My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 244: Just out of the dragon's den, into the tiger's den

"General, more than half of our men have been killed or wounded. We only have 70,000 soldiers left!" The deputy general shouted with all his strength:

"If we don't leave now, we're all doomed, General!"

More than half of them were killed or injured, more than half of them were killed or injured...

Fan Keyong's ears were buzzing at this time. He didn't hear anything the deputy general said at all, but only four words lingered in his ears -

More than half of them were killed or injured!

An army of 150,000 soldiers faced a Ming army that was not even a fraction of their own. After just over an hour, more than half of them were killed or wounded?

The worst thing is that they haven’t even encountered the Ming army!
These despicable Ming troops can only hide in the depths of the rainforest and use firearms to launch sneak attacks. If they can, why not have a fair and upright face-to-face confrontation?

Looking around, the official road that seemed extremely congested just now was now much emptier. The missing soldiers had turned into corpses with holes all over them on the ground.

Even the continuous heavy rain could not wash away the bright red on the ground. The rain and blood mixed together and gathered into streams of blood-colored water.

Many wounded soldiers were lying in the pile of corpses, wailing in pain. Some had their legs shot through and could only crawl in the blood using their hands. Some had broken bones in their arms, with only a little flesh and skin connecting the wound, dangling in the air.

The remaining people were unable to take care of themselves and no one would rescue them. They could only wait for death to come in a pool of blood.

Fan Keyong had witnessed scenes of rivers of blood before. As the saying goes, a general's fame lasts forever. The fact that he was able to climb to a high position in the army was built on mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

But everything he saw made him realize for the first time the horror of war!
Before setting out, he and Nguyen Duofang vowed to wipe out all the Ming troops within one day. With an army of 150,000, he thought it would be a crushing victory, but now it seems that he was just dreaming!

Even if all the more than 200,000 troops were killed, the outcome would probably be the same and there would be no change.

"General, general!"

The deputy general's heart-wrenching roar finally brought Fan Keyong back to his senses. The deputy general almost tore his throat and shouted:

"General, it will be too late if we don't retreat now!"

Retreat? Fan Keyong looked at the soldiers around him blankly. The Annan soldiers had lost their arrogance when they set out. Under the powerful firepower of the Ming army, they were now completely defeated and were fleeing everywhere like dogs that had lost their homes.

But they had nowhere to escape. If they fled into the jungle, they would be beaten to death. If they ran backwards, they could not escape the warlord's butcher knife!

Continuing the charge would be meaningless except leaving behind a pile of corpses and adding to the Ming army's record. But retreating and going back in disgrace?

He knew very well that he had suffered a crushing defeat, but how could he explain this to Nguyen Duo? He had lost most of his troops and had not even had the opportunity to meet the Ming army. He had become the biggest joke in the Annan army!
Even if I die to atone for my sins, I cannot wash away this shame and guilt.

But if he continued to waste time here, he would either be killed by firearms or become a prisoner of the Ming army, which would be a greater shame.

"Retreat, retreat!"

Fan Keyong finally made up his mind and waved his hand feebly. After receiving the order, the deputy general quickly gave the order to the messenger:

"Quick, pass on the general's order, everyone, retreat! Retreat!"

After hearing the order to retreat, the Annan soldiers began to run backwards desperately. Some soldiers even threw away their swords, guns, bows and arrows just to run faster.

In the jungle, Xu Huizu saw the Annan soldiers in front of him start to turn around and run, so he immediately got up from the ground and shouted with his gun in hand: "Soldiers, the enemy has been defeated, let's defeat them together!"

The Ming army soldiers who were originally lying on the ground aiming, now stood up and chased in the direction of the fleeing Annan soldiers.

When the Annan soldiers saw that the Ming army was catching up with them, they ran faster. Some even took off their useless rattan armor just to run faster, regretting that their parents had not given them two more legs.

They pursued the Annan army all the way and killed many Annan soldiers. They only stopped when they caught the Annan army entering the mountains of Mengsong.

Xu Huizu picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Zhu Laosi, the Annan defeated soldiers have already fled in your direction. The rest is up to you."

"Don't worry, brother-in-law. I have the enemy's movements under my control. I can see it clearly. Just wait and see our good show!" Zhu Di's impatient voice came from the radio.

Xu Huizu ordered his soldiers to continue to ambush outside the mountains and not go deeper. This was to avoid being accidentally injured by friendly troops ambushed in the mountains after entering the forest, and also to prevent the Annan army from becoming desperate and being blocked by Zhu Di and then fighting back.

After escaping into the mountains of Mengsong, Fan Keyong finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the Ming army was no longer pursuing him. However, he still did not dare to slow down. Everyone just wanted to leave this meat-mincing hell as soon as possible.

Soon, the Ming army was left behind by them and could no longer be seen. Everyone relaxed a little, feeling grateful for having survived a calamity.

"Damn Ming army!"

Fan Keyong punched the horse's back in desperation, feeling endless shame and anger in his heart.

He had never suffered such a miserable defeat in his life, and he could already imagine the explosive wrath of General Ruan Duofang that he would face.

Not only Ruan Duofang, I'm afraid Prime Minister Li will not let me off easily!
All these humiliations were brought upon themselves by the mere 20,000 Ming troops. This hatred must be avenged!
However, at this moment, suddenly, everyone heard an angry shout from somewhere, "Hit him hard!"

Immediately afterwards, intensive gunfire was heard from the mountains on both sides!

Damn it, when did the Ming army block the retreat route?
No, the Ming army should have been lying in ambush here early in the morning, waiting for the Annan army to escape and retreat, and then completely block their retreat!

"Run, run!"

Fan Keyong completely collapsed. At this moment, he no longer cared about revenge. He just wanted to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible!

However, no matter how fast the Annan soldiers were, they were not as fast as the Ming army's bullets. Under the attack from both sides, bullets were flying all over the sky, ruthlessly reaping the lives of the Annan soldiers.

"One, two, two, three, three, are these Annan kids born in the year of the dog? They run so fast!"

Li Jinglong held his gun and kept shooting. It was his first time on the battlefield and he felt excited and stimulated.

"Nephew, don't be too anxious. Calm down. I'll tell you the true meaning of fighting. Pick the high-ranking officials to fight!"

Zhu Di shot calmly and did not forget to teach Li Jinglong how to shoot. He also found Li Jinglong's selfless expression interesting.

Thinking back to the night when they raided the Mongolian army during the Northern Expedition, he, like Li Jinglong, counted every time he shot an enemy.

He had to sigh that the performance of the new gun in his hand far exceeded his expectations. Compared with the needle-fired gun that had to be replaced with a new bullet after each shot, this new gun was a magical weapon to reap the lives of the enemies!

(End of this chapter)