The rider turned sideways on his horse, the ax struck his shoulder, and disappeared with a whoosh.

Tang Er Shuan didn't expect to be able to avoid being so close. The rider controlled the horse skillfully. The horse turned slightly and rushed straight towards Tang Er Shuan. The horse soldier raised something like a stick in his hand.

The huge horse came straight in front of him. Tang Ershuan had never faced such a scene before, and he did not dare to fight against it. He could not remember the battle, so he threw himself under the frame of the carriage next to him in panic.

There was a loud bang, the frame of the carriage shook violently, sawdust flying around him, and then the sound of hooves flew past him, and he jumped down the official road from the other side.

Tang Ershuan gasped for air. He was in shock. He turned around and looked out. There was a cylindrical thing rolling on the ground beside him. It looked like three iron rods tied together. The wooden rod at the end was broken into two parts. It must have been the one that hit him just now.

weapons.

He had never seen such a thing before, but he only knew that it was extremely powerful. If he had been hit by this thing just now, his life would have been lost.

The back of the cavalry soldier had already crossed the official road. He galloped on his horse, pulled out his sword in his hand, and caught up with a fleeing marine in the wilderness. With the help of his horse, he swung the sword quickly, and the blood on the marine's neck surged.

He fell to the ground.

The horseman did not slow down and continued to catch up with the groom in front of him. While leaning down to kill him, his mount knocked the groom away and flew away.

There was a sound of hoofbeats outside the carriage, and a dense mass of horse legs passed through the field of vision. Many horse soldiers rushed into the east side of the official road through this gap. There was a whistle from the leader, and the bandits rushed towards the back.

The official road was in chaos, and groups of cavalry were killing horses and grooms everywhere. He no longer dared to leave the space under the carriage, even though the trailer's packhorse was wailing in front, and a large amount of horse blood was already flowing to his hands.

There was a shout of kill from behind. Tang Erchuan looked through the gap between the wheels on the right. The infantry of the Guards were coming from behind. The formation was a bit scattered. A group of horse soldiers rushed past from the side. After a muffled sound, the messy infantry array was instantly

Being knocked away, seven or eight infantrymen were knocked a few steps away and fell to the ground. The nearby infantrymen scattered and fled, and were instantly overwhelmed by the rush of the horsemen following behind.

Tang Ershuan, who was lying on the ground, felt helpless in his heart. It seemed that nothing could stop these cavalry. There were horse legs passing by around him, and the strange screams of the bandits were as terrifying as ghosts.

"You've committed evil." Tang Erchuan shook his hands and huddled up under the car, looking at everything outside in horror.

Suddenly, there was a strong horse neighing outside, followed by a figure falling to the outside of the carriage, shouts of death with an Anqing accent, and the horse's legs spinning in the gap. For the first time today, he heard the panicked shouts of the bandits.

Two more men fell off their horses, with javelins and arrows stuck in their bodies, and fled westward out of the official road with their horses' legs spinning.

Then a group of garrison infantry roared and charged towards the back, clusters of spears flashing with cold light.

A group of cavalry surpassed the infantry and charged at the horsemen who were attacking the guards. Before they could join the ranks of the bandits, the bandits who had noticed the movement whistled and dispersed.

There was another conch whistle, and the chaotic cavalry retreated outwards like an ebbing tide. Tang Ershuan stared outside blankly. The cavalry that seemed invincible just now fled in the blink of an eye.

At this time, a figure moved on the ground, which attracted Tang Ershuan's attention. He was the first bandit to fall from his horse. He was hit by a javelin in his leg and was struggling to climb back to the west. He looked up just in time to see

Arriving at Tang Er Shuan under the carriage.

The skin on this gangster's face was rough, and his true age could no longer be seen. He was powerless to resist at this time, and his eyes were gradually filled with pleading.

The horse's blood has flowed to Tang Ershuan's hands, still exuding warmth in this cold winter day.

After the two looked at each other for a moment, Tang Erchuan got out of the carriage and slowly picked up the severed iron cylinder on the ground under the gaze of the bandit.

…

The horse soldiers who did not cross the official road retreated directly to the west, while the horse soldiers on the east side withdrew to the north, and a group of about a hundred bandits in the north were responding.

