As the armies of Lu Jiude and Ma Huabao continued to approach Qinghe County, their strength advantage became more and more obvious. Wu Xingye could only fight and retreat, otherwise the losses would be too great.

Wang Chaodong looked at the battlefield ahead and saw Wu Xingye's sentry cavalry retreating continuously. He immediately asked Zhou Shixian for orders:

"Prince-in-law, there are too many rebel cavalry, and Old Wu is about to be unable to hold on any longer. Please allow me to allow the general to lead troops to support us."

"No need, Wu Xingye will withdraw soon."

Zhou Shixian raised his eyebrows slightly and continued: "It is most beneficial to us to let Lu Jiude and others attack. If we fight directly, we will win and our army will be useless."

After hearing this, Wang Chaodong had no choice but to sing "Hey". He also knew that the opponent had a huge military advantage, and that muskets had little power in active attacks. If they could not even take advantage of this almost only advantage, then for them, it would actually be a big loss.

Very disadvantageous.

Although Wang Chaodong, like Zhou Shixian, was full of confidence in the final result, after all, the southern army had always been weak, and they also had Xue Laoer as reinforcements, but it could reduce casualties and be used to train new soldiers, fight off bandits, and kill Tatars. Naturally,

better one.

Zhou Shixian saw that Wu Xingye was about to withdraw, and then turned to look at Zhu Maozhen beside him and said: "Are the ministries ready?"

"Everything is ready, just waiting for these rebels to come." Zhu Maozhen replied immediately.

"Okay!" Zhou Shixian smiled easily, "Wang Chaodong, return to your position. There will be opportunities for you to wipe out the rebels later."

"Here!"

After Wang Chaodong retreated, Zhou Shixian raised his head and looked ahead. The recognition flags of Lu Jiude and Ma Huabao had already appeared in his eyes.

At the same time, Lu Jiude also saw Zhou Shixian standing on a temporary observation deck built by a carriage from a distance, but the distance was too far, and even his eagle eyes could not see the other person's face clearly.

.

After Lu Jiude and Ma Huabao joined forces to surround Zhou Shixian outside Qinghe County, they immediately sent more than 400 cavalry and quickly drove Wu Xingye's dozens of cavalry back into the military formation.

Wu Xingye originally fought and retreated, so he offered little effective resistance, which made his retreat look like a defeat.

Under the cover of the soldiers and archers, the cavalry quickly retreated into the formation. However, Lu Jiude and other cavalry did not dare to attack directly, so they had to gallop around Zhou Shixian's position, constantly throwing arrows to harass.

When the retreat bugle sounded, they withdrew from the gathering army, but they still left seventy or eighty cavalry around the position.

Ma Huabao rode his horse and came to Lu Jiude's side. He cupped his hands and said, "Father, these thieves who dare to pretend to be the emperor have been surrounded by our army."

Wang Hui came shortly after and said to Lu Jiude with the same respect: "Eunuch, this bandit army is extremely fierce. I'm afraid their fighting power is extraordinary. Eunuch, please be careful."

Lu Jiude nodded and immediately asked: "What happened to that ungrateful guy Lu Zhenfei?"

"Don't worry, father-in-law, I will obey your father-in-law's order and just tie up Mr. Lu." Wang Hui replied quickly.

After confirming the safety of his old friend, he looked up at Zhou Shixian's military formation. However, the troops were neat and majestic. Just by looking at the formation, he knew that this was a strong army!

"The Northern soldiers should not be underestimated!" Lu Jiude sighed and frowned slightly: "I am afraid that the tens of thousands of elite soldiers from the Beijing camp are among only a thousand people here. It is no wonder that they can go south safely all the way."

"Father, no matter how elite they are, they can't defeat four people with just one fist. We have more than 4,000 soldiers and horses. Is it possible that we can't defeat a thousand of them? Everyone eats a bowl of rice. I think they are also strong."

Not going anywhere." Ma Huabao snorted, quite dissatisfied.

He is a domineering and vicious person. Because of his vicious appearance and reputation as a cannibal, he naturally has no scruples about these so-called "housekeepers". What he brought with him were also elite servants and elite soldiers.

There are more than 1,500 people and more than 400 servants. This is the foundation of his status in the army.

Lu Jiude knew Ma Huabao's temper very well and did not refute him. Instead, he smiled and said: "General Ma is right. No matter how strong these people are, they can't defeat our army. They are just servants who can fight a little."

,it's not a big deal."

Wang Hui nodded in agreement.

This was their unanimous evaluation of Zhou Shixian's army, and it was also a very high evaluation.

After all, the servants in the Ming army are just like the Bagara in the Eight Banners Army. They are the best among the elite. If a small group of troops fights and is evenly matched, it is uncertain who will win or lose, the servant or Bagara in the Ming army.

.

But even if they knew that the escorting army was very powerful, they could only continue to attack and fight to the death.

