The sound of killing inside and outside the city wall shook the sky, and the originally calm Wenzhou City seemed to explode. More than a dozen corpses had been placed at the gate of the North Gate, and the smell of blood was diffused in the spring sun.

Xuanyue rushed to the city gate and protected the city gate, the thieves besieged it from three sides, and Xuanyue desperately supported it. Although Xuan Yue is very skilled, she has few opponents in solo combat, but in the group frame, the enemy is besieging with long weapons, and she is also difficult to deal with. Zhang Wen picked up a sword on the ground, waved it and shouted, "Chong, go and pick up Xuanyue!" With that, he took the lead and rushed forward, and the guards guarded Zhang Wen in the middle and approached the city gate.

The thieves who attacked the city gate were disturbed by a dozen guards led by Zhang Wen, and were caught off guard, and they were already in chaos, unable to resist the army attacking from the city tower, and most of them were killed in a moment. The sergeants threw themselves down the stairs and fought their way into the warband. When the thieves saw that the situation was not good, they fled into the city, and the army pursued them, chasing and shooting with bows and arrows, and the thieves were slain to death.

At this moment, only a loud "bang" was heard, and the city gate trembled. "Oh no, the thieves are banging on the city gates!"

There was another "bang", and the only horizontal log on the city gate was vigorously broken, and the city gate was crumbling.

Zhang Wen was in a hurry to push the city gate with his shoulder, and several guards in front of him also pushed hard. Zhang Wen shouted, "Quickly put the crosswood up!" The two guards hurriedly lifted a piece of wood from the ground and put it on it. At this moment, there was another "bang", Zhang Wen and the others were bounced and fell to the ground, Zhang Wen only felt a buzzing in his head.

Fortunately, the crossbar was put in time, otherwise it would have been smashed through the city gate. Then the army rushed and lifted other logs to block the gates.

Zhang Wenchang sighed, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He asked a general, "Which tower is Lord Xue in?" ”

The general replied, "Just supervise the battle on the tower over there." ”

Zhang Wen listened and went over to the tower, went up to the tower, and saw that Xue Keshou was inside. A sergeant said, "Lord Prefect, Lord Zhang is here." ”

Xue Keshou turned around and said with a sad face: "There are tens of thousands of people outside the city attacking the city, and Wenzhou is surrounded by regiments, how can this be good?" We're going to have to send someone out and ask for help!" ”

"Are the gates on guard?"

Xue Keshou nodded and said, "The student has ordered additional manpower to be dispatched. ”

The general who followed Zhang Wen said: "The last general was ordered to guard the north gate, and as soon as he arrived at the city wall, he saw that the thieves should try to open the city gate, and we were caught off guard, and before we could rush down the city wall, the city gate was almost opened by the thieves." Fortunately, Lord Zhang arrived in time with people and raided Neiying, so that he was able to keep the city gate. ”

Xue Keshou rubbed his hands and said: "It's really a blessing in misfortune, the adult's clever calculation made the student throw himself to the ground." ”

The general said: "The brothers in the army have long heard of the prestige of Lord Zhang, in Liaodong with 20,000 soldiers and horses defeated Jianyu 30,000 iron cavalry, with soldiers like gods, brothers heard that Lord Zhang happened to be in Wenzhou, they all want to see the adult, but there is no such blessing." ”

Zhang Wen said with a smile: "Thanks to all the brothers who look up to this official." ”

The general wondered, "How did your lord know that Nei Ying would attack from the north gate?" ”

Zhang asked: "When I entered the city, I paid attention to it, and the refugees at the north gate were obviously denser than in other places. ”

When the general heard this, he suddenly realized. Zhang Wen looked at Xue Keshou and said, "How does Lord Xue plan to retreat from the enemy?" ”

"There are tens of thousands of thieves in the army, the garrisons in the city, the soap li, the strong men, and those who hold weapons, only 5,000 are enough, and they are outnumbered, so they can only hold on to the city and wait for the province to dispatch an army."

Zhang Wen frowned and said, this guy is the same as me, he was born in the imperial examination, and he can't fight better than me. Zhang Wen has at least a few actual combat experiences, and he has also learned a lot of military tactics in his stomach. He was silent, and looked at the lookout hole for a long time, and the scene outside the city was indeed terrible at first glance, densely packed with people, like a flood, as if it might be washed away at any time.

