After learning that there was an invading army blocking troops in front of them, Jia Minghe and Homer both hurried to the front line, and the officers of the Chizhuo battalion reported that they had found hundreds of invading cavalry.

"Such a large-scale cavalry will never be a ranger scouting horse," Jia Minghe was a little puzzled: "Could it be that the thieves have discovered my movements, and I have not discovered their probing horses?" ”

"It can't be, my lord." Homer protested: "We are monitoring day and night, if the thief really has a detective, we must have found out a long time ago." ”

Jia Minghe's hesitation was for a moment, and he immediately reappeared and became firm: "This is Xu Ping's part, we were discovered when we crossed the river just now, and this thief hurried to stop it." ”

Looking at those faintly visible trenches and low walls, Jia Minghe muttered: "From the perspective of time, Xu Ping's main force should be about to arrive in Yifeng, and now the urgent report sent by the thieves here is about to catch up with his team, and we must break through the fortifications here immediately and intercept his retreat before he escapes." ”

The two squadrons of the Chizhuo battalion had already begun to unfold, changing from marching columns to battle formations, during which they were not disturbed in any way, there were no counterattacks, no artillery fire, only a few bows and arrows, and they were quickly suppressed by the covering gunners of the Ming army.

The battalion spearmen of the brigade retreated from the ambush and then appeared behind Xu Ping, looking as if they were newly recruited reinforcements, and their appearance might make the Ming army realize that their feint was on the verge of failure, which would annoy Jia Minghe but not make him feel threatened. The spearmen lined up behind the low wall, the 100 cavalry under Chi Shude were still driving the Ming army's scout cavalry around, and the remaining 400 cavalry, half of which were good hands in the Western Battalion, hid behind Xu Ping.

"Has anyone seen the New Army's artillery?"

None of the staff officers answered Xu Ping's question. When Zhou Dongtian made an analysis before the war, he believed that the artillery of the Ming army would not arrive soon, and before the war, he took several staff officers to repeatedly inspect the transition and roads. Zhou Dongtian estimated that if Jia Minghe wanted to quickly transport a battalion across the river, he would have to reduce his cavalry and artillery. The Ming army probably thought that there was no need for the artillery to advance too fast, and they would try to open this section of the road with infantry, and the artillery was only used to attack the city.

The Chizhuo battalion is pulling a battle line in front of Xu Ping, and is preparing to open up the road. This group of Ming troops had 1,200 men, about half of whom were musketeers, and sure enough, they were all reloaded with flintlock muskets.

……

Guide Province,

"Yu Shuai, what are you worried about?" A general of the Ming army shouted: "The grass thieves of the West Thieves, don't you know how many ways they have Yu Shuai?" Our Chu army has always been able to fight ten with one, Hugh wants to say that Sun San and Li Si are their godfathers Zhang Thief, and when they see our Chu Army, they can only run, thinking about the Agate Mountain, we have 300 people, and we will drive Zhang Thief tens of thousands of henchmen all over the mountain. ”

"Brother Huang," Yu Dong's face was full of helplessness, and he was talking to Huang Shouque, a general under Zuo Liangyu, as the vanguard officer sent by the Chu army to aid Bian, Huang Shouque only brought more than a few thousand soldiers and horses, and the grain and grass were also a little insufficient, so since he arrived at Guide Mansion a few days ago, he came to harass Yu Dong every day, trying to persuade him to fight: "The western thief is nothing to be afraid of, but there are also thieves." ”

"Thief ......" Chu Jun is quite afraid of breaking into the camp, Yang Sichang and Zuo Liangyu are generally reluctant to provoke Li Zicheng, but at this time and that time, Huang Shou said: "That is, four or five thousand thieves, right?" Yu Shuai and my subordinates have tens of thousands of children, and there are still tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in Kaifeng City, and they can't contain thousands of thieves? ”

Yu Dongxin said, "I just can't clean it up", but he just complained: "My department has been fighting hard, and now is the time to recuperate." ”

