Gao Yingxiang and others looked at the scene in front of them, and all the thieves were silent.

As the retreating archers returned to the front of the formation, Zhang Xianzhong coughed and broke the silence atmosphere.

He said, "The King of Chuang, the official army has great bows and arrows. There are only a few hundred archers, which in an instant made us lose hundreds of brothers! I don't know how many archers there are in the official army. This battle is difficult to fight, what should we do next?"

Guo Tianxing, who had already escaped, said with lingering fear: "King of Chuang, if you send infantry to attack the formation again, King Lu Yan will be able to resist the arrows! We only have so many archers in total, and half of them are lost in one go!"

Gao Yingxiang pondered for a while and said, "Are there only a few hundred people dead? How can we not die in war? We are all climbing out of the pile of dead people? Lao Han, go and place the brothers who ran back. In a bucket of valley, you go and collect shields, the more the better. If the shields are not enough, send people back to the camp to find wooden boards. No matter how powerful the arrow is, it cannot shoot through the wood. After you have enough shields, you can choose the front of the men! Each person who rushed in front would cost ten taels of silver, kill an officer and soldier and reward twenty taels of silver. I don't believe it. Tens of thousands of people can't beat thousands! Go quickly!"

Huang Long led his personal soldiers to the rear, and Gao Yingxiang's younger brother Gao Yingen led several generals to command the camp infantry that arrived.

The remaining thief leaders from all sizes also greeted their subordinates and conveyed the reward pattern given by the King of Chuang.

Among the tens of thousands of thieves, there were many brave people. Under the silver reward, many desperate people signed up enthusiastically. In the end, more than 4,000 thieves were selected as brave candidates and prepared to rush forward.

About half an hour later, Huang Long rushed back from the camp with dozens of wheelbarrows. Each car was filled with various shields, iron shields, leather shields, wooden shields, and even a pot lid on a large pot for cooking, with a total of about 2,000 noodles.

After another round of selection, the most powerful thieves were ranked at the forefront of the team as the vanguard of shields.

Many bandits held shields in one hand and various short-soldiers in the other, chì    luǒl on their upper bodies, shouting and eager to try.

Seeing this, Gao Yingxiang felt proud and smiled and said, "This time I will teach King Lu to suffer a great loss! Men, go forward!"

With a command, the bandits with shields were in front, and the other bandits followed closely. The old soldiers in the camp once again, and the remaining bandits were behind dozens of steps behind and followed in the end. The endless crowd rushed towards the official camp.

In addition to the more than 500 cavalry who were on guard, the cavalry of the official army had already dismounted and fed the horses to maintain the strength of the war horses.

The infantry also sat down on the spot to rest and wait for orders. When the bandits gathered together, with Yang Maogong's order, the infantry stood up and arranged the square formation, and the archers were still in front of them. The cavalry boarded their horses and formed an arrow formation ready to charge.

Lu Xiangsheng brought Wu Dading to the cavalry line on one side, and took the lead in line at the forefront, preparing to act as an arrow and lead the team to charge.

The bandits began to trot when they were more than 200 steps away from the official army, but the official army was still unmoved.

As the distance got closer, the bandits in front began to accelerate. At about a hundred steps, a short horn sounded, and a thousand archers of the official army set their bows and arrows, pointing in front of them diagonally.

The bandits holding shields howled and rushed towards the high speed. Another horn sounded, a bowstring sounded, and a thousand standard triangular arrows flew into the sky, reaching the sky above the heads of the bandits in a blink of an eye, and instantly turned around and pounced on the crowd on the ground.

Some of the bandits shouted at the top of their lungs: "Rise the shield! Raise the shield!" The bandits in front raised all kinds of shields in their hands to cover their heads, slowing down a little, and a crackling sound came out, and most of the arrows fell on the shield, and only a small part of them shot the bandits through the gaps in the shield.

After the official archers fired five rounds in a row, the bandits rushed to a distance of fifty steps. With the sound of horns, the archers divided into two teams and turned back to both sides, with swords and shields coming forward to cover them. Three thousand spearmen lined up in three groups, holding up the spears more than ten feet long in their hands and headed forward to meet the enemy.

With the attack of five rounds of arrows, hundreds of bandit soldiers were either killed or injured.

Seeing that the archers of the official army retreated, the bandits felt that the greatest threat had been eliminated. They blocked their shields and rushed towards the official army.

