Xu Ping took out his monoculars and looked at the flow of people quietly

"There are about 5,000 men and horses, about 1,000 cavalry, 4,000 infantry, and there is no artillery in sight yet." Xu Ping made a judgment. He put the telescope in his arms and looked up at the sky: "What time is it?" ”

"At noon, General."

The rebels in the distance drove mightily, and the soldiers under Xu Ping who were digging fortifications stopped their words, and the soldiers who took turns to rest also stood up. I don't know which fruit chief ordered the soldiers to be on guard on his own, and quickly affected the entire position, the fruit leaders hurriedly urged their soldiers to prepare armor and weapons. Seeing such a scene, Xu Pingqi said: "Have I ever ordered the approval of armor and soldiers?" Why did the officers and men act on their own without waiting for my orders? ”

Hearing that Xu Ping's tone was not good, Jiang Yizhou hurriedly asked, "General Xu wants them to stop."

"Of course." Xu Ping pointed to the rebels in the distance, who were still miles away: "What are you doing wearing armor so early, aren't you tired fast enough?" On my order, all the armor was immediately removed, and all the officers and men seized the time to rest. ”

The soldiers tamedly re-unfastened their armor, but still looked nervous. Xu Ping helplessly saw many soldiers standing and standing suddenly, and the fruit commanders were also turning their heads and ears uneasily, or walking around irritably. Their behavior infected each other, and it affected Xu Ping's mood even more.

Just when Xu Ping was upset by the uneasiness of his subordinates, suddenly Jiang Yizhou asked in a heavy voice: "General, do you have any other orders?" ”

Xu Ping saw Yu Shenhe, Jiang Yizhou, and even Cao Yun all looking at him with serious faces, Xu Ping thought for a moment and asked, "Do you ask me if I have any pre-war preparations to do?" ”

Several subordinates did not speak, but nodded solemnly together with the same solemn expressions, and their eyes were fixed on Xu Ping's face without blinking.

"Well, there's one." Xu Ping was looked at by them unnaturally, and the expressions of these guys were as if they were asking their last words.

Jiang Yizhou said in a deep voice again: "General, please give the order." ”

"Brother Jiang said just now that it was already the beginning of noon." Xu Ping looked up at the sky with his hands in his hand, and ordered easily: "Let the soldiers have dinner." ”

"What?" Yu Shenhe and Jiang Yizhou shouted in unison, but immediately they realized their disrespect, and neatly apologized: "Dare to ask the lord for forgiveness, may I ask the lord to let the soldiers eat?" ”

Their tail notes were quite long, and Xu Ping said leisurely in a brisk tone: "Yes, it's noon now, and you didn't remind me that I should have started dinner a long time ago." Let the soldiers eat, and when they are full, they will kill the thieves. ”

Several subordinates looked at Xu Ping for a moment, and a smile appeared on their faces: "Obey, general." ”

After the food was delivered to the officers and soldiers, the Ming army suddenly had something to do, and they squatted or sit, holding the bowl and eating. After eating, Xu Ping simply stopped looking at the rebels, but lazily lay there picking his teeth and chatting with his subordinates. Seeing the commander so leisurely, the soldiers also gathered together, or lying on the ground and talking.

The Shandong rebels drove until Xu Ping's eyes were less than two miles away before stopping their footsteps. At this time, Xu Ping felt that it was not good to pretend to be calm again, if he was raided by Liu Zhewen again, the Ming army would suddenly be wiped out. Xu Ping ordered the soldiers to put on armor and prepare, and then looked at the two highest flags flying over the rebels and began to ponder.

A banner is written in large characters: "Dongjiang Army for Tianxingdao";

On the other side, it is written in the same big letters: "Hanging the people and slaying the crime of Qingjun side".

There are two slightly shorter flags, one is "Xiao" and the other is "Chen".

"Xiao Baiwolf and Chen Yuanlong are all the favorite generals of Jukou Ji's retreat." As the rebels got closer and closer, Xu Ping made a relaxed expression, smiled and pointed at the rebels' banner with the staff officers around him: "Xiao Baiwolf is Ji Thief's friend in the army, Chen Yuanlong is originally a member of the White Lotus Sect, and he is used to using cavalry, but it is not because the cavalry is good at attacking, but Chen Shun thinks that the cavalry is easy to run." ”

"Hahahaha." Xu Ping's words made the officers and soldiers around him laugh, and their originally nervous expressions relaxed again.

