I

  Chapter 425 423 [Thousands of people charge]

  Xue Si sat on the ground, tilted his head and asked the fellow: "What are you shouting at the other side?"

   "It's too far away, I can't hear you clearly." Fang Tang shook his head.

  Xue Si asked again: "Why is there a commotion earlier?"

  Fang Tang was upset and said: "How do I know, after running for a day, no one is allowed to sleep."

   "Are you still asleep? You can't get up when you fall asleep." Xue Si said.

  Fang Tang spat: "Bah, bah, don't talk about frustrating words."

  The two met on the run from famine, and they voted for Yuan Laosan's team together. At that time, Yuan Laosan's army was called Dayuanying, and Yuan Shizhong's army was called Xiaoyuanying.

   Yuan Laosan suffered a defeat, and they followed Nezha to rebel.

  This Nezha, not that Nezha, really didn't have the ability to trouble the sea, and was wiped out by officers and soldiers after only half a year of rebellion.

  They went around and followed the four thieves back and forth, and now they are taking refuge under Zhang Yigui's command.

  Xue Si couldn't fall asleep anyway, and whispered: "Do you think this battle can be won?"

   "It doesn't matter who wins or loses," Fang Tang said indifferently, "Run if you lose, and run faster if you win, maybe you can cut off the head of a high-ranking official."

   Xue Si said again: "Do you still remember that Chen Xiucai?"

   "The secret work of being caught and beheaded?" Fang Tang asked.

  Xue Si nodded and said: "That's it. He said that everyone in the south can share the land, and don't farm land for the landlord, but for his own family. Emperor Zhao is also very benevolent, there are no servants, and no miscellaneous taxes."

  Fang Tang laughed and said: "How can there be such a good thing in the world? That Chen Xiucai is talking nonsense."

   "What if it's true?" Xue Si looked forward to it, and asked again, "Many folks have no food, and they all went to the south together. Do you think they got the land?"

Fang Tang said: "Divide the fart's field. There is no good person who is an emperor or an official. Can you divide the field? Even if the field is divided, there will be severe drought every year, and no food will be grown. This In the world, only fools farm! God doesn’t have eyes, so he can’t grow food. God has eyes, and the food he grows is robbed by others. It’s true to rebel and serve as soldiers. If we don’t rebel, we won’t be soldiers under General Zhang. I've starved to death for years."

   Xue Si sighed: "Oh, that's true."

Fang Tang warned: "Today's battle is very strange. It's so close to nightfall. I'm afraid it will start in the middle of the night. Fourth brother, be careful. If either of us falls asleep, remember to wake them up and run away together. We are all living ghosts whose whole family is dead, you take care of me, and I take care of you. Don't give your life to anyone, our lives are our own."

   "I've been making noise all the time, how can I sleep?" Xue Si sighed.

  …

  Ouyang Shu was lying on the ground holding a spear, more precisely on the grass.

  It’s a little cold at night, but fortunately it’s not the season for mosquitoes to show their power, otherwise it will be even more uncomfortable tonight.

  Although the superior's military order is to take turns to rest, Ouyang Shu can't sleep at all. From time to time, there were dragoons shouting between the two armies, or the gunfire soldiers in the front lit the matchlock.

  As long as there is any movement, the orders from both sides will ring continuously.

  Ouyang Shu's ancestors were a wealthy family in Anfu County, but by his generation, they had already been reduced to tenants. His name was given by Mr. Cunshu, who was born in the main clan, as a reward for his parents with half a catty of rice.

  Ouyang Shu's eldest brother was also a soldier, and was killed in battle with Sun Kewang.

  In addition to the pension, the family also shared an extra mu of land. The mayor also personally came to condolences, and let the eldest brother's two sons and a daughter study well, so that they can get extra points no matter what exams they take in the future.

  Ouyang Shu also got the legacy of her elder brother, giving priority to converting from the militia to the regular army.