The official army spearmen walked out a few steps and stopped. The front row raised the spears flat. The second row poked out the gun from the gap in the first row. The entire square formation was like a hedgehog covered with thorns, with a sharp and sharp spear head shining with cold light.

In an instant, the bandits were approaching, and the officials shouted in unison: "Protection!" and then stabbed the spear in their hand out.

The power of the spear stabbed forward was superimposed with the power of the bandits colliding, and a tragic howling suddenly resounded throughout the battlefield.

The shield-holding bandits were all short blades, and they were stabbed by long spears a few meters away from the official army. The sharp spear tip could penetrate even leather armor and mail, not to mention most thieves who did not even have cotton armor.

Some bandits reacted very quickly, using shield grids to drive long spears, and jumped forward suddenly, trying to fight with the government army in close combat. But the spears in the second row were stabbed immediately and were eventually stabbed.

As the spearman stabbed a round, almost all the thieves in the front row fell to the ground, either stabbed into the lower abdomen, stabbed into the neck, the face, or the thigh, almost all of them were shot at the vitals.

The spearmen retracted the pierced guns and returned to the state of accumulation.

The bandits behind continued to collide, and many experienced old thieves quickly reacted and threw the short axes and knives in their hands towards the official army.

Because the formation was too dense, the short blades thrown by the bandits were hit one after another. Amid the screams, hundreds of officials were either dead or injured and fell to the ground. The gap they left behind was quickly filled by the official troops in the back row.

The official army stabbed the spear in his hand at the thief who had lost his weapons.

After several rounds of stabbing, there were only a few more than 2,000 bandit soldiers holding shields left, and more than 2,000 brave bandit soldiers had stopped charging.

This is no longer a fight, this is simply tú    shā.

Their weapons could not reach the other party at all, but they could kill themselves calmly. Looking at the corpses everywhere in front of them, the screams of the injured and alive bandits, in panic, many people began to run back or sides.

The spearmen in the official army shouted in unison again: "Protection!" and with the shout, he took a neat step forward, and pointed the blood-dripping spear head at the bandits densely.

Many bandit soldiers who were still hesitating finally couldn't hold on anymore, shouting wildly and turned around to escape. The thousands of infantrymen from Gao Yingxiang's old camp behind had also stopped. The bandit soldiers who had fled back crashed straight into them, instantly chasing their formation.

Because the bandits in front blocked their sight, these bandits did not know the situation ahead. In a panic, some people began to flee back with the retreating bandits, and saw a defeat happening.

As a cannon sounded, Lu Xiangsheng knocked the horse's belly, raised the sword in his hand, and the horse began to run forward. The Liaodong horse team behind him and on the other side also began to drive the horse forward, preparing to take the opportunity to rush to kill the defeated soldiers.

The sound of trumpets in the bandit camp sounded, and the cavalry on both sides of the camp moved and came towards the official and horse team.

The cavalry on both sides were hundreds of steps apart, and the horses accelerated and could just hit each other. So before the official and horses rushed into the middle of the bandits and infantry, the cavalry on both sides had already hit each other head-on.

Lu Xiangsheng loosened the reins, held the knife in both hands and waved it horizontally. A thief rider in front raised a mace and was about to hit him. The head of the thief rider was cut off with one knife.

Lu Xiangsheng then raised his knife and slashed, and with a scream, a thief rider's arm was chopped off.

In the blink of an eye, two horses passed by, Wu Dading's sabre cut off the head of the bandit soldier, and a large amount of blood spurted into the sky, and the bandit's body fell off the horse.

Lu Xiangsheng's war horse accelerated forward, waving the big sword in his hand. Wu Dading and other personal soldiers fell behind half a horse's body, protecting both sides of him, and constantly blocking the weapons in his hand.

Within dozens of breaths, the cavalry of both sides hurried past, leaving behind corpses on the ground and many war horses that lost their masters.

In this cavalry hedge, there were more than 800 cavalry on the side of Lu Xiangsheng, with more than 100 casualties, and more than 400 cavalry on the side of the camp, and the situation on the other side was similar.

The official cavalry no longer cares about chasing the bandits and defeated soldiers. When the enemy still has a large team of horses, chasing the infantry means that the formation will be dispersed, which is purely a search for death.