"Yu Shuai, you are a little deceitful about this, right?" Although Huang Shouque came for a few days, he saw that the Guide Mansion was obedient to Yu Dong, and the grain, grass, weapons, and silver salaries were all fully satisfied, and he also turned a blind eye to Yu Dongman's behavior of returning to the De Mansion to arrest Ding: "Yu Shuai, you have been recuperating for so many months, and your subordinates can be called strong soldiers and horses." ”

"Soldiers are in danger of fighting, and people cannot be resurrected after death." Yu Dong sighed: "Besides, hasn't Jia Shuai already arrived in Henan?" We might as well wait for Jia Shuai, maybe the envoy sent by Jia Shuai to contact us is already on the way. ”

"Huang Hou's subordinates, how could they be willing to give us credit?" Huang Shouque was so anxious because he was worried that the new army would take credit: "Huang Hou's subordinates haven't fought for so many years, but my marshal has been fighting with us for 20 years. What's more, that Xu thief was still Huang Hou's person before, and Jia Shuai was definitely even more reluctant to call us when he cleaned up the portal. ”

No matter how Huang Shouque mobilized, Yu Dong just shook his head.

Suddenly, someone outside the tent reported that a messenger asked to see him, and after being passed in, it turned out to be Zhu Yuanhong's family: "Yu Shuai, the head of the family came to Henan to help Jia Shuai on the order of the Hou Governor." ”

Yu Dong and Zhu Yuanhong also have a relationship, and after hearing that Zhu Yuanhong will arrive in a while, he smiled and said: "When the time comes, you must have a drink with Zhu Shuai, well, you might as well invite Zhu Shuai to come to the Defu and let me do a little bit of the friendship of the landlord." ”

"Guide?" The messenger was stunned: "It should be Kaifeng, right?" Jia Shuai has already attacked Kaifeng, doesn't Yu Shuai know? ”

"What, the new army has already gone to Kaifeng?" Huang Shouque jumped three feet high: "Didn't Jia Shuai just come to Henan?" Attacking without resting? ”

"Yes," replied the messenger, "the villain saw on the road that Jia Shuai had already crossed the river. ”

"Great!" Yu Dong suddenly shouted, and Yang Tian laughed: "That thief is to Huang Hou, just like the mount of Heavenly Court Xingjun sneaking away from the Netherworld, no, no, it is a flea on the mount, he stole Huang Hou's two magic weapons in the Nether Realm to make trouble, and our group of Sun Wukong has no choice, but now that the people around Huang Hou are here, then he can't be arrested?" ”

……

In the first trench, Gao Chengcang's fruit chief said in an inaudible voice: "Calm, calm." ”

Gao Chengcang knew that Guo Chang was comforting him, but Guo Chang's voice made him feel even more panicked. The dull sound of the drum came from far and near, and the sound seemed to beat on Gao Chengcang's heart, and the sound was getting closer and closer, as if it was behind him. Gao Chengcang felt that he was about to take it anymore, and the companions around him and in front of him writhed their bodies uneasily, probably everyone wanted to take a look.

The soldiers of the Chizhuo Battalion lined up in a two-hundred-meter-wide battle formation and walked slowly towards the trench where they broke into the camp to the beat of drums.

Xu Ping waved his hand, and a flag was erected from behind the breastwork, fluttering alone in the center of the wall, and the drums of the camp also sounded.

"Ignition."

Almost at the same moment, Guo Chang gave a soft command, Gao Chengcang took out the flint and lit the fire rope, took a deep breath to blow out the bright flame, put away the flint, and skillfully adjusted the fire rope in place.

The low sound of the drums was suddenly pierced by a high-pitched shout:

"All—stand up!"

"Stand up."

