The Qing army spread along the riverside became turbulent after hearing the continuous whistles. Both soldiers and officers turned around and looked at the flanking mountains that made whistles, looking for the subsequent movements of the Ming army. Their commander Tan Hong himself was shocked by the sound of arrows one after another, and hesitated to make a judgment: "Is there a large army ambushing the mountain or the old suspicious array? If an army is ambushing, how many people can they have? Hundreds, thousands? If it is a old suspicious array..." Tan Hong thought about looking to the far east again. On the way of the Qing army, more and more whistles rose into the air with the feather arrows, responding to the previous signal: "The scale of this suspicious array is too large, and it has been arranged ten miles along the mountain!"

In the Ming army's prior plans such as Zhou Kaihuang, the Ming army would be divided into five teams. Except for Li Xinghan's first team, the other four teams were ambushed on the mountain. In order to avoid being discovered, these troops needed to be farther away from the shore and did not take the initiative to conduct any form of reconnaissance until Tan Hong was lured to the predetermined location, and then guide the entire army to launch an attack by sounding arrows. In order to ensure the consistency of the attack, the officers of the Ming army also made a plan to communicate twice with arrows: the team located at the eastmost point, which is closest to Tan Hong's camp, had to respond, and first launched an attack, thereby cutting off Tan Hong's retreat. This response was a signal to attack the fourth team. After obtaining the signal, the fourth team shot the second arrow - the offensive signal to the third team, and the third team launched an attack at the same time.

The troops hidden in the east were Zhou Kaihuang's troops. When the fourth whistle sounded the arrow came, he was already impatient and immediately issued a group of arrows that had been on the strings, leading the people around him to attack the riverside. In the expectation of Zhou Kaihuang and others, the Ming army hidden in the mountain would rush into the unexpected enemy column like tigers down the mountain and drive them into the river in one fell swoop. However, as the Ming army launched an attack on each team, the commanding officers of several teams soon found that they were not as smooth as expected.

The art of war emphasizes that the brave should not advance alone, and the cowardly should not retreat alone. The best attack is that once it is launched, the entire army will advance at the same time.

However, the Ming army in ambushed was reunited by the defeated soldiers. The system of the officers and soldiers was quite scattered, and the communication of the Ming army hiding in the woods also had great obstacles. As for Deng Ming, Zhou Kaihuang, Zhao Tianba, and Li Xinghan, the reciprocating arrow communication system that people like to think of withered inspiration, exacerbated the chaos of the army. When they heard the sound of arrows coming from the beginning, the more reckless Ming army was ready to start the attack. For example, the fourth team located on the west side of Zhou Kaihuang, led the army to send a signal and launched the attack without waiting for Zhou Kaihuang to respond. The cautious people patiently waited for the reversal signal that had been agreed in advance before attacking.

There were many soldiers in each team who were following the crowd. After seeing some brave people attacking, some followed, while others hesitated to look at their companions who had not taken action and did not follow them and went down the mountain.

As for the Ming army officers' pre-existing thought that the tigers were going down the mountain did not appear as expected, because they were hiding too high, and the woods in the wilderness were too difficult to walk on, with rocks and tree trunks everywhere. In addition, sunset approaching, many soldiers shouted and charged, but before they saw the enemy, they tripped by the messy things under their feet, and fell to their faces. Seeing that the bravest brothers in front of them fell down a section of the hillside and fell to death, the soldiers following behind couldn't help but be cautious, slowed down and carefully downhill to avoid repeating the mistakes of their predecessors.

What's worse is that the Ming army teams were disconnected from each other, and the temporary officers and non-commissioned officers quickly lost control of the soldiers. Most of the temporary non-commissioned officers were the bravest, most courageous and strongest among the people. They rushed down the mountain from the beginning, and threw their brothers into the woods behind them. For example, when Zhou Kaihuang led dozens of bravest heroes in his team to the shore, the last person had not yet left the hidden place for a few steps.

In this way, it was supposed to be a sudden attack that was full of momentum, turning into a messy and stumbling march - this was a very badly organized attack.

