In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 71 Cavalry Division
The eight caravans also learned from nearby tribes that not only had the group of horse bandits not been wiped out by the Jurchens last year, they had also wiped out three Khalkha tribes.

Fan Yongdou, who was eager for revenge, immediately wanted to kill the group of horse bandits first, but the seven Wang Dengku and others firmly disagreed, so Fan Yongdou had no choice but to give up.

Although none of the eight people felt that the group of horse bandits could threaten them, they still planned to head east.

To be sure, they even planned to hire some cavalry from nearby tribes to protect the convoy.

But almost all the nearby tribes refused on the grounds that the clan leader had gone to Liaodong and could not make the decision.

The eight people were not stupid, and they became vigilant when they saw the tribes reacting like this. However, they only continued to walk northeast for two days when a cavalry appeared in the mountains in the distance and blocked the way of the convoy.

"Don't panic, everyone, it should be the Jurchen cavalry coming to pick us up."

The leader was the Fan family caravan. Seeing the mountains in the distance densely packed with war horses, the team suddenly became confused. Fan Yongdou saw this and shouted loudly.

After hearing this, everyone took a closer look and found that these cavalry really looked like Jurchen cavalry, and they were immediately relieved.

It's no wonder that Fan Yongdou and others would admit their mistake. Apart from the color and style of the armor on Lin Rui's and others' armor, it was indeed somewhat similar to the Jurchen's armor. But when the cavalry on the hillside rumbled down towards the caravan, almost everyone was stunned. Found something wrong.

"This...this is not the Jurchen cavalry..."

"Quick, surround the carriages in a circle, get your weapons and prepare for defense!"

Fan Yongdou also became anxious and urged loudly.

Among the Jurchen Eight Banners, I have never heard of a straight black flag, not to mention the opponent's posture, it is obvious that the person coming is not good.

At this time, the seven caravans behind also learned that they had been attacked in front, and they immediately ordered the coachmen to form a circle around the carriages, take weapons, and prepare to defend against the enemy.

"kill!"

Naturally, the cavalry battalion and the female cavalry battalion came. 300 Mongolian boys and 260 Mongolian girls. Under the leadership of Hubbell, they bent their bows and arrows and galloped past both sides of the convoy, constantly shooting at the panicked crowd. .

Since there were one man and three horses, the momentum created by the two thousand war horses was still very terrifying. Although the caravan guards could also ride horses, they did not dare to rush forward to fight. They only relied on the carriages to fire arrows to fight back.

"This...these people can ride and shoot. They are Mongolian cavalry."

As people in the convoy continued to be shot, the horsemen and coachmen were frightened and ran for cover.

Hubbell led the cavalry, and did not stare at any caravan to release arrows. Instead, he followed the caravan southward until the end, then turned his horse's head back and continued to release arrows.

Sometimes when I see a gap in the middle of the convoy, I will directly control the horse to pass through it, slashing with my knife.

The eight fleets combined had five thousand carts and tens of thousands of people as well as mules and horses. Even if two carts were traveling side by side, the team would be four or five miles long.

Suddenly encountered a cavalry attack, the eight families originally wanted to unite, but under the back and forth attacks of the cavalry, each family had to quickly surround the carriage and chose to protect themselves.

In this way, although the eight families successfully formed a circle around their carriages and avoided being attacked and killed by the cavalry, they were also divided into eight large and small pieces.

The ones with the largest number of carriages and horses are the Fan family, Wang family and Jin family at the front. The smallest ones are the Huang family at the back. The other four families are pretty much the same.It was not until the eight families formed a circle around the carriages that they could stand still. The horsemen and coachmen also calmed down from their panic and took out their weapons to prepare for defense. The guards of each family also relied on the carriages to shoot bows and arrows at the cavalry.

Seeing that there was no chance to charge, Hubbell did not continue to fire arrows. He led the cavalry to open some distance, slowed down the horse speed, and began to wander aside to monitor.

As long as any of the convoys dared to move, they would immediately charge forward with their cavalry. After a lot of trouble, the eight families gave up their intention to move closer and chose to defend in place.

Although it was divided into eight pieces, each piece was about a hundred feet apart, and the power was dispersed, the heads of the eight families were not too worried.

At this time, they had also seen clearly that there were only 600 cavalrymen. As long as they used carriages, any family could defend it without worrying about being defeated one by one.

As long as the cavalry retreats, or at night, they can gather again and leave here overnight. After all, they will enter the mountains in three days at most.

Just as the heads of the eight families were confidently preparing to send some people to make rice and treat the wounded who had been hit by arrows, a large number of cavalry appeared on the hilltop in the distance again, and everyone became nervous.

"Don't panic, these Mongolian Tatars are very powerful on horseback. If you close the carriage more and narrow the circle, they won't be able to attack."

Fan Yongdou greeted loudly again. The Fan family came this time with [-] guards. The total number of coachmen and horsemen was nearly [-]. There were plenty of weapons in the car, so there was no need to worry about these Tatars being able to attack.

Seeing the arrival of more than 1000 Tatars, other families were also shrinking their defense lines. Although this increased the distance between them and made it inconvenient to support each other, it was more conducive to concentrating manpower for defense.

What's more, with so many cavalry on the other side, once they leave the protection of the carriage and go to support other families, they will definitely be massacred by the cavalry, so they all chose to defend themselves.

Under normal circumstances, even two thousand Tatar cavalry cannot do anything against the tortoise shells surrounded by eight carriages. After all, in this case, both the horsemen, drivers, and guards will definitely work hard.

However, Lin Rui and the others not only have cavalry who can make quick raids and ride and shoot, but also have infantry who are good at attacking fortresses, and even female soldiers who specialize in training crossbows.

At this moment, on the hilltop, Lin Rui saw that the eight families had reduced their defense lines and chose to fight on their own, with a sneer on his lips.

The two military battalions and the female troops behind them were all gearing up. After watching the performance of the Mongolian cavalry for a long time, everyone was getting excited with the wait.

"Rui Lang, should you attack the weak ones first, or the strong ones?"

Sister-in-law Niu said with a fiery face, and she also changed her title along with Zhang Xiuying and Na Muzhong. She no longer called Brother Lin. It was obvious that Zhang Xiuying had learned a lot of political lessons.

At this moment, the teams of the eight families are clear at a glance. It is very clear who has more people and horses and who has less people and horses.

"Does this need to be said? Naturally, you have to pick up the weak ones first and hit the group at the back first. Brothers, follow me!"

After Lin Rui finished speaking, he urged the war horse under his crotch and rushed down the hillside. Everyone also followed up with their horses under their belly.

Although they are all infantry, whether it is the two combat battalions or the female army, they are still one person and two horses. They are pure infantry and might as well be called dragoons.

Seeing the cavalry bypassing his house and running toward the back, Fan Yongdou and all the Fan family's guarding grooms breathed a sigh of relief, but they still did not dare to escape without authorization.

(End of this chapter)