The sight of 30,000 men crowding into a place of less than three square kilometers and charging towards one place was spectacular at best and crowded at worst, and in the face of oncoming shells in such a place where people pushed and crowded people, they found in despair that they could not even move except to wait for the verdict of fate.

"Smack......

A twelve-pound cannonball struck an arc in mid-air and slammed into the head of a rogue, who had no time to make any sound in the world, lost his head and continued to run forward for two steps, before falling headlong to the ground and never getting up. The projectile, which was the culprit, did not give up, but continued to move forward, and it knocked over several rogues before falling to the ground and continuing to bounce and roll for more than ten meters, before it ran out of kinetic energy and lay motionless on the ground, leaving behind it a stump and broken arms and more than a dozen people lying on the ground wailing.

The artillery battalion that followed Chu Di had twenty-four six-pounder guns, ten twelve-pounder guns, and thirty-two tiger squat guns, which was already a very powerful artillery battalion in this era.

At this distance, only six-pounder and twelve-pounder guns were firing, and projectiles and powder packets were constantly being fed into the chamber by the loader, and then the arquebus was inserted and finally ignited, so that the six-pound and twelve-pound projectiles continued to rage in the rogue bandits. Such a dense crowd did not have to bother to aim at all, and the gunners of the artillery battalion only needed to adjust the angle so that the projectile did not hit the phalanx of fire in front.

One by one, the projectiles fell into the crowd with huge kinetic energy, stirring up bursts of bloody rain and stumps, broken limbs, and broken arms flew wildly, such a scene even veterans who were used to fighting were a little unbearable, not to mention those who just put down their hoes for a bowl of rice and became homeless people, when the artillery battalion finished three rounds of shells, the momentum of the rogues rushing forward began to slow down, and the originally dense group of rogues appeared as if they had been sifted through, but this small ditch was a ditch stained with blood.

The rogues were frightened by the three-plate axe at the beginning of the Xuanda army artillery camp, and many of the rogues who had originally rushed to the front stopped and looked at the dense firecrackers in front of them and the firecrackers in their hands, and they hesitated, many of them were the same as Liu Agen. Joining the rogue is only forced, or it is to make a living, but this does not mean that they can ignore life and death without changing their faces, and many people hesitate in the face of death.

Panic, fear, and horror quickly grew in their hearts, and soon many people began to stop and prepare to retreat. After all, it's just a mess of food, and you can't take your life on the line.

But these people are too naïve, once they are on the battlefield, you can retreat if you want to, and the cavalry of the 3,000 old battalions who were supervising the battle in the back saw that the speed of the attacking team began to slow down, and they immediately waved their long knives in the back, killing some of the rogue who had stopped on the spot. Many people even shouted frantically while brandishing weapons: "Those who don't advance die!" ”

Not moving forward is death. There may be a way forward for them to survive, and those homeless people who can only hold hoes, kitchen knives and even a wooden stick as weapons can only grit their teeth and continue to run forward.

The crazy gunners didn't know about the homeless, and they still listened to the commander's orders and operated the machinery in front of them as fast as they could, delivering the shells.

"Quick Reload......

"Putting ......"

One by one, the shells roared towards their respective targets with the high temperature of the discharge, tearing apart the targets that stood in front of them one by one, almost every projectile could take more than a dozen or even dozens of lives, and the entire battlefield had become a one-sided slaughter at this time. But to Chu Di's surprise, who was standing on a bucket cart watching the battle, was that every time a projectile smashed a blood groove in the crowd and took away a string of lives, this blood groove was quickly replenished by the people around him and continued to charge forward, as if these people were not afraid of death at all.

Watching such a brutal scene. Even Chu Di couldn't help but sigh. These rogues are simply too disregarding their own lives, and the soldiers and military managers of the Xuanda army may not hesitate to stab their blades into the chests of the Tartars, even if more than 100,000 Tartars are killed and wounded in a great battle, but these people are their own compatriots. And it's a group of almost unarmed outcasts.

For a moment, Chu Di almost wanted to give the order to retreat, but this thought was quickly thrown out of the clouds by him, because he knew very well that the leader of the rogue who was hiding behind and commanding would like to give this order himself. This is also the main reason why the rogues can wreak havoc in Daming. When fighting against the rogues, as long as the Ming army is soft-hearted, or it can't withstand the sea of attacks of the rogues. Then what awaits them next is a full-fledged rout.

As long as he gives the order to retreat, then these wanderers who originally looked numb and tired will be drowned like a tide, and the rogue cavalry who follow behind will pounce like madmen, and it would be good if half of the thousands of soldiers and horses in his hands could be withdrawn, and the ancestor had already used the idiom of defeat like a mountain to warn his descendants. So Chu Di understands very well that even if he can't bear it, he has to continue to persevere, after all, the battlefield is so cruel, either you die or I live, there is never a third way to go.

As the rogues entered the range of more than 300 meters, the low gunfire began to sound again.

"Bang bang...... Bang bang bang ......"

