Before Yuan Huang's main force arrived, the Battle Wolf Battalion and the Wild Lion Battalion did not dare to go all out. After all, they were up against more than a hundred thousand Meng Tribe soldiers.
Luo Rong and Jiang Yue were not arrogant enough to use five thousand men to fight against a hundred thousand strong army, even if they were just a bunch of mobs in the eyes of the Zhennan Army.
Luo Rong and Jiang Yue were both Xiao Ruxun's bodyguards from Ningxia. They had followed Xiao Ruxun to the northwest and fought against the Northern Barbarians. They had made great contributions in Korea and were gradually promoted.
When they arrived in Myanmar, they made further contributions. After the reorganization of the Zhennan Army in the 24th year of Wanli, the two of them stood out and became the leading generals of the cavalry. They could be considered as part of the Yuan Cong Faction in a broad sense, but they were still a little different from the Yuan Cong Faction.
They had often followed Xiao Ruxun and learned a few things. They knew Xiao Ruxun's habits of using troops and commanding. They knew that although Xiao Ruxun looked down on his enemies, he had never looked down on them.
To put it simply, Xiao Ruxun had once explained to them that they were the best. Those who tried to resist or oppose them were all barbarians and idiots. There was no need to have any sympathy for these people, just fight them to the death.
However, there was one thing that they could not look down on. Since ancient times, how many times had they suffered at the hands of barbarians and idiots?
As a result, the generals of the Southern Battlefront Army had inherited Xiao Ruxun's philosophy under the brainwashing education and propaganda that Xiao Ruxun held multiple times.
Even if he called them barbarians, even if he looked down on them, he would not ignore the basic combat strength they possessed. After all, everyone only had one life. When fighting a war, it was a battle of luck and toughness of life. No one had a second life, right?
On this point, the generals of the Zhennan Army all adhered to Qi Jiguang's concept, which was that the strategic objective must be achieved, but it must not be achieved through stupid and brute force. Instead, it must be achieved at the lowest cost. On the premise that there was no need to sacrifice their lives, they should not lose their lives in vain.
One of the reasons why Xiao Ruxun strongly promoted the literacy program for the soldiers was that he wanted the generals to develop the awareness of cherishing their lives and not wasting their lives and the lives of their soldiers. In this era where the literacy rate was less than one percent, literacy was a very precious thing.
Therefore, the generals naturally began to cherish the soldiers under their command who could read and write, had a little bit of culture, and were also very strong in combat. They would not casually treat the lives of their soldiers as if they were pigs or dogs. The losses of the Zhennan Army in battle decreased rapidly.
Luo Rong and Jiang Yue were both staunch supporters of Xiao Ruxun, and they were loyal to him. Naturally, they would abide by Xiao Ruxun's principle of not making unnecessary sacrifices, and they would not fight when it was not necessary. However, now that Yuan Huang had come with his main force, what else could they say?
Beat him up!
Without waiting for the Meng Tribe Coalition to finish organizing their troops, the vanguard of the Zhennan Army, the Battle Wolf Battalion and the Azure Dragon Battalion, led by Zhao Hu from Yuan Cong's faction, killed their way out of Ping Xi City, and marched north.
On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month of the 26th year of Wan Li, Zhao Hu defeated the Meng Tribe's hastily assembled army of more than ten thousand soldiers ten li north of Ping Xi City. He beheaded more than a thousand soldiers and killed more than half of them. The remaining one thousand captives were released by Zhao Hu, but they were not whole.
They were either missing an arm, an ear, or a nose or a lip. Zhao Hu had specially ordered them to be released to spread panic and strengthen their psychological attacks.
In his view, this kind of loose alliance without a backbone and an extremely uncivilized opponent only needed to strengthen their fear of the Ming Dynasty Army in their hearts. Even though they had the numbers, they would not be able to withstand a single blow.
Having been by Xiao Ruxun's side for a long time, Zhao Hu had also learned many of Xiao Ruxun's usual battlefield tactics. Under Xiao Ruxun's careful training, the growth of the three main generals of Yuan Cong's faction was very obvious.
In the beginning, Zhao Hu only knew how to charge and kill, and was the most ferocious general of Yuan Cong's faction. But now, Yuan Huang evaluated Zhao Hu as a true enemy of ten thousand, a general who could command an army of ten thousand on the battlefield.
Zhao Hu's first victory greatly boosted the morale of the Ming Army. The vanguard army steadily advanced north, and the follow-up troops set off one after another. At this moment, as the commander-in-chief of this battle, Yuan Huang was not in a hurry to personally follow the footsteps of the main army.
He still had to complete the special task that Xiao Ruxun had given him.
His target was Bishop Alexander and Ricci, who were currently recuperating in Pingxi City.
As Xiao Ruxun's closest and most trusted elder, Yuan Huang definitely knew Xiao Ruxun's true thoughts. He knew that Xiao Ruxun had no intention of allowing these Europeans to preach in the Daming's territory.
Xiao Ruxun had once discussed the thoughts of these preachers with Yuan Huang. He showed extreme wariness and disgust towards their true intentions. The reason why they were kept alive was because they needed to communicate with the Europeans. They needed a more civilized image to fool the Europeans so that they could take all their good things for their own use.
Secondly, it was to create an excuse for war with the Meng Tribe.
As for Ricci, Yuan Huang knew very well that Xiao Ruxun did not take him seriously at all. If it were not for the fact that he was fluent in Mandarin, had a good memory, and could write down many Western classics to help Xiao Ruxun establish a scientific system, Xiao Ruxun would not have allowed this fellow to stay in Marquis Zhennan's residence.
Even so, Xiao Ruxun had set many restrictions on Ricci. He basically did not give him the opportunity to come into contact with outsiders. He did not give him the time and space to preach. The only person who had been in contact with him for a long time, Chen Longzheng, was a downright romantic and almost turned Ricci against him.
To put it bluntly, Xiao Ruxun was extracting their value. One day, when this value was gone, Xiao Ruxun would turn against them at the right time.
Yuan Huang understood this very well. Therefore, they still had a lot of value that could be extracted from them. He could not treat them as if they were nothing. Therefore, on behalf of Xiao Ruxun, Yuan Huang sent them care as if they were his family.
"Mr. Alexander, Mr. Leigh, I really did not expect this to happen!"
Yuan Huang bemoaned the state of the universe and the fate of mankind as he looked at Bishop Alexander and Matteo Ricci, whose faces were filled with joy after surviving a disaster. He then waved his hand and got the soldiers to send the gifts he had prepared for them.
Bishop Alexander grabbed Yuan Huang's hand.
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