The New Army's left-wing battlefield.
Li Guo's brows were furrowed and his face was solemn. At this time, most of the 150,000-strong army in the rear camp of the bandits had been defeated. Countless dead soldiers and infantry in front were mixed with the rear troops. The armored soldiers of the brigade were already arrayed in front of the central army in the rear camp. , to block the impact of those defeated troops.
At the same time, the 25,000 cavalry had all formed a team. At this time, Li Guo was very lucky that he did not push the 25,000 cavalry up, otherwise the rear camp would have been completely destroyed.
"Withdraw!"
Li Guo looked worriedly towards the direction of the bandits' center camp. King Chuang's banner collapsed. He sent out more than a dozen groups of troops to contact him, but on the chaotic battlefield, those dozen groups of troops never returned. , I don’t know whether he was killed by the officers and soldiers on the way, or was dragged away by the defeated soldiers and disappeared.
At this time, Li Guo had not received orders from Li Zicheng, and had no idea what was happening to Li Zicheng. He just listened to the shouts of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers on the battlefield, became impatient, and directly ordered the withdrawal.
"General, there are still tens of thousands of broken troops on the battlefield that have not been collected. Do you want to withdraw now?"
Li Guo didn't say anything, he just stared at the captain, frightened him so much that his face turned pale, confessed his crime, and hurriedly went to deliver the order.
Not long after, Li Guo led 25,000 brave cavalry to slowly retreat. They were stopped by the commanding general He Jin, the deputy mighty general Dang Shousu, and the left mighty general Xin Sizhong.
He Jin and Li Guo were both generals, but Li Guo commanded a battalion alone. He was also the nephew of Li Zicheng and was adopted as his adopted son. He was regarded as the "prince" of the bandit army. Therefore, although He Jin was dissatisfied with Li Guo's abandonment of several The deeds of thousands of defeated soldiers are still carried out with the courtesy of subordinates.
"General, are you leaving now?"
Li Guo frowned slightly and said impatiently: "Your troops are also withdrawing together. Now the situation of King Chuang is unknown. The rebel army must preserve its strength. All troops and horses that can still be mobilized should immediately withdraw to the central army!"
He Jin said: "General, there are tens of thousands of broken troops ahead. They..."
"They can't evacuate anymore, give up all!"
Li Guo gritted his teeth and said, "As long as the knights and armored soldiers are not lost, our rebel army will not suffer much loss!"
He Jin and others looked at each other in shock, not daring to challenge Li Guo, so they all took orders.
Then Li Guo led 25,000 knights and 30,000 armored soldiers to take the lead, while He Jin led 100,000 infantry from the middle camp to form a formation behind.
At this moment, more than 12,000 fresh troops from the left camp of the New Army attacked, driving tens of thousands of defeated soldiers from the rear camp of the refugees. Countless rebels fled screaming and crying, like waves. , the defeated soldiers in front were constantly knocked down and trampled by their companions behind them, and there were screams everywhere on the battlefield.
At the same time, Zhang Yi led the soldiers of the left camp of the New Army, with the spearmen as the vanguard. Thousands of spears were held flat and pushed all the way. The gunmen of each department used the flag as a unit to kill the bandits and the defeated troops. When the defeated soldiers gathered together and tried to restore their organization, they would be massacred by the gunmen of the new army.
At the same time, a large number of Zuoying's night guards and guards were also gathered by Zhang Yi. They imitated the tactics of the Qing army and rushed into the broken troops. They continuously drove tens of thousands of broken soldiers to flee forward and attacked with broken troops. The rogue thieves in front cut off the infantry in the camp.
Seeing this, He Jin, the general in charge of the Zhongying camp, was furious. However, at this time, he could only curse loudly in the direction of the new army, and then continued to lead his troops to retreat quickly, without daring to stop for a moment.
"General, we must leave someone behind to break up the queen!"
Xin Sizhong, the mighty general of the left, shouted loudly: At this time, both armies were infantry. If they retreated like this, it would not take more than a few miles for the 100,000 infantry to collapse. The tens of thousands of defeated troops behind would spread fear, and then no one would be able to Can't run away.
He Jin gritted his teeth and said, "Then you lead an army of 20,000 to stay and stop the attack. Once the main force is far away from the official army, immediately lead your troops to withdraw."
Then He Jin added: "If it doesn't work, just take your bodyguard and leave alone!"
Xin Sizhong nodded heavily. At this time, he also regretted in his heart. Why did he talk so much and end up in such an unfortunate job?
Then the 20,000 infantry were ordered to stop retreating and begin to re-form. Xin Sizhong led hundreds of personal guards to command in the formation, and moved all the shields with the army to the front, hoping to block the new army's left camp.