Xue Keshou saw that Zhang Wen didn't speak, so he accompanied him and said carefully: "The adult is famous, and the soldiers are like gods, and the students are only the adults who are the first to look forward, please arrange the strategy for retreating." ”

Zhang Wen turned his head, glanced at a few people in the tower, and said: "My strategy for retreating is to let the people go to the city to garrison first, and then transfer the main force out of the city to form a camp to fight a decisive battle with the thieves." ”

When Xue Keshou heard this, his eyes widened, and he looked at Zhang Wen with disbelief, as if to say: Aren't you crazy?

"This ...... This...... My lord, we have a high wall to rely on, and there is enough food and grass in the city, so we can completely fortify the city and defend it, and the troops are insufficient, why do we want to go out of the city to fight? ”

Zhang Wen pointed to the outside of the city wall and said: "It seems that there are many people, but in fact, most of them are real refugees, they have no combat effectiveness at all, and they don't even have weapons, but they are hungry and want to enter the city to loot." According to my estimates, the thief army is at most 10,000 people, and the thief army is a hungry people in Fujian temporarily recruited by the White Lotus Sect, lacking training and military discipline, and the whole rabble. What is so terrible about such a group of people? ”

Xue Keshou persuaded with a sad face: "At this critical juncture, students are not afraid to cover up their ugliness, our people are not so beaten, and they are not comparable to the veterans of Liaodong's elite soldiers." In particular, most of them were strong men who were temporarily summoned by the students from all over the world not long ago. ”

Zhang asked: "Don't be afraid, five thousand against ten thousand, we are well-armed, and we still have a chance of winning, and the thief army is mixed among the hungry people, the chaos is abnormal, and our camp has a few more chances of winning." ”

Xue Keshou said: "Weapons can only rely on long-pole guns and bows and arrows, and the cannons on the city are okay, but firearms are not good." The ones that are deployed from above are often blown up, and many of them are bad and cannot be used at all. ”

"I've decided, go out of the city and fight a decisive battle." Zhang Wen said categorically, "The thief army originally wanted to break the city from within, and did not prepare siege equipment such as ladders, so there was no way to take the city for a while." If this drags on, sooner or later they will bring in the equipment, and then our army will be unstable and will be able to defend the city. ”

When Xue Keshou heard Zhang Wen say this, he no longer objected, so he arched his hand and said: "Since the adults have arranged the battle strategy, the students will listen to you." ”

Zhang Wen then ordered the main force to withdraw from the city tower and replace it with the strong people to help defend it. And the main force assembled at the south gate and formed a formation. The striker was 200 bird guns, and there were originally a large number of firearms, but the quality was not good, so he could only select 200 barely usable bird guns to deal with it.

Zhang Wenxun brought a suit of armor to wear on his body, and wore an iron helmet to increase his security to prevent being hit by stray arrows. He put on his armor and went to the front with his guards.

At this time, the military discipline was quite good, at least they were all lined up. Zhang Wen said loudly: "I heard someone in the army say that they want to see what Zhang Wen, who broke 30,000 Jianyu Iron Cavalry in Liaodong, looks like, I'm here now, let's take a look." ”

The emotions of the troops were immediately mobilized, especially those garrison troops, who were professional sergeants, who usually listened to some stories of war, and were the most excited at this time, shouting: "Zhang Wen...... Zhang asked......"

Zhang asked to patrol in front of the army on horseback, and said in a loud voice: "Brothers, do you want to be promoted, do you want to receive a reward?" Follow me out of the city, defeat the rabble outside the city, and you will be promoted and rich! ”

The army burst into cheers and morale was high.

At this time, in front of the window of a house next to her, Liu Yinglian was looking at Zhang Wen, she saw that the army in front of her became screaming, sighed, and muttered: "Lord Qian has a lot of calculations, why didn't you expect Zhang Wen to come back from Liaodong?" ”

A guard next to him couldn't help but say: "This Zhang Wen, first followed Juniper in the Suzihe Battle Jianyu, Juniper lightly attacked the enemy and annihilated the whole army, Zhang Wen took the remnants of the defeated generals and tens of thousands of Jianyu iron cavalry for several days; Thousands of remnants of the soldiers starved for four or five days, ran out of ammunition and food, but annihilated 3,000 Jianyu pursuers at Yahu Pass and returned to Guanzhong. Soon after, 20,000 troops were gathered in Qinghe Fort, and Liu Ling and other fierce generals fought a decisive battle with 30,000 iron cavalry of Jianguo, and the method of using troops should not be underestimated. ”

As soon as the guard said this, two words popped up in Liu Yinglian's heart: hero. Liu Yinglian sighed and said: "He is a pillar of the country, why would he be in the same stream as Wei Gelding and frame Zhongliang?" ”

The guards were silent. Liu Yinglian said again: "If Zhang Wen wins, I can only repay Lord Qian's affection in the next life." ”

Zhang Wen boosted his morale, and shouted: "Those who use guns and sticks have to speak a brave word, and those who retreat from the battle and disturb the morale of the army will not be tolerated by this official!" Someone, order the cannons in the city to load thunderbolts, and as soon as the city gates are opened, they will bombard me! ”

"Order!"