The rebels took up their positions, and in a few moments a few trumpets and drums were heard from them. Xu Ping looked forward fixedly, only to see that the rebels were scattered, everyone was sitting on the ground, and the flags were also lowered. Many of the rebel soldiers took off their shoes and began to rub their feet.

Xu Ping waved his hand and called Cao Yun: "The rebels have been gone for a long time, so they naturally need to take a rest, we have already rested, but we can't be idle." Go, bring a hundred or so men, dig the ditch again, tie the fence again, and build a low wall. ”

The opposing rebels and the Ming army were no more than a kilometer apart, but there was a strange scene, one side was sitting on the ground rubbing their feet and resting, while the other side was digging pits, knocking wooden stakes, and piling dirt on wooden stakes.

It didn't take long for the rebels to sound drums again, and the soldiers stood up and began to put on their armor. Xu Ping watched them finish putting on their armor before waving his hand and recalling the soldiers who had repaired the fortifications by himself.

As the rebels' banners swayed, the dull drums sounded like a rush, but the rebels did not press towards Xu Ping's flag, but turned in front of Xu Ping, turned sideways to Xu Ping's main formation, maintained a distance of about two miles, and drove towards the southwest flank, Li Wuyan's position on the right flank, with as many as 2,500 rebel infantry.

Li Wuyan's position was only two miles away from Xu Ping's main formation, and no rebels intervened between them, nor did the rebels go around to the northeast of Li Wuyan's position.

The rebels rushed to Li Wuyan's hill, and their boiling shouts made the main Ming army clearly hear.

"General," Jiang Yizhou asked anxiously, "General, what should we do?" ”

Xu Ping remembered that the instructor had said that when deploying positions, it was necessary to form a horn situation. As an engineer officer, Xu Ping's tactical class ended here, and the Marquis of Zhendong would never send an engineer to command an infantry squad, let alone an army of 2,000. The rebels' reaction now went far beyond the tactical fur that Xu Ping had come into contact with, so he had no idea what to do.

But even if he didn't learn more tactical lessons, the current situation was still obvious, Li Wuyan would definitely not be able to support it with less than 500 men, facing a two-sided attack by more than five times as many rebels, not to mention that he hadn't even repaired the fortifications. After Li Wuyan's position was lost, the main formation, which had only to deal with one attack, might be attacked from three sides.

"Since the tactics class said that the army should be deployed with the horns, it means that the attackers cannot go to attack one wing regardless of the whole army, otherwise the horns will disperse the troops, and now the traitors are attacking our side with all their might, I must have some countermeasures." Xu Ping pondered the situation in his heart, and his eyes turned to Cao Yun on the side.

If Li Wuyan or Liao Kezong were still there at this time, Xu Ping would definitely ask for the opinions of the two of them, but at this time, except for himself, only Cao Yun was still an officer on the entire mountain, although he was only an engineer officer. Cao Yun also frowned and pondered, and after seeing Xu Ping's gaze asking for help, he said loudly: "We should carry out a containment attack!" ”

"Hold back the attack?" Xu Ping had some impressions of this, it seemed that the instructor had mentioned this word in the tactics class, but his impression was limited to this, Xu Ping asked: "How to contain the attack?" ”

A look of despair appeared on Cao Yun's face, and he spread his hands: "It's all up to the general." ”

"Hmm." Xu Ping looked down at the position, where there were more than a thousand rebel cavalry staring at him, if he sent a few hundred infantry, I am afraid it would be impossible to get to Li Wuyan's position alive.

"General Xu!" When the rebels attacked halfway up the mountain, and Li Wuyan's position was already full of killings, Yu Shenhe shouted anxiously: "General Xu, we have to do something, right?" ”

The Ming army on the right flank was beaten back by the rebels attacking from the back, and was about to retreat to the top of the mountain, Xu Ping shouted lightly: "Cao Yun." ”

"Humble duty."

"Divide the whole army into four teams and take turns to rest, and immediately go down to reinforce our field fortifications." Xu Ping pointed to the small number of rebels in front of him: "Seize all the time to strengthen our position." ”

"Yes!"

