Due to the fact that the enemy was outnumbered, and the camp was dominated by new recruits and lacked combat experience, Xu Guangzu and Deng Kui agreed on the strategy of holding on and waiting for reinforcements.

According to Xu Guangzu's arrangement, Deng Kui divided the soldiers into more than 30 teams, each with six to seven people, to protect each other. These more than 30 groups are divided into two levels, one level is in the outer circle, but it is just a ** group, and they are in a head-to-head confrontation with the bandits. The remaining 20 or so groups are in the inner circle, ready to go out to meet the stress of the unfortunate companions.

In contrast, the attack of the bandits is lacking in discipline. The survey camp was indecently formed into a group, and the range of facing the enemy was very small, and Pang Dengkui brought more than 800 bandits could not all be deployed, and only a few dozen people could come forward to fight at a time, and the others had to follow behind and make noise, and there was even no shortage of people watching the excitement.

The bandits brought by Pang Dengkui came from more than a dozen gangs, all of whom came together for a common ideal of making money, and there was no idea of helping each other in the same boat. Each gang wants others to contribute more and take more money for themselves, and when they encounter a hard idea, they start beating the drum in their hearts.

The two sides fought in a small area, and each forward group of the Kanyu battalion only defended themselves, stabbing one or two bandits to death with a spear. The bandits had no way to take the front group, and it was impossible to cross these groups to attack the back group, because they would inevitably fall into the dilemma of being attacked by the enemy.

Deng Kui patrolled back and forth with a big knife in his hand, and when he saw which group showed weakness, he stepped forward to help. Xu Guangzu stayed in the middle, observing the movement in front at any time, and from time to time beckoned the group behind him to step forward to replace the tired group in front.

"24 sets, replace 7 sets!"

"17, 18, come forward and help. Don't you have a little eyesight! ”

Xu Guangzu shouted loudly, full of anger, and he couldn't tell that he was an old man in his sixties. His usual energy was gone all of a sudden, and what Su Hao saw from him was an immortal veteran spirit. There are several times. If it weren't for Su Hao dragging him, Old Man Xu would rush up with a big knife himself.

The various teams of the survey battalion were replaced back and forth, and the new ones were all fresh troops, and the ones that were replaced were tired soldiers with wounds and panting. The replaced group was allowed to retreat into the formation to rest, and as soon as they sat down, the veterans of the group glared. He loudly reprimanded his subordinates, scolding them for being cowardly, unskilled in tactical movements, and not ruthless enough to kill. And those recruits were all in high spirits, their faces flushed, according to Xu Guangzu, this was the first time that all recruits came down from the battlefield.

Outside the battle circle, Pang Dengkui clutched a broadsword. Looking at the battle in front of him angrily, the leaders of several other gangs stood beside him, and everyone nagged at him in a tone of dissatisfaction and worry:

"Pang Ye, what you said is not accurate, this is like a group of recruits, the idea is very strong!"

"Brother Pang, keep fighting like this. I'm out of people. ”

"This matter of besieging the officers and soldiers pays attention to a quick battle, Lao Pang, are we a little miscalculated?"

“……”

In the past, the bandits have not seen the Ming officers and soldiers, those guards look no different from asking for food, occasionally sent to suppress bandits, the movement is very noisy, but they have never worked hard, how can there be any combat effectiveness at all. Because of this. This time, I heard that someone paid them to deal with a group of recruits, and the ratio of strength between the two sides was 4 to 1, and everyone thought it was a good job. Who would have thought that this reconnaissance battalion, which had never been heard of, would be so difficult to gnaw, and the bandits would lose dozens of people. It also failed to open up the situation, and the officers and men always looked like they were in good order, and there was not a single flaw.

Another important reason for this situation is that the bandits' weapons are not effective. They did not have long weapons, and they suffered a great loss by using broadswords against the spears of the officers and soldiers. Also, they also did not have bows and arrows, and could not carry out long-range strikes on the formations of officers and soldiers.

"Don't worry, we have a lot of people, officers and soldiers, we are fighting with them, they will definitely not be able to wear it out. Haven't you noticed, the officers and men have been exchanging the soldiers in the back for the soldiers in the front, and after they have changed a few rounds, they will definitely be sleepy and lacking in horses, and then we will concentrate our forces and rush forward, and they will not be able to withstand it. Pang Dengkui said.

"But how long will it take?" One of the bandit leaders muttered.

"yes, don't wait to consume them to death, we'll be tired first." Another leader chimed in.

Pang Dengkui said: "This place is far away from the county seat, and I have already let people scare the people around me, forbidding them to report to the official, and once they find out, they will kill the whole family of the messenger." If we spend three or five days here with the officers and soldiers, no one will know. Think about it, can the officers and soldiers afford to spend three or five days? ”

"But what if the officers and soldiers break through in the dark?" One of the leaders asked.

