Several consecutive charges were blocked by countless bows and arrows and roaring crossbows. The soldiers around Li Zicheng lost dozens of people. Liu Zongmin, who personally directed the charge of the soldiers, turned blue with anxiety, and Li Zicheng also lost his life.

Always calm, he began to roar at the soldiers around him. By this time, they all understood that the Dashun Army had sneaked into the Denglai New Army and had already set a trap here.

There were more and more corpses on the official road, gradually blocking the road. Most of the sergeants were crowded here. They were in a dilemma. It was impossible to retreat. Everyone knew that there was a ruthless bombardment from the Hongyi artillery behind them.

There are low hills on both sides of the official road. Who knows whether there are sergeants of the Denglai New Army ambushing behind these low hills, so no sergeant will evacuate in the direction of the hills.

Both Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin knew that the only way at the moment was to retreat to Qiliping Village, stick to the village and find a solution.

The sound of artillery gradually became sparse. When Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong turned their horses and returned to Qiliping Village, they could no longer care about the soldiers who were still fleeing and wailing.

Inside the house in the center of Qiliping Village.

Li Zicheng's face was livid, and he looked at Liu Zongmin. In his memory, such a critical situation had occurred twice. Once in the Carriage Gorge, tens of thousands of troops were besieged in the canyon, almost desperate, and once when his army was captured by the officers.

The army surrounded them, and in the end only seventeen people and seventeen horses rushed out, including Liu Zongmin, Zhang Dongtao and others.

This time Li Zicheng was firmly trapped in Qiliping Village by the Denglai New Army. I wonder if a miracle will happen.

"Zong Min, you and I will each lead our sergeants to break through the siege. It's impossible to stay here. When Denglai's new army launches a general offensive, they will definitely not be able to hold on. It will be dark soon. We must take risks and attack while it's dark.

Go out and evacuate in the direction of Jizhou. I think Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance should still be in Jizhou. As long as we arrive in Jizhou, we will be out of danger..."

In his desperation, Li Zicheng forgot his identity as emperor, and his tone of voice became hasty.

Liu Zongmin's eyes flashed with a vicious look. When he was evacuating to Qiliping Village just now, he mercilessly pushed away Zhu Ci who was blocking the way. Seeing Zhu Ci screaming and falling off his horse, he ignored him.

"Your Majesty, it is up to me to lead the army to break through and charge. Your Majesty will look for opportunities to rush out. I will definitely find a way to carve out a bloody path and escort your Emperor to evacuate..."

Li Zicheng shook his head. At this time, it would be a joke for him to pretend to be the emperor.

"Zong Min, you and I should each lead our sergeants to evacuate. After three days of continuous struggle, the sergeants below are no longer able to fight. You and I can only rely on the soldiers around us and wait until dark to find an opportunity to rush out.

.”

Liu Zongmin lowered his head and sighed heavily.

...

The rumble of drums and the sound of horse hooves made the house tremble.

Liu Zongmin suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Zicheng in front of him. His face was a little deformed. He did not expect that Denglai's new army would launch a charge so quickly, without giving Dashun's army any chance to breathe.

"Your Majesty, it's too late. You should evacuate as soon as possible. I will lead the soldiers to protect you. As long as the Emperor can rush out..."

Before Liu Zongmin finished speaking, Li Zicheng had already stood up and walked out of the house.

A scout flew off his horse and knelt down when he saw Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin walking out of the house.

"Your Majesty, four, there are attacking Denglai New Army sergeants all around. They are all cavalry, they can't stop..."

Liu Zongmin stepped forward, kicked away the scout who was kneeling on the ground, and roared angrily at all the soldiers outside the room.

"You will escort the Emperor to evacuate. If anything happens to the Emperor, don't think about surviving..."

Li Zicheng looked at Liu Zongmin, hesitant and wanted to say something.

Liu Zongmin became anxious and looked at Li Zicheng again and spoke.

"Your Majesty, don't say anything. It will be too late. You should evacuate immediately. I will lead the sergeants to resist Denglai's new army, hold them back, and defend the Emperor to the death. Your Majesty, please get on your horse..."

After Li Zicheng mounted the horse, Liu Zongmin waved the whip in his hand and whipped the war horse hard. The pained war horse neighed for a long time, threw off its hooves and galloped forward. The remaining nearly two hundred soldiers followed.

Galloping away.

This war horse is a rare and bloody horse. If it were not an emergency, Liu Zongmin would not dare to use the whip.

Li Zicheng rode away. Liu Zongmin looked at the many officers around him with a sullen face and spoke fiercely.

"You all go gather the sergeants under your command and follow me out to meet the enemy. We must hold off Denglai's new army and ensure that the emperor can evacuate safely. If any of you are afraid of death, say it now. I will not force it...

.”

No one spoke, and no one turned around to leave. At this time, anyone who said something fearful of death in front of the furious Liu Zongmin, or turned around and left, would probably lose his life immediately.

"What are you still doing? Go and summon the sergeants immediately to resist the attack of Denglai's new army..."

Everyone turned their horses and went to summon the sergeants.

