While Yang Zhen was speaking, the roar of horse hooves from a large number of cavalry galloping across the Laohua River could be heard clearly. The generals knew that the situation was critical at this moment. After hearing Yang Zhen's arrangement, they all said nothing at once and rushed towards Yang Zhen on their horses.

Hold your fists, turn around and beat the horse away.

Soon, Zu Keyong took the lead, leading his own troops, as well as Xu Changyong, Liu Wanzhong, and Qingshan's good troops, and quickly rushed to the hillside in the distance.

As they galloped forward, they shouted orders, ordering the people and livestock that had already set off before and whose tail was still halfway up the mountain at this moment, to move forward quickly.

The changes on the west bank of the Laohua River have also attracted the attention of Yang Shen's troops who were halfway through the journey.

Because the car, horse and camel team in front were moving slowly over the mountains and ridges, the people and livestock escorted by Yang Shen and his party did not move very fast even though they did not have much material burden.

More than an hour passed. After five miles of winding land, there were still about two miles of steep uphill road left. Due to the congestion ahead, we didn't finish it.

At this moment, he heard the sharp whistle from behind and heard the loud orders from Zu Keyong and others who were galloping towards him. Yang Shen's already anxious mood burst out in an instant.

The horse whip whipped the slow-moving crowd in front of them.

The slow-moving team on the entire mountain road became restless and scrambled to move forward. The speed of the team finally picked up.

However, Yang Zhen was told that the musketeers and grenadiers who were responsible for blocking the enemy behind the scenes were left behind. Although there were only about 200 people, they looked calm and showed no fear. They were used to such scenes.

.

Although the Haraqin cavalry team in front of him was huge and black like a tidal wave, after fighting against the real Manchu Tatars, Yang Zhenshou lowered his hands and these people's fear of the Mongolian tribal cavalry no longer existed.

Especially after they had repeatedly witnessed those armored and powerful Manchu Tatars being beaten to pieces by musket pellets and grenades in their hands, they had incomparable confidence in their weapons.

What's more, this time, in front of them, in addition to the Old Flower River as a barrier, there were also mud puddles in the reeds on both sides of the Old Flower River that they could use.

As long as the cavalry from Karaqin slowed down in front of him, there would be nothing to fear.

The light cavalry, which had lost its speed, was nothing more than a living target facing the musketeers and grenadiers under Yang Zhen.

Yang Zhen led about two hundred men of the Musketeers and Grenadiers, and found a sand dune area with low undulations but sufficient concealment to ambush near the reed marshes on the east bank of the Laohua River.

Some of the soldiers who had insufficient cover in front of them took the short-handled advance battalion shovels they carried on their horses and worked hard to dig foxholes in the sand.

If there is no time to dig trenches, dig foxholes. This is the rule Yang Zhen set for the advance battalion musketeers.

His musketeers only had a small number of people, and every one of them was precious, so as early as when Matsuyama was resting, he had regarded these tactical principles as life-saving methods for musketeers on the battlefield, and passed them on repeatedly, and now they are finally put to use.

Fortunately, the sand is soft and can be dug quickly, and not everyone needs to dig foxholes.

In this way, about two hundred people lined up in a row, even at a considerable distance, forming a thin line of defense in a hurry.

This thin line of defense lies right between the Laohua River in front of us and the entrance to the mountain trail in the distance behind us.

Although the entrance to the mountain road at the rear is quite open, the thin direction formed by two hundred people separated by three feet is enough to cover it. There is no need to worry about the roaring Karaqin cavalry not coming here.

Come.

Yang Zhen commanded Zhang Chen, the musketeers in charge of Zhang Guogan and the grenadiers in charge of Li Lu and Pan Xi had just crossed and arranged their defense lines when they saw a large group of Karaqin cavalry arriving at the Laohua River.

On the east bank, the roar of people and horses was frightening.

Moreover, the men and horses at the front seemed to have jumped into the river without stopping. A splashing sound was soon heard on the river behind the reed marsh.

Yang Zhen, who was behind a sand dune on this side of the reed swamp, could not help but feel his heart beating loudly.

The water of the Laohua River here is not very deep, and there are patches of sandbars and tidal flats exposed on the river surface everywhere. It is not too difficult for a large group of people to cross the river on horseback.

However, a river bed is a river bed after all. Even though the grasslands in this area have been dry and rainless for most of the past six months, and the flow of water in the Laohua River is not large, it has not stopped flowing after all.

Therefore, when the troops and horses reached the river, they could not move faster no matter what.

Yang Zhen's heart beat in unison with the thump thump sound coming from behind the reeds on the river.

Finally, in an instant, Yang Zhen, who was paying full attention to the movement in the reed marsh in front of him, saw the first figure coming out, and immediately shouted:

"Grenadiers prepare—drop bombs!"

After hearing the premonition "Grenadiers prepare," the grenadiers behind the defense line on the reed swamp immediately used the match ropes they had already lit in their left hands to ignite the flying general in his right hand.