Pang Dengkui smiled fiercely: "I just want them to break through, and now they are in a ball, like a hedgehog, we really can't speak." If they break through, the formation will inevitably be chaotic. At that time, we will kill it, and this kind of melee has always been our brother's forte. ”

"Pang Ye Gao, then I'll go and explain to the rabbit cubs, let them save some strength, and wait for the officers and soldiers to use it when they can't afford it." Several bandit leaders said in unison, and then ran to the front and shouted at their own team.

Pang Dengkui's thoughts, how could he hide it from a veteran like Xu Guangzu. He stood on the dirt slope and watched the bandits' charge gradually weaken, and couldn't help but laugh and said, "Change, look at it, these bandits seem to want to spend time with us." ”

Su Hao raised his binoculars and looked behind the bandits. According to the agreement, the refusal of the Kanyu Battalion to defend the spot was used as a bait, and when the bandits took the bait, the reinforcements sent by the Jiangdao General Military Office and Huai'anwei should form another encirclement on the periphery to turn the bandits into sandwich biscuits. However, Su Hao looked at it for a long time, but he saw that there was some dust stirred up in the direction he came from in the west, but he didn't see any signs of soldiers and horses going around behind the enemy.

"Uncle Xu, come and see if our reinforcements have formed a situation of encirclement of the bandits." Su Hao asked Xu Guangzu for advice.

Xu Guangzu glanced around with a telescope and sneered: "These wastes, they definitely don't want to gather and annihilate these bandits, I pondered, they are planning to push them over from one direction, and it will be a great success to drive the bandits away." ”

"Won't it?" Su Hao said, "I told them well, I want to finish the battle and directly wipe out the bandits in Huai'an Mansion." What's the use of just beating them away, won't they still be a big problem for us in the future? ”

"Alas, so it is with all things in the world. Instead, you'll know if you stay in the army a little longer. Xu Guangzu said depressedly.

After a fierce battle with the bandits for nearly an hour, the reinforcements who had been following far behind finally arrived. As Xu Guangzu said, the reinforcements were lined up in several columns, from west to east, rushing in the same direction, rather than taking the encirclement as agreed in advance.

"Kill!"

"Kill the bandits!"

The officers and soldiers were still a few miles away, and the shouts of killing had already drifted over. This shout is not so much to strengthen the army and intimidate the enemy, but to send a notice to the bandits: Our brigade of soldiers and horses is coming, you should leave quickly......

At this time, the scouts released by Pang Dengkui's side had also rushed back and reported the news that thousands of officers and soldiers had come to relieve the siege.

"! We've been fooled! Pang Dengkui stomped his foot, "I said that this person surnamed Su dared to spend money with us, but it turned out that he was left behind." ”

"Pang Ye, didn't you say that there are only more than 200 of them, where did the officers and soldiers who came to answer come from?" A bandit leader complained.

Pang Dengkui said: "Don't you understand this, it must be Huai'anwei, maybe there are also river mansions and trough mansions, don't panic, we haven't seen the guards before, everyone just doesn't have to do the river water, they won't chase after it." Brethren, the wind is tight,! ”

A word of "" shouted, and the bandits who were taking turns to attack the survey camp all pulled down, and the bandit leaders from all walks of life hurriedly gathered their teams, counting the number of people killed and wounded, and they were all distressed. After this battle, I didn't make a little cheap, but I lost a lot of people, which was really a loss.

"Don't worry, no matter what happens in today's battle, the silver that should be distributed to you, Pang will not give a penny less. Now everyone follows me and retreats eastward together, and there is someone in front of us to answer us, and the victory or defeat is still undecided. Pang Dengkui shouted to the crowd.

Because the reinforcements of the official army were still far away, the retreat of the bandits seemed relatively calm, and Pang Dengkui knew that this time was the most uncontrollable, so he personally led people to press the formation in the back and slowly disengaged from contact with the survey camp.

"Su Qianhu, can we chase after it?" Deng Kui ran back to the dirt slope and asked Su Hao for instructions. In this battle just now, he killed several bandits, and his blood was splashed all over his body, but he was still a little unsatisfied. Pursuing this kind of thing requires the determination of the main general, so Deng Kui needs to run back and ask for instructions.

"Can't chase." Xu Guangzu stopped in time, "We have few soldiers and horses, and we can only be invincible by relying on the formation." If we come forward to pursue, the formation will be chaotic, and when the time comes, the bandits will kill a horse pistol, and our losses will be great. ”

"That's right, the art of war, don't chase the poor, don't stop the teacher, we are already a great achievement to defeat the thieves, don't be impulsive, and lose it." Tian Younian hurriedly added Xu Guangzu's opinion, just now he had already scared his courage. Now that the bandits have run away, where does he dare to let Su Hao take another adventure.

"Okay." Su Hao nodded and said to Deng Kui: "Deng Kui, the matter of the pursuit will be handed over to the reinforcement brothers." Now you go and count our losses, treat the wounded soldiers in time, and after the reinforcements break the enemy, we will summarize the gains and losses of this battle. ”

"Order!" Deng Kui agreed, and ran down to get busy. Although Su Hao's decision made Deng Kui feel a little regretful, he also admitted that it was more secure. After all, the survey battalion is mainly composed of new recruits, and it is good that this battle can be fought like this.