On the south bank of the Nerv River, the officers and soldiers of the left-wing battalion of Shanhai Town were completely defeated. They armed themselves with weapons and killed the civilians and military men who were blocking the road in front of them, and they rushed to escape.
Originally, there were nearly 5,000 people in the army together with the civilians. Now, driven by the Qing cavalry, the fleeing army has become inhumane and the rebels have become demons. They grabbed their companions in front and threw them back, hoping to stop them.
Qingqi's pursuit gave him a chance to escape.
They were like ants that had exploded their nest, rushing around in all directions, robbing soldiers, civilians, and military men to fight and collide with each other, and in some places they became jammed.
They were just huddled together like that, unable to escape, and they didn't have the courage to turn around and fight again!
But the Qing cavalry behind them seemed to be strolling leisurely. When they saw that the defeated soldiers were running slowly, they rushed towards them and fired a wave of arrows. When the defeated soldiers fled in panic, they looked like they were free of rein again.
Under the constant driving of the Qing cavalry, the defeated troops behind them were even more frightened. All they thought about was to live a moment longer, so they all pushed forward with all their strength.
Ma Ke, the commander-in-chief of Shanhai Town, was standing on a chariot, looking at the scattered people and fleeing troops in the west, feeling a sense of fear.
Although I never expected that Ho Youren's left wing battalion would be so weak in fighting, it just happened in the blink of an eye. How could it be so collapsed?
He was stunned and only murmured in his mouth: "Resist it, you must... you must resist it for me!"
Suddenly, a ferocious look flashed in his eyes, and he shouted with a cold and decisive tone: "Quick, everyone, come on, hold it for me!"
He then shouted: "Send orders to Ma Zhiyong, if the defeated troops dare to attack the Chinese army's formation, fire cannons and muskets, and kill them all!"
The soldiers accompanying him did not dare to neglect. As a veteran, he also knew that if the broken troops were allowed to attack the military formation, the whole army would be defeated.
If that happens, the entire Shanhai Town army will be doomed. Even if the army that has been fighting to the northeast returns to the rescue in time, or if the West Shimen is opened and the friendly forces in Ji Town come to rescue in time, our losses will probably be calculated at 70 to 80%.
He rode his horse and ran to convey the order to Ma Zhiyong, and he heard Marco's hysterical shouting: "Damn it, don't break your troops and charge into my formation!"
…………
At this time, Ma Zhiyong stared at the opposite side intently. Although the distance was less than two miles away, to the chaotic people and defeated troops, it was as if they were thousands of miles away.
No matter how the hundreds of light cavalry sent by Ma Zhiyong were driven away, they were all focused on the fact that they could survive as long as they escaped into Ma Ke's main camp.
They rushed over like crazy one by one, squeezing forward and pulling behind each other, creating a chaos.
Seeing this, Ma Zhiyong frowned deeply. He sighed, took out his sword, raised it, and shouted loudly: "Change the formation, prepare artillery and blunderbuss. Quickly..."
Under his order, the soldiers in the main barracks took action quickly. They picked up the horses and sent them forward, and then moved the chariot back a certain distance so that the horses were in front and the chariot defense line was behind.
They re-formed a sharp formation with a sharp front and a wide back, reducing their front to cope with the impact of the oncoming mobs and broken troops.
There is still a car formation outside them, the first row inside is a dense shield formation, the second row is the fire soldiers, the third row is the cold killers holding swords, axes and spears, and finally there is a team
Team of archers.
In addition, Ma Ke's servants and cavalry were placed in the center of the sharp formation on standby.
The sharp formation had just been set up here, and in the blink of an eye, a tide of chaotic people rushed over screaming.
"Prepare the firecrackers! Prepare the artillery!" Ma Zhiyong shouted loudly. He raised his sword in his right hand and was about to chop it down in the air.
A sputtering sound was heard, and the gunners behind the tank and the musketeers behind the first row of shields checked the fuses and the charging conditions of the ammunition, and were ready to fire at any time according to the order.
Marco stood on the light chariot, looking at the hungry people who were screaming and running away, and vaguely heard their frightened shouts: "Help...Tatars...Tatars kill people...help..."
"Trash, He Youren is such a trash, all of them are fucking trash!" Marco cursed loudly.
Although his face was ashen and gloomy, he was planning a vicious plan in his heart, and his head was running rapidly, calculating every detail.
After all, He Youren's left-wing battalion was part of Shanhai Town, and now it was on the verge of collapse. Naturally, as the commander-in-chief of Shanhai Town, he could not escape the blame.
