The Qing army, which spread along the river, moved after hearing the continuous whistle, and both soldiers and officers turned to look at the flank mountains where the whistle sounded, looking for the subsequent movement of the Ming army. And their commander Tan Hong himself was shocked by the sound of arrows one after another, and hesitated to make a judgment: "Is this an army ambushed on the mountain, or is it a suspicious formation?" If it was an ambush, how many of them could there be? Hundreds, thousands? If it is a suspicious array...... Tan Hong thought and looked to the far east, on the way of the Qing army, more and more whistles rose with the feather arrows, responding to the previous signal: "The scale of this suspicious array is inevitably too large, and it has been arranged along the mountain for ten miles!" ”

In Zhou Kaihuang's plan to wait for the Ming army, the Ming army will be divided into five teams, except for Li Xinghan's first team, the remaining four teams are ambushed on the mountain, in order to avoid being discovered, these troops need to be far away from the shore, and do not take the initiative to carry out any form of reconnaissance, until Tan Hong is lured to the predetermined location, and then the whole army is guided to launch a unified attack by guò arrows. In order to ensure the consistency of the attack, the officers of the Ming army also ingeniously formulated a plan for two rounds of arrow communication: the team located in the easternmost part of the army, which was closest to Tan Hong's camp, should respond and attack first, thus cutting off Tan Hong's retreat, and this response was a signal to the fourth team to attack. The fourth team gets the signal and then sends a second shot - giving the third team an offensive signal, and all three teams attack at the same time.

Hidden in the easternmost part was Zhou Kaihuang's troops, and when the whistle of the fourth arrow came, he was already impatient, and immediately sent out an arrow that his team had already placed on the string, and led the people around him to start attacking the river. In the expectation of Zhou Kaihuang and others, the Ming army hidden in the mountains would rush into the unprepared enemy column like tigers descending from the mountains and drive them into the river in one fell swoop. However, as the Ming troops launched an attack, the commanding officers of several teams soon found that it was not at all as smooth as expected.

The art of war emphasizes that the brave must not advance alone, and the cowardly must not retreat alone, and the best attack is to move forward at the same time as soon as the whole army is launched.

However, the four ambushed Ming troops were all regrouped by the defeated troops, and the formation of 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, Li Xinghan, these people came up with a reciprocating arrow communication system that exacerbated the chaos of the army. When the sound of the first arrow was heard from the beginning, those Ming troops who were more reckless were already ready to start the attack, such as the fourth team located on the west side of Zhou Kaihuang, and the leading officer took the lead in launching an attack without waiting for Zhou Kaihuang to respond. The cautious ones wait patiently for the pre-agreed signal to turn back before attacking.

There were also many soldiers in the team who belonged to the xìng grid of following the crowd, and after seeing that some brave people had already attacked, some followed, while others hesitantly looked at those who had not yet moved, and did not follow them down the mountain.

As for the momentum of the tigers descending from the mountains that the Ming army officers thought in advance, they did not appear as expected, because the place where they were hiding was too high, and the woods of this barren mountain and wild ridge were too difficult to walk, and there were rocks and tree trunks everywhere under their feet. Coupled with the gradual fall, many soldiers shouted and launched a charge, but before they could see the enemy, they tripped over the mess under their feet, and fell with a blue nose and swollen face. After seeing the bravest brothers in front of them stumbling down a hill and falling half to death, the soldiers who followed behind couldn't help but be cautious, slowing down and carefully going downhill to avoid repeating the mistakes of their predecessors.

To make matters worse, the Ming troops were disjointed, and the temporary officers and non-commissioned officers quickly lost control over the soldiers, and most of these temporarily elected non-commissioned officers, who were the bravest, bravest, and strongest of the people, rushed down the mountain at the beginning, and threw their brothers in the woods behind them. For example, when Zhou Kaihuang led dozens of the bravest warriors in his team to rush to the shore, the people at the back had not left the hidden place a few steps.

