Yan Liang found two scapegoats to 'guard' Xuanwu Pass while the rest of the army retreated to Weiwu Pass. Under the bombardment of the cannons, Xuanwu Pass was lifeless and lifeless.
The abnormality of the allied army was soon noticed by the 2nd Corps.
"General, something's wrong. Did the enemy retreat?"
Zhang Han was also puzzled. After thinking for a moment, he decisively ordered, "Bombard the gate and prepare to attack!"
"Yes, sir!"
Amidst the rumbling of the cannons, the gate was breached.
The vast army surged into Xuanwu Pass like a black tide, but there were only five thousand defenders.
The two scapegoats did not have the courage to die a martyr's death. Seeing that the enemy was charging into the pass, they decisively chose to surrender. They answered Zhang Han's questions without any hesitation.
Knowing that the main force of the allied army had retreated, Zhang Han immediately ordered, "Chen Yucheng!"
"Here!"
A young general stepped out. He was one of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's peerless geniuses, Chen Yucheng.
Chen Yucheng was brave in battle and had a high level of comprehension. He was deeply trusted and liked by Zhang Han, who did not hesitate to impart all his knowledge to him. This young general had already grown into a cornerstone of the 2nd Corps.
Ouyang Shuo had already instructed the other commanders to focus on nurturing these young generals with potential, whether it was Chen Yucheng or Li Xiucheng, who was under Di Qing's command, to help them grow.
This was especially so for Li Xiucheng, Chen Yucheng, and the other generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, who were born in the Qing Dynasty, who were familiar with firearms. They were the best candidates to form a special firearms unit in the future.
"I'll have you lead five thousand elite cavalrymen in pursuit. Remember, don't be greedy for achievements. Turn back before we reach Weiwu Pass, "Zhang Han ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
Chen Yucheng cupped his fists and left.
Soon, five thousand elite cavalrymen charged out of Xuanwu Pass and pursued the enemy.
Zhang Han led his men to take over Xuanwu Pass, detain the surrendered generals, and clean up the battlefield. At the same time, he drafted a battle report and submitted it to Han Xin, the commander of the Baotao Army, and waited for further instructions.
…
Chen Yucheng had just reached the middle of the pursuit when he discovered the allied army that was rapidly retreating.
"Kill!"
Without hesitation, Chen Yucheng led his men over.
There was only a rugged mountain road connecting the two passes. The mountain road was narrow, no more than three or four meters wide. The forty thousand allied troops formed a long line. The front army had already entered the Mighty Pass, but the rear army was still halfway there.
Yan Liang was not completely unprepared for Chen Yucheng's ambush.
Other than leaving five thousand soldiers to "guard" Xuanwu Pass, Yan Liang had also arranged for troops to bring up the rear. However, Yan Liang had underestimated Zhang Han's decisiveness.
As soon as he noticed that something was amiss, Zhang Han immediately issued the order to attack the pass. Then, as soon as he received the news, he ordered his elite cavalrymen to pursue the enemy.
Even so, the rear army was still caught off guard.
On the narrow mountain road, the soldiers who were responsible for bringing up the rear were pierced through by the cavalrymen led by Chen Yucheng before they could get into formation. They were utterly defeated.
Looking from the sky, Chen Yucheng's 5,000 elite cavalrymen were like a sharp arrow that pierced into the coalition army's formation from the rear. Then, they pierced all the way to the end like skewers.
Wherever the cavalrymen passed, be it the soldiers with shields or spears, they were either trampled to death or pierced through by the cavalrymen's spears. Most of them were pushed to the foothills on both sides by the cavalrymen and fell to the ground.
The situation was extremely chaotic.
Chen Yucheng was very smart. He didn't pursue the number of enemies he could kill. There was only one thought in his mind — charge, charge, and charge again. He would completely scatter the enemy and crush their will.
Visibility was very limited on the narrow mountain road.
The soldiers at the rear were scared out of their wits by the cavalrymen's charge. They had no idea how many enemies there were. All they knew was that they just kept charging forward.
"Run! The enemy is coming!"
The first soldier threw down his supplies and ran forward like a rabbit.
"How many people are coming?" the second soldier asked.
The first soldier replied, "At least five thousand!"
"What five thousand? At least ten thousand! "The third soldier swore.
"So many? Let's run for our lives!"
The second soldier was so scared that his face turned pale. He threw down his supplies and ran for his life.
The soldiers were like a bunch of frightened rabbits, running forward with all their might.
Panic was like dominoes, spreading to the front.
During this process, the number of enemies kept snowballing. First, it was five thousand, then ten thousand, then twenty thousand, and finally, a hundred thousand soldiers.
"A hundred thousand? The enemy's corps only has seventy thousand soldiers. Where did they get a hundred thousand? "the second soldier questioned.
The third soldier swore again, "You don't understand. Shanhai City has more than one second corps."
"Brother, you're right."
When the soldier heard this, he didn't care whether it was reasonable or not. In any case, there was nothing wrong with escaping into the Mighty Pass.
The army that had yet to enter the pass was in chaos. There were countless "bad things" like stampedes, gang fights, betrayals, and so on. Just the number of soldiers who were trampled to death by their own people was no less than five hundred.
Yan Liang, who had already entered the pass, realized that something was wrong. He asked, "What's going on?"
"Reporting to General, the enemy is coming," the deputy general reported.
"How many people are coming? Why are they panicking like this? "
"Ten, a hundred thousand!"
