At this time, Gao Chengcang was still fighting the enemy in the second trench, and he felt that he was exhausted and no longer had the strength to fight the enemy. The firebolt has long been missing, but it is still in his hand, and he can't use it now. The trenches were full of people, and it was difficult to even move his elbows, and Gao Chengcang was not so much about falling down his opponent as he was holding his opponent to prevent his legs from falling weakly, and his hand was weakly pinched on the opponent's neck, as if the opponent was pinching him. The enemy soldier who was hugging Gao Chengcang was also powerless to tighten the fingers on Gao Chengcang's neck, and just kept spewing out heavy gasps from behind the mask.

"Your Excellency, send reinforcements." A staff officer suggested.

"Now? When the selection battalion still has the strength to go up, go up and join the melee? Xu Ping said loudly: "I dare to say, General Jia must not have expected it to be like this, and I didn't expect it either, at this time, I was looking to see who would make a mistake and let the engineer team and the baggage team go into battle!" The infantry team remained on standby. ”

"Sappers?"

"Yes." Xu Ping nodded heavily: "At this time, I don't think there is anything better to use than a pickaxe." ”

The spearmen and cavalrymen of the Guards Battalion watched their sappers and logistic brethren rush into the battle group, and one by one they held their hoes and shovels high in the air, squeezed in front of the Ming ironclad soldiers, and slashed down their helmets.

Gao Chengcang was still torn by his opponent at this time, and after feeling some strength in his wrist, he began to break the opponent's helmet back, but the opponent's head was only pulled back by him. Seeing that he could insert his fingers into the gap in the opponent's armor and pinch the opponent's neck, Gao Chengcang couldn't muster this last bit of strength. The strength on his neck was gradually getting worse, and Gao Chengcang felt that his breathing began to become difficult, and his eyes were black for a while. At that moment, he saw an arm raised in the air move towards him, and the sapper shovel that he was holding tightly in his hand swung down, and the sharp edge of the shovel slashed into the helmet in front of him. Suddenly, Gao Chengcang felt the strength on his neck loosen, the shovel shook twice and then pulled it up "suddenly", and the blood arrow spurted out from the crack in the armor, splashing Gao Chengcang's face and chest, and he struggled to push the pair of bodies that had lost their strength away. I only felt that the sky was spinning for a while, and Gao Chengcang gasped for breath, feeling as if his lungs were about to explode.

At this time, the communication trench became a barrier for the Ming army to save their lives, and the Ming army who could not hold on retreated from here to the first trench, and there were some companions who avoided the shooting of the intruding army, they all knew that they could not stay here for a long time, the main force had begun to retreat, and the rest would be abandoned if they did not save themselves.

Yue Mu, who had already loaded his ammunition, did not step forward to shoot, because the rotation had stopped for a long time, and the brothers behind him had also completed loading, and the first fruit in front of him was still waiting for orders. They aimed their guns tightly at the edge of the third trench and waited for the Ming army to reappear in view.

In the distance, the Ming army lined up in a neat battle formation, guarding against the pursuit of the intruding army, and also looking forward to the escape of some more companions. Under the watchful eyes of these Ming troops, the remnants of the Ming army hiding in the third trench will start a final bloody battle.

Several officers of the Ming army hiding in the trench discussed a few words as quickly as possible, this situation was completely unforeseen by them in advance, and when similar problems occurred in other battalions before, the Xuanfeng battalion never thought that they would also abandon the wounded soldiers one day, so they did not make serious preparations. It is impossible to run fast in armor, and retreating separately can only give the enemy more time to shoot, these officers quickly reached a consensus by hiding in the trenches, they beckoned all the remnants to take off their armor, waited for their command, and then rushed out to chase the main force, all the companions who could not move must be left behind, and taking them away would only cause more brothers to be exposed to the fire of the invading army for a long time.

Seeing countless Ming soldiers suddenly rushing out, scrambling out of the trenches, the rushing troops who were ready to attack immediately fired at the backs of those Ming soldiers who were climbing, and a large number of Ming soldiers who had just climbed out of half fell back to the bottom of the trenches, and more Ming soldiers desperately climbed out, leaning over the friendly corpses on the edge of the trench in the firepower of the invading army, hiding behind to avoid the next fire of the intruding army.

