Verse 96 was defeated

Lu Yizhong was furious, thinking that you were just a showman, so he blindly held on to his talents, and pointed his nose and reprimanded: "You are a rebellious person, if you talk nonsense again, you will be guilty of disturbing the morale of the army."

"Hmph, do you want me to disturb the military heart?" Qian Taichong didn't buy it, and was about to ridicule each other, when someone came to look for them.

"Gentlemen, please hurry to the camp meeting"

When he left the city, Qian Taichong found that all the troops at the gate of the city had been replaced by the men and horses of the town mark, and all the swords and guns were unsheathed very neatly. billowing

The horses of the group rolled through the hole in the city gate, and the officers and soldiers at the city gate did not close the city gate after they went out, and the city gate continued to be open to facilitate the entry and exit of men and horses.

In the Chinese military camp, although He Rubin's family and the town standard are still quite stable, this rocket rain has reduced the morale of the camp to the lowest. Many were whispering, thinking that they were definitely going to retire.

In the great tent, the camp lords have arrived. They now know very well the power of the thieves' firearms, and there is no sense of security in setting up camp here, and no matter how high the walls are built, no matter how deep the trenches are dug, the thieves' rockets can be shot from more than ten miles away, and one shot is hundreds, and this battle cannot be fought again.

The generals had no intention of fighting, and the coach felt that he couldn't fight anymore. He Rubin knew that it was pointless to continue to insist on camping in Chengmai to confront the thieves at this time, and now the morale of the army had collapsed, and the grain route could not be restored soon. It is better to take advantage of the fact that the troops have not yet been devastated, and retreat to Qiongshan to get food first, at least there is room for Xiangshang to be responsible. However, he had no right to make such a decision to retire alone, so he turned his attention to Zhao Ruyi.

Zhao Ruyi had long wanted to withdraw from the army - this crusade against the thieves was clearly bound to fail, and the fire attack just now scared him almost out of his body. In this way, regardless of the indiscriminate long-range attack from the rear of the front line, it was the first time he had encountered it. One of his servants was killed on the spot by a direct hit by a rocket during a rocket attack. He would prefer to get out of such a Jedi as soon as possible, seeing that all the generals are willing to retreat. I also agreed to push the boat.

Next, the order of the retreat of each battalion and the banner and method of liaison were discussed, He Rubin knew that it would be difficult for him to explain to the governor and the court when he returned from the retreat, so he couldn't help but look gloomy, and let everyone discuss, and he didn't say a word. Zhao Ruyi saw that his face was not good, for fear that he would not be able to think of going crazy or committing suicide for a while-as soon as the Lord died, these 20,000 horses would suddenly disperse. So he said in a loud voice to the generals:

"My army has won a series of victories, and now the stone mountain is a small setback, and the army will return to Qiongshan to eat and then make calculations"

At that moment, he said a lot of words to boost the morale of the generals, which saved the atmosphere in the big tent a little. It was decided to retreat early tomorrow morning, so as not to cause confusion and confusion by breaking through the various divisions at night.

It was stipulated that Chen Renjie would take the headquarters of General Qiongya and the local Cao Jun and Xiangyong in Hainan to walk in the front and be responsible for opening the way. Among the five generals, Tang Yunwen's men and horses are the most complete, and most of the team are locals and the terrain is familiar. Cao Jun and Xiang Yong's hometown camp are mostly in the area of Qiongshan and Wenchang, so their fighting spirit is not high to attack Lingao, but they should still have the will to fight and return after taking the road.

The divisions followed suit and fought and left. The men and horses behind the palace were garrisoned by the Chinese army in the Zhenbiao battalion, led by the guerrilla Sun Changzuo. He Rubin allocated him 2,000 men and horses, including 100 horsemen from He Rubin and 100 horsemen from Song Ming. Sun Changzuo knew that these 200 horses were used by Lord Zhentai to save his life. At the moment, he was very grateful, and said that he would lead the men and horses to fight the queen of the palace.

There is also a firearms battalion of Li Modao in the palace army. This firearms battalion that lost its cannon seemed useless in everyone's eyes, so Li Modao could only take the firearms battalion to guard the camp, and Zuihou withdrew from the battalion and retreated. He Rubin's instructions to him were that if the road was cut off and he couldn't retreat, he would retreat directly to Chengmai County.

After the generals resigned, He Rubin took care of Zhao Ruyi: "My lord, rest in the old camp in this town, and then retreat with the old camp after dawn." ”

Zhao Ruyi said: "The students still have some luggage in the city that they haven't packed......

