Zhang Chengye ordered the soldiers to let the Lu army pass by, and the rolling flow of people immediately rushed north. After nightfall, the rout on the road was still flowing. The Changqing camp was also brightly lit, and officers at all levels tried their best to reassure the people, and the three commanders stayed up all night, summoning staff officers to urgently discuss the retreat route and plan the arrangements for horse exploration.

On the 27th, the Changqing battalion was ready to go, but after waiting for a day, there were still no troops from the Shanlan battalion, and there were no signal troops who came to contact them. In the evening, the anxious Zhang Chengye sent a herald to search south overnight and get in touch with the Shanlan camp. It was another sleepless night, and everyone from the commander to the soldiers was worried.

At dawn, the heralds rushed back from the Shanlan camp, and they rushed to the Zhongjun tent to report to Zhang Chengye, but the Shanlan camp did not receive the order to retreat.

"What?" Zhang Chengye, whose eyes were bloodshot, jumped up when he heard this, and shouted in disbelief: "You said that Lord Fang didn't receive the order to retreat? ”

"Yes." The heralds were so sure of this that the unit was still holding its ground when they arrived at the camp in the mountains. The official of the Shanlan battalion had also received orders to gather troops, but had not received a subsequent order to retreat. Therefore, after listening to the herald of the Changqing Battalion explain the situation, Fang Mingda was very shocked. But after the shock, he still refused to give the order to retreat. The heralds of the Changqing Battalion tried their best, but Fang Mingda finally said with difficulty: Unless he received a clear military order, he must stick to his post.

"What are you kidding, can't he even believe what my people say?" Zhang Chengye slumped in his seat weakly, and while complaining, he ordered that the official document that Changqing had received should be sent to Fang Mingda for his attention.

At the same time, Xu Ping ordered all the horse teams to set off and carefully search along the official road. In the afternoon, the search party of the Evergreen Battalion reported that they had found the body of the direct guard officer who had been ordered to the Evergreen Battalion the day before, and it seemed that they had been killed by a sneak attack by the rebels. The officer's horse had been snatched and his clothes stripped of him, the briefcase had been found not far from the body, and the search party had been sent to the camp on a flying horse.

Fang Mingda immediately ordered a retreat after seeing Zhang Chengye's official document, and when the search team delivered the official order, Fang Mingda asked them to return immediately and report to the Changqing Battalion to prepare for it.

The third sleepless night.

On the morning of the 28th, a group of cavalry rushed into the camp of the Evergreen Battalion, and these soldiers did not care about etiquette and shouted vigorously: "Lord Zhang, our unit has been blocked by thieves!" ”

These people are subordinates of Wei Landu, the commander of the Shanlan Battalion. Early this morning, when Wei Landu led the front army of Shanlan Camp to march north, he met the rebels in the north of the mountain of Jima. After the battle, it was found that the rebels were fighting more and more, and the number of them was about more than 5,000. Wei Landu immediately ordered the front army to move to the defense, and at the same time notified the main force of the Shanlan battalion to reinforce it, he sent people to ask the Changqing battalion to respond.

Zhang Chengye walked to the table without saying a word. The staff officers had already spread out the map, and so far, the official road leading to Changqing County was still unimpeded, and no signs of rebel activity had been found in front of the Changqing battalion, and it seemed that a large number of rebels were pouring into the gap in the Ming army's battle line through the Horse Mountain.

"If there are only 5,000 thieves, then they will not take the initiative to attack a new military camp, and they will not be able to stop a new military camp from maneuvering." Xu Ping immediately made a judgment that at least tens of thousands of rebels were rushing towards this battlefield, and if the battle was deadlocked, there might be rebels arriving: "What are they doing in the fire camp?" How many thieves have they contained? Where are they? ”

No one could answer this series of questions, and Xu Ping shouted: "My lord, the last general thinks that our battalion should immediately move south with the whole army to meet the Shanlan battalion. ”

"If the whole army goes south," Wu Zhong said worriedly, "then who can guarantee our retreat?" If the thieves gather tens of thousands of troops to attack us, then we will also be in danger. ”

"If the thieves can really concentrate tens of thousands of troops here, then the Shanlan camp is already dead, and we should retreat immediately; If the rebels don't have tens of thousands of troops here, then our two battalions will be able to easily defeat tens of thousands of thieves. Whether the thieves have tens of thousands of troops or not, time is precious, and we must decide as soon as possible. Xu Ping looked at Zhang Chengye and said categorically: "My lord, you must immediately judge whether there are only 10,000 thieves or tens of thousands. If you bet on tens of thousands, it is equivalent to giving up the Shanlan camp, and the last general would rather bet on nothing. ”

"How can this be judged, and the last general thinks that it is very likely that the thieves will send tens of thousands." Wu Zhong put forward his opinion; "It's impossible for the thieves to think that they can attack two new military camps with just 10,000 people, so how can they gamble?"