After another volley of fire, these Ming soldiers jumped up and ran towards their own battle line, when the salvo behind the low wall of the Ming army began, and another group of Ming troops were knocked down in the dust.

Xu Ping didn't fail to notice Chi Shude's gaze, at this time he was mentally calculating the range of the Ming army's broken troops, and finally he shook his head at Chi Shude: "Today's battle is already very good, there is no need to let the cavalry brothers die." ”

The flintlock musketeers of the Selector Battalion lined up in a horizontal row at a distance, silently watching as their fleeing companions stumbled towards them, spearmen standing behind them on guard.

Looking at the battlefield in front of him, Xu Ping felt fatigue rolling in, and the tension and worry that had been going on for many days were finally completely removed. He pointed his binoculars in the direction of the general flag of the Xuanfeng battalion, searching for the figure of the general.

Finally, Xu Ping found the person who was also holding a telescope to look at the battlefield, he was silently watching this figure, and the other party was also aiming at him with a telescope at the moment.

The commanders of the two armies looked at each other like this for a moment, and Xu Ping saw that the other party slowly put down the binoculars, put it in his arms, and then gave a few orders to a staff officer beside him. The staff officer rode forward, Xu Ping's eyes locked on the staff officer, and saw him come to the side of the soldiers of the Election Battalion in the line, and those soldiers raised their guns together and pointed obliquely at the sky, and then a burst of gunpowder smoke shot out.

Xu Ping let out a long sigh from his mouth, and when the gunshots came, Chi Shude looked confused and asked, "Brother Xu...... General Xu, what does this mean? ”

"This is the rule of the new army, when a medal is issued or a soldier is buried, a gun will be fired to salute." Xu Ping explained to Chi Shude: "As far as I understand, it should mean 'good'. ”

Chi Shu was taken aback: "Did the Ming general on the other side praise you?" ”

"I think he's saying, 'Count you ruthless.'" Xu Ping smiled bitterly: "Maybe there is also the meaning of 'this revenge will be avenged'." ”

The general in the telescope turned his horse's head and turned around and left, Xu Ping saw that the flag next to the person also moved, and the flag bearer turned around and slowly followed him. Xu Ping watched them leave. Suddenly, the leader stopped his mount and turned back to look south for a moment.

In his heart, Xu Ping once again remembered the excitement when Jia Minghe was teaching and talking about his understanding of the offense, as well as the deep regret that followed: "I'm sorry, Jia Shuai, the last general was your disciple." ”

After the last few Ming soldiers returned to their battle line, seeing that Xu Ping had no intention of pursuing, the rear guard of the Xuanfeng battalion prepared to withdraw. When the man at the end of the defeated Ming army looked back again, he suddenly stopped, he stood for a moment and suddenly turned around, trotting all the way to the battlefield. The rearguard of the Ming army seemed to become blank all at once, and the other defeated soldiers also retracted their steps at the same time, and some people put their hands to their mouths as if shouting at him.

However, the Ming soldier ran faster and faster, swinging his arms and galloping, and the flintlock musketeers of the guards battalion, who had already collected their guns, raised their grabs one after another. Seeing this, Xu Ping grabbed the belly of the horse, and the horse trotted to the back of the low wall, and carefully observed the movements of this Ming soldier.

When the man got closer, Xu Ping and the other soldiers saw a bloodied arm stretched out from behind the wall of corpses beside the trench. The Ming soldier ran to the side, leaned over and grabbed the hand, and struggled to pull a man out of the pile of corpses. Then, under the gaze of the two armies, he unhurriedly pushed him up to his shoulders, bent over and tried to stand up, and carried the man on his back step by step towards the north.

With the captain's soft command, the soldiers of the Guards Battalion by the low wall once again bowed down and lowered their guns, while the front-row flintlock musketeers in the trench did the same.

"Stop!"

Xu Ping shouted loudly.

"Stop!" Xu Ping shouted again, he glanced at the battlefield in front of him and sighed.

"It's not bad for one or two!" Xu Ping raised his voice and announced loudly to his subordinates around him.