"The town will send someone to handle it."

"No, no," Zhao Ruyi hurriedly said, "There are many manuscripts and books, and the students don't go, and a few servants are ignorant, so I'm afraid they can't figure it out." ”

"Okay, please go and come back quickly."

Zhao Ruyi rushed back to the Song Mansion in the city with his servant Pegasus, and the staff also followed. As soon as this group of people returned, the courtyards of the large families in the city where the Song Mansion and his staff lived became a mess. Zhao Ruyi supervised the army this time, and he was originally prepared to search for Haode along the road, and when he arrived at Lingao, he could obtain many thieves' toys and treasures. So he brought with him many empty crates and servants. Although the defeat was too fast this time, the desire was not filled, but the filial piety of the lieutenant colonel and the dedication of the gentry along the way, after entering Chengmai this time, he received many gifts from the Chengmai county order and the gentry in the county. Because Song Zonghui asked him for shelter, he also gave him fifty taels of silver, and a famous calligraphy and painting of this dynasty.

As soon as he returned to the Song Mansion, he immediately ordered the servants to immediately pack and bundle all the goods and goods, and then immediately went to requisition the people's vehicles and prepared to escape.

Although the staff members were not officials, they also received many gifts along the way, and they had to be packed and taken away one by one, and they were no more than Zhao Ruyi, with seventy or eighty servants—those as illustrious as Lu Yizhong, with thirty or forty servants, and ordinary poor talents like Qian Taichong, who had only one small servant. So some people only picked up fine and soft boxes, while others even took away a few horses of local cotton cloth that they had been fed. For a while, it was chaotic and full of voices. While packing their luggage, the servants of each family simply carried their belongings in the courtyard of the Song Mansion at will, including the decorations on the table, the calligraphy and paintings on the wall, and even the curtains on the bed. The servants of the Song family shouted for a while, "This is an official thief" Song Huizong saw that the scene was so chaotic, while ordering the family to send the family members and children to the inner courtyard, and on the other hand, asking the whole family to prepare sticks, knives and guns, ready to resist the robbery of the rebels in case of emergency, and quickly went to find Chang Qingyun.

Chang Qingyun was urging a few servants to bundle and carry the luggage. While commanding the servants loudly, he constantly reprimanded them for not doing things well. A servant accidentally scattered the luggage that bundled haode, and a few local specialties were scattered all over the place. Chang Qingyun continued to roar again.

"What's the point of packing up suddenly?" He panicked, in fact, Song Huizong had already guessed that the official army was going to flee for his life, but he still held on to a glimmer of hope, hoping that this was just a move to the camp.

Chang Qingyun was very attentive to his hospitality in the past few days, so he whispered to him: "I can't hide it, the food and grass in the army are not enough, and they were burned by the thieves' rockets for a while, and our soldiers are about to retreat to Qiongshan." ”

This news was like a thunderbolt from the blue, and Song Zonghui almost fainted - as soon as the official army ran away, what should be done in this county?

"I'm going to return to Qiongshan, I don't know when I'll come to Chengmai again?"

"This is a major event of a military aircraft, how do we know?" Chang Qingyun said, "In my opinion, it will be as little as three months, and as much as half a year." ”

"This, this," Song Zong will be in a hurry, as soon as the officers and soldiers go, the army of thieves will be under the city, and the fall of the city is not a matter of day, "I don't know how many soldiers and horses are left to guard the city?" ”

Chang Qingyun said impatiently: "The students don't know about the major events of the military aircraft. ”

Song Zong would stand still for a long time, until a staff member came to him and asked him to help requisition a few chicken buses and transport the luggage for himself. hurriedly agreed casually, and ran to the county government with a smoke.

Liu Jingxuan was in a hurry in the county ya, like a fly without a head, and the rocket attack just now made him frightened, for fear that the thieves would take the opportunity to attack the city, while urging the regiment to fight the fire, and on the other hand, he personally led people to the city to check the situation. His heart sank to the bottom. Finally, when the fires were extinguished, the thieves did not attack the city. He went down to the city and returned to the yamen, and let people cook supper and eat.

Before a bowl of rice noodles was eaten, I got the news that all the camps outside the city and inside the city were making noise, and I didn't know what was going on. Liu Jingxuan hurriedly put the bowl down and ordered someone to wring a hot hand towel, and he was going to wipe it and go out to inquire. As soon as the servant's handkerchief was brought, Song Zonghui hurriedly arrived.