But just a moment later, the defeated troops of the brigade rushed over. No matter how Xin Sizhong's troops shouted to dissuade them, countless defeated troops continued to attack the square formation of 20,000 infantry. The square formation, which was originally relatively neat, soon fell into disarray. Being moved into position, Xin Sizhong was furious when he saw this, and immediately ordered the beheading of the defeated troops who attacked the phalanx.
"Kill me. Anyone who collides with the phalanx will be killed without mercy!"
Therefore, the 20,000 rogue infantrymen responsible for the rear of the palace fought with their own defeated troops before they had time to engage the new army's left camp.
At this time, those defeated soldiers also regained their energy. More than 10,000 officers and soldiers were about to catch up behind them. These companions did not go to meet the enemy, but they ran for their lives in front of themselves. It was really abominable!
As a result, the two sides refused to give in to each other and drew their swords to attack each other. The defeated soldiers changed their previous decline and became brave in an instant, and the two groups of people fought together. Even many strong women and old men cursed and went crazy, beating and biting the foot soldiers in the bandit camp.
Xin Sizhong was dumbfounded when he saw this. He never expected that things would turn out like this. He was hesitating whether to withdraw now when he heard a roar and the New Army Zuoying army was coming.
At this time, Zhang Yi looked at the chaotic fighting in front and was dumbfounded. The bandits were actually fighting among themselves, so he excitedly mobilized his musketeers and shouted loudly: "Birdguns, let go!"
Suddenly, gunpowder smoke filled the air, and dense lead bullets continued to shoot down the crowd in front. Whether they were broken soldiers in the bandit's rear camp or infantry in the bandit's middle camp, they were all shot to death without distinction.
The fighting crowd suddenly dispersed and fled in all directions to the west. Zhang Yi immediately sent out a large number of night guards and guards. The troops divided into two groups and pressed up from both wings, driving the broken troops to continue to gather to the west.
To the west is where the central army of the bandits is located. Zhang Yi wants to let the defeated troops continue to attack his own troops, which may have a miraculous effect.
Xin Sizhong was also carried away by the defeated troops of the brigade and fled westward. Hundreds of personal guards around him were also scattered. The sea of tens of thousands of defeated soldiers was so turbulent that hundreds of personal guards could not stop him and could only drift with the tide. It was quickly torn apart.
Suddenly, a group of new army soldiers from the Zuoying Ye Buzuo Horse appeared in the crowd. The leader, a Ye Buzuo captain, saw Xin Sizhong's battle flag and excitedly greeted his companions. More than a dozen Ye Buzuo soldiers rushed over on horseback. , and then they lit up the thunderbolts and started throwing them.
More than a dozen thunderbolts exploded in the crowd one after another. The surrounding rogue soldiers were knocked upside down by the explosion, and the surviving rogue soldiers also fled in despair.
Xin Sizhong was very unlucky. A thunderbolt fell in front of him, and a hot fireball ignited instantly, wrapping himself and his horse in it. Then Xin Sizhong felt that he was as light as a swallow and flew up from the horse. His eyes also saw a bloody lower body of a corpse, being pressed by a bloody horse. The armor and shoes on the corpse were so familiar. , seems to be what I wore...
"The head fell over there, chop it off!"
The Ye Bu Sui team roared and rushed over on horseback, waving their spears and sabers, and dispersed the bandits around them. Captain Ye Bu Sui jumped off the horse, cut off Xin Sizhong's head, and tied it to the saddle. He laughed loudly: "The victory is achieved, let's go, continue the pursuit!"
The battle flag of Xin Sizhong, the mighty general of the left, fell suddenly, but no one paid attention at this time. He Jin and the deputy mighty general Dang Shousu led more than 60,000 infantrymen of the middle camp who had not yet broken up and ran all the way. Li Guo was in front. He led the rear camp's heroic cavalry and armored soldiers to retreat with great strides. Everyone was retreating and running for their lives. As for who was killed by the new army and who could escape and ascend to heaven, it depends on the individual's own destiny.
In the Zuoying formation of the New Army, three commanders, Jin Xuecheng, Shi Niuzhong, and Shang Zili, gathered around Zhang Yi. At this time, the soldiers of Zuoying had been pursuing for several miles. The three of them came to dissuade Zhang Yi one after another. Don't ask for instructions from the Chinese army before continuing the pursuit, lest the army stand out too much and be bitten by the bandits.
Zhang Yi looked at the countless battle flags on both sides on the battlefield and fell into hesitation.
"Report!"
