Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 187
Under the front and back attacks of the Liuqian Sichuan Army, the vanguard of the [-] rogues led by Lao Hui and the rear team of [-] rogues two miles away resisted for less than a quarter of an hour before either dying or fleeing.Those who had no time to escape knelt down and begged to surrender, but were killed mercilessly by the Sichuan army.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Laohui quickly jumped off his horse and hid in a dense bush, and finally escaped with his life by luck.

Qin Yiming saw that the bandits who had rushed forward had been defeated, so he ordered 500 people to stay to search for the casualties of the officers and soldiers and clean up the battlefield. As for the hundreds of bandits who fled, he was ignored.

Under the current situation, it is no longer necessary to divide troops to outflank to prevent the thieves from fleeing south.The thieves brigade was still behind and never came, so they just led people to cover up and kill them.After a brief discussion, Qin Yiming and Gao Qixun led the remaining [-] people to continue eastward along the official road, and followed the rear team of bandits who turned and fled and went straight to Fang County.

The purpose of leaving people to clean the battlefield is to search for the belongings of the thieves.

Although the payment of salaries by the imperial court is very timely, the seizures on the battlefield are owned by individuals, which is a large amount of foreign money.

Because of the lack of a fixed place, the rogues are used to carrying valuables such as gold and silver they plundered with them. Whether it is the Sichuan Army or the Liaodong Army, they have gained a lot from several fierce battles with the rogues in the past two years. Money is also an important factor in maintaining morale.

The gold and silver collected from cleaning the battlefield will be evenly distributed among the army according to the law, and few people hide them privately.The Sichuan army is basically a team formed mainly by the township party, and many people are related to each other. There is no need to make people in the same village laugh at this small profit.

At about the same time when the Qianlu Sichuan Army launched an attack on the bandits, the Liaodong cavalry arrived five miles away from the camp of the bandits.

After Yebushou sent back the news that the bandits were marching towards Zhushan and thousands of people hadn't left the camp, Zu Kuan reckoned that the Sichuan army would soon stop the bandits' former army, and now was the right time to attack.So he divided more than two thousand cavalry into four teams, one team of more than five hundred people, inserted into the bandit army from the flanks and continued to attack, passed through the formation and then went directly to the south, and then charged from south to west after taking a short breath once.

Under the arrangement of Lin Chengcheng, Luo Rucai stayed in the rear team to hold the line, and he led his men to respond back and forth as the central army.

The news of Laohui's defeat seven or eight miles away had not yet come back. Lin Chengcheng had just left the camp gate with his men when suddenly a muffled thunderous sound came from not far from the north, and then a column of dust and smoke rose up. up.

Lin Chenggong, who had been through battles for a long time, suddenly changed his expression. He knew that this was the sound of a large cavalry charging. At this time, only the officers and soldiers rushed, and the thieves did not have a large group of cavalry.

Lin Chengcheng felt cold all over his body, he didn't have time to think about it, he suddenly pulled the reins and turned the horse's head around, clamped the horse's belly with his legs, and the horse rushed out of the crowd and ran south.Lin Chengcheng, who was lying low, shouted, "Enemy attack! Run south!"

Several cronies saw him fleeing south suddenly, and after hearing his roar, they immediately turned their horses and ran south with Lin Chengcheng.

When the thieves around Lin Chengcheng reacted, most of them subconsciously chose to run into the camp, and happened to collide with the thieves who were leaving the camp, and the thieves crowded into a noisy mess.

Before most of the thieves figured out what was going on, amidst the sound of rumbling horseshoes, a large group of official cavalry wearing black armor and hat-shaped iron helmets with small red hairpin tassels suddenly appeared in the stream. In the thief's field of vision, a long-handled brow knife shone with a harsh cold light.

Zu Kuan's cavalry rarely used three-eyed guns.Because firing the three-eyed gun on a bumpy horseback is troublesome and has a low hit rate, it is not as refreshing as using a cold weapon.Therefore, his subordinates basically use heavy weapons such as frown knives, flails, long-handled iron hammers, and iron maces, which are most effective against rogues who are basically unarmored.

Amid the desperate and terrified yells of the thieves, the cavalry of the official army plunged into the group of thieves who had not yet dispersed.With stumps and broken arms flying around, amidst the screams and wailing, the first wave of officers and soldiers came out from the south of the bandits, with corpses and wounded all over the ground behind them.

