"Boom", "boom", the artillery continued to bombard, and the projectile caught up with the fleeing thieves, killing and wounding them. The launch was not stopped until the thieves had escaped more than a hundred steps.

This cannon was made by Li Yanrang to change direction and support to the east. The archers who had been worried about the thieves from the south were gathering again, so they kept a cannon behind just in case. However, there was an extreme crisis in the east just now, and if it was broken through, the other three sides would not be able to hold it, so this cannon was reversed.

And the thieves have their own thoughts, Shi Qian and Yuan Shizhong are both looking at the battle situation in the east, if the east can break through, they will go up to pick up the cheap, if they can't break through, then there is no need to sacrifice the lives of their men in vain. And Yuan Laoshan is also counting on the result of the east, and in the south, he is not only consumed by his subordinates, but just for show.

Now, the eastern offensive, which had been pinned on by all three sides, also failed, so all three sides immediately retreated and got out of the range of Li Yan's artillery. After that, he began to set up camp, and generously wanted to trap Li Yan to death.

Their camp was five hundred steps away from Li Yan's phalanx, and they felt that this distance was safe. And there was no wall to build a wall, just a few rough horses, and then began to set up tents.

The camp of Yuan Laoshan, Shi Qian, and Yuan Shizhong was rarely quiet. At other times, after camping, it's either a gathering to drink and eat meat, or to have some fun. But today there was nothing, and even the groans of the wounded were scarce, because there were not many of them. Most of them were lying within two hundred paces of Li Yan's army array, whether they were wounded or corpses.

The thieves hid in the tents with empty eyes, and even the thieves who stood guard were curled up, holding their weapons or standing or sitting there. They were all thinking, how many brothers had died in their attack for half an hour? Anyway, they felt that there were few people who knew them well, which really made them sad, but they were even more afraid.

The leaders of the battalions walked around the camp, checking the number of men under their command before reporting to their chiefs.

When the casualty figures were known, all three were shocked. So Shi Qian and Yuan Shizhong both came to Yuan Laoshan's camp with a tacit understanding, ready to discuss the next step.

"Yuan Da is in charge," Shi Qian first asked, "what are we going to do next?" ”

Yuan Laoshan was not very interested, and asked a little tiredly, "What do you mean?" ”

"You can't attack like this!" Yuan Shizhong couldn't hold back his words, and said directly: "My subordinates are nearly thirty percent less. If I still attack, I won't participate. ”

Yuan Laoshan sighed: "I also suffered almost two percent of the casualties, we have to think of some other way." Otherwise, when Li Yan is consumed, we will also collapse. ”

"yes, I'm going to think of something else." Shi Qian nodded in agreement. He could hear that his casualties should be the least, only just arrived at Yicheng. As soon as he saw Li Yan coming to greet him with artillery, he immediately asked the troops to retreat, which won the fewest casualties. But this can't be said, after all, he was the first to retreat, if Yuan Laoshan and Yuan Shizhong are not satisfied, then he will not be able to explain.

Yuan Shizhong didn't think about it, and said, "I can only sneak attack at night." There are so many of us that we can take turns to rest. Li Yan didn't have many people, even if the sneak attack failed, he would continue to harass them tomorrow and pull them to death. ”

Yuan Laoshan finally smiled, clapped his hands and said: "This method is good, let's exhaust Li Yan to death!" ”

Shi Qian reminded: "If Li Yan's reinforcements come, it will not be easy. We'll have to hurry, two nights at most. ”

Yuan Laoshan and Yuan Shizhong both nodded and said, "Well, yes, two nights, there should be no problem." If they don't sleep for a day and a night, they won't even be able to pick up their weapons, and they'll die. ”

It was not far from Guide City, and one day was enough time to come, but they didn't consider the reinforcements of Guide City at all. How long have they been here? I didn't see the officers and soldiers in the city come out, but they all cowered in the city walls and didn't dare to move. The only thing they were worried about was Li Yanqi's reinforcements, but what they didn't know was that Li Yan didn't let Qixian send reinforcements at all.

The three of them found the best solution, and immediately came out of the shadow of the great loss, and all three of them became happy.

"Come on, serve wine and meat!" Yuan Laoshan commanded loudly: "Also open meat for the brothers, two taels of wine per person, and a piece of meat!" ”

Shi Qian and Yuan Shizhong also sent people back to give their subordinates some good food and drink some wine to boost their morale.

Inside the phalanx, in the headquarters.

It became an ambulance for the wounded, with the ground full of wounded lying on the ground, and five military medical officers, all of whom were apprentices of Dr. He and Dr. Wu, were treating the wounded.

This was the largest casualty battle Li Yan encountered, and it was only a defensive battle for half an hour, causing him 172 casualties, of which 56 were killed. This is still good, pikemen and shield bearers basically have chain mail, otherwise the casualties will be greater.

In fact, if it had been treated in time, there might not have been so many deaths. However, the thieves continued to attack, and many of the wounded could only lie in place and wait, and after a long time, they lost too much blood, and they could not be saved after getting it back.

Li Yan and Li Zhong went to see the wounded who had been bandaged, and as for the wounded who had not yet been treated, they should let the medical officer deal with them first. The hemostatic powder prepared by Dr. Wu and Dr. He is very effective, as long as the wound is not too large, as long as a small packet can stop the bleeding. Wipe the wound around it with liquor and wrap it with gauze. For those who are seriously injured, they should be given a dose of painkiller - a medicine containing mandala powder - before treatment.

The emotions of the wounded were quite stable, and they had no complaints when they saw Li Yan, which made Li Yan feel relieved.

"Fourth brother, the casualties are nearly 20%, the situation is not good." Out of the headquarters, Li Mu reminded in a low voice: "You see, the camp of the thieves is only five hundred steps away from us, as long as we use arson bombs tonight, we can stand out." ”

Li Yan shook his head and said, "Wait, maybe reinforcements will come tomorrow." ”

"If those guys dared to go out of the city, the thieves wouldn't be so rampant." Li Mu said disdainfully.

Li Yan explained: "We haven't lost this battle yet, if we admit defeat this time, they will be even more rampant in the future." ”

"Night attack, harassment, continuous attack," Li Mou said a little anxiously: "If the thieves use these methods, we will be finished." ”

Li Yan pointed to the soldiers who threw the corpses of the thieves in the distance outside the phalanx, and said, "If you light these fuels, you should be able to burn them overnight, and you won't need them to sneak up on them." The soldiers take turns resting, and tomorrow will be the same. Their casualties today are more than four or five thousand, and twenty percent of the casualties, even if Yuan Laoshan and them want to fight, their subordinates will not come to fight. There should be no problem. ”

Li Mu shook his head and said helplessly: "Why are you bolder than mine?" It's better not to use the cavalry anymore, and it can be used at critical moments. ”

"yes, I know." Li Yan smiled and patted Li Mou's arm, expressing his gratitude and trust to him.

...