After Guo Chang's order was given, Gao Chengcang took a deep breath, stood up suddenly, shook off the hay covering his head, the sun shone on his face at once, he squinted his eyes, and the tension and annoyance in his chest seemed to be swept away. The companion who had been sitting opposite also stood up at this moment, holding his musket upright, and Gao Chengcang looked at each other closely.

"Aim."

Gao Chengcang skillfully and quickly spun, lying on the edge of the trench while already holding the butt of the gun in his ear, perched on the edge of the trench and pointed forward.

"Whew!"

Suddenly, Gao Chengcang saw the enemy. In front of him was a flag-bearer of the Ming army, so close that Gao Chengcang could see the enemy's serious face, closed lips, two slightly upturned mustaches, focused eyes staring ahead, and the tightly locked brow. Behind the standard-bearer was a dense row of Ming soldiers, their iron armor emitting brilliant light, and the two drummers raised their sticks high and were about to smash them hard against the drum face. But Gao Chengcang didn't have a chance to look any further......

"Fire!"

Gao Chengcang pulled the trigger, followed the strength of the fire hammer and retreated to the back row, giving way to the edge of the trench to his companions. The companion immediately followed the command, lay down on the edge of the trench and poked out the firecracker, pointing at the Ming army on the opposite side.

The commander waited until Gao Chengcang's platoon was filled before ordering the second group to fire, and then the second group immediately turned around and gave way to firing positions. Then I heard the commander shout:

"Aim."

Gao Chengcang lay on the edge of the trench for the second time, and for the second time curiously observed the enemy on the opposite side. The other party was still slowly walking here, but this time Gao Chengcang didn't see any face, only a cold mask that fell.

"Fire!"

It was a new cycle again, and this time when Gao Chengcang turned back, he saw that the muzzles of the two guns in the battalion had just been pushed out from behind the low wall.

"Fire!"

Gu Mengliu, who was standing in the middle of the two cannons, fiercely slashed forward the sword held high above his head, and the two six-pounder cannons on his side let out a huge roar, retreating backwards and spewing fire. While the gunner was reloading the artillery, Gu Mengliu leaned on the low wall with one hand to observe the scene of the enemy army. In front of him were a large number of soldiers sitting down against the low wall with their guns in their hands, and at his feet were a group of soldiers lying on their stomachs, and Gu Mengliu had to be careful not to step on them. He glanced back and saw that the soldier was pushing the cannon to reset, so he raised his sword high above the top again: "Fire!" ”

"We made a mistake, that is, we underestimated the Chizhuo Battalion," Xu Ping, who was observing the battle from a distance, commented: "But the Chizhuo Battalion made the same mistake. ”

"Yes." Zhou Dongtian immediately let out a sound of approval, he looked around at no one left and right, and wanted Xu Ping to come closer and asked in a low voice: "My lord, you were trying to boost morale just now, right?" It must be to boost morale, right? ”

"Yes." Xu Ping said calmly.

"Oh-" Zhou Dongtian let out a long breath: "That's good." ”

"But there is no joke in the army, and the punishment I said is certainly effective."

"Your Excellency!" Zhou Dongtian shouted: "You don't mean it, do you? ”

"I know, you mean to say that we are already thieves," Xu Ping is very aware of the worries of the subordinates who came from the new army, and now Li Zicheng has also installed a lot of old units in the guard battalion, these people have a deep hatred with the officers and soldiers, even those soldiers recruited by Xu Ping, I am afraid they will not have any good feelings towards the officers and soldiers. Officers and soldiers have never been captured, and if the rebels have small losses and are in a good mood, they may use it to replenish themselves; If the losses are large, the mood is bad, or the captured officers and soldiers refuse to surrender and submit, then most of them will be killed to vent their anger, of course, the same is true for the officers and soldiers, and the captured rebels will also be disemboweled, and now the rebels are gradually beginning to have similar retaliation.

