Liu Zongmin rode his horse on a high ground, looking at the officers and soldiers approaching from the north with extremely firm eyes. He raised his hand and pointed at the officers and infantry formations and said: "The officers and infantry have sharp guns and artillery. We don't need to fight with them. As long as they Just keep your distance and keep my cavalry out of range."
He then said: "Li You, I order you to lead a team of three hundred cavalry in front of the official army's formation. Remember to always keep a hundred steps away from them, retreat slowly, and use the horse power of our cavalry to defeat them." team.
Zhang Li and Tong Shoushan each lead 300 cavalry at my side to obey my orders. As the central army, they can be used at any time. Xie Junyou leads 800 cavalry on the left wing, and Ren Rongguang leads 800 cavalry on the right wing. You two and I kept a distance of three to five hundred steps and supported each other. "
He said with a cold look: "Each department can only ride and shoot and fight, and they must try their best to avoid fighting with the officers and soldiers. Our main task is to hold back the officers and soldiers. After King Chuang's army has ambushed in Zhuxian Town, we can lead Even if the officers and soldiers pursue us, we must let them know how powerful we are."
"Please be at ease, Commander-in-Chief Liu, we'll find out later!" Everyone responded in unison and rode their horses back to their respective teams.
They quickly dispersed and divided into four parts, fighting individually but also responding to each other, and slowly retreated south.
…………
Chen Dakuan led a thousand infantrymen who still used a shield formation to cover the front, and the musketry soldiers formed a formation at the back. They also used spearmen to protect the two wings and advanced in formation. However, the bandits were always outside the range of the musketry.
If he marched a little more urgently, it would be difficult to keep the formation intact. Hundreds of thieves on the opposite side would rush in in groups from two to three hundred paces away. Step outside and turn back.
Chen Dakuan was helpless about this. He was afraid that the formation would not be organized and he would be attacked by the bandits and cavalry, so he did not dare to order a rapid advance with light armor. He could not give up the pursuit, so he had to send out sentries to report the situation to Zhang Cheng.
On the other side, Zhang Guangda's heavy cavalry did not wear heavy armor in order to facilitate a long battle, and the war horses were not equipped with armor. Like Wang Tieren's light cavalry, they were both lightly armored pairs.
Opposite him was the cavalry of Xie Junyou, the thief general he had fought with in the early morning. This time Xie Junyou did not need to guard the camp. He also learned wisely and no longer fought with Zhang Guangda's troops, only fighting on the periphery.
Sometimes they galloped their horses to intercept Zhang Guangda to the north, sometimes they galloped southward, and sometimes they formed formations to wait for Zhang Guangda. The two sides also occasionally fought, but the bandits and cavalry drove away at the first touch and did not fight.
Zhang Cheng led Lin Fangping's 300 cavalry, plus Chen De's 600 more cavalry, to fight against the bandit Ren Rongguang outside the west gate. Ren Rongguang, like Xie Junyou, received Liu Zongmin's military order and did not fight with Zhang Cheng's army. Fighting.
At this moment, Zhang Cheng also received Chen Dakuan's military report. He galloped up a mound and looked towards the infantry formation. It was indeed difficult for them to pursue the intruder cavalry, although there were only three hundred rebel cavalry. Chen Dakuan's more than a thousand elite infantry troops were teased to the point where they were helpless.
In fact, if the rebel cavalry charges into the formation, even though Chen Dakuan's troops only have more than a thousand men, they can still fight with them. Even if Liu Zongmin gathers more than two thousand cavalry in one place, Chen Dakuan's infantry camp can withstand it for an hour. It is not a problem. .
But now Chen Dakuan is asked to lead the infantry formation to pursue the cavalry of the intruders. It is indeed a bit difficult. He can only barely touch the butt of the intruders' cavalry. Moreover, such a battle is more physically demanding and difficult to last.
Zhang Cheng immediately told the sentries to go back and pass the order to Chen Dakuan. After a while, the infantry rushed to chase the thieves for two miles, and then formed a defensive formation on the spot. After the intruders retreated, they could station at Kaifeng Nanguan and wait to enter the city. There is no need to go further. Chase the bandit army.
He immediately ordered people to call Lin Fangping and Chen De. After a while, they rode up the mound. Chen De rode to Zhang Cheng and said to him: "Zhang Shuai, this can't be done. You have to think of something." This is the solution!"
Gu Meng Zhang Cheng also felt embarrassed. He said: "Liu Thief is determined not to fight with me. It doesn't make much sense to continue fighting like this. Therefore, I want to take a risk."
When Chen De saw Zhang Cheng looking at him after he finished speaking, he hurriedly expressed his position: "Please give me your orders, Commander Zhang. Chen De has gone through fire and water and is definitely not a person who is afraid of death."
Zhang Cheng smiled and then said in a deep voice: "It is indeed difficult for our infantry to chase the thieves, but I have ordered Chen Dakuan's troops to march two miles hastily. Such a rapid advance of the infantry camp will definitely exceed the expectations of the invading army."
He looked at the two men and continued: "I have ordered people to send orders to Zhang Guangda's side to continue as usual and try their best to hold back Xie Junyou's invading army cavalry, but here we must cooperate with the rapid advance of the infantry camp and protrude to the front of the infantry camp.
We are one man and two cavalry. If we pursue the intruders and cavalry for a long time, we can still catch up. However, we are afraid that the intruders will set up an ambush on the road ahead to wait for us. Therefore, we are now divided into two teams and cooperate with the infantry camp to rush forward to chase the thieves. .
When the intruders were pushed back two miles away, they quickly moved diagonally to the right, blocked the retreat of Xie Junyou's bandit troops, and worked together with Zhang Guangda to annihilate them all here! "
Chen De cupped his fists and said, "I obey Zhang Shuai's military orders!"
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Ren Rongguang has been keeping a distance from the rebel army on the opposite side. The servants of their cavalry have all retreated with the army, and now the only ones left behind are cavalry.
The horses were galloping back and forth for almost an hour. Everyone felt physically tired, but there was nothing they could do. If he had followed his idea, he would have had a hard fight with the army, so why did he have to fight so hard?
But he had always known that Commander-in-Chief Liu Ye was even more ruthless than King Chuang, and he really didn't dare to disobey his military orders. After all, he only had one head on his head.
Suddenly, the officers and soldiers on the opposite side seemed to be going crazy, desperately urging their horses to rush towards him, which really shocked him.
Ren Rongguang did not dare to fight, for fear that his cavalry would be overtaken by the army. If a fight really broke out, the commander-in-chief Liu Ye might really chop off his head.
He hurriedly ordered the horse thieves to step up their whips and rush their horses, and fled south quickly. As thousands of horses galloped, large clouds of smoke rose into the sky, winding and rolling southward like an earth dragon.
In just a short while, Ren Rongguang led the bandits and soldiers to run for more than three miles. Suddenly, he found that the thick smoke cloud behind him turned straight to the west.
He reined in his horse and turned around to look back, only to see smoke and clouds rolling towards the west, and the sound of hoofbeats "rumbling" in his ears. Ren Rongguang's face was full of doubts: "Why don't you just stop chasing?"
Looking at the officers and cavalry who were no longer chasing him, Ren Rongguang seemed to remember something. He said loudly with a frightened look on his face: "Oops, I fell into the trap of my mother-in-law!"
Ren Rongguang didn't realize until then that the officers and soldiers were just trying to force them back, so he rushed to surround and block Xie Junyou's cavalry. He slapped the horses hard with the back of his broadsword and shouted loudly: "The officers and soldiers go and block them." Thank you, my friend, brothers, charge up and kill the officers and soldiers!"
