Xue Si sat on the ground, tilted his head and asked the fellow villager: "What are you shouting on the other side?"
"It's too far away to hear clearly." Fang Tang shook his head.
Xue Si asked again: "Why was there a commotion earlier?"
Fang Tang said upset: "How did I know that even after running all day, no one would sleep."
"Are you still sleeping? You can't get up when you fall asleep." Xue Si said.
Fang Tang spat: "Bah, bah, bah, don't you dare say such depressing words."
The two met when they were fleeing famine and joined Yuan Laosan's army together. At that time, Yuan Laosan's army was called Da Yuan Ying, and Yuan Shizhong's army was called Xiao Yuan Ying.
Yuan Laosan suffered a defeat, and they followed Nezha in rebellion.
This Nezha, not that Nezha, really did not have the ability to cause trouble in the Heavenly Palace. He only rebelled for half a year and was destroyed by the officers and soldiers.
They went around in circles, followed by four thieves, and now they took refuge under Zhang Yigui.
Xue Si couldn't sleep anyway, so he whispered: "Do you think we can win this battle?"
"It doesn't matter who wins or loses," Fang Tang said nonchalantly. "If you lose, run away quickly. If you win, run faster. Maybe you can cut off the head of a high official."
Xue Si added: "Do you still remember that Chen Xiucai?"
"The one who was caught and beheaded?" Fang Tang asked.
Xue Si nodded and said: "That's it. He said that everyone in the south can allocate land. If the land is not given to landlords, it is given to their own families. Emperor Zhao is also very benevolent and righteous. He has no servants and does not collect miscellaneous taxes."
Fang Tang said with a smile: "How can there be such a good thing in the world? That Chen Xiucai is just talking nonsense."
"What if it's true?" Xue Si asked with a look of longing and admiration on his face, "Many villagers have no food to eat and have all gone to the south together. Do you think they have received any land?"
Fangtang said: "It's hard to divide the land. No emperor or official can give you a good land. Even if you divide the land, there will be drought every year and you won't be able to grow any food. This
In the world, only fools farm! If God doesn’t have eyes, he can’t grow food. If God opens his eyes, even if he grows food, it will be taken away by others. It’s still true to rebel and serve as soldiers. If we don’t rebel and don’t serve as soldiers under General Zhang, I’m afraid
I have been starving to death for several years."
Xue Si sighed: "Oh, that's right."
Fang Tang warned: "Today's battle is very strange. They are so close at night, so we might start fighting in the middle of the night. Fourth brother, please be alert. If one of us falls asleep, remember to wake him up and run away together."
We are all dead ghosts in the whole family. You take care of me and I will take care of you. Don’t sacrifice your life for anyone, our life is our own."
"How can I sleep when I keep making noise?" Xue Si sighed.
…
Ouyang Shu was lying on the ground holding a spear, or to be precise, lying on the grass.
It's a bit cool at night, but luckily it's not the mosquito season, otherwise tonight would be even more uncomfortable.
Although the superior's military order was to take turns to rest, Ouyang Shu couldn't sleep at all. From time to time, a dragoon would shout between the two armies, or a musketeer in the front would light a match rope.
Whenever there was any movement, orders from both sides would be sounded non-stop.
Ouyang Shu's ancestors were from a wealthy family in Anfu County, but by his generation, he had long been reduced to a tenant farmer. His parents paid him half a catty of rice for his name, and asked the village schoolmaster who came from the main clan to give him his name.
Ouyang Shu's eldest brother was also a soldier and was killed in battle with Sun Kewang.
In addition to the pension, the family was also given an extra acre of land. The mayor also came to express his condolences in person and asked the eldest brother's two sons and one daughter to study well, so that they can get extra points no matter what exam they take in the future.
Ouyang Shu also received the legacy of her eldest brother and gave priority to switching from the militia to the regular army.