On the other hand, when the sound of arrows soared into the air, the crowded Qing army column on the shore was immediately panicked. Including their commander Tan Hong, they didn't know what the Ming army was deploying and how many troops were hidden in the mountains. Moreover, the soldiers in the army did not have the confidence of their commander. Tan Hong firmly believed that the number of Ming soldiers would not exceed 100 - he guessed it wrong; and it would be a unit with a very simple equipment. This was true. However, the soldiers in the Qing army did not expect so many. They had been walking along the inaccessible roads on the shore for a long time, and their physical strength was consumed, so the officers could not effectively command the headquarters. Now many people think that they were ambushed by the Ming army, and countless enemy troops hiding in the mountains were rushing towards them. It was almost dark, and the surroundings would soon become very cold.

Due to the chaos caused by the Ming army's attack, the distance between their troops was greatly extended, which was of course unfavorable to the attacking party, because when the vanguard fought with the enemy, the support was still far behind. However, in the eyes of the Qing soldiers who were like frightened birds on the shore, there was another scene. The dense forest covered the strength of the Ming army, and they could only judge the size of the Ming army by observing the movement and stillness. Looking up, they saw that the plants and trees were shaking in the woods about a wide range of on the mountain, and the figure was silenced. Tan Hong's battalion stationed on the south bank was his main force, and many non-commissioned officers had combat experience. When they saw this scene, they immediately felt that there were probably tens of thousands of Ming troops hidden on the mountain?

Even if there are only two or 30,000 Ming troops ambushing, it is an overwhelming advantage over less than two thousand Qing troops by the river. Moreover, the Qing soldiers with a little experience understand that their formation and deployment are now without any counterattack ability, and they are facing collapse and cannot be adjusted. The enemy is still more than ten times the one on their own. In short, it is hopeless.

The equipment of the Ming army cannot be compared with the Qing army. Zhou Kaihuang and others have a clear understanding of this, so they planned that the four teams launched an attack at the same time, and divided the Qing army into several sections at once, instead of attacking parallelly on the entire front. In this way, the limited equipment of the Ming army can be equipped with all the attacking vanguards. After defeating the Qing soldiers in their respective attack areas, the Ming army can arm some of the soldiers with seized weapons, and then fight along the river bank, constantly destroying the enemy, and constantly replenish themselves - this is the entire Ming army's combat plan. Although it is not ideal, it is much better than attacking Tan Hong's camp with bare hands.

Deng Ming, Zhou Kaihuang, Li Xinghan, Zhao Tianba and others all believed that such a combat plan required the raid effect to avoid allowing the Qing army to play its equipment advantage. However, because the Ming army was too hidden, the surprise attack effect was not achieved at all. However, if such an effect was really achieved, a fierce melee would probably break out in the main attack area of ​​each team. The Qing army was attacked all at once, and the soldiers had no time to react and could only fight the life of the attacker.

But the situation is completely different now. The Qing army, which was full of soldiers, felt that countless enemy soldiers were rolling towards them, and they were already dead. Fortunately, the enemy soldiers had not yet rushed to the shore for so long after the arrows were shot in the air... It seemed that they still had time to escape before the Ming army arrived.

The Qing soldiers who lost their fighting spirit looked around to find a chance to escape. Tan Hong's team was immediately in chaos. As soon as the people who took the lead in the escape appeared, more and more soldiers followed suit. In this long column, those non-commissioned officers who were particularly loyal to Tan Hong could not stop the escape. Seeing that the Ming army was rushing forward, they could already hear the shouts of the enemy in the front. The Qing soldiers located on several main attack areas threw down their weapons and shouted at the top of their lungs. Since the road on the shore was blocked, some people gritted their teeth and went down the river regardless of everything, trying to flow through the shallow water and beyond the front of other escapees.