In this way, what should have been a sudden attack with momentum turned into a haphazard, stumbling march - a very poorly organized attack.

On the other hand, when the sound of arrows rose into the air, the crowded Qing army column on the shore immediately panicked, including their commander Tan Hong, who did not know what kind of deployment the Ming army was and how many troops were hidden in this mountain. Moreover, the soldiers in the army did not have the confidence of their commanders, and Tan Hong was convinced that the Ming army would not number more than a hundred—he guessed wrong; And it will be a very poorly equipped army that has lost its armor - and that's right. However, the soldiers in the Qing army did not expect so much, they had been marching along the impassable road on the shore for a long time, and the physical consumption was not small, and the officers could not effectively command their subordinates. Now many people think that they have been ambushed by the Ming army, and countless enemy troops hidden in the mountains are rushing towards them. It's getting dark, and it's going to get cold around you right away.

The confusion caused by the Ming offensive greatly lengthened the distance between their troops, which was of course detrimental to the attacking side, because when the vanguard engaged the enemy troops, the reinforcements still fell far behind the rear. But in the eyes of the Qing soldiers on the shore who were like frightened birds, it was a different scene, the dense forest concealed the strength of the Ming army, and they could only judge the size of the Ming army by observing the movement. When I looked up, I saw the grass and trees shaking and the figures in the wide woods on the mountain. Tan Hong's battalion stationed on the south bank is his main force, and many non-commissioned officers have combat experience.

Even if there are only 20,000 or 30,000 Ming army ambush soldiers, it is still an overwhelming advantage over the less than 2,000 Qing troops on the riverside, and the Qing soldiers with a little experience understand that the formation and deployment on their side now have no ability to counterattack, and they are on the verge of collapse and cannot be adjusted, and the enemy is still more than ten times their own, in short, it is incorrigible.

The equipment of the Ming army could not be compared with the Qing army, which Zhou Kaihuang and others had a clear understanding of, so they planned to attack four teams at the same time, dividing the Qing army into several sections at once, instead of attacking in parallel on the entire front. In this way, the limited equipment of the Ming army can be fully equipped in the hands of the attacking spearheads. After defeating the Qing troops in each of their own attack areas, the Ming army could arm some of its soldiers with captured weapons, and then fight along the river bank, constantly destroying the enemy and constantly replenishing itself - this was the whole battle plan of the Ming army, although it was not ideal, but it was 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 battle plan needed to achieve a surprise effect, so as not to allow the Qing army to give full play to its advantages in equipment. However, because the Ming army's hidden position was too high, it did not achieve the effect of surprise attack at all. However, if such an effect is really achieved, then most of the main attack areas of each team will break out in a fierce melee as they expected, and the Qing army will be attacked at once, and the soldiers will have no time to react and can only fight for the life of the attacker.

But now the situation is completely different, the Qing army, which is full of grass and trees, feels that there are countless enemy soldiers rolling towards them, and they are already in the dead place, and fortunately the enemy soldiers have not been able to rush to the shore for so long after the arrows are in the air...... Before the arrival of the Ming army, it seemed that he still had time to escape.

The Qing soldiers who had lost their fighting spirit looked around for a chance to escape, and Tan Hong's team was immediately in chaos, and as soon as the person who took the lead in fleeing for his life 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 more and more, and the shouts of the enemy at the front could already be heard, the Qing soldiers located in several main attack areas threw down their weapons one after another, shouting hoarsely, since the road on the shore was blocked and could not be crossed, some people gritted their teeth and went down the river, trying to flow through the shallow water area to overtake the other escapees.

One or two of the fastest moving men managed to rush in front of their companions, causing the others to follow suit. Countless Qing soldiers were cornered and could only wait for death. Hearing that the Ming army was getting closer and closer, they were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, and many people threw down their weapons and armor to the river one after another, and rushed forward eastward with their hands and feet. The more soldiers entered the river, which meant that they had to make larger bends and venture deeper and deeper into the water to outperform their comrades in front. The bottom of the river is rugged, and the slightest distance may suddenly deepen, at first the water may only reach the calf, then not the thigh, then the waist and chest are suddenly immersed in the river, and finally someone starts swimming in order to be a little faster than the person next to him.

