced yet, the rate of fire of these elite munitions gunners is still far away. Super contemporary.

"put!"

The familiar sound of the suona sounded rhythmically, and the Ming army began to fire recklessly.

"Bang bang~"

"Bang bang bang"

The Ming Army's new firecrackers have a very long range, even far exceeding that of ordinary cavalry bows (cavalry bows need to be drawn on horseback, so they are usually shorter than infantry bows, so the range is closer), even from Annan The cavalry of the army seemed far away, dozens of steps across the river, but they could still hit their targets easily, and for a while there was a burst of explosions around the ford.

The Ming army's musketeers kept shooting, and every time they pulled the trigger, a blood flower bloomed on the other side.

Since Annan's cavalry came in two batches, totaling more than 3,000 cavalry, although the Ming army was worried that the friendly heavy infantry on the other side could not fire, the accuracy of the fire blunderbuss was extremely high in the face of such a dense enemy, especially In order to attack the bridgehead guarded by the heavy infantry of the Ming Army, the enemy completely exposed its flanks to the Ming Army gunners on the other side of the river. Therefore, they did not need to aim at all and could just hit directly.

No matter how excellent the Annan people's riding skills are, they are just ordinary knights after all. Even if they are wearing iron armor, their war horses cannot withstand the firecrackers of the Ming army. In an instant, dozens of horses screamed and fell to the ground, and many Annan cavalrymen fell to the ground. They screamed and fell off their horses. Blood mixed with the yellow mud kicked up by the horses' hooves spread all over the ground. The wind blew, and even the air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke.

The Annan people also knew that it was difficult to eliminate the fire gunmen across the river, so they simply gathered all the cavalry and began to try to charge into the battle, completely pushing the heavy infantry of the Ming army guarding the bridgehead into the glue, and winning for themselves, but they were still wrong.

Anyone in later generations who has seen how Western powers used firearms to defeat cold-weapon armies will know that when the firearms are sharp, the cavalry is very easy to be destroyed, unless the cavalry can bypass the defense line and get close to the musketeers. .

But now this glue is not only an obstacle to the Ming army, but also to the Annan army.

Obviously, the Annan Army did not learn any lessons from its previous defeats.

In other words, in the environment of a decisive battle on the plains between large corps, they were still unable to truly feel the specific tactical effect of the fire gun.

Because the Ming army's firepower was very sharp, it completely suppressed the Annan army's cavalry for a while.

The cavalry of the Annan Army began to fall in large areas like wheat being cut.

The general of the Annan army on the opposite side did not expect that the firepower of the Ming army was so powerful. He looked a little embarrassed for a while. After all, this was his main force! The cavalry is one of the most valuable arms in Annan!

Nowadays, using light cavalry to attack heavy infantry is a forced choice. But if you can't attack, who can bear to be slaughtered like this?

"Turn around and shoot arrows across the river!" Annan's general said through gritted teeth.

Only a part of the Annan army followed the flag, began to turn their horses, and fired arrows at the Ming army's musketry in the Annan protrusion. The dense rain of arrows poured forward, and the Ming army's formation was also disrupted for a while. .

Although it is difficult for cavalry bows to reach them, this is not absolute. The Annan cavalry is highly aristocratic, which also means that they prepare their own weapons, so there are always strong people who use heavy bows, and the arrows are shot accordingly. Far away, so it also caused some damage to the Ming army's gunners.

But at this time, the generals of the Annan Army knew that the most critical issue now was to kill the Ming Army's heavy infantry crossing the river as soon as possible. Otherwise, the cavalry under their command would be consumed to death sooner or later.

But things didn't go as planned. At this moment, a scout's report suddenly came from afar.

"Report! The Ming army has also begun to divide its troops to cross the river ten miles away in the west!"

All the Annan cavalry generals suddenly looked at each other.

"No wonder the warning time was left for us. No wonder we sent the servant army to cross the river first instead of the main force crossing the river."

At this time, the Annan people still didn't know that Li Jinglong, who was familiar with the art of war, had used the strategy of "building plank roads in the open and secretly attacking Chen Cang". However, due to the geographical location, it was too late for them to stop them in time.