Unlike the loud noise of the cannon fire, the sound of the gun is much quieter, but its lethality is not less than that of the artillery, and even much higher. After all, there are only dozens of artillery pieces in the artillery battalion, and it is good to be able to fire one projectile every one to two minutes, even if the lethality is limited. But firecrackers are different, when hundreds or thousands of firecrackers are fired at the same time, the scene should not be too shocking.

Rows of white smoke rose at the same time as the sound of gunfire, and each round of guns would take hundreds or even hundreds of lives, if the rogues were the tide, then the phalanx of the Xuanda army's firecrackers was like a rock standing on the sea, no matter how the sea water came, they would not move, still ruthlessly harvesting the lives of the rogues.

The slaughter continued, rows of rogues fell, and the crowd behind them quickly replenished and continued to move forward, as endless as a tidal wave.

"Shooting...... Don't stop, speed up! ”

In the face of such a frantic attack by the rogues, the phalanx of firecrackers at the forefront was also under a lot of pressure. Because the firing time was too long and too frequent, the barrels of many firearms had begun to turn red and hot. The sergeants had to temporarily stop firing and wait for the barrel to cool down.

Seeing such a situation, Chu Di on the bucket cart behind him gave an order without thinking, "The first phalanx retreats!" ”

Soon, after receiving the order to retreat, the musketeers of the first phalanx immediately turned back without hesitation and retreated towards the rear. And the rogues who were originally staring at the huge casualties and gritting their teeth to move forward suddenly saw that the firecrackers who had been nailed in front like a mountain suddenly retreated, and many people immediately became excited. Many of the small leaders who were mixed with the homeless people were even more ecstatic, and they waved the weapons in their hands and shouted frantically: "The dog officers and soldiers have no ammunition, brothers, if you kill them, we will have white flour buns to eat, brothers!" ”

Countless displaced people seemed to see the hope of victory. They immediately quickened their pace and rushed forward frantically, and many experienced homeless people knew that as long as the Ming army retreated, they would be slaughtered like unclothed and defenseless women. As long as these Ming troops were defeated, they could eat at least three days, and this temptation was irresistible to them who had been starving for a long time.

"Brothers...... Come on...... The dog officers and soldiers are out of ammunition! ”

"Kill them, and our family will have enough to eat!"

Countless rogues rushed forward, scrambling forward, and even the most cowardly seemed to have endless courage at this moment, because for for them to defeat the enemy was more than just having enough to eat. And it is also an opportunity to take the opportunity to make a small fortune, whether it is the fire gun in the hands of the Ming army, the clothes on their bodies, or even the shoes are the targets of their robbery.

But as the saying goes, the world is unpredictable, just when the displaced people are rushing forward. The musketeers who had been in the first row had withdrawn to the back, and in front of them were two larger phalanxes, two phalanxes of two thousand musketeers each, next to them. The military commanders in green uniforms and steel helmets were holding their sabers high, their eyes calmly looking at the swarming rogues, and a sharp whistle sounded in front of the formation. The familiar and terrifying sound of firecrackers began to echo in the air again.

"Puff...... Puff ......"

One by one, the life-threatening projectiles ruthlessly knocked the rogues who rushed to the front to the ground, and those who originally thought that the Ming army had broken down and rushed to step forward to shoot the water dogs were knocked to the ground one by one, and countless people lay on the ground and wailed in pain.

"Ah......h

The heavy casualties finally scared the displaced people who were desperate for themselves, and the displaced people who thought that victory was in sight were desperate, this sense of gap from heaven to hell is not something that everyone can bear, and many are scared and desperate at the moment, this is a battle with no victory in sight, they are just for a bite to eat, and they don't have to take their lives.

"Run, ......"

I don't know who finally shouted out like that, the string that was originally pressed in my heart finally broke, and tens of thousands of rogues finally collapsed. After fighting for most of the day, five or six thousand people were killed and wounded, but they didn't even have enough shadows of the enemy, and no one could stand this kind of blow, so the remaining rogues collapsed like this, and countless people turned around and ran towards the way they came.

The consequences of the collapse of the army were terrifying, the collapse came so suddenly, even Liu Zongmin did not expect that it would be defeated so suddenly.

In a hurry, his eyes immediately turned red, and he shouted with all his might: "Don't retreat...... No one is allowed to retreat...... Dare to retreat and kill without mercy! The old camp brothers immediately stepped forward to stop them! ”

In fact, without Liu Zongmin's order, the cavalry of the horse team, which originally played the role of supervising the battle team, immediately automatically lined up in a row and stepped forward to stop the wanderers after seeing the rout in front of them.

"No return...... Keep moving! ”

"Death to all who retreat!"

The cavalry of these old battalions belonged to those who were desperate to be rogues, all of them were ruthless masters, and they naturally didn't care about the lives of these ragged homeless, and some of the violent rogues immediately waved their sabers in their hands and slashed down at the first to retreat, and immediately cut down many people to the ground. Originally, their original intention was to make an example of a hundred, and after killing a few people, they forced the homeless people to continue to rush forward, but they miscalculated the form, the original homeless people went through several rounds of charging and countless casualties, and the situation was already uneasy to the extreme, plus they thought that they could pick up a life after withdrawing, but they never thought that they would be hacked and killed by "their own people" as soon as they retreated. This time, the feelings that were originally buried in my heart can no longer be suppressed.

