"Three thousand cavalry?"

When he heard that there were three thousand cavalry, Liu Xiyao shook his head helplessly:

"We can only form a formation to meet the enemy. Once the infantry retreats, they will all kill them. I can't afford the loss, so I order my brothers to prepare for battle!"

Among the rogue bandits in the late Ming Dynasty, the fifth battalion of Ge Zuo was second only to Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in terms of combat effectiveness, and it had the majority of cavalry!

Historically, Liu Xiyao later became General Zuoyingzhi under Li Zicheng, and he was definitely capable.

At this time, he also had more than 3,500 cavalry under his command, including 2,000 elites from the old battalion. It was still very easy to escape.

However, facing the 3,000 official cavalry, more than 7,000 infantrymen under his command were chased and killed by the official cavalry, and they were definitely in doom.

Without the infantry under his command, his status among the bandits would definitely decline, and it was very likely that he would even be annexed. For the sake of more than 7,000 infantry, he decided to fight against the 3,000 official troops.

Although he was not sure of victory, Liu Xiyao felt that the outcome could be evenly divided, and it was even possible to force the army back and lead his men to escape intact!

It's not that Liu Xiyao is arrogant, but that he knows that there are not many strong officers and soldiers in Xinyang. At most, Li Yan divides his troops and adds some local troops.

If Liu Xiyao knew that the National Guard Army was coming, he would definitely abandon his infantry and run away!

More than 7,000 infantrymen are very important, but compared to his life, they are absolutely nothing!

"Da da da……"

Liu Xiyao commanded his bandits to form a chaotic formation, and Cao Bianjiao led three thousand tigers and leopards to sweep in like lightning!

Seeing that the rogue bandits in front had already formed their formation, Cao Bianjiao was a little surprised.

When will the rogue bandits line up to face the enemy head-on? Shouldn't they run away?

"Send the order, immediately surround the two wings and block the retreat route of the rogues!"

Cao Bianjiao did not lead his men to charge into the formation, but immediately ordered his cavalry to divide into two groups and circle back to block the retreat of the rogues.

The three thousand tiger and leopard cavalry immediately divided into two groups and quickly passed by the two wings of the rogue array 300 meters away!

Then they stopped more than 500 steps away from the rogues, and quickly turned around to form the formation.

I thought that the official cavalry would charge into the formation, but the rogues already had spears lined up in front of the formation, ready to overwhelm the official cavalry at any time.

Unexpectedly, they didn't pay attention to them at all, but went around directly, which immediately confused the bandits!

Liu Xiyao frowned, looked at the smoke and dust ahead again, and suddenly shouted:

"No, the dog officers and soldiers blocked our retreat. There must be other officers and soldiers behind us. Grandma was fooled..."

The bandits hurriedly looked where the boss looked, and sure enough they saw a large number of cavalry rolling in, but the speed was slightly slower.

All the bandits suddenly panicked and shouted:

"Cavalry, they are all cavalry. When did Guangzhou have so many cavalry? Master Liu, please withdraw quickly..."

Liu Xiyao was also very shocked. How could there be so many cavalry in Guangzhou?

But compared to the rogue bandits under his command, he is still relatively calm.

He knew that he must not run away at this time, otherwise he would be chased by the army's cavalry and chopped to death, so he hurriedly shouted:

"Brothers, stay calm. The escape route has been blocked. Only a battle will give you hope. Archers are ready and obey my king's orders..."

As Liu Xiyao shouted, the bandits gradually calmed down. The archers hurriedly took off their bows and arrows, and the firecrackers also began to load their weapons. Liu Xiyao had more than two hundred firecrackers under his command.

Not all of the National Protectorate were on horseback, and many of them were in four-wheeled carriages. Of course, they were not as fast as tigers and leopards.

When Zhu Cixi and his army arrived, they found that Cao Bianjiao had blocked the bandits' retreat.

As long as the rogues did not move, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry would be as stable as Mount Tai. If the rogue pirates fled, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry would immediately chase and kill the defeated troops, leaving Liu Xiyao very passive and not daring to escape at this time.

When the National Guard Army arrived 500 meters in front of the rogue formation, they immediately dismounted their horses and quickly formed an array in units of thousands.

The usual rigorous training came to fruition at this time, and soon seven thousand-man small square formations were formed under the noses of the rogue bandits, and they formed a fan-shaped semi-encirclement of the large rogue bandits array.

Liu Xiyao could only watch helplessly as the Ming army formed a formation. There were three thousand official cavalry watching from behind. He did not dare to order his cavalry to charge and kill the official infantry.

In his mind, the main purpose of arraying to meet the enemy was defense. He didn't understand how the officers and soldiers could take the initiative to kill the enemy in such an array.

But soon, Liu Xiyao knew that the officers and soldiers were arrayed to kill the enemy.

Because the seven square formations of the government and army were actually moving towards them in an orderly manner, and the square formations were not disordered at all during the movement.

The front rows of the seven thousand-man phalanx were all firecrackers wearing iron armor and eight-petal hats and iron-pointed helmets. The black muzzles of their guns were all pointed at the rogue array, causing great psychological pressure on the rogue bandits.

"Brothers, don't be nervous. The army's firecrackers are just fire sticks. The archers are ready. When the dog army enters fifty steps, they will open their bows and release arrows to kill the front row firecrackers!"

Seeing that his subordinates were in a panic, King Zhengshi was panicking in his heart, but he still had to force himself to calm down and cheer up the bandits under his command.

