"The cannon is so scary!"

"The musket is also terrible!"

"Boom, the sound of slap is scary!"

The defenders were shaken and their morale dropped sharply.

In fact, not only their will was shaken, but even the two of Tsailang and Xu Renjie who supervised the battle on the top of the mountain were extremely frightened. They felt a chill in their hearts, which was so heartbroken that they were so sad that they could not even send out the orders.

The Fro machine cannon at the foot of the mountain began to raise the muzzle and aimed at a higher position. The guards in the No. 2 Arrow Tower, even the No. 3 Arrow Tower, and No. 4 Arrow Tower, all screamed, jumped out of the Arrow Tower, and retreated in a messy manner on the top of the mountain.

"The Grand Marshal and the desperate brother Saburo did not issue a retreat order. Don't retreat on your own!" A ten-man yelled loudly on the top of the mountain, but the defeated soldiers who retreated did not listen to his orders at all, and just focused on running towards the mountain.

"How is this possible? They are elite teams of the three teams. When they were fighting with Wang Zuogu's army, they were not afraid of death. Now they are actually running away in a panic? How is this possible?" A centurion on the top of the mountain screamed in disbelief.

"Yes? Why did the hero who is not afraid of death escape?" Even Tengxian Sanlang and Xu Renjie couldn't help but be surprised by this question.

This is their grasp of people's hearts. You should know that "being afraid of death" does not really mean "it doesn't matter if you die". Just give a simple example: a very thin soldier, holding a stick, faces a burly man who also holds a stick. This soldier knows that he can't beat that man, but as long as he is brave enough and hard enough, he may defeat the man in momentum and achieve victory.

But if you change this scene, you will still be the thin soldier who is fearless and fearless, holding a stick and facing a tank! Does this soldier dare to go up and fight? Even if he is really "not afraid of death", he may not have the courage to fight up and fight, and he will probably only turn around and run away.

If you change the scene again, the same soldier, holding a stick, faced a demon that was revived in the abyss of hell! At that time, let alone rushing forward to fight, even the strength to escape might be lost, because the fear of the mysterious and unknown demon would take away all his strength and knock him down mentally. Maybe before the demon could take action, he would have scared himself to death.

Human beings always prepare themselves in advance for things they are familiar with. Even if they are afraid of that, they can think about ways to deal with them, so as to win the opportunity for victory. However, when human beings face the unknown huge power, they will completely collapse and cannot react strongly, and even battles that can clearly win will fail.

This is a defect of the mind and no one can avoid it!

Zhu Yuanzhang knew this very well. No matter how brave the soldiers in Huanglong Mountain Village were, when they first encountered the Shenji Camp, they were inevitably shocked by the power of cannons and muskets. They would feel powerless towards this unknown weapon and hypnotize themselves in their hearts. "Faced with such weapons, they would not win no matter what," so they would collapse and run away. The commander's orders were no longer obeyed. It was inevitable that they would lose a lot, and no one could save the defeat.

"Don't run away... Keep your position!" Xu Renjie shouted loudly.

"Fourth Team, hurry up and make up for the free position of the third team's escape..." Pinming Saburo also quickly ordered.

But the two of them soon discovered that the soldiers who had always obeyed orders did not listen to the orders this time. They were crowded together at the intersection of the mountain road, with a clear sense of fear on their faces. Their usual bravery could not even be seen at all. They were like a group of frightened birds, and could no longer bear the slightest fright.

The shield formation of officers and soldiers easily advanced to the middle of the mountain. Under the protection of the shield formation, the gunmen rushed towards the top of the mountain... The guards who were supposed to throw stones down at various defense positions did not dare to poke out to throw stones, for fear of being hit by the bullets of the musket. They didn't know that the bullets of the musket could not hit the top of the mountain at the moment, and the gunmen were completely firing in the air. This was called deterrent shooting, which was purely a bluff.

However, this bluffing shooting was very effective, scaring all the guards on the top of the mountain to fear and dare not protrude their heads. A small number of bold soldiers threw a few stones, but because they did not have enough courage to aim, they were just throwing stones randomly, so their accuracy was extremely poor. Some of the stones did not even roll onto the mountain road and slid past the side.

Behind the shield formation, the officers and soldiers' archers and spearmen also climbed up the mountain road and drove straight towards the top of the mountain, as if entering a no one.

"What should I do?" Sanlang desperately grabbed Xu Renjie's shoulder and shook it hard: "Brother Zhu has handed over all the command power to you, you can come up with a way."

"I... what can I do?" Xu Renjie smiled bitterly: "The soldiers don't listen to the orders anymore. What else can I use as a commander? Uh... I have let Brother Zhu down on his trust."