How can we put all the blame on He Youren?
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but hate He Youren deeply, and cursed in my heart: "Damn it, you don't deal with me on weekdays, but when you are about to die, you come to trick me. Damn..."
A hint of coldness flashed in Ma Ke's eyes. He looked at the fleeing rebels in the distance and murmured: "It seems that I can only use you as a back-up. I'm sorry, General He!"
"
In fact, if He Youren's left-wing camp was well-organized and could hold on for a while, Ma Ke would still lead the main camp to reinforce it.
However, now that the left-wing battalion has completely collapsed, even if he sends reinforcements to rescue him, it will be of no avail. The rebels from the left-wing battalion may even disrupt the formation.
And now that He Youren's left wing battalion was defeated, if he himself had a small defeat, he could put all the blame on him and on the defeated soldiers of the left wing battalion.
In this way, you may be able to take care of yourself!
He then shouted angrily: "Pass this order to my general. If the defeated soldiers and civilians dare to attack our army, they will be fired with muskets, artillery, bows and arrows. Do not tolerate it, and our division will be defeated."
But at this moment, a surprising scene appeared!
I saw that the rebels who were fleeing this way seemed to be in a commotion, and then I saw a plume of smoke and dust rising from the northwest, and the faint sound of horse hooves on the ground could be heard.
Under the oppression and driving of this team of elite cavalry, the chaotic people who were like headless flies were immediately knocked down, and their speed was also stagnated.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."
There was a burst of firecrackers, and even Ma Zhiyong was so frightened that he trembled. He looked at the smoke rising in the sky in front of the rioters and murmured: "The officers and soldiers from there are so damn cruel."
The rebels were forced to stop by the Ming cavalry who rushed in from nowhere, but the mobs and broken troops that followed continued to surge forward, and they were about to charge forward again.
A burst of three-eyed blunderbuss shot out, with huge roars and continuous smoke, and the blunderbuss fired from inside were like the deadly red bullets of the hell viper, which will not be good if it sticks to it.
Under such pressure, the rioters at the head could only be pushed forward and could not control themselves to stop.
However, they were also afraid of the devil-like cavalry in front of them, so they could only turn their bodies to the south and run away. The rioters and defeated troops behind them had no idea of the many situations ahead.
At this moment, people's hearts were already in a state of panic and they could not tell where the direction was. The people behind them could only flee with the current at a loss. As a result, the fleeing army of thousands of people turned to the southwest.
Ma Ke, who was standing on the chariot, also saw this surprising scene. He was full of questions: "This is that official army. How could it suddenly appear here?"
"Could this... this... be... a foreshadowing... laid by... Governor Hong!"
Ma Zhiren also couldn't understand this. He spoke carefully, but he was afraid of saying something wrong. As he spoke, he squinted his eyes to look at Ma Ke's eyes, and he even stumbled over his words.
Marco also looked suspicious, but someone helped drive the fleeing rebels aside. This was the outcome he hoped for. As for who the group of people were, he didn't really care, since they wouldn't be enemies anyway.
…………
Ma Zhiyong was secretly happy that someone had solved his worries about the rebels rushing into battle. Although he was not sure which group of cavalry was on the opposite side, he was definitely a friend rather than an enemy.
At this time, he saw them about two hundred paces away, turning back and rushing towards him. He quickly ordered: "Buck up your spirits, the whole army is on alert, the whole army is on alert."
I saw the cavalry stopping about sixty paces away. At this time, I could clearly see their armor. It was indeed the Ming army. However, they were all gray-headed and had no flags, so I couldn't tell which one they belonged to.
Two cavalrymen from the inner camp rushed forward and shouted: "General He Shen of the left wing camp has his cavalry, please ask Marshal Ma for permission to enter the camp."
Ma Zhiyong didn't know until this moment that it was He Youren who led the elite cavalry under his command to prevent the defeated troops from attacking his own army. He originally wanted to invite them into the camp, but he also knew that Ma Ke and He Youren had always been at odds, so he hesitated for a while.
After a while, he shouted: "Send the order and tell them to form a team on the north side of our army formation and prepare to fight the Tartars together!"
He Youren did not expect that Marco would allow him to lead his troops into the camp. The reason why he did this was just to show off in front of everyone, so that Marco could not prevent himself from breaking the army and rushing into the battle, so he could hide without reporting it.
When Ma Zhiyong saw that He Youren was not talking nonsense, he led the army northward. With peace of mind, he thought of sending someone to report the matter to Ma Ke.
But when the people sent here left, the situation on the battlefield took a turn for the worse.