Lu Xiangsheng gathered the horse team and wanted to rush again. The Liaodong guerrilla Zu Qianjun quit. He shouted loudly: "Supervisor! You can't rush anymore! You have to make a fuss. The brothers suffered too much casualties. I can't explain my generals when they come back!" The rest of the Liaodong cavalry also shouted and agreed.

Lu Xiangsheng was furious, but he knew that the Liaodong cavalry had always been like this and didn't care about military orders at all. If he insisted on fighting again, these guys would not be allowed to give him a knife from behind.

Seeing that the camp's horse team stopped in a circle and prepared to rest and charge again, Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to order back to the camp. Under the cover of the horse team, the archers and swordsmen were responsible for transporting the casualties back to the camp and taking back some unowned war horses.

Seeing that the formation of the official army was not chaotic, there was no intention of chasing the camp, so he let the official army return to the camp. What made Lu Xiangsheng even more depressed was that the several joint attacks that had been agreed did not happen, and Zu Kuan and Li Chongjin, who were detouring to the rear of the bandits' flanks, had no movement at all.

After returning to the camp, Lu Xiangsheng replaced his bloody armor, wiped the blood on his face, and regardless of the fatigue on his body, he changed into a blue robe and came to the wounded camp.

This time, more than 120 spearmen were killed and more than 300 were injured. Those who were killed were hit by the swords and axes thrown by the bandits and hit key parts such as the face and neck. The injured were all hit by the chest, abdomen and arms.

Several soldiers were busy with military doctors in the wounded camp, boiling herbs in a few pots. Many soldiers helped take care of the wounded under the command of the doctor. In the camp, shēn    yín screamed in tears.

Lu Xiangsheng comforted several wounded people and then left the camp and returned to the tent. After the big case, Lu Xiangtong strode in and shouted: "Brother, these Liaodong barbarians don't obey the orders! Do they still have the court in their eyes? Brother, didn't the emperor give you Shangfang's sword? Just cut off the head that led the lead and see who will not obey the orders in the future!"

Lu Xiangsheng glared at him and shouted, "Shut up! What do you know? Don't talk nonsense in the military camp!" Lu Xiangtong turned her head to the side in discontent and snorted in her nose.

Lu Xiang rose up and walked slowly to him, looked at him with her hands behind her back, and said, "Last year, the bandits are powerful. You saw it just now. If only my Tianxiong Army is the only one in this battle, the outcome will be unpredictable. Even if you win, you will be a tragic victory and you will be unable to continue pursuing. Because we are all infantrymen, but the robbers have strong cavalry, we still have to rely on the Liaodong Guest Army. Since the Wanli Master, the court has spent countless silver in Liaodong, and the relationship between the generals in Liaodong is mixed, and it has become a big trend. The emperor and the important officials of the court know it. However, the world is in chaos, and the Ming Dynasty still needs a relatively stable Liaodong to fight against the Jianzhou Jurchens so that we can destroy the bandits. After all, bandits are the biggest concern of my Ming Dynasty!"

Lu Xiangsheng sighed. The years of war made him feel deeply tired in his heart. Sometimes he really wanted to resign and return home. But now the emperor has received great kindness from him, and he really can't bear to give it up. What was his original intention of studying at the beginning? To cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country and pacify the world!

Thinking of this, he suddenly became energetic and said firmly: "Three, after this battle, the thief will retreat. After Zu and Li lead their troops back, we will go to Ruzhou. Now you immediately arrange to explore horses and search for the news of the cavalry led by Zu and Li, and report to me at any time, go!" Although Lu Xiangtong had not yet disappeared, he still received the order and left. After a while, the sound of horse hooves sounded, and he did not take them out of the camp at night.

After the official army withdrew from the camp, Gao Yingxiang ordered the soldiers who had not participated in the war to clean up the battlefield, treat the wounded, and bury the dead soldiers.

He rode on his horse and stared at the camp of the official army in the distance, without saying a word for a long time.

Zhang Xianzhong came near the horse and said, "The horse team of the King of Chuang is really well-known. This time, I, Old Zhang, admired it!"

Gao Yingxiang came back to his senses, smiled reluctantly, and said, "That's my heart. This time I lost six or seven hundred cavalry, but I also tried the weight of the official army. The Liaodong barbarians insisted on it! Brother Zhang, what do you think we should do next?"

Zhang Xianzhong hesitated for a moment and said with a smile: "The King of Chuang must have an opinion, and I, Lao Zhang, will follow the order!"