Xu Ping didn't know how to contain the attack, but if he didn't do anything, he estimated that his prestige would be greatly affected, and the soldiers would feel that the commander's deployment of a horn was inexplicable, and their morale would become low, so Xu Ping stubbornly explained to the staff officers around him: "The rebels concentrated their forces to attack our wing, this is a mistake, it gives us more time to strengthen the position, we must take advantage of it." ”

Seeing that the Ming army on the right flank was driven to the top of the mountain, and then was driven down the mountain, at this time, the banner of the rebels changed, and the rebels of the brigade began to turn around and gather under the banner of Xiao Zi's general, and only a small number of rebels continued to drive the Ming army that began to rout. At the same time, hundreds of rebel cavalry rushed across the mountains, cutting off the road leading from the right flank position to the main formation of the Ming army, and driving the Ming army to flee to the north. Xu Ping watched the rebel cavalry cut down the Ming army one by one on the plain, but he didn't dare to send out even a single soldier.

Xu Ping turned his head and no longer looked at the slaughter scene behind the side. Cao Yun was still dutifully reinforcing the fortifications, and the atmosphere on the hill turned into a dead silence for a while. After sweeping the right flank of the Ming army cleanly, the rebels changed their strength, and a large number of infantry began to move towards the left flank of the Ming army. After the rebel cavalry cut down the scattered Ming troops to the ground, they also returned to the general's banner as a whole, leaving only a small number of infantry to occupy the hilltop position that originally belonged to the Ming army, and planted the rebel flag there.

"What do we do now?" The staff officers asked in a rambling manner, "General Xu, are you going to do something to divert the attack?" ”

"It's supposed to be a diversion offense." Xu Ping thought so in his heart, but he never remembered what a diversion attack was, Cao Yun came back at this time to pay the order, and he had just strengthened the field fortifications around the position.

"General Xu!" Seeing that Xu Ping was still pondering, Jiang Yizhou reminded: "What are the general's plans?" ”

"Hugh has to say more." Yu Shenhe hurriedly spoke out to stop: "General Xu is waiting for the fighter, don't disturb the general's train of thought." ”

Xu Ping bitterly recalled the term containing the attack, but he found nothing after all, he looked at the banner of Liao Kezong on the left wing, and said softly to himself and to the people around him: "The fortifications of Mr. Liao Qian are very complete, and they will be able to hold on." ”

Liao Kezong's position was between Dezhou City and the main formation of the Ming army, and under the cover of the two flanks, only the southeast side had the greatest pressure. The rebels slowly approached the left flank to the beat of the drums, and their heavy footsteps trembled the ground slightly.

"The rebels made a big mistake, they gave us more time, Mr. Cao, and then go and strengthen the fortifications......"

"General, our left flank has collapsed." Yu Shenhe's shout interrupted Xu Ping's order, and he pointed to the left flank position, his lips trembling vigorously.

Countless Ming soldiers fled down the hill from the north side of the left flank position, abandoning their weapons, throwing off their helmets and armor as they ran, and not looking at the main formation. More and more Ming troops fled, and there were noisy shouts.

"Liao, Liao Qian, too!"

Jiang Yizhou exclaimed again, and Xu Ping also saw Liao Kezong's Qianzong banner retreating from the mountain, and a large group of Ming troops gathered around his banner, quickly fleeing from the northwest slope from their positions. Xu Ping took out his binoculars and looked at Liao Kezong's banner, and said helplessly: "Liao Qian has not completely collapsed, he can still command more than a hundred people." ”

"The traitor's cavalry is out again." Yu Shenhe let out another desperate shout, once again drawing Xu Ping's attention back to the south. The rebels also apparently noticed the unusual behavior of the Ming army, the large banner with the word "Chen" written on it was moving rapidly, and the rebel cavalry of the brigade swept unscrupulously in front of Xu Ping's main formation, heading straight for the hill of the Ming army's left flank position. However, rushing to the front was a flag with the word "Liu", Xu Ping threw the telescope there, and the person who caught his eyes was Liu Zhewen, who was showing off his might in front of Xu Ping's battle just now, and his face full of iron beards and fierce light in his eyes left a very deep impression on Xu Ping.