The seven square formations of the National Guard Army advanced steadily under the command of marching drums, and stopped about ninety steps away from the rogue bandits.

Zhu Cixi's carriage stopped in the middle of a square formation. He stood on the roof platform and looked coldly at the crooked array of rogue bandits on the opposite side.

The first two rows of the rogue formation were spearmen, with densely packed spears pointed at the official formation. If there were no firearms and all the cavalry charge was relied on, the cavalry who charged first would definitely be attacked by the rogue bandits.

But times have changed now, and the national defense army is invincible. How can it be possible to use cavalry to rush into battle and increase innocent casualties?

Zhu Cixiang slowly raised his right hand and suddenly swung it down:

"Send the order, all first rows of the phalanx fire!"

"beep……"

A sharp trumpet sounded suddenly, and the first batch of about two thousand rifled guns from the seven phalanxes pulled the triggers almost simultaneously:

"Bang bang bang..."

There was a burst of popping beans, and two thousand rifled guns instantly sprayed out their anger:

"Puff puff……"

Suddenly, there was a sound of bullets drilling into flesh and the shouts of rogue bandits. The front row of the rogue bandits instantly splashed with clouds of blood mist, and the rogue bandits fell down one after another screaming!

"Second row, fire!"

"Bang bang bang..."

Immediately afterwards, the second row and the third row took turns to fire continuously. One round of three-row salvo ended, and another round of three-row salvo started...

The spearmen in front of the rogue formation and the archers behind them were like harvesters harvesting wheat. They fell one by one under the fire of the musketeers of the Protectorate Army, but they had no power to fight back...

The rogue archers can only be effective when the official army enters about fifty steps.

The effective range of the bandit's musketeers is similar to that of bows and arrows, and they cannot pose a threat to the official army beyond 80 steps!

A rogue spearman was about to throw away his spear and replace it with a shield, when suddenly a mini bullet hit him in the shoulder, knocking him staggering.

Looking down, he found that a bloody hole had been blasted out of his shoulder. The rapidly rotating mini-bomb hit the bone and turned into countless fragments, instantly turning his shoulder into a bloody mess!

"Ah, it hurts me to death..."

"puff……"

Just as he screamed out in pain, another mini bullet hit his head, and red and white things suddenly flew...

The tiger has never seen such a sharp firearm. Not only does it have an amazing range, it does not require a fuse to ignite, and it can reload ammunition faster. It can actually shoot at them continuously. What is the difference between this and a unilateral massacre?

Seeing that the situation was not good, he hurriedly ordered the pikemen to put down their spears and use their shields to resist the musket fire of the Protectorate Army.

"Quick, put down the spear and replace it with a shield..."

But before he finished speaking, a mini bullet suddenly hit his lower abdomen. The high-speed rotating lead bullet mashed his intestines, and he died with a scream!

Although the tiger who entered the land was shot dead, he successfully reminded the rogue bandits to use their shields to resist the gunfire of the national defense army. The rogue bandits made a huge noise and raised their shields to block the front row.

"Bang bang..."

They don't have iron shields, they basically use wooden shields to defend against bows and arrows. Such wooden shields can not only block bows and arrows, but are also easy to carry.

But for the mini-bullets of the National Protectorate Army, the wooden shields seemed to have no effect. The dense mini-bullets easily penetrated the wooden shields and at the same time killed the rogue bandits holding the wooden shields.

Seeing his subordinates falling down screaming and screaming, Liu Xiyao was completely dumbfounded. He had been the eldest brother for many years. This was the first time he encountered such a powerful army. If he had known better, he would have abandoned the infantry and escaped...

Liu Xiyao was also a ruthless person. Seeing that he had been beaten passively, they gritted their teeth and issued an order:

"Brothers, the range of the official army's muskets is too far. Instead of being shot and killed like this, it is better to rush to the range of our bows and arrows and kill the dog officers and soldiers, kill them, charge..."

Liu Xiyao gave an order, and the rogue bandits roared and charged towards the small phalanxes of the National Defense Army. Of course, those in front were the rogue bandits' cannon fodder and hungry civilians. This was a common tactic used by all rogue bandits.

Seeing the rogue bandits charging towards him, a sneer appeared at the corner of Zhu Cixi's mouth. Building the Eight Banners would lead to death if they played like this. Are the rogue bandits invulnerable?

"Pause shooting, use three hundred kilograms of field artillery, and send off the bandits with shotgun shells!"

Zhu Cixiang gave an order, and the musketeers immediately stopped shooting, and fifty loaded 300-pound field cannons were pushed behind the musketeers.

The rogue bandits didn't know that there were still artillery in the army's formation. When they saw the army's shooting suddenly stop, they thought the enemy had no gunpowder, so they charged harder and soon entered the range 60 steps in front of the National Defense Army's formation.

At this distance, firecrackers and bows and arrows can already kill and injure the army. The archers and firecrackers of the Qianlao Battalion of the rogue bandits immediately prepared for archery and shooting.

Suddenly they saw the army began to retreat, and the bandits were overjoyed:

"Hurry up, the dog army must have no ammunition, they are retreating..."

The bandits had just raised their bows and arrows and raised their guns to shoot when they suddenly discovered a row of black muzzles in front of the army's formation. The bandits were immediately shocked:

"Damn it, there are actually artillery in the army formation, cunning Ming Gou..."
To be continued...