  He is not afraid of fighting. The young people in the village are all eager to join the army. How many people are looking forward to fighting and making meritorious service. There are rewards for victories, pensions even for death, and extra points for children's exams. Anyway, serving as a soldier for Mr. Zhao will not suffer.

  Taking off her armor during the day and marching in a hurry, and in the evening facing the enemy's pull back and forth, although Ouyang Shu didn't understand what was going on, she just followed the orders.

  He has listened to those orders countless times, and he listens to orders every day during training.

  If he doesn't listen to orders for a day, he will feel that something is missing.

  In the eyes of Zu Dashou, it seemed so unbelievable to retreat and fight. But for soldiers like Ouyang Shu, it was no different from usual training, they got used to it so early every day.

  Afraid of enemy pursuit?

  Hehe, the Datong army never thought that they would lose.

   It doesn’t matter if they are arrogant soldiers, anyway, they have already developed an aura of being the best, and even the low-level soldiers don’t pay attention to Man Qing.

  Ouyang Shu turned over and saw that Shaoyang next to him was resting on the back of his head with one arm, holding a weapon in the other hand, lying on the ground with Erlang legs up looking at the moon.

   "Hiss!" Ouyang Shu pressed the tip of her tongue against her teeth, and made a small sound in her mouth.

   Shao Yang turned his head to look over, the two of them giggled silently.

  Whispering is forbidden tonight, they dare not speak, throwing weed leaves at each other to relieve boredom.

   After an unknown amount of time, the orderlies in the team came over and whispered one by one: "The raid is launched at dawn, and you should rest quickly. If you can't sleep, just close your eyes and wait."

   It's strange to be able to sleep, there are movements every now and then.

  …

  Zu Dashou was always alert, but at dawn, he couldn't help dozing off.

  The main reason is that he was highly concentrated in the first half of the night, and he was always on guard against the arrival of the Datong army. Although they knew that the Datong army was using routines, it was not only a tactic to exhaust the enemy, but also made them get used to making noise and giving up their vigilance.

  But the trick still has to be tricked, at least Zu Dashou himself, yawning in the middle of the night.

   Alas, as I get older, my ability to stay up late deteriorates.

  Zu Dashou has a superior force, and the composition of the troops is messy. He doesn't want to fight at night, the daytime is very chaotic, and the fighting at night is even more chaotic, so we have to wait until dawn to talk about it.

  The morning light is faint, and the sky is slightly bright.

"woo woo woo woo!"

  Suddenly the horn sounded, and Zu Dashou woke up instantly, but it was the Datong Army that had already lit the matchlock and was preparing the whole army for an attack.

   Xue Si and Fang Tang, who chatted last night, finally fell asleep in the second half of the night.

  Hearing the bugle and the command of the superior, they stood up rubbing their sleepy eyes, and were forced to line up to meet the attack of the Datong Army.

"what…"

   Xue Si covered his mouth and yawned, his mind was in a daze.

  Fang Tang looked at the sky and murmured: "It's still daylight, what's the rush on the other side?"

  After Zu Dashou's military order was handed down for a long time, the Datong Army began to jog forward, and the formation on his side was still not in place.

  Many thieves who took refuge in the Manchu Qing could not even understand the flag orders, nor could they understand the orders!

   In desperation, only the most primitive method can be used.

  Zu Dashou sent messengers to inform the generals on horseback, and ordered the two wings to outflank. He has 70,000 to 80,000 people, and the Datong Army only has more than 10,000 people, and he can't be separated without outflanking.

   "Do not kill prisoners!"

   "Squat down and surrender!"

   "Do not kill prisoners!"

   "Squat down and surrender!"

   More than 10,000 fellow soldiers shouted in unison.

   At the beginning, I shouted a little chaotically. After shouting a few more times, the more I shouted, the more rhythmic I became, and I even stepped on the steps while running and shouting.

  Xue Si's position is on the far right wing. He didn't hear Datong Army's call last night, so he asked confusedly, "Can you survive by squatting down?"