"Kill!" On the road, he fell hard once and almost rolled down the hill twice, and finally rushed out of the woods to the river. The front suddenly opened up, he shouted, flew out, his eyes were round, his whole body was full of blood, and he was ready to fight.

Following Zhou Kaihuang rushed out were the three bravest people in his team, four of them waved the weapons in their hands, shouted and rushed to the riverbank, the Qing soldiers who were already in their right hands screamed, and rushed away without looking back, and from time to time there was a splash of falling water. On the front of Zhou Kaihuang, the same wail also sounded, seeing the fierce Ming army killed, the first Qing soldiers to bear the brunt of the water only jumped into the water, and swam to the middle of the river, as far as they could, to avoid them as far as they could, and suddenly there was a crackling sound of hitting the water, mixed with the miserable cries of the people who were swept away by the river. On the left hand side of Zhou Kaihuang, the Qing soldiers who were intercepted by this group of Ming troops turned around and ran back one after another. In the chaos of crying dad and shouting mother, some of the panicked Qing soldiers were dizzy, and they turned around and ran back to the dead end, facing Zhou Kaihuang's big knife.

Then dozens of Ming troops rushed out of the woods and came to Zhou Kaihuang's side. In the plan of the Ming army, Deng Ming and Zhao Tianba wanted to lure the Qing army all the way to the west, so that they could exhaust themselves on this road, and the Ming army could wait for work. But now that Zhou Kaihuang looked around, the Ming army that was waiting for work at ease did not reach the expected state, except that the hidden position was too far from the river bank, and the timing of their charge seemed to be too early. Stumbling down the mountain, these Ming soldiers ran out of breath one by one, and when they saw the Qing army running away, some of them put their hands on their waists and panted to rest.

As more soldiers arrived, seeing that the banks of the river were littered with discarded weapons from the Qing army, the Ming soldiers with wooden sticks immediately began to look around for suitable weapons. After seeing the boots and armor thrown down by the Qing army, some people hurriedly sat on the ground and desperately put these equipment on themselves.

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

Zhou Kaihuang was also a little dazed. When they made their plans in advance, they thought that there would be a fierce battle on the riverbank, and that occupying the riverbank and cutting the Qing army into several sections was the most difficult goal to achieve in advance, and once this step was achieved, the battle would be declared victorious, without much thought about what to do after occupying the riverbank. Now that the Qing army has retreated without fighting, and the soldiers are arming themselves with the enemy's equipment as planned, it is said that the progress is much smoother than expected, but why does Zhou Kaihuang feel that the scene is so chaotic and seems to be very bad?

"After occupying the riverbank, search for the routed soldiers, and assemble to occupy Tan Hong's camp." At the prior military meeting, this was the case after the occupation of the riverbank. At that time, everyone felt that the goal of occupying the river bank was difficult to achieve, and in the limited time for discussion, this discussion was the most discussed, after all, the Ming army was poorly equipped. Moreover, everyone took it for granted that the Qing army would fight a decisive battle with the Ming army here, and if the first goal was achieved, it would mean that the organized resistance of the Qing army would be completely crushed, and the occupation of the camp would be a matter of course.

Zhou Kaihuang saw that the officers and soldiers around him were looking at him with weapons in hand, and many soldiers had already rested, so he decided to start the next step according to the arrangement at the military meeting. He ordered aloud: "The whole team is divided into two, the right route is the camp that I personally led to fetch the Tan thieves, and the left road is to the west to search for the Tartars." ”

……

The other three teams had a similar experience to Zhou Kaihuang. The Qing soldiers on the front fled in droves, and the Ming army attacked the enemy they could see along the riverbank, and only a small number of Qing soldiers on the riverbank resisted stubbornly. However, due to the terrain, although the number of these Qing soldiers was small, they caused great trouble to the attacking Ming army, and the narrow head-to-head confrontation allowed the two sides to fight in units of no more than ten people.

