"Sir, General Chen Shen has been defeated." The deputy general next to Yang Guozhu said in a low voice.
The officers and soldiers of a battalion sent to fight were defeated and fled. The general who led the army fled towards the direction of the army under the protection of his own soldiers.
Yang Guozhu's face was very ugly.
A battalion of five to six thousand infantry couldn't even deal with a team of about a thousand people in the Tiger Flag, and was defeated in the end. This made him unable to believe that the scene before him was real.
The soldiers and horses he brought were the elite of the Xuanfu, but they were defeated by a group of bandits, and they were defeated by a small number. It was simply a shame for the Xuanfu soldiers and horses, and also a shame for him, the chief soldier of the Xuanfu.
"Sir?" The deputy general on the side couldn't help shouting without waiting for Yang Guozhu's response.
Yang Guozhu withdrew his gaze and said: "We are not defeated yet, let the gunners from the firearms battalion go out to fight."
"Yes, General Mo will arrange it now." The deputy general next to him agreed, turned around and left.
Just as he left, the defeated general finally escaped and came to Yang Guozhu. He knelt on the ground with one knee, cupped his hands into fists, lowered his head and said, "This general is incompetent, please punish me."
"We'll talk about your matters later. Step back first." Yang Guozhu impatiently made a move to drive away the general who was kneeling in front of him.
Seeing that Yang Guozhu was unwilling to pay attention to him, the general had to stand up and step aside.
At this time, a musketry team of about a thousand people came out of the army and appeared in front of the formation.
Bird guns have always been ignored in the official army. The bird gun team with about a thousand people in front of them is the only team in Xuanfu that uses bird guns.
There were thousands of defeated official infantrymen on the official road. In addition to some who fled to the wheat fields on both sides of the official road, some also fled along the official road towards the direction of the army.
Some axemen holding sharp blades blocked in front of the gunmen of the army, staring at the retreating infantry with wary faces.
As the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, Yang Guozhu knew very well that at times like this, he could not let these defeated soldiers directly return to the army.
The sword and axemen sent out were to stop the defeated soldiers who wanted to get close to the official army.
Only a few unlucky officers and soldiers who escaped back bumped into the swordsman and were killed. The others found the swordsman and fled to the wheat fields on both sides.
It didn't take long, and there were only a few defeated soldiers left on the official road. On the contrary, the wheat fields on both sides were crowded with people, and many people stumbled into it.
Yang Guozhu ordered with a cold face: "Let the gunmen go forward and clear out the troops with the tiger flag in front of me."
A small flag officer ran to deliver the order.
After a short time, the blunderbuss in front of the army started to move and slowly moved forward along the official road.
The team of gunners, who were still in some formation, completely scattered after taking a few steps, just like a group of people coming to the market, moving forward in a chaotic manner.
Boom! Boom... boom!
As soon as the gunners on the official side moved forward, the roar of cannons rang out in the sky.
Solid bullets fell from the sky one after another and landed on the team of gunners. Several more solid bullets landed a few steps away from Yang Guozhu and other generals.
The army's bird gunners team suddenly fell into chaos, and many bird gunners fled in all directions to avoid the shelling.
Yang Guozhu looked very ugly when he saw this scene.
The Tiger Banner's cannons were already able to reach him. It was obvious that the Tiger Banner's people had moved the cannon forward, and they should have done so when the army's infantry was defeated. Otherwise, he would not have noticed it at all. arrive.
The deputy general on the side said at this time: "Sir, the cannons of the Tiger Flag can already hit us. Why don't you let the general protect you and retreat a few miles back?"
The expression on Yang Guozhu's face was uncertain.
To retreat at this time was to retreat, but he was a little unwilling to retreat now.
"Sir, the round of artillery fire just now was probably the opponent's test of artillery. With the skill of the Tiger Flag gunner, the next round of artillery fire is probably going to be towards us." The deputy general said worriedly.
Through the initial shelling of the cavalry of the official army by the Tiger Character Banner, he discovered that the gunners of the Tiger Character Banner were far more powerful than those in the official army. Not only did they fire faster, but more importantly, they had high hits and rarely missed shots. Case.
"My lord, it's better to retreat temporarily and fight again tomorrow." A military general nearby persuaded Yang Guozhu.
At this moment, a man came panting from behind the army.
"Sorry, sir, General Zhang ran away with his people."
As his words fell, the expressions of Yang Guozhu and the surrounding generals from Xuanfu suddenly changed.
"Tell me again, what happened to Zhang Huai?" Yang Guozhu, with a cold look on his face, asked the soldier who came to deliver the letter again.
I heard the soldier in front of me say: "General Zhang escaped with soldiers and horses from a battalion in Datong."
"Zhang Huai deserves to be killed!" Yang Guozhu yelled.
Zhang Huai's retreat at this time will definitely shake the morale of the army, even if their Xuanfu troops don't want to retreat.
The deputy general on the side advised: "Sir, retreat!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of cannons was heard again in the distance.
Solid bullets fell from the sky one after another, and most of them landed on Yang Guozhu's army.
The cannon hit people, almost killing them on the spot, and with the dense crowd around them, a solid bullet took away at least six or seven lives.
"Protect your lord." A soldier beside Yang Guozhu shouted loudly, and at the same time protected Yang Guozhu with his own body.
The surrounding soldiers gathered around Yang Guozhu, and some soldiers held shields to protect him.
Whether it was due to good luck or because the gunners of the Tiger Flag aimed at places where there were many officers and soldiers, Yang Guozhu and the generals around him were not hit by the cannons. On the contrary, many people were killed and injured in the army behind him.
"My lord, withdraw!" the deputy general next to him said anxiously.
The previous round of shelling did not hit him, but he did not dare to bet that he would be lucky enough not to be hit in the next round of shelling.
Yang Guozhu gritted his teeth, finally made up his mind, and said: "The army retreated fifteen miles."
With the general's order, the imperial army began to retreat.
The officers and soldiers withdrew very quickly. In addition, they suffered a lot of losses in the previous battle with the Tiger Flag soldiers and horses. Many soldiers heard the order to retreat and ran faster than anyone else.
Fortunately, although the official army lost some soldiers and horses, most of the soldiers and horses were intact, and their strength was not weakened too much. Even if the troops retreated, they were not too panicked, and the army did not collapse due to the retreat.
There were many people on the side of the Tiger Flag holding monocular binoculars to stare at the situation of the officers and soldiers.
Seeing the officers and soldiers retreating, Wang Lin came to Liu Heng's side, saluted and said, "Please allow the Fifth Soldier Battalion to pursue the retreating officers and soldiers."
He asked Liu Heng for a fight.
Liu Heng put down the monocular in his hand and said to him: "The official army has not been defeated yet. At least more than 10,000 troops have retreated safely. It is not appropriate to pursue them at this time."
He did not agree with Wang Lin to pursue the retreating officers and soldiers.
Through the monocular telescope, he has been paying attention to the situation of the army. Although their tiger-shaped flag defeated the army in two games, they did not kill many enemies.
Compared with the nearly 20,000 official troops, not even one-tenth of the troops were lost in the hands of Tiger Flag.
