I

It is still forty miles away from Heyuan County.

The mountain search team responsible for exploring the road suddenly came back with two wooden signs: "Supervisor, we found this by the river ahead."

Shen Youlong glanced at it and quickly scolded: "This is a treacherous plot by bandits. Take it away and burn it quickly. Don't damage the morale of our army!"

"What is this?" Deputy Commander Shi Wangzheng came over curiously.

"Ignore the lies."

Shen Youlong didn't want others to see it, so he blocked the writing on the board with his sleeves.

The two wooden signs are indeed full of false news.

A wooden sign read: Guangdong General Lu Qian, the entire army was wiped out in Yingde County.

A wooden sign reads: General Lin Junen surrendered at Xiancheng, Heyuan County.

At this time, Fei Ruhe sent many small boats to cruise on the Dongjiang River, but no news could be conveyed.

What could be transmitted was all deliberately released by Fei Ruhe, and Shen Youlong could only choose to believe it or not.

These Sou-Shan team members are all the governor's pacesetters. They held the wooden sign and left. Commander Shi Wangzheng became more and more curious and guessed that it must be some very bad information.

Shi Wangzheng returned to his team and warned his close servants to leave immediately if the situation went wrong.

In troubled times, everything is empty and only the army can be relied on.

A general without an army is worse than a wild dog!

However, it was said that the mountain searchers did not immediately chop up the wooden signs and burn them after re-entering the mountain, but gathered together to start a discussion.

"How about we run? The Heyuan County ahead will definitely be gone, and getting there will be a dead end."

"Yes, the governor is kind to us, but we risked exploring the road for several days and more than twenty people died. We are worthy of the governor."

"Let's go, let's go home."

"..."

The mountain search team responsible for exploring the road all fled at once, and Shen Youlong had no idea about this.

The whole army continued to advance. After losing the mountain search team, they came to the ambush point unknowingly.

"Fourth brother, the officers and soldiers are here."

"Let the one in front pass over, block the middle and rush out!"

The man who led these five hundred people was called Xiao Shan, and he was a slave of the Xiao family in Yongyang Town.

Xiao Shan was quickly promoted during the suppression of bandits in southern Jiangxi. The mountains were full of bandits. Xiao Shan exterminated countless bandits and developed the skills to fight in the mountains.

The five hundred soldiers under his command are also proficient in mountain warfare, and they can climb over mountains and ridges as if they were walking on flat ground.

The officers and soldiers marched very slowly, dragging a long snake along the river bank.

"kill!"

“Dudududududu~~~~~~”

Five hundred Datong troops rushed out of the mountain, and the loud charge horns shook the sky, and they quickly rushed towards the waist of the long snake.

Deputy Commander-in-Chief Shi Wangzheng originally wanted to lead his troops to escape, but his troops were relatively far forward. If they escaped, they would have to run forward and might run into Fei Ruhe's main force.

This guy was forced to fight to the death and shouted: "Form up, form up!"

Shi Wangzheng's hundreds of confidants formed an formation very quickly, not inferior to the ordinary Datong army.

However, except for the governor's pacesetters and the general's servants, the rest of the soldiers and civilians were scared to death. Seeing the rebels getting closer and closer, the soldiers and civilians collapsed instantly, and many simply jumped into the river and swam to the other side.

In the blink of an eye, only more than 3,000 pacesetters and servants were left, still trying to form defensive formations by the river.

But as the soldiers and civilians fled in all directions, the servants at the back were also rushed to pieces. Seeing that the situation was not good, the military commander simply started to flee with his servants.

Shen Youlong's model soldier and Shi Wangzheng's servant, he had enough food and salary at ordinary times and was willing to sacrifice his life in battle.

Under the impact of the rout, these people were able to maintain their formation.

They moved closer to each other and gradually formed a large formation of more than 2,000 people by the river, just waiting for Xiao Shan's 500 soldiers to come and die.

Then, there were so many broken soldiers to chase and kill, why did Xiao Shan want to attack the formation?

Whichever side has the largest number of defeated troops, Xiao Shan will pursue that side and completely disperse these defeated troops. Once they are completely broken up, don't even think about getting them back together. By then, the officers and soldiers will not have enough manpower to transport food.

"There are only a few hundred thieves, kill them!" Shi Wangzheng gritted his teeth.

"kill!"

Shen Youlong also took the risk.

These two thousand people were indeed elite soldiers. They were able to form a formation and pursue Xiao Shan under the interference of the defeated troops.

It is not difficult to train this kind of elite soldiers. There are usually clear rewards and punishments, and sufficient food and salary. Shen Youlong even has five hundred fire gun soldiers.

