weaving

Chapter 1378 A Clash with the Government Troops

The iron armor is shining and the momentum is as fierce as a tiger!
This is a perfect metaphor for the infantry formation of the Yongyi Army.

At a distance of twenty or thirty steps, even an infantry clash would not take much time, and both sides could engage in battle after advancing more than ten steps.

However, as the two sides got closer and closer, the hungry people became more and more panicked. The pressure brought by the armored army on the opposite side was too strong and it was completely beyond what they, the hungry people, could bear.

In the past, they could just fill a trench or breach a city, and even if they had to deal with other Ming troops and act as cannon fodder, they could barely do it. But now the power of the opposing government troops was too strong.

To them, that strict iron-clad army formation was like a fierce ghost in the underworld that specialized in searching people's souls!
At the critical moment when the two sides were about to engage in battle, the hungry people's formation collapsed again. Before the government troops could chop them down with swords and axes, they turned around and howled and fled.

A starving man in his forties, so skinny that he didn’t even have the strength or courage to escape, just sat there crying, “Mercy…Mercy…”

"No more fighting..."

"Run... killing people..."

“Run…run…”

Even though there were more than ten old thieves mixed in each square of hungry people to support them, they were still powerless in the face of the frightened hungry people and could only retreat among them.

…………

"Hold steady, don't be greedy, keep the formation in order, advance, advance!"

Seeing this scene, although Zhang Jintai felt a little regretful for not being able to fight, he was also somewhat fortunate that the iron mace in his hand did not turn into a butcher knife to kill the starving people.

However, he was more afraid that the soldiers would rush forward rashly due to greed for merit, which would affect the strictness of their own army formation and allow the enemy army to take advantage of them. That's why he shouted loudly for everyone to maintain the formation and move forward.

"Front row, strike with shields!" Zhang Jintai shouted loudly.

After receiving the order, the shield soldiers in the first row immediately tilted the shield in their left hand slightly upwards, and then gently tapped the shield with the sword and axe in their right hand.

The "bang bang bang" sound spread from the middle to the two wings, gradually merging into one sound, uniform and powerful, and each sound seemed to strike the hearts and minds of the hungry people.

"Push! Push! Push!"

The soldiers' loud slogans also rang out along with the sound of swords and shields clashing.

At this moment, time seemed to stand still, and the only sounds in the world were the "clang, clang, clang" of weapons and the "press, press, press" roars of the Yongyi Army soldiers.

…………

"Let the troops press forward and spare no one of the famine victims who have escaped!"

Seeing the hungry civilians being defeated for the second time, and before they even fought, King Chuang became furious. He then shouted, "Tell Han Ju to let He Jinlong lead the team to fight against the government troops on the opposite side. We want to see what kind of strength the government troops are capable of!"

"Yes." Wu Ruyi did not dare to delay and hurried out to personally convey the order to Yuan Zongde. He passed by Li You who had just returned.

"Grand Marshal, it seems that the officers and soldiers on the other side have a high rate of wearing armor."

After listening to Song Xiance's words, Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, nodded repeatedly. Even Niu Jinxing, who always pretended to be profound, said, "I really don't know how Zhang Cheng did it?"

"If it's cavalry, it's understandable." Song Xiance also said, "But this is infantry... Take Fu Zonglong and Wang Qiaonian's camp for example, there aren't many infantrymen wearing armor."

"That's right." Niu Jinxing added, "Of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses that were defeated by Ding Qirui and Zuo Ping, only the cavalry wore armor, and most of the infantry were unarmored." Song Xiance raised his hand and stroked his thin beard, frowning as he said, "Where did this kid Zhang Cheng get so much money and food to support his troops? He even made all the infantry wear armor. It's really puzzling!"

Niu Jinxing stole a glance at King Chuang and pretended to be relaxed before continuing: "Who cares where he got all these armors from? After this battle, they will all be under the command of the Grand Marshal and become his weapon for conquering the world."

After hearing what Niu Jinxing said, Li Zicheng turned his head back, which was rare. From the smile on his lips, it can be seen that he was very satisfied with this sentence.

Song Xiance saw all of this. He shook his head secretly and said no more.

…………

After receiving the order, He Jinlong immediately ordered two thousand infantry bandits to go into battle. Judging from the number of people alone, the bandits led by He Jinlong were exactly twice as many as the infantry of the opposing government army.

He Jinlong, who had long been annoyed with the famine victims who kept fleeing, shouted at the bandits who followed him into battle: "Kill all the famine victims who dare to retreat. Don't spare any of them... Kill them all."

They spread out in a horizontal line and rushed forward, soon catching up with the second wave of hungry people. They roared angrily and urged the hungry people to charge forward. The old and weak who fell behind were ruthlessly hacked to death by them.

Because the order from King Chuang's army was to kill the fleeing hungry civilians and to engage in a fight with the government infantry in front to test the enemy's strength.

Therefore, He Jinlong did not dare to stay any longer. He ordered the bandits to speed up their pace and passed the second group of hungry people, and was about to meet the fleeing hungry people.

"Go back and kill the officers and soldiers... Anyone who escapes must die!"

Under his command, two thousand soldiers of the rebel army immediately formed ten small formations to match the ten groups of hungry civilians in front of them. They roared and slashed with their swords...

Those hungry people who were nimble and able to escape quickly were immediately killed by their swords.

Seeing this scene, the fleeing group of hungry people immediately stopped and stood there in a daze, at a loss as to what to do. Today's bloody scene had frightened them all.

The infantrymen of the rebel army who were originally mixed in with the hungry people immediately shouted when they saw this...

"It's death anyway, so we might as well go back and kill the soldiers."

"If you go back and kill the soldiers, you may not die!"

"Kill the soldiers...Kill them and the King will give you meat!"

"Even if we run back, we will die. Let's go back and kill the soldiers."

Under the instigation and encouragement of these infantry bandits, the hungry people turned around again and rushed towards the oncoming government army infantry formation.

After the repeated shocks and bloody stimulation, they had long lost the ability to think independently. At this moment, they were like zombies driven by the devil, shouting incomprehensible slogans and rushing straight towards the government troops.

…………

Watching the hungry people turning around and charging back again, Zhang Jintai knew that this massacre was inevitable. The only thing he could do now was to try his best to avoid and reduce the casualties of his own soldiers.

"Stop. Drop shields, second row retreat, spearmen move forward."

Under his command, the shield soldiers in the front row stopped and dropped the large shields in their hands heavily to the ground, forming a tight shield wall.

The short-weapon soldiers who were originally in the second row also stepped back two steps to the left while dropping their shields. At the same time, the long-weapon soldiers in the third row took two steps forward to the right, completing the change of formation quickly and smoothly.

"Spear, stab...stab...stab..."