When the Selector Battalion began to form a formation, several staff officers whispered beside Homer: "Are there any reinforcements coming from the thieves?" ”

"There are still reinforcements from thieves in Kaifeng Mansion?"

"The west camp of the two thieves of Sun and Li, and the bird camp of the Xu thief."

"Where will they be in time?"

"They're not coming." Homer suddenly interjected, and his staff immediately listened intently. He Ma also knew that the reinforcements that might arrive could only be the West Camp or the Guards Battalion, and he absolutely didn't believe that the Guards Battalion would come here: "With Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo, can they withstand the Shanlan Battalion?" ”

At this time, Jia Minghe should have launched a feint, and He Ma felt that even if Xu Ping received an emergency from Qixian County last night, it would be impossible to abandon Kaifeng City and immediately send reinforcements, even if he sent troops, it would not be the main force: "Give up Kaifeng to save Qixian?" It's not about sacrificing the basics. The gold and silver that the thieves wanted to open had already gone crazy, like jackals that smelled blood. ”

If it was Xiying, then Homer didn't pay much attention to it, in fact, even if the guards battalion came to Homer, he was not afraid: "Xu Ping's yellow-mouthed child, hum." ”

There were rumors circulating in the New Army, which had also fallen into Homer's ears, and he was furious at these rumors. Because of these rumors about the reputation of Homer's most respected old boss Huangshi, Lord Jin is also a person whom Homer admires very much, Homer has been working for these two adults for decades, and after Huangshi's comeback, he was the first batch to join Huangshi's old department. Xu Ping, as one of the protagonists of the rumors, was naturally deeply hated by Homer. When he came to Henan this time, he was happy from the bottom of his heart at the thought of being able to beat Xu Ping for Huangshi and Jin Qiude.

Of course, Homer would never admit that his hatred for Xu Ping originated from a deeply hidden jealousy. When he heard that He Baodao hung the medal given to him by Huangshi on Xu Ping's chest, He Ma disagreed; In the future, every time he heard He Baodao praise Xu Ping in front of Huangshi or others, and call him the leader of the younger generation of the New Army, He Ma always felt that this was very unpleasant. Out of respect for He Baodao, Homer explained this unhappiness in his heart as being unaccustomed to the opportunism of some people. After Lanyang's defeat, Homer's hatred for Xu Ping became more and more intense. Although the staff officers were aware of it, they could not penetrate Homer's heart, and they dutifully continued to put forward the hypothesis: "If the thief had sensed our feint and intentions from the beginning......"

"And then," said Homer, who roughly interrupted the staff officer, "does he have what it takes to bring down my battalion?" Don't hesitate to give up opening for this? Not hesitating to disobey his master's orders? Don't let his thieves think that they can ransack Kaifeng, isn't he afraid of being dismembered by random knives? ”

The evil aura of the large group surged up in his throat one after another, and He Ma suddenly hoped that he could meet Xu Ping so that he could be ashamed. He shouted impatiently: "If that yellow-mouthed kid is really so arrogant, let him come, camp to camp, will I still be afraid of him?" ”

Homer's rage silenced his staff for a moment. Soon the formation of the selection camp was completed, and Homer waved his hand angrily and shouted: "Attack!" ”

Because he knew that the long-range firepower of the Xianxian Invasion Army was not enough to mention, the Xuanfeng Battalion drove towards the battlefield without any scruples, and the soldiers swaggered towards Li Laiheng's troops. The formation of the Selector Battalion was much thinner than that of the Commander Army, and the two wings stretched far to the left and right made the Selector Battalion's formation almost twice as long as the Raider, still because it was hindered by the city wall, and the left flank of the Election Battalion had to be kept some distance from it to ensure safety. The Chinese troops of the Xuanfeng battalion did not stop until they were fifty meters away from the intruding army, and the right flank made a threatening posture to continue to move forward and detour to Li Laiheng's flank; Because the army was some distance away from the city wall, the left wing of the Ming army was also inserted between Li Laiheng's headquarters and the city wall of Xixian County, showing the intention of cutting off the connection between the army and the county seat.

