Li Yan was not worried about his own safety, if it was indeed a critical moment, he could still rush out with the cavalry. But it was not yet a critical moment, and he still wanted to defeat these thieves, so he didn't need to think about escape for the time being.

At this time, the thieves were also ready, began to beat the drums, and the troops marched forward in a crooked queue. Only the archers from the south came forward, and in front of them there was a row of shield-bearers, holding various shields, to keep the archers safe.

The archers stopped about a hundred and fifty paces from the phalanx, and the drumming stopped at the same time. The other sides were much slower, waiting for a while before they began to move forward. They also stopped about one hundred and fifty paces away from the phalanx, but they were all foot soldiers with swords and guns and other weapons, and they were ready to charge into battle. As for the cavalry, the three leaders didn't want to let their elite suffer any more losses.

"Is that okay?" Yuan Shizhong frowned and asked.

Shi Qian cheered him up again: "It's no problem, you can rest assured." If you look at those corpses, it shows that Li Yan's farthest killing distance is only more than a hundred steps. Our troops are now one hundred and fifty paces away, and should be safe. Also, as far as I know, Li Yan's troops are all crossbow arrows, and there are almost no bows and arrows, so this distance must be safe. ”

"Aren't there still cannons?" Yuan Shizhong asked uneasily.

Yuan Laoshan said: "Li Yan's artillery skills are powerful, but he only has two cannons. Although the shells hit far away, a single cannon could only kill or wound a dozen or so people at most. My side caught his attention, and the other three sides could rush up. As long as we rush hard enough, we will definitely be able to rush forward. As long as the hand-to-hand combat is met, he is dead! ”

The position they were in now was nearly seven hundred steps away from Li Yan's army formation. Yuan Laoshan watched the "dragon" war horse break its leg by Li Yan's cannonball four hundred steps away, so he was extremely careful at this time.

Shi Qian hurriedly reminded: "Yuan Da is in charge, it's time to start." ”

Although most of the archers of the three of them are concentrated here, Yuan Laoshan's family background is the thickest, with more than 200 people, and he and Yuan Shizhong combined have nearly 100 people. After all, they can't find many people who can shoot a hundred and fifty paces away. Since Yuan Laoshan is the leader of the alliance, it is still up to Yuan Laoshan to make the final decision.

Yuan Laoshan nodded with satisfaction, and then instructed the archers to prepare. But before he could give the firing order, Li Yan fired first.

"Boom", "boom" two cannon shots, grape shells flew out, smashed on the shields in front of the thief archers, and many shields shattered in response. The bearer of the shield was also hit by projectiles or sawdust, or killed or wounded.

The loader quickly began to reload the sub-cannon. The thieves' archers, on the other hand, were stunned by the sudden blow.

It was a distance of one hundred and fifty paces, and they could barely shoot the arrows with the strength of the milk, but the artillery of the officers and soldiers was able to break the shields in front of them, and it was a dozen. And several archers were also injured and fell to the ground, and the blood from the wounds was gushing outward, and they couldn't cover it no matter how they could.

After Li Yan used the new gunpowder formula, the range of the gun was greatly improved. Moreover, the muzzle of the sub-cannon was wrapped with deerskin, which enhanced the airtightness of the gun and also played a role in increasing the firing range. Now the grape bullet still has the ability to penetrate armor at 200 steps, and the solid bullet can shatter the giant shield at 500 steps.

Taking advantage of the panic of the enemy archers, the artillerymen quickly changed their sub-cannons, and then fired them immediately. Most of the projectiles in the past this time hit the archers who were not protected by shields, so that the casualties of the archers in the first row reached forty percent.

"Ah, help~" An archer fell to the ground screaming after the officers opened fire.

The archer next to him was not harmed, but his companion on the other side of the archer also fell to the ground, not injured, but directly in the chest, and died with a muffled grunt.

The archer glanced left and right and immediately ran backwards. The other uninjured archers reacted in the same way, fleeing backwards in a panic.

"Boom", "boom" two more cannon shots, and another group of people in the ranks of the thieves in a panic fell.

The archers and shieldbearers continued to run backwards, disrupting the teams behind.

Yuan Laoshan was a little stunned, and muttered, "Can you hit it so far?" ”

"Master Yuan, hurry up and stop the chaos, otherwise it will be all chaos!" Shi Qian hurriedly reminded.

Yuan Laoshan finally came to his senses and roared: "Go up, if anyone dares to retreat again, kill!" ”

His own soldiers quickly rushed forward, shouting as they rushed: "Whoever dares to retreat again, kill!" ”

The threat of words alone has no effect at all, and of course Yuan Laoshan's personal soldiers also know this truth. It's not once or twice that they've been in the Warlords' team, and after shouting three times, they stop being wordy, and draw their knives at the retreating crowd and slash. It was really a knife and a head. After cutting down more than a dozen people who were still running backwards in a panic, the chaotic retreating team finally slowly stopped, and by this time they had already run a distance of nearly a hundred paces.

Yuan Laoshan roared with red eyes: "Start rushing now!" He only has two cannons, no matter how powerful he is, how powerful can he be? As long as we rush up, those weapons, armor, and cannons will be ours! ”

Shi Qian and Yuan Shizhong also nodded. Then they began to beat the war drums again, but this time dozens of drums were beaten together, and the drums of "dong" and "dong" resounded throughout the field.

"Kill the officers and soldiers!"

"Rush, eat meat!"

……

The other troops assembled on three sides, after hearing the sound of drums, began to run and speed up with shouts, and rushed towards Li Yan's phalanx.

Li Yan stood on the roof of the shed, looking at the crowd of people coming from three sides, and felt that it was not good. But at this time, the south side has also begun to organize the team, and he only has two guns, and he doesn't know which side to reinforce.

He watched nervously from three sides, and found that the thieves at the north gate seemed to be more disciplined, and the formation of the impact was maintained okay. And the weapons are also relatively unified, the front row is a sword and shield, and the back is basically a spear.

"Bring a cannon to the north!" Li Yan immediately ordered. If you want to fight, you will fight the strongest, and if you defeat the strong, the weak will naturally not dare to stab at first.

The pro-soldiers immediately shouted to the subordinates and asked the pro-soldiers below to give orders. It's a little faster that way. Time is of the essence right now.

An artillery crew quickly rushed to the north with the guns, and the loaders followed with the remaining four subguns, and the other loading equipment was on the gun carriage, which was also easy to move.

While the artillery crew was still moving, the rogue who was impacting had already entered a distance of eighty paces. The captains shouted orders to release their arrows, the sound of "boom" and "boom" bowstrings and the sound of "squeak" and "creak" crossbows were heard endlessly, but the shouts of the thieves were still constantly approaching the military formation.

...