If Xu Ping disobeyed everyone and punished the rebel soldiers for the lives of the officers and soldiers and prisoners of war, Zhou Dongtian was worried that many people would not accept it, and he would wonder if Xu Ping was thinking about the old feelings and looking for a way out. Xu Ping didn't explain again, but blamed Zhou Dongtiandao: "Do you think now is the time to think nonsense? He pointed to the battle ahead: "Let's talk about winning this battle, otherwise there will be no truth or falsehood." ”

The attack of the spearmen in the front row of the Forces nouvelles was still advancing at a standard pace, which cost them even more, and in the volley of firearms, rows and rows of New Army soldiers were knocked to the ground: "This mistake cost them a lot. ”

Zhou Dongtian followed and said: "However, this level of casualties is far from enough to deter the new army. ”

Xu Ping silently agreed.

When Gao Chengcang walked to the front row for the third time, he saw that the officers and soldiers in the front row had lowered their spears and were stabbing into the trenches in the front row......

Each volley of five hundred arquebusiers in the second trench brought down rows of new army spearmen. The drums of the Forces nouvelles intensified, and the pace of their infantry quickened, and the spearmen of the Guards battalion in the front row of trenches were quickly repulsed under the condescending stabbing of the three rows of spearmen, who retreated along the communication trenches to the second line of trenches. The soldiers of the Chizhuo Battalion kept jumping off the trenches, and their ranged troops finally appeared in Xu Ping's field of vision.

The flintlock musketeers of the Red Burning Battalion, also dressed in iron armor, stopped in front of the trench and quickly lined up, and a new volley of the Guards Battalion knocked down a large number of Ming troops, who spun and fell to the ground, and some of them plunged headlong into the trench in front of their feet. When Gao Chengcang raised the arquebus, he saw a Ming army officer raise the command sword in his hand, he could see the officer's movements clearly, and he seemed to be able to hear the officer's hissing shout.

In the midst of the shouting, Gao Chengcang pulled the trigger, and another flintlock musketeer of the scorching battalion was knocked down. Almost at the same moment, the three rows of flintlock muskets of the Ming army were fired together, and at the same time as the smoke of gunpowder rose from the opposite side, Gao Chengcang heard the whistling sound of projectiles flying overhead, and the ground in front of him was splashed with dirt, and the sand hit his cheeks painfully.

When Gao Chengcang walked to the back row to change ammunition, he noticed that several of his companions fell to the ground, covered in blood, and collapsed on the ground motionless. While the high chamber was being loaded, another platoon of arquebusiers was lying on the edge of the trench and waiting, and the commander waited for the rear row to finish reloading and could not give the order to fire. With another muffled snort, Gao Chengcang saw the hat of a companion on the side being knocked into the air, his body slamming backwards into the wall of the trench, and then bounced forward and fell into the dirt. Before the end of the reload, the trench came under attack again, and another person fell in sight.

Finally reloaded, Gao Chengcang replaced the companion in front. The Ming army on the opposite side was also loading, and Gao Chengcang was lying tightly on the edge of the trench, with only his eyes and half of his nose exposed.

"Hurry up, hurry up ......"

He anxiously waited for the order, the Ming army on the opposite side had finished loading, the front row knelt down, and the two rows behind them also leveled the muzzles, when the officer and soldier general waved his sword and gave the order, both feet jumped off the ground, and the ground in front of him was beaten up with a piece of dirt, and many of them were splashed on Gao Chengcang's face.

"Damn, I almost hit Lao Tzu." Gao Chengcang scolded in his heart. The Ming army on the opposite side stood up again and began to load, but Gao Chengcang still didn't wait for the order to shoot, he could only watch as the person on the opposite side pulled out the rifle, and then flattened the muzzle towards himself again, and another row of bullets hit, and the people close to Gao Chengcang fell backwards with a soft shout...... The person on the other side began to reload again.

"Fire!"

"you." Gao Chengcang desperately pulled the trigger, and when he walked to the back row, he couldn't help but shout out what was in his heart: "Hey, Lao Tzu really wants to have a flintlock pistol." ”

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