Chapter 264: Woshibu's Discomfort
The reason was that Song Jun underestimated the power of the Chinese army's submachine guns and rifles.

Song Jun knew the specific power of the Huaxia Army's rifles, but he didn't know that the rifles would be so powerful in large-scale troop operations.

As for the cluster cannon, Song Jun could only measure it by the power of the imperial court's cluster cannon. However, he discovered that the cluster cannons of both sides were not the same weapon at all.

Although the firing rates are similar, the opponent's submachine gun is obviously much more powerful than ours. Regardless of the type of shells, range, or power, the opponent's submachine gun is far superior to ours.

The enemy had only 5,000 troops, while Song Jun still had more than 20,000 troops. Although he had lost 3,000 Eight Banners cavalry, Song Jun was not worried about the safety of his army. The enemy did not dare to launch a strong attack, otherwise Song Jun would have dared to fight the enemy head-on.

But now Song Jun was very worried about the 20,000 Green Camp troops who were blocking Yun Hua outside Jingzhou City.

Yunhua not only has 5,000 main forces, but also more than 10,000 vassal troops. Can the 20,000 Green Camp troops really stop Yunhua?

As for the 50,000 old soldiers in the main camp, Song Jun didn't expect them to be able to rescue the 20,000 Green Camp soldiers. It would be good enough if they could defend the main camp.

"This is a strategy to lure the tiger away from the mountain!" Song Jun couldn't help but sigh. He thought he had been tricked by Yun Hua. Yun Hua dispatched these 5,000 main forces back just to lure him to divide his troops.

If Yunhua knew what Songjun was thinking, he would definitely tell him, you think too much!

Yunhua's original plan was to launch a night attack tonight, bombing Shaxi Town with a large number of rockets. Based on the military quality of the 50,000 Eight Banners soldiers, Yunhua was 80% sure that the enemy would blow up their camp.

Even if the camp had not been bombed, it would definitely not have been able to withstand the subsequent attack from the 20,000 main Chinese forces.

But unfortunately, Song Jun actually decided to divide his troops and planned to wipe out the 5,000 main forces of the Chinese army in one go. As a result, Yun Hua was forced to go out of the city to fight.

Just when Song Jun was considering how to retreat, bad news came from the direction of the main camp. First, the 20,000 Green Camp soldiers who were trying to stop Yun Hua were defeated by Yun Hua when he left the city, and were being driven here by Yun Hua. Then the main camp was attacked by the Huaxia army that came down from Yichang, and news came that the main camp had been lost.

Song Jun couldn't help but sighed and asked Woshibu beside him, "Was Master Mingliang as desperate as I am now when he was outside Chongqing City that day?"

Woshibu was stunned, and then quickly persuaded: "Your Excellency, please cheer up. Our army is facing numerous difficulties and obstacles at the moment, and we still need your leadership to break through the siege. If something happens to you, it will be difficult for these 20,000 elite soldiers to return to Wuhan!"

Woshibu was terrified at this moment. Fu Cha Mingliang died to cover his retreat, but he failed to hold Fengjie, which led to the loss of Yichang and Jingzhou, and the destruction of most of Hubei. Although it was not his fault, he had to take the responsibility.

After all, we can't let Fu Cha Mingliang, a dead man, take the responsibility, right?

If Songjun died again now, Woshibu's official career would probably come to an end.

At this moment, Song Jun really had the idea of ​​dying, because the situation had deteriorated to such an extent that the 100,000-strong army was finished, and even the more than 20,000 elite soldiers in his hands would hardly be spared.

After all, there are 5,000 main forces of the Chinese army hanging on the opposite side, and Yun Hua is leading a large army in pursuit, so it is difficult for these 20,000-plus troops to escape.

The most important thing is that the camp was lost, and a large amount of armaments and supplies fell into the hands of the Huaxia tribe. That was all silver, and the court did not have much silver. It would be extremely difficult to organize a counterattack army of this scale again, and what would be the use of forming such an army?
This battle of Song Jun not only completely ruined his own political future, but also completely destroyed the court's confidence in counterattacking. After this battle, the offense and defense were completely reversed.

Unless Jiaqing can use iron-blooded means to solve the court's financial problems, the Qing court will completely lose its ability to counterattack.

If he lost this battle, Song Jun could fully foresee his own outcome. Even if he could run back, it would definitely not be a good end waiting for him. Instead, if he died on the battlefield, the emperor might even pity him and give him some posthumous honors.

But if they died like this, I'm afraid there won't be many left of the more than 20,000 elite soldiers on the scene.

"Woshibu, you lead the army to evacuate. I will leave three thousand Green Battalion and Artillery Battalion to cover your retreat. After you return to Wuhan, you must assist Lord Qinggui in defending Wuhan!" Song Jun finally said to Woshibu.

Woshibu felt like a thousand alpacas were running through his mind. First, Fucha Mingliang covered his retreat, and now Song Jun, the main general, also had to cover his retreat. He was afraid that no one would dare to be his main general in the future.

After all, the commander would not want to cover his subordinates.

But he didn't dare to ask Woshibu to stay behind to cover their retreat. After all, staying behind to cover their retreat was a dead end with no chance of survival. Who would want to die when they could live?
Unless one's life would be worse than death, like Fu Cha Mingliang and Song Jun at this moment, but Wo Shibu is obviously not at that point yet, so he naturally wants to live.

Seeing Woshibu dithering and looking hesitant, Songjun couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "Don't hesitate any longer. We don't have much time. Yunhua will catch up soon. Take the army and go back to Wuhan as soon as possible. It's best to travel day and night. I can't buy you much time either."

"Then take care, sir!" Woshibu gritted his teeth and finally chose to run away. He had to run quickly, otherwise it would be too late to run away when Yunhua led his troops to catch up.

After Woshibu left, Songjun also retreated slowly. He needed to find a place that was convenient for defense to set up defenses and try to buy time for Woshibu to retreat.

The 5,000 main forces of the Huaxia tribe on the opposite side kept advancing on Song Jun's rearguard troops, and did not launch a large-scale attack. Instead, they kept sending people to harass them, and used the range advantage of their rifles to constantly look for opportunities to attack Song Jun's army.

Finally, seeing that Song Jun had no intention of fighting back, the intensity of their harassment became more and more intense, even dividing into several teams of a hundred men, attacking non-stop.

As a result, the 3,000 Green Camp soldiers who were left behind finally couldn't bear it anymore. After all, a few hundred people took advantage of their weapons and kept attacking, causing heavy casualties. In the rear guard team of only 3,000 people, five or six hundred of them died in less than half an hour.

If we continue like this, I’m afraid we won’t be able to retreat and will be dispersed before dark.

Song Jun had not expected such a situation to occur. Seeing that the army's morale was unstable, he quickly sent out his own guards as a supervisory team to suppress the doubts in the army.

But when people's lives are seriously threatened, they can do anything.

Song Jun's suppression actually made things worse.

(End of this chapter)