The attack on the left wing of the bandits collapsed, giving a group of foot soldiers above the official level a chance to breathe.
There was no need to deal with attacks from both sides at the same time, and with Chen Wang's initial reminder and Cao Wenzhao's timely order, without surprise, the ambush had little effect.
Ambush warfare has evolved into positional warfare, but the bandits still have the advantage of geographical location and the advantage of being at a commanding height.
But when Chen Wang looked back from his horse, the scene in front of him made Chen Wang's heart almost sink to the bottom.
The endless black wave was sweeping in from the right side of the official road, seeming to completely submerge all the troops on the official road.
The military formations above the official road are like rocks in the sea, exposed to the storm without any shelter, and may be completely swallowed up by the wind and waves at any time.
"Stabilize the military formation, their bows and arrows will have no effect!!"
On the official road, the infantry of the Ming Army had recovered from their panic. The soft bows in the hands of the bandits were indeed of no use to them, and the Crouching Tiger Cannon was too far away to cause much damage.
The soldiers of the two bureaus at the front were attacked from two sides, and withstood the double blow of Crouching Tiger Cannon and bows and arrows, and were submerged in the crowd.
As for the soldiers of the other two bureaus in the front, one bureau was entangled and isolated, which was already in danger, and only the one behind them retreated in time.
Under the command of the lieutenant general, the military formations of each bureau are constantly gathering, forming a large formation with divisions as units.
As the infantry in the rear was still far away from the encirclement, the infantry of the two divisions had already completed the assembly. Commander Qian in the rear commanded the soldiers to rush to the center, which also contained the offensive of the rogue thieves to a certain extent.
In the military formation, Cao Dingjiao was wearing long body armor, full of fierceness, and his ferocious face looked like an evil beast trying to choose someone to devour.
He is also Cao Wenzhao's nephew, and he and Cao Bianjiao are brothers of the same clan. His original garrison position was changed to that of the central army. Cao Wenzhao handed over the infantry of the middle and rear groups to him and put him in charge.
"Anyone who dares to leave the formation and retreat without permission will be killed immediately to shock the three armies!"
Cao Ding's dragon's eyes contained evil aura, and his voice was gloomy as if coming from under the Nine Netherworld, which made everyone who heard it tremble with fear.
The bodyguards behind him all spread out with swords in their hands, looking coldly at the armored soldiers in front.
Since the ambush appeared, Cao Dingjiao has been observing the overall situation, and the command of the front has been taken over by him at this time.
The central part suffered a fierce attack from the bandits, but fortunately the rear section rescued the enemy and the casualties were still acceptable.
However, the casualties in the front were extremely heavy. The infantry of the first three bureaus fell into the enemy's formation. The soldiers of one bureau who withdrew were still in shock. After being merged into the front, it had a great impact on morale.
The bandits' archers occupied the high ground, raining arrows on the Ming army above the official road, and the sound of squatting tiger cannons was heard from time to time.
Every moment, soldiers were killed or wounded in the military formation, and the fear of death tortured everyone's nerves.
There were a total of eight rounds of soldiers at the front. Now they have lost three rounds and suffered the most violent attack from the bandits. Now there are only five rounds left with less than 500 soldiers.
Not long after the battle began, the front's five rounds had already lost nearly 10% of their troops. If the losses in the previous three rounds were included, the front's losses had already exceeded 40%.
At this time, the front has not collapsed, entirely because Cao Wenzhao led the cavalry to defeat the swarming thieves on the left wing.
This greatly boosted the morale of the army and allowed all the soldiers to find hope, just like a drowning man grabbing a stick.
However, even if this is the case, the front is already at the end of its rope, and the main attack direction of the elite cavalry of the rogue thieves is the front.
Unlike the soldiers in the middle and rear who only had to face enemies from one side, they not only had to face the enemies coming from the right, but also the enemies coming from the official road ahead.
"Send a message to Sun Anshan, his chance only lasts a moment!"
Cao Dingjiao grabbed the red scarf around the neck of a messenger and roared.
