weaving

Chapter 54: Those who retreat from the battle
on the official road.

A group of bandits rode their horses around the four cavalry in the middle, looking at the group of refugees behind the cart to the west.

The four cavalry surrounded by the horse bandits were all wearing armor, three of them were wearing purple cloaks, only one was not wearing a helmet, but was only wrapped in a purple turban, but was wearing a green cloak, among a group of horse bandits , appearing particularly prominent.

The leader of the horse bandit in the green cloak looked very young. He rode on the horse and said to the remaining three: "Three old brothers, the four of us will share this item equally. Brothers have nothing to say, it's just this woman and the mule. , but we have to choose first.”

One of the three bearded men in purple cloaks cupped their hands and said, "Okay, but let the Hu village master choose, I'm too imitated, so I have nothing to say."

The village master Hu in the green cloak sat on his horse, squinting his eyes, staring at the other two with a half-smile, but said nothing.

An older man said: "Brother Hu's Beiliang people are strong, and they are the first to advocate, and we at Waitou Mountain are the only ones to look after you."

Seeing this situation, another bandit leader quickly expressed his opinion: "We all follow Hu as the master, so let's talk about how to play."

The head of the village of Hu rode his horse forward a few steps, and said loudly: "Looking at the reaction on the other side, although it is quite organized, it is a group of refugees after all. Even if some of them are very good at archery, it can't match the skill of our pack of wolves and tigers." .”

The other three echoed in unison, and the village master Hu continued: "For our family's sake, please ask Brother Liu Xiong in Taishan to urge the infantry to charge the first wave head-on; , throwing shots from behind; Brother Zhao from Zhajian led a ten-man cavalry team to Beitou to supervise the battle and feign an attack; our family led the horse army to wait for an opportunity to charge into the battle. What do you three think?"

The other three families have fewer soldiers and horses, and their combat power is not as good as that of Beiliangtou, so they have no major opinions on his assignment.

What's more, in order to plunder this batch of property this time, the four of them led the most elite horse-buoyed bandits to fight, and now they are all gathered on this official road. If there is a loss, each family loses, and it's not like a family takes turns, and they have to fight for the first place, so there is no reason to object.

Since everyone had no objections, the four bandit leaders each started to prepare.

I saw a bandit wearing a purple cloak, who roared and screamed for a while, and then galloped down the official road, heading for the bandits in the wilderness to the north, followed by about ten riders, and also rushed to that place. side.

The Taishan bandit leader Liu Xiong led a group of old bandits, and urged the bandits to line up. There were about 50 of them in a row, and there were about six rows in front and back.

In the first row, half of them were holding shields, short knives or hatchets. It seemed that some bandits were lined up in front, ready to charge. They were all arranged separately, and between every two bandits holding shields Each has a bandit with a spear;
The second and third rows are mostly long weapons such as spears and big sticks. These two rows should be the main force of the bandits in foot combat. Archers with bows and arrows should not be underestimated;

The fourth and fifth rows were equipped with all kinds of variegated weapons, such as sticks, short knives, iron rulers, and even shovels, picks and rakes. Their combat power should not be too strong, but there are two or three people in each row. Wearing a red hat and hat, it seems that he is in charge of leading the battle and supervising the battle;
In the last row, there are more than [-] people who are very capable, with long knives and big sticks in their hands, and many of them are wearing red hats. It is obvious that this row is the elite of the bandits in various cottages. Their task It is to supervise the battle, urging the bandits in front to fight to the death, and at the last moment, they will give He Shihui and others a fatal blow.

Behind them, a group of infantry wearing red hats or red-tasseled felt hats lined up in two loose rows. Each of them held a bow and arrow. shadow.

At the end is the bandits' cavalry. They lined up in a loose formation behind the ranks, with seventeen or eighteen people in each row, a total of four rows. They rode their horses and cursed, urging the bandits in front.

…………

Here, He Shihui heard the roar of the crowd in his ears, but his eyes kept staring at the bandit opposite.

He looked at the mountain bandits on the opposite side, and saw that the horse bandits sent to persuade them to surrender were actually shot and killed. He was furious and shouted and cursed loudly to force the infantry bandits to line up.

There used to be a big cart in the middle of the car formation here, but later seeing that the bandits' main attack direction seemed to be this side, they moved a big cart from the north.

Now there are two large carts across the middle of the official road, separated by one step wide, and there is a barrier piled up with small carts and grain bags and other sundries. It can be removed to facilitate cavalry attack.

Then there were thirty Xuanzhen sergeants who were good at shooting in a row, standing behind the cart, holding the back of their bow in their left hand, and at the same time holding seven arrows in their left hand, and only one arrow in their right hand.

This is preparing for rapid shooting. The left hand holds the bow and the arrow at the same time, so that it is easy to take the arrow and shoot again.

There are 30 people in a row, and each of them shoots eight arrows, that is 240 arrows, which will give a heavy blow to the bandits on the other side in a very short time. Also shocking enough.

Among the bandits on the opposite side, there were only a small number of deserted and defeated soldiers. Perhaps they had experienced battles and had some knowledge. Most of the remaining bandits didn't even have armor.