The extreme panic was followed by extreme violence, and I don't know which homeless person shouted, "Kill these turtle sons!" ”

With this roar, countless homeless people raised their sticks and struck at the cavalry of the old battalion.

"Kill them!"

"You don't let Lao Tzu live, Lao Tzu won't let you live!"

"Let's all die together!"

Defenses always erupt at the most inadvertent time, and after the displaced people who were already struggling on the death line found that they had even the last trace of survival blocked, the resentment accumulated in their hearts suddenly exploded, and countless people raised their sticks, hoes or flat poles to hit the horse team cavalry who were riding on horses and waving their weapons at them, and the horse team of the old camp was taken by surprise.

It stands to reason that the men and horses of the old battalion are all accustomed bandits, whether it is weapons, combat skills or experience, they are by no means comparable to those homeless people who are used to holding hoes. But the situation is very different now. Although the men and horses of the old battalion were cavalry, their horses did not run at this time, and you must know that the cavalry that lost its speed was a live target that could not move.

"Smack!"

A caught off guard cavalry was overturned by a homeless man, and the whole person fell to the ground solidly, and immediately more than a dozen homeless people surrounded him, and all kinds of wooden sticks, flat poles and farm tools in his hands fell on him, and the cavalryman lost his voice before he could make a few screams.

Seeing this, his companions around him just wanted to come to the rescue, but they didn't expect that as soon as they wanted to move, a hoe smashed heavily on the head of the war horse under his crotch. The horse let out a long neighing of terror and crashed to the ground, and the cavalryman was overwhelmed by the crowd before he could get up.

In this way, the countless retreating homeless people fought with the horse team of the old battalion that had stopped them from retreating, and the scene became a mess for a while. The sudden conflict not only made Liu Zongmin's jaw drop, but also made Chu Di on the bucket car happy. At this time, if Chu Di didn't know how to do it, he would have been a soldier for so many years in vain, and when he saw that the Liukou was in civil strife, he immediately ordered the two thousand cavalry who were waiting behind him to kill the front.

"Kill ......"

Two thousand cavalrymen who had been impatient for a long time rode forward and slaughtered the rogues who had no fighting spirit in the first place. Originally, they had already lost their fighting spirit, and at this time, they saw that the opponent's cavalry launched a counterattack against them, where did they dare to resist. Everybody spread their feet and got up and down.

The sentence of defeat was fully reflected at this time, although the strength of the Liukou was several times more than that of the Xuan army, but at this time no one dared to stand up and resist. And the 3,000 old battalion horse team, which was originally the strongest force in Liu Zongmin's hands, was so fashionable and self-careless, how could it resist the Xuanda cavalry, and soon tens of thousands of rogue soldiers were rushed away in defeat.

After several hours of fighting, nearly 10,000 of the 30,000 displaced people led by Liu Zongmin were killed, and the remaining 20,000 were also captured by more than 16,000 people, and less than 3,000 fled back to Qufu. The cavalry of the 3,000 old battalion, which was regarded by Liu Zongmin as the strongest force, also lost more than 1,000 people, and this time it can be said that it was a big defeat.

When Liu Zongmin returned to Qufu with a team of more than 1,000 old battalion horses, the entire army of rogues was shaken.

"What...... Are you defeated? Only a thousand old camp brothers are left? ”

In the lobby of the backyard of the Confucian Mansion, Li Zicheng couldn't believe his eyes when he looked at Liu Zongmin, who was in a mess, you must know that when he went out yesterday, he brought more than 30,000 people, and now only more than 1,000 people are left.

"King Chuang...... I'm defeated, you can deal with me! At this time, Liu Zongmin had long since lost his arrogance and arrogance yesterday, and his face became dead gray.

"You...... Hello! Li Zicheng pointed at Liu Zongmin and trembled with anger, "Three thousand old camp brothers, you just lost half of it to me on a trip, how many people can I afford to let you be so bad!" ”

Like Liu Zongmin, what Li Zicheng values most is the people of the old camp. For these rogue leaders, those homeless people are just a group of consumables that can be discarded at any time, and they can be recruited at any time, but the people in the old camp are different, these are all old brothers who have followed him for many years, they can't help but be skilled in martial arts and kung fu immediately, and at the same time loyal to him, it is difficult to recruit after the loss, and now more than a thousand people have been lost at once, Rao is Li Zicheng is also distressed and trembling.

Finally suppressing the anger in his heart, Li Zicheng pointed at Liu Zongmin and asked, "Tell me...... How did you fight today's battle? ”

"Yes!"

Liu Zongmin, who had returned from a big defeat, did not dare to hide the situation of today's battle, and when he said that the range of the Xuanda army's firearms had reached 500 steps (that is, more than 300 meters), all the rogue generals were collectively silent, and they had never even heard of such a sharp firearm. (To be continued......)