The casualty figures were counted, and the Xiangyong guarding the south wall suffered the heaviest casualties, with 19 killed and more than 70 wounded, and two of the Xiangyong killed accidentally fell to their deaths.

On the west wall, there was a lively artillery fight, but after nearly half an hour, hundreds of shells were knocked out, and only one of the bandits' warship was hit, and it only hit but did not sink, and no one was killed or injured. There was no melee combat on the east wall, only a shotgun blew up, and the gunner was wounded. Looking at the corpses in the camp, Han Xiufeng really understood what it meant to be a success.

In order to boost morale, Li Changjing and Wu Wenming asked people to set up two tables and ask the secretary office to register the list of fallen villagers, and wait for the bandits to be truly repelled before giving compensation. At the same time, he ordered the sentry commander and the chief to count how many bandits they had killed, so that they could be rewarded for their meritorious deeds after the war.

Han Xiufeng, Zhang Guangcheng and Zhou Xingyuan climbed the arrow tower again, observing the movements of the bandits while discussing how to defend them next.

"A hundred and ten dead soldiers are nothing to a bandit. They were just trying, and now they know what we are, and when they are ready to attack, it won't be as easy for us to defend as we were just now. Zhou Xingyuan had seen how the bandits attacked the city, and he looked at the bandit camp in the south and was worried.

"Yes, if the bandits attack again, even if we can hold it, we will suffer heavy casualties." Zhang Guangcheng just said that the "great victory" was to boost morale, but what he is saying now is what he is talking about.

Han Xiufeng didn't rush to make a statement, but asked in a low voice: "Brother Zhang, how much gunpowder is left?" ”

"It's not much, I asked Lu Daming just now, and he said that there is lead, and the gunpowder is only enough to fight another battle like the one just now."

"We are really no match for bandits in melee combat, and it is all about firearms to defend it."

Han Xiufeng looked at the two of them and said in a deep voice: "Then make preparations with both hands, let's see the situation first, if you can't hold it, you won't keep it!" ”

"Brother Han, you can't hold it, even if you can hold it today, you can't hold it tomorrow, after all, we are such a few people, there will be no reinforcements for a while, and the bandits in front of you are just forwards, they can't attack for a long time, they will definitely move troops from Yangzhou." Zhou Xingyuan said in a low voice.

Zhang Guangcheng said with a bitter face: "The top priority is how to withdraw?" ”

Han Xiufeng said lightly: "It's not difficult to withdraw, as long as you can hold out until dark, where will you withdraw from Guanjin?" ”

"Retreat, to join my father?" Zhang Guangcheng asked.

Without waiting for Han Xiufeng to speak, Zhou Xingyuan blurted out: "No, it's not appropriate to retreat!" ”

"Why did Mr. Zhou say that?"

"Second young master, the bandits are going to attack Taizhou, if we go to Yiling like this, it will inevitably be another vicious battle, even if we retreat to Taizhou, we will also have to defend the city. This battle can be fought once, and if you win the battle again, it will become a losing battle, and when the time comes, let alone ask the court for credit, I am afraid that you will be investigated by the court. ”

In Zhang Guangcheng's opinion, the old man has already left Taizhou City, he has nothing to worry about, the top priority is how to maintain the "great victory" of the war, as long as this battle merit can be kept, even if Taizhou City will fall in the future, there will be no too much embarrassment for his father in the imperial court.

Thinking of these, he suddenly found that Zhou Xingyuan's words had some truth, and couldn't help asking: "Then in Mr. Zhou's opinion, where should we retreat?" ”

"Brother Han, Second Young Master, you are here to help Yangzhou, in my opinion, you can only advance, not retreat!"

"In?" Zhang Guangcheng asked in surprise.

"Yes, we can only go in!" Han Xiufeng pointed to the opposite bank and muttered: "Lin Fengxiang sent two divisions of bandits to sweep the regimental training of the towns in the east of the city, and ordered these two groups of bandits to attack Taizhou. These two groups of thieves and bandits have gathered a total of more than 5,000 soldiers, of which more than 1,000 have gone to Taizhou along the Yunyan River, and more than 2,000 soldiers are in front of them, and the remaining 2,000 soldiers have to guard the fairy temple, Wantou, Daqiao and other towns, and they also have to divide troops to collect military funds to transfer grain and oil to various villages. ”

"What if Liu Jinchang leads his troops to chase after him?"

"It's easy to chase after Lord Lingzun, and Taizhou will be able to keep it. As for us, we can go north to Gaoyou, or cross the river to Shao Bo. If Liu Jinchang doesn't chase after him, we will sweep away the bandits he left on the other side! ”

The more Zhang Guangcheng thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense, and he couldn't help laughing: "That's a good idea, anyway, we have a boat, and they don't have anything to do with us on the river." ”

"They also have more than 40 boats, and if we really want to withdraw, we must move quickly, and we must not be caught up by them." Han Xiufeng thought for a while, and then said: "The next half day is the hardest, as long as we can get through it, we have nothing to worry about." ”

"It should be fine to stay for another afternoon."

……

Just when the three of them were discussing how to survive the hurdle in front of them, Huzi and other family members had already dragged Xu Ying to the east bank of the Baita River.

Xu Ying originally planned to fight to the death with the bandits, but he never expected those young men to be so greedy for life and afraid of death, he cut a few in a row and did not stop the young men from scattering and fleeing for their lives. Looking at the big flags waving in the wind on the other side, thinking that Zhang Zhigao's old guy must be guarding the flag, Xu Ying was ashamed, and sat paralyzed by the river because he didn't want to go to the other side.

