The iron bullet passed through the blood mist barrier and hit the left chest of the second horse in the rear row. The strong horse was vulnerable to the high-speed iron bullet. A flesh and blood cavity instantly appeared on the horse's chest side. The shell continued to advance, hitting the third horse in the rear row.
The horse's two front legs were severed and the horse immediately fell to the ground.
The bloody cannonball finally penetrated the group of horses and hit a dirt slope behind with a loud bang.
At this time, the rider who flew into the air fell to the ground, and blood and flesh flew everywhere among the horses. The blood mist and pieces of meat brought up by the first horse spread all over the horse group. The panicked horsemen fled in all directions, and then someone blew a whistle.
Sounding the trumpet, the horsemen fled in a swarm without looking back, and quickly disappeared behind the hills on the left side of the official road.
There was a burst of cheers in the garrison array, and the morale suddenly became higher than when the war began. The white smoke of the artillery floated in the array. Everyone looked at the cannon, and everyone looked excited.
There was also the sound of intensive horse hooves behind the hill on the west side, and it seemed that the hidden cavalry had also retreated.
Pang Yu breathed a long sigh of relief, "Cannons are still useful, I will bring more in the future."
The sound of hoofbeats gradually faded away, and the noisy battlefield became quiet. Several injured horses neighed on the ground, with blood flowing profusely under their bodies. They could no longer stand up, and only their four hooves could still stretch weakly.
The bodies of some people and horses were placed on the ground, while other injured bandits had been rescued by other horse soldiers.
Pang Yu didn't know whether to retreat or advance for a moment. The military formation was still on guard. During the battle, everyone was focused on the rogue bandits. Now that the threat was gone, everyone felt thirsty and looked around.
Just like when they suddenly appeared, the rogue cavalry disappeared suddenly. There were only a hundred cavalry, leaving Pang Yu and the infantry of nearly a thousand people unable to move. And Pang Yu could only be grateful that the terrain here was narrow, otherwise it would be difficult for his thousands of recruits to say
A few can escape.
But we must deal with the immediate matter first. The army cannot do nothing here. Pang Yu is the highest officer, and he must make an idea.
Pang Ding came up behind him at this time and asked, "Sir, shall we give chase?"
Pang Yu was about to answer Pang Ding when the bandit on the ground in front of him suddenly moved and struggled to stand up.
The bandit was a hundred steps away, and he seemed to be the one who was stunned by the shell. The other bandits ran away in a swarm, forgetting him there.
Many soldiers in front of the queue noticed it. Pang Yu raised his telescope and took a look. It seemed that the man was not seriously injured. The bandit had no flag, no soldier cards or anything like that. He needed someone alive, otherwise he would not even know which battalion leader the other party belonged to.
Even the bandits didn't know, so this battle was really confusing.
Just when he was about to call someone to catch him, Pang Yu suddenly looked at the mound for a moment, turned around and shouted, "Yang Xueshi!"
Yang Xueshi, who led both the cavalry and the archery team, immediately ran over.
Pang Yu pointed at the small slope and whispered, "Send a fast runner to the top of the slope to see if the cavalry soldiers have left. No one is allowed to die."
Yang Xueshi got back on his horse, ran back to the rear formation to make arrangements, and soon brought a cavalryman to the front formation. Pang Yu took a look and saw that he was a young man with lively eyes, probably in his early twenties.
After Yang Xueshi gave a few more instructions, the rider rode out. It looked like he was very skilled in riding, and the horse's acceleration was pretty good. The infantry of the garrison battalion were still in formation. This cavalryman was now the eyes and ears of the army.
Pang Yu also watched carefully. When he was guarding Tongcheng, there was a city wall. When he attacked Beixia Pass, the terrain was cramped. He didn't think the cavalry was difficult to deal with. He just felt that they were running fast. The cavalry attack just now made him suddenly
Very afraid of cavalry.
At this time, he relied on artillery to regain his momentum. If he rashly sends people to capture the living man and is ambushed again, it will greatly damage the morale of his army. In future battles, more efforts will be spent to restore the confidence of the soldiers, so
He wanted to confirm that the horse soldiers had retreated before sending people out of the formation to capture the survivors. He did not want any more casualties and wanted to maintain morale until the end of the battle.
All the soldiers looked at the cavalry running towards the top of the slope, and the sound of scattered horse hooves echoed on the slope.
The cavalryman circled around and went up from the north side of the slope, so that if there was danger, he could go back to the original route without turning around. He carefully stood up on his horse and looked around, and slowly approached the top of the slope.
At this moment, he suddenly bowed his body, pulled the horse's head to the left, and whipped the horse's butt forcefully. A locust-like arrow shot out from behind the slope and just passed over his head.
More than a dozen cavalry figures appeared on the ridgeline, howling in pursuit of the sentinel cavalry.
