weaving

Chapter 1171 Fighting the Enemy Side by Side

Although the troops in Zuoying had the advantage in numbers, they were at a disadvantage in morale. In addition, they had not had enough water for days and even their food supply could not be guaranteed. Their physical strength was much worse than when they first arrived in Zhuxian Town.

On the other hand, the situation on the bandit side was quite different. Even though most of them were not well-equipped with weapons, it did not prevent them from killing the enemy in front of the battle line. Except for those bandits who ran into the small fort and fought back with firearms, the rest were all organized by Zhang Nai and lined up to wait.

Although they were fighting in a hurry, each of them was very courageous and did not take the government troops in the left camp seriously. They shouted strange slogans and even launched a counterattack against the government cavalry rushing towards them.

The government troops were already in low morale and physical weakness, and they were also intimidated by the reputation of King Chuang, so they were inevitably a little timid. In addition, the physical strength of the horses they were riding was also a little insufficient, so after fighting with Zhang Nai's troops for a short time, they began to retreat and were defeated.

General Zuo Liangyu, who was supervising the battle on the high ground in the rear, suddenly saw that his cavalry had just engaged in the battle and had not even had time to fight the bandits hard, but they were already retreating one after another. He became furious.

He drew the sword hanging from his waist, pointed at a cavalryman dressed as a captain among the defeated government troops in front of him, and shouted, "Xu Ensheng, go and kill him for me! Anyone who retreats will be beheaded, not a single one will be spared!"

After Xu Ensheng loudly received the order, he jumped on his horse, holding a machete and leading two hundred guards to rush away.

Although the cavalry that went to attack the enemy's artillery position was defeated, Zuo Liangyu could clearly see that the enemy army on the opposite side did not have many men and horses. Until now, no reinforcements had been seen coming out of their camp. There were only about a thousand infantry bandits on the battlefield, and there were many women and children among them.

Seeing such a good opportunity, Zuo Liangyu was unwilling to let it go. He made up his mind and shouted loudly: "Pass the order, Li Guoying's troops will attack immediately. The cavalry will attack the enemy's camp directly, and the infantry will seize the artillery position!"

As the sounds of war drums and trumpets rang out, several large flags at the central army position where Zuo Liangyu was located began to wave in different postures, as if conveying the military orders that had just been issued.

Enforcing military law in front of the battlefield is always the most effective tactic. Seeing that several captains and cavalrymen who led the defeat and retreat were killed on the spot by Xu Ensheng, the retreat of the government army came to an abrupt halt.

Under the threat of the bloody butcher knife, they turned their horses and rushed towards the bandits on the opposite side again. In order to give themselves courage, they all let out heart-wrenching roars...

The number of government troops more than doubled, totaling more than a thousand cavalry, plus more than three thousand infantry, a total of nearly five thousand troops rushed over one after another, and the enemy army's disadvantage became more obvious.

Zhang Yingxiang and Xu Ensheng led the cavalry in a fierce charge and soon divided the bandits into small groups. The government infantry who rushed up from behind quickly surrounded them separately, making it impossible for them to support each other. They were in danger of being wiped out.

Lieutenant General Li Guoying, surrounded by dozens of his personal cavalry, tightly surrounded Zhang Nai and nearly a hundred other bandits. Although they could not kill them all at once, if there was no external aid, it was only a matter of time before Zhang Nai and his men would die in battle.

Zhang Nai had always been known for his bravery in attacking the camp, but now he had too few men and no war horses to cheer him up. He rushed left and right under the encirclement of the government troops but was unable to escape.

Fortunately, Zhang Nai knew that his life and death depended on that of nearly a hundred of his fellow soldiers. Only by fighting to the death could they have a chance of survival. If they retreated, they would be killed by the government troops in an instant. So he kept shouting slogans to inspire everyone, charging forward bravely, and fighting to the death. Although Hong Niangzi was also here to supervise the construction of the artillery due to her pregnancy, the female soldiers around her did not allow her to go to the front, so she was not surrounded by the government troops...

At the beginning of the battle between the two sides, she had gathered dozens of female soldiers around her, and everyone mounted their horses and ran to the woods not far away to release the bandits' horses.

At this moment, seeing that the young general Zhang Nai was surrounded by the government troops and was fighting hard, she shouted loudly on her horse: "Hui Qiong, take the sisters to rescue young Master Zhang. Don't charge in the front, charge from the left!"

Huiqiong and Huimei were as close as sisters. After Huimei married Yuan Shizhong, Li Zicheng and Madam Gao intended to match her up with Zhang Nai. However, after Huimei got married, Zhang Nai devoted all his attention to training the firearms battalion and had no time to take care of other things, so the plan was never successful.

But even so, Huiqiong was very concerned about Zhang Nai. She wanted to kill him from the beginning. When she heard Hongniangzi's order, she immediately waved the sword in her hand and shouted to the female soldiers around her: "Sisters, follow me to kill the officers and soldiers!"

  Don’t underestimate these female soldiers in the Healthy Women’s Camp. Although they are women, they all come from poor families. In this chaotic world with constant famine, those who can survive are all as strong as an ox. Otherwise, they will either die of hunger or become “food” for other hungry ghosts!

Especially the female soldiers following Hongniangzi, each of them were carefully selected and had outstanding martial arts skills. What was even more rare was their deep hatred for the government and the officers and soldiers.

It was this hatred that inspired their determination and courage to fight fearlessly on the battlefield. Under the leadership of Huiqiong, they all rode their horses and rushed towards the government army in front of them like tigers descending from the mountains.

Following Hongniang's order, Huiqiong led the female soldiers and did not directly rescue Zhang Nai who was surrounded on the right, but rushed towards the left side of the government army.

As a result, the government troops had to disperse some of their forces to deal with them, but they could not immediately tell that they were going to rescue Zhang Nai. In addition, most of the government troops here were infantry. Although they had an advantage in numbers, they could not withstand the impact of the cavalry.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Nai's side also launched a fierce charge and attack. The two sides soon joined together and temporarily escaped from the siege of the government troops. Zhang Nai and his men took the opportunity to jump onto the war horses brought by Huiqiong and her men.

But there were too many government troops around them, and they were about to be surrounded again...

"Hui Qiong, let's fight separately. We can't let the soldiers surround us anymore."

"Okay. You go left, I go right, we fight back and forth, and the soldiers won't be able to surround us!"

Then the two bandit cavalry units led by Zhang Nai and Hui Qiong charged left and right, supporting each other, and for a time they managed to kill the government troops and force them to retreat again.

Although they had the upper hand for a while, their numbers were far less than that of the government troops, so it was difficult to defeat them. However, with the help of war horses, they were able to rescue many of the small groups of rebel troops that had been separated, and the formation was temporarily stabilized.

At this time, Zhang Nai saw a group of young men in the east being surrounded by government troops and struggling to hold on. The situation was very critical. He immediately led his cavalry to charge Huiqiong and shouted from a distance: "East, Luo Hu, go and save him!"