Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

He Yilong exclaimed: "Oh my, Master Ma, your method is great, you are simply the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang!"

Ma Shouying continued, "In this way, we can fill the trenches dug by Jiang Han's army with the least casualties. After filling them, the cavalry can charge in large numbers. Using the cavalry's fast movement, we only need to lose some men and horses to rush to the front of the officers and soldiers. The firearms of the officers and soldiers will be useless. Then the infantry will follow and it will be easy to destroy this group of officers and soldiers!

After hearing this, all the leaders were amazed and felt that Ma Shouying's method was good. Although the cavalry and the old camp cavalry were precious, if they could defeat Jiang Han's troops and attack Yangzhou Prefecture, the loss would be worth it compared to the result.

He Yilong said, "Master Ma, let me take over this time. I will kill a few of Jiang Han's soldiers and take a few of their muskets and cannons to see what the difference is."

Liu Xiyao, the King of Gaishi, said: "You have all fought, so let me go!"

Zuo Jin Wang He Jin also said: "Let me go!"

Ma Shouying was very satisfied to see that everyone's confidence was boosted again. He nodded and said, "Brothers, there is no need to argue. Let's take turns to fight!"

"Okay, let's do it!

When everyone heard this, they realized that no one was taking advantage and no one was suffering a particular loss, so this was indeed a good idea. Whoever could win it had his or her own ability, and no one could say anything.

Volume 287: Chapter Chapter : Inside the Spider Web

In fact, Ma Shouying's strategy was indeed effective against troops with strong firepower. If Jiang Han had sent out volunteers, they would have really been defeated by them. Moreover, even for the Iron Blood Troops, they also caused some trouble because the number gap between the two sides was too large.

The dispersed formation reduced the power of the artillery sharply, making it difficult to quickly cause large-scale casualties. Seeing the effectiveness, Ma Shouying and others continued their efforts and launched attacks on the Scarecrow's position in batches.

Moreover, Ma Shouying was afraid that a certain unit would suffer heavy casualties and show signs of desertion, so he let each battalion take turns to fight in each attack. Even if the losses were greater, no collapse or escape was allowed.

The Scarecrows have clearly felt that the distance the other party is advancing is increasing, however, despite this, the defense of the Iron-Blooded Dolls is still like an iron barrel, leaving the bandits no chance to attack.

The horn sounded again, and a black line spread across the sky again. From south to north, there were bandits everywhere.

Looking at the endless bandits, the Scarecrow had a calm expression, indicating that he was not under much pressure. Although quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes, the quality gap between the two sides could not be made up by quantity at this juncture. Perhaps if the Scarecrow had fewer troops, it would be possible, but at the moment, it was completely impossible.

In the large formation of bandits, Ma Shouying and other leaders of each camp frowned. This was the toughest battle they had fought since the rebellion. Many people did not expect that Jiang Han's army would be so difficult to deal with. It took them two days to barely get close. The endless fire suppression from the opposite side made them suffer terribly. It took them so long to fill two trenches.

Ma Shouying said in a deep voice: "All cavalry battalions, assemble and prepare to launch an attack, break through the enemy's position in one fell swoop, kill them all, and seize their firearms!"

Ma Shouying was ready to launch a desperate attack. There were more than 10,000 old soldiers and cavalry from the Gezuo Fifth Battalion. They were the elite among the rebels. The hungry soldiers would fill the trenches in the front and serve as cannon fodder. When the last trench was almost filled, the cavalry could launch a sudden charge.

If this attack fails again, Ma Shouying will be ready to abandon Yangzhou and fight back to Fengyang to grab food. Food must be grabbed. Without food, no one will work for him. It is estimated that his men will run away soon.

Half an hour later, after losing another 5,000 hungry soldiers, the hungry people in the front team of the bandits finally filled up the trenches dug by the Iron Bloods. As all the manpower was on the front battlefield, the Iron Bloods could not spare the time to continue digging trenches. The opportunity for the bandits finally came.

