Chapter 748 A painful lesson

The next morning, Li Li and Ruan Jian rode away from Yanzhou and came to the bank of a river called Songlai River.This place is located in the north of Yanzhou City, only a few dozen miles away.

There was a team of guards around them, and only Ruan Jian and the other two looked very tired. They really slept for too short after talking on the candle last night.

The team of people crossed the Songlai River through an arch bridge built by bamboo and wood.They ran along the main road and headed north for a while, and soon saw a military camp built on the forest.

Ruan Jian followed Lili to the hill with his horse and saw fences, earthen walls, and some sheds in the bushes.

The soldiers inside came to pay their respects to Lili, and it seemed that they were all Lili's subordinates.

But there are not many garrisons here, maybe only more than one hundred.

Several people walked out of the military camp and came to a stand near the hillside, which was a piece of hemp stone protruding from the soil.

Ruan Jian looked north and saw the surface of the Songlai River, which was roughly north-south near this place, and was located on the east side of the main road; and to the west of the main road was a large mountain forest, with lush trees blocking the view, without seeing the beginning and end, as if there was no end.

The road ahead is undoubtedly a narrow passage.

Ruan Jian waited and asked for a while: Will the Ming army definitely take this path?Will they choose a place from the east to cross the river?

Although the river in front flows north and south, rivers not far from the sea will flow into the sea and will definitely extend eastward. If the Ming army can find a ferry in the east, then they will not have to take this narrow road, which can avoid being sandwiched between mountains and rivers.

Lili pointed to the east, but people could not see where he pointed. There was a large swamp on the river bank to the east, which was not conducive to the large number of people marching.What's more, if the boat bandits continue to travel south from there, the road will be blocked by mountains and forests, and they will have to detour westward.So the road under our feet is the closest road.

Ruan Jian nodded.

Li Li said again: I have heard about Liu Sheng, and this person should be very considerate of himself; this time the war between the ship bandits is progressing very smoothly, and ordinary people will inevitably underestimate the enemy, let alone Liu Sheng?This king speculated that Liu Sheng knew that we were guarding the dangers and would not choose to detour, but wanted to attack and destroy the stronghold.

Ruan Jian said in surprise: The divine trick of pacifying the king is very good, and it makes sense.

Li Li raised his chest and pointed to the road ahead: I set up three military camps on this section of the road.With our troops, of course we cannot stop the Ming army, but Liu Sheng's company will underestimate the enemy even more if he leads several camps.This is the role of these military camps.

He paused for a moment and looked back. The defeated soldiers who were defeated in the Vietnamese army would retreat south from the bridge just now, just waiting for the ship bandits to come and chase.Then we burned down the bridge and cut off the pursuers from their main force; the Vietnamese soldiers who were ambushing in the surrounding mountains and forests took the opportunity to fight out!We can't defeat 10,000 or 20,000 ship bandits, can't we destroy one or two hundred people?

When Li Li said this, he sneered: Our army is in Songlaihe, so I will teach the boatmen a painful lesson first.Next, there is a large section of mountain and forest road in the north of Yanzhou City. The matter is not over yet. I want the boat bandits to pay the price on this road!

Ruan Jian said: If we could kill Liu Sheng himself as we expected last night, the Ming army might have retreated.

Li Li nodded and said: What Mr. Ruan said is very true.The boatmen also knew that the Dayue River was covered with paddy fields and dense forests. Liu Sheng's troops would definitely not have many cavalry when they came by boat.In addition to scouts who are inquiring about the news, the only elite cavalry are mostly guards of the main general.If Liu Sheng was in a hurry to pursue him, he might lead the elite cavalry to come.

Ruan Jian stopped talking and still looked at the mountains and rivers ahead.He slowly exhaled, as if the stuffiness in his chest was empty.

Since the war between Dayue and Ming Dynasty started, wars everywhere have been like collapsed. The Vietnamese army will be defeated when they encounter wars; and at this time, Ruan Jian had at least seen hope.

...In late October, the Ming army's large group of troops arrived near Songlai River.

The rumbling sound of cannons finally rang in the south, like the thunder coming from the horizon, familiar and exciting.

After Liu Sheng led his army out of Qinghua City, he had marched for more than a hundred miles, and there was no war along the way. It was not until this morning that he finally heard the sound of cannons again.

At this time, Liu Sheng was a little mixed with worries.

If the Ming army had not encountered resistance, the army would have been at the foot of the city of Yanzhou in one day; but it seemed that the rebels also knew that they would not have run away if they just ran away.

The Ming army vanguard was fighting, and the troops of the outpost army had stopped marching on the main road.There were resting soldiers on both sides of the road, but there was also a place for soldiers who ran horses to send messages.

Liu Sheng waited for a long time, then rushed straight forward with his personal elite cavalry.

When the crowd rushed to the vanguard's place, the sound of artillery had already subsided.Liu Sheng sat on the horse's back and looked at the scene ahead.

There was sparse mist in the wet air, surrounding the woods, and the road surface was covered with gradually dispersed smoke.

