In the wilderness outside the Xitou Market of Yinding Bridge, several red flags are still in place. The sunset in the distance is yellow with red, and is about to be swallowed up by the clouds in the west.
Various trumpets were blaring in the officers and men's bridgehead. From time to time, scattered officers and soldiers rushed out from several intersections, shouting and cursing. Archers covered by shields occasionally stepped forward twenty or thirty steps, fired at random, and then retreated.
The horsemen and soldiers in the wilderness were very nervous, and many of them had their bows in their hands in case the officers and soldiers suddenly attacked.
The atmosphere under the flag was solemn. Several horsemen at the Tiger Bridge reported that the bridge had been cut off by officers and soldiers. The Sweeper King had led his old battalion to rush to defend the Tiger Bridge.
Soon after, there was a loud killing sound on the other side of the river. Some of the men on the river bank saw the cavalry soldiers scattered in the wilderness on the other side. Many people jumped into the river and drowned. Each ministry sent people along the river to pick up the people. Only a few people who knew how to swim swam over. The soldiers All the horses and horses were thrown away, and even the cotton-padded clothes were taken off.
The faces of the surrounding leaders were also gloomy. They had been defeated many times. In the past, they were chased for hundreds of miles by frontier generals like Cao Wenzhao and Ai Wannian, but most of the old camp could still escape. Last year in Henan, too They suffered two disastrous defeats at the hands of Lu Xiangsheng, but each time the elite losses were not great, especially the old battalions, which were mostly able to escape and soon grow stronger again. Among the four to five hundred horse soldiers crossing the river, there were twenty or thirty people from each old battalion. How much can you escape?
After entering South Zhili, the officers and soldiers they encountered were very weak. They had never suffered a major defeat. They must have been unsuccessful in attacking the city and their life was not that good. What was especially unacceptable this time was that their elite cavalry was actually defeated. A group of infantry surrounded and annihilated this mysterious officer and soldier. They had a bellicose attitude and a strong desire to attack. They used the characteristics of the bridge to attack the cavalry with infantry and succeeded, which made everyone's morale very low.
They are all experienced in fighting. They know that once the Jindu Bridge is broken, the horsemen will not be able to fall. The infantry only needs to block the bridge. The cavalry is far less effective than the infantry on the narrow bridge, so they only let the sweeper go. To respond, various ministries sent people along the river to rescue a few people who swam back. The main force was still at Yinding Bridge, guarding the officers and soldiers who were crossing the river.
There are six to seven thousand infantrymen here, and the horsemen and soldiers are all in panic, not to mention them. If the horsemen leave, the officers and soldiers can disperse these thousands of people with a single charge. By then, they will be defeated all the way back to the camp at Jiangpu. It will definitely be a mess. All the elders know what a slave is. As long as people's hearts are in chaos, they will collapse without having to be beaten by officers and soldiers.
At this time, all the ministries were unable to advance or retreat. They had to meet the cavalry from Hedong, but they did not dare to attack the bridgehead directly. They also had to guard against a sudden attack by this group of officers and soldiers, so they could only confront the officers and soldiers nervously.
"There are too many rivers and ponds in Jiangbei, so it's better to visit less." Ma Shouying's voice sounded nearby.
Liu Guoneng looked across at the bridgehead occupied by the Ming army. There were several rows of infantry at the intersection leading to the avenue. Although it was blocked by rattan shields, he could clearly see the armor in the back row, reflecting the metallic light under the afterglow of the setting sun. This is Liu Guoneng knew very well that armored infantry was rare among officers and soldiers. Faced with this kind of infantry, a fool would go back and fight head-on.
"Originally, we had to wait until after autumn before coming. There are always some fields that are dry. It is not convenient for us northerners to come here."
Shake Tiandong over there chuckled, "If you don't come here, you're going nowhere. Henan is very convenient, but there's not enough food for everyone. Doesn't Chuang Taotian mean that King Gao Chuang led him the wrong way?"
Liu Guoneng glanced at him coldly, "I sent out a hundred horsemen, including more than ten people from the old camp. You, a man with less than fifty horsemen, have no room for you to talk."
