The place where Wang Fuchen formed his formation was the narrowest part of the valley.

There is a river to the north, a mountain to the south, and the valley in the middle is about 250 meters wide.

Li Zheng brought 8,000 men, half of whom were firecrackers.

After getting off the mule, take out the cotton armor from the back of the other mule and let the whole army wear it.

Then, they marched forward in orderly steps, and divided out two thousand melee soldiers to line up facing south to deal with any enemy troops that might appear in the mountains.

Wang Fuchen also ranked the firecrackers at the front. Their firecrackers were of various kinds, including firecrackers made by Zhang Xianzhong himself, firecrackers snatched from the hands of officers and soldiers, and the three-eyed cannons used in the early Ming Dynasty.

5,000 miscellaneous fire gun soldiers, versus 4,000 Datong fire gun soldiers.

Both sides lit match ropes and moved closer little by little. The three-eyed gun did not have a match rope, so they had to hold a match stick in hand to move forward.

With a width of 250 meters, it is impossible to row.

The Datong soldiers walked for a while, then stopped moving forward and stayed in a relatively wide area, which was more than a mile wide.

The two sides are in confrontation and neither is moving forward.

Wang Fuchen was a little anxious. If the Datong army moved one mile further, the ambush troops in the mountains would be able to kill and surround them. The place where Li Zheng stopped marching was just outside the narrow place. Although they could attack from both sides, the encirclement was impossible.

Moreover, the Datong Army has one man and two mules, and the other mule is holding grain. They can stand here for a whole day.

Wang Fuchen's men are all hungry. They only had one meal yesterday and only one meal today. The battle must be resolved as soon as possible before they can go to Datong Town to grab food!

In desperation, Wang Fuchen could only take the initiative to advance to a wider area of ​​​​the river valley, where both sides' military formations could be deployed smoothly.

"Raise the gun!"

At about fifty paces, Wang Fuchen ordered three shots.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Zhang Xianzhong's elite firecrackers, nearly five thousand strong, began shooting in three stages.

No one fell.

At such a long distance, let alone being unable to aim, even if it does hit, it is impossible to penetrate the cotton armor defense.

Wang Fuchen could only let his soldiers reload ammunition on the spot, but the Datong army did not move at all, waiting for the enemy to slowly reload.

After reloading the ammunition, Wang Fuchen ordered to move forward and stopped after about forty steps. At this distance, he could barely penetrate the cotton armor, and Zhang Xianzhong's firecrackers did not dare to get closer.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Another three shots.

Seventeen Datong Fire Gun soldiers fell, and two more fell to their feet and got up on the spot. The cotton armor saved their lives.

"go ahead!"

Li Zheng drew his sword and the whole army stepped forward slowly.

The enemy firecrackers hurriedly reloaded their ammunition, but most of them were in a hurry. Wang Fuchen used his command flag to direct the ambush troops to attack the flanks.

Thousands of ambush soldiers came out of the mountains, including a thousand Datong fire gunners, who all turned to the left and trotted into formation on their flanks.

The three thousand Datong Fire Gun soldiers in front are still advancing slowly.

Thirty steps away, he didn't stop and actually wanted to go further forward to shoot.

On Wang Fuchen's side, someone reloaded their ammunition, could no longer obey the military orders, and began to shoot sporadically at the Datong Army.

"Bang bang bang!"

Datong fire gun soldiers, another person fell.

Finally, when the distance between the two sides was twenty steps, the Datong fire gun soldiers raised their guns in unison.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Nearly three thousand people, twenty steps away, quickly completed three shots.

Zhang Xianzhong's elite firecrackers fell like wheat. Wang Fuchen was so frightened that before he could react, all his firecrackers collapsed.

"Fire the bayonet!"

The Datong fire gun soldiers mounted their bayonets and charged towards the enemy. Not only did the enemy fire gun soldiers flee, but the melee infantry also collapsed. Wang Fuchen's supervising team also collapsed.

The flanks also began to engage.

One thousand Datong fire gun soldiers, also at a distance of twenty steps, defeated two groups of enemies in one volley.

The melee infantry immediately stepped forward, and the fire rifle soldiers retreated to fix their bayonets.

The enemy troops on the flanks rushed halfway and found that their frontal battlefield was shattered. They immediately turned around and fled in fright. Thousands of people rushed into the mountains in a chaotic manner.

Zhang Xianzhong was very determined to give up the infantry. His morale was already low. Who the hell could withstand the Datong fire gun soldiers who only fired after twenty steps?

"Hunt the enemy! Blow the charge!"

"Dudududududadudududu..."

Chasing across the mountains and plains, Zhang Xianzhong's troops were already in disarray, but Datong soldiers pursued them in groups of five.

There were mountains everywhere, and it was difficult to annihilate them all. In the end, more than 3,000 enemies were lost.

These fleeing enemies have lost their organizational structure and can no longer gather into an army. Most of them will become bandits with dozens or hundreds of them.

After Zhao Han took over the territory, he had to organize farmers and soldiers to suppress the bandits, otherwise the banditry problem would be very serious.

The enemy commander, Wang Fuchen, was driven away by Li Zheng. After running for several miles, he collapsed from exhaustion. He was finally captured alive by Datong soldiers by the Datong Lake in the west of Datong Town.

At this point, Zhang Xianzhong's Southern Route Army infantry had been wiped out, leaving only the cavalry and cavalry.

Those guys followed the river valley and looted all the way to Yingshan County.

Yingshan County is located in the Dabie Mountains, which is also Zhang Xianzhong's territory. The cavalry and horse teams can replenish food and grass here, and then continue to flee along the river valley.

It is difficult for Zhao Han to catch up, and it is also difficult for Zhang Xianzhong to get out of the mountain.

Zhao Han was simply too lazy to take care of it anymore, and dispatched civilians to build temporary camps at various major mountain passes to block the roads, and then asked farmers and soldiers to garrison the camps.

As for the main force, attack the cities along the way in an all-round way.

When the news of Zhang Xianzhong's defeat came, almost all the prefecture and county towns within the jurisdiction of Huangzhou Prefecture turned their backs.

Since you can't catch Zhang Xianzhong, just take over all his territory!
Chapter completed!