Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 516 hasty retreat
Clearing the west side of the formation, a thousand archers threw a rocket, which fell into the mountain forest like a rain of fire from the sky.

In the old mountain forest in Guizhou, I don’t know how many fallen leaves and dead branches have accumulated on the ground. In addition, it has not rained for many days, and the rocket immediately engulfed the forest.

The southeast wind was blowing in the sky, fueling the flames, and the forest was instantly burnt red. The flames flew up to more than three feet high, and the billowing smoke and dust shot straight into the sky.

Because of the direction of the wind, the smoke and dust would not float to the battlefield and affect the Qing soldiers' operations, but in the mountains and forests, the Tusi soldiers and horses who were devious had to be killed in advance.

Although these Southwestern barbarians grew up in the mountains and forests and ran in them like walking on flat ground, they still had to run slowly in the mountains. When the forest ignited a fire, they only ran halfway.

At this time, the chieftain soldiers and horses who were going to bypass the front and attack the Qing army's unprotected archers had no choice but to rush out of the forest and kill the Qing army's formation diagonally.

As the Houyong army came from the front and the chieftain soldiers joined in, Hu Guozhu's expression became tense. He followed the progress of the battle and had to admit that he fought this battle a bit hastily.

At first he thought that the Ming army he encountered was just a miscellaneous brand from Guizhou, but he didn't expect it to be Zhongzhi Town in Hunan, and its strength was more than three times his.

If he could choose again, he would not choose to face the Ming army head-on like this, but it was too late to retreat at this time, the Ming army had already posted it, retreating was equivalent to running away, and the loss was unimaginable.

At this moment, he could only hope that the battle would be in a state of anxiety, and he would fight until the evening. After dark, they would withdraw their troops and stop fighting, and then he would take the opportunity to leave and return to Wan County.

At this time, although the spear forest composed of four thousand Qing soldiers' spearmen was unable to fight back against the Ming army's sword and shield fighters who were close, but this partial advantage could not reverse the disadvantage of the Qing soldiers on the entire battlefield.

Seeing that the Ming army increased its troops again, Hu Guozhu hesitated for a while.If it is common sense, if the opponent increases troops, the Qing army will also increase troops, but the Ming army has far more troops than him. If this continues, the final result will be tantamount to a refueling battle that will become a taboo for military strategists. Sooner or later, he will be defeated. Yigong is completely consumed by virtue of its superiority in strength.

It's a pity that due to terrain constraints, Guan Ning's cavalry had no chance to play in Guizhou, otherwise he would not have been so passive in fighting with a team of elite cavalry.

In the final analysis, the Jiliao troops who fought against the Manchus for a long time were still accustomed to commanding cavalry, and were not good at fighting step by step.

Seeing the [-] chieftains slashing towards them, the brave army who had left the formation also began to run. He couldn't allow him to think too much, and Xiang Guoxiang at the side also showed anxiety, urging him to respond quickly, "If you continue like this, Our army will be exhausted by the Ming army."

The Qing soldiers had a total of 2 horses, including 1000 bird gunners, [-] artillery teams, [-] archers, [-] large shield soldiers, and [-] pikemen.

At this time, he had sent [-] spearmen to fight, and only [-] spearmen were left to maneuver. But the Ming army came from two directions, and he sent another [-] spearmen, and the Ming army could send another team to attack. This refueling is not the way at all.

"Send the order, let the pikemen come back! The whole army shrinks towards the exit, forms a semicircle, and defends with all its strength!"

In the Qing camp, horns sounded and the flags were waved. The spearmen of the Qing army who had almost defeated the Ming army's sword and shield suddenly stopped and retreated towards the formation.

Originally, the Qing army formed a horizontal formation and lined up directly in front of the Ming army, but at this time, the two sides of the entire formation began to shrink and retreat, relying on the terrain, and turned into a semicircle with stronger defense. All protected.

The Qing army's long spears and the Ming army's swords and shields are all short weapons. They can't reach the Qing soldiers, so they can only be stabbed passively. More than 5000 people were about to be defeated, but the Qing army suddenly withdrew.

The red-eyed Zhang Xianzhen didn't realize that all the long spears stabbed in front of him disappeared. He swung the saber and swung it in the air a few times before he realized it. He looked at the retreating Qing soldiers for a moment. With a roar, "Brothers, kill, rush up!"

He is Zhang Xianbi's younger brother. Although Zhang Xianbi has been punished, his future has also been affected. Even if the court does not pursue him, it will be difficult for him to make a name for himself in Daming.Now, his only way out is to make meritorious deeds on the battlefield to change Gao Yigong's opinion of him, and strive to be absorbed by the Five Loyalty Army.