Seeing that it was no longer possible to stop the Ming army, and the casualties on our side were increasing, the noble officers of the Annan cavalry who began to lose confidence in this war began to waver in their will to fight.

For the top brass of the Annan Army, glue is a must, but for them, if Hu's Dayu is destined to perish, then surrendering to Chen Tianping is not an embarrassing thing. After all, they are local Basically, they all have deep-rooted forces, and no matter who becomes the ruler of Annan, they have to cooperate with them.

"Withdraw! We can't defend it at all!"

"Don't let our men die in vain."

In the queue, a general from Annan shouted.

They knew very well that they would end sooner or later if they continued like this, so some generals decisively took the lead in escaping.

Of course, the cavalry was very quick. After leaving behind hundreds of corpses, they ran away without a trace.

As for the soldiers in the riverside camp who still wanted to put up a stubborn resistance, they were not so lucky. They only had two legs, and they were quickly overtaken by the Ming army and killed.

General Annan, who was camped by the river, saw that all his men were slaughtered, and finally had no choice but to surrender.

"Take all the prisoners and lock them up. We will make a decision tomorrow."

At the same time, the Ming army detached a part of its troops from the north bank to consolidate defensive positions and wait for the large army to cross the river.

————

Inside Glue City.

A veteran of Annan Kingdom, Shaobao Wang Ruzhou personally sat in the city, and several generals of Annan Army also gathered together.

"Continue to increase the number of troops and attack!"

Pan Mahiu, who suffered repeated defeats at the hands of the Ming army, roared angrily: "I don't believe it. Eighty thousand of us can't stop the Ming army from crossing the river!"

Pan Maxiu's words made everyone feel ridiculous. Although there were 80,000 of them, didn't they know how many rotten fish and shrimps there were? What should we use to fight the Ming army?

They said they were sticking to the glue defense line, but that was just for the ears of the Hu family and his son in Shenglong Mansion. Didn't they know whether a piece of glue could stop the Ming army?

It’s okay to lie to others, but don’t lie to yourself.

Wang Ruzhou chuckled and said: "I believe that Tianchang Road (Fenghua Prefecture) cannot be lost. Our main force must not only stick to Fenghua Prefecture, but also work harder to drive the Ming Dynasty's army into the sea."

After hearing this, the Annan Army generals could only smile bitterly.

"Master Shaobao, are you laughing at me?"

Pan Mahiu was so angry that he put his hand on the handle of the knife.

"General Pan, what are you talking about?"

The commander of Tianchang Road, Shaobao Wang Ruzhou, immediately retorted: "We have 80,000 soldiers and horses in our hands. If Tianchang Road is lost, wouldn't it mean that the gates of Dongdu will be opened wide, so how can we hold on to it?"

Pan Maxiu wanted to refute, but there was no way to refute him from the outside. His face became more and more angry, and he was about to turn red and warm.

At this time, Wang Ruzhou didn't want to completely anger him and said: "Okay, let's think of a solution. The first and second batch of cavalry are already the majority of our fast-moving forces. Since they have all been defeated, When we come back, even if we press all the infantry at this time, it will be too late and we will just run into the Ming army head-on."

"Having said that, if we lose the glue, we won't be able to survive with Glue City as an isolated city. Although Glue City is easy to defend, we have 80,000 people after all. How many people can we cram into the city? Most of us have to camp outside the city, and our daily food and drink need to be replenished from the rear. Once we are surrounded by the Ming army, we may starve to death without fighting."

"The Ming army's landing force was less than 30,000 in total. Including those servants and the Champa army, there were only 50,000. Why should we surround 80,000 of us?"

"We have never won in a field battle."

"So what? Are we going to give up Glue City? Do you think the enemy will let us go?"

Pan Mahiu said angrily: "The only things we can rely on now are Glue and Glue City. If we lose these two places, what else will Annan have to fight against the Ming Dynasty?!"

Wang Ruzhou sighed: "Then we should mobilize all the troops and horses as soon as possible, as many as we can move. Taking advantage of the fact that tens of thousands of Ming troops cannot all cross the river in a short time, attack the enemy halfway across the river. In this way, we can regain the glue and take back the river. After setting up various security camps, they gathered reinforcements from Dongdu and launched a counterattack against the Ming army."