After hearing Xu Ping's words, the soldiers all lifted their attack posture and stood solemnly with their guns in their hands one by one.

The soldier carried his wounded comrade on his back and slowly walked back to his own line under the gaze of all the officers and men of the Guards Battalion, and several soldiers of the Ming army stepped up to help him.

"Probably his brother."

Yu Shenhe spoke out loud. When Xu Ping looked at him, Yu Shenhe also happened to look at Xu Ping, Xu Ping noticed that Yu Shenhe was already in tears, and he shouted to Xu Ping in a hoarse voice: "It must be his brother!" ”

After finishing speaking, Yu Shenhe quickly ran to the first trench, pointed his arm diagonally to the sky, at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the horizontal, and at the same time ordered loudly: "Guards battalion - all raise their guns!" ”

The six platoons of flintlock musketeers raised their guns one after another, and Yu Shenhe ordered again: "Raise it to the level of my arm." ”

After the soldiers pointed all their guns into the air, Yu Shenhe waved his arm with all his strength and shouted at the same time: "Fire!" ”

The sound of the salvo of six rows of guns made the Ming soldiers on the opposite side stunned for a moment, and then the rear guard of the Xuanfeng battalion beat their drums again and marched north to the rumbling drums. Jia Minghe's face was gloomy: "Xu Ping, how did he arrange the secret whistle?" What exactly am I missing? ”

Xu Ping raised the telescope for the last time and looked at the place where the Ming army had moved the flag, which had become a small one, and the commander of the Ming army, who had admitted defeat, would immediately leave the battlefield. Xu Ping said in a soft voice that only he could hear: "General Jia, I was your disciple. ”

"Mighty!"

A guard battalion officer turned to Xu Ping and raised his sword and shouted loudly.

"Mighty!"

"Mighty!"

The soldiers of the Guards Battalion who heard this shout turned to look at Xu Ping and raised their weapons in their hands to him, and the other Guards Battalion officers also drew their swords and shouted rhythmically towards Xu Ping.

Chi Shude shook his horse's head violently, and he and his cavalry all drew their swords out of their sheaths, holding them high and shouting to Xu Ping: "General Xu is mighty!" ”

Xu Ping had already seen the performance of his subordinates just now, but he still didn't plan to break his promise, and after the cheers gradually subsided, Xu Ping stretched out his arms and pressed down, not giving the order to clean up the battlefield but letting the whole army calm down and listen to his speech.

"I have just decided that anyone who kills a prisoner without permission will be whipped twenty times, and now I have turned this decision into an order."

The color of joy gradually receded from Chi Shude's face, and the soldiers around them became silent, Xu Ping secretly rejoiced, maybe because of this victory, the soldiers did not shout angrily, but listened to themselves quietly.

"Officers and soldiers never leave a living mouth, even Huang Hou's subordinates are the same......"

Because killing a prisoner is equivalent to beheading, and the head means military merit, whether it is sending troops to Shandong or Henan, the Marquis of Zhendong is at most to persuade his subordinates who lead the troops to kill less with the prestige of the old commander.

“…… Officers and soldiers not only kill prisoners, but also kill good and meritorious deeds, because killing people will bring them wealth and power, and they will not ask if this person is good, and they will not think about whether this person still has parents to support in his family......

Xu Ping glanced at the thieves around him, each of them was almost a cropper and an honest ordinary person before he became a thief.

“…… On the battlefield, the officers and soldiers want to kill us, so we will kill them, this is right, this is fair, but killing people will not bring us wealth and power, we are not officers and soldiers, we envy the officers and soldiers and do not want to become them, so before we kill, we should think about it and ask ......"

Xu Ping raised his voice and shouted to his subordinates around him: "Brothers, the government has harmed your relatives, do you think that killing a prisoner of an officer or soldier is a revenge for your relatives?" If so, then the brothers should kill with their own hands, and twenty lashes are just a punishment for disobedience, and if twenty lashes can be avenged, then who would hesitate? If the brothers don't think that this will make your relatives smile, then think about it, maybe some of the prisoners of officers and soldiers joined the army because they were forced to make a living, or maybe they joined the army because they were deceived by the lies of the government. I think that even among the officers and soldiers, most of them are poor like the brothers, and how many of those who can read, read, get famous, and sit in the lobby to ask for food are willing to join the army? ”

The surrounding subordinates remained silent, Xu Ping's gaze swept over their faces one by one, some of them had already appeared moved, but no one had spoken out in agreement, just like no one had spoken out against it before.