"What an arrogant officer," Li Laiheng looked at the Ming army that had infiltrated from his right hand, and the opponent seemed to be unconcerned about the possibility of sending another team of soldiers from the county to flank him. Directly opposite was the Chinese army of the Xuanfeng battalion, as well as the general banner of He Ma, and the Ming army here did not immediately make further action, but looked down on the breaking army for a moment.

Soon after the infantry team in the center stopped, the two infantry teams of the vanguard battalion close to it also stood firm at a distance of about 50 meters, and Li Guo and Hu Chen in the distance saw that the banner of the vanguard battalion behind the enemy formation immediately changed, and the drum beat from the opposite side also changed its rhythm. The spearmen of the Selector Battalion moved their feet to reveal passages through which the flintlock musketeers in the back rows streamed out and quickly reunited into a dense formation as they walked up to the front row.

Li Laiheng stared at the Ming army officer at the head of the platoon, watching him draw Ming's dangling saber and raise it into the air, with this action, the first row of flintlock musketeers of the Ming army knelt neatly on one knee, and at the same time Li Laiheng shouted: "Get down." ”

When pressing the horse's head to force the mount to fall to the ground with him, Li Laiheng's subordinates also placed their weapons flat on the ground, and lay their limbs flat so that their bodies were as close to the ground as possible.

"Fire!"

Three infantry flintlock musketeers fired a volley at the intruders in front of them, their bullets flying through the air and striking the dirt on the ground individually. Homer, who has always observed the battlefield with a telescope, has seen several incredible behaviors today, but this time he was still shocked: "Is the thief fighting?" ”

The Ming army was still firing a salvo at the invading army, and the consequence of adjusting the muzzle of their guns was to have more bullets on the ground instead of in the air. Hu Chen, who was lying closely behind Li Laiheng, looked at the arrogant Ming army in front of him, and asked suspiciously: "General Li, will we just keep lying down?" ”

"My step-uncle and grandfather (Li Zicheng's younger brother) are General Li, my father-in-law is General Li, and I am General Li," Li Laiheng laughed, and then explained in a low voice: "When their spearmen come up, the shooting range will be blocked, and then we can stand up." ”

Looking at the intrusive army who looked like they were ready to die, Homer on the opposite side put his fingers under his helmet and scratched his itchy head: "Order, let the horse team detour back to the rear of the enemy formation, continue to advance on both wings, and extend the three central teams left and right." ”

The two wings of the Selector Battalion continued to move forward, and soon a semi-encirclement of the Commander Battalion was formed, and by the time the horse team of the Selector Battalion moved behind the Raider, the two wings of the Selector Battalion had already crossed the two ends of the Raider. The existing formation of the Chuang army resembles an ellipse, and fifty meters outside this formation is a larger ellipse, and now two-thirds of this large circle has been occupied by the Ming army.

"We're lying on our stomachs like this? Watching the officers and soldiers surround us on the Great Plains? Hu Chen stared at Li Laiheng with an expression of disbelief on his face.

Li Laiheng ignored him, just lay on the ground tightly, turning his head to observe the movements of the Ming army on all sides.

"What are they doing?" Homer muttered to himself.

The expression on Homer's face was no more normal than that of Li Laiheng's subordinates, and the chief of staff of the Xuanfeng battalion looked carefully with a telescope and replied solemnly: "The thieves on both wings are crawling on the ground, well, they are crawling towards the center, as if they are about to turn into a circle. ”

"I know that." Homer felt his head itch getting more and more itchy, and he scratched his head vigorously: "What I ask is, what do you think they are going to do?" ”

"I don't know."

"Ceasefire, ceasefire." He Ma waved his hand to the herald behind him, and pointed to Li Guo's lonely flag: "Go and ask them if they want to surrender?" ”

……

"Fourth Master." Wen Shangtong was brought from the horse team to see Li Dingguo, today he was dressed neatly, the cuffs and trousers were tightly tied with hemp rope, and there was a ghost-headed knife on his back: "I have seen the fourth master." ”

"Brother Wen." Li Dingguo waved his hand and signaled Wen Shangtong to go hand in hand with him.

