The north bank of the Jingou River.

"Report," reported one of his own soldiers on horseback, "the thief is still ten miles from here." ”

Li Yan nodded and said, "Explore again." ”

At this time, he was on the north bank of the Jingou River, behind the only wooden bridge within a radius of twenty miles. The cavalry has been sent out to cut off the thieves' sentinels, and all the thieves' sentries that enter within five miles must be cleared. However, it seems that Zhang Xianzhong did not send many sentinels, and he did not hear a few gunshots.

He has 2,000 people here, a 1,000-man team led by Huang Desheng in the upper ten miles, and a 2,000-man team led by Li Mou in the lower ten miles. Except for the fact that he had already lined up along the river on both sides of the bridge, the troops upstream and downstream were mobile, and if the enemy made a detour to the sides, they were responsible for intercepting them.

After a while, the two hundred cavalry ran back, crossed the river through the wooden bridge, and returned to rest behind the array. They let the horses rest, gave them some materials and beans, and let the horses recover their strength sooner, and probably they would soon have to pursue them. At the same time, they also have to load all the ammunition of the handcuffs and be ready for battle at any time.

By this time, the enemy's vanguard had already appeared in the front, and except for a few personal soldiers who were still watching, the others had crossed the river and returned to the troops.

At this time, Yuan Laoshan and Shi Qian were also in the forward camp, and they served as guides to guide the army forward.

"I'll just say it," Yuan Laoshan said to Zhang Nengqi next to him: "It's not a good thing to have no return from the sentry, Li Yan's cavalry is very powerful, and it can wipe out all our sentry spies." ”

"Shut up!" Zhang Nengqi said impatiently: "How powerful can he be?!" I have 5,000 men here, and I have 100,000 troops behind me! Can he be the enemy?! ”

Shi Qian shook his head in his heart, 100,000 is just a claim, and there are only more than 20,000 real combatable soldiers, plus the old camp and the people who have been coerced, it is only 60,000.

After walking for a while, they finally saw the Jingou River and the troops that had been lined up on the other side of the river.

"Gee, how did this river get so big?" Shi Qian said in surprise first.

Yuan Laoshan was also surprised to look at the Jingou River, which was one-third of the height of the riverbed and more than 20 steps wide. There has been little rain in recent years, and the flow of the Jingou River has also become smaller, becoming a small stream less than three steps wide, but why has it become a big river now?

In fact, this is one of Li Yan's preparations. He knew that after the thieves were heading here, he asked the troops, as well as the people here, to work together to build a dam more than ten miles downstream. Now the water is not very current, which is just right for them to work. In less than a day, they built the embankment. And also put a ** behind the embankment, as long as the thieves detour from the downstream, you can blow up the embankment, let the water flow to block the thieves, and buy time for their follow-up arrangement.

And Li Yan has already issued an order to the county town behind, although he wants to block the attack of the thieves, but the plains here are dominant, and the thieves are numerous. If the thieves don't want to fight a decisive battle and bypass by other roads, some losses in the territory will be unavoidable.

Zhang Nengqi looked at the troops on the other side of the river, frowned, and said, "This is the Li Yan's troops you are talking about?" ”

Yuan Laoshan nodded and said, "That's right, it's his troops." You see, the soldiers in front of them are all shiny chain mail. There is also their formation, with swords and shields in the front, spears in the back, and crossbowmen in the back, which can attack from any distance. Especially the cannon between the gaps in the array, the power is amazing. ”

"This is the bridge?" Zhang Nengqi continued to ask.

Shi Qian nodded and said, "Originally, it was a small stream, and there was no need for a bridge at all." But somehow, the river has become so big. There is only one bridge in a radius of twenty miles. ”

Zhang Nengqi looked at it for a while, and then instructed his own soldiers: "Report to the commander in the back, you will encounter the officers and soldiers here, and you will be arrayed against the river." There is only one bridge, whether it is an attack or a detour, please show the commander. ”

After the soldiers left, Zhang Nengqi wanted to go forward to observe, but was stopped by Yuan Laoshan and Shi Qian.

Shi Qian persuaded: "General, you can't get close. Li Yan's cannon can hit 500 paces away. ”

"Joke!" Zhang Nengqi said disdainfully: "Five hundred steps away, can he hit me?" ”

Yuan Laoshan said with a smile: "Then the general doesn't have to take risks in person, just let his subordinates go over and take a look." In fact, you don't need to go in the past, Li Yan's formation is extremely simple, that is, several rows of soldiers are lined up, and there is nothing to see. ”

Zhang Nengqi felt that it made sense, so he asked a pro-soldier to check it. The pro-soldier quickly returned, the same as Yuan Laoshan said. He also reported that the river was flowing very slowly, and it should have been blocked downstream.

"So what are you waiting for? Hurry down and search to see where the levee is. Zhang Nengqi ordered.

As soon as the soldiers who went to investigate left, Zhang Xianzhong's order also arrived. Just one sentence: what's there to ask?! Just hit it!

Zhang Nengqi ordered: "Push our cannon up too." ”

Zhang Xianzhong and his team fought everywhere, captured many county seats, and defeated many officers and soldiers. Although there are times of failure, the family foundation left behind is still relatively thick. Zhang Nengqi's vanguard army alone has more than a dozen cannons. There were small Franky cannons, and smaller bronze cannons, all of which were pushed on the cart and slowly pushed towards the riverbank.

Li Yan saw more than a dozen enemy artillery pieces on the horse, and he was still a little nervous. However, seeing that the caliber of those guns was only two inches, he was not too worried.

"Let the artillery prepare, and as soon as they stop, knock them out." Li Yan ordered.

"Yes!" The pro-soldier agreed.

Li Yan added: "Use shotguns first to kill and injure enemy gunners. If you have time, you can use solid shells to destroy the enemy's artillery. ”

"Understood." When the soldiers saw Li Yan waving their hands, they immediately ran to give orders to the artillerymen.

At this time, the shotgun brought by Li Yan was an improved grape bomb. Instead of wrapping in linen, it is replaced with a paper tube. It was mixed with wood chips, so the number of projectiles was reduced to thirty. Such a thin paper shell can effectively reduce the friction between the projectile and the gun chamber. Because there was no bulge like a grape, it was called a new name for the shotgun.

Seeing that the cannon was already less than two hundred steps away from Li Yan's line, it was still advancing again. Shi Qian hurriedly reminded: "General, it's too close!" This distance is too dangerous. ”

Zhang Nengqi frowned and said, "Have you ever seen a cannon?" Cannons have a range! Didn't go into range, what's the use of hitting ?! We are not those officers and soldiers who can't pay their salaries and don't have enough to eat! ”

After approaching a distance of one hundred and fifty paces from Li Yan's formation, the artillerymen finally stopped advancing. The gunners from the officers and soldiers finally began to prepare to fire the shells. Fixing the gun carriage, carrying ammunition, adjusting the angle of fire are busy.

"Boom", "boom", "boom" three cannon shots suddenly sounded. Before Zhang Nengqi could be happy, he saw that many of the artillerymen on his side fell screaming.

...