The fastest-moving one or two people successfully drifted to the front of their companions, which immediately aroused the imitation of others. Countless Qing soldiers were squeezed to the point of desperate situation and could only wait to die. Listening to the Ming army getting closer and closer, they were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. Many people didn't care about the cold weather, and threw down their weapons and armor into the river, and their hands and feet rushed eastward with their efforts. More and more soldiers entered the river, which meant that they had to go around bigger bends to surpass their companions in front and ventured into deeper and deeper water. The bottom of the river was rugged and uneven, and a little distance might suddenly deepen. At first, the water might not reach the calf, then the thigh, and then the waist and chest were suddenly immersed in the river. In the end, someone started swimming faster than the people around him.

"Kill!" Zhou Kaihuang fell once on the road, and nearly rolled down the hillside twice. He finally rushed out of the woods and rushed to the riverside. He suddenly realized his mind, shouted loudly, flew out, his eyes wide open, his whole body was full of passion, and he was ready to fight.

Following Zhou Kaihuang, the three most brave men were his team. The four waved their weapons and shouted to the river bank. The Qing soldiers who were already in their right hand screamed strangely, and rushed away without looking back. From time to time, there was a thunderous sound of falling into the water. When Zhou Kaihuang was in the front, the same wailing sound also sounded. Seeing the fierce Ming army coming, the Qing soldiers who were the first to jump into the water and swam into the river. They could avoid them as far as they could, there was a crackling sound of water attacks, mixed with the miserable cry of people swept away by the river. On the left hand of Zhou Kaihuang, the Qing soldiers who were intercepted by the Ming army turned around and ran back. In the chaos of crying for parents, the Qing soldiers who were a little panicked were fainted and turned around and ran back to the dead end to meet Zhou Kaihuang's big knife.

Then dozens of Ming troops rushed out of the woods and came to Zhou Kaihuang. In the Ming army's plan, Deng Ming and Zhao Tianba wanted to lure the Qing army to run westward, so that they could exhaust their energy on this road, so that the Ming army could wait for their leisure. But now Zhou Kaihuang looked around, and the Ming army, who was waiting for their leisure, did not reach the expected state. Except for the hidden position being too far from the river bank, they seemed to have a charge too early. They stumbled down from the mountain, and the Ming soldiers ran out of breath. Seeing that the Qing army had run away, some people put their hands on their hips and gasped for rest.

As more soldiers arrived, they saw that the river bank was full of weapons discarded by the Qing army. The Ming soldiers holding wooden sticks immediately began to look for suitable weapons. After seeing the boots and armor thrown by the Qing army, some people hurriedly sat on the ground and desperately put the equipment on themselves.

"Mr. Zhou Qian, what are we doing now?" In this chaotic situation, several soldiers around Zhou Kaihuang asked in a verbal manner.

Zhou Kaihuang was also a little confused. When they made plans in advance, they believed that a fierce battle would occur on the river bank. Taking over the river bank and cutting the Qing army into several sections was the most difficult goal in advance. Once this step was achieved, the battle would be declared victorious, and there was no need to consider what to do after occupying the river bank. Now the Qing army retreated without fighting, and the soldiers were also using the enemy's equipment to arm themselves as planned. In theory, the progress would be much smoother than expected, but why did Zhou Kaihuang feel that the scene was so chaotic and seemed to be very bad?

"After occupying the river bank, search for defeated soldiers, gather together to occupy Tan Hong's camp." At the military meeting, the following explanations were made after occupying the river bank. At that time, everyone felt that the goal of occupying the river bank was difficult to achieve smoothly. During the limited discussion time, the most discussed discussion was made. After all, the Ming army was poorly equipped. And everyone took it for granted that the entire Qing army would fight the Ming army here. If the first goal was achieved, it would mean that the organized resistance of the Qing army was completely shattered, and occupying the camp was a natural thing.

Zhou Kaihuang saw the officers around him, and the soldiers were all looking at him with weapons. Many soldiers had already rested, so he decided to take the next action according to the arrangements at the military meeting. He ordered loudly: "The whole team is divided into two, and I will personally lead the camp of Tanzi on the right, and search the Tartars on the left to hunt down the Tartars."

...