He is not afraid of fighting. Young people in the village are eager to join the army. How many of them are looking forward to making meritorious service in the war. Winning a battle will bring rewards, and even if you die in battle, you will receive a pension. It can also give your children extra points in exams. Anyway, you will not suffer any disadvantages if you serve as a soldier for Mr. Zhao.
During the day, she took off her armor and marched hastily, and in the evening she faced the enemy's pull back and forth. Although Ouyang Shu didn't understand what was going on, she just obeyed the orders.
He has listened to those orders countless times, and he follows them every day during training.
If he doesn't listen to orders for a day, he will feel that something is missing.
In Zu Dashou's eyes, the tumult of advancing and retreating in the face of battle seemed so incredible. But for soldiers like Ouyang Shu, it was no different from ordinary training. They got used to it so early every day.
Afraid of enemy pursuit?
Haha, everyone in the Datong Army never thought that they would lose.
It’s okay to say that they are arrogant soldiers. Anyway, they have long developed the aura of preferring others to others. Even the lower-level soldiers do not take the Manchus seriously.
Ouyang Shu turned over and took a look, and found Shaoyang next to him. He was resting his head on the back of his head with one arm and holding a weapon in his other hand. He was lying on the ground with his legs crossed and looking at the moon.
"Hiss!" Ouyang Shu pressed the tip of her tongue against her teeth and made a small sound in her mouth.
Shao Yang turned his head and looked over, and the two of them giggled silently.
No whispering was allowed tonight, they didn't dare to talk, they threw weeds and leaves to each other to relieve their boredom.
After an unknown amount of time, the orderlies in the team came over and whispered one by one: "We will launch a surprise attack at dawn. Get some rest quickly. If you can't sleep, just close your eyes and wait."
It's strange that I can't sleep, there is movement every now and then.
…
Zu Dashou was always alert, but at dawn, he couldn't help but doze off.
The main reason was that they were highly concentrated in the first half of the night and were always on guard against the Datong Army's attack. Although they knew that the Datong Army was using routines, it was a tactic to tire out the enemy, and it also made them accustomed to making noises and giving up their vigilance.
But the trick had to be taken, at least Zu Dashou himself, yawned non-stop in the second half of the night.
Alas, as I get older, my ability to stay up late has deteriorated.
Zu Dashou had the advantage in military strength, and the composition of his troops was chaotic. He was unwilling to fight at night. It was very chaotic during the day, and it was even more chaotic when fighting at night. Why didn't he wait until dawn?
The morning light is faint and the sky is slightly bright.
"woo woo woo woo!"
A sudden horn sound sounded, and Zu Dashou woke up instantly, but the Datong army had already lit the match ropes and was getting ready to attack.
Xue Si and Fang Tang, who chatted last night, finally fell asleep in the second half of the night.
Hearing the bugles and orders from their superiors, they stood up, rubbing their sleepy eyes, and were forced to line up to meet the Datong Army's attack.
"ha……"
Xue Si covered his mouth and yawned, his mind was in a daze.
Fangtang looked at the sky and muttered: "It's still dark and bright today, why are you so anxious on the other side?"
After Zu Dashou's military order was passed on for a long time, the Datong army began to advance at a canter, but the formation on his side was still not in place.
Many bandits who defected to the Manchu Qing could not even read flag orders or understand orders!
In desperation, we can only use the most primitive method.
Zu Dashou sent messengers on horseback to inform the generals, and ordered two wings to outflank him. He had 70,000 to 80,000 men, while the Datong Army only had more than 10,000 people. It was impossible to move away without outflanking both wings.
"Don't kill the prisoners!"
"Kneel down and surrender!"
"Don't kill the prisoners!"
"Kneel down and surrender!"
More than 10,000 fellow soldiers shouted in unison.
The shouting was a bit chaotic at first, but after shouting a few more times, the shouting became more and more rhythmic, and I even ran and shouted while stepping on the steps.
Xue Si's position was on the far right. He didn't hear the Datong Army's shouting clearly last night. He asked confusedly: "Can you survive by squatting down?"