As for other soldiers, they are all consumables and can be recruited again after the battle.

Xiao Shan led his troops to pursue him for two miles. When he saw that the large group of defeated troops were scattered, he immediately ordered to enter the mountain and ignored the more than 2,000 elite officers and soldiers who were chasing him.

Shen Youlong and Shi Wangzheng chased Lonely, but they did not dare to follow into the mountains, so they could only stay on guard and rest while sending people to collect the broken troops nearby.

After working for a long time, he finally collected more than a thousand defeated troops, and Shen Youlong's total strength was only four thousand.

The overall combat effectiveness has not dropped too much.

However, all the civilians ran away, and several grain transport ships also ran away!

Shi Wangzheng looked ugly and said to Shen Youlong: "Superintendent, we can't move forward anymore. There must be the main force of the rebel army. It's not possible to retreat. We are marching too slowly. The rebel soldiers in Longchuan County have already occupied the county seat and are chasing us." . We can only abandon our baggage, choose a place to enter the mountains, and go straight over the mountains to Yong'an County (Zijin County). There is a small road in the southwest of Yong'an County that can go through the mountains to the southwest of Heyuan County, and then we can safely retreat to Huizhou Prefecture. "

"Retreat immediately!"

Shen Youlong was very decisive this time and took the initiative to abandon a large amount of baggage and left with only a small amount of food and ammunition.

A few miles away, Fei Ruhe got the news and sneered: "He ran pretty fast!"

Xiao Shan's five hundred soldiers had been toiling in the mountains for several days. Not only were the soldiers tired, but they also ran out of dry food. They returned to the ambush point, picked up some food, and then chased into the mountains with all their strength.

Fei Ruhe, with only 1,500 elite troops and no logistical supplies, sped up to pursue them from several miles away.

At the beginning, the mountain was not steep.

But the officers and soldiers carrying a small amount of food and ammunition must be relatively slow.

Shi Wangzheng suggested: "Supervisor, give up all the food. Just bring a few kilograms of food with each person. As long as you pass through this mountain, you will have food in Yong'an County."

Zuo Shan's five hundred pursuing troops could be seen in the distance behind him. Shen Youlong said, "Why don't we fight a battle first and wipe out these hundreds of thieves?"

"You can set up an ambush." ​​Shi Wangzheng nodded.

Immediately, the officers and soldiers each carried a few kilograms of grain, and the gunmen carried a small amount of ammunition, and immediately moved forward lightly. Discarded supplies were thrown on the hillside, slowing down Xiao Shan's pursuit.

The officers and soldiers climbed over a mountain col and immediately hid and set up an ambush.

In order to catch the officers and soldiers, it was impossible for Xiao Shan to search along the way. After he climbed the mountain col, he suddenly frowned and lost sight of the officers and soldiers.

Under the mountain col, there are dense forests everywhere. Who knows where the officers and soldiers went.

To pursue or not to pursue?

At this moment, there was a sudden noise in the woods ahead.

"Asshole!"

Shen Youlong cursed angrily.

But the defeated troops who had been gathered together had long been frightened. After entering the mountains, they were still responsible for transporting grain and grass, and were watched by elites. They were tired and afraid and did not dare to escape.

Now, Shen Youlong plans to ambush the Datong Army. The elites have all hidden themselves, and ordinary officers and soldiers finally have a chance to escape.

The civilians who transport food are expendable, and these ordinary officers and soldiers are not much better.

How could they be willing to fight in such a predicament?

More than a thousand defeated troops who had gathered back took advantage of Shen Youlong and Shi Wangzheng to set up an ambush and immediately ran away, exposing the officers and soldiers' ambush point.

"hey-hey!"

Xiao Shan grinned. He stopped chasing and just stood guard on the mountain col.

"ignition!"

Seeing that there was no way to ambush, Shen Youlong simply ordered a strong attack. They had more than 2,000 elite soldiers, and they would definitely have no problem defeating 500 thieves.

The hundreds of firecrackers under his command first hid and lit the match ropes.

The matchlock of a matchlock can burn for half an hour to an hour, depending on the specific pros and cons.

The melee infantry under Shi Wangzheng took the lead, covering the archers and gunmen in the rear. After a simple formation, they planned to storm the col.

Xiao Shan saw the gun from afar. He was not a fool and immediately ordered a retreat.

Even if the officers and soldiers didn't have guns, Zuo Shan wouldn't be able to fight head-on. More than two thousand elite officers and soldiers ran into the mountains without defeat. They were obviously strong soldiers raised with money.

