After running for a while, Eshun suddenly found that the team in front had stopped. The Qing army pursued the Muling army, led by the Han army. Although their armor was not as heavy as the armor of the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers, it was not light, and they ran After walking on the mountain road for more than ten miles, everyone was very tired, so many people bent down and gasped for air.
When Eshun saw it, he was quite dissatisfied and asked Liu Wei: "Why did you stop and stop chasing?"
Liu Weidao: "Sir, we have lost the pursuit of the Ming army."
"Oh!" Eshun was startled for a moment, then looked around, and saw that there were mountains and forests all around, and he didn't even see a single shadow of the Ming army. The other Qing soldiers also looked around, looking confused.
Eshun frowned and said: "Send people to look around. The Ming army must not have gone far. What we could see just now disappeared all of a sudden. We must be able to find clues..."
Just before he finished speaking, he heard a rapid and sharp sound of "swish, swish, swish" piercing the air. Then there was a series of screams, and many Qing soldiers were hit. The arrow fell to the ground.
The Qing soldiers who missed the arrow were also very nervous and raised their shields in front of themselves. The Qing soldiers who did not have shields looked for hiding behind big trees and rocks. Some Qing soldiers bent their bows and nocked arrows. But after lifting it for a long time, it couldn't find a target, so it couldn't be launched.
And the feather arrows are still flying out from all directions in the dense forest, shooting at the Qing army, sometimes urgently, sometimes slowly, sometimes sparsely, sometimes densely, and there is no way to know where the next arrow will fly out from. People kept falling to the ground after being hit by arrows. Moreover, the Qing army could not figure out for a while how many Ming troops were ambushing them and their overall positions. As a result, it felt as if the jungle was full of Ming troops.
Because the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers were protected by heavy armor, there were few casualties. Most of those killed by arrows were soldiers of the Han army or other followers and soldiers. However, many people stepped on the traps, and some were hunted by iron traps. The pins pinched their feet, and they screamed "Ao Ao" in pain; some people fell into the dug traps and were penetrated by sharp wooden blades; some people stepped on the ropes and were hung high on the trees, becoming bows and arrows. They were living targets; some people were knocked down by thorns and thick wood falling from the trees, and the whole team immediately became chaotic.
Some people also searched deep into the woods, but without exception, they never came back.
At this time, some Han soldiers lost their composure and shouted in fright: "There is an ambush. We have been ambushed by the Ming army. Run!" and ran back and forth in the team, but even they themselves I don’t know where I am looking for, but it adds a lot of tension to the already tense environment.
Eshun was sandwiched in the middle of the whole army, and there were several Bao Yimen holding shields around him to protect him, so he was fine. He looked around and saw that the woods were very dense. He could only see a dozen steps away at most, and he was surrounded by Other trees blocked the area, making it impossible to see clearly where the enemy was hiding. He was also a veteran of the battlefield, and he could tell just from the sound of piercing the air that the arrows were not densely packed, which meant that the number of ambushes was actually not that large. .
Eshun immediately shouted loudly: "Attention, the whole army, everyone must stay calm and form a circular formation, with the shield bearer outside and the archer inside. No one is allowed to move and shout as he pleases, otherwise he will be killed."
After he shouted a few words, several leaders around him, including white-armored soldiers who had fought for many years, immediately understood Eshun's intention. Without Eshun saying anything more, he immediately directed the Qing army to adjust their positions and arrange their formations. Shape. The military discipline of the Qing soldiers was also very strict, so once someone organized them, they immediately stabilized and began to form formations.
However, the Han army's ability in this area is obviously far behind that of the Qing army. Although Liu Wei also tried his best to organize the Han army into a good formation, it was a pity that most of the Han army soldiers were panicked at this time, and there were not many soldiers at all. Following his command, no matter how much he shouted, he still kept running around.
Eshun was also furious, drew out his saber, and cut down three or four Han soldiers in a row. When other Qing soldiers saw it, they also started killing more than twenty Han soldiers in a row. , and then they all woke up from their fear and realized that their actions just now had angered the Qing army, but under the Qing army's prestige, they did not dare to resist, so they had no choice but to obey the Qing army's orders honestly. Under the command of Eshun, a circular formation was finally formed.
However, after forming a circular formation, both the Manchu and Han soldiers found that in this way, everyone only had to defend their own front, and their sides and backs were protected by their own companions. The safety was indeed greatly improved. More than a dozen arrows were shot in the forest, but they were all blocked by the shields. Therefore, everyone felt a lot more at ease.
After stabilizing their position, the archers of the Qing Army also hid behind the shield soldiers and began to shoot arrows at the figures that occasionally appeared in the surrounding dense forest. Although most of the arrows were blocked by the dense trees, some occasionally There will still be hits, and at least a few screams can be heard in the forest.