Zhang Chengye saw that Xu Ping and Wu Zhong both had solemn faces, and smiled slightly: "You two think about it again." ”

Xu Ping and Wu Zhong were slightly stunned, and after a while, Xu Ping suddenly shouted: "The last general understands, it is indeed a mistake, the thief is not a staff department, it is impossible to gain insight into the distribution of our army, the last general should not first assume that the thief is like us to observe the battle situation, and then consider the correct action for them." ”

At this time, Wu Zhong also reacted, and he also smiled: "What my lord said is that even we don't know where the fire battalion is now and how it will act, so the thieves are naturally even more unclear, how dare they attack us with the whole army?" Even if the thieves got some information when they broke through the standard camp, we directly reported the detailed deployment to the General Staff of the New Army, and only gave a general statement to the superintendent, and it would take a few days for the thieves to verify it. ”

"What do you two think now?"

Wu Zhong immediately replied: "Obviously, the thieves got some general information about the Lu army and our new army in the standard camp, so they tried to attack Zhu Yuanhong's soft persimmon, but they didn't expect Zhu Yuanhong to have fled, and after they occupied the empty camp of Jima Mountain, they fought with the Shanlan camp that advanced north. ”

Xu Ping nodded again and again: "But despite this, we are still pressed for time, because even if they hold back the main force of the thieves in the fire camp, the thieves will still find out the weakness of our army's right flank in a few days, and it is difficult to say how they will react after three days, maybe they will all transfer the large forces to attack us." ”

"Yes, the military order given to me is not to retreat immediately, but to retreat together after receiving the Shanlan Battalion and the Third Battalion Lu Army." Zhang Chengye said to Xu Ping: "The fire battalion can hold back the main force of the thieves no matter what, it is impossible for us to encounter tens of thousands of thieves in three days, and we are out of danger after three days. ”

"Yes, my lord!" Xu Ping slapped the table hard, turned around and rushed out of the tent.

……

"Bend the bow for strength, and use the arrow for the long.

Shoot people and horses, capture the thief and capture the king first.

There is a limit to killing, and the nations have their own borders.

If you can control aggression, how can you kill more? ”

There was a loud singing in the ranks hurrying south, and after the battle, the gray atmosphere in the Evergreen camp was quickly swept away.

"My lord, the resistance of the thieves is weaker than we expected." Cao Yun, who was on the left hand side to shoulder with Xu Ping, was full of excitement, and the tail note of the tone also rose high.

"Brother Cao, we are a new army, how can thieves compete with us? This is just a small test. Xu Ping rode on his horse with his head held high, and sang a military song with more than 1,000 officers and soldiers in a low voice. The front army launched a swift and powerful attack on the back of the rebels in Jiema Mountain, and Xu Ping felt the opponent's shock becoming greater and greater. Fleeing troops, unprepared and indiscriminate resistance, and undisciplined deployments.

On a small hill ahead, about four or five hundred rebels had not had time to consolidate their positions, and the Ming army had already rushed to the foot of the mountain. Yu Shenhe did not wait for Xu Ping to give an order, so he ordered his subordinates to attack. By the time Xu Ping arrived, the Ming army had already rushed up the ridge with guns and fought with the rebels. Although the rays of the sunset began to fade, the armor of the Ming army still shone brightly. The Ming soldiers in the front row didn't care to pull out the feather arrows hanging on their bodies, so they stuck their spears at the rebel soldiers opposite. The rebel soldiers used their spears to slap the Ming spears indiscriminately, and were forced to fall backwards step by step. Several fierce rebels tried to charge into the Ming Formation with short weapons, but they were all quickly stabbed to death in the spear forest.

In the face of the rebels' arrows, Yu Shenhe did not let the firecrackers go up to shoot at all. He knew that time was urgent, and he didn't think that the rebels' firepower posed much of a threat to the armor of the Ming army. The development of the battle confirmed his judgment, and as the Ming army rushed to the top of the mountain, the rebels who had lost their fighting spirit let out a strange cry and fled down the mountain. Seeing this, Yu Shenhe immediately ordered the pikemen to stop, sent the musketeers up, and pursued the fleeing rebels with the muskets, leaving more than a dozen corpses before they escaped from the firing range.

"My lord," Yu Shenhe, who was sweating, saw Xu Ping arrive and reported to him: "Nearly 100 traitors have been killed, one of our soldiers is seriously injured, and seven are slightly injured." ”

"The rebels are really bad." Xu Ping asked another group of Ming troops to move forward and personally climbed the mountain to inspect the corpses. The rebels had no armor and a wide range of weapons, with a handful of bows being their only long-range firepower. It was hard for Xu Ping to imagine that a rebel army with such equipment would dare to fight against the new army.

"I caught a few captives, and they confessed that they were all Zhen Octopus's subordinates."