It turned out that the Mongolian light cavalry, who had been driving away the rebels with mounted fire from the outside, caught up at some point. They mounted their war horses and fired randomly, and immediately a large number of the rebels fell to the ground and howled.
For a moment, the world seemed to stand still!
In front of the group of rebels who originally fled to the south of Makozheng Barracks, heart-rending cries rang out, and waves of Beibei arrows were shot out, knocking down the defeated soldiers and civilians who were fleeing in front.
Few of those who were hit by arrows died on the spot. They fell to the ground wailing, and then countless people stepped on them, trampling them alive into a puddle of flesh.
Then, those who ran to the front were hit by arrows again, and they also screamed and rolled to the ground. Countless people from behind stepped on them...
This fear of death spread very quickly. Under the pressure of the Mongolian light cavalry, the rebels who were fighting in all directions turned back towards the Makozheng Barracks.
With the sharp arrows of Mongolian light cavalry on both sides, and the Tatar heavy cavalry behind them, the rebels fled faster and faster, and were driven towards the Ming army's formation.
Unknowingly, it became a weapon used by the Tatars to attack Marco's army!
Seeing this scene, Ma Zhiyong naturally knew that this was not the time to talk about benevolence and righteousness. He hesitated a little, fearing that the thousands of soldiers behind him would end up like the collapse of the left wing camp in front.
He suddenly waved his arms down and shouted: "Fire the artillery and blunderbuss, fire."
"Boom...boom...boom..."
"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."
The artillery on the chariot in front of the barracks, and the muskets in the hands of the musketeers behind, immediately started firing. For a time, gunpowder smoke filled the air, and their vision was obstructed. Many soldiers were choked by the thick smoke from burning inferior gunpowder.
cough.
Although the cannons here were quite powerful, they did not do much damage to the rebels. Most of the cannons hit the backs of the rebels, and the fire cannons did not fire a salvo, so the hit rate was extremely low.
In this way, it was naturally impossible to deter the chaotic people and defeated troops who were rushing towards them. Driven by the sharp arrows of the Mongolian cavalry, they rushed towards the Ming army's formation.
Especially the horses placed in front of the sharp formation were densely covered with various injured and mutilated corpses. This scene was really like Abi Purgatory.
They were all pushed forward by the people behind them, screaming and being pushed forward step by step. The sharp thorns of the horses pierced each of their bodies alive, and finally they hung on the horses and screamed in agony.
Howling endlessly.
Blood flowed like a river, filling the square inch of land in front of the sharp formation, while at the rear, there were still a large number of defeated soldiers and civilians, crowding towards us like a nest of explosives.
Ma Zhiyong was also frightened when he saw this. He shouted: "Fire the arrows, fire the arrows quickly. Don't let them rush into the formation!"
Sharp arrows flew through the air, but the archers of the Shanshan Navy were arranged behind them, making it difficult for them to shoot directly, and most of them were not good at shooting directly, so they used projectiles.
In this way, it is naturally incomparable to the sharp arrows of the Mongolian light cavalry, and it cannot stop the insurgents from rushing in.
Although those who were fleeing in front saw the sharp spikes on the horses in the main barracks and the sharp arrows and spears hanging on them, they wanted to stop.
However, the retreat of thousands of people at this time cannot be stopped if you want to. The people behind will naturally push their companions in front with all their strength and continue to move forward quickly.
The heavy cavalry of the Qing army kept chasing and killing them. The defeated soldiers or civilians could only howl and flee forward, not daring to turn back to resist.
In this way, they pushed the crowd forward, although the people in front were frightened and just howled: "Don't crowd, don't crowd, people will die..."
However, their voices have been completely covered up by the cries and howls of the injured. Even if they are not covered up, the people behind are thinking of escaping to the front, dying for a moment and living a little longer.
Who will listen to their cries?
Ma Zhiyong was determined. Even if he killed all these rebels and routed his troops, he would not allow his army to suffer any losses.
He shouted: "The swordsmen and shieldmen form a formation, the spearmen come forward and draw their guns. The whole army is on standby!"
The Shanhai navy officers in the sharp formation would never be merciful to the defeated troops who dared to charge into the formation. They knew that if the formation was scattered by these defeated troops, no one on their side would survive.
A dead Taoist friend will not die a poor Taoist!
Even among the defeated soldiers of these left-wing battalions, there were some people who were familiar with each other. In the past, they had drank and chatted together and called themselves brothers.
However, at this critical moment of life and death, should you kill others? Or yourself?
Any regular soldier in the barracks knows how to choose!