With the roar of artillery on the top of the slope, the originally clear situation became unpredictable again.
Cao Wenzhao's face was ashen. He did not expect that the bandit army could actually have artillery.
People can endure the high-intensity fighting for so long, but the horses beneath them cannot endure for long.
The elite cavalry from the Flow Bandits army followed closely behind them. The troops at the rear of the Flow Bandits were tightly formed and it was impossible to rush in.
At the end of the powerful crossbow, the force cannot penetrate Lu Guan, let alone attack the well-organized military formation.
The expression on Cao Wenzhao's face kept changing, and he was thinking quickly about how to deal with it, but he still found nothing.
More than ten servants of the bandit cavalry that had just been defeated fell in the charging formation, and there were only about eighty cavalry left behind him. After all, the number was too small.
The cavalry he just encountered was stronger than the cavalry on the left in terms of morale and combat power. He mistakenly thought that the left was the direction of the main attack, and never thought that it was just a useless embroidered pillow. Although there are a lot of people, they are really a mob.
The real military formations of the bandits were all arranged on the right wing. Cao Wenzhao, the cavalry following them, could clearly see that many of them were wearing armor from the frontier army, and they were probably all from the frontier army.
Chen Wang had been staring at Cao Wenzhao since the cannon fired, hoping that he could find a way to save the situation again.
But in the end, Chen Wang couldn't find any answer on Cao Wenzhao's face.
Chen Wang's heart slowly sank. He knew that Cao Wenzhao might not be able to think of a way to break the situation.
Cao Wenzhao was a cavalry commander. He was originally a guerrilla in Liaodong. He was good at cavalry tactics. The infantry has always been led by his nephew Cao Dingjiao.
All the elite cavalry in the army were taken away by Cao Bianjiao, and it was difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. It was already a miracle that the situation could be changed to what it was now.
Chen Wang looked back at the bandit cavalry following not far behind him, and then turned his gaze back to the official road.
He just saw a cannonball that seemed to land not far from the Chinese army's flag, causing chaos in the military formation for a while. However, it has calmed down now. It must have been Cao Dingjiao who stabilized the situation.
However, the elite infantry of the bandits launched an offensive at this time and were slowly pressing towards the official road.
The reason why they did not launch an attack immediately was just to wait for a few more rounds of artillery fire to reduce the morale of the Ming army to an even lower level, and then attack the Ming army's formation in one go.
Even an army with high morale cannot withstand artillery bombardment. As long as it is bombarded for a few rounds, the military formation will fall apart. Most of them have suffered losses from artillery, and they all know it very well.
"General!"
Chen Wang gritted his teeth, whipped his horsewhip, and galloped up to Cao Wenzhao. He was only a few steps away from Cao Wenzhao.
In the current situation, it is only a dead horse to be treated as a living horse doctor first.
When Cao Wenzhao heard the shouting, he looked back at Chen Wang. He remembered Chen Wang and recognized Chen Wang.
This servant who has been following him since Liaodong is extremely brave and skilled in bow and horse.
Following him through dozens of battles, big and small, there were seven heads of slaves in the army, one of which was a white-armored soldier.
Fighting Jiannu and getting the head was not an easy task. The number of lives under Chen Wang had already exceeded ten in Liaodong.
After entering the pass, Chen Wang's military exploits were still outstanding. He captured thirty-two heads and killed more enemies. He may have killed more than a hundred people.
He had also thought about promoting Chen Wang and assigning Chen Wang to be a flag general or a general.
However, Chen Wang has always been taciturn and keeps to himself, rarely talking to others and rarely socializing with others.
After much deliberation, in the end Cao Wenzhao did not promote him, but only gave Chen Wang more military pay.
After all, as an officer, he has to restrain his troops, and Chen Wang's temperament is not suitable for him.
"The troops were bombarded and their morale is now low. Although the military formation has not dispersed, it is only barely maintained."
"If there are a few more rounds of shelling, the enemy will cover us up and the military formation will inevitably collapse."
Chen Wang had already given up everything. He was really unwilling to fail like this.
"There are so many thieves and cavalry, we will definitely be at a disadvantage in a head-on confrontation. It is no longer useful for us to stay on the outside. It is better to return to the army first."
"Having a general in charge of the central army can stabilize the morale of the military units. Even if the enemy's shelling continues, the military formation will not collapse and the situation can be temporarily stabilized."
Under such repeated blows, the army has not yet been defeated. To be honest, it was only Cao Wenzhao who led the army like this.
If other generals had led the troops, the army would have collapsed under the first round of the bandits' attack.
Cao Wenzhao felt that Chen Wang today seemed to be a completely different person from before.
First, he keenly discovered the details that he had not noticed, so that they did not fall into the encirclement net.
Now when the situation is complicated, Chen Wang can still remain calm and think of a response plan, which is still clear and coherent.
Cao Wenzhao wanted to say something, but when he finished speaking, he nodded like a ghost.
"Withdraw the Chinese army!"
Cao Wenzhao showed no hesitation at all. He pointed at the horse in his hand, and then ordered loudly.
As the military order was issued, the cavalry horn preparing to turn also sounded in the formation.
The journey back to the central army went smoothly, but the bandit's elite cavalry were too far away, and they didn't seem to really want to fight. Seeing them turn into the military formation on the official road, everyone stationed their horses.
On the hillside, the deafening sound of artillery sounded again, but this time, only the sound of four cannons sounded, and one artillery did not fire. It seemed that something went wrong.
But this time, only one of the four shells hit the Ming army's formation, and the other three shells all missed the direction and passed over the Ming army's formation.
At this time, Cao Wenzhao also led a group of servants into the military formation.
To be honest, when Cao Wenzhao led his troops to fight out, many people were worried that Cao Wenzhao would not be able to do anything when he saw the situation and lead his cavalry to flee, never to return.
Many of them were Datong soldiers and had not followed Cao Wenzhao for a long time. Their Shangguan had done such a thing before.
Cao Wenzhao returned to the army, which gave Datong soldiers a reassurance, and the morale of the army obviously changed.
Seeing the changes in the morale of the soldiers around him, Chen Wang felt calm.
As long as the team doesn't collapse, everything is still under control.
Artillery in this era was often done casually. The gunner had no rules at all and almost relied on feeling.
The damage that artillery can cause is actually not great, it is mainly a blow to morale.
"uncle."
Cao Dingjiao was covered in blood. When he saw Cao Wenzhao reentering the battle, he immediately came forward to greet him.
Without any unnecessary gossip, Cao Dingjiao stepped forward and quickly reported the situation of each department, and the command was transferred back to Cao Wenzhao.
Cao Wenzhao did not rush to give the order, but first looked at Chen Wang who was beside him. He had a strange feeling.
Whether this battle can be won or not, I'm afraid the key lies not with him, but with Chen Wang.
"History of the Ming Dynasty":
"The governor's censor Fan Fucui's first meritorious performance was thirty-six thousand six hundred. The merits of Wenzhao were first, followed by Jiamo, Cheng'en and Qi."
"Wen Zhao was in Shaanxi, and he fought dozens of battles, big and small, and achieved the most success. The inheritance of the domain is not mentioned."
"Sui Kou Chronicle" records that after Cao Wenzhao died, "all the officials and soldiers in Henan and Chu outside the pass heard about it, and they all wanted to seize their strength."