Then he paused for a moment, and when the command to "drop the bomb" came out, he immediately threw it into the reeds a dozen steps ahead.

After a brief silence, hundreds of grenades with iron shells and wooden handles were thrown out and exploded almost simultaneously in the reed swamp, making an earth-shattering noise.

There was a huge continuous vibration and roar, followed closely by countless howls, screams of people, neighing of horses, and a bloody rain of broken limbs and arms falling from the sky.

The Karaqin cavalry that Yang Zhen saw first was also blasted not far in front of Yang Zhen. The bald head with braided hair looked a bit ridiculous, and a piece of black hair was stuck in the temple.

of shrapnel.

I don't know whether he was pushed out by the impact of the explosion or thrown out by the frightened horses. In short, the man fell to a place not far in front of Yang Zhen and soon died of violent convulsions.

Although Yang Zhen had only seen this man rushing to the edge of the reed marsh before, at that time, in the large section of dense reed marsh in front of him, there were already hundreds of Karaqin cavalry who were rushing to cross the river first.

After the grenadier's first wave of grenade offensive, there were not many men and horses left who could rush ashore. And these Karachin cavalry who survived the explosion of the flying generals became the targets of the musketeers as soon as they came ashore.

.

Accompanied by a burst of "bang bang bang bang" intensive gunfire, the Haraqin cavalry who were lucky enough to finally rush through the reed swamp and rush ashore also fell down upon hearing the sound and fell off their horses.

Yang Zhen's defense line was only a dozen steps away from the edge of the reed marsh, and due to the curvature of the river bank, some sections of the defense line were less than a dozen steps away from the river bank.

At such a distance, whether it is grenadiers or musketeers, they will naturally hit wherever they want.

The flying generals thrown by the grenadiers exploded, and not many people were directly killed. However, the area of ​​damage caused by the flying shrapnel was much larger than that of the musketeers.

But the musketeer is better than killing one with one shot.

For the carefully selected musketeers led by Zhang Chen and Zhang Guogan, shooting at such a close distance, especially when facing enemies who had no time to draw their bows and shoot arrows, was as easy as cutting leeks.

Therefore, those first wave of Karaqin cavalry who were lucky enough to escape the flying general's shrapnel attack and finally rushed ashore, without exception, fell off their horses in panic amidst screams as soon as they landed.

On the other hand, those Karaqin war horses that had lost their knights still moved forward bravely, rushing through the hiding place of the grenadiers and musketeers, and ran to where Yang Zhen and the others placed their horses before they gradually calmed down, causing Yang Zhen and his defense lines to lose control.

There was a brief moment of confusion.

The first wave of Haraqin cavalrymen who crossed the river lost most of them immediately, but the cavalrymen crowded on the other side and on the river had no way to retreat at this moment.

The earth-shattering explosion that had just occurred, as well as the intensive gunshots coming from behind the reeds on the east bank of the Laohua River, had told them that there was an ambush on the other side of the river, and that the other side was well prepared and had not retreated.

However, Prince Karaqin, who was chasing after him with great momentum, was preparing to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune. Bulgadu, who personally led the army this time, would not give up.

He had already learned from the caravan companions who had escaped to Prince Karaqin's Mansion that there were not many people who robbed the caravan this time, but they just relied on disguises and tricks to gain the upper hand.

In his opinion, lies such as the ten princes of the Qing Dynasty patrolling the border are not worth reading. Only those profiteers who are eager to hug the thighs of the princes of the Qing Dynasty will believe it.

He was not completely unaware of the Qing Dynasty's attempt to run the old city of Yizhou, but if the ten princes of the Qing Dynasty really came to patrol the border with men and horses with white flags, he, Bulgadu, would be granted the title of Kara as the Chongde Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

Prince Qinzasakdoluo, how could he not know?!

Therefore, he concluded that these few so-called white-flag soldiers of the Qing Dynasty must be disguised horse thieves hiding in Nurul Tiger Mountain?

This was also the reason why he quickly made up his mind, summoned all those around Prince Kalaqin's Mansion who could be summoned to come quickly, and headed straight to this place.

Since these caravans were robbed by horse thieves, if they were snatched back from the hands of horse thieves, it would not be robbing the caravan, right?

When the time comes, he won't have to worry about these profiteers with good eyesight going to Emperor Chongde of the Qing Dynasty to file a complaint against him.

Even if he sues, even if it doesn't work, he can still get huge benefits from it.

Bulgadu had been jealous of this large caravan that had just left Prince Karaqin's residence a few days ago.

At this moment, looking at the team of horse thieves escaping on the mountain road in the distance, as well as the carriages, horses and camels being carried away by the horse thieves, he couldn't care less about the mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead.

Therefore, although the situation on the other side of the river was unclear and there was obviously an ambush, Burgadu, the king of Karaqinzasakdoluo County who was conferred by the Manchu Tatars, did not care at all and still rode his horse and whipped his horse on the grassland on the west bank of the Laohua River.
Chapter completed!