Everyone turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. On the way back, the red flag was waving, and a large group of Western Army cavalry and armored soldiers appeared, as well as auxiliary soldiers carrying armor for them. The leader was a brightly armored general with a tall, snow-white horse under his crotch. He was ordered to come to the rescue. Qi Sansheng, the commander of the rear army, received Liu Wenxiu's fireworks order and marched with 6,000 armored soldiers and 500 cavalry, arriving at the critical moment. When Liu Tichun was still on the boat, he discovered through the telescope that there were almost no armored soldiers around Liu Wenxiu, only more than a thousand auxiliary soldiers and some non-combatants, so when he landed, he rushed directly to Liu Wenxiu's banner, intending to capture the thief first and capture the king first. But just halfway through, a large group of Western Army soldiers appeared on the flank, which shocked Liu Tichun. "Everyone is here, turn due south and line up to prepare for battle!" This official road can accommodate two large vehicles driving side by side. It is much wider than those narrow and rugged mountain roads. Qi Sansheng's infantry lined up in four teams and marched together, long and Liu Tichun found that the enemy was not only strong in strength, but also had a large group of cavalry. He immediately ordered his troops to turn around and fight, without bothering to attack Liu Wenxiu. On this wide official road, those cavalry can charge at the fastest speed. A hundred steps away can be reached in two breaths. They pose a great threat to the Chu army's musketeers. If the first shot cannot block the enemy's charge, The Chu army's musketeers had almost no chance to fire a second shot. Fortunately, apart from this official road, the Western army's cavalry had almost no use. Liu Tichun first deployed 500 musketeers on both sides of the official road. Ensure the density and continuity of firepower. If the Western Army's cavalry launches a charge, use continuous volleys of guns to beat them into a sieve. "Qi Sansheng has at least four to five thousand armored soldiers. Has his rear army gone out in full force?" As the Western Army spread out its battle lines on both wings, Liu Tichun roughly saw the strength of the opponent's troops. Although there were some deviations, it did not matter to the overall situation. He turned his head Looking at the river beach, there was no ship there. After the Chu fleet put down three thousand musketeers, they immediately turned around and returned. They were already far away. "Stay steady, don't be in a hurry, and outflank the river." Qi Sansheng marched all the way. The soldiers were very tired. They saw Liu Wenxiu's Chinese army's banner standing high on the mountain. It was easy to defend but difficult to attack in a short time. There should be no danger, so they did not rush to attack Liu Tichun. Instead, they slowly lined up in a leisurely manner, allowing the armored soldiers to rest while wearing their helmets and outflanking the river below the hillside. The Chu army's musketry was sharp, and Qi Sansheng had heard about it for a long time. The five hundred musketeers were guarding the front. This official road was a dangerous trap. It looked smooth and convenient, but in fact it was the closest to death. Attacking from this point was definitely He suffered heavy losses. Since he had an absolute advantage in strength, he had to spread the front as much as possible and launch attacks from the entire front at the same time to reduce the lethality of the Chu army's musketeers. The brigade of Western Army soldiers slowly walked down the hillside and formed an offensive formation on the river beach. Qi Sansheng's combat intention was very obvious. Liu Tichun immediately ordered to take the initiative to attack and disrupt the deployment of the Western Army. The war drums were beating, and the Chu army's musketeers marched in formation. The war drums they used were not the big cowhide drums that were as tall as half a man, but small drums that could be hung around the waist. The Qingyue drums had a bright rhythm, and the Chu army's musketeers marched to the beat of the drums. Walking down the hillside, although the terrain was undulating, the formation was maintained very neatly. "Chu thieves roam the north and south of the Yangtze River. They are indeed a strong army." "It doesn't matter. Liu Erhu attacked my 6,000 elite soldiers with only 3,000 men. It does not conform to the tactics of war and will inevitably lead to a disastrous defeat." "Hey, you still only know one of them but don't know the other. Musketeers, like bows and crossbows, are good at defense but not good at attack. That's the most important thing. Just wait and see General Qi show off his power and defeat the enemy with one blow. " More than 6,000 armored soldiers faced off against 3,000 musketeers, and there was no such annoying thing as before. On the river beach, the literati around Liu Wenxiu became optimistic. Although the Chu army's musketeers showed strong combat effectiveness, using simple musketeers to attack was an unheard-of tactic, and the effect would definitely not be good. In their opinion, muskets and crossbows are long-range shooting weapons. Although they are powerful when defending, they are weak when attacking. Even if they read military books, there is no example of using only archers to break the enemy's formation. In this battle, Qi Sansheng has a great chance of winning. At the very least, it can be a tie. "Call Qi Sansheng to order the cavalry to prepare for the attack. Once Liu Erhu launches an attack, he will attack with cavalry." Liu Wenxiu issued a strange order. The generals on the left and right advised: "The hillside is steep and rugged, and it is difficult to control the horses. If we use the cavalry to charge the thieves at the bottom of the hillside, I will probably kill a thousand enemies and lose 800 to ourselves." Horses are spiritual animals and will try to avoid them as much as possible when running. Obstacles, keep balance, but it is not a goat after all, if it is far awayWhen the official road rushes down the hillside, a large number of horses will definitely fall and be broken. Killing a thousand enemies and damaging eight hundred is a polite way of saying it. In fact, killing eight hundred enemies and damaging one thousand may not be enough