"It should be," Fang Tang reminded. "If the momentum is not good, squat down. Survival is important."
Ouyang Shu did not think about life or death. He held a spear and trotted and shouted. The more he shouted, the more powerful he became, and the more he shouted, the more confident he became. He did not take the tens of thousands of enemies on the opposite side to heart at all.
The two wings were still outflanking, and when they moved, the formation was extremely chaotic.
The Datong army rushed over and ran faster and faster after approaching. Zu Dashou's front army heard those shouts and remembered the shouting last night. They subconsciously wanted to throw away their weapons and squat down.
Wu Sangui wanted to lead his cavalry to stop him, but the friendly troops were outflanking him on both sides, blocking his attack route in a mess. Moreover, the dragoons kept watching and would not let Wu Sangui enter easily.
"Order the two wings to engage the enemy immediately and fight, don't go around anymore!" Zu Dashou roared.
Afraid that the generals would disobey the order, the messengers rode out again and ran closer to deliver the message with their mouths.
At this time, the infantry of the Datong Army had already rushed dozens of steps away, and the troops on both wings rushed over, hoping to cooperate with the front army in a three-sided pincer attack.
Cao Bianjiao and Wei Guoxiang, in order to cooperate with the friendly forces' charge, ignored Wu Sangui's cavalry nearby and rode their horses to the opponent's flanks twenty or thirty steps away.
The whole army dismounted, raised their guns and fired.
Xue Si first followed the officer to sidestep, and then charged inside. Zhang Yigui's unit, which he belonged to, were all veteran thieves of more than two or three years. They fought extremely bravely and risked their lives, so they were called "elite".
But they really can't understand the flag orders, and their formations are not neat. Anyway, they can just rush in during the battle.
Rushing in confusion, Xue Si tried his best to get closer to Fangtang. Suddenly he heard the sound of horse hooves and couldn't help turning his head to look, only to see the enemy cavalry charging closer and closer.
Then, dismount...
Fangtang also saw it and shouted quickly: "Fourth brother, rush slower, you have to save your strength to escape!"
"Bang bang bang!"
The person in front was shot and fell. Xue Si didn't have time to dodge, tripping over the body and accidentally falling down.
Before he could recover, Fangtang dragged his clothes and shouted: "Run away!"
There were 2,500 cavalry on this side, and a total of 2,000 people fired their guns. From a distance of more than 20 steps, they instantly knocked down a large area.
Xue Si stood up and found that there were countless casualties among the friendly troops around him. He didn't know how many died. Anyway, there were still many injured people screaming and wailing.
Xue Si was so frightened that he lost his wits. When he saw the enemy riding on his horse and chasing after him, he immediately turned around and ran away.
"kill!"
Cao Bianjiao held a waist knife and led his troops towards the defeated army, leaving only five hundred cavalry to block Wu Sangui who was rushing after him.
"Run quickly, run quickly!" Fang Tang shouted.
Xue Si said with a cry: "He's running, he's running!"
Under the impact of this defeated army, there were cavalry coming from behind, and another army on the flank also collapsed. A chain reaction was caused in an instant, and the army on the flank was completely defeated. Some people even remembered to shout slogans, and they actually did not respond to the cavalry pursuit.
Kneel down and surrender.
Wu Sangui ignored the dragoons. He finally seized the opportunity and charged towards the Datong soldiers who were charging, and from behind the Datong army!
"Brother, fight or flee?" Jiang Xuan asked.
"Where can I escape?"
Jiang Yan drew his bow and set up an arrow: "Let's fight!"
They followed the Datong infantry and were responsible for blocking Wu Sangui's cavalry from attacking the infantry.
Of course, the Jiang brothers were not fighting alone. There were five hundred dragoons on each side of the wings, waiting there without firing their guns.
"Bang bang bang!"
"Boohoo!"