The sentinel rider lay down very low and galloped wildly with his head down. The horsemen behind him were holding bows and could not sprint as fast as he did. Seeing that the sentinel rider was about to return to the range covered by the archery team, the horsemen opened their bows and fired arrows one after another.
, more than a dozen arrows flew towards the sentry rider. The sentry rider's body shook a few times, but it did not stop at all. The horse screamed and rushed back to the front line.
Several sword and shield soldiers caught the sentry rider, and Pang Yu saw three arrows stuck in his back and two on his horse's butt. He immediately called for the auxiliary soldiers to take him to the back row to treat his wounds.
Seeing that the formation of the garrison was well guarded, the dozen or so elite bandits on horseback hurriedly turned to the north out of the range of their rifles and bows, picked up the injured bandit and carried them away. Before leaving, they also picked up some usable weapons on the ground.
This time there was only a slight commotion among the infantry formations of the garrison, but everyone strictly adhered to their lines and no one shouted loudly.
It is estimated that the bandits must have really left this time. They actually ambush twice in the same place. If Pang Yu had not been careful just now, he would have been caught off guard by these cunning horse soldiers again.
After staying there for another half-quarter of an hour, Pang Yu sent sentries again to investigate, and found that all the nearby horsemen had indeed withdrawn.
Pang Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief and called Guo Fengyou and said, "Instruct each bureau to gather dry food according to the team in order. The chief hundred will count the casualties and the new recruits will take care of the wounded. The sentinels will send people to notify the baggage team, put down the food and grass on the spot, and come over with empty trucks.
Picking up dead and wounded soldiers."
In this battle, the garrison battalion had more casualties than the rogues. Although they held the line, they did not even know who they were fighting in the end. Pang Yu himself knew that the battle was a defeat, but it was considered a defeat with fewer casualties. If not for the discipline of the garrison battalion,
The rigorous training will definitely lead to a collapse today.
The cunning and skills of the rogue cavalry in the wild were beyond comparison with his new army. These cavalry gave full play to the advantages of cavalry over infantry. Although the casualties in the garrison battalion were not heavy, Pang Yu no longer dared to move forward.
More than a hundred horse soldiers easily eliminated the threat posed by the garrison camp to the main force of the rogue bandits.
After each bureau drank water and ate dry food one after another, Pang Yu summoned a group of officers and arranged the retreat sequence. Pang Yu personally led the rear of the third bureau, and the garrison retreated to Beixiaguan in disgrace.
…
There were bursts of crying outside Tongcheng City, and hundreds of corpses covered with sheets were placed on the official road outside Zilai Bridge. They were all dead soldiers from Tongcheng. Among them, the largest number was in the third game, and those who were shot by arrows in the Battle of Shucheng Pass
There were many people, but not many died immediately. However, the journey back to Beixiaguan was so tiring that some of the wounded's injuries worsened.
Family members kept coming to claim their bodies outside the city, and Pang Ding and Jiang Guoyong were responsible for receiving them. In addition to distributing pensions, they also had to send the bodies back to their hometowns one by one for burial.
The people in the city gathered around. Since last year, the people of Tongcheng have been used to seeing casualties. When Pang Yu first brought a cart of heads into the city, the people in the city were shocked and inexplicable. Now that there are hundreds of heads, no one is willing to look at them more.
Eye.
Although the garrison camp suffered heavy losses, more than 500 bandits were killed in the battle at Beixiaguan and 170 mounts were seized. The water level on the Muqiao River was not high. Due to Pang Yu's delay in Xiaoguanpu, many real bandits escaped.
After arriving in the mountainous area, Pang Yu was busy snatching the loot, and most of them were not captured. However, it is still unknown whether these bandits will survive after entering the mountain.
Among the thousands of people captured, only the more than 200 people caught on the battlefield were real bandits, including horse soldiers and servants. Among the other bandits, more than 200 people with skills were selected, and most of the others were released.
Let them go towards Lujiang River.
Thousands of mules and horses in the Scorpion block camp were robbed by the defeated bandits and fled. The silver coins on the road were either deliberately scattered or dropped during the robbery. Most of the other weapons, uniforms and other trophies were snatched away by Xu Ziqiang.
In the subsequent Battle of Shucheng Pass, the garrison camp originally left with the majesty of a great victory, but was defeated by more than a hundred horsemen in a blink of an eye.
The atmosphere outside the city was a bit sad, but the city was much more relaxed. After being besieged last year, no one wanted to experience that again. Shi Kefa led the officers and soldiers to repel the rogue bandits and achieved a great victory. At least the short-term threat was eliminated.
When Shi Kefa was in Tongcheng, his office was at the branch office of the branch guarding the road in Xianqian Street. This was specially used for office inspections by superior Taoists. There was also a branch patrol road that was in charge of punishments, and another one.
The branch office is smaller in scale and located in the east of the city.