The fiery cavalry of the rebels swept up the hill on the left flank of the Ming army, and then crossed it like mercury and pursued it northward. Xu Ping couldn't look any further, he put his hands together, twisted his ten fingers, and his chest twitched with sharp pain. The war was only half an hour into the war, the two wings of the Ming army had ceased to exist, Xu Ping had lost more than half of his troops, he clenched his teeth, Xu Ping stared at the big banner with the word "Xiao" not far away.

- Rush down, cut off the head of Xiao Baiwolf, and fight with them.

A voice reverberated back and forth in Xu Ping's mind, his chest rose and fell violently, and as soon as the cold cold qi entered his body, it was turned into a hot breath, burning his entire chest, so that he couldn't help but exhale the flames quickly.

- Defeated, defeated.

Xu Ping swallowed his saliva in pain, and his head almost exploded.

- So many fellow soldiers, because I must come to reinforce Texas and die; Because I must set up a formation in the southwest and be defeated in an instant; I thought I could replace General Zhao Jingzhi but I couldn't, so they died here......

Xu Ping felt that his eyes were hot, and the hot blood in his whole body surged up on his head, almost making him unable to think.

- Die like a man.

Xu Ping has no way out, he is an impostor, he seriously violated military regulations, he killed so many comrades, not to mention, he also affected Brother Cao.

"Sons, rush down with me and cut off the head of the thief."

The words rolled in Xu Ping's throat, but all he made from his open mouth was a hoarse breath.

- Now the rebel cavalry has scattered to pursue our army.

Xu Ping felt that his heavy head seemed to be gradually able to think again.

- The infantry of the thieves also scattered to attack, and they did not have time to retreat.

Xu Ping's brain was racing.

- This is not necessarily a death, but it may be my chance to turn defeat into victory.

Xu Ping looked at the banner of Xiao White Wolf, who was only two miles away, with red eyes.

- Not far away, rushed in violently, cut off his banner in one fell swoop, fought with them, avenged the death of his brother, and cut off his head.

Xu Ping's hand slammed into the hilt of the sword at his waist, and with a wave of his hand, he pulled it out of his hand.

Xu Ping shouted: "Sons and daughters, ......"

"General Xu!" Yu Shenhe's shout interrupted Xu Ping's train of thought, and he stretched out his arm and pointed behind Xu Ping: "General Xu, look!" ”

In the distance, a group of Ming troops was running desperately towards him from the north, and if he looked closely, the Ming army seemed to be under the banner of Liao Kezong. Xu Ping picked up the binoculars, that's right, it was the hundred or so people brought by Liao Kezong. It seems that Liao Kezong did not flee to the northeast with the defeated army, but led these people around him to make a big circle in the north, and finally rushed to the main formation of the Ming army.

Xu Ping put down the binoculars and found that he was still holding the sword tightly, he reluctantly glanced south at Xiao Baiwolf's banner again, and silently inserted the sword back into the sheath.

At this time, the situation suddenly changed, and a small group of rebel cavalry in the northeast rushed down the frozen Weihe River, chasing and cutting down the defeated Ming army. They seemed to have discovered Liao Kezong, turned their horses' heads and chased in the direction of the main formation of the Ming army, forming two black lines, one in front and one behind. The black line behind it was far away, but it quickly narrowed the distance to the former.

Xu Ping crossed his fingers together and twisted them together, holding his breath as he looked at the two black lines pointing directly at his feet.

"Bodhisattva bless, Bodhisattva bless." Jiang Yizhou behind him kept reading, and Xu Ping couldn't help but read it with him. The rebel cavalry behind was chasing closer and closer, and it was the fierce and vicious Liu Zhewen again. Seeing that the Ming army in front was about to run to the defense line of the main formation, and the rebel cavalry in hot pursuit behind them was only one step away from them.

"Good, good, good!" The staff officers behind him all jumped up with joy, Liao Kezong led his subordinates to rush into the position of the friendly army, and the rebel cavalry looked at them viciously and stopped not far from the Ming defense line. Xu Ping exhaled heavily, and he really felt a sense of weakness as if he wanted to sit down, but he insisted on not letting himself behave in a gaffe.