"Master, the thieves are chasing after us, less than two miles away from us, and it will be too late to cross the river!"

"If you don't go, master, even if I die, I will die here!"

"Dong Weng, what if you die in Taizhou?" The master looked back at the people fleeing for their lives here, and said eagerly: "I bet that Zhang Zhigao's old ghost is just bluffing, and when the thieves arrive, he will run faster than a rabbit." And he will only flee to the north for his life, and will not return to Taizhou to defend the city. Now is not the time to be angry with him, you must focus on the overall situation! ”

"Master, if you cross the river, you can still be a prisoner. As long as you are here, he Zhang Zhigao will not dare to escape! Huzi said eagerly.

"To be a prisoner, my lord, I am now a general of the defeated army, how can I have the face to be his supervisor, even if I cross the river with a cheeky face, he will not listen to his lord's words."

"Don't care so much, it's important to cross the river first!"

The master made a look, and Huzi reacted suddenly, no matter whether Xu Yinggao was happy or not, he just carried him on his shoulder, and then ran downhill and rushed onto the boat.

Xu Ying gritted his teeth in anger, grabbed Huzi's braid and scolded angrily. Huzi endured the pain but didn't let go, and as soon as the master came up, he let the boatman hold the boat.

As soon as Zhang Zhigao received the news, he rushed to the river with his family, and asked from afar: "Brother Xu is back so soon, what about the 1,000 young men that the lower officials gave you?" ”

"Ran away, and when I saw the bandits, they all ran away!" Xu Ying said angrily with a gloomy face.

"Ran away?" Zhang Zhigao asked in surprise.

"Can this be fake, is it possible that this official will lie to you?"

"So the fairy temple is lost?"

"Not only is the Fairy Temple lost, but Taizhou is also in danger. Zhang Zhigao, the bandits are less than two miles away from here, if it weren't for the ambition of the officials and bandits to destroy their prestige, let alone intercept these young men you brought, I am afraid that they will run away when they see the bandits. Listen to the advice of this official, it is still too late to return to Taizhou. ”

"Brother Xu, are you planning to let the lower officials retreat like you?"

"You're ......!"

Zhang Zhigao looked at Xu Ying's grizzled appearance, his heart was happy, and he turned around and pointed to a coffin under the big flag, and said righteously: "As Brother Xu said, the thieves may not be able to stop the lower officials when they come, but the lower officials will not retreat from the battle, even if they die, they will die by the Baita River, and if the bandits want to offend me Taizhou, they have to step on the corpse of the lower official!" ”

"It's better to say than to sing, Zhang Zhigao, can you fool others and fool me?"

"Did the lower officials deceive people, the errand servants and young men by the river are like mirrors in their hearts. What kind of person Brother Xu is, they all know it. Zhang Zhigao was too lazy to talk nonsense with Xu Ying, and then turned around and said: "Wang Bantou, Master Xu must be very tired when he runs all the way back, so why don't you hurry up and find a place to send Master Xu to rest." ”

"Yes!"

"Zhang Zhigao, what do you want to do?"

"The big war is coming, the lower officials don't want anyone to shake the morale of the army here, Brother Xu, please."

The general of the defeated army has no majesty at all, not to mention that the lord of Zhizhou gave an order. Without saying a word, a group of officials took Xu Ying and Xu Ying's friends and family away.

Zhang Zhigao said it in a high-sounding manner just now, and he was ready to run, the reason why he sent someone to take Xu Ying away was that he was worried that Xu Ying would stay here and get in the way, and he was about to send someone to the other side to find out where the bandits were, when he heard a young man shouting: "Master, master, the bandits are coming, the bandits are coming!" ”

Everyone looked up, and the bandits' banners appeared on the other side.

Zhang Zhigao didn't dare to delay for a moment, and hurriedly walked to his family, planning to wait and see. The flag was getting closer and closer, and the figure of the bandit's vanguard gradually came into view, and in a blink of an eye, he rushed to the river, and saw that the bridge was gone, and there were no boats on the river, and the shotguns could not hit the other side, so he could only stop.

"Master, what now?" A family member asked nervously.

Zhang Zhigao hid behind the coffin, and muttered while watching: "Don't panic, they won't be able to come for a while without a boat." We'll wait until the thieves find the boat. ”

More than 1,000 servants and young men in Taizhou on the east bank were extremely nervous, and they were all ready to flee as soon as the thieves found the boat, and the timid ones had already slipped away quietly, Zhang Zhigao pretended not to find out that they were generally letting them slip away, and Xu Ying, who was under house arrest in a broken temple not far away, was in a hurry.

Yiling is not as prosperous as Wanfu Bridge, and there is no fairy temple, there are not many boats, and they have long been driven away by Zhang Zhigao's people, and those who did not go were also dragged to the east bank, and the Taiping soldiers who chased and killed to the Baita River in one breath saw that they could not cross the river for a while, so they simply left more than 100 soldiers to confront each other by the river, and the team went to the town to rest first.

Unexpectedly, this confrontation was confronted until the afternoon, just when Zhang Zhigao felt that the bandits should have found the boat, or had collected the materials for the hypothetical pontoon bridge and were about to flee with their families, the bandits on the other side suddenly disappeared!