Summoned by Li Dingguo at this critical juncture, he felt that there was only one possibility, he came to Li Dingguo's side, and asked eagerly: "Fourth master, do you want to take the lead today?" Don't worry, fourth master, the little one will definitely kill the majesty of our Xiying. ”

Li Dingguo shook his head slightly, since Xu Ping made a plan to rush to the aid of the county a few days ago, Li Dingguo has been studying the battle situation with Xu Ping in the guard camp. In the past, according to Li Dingguo's habit, he would give intuitive judgments on various military situations, and judge how credible a piece of information was through some details in it. The generals around Li Dingguo would give him some help and fill in the gaps, and he thought that the staff of the Guards Battalion would also operate according to a similar model.

However, what Li Dingguo saw in the guards battalion was a completely different mode of operation, and in the past three days, the staff officers have analyzed hundreds of discriminate reports sent by the peasants on the basis of strict arithmetic, almost all of which have no credibility and even contradict themselves. Once organized, these disorganized military situations become self-explanatory reports that indicate possible errors. Xu Ping did not ask the staff members to report the reasons for their judgments, but only asked them to insist on using arithmetic as the basis for their judgments and calculating credible data from them. Li Dingguo asked himself: Based on his many years of experience in the military, some of the useful information hidden in these reports will also be discovered, but more may be ignored -- most of the military information with obvious errors will be abandoned, and it is impossible for him to have time to study how big the mistakes are, and how much water can be squeezed out to become quite credible.

Li Dingguo once asked Xu Ping a lot of questions about the staff team, and Xu Ping told him that the staff team's adoption of arithmetic was the foundation laid by the Hou of Zhendong, but in the past, most of them considered that there were many troops on their own side and few troops on the enemy, and it was not credible. Xu Ping canceled all deductions about the enemy, except to boost morale, and instead used the same calculation method to process intelligence, because the enemy's intelligence was more responsible and inaccurate, so Xu Ping established this large staff force of as many as fifty.

In addition, Li Dingguo also has a question, that is, if the staff officers are only proficient in arithmetic and are not familiar with the battlefield, will it evolve into a group of soldiers on paper. Regarding this question, Xu Ping thought for a long time and replied: This may be because Changsheng Island was located on the front line back then, and the island was either a soldier or a military family, maybe Huang Hou's staff officers have all seen the battlefield and don't need to think about this problem, as long as they are talented in arithmetic. Xu Ping immediately said that after the battle was over, he would send half of the 50 staff officers of the Guards Battalion to the battalion to take up the post of general officer, and transfer the same number of general officers to the staff team to work, so that they could have an understanding of how the battalion headquarters operated.

"Brother Wen, I heard that you know arithmetic?"

"Arithmetic?" Wen Shangtong was taken aback: "Fourth master, I don't understand this." ”

"How is that possible?" Li Dingguo looked a little surprised, just now the guard had just briefly introduced Wen Shangtong's resume to him: "Brother Wen, aren't you a shoemaker?" ”

"The little one did work as a shoemaker, but this is a ...... learning"

"Doesn't tanning and shoe repair need to be learned?"

"It's basically a hand-to-eye measurement, but there is also a little mental arithmetic," Wen Shangtong said hesitantly: "Of course you have to memorize the ninety-nine table." ”

"That's right, Brother Wen don't go back to the horse team, stay next to me today." Some of the heroes in Xiying who have fought in the war are now finally able to find one who can do arithmetic and protect them immediately, Wen Shangtong was ordered to take two steps back and follow behind Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo waved his hand again, Zhao Zhiquan was brought up by the guards, the former tailor put the saber in his mouth, and hugged Li Dingguo hard, his bare arms were full of muscles. Spit out the knife, Zhao Zhiquan grabbed it in his hand and played with a knife flower: "Fourth master, do you want to take the lead today?" ”

"Brother Zhao, I heard that you can do arithmetic?"

……

After Homer gave the order, the herald behind him immediately flew out: "Obey." ”

The herald rode his horse out of the Ming army's battle line and galloped towards the intruding army.