Pan Maxiu glanced at the old man in surprise, nodded and said, "Yes, that's what I meant. Now all the ministries will send out troops immediately, and they must rush to the Jiaoshui River as quickly as possible. Do you agree?"

The army was not Pan Mahiu's fault. At this time, the generals quarreled again. In the end, Pan Mahiu had no choice but to lead Hu's die-hard generals, while other generals who were unwilling to compromise their strength chose to Huddled near Glue City.

"Shaobao, Pan Mahiu has left the city."

Wang Ruzhou, as a veteran of the Chen Dynasty and one of the few remaining governors, was not from the same faction as the Hu family and his son. He had been operating in Tianchang Road (Fenghua Prefecture) for many years, so he naturally had his own interests to consider.

"Pan Mahiu is a brave and resourceless person who has been repeatedly defeated by the Ming army. I heard that Li Jinglong is a five-star general of the Ming army and is known for his strategies. Pan Mahiu will definitely end up with a big defeat this time. , we have to make plans early."

"Yes, I understand."

Several confidant generals replied in unison.

"But what about the other generals inside and outside the city?"

"Call them here, in my personal name, and if they don't agree then seize them."

"in addition……"

After Wang Ruzhou was silent for a moment, he said: "Now send an envoy to cross the river secretly from the ferry we control to the south, go to the Ming army camp, and express surrender to Li Jinglong. In this way, Ming Dynasty may forgive our offense."

"I'll make arrangements right away."

Soon, generals from other factions came over.

After a period of not so fierce psychological struggle, most generals chose to surrender.

Because judging from the treatment of the servant army and the situation of the captured surrendered soldiers, if these generals are really willing to submit, then the Ming Dynasty will definitely not mind sparing their lives. Even after Chen Tianping returns to the country, high-ranking officials will be generously paid. Also at your fingertips.

Emperor Chen Fei was so cruel and cruel in the past, but they all tolerated it. Thinking that his grandson should not be more outrageous than his grandfather.

It's not that Pan Maxiu and others don't understand this truth, but they have no choice.

After all, they were all direct descendants of the Hu family. They had followed the Hu family in plotting to usurp the throne. They had long since been unable to clear themselves out, and they were even less likely to jump ship. Therefore, even if they knew they could not win, they still chose to resist and refused to surrender.

However, the generals who were summoned were still a little worried. What if Ming Dynasty was unwilling to accept their allegiance? Even more terrifying, like the Battle of Changping in China, how about trapping and killing all 80,000 of them? In that case, Ming Dynasty would not suffer much loss, and it could also weaken Annan's military strength.

The so-called worrying about gains and losses is nothing more than this.

But in fact, these surrendered generals did not know that their willingness to surrender on a large scale was also very important to the Ming Dynasty. If they were willing to surrender and donated soldiers, food, grass and other resources, then the Ming Dynasty could easily use them as cannon fodder. , to clean up the remaining mess. After all, the Ming Dynasty's soldiers, horses, and food are also quite precious.

And as long as the Annan army surrenders, the Ming Dynasty can easily win this war, and then by dismembering the Annan state, actually controlling the Red River Delta, and economically colonizing the new Chen Dynasty, it can continuously obtain various resources.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty's strength will soar, far exceeding the Yongle period in history, and it can even dominate the entire world.

It's just a pity that although there are people like Wang Ruzhou in Annan Kingdom who are aware of current affairs, there are also people like Pan Maxiu who seem to be unwilling to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, but are prepared to resist to the end. In this case, they can only speak with swords, but in this way Come, it is inevitable that there will be many innocent souls along the Glue River.

——————

Because the Annan Army had too many troops, it set up many camps along the Jiao Shui River. These camps also became the targets of the Ming Army's vanguard troops. Among them, there was even a small stone city called Baixiang City.

The Ming army marched with unstoppable momentum until they stopped in front of this small city.