Shake Tiandong was not angry. He twitched his face and said, "When we started fighting, we made a living on the road. There are always places we are new to. If someone is dead, we will complain. If you go into the sky, just find your own way.
No one stopped me."
Ma Shouying saw that the two of them didn't respond to each other, and usually they would collide in this situation, so he quickly interrupted and said, "I'm not blaming anyone for going into the sky. It's not conducive for us to go elsewhere. It was the same before. But it's not impossible to come to Jiangbei. In the past
In Henan and Shanxi, no matter how many times Cao Wenzhao chased me and waited, if we try to destroy this group of officers and soldiers in the future, we can still do it in Jiangbei."
"If we haven't caught a single person alive, how can we know where the officers and soldiers came from?"
Liu Guoneng didn't want to pay attention to the shaking. After that, he stared at the intersection. The officers and soldiers were still blocking the road. He didn't see the general recognizing the flag. He didn't know how many people were inside. So far, no one has been caught.
The number of officers and soldiers alive can only be based on the number reported by the boy soldier in the West Camp just now. I guess it is a general soldier.
This always makes Liu Guoneng feel uneasy. If it were the general soldiers, there would be more than a thousand people. The behavior of the officers and soldiers at the bridgehead was very unusual. They obviously wanted to hold back the cavalry soldiers. However, when the sweeper king's cavalry soldiers went to the Tiger Bridge, the Yinding Bridge's
The officers and soldiers made no major moves to contain him, which made him even more suspicious of their intentions.
He said to Zhang Xianzhong, who was silent at the side, "It's getting late now, and the officers and soldiers can't fight anymore today. These infantry are left here useless. After dark, there will be an unexpected increase. You are the joint leader of the eight leaders, do you want to let those
Go back together, and I'll stay behind to help those who can cross the river."
Shake Tian Dong came out to answer the conversation again, "Si Yang has gone back. What will happen to the bridge that night? They will have to cross the river and break our camp."
Liu Guoneng turned his face and stared at Shake Tiandong, "These officers and soldiers were brought here by ship, and they disembarked and fought all afternoon. At night, they even walked more than ten miles in the dark to break up my camp. The ambushes in Shake Tiandong's camp are so sentimental to you."
It’s just a decoration. No wonder Cao Wenzhao beat him in Fengxiang and only three horses were left. Today, I will send troops to ambush you, so that you can learn a lot."
"I'm with you..." Shake Tiandou rode his horse to meet him. Liu Guoneng didn't move, but the old men from the two camps pressed on the handles of their swords one after another, and Ma Shouying quickly stepped in between.
Zhang Xianzhong, who had been silent for the whole time, suddenly said, "What Mr. Liu's family said makes sense. Except for those on the riverside, each family has dismissed its servants and is looking for more torches to prepare."
After Yaotian heard what Zhang Xianzhong said, he glared at Liu Guoneng fiercely and stepped back two steps on his horse.
Among the nearly 10,000 bandits gathered here, there are 6,000 or 7,000 servants. Some of these people are forced to follow, and some follow voluntarily. There are many strong people. Looting materials to support logistics is useful in daily life, but it is useless on the battlefield.
.Once there is a head-on confrontation with officers and soldiers, it will have a counterproductive effect.
Most of the camps for this part of the army are not far away. After the officers and soldiers landed, they were brought to Yinding Bridge. They had been without water or food, and they were exhausted. The battle situation in Hedong gradually fermented fear. Amid the tension of the confrontation, morale dropped.
It's extremely depressing. Not only is it useless to stay here, it's actually harmful.
It was getting dark at this time, so it was appropriate for them to return to the camp. They could also prepare for night defense and extend the range of the fire farther.
Liu Guoneng's camp was in the south of Jiangpu City. He only brought his horsemen and soldiers. There was no support here. He continued to observe the officers and soldiers in Qiaotou Market as other leaders ordered.