Soon the Qing soldiers noticed that there was a gap between the Ming troops, and this discovery made more Qing soldiers lose the courage to fight, originally they were unwilling to throw themselves into the river because they had no way to escape, and felt that they had to fight to the death, and after discovering the gap between the Ming teams, these Qing soldiers began to rush to flee up the mountain, trying to survive from the gap in the Ming army's battle line.

The flight further exacerbated the demoralization of the Qing army, and the progress of the Ming army became faster and faster, and soon the three eastern teams made contact, they occupied the entire riverbank, and all Qing resistance on them was eliminated. After these three teams were combined, half of them went east to support Zhou Kaihuang, and some of the remaining people picked up the torches brought by the Qing soldiers and began to search the mountains, and some went to reinforce Li Xinghan, where Tan Hong and the vanguard of the Qing army were intercepted.

When the shouts and fights sounded on the entire front, Tan Hong realized that he had indeed been tricked. It wasn't that he didn't want to fight his way out, but it was impossible to fight back to the camp from the riverbank, where there were not only enemies, but also his own men. Even if you want to fight the enemy, you must first step on the heads of countless of your own soldiers.

The 400 soldiers who were sent to make a detour to Li Xinghan's rear were the main force in Tan Hong's hands, and when they set out, they were given the order that the front army was blocked by dozens, possibly hundreds, of Ming troops, and that they needed to make a detour through the woods to annihilate this small group of Ming troops. This Qing army felt that the strength of the Ming army was insignificant, so they were also full of confidence and high morale.

After hearing the first sound of the arrow, the soldiers, like the rest of their companions, wavered, and they began to realize that there might be more than a few dozen enemies on the opposite side. Where shè sounded the arrow, you could see the figure of the Ming army shaking. After the team calmed down, they decided to attack as planned and continued to try to detour to Li Xinghan's rear. As the Ming army launched an attack on the entire front, the grass and trees all over the mountains shook, and the earth-shattering shouts on the banks of the Yangtze River for several miles behind them rose one after another, and the Qing army was also shocked and misjudged the strength of the Ming army, greatly overestimating the strength of the enemy on the opposite side.

Tan Hong's banner was not visible in the woods, and there was no way to get in touch, Tan Hong did not know the situation of this army and could not restore their morale, and soon the soldiers were at a loss, and their morale fell to the bottom. After they noticed the gap in the battle line of the Ming army opposite, these Qing troops did not turn back to join Tan Hong, but instead went deeper into the woods without hesitation. However, it was no longer a detour to the west, but a aimless escape towards the mountains to the southeast, hoping to escape from the tiger's mouth of the Ming army.

When the Ming army closest to Li Xinghan came closer, Tan Hong still stayed on the bank of the river, and there were more than 300 soldiers left by his side. Many people threw themselves into the river in despair, and then were swept away by the merciless river -- Tan Hong did not believe that anyone could swim ten miles in this icy river to escape, and few people could cross the Yangtze River.

However, it was equally dangerous to enter the woods, Tan Hong knew that this kind of woods was difficult to pass, and then he would completely lose control of the army - the morale was already so low that he could not be seen from a few meters away in the woods. The last remaining troops will also disperse in a hurry.

"Only stick here," Tan Hong thought in his heart, there were still a few boats in the camp, because the speed of going up the river was very slow, so he didn't bring it when he pursued just now: "Once the master sees the rout soldiers who fled back to the camp, he will drive a boat to meet me, so now I have to try my best to stay here." ”

There was crying all around, and Tan Hong knew that the army's heart was extremely unstable, and the reason why these soldiers were still gathered around him was because there was no way to escape. But the trouble Tan Hong encountered during the attack just now turned to the other side, and Tan Hong tried hard to control the troops, determined to support Qin Xiucai to drive the boat to save him.