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Chapter 1410 Meeting the Border Troops of Xuanfu

Bai Minghe's situation is even worse...

He deliberately and quietly circled around to the rear of the town's stronghold, preparing to encircle and defeat it in one fell swoop.

Unexpectedly, the Zhenbiao Battalion advanced so quickly. They followed behind and pursued the Zhenbiao Battalion all the way. To outsiders, they would be regarded as reinforcements for the government troops.

In this way, the element of surprise that Bai Minghe had hoped for vanished.

Upon discovering that the rebel cavalry had appeared behind them, the town's garrison quickly reacted. They left two hundred men to cover their retreat, while the majority of the rest charged forward towards the banner of the rebel king's headquarters.

The two hundred Ming cavalry left behind to cover the rear did not engage Bai Minghe and his men. They simply slowed their horses and waited for Bai Minghe's bandits to get close before throwing out one or two small "Ten Thousand Enemy" pills.

Although Bai Minghe personally led the bandit army to the front line, he was protected by armor. Even though some shrapnel hit him, it did not cause serious injury except for making a "clanging" sound.

Even so, Bai Minghe's face and hands were covered in tiny cuts!

However, the other bandit cavalry were not as lucky as Bai Minghe. Although they also had armor to protect them, most of it was not good enough and many of it was damaged. How could they withstand the attack of the fragments produced by the explosion of the Ten Thousand Enemy?
Whenever the sound of an explosion capable of killing ten thousand men rang out, the bandit army would rein in their horses to observe, and only dare to urge their horses forward again after the smoke cleared.

However, the cunning Ming cavalry seemed to be doing this intentionally. They only threw out two or three "Ten Thousand Enemy" pills each time, as soon as the enemy cavalry got close. It seemed that they wanted to delay the enemy so that they could not catch up with the main force of the Zhenbiao Battalion in front.

Even though Bai Minghe killed two bandit soldiers on the spot, it was to no avail, since threats are not so effective in the face of death.

…………

But Bai Minghe's tragic ordeal had only just begun.

The musketeers of the Yongyi Army, who had already withdrawn, have now received the latest military order from the Earl of Yongning and are rushing to provide support along the gaps created by the cavalry charge, following in the footsteps of the cavalry.

In fact, if the two thousand or so gunners who caught up were to face Bai Minghe's three thousand bandits alone, even if they could win, they would probably suffer considerable casualties.

However, the situation has now reversed, with Bai Minghe's intentional attack turning into Lin Fangping's intentional attack.

Moreover, Bai Minghe was being attacked from both sides by the Xuanfu Town cavalry. Although not a single shot had been fired, the outcome of the battle was already clear.

Bai Minghe was getting increasingly annoyed by the two hundred Ming cavalrymen ahead, but he couldn't do anything about them. He was about to send troops to harass them, hoping to surround and kill the two hundred Ming cavalrymen before continuing the pursuit.

But at that very moment, he discovered a large contingent of Ming infantrymen behind him, and he immediately changed his mind.

Bai Minghe left only 500 cavalrymen to continue the pursuit, while he led 2,500 bandits behind, intending to first defeat the government infantry behind them before continuing the pursuit of the Ming cavalry.

However, he launched three consecutive charges, all of which were repelled by the Yongyi Army's musketeers. He lost hundreds of cavalry and bandits in vain, without even managing to touch the armor of the government troops.

Just then, the two hundred Ming cavalry who had been fleeing secretly returned. Under this pincer attack, Bai Minghe was ultimately defeated, leaving behind the remains of nearly a thousand rebel soldiers!

...In fact, Lin Fangping led the musketeers to continue the attack under the military orders of the Earl of Yongning, and he did so with great effort.

After completing their initial charge, they should have retreated to rest.

However, the enemy sent a large number of infantry to attack the flank of the arrowhead formation. Chen Zhong led the infantry to fight desperately, and the musketeers naturally could not stand idly by and immediately joined the battle.

But to everyone's surprise, the rebel army was repeatedly driven back, and then launched new attacks time and time again. There were even rebel cavalry units coming to support them. Even though the number of them was not large, the pressure was still immense.

The musketeers were thus kept without rest until the Northern Camp cavalry, led by Chen Yongfu, the General of Henan, arrived and joined the battle, allowing them to take a short break.

But just as they caught their breath, they received a new military order from the Earl of Yongning, instructing them to continue advancing to support the cavalry in breaking through the camp of Li Zicheng, the rebel king.

Upon receiving the order, Lin Fangping, disregarding his exhaustion, immediately rallied all the musketeers and sped forward, just in time to encounter Bai Minghe's bandit cavalry...

…………

In fact, the Yongyi Army did encounter a crisis – the rebel cavalry led by General Ma Shiyao.

After Ma Shiyao's first attack on the flank of the Yongyi Army's arrowhead formation was repelled by musketeers and infantry, he immediately rallied the scattered infantrymen on that side, using them to block the gunfire in front, and launched three more charges.

Each time it was more intense than the last!
The third charge was particularly fierce. Just as they were about to break through the infantry and musketeers' lines, the infantry from the Northern Camp arrived at the battlefield and successfully repelled Ma Shiyao, securing the flank of the wedge formation.

After defeating the enemy, Chen Yongfu and Hu Zichen requested permission from the Earl of Yongning to continue the attack. However, considering their long march and the fact that they had just finished a battle, the Earl of Yongning only ordered them to rest on the spot and guard the camp's defenses, and did not allow them to continue the attack.

…………

Although the fighting was most intense in the area in front of the rebel leader's headquarters, there were also some sporadic battles elsewhere, but most of them were already in the final stages and their intensity could not compare with that of this area.

This battle began at noon and lasted until early Shenshi (3-5 PM), a total of two hours, equivalent to four hours in later times. Moreover, it was a high-intensity, life-or-death struggle, which shows how much physical exertion was involved.

With the battle at this point, both sides' soldiers were exhausted, some even reaching their physical limits, and many were simply pushing themselves to continue fighting.

If they were given a military order to rest at this moment, some of them would probably fall asleep as soon as they lay down!

Moreover, the battlefield, stretching for dozens of miles, was in complete chaos. The sounds of fighting and battle could be heard everywhere, along with the cries of wounded soldiers.

Most of the rebel army was already embroiled in a chaotic battle. They had either lost contact with the rebel king's headquarters or were entangled by small groups of brave and resolute infantry and cavalry, unable to break free.

Just as He Zhenxiong's Xuanfu Town Battalion was about to break through the defenses of Li Shuangxi's bandit army, Gu Kecheng's three thousand horse bandits arrived in time and quickly joined the battle, thus holding off He Zhenxiong's battalion.

The rebel leader and his entourage on the high platform behind were both surprised and delighted.

What's astonishing is that the fighting strength of the Brave and Resolute Army is so terrifying!
The good news is that Gu Kecheng arrived in time and prevented the Yongyi Army from storming the rebel king's headquarters!
Looking at everything on the battlefield, Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, couldn't help but frown. He suddenly raised his arm and shouted, "Ziyi, tell Luo Hu to gather the child soldiers and come with me to meet these border troops from Xuanfu!"