Hundreds of arrows relied on the high-speed charging of the war horses, and their range and power were greatly enhanced. Most of them hit the oncoming cavalry battalion soldiers. In an instant, dozens of soldiers fell off their horses, and the rest were hit. The arrow soldiers were also hit hard, and they held on tightly to their reins, with blood flowing down their armors.
The situation on the side of the rogue knights' army was even more dire. More than two thousand cannons were fired at close range. Even if the entire army was wearing armor, it was difficult to withstand such power. What's more, there were no soldiers in Li Laiheng's knights. How many people were wearing armor? In this salvo, at least eight or nine hundred people were shot and fell from their horses. The vanguard of the army was almost wiped out!
Li Laiheng rode his horse to charge in the middle. Looking at the men in front of him who fell off their horses almost instantly, he felt distressed with veins popping up on his forehead. He roared loudly and ordered to speed up, hoping to fight to the death with the new army soldiers.
Xu Ming also led his troops to the front. As the two cavalry armies collided again, Xu Ming shot away a rogue knight with one shot, and then swept his spear in his hand and shot down another bandit.
The cavalry armies from both sides clashed on horseback, and various sounds of fighting resounded on the battlefield again, attracting concerned glances from other places.
At this time, Li Zicheng had led 40,000 knights of the middle battalion to the frontal battlefield, which was about four miles away to the west of the battlefield where the two armies were clashing.
General Quan Liu Zongmin, former Guoyi General Ren Jirong, Guoyi General Wu Ruyi, and Zhengweiwu General Zhang Nai rode their horses to gather around Li Zicheng. Although everyone could not see the specific details of the cavalry battle ahead, they could still roughly see the two sides. The cavalry army is constantly clashing, and the battle should be very fierce.
Ren Jirong said worriedly: "Although the cavalry of the front camp are not as capable as the middle camp, they are also elites carefully built by the generals. Although Liu Yan's cavalry only has more than 10,000 people, their combat power is so outstanding. After a long period of fighting, they can still be like this His physical strength and combat prowess are truly formidable!”
Liu Zongmin was very unhappy. His subordinates praised the army and the army, and they did so in front of Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang. This was obviously to enhance others' prestige, so he said coldly: "Huh! I don't think the army and cavalry are anything, at most. We are just relying on sophisticated equipment to resist, but when the 40,000 brave cavalry from my center camp attack us, we will be defeated thousands of miles away!"
Li Zicheng did not speak, but frowned, holding up his telescope to carefully watch the cavalry battlefield in the distance.
Yes, Li Zicheng also had a telescope, which was seized from the army. It's just that telescopes are also rare among the Ming army. There is no Ming army like the Qinglai Town New Army that can equip all generals at all levels with telescopes, and even equip a large number of telescopes even at night.
Therefore, Li Zicheng traveled across Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, and only captured a few. Later, during the battle, many were lost or damaged. In the end, only this one was left, and he carried it with him as a treasure.
Li Zicheng looked at it for a long time, and then said to everyone: "We can't wait any longer, Laiheng's front camp Xiaoqi can't hold it any longer!"
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. Li Laiheng, as Li Guo's adopted son, and Li Guo was Li Zicheng's nephew, had a transcendent status in the army.
Now Li Zicheng has no heirs, so almost all the generals and counselors of the Chuang army, including Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi and others, privately believe that Li Guo is Li Zicheng's successor, and Li Laiheng is the "Three Generations of Chuang" with roots in Miaohong. .
Therefore, among the invading army, except for the strongest middle camp, Li Laiheng's front camp and Li Guo's rear camp were superior to the left camp, right camp and firearms camp in terms of soldiers, equipment and supplies. .
It can be seen that Li Laiheng's troops are so powerful that they will definitely be among the top three in the army. He has 20,000 knights and 40,000 armored soldiers. Even Liu Zongmin would praise them when he saw them.
But at this time, Li Zicheng said that Li Laiheng was going to be defeated. Liu Yan only sent out a cavalry, and coupled with that abominable line of defense, Li Laiheng's troops were about to be defeated. This situation gave Liu Zongmin and others a great shock.
"King Chuang is sure?"
Among the Chuang army, only Liu Zongmin dared to speak to Li Zicheng like this. Li Zicheng nodded and said, "Liu Yan's cavalry is very strong. General Liu, give the order. The brave cavalry from the middle camp will charge forward with this King Chuang!"
When everyone heard this, Liu Zongmin said loudly: "How can King Chuang be allowed to go into battle to encircle and annihilate the cavalry of Liu Yan's tribe? I, Old Liu, will lead the troops and charge forward. In half an hour, I will come back with the head of the leading general and return my orders to King Chuang." !”
Li Zicheng said: "Now all the troops of our army have been dispatched. Even Li Dingguo's firearms battalion has just sent people to report that it has completed its assembly in the south. The armored soldiers who have retreated from the front camp have gathered more than 20,000 people and are ready to attack at any time. I have sent an order for Li Dingguo’s troops and the former battalion soldiers to follow up.”
"This is the most critical moment of the battle. We will use the brave cavalry from the middle camp plus all the soldiers and horses from the front camp to encircle and annihilate Liu Yan's cavalry. Then, with the momentum of great victory, they will attack Liu Yan's defense line again."
"The troops on both wings also began to attack fiercely. Under such a three-sided attack, even if Liu Yan's tribe is a heavenly soldier and a heavenly general, there is no way to win!"
Then Li Zicheng roared loudly: "Today we have wiped out the main force of Liu Yan's tribe. The remnants of Liu Yan's troops in Kaifeng City and the remnants of Chen Yongfu's troops are not of concern. If we take Kaifeng City, Henan will be under the control of King Chuang. Our rebel army can use this to control the Central Plains." Land, establish a foundation, and dominate the world!"