Everything was ready, the army marched to the south gate, with the bird in front, the cavalry in the middle, and the infantry in the rear. With a long shout of "open the gates...... the gates of the city opened, the gates of the city were opened. "Boom ......" the artillery on the city wall rang loudly one after another.

Zhang Wen shouted "out of the city" and led the whole army to rush out of the city. The thieves outside the city were wrapped in the refugees, and under the bombardment of the cannons, they were even more chaotic, and at this time, seeing the city gate open, the army rushed out, and the thieves and the people were pushing and pushing, and rushed up with all kinds of weapons.

"Bang bang bang ......bang" suddenly there was a dense loud sound, and a cloud of white smoke rose from the ranks of officers and soldiers, and projectiles roared into the crowd. The thief army was so dense that it took turns to shoot over, and the front fell to the ground. Before he came to his senses, the officers and soldiers had already exchanged queues, and there was another loud noise, and the thieves were killed and wounded, and they were frightened. Blood was pouring on the ground, screams were everywhere, and the chaotic crowd was panicking, especially the unarmed refugees, who had never seen such a scene, some stopped moving, some hid behind.

The front retreated, the back was crowded, and some people were pushed to the ground, and their bodies were suddenly hit by countless soles, and they were even trampled to death. Some of the thieves shouted, "There are many of us, rush over and destroy them!" "Rush......"

The problem is not that they don't want to rush over to the group fight, the problem is that most people want to watch the people in front of them from behind, causing congestion and chaos.

After such a reversal, the officers and soldiers had already formed a phalanx in front of the chaotic army amid the shouts and orders of the generals. I saw that the soldiers and horses in the phalanx were all holding bright sharp weapons, which was very scary, and the soldiers with fire sticks in front of the phalanx were happy to change their guns.

The archers of the officers and soldiers were still behind, and only two hundred bird-gunners participated in the shooting. Just 200 rounds of shooting, and the thieves were in chaos and scrambled to escape.

Zhang Wen immediately ordered the cavalry to pursue, and hundreds of cavalry rushed out of the phalanx and killed them. The thieves and refugees outside the south gate, thousands of them, were chased by hundreds of cavalry and ran around, killed and wounded. Iron horsemen and blades, unable to distinguish between thieves and poor hungry refugees, trampled and slashed, and blood flowed like rivers.

The officers and soldiers won the battle, and the cheers of the troops shook the heavens and the earth. Zhang Wen didn't have too many surprises, as soon as he left the city, he knew that the group of people at the south gate was vulnerable, and the reason why he chose to go out of the city from the south gate was because the thief army at the south gate was the weakest, so he could stand in a good position and line up the camp first. lest before the camp is rectified, they will be rushed together by the chaotic army and beaten by the group to lose their capital; Moreover, as soon as Zhang Wen took over the command of this team, the chief general and the officers and men still need to temper their trust, and if they win one game first, military discipline will be better maintained.

Actual combat once again proved that it is not the case that a large number of people is powerful on the battlefield, for example, the Ming army and Jianyu in Liaodong often defeated more and less.

The camp of the officers and soldiers was reorganized, and continued to advance towards the east gate, the ranks were strict, and the chaotic army at the east gate was not much different, unorganized, and wanted to rely on the large number of people to crush the officers and soldiers, but when they were killed and injured in the early stage, they lost their courage and gave up halfway and fled with each other...... A group of refugees mixed with a motley rebel army, what courage and military discipline can there be? The officers and soldiers still chased and killed from behind, and the exchange ratio was very high.

Zhang Wen breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this, and it seemed that he could retreat from the enemy with his men and horses in a circle. Unexpectedly, at this moment, thousands of neat queues of soldiers and horses appeared in front, which surprised Zhang Wen.

The thief army in the east and south directions was broken, and the main force of the thief army at the north gate was prepared, knowing that it was impossible to break through this official army with the help of many people, so the army was separated from the refugees and prepared to fight against the official army.