Liao Kezong ran up the mountain breathlessly, sat on the ground in front of Xu Ping, panting and shouting: "General Xu, I'm sorry for you." ”

Xu Ping had regained his composure and asked, "Mr. Liao Qian, what's going on with you?" ”

Liao Kezong stretched out his legs, propped his hands on the crooks of his legs and breathed hard for a long time before he said with difficulty: "General Xu, after seeing the tragic situation on the right flank, the morale of the army there collapsed all of a sudden. When the traitors came to the lowly office, they didn't know who was the first to start running, but in the blink of an eye, it was really a blink of an eye, and hundreds of soldiers began to run away, and the lowly duty was incompetent and could not stop them. ”

At this time, Xu Ping didn't know who was behind him, and muttered in a low voice: "Let's take the opportunity to break through to Texas and fight into Texas." ”

Although it is not known who said it, this resonance caused a chorus, and the rebels' forces were scattered over a vast territory, and the cavalry did not know where to go. Jiang Yizhou and Yu Shenhe glanced at each other, and at the same time clenched their fists and said angrily: "General Xu, the two of us are willing to fight to the death to open a bloody road for the general and his brothers." ”

Xu Ping shook his head and pointed to the lost positions on the left and right flanks: "Don't you still understand?" As soon as we left the position, this was the only end. ”

"General Xu Mingjian, we are already alone, although it is a life to break through to Texas, but if you don't break through, you will be killed."

"Dead, dead." Xu Ping muttered twice, but still shook his head and said, "We are already dying." ”

"Dead land—then war!" Xu Ping shouted: "Give the rest of the food to Liao Qian's soldiers to eat, I will rest half of the people, and the rest will go to strengthen the fortifications and dig trenches together!" ”

There were indeed not many troops under the banner of the rebels in front of them, and the more than 1,000 people quietly watched the Ming army still tirelessly reinforcing the fortifications, as if they were watching a group of madmen and dead people.

Just when the soldiers were working with the idea of resigning themselves to fate, a small group of men and horses came straight to the main formation of the Ming army. They were wearing the uniforms of the Shandong Lu Army. After the first person rushed up the mountain, Xu Ping fixed his eyes and saw that it was Lin Guangyi, the commander of the four walls of Texas. Lin Guangyi was covered in blood, and he didn't know how much was his and how much was someone else's.

Lin Guangyi's first words when he saw Xu Ping were: "Texas is lost." ”

Sticking the bloodstained steel knife into the snow, Lin Guangyi grinned and shook his head: "There is too much work in Texas City, and both doors are opened at once, hehe, it's really too much." ”

Xu Ping felt that he had become numb, as if this matter had nothing to do with him, not happening in front of his eyes but listening to the story: "Don't worry, Brother Lin, take a breath and speak slowly." ”

"Uh-huh, yes, General Xu." Lin Guangyi took a gourd, drank the water in a big gulp, then splashed the rest of the water on his face, smeared it a few times, looked down at the military uniform full of mud, picked a place that was not too dirty and wiped himself.

Lin Guangyi pointed to the group of men who followed him: "As soon as the gate of Texas City opened, thousands of traitors poured in, and the townspeople all dispersed at once. Hehe, I took these brothers out of the city and fled, and the prefect probably committed suicide. ”

Xu Ping asked, "Why don't you run north?" ”

"General Xu thinks I haven't fought?" Lin Guangyi said a few times: "There are thieves everywhere, cavalry and infantry, where can I escape?" ”

The rebels were not worried about the Ming army breaking through, and the main force went to the north to pursue the defeated New Army and the Texas defenders, so Lin Guangyi and they were able to rush to the main position of the Ming army.

Xu Ping laughed: "If you run to me, you may not be able to live." ”

"General Xu really has the demeanor of a general, I made the right bet here!" Seeing that Xu Ping was still laughing, Lin Guangyi also laughed, and stretched out his hand to give his thumb up: "If the thieves ignore us and go north instead, won't the life of the humble post be saved again?" If the thieves have to kill us, then it is better to follow General Xu to defend to the death, and he can fight for his two lives if he is lowly than being hacked to death in the wilderness like a dog. ”

Author's note: Some readers complain that there are no more changes in a day, but the number of words in each section is not less, right? This section also has more than 6,000 words, and it doesn't make sense to divide it into 3,000 verses and double changes, right? We look forward to your understanding and continued support.

[Remember the URL . 三五Chinese网]