It's been three days since I entered Henan. Zhu Hongsan came all the way and found that the damage to the north during the Xiaoice Age was even greater than expected. Cold and drought have basically killed most of the green vegetation. There are still some weeds left. There were a few poplar trees in the distance, their bark and leaves stripped away.

Of course, the people who do this are the homeless. Not only that, but a few skeletons in the distance are very suspicious, and it is very likely that they have been eaten by someone. The further north you go, the worse this situation becomes. Tong Yangjia leaned over to Zhu Hong's three sides and said, "Lord, it seems that the north is no longer good." This place is no match for what I went south nine years ago. It used to be a drought, but at least it was a little green. I remember that there was a Zhuangzi in front of me, so let's take a look at it later. ”

After half an hour, the team passed by the village that Tong Yangjia said, and Zhu Hongsan saw that this village had been abandoned for a long time. The big poplar tree at the entrance of the village has been dead for an unknown number of years. There are ruins everywhere. There were still one or two dead bodies lying in front of the house. Judging by the degree of decay, he should have died half a year ago, and white bones have been exposed in some places.

Zhu Hongsan ordered the team to rest in front of the village, and at the same time let people enter the village to see if there was a well.

After a while, the scout leader Wang Xiaobaolai reported that the well in the village had been filled in, and there were many dead people in it, most of them by swords, and it seemed that there had been a battle here.

Zhu Hongsan nodded, and ordered not to slack off, and set off after resting for half an hour.

At this time, a person ran outside and said, "Report to the sir, I found a large group of people ten miles ahead." Looks like a rogue. I'm coming to us. ”

It looks like the enemy. Zhu Hongsan stood up and shouted, "Zhao Guodong." ”

Zhao Guodong rushed over and said, "Sir, what's the matter?" ”

Zhu Hongsan said: "Zhao Guodong, you command the battle and leave a hundred people to protect the Chinese army." Do not use * grenades unless absolutely necessary. ”

"Yes, sir." After speaking, Zhao Guodong went to arrange a team to meet the enemy.

Zhu Hongsan turned his head to Tong Yangjia and said, "Sir, let's go see how the battle goes?" ”

Tong Yangjia nodded and said, "As the lord wishes." ”

Zhu Hongsan took Tong Yangjia, Qian Lide and ten guards to a hill outside the village. Daughter Zhu Luo did not follow, after all, the battlefield was too bloody, and Zhu Hongsan let her and the Chinese army stay in the village.

Standing on the hill, you can see it clearly within a radius of more than ten miles. The team of rogues on the opposite side had already come within five miles. On his side, Zhao Guoliang had already started a team at the entrance of the village, waiting for the rogues.

Zhu Hongsan took a look at the Liukou, this was Zhu Hongsan's first direct contact with the Liukou. I've heard about how vicious they were. But today, it looks a little better than the homeless.

The rogues on the opposite side are dressed in a variety of clothes, with occasional hints of red in all gray colors. This is wearing the mandarin duck robe of the Ming army, probably the clothes that were stolen. The rogue in the front team is armed with weapons such as hoes and wooden sticks. There are very few steel knives used.

Behind the rogue stood a horse team of more than 200 people. They were relatively well equipped, and a few of them were equipped with the paper armor of the Ming army, and the weapons were too far away to see clearly. These people should be the elite of the rogues, they are all some Ming soldiers who have thrown themselves into the past, or perennial outlaws, and their combat effectiveness is relatively strong.

After reading it, Zhu Hongsan probably had a number in his heart, and asked Tong Yangjia beside him: "What do you think, sir?" Can we win this battle? ”

Tong Yangjia nodded and said, "Looking at it from below, there should be no problem in winning." Mainly the elite of the rogue in the back, they are all bandits who have accumulated for many years, and I am afraid that we will suffer too many casualties. ”

Zhu Hongsan said: "Mr. is right. This should be the first time our troops have faced cavalry. There are some losses that are normal. This level is not how to deal with the cavalry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the future. ”

Tong Yangjia asked, "Why does the lord always believe that the Manchus outside the customs can enter the customs?" They only have more than 200,000 people, which is much worse than the previous Mengyuan. ”

Zhu Hongsan smiled and didn't answer. Could it be that he told him that he had crossed over? As for the number of Manchu troops, when will China be able to lose traitors, not to mention others, this Tong Yangjia standing on the side is a big traitor.

While the two were talking, the team had already advanced two miles away. A horseback rider is now in front of the team and says something loudly, it should be how to work hard for a while, and cut off the head if you don't work hard.

The leader retreated to the rear of the cavalry, and the infantry in front began to advance. A mile away from Zhao Guodong's team, he began to charge with a strange scream.

The formation of Zhao Guodong's side is four teams of pikemen in the front, four teams of sword and shield soldiers in the back, plus one hundred crossbowmen. With Zhu Hongsan's efforts, he finally found a few bow and crossbow craftsmen. On this expedition, he brought all the bows and crossbows he had made.

At the point of the three hundred paces of the rogue, the archers raised their bows into the air and fired four times on the orders of the officers. This is a curved attack that uses heavy armor-piercing arrows that can break through the enemy's heavy armor at 200 paces. Zhu Hongsan now has steel, so expensive armor-piercing arrows are in open supply.

Three seconds later, the first wave of blows from the sky came to the rogue team. The Rogue infantry was largely unarmoured, and the warp bolts could be fatal to these cloth-clad men from a distance of 300 paces.