"Bang!" A gunshot was heard on the mountainside, and Sanlang and Xu Renjie squatted down with reflexive conditions. The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly: "Not mention soldiers, even the two of us would be so cowardly when they heard the sound of muskets... How could the soldiers have the intention to fight?"

"Retreat!" Xu Renjie gritted his teeth: "The third branch can't be defended anymore... the morale is so low. If we insist on forcing here, we will only allow the 1,000 brothers stationed in the third branch to compensate here... and let the village be given to the officers and soldiers."

"Let the village?" Pinming Sanlang was shocked: "No, we have worked so hard to build it. How can we just let it go? Light the beacon fire and summon the second brother Wang, who is on standby in the main village, to help, and also let the brothers in the No. 1 and No. 2 branch villages support it."

Xu Renjie shook his head: "It's useless. The cannons and muskets are so powerful that the soldiers have no intention of fighting. At this time, even if other brothers come to reinforce, we will still be defeated. While the casualties are still small, most of our brothers can withdraw..."

He paused and said loudly: "If the village is gone, it can be built again. If people die, they will not survive... I passed my order to give up the No. 3 branch, and the entire army will withdraw the main branch from the back mountain path... I will take the responsibility of losing the No. 3 branch, and I will take it all my strength!"

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Huanglong Mountain, the main village!

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the highest stone on the top of the mountain and looked into the direction of the No. 3 branch. The main village was four miles away from the No. 3 branch. The straight line distance was not very far. You can see the opposite mountain from the top of the mountain, but you can't see clearly the trees and people on the mountain...

The sounds in the deep mountains will echo between the mountain walls and spread far away, so the rumbling cannon sounds on the No. 3 branch village can also be heard faintly in the main village.

"The officers and soldiers are firing!" Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "Xu Renjie, I'm going to lose!"

Qiuye sat next to Zhu Yuanzhang, poured him a cup of tea, and delivered it to his mouth and said, "Mr., you have long expected Xu Renjie to lose. Why bother to worry about this defeat at this time?"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head: "What I am worried about is not victory or defeat, but... Xu Renjie will hold on or order retreat!" He said seriously: "At this time, you can see the power of a general. If he is a valuable general, he will retreat decisively at this time to preserve his strength. If he chooses to defend the No. 3 branch, then... even if he can come back alive, I will give up on him and will no longer regard him as a general worthy of training."

"My husband..." Qiu Yeqi said: "I am a woman and don't know much about fighting. But... I heard Mr. Shu say when telling a story that Wen is willing to advise and Wu is willing to fight. This is the person worthy of respect! Why is it that retreating is actually of good use in your mouth?"

"Wen's advice, and martial arts' battles can indeed show a person's integrity." Zhu Yuanzhang said lightly: "But integrity does not equal strength. A person who can truly become a great man can bend and stretch, not be complacent because of victory, nor will he be depressed because of failure. The so-called victory is humble, and defeat is elegant! If you want to become a famous general, how can you do it if you are unbeaten for a few games?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's spiritual thoughts were far away: "The Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, faced the King of Chu, and suffered repeated defeats and fought repeatedly, and finally won the world. Liu Xuande was like a dog who lost his family, wandering for half his life, but finally achieved great achievements... This is the measure."

"So that's it!" Qiuye smiled: "I have also heard a story. The Emperor Taizu of our Ming Dynasty also suffered a defeat. It is said that he was defeated by Chen Youliang and was injured. It was Queen Ma who escaped from the encirclement with him on his back. Later, he revitalized the army and defeated Chen Youliang... Is this what my husband said?"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly, not saying anything.

At this time, Wang Er ran over from the mountain road and said to Zhu Yuanzhang a little angrily: "Brother Zhu, the cannons sound from the No. 3 branch village, and the sound of muskets are coming... I want to bring my brothers to reinforce, please give orders."

"I am not qualified to order!" Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "The commander-in-chief of this battle is Xu Renjie, not me! You are optimistic about the No. 3 branch. If the beacon fire rises, it means he will order you to reinforce. If the beacon fire has not risen, you must obey the order and must not attack without authorization."

"This... this is so anxious!" Wang Er jumped: "What if Xu Renjie commands randomly? What if he forgets to light up the beacon? I'm so anxious..."

As he was talking about this, Qiuye suddenly pointed to the distance and shouted: "Look at the mountain road over there... The guards from the No. 3 branch have retreated..."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er turned their heads at the same time. On the mountain road two or three miles away, a large group of guards retreated in a mess. It was obvious that they had just retreated from the No. 3 branch. They couldn't see the expressions of these people clearly from a distance. However, from their panic movements and chaotic formations, they retreated in a very embarrassing manner.

"Huh!" Zhu Yuanzhang breathed a sigh of relief and felt very comforted: Xu Renjie chose to retreat and preserve his strength! His weapon is worth looking forward to.
Chapter completed!