In the whole of Guangdong, there are more than 2,000 elites here, and there are another 1,000 with General Lu Qian. There are only about 3,500 people, and the rest are all rabble. Even veterans who have suppressed bandits for three years still belong to rabble.

Seeing Xiao Shan leading his troops to escape, Shen Youlong and Shi Wangzheng were both left temperless.

They could only continue to climb over the mountains and ridges, evacuating on the road while choosing a more suitable ambush point.

After walking like this for another day, Fei Ruhe and 1,500 people finally arrived following the mark left by Zuo Shan.

"Where are the enemy troops?" Fei Ruhe asked.

"It's on the mountain col in front, I've been following it." Xiao Shan said with a smile.

It was impossible to lose them. More than two thousand officers and soldiers were marching, and they would definitely leave traces along the way. Xiao Shan sent 20 men to pursue in front, and the remaining soldiers chased him half a mile away. Even if they encountered an ambush, they would only lose 20 men.

Seeing Fei Ruhe chasing more than a thousand people, Shen Youlong began to form an array on the mountain col.

He was being driven crazy, and at this moment, he just wanted to have a good fight.

Fei Ruhe was not in a hurry. He was exhausted from chasing him all the way, so he needed to regain his strength first.

The two sides just waited for each other as if they had made an agreement, waiting for Fei Ruhe's soldiers to regain their strength. Shen Youlong occupies a favorable terrain and cannot take the initiative to go down the mountain.

It wasn't until an hour later that the battle was about to break out.

It's very fair. Both sides have five hundred firecrackers. This is a battle of hot weapons.

After each lit the match rope, the rest of the troops all got out of the way and let the fire gun soldiers decide the winner first.

The Datong Fire Gun Soldiers were at a disadvantage because they were feigning an attack on the mountain.

"Fire the arrow!"

King Shi didn't care about martial ethics, so he actually ordered the archers to stand on the mountain and shoot down.

Swish, brush, brush!

Many arrows were blocked by the tree crowns, and a few arrows fell. A total of four Datong Fire Gun soldiers were hit by arrows. However, they wear bamboo hats and cotton armor, and are not afraid of bows and arrows.

Shen Youlong shouted: "You are not allowed to fire the gun at will. Listen to my order and fire it when you get closer!"

The Datong fire gun soldiers continued to walk up the mountain, and the official fire gun soldiers began to become nervous.

Shen Youlong's fire gun soldiers were all trained three years ago, and they are always victorious in every battle. Ordinary thieves would be so frightened that they would collapse and flee as soon as they fired at them.

But precisely because of this, they knew the power of fire cannons and were very afraid of shooting at the enemy's fire cannons.

"boom!"

The Datong fire gun soldiers came closer and closer, and finally some of the fire gun soldiers on the government side couldn't help but shoot.

"Bang bang bang!"

When one person fired, the whole army immediately started shooting.

They still fired three rounds, and except for the third row, the first two rows all fired out their ammunition.

It barely entered the shooting range, and its accuracy and power were greatly reduced.

A Datong fire rifle soldier suddenly fell down after being shot. Unfortunately, he was hit in the face. A few more fire rifle soldiers were hit, but they were blocked by the cotton armor. If they had advanced ten steps further, the cotton armor would have been penetrated.

"Hurry up and fill up the medicine!"

Shen Youlong didn't bother to scold those who fired early and urged the soldiers to reload their ammunition quickly.

The officers and soldiers suddenly panicked, most of them started scratching their heads, and some even forgot the correct steps for loading ammunition.

Swish, brush, brush!

Shi Wangzheng's archers fired another volley.

The Datong Fire Gun Soldiers are still advancing.

"Fire the gun!"

Shen Youlong gave an order, and the fire riflemen in the third row of officers and soldiers immediately fired a decent volley.

In an instant, six Datong soldiers fell to the ground. At such a close distance, even cotton armor could not stop them.

However, the remaining Datong Fire Gun soldiers continued to advance.

"Mother!"

The officers' gun soldiers in the first two rows, after failing to reload their own ammunition, saw the enemy approaching. Finally, they could no longer bear the psychological pressure, dropped their guns and ran away.

"Raise the gun!"

"First row, shoot!"

"boom!"

More than a hundred muskets were fired at close range, instantly blasting the formation of officers and soldiers out of the hole.

Without even using the second row to fire in turn, all the army's artillery soldiers fled.

"Blow the trumpet!"

Fei Ruhe shouted.

"Dudududududududu~~~~~~"

The charge horn sounded, the whole army rushed out, and more than 2,000 elite officers and soldiers finally collapsed.