At this moment, a group of Chinese army messengers came on horseback from the rear. When they got closer, a messenger loudly said: "There is an order from the main town: each battalion will pursue for five miles on its own, and then immediately withdraw to Kaifeng City to stand by. , don’t pursue in depth!”
Shen Tuo breathed a sigh of relief, and after sending away the messengers, he said to Jin Xuecheng, Shi Niuzhong, and Shang Zili: "Chase! Give me another two miles to pursue. The soldiers of each department concentrated their efforts to kill the bandits' armored soldiers and the lagging knights. As for the Those dead soldiers and infantry are mainly driven away!"
"yes!"
"go ahead!"
The more than 12,000 soldiers of Zuoying continued to advance, driving tens of thousands of broken troops for more than two miles. All the armored soldiers of the bandits who were overtaken along the way, as well as some heroic cavalry who lost their horses, were all killed.
At this time, on the chaotic battlefield, the sounds of fighting began to slowly subside. On the front and two flanks of the battlefield, the soldiers of the New Army battalions pursued for several miles, and their fronts even pointed directly at the center of the bandits.
Liu Zongmin, who had treated his injuries in advance of the Chinese army, was furious and was about to lead the Chinese army's more than 10,000 remaining knights to fight, but was stopped by Li Yan and Gu Junen. The two made a prompt decision to dissuade Liu Zongmin from leading the Chinese army to retreat. Under the protection of the enemy, they retreated for ten miles before stopping.
At the same time, the soldiers and horses of the various battalions of the bandits who retreated continued to flee for their lives. By the time they gradually retreated to the central army, most of the dead soldiers and infantry of each battalion had been lost, or even all of them. Some of those troops died on the battlefield, and some simply fled while fleeing.
There are rumors on the battlefield that Li Zicheng is dead. Although Liu Zongmin, Li Yan, Niu Jinxing, Gu Junen, Song Xiance and others received orders from Li Zicheng and knew that this was false news, what happened to Li Zicheng and why the army was defeated in an instant? No bottom.
It wasn't until Li Zicheng returned to the Central Army with blood on his head that everyone rushed to see him in surprise and joy. However, when everyone saw that Li Zicheng's left eye had been shot out, everyone turned pale, and the atmosphere of the traitor in the Central Army was depressing. To the extreme.
At nightfall, the bandit army retreated ten miles and set up camp here. Originally, each battalion had hundreds of thousands of soldiers, plus the family members of the old camp, there were millions of people. However, after a whole day of bloody battle, each battalion now It's all much quieter.
The noisy scenes of the past disappeared, replaced by countless cries and groans of the injured.
In the large tent of the Central Army in the Rogue Bandit Camp, Li Zicheng's left eye had been treated, and the wooden thorn had been pulled out, along with the eyeball of his left eye. A piece of white cloth stained with blood wrapped half of Li Zicheng's head. His left eye was completely wrapped, and medicine had been applied inside.
At this time, everyone in the camp was sitting in groups.
Zhongying Quan General Liu Zongmin, Quan General Tian Jianxiu, System General He Jin, former Guoyi General Ren Jirong, Houyi General Wu Ruyi, Deputy Weiwei General Dang Shousu, Zuoweiwei General Li Jin;
Liu Fangliang, the general of the left camp, Liu Xiyao, the deputy general of the camp, Ma Shiyao, the general of Guoyi of the left, and Liu Rukui, the mighty general of the right;
The right camp system general Yuan Zongdi, the left Guoyi general Bai Minghe, and the right Guoyi general Liu Tichun.
Former camp system generals Li Laiheng, Zuo Guoyi generals Gu Kecheng, Xie Junyou, and right Guoyi generals Tian Hu;
The rear camp generals Li Guo, Zuo Guoyi generals Zhang Neng, You Guoyi generals Ma Chongxi, Helan, Lu Yingbiao and Gao Yigong;
Firearms Battalion General Li Dingguo, Zuo Guoyi General Sun Kewang, and Right Guoyi General Ai Nengqi.
As well as four military advisors: Li Yan, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and Gu Junen.
As for the mighty general Zhang Nai, the mighty general on the right Li You, and the mighty general Xin Sizhong on the left, they died in battle one after another. Except for Zhang Nai's body lying on the horse and being led by his subordinates back to the camp, Li You and All Xin Sizhong's bodies were missing, and his head was also captured by the army!
At this time, everyone's eyes fell on Li Zicheng. They saw that Li Zicheng's face was sallow, his lips were bloodless, and he was trembling slightly from time to time. It was obvious that there was severe pain from his left eye from time to time.
Li Zicheng leaned on the chair, looking very depressed. After a long time, he slowly said: "How many soldiers and horses are left in each battalion?"
Some people died, but not completely...