Pang Yu stopped by the carriage. In front of him, a Marine was hitting a gangster with the head of an iron rod or something. His head had been cracked open, and some red and white paste-like stuff was flowing out.

This was the biggest gap just now. The rogue horse soldiers broke into the east side from here and attacked the infantry of the Guards Corps who rushed to the rescue. They defeated the Guards Corps in a short time.

Fortunately, the carriages on the official road blocked the rogue horsemen. Only some of the horsemen broke through, and the official road turned into a melee. If it weren't for these carriages, the entire guard team would have been overwhelmed by the horsemen.

The carriages of the baggage train dispersed the formation of the rogues and cavalry. Although the rogues were superior in number, due to the loose formation, the third rescue team led by Pang Yu closed the gap. King Chen Yu's cavalry arrived at the same time. Pang Yu

I hoped that King Chen Yu could completely defeat the cavalry on the east side, but the enemy retreated faster, coming and going like the wind.

The official road was in a mess. Injured horses and mules were screaming and neighing on the ground. The damaged carriage fell on the roadside, and the rice and beans and equipment carried on it were scattered all over the ground. The ground on the east side was filled with corpses.

The casualties among the troops and grooms exceeded one hundred.

A slight negligence during the march caused almost the entire loss of the baggage train. Pang Yu had now lost the ability to pursue. Only at this moment did he realize the power of cavalry, not just on the battlefield.

In the three battles at Beixia Pass, Shucheng Pass, and Menghu Bridge, Pang Yu won two and lost one. The cavalry did not seem to be that strong. However, during this march, they encountered continuous pressure from the cavalry, which drained the morale of the garrison battalion.

Give a fatal blow here.

The battle just now cannot be called a battlefield. The two sides were not in a head-on confrontation, but a one-sided attack. However, just like Shucheng Pass, the rogue bandits achieved their tactical objectives, and the garrison battalion lost the ability to pursue them and could no longer threaten them.

"Sir, we have captured two bandits who were wounded and put them on trial. The group that attacked us belongs to Luo Rucai's old camp, the same bandit named Cao Cao. Most of the people in his old camp have served in the border army."

Pang Yu turned to look at Guo Fengyou and hummed expressionlessly. The former Guards Corps was led by Guo Fengyou, but his strength was not in leading troops in combat. During the rescue of Jiangnan this time, the Guards Corps performed well.

Not good, Pang Yu was not satisfied.

The cavalry on the west side stayed one hundred and fifty steps away. A red flag appeared from behind the hills in the distance, stayed on the hills briefly, and then immediately retreated behind the hills.

It seems that the leader named Luo Rucai is very cautious, and he must have heard about the artillery attack on Yinding Bridge. From his position, it seems that the person who directed the attack of the old battalion should be Luo Rucai himself.

The infantry in the third round were guarding between the carriages, and the rogue horsemen had no chance to attack again for the time being. But Pang Yu believed that they must have other back-ups.

Sure enough, a moment later, a group of rogue horse soldiers left the brigade on the west and galloped towards Wuyi Town. Pang Yu guessed that their purpose was to burn down the wooden bridge they passed today.

There are tributaries along the Qingliu River. From Wuyi Town to the current location, in addition to the three bridges in Wuyi Town, there are also three bridges: the upper bridge, the lower bridge and the Nijia Bridge. The upper bridge is the wooden bridge and the Liukuma Bridge.

As long as the soldiers burn the wooden bridge, the garrison camp will be under siege. This is more like a kind of psychological warfare. When they know that they are under siege, the morale of the garrison camp soldiers has reached the edge of collapse.

He raised his telescope and looked around, and when he was facing north, Pang Yu stopped.

The rogue infantry appeared in the far mirror. They were coming from the direction of Baijiaqiao. Their number was uncountable, but the queue was very long.

"Infantry of the rogue thieves."

Pang Yu put away the telescope and looked back at the queue. There were broken carriages scattered on the official road, and there were more than a hundred casualties. The infantry appearing now showed that the rogue bandits were going to lay siege to the garrison camp.

Now they are in a dead end. This once again proves that on the flat terrain near the Qingliu River, although the infantry of the garrison battalion is well-trained, they are still beaten when facing a large number of cavalry. The rogue bandits have formed during many years of movement.

Using erratic tactics, they can put the infantry into desperate situations without attacking the infantry array.

