After Li Yan learned the relatively accurate information, he became even more cautious.

"What should I do?" Li Zhong asked: "At least there are more than 10,000, our recruits can't be used yet, and now at most they can mobilize about 1,000." ”

Li Yan is also a little weak-hearted, there are more than 10,000 people, and they are not homeless people like last time, but a thief who has become famous. Among them, there will be no less than three or four thousand. How will he cope?

Li Zhong saw that Li Yan did not react, so he suggested: "Otherwise, let's defend the city." There should be no problem defending the city. ”

Li Yan shook his head and said, "If you defend the city, what will happen to those villages outside the city?" It took a long time for us to convince people that we we, if we were robbed this time, would they still stay? ”

Li Zhong stopped talking, the people are their foundation, and only with the people can they have the manpower to cultivate and the soldiers under them. If people lose faith in security, why should they stay here?

Neither of them spoke, and began to think about what could be done to solve the problem more satisfactorily.

"General, the thief is twenty-five miles away from the city."

"Report to the general, the thief is twenty miles away from the city."

"The thieves are fifteen miles away from the city, and there are many people."

……

The reports of his subordinates kept coming in, which made the atmosphere in the city tower even more depressing.

"Where's Li Mou?!" Li Zhong suddenly said dissatisfiedly: "How long has it been here?!" Why haven't you gathered your forces yet?! ”

Li Yan suddenly stood up and ordered, "Second brother, you wait here." After Li Mu came with the troops, you took him to Dongshili Village. There was a forest on both sides of the road, and I went there with my troops first. It's almost the only place where you can stop the enemy. ”

"You're the boss, just stay here and command, I'll go!" Li Zhong immediately raised objections.

Li Yan said with a smile: "The boss has to go to the front, otherwise how can he know the battle situation in front of him in time?" How to adjust the deployment of troops in a timely manner? Don't fight, you stay and wait for Li Mou! ”

Li Zhong saw that Li Yan used an ordered tone, so he didn't insist anymore.

Li Yan took all the three hundred people in the city, as well as two Franky cannons, and immediately marched to the east of Shili Village. Fortunately, the gun carriage has been built and is now fully equipped. Therefore, the march speed was much faster, and in less than three quarters of an hour, they ran to Dongshili Village. At this time, the thieves were still more than a mile away, after all, these thieves had been chasing for two days, and their physical strength was also very expensive, and they were the same as the officers and soldiers being chased, and they were also advancing at a very slow pace.

"Quick! Put the cannon on both sides of the road! A team of pikes and a team of crossbowmen in the middle. Two teams of pikes, two teams of crossbowmen, and three teams of crossbowmen, lined up on the left side of the artillery. Three teams of pikemen, four teams of crossbows, and five teams lined up on the right side of the cannon. Fast! Sword and shield soldiers, front row cover! After arriving at Dongshili Village, Li Yan quickly ordered. He kept the two Three-Eyed Guns as a reserve, and used the dense firepower of the Three-Eyed Guns to fill the holes.

By this time, the gun carriage had been improved, and instead of being fixed with a two-foot-long iron drill, it was fixed with a hardwood block under the wheels and a one-foot-long iron drill for the tailstock. The iron drill is attached to a crowbar, and when the iron drill is nailed down, the crowbar will be cocked like a cocked tail. When it was time to move the position, just press the crowbar down to get the iron chisel up and remove the wooden blocks under the wheels.

Moreover, the bottom of the muzzle edge of the sub-cannon is wrapped in two layers of deerskin, and the wooden block used as a cushion behind it is correspondingly a little thinner. This seals the gap between the mother cannon and the sub-cannon a bit, allowing the gunpowder to burn more gas to propel the projectile rather than leaking out of the gap. Although it cannot be said to be completely sealed, under the condition that the gunpowder remains unchanged, the projectile can hit more than 360 steps when fired horizontally.

However, now the gunpowder has been adjusted, and the proportion of nitrate has reached 73%. The specific gravity of charcoal has dropped a little, to four out of one. Sulfur is also raised, to 1 into 3. Now the gunpowder is much more powerful, and the Frankie cannon can reach a distance of 450 paces by flat fire. Even if it is a grape bullet, it is still lethal at two hundred and fifty steps, and one hundred and fifty steps can penetrate heavy armor, but the power is much greater than that of a bow and a crossbow and a three-eyed gun.

Li Yan's troops here had not yet been fully adjusted, when he saw the sporadic defeated soldiers of the official army running over.

"Shout, let them pass through the gaps on both sides, and those who charge directly will be killed!" Li Yan commanded. After that, he instructed his own soldiers: "Go, tell Wang Renjie to let the artillery guards be vigilant, if there is any change in the defeated soldiers who pass, they will be killed!" ”

Each cannon was guarded by a squad of soldiers, all of whom were elite, consisting of five pikemen, five sword and shield men, and twenty crossbowmen. Each crossbowman is an excellent sword and shield bearer, and in addition to crossbow arrows, he also carries a shield and waist knife, which can also exert strong combat effectiveness in close combat. Artillery is a top priority, and it must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy.

As Li Yan's order was given, the road was filled with the sound of soldiers shouting. There were few officers and soldiers who ran over first, and they didn't dare to make a mistake, so they passed through the crack in the array according to Li Yan's instructions and were contained by Li Yan's personal soldiers. Weapons don't need to be collected, they've already been thrown away.

But the officers and soldiers of the brigade running behind were disobedient, they lowered their heads and ran away, ran directly along the official road, and rushed straight towards Li Yan's front.

"Bow here!" Li Yan stretched out his hand and said. He took the bow and arrow handed by his own soldier, and shot it with a whoosh, knocking down the rout who had run in the first position sixty paces away. He commanded: "Anyone who passes this person will be shot and killed, and there is no need to ask for an order!" ”

The shieldmen and pikemen continued to shout, allowing the rout to pass through the gaps in the array. The crossbowmen, on the other hand, were aimed ahead, ready to fire arrows.

With a "bang", a rout soldier who had just run past the corpse on the ground was shot by two crossbow arrows, and after a scream, he fell to the ground, only two or three steps more than the corpse just now.

The sound of "boom" and "boom" continued, but they were all drowned out by the shouts of the soldiers. However, the number of corpses on the ground increased significantly, and soon a corpse-covered area was formed, which was the best reminder to the rout.

"Fourth brother, I'm here." Li Mu rode over first, and the footsteps behind him also followed.

Li Yan asked, "How many people came?" "He knew that in such a short period of time, he would not gather all the soldiers.

"Team Eleven, I'll let the second brother wait for the rest, and bring them over when they're assembled." Li Mu replied.

Li Yan instructed: "Leave two teams as reserves, and spread the others to both sides, and seal some of the woods as well, so that the thieves will not bypass from there." ”

"Okay!" Li Mu agreed, and began to give orders to the few captains he brought.