After loading ammunition, Hu Dinggui ordered the entire army to replace matchlocks, and then quickly pursued the rogue cavalry.
Lu'an has been surrounded, and the area between Lu'an, Luzhou, and Shucheng can all be called Zhao Han's territory. Hu Dinggui is fighting in his own territory, while Luo Rucai is a lone army.
The two sides chased and fled, always keeping a distance of two or three miles.
An hour later, both sides were exhausted.
Luo Rucai ordered the entire army to dismount, fed bean cakes and salt water to the horses, and looked fiercely in the direction where the enemy was pursuing them.
After chasing them to a distance of one mile, Hu Dinggui also ordered to feed the horses and lit the match again.
There seemed to be some kind of tacit understanding, and they waited until the horses had rested before continuing to chase and escape.
Luo Rucai ran out with his cavalry to bully Zhao Han because he had no cavalry, and wanted to wreak havoc in the rear and cut off the grain road. Since the plan failed, there was no need for him to stay anymore. The most important thing was to go back quickly. His city was being besieged.
!
Hu Dinggui wanted to drive Luo Rucai away and prevent them from wreaking havoc in the area. Even if they collapsed, they should not collapse in Shucheng County, otherwise the fleeing cavalry would kill the people indiscriminately.
After the two sides entered the boundary of Lu'an, the scenery was obviously different.
Although the fields in Shucheng have been divided recently, the weeds in the fields have been cleared, crops are being planted one after another, and there are people in various villages.
As for Lu'an, the ground is full of weeds, and many farmers have long since fled with their families.
Even the wealthy households in Lu'an gave up their land and came to Zhao Han's territory to ask for land allocation. Although they lost most of their land, they could at least save their lives. King Zhao Tian was much more merciful than the bandits.
Luo Rucai wanted to dismount and rest again, but Hu Dinggui pursued him this time.
After running all the way to the outside of Lu'an City, the horses on both sides were exhausted, but they still could not stop.
The moat has been filled in, and Huang Shun and Fei Yinggong are shelling the city wall.
Luo Rucai did not dare to rush into the infantry formation, so he could only run around the city. With the Datong cavalry behind him, the city defenders did not dare to open the door rashly.
Luo Rucai led his troops to run against the city wall and shouted to the soldiers in the city: "Fire arrows and kill the enemy cavalry!"
Hu Dinggui did not dare to get too close to the city wall and kept chasing along the outside of the moat.
There were only 7,500 soldiers besieging the city, so it was naturally impossible to encircle them. Luo Ru then rushed to the city gate farthest from the army. The defenders quickly opened the door, and the city tower was full of archers ready to shoot the Datong cavalry.
Hu Dinggui did not pursue him anymore and watched Luo Rucai enter the city.
Because he chased for too long, the match rope had burned out, and it would take time to replace the match rope.
The whole army dismounted and led their horses back.
"How long will it take?" Hu Dinggui asked.
Huang Shun replied: "With another day or two of bombardment, the city wall will be broken."
Fei Yinggon smiled and said: "If you are lucky, the city wall will collapse today."
Lu'an was plagued by disasters, bandits came several times, and many of the city walls were already in dilapidated condition.
Anlu Dao Zhang Liang, magistrate Xu Pan, and general magistrate Luo Jie spent several years repairing it. Due to insufficient money and food, they had to rely on private donations, and the city wall was not firmly repaired.
Fei Yinggong pointed to the city wall and said: "According to the local guide, there are eight forts on the city tower, equipped with eight copper anti-bronze cannons. We will not be bombarded from this direction, and your cavalry should not run around."
"Understood." Hu Dinggui said.
That night.
Luo Rucai called his generals and prepared to take the old camp and abandon the city and flee.
There is no way to stay in this ruined city. If it continues to be bombarded, the city wall will collapse sooner or later. There is no need to waste time here.
He is a wandering bandit, and fighting on the run is his specialty, but defending the city will lead to inferiority.
He didn't bother to bring his belongings, so he took some dry food with him and quietly opened the city gate in the middle of the night. His wives, concubines, troupe and treasures, as well as three thousand old infantry soldiers, were all far away in Guangzhou, and Liu'an City could be abandoned at any time.
The man holds the coin in his mouth, the horse binds its hoof, and takes off at night.
The city gates here were all old camps, and the new thieves had no idea about this. The old thieves' infantry had no horses, so they all rode donkeys and mules and fled north along the Pihe River.
"Uu! Uu! Uu!"
"Beep beep beep beep beep..."
After walking about two miles, I was finally discovered by the Datong sentry, and the sound of brass whistles and suonas sounded one after another.
"Let's go!"
War horses, mules, and donkeys, carrying thousands of old thieves, ran wildly.
Hu Dinggui and Lu Xiangsheng woke up in the middle of the night and quickly mounted their horses to chase the enemy.
Huang Shun and Fei Yinggon divided half of their troops to capture the city, and the other half followed the cavalry in pursuit.
Tens of thousands of thieves and bandits in the city suddenly fell into chaos when they discovered that Luo Rucai had abandoned them and ran away. Most of them fled with their belongings, while a few threw away their weapons and hid in private houses pretending to be common people.
Luo Rucai's cavalry ran very fast, but the donkey and mule soldiers were unable to do anything. They were gradually overtaken by Datong's cavalry.
This guy was actually very righteous. He had already run far away, but he led his troops to fight back.
Firstly, he wanted to rescue the people of the old camp, and secondly, he also wanted to eat the Datong cavalry.
"Quickly retreat!"
Lu Xiangsheng heard the sound of horse hoofbeats and immediately shouted to Hu Dinggui.
"Woo~"
Hu Dinggui did not want to fight in the dark, so he ordered the soldiers to blow the retreat horn.