He Shihui reckoned that this round of rapid fire might defeat the infantry in front.

Behind them, there are sixty strong men from the Minyong Right Squad led by Ma Huijun. They are armed with long and short weapons such as spears, short knives and hatchets. They have been drilled for several days, and they already look like an army.

But if they were to face a real army, they would still be vulnerable, but if they were to face bandits, they would still have a chance, which would just let them practice their courage.

On the left and right sides, there are fifty young and strong guards on each side. They were all formed temporarily during the march in the past few days.

He Shihui's main point was that he was worried that they would retreat before the battle and affect the whole battle situation, so he asked Sun Dashan to shoot and kill the horse bandits who persuaded them to surrender, so as to prevent those who were not mentally strong from being shaken after hearing it. Heart.

There are also ten knights, guarding more than [-] war horses. They either have unhealed arm injuries or bad archery skills. They are all arranged behind, guarding the war horses, and waiting for the final charge.

Although the composition of the team was chaotic and there were many people, under He Shihui's deployment, everyone had a division of labor, and everyone knew what they should do.

…………

He Shihui looked at the bandits. A big man in armor and a purple cloak was riding behind the bandits, waving his whip angrily, and shouting to force the bandits to line up to attack.

He rode his horse and roared angrily, causing the infantry in front to attack.

They don't have any tactics either, they are just roughly arranged in six rows, half of the first row is mixed with swords and shields, and then the fourth row follows the formation, and then the old bandits lead the formation to supervise the battle, and finally the archers are preparing for long-distance combat. Throw assists.

A group of bandits roared angrily, seeming to be intimidating, but at the same time seemed to be instigating, all the bandits looked extremely excited, all wielding knives and guns, screaming and howling, just like a group of demons dancing wildly.

Suddenly, they yelled in unison, and swarmed towards the car formation from more than a hundred steps away.

He Shihui twisted his body and turned his head to look behind him. The soldiers in the front row were holding their bows and standing for orders. They were waiting for the military order to give the invading bandits a mighty rapid fire.

The sixty Minyong led by Ma Huijun were also very calm. After all, these people were carefully selected by Mr. Zhang Cheng himself, and they were all nervously waiting for preparations.

As for those young and strong people living on the two wings, many of them showed panic on their faces, and some of them were trembling constantly.The attack has begun.

He Shihui yelled loudly: "Stay still, listen to my orders and act. Those who move wildly, those who are afraid of fighting and retreating, will be killed immediately!"

Then he shouted again: "Bai Shanzi, call someone to watch over the horses. You lead ten soldiers to supervise the battle. Those who are afraid of the battle and retreat will be cut immediately, and those who shout and move will be cut immediately!"

Bai Shanzi just divided the one hundred young men into two teams and lined up on the two wings. When he heard He Shihui's call, he immediately drew his waist knife, looked around with piercing eyes, and shouted loudly: "Your subordinates take orders!"

Everyone is stunned, this scholar is so ruthless, it seems that he is serious.

The thirty sergeants in the front row, under the leadership of Sun Dashan, shouted in unison: "Never retreat in a deadly battle, never retreat in a deadly battle..."

Ma Huijun and other [-] Minyong then shouted: "Never retreat in a deadly battle, never retreat in a deadly battle..."

The role of role models is unlimited.

Driven by them, the young and strong on the two wings, and all the people on the official road roared in unison: "...Deadly battle, never retreat...Deadly battle, never retreat..."

…………

The bandits on the opposite side slowly approached, and the closer they got, the more they heard the cruel howls one after another, and the atmosphere on the side of the car formation became more tense.

Standing behind the car formation, Sun Dashan reminded He Shihui, "He Tou, take seventy steps and shoot?"

He Shihui shouted in a deep voice: "Fifty paces and then fire, volley, rapid fire."

He looked at the opposite side, and the bandit was almost sixty paces away.

The black bandits kept rushing forward, with a strong sense of oppression. Seeing that the horse team behind them was still kicking back and forth in place, the team was waiting to see the attack of the bandits here.

He Shihui shouted suddenly: "Archers, open your bow and set your arrows, and prepare to shoot quickly!"

At the same time, the hard bow in his hand was slowly pulled away, and a heavy arrow was shot up.

He Shihui's feet were shoulder-width apart, his knees were tense, his center of gravity was pressed forward, his chest was empty and his abdomen was firm, his front hand was stretched out, his arms were turned and his shoulders were lowered, his back hand was pulled back vertically, his elbows were raised and his shoulders were lowered, and the bow was drawn into a A state shaped like a full moon.

Sun Dashan next to him hurriedly repeated He Shihui's order again.

Thirty sergeants in the front row neatly put the arrows in their right hands on the bows, and they pulled the bows in their hands creakingly.

The 31 bows were slowly opened, and the 31 arrowheads pointed at the bandits that were slowly rushing forward. The arrows shone with metallic light in the cold wind.

The bows in everyone's hands were drawn into the shape of a full moon, and some people's arrows moved slowly, adjusting the direction of aiming.

(End of this chapter)