More than a thousand pairs of eyes immediately stared at the comer, and the herald rode to the front of the army, but still no one stood up. The herald looked a little overwhelmed by the sight of this large area of enemy lying on the ground and looking up at him, and after standing still for a moment, he finally cried out, "Who is the leader?" I have commanded that your leaders come out and answer. ”

"I'm Li Laiheng," Li Laiheng lay motionless on the ground and shouted loudly in reply, "What are you looking for me?" ”

The herald looked at the young man who had answered: the latter had his right arm around the neck of a horse, and was pressing it hard to prevent it from rising, and the whole man hid behind the horse, revealing only half of his face, and the big eyes on it were looking at him intently.

"Wait for ......" at this time it is supposed to be asked in a stern and proud tone, but the funny scene in front of him made the herald not stern, and he asked in an inquiring tone: "You are going to surrender." ”

Li Laiheng immediately replied: "We will not descend." ”

"We won't surrender," the intruders lying on the ground shouted together: "Don't surrender!" ”

"Dog officers and soldiers, wishful thinking!"

"Got it." The herald whispered, as if he had expected the answer, and as he turned back to his position, he could not help but glance back at the intruders, who were still looking back at him with their chin tilted. The herald shook his head, he felt that nothing in his life could surprise him so much.

"My lord, they don't descend."

"I hear you." Homer's tone became grim, and his eyes flashed with anger at the humiliation.

"If the thieves don't surrender, let them perish!"

Homer gave the order quickly, and by this time the Ming army had formed a three-quarter circle, and behind that only gap was the horse team of the Selective Battalion. According to Homer's orders, the spearmen of the Selective Battalion would move forward again to the front row, and then they would move forward in a neat row, side by side, like an iron wall, squeezing towards the center, crushing the large group of troops in the center to pulp. If anyone could escape from this horrific squeeze, the horses of the Selector Battalion would have trampled them mercilessly into meat sauce.

"Don't worry, don't worry."

While comforting his comrades around him, Li Laiheng relaxed his arms slightly, ready to let go of his mount and let it stand up again, his eyes were fixed on the movements of the Ming army in front of him, waiting for the opportunity to get up and fight for the last battle. Those Ming troops in iron armor are like ordinary King Kongs, if there is no accident, Li Laiheng knows that none of these brothers lying here will be able to escape.

The hand he didn't use to press the horse tightened the handle of the knife under him, and he turned back and smiled at the people around him: "Are you brothers afraid of death?" ”

"We are not afraid of death!" The officers and soldiers responded one after another.

"We're going to kill him soon," Li Laiheng smiled: "Even if we die, General Xu will kill all the officers and soldiers to avenge us." ”

"And we won't die, little General Li, you won't die" Hu Chen twisted sideways, pointed his right arm pressed on the ground behind him with difficulty: "General Xu is already here." ”

"You said a little more, Brother Hu." Li Laiheng smiled and tried to stretch his neck a little, and tried to look in the direction that Hu Chen was pointing without getting up from the ground: "Besides, isn't it good for Brother Hu to call me Brother Li?" Even Li Laiheng is much better than the little General Li, isn't my name pleasing to the ear? ”

When the Ming army noticed the abnormality and found reinforcements from the intruding army, the vanguard of the Guards Battalion was already less than two miles away from the Xuanfeng Battalion. The army marched along the official road leading to the west gate of Qixian, reached the city and then turned left, from behind the city wall to the Ming army's field of vision. The Ming sentinels had been driven away from the west of the city by Li Guo's cavalry, and they could not help but be shocked to see the guard battalion emerging from behind the city walls, and when He Ma received the report, he had just ordered the spearmen to prepare for battle.

The most urgent thing for the Selector Battalion to know was the size of the reinforcements. Although the appearance of the Guards Battalion shocked everyone in the Election Battalion, as one of the three main battalions of the New Army, they certainly would not flee from the news. If the number of intruders is small, then the Xuanfeng battalion is willing to annihilate them and Li Guo together.

After confirming that the reinforcements were flying the eagle banner of the Guards battalion, the first thing Homer did was to ask the troops to suspend the attack. Although he wanted to trample all the rats lying on the ground in front of him, they were a large force of 1,500 enemy troops, and they would definitely resist desperately because of the desperate situation, and it would take a long time for the Selector Battalion to subdue them, and now it was clear that Homer had no time left.

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