to stop them. "The thieves have sharp guns, so they can only use this strategy." Liu Wenxiu explained lightly, and ordered fireworks to be set off to send a message, and ordered Wang Shangli to break out immediately and move closer to the Chinese army. This order was even more unreliable. The generals on the left and right were shocked and tried to dissuade him. "The Marquis of Guyuan is fighting fiercely with the Tan thief. If we retreat now, we will definitely be chased by him. We may not be able to withdraw our troops after three stops. Please think twice, Your Majesty!" "Once the front army retreats, this battle will definitely be lost. Our army can only "If we can withdraw our troops, we will no longer be able to capture Guiyang." "Marquis Guyuan was asking for help just now. Even if he is asked to withdraw his troops, he may not be able to escape" Wang Shangli has called for help several times, and he must have been in a hard fight. He stayed where he was and waited for help. There is still a glimmer of hope. Now to break out and retreat is to turn your back to the enemy's sword and let others cut at will. Needless to say, the losses will be heavy, and the whole army may collapse. "My king speculates that this battle is unwinnable. It is better to retreat after three stops and one stop than to destroy the entire army. If Wang Shangli does not retreat, I am afraid there will be no chance." Liu Wenxiu's voice was low and he tried his best to be patient. Explain to the generals on the left and right that as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, he has received the most comprehensive information and is well aware of the power of the Chu army's flintlock guns. The battle on the river beach just now was a living example. Although Qi Sansheng's military strength was more than twice that of Liu Tichun , and there is no certainty of victory. What worries Liu Wenxiu even more is that the Chu army's fleet behaved very abnormally. After putting down Liu Tichun just now, they actually returned directly. According to general principles, Liu Tichun's landing operation was a risky act of last-ditch action. The Chu fleet should stay on the shore and pick up Liu Tichun at any time. However, they hurriedly returned home immediately. Obviously there were other more important tasks. Liu Wenxiu speculated that , they are probably going to transport the second batch of landing troops. In other words, the Chu army has more follow-up troops, far more than 20,000 soldiers! This is of course just a guess. But you can¡¯t help but be on guard. After the war started today, the various performances of the Chu army showed that their plan was not only to repel the Western Army or to severely damage the Western Army, but to engage in a large-scale annihilation battle to eliminate Liu Wenxiu's main force. The battle only started for half a day, and it was already Too many unexpected things happened, which showed that there was a big problem in judging the enemy situation from the beginning. Liu Wenxiu could no longer determine the strength of the Chu army. In this situation of unknown enemy situation, the best choice was to retreat. Liu Wenxiu could not predict how long it would take after the Chu fleet returned, and where it would choose to land. The Western Army's front, middle and rear armies were all stretched to their limit, and the Chu fleet If another three thousand fresh troops are sent, no matter where they are deployed, it will become the last straw that breaks the camel's back. If we don't take advantage of this time difference to retreat quickly, what are we waiting for? In fact, Liu Wenxiu really wanted to order the entire army to retreat now, but this would inevitably lead to a complete collapse. He still hoped to retreat in an organized manner and reduce losses as much as possible. Therefore, Wang Shangli, who was in a forward position, was allowed to withdraw first and move closer to the Chinese army. Wang Shangli's troops could no longer care about how much damage this would cause. Gao Wengui and Lu Mingchen still had 15,000 armored soldiers and more than 10,000 auxiliary soldiers. They were tightly held by Zhou Guodong and could only retreat through a long and narrow road. If no troops were sent to respond, the losses would probably be greater than Wang Shangli's. There are also Yunnan soldiers coming from the west of Guiyang. Calculating their distance and time, they probably won't be able to catch up with the battle. However, they are still rushing in. Maybe they will fall into a trap and add a hard line to the Chu army. vegetable. The rear army's soldiers were all mobilized, leaving only a few thousand auxiliary soldiers carrying food, grass and baggage. If the Chu army's fleet landed at the rear army and closed the door to beat the dogs, the consequences would be disastrous. To go to the extreme, the Chu fleet could simply go even more ruthless and land at the base of the mountain camp, and make more trips back and forth to send enough troops. The mountain camp might not be able to hold it. At that time, even if Liu Wenxiu If you can lead a large army to break through, you will also be defeated without a fight because of lack of food. There are loopholes everywhere and it¡¯s hard to guard against them. Get out quickly. Liu Wenxiu's plan is to retreat on a rolling basis, alternate covering, and reduce losses as much as possible. Therefore, he must take the first step. This can also be interpreted as a normal deployment and adjustment to maintain the morale of the army. However, before the army retreats, Liu Tichun's heart must be removed. Nail, so he ordered the cavalry to participate in the battle regardless of the cost. Liu Tichun had 3,000 musketeers in his hands. After moving forward for a certain distance, he divided into two groups, the front and rear. A thousand people stayed in the rear formation to guard the official road and the hillsides on both sides. He launched an attack with 2,000 people. They were commanded by the marching drum. He walked steadily down the hillside, stopped about five hundred steps away from the Western Army, reorganized the team, loaded ammunition, and made the final move.??'s pre-war preparations. The sound of drums suddenly disappeared, and the battlefield was much quieter than before. As a gust of mountain wind blew by, the sound of fighting in the distance was faintly heard, adding a sense of solemnity.