There were 500 dragoons on each side firing muskets, and more than 400 Jiang brothers' cavalry fired arrows from the front. Then, they all took up their weapons and charged towards Wu Sangui's 4,000 cavalry. After being shot with arrows and shot, only 4,000 were left.
There were only 1,500 cavalry on the three sides combined, and the dragoons fought at close quarters, but they rushed towards an enemy force twice their size without hesitation.
After just one encounter, Jiang Xuan was beheaded from his horse, and Wu Sangui even beheaded two of them alone.
Thousands of cavalrymen fought in close combat, and the scene was extremely cruel. Due to the inferior equipment of the dragoons, more than 200 of them fell one after another.
Just when Wu Sangui's cavalry had an absolute advantage in the cavalry battle, the cavalry from the miscellaneous troops suddenly looked for an opportunity to escape from the battlefield with their cavalry. Even after they won, they fled because the infantry on both wings of the friendly forces all fled, and they fled.
Go back and attack the front army.
"woo woo woo woo!"
"Uu uh uh!"
The Datong Army's infantry formed a large formation, with each unit waving command flags wildly, and brass whistles and horns also sounded. They changed formations during the charge, and the melee soldiers ran to both sides, while the musketeers in the middle had no support at all.
Withstanding the arrows from Zu Dashou's front army, the Datong Fire Gun Soldiers suffered hundreds of casualties and rushed all the way to within twenty steps.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
With three consecutive hits from the fire gun, the enemy in front of him fell down like wheat.
"Fire the bayonet!"
"Charge!"
"Dudududududadudududu..."
Zu Dashou didn't even have time to mobilize the reserves of the central army, and the front army and the two wings collapsed. Even if he replaced his elite troops, he could not stop him. He fired more than 7,000 fire cannons in three stages, and after firing the cannons, they all fixed their bayonets.
charge.
Who can withstand this?
Moreover, the two wings were the first to flee, and the front army was already on the verge of collapse.
Facing the charge of the infantry of the Datong Army, tens of thousands of Zu Dashou's front troops did not escape. They threw away their weapons, some knelt down, some lay down, and some squatted down, as if they had been prepared for it.
Some missionary officers stopped and mobilized the enemy generals who had surrendered: "Pick up your weapons and follow the army to kill!"
There is no fear that these generals will defect again because they have already lost their organization.
The generals who surrendered did not dare to fight hard, but they were good at fighting with the wind. So they picked up their weapons one after another and rushed with the Datong Army. The Datong Army "increased" tens of thousands of troops in an instant.
Cao turned into a dragon, and Wei Guoxiang also stopped chasing the defeated troops and returned with his cavalry to fight with Wu Sangui.
When the front army collapsed, Wu Sangui also ran away. The enemy army was a group of life-threatening lunatics, and he did not want to fight with such lunatics.
Facing the oncoming enemy and broken troops, Zu Dashou's Chinese army had no fighting spirit and turned around and fled before engaging the enemy.
Zu Dashou had no choice but to blend in among the defeated troops and escape on horseback skillfully.
Wu Sangui also ran fast, and no one was chasing him. Because there were still many cavalrymen who had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and were fighting with the dragoons. Cao Bianjiao, Wei Guoxiang had to deal with these guys first.
On the land of the Central Plains, tens of thousands of people moved like ants in the soft morning light.
Wu Sangui fled all the way north and rushed to the confluence of Shahe River and Guoshui River. There were only more than 20 servants and cavalry left behind him. Fearing that the enemy would pursue him, he took off all his armor and swam over with his horse.
Zu Dashou was also a good escaper and ran all the way to Taikang County.
After resting briefly in the city, he fled to Zhongmou by boat. He did not dare to defend Taikang County anymore.
"Caught an enemy general!"
Jiang Quan, whose brother was killed in a battle on horseback, was so angry that he rode up to see who had been caught.
He recognized this person at a glance and said, "This guy is Zu Zeqing, the fourth son of Zu Dashou!"
Zu Zeqing looked in pain, he fell off his horse and broke his leg.