He didn't have time to meet the county commander with courtesy, so he hurriedly told him the news that the officers and troops were preparing to withdraw to Qiongshan as soon as it was dawn.

"Is that true?" Liu Jingxuan almost jumped up, ignoring the rice noodles that had not been wiped off the corners of his mouth, "My soldiers are leaving?" ”

"Seriously" Song Zonghui told the staff and officers in the city who were packing their luggage one by one, and said Chang Qingyun's words again. Only then did he sigh and said, "What Mr. Chang said will not be false." ”

"How's that okay?" Liu Jingxuan's face turned white, "As soon as the officers and soldiers leave, the thieves will come to attack the city, and the thieves' firearms are so powerful......" Speaking of this, he couldn't go on, although they had defended Chengmai for dozens of days, but it was just that the thieves surrounded and did not fight, not that they could not capture the city.

"I think it's only us who are in the city and the gentry who climb together, please stay ......"

Liu Jingxuan knew that this method was not a method at all. Now the grain route is cut off, and it is attacked by thieves, and the army's morale is in turmoil. Isn't the life and death of tens of thousands of people under General He Bing and his own head more important than this small county town? The fall of the county town was indeed a crime for him, but it was by no means a capital crime. Why is it necessary to stay in this Jedi and live with the soldiers and civilians of this county?

Thinking of this, Liu Jingxuan shed tears and said: "I think this method is useless, but I pity the gentry and people all over the city" He sighed for a long time, and said that once the city is broken, he must commit suicide and martyrdom.

"I think the master should go to the old camp of He Zhentai quickly, take advantage of the pros and cons, and let the Lord Zhentai leave a team of men and horses to help defend the city." Colleagues in the yamen suggested.

"Most of the grain and grass in the city were requisitioned by the officials and soldiers, and even if there were soldiers to defend the city, they could not hold it without food supply." Liu Jingxuan sighed.

Song Zonghui didn't think about this, but once the officers and soldiers escaped, they would inevitably rob the city before leaving, although He Rubin had to bring people from the province, it was difficult to guarantee that he could hold his subordinates down. Thinking of this, he felt that it was better to have no officers and soldiers - since the 20,000 officers and soldiers had to flee in the face of the thieves, what was the use of leaving 511 men? If the thieves want to trap the city, it will only be a matter of day.

The officials in the yamen are responsible for defending the land and have to defend it, but there is no need for the gentry and people like them to resist to the end. I already had the idea of surrendering if the thieves were going to attack the city. At the moment, he just echoed a few words, but said no more.

While discussing, a small school Pegasus came to pass an order: the county should immediately prepare 20,000 catties of dry food, and at the same time recruit people and chicken buses. Delivered to the camp before dawn.

"It's okay to prepare dry food, and the lower officials immediately arranged for each household to raise the fire to cook, but this folk man and the chicken bus are now trapped in the city, and the lower officials can't leave the city gate, how to prepare it?" Liu Jingxuan said urgently.

"This is an order from an adult, and it has nothing to do with the small." The Colonel rolled his eyes and said, "It must be done before dawn," and he flew off again.

Liu Jingxuan was in a hurry, although Chengmai is a big county in Hainan, there are only a few hundred Ding Zhuang people who can be recruited in the county. Even the regimental courage defending the city was mostly provided by the villages near the city. Steaming 20,000 catties of dry food is not an errand that can be done in a short time. He also wanted to convene a meeting of the gentlemen in the starry night. Or Song Zonghui muttered: "I'll leave at dawn, why bother?" ”

Liu Jingxuan knew what he meant, and he was a little worried: "What if the general asks about it?" ”

Song Zonghui sneered: "I'm afraid it's too late to ask about this matter at that time." He then whispered that for now the women were to make dry food on the fire, and that it would be enough to transport it out at dawn.

“…… Even the dry food does not have to be enough, one is not enough time, and the second is that the army is already like an arrow, and it will inevitably rush to go as soon as the morning dawns, where will there be time to wait for the dry food in the county to be delivered to the ...... "Song Zonghui whispered, there are a few thousand catties of dry food to be blamed, and there is no need to waste more grain in the county.

Liu Jingxuan listened to Song Zonghui's suggestion, arranged people to make dry food, and on the other hand, asked people to respond to the accident by beating the gong to recruit the people, and the people in the city went into hiding. Song Zonghui gathered all the regimental warriors again, waited at the three city gates, and waited for the officials and soldiers at the city gate to leave, and immediately rushed to close the city gate. so as not to take advantage of the chaos and rob the officers and soldiers.