"When the flag of the Chinese army is wavering and thousands of artillery fire are fired, it is his opportunity to withdraw!"
"This is his last chance..."
Cao Dingjiao's eyes were red. He moved his gaze away from the face of the messenger, looked at the front of the military formation, and gritted his teeth.
"If you can't retreat...you will die in the formation!"
"kill!!!"
The cry of killing started again, and countless arrows flew into the air from the rear formation of the bandits, weaving a huge net of death in the air.
"Raise your shield!"
The officers of the Ming army in front of the formation immediately gave orders.
A group of Ming army soldiers at the front raised their shields one after another.
The locust-like feather arrows came with a sharp and piercing sound, and the rain of arrows fell. Most of them were blocked by the shields, but many of them shot into the military formation through the gaps in the Ming army's shields in front of the formation. In an instant, there were bursts of screams and groans in the military formation.
Cao Dingjiao's eyes suddenly froze. This time the arrows from the bandits were fast and urgent, and even some armors were pierced by the arrows. The ones who shot this arrows were definitely the elite among the bandits.
Not long after the rain of arrows fell, another rain of arrows flew into the sky from the rear formation of the bandits not far away, and then the continuous sound of horns also sounded in the formation of the bandits.
The bandit's team regained its strength at this time, and almost all of the people standing at the front were unable to cover their bodies, with sallow complexions and thin skin.
They carry a variety of weapons, and many of them only have wooden sticks, and rarely even short knives.
Cao Dingjiao's eyes did not stay on them for a long time. He knew clearly that these people were not the main force in this war. These people were just cannon fodder being pushed out.
These hungry people have lost their land and property. Whether they want it or not, they have already been unable to survive.
After the war, those who can survive and take off the heads of officers and soldiers can be qualified to become infantry soldiers.
Only by becoming a team and a horse army can they have enough to eat, and at the same time they are qualified to provide their families with enough to eat.
Their eyes were full of madness...and hunger...
Cao Dingjiao's eyes crossed the queue of hungry people and looked farther away.
Behind the queue of hungry people, the rogue infantry wearing armor, holding sharp knives, with strict banners and neat military formations were the real main force of this battle.
Many of those people were once generals in the army just like them.
It's just natural disasters and man-made disasters, this damn world, turned them into refugees, turned them into thieves, turned them into villains.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The rapid beating of drums suddenly sounded from behind the formation of the hungry people. In the next moment, the more than a thousand hungry people standing in the front formation all moved forward one after another.
They screamed and roared crazily, venting the fear in their hearts and summoning up the remaining courage in their hearts, as if this could arouse the few physical strength and courage in their bodies.
They were like a tide sweeping towards the Ming army's formation.
However, just when they had rushed forward, only about thirty steps away, the faces of the craziest hungry people at the front were full of fear, and some even turned around and wanted to escape.
However, the crowd swarming behind them blocked their way, making them in a dilemma. Many people who wanted to retreat were knocked down and were overwhelmed by the crowd...
After they fell to the ground, the people behind them discovered what made them so frightened.
Just in front of them, the Ming army's military formation was not row after row of dense spears, but black barrels one after another.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
The smoke of gunpowder instantly obscured everyone's vision. In front of the Ming army's formation, the sound of Crouching Tiger Cannon was as loud as thunder.
Above the official road, gunpowder smoke filled the air, and large pieces of flying rocks shot out from the tiger's crouching cannon.
Pieces of stone bullets sprayed into the crowd almost touching their faces. The old gangsters at the front didn't even grunt, they were beaten into sieves and fell down on the dry land.
The front line of the originally surging bandit troops was even wiped out by them, and fear quickly spread among the hungry people like poisonous weeds.
Continuous gunfire sounded in the Ming army's formation, and a large amount of gunpowder smoke flew into the air. The huge casualties and the fear of artillery made the entire bandit army fall to the bottom in an instant.
Terrifying screams resounded in the sky above the official road, and countless stone bullets were blasted into the surging crowd.
It's like...the sky is falling...