Xu Ping found the guy who gave silver to the fallen soldier from the crowd last time, he looked sideways at the soldier's face and asked, "This brother, killing people is a last resort, not a quick thing, right?" ”

"Yes, my lord," Yue Mu raised his head and replied loudly, "Your Excellency is right! ”

"This brother agrees with me," Xu Ping stretched out his arm and pointed at Yue Mu, his gaze turned to the whole army again: "What about you?" Do you approve of me? We are thieves who rise up from the pole, not officers and soldiers who take pleasure in killing, right? ”

Wen Shangtong in the crowd suddenly sighed heavily and shouted loudly: "The general is right, we are good people. ”

The shouts of support came and went, and soon spread throughout the whole army, and even Chi Shude nodded and said: "What the general said is that we are thieves, not officers and soldiers. ”

"Clean up the battlefield." Xu Ping ordered, there was no need to count carefully, he also knew that there were heavy casualties in this battle, and it was estimated that there would be thousands of guards battalions, not to mention those coordinated troops.

"Before, Lord Jia was like a god in my heart," when his subordinates scattered to clean up the battlefield, Yu Shenhe and Zhou Dongtian celebrated: "There is nothing General Jia can do today, if there is no rash attack from Xiying, General Jia would not have had any chance." ”

Xu Ping nodded and said: "When I saw the cavalry counterattack of the Xuanfeng Battalion, I thought that I would win, and the new army became impetuous because of the heavy casualties. ”

"Jia Shuai is just a battalion officer in Liaodong, although he is alone in the southwest, he is still a battalion officer, both battles are under the command of Hou Ye, and the battalion officers under him used to be some team officers. And we have been attacking cities and plundering land for ten months, fighting more than 30 battles large and small, attacking fortifications, setting up ambushes, deceitful defeats, and sudden attacks, which one has not been played seven or eight times? Don't be presumptuous. Chen Zhe said with a smile, and he asked Zhou Dongtian the question he had asked before: "How is our guard battalion better than Changqing now?" ”

"Changqing is far from being our opponent, Shandong heard that there is no tragic war, and the new army has always relied on soldiers to bully people, and has never been like us for many years and months with more than ten times the enemy, in the strong enemy in the long distance to attack, siege the city, not to mention like Zhongmu several battles a day, for several days in a row." Zhou Dongtian is much more confident: "Even if there are some veterans in the Xuanfeng Battalion, the Guards Battalion is at least on par with the Xuanfeng Battalion, but the non-commissioned officers are far inferior, and the fruit commanders are too bad." ”

"Maybe it's because our fruit is too big, twenty." Yu Shenhe said casually: "Now I have a feeling that the new army has been spoiled by Hou Ye, Hou Ye has trained a fighting spirit of the army, and created an unprecedented sharp weapon, for many years, Hou Ye's subordinates will attack and the code will be solid, but everyone is lazy, too lazy to think about how to end up if they can't attack the enemy's position?" Because this is simply impossible in the eyes of the new army. is too lazy to spend energy to set up ambushes, to attack, to bully the enemy, because for many years, as long as the Hou Ye let the horse rush, the opposite side will inevitably fall apart; As long as the enemy's retreat is blocked, the enemy army will inevitably be completely annihilated. Really, they are all spoiled by the Hou Ye. Yu Shenhe sighed with emotion, and the more he spoke, the more excited he became: "In the past, the instructors always repeated what Hou Ye said: equipment is more important than courage. When I first heard it, I admired it so much, but now I feel that it is not like that at all, Hou Ye attaches more importance to courage than anyone else, and the soldiers trained by Hou Ye's method are stronger than the courage of other armies? For example, the Xiying gang, one moment they are bloody, they are so fierce that they don't listen to the command at all, and they will rout and come back after a while, and the next moment they will regain their strength or continue to rout, you can't predict at all......"