"Hurry up, cavalry, hurry up, follow up, charge from the left wing, this time we must wipe out this group of troops!!"

"As expected, it's here. Looks like we can finally get serious about it."

The enemy's combat intention was so obvious that Scarecrow could tell what the enemy's goal was without any calculations. So when the bandits dispersed their camps and came up in batches to fill the trenches, Scarecrow only carried out conventional fire suppression and did not attack with all her strength. She was like an extremely experienced hunter, slowly setting up traps.

The most tragic failure often comes on the eve of success, because the success of previous plans will paralyze people's nerves and make them feel that everything is going too smoothly, just like a frog trapped in warm water. They completely lose their vigilance. They will not notice that the intensity of artillery fire seems to be somewhat different in the past two days, and they will not notice that many iron-blooded units did not attack them as they did at the beginning. The bandits will only think that their plan is going smoothly.

And all of this was done deliberately by Scarecrow. She wanted to mislead the opponent into thinking that this trick was really useful, that we really had grasped the opponent's weakness, and that the opponent was already doomed. If everyone worked harder, we would definitely win!

Compared to not working hard enough, the consequences of failure are more serious if you work hard in the wrong direction. When the bandits finally feel that they can fight the Iron Bloods head-on, the Scarecrow will use practical actions to tell them how wrong they are.

"Prepare the artillery on the left, adjust the coordinate parameters of the mortar, the big fish has finally taken the bait"

When the bandits' cavalry just entered the distance of 300 meters, this distance was the time when the war horses just started to speed up, but had not yet reached the stage of a full sprint of 100 meters. The momentum had not yet been increased, but it was impossible to slow down immediately. When they were stuck at this distance, hundreds of large and small artillery shells and machine gun fire like pouring water fell mercilessly on their heads. The people and horses in the front were hit by the shells and fell to the ground one after another, screaming in pain.

A cannonball hit a warhorse, instantly breaking it in two. It fell to the ground with great inertia, tripping several horsemen behind it. Some horses in the rear army were frightened and jumped around, throwing the horsemen on their backs to the ground. For a moment, people shouted and horses neighed, and chaos broke out among the horsemen.

Liu Xiyao, the King of Chaos, who was in the cavalry, hurriedly stopped the warhorse under his crotch. Seven or eight steps away from his horse, a horse's head flew to the ground, which made his heart skip a beat. Remembering the end of Lin Yangcheng, the King of Contention, he stepped back again.

He Yilong, the handsome man with the eyes of a thief, rode past from behind and yelled, "Coward! Look at me!"

As He Yilong spoke, he whipped his warhorse, which immediately let out a loud cry and rushed forward with all its hooves spread out like a madman. He Yilong's cavalry and the soldiers from the old camp followed closely behind and rushed forward one after another.

Being ridiculed, Liu Xiyao was very upset but had no reason to refute. He was indeed a coward this time. Facing his teammates' ridicule on the public screen, he could only endure it silently, muttering in his heart: "Just go ahead, sooner or later you will hurt yourself!"

He Yilong's charge was naturally seen by Scarecrow. She felt no emotion and even wanted to laugh: "Since it's right in front of me, I won't hesitate to accept it."

The floating cannon at her side began to charge. With such a shooting distance and the opponent's movement trajectory, Scarecrow could calculate the direction of the ballistic launch with her eyes closed. However, she still prepared three floating cannons, one for firing, one as a backup in case of accidental shooting into the air, and one as a backup. It can only be said that she is too steady.

Three laser cannon shots, one torso, one torso shot, and He Yilong disappeared in an instant, leaving only his head on his upper body. The scarecrow had kept the head specifically for taking pictures of Jiang Han.

Jiang Han: I really tied Q

The iron-blooded humanoids had a lot of fun fighting these foolishly charged iron-headed kids. In the bandits' attacking team, people and horses were constantly hit by shells. Often when one horse fell to the ground, several horses behind it would be tripped one after another, which greatly slowed down the attack speed of the bandits' cavalry.