The queue was filled with panic. The garrison battalion was just a team composed mostly of new recruits. It was far from an elite division capable of fighting. It had been under high pressure for three consecutive days, and now it was besieged again. It was already on the verge of collapse.

In the current state, Pang Yu can't even reach the fishing village, and the team will be overwhelmed.

"Camp on the spot. The second division set up defenses along the official road to the west, leaving all the carriages on the official road to unload the livestock and supplies; the first division set up defenses along the fish pond here and headed north; the third division set up defenses with the current team leader

Deploy the position to the south and adjust it after all teams are set up camp. The infantry and marines will deploy to the east." Pang Yu glanced around and said, "Send the shovel down, and each department will take turns digging trenches according to the situation to prepare for defensive battles."

…

As night fell, the two armies three miles apart lit up bonfires, but the scale was as small as a firefly compared to what Pang Yu had seen on the river.

Neither the garrison camp nor the rogues had enough firewood. The rogue brigade that had passed by earlier swept away all the firewood along the official road. At this time, both sides could not find firewood. The rogues relied on the camp north of Baijiaqiao to transport some. Pang Yu

Then the bundles of grass prepared for the cavalry were used to burn the fire, and then there were the broken carriage frames on the official road.

When the bandit infantry arrived, the garrison camp already had a rough defense line. There were many fish ponds and water ponds along the river, which provided convenience for the garrison camp's defense line.

The bandit leader named Cao Cao did not launch an attack, but also began to camp nearby. People from the north continued to send equipment and tents, and the two sides camped three miles apart.

The garrison camp set up camp along the official road. The official road and the abandoned carriages on it were the west camp wall, so that they could use the baggage on site.

The entire camp is not big, and everyone can hear the screams coming from the southeast corner at night.

In the brief raid in the afternoon, hundreds of people were killed and injured, including more than 20 people who were seriously injured. They couldn't help but scream in great pain.

This was another serious blow to the morale of the garrison camp. In a camping like this, Pang Yu could not isolate the wounded soldiers from the troops, and the tents could not isolate the shouts. It would be much better if there were houses.

After inspecting the wounded soldiers, Pang Yu walked back to the center of the camp, where the chief officers of each department were waiting.

There was a circle of saddles on the ground, all taken from dead horses. Pang Yu chose one at random, and after he sat down, the others followed suit.

Due to the defeat, the atmosphere was a bit low.

Mr. Hou coughed and said, "Your Majesty, I know that all the hired grooms have been taken care of, and some of the people who disturb people have been tied up."

He paused and then said, "Your Excellency has said that bandits fight for food. We have dug trenches to defend the camp, and there is no money or food in it. They will not risk their lives to attack."

Everyone around looked at Pang Yu. The army had a bad start and so many people died. Everyone was in a bad mood, especially Pang Yu as the commander-in-chief. Even King Chen Yu who attended the meeting did not doubt this.

Pang Yu didn't speak, and kept looking northeast. When everyone thought he was distracted, Pang Yu suddenly said, "I have interrogated a few bandits. The ones who fought with me today are mainly Cao Cao, and there are two or three small groups of thieves.

, if they really want to besiege our garrison, why don't they send more troops and attack Chuzhou in one go? Just like they did against Cao Wenzhao and Ai Wannian."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. After a while, Wang Zenglu tentatively said, "Perhaps there are so many of them that they can only deploy these troops here. They just want to stop us from rescuing Chuzhou."

Pang Yu frowned and said, "The vanguard of the bandits should have been attacking Chuzhou for three days. According to the bandits' habits, they should have retreated. However, they are besieging my camp here today. There must be a reason. I need to know the situation in Chuzhou before I can

Analyze the purpose of the rogue thieves."

King Chen Yu said in a low voice, "Chuzhou is across the Baijia Bridge, and there is a bandit camp in front of it. It is impossible to get through until night."

Chen Rulie also echoed, "The bandit camps are all around. Just now, my subordinates looked in the direction of Baijiaqiao. The fire was the brightest there. It is impossible to say that there will still be a bandit camp after crossing the bridge, and we will definitely not reach Chuzhou."

Pang Yu nodded, and the others didn't say anything. The current situation was indeed impossible to carry out investigation, and the garrison camp could only huddle up and defend.
Chapter completed!