The deputy general stammered. He couldn't make up his mind whether he should believe this information or not. The problem was that all the soldiers who had escaped into the pass claimed that there were as many as a hundred thousand enemies.
All of them swore solemnly and had sincere expressions on their faces.
Their sincerity was so great that if the officer said "I don't believe", they would jump off the city wall to prove their innocence.
"Smack!"
A crisp sound rang out. The hot-tempered Yan Liang finally couldn't hold it in any longer and lashed out with his whip, beating the deputy general until his face was swollen.
"Bastard. A hundred thousand soldiers? Are you kidding me? How can you believe this?! "
Yan Liang wasn't a fool. He didn't believe that the enemy would be stupid enough to send a hundred thousand soldiers to attack on the narrow mountain road. Wasn't that asking for trouble?!
The deputy general's stupidity completely ignited Yan Liang's anger.
"Please forgive me, General!"
The deputy general didn't dare to argue and knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.
"Idiot!"
Yan Liang couldn't bear to see such a coward and kicked him again. "Scram!"
After teaching the deputy general a lesson, Yan Liang ascended the city wall and looked toward the mountain road. His expression instantly turned solemn.
On the long mountain road, the allied army was in complete chaos.
The enemy cavalry galloped wantonly on the mountain road, reaping the lives of the allied army like harvesting wheat. The already chaotic allied army didn't have a trace of fighting spirit. All they wanted to do was to run for their lives.
On the foothills on both sides, the allied army soldiers who were running for their lives could be seen everywhere.
"General, should we arrange for the army to go down and provide support?" One of the deputy generals carefully suggested.
Yan Liang shook his head. "It's useless. The mountain road is narrow. If we send our troops now, we will go against the flow and block their retreat route. It will only increase the panic of the soldiers. It won't help. "
"It might even cause greater panic." Yan Liang didn't say this out loud.
"Then, what should we do?"
Yan Liang's expression was cold. "Wait for another half an hour. After half an hour, immediately close the city gate. "
"Yes, Sir!"
The deputy general's heart trembled, but he didn't dare to refute.
It wasn't Yan Liang's fault for being cold. Although he didn't believe that the enemy had sent a hundred thousand soldiers, he still couldn't grasp the enemy's numbers. If the enemy took this opportunity to rush into the Mighty Pass, it would be a big problem.
This was the principle of the merciful not leading an army.
…
"Rumble ~ ~ ~"
Half an hour later, the city gate of the Mighty Pass slowly closed, resolutely and firmly.
A city gate separated the two worlds.
Those who entered the gate were saved, while those who didn't were like fish on the chopping board, waiting to be slaughtered.
Some soldiers who managed to escape to the foot of the city were mercilessly blocked outside the city gate. All of them looked desperate, and there was madness and anger in their despair.
A kind of despair of being abandoned spread and took root in the hearts of the soldiers.
"Open the gate, quickly open the gate!"
"Open the gate, let us in!"
"General, save us!"
No matter how the soldiers begged, Yan Liang was indifferent.
Compared to Xuanwu Pass, there were only 20,000 soldiers stationed at the Mighty Pass. Therefore, as a general under Lord Ximen, Yan Liang led his troops to the Mighty Pass and immediately took over the command of the pass.
The garrison of the Mighty Pass did not even dare to let out a fart.
Not to mention other things, Lord Ximen was the first lord of the North Sichuan City-State, a real giant.
If Yan Liang didn't let go, no one dared to open the city gate.
In such a short time, Chen Yucheng had led his troops to the vicinity of the Mighty Pass. Seeing the city gate close, he sneered in his heart. The enemy's reaction was not beyond his expectations.
"Stop advancing."
Chen Yucheng did not let victory get to his head. He remembered Zhang Han's instructions.
With a "shua" sound, the five thousand elite cavalrymen, who had barely suffered any damage, stopped uniformly even in the midst of the chaotic battlefield.
Such a strong quality was really beyond the coalition army's reach.
"Pass down the order, those who surrender will not be killed!"
Chen Yucheng gave the order, but he could see that the coalition army outside the city had already left the main force.
"Yes!"
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of light cavalries came out of the crowd and spread the order to surrender everywhere.
When the coalition soldiers heard this, since the city gate was closed, there was no need to talk about loyalty. They simply chose to go all out and directly chose to surrender.
With someone taking the lead, more people joined in.
In a short time, there were countless people who surrendered. In the end, when the soldiers who were still hesitating saw that their comrades around them had surrendered, they were so scared that their hearts trembled, and they stammered to surrender.
They were really worried that if they delayed any longer, they would be tied up by their comrades around them and sent over to ask for credit.
Instead of that, they might as well surrender.
They had long heard that the treatment of the army of Shanhai City was far better than theirs, so why were they still hesitating?!
On top of the city wall, Yan Liang's face turned even uglier when he saw this.
For Yan Liang, this day was really a bit of a torment.
…
Chen Yucheng did not dare to delay, and he had no intention of provoking the coalition army at the top of the city wall. After tidying up a little, he took the 10,000 surrendered soldiers with him and set off on the journey back.
In this battle, Chen Yucheng only relied on 5,000 elite cavalries to kill more than 6,000 enemies and take 10,000 captives. It could be said that he had made a great contribution.
Even Zhang Han, who had ordered the pursuit, probably did not expect to achieve such a brilliant result.
Chen Yucheng, the young general, had become famous after this battle!
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