Looking at this small town, the king of Runan County, Zhu Youxuan, who was in charge of the vanguard, shook his head, and then said: "Send the order, let the gunmen and artillery accompanying the army all go into battle."

"yes!"

The lieutenant general left and then conveyed the instructions.

Amidst the bursts of orders, the Ming army's firegunners quickly formed an array, and then they all raised their matchlocks and pointed them at the enemy.

Because the city was not large and there were many Annan troops stationed there, the Annan army chose to go out of the city and form an array with their backs against the city wall.

This is not stupid. In fact, in the era of cold weapons, city defenders often chose to form their formations behind the city. Famous examples include the two battles of Kaifeng in the Song Dynasty and several defense battles of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty.

"put!"

An officer delivering the order shouted.

In an instant, rows of lead pellets roared out and shot towards the enemy's formation.

The match-rope blunderbuss of the Ming army was more powerful than the original fire blunderbuss, and the rate of fire was faster. Therefore, rows of lead bullets flew out, instantly killing a large number of Annan soldiers.

Under the intensive firepower coverage, the Annan infantry had no power to resist. They could only hide behind the shield and tremble. However, no matter how powerful the shield's protective power was, there was a limit. Under the continuous firing of muskets and artillery, the shield was also hit. Pierced, followed by lead pellets hitting the Annan soldiers hiding behind the shield.

For a time, the corpses were smashed by lead shot and turned into balls of meat.

The visual effect of such an attack had a considerable impact on the hearts of the Annan people.

Annan's resistance became weaker and weaker, and finally some timid Annan people chose to escape.

However, the Ming army still had no time to take care of these deserters.

Amidst the roar of artillery fire from the small-caliber field artillery accompanying the army, the Ming army's offensive gradually approached the city wall, and then began to climb the city wall of Baixiang City.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A sharp whistling sound of arrows piercing the air suddenly sounded. The arrows of the archers at the top of the city came straight towards the Ming army below the city, trying to prevent the Ming army from ascending the city.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

On the Ming army's position, several soldiers fell down, including a small flag officer.

But they did not pause and continued to charge forward.

"boom!"

The Ming army's light bronze field cannon spewed flames from its muzzle.

Although the caliber of the field artillery was not large, Baixiang City was not really a fortified city. Even the stone wall could not withstand it once the gun was fired, and a big crater was immediately blasted out.

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

The Ming army's artillery bombarded the city wall non-stop, constantly tearing apart the city bricks on the city wall, causing the city bricks on the city wall to fall off continuously. Although few of them directly hit the city wall, the splash damage of the city bricks , and also greatly hindered the output of Annan army archers.

The soldiers of Annan Kingdom also kept throwing rolling logs and rocks at the city wall, but to no avail. Apart from adding a wave of waste, there was no actual value at all.

"Damn Ming army, how can they have so many cannons?"

Seeing the continuous cannonballs pouring down from the city wall, the general of Annan State said: "I'll hold them all back!"

"But, General..."

The Annan Army general responsible for guarding Baixiang City was Pan Maxiu's confidant. At this time, he shouted angrily: "Are you asking me to lead people up there myself?"

"The general will not dare!"

They were startled when they saw their leader being so irritable.

After all, everyone knows that this person is moody, and if he is offended, he and others will suffer.

"Damn it!"

The man roared angrily, and then gritted his teeth and said: "No matter what the price, we must defend this White Elephant City today! We will never allow the Ming army to break through our blockade!"

Hearing his general's words, everyone below suddenly showed a tragic look.

They all knew that part of the Ming army had already crossed over to Jiaoshui. If the Ming army captured Baixiang City, the main force starting from Jiaoshui City would have to fight in the field with the Ming army.

But in a field battle with the Ming army, what are the chances of winning?

It is no exaggeration to say that after defeat, Annan Kingdom is not far away from being destroyed. Therefore, this humble little country must be defended at all costs!

So, they no longer hesitated and immediately led their soldiers out of the city through the small gate on the other side to resist desperately.

"Bang! Bang bang! Bang bang..."

The gunman of the Ming army took the opportunity to pull the trigger and fired a volley of muskets, immediately mowing down most of the Annan people who rushed over.

