Chapter 45: The Survival of the Disaster

Zhu Gaoxu used his hands to pry open Geng Bingwen's hands that were tightly holding the blade, and then pulled the Yanling knife out of Geng Bingwen's neck. The old general's words before his death made Zhu Gaoxu feel a little uncomfortable for a moment!

In theory, we are all family members, and we are related to each other. But now hundreds of thousands of people have gathered here to kill each other, as if they have some deep hatred, but most of them are strangers and have no grudges against each other!

The discomfort only lasted for a moment, and soon Zhu Gaoxu could no longer care about it, as his own life was still hanging in the air!

He picked up Geng Bingwen's helmet and gorgeous scabbard, then took out a roll of something from Geng Bingwen's body, and then casually stuffed the thing into his armor.

When Zhu Gaoxu stood up, he saw that a group of Southern Army knights had dismounted and were kneeling in front of Geng Bingwen's body, as if ready to be killed. However, the Yan Army soldiers did not kill them in vain, but picked up a general's flag on the ground.

Zhu Gaoxu looked back at the place where Wang Bin fell from his horse and saw that Wang Bin's hands and feet were still moving. He immediately shouted, "The guards of the imperial guards, bring Wang Bin to me!" He then said, "The soldiers of the Yan army must not cut off Geng Bingwen's head, and leave his body intact!"

He picked up a spear and tied Geng Bingwen's flag and helmet to it. At this time, the guards brought a third horse. Zhu Gaoxu jumped on the horse, raised his spear high, and shouted, "The commander-in-chief of the government army, Geng Bingwen, has been killed in the battle! Commander Geng Bingwen is dead..."

All the soldiers followed suit and shouted, "Marshal Geng Bingwen is dead!" "Marshal Geng Bingwen is dead!"

Everyone rushed northward while shouting. Many Confederate soldiers turned their heads to look at the flag and helmets. When they heard the shouts, many of them showed frustration and sadness on their faces, and their morale was very low. When the Confederate soldiers saw the cavalry rushing towards them, many of them began to avoid and dodge.

Zhu Gaoxu then led his troops to fight bravely and broke out to the north.

The Yan army made slow progress and fought for countless rounds without a clear winner, but at this moment, they suddenly broke down several square formations in front of the government army! In an army of thousands, morale is often the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

Zhu Gaoxu immediately seized the opportunity, shouted "Geng Bingwen is dead", and rushed forward with all his might.

After a long and bitter battle, Zhu Gaoxu's cavalry and the Yan army in front of them attacked from the front and back, and finally broke through a narrow gap. He immediately shouted, "Order the whole army to break out from the red flag immediately!"

"Yes, sir!"

While the troops were charging, they waited for the cavalry from Zhang Wu's left camp to emerge from the gap one after another.

After waiting for a while, some Qingqi cavalry also rushed over, and less than half of them were left. Zhu Gaoxu looked far away and saw the government troops with swords and spears like a forest, and the soldiers and horses were surging. After Zhang Wu's troops retreated, the government troops they faced had no resistance and soon filled the entire area...

Zhu Gaoxu was exhausted at this time, and his subordinates had suffered heavy casualties. How could he have the energy and ability to rescue his brothers who had not escaped?

He looked up to the sky and sighed, and could only look back while walking north.

Zhu Gaoxu's cavalry had suffered numerous casualties and the organization was in disarray. He had no choice but to ride north to leave the battlefield. At this time, the Prince of Yan came towards him with a group of cavalry.

The Prince of Yan stared at the flag and helmet in Zhu Gaoxu's hand, and then looked up and down at Zhu Gaoxu, who was in tatters and blood. The Prince of Yan rode his horse alone to Zhu Gaoxu, stretched out his hand to grab Zhu Gaoxu's arm, and said, "My son is brave! Just now, Geng Bingwen, Sheng Yong, and Ping An led the elite troops to attack from three sides. I ordered Qiu Fu to help, for fear that my son would not be able to get out!"

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu thought to himself: Damn, so that's how it is. I was wondering why there were traps everywhere once I rushed in!

He opened his mouth, and countless emotions surged into his heart, the fear of surviving the disaster, the anger, the regret... All of a sudden he couldn't say anything.

King Yan said, "Gao Xu, go to the back of the formation first and we'll talk later."

"Your son obeys your command." Zhu Gaoxu clasped his fists and only then realized that his hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Zhu Gaoxu led the exhausted soldiers to continue marching northward. The generals around the Prince of Yan clasped their fists to him with awe on their faces. "Prince Gaoyang!" "Prince Gaoyang..."

The generals looked at Zhu Gaoxu with completely different eyes. He looked tired, and nodded and clasped his hands in response from time to time.

At this time, the voice of King Yan came from far behind, "Sheng Yong is a villain, helping Zhou to commit atrocities!"

Zhu Gaoxu had no intention or energy to care about the decisive battle under Zhending City, and led his troops straight to the garrison camp.

When they arrived at the place, he immediately ordered people to carry Wang Bin onto a plank bed. While calling the military doctor, he personally carefully removed Wang Bin's armor and clothes.

He was not a doctor in his previous life, but he still knew basic common sense, such as awareness of disinfection, foreign objects in the wound will fester, suturing the wound to speed up healing, etc. When taking off clothes, the most important thing is to carefully observe whether there are any debris left in the wound.

Wang Bin was wearing heavy armor, but the musket was very sharp in penetrating armor at a distance of several steps. The iron balls had penetrated the armor and sank into the flesh!