On the side of a winding road in the distance and on the hill facing the road, there was the rebel camp; however, at this time it had been occupied by the Ming army.

The Ming army's flag was floating in the forest, and some infantry were still rushing into the forest one after another.

After a while, the vanguard soldier seemed to see Liu Sheng's handsome flag, and a general came to report the military situation.

The general dismounted his horse and clasped his fists and said: "Master, we have captured this camp." The rebels scattered and ran south.The scout found that there was a military camp ahead, which was to meet the defeated rebels.

Liu Sheng said: Go and pass the order, the soldiers in front don’t have to wait for the cannons.After the troops arrived at the enemy camp, they immediately attacked!

Get order!The general bowed his fists and took away a flag.

These rebels thought that occupying the dangerous road that was necessary could block the Ming army; however, the rebels were simply vulnerable, and the mobs were just mantis armed to chariots.

When Liu Sheng led his troops to the front line, he found that the soldiers had already begun to attack the second enemy camp.

Some of the baggage battalions are located in the forefront of the army and are with the vanguard army.

Because before this, the Ming army had not encountered resistance and only marched for three consecutive days; the baggage battalion was arranged in front, and camps stationed for the various battalions of the army could be built in advance.

The baggage battalion still carried some artillery, but now everyone has not arranged artillery arrays according to military orders.

Step in one step!In the distance, the shouts of military generals came from an infantryman.

That was the army of the Jingying camp, because only the old subordinates of the Han Wangjun army would use this kind of command, and the garrison troops in various places had not yet learned it.

In front of a forest, two hundred households lined up in a row, slowly advancing forward.

Soon, fire flashed in the woods, and a booming cannon sound came.

That was the Annan people's firearms, and most of them were firearms similar to guns.

The Annan people learned to use firearms very early. Some of the Ming army's muskets in Yongle's early Ming army were also magic guns invented by the Annan people.

Ordinary cast cannons fired from a long distance, which is to shoot stones or solid iron bombs, and can only be fired; the shells fall from the air and smash a small pit.

The sound of cannons passed, and a scream came from the Ming army in front of them from time to time, and the soldiers injured by stone bullets fell to the ground.

However, the Ming army showed no sign of retreat.

The two hundred-house troops of the Ming army continued to advance slowly, and the rebel artillery also stopped.Those cast guns are very troublesome to load and cannot be fired continuously.

When there were seventy or eighty steps between the two sides, the bows and arrows in the woods flew into the sky.

The Ming army soldiers ignored the arrows completely. Occasionally, some people were injured by arrows, but most of them risked their arrows to flatten the muskets and aimed at the direction of the military camp.The general pointed at the direction of launch with his waist knife: Let it go!

Bang bang bang bang bang bang... A row of muskets rang out in densely, and among the dazzling flashes, a string of white smoke rose from the ground.

After a moment, the sergeant in the front row turned and retreated. The second row quickly stepped forward to prepare and another volley shot.

Several musket fires ended, and the heavy infantry behind them shouted, and people scattered in sparse formations and rushed in the woods.

Because as long as it is a cannon, it can be loaded with a Trojan horse, but it only has different range and lethality.

The Ming army was wary of shotguns, so the charge formation was very loose.

kill!kill!Kill... People's shouts came one after another, and the shouts seemed to echo in the mountains and forests to the west.

But the vanguard generals were obviously thinking too much; before the heavy infantry of the Ming army reached the place, they saw the rebels in the distance fleeing one after another, and many people ran out from the edge of the forest in the south and were running away.

The enemy ran too fast and there was no more cannon sound in the village.

Liu Sheng led a group of cavalry and followed the vanguard troops and continued to walk south.

After a while, someone reported that the third military camp was discovered; further forward was Songlai River, which was a road connecting the two sides of the river.

The vanguard marched to the enemy's camp one mile away. Liu Sheng rushed forward and directly took over the military power of the vanguard general.

He ordered the Ming army infantry to detour from the main road to the south of the enemy camp, to form a siege against the enemy, and to destroy these traitors who were in trouble in one fell swoop!

A group of people was ordered to attack and quickly deviated to the rebels from both sides with the column.

As expected, the Ming army had not yet begun to attack; the rebels who gathered three military camps immediately gave up their resistance and began to escape in an instant.

They must be afraid that their entire army would be wiped out after the retreat was cut off.

Liu Sheng looked at the dust in the south, and could imagine the chaotic scene when the army fled.If elite cavalry chased and killed such defeated soldiers at this time, it would definitely be like cutting melons and vegetables!

He turned his head and looked at the brightly-clad guards. Everyone stood on the ground, holding horses, no one spoke, and his military appearance was very clean, and a big flag with the word "Lu" was fluttering in the wind.

Liu Sheng turned around and reached out to touch the handle of the knife on his waist.

The new knife that Liu Sheng replaced after going to war has the smell of butter and has never had the chance to use it.Today, the knife is finally going to be bleeding.