Chapter 70: The Army is Defeat
"Chase them and kill them!" Qin Mo ordered.
Since taking office as the governor of Liaodong, Qin Mo has rarely charged into battle.
This time, because the matter was serious and Zhao Yun and Dian Wei had little experience, they personally led their troops to pursue. Once the attack was launched, Qin Mo's position would definitely be very forward.
In the era of cold weapons, commanders had to go to the front lines in person to grasp changes in the battle situation in a timely manner.
Only then can you adapt to changing circumstances.
It was the same this time. Qin Mo originally just wanted to use the advantage of cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the retreating Dong Zhuo army and slow down the advance of Dong Zhuo's army.
There was no hope at all that he could defeat Dong Zhuo's army of 200,000 in one battle.
In order to win back Emperor Xian of Han, Qin Mo was even prepared for a protracted war. At worst, he could use Sizhou as a stronghold. There would always be a day when he could break through Tongguan and attack Dong Zhuo.
Unexpectedly, Dong Zhuo's response was so incompetent.
As soon as Dong Zhuo gave the order, the various units immediately lost contact and fought on their own. There was a lack of a unified command system, and they saw their friendly forces being attacked, but no surrounding troops came to rescue them.
Qin Mo immediately realized that the enemy was in chaos and there was an opportunity to take advantage!
He immediately changed his original plan of hit and run, ordered to abandon the already disrupted enemy formations, and instead pursue the quickly retreating, organized rearguard troops.
The cavalrymen chased after them with a roar, and the sound of their horses' hooves raised a cloud of dust that rolled up like a whirlwind on the official road.
The shining saber flashed a dazzling light against the sunset.
Qin Mo's tactics were very simple. He concentrated all his cavalry and specifically charged into the enemy's organized troops, trampling them to pieces with their horses' hooves.
Dong Zhuo's army was defeated and dismantled.
The horse-drawn carriages carrying the rich and powerful, the baggage carts carrying grain, and the carts carrying treasures overturned on the roadside, and the grain and money were scattered all over the ground with no one picking them up.
The unattended people were pushed to the side of the road, bewildered and at a loss as to what to do.
Everywhere one could hear the curses of the rich and powerful, the cries of children, the screams of women, the groans of the elderly, the heart-wrenching cries of the wounded, and the groans of war horses...
All hell breaks loose.
Qin Mo ignored the fleeing soldiers and advanced as fast as a flowing arrow.
He kept a close eye on the retreating Dong Zhuo army, biting off one group after another, and if the enemy resisted firmly, he would immediately retreat and look for the next breakthrough.
His attacks were unrelenting and unstoppable, with the force of a hurricane, and were immediate and effective.
Qin Mo forced the large group of fleeing soldiers to retreat continuously, while disrupting other enemy troops. Dong Zhuo's army, which was fighting on their own, was defeated one after another.
Faced with the elusive attacks of the Youyun Iron Cavalry, Dong Zhuo's 100,000 troops, without a commander, were at a loss. They only received one order: "Go west without stopping."
In order to speed up the march, the civilians who were taken hostage were abandoned first, followed by food and supplies, and then the gold, silver and treasures that were looted.
In the end, even the high-ranking officials were ruthlessly abandoned.
Terrible rumors flew around the army—
"We are surrounded!"
"The Prime Minister has died in battle!"
"Three hundred thousand allied forces are coming to attack us! Hurry up, or you will die if you are caught up!"
Panic started from the middle and spread to the entire line like a plague. The soldiers lost their minds and were yelling and running wildly. All they knew was to go west, west!
The bright moonlight illuminates the earth like daylight.
The various troops were in disarray, with infantry and cavalry mixed together and a huge flow of people. On the official road that was more than ten kilometers long, the defeated soldiers of Dong Zhuo's army blocked the entire road.
More soldiers were squeezed into the bushes on both sides.
Bundles of equipment and baggage were dumped on the roadside, and weapons and flags were scattered all over the ground.
Hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless.
Seeing his troops disintegrate, Dong Zhuo realized that he had made a big mistake. He never imagined that a cavalry unit could cause such great damage to his proud Xiliang army.
Dong Zhuo ordered to restore order and repel the pursuing troops.
But it had no effect.
Facing the defeated army, Dong Zhuo rode on his tall horse, furious. He shouted and cursed, trying to rally the troops that had lost their command and were running around in disorder.
But it was too late.
Once an army collapses, it is difficult to recover. An army that has lost its order is nothing more than a group of panicked peasants. Dong Zhuo was unable to even gather a single soldier.
Generals such as Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Zhang Ji were all separated.
Even the strategist Li Ru was dispersed.
In the end, Dong Zhuo even allowed a large group of defeated soldiers to overwhelm his own guards.
On the roads, soldiers trampled on each other, pushed each other, stepped on the dead and the living as they walked forward. The roads, paths, bridges, plains, hills, valleys, and forests were all filled with tens of thousands of defeated soldiers.
The pursuit lasted all night.
At about seven in the morning, the sky was bright.
The tide of defeat stopped, not due to the efforts of generals such as Dong Zhuo, but because after a night of running, the soldiers' physical strength and madness were exhausted.
They sat on the ground, exhausted and gasping for breath.
After a night of madness, the Youyun cavalry were also tired. Their horses were panting heavily and were about to be exhausted to death.
Qin Mo ordered to stop the pursuit.
Although he felt a little regretful, the result of this battle was enough to satisfy him.
…
Qin Mo was just satisfied, while Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci and others who followed behind him were just shocked.
They followed closely all the way, expecting a fierce battle, but in the end, they encountered a defeated army, a defeated army, and a defeated army.
There are countless of them all over the mountains and plains.
"What...just happened?" The generals were all confused.
Fortunately, Taishi Ci and others were experienced generals. Regardless of what happened, they subconsciously gathered the defeated troops, disarmed them, and detained them.
Anyone who resists will be killed immediately.
Because there were so many defeated troops, they didn't even have time to care about the panicked people. They only sent people to tell them that Luoyang City had been recaptured by the coalition forces of princes, and they should hurry home.
The same applies to the powerful.
However, the chief secretary Deng Mao who was accompanying the troop temporarily recruited a group of hard laborers to collect all the food, supplies, gold, silver and treasures abandoned on the roadside.
Deng Mao even issued a strict order prohibiting soldiers from embezzling money.
From the words of the defeated soldiers, Deng Mao and others roughly guessed what had happened. Although it was a little unbelievable, they still subconsciously believed that these were the spoils of the Liaodong Army.
No outsiders are allowed to interfere.
The large group of players following at the back originally wanted to steal some loot, but when they heard that this was Qin Mo's masterpiece , they subconsciously stopped.
That's a cruel master.
The most important thing is that anyone with a little bit of common sense can realize that Qin Mo fought this battle so beautifully, the strength of the Liaodong Army is bound to be further improved.
Who dares to make Qin Mo unhappy at this time?
That's just asking for death!
Under the instigation of Wei Tianli, the mercenaries, who were eager to make achievements, were no longer willing to advance slowly. Instead, they learned from the Youyun Iron Cavalry, accelerated their marching speed, and rushed forward all the way.
I just want to catch up with Qin Mo.
Those are all experience points...
