"Defeat the enemy by walking", this is Luo Rucai's old job. In the past, when their strength was weak, they were wandering around, picking up places where the strength of the official army was weak, and they did not dare to confront the official army head-on. It's just that they have been outnumbered recently, and they have conquered a lot of counties, and they feel that they are no longer weak, so they began to change their tactics and take the initiative to be the attacking side.

Now that they have encountered such a strong force as Li Yan, the attack will not be effective at all, so they are familiar with their previous specialty.

After Luo Rucai's order was given, his troops began to retreat rapidly, out of contact with the officers and troops. After a short rest, he went south.

And Li Zhong also asked the troops to rest and did not immediately pursue them. After all, there are still many enemies, and if you rush to pursue them, there may be some risks. He sent out sentries to follow them, and if the thieves no longer entered their territory, they would be left alone. If the thieves were to spread wild in their territory, he would catch up with his troops. Their cannons and baggage are all dragged by mules and horses, and they are very fast, and they are not afraid of not being able to catch up.

In the distant stockade, a group of civilians armed with crossbow arrows and spears, led by a few soldiers, stood guard on the wall. There is a garrison in the Qiulou village in front, and the people naturally don't have to worry about safety. However, if an enemy comes to attack a small village like them, they can only resist it by themselves.

When they saw the thieves retreat, they all relaxed. They all came down from the wall, leaving only the soldiers on guard.

"So many people, how much wheat do you have to trample on?" A middle-aged man said distressedly.

An old man scolded: "The children are all in the team! What's the point of stepping on some wheat?! As long as the thieves can be beaten away, the children will have fewer casualties, and even if the wheat grains are not harvested, then they will be happy! ”

"That's it!" The others blamed: "You have enough food at home for a year, what is there to worry about?" Besides, those fields are all Qiu Louzhai, and they have nothing to do with you. ”

"I was wrong, I was wrong, everyone should stop nagging." The middle-aged man hurriedly surrendered his hand to everyone to make amends.

The crowd then went there talking about other things, and they thought that the thieves had been beaten away, so the atmosphere was very relaxed.

"Attention, all on the wall! The thieves are coming this way! The soldier watching the wall suddenly shouted loudly.

The people who were still chatting poorly just now quickly went up to the wall. The young men carried crossbows and bombs, and the middle-aged and elderly people used spears. They watched the smoke and dust billowing in front of them, and a large group of cavalry ran towards them, and the sound of rumbling horses' hooves from far and near made them extremely nervous.

Shi reminded loudly: "Pay attention, follow the usual training!" Don't mess around, do what you are told! ”

"Understood!" The people also responded loudly, and at the same time gave themselves courage.

The task of the soldiers in the stockade is not only to ensure law and order, but also to train the young and strong during the slack time, as a reserve soldier when necessary. But training is one thing, it's another thing when it's time to actually fight. The people in those villages near the county seat had fought with thieves before, but they were even the ones that were established in the later period, and Li Yan was already quite famous at that time, and there were no thieves who came to find him uncomfortable. Therefore, these people are still seeing the real chapter for the first time, and they are inevitably a little nervous and afraid.

"Fight well!" He shouted loudly, "This is your home!" If you don't work hard at this time, when the stockade is broken, you will have no home! Whether they can live or not depends on the mood of those thieves. Woman of the house, think for yourselves! ”

The people all looked back, whether they could see their homes or not, a flame rose in their hearts, and their hands clenched their weapons.

"Grenadier! Check the fire medium and don't leave the fire on fire for a while! The chief continued to remind loudly: "Crossbowmen, pull the crossbow string apart, and wait for a moment to hear the order before loading the arrow!" Next, get the oil ready, and burn the thieves' ladders in a moment. ”

Everyone who was reminded began to check the equipment, and their nervousness was relieved.

After a while, the cavalry of the thieves came to the outside of the stockade, and they were all scratching their heads. The stockade was built on a hill, and there was a ditch more than a battle wide outside, and an earthen wall more than seven feet high.

A leader scolded: "What kind of place is this @ Niang@?" Such a small village has such a high earthen wall, and the landlords here have so much money?! ”

Another leader asked, "Are you still fighting?" ”

The cavalry leader thought for a moment and ordered, "Go up to two hundred brothers first, and get off your horse and attack." ”

Soon the thieves dismounted and rushed up to the mountain with their weapons. They had already looked around, and only there was a gap in the walled gate, so for them who didn't have any siege equipment, this was the best place to attack.

When the thieves had climbed halfway up the mountain, the chief ordered: "Ready, release the arrows!" ”

"Boom", "boom" crossbow strings sounded, and dozens of crossbow arrows flew out of the wall, shooting at the enemy forty or fifty paces away.

"Ah~" The thieves who climbed the slope let out a scream. Even though they were wearing armor and leather armor, they were still pierced by powerful crossbow arrows, making them feel threatened with death.

The crossbow arrows used by those people are the same as those in the army, but they are used in the army and retreated. With just one stone of wheat, they can make a crossbow their private property, but they can only be rationed five arrows. But to register, crossbow arrows can only be bought by going to the county seat, and they can only be bought with a registration certificate. But now most of what they use is still the property of the army.

In the beginning, no one was willing to spend a stone of grain to exchange it, but after the potato harvest, some people began to change it. The people who were replaced were all from relatively large families, with many people in many places and many family members in the army. These families knew the importance of force, and they also had surplus food to exchange for bows and crossbows. However, some small families also went to change their crossbow arrows, not for anything else, but to not be bullied in the future.

"Wind, load the arrows!" He reminded loudly.

Those who wield crossbows and arrows are young and strong, and there is no shortage of strength to wind them. The bolts were quickly reloaded.

"Aim, put!" The chief commanded again. They arranged to shoot in two or three rows, and the wall was only more than four feet wide, and there was no room for two people.

The second round of crossbow bolts was fired, and the casualties of the thieves were even greater. Not only is the distance closer, but the young men are also starting to be able to aim before firing.

After another scream, the thieves began to run down the hill in a row. They didn't carry bows and arrows, and they barely knew how to shoot on horseback, and they couldn't control their horses if they took their hands off the reins, so their weapons were one-handed.

"Boss, it's not easy to fight." One of the leaders ran back and said in frustration: "We don't even have ladders and shields, let's wait for the infantry to come and attack." ”

The leader nodded expressionlessly, but didn't say anything. In this trial, he lost more than 40 cavalry, and he was worried about how to explain to Luo Rucai.

After Luo Rucai came, before he could decide whether to attack this small village, a sentry came to report: "Report to the general, there are four or five thousand officers and soldiers, and they have reached four miles away." ”

The subordinate frowned and said, "Chasing so closely? ”

Luo Rucai gritted his teeth and ordered: "Go separately!" You take your team to the east, and we will meet in the county seat of Qixian in two days. As long as there is no pursuit by the official army, I will break all the stockades along the way! Let them know that we're not to be messed with! ”

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