Seeing that they continued to suffer losses, the morale of the Annan people was extremely low. They even began to doubt their lives. How to fight this battle? How to fight this battle?

"Kill!"

The infantry of the Ming army worked hard to break through the obstruction of the enemy troops arrayed behind the city, pushed forward, and tried to climb the city wall using crude ladders.

The remaining Annan people under the city tried to fight back, but to no avail.

The strength of the Ming army exceeded their imagination. The Annan people could not resist the Ming army's attack and retreated steadily.

When Zhu Youyi saw this, he immediately drew out his sword and shouted angrily: "Kill~"

He led hundreds of cavalry under his command to pounce on the enemy infantry fleeing from the city like wolves and tigers.

The cavalry of the Ming army all had superb riding skills. They could control the movement of their horses while moving at high speeds, allowing their spears and sabers to stab the enemy.

Moreover, they cooperated very well. Once an enemy army approached, the Ming army would immediately step forward, preventing the enemy army from rushing over to break their formation.

"Pfft!"

The Ming army held long swords and chopped down Annan people one after another. After a while, the city was littered with corpses.

Zhu Youyi's martial arts skills were extraordinary. He took the lead and slashed left and right with the long sword in his hand. Blood splattered everywhere where he went. Several enemy soldiers were killed with one blow before they even got close.

The Annan people watched helplessly as Zhu Youhuan cut them to the ground like a murderous god. Their morale collapsed for a moment. They were no match for the Ming army. They threw away their weapons and knelt on the ground to surrender.

At the top of the city, the people around them looked at the messy scene below the city, with expressions of disbelief on their faces. They couldn't help but comfort them: "General, let's run away! The troops leaving the city have all been defeated. This small city It can’t be defended.”

"What are we going to do? This is Annan's last hope. If we run away, Annan will really be doomed!"

General Annan gritted his teeth and insisted.

He knew that if he ran away at this time, he would have no chance at all.

At this moment, a guard hurried in: "Report to General Qi that smoke and dust are rising in the east. Our reinforcements have arrived!"

Hearing this, the man's originally depressed expression suddenly brightened up.

He didn't even expect that a support force actually arrived!

With the arrival of the army from afar, the Ming army's scouts also passed the news back to Zhu Youxuan, the king of Runan County.

"Fifty or sixty thousand Annan people came?"

Zhu Youyi was startled. This meant he gave up defending Jiaoshui City and wanted to fight the Ming army to the death in the wild!

"Retreat, give up the siege, and return to join Cao Guogong."

Zhu Youyi decisively issued the most correct order.

At the same time, seeing the Ming army retreating, the Annan soldiers who had been huddled in Baixiang City also became brave, carrying their own shields, swords and guns, and rushed towards the city wall.

An Annan soldier shouted, then rushed to the city wall, and started a fierce hand-to-hand fight with the Ming army who had no time to retreat. For a time, there were swords and swords on the city top, and people kept falling.

After the Ming army suffered dozens of casualties, the forward troops began to retreat backwards.

Soon after, Li Jinglong, who was supervising the Ming army and the servant army crossing the river, heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance, followed by several scout cavalry running from the northeast.

"Report to the Duke, the king of Runan County has sent word that the enemy is attacking!"

"What? Enemy attack? How many people are there?"

Li Jinglong, who was about to take a rest, jumped on his horse and looked up after hearing this.

"The enemy should have moved everything they could. There are 50,000 to 60,000 people!"

"Hahahaha! What a God-given opportunity!"

Upon hearing the news, Li Jinglong pounded his fists with his palms excitedly.

Li Jinglong originally planned to wait for the camp along the river to be captured and then fight the enemy under the fortified city. Unexpectedly, the enemy army actually took the initiative to attack.

This is simply sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth!

But that's okay, he can kill them all at once, and these enemy troops are already the enemy's entire strength on the southern front.

After this decisive battle, the Ming army can go straight to the enemy's eastern capital!

Just what he wanted!

Li Jinglong was overjoyed and said to the generals.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate you all for your military achievements!"

All the generals also shouted:

"Enter Shenglong Mansion and capture Hu Jiya alive!"