With the help of the doctor, Zhu Gaoxu and others stripped Wang Bin of his clothes. Wang Bin actually had five gunshot wounds on his chest! However, none of them penetrated the chest cavity and injured the internal organs, otherwise how could he still move!

"Your Highness..." Wang Bin was actually able to speak.

Zhu Gaoxu said, "Brother, don't say anything. You protect me with your life. From now on, if I have wealth and glory, your whole family will have it too!"

"Go boil some water!" Zhu Gaoxu turned around and said.

The doctor treated the wound. Zhu Gaoxu watched the whole process, regardless of the bruises and pain all over his body. He ordered the doctor to use boiled tools to remove the iron balls and to wash the wound repeatedly with boiled water.

The medical conditions at that time were limited. Even if the iron ball did not damage the internal organs, it did not necessarily mean that everything would be fine. Whether Wang Bin could survive the wound infection depended on his life!

...As the sun gradually set over the horizon, the Yan army returned to their camps one after another. Zhu Gaoxu heard a lot of news and connected them together. It was probably that although the Yan army had a slight advantage and caused the government army to suffer 20,000 to 30,000 casualties, it did not completely defeat the main force of the government army.

There were also some rumors that the government troops had been greatly defeated and fled to Zhending City in a panic, with soldiers and horses trampling on each other and causing countless casualties. Zhu Gaoxu found this unbelievable. If the government troops had really been "greatly defeated", it would definitely not be just 20,000 or 30,000 casualties!

The government troops had a lot of infantry. If the two sides were to face a decisive battle, and if they collapsed completely, would there still be 100,000 people able to enter the city? Zhu Gaoxu knew what would happen if more than 100,000 people were in chaos and squeezed at the city gate! Moreover, there were tens of thousands of Yan troops behind them to kill them.

So he judged that it was because the Prince of Yan failed to win a great victory today that everyone lived in tents again instead of living in Zhending City.

At this moment, someone suddenly came and told Zhu Gaoxu to go to the central army tent to discuss matters. He changed his clothes, temporarily took off his armor, and hurried to the central army.

The horror of war could kill tens of thousands of people in a single day in a small area. The Yan army also paid a heavy price. The cavalry casualties of the Yan King's left guard cavalry led by Zhu Gaoxu alone were probably no less than a thousand!

But when he approached the big tent, he heard a laugh from inside. No matter what, after all, the propaganda routine of killing the enemy commander in one battle, beheading countless people, and winning a great victory is necessary. It can boost the morale of the Yan army and make everyone believe that the rebellion will succeed!

When Zhu Gaoxu walked in, all the generals looked at him sideways, and the laughter stopped. From time to time, someone praised him, "Prince Gaoyang took the general's head in the midst of thousands of troops, he is really brave and unparalleled!" "Prince Yan has a tiger son, which is like a tiger with wings..."

He stepped forward and saluted the King of Yan first, then observed carefully. He found that although the King of Yan's face seemed happy, his eyes were still full of worry.

Not to mention the Prince of Yan, even Zhu Gaoxu understood that if they failed to capture Zhending, the Yan army would still be trapped in the Beiping area and would not be able to break through the Hutuo River; and with this kind of fighting style, the Yan army would never be able to outlast the government army ... Geng Bingwen originally had more than 100,000 people, but the Ming Dynasty had more than 100,000 troops?

At this time, the voice of the King of Yan said, "Gao Xu deserves the first merit in this battle."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu thought: I am already a prince, what is the use of military merit? From the prince to the prince, but this has nothing to do with military merit, only with birth. There is only one way, my father is the emperor!

He immediately said, "Father, Captain Wang Bin and Wei Da are charging ahead..."

The King of Yan looked around and said with a smile, "My son can fight and command troops, so he is eager to ask for merit for his subordinates! Having Gao Xu is like having an extra arm."

The generals had no choice but to laugh along for a while.

Zhu Gaoxu thought that the two captains were former subordinates of the Prince of Yan, and immediately said, "Captain Chen Gang and other generals were the last ones to break out of the siege, and they were brave and fearless, otherwise we would have been killed safely. Captain Zhang Wu fought to the death and supported the middle road, so my army was saved from being divided. These two people have made great contributions!

If the generals had not obeyed orders in this battle, I would not have been able to kill the Marquis of Changxing in battle, and I am afraid that my life and the lives of all the soldiers in the army would have been lost in the encirclement. "

Although Chen Wu criticized Zhu Gaoxu behind his back, Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to care about it... There was no real hatred in the first place, and they had just crawled out of the pile of dead bodies together, so they were open-minded! Zhu Gaoxu felt that after he established his prestige in the army, Chen Wu would be convinced.

After hearing this, the King of Yan said, "Those who have made contributions will be rewarded and promoted by our Central Army. You just ask them to wait for the news."

Zhu Gaoxu clasped his fists and said, "Your son obeys your command."

The King of Yan asked the generals again, what is the best strategy to capture Zhending? Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng and others proposed some methods, but the King of Yan did not comment... At present, the government troops are guarding the city, and the Yan army has no siege equipment. It is impossible to attack the city. Who can plan a siege strategy?

Moreover, with the current number of Yan army, it is still not as large as the official army in Zhending city. Even if they have siege weapons, how can they attack the city with such a large force comparison?

After discussing for a while in the central army tent, everyone was exhausted. The King of Yan waved his hand and told the generals to return to their camps. However, he looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said, "Gao Xu, accompany me for a walk nearby."