The other three teams had similar experiences as Zhou Kaihuang. The Qing soldiers on the front fled in a swarm. The Ming army attacked the enemies they could see along the river bank. There were only a few Qing soldiers on the river bank to resist stubbornly. However, due to the terrain problem, although these Qing soldiers were not large in number, they caused great trouble to the attacking Ming army. The narrow head-on confrontation made both sides fight in units of no more than ten.

Soon the Qing soldiers noticed that there was a gap between the Ming troops in each team. This discovery made more Qing soldiers lose the courage to fight. Originally, they had no way to escape and were unwilling to jump into the river, and felt that they had to fight to the death. After discovering the gap between the Ming troops, these Qing soldiers began to flee up the mountain one after another, trying to survive from the gap in the Ming army's front.

The escape further aggravated the disintegration of the morale of the Qing army, and the progress of the Ming army became faster and faster. Soon the three teams in the east got in touch, occupying the entire river bank, and all the Qing army's resistance was eliminated. After the three teams were closed, half of them went east to support Zhou Kaiyuan. Some of the remaining people raised torches brought by the Qing army and began to search the mountains, while some went to reinforce Li Xinghan - Tan Hong and the Qing army's vanguard were also intercepted there.

When there were shouts and fighting sounds on the entire front, Tan Hong realized that he was indeed trapped. It was not that he did not want to fight a path of blood, but it was impossible to kill from the river bank back to the camp. There were not only enemies on the road, but also crowded with his own people. Even if he wanted to fight with the enemy, he had to step on the heads of countless soldiers on his own.

The four hundred soldiers sent to detour Li Xinghan's rear were the main force in Tan Hong's hands. The order they received when they set out was that the front army was blocked by dozens, or hundreds of Ming troops, and they needed to wipe out the small Ming troops through the woods. The Qing soldiers felt that the strength of the Ming army was insignificant, so they were full of confidence and morale.

After hearing the first arrow, these soldiers were shaken like other companions. They began to realize that there might be more than dozens of enemies on the opposite side. The figures of the Ming army could be seen shaking where the arrows were fired. After calming down, the Qing army decided to launch an attack as planned and continue to try to deviate from the rear of Li Xinghan. As the Ming army launched an attack on the entire front, the grass and trees all over the mountains were shaking, and the earth-shaking shouts on the Yangtze River bank several miles behind them were one after another. The Qing army was also shocked and seriously misjudged the strength of the Ming army, greatly overestimating the strength of the enemy on the opposite side.

The banner of Tan Hong was not seen in the woods, and there was no way to get in touch. Tan Hong was neither clear about the situation of this army nor could he recover their morale. Soon the soldiers were at a loss and their morale fell to the bottom. After they noticed the gap on the Ming army's front opposite, the Qing army did not turn back to meet with Tan Hong, but drilled into the deeper part of the woods regardless of everything. However, they no longer detoured west, but fled aimlessly towards the mountains in the southeast, hoping to escape from the Ming army's tiger's mouth.

When the Ming army closest to Li Xinghan approached, Tan Hong still stayed on the bank of the river, with more than 300 soldiers left by him. Many of them jumped into the river in despair and were swept away by the ruthless river flow-Tan Hong didn't believe that anyone could swim ten miles in this cold river water, and as for crossing the Yangtze River, few people could do it.

However, entering the woods is also dangerous. Tan Hong knew that such woods were difficult to pass, and that he would completely lose control of the army. Morale was already so sluggish, and he could not see it a few meters away in the woods. How could he control it? The last few troops left by his side would scatter.

"Only stick to this place," Tan Hong thought to himself. There were still several boats in the camp. Because the speed of going up against the river was very slow, he did not bring him when he was chasing: "Once the division sees the defeated soldiers who fled back to the camp, he will take a boat to pick me up, so now we must try our best to stay here."

There was a lot of crying around. Tan Hong knew that the army was extremely unstable. The reason why these soldiers were still gathered by him was because there was no way to escape. But the trouble that Tan Hong encountered during the attack just now turned to the other side. Tan Hong tried hard to control the troops and decided to support Qin Xiucai drove a boat to save him.
Chapter completed!