The officers and soldiers through the formation circled in the distance and then turned to the bandit camp to the east, stopped their horses and took a short breath.

Before the rogues could recover, the second wave of officers had already arrived. The target of this wave of officers was the rogues who had fled into the gate of the camp.

The rogues were like a castle piled up with sand and soil on the shore, which collapsed in an instant under the continuous impact of the cavalry of the officers and soldiers like waves, without any power to fight back.The battlefield was full of thieves scrambling for their lives. After the fourth wave of cavalry led by Zu Kuan rushed over, he realized that there was no large group of thieves in front of him, and the thieves had basically scattered and fled.

The thieves on the west that were cut off from the official road saw the ferocity of the army, so they had to flee desperately towards Zhushan in the west. West to kill.

Luo Rucai, who was in the camp, sensed that something was wrong when the first wave of the official army charged. He immediately understood that he had been ambushed by the official army.

Although he had several thousand men under his command, they couldn't even stand up to Shangguan's infantry, let alone cavalry.

Luo Rucai and Lin Chengcheng had the same plan, turned their horses and rushed out of the gang of thieves, heading directly towards Baokang.As for whoever can catch up with him quickly when he sees the opportunity, that will be his fate.At this time, it was too late to organize the troops to resist the officers and soldiers, so we had to leave the dangerous situation quickly, and then collect them after the troops passed. Anyway, we didn’t run for a while, and we already had experience.

The large number of thieves and the supplies pulled by mules, horses and vehicles have become the best obstacles to stop the pursuit of the officers and soldiers. In addition, the tactics formulated by Zu Kuan are mainly killing and wounding. The thief in the direction, that's why Luo Ru escaped easily.

After urging the horse to run wildly for more than [-] miles, Luo Ru turned around and saw that there was no sign of the army chasing behind him, only dozens of his cronies were following, so he pulled the rein to slow the horse down.

Now it seems that the officers and soldiers are busy suppressing and killing the troops in the rear, and they can't take care of the small group of people who have escaped for a while, so they are still safe for the time being.

Luo Rucai was holding the horse in a state of walking in small steps, and the cronies behind him urged the horse to catch up one after another.

"The master! This time we have lost a lot!" Shang Detian, one of Luo Rucai's confidantes, said in frustration.

"I don't know where the cavalry came from. It's so fierce! It's the first time that our manpower has been so heavy! What happens next!" Another confidant Zoushanhu's tone was also very low.

Luo Rucai felt extremely frustrated.Along the way, he figured it out, whether it was Huang Hu or their Ge Zuo Fifth Battalion, they had all fallen into the trap of the officers and soldiers this time.

The officers and soldiers had already found out their reality, and they hid in the dark just to deal them a fatal blow.

It's ridiculous that Huang Hu still wanted to teach the officers and soldiers a lesson in Zhushan, and what's even more ridiculous was that he, who prided himself on his resourcefulness, thought that there wouldn't be too many officers and soldiers, and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

Thinking about it now, all of this is in other people's calculations. Is it good to defeat Gao Yingxiang in Shouzhou?Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong had several 10 horses at that time, how could the number of officers and soldiers decrease?

It seems that the Battle of Shouzhou ended in the disastrous defeat of Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong, and the officers and troops did not suffer much loss at all.

It was because I subjectively believed that although the officers and soldiers won, they were also injured and damaged too much. That's why I wanted to join hands with Zhang Xianzhong to defeat Lu Xiangsheng who came to suppress Lu Xiangsheng. Now it seems that I am really an idiot.

The old Huihui in the previous battle must have been broken. Lin Chengcheng didn't know whether he was alive or dead. Now only he, He Yilong and Liu Guoneng were left in the Gezuo Fifth Battalion.

The most important thing is to meet up with He Yilong now, and then go to Baokang to find Liu Guoneng.The defeated soldiers can only look for opportunities to gather slowly, as long as they find a safe place to stabilize their feet, how many soldiers should there be, is there still a shortage of people in this troubled world?