The spearmen of the Qing army retreated into the formation. Zhang Xianzhen led the sword and shield and directly hit the shield wall. In the formation of the Qing army, the spears stabbed out, and the archers behind the formation immediately threw a wave of arrows. Bing head!He shot at the Ming army, and immediately shot down another piece.

At this moment, the Houyong army finally came forward. Rulin's spear hit the Qing army's shield wall, and the Ming army archers behind them also began to bend their bows and shoot arrows into the Qing army's formation. The Qing army fell to the ground with an arrow.

The chieftain soldiers and horses killed on the slope also bumped into the Qing soldiers' formation, the rattan players in the front row, and the Miao soldiers' archers and crossbowmen behind them.

Without heavy cavalry to break the formation, it would be difficult for the Ming army to break through the formation of the Qing army. The large group of Qing soldiers, with their big shields on their backs, clashed wildly with Ming soldiers outside the shields. Where the two sides fought, people crowded, shields crowded shields, and knives and axes were chaotic. Slashing, there is no need to aim at all, every time the knife goes down, people can be chopped down, and the soldiers on both sides have no room to dodge.

The bows and arrows and blunderbusses of both sides at the back kept bending their bows and setting their arrows, pulling the bow body into a full moon, and the arrows pointed obliquely at the sky bow and shot at each other.

All over the battlefield, knives and axes flew horizontally, flesh and blood splattered, and arrows intertwined, forming a state of anxiety.

At this time, in the large formation of the Ming army, the sound of war drums sounded again, and the [-]-step archers advanced forward.

The muscles on Hu Guozhu's face twitched unnaturally when he saw this, because now as the two armies collide, the key to victory has fallen on the bows and arrows and bird guns of both sides.

As [-] Ming army archers joined the battle group, the feathered arrows of the Ming army fell into the Qing army formation like raindrops, and a large number of Qing soldiers were shot by the rain of arrows. The Qing soldiers who maintained their formation gradually became exhausted and began to be pushed back by the Ming army.

At this time, the defensive advantages of the circular formation were revealed. As soon as the Qing army retreated, the semicircle shrunk, and the Qing army and horses became tighter again, stabilizing the formation again.

The battle on the river beach was in a state of anxiety. After fighting for an hour, the Ming army's archers had changed, while the Qing army could only pick up the arrows shot by the Ming army and shoot them back.

The Qing army has obviously lost the wind, but it is still too early to be defeated. Hu Guozhu kept looking at the sun to estimate the time.It was almost dusk, and as long as he persisted for an hour, he would enter the night completely, and he still had a chance to escape completely.

Just as he was estimating the time, outside the battlefield, on the right side of the Qing army, there was a sudden sound of killing, and a group of chieftain soldiers and horses with less than a thousand people suddenly came to kill the Qing army's rear.

"White soldiers?" Seeing this group of troops, Xia Guoxiang was holding white spears more than a foot long, shouting that the unsuspecting Qing army was coming to attack the rear, and he couldn't help being shocked, "We can't fight, the rear is in chaos. , it's all over."

Hearing his loud reminder, Hu Guozhu gritted his teeth and made a very wise decision: "Order, retreat!"

The Qing soldiers who were still fighting didn't notice the white soldiers who suddenly appeared behind them. When they heard the sound of gold ringing, they all showed disbelieving expressions. What?retreat?Did you hear me right?What is the difference between retreating and rout at this time?
Hu Guozhu originally wanted to wait until dark before retreating, but the sudden appearance of white soldiers disrupted his calculations.

The strength of the Ming army on the front is far superior to him, and there is no chance of winning. Now that there is another team behind, how can this battle be fought?
If he didn't take advantage of the present, before the white soldiers blocked his retreat, retreat quickly, and hesitate a little, then he would have to die and die.

Fortunately, the Ming army had no cavalry, and the infantry could not increase their speed. The Qing army hurriedly withdrew and retreated, perhaps retaining half of its strength.

"Order, the whole army retreats!"

The sound of gold and horns soared into the sky, and the infantry of the Qing army who were fighting hard in the center of the battlefield heard the sound of the horn, and many of them did not react.

It doesn't matter if the infantry can't react, but Hu Guozhu and Xia Guoxiang have already led dozens of cavalry to move after hearing the sound, pulled the reins, turned the horse's head, and rushed to the exit at high speed. The large shield soldiers and spearmen who were carrying the dead in front were entangled, but it was too late to leave.

(Thank you for coming to give me a smile, Yuedong Woxin’s reward, Shi Zaifeng’s two monthly tickets, please subscribe, new book friends, I hope to choose QQ reading first.)
(End of this chapter)