Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 198
On the road from the north bank of the Xinqiang River to Yuezhou City, the corpses of the green camps, broken guns and flags, and ownerless horses are everywhere, covering the official roads.

This time Wang Yan didn't hold back, he directly chased Zu Kefa to the foot of Yuezhou city, and then withdrew his troops back to clean up the battlefield.

In this battle, Zu Kefa left the city with 2 horses, but only a few dozen horses could return to Yuezhou.

At this time, Wang Yan returned to the bank of the river, and the soldiers who participated in the battle respected him like a god, and the Manda Zhuang tribe who joined at the end were even more admiring for him.

At this time, the soldiers who supervised the pro-army had already started to clean up the battlefield, checked the wounded brothers, counted the troops, banners and weapons, and packed up the soldiers who died in battle.

At that time, Man Dazhuang and others looked at the corpses all over the ground, but they were very embarrassed. They stood outside the battlefield, as if they were here to visit.

Man Dazhuang originally thought that after crossing the river, he could have a smooth battle and get some credit, but the green battalion soldiers were too disappointing. They had already fled all over the mountains and plains before they landed. Not a hair of the green battalion was caught.

The corpses all over the ground are all real military exploits. If the general Ming army killed them, Man Dazhuang would have led people forward to loot them. This old oily man was severely shocked.

At this time, Wang Yan rode back on his horse and looked at Man Dazhuang who was standing there. He came to them with his horse, and said very kindly: "Don't be idle, the corpses all over the ground are all dead." It's a credit! General Man worked hard, cut off all the heads here and along the road, and then dragged the corpses to the foot of Yuezhou City to build a landscape. After the work is done, I will give you the credit of a thousand heads, how about it?"

Man Dazhuang and many generals were immediately excited when they heard the words, a thousand heads, although it is a green battalion, but it is also a great achievement, enough for them to be promoted to a higher level.

Amidst the excitement, the two thousand Ming troops couldn't help but blushed. They crossed the river and didn't even catch up with the charge. They didn't contribute at all, and now they are taking such a big advantage, even they themselves feel embarrassed.

Wang Yan looked at their faces, nodded slightly, and said in his heart, "This man is quite shameless, you can help him."

"A certain tendering officer, Man Dazhuang, will be the leader of Chu's stallion from now on!"

"A certain class is willing to be the leader of the country's male horse!"

Man Dazhuang and the others knelt down on one knee and saluted Wang Yan. This was not only because they took advantage of Ruo Da, but also because of Wang Yan's attitude towards them, and in troubled times, they were willing to follow the lead. Combat, capable characters mix.

Seeing this, Wang Yan smiled slightly. He didn't mean to take the opportunity to annex Zhang Kuang's subordinates, so he quickly got them up and went to clean up the battlefield first.

For a while, Man Dazhuang led two thousand soldiers into the battlefield, and while taking over the work from the superintendent's army, he said with a flattering smile: "How can such a nasty thing as cutting off a person's head make the elite Let’s do it, of course, let the little ones do it.”

Including Man Dazhuang himself, the 2000 Ming soldiers drew their swords one after another and got busy on the corpse.

Although the green camps were all Han Chinese, all of them had their hair shaved and their braids kept. Man Dazhuang and others cut off their heads, tied each of the five heads with braids, and put them on the cart for the scribes to register.

All of this looks bloody and scary, but the two thousand Ming soldiers did it happily and worked very hard, because these are all meritorious deeds, and they are all white silver.

When it was dark, the results of the battle were counted. Facts have proved that the fighting will of the Green Camp is indeed too weak. The battlefield near the river only received 400 heads, while the official road from Xintang River to Yuezhou received only [-] heads. , received nearly [-] pieces, and most of them died when they fled and were hacked and killed by cavalry.

These heads, together with some trampled to pieces, should total [-] heads.

There were 6000 green battalions, [-] dead and injured, more than a dozen riders returned to the city, and more than [-] captives surrendered.

Although Wang Yandubiao suffered few casualties, he still lost 300 people in battle. These were old soldiers who followed him all the way, which made him feel regretful and distressed.

Ten of the scholars who rushed to the end also died in battle. Although Wang Yan was taking care of them for the first time on the battlefield, casualties could not be avoided.

At night, the flames on the banks of the Xinqiang River burst into the sky. It was Wang Yan who was burning the corpses of the fallen soldiers. The billowing smoke covered the stars, and the sad sacrifice songs filled the heaven and the earth.

Man Dazhuang and his sergeants watched in novelty after the soldiers of the pro-inspector army burned the body, put the ashes in clay pots, wrote their names and hung them on their bodies, and listened to Wang Yan's mournful chanting of the sacrificial oration. Great shock.

"If a certain is the son of the Duke, he is willing to fight to the death for the Duke."

"That's right~ Brothers in the past died as soon as they died. No one cared about it at all, but the Duke of the country cared about not having a son who died in battle, which moved a certain heart."

Many of their brothers died on the battlefield. It is a blessing that someone can collect the corpses. There is also a reason why the Duke of the current dynasty paid homage in person.

The next day, Wang Yan ordered the [-] captives to cut off their braids, and then took them to camp at the foot of Yuezhou city.

Man Dazhuang continued his work, leading the soldiers to transport the headless corpses to the city. The armor and battle robes on the corpses were not too dirty. Except for the underwear, they were all stripped off and collected. Then, five piles of corpses were piled up outside Yuezhou City, which were taller than the city.

Seeing this, Zu Kefa was immediately terrified, while the [-] green battalion in Yuezhou City were very frightened.

At this time, Wang Yan ordered people to shout at the base of the city, declaring that the city would be attacked in three days, and all those who dared to resist would be killed.

The reason why the green battalion soldiers surrendered to the Qing court, apart from being coerced by the general, was also a big reason for their fear of death. Now Wang Yan's threat, coupled with the mountain of corpses outside the city, immediately made the green battalion soldiers turbulent and completely devoid of fighting spirit.

That night, two thousand green battalions went out of the city directly from the north gate and fled to Wuchang. The remaining soldiers and horses in the city were panicked, and there seemed to be mutiny.

Seeing this, Zhang Yingxiang knew that Yuezhou could no longer hold on, so he suggested to Zu Kefa to retreat to Wuchang after abandoning the city, but Zu Kefa wanted to hold on to Yuezhou so as to make up for his mistakes.

He lost 2 people in the first battle. If he gave up Yuezhou again and ruined the layout of Lord Baylor, Luck Dehun, he would lose his official position and be sent to prison for execution.

Zu Kefa quickly ordered his soldiers to pack sand and stones in cloth bags, and prepared to block the four gates of Yuezhou, so as to hold out until the Qing army returned for help.

(Thanks to shyion, Wanhe Tingsong, Zhong Ersheng Tsundere, for the reward)
(End of this chapter)