When Pang Yu and Yang Erming arrived at the Shoudao Branch, Shi Kefa was already waiting. He already knew the general outcome of the battle at Shucheng Pass, and at this time he just wanted to hear Pang Yu's report in person.
Pang Yu gave a brief report, which was of course half true and half false. Pan Keda and Xu Ziqiang were also present. He could not appear too useless and reported the number of rogues to five hundred horsemen.
Pan Keda and Xu Ziqiang stood aside. They also learned about the general situation of Pang Yu's battle to Shucheng. They were quite gloating about his misfortune. No matter what Pang Yu said, he returned to Tongcheng so quickly, and there must have been more casualties in the camp.
They didn't take advantage. They were also glad that they didn't go to Shucheng's expedition.
Shi Kefa has no doubts. Since last year, the arrogance of the bandits has increased. They first burned Fengyang. After June this year, the bandits successively killed important generals such as Ai Wannian and Cao Wenzhao. In the past, bandits avoided officers and soldiers, but now there are many
Officers and soldiers avoid thieves.
Among these defeats, Shi Kefa used a new army to defeat the rogue bandits. Although the number of beheads was only a few hundred, it was a brilliant achievement for him as a newly appointed soldier, and for Zhang Guowei and the imperial court.
An excellent explanation. At this time, he was pleased with Pang Yu, and he would not doubt Pang Yu's report. Considering that Shucheng was the jurisdiction of Fengdu, Pang Yu quickly retreated from Shucheng, even if he suffered a slight defeat.
It’s more in line with Shi Kefa’s hopes.
"In the application details I reported to Zhang Duye, I reported the first victory in the battle of Beixiaguan to General Pang. I also hope that General Pang will make further military exploits and come down to protect the people to celebrate. I will report it to Zhang Duye as a generous gift."
Pang Yu hurriedly said, "Thank you, Master Daotai. I will definitely fulfill my duties and not let the bandits wreak havoc. However, there were many casualties in the camp. They were all farmers' sons from Tongcheng. The family lost its head, and they are in urgent need of compensation from the court, as well as equipment and horses."
We have suffered some losses, please make some supplements to facilitate another battle."
Pan Keda had a look of disdain on his face. The garrison camp had robbed more than a hundred horses at Beixia Pass, and they also robbed the most money. Now he started asking for things as soon as he came back.
"Please rest assured, General Pang, I will take care of this matter. When I report it to Mr. Zhang, the original amount will not be short."
Shi Kefa nodded and turned to Yang Erming.
Yang Erming handed over a few pieces of submission paper, "Reporting to Mr. Taiwan, the confessions of interrogating the bandit prisoners have been asked by the county government. Please take a look at them."
Shi Kefa looked at it briefly, with a rather worried look on his face. He put down the report and looked at a few people, "Since June, more than ten groups of rogue bandits in the pass have been leaving the pass one after another. After passing Luoyang, they divided their troops into four groups, with horses guarding the response and two groups of scorpions.
He is the fastest."
Pang Yu knew little about the overall situation of the battle between officers and soldiers and bandits. Anqing bordered Huguang, but the superior of the administrative division was in Suzhou. The two military command agencies were separated by more than a thousand miles. The exchange of information between them was already slow enough.
From Yingtian Governor's Yamen to Anqing, we have circled almost half of China.
Shucheng and Lujiang, which are also bordering each other, are under the jurisdiction of the governor of Fengyang. The distance from Suzhou is also not short, not to mention that the Chief Secretary of Henan Province has no border. The barriers of administrative divisions make the exchange of information between Anqing and surrounding yamen very difficult.
Not smooth. Pang Yu's understanding of the surrounding situation was almost blank. Not only was there information about the rogue bandits, he didn't even know how many officers and soldiers there were in Huguang and Henan.
Therefore, Anqing, Luzhou and other places had to send their own spies to Henan for investigation. However, this kind of investigation in one prefecture and one place has a very simple method. Most of them are hearsay. They can only roughly know that the rogue bandits are coming, resulting in a long preparation time. This time
Yang Erming was already struggling to supply food and grass for more than 4,000 horses.
The troops stationed in other places for a long time cannot be supplied locally, so after this battle, Shi Kefa will soon lead his troops back to Fucheng. What Pang Yu is more worried about is the direction of Qianjiang and Susong, which faces Huguang and Dabie Mountains, and several counties are
It has been destroyed, and it is impossible to station troops for a long time, and there is no local supply. According to the current intelligence efficiency, it is impossible to provide early warning. If rogue bandits suddenly appear, it will be difficult to rescue them in time.
Shi Kefa sighed and said, "According to the confessions of the bandits here, there is a drought in Shaanxi this year, the grain harvest is not good, and Shaanxi cannot find food. Many camp leaders of the bandits meet to leave the customs around September. In addition to those who came out in front, there are also Gao Yingxiang and General Chuang behind.