When the 5,000 strong Nong Zhigao's troops were defeated by the Song army's cavalry, it meant that the outcome of the battle was already decided.

  It is necessary to analyze how these 50,000 troops of the Nong came into being. The backbone was naturally the 5,000 Nong tribal soldiers who rose up with Nong Zhigao at the beginning, and before this war, they had hardly suffered any losses. The secondary level consisted of those small tribes that defected to join them, were absorbed into the Nong tribe, and became the reserve force of the Nong tribal army. Their fighting will was also very strong. There were probably about 3,000 people in this group.

  However, only these 8,000 people are reliable. The rest, more than 12,000, are the Huang, Wei and Zhou families, who are listed alongside the Nong family as one of the four major clans of Guangnan. When Nong Zhigao first rebelled, they watched with cold eyes. Later, seeing him sweep across the two Guangs, they came to join him one after another. Although their leaders were all granted the title of king, it is impossible to expect these opportunistic guys to live and die together with you.

  As for the remaining 20,000 or so, they were purely Han people who were forcibly conscripted, and Nie Zhongjing didn't have much hope for them either... basically treating them as laborers.

  As expected, seeing the danger of being surrounded and annihilated, the Han soldiers dropped their weapons and ran away completely. Their numbers accounted for half of the Nong army, and this escape immediately gave a feeling of defeat like a mountain collapse.

  Huang, Wei and Zhou's family leaders took a look at each other, let's not be foolish anymore, save our strength for now and see how things go later. So they turned their horses around and led their people to escape.

  Little did they know, they had fallen into Di Qing's trap. The Art of War says 'A returning army must not be blocked' - one cannot underestimate a person's will to survive. If the enemy soldiers find no way out, they will certainly fight desperately for their lives.

  Moreover, he had only 30,000 troops in his hands, and wanted to swallow the 50,000-strong enemy army in one mouthful, which was purely a daydream!

  But he was very clear that the various departments of the Nong army, which were formed by patching together, had different thoughts in their minds. When the wind is favorable, they naturally advance and retreat together. Once they see that things are not going well, they will definitely split up and rush to escape first. So he ordered the two wings to encircle, but also ordered them to slow down their speed, just to let those non-regular Nong army feel clearly the danger of being surrounded, and also give them enough space to escape.

  But the direct descendants of Di Zhigao were not so lucky. After Huang Wei and Zhou's family withdrew from the battlefield, the encirclement was finally closed.

  The Art of War says, "If you have ten times the strength of your enemy, surround him; if five times, attack him." The 30,000 elite Western Army troops surrounded and attacked the 7,000 Nong tribesmen. Their will to fight was already lost, and their prized shields and long spears were now completely useless in resisting the Song army's slaughter. Now they had only one thought - to flee.

  Fortunately, the 30,000-strong army was slightly smaller and mostly in the north. The 10,000 Song troops on the south side were not enough to stop the Nong people. After paying a terrible price, the Nong people broke out of the encirclement.

  Breaking out of the encirclement, the Zhuang people threw away their shields and long spears at the first time, took off their armor, and fled south in a scattered manner.

  They heard that during the Song Dynasty, it was a country of etiquette, and the emperor had even issued an order to only repel enemies and not pursue them. Now that they've escaped, they should be safe...

  They had forgotten one thing: this time, the commander-in-chief of the Song Dynasty was a famous military general!

  Before the battle, Di Qing gave a military order that once the enemy army retreated completely, all troops would immediately pursue with light equipment. There was no limit to the pursuit distance, and they had to kill all the rebels, eliminating future troubles!

  In this world, there is only pursuit of war, which can ignore the number of people and the strength of forces. The defeated side can only be slaughtered at will.

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  From nearly noon till sunset, the Song army pursued and killed for fifty miles without stopping!

  Before the expedition, Di Qing ordered all levels of generals to repeatedly explain to the officers and soldiers that if they could not win in one battle, they would have to entangle with Nong Zhigao for a year or even several years.

  In this era, Guangxi was a land of savagery in the eyes of the Han people, and the malaria was very serious, with the possibility of death at any time. The Western military officers and soldiers were all northerners, if possible, they would not stay here for a day.

  It has to be admitted that the mental strength is powerful, under the idea of 'winning the war and returning home for the New Year', Song army soldiers actually chased after the defeated army's tail and arrived at the city of Bozhou!

  What made them even more overjoyed was that the city gate hadn't been closed yet!

  What else can be said, brothers? Go! After a round of chopping melons and cutting vegetables, the Song army took control of the North City Gate.

  This is the final showdown of the entire war. Because Bozhou is the first stronghold in the southwest, with high walls and deep moats - if the enemy army defends the city to the death like during the Bei Pu rebellion, the Song army can only attack the city head-on. Although it's not as good as attacking Kunlun Pass, it can still knock out all your good teeth.

  Di Qing had already made preparations for a night attack on the city. In fact, the 30,000 Western troops he led were just the vanguard, with another 20,000 Southern troops following behind, responsible for transporting siege equipment and supplies.

  Those cloud ladders and tower cars were not used in front of Kunlun Pass, Di Qing had already exclaimed good luck. Who knew that under the city of Bozhou, they still weren't used. This made him simply want to ask the heavens, am I your illegitimate son?