Thinking of this, Luo Ru felt a little relieved. He smiled and comforted everyone and said, "This time, we have been fooled! We have suffered a dumb loss! It doesn't matter, this is not the first time we have been defeated! Now let's find Chief He , we went to Baokang Liu Guoneng, and then went south to Jingzhou Mansion, looking for an opportunity to enter Shuzhong! The natural dangers in Shuzhong are enough to block the imperial army. In a few years, we can gather more troops and continue to drink and eat meat. Wear gold and silver!"

After some instigation by him, everyone's emotions rose again, Luo Rucai took the lead and headed eastward, followed by a group of cronies.

After hearing Luo Rucai's simple narration, He Yilong, who camped by the Zhushui Bridge, could only sigh besides a series of cursing.

Luo Rucai and the others ran for a long time. After simply eating dry biscuits and feeding the war horses, the two decided to go to Baokang immediately. Now they can only feel safe when they join forces with Liu Guoneng.

Liu Guoneng only stayed in Xiangyang for one day, and after obtaining Fang Kongzhang's consent, he took Li Laosi back to Anping Fort. He also came back with Fang Kongzhang's staff member Li Fang, and four soldiers from the governor's standard battalion.In order to prevent unnecessary trouble, Li Fang dressed up as a merchant, and several soldiers were dressed as servants.

Liu Guoneng has no doubts about this in his heart.He believed that this was the act of Fang Kongxuan's trust in him. Since he sincerely surrendered, the imperial court sent people to supervise the army.

Wang Erwa, Liu Shuan and the others were overjoyed to see that Liu Guoneng had returned safely.Although Liu Guoneng had only been there for less than two days, Wang Erwa and others were always worried and did not dare to tell Liu's mother the news.Several people ordered several spies to be deployed near Xiangyang Mansion. Once they found that the officers and soldiers gathered, they would report back immediately. Then, according to Liu Guoneng's instructions, they took Liu's mother to find a way to hide in Shuzhong.

After arranging Li Fang and the others in a camp, they got together. Liu Guoneng briefly described the situation of the past two days, and by the way, informed Wang Erwa and others of Li Fang's identity; Li Fang had to remain respectful, he was a close friend of the governor and the old man, and he came here on behalf of the imperial court.

Wang Erwa nodded and said: "Brother, don't worry, we used to come out of the army, and now we have returned to the army. How dare we disrespect such nobles as Master Li!"

Liu Shuan said, "Brother, what should we do next? Since the imperial court promised us to surrender, they didn't give us a name or identity? We don't even get armor seals?"

He Sanguan interjected: "I feel that the imperial court is still worried about us. This person who has no reputation and has sent a supervising army will eventually regard us as thieves!"

All of a sudden, the atmosphere in the tent was dull, none of them were uninformed local thieves, what's more, what they just said was what the imperial court should have given, otherwise it could prove that they have now become an official army.

Liu Guoneng said with a smile: "I haven't finished yet! How can I not know what you said? Master Fang has already reported to the capital, explaining our surrender to the court, Master Fang has no right to make a decision for us. Identity! But Mr. Fang said, he also wrote a letter to the senior official who can give us our identities. As long as that Mr. Nods, our identities will be determined in a few days! Listen to Mr. Fang's words I mean, at least I can get a guerrilla general! Haha!"

He Sanguan doubted: "The capital city is thousands of miles away from us, and it will take several months to go back and forth. We can't count on it for a while! But why did Master Fang say that it can be settled in a few days? This sounds a bit awkward!"

Looking at the puzzled expressions of several people, Liu Guoneng was secretly proud of himself, he leaned forward, and said in a low voice, "You know who brought the army from Zhushan this time?"

Several people shook their heads one after another, and Wang Erwa said anxiously: "I said big brother, did you understand if you said it? It's not good and it's good, I'm holding back my fart!"

Liu Guoneng laughed aloud: "Master Fang said it, and this is Mr. Lu Xiangsheng, a bachelor and prime minister of the five provinces who came back! Mr. Fang said that Mr. Lu has the right to assign us identities! In the future, only the imperial military department will give us Let us just make a document and seal letter! I told you, when Master Fang said this, his face seemed unhappy, and I felt like he was a little jealous of Master Lu! Don’t let this word out, we Brothers, if you know it, hit it!"

　Thanks to book friend Hui Jun'an for the reward, and to friends who have supported this book in various ways. I wish everyone a promotion and a fortune!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)