"It's him again." The rebels Xu Ping encountered along the way were all improvised troops put together by Zhen Zhangyu, including men, rebel grain carriers, and even a few of them were brought in by the masters. The rebel leaders obviously did not expect the Evergreen Battalion to arrive so quickly for reinforcements, but their determination to stop the Evergreen Battalion's pace was unquestionable. Xu Ping looked at the dead rebel soldiers on the ground: "These thieves can have such courage to fight to the death against our new army, it's really amazing." ”

Without waiting for Xu Ping to look more, the sound of artillery in the distance caught his attention. The front army of the Evergreen Battalion did not bring artillery, so it was clearly rebel artillery. Xu Ping rushed forward with Yu Shenhe and others. On the way, his judgment was confirmed, and the vanguard reported thousands of rebels blocking the way, including a piece of artillery.

"Thousands of thieves?" Xu Ping shook his head, and soon the battlefield appeared in his field of vision. A few miles south of the Horse Mountain was a large array of black-pressed rebels, and a large flag was erected. Xu Ping raised the binoculars and looked at it, and the word "Zhen" was written on it, and one of his members was in armor and guarded in the middle, pointing at the Ming army.

However, although the rebels were outnumbered, they looked like there were four or five thousand men, but their weapons were as rudimentary as ever, and there were not many armoured men in this large group. The rebels in the front row were holding rattan cards and wooden shields, some of which were simply freshly removed door panels. The rebels' dense spears shone with a metallic glow, but more often than not, sharpened sticks. In the middle of the rebels' formation, a group of people were hurriedly manipulating a cannon, Xu Ping saw the fire spewing out of the cannon, and then the rebels around the cannon rushed to fill the medicine and reload.

"Where did they get these antiques?" Xu Ping sighed, although the cannon on the opposite side was not very clear, but the color of the cannon body showed that it must be an antiquity of the year. In the face of the rebels' indiscriminate shooting, thousands of Ming troops quickly lined up in formation, and with the order of "look to the right", the officers and men of the Changqing Battalion formed a straight front.

Drums sounded, and the Ming musketeers poured forward and opened heavy fire on the rebels. The rebel soldiers bowed their heads and hid their bodies behind door panels and rattan signs. But these simple protections were not enough to hide the power of the new armaments, which were bombarded by projectiles and scattered in fragments, and those hiding behind fell to the ground screaming.

However, the rebels did not retreat, but came up one after another, holding up the door panels that had fallen to the ground, maintaining the battle line and covering their artillery. Xu Ping glanced at the setting sun and ordered the infantry to move forward.

The infantry of the Ming army pointed their spears straight to the sky and walked forward in unison, their armor grinding against each other. The rebel artillery fired again. I don't know who was the first to let out a shout, and the rebels on the opposite side suddenly rushed forward and killed the Ming army, and thousands of people shouted at the same time: "Kill the officers and soldiers!" Kill the officers and soldiers! ”

At this time, Xu Ping heard the drum beat of the rebels hurriedly sounding to cheer for the charging rebels. And the Ming army is still silent. Xu Ping watched the rebels not to be left behind, shouting and desperately rushing towards the Ming army, and some of the tough men at the front had already left their companions behind several steps away. Looking at the chaotic enemy, Xu Ping couldn't help but shake his head and sigh again, and said to himself: "The Lu army was driven out of Shandong by these thieves?" ”

On the opposite side of the noisy rebels, the Ming soldiers still rushed forward slowly, unmoved. The officers in the front row estimated the distance and gave the order to meet the battle. The soldiers listened to the commander's order, stopped their steps and silently lowered their spears, and in the blink of an eye, they collided with the fiercely charging rebels. The rebels pushed the men forward, brandished their weapons, and tried to pull away the spears of the Ming army and charge into the army.

However, these actions were basically in vain, the soldiers of the Ming army had already put their spears flat, and the rebels who rushed up to kill could not open one shot but not two shots, and two strokes could not open countless rods. The corpses of the rebels also blocked the footsteps of their comrades. After the charge was held back by the Ming army, both sides began to stab each other with spears. Constantly the Ming army was stabbed in the throat or hit in the head by the rebels. However, the vast majority of assassinations that hit the chest and abdomen armor of the Ming army only made the Ming soldiers who were hit fall back slightly, while the sharpened wooden spearheads of the rebels were smashed by the iron armor.

The drums of the Ming army sounded slowly, and the Ming army advanced step by step with their guns, piercing the guns into the clothes of the rows of rebels, piercing bloody holes in their bodies. In the time of a pillar of incense, the rebels were forced back dozens of meters, and were about to be pushed back to the starting line of their charge. The nursing soldiers in the Ming army also followed the military formation, carrying the wounded soldiers left behind the battle line for treatment.

"Lu Jun was so frightened by such an opponent that he fled." The troops in front of Xu Ping pushed farther and farther, and he looked at the hundreds of rebel corpses on the ground, estimating that the defeat of the opponent was in sight.

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