   "It should be," Fang Tang reminded, "Squat down if the momentum is not good, survival is the most important thing."

  Ouyang Shu didn't think about life or death. He held a long gun and ran and shouted. The more you shout, the more imposing you are, the more you shout, the more confident you are, and you don't care about the tens of thousands of enemies on the opposite side.

  The two wings are still outflanking, and when they move, the formation is extremely chaotic.

  The Datong army rushed over directly, and after approaching, they ran faster and faster. Zu Dashou's former army, hearing those shouts and recalling the shouts from last night, subconsciously wanted to throw away their weapons and squat down.

  Wu Sangui wanted to lead the cavalry to stop him, but the friendly troops were outflanking on both wings, blocking his harassment route in a mess, and the dragoons kept staring at him, so they wouldn't let Wu Sangui easily enter the field.

   "Order the two wings, immediately meet the enemy and fight, don't go around again!" Zu Dashou roared.

   Fearing that the generals would not obey the orders, the messengers rode out again, ran close and passed the message with their mouths.

  At this time, the infantry of the Datong Army had rushed dozens of steps away, and the troops on the two wings rushed over, trying to cooperate with the front army in a three-sided attack.

  In order to cooperate with the friendly army's charge, Cao Bianjiao and Wei Guoxiang rode their horses to the opponent's two wings for a distance of 20 to 30 steps, regardless of the nearby Wu Sangui cavalry.

  The whole army dismounted, raised their guns and fired.

  Xue Si followed the officer around first, and then charged inside. Zhang Yigui's troops he was in were all old thieves for more than two or three years, and they were extremely brave in fighting desperately, so they could be called "elite".

   But they really can't understand the flag order, and the formation is not neat, anyway, it's done by rushing when fighting.

  Running in a mess, Xue Si moved closer to Fangtang as much as possible. Suddenly hearing the sound of horseshoes, I couldn't help turning my head to look, but saw the enemy cavalry charging closer and closer.

   Then, dismount...

  Fang Tang also saw it, and hurriedly shouted: "Fourth brother, you rush slowly, you have to save your strength to escape!"

   "Bang bang bang!"

  The person in front was shot and fell down. Xue Si didn't have time to dodge, tripping over the corpse and accidentally falling down.

   Before he recovered, Fang Tang dragged his clothes and shouted, "Run away!"

  The 2,500 riders on this side, a total of 2,000 thousand people shot, and knocked down a large area in an instant with a distance of more than 20 steps.

  Xue Si stood up and found that there were countless casualties among the friendly troops around him, and he didn't know how many died. Anyway, there were still many screams and wailings.

  Xue Si was frightened out of his wits. When he saw the enemy riding on his horse and chasing him, he immediately turned around and ran away.

"kill!"

  Cao Bianjiao held a waist knife and led his troops to charge towards the rout, leaving only 500 cavalry to block Wu Sangui who was rushing after him.

   "Run, run!" Fang Tang shouted.

   Xue Si said in a crying voice: "I'm running, I'm running!"

   Under the impact of this routed army, cavalry came from behind, and another army on the flank also collapsed. A chain reaction was triggered in an instant, and the flanking army was completely defeated. Some people even remembered shouting slogans, and even knelt down and surrendered in the face of cavalry pursuit.

  Wu Sangui ignored the dragoons, he finally seized the opportunity, and charged towards the Datong soldiers who were charging, and charged from behind the Datong army!

   "Brother, fight or flee?" Jiang Xuan asked.

   "Where can I escape to?"

  Jiang Guan drew his bow and nocked his arrow: "Fight!"

  They followed behind the big synchronous pawns and were responsible for blocking the impact of Wu Sangui's cavalry on the infantry.

  Of course, the Jiang brothers did not fight alone. The dragoons on the two wings each kept five hundred, waiting there without firing their guns.

   "Bang bang bang!"

   "Shhhhhh!"