Gao Yingxiang pondered for a while and said, "Just just now, we have official troops and horses on both sides and behind us. King Lu Yan planned to defeat us head-on, chase the defeated soldiers to attack my formation, and then surround me from all sides. If that's the case, the men don't know how many official troops came, and they were defeated from the front and rushed on all sides. We will eventually be a crushing defeat. Maybe many of you and me will explain it here!"

Zhang Xianzhong was shocked and asked, "Why are there only the frontal government troops who want to rush forward? There is no other movement?"

"Hahaha! I, Gao Yingxiang, has been fighting for so many years, and I am not a vegetarian. I have been guarding against King Lu Yan! Although I only brought a team of three thousand horses in front of the formation, my more than 10,000 cavalry in the camp were also divided into three places. The official army must have seen that the number of people in each place was greater than that of them, so I didn't dare to take action. Otherwise, we would suffer a great loss today!"

When Zhang Xianzhong and other leaders heard this, they were shocked and admired, and everyone praised them loudly.

"The King of Chuang is so smart. No wonder his surname is Gao!"

"If I hadn't had the move of the King of Breaking, I might die here today!"

"I'll just say that the number of cavalry in the government army is wrong. It turns out that I ambushing us!"

"It's not a pity that the King of Chuang is the number one figure in our world's rebel army. I, Luo Yong, admire you!"

Zhang Xianzhong also gave a thumbs up and praised: "The King of Chuang is far-sighted, and I, Old Zhang, admires you! I admire you!"

When Gao Yingxiang saw this scene, the haze brought to him by the defeat just now was wiped out.

He laughed and said, "Haha, thank you for your praise from brothers! After fighting this battle, I expected that the official army would not dare to chase us anymore. However, we will not fight Ruyang City. After all, the official army is nearby. I just thought, let's go to Zhenyang and go towards Xincai. There is no main force of the official army there. We will find a place to repair it and train the team. After the renovation is completed, we will fight eastward. The prefectures and counties in the east will be much richer than Henan, which does not shit! Then we will break the prefectures and counties, and the money will be free, and the girls will play casually! If I play with them, I might fight to Nanjing! Hahaha!" The leaders of the bandits were overjoyed and surrounded Gao Yingxiang in a noisy way.

In the official army camp, in Lu Xiangsheng's tent, Zu Kuan, who had already returned, was reporting the whole story to him.

After they each led their team to detour, they should have waited for the signal and attacked together. Unexpectedly, before they found a place to repair and wait, the thieves' large teams appeared near them.

The bandits in each direction are several times more than they are. If they fight hard at this time, the bandits and infantrymen in the same direction rushed over after hearing the news, it would be troublesome.

So Zu, Li and the generals from the other direction chose to leave the battlefield and then go back to the camp in a big circle.

After hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng expressed his affirmation of their decision. He knew that if it were him, he would make such a choice in this situation. Because after all, it was not about fighting a decisive battle with the thief. Without the certainty of winning, it is wisest to preserve his strength.

Then after several people discussed it, they felt that the government army urgently needed rest. Lu Xiangsheng decided to lead troops to Ruzhou as originally planned to replenish food, grass, soldiers and weapons, and report to the court for the two battles with Gao Yingxiang and the list of meritorious personnel.

Lu Xiangsheng left Lu Xiangtong and fifty people at night to monitor and investigate the movements of the bandits and report in time to grasp the next purpose of this court's confidant trouble.

After the discussion, everyone led the team back to the camp for a rest. At night, the bandits led the camp to leave Ruyang and headed south. Lu Xiangsheng told Ruyang County and led a large group of people to Ruzhou in the northwest.

A few days later, Lu Xiangsheng led the Tianxiong Army and the Guanning Cavalry to outside the Ruzhou Prefecture City. Officials at all levels of the prefecture who had been waiting for a long time came forward under the leadership of the prefect Liu Cunhui.

After Lu Xiangsheng dismounted, he greeted the officials and talked to him, and then went to the city to discuss the follow-up matters after the arrival of the official army. Central officer Yang Maogong led a team to set up a camp outside the south gate.

More than 6,000 Sichuan Army stationed in Fancheng have received documents from the Ministry of War and have been assigned to Lu Xiangsheng's command. The Sichuan Army Deputy General Qin Yiming has been stationed outside the east gate of the city.
To be continued...