Wherever he looked, there were spark-like light spots, which were extremely conspicuous in the dim forest, and there were more and more light spots like this around.
"Retreat, retreat quickly." General Xu shouted loudly.
At this time, he already knew that the army had fallen into an ambush.
But what he didn't expect was that the bandits in Daliang Mountain were so bold that they dared to set up an ambush for the officers and soldiers on both sides of the mountain road leading to the village. And judging from the number of light spots shining in the forest, it was obvious that there were many gunmen.
Although the bird cannons built by the Ministry of Industry have various problems, so many bird cannons, shot down at once, can still cause great damage to the officers and soldiers.
At the same time, what worries him even more is that the officers and soldiers he brought will suffer too many casualties due to the enemy's cannons, and it is not impossible that the army will be defeated.
The mountain road is narrow, so it's good that there was no chaos. Once there was panic, such a narrow mountain road couldn't bear the crowding of so many people.
Following General Xu's order to retreat, the officers and soldiers in the front began to retreat, while the officers and soldiers in the middle were unable to advance or retreat. Even if the officers and soldiers behind wanted to retreat, they could not retreat so quickly.
The narrow mountain path was in complete chaos, and people were so crowded that they all wanted to retreat.
At this moment, the sound of a copper whistle came from the forest.
Beep!
The sound of the copper whistle made General Xu's heart sink.
From this copper whistle, he was once again sure that the bandits from Daliang Mountain were setting up an ambush here.
boom!
The sound of a firecracker suddenly sounded, like a signal, and more firecrackers were fired one after another in the forest.
At the same time, some soldiers in the army were hit by lead bullets fired from cannons and died on the spot. Some soldiers were not dead after being hit, but they fell to the ground and screamed.
The officers and soldiers on the mountain road became more and more panicked, and there was even a stampede. Many soldiers were pushed or knocked to the ground, and they were immediately trampled under the feet of those behind them. Many people were trampled to death in this way.
Some soldiers were pushed out of the mountain road and rolled into the grass on both sides of the mountain road.
Under the protection of their own soldiers, General Xu and several generals retreated all the way towards the mountain road they came from. All the soldiers blocking the way were killed on the spot by the soldiers of these generals.
As for the war horses they were riding on when they arrived, no one continued to ride them.
At this time, everyone knew that riding on horseback was a living target. On the contrary, when dismounted, they could also use the war horse as a human shield to resist the lead shot from the forest.
As a result, there were not many casualties among the generals and soldiers, only some horses were lost. Only when the sound of gunfire started to sound, some soldiers died, and the most casualties were ordinary Fubiao camp soldiers.
Among the dead soldiers, except for some who were killed and injured by fire guns, more died from trampling and the swords of those soldiers.
The sound of firecrackers in the forest sounded as quickly as it disappeared.
Soon, the forest became quiet again, and only the officers and soldiers on the mountain path were still pushing and shoving, all trying to escape down the mountain along the mountain path.
The first person to notice that the sound of firecrackers had stopped was the soldiers beside General Xu, and he heard him say: "Sir, the bandits in the forest seem to have retreated."
The disgraced General Xu was reminded by the soldiers around him, and then he noticed that the sound of firecrackers had indeed stopped, and there were only some screams around him.
However, these screams were all on the mountain road and did not come from the forest.
General Xu glanced cautiously in the direction of the forest. All the light spots before had disappeared.
Although he didn't know whether the bandits in the forest had really retreated, the muskets were definitely gone. At least the match ropes of the muskets had not been lit.
Without the threat of cannons, General Xu had the opportunity to deal with the army he brought.
One look at it made my heart hurt.
The tragic situation of the officers and soldiers on the mountain road allowed him to know without statistics that a lot of soldiers were lost. A large part of them were trampled to death and injured. The number of soldiers who actually died from the bullets was not many.
"Send the order, reorganize the army, and kill anyone who confuses the morale of the army and runs away!" He ordered to the soldiers around him.
There were soldiers to deliver orders for him.
Then, he said to a soldier beside him: "Take someone to check the woods on both sides to see if the bandits have really withdrawn."
"yes."
The soldiers on the side bowed and agreed, and took some soldiers to the woods on both sides of the mountain road.
After arranging all this, General Xu sat down holding on to a stone on the side of the road.
At this time, his legs were trembling. If he hadn't been pulled off his horse by the soldiers around him when the cannon sounded, he might have turned into a corpse on the ground.
As for his war horse, it was shot to death because it was used as a human shield to resist the lead bullets fired from the cannon.
Driven and ordered by the generals in their respective teams, the officers and soldiers on the mountain road finally stopped their retreat and began to gather together again.
Zhang Wenhe, who had been following the army, approached General Xu angrily and said angrily: "How did you lead the troops? How could you let the bandits attack the army? When I return to Datong, I will report the truth to the governor. Expose your incompetence."
At this time, he no longer sat in the sedan chair, and the two bearers who carried the sedan chair had long since disappeared. I don't know if they escaped down the mountain among the broken soldiers, or if they had died on the mountain road.
Fortunately, the guards he brought from Guojiazhuang stayed by his side and did not escape. Now they are protecting him to find General Xu.
General Xu was too lazy to make excuses with him and said coldly: "Mr. Zhang, you have to understand that if you hadn't kept urging me to go up the mountain, how could you have been ambushed? I haven't asked you to accuse me, but you did it first." Ben is coming."
"Xu, what do you mean?" Zhang Wenhe stared coldly at General Xu in front of him and said, "You are the commander-in-chief of an army. You were ambushed because of your own incompetence, and you still want to blame me. If you dream, I will definitely Please ask the Governor to withdraw you, the commander of the Fubiao Battalion."
"I am an official of the imperial court. How can one person make me lose my official title with just one word?" General Xu said coldly, "You Zhang Wenhe have no official and no rank. What qualifications do you have to point fingers in front of me? Come on. , let me capture him."
The soldiers on the side came up, raised their hands and grabbed Zhang Wenhe directly.
The several guards from Guojiazhuang who came with Zhang Wenhe were so frightened that they dared not move in the face of the eyeing soldiers around them.
Zhang Wenhe, who was subdued by two soldiers, shouted loudly: "Xu, you are so brave. You dare to arrest me. I am the governor's staff."
General Xu didn't even look at him anymore.
Zhang Wenhe turned his head and shouted to his guards: "What are you doing standing still? Come and rescue me quickly."
"Let's see who dares!" General Xu looked at the men from Guojiazhuang with cold eyes.
The guards brought by Zhang Wenhe not only did not dare to save people, but were overwhelmed by General Xu's momentum and took several steps back in fright.
"A bunch of useless trash."
Seeing that these people not only did not save him, but instead backed away, Zhang Wenhe became angry and cursed.