The confrontation lasted for a long time, and there was no fighting between the two sides. Except for a few provocative people, the officers and soldiers began to sit on the ground to rest, but they sat down neatly and rotated in rows. The distance between the two sides was only about a hundred steps, so Liu Guoneng could see more clearly.
, although he could feel that the officers and soldiers were also very tired, but more details showed that this was different from the officers and soldiers he had seen before.
This kind of confrontation made Liu Guoneng a little uncomfortable, especially with all kinds of horns blaring and people constantly provoking people at the intersection. He always felt that these officers and soldiers had some back-up plan, but he couldn't figure it out, and his uneasy feeling became stronger and stronger.
At this time, a row of officers and soldiers who were sitting and resting at the intersection stood up, but the other rows did not sit down. They lined up on the spot. Liu Guoneng thought that they had finished their rotation.
Suddenly the sound of the bugles quieted down, and Liu Guoneng's heart tightened. He saw the three rows of officers and soldiers suddenly opening doors on both sides, revealing two huge figures at the back, with an officer and soldier holding a torch next to them.
Liu Guoneng's expression became violent, "There are cannons, hurry up..."
Two thunderous bangs completely engulfed the second half of Liu Guoneng's sentence. Thick white smoke spewed out from the black muzzle, and two iron bullets pierced through the white smoke and went straight towards the flag recognition of several elders.
He didn't have time to do anything to dodge. He even stopped thinking when he saw the iron bullets coming towards him.
While his scalp was numb, two storms seemed to blow around him, and there were several muffled sounds in succession. There were screams all around, and the horses fled in all directions. The mount under him shook violently, then buried his head and turned to the left.
He ran like crazy on his side.
Liu Guoneng only recovered his thinking ability at this time. He did not expect that the artillery shipped by the officers and soldiers would arrive at the bridge so quickly. He had seen a lot of artillery, but he had never encountered such a loud noise and the speed was unprecedented.
Slowly tightening the reins and caressing the horse's neck, the speed of the horse gradually slowed down. Liu Guoneng took a moment to turn his head and saw that the original location of the identification flag was in a mess. The remains of horses and human body parts were scattered on the ground. One horse was missing.
The horse with its legs neighed miserably in a pool of blood, and half of the red flag was flying in the air. It was unclear whose flag it was.
The purpose of the provocations by the officers and soldiers was to hold back the cavalry soldiers, and the goal was to recognize the elders under their banner. Just now, the leaders were nowhere to be seen. Liu Guoneng wondered if anyone had lost his life.
There was a chaos all around, and the horses were frightened. The horsemen from various families were mixed together, controlling the horses while looking for their respective heads, and some were chasing the horses away by themselves.
The servants who were gathering to return to the camp looked frightened and spontaneously moved away from the flag recognition position. The formation was gradually becoming chaotic.
Liu Guoneng saw several old battalions accompanying him, and quickly turned his horse's head and rushed there. His many years of fighting career told him that he must gather the cavalry soldiers as soon as possible, otherwise once chaos spreads, it would be a big defeat.
Just a few steps forward, there were two loud noises. In the last light of the setting sun, Liu Guoneng saw the trajectory of the artillery shells. Two iron bullets, one after the other, pounced into a group of cavalry soldiers behind the flag with a low trajectory.
In the middle, severed limbs and pieces of meat flew up along their route, and a horse's head spun over the crowd, sprinkling circles of blood.
Drums sounded on the other side of the bridge, and groups of officers and soldiers rushed out of the intersection and advanced this way.
The chaos was centered on the position where the flag was recognized, and expanded in waves around it. The exhausted soldiers collapsed like a bomb nest, and there was no longer any formation. The cavalry and soldiers also lost their organization and fled each other.
Liu Guoneng's horse turned uncontrollably and ran towards the west. He howled loudly at his men, asking them to gather around him, but with little effect. Liu Guoneng knew that there was no way back, so he avoided the crowded road and drew his sword.
Kill them all the way to prevent those crazy servants from robbing your horses.
Under the last rays of the setting sun, nearly 10,000 bandits, shouting and screaming, fought with each other on the official road and collapsed in the direction of Jiangpu.