"General Qi, there are too many casualties among our brothers." Xiao Qi stood beside General Xu with a grimace.
Mr. Xu frowned, and he also saw the scene in front of the iron field.
The bandit gunmen in the iron yard only fired three-wheeled bird cannons, wounding and killing nearly two soldiers of the small flag. Among them, the injured soldiers had little hope of surviving.
If you are hit by a fire cannon, you can still survive if you hit the limbs, but if you hit the rest of the body, you can only wait for death.
He had a total of five flags under his command. Just one test almost wiped out the two flags in his hand. General Xu felt very distressed.
Turning his head, Mr. Xu Qi said to Xiao Qi beside him: "Tell the brothers to go back first and stay away from the gate of the iron yard for the time being."
After saying that, he turned around and walked towards Baihu who was leading the team.
Shi Baotou, who was hiding behind the officers and soldiers, took a breath and said to himself: "This damn... it's just, who the hell are the officers and soldiers?"
A police officer next to him said tremblingly: "Shitou, how about we escape? Last time, Xiao Shi saw that the bandits in the iron yard were not easy to deal with, so we had better leave them to the officers and soldiers to deal with, otherwise we would wait until those bandits were free." , it’s too late to leave now.”
His words expressed the thoughts of the police officers around him.
They were just police officers in the yamen, and they could bully ordinary people. They always kept a distance from the bandits outside the city, especially the bandits who seemed to be so vicious that they were not even afraid of the officers and soldiers.
Shi Zai glared and said, "Okay, everyone, shut up and stay quiet. I'll go over and talk to that hundred households and let our people stay outside the iron yard."
Unlike the police officers below, he knew that he could never take this man back to the county town.
Even the county magistrate followed the army to Hutou Village to suppress the bandits. They, the officers in the yamen, dared to return to the county seat without capturing the bandits in the iron yard. His position as the leader really became someone else's.
After stabilizing the police officer under him, Mr. Shi looked in the direction of the iron field with a worried expression.
In the current situation, everyone can see that the bandits in the iron field are not easy to deal with.
Mr. Xu stood in front of Baihu and said worriedly: "Sir, without archers to suppress the opponent's muskets, our casualties will be too great. It's better to send someone to find the garrison master and find a way to bring back some archers to Dongshan." "Iron Field"
When the hundred households heard this, they shook their heads and said: "There are more bandits on Hutou Village Mountain, and there must be many people who use blunderbuss. The few archers in our camp may not be enough, let alone separate them." Some are given to us.”
"No archer who wants to rush into the iron field will only end up with a heap of lives. The ones who died are all our brothers. The police officers can't count on them at all." Mr. Xu Qi looked dissatisfied.
Only with soldiers can one have strength, and he was unwilling to let his soldiers die too many casualties.
Another general, Chen Zongqi, sighed: "The border army also has a firearms camp, but we have all seen the firearms there. They just burn fire sticks and fire them once. Most of them are empty. How come these muskets have become empty in the hands of bandits?" It’s so powerful.”
They were all generals, and they were no strangers to muskets, but this was the first time they saw so many muskets used by bandits, and they used them better than the border troops.
The hundred households pondered for a moment, seemed to have made up their minds, and said: "Mr. Xu Qi, take your people and charge again. The bandits only have more than thirty gunmen. As long as your people spread out, take advantage of the opportunity for the cannons to be fired." , you can rush into the iron field in one go, and as long as you get close, the bandit's gunmen are no longer a threat."
Mr. Xu's face looked ugly.
Even if he spreads the people out a little, he can fire more than ten cannons in turn at a time. If he has dozens of people in his hand plus the dozen or so soldiers he lost before, he will probably lose more than half.
Seeing that Mr. Xu didn't speak, the hundred households said again: "Don't worry, as long as you win the iron field, you can choose the benefits in the iron field first, and I will also give you credit for the defense."
After hearing this, Mr. Xu Qi looked better.
"In that case, I will obey your orders."
After receiving the order, General Xu Qi turned around and left, summoning several of his subordinates for discussion.
Chen Zongqi, who was standing next to Baihu, said: "Sir, do you want me to take someone to help Xu Zongqi? This group of bandits is not simple at first glance. How can ordinary bandits use so many blunderbuss and know how to do it?" Three shots."
The hundred households nodded and said: "Your people are following Mr. Xu Qi. As soon as his people rush into the iron yard, you will lead them in immediately. You must not let the bandits in the iron yard escape."
"Yes, I'll go get ready now." Mr. Chen Qi turned and left.
At this moment, Shi Baotou came to the hundred households.
He said: "Sir, I think this group of bandits is not easy to deal with. Why don't we simply surround them without attacking them, and wait for the garrison to capture Hutou Village, and then gather our troops to capture the iron field in one fell swoop."
Shi Baotou was just a county government agent, a petty official with no rank, so he was careful when speaking to a high-ranking general like Baihu.
"Shi Captou, you came just in time, I am looking for you." The hundred households said, "In a moment, my troops will attack the iron field, and let your agents and guards stay outside the iron field. You must not Let the people in the iron yard escape during the chaos, otherwise I will question you."
"Don't worry, sir. I'll leave it to the villain outside the iron yard." Shi Baotou assured with his chest spread out.
As long as he didn't have to fight those bandits in the iron yard, he would be happy to agree.
Those hundreds of households didn't expect Shi Baotou and other police officers to do anything. They still needed their officers and soldiers to suppress the bandits.
General Xu Qi had already discussed with his subordinates Xiao Qi and promised some benefits, so these Xiao Qi led his subordinates and slowly approached the gate of the iron yard.
After a previous attack, several small flags noticed that the bandits behind the gate of the iron gate would only fire muskets when the soldiers were about sixty steps away from the gate of the iron gate, so they prepared to slowly move closer, six steps away from the gate. He took about ten steps and rushed into the iron field in one go.
This time, the officers and soldiers did not walk together, but spread out as much as possible.
Most of the guards who were former miners of the iron field were not far from the gate of the iron field. They all saw it when the government troops attacked the iron field but were repulsed after leaving more than a dozen corpses behind.
At this time, some people began to make plans to help Tiechang resist the government troops.
The iron yard provides high wages, good food and accommodation, and the miners' guards at the iron yard are not willing to lose such a good job.
If the officers and soldiers could defeat the bandits, they would naturally not think otherwise, but now it was obvious that a small team of gunmen was holding the officers and soldiers outside the iron field.
Not only that, no one on the iron field was injured, but the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties.
Many of the iron field miners' guards were fire gunmen. The more than thirty fire gunmen who fought back the government troops used the same tools they usually trained with. Many people were thinking that they could do the same thing. arrive.
The officers and soldiers who originally frightened them have become less scary at this time.
The miners in Dongshan are self-contained in Dongshan, and they don't have much respect for the government. There are already miners guarding him hesitantly wanting to go to Jia Liu's side.
However, when they saw that the army started attacking the iron field again, they suppressed the urge to go to Jia Liu's side immediately and waited to see the result of the army's attack on the iron field this time.