   There were 500 dragoons on each side firing arrows, and more than 400 Jiang brothers fired arrows from the front. Then, they all took up their weapons and charged towards Wu Sangui's 4,000 cavalry—after being shot with arrows, only 4,000 remained.

   There are only 1,500 cavalry in total on the three sides, and the dragoons pulled their hips in close combat, but rushed towards the enemy army twice as large as themselves without hesitation.

   After only one meeting, Jiang Xuan was beheaded by the horse, and Wu Sangui even beheaded two people alone.

  Thousands of cavalry fought in close combat like this, and the scene was extremely tragic. Due to inferior equipment, more than 200 dragoons fell one after another.

  Just when Wu Sangui's cavalry had an absolute advantage in the cavalry battle, the cavalry of those miscellaneous troops suddenly searched for an opportunity to flee the battlefield with their cavalry. They fled even if they won the battle, because on the friendly side, the infantry on both wings all fled, and fled back to attack the front army.

"woo woo woo woo!"

   "Wooooo!"

  The infantry of the Datong Army formed a large formation, and all the ministries waved their flags frantically, and the copper whistles and horns also sounded. They changed formation during the charge, the melee soldiers ran to the sides, and the firecracker soldiers in the middle had no support at all.

   Against the arrows of Zu Dashou's former army, the Datong firecrackers paid hundreds of casualties and rushed all the way to within 20 steps.

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

  Three combos of firecrackers, the enemy in front of him falls down like cutting wheat.

   "On the bayonet!"

   "Charge!"

   "Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo..."

  Zu Dashou didn't even have time to mobilize the central army reserve, the front army and the two wings all collapsed. Even if he puts on his own elite, it is still unstoppable. More than 7,000 firecrackers strike in three stages, and after firing the blunderbuss, they all charge with bayonets.

  Who can stand this?

   And the two wings fled first, and the former army was already crumbling.

   Facing the charge of Datong infantry, tens of thousands of Zu Dashou's former army did not escape. They threw away their weapons, some knelt down, some squatted down, and some squatted down, as if they had been prepared for a long time.

  Some missionaries stopped and mobilized the surrendered enemy generals: "Take up your arms and charge with the army!"

   I am not afraid that these generals will defect again, because they have already lost their organization.

  The generals who surrendered did not dare to fight tough battles, but they were good at fighting with the wind. So they picked up their weapons one after another and rushed with the Datong Army, and the Datong Army "increased" tens of thousands of troops in an instant.

  Cao Bianjiao and Wei Guoxiang also stopped chasing and killing the defeated soldiers, and took the cavalry back to fight Wu Sangui.

  Wu Sangui also ran away at the moment when the former army collapsed. The enemy army is a group of desperate lunatics, and he doesn't want to fight with such lunatics.

  Zu Dashou's central army had no fighting spirit in the face of the rushing enemy and the rout, and turned around and fled before reaching the enemy.

  Zu Dashou had nothing to do, so he mingled with the rout and escaped skillfully on horseback.

  Wu Sangui also ran fast, and no one chased him. Because there are still many cavalry who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and are fighting with the dragoons, Cao Bianjiao and Wei Guoxiang must deal with these guys first.

   On the land of the Central Plains, in the soft morning light, tens of thousands of people moved like ants.

  Wu Sangui fled all the way north, and ran to the vicinity of the confluence of Shahe and Guoshui. There were only more than 20 family cavalry left behind him. Fearing that the enemy would come after him, he took off all his armor and swam over with his horse.

  Zu Dashou is also a master of escape, running all the way to Taikang County.

   After a short rest in the city, he fled to Zhongmu by boat, and he dared not defend Taikang County.

   "Catch an enemy general!"

  Jiang Tuan, whose younger brother was killed in a cavalry battle, rode to see who was caught, full of anger.

  He recognized this person at a glance, and said, "This guy is Zu Zeqing, the fourth son of Zu Dashou!"

  Zu Zeqing looked pained, fell off a horse and broke his leg.

  (end of this chapter)