Everyone was excited and cheered loudly. Liu Zongmin even shouted loudly, ordering his men to prepare to charge.
After a while, the 40,000-strong cavalry in the bandit camp slowly started up. The former General Guoyi Ren Jirong, General Guoyi Wu Ruyi, and General Zhengweiwu Zhang Nai each led 10,000 cavalry. They were divided into three cavalry formations, according to the front, middle and rear. Three batches of horses charged.
Liu Zongmin, on the other hand, led 10,000 knights to protect Li Zicheng. After three riding formations, he galloped towards the cavalry battlefield ahead.
Liu Yan watched in the telescope that the 40,000 knights of the bandits began to charge. The elites of the middle camp were indeed extraordinary. Liu Yan praised: "The elite knights of Li Zicheng pressing the bottom of the box are indeed extraordinary. From this town's perspective, they are comparable to the vests of slaves and thieves." Comparable!"
At the same time, Liu Yan secretly thought in his heart: "No wonder Li Zicheng was able to fight against Wu Sangui and the Qing army at the same time with only tens of thousands of soldiers and horses stationed in Beijing. Wu Sangui's Guan Ning cavalry fought fiercely, and even Dorgon had to wait until both sides were exhausted before entering the battle. Even if Dorgon held the idea of catching the cicadas with the mantis behind, it is undeniable that Li Zicheng's troops have strong combat power , which is also a major reason why Dorgon is afraid."
Miao Shao said worriedly: "Sir, can the brothers in the cavalry battalion be able to bear it?"
Liu Yan said: "The soldiers on the battlefield are fierce and dangerous, and casualties are inevitable. Brothers in the cavalry battalion must resist!"
At this time, in front of the Central Army of the New Army, the artillery battalion commander Qian Qian had received the order and was loudly instructing his gunners to move the artillery. The entire artillery battalion, in accordance with Liu Yan's order, had to advance two miles to move the cavalry in front. The battlefield was within the range of the artillery battalion.
"Quick, speed up!"
Qian Qian looked at the chaotic cavalry battlefield in the distance, and at the faint sounds of fighting coming from the left and right wings, feeling extremely anxious in his heart.
The officers and soldiers of each battalion of the New Army, with more than 70,000 troops, invited hundreds of thousands of bandits to fight. Only Liu Yan had such pride, but what followed was a mountain of huge pressure.
"I hope it's late, and I hope the brothers in the cavalry battalion can withstand it!"
The gunners of the artillery battalion, with the help of the heavy troops and soldiers from each battalion who came to support them, shouted slogans and pushed forward hard, pushing the entire battalion's Tiger Gun, Folang machine gun and rocket launcher truck forward for two miles. Then he stopped, and then started to redeploy the artillery array amidst Qian Qian's shouts.
At the same time, the commander of the central camp and guerrilla general Shen Tuo also received Liu Yan's order. The soldiers of the central camp had also assembled. According to Liu Yan's deployment, they walked out of the low wall defense line and formed an array about a mile in front of the low wall.
All the gunners in the middle battalion were arranged in three formations, followed by the chief gunners and sword and shield players. Shen Tuo stood in the formation with a solemn expression, standing on a chariot accompanying the army, holding up a telescope and looking ahead.
"Li Zicheng has also dispatched, this battle is about to end!"
"General, the entire battalion is ready."
Shen Tuo nodded and said loudly: "Commander's order from the commander-in-chief: This is the grave of our soldiers in the middle camp. Without the commander-in-chief's command from the commander-in-chief, no one is allowed to take a step back. You and I will stick to this place. We are very lucky in this life!"
"Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!"
First, the surrounding soldiers raised their arms and shouted, and then more soldiers cheered. In the end, the entire middle camp soldiers roared loudly, and the morale of the army was like a rainbow.
At this time, hundreds of thousands of bandit troops were mobilized outside Kaifeng City. The troops were divided into three groups and pressed against the tens of thousands of Liu Yan's soldiers.
On the frontal battlefield, hundreds of thousands of cavalry troops from both sides gathered, and a bloody battle was about to begin. On both wings of the battlefield, Liu Fangliang's troops united the 100,000 infantrymen of the middle camp led by General He Jin, the deputy general Dang Shousu, and the mighty general Xin Sizhong on the left. Li Guo's troops united with General Tian Jianxiu, the general on the right, and Li You, the powerful general on the right. He led one hundred thousand infantry.
Although most of the 200,000 infantrymen of the middle camp are dead soldiers and infantry, most of the dead soldiers and infantry are young and strong, and a few are strong women. As for the armored soldiers in the camp, most of them were wearing armor. There were 60,000 armored soldiers!
Such a severe situation made Chen Yongfu on the west wall of Kaifeng look ashen. He said to the guerrilla general Zhang Yi, the New Army Zuoying Commander next to him: "General Zhang, this battle is critical! Will the general's troops also come out of the city to provide support?" one time?"
Although Zhang Yi was nervous at this time, he still said: "Our department has not received an order from the main town, so we cannot go to war!"
"Also, didn't General Chen receive the order from the main town? Are the artillery on the city top ready?"
Chen Yongfu nodded repeatedly and said: "Including the seven Hongyi cannons, one hundred and dozens of artillery have been loaded, and all the gunners are in place, waiting for the order from the mayor."
"That's good,"
Zhang Yi said in a deep voice: "Now let's just wait, wait for the command from the main town, wait for the main town to take us and create a miracle!"
Some people died, but not completely...
