"Master Guo, why don't we try to recruit troops? As long as we can succeed, we can capture Hutou Village without spending a single soldier, getting the best of both worlds." Facing the unusual-looking bandits in front of him, Li Huai hesitated in his heart.
He was not worried that he would not be able to exterminate the bandits in front of him. He was worried that the suppression of bandits would cause too much damage to the garrison camp, especially the servants he raised. Each one of them cost him a lot of money and food, and he would feel bad if any of them died.
Guo Binchang frowned and said: "Master Li, I advise you not to have such thoughts. Don't forget who is the person who wants their lives. Think about who the 20% of your iron field members are." how come."
Li Huaixin nodded.
He knew that he was not the only one who had the final say in this matter. There were several interests involved in it, and the reason why he was able to obtain two percent of Tiechang's members was entirely because the other party needed him to clear out the bandits in Hutou Village.
"Chen Yusheng!" Li Huaixin said, "Let the Xu family charge at the bandits in front. You can lead a hundred families to suppress the formation. Don't get too far ahead."
"I understand." Chen Yusheng turned around and left to make arrangements.
At this time, Li Huaixin wanted to let the Xu family's thugs test the strength of the Hutou Village bandits. He would not feel bad about killing the Xu family.
The thugs at the Xujia iron yard were all arrogant and arrogant people, many of whom were wanted by the government. Xu Laosi was worried that these people would not do their jobs with all their heart, so he went to find them personally.
He said to the leading iron field thugs: "As long as you work hard to capture Hutou Village, the Xu family will benefit from you."
A thug on the side said: "Manager Xu, you have also seen that there are hundreds of bandits in Hutou Village, and we are only more than 130 people. There is a huge disparity in the number of people on both sides. Brothers cannot fill their lives in vain." .”
Xu Laosi said: "Aren't there still officers and soldiers? As long as you rush to the front, the officers and soldiers will support you from behind."
"Manager Xu, it's not that I don't want to give you face, but I just want my brothers to sacrifice their lives with empty words. I'm afraid that won't work." The iron field thug shook his head.
Xu Laosi hesitated for a moment and said: "One bandit's head costs three taels. If any of you can kill the head of Hutou Village, I will make the decision and give him one hundred taels."
"Come on," the thug from the iron field greeted, "Brothers, copy the guys and kill the bandits to get money."
With this greeting, more than a hundred iron field thugs picked up their weapons.
Most of Xu Jiayang's thugs are wanted criminals in official uniforms, such as bandits and bandits, and there are also some Dongshan miners who are brave and ruthless.
Such a group of people usually act arrogantly in the iron yard, and even the face of Xu Laosi, the iron yard manager, is not very useful. On the contrary, as soon as the money is stimulated and there are officers and soldiers to suppress the formation, these people can't wait to rush to the bandits in front. Cut off the bandits' heads in exchange for silver.
The distance between the officers and soldiers and Hutou Village was only more than 200 steps. If the officers and soldiers moved, Liu Heng, who was standing on the crenellated wall, could see clearly.
The officers and soldiers rushed out of more than a hundred sturdy men, many of whom were wearing iron armor, but they were in disarray when they rushed out.
Liu Heng said: "Bing the gong."
Boom!
Above the crenellated wall, the bandit beside the wooden frame raised his copper hammer and struck the gong heavily.
Hearing the sound of the gong, the squadron leader of the firecrackers squadron shouted: "The first row of firecrackers is ready!"
The first row of more than a hundred gunmen all lit the match ropes on the guns, and aimed their guns at the thugs from the Xujia iron yard who were rushing over.
"...One hundred steps, ninety steps...seventy steps..." The squadron leader of the fire gun team standing in the middle of the first column thought silently in his heart, counting the distance of the enemy's approach.
When he had reached sixty steps of silent reciting, he saw the command flag in his right hand pressing down, stretching it flat and rushing forward, shouting: "Let go!"
boom!
Hundreds of cannons roared in unison, deafening, the air trembled, and even the earth seemed to tremble.
For Liu Heng, it was also the first time for him to see such a large-scale scene of gunpowder fired. The strong smell of gunpowder floated to the crenellated walls almost instantly.
Liu Heng, who was standing at a high place, could see the situation on the battlefield clearly.
More than a hundred people rushed over in a dense crowd. After the sound of fire cannons, most of the space was instantly emptied and became sparse. Less than fifty people could still stand.
The feet of these people were in a mess, and blood flowed from the wounds of the corpses, staining the soil below black, and the strong smell of blood filled the air.
In addition to the corpses, some people who were hit by fire cannons and did not die immediately were howling in pain.
Under the first round of fire, the dozens of Tiejang who survived all stood still. They were so shocked by the scene in front of them that they forgot to retreat or continue to rush forward.
If they don't move, the fire gunmen of Hutou Village will not stop because of this. The second row of fire gunmen is ready, and with the order, there is another roar of fire cannons.
More than a hundred fire gunmen fired in a volley, and of the dozens of remaining iron field thugs, not a single one was left this time. They were all hit by the lead shot from the fire cannons, and fell down one after another, as if they had been beaten. Broken wood pile.
After the two rounds of fire cannons were fired, there was no one left standing between the two armies.
Li Huaixin, who was on the government side, turned pale when he saw this scene.
It is obvious that the blunderbuss is the most disliked by the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, but it has become a sharp weapon in the hands of the bandits in Hutou Village.
He noticed that after firing the gun in the bandit's hand twice, none of the guns exploded. It was also more powerful than the bird guns he knew, which completely overturned his previous knowledge of bird guns.
Guo Binchang, who was protected by several servants, had already fallen on the ground and vomited.
Being beaten to death by firecrackers is far more miserable than being shot to death by bows and arrows. Many thugs in the iron field were beaten to death, especially the dozens of people who were hit by firecrackers in the second round. Everyone suffered unknown wounds. How many pieces of lead and many body parts were smashed, not even a whole body was left.
Many soldiers in the army could not help but vomit.
Most of the soldiers guarding the main camp had never even suppressed bandits. When they saw the tragic situation in front of them, they did not collapse immediately. It was Li Huaixin who led the troops well.
Of course, this would not be the case if it were the frontier army. At least the frontier army would have fights with the northern barbarians from time to time, and they would see a lot of dead people. Especially the frontier army would not stop at night, and dared to fight the northern barbarians head-on without falling behind.
Wang Tong looked at Li Huaixin anxiously and said, "Sir, lead your troops and withdraw! The bandits' muskets are too powerful. Our people can't get close at all. It's better to withdraw first and then think of other ways."
Li Huaixin nodded.
The bandits in Hutou Village were indeed beyond his expectation. They were far from the incompetent grass bandits he had thought before. No wonder they dared to open an iron yard in Dongshan and were not afraid of the gentry behind other iron yards in Dongshan.
"Notice, the rear team will change to the front team and go down the mountain first." Li Huaixin paused and then said, "Leave a hundred soldiers here to hold off the bandits and give the army time to evacuate."
Everyone knows that it is unlikely that the remaining camp soldiers will come back alive.
"Yes." Wang Tong hurriedly conveyed the order. He didn't want to stay in Hutou Village anymore, it was too cruel.
Li Huaixin turned his head towards the stacked wall and saw a figure leaning forward above.
Although it was the first time for him to meet this person, he could feel that the other person should be Liu Heng, the head of Hutou Village.
