Ming Empire

Chapter 99 Shock
(Thanks to the time newcomers and solar activity day book friends for their rewards)
With the firing of muskets, the rogue cavalry led by Li Qing who rushed over first fell down.

The originally quite orderly charging camp immediately became chaotic. The knights who were shot fell from their horses, and the horses ran and jumped uncontrollably after being frightened and frightened, and rushed to kill the untouched cavalry behind.

At this time, the sound of the second round of musket fire followed, and a large number of knights on horseback were shot down.

In the third round, the fourth round, and the fifth round, in a short period of time, the soldiers of the first battalion fired five rounds of musket bullets continuously, and more than half of the [-] cavalry led by Li Qing were killed. If you shoot him off the horse, you will be injured or killed.

The formation of [-] musketeers lined up in front is large enough, larger than the fan-shaped area of ​​[-] cavalry rushing to kill. The cavalry led by Li Qing had just started to increase speed, and had not rushed to the point where the bow and arrow shot. When it was inside, it fell completely within the range of the muskets of the soldiers of the first battalion.

Li Qing was also injured. His shoulder was hit by gunpowder fired from a musket, and he fell down in a somersault, almost being trampled by the horses of the guards around him.

Fortunately, he moved quickly. After turning several times in a row, he finally stood up enduring the pain, and under the protection of the guards, he got back on the horse.

At this time, the other charging cavalry teams were already speeding up, but Cao Yue's fate was similar to that of Li Qing's troops. They were soon beaten to pieces by the muskets fired by the officers and soldiers, and they couldn't charge into the bows and arrows at all. within range.

And the muskets of the officers and soldiers are still firing continuously, as if they will never stop.

Of course, Li Yan was extremely shocked by this scene. He also instantly understood the reason for Cao Yue's formation, and how Cao Yue defeated the elite Jiannu cavalry. Retreat to the formation.

As the order to retreat was issued, the already chaotic cavalry retreated even more chaotically.Li Yan also immediately ordered the infantry to go up to cover the retreat of the cavalry, preparing to fight to the death when the officers and soldiers chased them down.Li Yan believes that Cao Yue will definitely not give up this opportunity, and will take advantage of the opportunity to chase and kill his troops when they are in a mess.Today, the rebel army can hold their formation, and it is a great fortune to reduce some casualties.

But to Li Yan's surprise, the official army, which had an absolute advantage, did not take advantage of the situation to pursue, but retreated slowly like the other troops.

The officers and troops retreated to the line of defense originally built in a very orderly manner, without any confusion.

Li Yan also observed this situation, which made him even more surprised.

He fully understands that the army led by Cao Yue has very strict military discipline, and they have completely achieved orderly advance and retreat, and orders and prohibitions.In this regard, the troops under his command are also incomparable. Cao Yue trained fifty thousand new troops to such a level in just half a year, which has to be admired.

What surprised Li Yan the most was of course the power of the musket. He had never been in contact with muskets. He had also encountered the musket battalion of the government army. Like most people, he also sneered at this kind of "burning stick" that basically did not pose a threat. , but he didn't expect that today, under the shooting of this kind of weapon that he had never paid attention to, he suffered heavy losses, at least two thousand horsemen and horses were lost, while the officers and soldiers had zero casualties.

The two sides just had a face-to-face meeting. The situation of the battle was so disproportionate that Li Yan was very surprised besides heartbroken.He knew that if he couldn't figure out how to break Cao Yue's tactics, no matter how many troops he had under his command, he would be defeated, and even his entire army would be wiped out.

Li Yan was puzzled by one thing, why didn't Cao Yue send troops to take the opportunity to chase him down?If his former soldiers and horses were in chaos just now, and the cavalry of the cavalry commanded by Cao Yue took advantage of the situation to chase and kill them, his formation might have fallen into chaos. Extremely tragic.Cao Yue didn't want his troops to suffer big losses, but wanted to preserve his strength?Or let him go?
When Li Yan was in doubt, he rushed out from the front of the official army, shouted at the formation of the rebels for a while, ran to a place still some distance away from the range of the bow and arrow, and shot an arrow with something tied to it. Then run back to the formation.

Seeing this, Li Yan immediately ordered the sergeant to go forward and retrieve the arrow.

At this time, the original chaotic formation of the former army has basically returned to order, and several capable generals under Li Yan have led the army to prepare for defense.However, the officers and soldiers just retreated to the front of the formation, pretending to be strictly guarded, and did not intend to attack again.

"Did Cao Yue just want to show me off?" Li Yanting was puzzled.

Soon, the arrow with the letter was delivered to Li Yan.

Li Yan immediately opened the letter and read it.

He read the letter very seriously, but in the end he didn't say anything. He just crumpled the letter into a ball, tore it up fiercely, and threw it on the ground.

Cao Yue said in the letter that he still respected Li Yan's character and didn't want to fight in the same room, so as to give Jiannu an opportunity to take advantage of it.He hopes that all Han people can unite to resist foreign enemies together.If Li Yan is willing, he will still cooperate with him.

Cao Yue also threatened Li Yan in the letter. He told Li Yan that everyone has seen the fighting power of the army today. It is really easy to defeat Li Yan's 8 horses, but he doesn't like to do this kind of pain. , The enemy is quick, Han people should not fight to the death for shady interests, and finally gave Jiannu a chance.Jiannu is the greatest enemy of the Han people in the world. They will bring disaster to the Han people and Ming Dynasty. He hopes that Li Yan can judge the situation and know how to turn back when he is lost.

In the letter, Cao Yue gave Li Yan three options. One was to lead his troops to surrender to the court. He was willing to recommend Li Yan, at least to make Li Yan a general officer; He will not lead the army to pursue, and the two sides will no longer fight; the third is that the two armies will continue to fight until he destroys Li Yan.

Of course, the confidence in Cao Yue's letter made Li Yan very uncomfortable and useless, but he also knew that Cao Yue's intimidation was not just empty words, but a real threat.Judging from today's battle situation, the official army is fully capable of destroying the rebels in a short period of time. As long as the rebels don't change their tactics, they can't think of a way to break Cao Yue's formation.

After Li Yan calmed down, he also understood why Cao Yue did not take the opportunity to attack after gaining a huge advantage today, but chose to retreat.The purpose is to hope to cooperate with him, at least the two sides will no longer have large-scale conflicts.

To be honest, Li Yan is now a little afraid of conflicting with Cao Yue's troops. He was shocked by the fighting situation in the past few days, especially today.It is impossible for him to surrender to the imperial court anyway. With the current situation, he will fight head-on with Cao Yue's troops. It will be his rebel army who will be wiped out in the end. If both sides can take a step back and go their own way, there will be Preserving strength is of course the best.

Li Yan also knew that Cao Yue valued the people he was in charge of very much, and he was reluctant to lose them, otherwise he would not have done so.

But after a defeat, he retreated. Not only did he lose face, but he also had no way to explain to the leaders of the rebel army.

How to respond to Cao Yue's "goodwill," Li Yan has a bit of a headache!
(End of this chapter)