Zhu Hongsan saw that the first wave of bows and arrows had left the enemy with nearly sixty fewer people, and after four attacks, the enemy's team was already somewhat incomplete. It was the enemy striker who had run fifty meters in front of the pikemen. I heard Zhao Guoliang shouting: "Spearmen attack formation, prepare." ”

Four columns of pikemen lined up in a tight formation, and the three-meter spears were pointed at the rushing rogues like a forest of guns. The sword and shield soldiers were divided into two sides, ready to deal with the rogues on the flanks.

The rogues at the front had already seen the spears suddenly appear in front of them, and a few of them wanted to stop. But he was dragged by the one behind and crashed into the spear array. This is Zhao Guodong shouting: "Forward, one. . . Two.. One.. Two.. ”

The pikemen had been training for five years, and this pace had become instinctive, and they moved forward slowly but surely with one stab at the sound of the commander's command. In front of the pikemen, the rogues were systematically slaughtered like hot knives cutting butter.

Zhu Hongsan saw that there were a few brave people who used knives to block the spears, and wanted to rush into the gun formation. But this tight array of guns is not something that one or two outlaws can break up. After they dodged one gun, the second shot was pierced in the chest. Those guys died one after another.

At this time, some of the rogue infantry wanted to lead the team around the pikes and attack the flank, but they didn't expect to encounter the sword and shield soldiers. The sword and shield soldiers are all tall and powerful people selected by Zhu Hongsan. The weapons in his hands are very good. It's like chopping melons and vegetables for these rogues. The weapons of the Ming Dynasty were no match for the horizontal knives made of high-carbon steel, and the weapons were cut one after another. And the heavy armor worn by the sword and shield soldiers is not something that can be cut with a hoe or stick.

As soon as the sword and shield soldiers and the rogue infantry came into contact, a wave of blood immediately erupted. Arms and legs flew all over the sky, and the rogues couldn't break through the defense line of the sword and shield soldiers.

At this time, the horse team behind the rogue started. They first jogged, moved their horses' muscles, and began to sprint with all their might two miles away. Zhao Guoliang also pays attention to the movements of the opposing horse team. Seeing that the opponent began to charge, he told the crossbowmen to prepare to attack.

The crossbowman had a range of only three hundred paces from his back. Three hundred paces will only allow them to shoot two arrows. Under the command of the officer, the crossbowmen fired two arrows after the horse team came into range, and then fired freely.

The effect of bows and arrows on the horse team was not very good, and only a dozen people fell off the horse team of more than 200 people. The rogue infantry saw their horse team coming, and moved out of the way to charge the horse team. After the retreat of the rogue infantry, the pikemen platoons quickly formed a defensive formation under the command of the junior officers.

The first row of soldiers crouched down, their spears at a 45-degree angle, the handles touched the ground, and their hands grabbed the barrels of their guns. Second, third, fourth, and so on. The entire array of guns immediately turned into a hedgehog. The Rookko horse team noticed that the pikemen in front of them suddenly changed formation, but there was no way, the horses were the fastest now, and if they slowed down, they would fall, and it was not a good thing to fall when the cavalry charged. There is no choice but to charge. The first wave of horses collided with the guns, which were so closely packed that the first horses were each armed with four or five spears. Immediately pierced. Several of the pikemen in the first row vomited blood from the huge charge. For the first time, Zhu Hongsan's army suffered casualties.

The cavalry charge mainly relied on the force of impact, and when the cavalry had no speed, it was the fish belly troops. The back of the Rookoma team also collided with the gun formation at this time. The pikemen suffered heavy losses, but held back the cavalry charge. At this time, the sword and shield soldiers rushed up, and several people began to clean up the rogue horse team in groups. The crossbowmen also began to fire freely in the rear.

Seeing this, Zhu Hongsan knew that he had won. This is the first time that his army is against the regular army, although the combat effectiveness of the rogues is not strong, but it is much stronger than the previous outcasts. There are many officers and soldiers of the former Ming Dynasty in Liukou. I didn't expect my army to win, which proves that the method of gun formation is still effective. It's just that the losses on the cavalry are too great, and it seems that the research and development of muskets will be put on the agenda after returning.

Tong Yangjia said on the side: "Lord, the army you have trained is really too strong, and I don't think it is much worse than the Guanning Iron Cavalry." ”

Zhu Hongsan asked: "Mr. is from Liaodong, what do you think of the result of my army against the Eight Banners of the Manchu Dynasty?" ”

Tong Yangjia groaned: "It's not good to say about the Eight Banners of the Manchu Dynasty, after all, they fight all year round. But one thing I know is that your team will definitely suffer heavy losses against the Eight Banners. ”

Zhu Hongsan nodded and thought, "You're right, now the Manchu Eight Banners are the strongest army in the Far East, and there is no one. ”

The battle below has entered a melee, and at this time, the importance of the grassroots officers of Zhu Hongsan's army is reflected. Under the organization of grassroots officers, the soldiers were divided into groups of seven or eight people, with pikemen in and sword and shield soldiers outside, echoing from far and near, killing and wounding a large number of rogues. The Liukou's men and horses were several times larger than those on Zhu Hongsan's side, but he didn't expect to be pressed and beaten by Zhu Hongsan.

An hour later, more than half of the rogue's casualties were heard, and the rogue's mouth was shouted, and the rogue's rogue began to flee. Zhao Guodong began to organize a pursuit.

Zhu Hongsan said to the herald: "Order, pursue Sanli, and then come back to clean up the battlefield." "The herald went down and gave the order without mentioning it.

Zhu Hongsan led a few people back to the entrance of the village to meet with the Chinese army.