  "There's actually no other reason, it's just that people who miss home can't afford to get hurt."

  Successive troops kept pouring in, killing sounds rose everywhere in the city, and flames shot up into the sky.

  Di Qing then took Chen Ke and climbed up to the city gate tower. Looking down at the entire city's battle situation. At this time, all four city gates were occupied by the Song army, without exception, only those who surrendered would be spared from death, while those who resisted would be killed without mercy!

  A great victory that was decided in one battle, the extraordinary achievement of overcoming Guangdong and Guangxi, had already been firmly grasped by Di Qing. But Chen Ke saw him still with a cold expression, even with some disappointment...

  What's the disappointment about? Is it because the opponent didn't live up to their name? Or is it that the ending was too quick? Or perhaps they're used to the big battles of the northwest war zone, and this fast-paced small-scale battle just can't get them excited?

  When Chen Ke proposed this question, Di Qing just smiled and shook his head, without answering. Instead, he laughed and said: "This time in the suppression of the rebellion, San Lang also made great contributions." He paused and said: "Not to mention this time, nor that sand table. Just say that since the army entered Guangxi, no one has been harmed by the miasma, you have achieved a great merit."

  In ancient Guangxi, there was a not-so-good nickname, called "miasma village", which meant that the miasma in this place was very heavy. Outsiders who came here were easily attacked by malaria, and if they were lightly affected, they would vomit and have diarrhea, while if they were severely affected, they would fall into a coma and even die. Di Qing's biggest worry this time when he entered Guangxi to suppress the bandits was not the enemy army, but the miasma. If his troops were heavily afflicted with malaria, how could they fight?

  It is said that Chen Xiliang was infected with malaria, but he recovered without treatment and was locked in prison. Di Qing was very interested and asked him about his experience. Chen Xiliang told him that from the time he knew he would be an official in Hengyang, Sanlang had repeatedly reminded him in letters to take Yizhiren every day, saying that after taking it for a long time, he could lighten his body and avoid malaria. Also, he should often chew betel nuts... He said that betel nuts were also called "Wash Malaria Dan". Taking these two together would make one immune to the invasion of malaria. Even if one was like Chen Xiliang, who dealt with corpses all day, his body could still withstand it.

  Di Qing was overjoyed when he heard this. The yiren and binlang were not expensive or precious items, but rather local products from the south. With a single order, he gathered enough yiren and binlang. He ordered his troops to drink millet porridge twice a day and chew eight binlang nuts each time. Combined with the anti-miasma medicine prescribed by the imperial physician, as a result, the Western Army had almost no impact from the miasma during their month-long entry into Gui Province.

  "This contribution may seem insignificant, but it's the key to victory." Di Qing smiled and said: "I will definitely report to the officials, I won't let you..." Before he finished speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and he stared at the city, speechless... Only to see that the fake imperial palace of Zhige, suddenly burst into a raging fire, the entire wooden structure was engulfed in flames in an instant.

  Upon seeing this scene, Di Qing couldn't help but let out a sigh and say: "This is going to be troublesome..."

  The calm and collected Commander Di Yuan had been like this since the start of the war, but he was now disappointed because an outcome that he had not wanted to see had occurred - Nangong Zhen seemed to have gone mad.

  In Di Qing's view, the most feared thing in suppressing a rebellion is that the ringleader is nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead. You don't know when he'll pop up again, and even if he can't stir up trouble, he'll still make you sick to your stomach: even if he really is dead, there will always be people using his name to cause trouble, making it impossible for you to live in peace.

  At dawn, the outcome of the battle emerged. Overnight, the Song army had killed over 5,300 people... In addition to the more than 3,000 killed yesterday, Nianzhi's main force was almost completely annihilated. 7,200 civilians who were forced to surrender were released and returned home: Also, in the imperial palace, a corpse wearing a golden dragon robe was found...

  This made the exhausted Song army cheer again... According to convention, this corpse must be that of Nong Zhigao, and only when the rebel leader is eliminated can this campaign to pacify the south be brought to a perfect close. Then everyone can go home for the New Year, officials will be promoted, soldiers will get rich, and you, General, will become a national hero. What's there to hesitate about?

  But Di Qing did not do so, he looked at the charred corpse and said faintly: "The face is unrecognizable, and only by a dragon robe, it cannot be confirmed that he is Nong Zhigao."

  Di Qing is actually careful in Beijing, how can he not know the truth that it's better to have one less thing than one more? He just doesn't want to deceive the officials at all, uncertainty is uncertainty, I absolutely won't take credit for something I didn't do!

  Fortunately, after his victory, his own prestige had already exceeded that brought by his official position. Even if he said that Nong Zhigao was still alive, no one dared to say a second word.

  In the following days, Di Qing arranged the post-war relief work according to the routine. The Western Army had been excited for a long time and it was just right to do some work, rebuild the burned houses, eliminate the evil spirit through labor... otherwise, they would bring them back home, and the prefectures along the way would definitely suffer.

  As for the task of pursuing the remaining bandits, someone else has come to take care of it...

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  Finally finished writing! At least I won't have to write about battles for a year, hooray! Please vote and recommend! (monthly tickets and recommendation tickets)