The two armies confronted each other, with a total strength of more than 10,000 on both sides, but the battlefield was exceptionally quiet, but all kinds of noisy voices could be heard in the distance. It was sunny and it was a good day.

Zhang Wen rode on a horse, observed the formation of a thief army, and said in his heart: This group of men and horses can at least be regarded as an army. He was not sure of victory in his heart, because the thousands of men in his hands were not many people who could fight. It's okay to win all of a sudden, but if you fall into a bloody battle, it's hard to say whether you can guarantee military discipline.

In such a field battle, the victory or defeat is not on which side's kung fu is high, it mainly depends on the morale of the army. If one side can't hold on, it may cause a rout, and then wait for others to chase and kill from behind, with heavy casualties and a great defeat of the whole army; If both sides are boiled, it will be difficult to tell the winner.

Zhang Wen pondered, most of the strong men on his side were gathered from the local government, these people were ordinary people not long ago, Zhang Wen didn't think that the Ming court was popular. The disparity between the rich and the poor is too large, and the common people have difficulty in food and clothing, but they see that the landlords and officials are extremely poor and luxurious.

On the contrary, the 1,000 garrisons may be more reliable, at least professional sergeants, who rely on fighting to eat, and the officials can still have food to eat, if the army is dispersed, they don't know what they can do.

After considering various factors, Zhang Wen ordered the formation to be adjusted and the 1,000 garrisons were moved to the front to avoid the front breaking up when a large number of casualties were caused. If a thousand people have fought out and the winner has not yet been decided, it means that the thief army has strict discipline and a stable military spirit. In this case, what else to fight? It is the right thing to follow the defeated army and flee for your life quickly.

After adjusting the new team, Zhang Wen shouted: "Listen to the forward soldiers, those who die in battle will receive a hundred taels of settlement allowance per person; Those who retreat from the battle, chop, there is not a penny! Beat the drums and strike! ”

At the sound of drums and trumpets, the officers and soldiers slowly approached, and when they approached a hundred paces, the bird-gunners began to shoot. The thieves then rushed over, entering the range of bows and arrows, and both sides released their arrows, and the arrows rained down in the air, and the shouts shook the sky.

When the "kill ......" hand-to-hand battle, everyone roared, and fear followed. The knife and gun pierced into people, it was fought with their lives, and how many people were really not afraid of death.

The sound of killing is earth-shattering, almost all of them are the sound of people shouting, in this case, it is like jumping from a cliff, who doesn't shout desperately when landing in the air?

On the line where the two armies came into contact, blood was falling like raindrops, and it was crazy. People are crowded, the team is very dense, there is no room to move and dodge on the left and right, and they are all exchanging lives for lives.

Zhang Wen held the hilt of his sword tightly, his palms were full of sweat, and he looked at the situation on the battlefield very nervously. The garrisons are all in the front, if the 1,000 people fight hard, these strong men behind will definitely not be able to withstand the pressure of death, and they are not willing to die for the government.

Time passed bit by bit, and every moment, Zhang Wen felt like a year. He saw that despite the continuous casualties on both sides, the thief army still did not break up, and was ready to turn around and flee for his life at any time. Although the reputation of using soldiers like a god to win a hundred battles is very precious, in comparison, Zhang Wen still feels that his life is the most important.

Even if he loses the battle today, Zhang Wen doesn't feel that it is his own mistake, he can only boost morale, arrange troops, whether he can bear it or not, he has to be carried out by the officers and soldiers, and he has no way to do it alone.

The garrison roared angrily, desperately fighting bloodily, at the moment of life and death, they didn't have any lofty ideas, but it was said above, if you die in battle, you will have money to settle down, run away and behead, and the heavily trained soldiers have military discipline and orders in their heads, and they have no choice.

Finally, in the face of blood, the thief army couldn't bite the iron plate camp of the official army, and began to retreat in fear, in their eyes, going up was equivalent to sending them to death. At this time, retreat is equivalent to defeat, in the dense crowd, the front turns around and flees, and the rear is more reluctant to die in front, or be disrupted by the people in front, or follow the general flow and turn around and flee for their lives.

The camp is broken, and it is easy to deal with it, just chase and cut the back. The deserter did not have eyes on his back, so he could only be stabbed. When pursuing, cavalry is the most effective, deserters can't run and run, and they don't have the courage to fight, so what can they do but die. The officers and soldiers pursued together on foot and cavalry, and followed behind and slaughtered merrily.

Seeing this, Zhang Wen laughed.