This is something that there is absolutely no way out of. Either it succeeds, thanks to the support of Conglong, one person will be inferior to ten thousand people from now on, or else it will be defeated and the nine tribes will be killed and the infamy will last for thousands of years.

"I just don't know who is leading the army. He can actually unite the capital camp in the chaos and recruit all its elites. If such a strong general had appeared a few years earlier, maybe the world's situation would not be where it is today." Lu Jiu

De couldn't help but sigh.

Although he was loyal to King Fu, he could not bear the death of the Ming Dynasty. For him, the Zhu family was the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty was the world. The world could not perish. If it perished, he would be buried with him.

To a certain extent, Lu Jiude is much more manly than those literati and officials who talk about benevolence, justice, and ethics, but in the end they kneel faster than the other. He is loyal, righteous, courageous, and resourceful.

Although his actions are open to question in later generations, his thoughts are limited to the times.

"My father-in-law, there is no need to feel sorry. When my father-in-law takes charge of the army in the future, he will be able to put all the talented people to good use." Wang Hui flattered him immediately.

"Hahaha." After hearing this, Lu Jiude burst out laughing loudly.

"If two great talents hadn't helped us today, how could we have accomplished this great thing? The two generals have made great contributions and killed these bandits at this moment. Glory and wealth will be at your fingertips!"

"Don't worry, father-in-law, I'm waiting for my old horse to charge in this formation!" Ma Huabao immediately asked for help. He is the one who knows the inside story. Whether he can win over the commander-in-chief or even the earl depends on this battle.

"My father-in-law, the last general has also invited me to fight for the first time. I will never let my father-in-law down!" Wang Hui also quickly raised his hands and clasped his fists. He had long been unwilling to be just the commander of the pacesetter battalion.

"Okay, with the words of the two generals, our family is relieved." Lu Jiude waved his hand and said with a smile.

People die for money, and birds die for food. Both of them knew that this opportunity was rare, and they also believed that they had great advantages in this battle, and they were all vying to show off in front of Lu Jiude.

It can only be said that when the temptation is big enough, people will become more courageous, even lose their minds, and be more willing to take risks, or in other words, selectively ignore risks.

Soon, Zhou Shixian saw the Ming army not far away rushing toward him like a tide, with dense footsteps and the rumble of horse hoofs.

"Blow the drums, prepare the whole army for war, check weapons and ammunition." Zhou Shixian shouted immediately.

"Boom!" The war drums sounded at the temporary lookout, and immediately the entire army began to respond to the flag. Under the command of the flag, the entire army entered a state of combat readiness, and the musketeers finally lit the match rope clamped on the dragon's head.

Sun Hu stood in the second row. He was responsible for commanding all the musketeers behind the shield. Seeing the Ming army on the opposite side flooding the ground like a tide, like thousands of troops coming, he couldn't help but feel a little touched in his heart.

And judging from the military appearance, the opponent is by no means a weak force.

He estimated that there were two thousand Ming troops attacking in the first round, including more than three hundred cavalry. If the cavalry still harassing the military formations were included, it would be close to four hundred.

These Ming troops finally stopped about 150 steps away from Zhou Shixian's army formation. They faced each other and observed each other. Both Ma Huabao and Wang Hui were experienced generals. Although most of the battles were against rogue bandits, they

The rogue bandits are also getting stronger and stronger. They are not people without basic military command capabilities.

Ma Huabao looked at the still as stable military formation in front of him, and couldn't help but murmured in his heart: "The formation is so neatly arranged, and it is not afraid at all when facing several times the enemy. It seems that it is really not simple!"

The performance of Zhou Shixian's soldiers and horses also surprised Wang Hui. If the distance was too far or the opponent had few soldiers, it was difficult for him to judge. Now the two armies were only 150 steps apart, so he naturally observed something strange.

.

Of course, the reason why he felt strange was that he did not know that the most elite part of the Ming army on the opposite side had already regained confidence after defeating the Shun army the night they broke out of the capital.

Except for Sichuan and Zhejiang, Northern soldiers have always looked down on Southern soldiers.

Nowadays, they can defeat the Southern troops, so why should they be afraid of the Southern troops?

More importantly, their commander-in-chief was the consort of the Ming Dynasty, who led them to defeat the Ming Dynasty's consort!

"King Governor, first send the cavalry to harass and cover the charge of the soldiers. When they reach the 70th step, the archers will fire three or four rounds at him first. When the time comes, one impact will inevitably make their formation unstable." Ma Huabao said about his battle.

plan.

Wang Hui nodded. Although there is nothing surprising about this combat plan, it is definitely sufficient: "Okay, General Ma, without further ado, give the order now!"

Ma Huabao and Wang Hui waved their hands almost at the same time, and their guards immediately shouted at the same time: "Blow the trumpet, the cavalry will attack!"

After a while, the rumble of horse hoofs was heard from both wings of Lu Jiude's army. More than a hundred cavalry galloped out on both sides. They rushed towards Zhou Shixian's army formation. When they had entered seventy or eighty steps, they started
Chapter completed!