Probably because they saw that there was no way to start, and the Qing army also began to counterattack, the Ming army's attacks gradually became less and less, and finally stopped. After a while, the Ming army did not launch another attack.
Liu Wei wiped away his sweat and couldn't help but look happy. He took a breath and said to Eshun, "Master Eshun, the Ming army finally retreated."
Eshun also breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he also admired himself for having maintained his righteousness just now and finally made the right choice, saving the commanding ability of the entire army. He said: "Pass the order, the entire army will remain vigilant. Do not relax and continue to form a defensive circle to prevent the Ming army from attacking again."
After the order was passed down, the entire army did not dare to move. After all, the attack by the Ming army just now made these Qing soldiers frightened.
After a while, the Ming army did not attack again. But Eshun became more and more uneasy. Although the Ming army did not launch another attack and it was not known whether they had retreated, the Qing army did not dare to act rashly. , we can only wait like this. But when will it be over? And as time goes by, maybe the Ming army will use other methods. But Eshun did not dare to risk retreat, because once When it begins to retreat, the circular formation will inevitably disintegrate on its own. What will the Ming army do when it launches another attack?
Therefore, Eshun could only order his soldiers to maintain the circular formation now, hoping that Boluo at the foot of the mountain would send more troops into the mountain to rescue him. Anyway, if the Qing army held out for an hour or two, there would be no problem.
Less than twenty steps away from the Qing army's circular formation, Wu Hansheng and Zhou Qi were hiding behind two big trees, watching the Qing army form a defensive formation.
Just now, after the Qing army entered the "Wu" area, under the joint attack of Wu Hansheng and Zhou Qi, the Qing army was in chaos and in a state of panic. The two were also very happy. It seemed that they could achieve another great victory this time.
However, after the Qing army was in chaos for a while, they immediately stabilized their position and formed a circular formation for defense. The Muling army also launched several attacks, but the effect of the attacks was significantly reduced. Not only did they not hurt a few Qing soldiers , but several soldiers were injured by the random arrows fired by the Qing soldiers. Therefore, Wu Hansheng and Zhou Qi did not dare to fight the Qing army when they saw it, and quickly ordered the soldiers to temporarily stop the attack and wait for the Qing army to relax before launching an attack.
Wu Hansheng whispered: "Grandma, this Tatar formation is like a big bastard, there is no way to attack it!"
Zhou Qi said: "Before we left the city, Mr. Qian said that we must not underestimate the Tatars. It is indeed true. We are only a hundred and eighty people in total. We must not fight head-on with the Tatars. We are still waiting for a while. You know, Tatars can’t stand still in the woods forever!”
Wu Hansheng said bitterly: "Okay! I'm just going to fight the Tatars. Let's see how long these Tatars can last."
Zhou Qi said: "Don't worry, the Tatars will definitely not take long."
Although Eshun thought that the Qing army could hold on for an hour or two, in fact, they did not even last for half an hour, and the Qing army could not stand it. This was not because the Qing army lacked physical strength or could not keep calm.
But since the climb up the mountain, in the melee in the woods, each of the Qing soldiers had exhausted a lot of energy, and they were all panting and sweating. Now after waiting, their breathing has become much more even. , but the sweat soaked my clothes. It was chaotic before, and I didn’t feel nervous at all. But now it has stabilized. When the cold wind of early spring blows, my heart suddenly feels cold. If I can exercise a little, I will feel it. It felt better, but no one in the Qing army dared to act rashly. As a result, everyone was so cold that their lips turned white and their whole bodies trembled.
"Ah!" "Ah!" Eshun also sprayed him several times. He was also sweating all over his body from running, and his clothes and armor were soaked. When the cold wind blew, he felt extremely cold and his nose ran straight. Falling down, my hands and feet couldn't help but tremble a little.
Liu Wei was shivering from the cold just now, and he trembled and said to E Shun: "Sir, it's impossible to go on like this...Ah!...Ah!...Ah!...If it goes on like this...I'm afraid I won't wait... Ah!… before the Ming army comes out again! Brothers… just… Ah! Ah!… they are all frozen! But now… what should we do?… Ah… Ah!”
Eshun also knew that if he continued like this, the Qing army would collapse before the reinforcements arrived. Therefore, he thought about it and could not come up with a perfect strategy, but time could not stand the wait. , finally had no choice but to bite and said: "Withdraw, withdraw from the mountains." At the same time, he also placed hope in his heart that the Ming army would retreat by this time.
But the result was exactly the opposite of what he expected. The Mu Ling Army hid in the woods, patiently waiting for this moment. Therefore, when the Qing Army's circular formation retreated down the mountain, the Mu Ling Army all retreated from the mountain. They fought out of the mountains and forests, chasing the Qing army from behind. At this time, the Qing army had already been frightened by the Ming army, and they fought there. As a result, they were frightened and ran faster. The Mu Ling army then pursued and killed the Qing army. The army launched a new round of attacks.