...

Fighting like chopping melons and slicing vegetables did not have much appeal to Wu Sangui. He always kept in mind the teachings of his father Wu Xiang. This battle must be a great success. It is best to capture Li Zicheng alive, so that he will definitely gain the respect of Wu Zongrui.

The two thousand sergeants from the scout battalion who followed Wu Sangui also took no action. They were waiting for Wu Sangui's order.

A scout galloped over on horseback, clasped his fists at Wu Sangui and spoke.

"Report to General Wu that the situation in Qiliping Village is too chaotic. No trace of Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin has been found. My subordinates have arrested several Dashun Army officers. They don't know where Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin are..."

Wu Sangui waved his hand and interrupted the scout's words.

"Understood, continue to send scouts to investigate, and make sure to find out the whereabouts of Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin. It is getting dark, and Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin will definitely break out of the encirclement when it is dark. They can only head towards Yutian County and leave their official positions.

The road is impossible, they will look for other roads. If you follow this line of thinking to conduct reconnaissance, if you can find traces of Li Zicheng, you must be quick..."

The scout turned his horse's head and left quickly.

Wu Sangui did not move, and neither did the sergeants in the scout battalion behind him.

The smell of blood in the front was getting stronger and stronger. Hundreds of thousands of Dashun Army sergeants had completely collapsed. Qiao Mingjun led 50,000 Denglai New Army soldiers and charged into the village and started fighting. They did not have a good rest for three consecutive days.

The sergeants of the Dashun Army completely collapsed at this time. They put down their weapons early and knelt down to surrender. Those sergeants who had a sense of luck also did not resist desperately, but fled desperately, hoping to escape from the siege and go to

Yutian County.

The scene in Qiliping Village was very chaotic. There were scattered Dashun Army sergeants everywhere. The corpses on the official road blocked the way forward and backward. The blood stains on the ground were thick, and the color in some places had turned dark red.

When the sound of horse hoofbeats sounded again, a glimmer of light flashed in Wu Sangui's eyes.

"Report to General Wu that Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong have been discovered. They are evacuating towards the south..."

Wu Sangui waved his hand.

"It goes without saying, lead the way."

The sound of intensive horse hoofbeats sounded again, and the scouts galloped at the front, followed by Wu Sangui and two thousand scouts.

...

The road ahead became narrow, and at the narrowest point only two horses could fit side by side.

All the sergeants raised their short-handled percussion flintlock guns. This is a flintlock gun specially made by the Bureau of Firearms for the cavalry. It is easy to operate, easy to pour ammunition, and has great lethality at close range.

The sky was getting dark, but Wu Sangui had already seen the cavalry in front.

The speed of pursuit suddenly became faster.

Because the fighting was progressing extremely smoothly, Qiao Mingjun only deployed five thousand sergeants to guard both sides of the official road to prevent Dashun Army sergeants from escaping. The south was a hilly area with some unknown depths of ponds, so the defensive force was slightly deployed.

If they are weakened, if Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong really choose to break out from here, they may really succeed.

Wu Sangui narrowed his eyes and tightened the reins of his horse...

Liu Zongmin had already heard the sound of horse hooves coming from behind. He pulled the reins, roared loudly, and asked the sergeants around him to turn around and fight with the pursuing Denglai New Army.

In fact, Liu Zongmin also deceived the officers under his command. When those officers went to organize the sergeants to launch a defense, Liu Zongmin led hundreds of sergeants from the Dashun Army Scout Battalion and followed Li Zicheng to evacuate, leaving all these officers in Qili Village.

, before leaving, Liu Zongmin did not forget to tell the ordering soldiers and ordered these sergeants to resist the sergeants of Denglai's New Army with all their strength.

",,..."

The crisp sound of gunfire sounded, and Liu Zongmin's eyes widened instantly. He found that the sergeants who rushed forward fell down with the sound of gunfire. Almost no one was spared, and the gunfire became more and more intensive.

When a bullet grazed his cheek, Liu Zongmin's body trembled, and he raised his hand to wipe his cheek, feeling a sticky feeling on his fingers.

"Quickly, escort the emperor to evacuate..."

Liu Zongmin started roaring again, but he was only halfway through his words. Several war horses rushed over, and several bullets roared towards him. Liu Zongmin, who had no time to avoid, trembled violently, widened his eyes, and looked forward.

There is too much unwillingness in his eyes...

Li Zicheng hit his horse and ran wildly, not caring about everything that happened behind him. When the sound of horse hooves behind him became more and more intensive, his expression changed drastically. Almost all the soldiers around him were lost. These intensive sound of horse hooves must be from pursuit.

Sergeant of Denglai New Army.

"Li Zicheng, you can take a rest..."

Dozens of sergeants lined up in front of them, blocking the way forward.

Li Zicheng pulled up the reins fiercely and turned to look behind him. The few remaining soldiers around him raised the steel knives in their hands and charged forward with a roar. When the gunfire rang out, these soldiers fell down one after another.

Unwilling to be reconciled, Li Zicheng raised the steel knife in his hand, roared and charged forward.
Chapter completed!