The rogue cavalry wore leather armor and were equipped with lances. The Datong cavalry were all clothed in civilian clothes, except for muskets and sabers.
In a melee in the dark, the Datong cavalry would definitely suffer.
Seeing the retreat of the Datong cavalry, Luo Rucai lost his temper and had no choice but to pick up the old campers who were riding donkeys and mules.
As soon as they left, Hu Dinggui caught up with them again, listening for the sound of horse hooves and following them from a distance.
By daybreak, the donkeys and mules were tired and lying down.
Luo Rucai's entire army stopped, more than two thousand infantry formed a formation, and two thousand cavalry dismounted to rest.
Hu Dinggui also dismounted and rested, waiting for friendly troops to come to support him.
Since the Pei River was blocked in the west and the boats in the river were seized by the Datong army, Luo Rucai could not cross the river at all. His original plan was to flee north after leaving the city and seize the boats in the market town to the north.
But Hu Dinggui and Lu Xiangsheng were too annoying. They didn't fight, they just chased. And they didn't chase too close. Luo Ru wanted to escape anyway, so he had to run north along the Pihe River.
After the horses had rested, Luo Ru began to counterattack. He asked the infantry to move forward in formation, and he led the cavalry around to the flank.
"Let's go." Lu Xiangsheng smiled.
"Then let's go!"
Hu Dinggui got on his horse, turned around and ran away with his cavalry, waiting for friendly forces to arrive before fighting a tough battle.
Luo Rucai shook his head and sighed: "Let's go too."
As soon as the bandits retreated, the Datong cavalry followed up again. Luo Rucai was too lazy to take care of it and led his troops to run northeast, not daring to continue walking north along the Pihe River.
This decision is very smart.
Because Fei Yinggong had already brought more than a thousand soldiers to pursue him by boat, he could land and fight at any time.
After leaving the Pihe River, both parties were completely confused and officially entered the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
They pursued like this for a whole day, and because they often dismounted to rest, both the cavalry and the horses were able to withstand it. The infantry were so tired that their legs were trembling, and they wanted to turn around and go back to fight Hu Dinggui, but Hu Dinggui simply refused to accept the move.
Luo Rucai sent a cavalryman and ordered: "Go over and ask the enemy general what he wants to do with my grandfather!"
The cavalryman ran over and was about to speak when he heard a gunshot.
Missed.
"Bang bang bang!"
There was another burst of gunfire, dozens of bullets were fired, and the old thieves cavalry fell to the ground immediately.
"Damn it, withdraw at full speed!" Luo Rucai had no choice but to give up the infantry, otherwise he would not be able to get rid of his pursuers.
"kill!"
Hu Dinggui and Lu Xiangsheng did not expect to capture the enemy's cavalry. Their target was the infantry.
These two thousand-odd infantry were all old thieves, and some were formerly cavalry. Because the horses were injured or died of illness, and they could not find more supplies of horses, they became a donkey- and mule-riding unit.
The donkeys and mules could no longer run, so Luo Rucai gave up on them. All that was left was to wait for death.
Luo Rucai left with his cavalry. More than two thousand old soldiers were despairing. Some tried to surrender, but most of them rushed up with weapons.
The Datong cavalry quickly distanced themselves, replaced the match rope and lit it.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
A round of gunfire was fired, and hundreds of old thieves fell.
There is no need to fight for a second round, no matter how brave the old thief is, he will have to flee at this point.
Lu Xiangsheng rode a war horse, brandishing a saber in his hand, and chased the old thief with chops.
These are old thieves who have been together for more than five years. They have done countless evil things. Even if they are willing to surrender, Hu Dinggui will not accept prisoners.
Two thousand Datong cavalry, baring their fangs, galloped across the plain.
The sabers were chopped down one after another, and the old thieves fell to death one by one.
These old thieves were once miserable people, and their rebellion was just. But killing innocent people indiscriminately and raping and humiliating women is absolutely unforgivable!
Lu Xiangsheng killed him with great pleasure. He was disgusted by Luo Rucai, and he was simmering with rage. Today he could finally vent his anger.
No one is left, all are hacked to death.
Lu Xiangsheng laughed and said: "Hahahaha, so happy, so happy!"
Hu Dinggui sighed and said: "It's a pity that the enemy cavalry escaped. Those bastards killed many farmers."
Lu Xiangsheng said: "Don't be impatient. The army will attack and recover all the cities. Luo Ru will be killed sooner or later!"
"Yes, fight all the way to the Huaihe River and occupy all Luo Rucai's territory!" Hu Dinggui said through gritted teeth.
Lu Xiangsheng wiped the blood on the blade and praised: "What a knife!"
Hu Dinggui said with a smile: "These knives are all hammered with large water wheels in Jiangxi, beaten repeatedly day and night, and made by the best knife-smiths."
This kind of saber is actually collectively known as waist sword, Gongbu sword, and Yanling sword.
The infantry and cavalry are slightly different, and the early and late Ming Dynasties are slightly different, but the general shape is the same.
The Datong riding saber is more slender, with the handle and blade being about one meter long.
Under the setting sun, this strange cavalry returned in triumph.
They wore neat and simple canvas military uniforms, high leather boots, carried Yanling waist knives, and carried long muskets. This was the first batch of troops to change their military uniforms.
It doesn't matter whether it is left or right. By the Song and Ming dynasties, a large number of clothes had double lapels.
Especially after the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty absorbed Mongolian clothing elements, and the previous emperors liked to wear Mongolian clothing.
I believe that after the Datong cavalry entered the city several times, many young people would follow suit.
Not to imitate their fighting style, but to imitate their dressing style. This kind of double-breasted and double-breasted clothes will become popular very quickly.