The people in the county town are nervously preparing, and some of the troops and staff officers who were originally stationed in the city have also gone out of the city. Some people took advantage of the opportunity to loot in the city, and there were several fires in the city, and there were chaotic sounds of slashing, shouting and pleading. On the street in front of the county government were several corpses killed by the rebels. The gate of the county government has been closed, and the heavy latch has been added, and the top door bar has been added. Liu Jingxuan took dozens of people to support the big seal in the lobby. He was very frightened in his heart, because just now there were more than one sporadic group of rebels who broke into the county government and asked him to give him "open silver" with swords and guns, and some officers came with their own soldiers and politely asked him to "temporarily pay for horse fodder"; he was not only afraid that the officers and soldiers would rob the county treasury so that he would not be able to explain, but he was also worried about his wives and concubines in the rear office, for fear that the rebels would break in and insult them.

He Rubin didn't know that the officers and soldiers in the city had already taken away the enemy, and he was sending people to urge the troops and staff in the city to get out of the city as soon as possible, and at the same time gather all the troops near the old camp. He ordered that all clumsy instruments should be discarded, and that only food and grass and light firearms should be brought. The remaining cannons of the firearms battalion, he took care of Li Mo's knife and set it up on the barracks, and when he covered the retreat, he threw away all the medicines.

Zhao Ruyi whispered: "I'm afraid it's hard to explain if you discard too many armor weapons." According to the students, it is better to send all of them to Chengmai County, and leave another 500 people to guard the city. ”

He Rubin thought so, and immediately ordered all the armor equipment to be discarded to be transported to the county seat, and left a thousand generals and five hundred soldiers to assist in guarding the city.

In the blink of an eye, the sky was already dark, and He Rubin immediately ordered the whole army to set off from camp. Chen Renjie walked bravely in the front with the men and horses of the Qiongya staff and the local drill army, followed by 10,000 remnants of the remnants of all walks of life, and then the elite 2,000 people of his headquarters covered the old camp and baggage.

Although he had taken care of sending the bulky equipment and redundant armor weapons that were not needed into Chengmai County in advance, the incident was in a hurry, and many officers and soldiers in the camp were anxious to flee for their lives, so they left the camp without packing up, and the discarded weapons and armor in each village were everywhere.

He heard the report that Chen Renjie's troops had set off as a team, and his heart was a little calm, and he was most afraid that the soldiers would rush to flee for their lives in panic and nervousness, so that the order of the retreat would be greatly disordered, and even if there were only two or three thousand thieves, they would be able to take the opportunity to defeat the officers and soldiers. Therefore, He Rubin was very nervous, and from time to time asked people to go out to investigate the retreat of people from all walks of life.

The thief's probe horse is very powerful, and every time he intercepts the pond horse he sends, even the fine work can rarely come back, and he has not caught a prisoner in several battles, and the situation on the thief's side is as deep as the sea, and the slightest news cannot be transmitted. He Rubin knew that he was like a blind man and a blind horse, and he could only rely on step by step to fight the war, and he was in a very dangerous situation.

Soon after Chen Renjie's team set off, the follow-up people also set off one by one. He received the news that all the safe people in the front team had walked out three or four miles away, and he was a little relieved. He thought in his heart what to do next after retreating to Qiongshan, how to tell the army lord - he knew that Zhao Ruyi would definitely extort him a sum of money from him...... While he was thinking, he suddenly heard a series of cannon booms outside, dense and almost uncountable. He was shocked, not knowing where the thief had come from so many cannons. Then there was a shouting and neighing, and there was chaos. He was startled and immediately stood up and hurriedly asked:

"What's going on out there?"

"The thieves are coming," one of his own soldiers hurriedly announced, "and artillery is being fired from the east."

He Rubin's heart sank, and the east was the direction of Chen Renjie's front team retreating. Could it be that the thieves have already set up a defensive line on the road to prevent the officers and soldiers from retreating?

In a moment, the sound of artillery and gunfire outside became more and more intense, and the noise in the camp became louder and louder, and even his standard camp began to fluctuate. He was about to send someone to probe again, when Ye Zhengfang, the garrison of the Chinese army, hurriedly came in and announced:

"The former army and the former army" He seemed to be out of breath in horror, "the former army was defeated"