"Although the loss was bigger, it was won in the end." Xu Ping interrupted Yu Shenhe, "Everything must be seen for the better, I think this is not bad, let those who look down on us continue to look down on it, let them continue to think that we can win just because of luck, and the loser will not reflect on the lack as long as he is still complaining." ”

Yu Shenhe nodded and shouted happily, "Congratulations on your victory." ”

Others also congratulated Xu Ping: "Congratulations, my lord." ”

"This is a victory for the people of Henan, and we are fortunate to be on the side of the winner."

The First Battle of Lanyang; 434 soldiers of the Guards Battalion were killed, more than 680 were wounded, thousands of casualties were inflicted on the outcasts who were brought in for a bluff, and more than half of the 200 cavalry of the Western Battalion were also lost; Of the 1,800 officers and men killed in the Forces nouvelles, only 140 were taken prisoner because of the retreat of the Forces nouvelles wherever they could. In this battle, the invading army captured 1,300 spears, 900 flintlock pistols, and nearly 2,000 sets of armor. According to Xu Ping's order, the wounded among the captives were also to be taken care of.

On August 18, the 22nd year of Chongzhen, the white feather soldiers, who were once invincible in the world, were defeated in Henan.

(Author's note: The first volume of the physical book "Tiger Wolf" has been put on the shelves, and the second volume should be on the shelves in two days. The setting of the electronic version is not exactly the same as the entity - the so-called alternative, Jia Minghe is a character I like, since the electronic version can be longer, then I think of trying to give him more opportunities to show his heroic spirit, his integrity and kindness. In the entity, when Xu Ping was faced with a strategic choice, he calmly chose to set up an ambush and defend instead of the decision to concentrate the elite in the electronic version to fight for the annihilation of the Xuanfeng battalion, so that he would not borrow troops from the western battalion, and would not stimulate the self-esteem of Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang and cause them to also formulate a plan for the annihilation war. On Lanyang's side, of course, there was no unhelpful West Battalion, no homeless people who were brought in to confuse the troops, only the Guards Battalion dealt with the Xuanfeng Battalion and the Chizhuo Battalion alone, there was no unauthorized attack by friendly troops, there was no counterattack that caused Xu Ping to suffer heavy casualties, and there was no need to plug the gap with human lives. This was a chain reaction, the reason was that for Jia Minghe's performance opportunity, he had to make Xu Ping have a bigger appetite and choose another plan, risking the instability of the friendly army to forcibly concentrate his troops, and finally received some punishment. ）

……

In faraway Europe,

"I really didn't see that you like to watch romance stories so much." Bao Yuanlang looked at Shi Tianyu, who was holding a few pages and reading with relish, and said.

"It's not a romance story, it's a legend of Tessie's ancient heroes." Shi Tianyu said without raising his head, he specially found one from the hired translator and helped him translate Greek mythology every day.

"It's not the same." Bao Yuanlang said this, and he was also a little curious: "What are their heroes like?" ”

"There are a lot, but I like the one the most called Antai." Shi Tianyu said.

"Oh, what's so special?"

"Infinite strength, a hundred battles to win."

Bao Yuanlang said: "Is there such an ancient hero story? ”

"I think he's a bit like our Immortals."

"Oh?"

"The book says that this hero named Antai is the son of Mother Earth, and as long as his feet are still on the ground, he will be full of strength, and no matter how many times he is knocked down, he can get back up again, and his body still retains infinite strength. Look, isn't it a bit like Hou Ye's Immortal Army? Whether it is in Liaodong or Fujian, whether we are defeated or damaged, it will never make us less powerful, only make us stronger. ”

"Listening to you say that, it seems to mean a little bit like that." Bao Yuanlang nodded: "Isn't this hero named Antai invincible in the world?" ”

"Yes, while he is still standing on the earth, he will never be defeated."

"I think so." Bao Yuenlang laughed, and after a while, he suddenly frowned and asked, "You say-'When he was still standing on the earth', what does this mean?" ”

"Haha," Shi Tianyu said with a smile, "This hero was defeated in the end." ”

"He left the earth?"

"Yes, when he stopped being in contact with his Mother Earth, the power he lost could never be restored, so he was defeated and killed."

(End of Chapter 3)

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