"There is only one ship left, why not let them withdraw!" Looking at the last remaining ship on the river, Commander Zheng Qinyu of the Xiangyang Guards felt compassion.
I couldn't bear to see the only Ming Dynasty heroes left on the ship dying in vain.
"We can't go back. If we delay for a quarter of an hour here, the chances of success in crossing the river at the other two places will be greater. As long as they can cross the river, their sacrifice is worth it." Ma Xianglin said expressionlessly.
It's as if the soldiers on the ship are not Sichuan Gui's troops.
Zheng Qinyu stared at Ma Xianglin's face again and again.
If he were the soldiers and horses of Xiangyang Guard, he would never be able to be as decisive as the other party.
At the same time, he also admired Ma Xianglin's ability in training troops.
Faced with a life-or-death situation, no one can be seen escaping.
If there were soldiers and horses of his Xiangyang Guard in the river, he would probably have fled back before he, the commander of the Xiangyang Guard, could give the order.
"You can definitely cross the river at the other two places." Zheng Qinyu said with certainty.
If the army cannot cross the river, there is really no way to explain to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in front of them.
The roaring sounds of cannons continued to reach everyone's ears.
The cannonballs fell on the water, stirring up waves. The only remaining ship in the river was also destroyed by the shelling on the other side, and the Ming army on board fell into the water.
Only a few bubbles appeared on the surface of the water, and many people never surfaced again.
The ship was shattered by the cannons, causing many planks to float on the river, and most of these planks carried Ming troops who fell into the water.
Hundreds of Ming soldiers entered the river, but only a few dozen people could be counted on the river. More Ming soldiers sank to the bottom and rushed downstream along the direction of the current.
The five boats prepared by the Ming army to cross the river were all destroyed by artillery fire from the opposite side.
"Who told you to stop? Fire, keep firing." Ma Xianglin's cold face stared at the several Ming army gunners in front of the Xiaoflang machine gun.
Seeing this, Zheng Qinyu knew that Ma Xianglin was feeling sorry for the hundreds of Sichuan soldiers who had gone down the river.
But those Ming army gunners were just angry.
Hundreds of elite soldiers were lost like this. Anyone would be distressed, and it would be the same for him.
Boom!
It may be that the gunner put too much gunpowder on the small Franco machine cannon, and the barrel exploded immediately after running away. Two of the gunners in front of him were killed on the spot, and the rest were also injured.
"Trash." Ma Xianglin cursed with a cold face when he saw the cannon exploded.
He didn't show any concern for the soldiers who were killed or injured because of the explosion of the Fran cannon. On the contrary, without the Fran cannon, he was more worried that he would not be able to continue to contain the rebel soldiers on the other side.
Zheng Qinyu's face turned gloomy.
Different from Ma Xianglin.
Because the small Fran machine gun that exploded was a gun brought by their Xiangyang Guard, and the gunner who operated the gun was also a soldier of the Xiangyang Guard.
The cannon exploded. As the commander of the Xiangyang Guard, he not only lost a Franco machine gun, but also lost the lives of several gunners who knew how to operate the gun.
Even though so many soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had died in the river just now, the destruction of a cannon and the loss of several gunners made him feel more distressed.
After all, one belongs to someone else's family and the other belongs to my own family.
"This can only be done. The rest depends on General Qin and General Chen." Ma Xianglin withdrew his gaze from the other side of the river.
He had done everything he could, and he only had to wait for the results of the other two river crossings.
"There's nothing going on here right now. It's better for the Xuan comfort envoy to go back to the camp and wait for news." Zheng Qinyu said to Ma Xianglin.
They no longer had a boat that could cross the river, so there was no need to stay here.
Ma Xianglin turned his head to look at the other party and said: "If Commander Zheng wants to go back to the camp, you can go back. I am waiting here for news about the successful crossing of the river at the other two places."
"Why do you have to worry about this? You can still receive news from them when you return to the big tent." Zheng Qinyu persuaded from the side.
tread! tread! tread!
The sound of rapid horse hooves came from the upstream direction of the river bank, and soon a fast rider appeared in everyone's sight.
"Report!"
Before the horse came to a complete stop, the rider on the horse jumped down, rushed to Ma Xianglin, knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists with both hands and said, "General Qin has successfully crossed the river with his troops and horses."
"Haha, okay, General Qin should take the lead in this battle." The dark clouds on Ma Xianglin's face cleared, and he laughed heartily while stroking his beard.
As long as the white pole soldiers cross the river, in his opinion, the victory of this battle is determined.
"Both sides crossed the river almost at the same time. Why haven't my men sent any news yet?" Zheng Qinyu frowned and muttered in a low voice. Then he looked at the rider in front of him who reported the news and asked, "General Qin has really arrived with all his troops." Across the river? No obstruction from bandits?"
Before the rider kneeling on the ground could speak, Ma Xianglin's face sank and he said, "What does Commander Zheng mean by this? Could it be that it's normal for you Xiangyang Guards to cross the river, but the Sichuan noble soldiers and horses brought by me can't cross it." Going to the river?"
"Xiaguan didn't mean that." Zheng Qinyu said, "Both sides received the signal to cross the river at the same time. Now General Qin sent people to send news that the crossing was successful, but the people Xiaguan sent to cross the river did not send back any news, so Xiaguan wanted to We need to ask more questions, so that we can know if the people under the official rank encountered any trouble while crossing the river."
Ma Xianglin snorted coldly when he heard this, and immediately said to the rider who reported the news: "Come and tell Commander Zheng, so that Commander Zheng can worry."
"Yes." The rider responded first, then turned to Zheng Qinyu and said, "Report to the commander, when Xiao came over, our General Qin had not yet crossed the river, but the first few boatmen to cross the river had successfully stood firm on the other side of the river. Heels, others will soon cross the river to the other side, so General Qin sent the younger ones to send the news back first."
Ma Xianglin, who was standing aside, said at this time: "You have heard that the soldiers and horses under my command have successfully crossed the river. As for what is going on with the Xiangyang guards and horses, I think Commander Zheng will know better."
Zheng Qinyu's face darkened when he heard this.
He cursed in his heart that the commander he sent was incompetent and actually allowed Chuan Gui's troops to cross the river first.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Ma Xianglin continued to sarcastically say: "Commander Zheng, why don't you go and take a look at your own troops and horses? Otherwise, if you don't tell them that they won't be able to cross the river, they will all be destroyed in the river."
"No need, I trust my subordinates." Zheng Qinyu said with an ugly expression.
The soldiers and horses of the two families are not unified. After joining forces, conflicts continued between the two sides. Otherwise, they would not have chosen one upstream and one downstream to cross the river separately.
Hearing this, Ma Xianglin showed contempt.
He knew very well the virtues of the soldiers and horses of the Xiangyang Guards. Even if they crossed the river, they might not be the opponents of the bandit soldiers, let alone compared with the white-poled soldiers of their Ma family.
