Li Xiaoqi and his ten personal guards are all well-trained Yilin guards, with well-equipped weapons and equipment, either strong bows or five-shot riding crossbows.
Moreover, they divided into two groups to snipe and implemented cross-fire support, which was a tactically appropriate approach.
On the other hand, Zhou Shixiu, Wang Dashao and their volunteer soldiers were all improvised stragglers, purely a ragtag group.
The arrows released were somewhat accurate at first, but later they were scattered aimlessly during the retreat.
"Don't retreat. Organize people to rush forward!"
Young Master Wang crawled out of the gutter and was furious.
The fifty people selected were considered the elite of the rebels on the mountain.
But they didn't even launch a decent charge, and the bows and arrows didn't have any power, but they were hit by several rows of arrows from the opponent and couldn't raise their heads.
There were already a dozen volunteer soldiers lying on the road, but the other party could not even see a figure, only arrows flying out in clusters.
"Young Master Wang, these officers and soldiers are too powerful. Not to mention their archery skills, they have either hard bows or five-shot crossbows. We are no match at all. If we charge forward, we will die."
The leading volunteer captain complained to Young Master Wang.
"Mother, raise your troops for a thousand days and use them for a while. Let me charge forward. If there are many of us, we will use hand-to-hand combat to destroy them."
"Brothers, charge into the house and kill the official. He will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold. A guard will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver for his head."
Zhou Shixiu Ling, who was anxious by the side, had an idea and offered a sky-high price reward.
In fact, it is impossible to get these gold and silver, but the top priority is to inspire fighting spirit.
First eliminate the officers and soldiers in front of you.
There is a saying that there must be a brave man under a heavy reward.
These volunteer soldiers are all rogues, and they come out just for money.
"Brothers, Mr. Zhou has offered a reward of a thousand gold. We should rush forward with all our strength."
The volunteer captain suddenly started shouting.
"Heroes, rush forward. I will reward you with a thousand gold coins."
Young Master Wang is not stupid. If he gives up at this moment, everything will be over.
In desperation, he added more!
"Okay, everyone, rush up to me and kill them."
"..."
After hearing this, all the volunteers' blood boiled with excitement. They howled and crawled forward as if they had been given blood.
"Shh..."
A dysprosium arrow with a blue tail shot up into the black night sky, like a blue enchantress dancing gracefully.
Before Zhou Shixiu, Young Master Wang and the others could recover, they heard the ground rumbling and shaking all around them.
"Da da... da da..." is like a galloping horse.
"Boom...boom..." The walls of the earthen castle collapsed and dust flew into the air.
"???"
"The Yan Thief Iron Cavalry..."
Zhou Shixiu had a lot of experience. He had seen the power of the Mongolian and Yuan cavalry and the Hongwu cavalry.
"The official cavalry is coming, run away."
At this time, the volunteer soldiers no longer cared about the reward. Even if there were mountains of gold and silver piled in front of them, they would still disdain them.
It's important to escape!
"Hurry... come back quickly."
"???"
But no one paid attention.
…
At dawn, a ray of morning light flashed in the sky, shining on the earth.
A battle without any suspense has ended.
The combat capabilities of both sides are not on the same level at all.
These desperate volunteer soldiers were either chopped down or trampled by horses' hooves and turned into meat pies.
Only a dozen soldiers who knelt down and begged for mercy managed to save their lives.
The entire battlefield has been cleared, and every kiln in the earthen castle, even every corner, has been searched.
Zhou Shixiu and the injured Young Master Wang were tied to the ground together with a dozen volunteers.
There are more than 300 homeless men, women and children in the fort here, and they are also under centralized supervision.
There is also the rich man Wang who was found in the cellar.
However, he committed suicide.
Everyone stopped to rest for a while, waiting patiently for their commander-in-chief to issue further instructions.
What's funny is that at this time, the imperial envoy and chief official, Xu Qin, was fast asleep on the straw mat in the house.
He hadn't slept well at all in the past few days.
There was a war outside, but he fell asleep instead.
This made the three Confucian scholars in the room, including Tang Wan'er, stunned and incredulous.
Even Xu Sanlang, who had been loyally staying by his side, was secretly surprised.
The scene was surprisingly quiet, for fear of shocking the chief officer who was having an erotic dream.
More than half an hour later, it was already dark, and Xu Qin finally woke up.
"Hey, I just fell asleep like this?"
"Sanlang, why didn't you wake me up?"
"And you, Su Zecheng, why didn't you wake me up?"
He woke up, blinked his eyes, and started making random accusations.
Xu Sanlang and Su Zecheng did not answer, but just giggled.
Any fool can see clearly that the adults are acting.
"It won't happen next time!"
After Xu Qin put on some pretense, he stood up and shouted outside, "Masters, please come in. If you have something to say, please come in."
"As you command!"
Yang Shiqi, who had been waiting outside for a long time, the Qianhu officer who led the troops, and Li Xiaoqi were guarding Zhou Shixiu and Young Master Wang.
When Zhou Shixiu was brought to Xu Qin, he was inexplicably shocked.
"Why, do you recognize me?" Xu Qin raised his eyebrows and asked doubtfully.
Zhou Shixiu was astonished, as if Mr. Ye had seen a dragon.
"You...Mr. Xu Taifu Yungong, who are you?"
Taifu Xu?
Xu Qin suddenly thought that his cheap father was once the Taifu of the Jianwen Dynasty, a high-ranking minister.
You look a lot like Cheap Daddy, right?
Many people say that he is more like his grandfather Xu Da.
"Listen carefully, Taifu Xu is my father. He has been idle at home for a long time and is far away from the court. He is no longer a Taifu."
Xu Qin did not need to respond to Zhou Shixiu, because he still used the Jianwen dynasty system.
This was a naked provocation to Emperor Yongle.
But when it comes to my father, and he is very respectful, I have to reply seriously.
"So, you are the Queen of War God, the son of Taifu Xu?" Zhou Shixiu raised his head with a wry smile.
"Exactly, what do you have to say?"
"Hehe, I can't talk about it after seeing you. I just didn't expect that the son of a loyal minister, the queen of the military, would help the tyrants and do such unfaithful and unfilial things. You are ashamed of the ancestors of the Xu family!"
Zhou Shixiu looked upright and angrily shouted at Xu Qin.
"Shut up, don't use your so-called orthodox theory to threaten me with my grandfather and father."
Xu Qin sternly scolded:
"The world belongs to the people, and the way to be a king must first preserve the people. I, Xu Qin, hope that the world will be peaceful and the people can live and work in peace and contentment, and live a good life from now on."
"As the saying goes, a father is a father and a son is a son. My father and I have different philosophies on life and political opinions, but we are the same in terms of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. It's just that I am not foolishly loyal. What I care more about is the long-term stability of the country."
"The disputes in the court cannot keep the world in turmoil for a long time. War is raging, lives are lost, and homes are broken. Now that the monarch has been determined, ministers should obey the laws of heaven and understand the overall situation, and should not go around fanning the flames and plotting evil."