The cavalry of the bandits was completely incomparable to the cavalry of the Qing army. The composition of the cavalry of the Qing army was complex. Not to mention the Eight Banners Army, the cavalry composed of a large number of herdsmen could be considered skilled in horse riding, and there were even many who were superb horsemen. They either quickly bypassed or rode past on horseback. The cavalry that fell in the front had limited impact on the rear.

As for the cavalry of the bandits, it is difficult to describe them in a few words. Many of them are just newcomers. As for horsemanship, they are non-existent. The best horsemen are the veterans in each camp. Some of them even have two horses each. They have rich experience in running away and can run very quickly.

He Yilong's example is right in front of him. Now Liu Xiyao has learned to be smart. He can't go in. If he goes in, it will be easy to send. Look, he got into trouble, right?

"Brothers, victory is at hand, charge!" The King of Chaos Liu Xiyao roared, then rode his horse back for a distance again, quietly watching the rebels charge forward.

There were more and more corpses piling up on the battlefield, and a large amount of blood dyed the dark brown earth red. The air was filled with a strong mixture of blood and sulfur, making people feel suffocated.

The short distance of three hundred meters seemed like an unfillable natural chasm, with a large number of corpses of bandits and cavalry piled up together, making people despair.

But despite this, their scattered positions and fearless charge still brought them to Chen State, which was dozens of meters ahead of the Iron Blood Army. With just a final sprint, they would be able to completely break into the camp of Jiang Han's army. By that time, the role of firearms would be infinitely reduced.

However, the following scene was something that these bandits and cavalry would never forget for the rest of their lives, and they were even so terrified that they could not sleep in the dark nights for some time to come.

Just as the bandits were rushing towards the scarecrow's position with roars and cheers, the originally calm ground suddenly began to stir, and a large pile of earth began to rush towards the cavalry. Then, in their horrified eyes, a black unidentified object climbed up the horse's neck, and then, boom!

A violent explosion suddenly rose up in the position. The huge impact blew the soil into the air and then fell down. Huge smoke and dust rose in the air. The group Goliath explosion completely cleared a large area in front of the entire position into a formation. The cavalry in the front row were killed, and the back row was directly knocked to the ground by the impact. Before they could recover, heavy footsteps began to be heard from the smoke and dust.

"Dragoon, cut through their formation!"

Several dragoons rushed out like phantoms. Their speed of nearly 100 kilometers per hour made it impossible for the bandit cavalry to make effective evasive actions in time. When the flesh horses collided with the mechanical horses, there was only one result.

A dull sound of breaking bones was heard, and the machine guns on the dragoons began to spew out flames. The oncoming cavalry were hit by the shells, and their cervical vertebrae were pierced along with the knights on their bodies, and they fell heavily to the ground. After several dragoons formed a formation, they began to quickly cut through the bandits' cavalry formation like sharp scalpels.

The bandits' cavalry were completely stunned by these two rounds of inexplicable new things. Before, Goliath was only occasionally deployed to explode at some key nodes, and everyone who had seen Goliath was dead, so no one brought back any relevant information about Goliath. If they had not already rushed to the front of the officers and soldiers, most of the cavalry would probably turn around and run away at the first opportunity.

The hand-to-hand combat, which they had placed high hopes on, made them even more despairing.

Ten scorpion beasts charged straight towards the war horses, and the infantry were negligible when facing the Rippers. The scorpion beasts' forelimbs were even thicker than the horses' necks. The war horses would have their bones and tendons broken on the spot when they were hit, and their necks would be broken and they would die.

"What the hell is this?!"

When they got closer and there was no smoke or dust to cover the distance, all the bandits and cavalrymen fell into great panic when they saw the Iron Blood Army up close. The people in front of them looked like humans but not humans. The huge mechanical creature in front of them was huge and the blood splashed on it was enough to make people's sanity value drop wildly.

After a comrade nearby slashed at one of Jiang Hanjun's men with a knife, sparks flew out, and then his head was casually chopped off, many bandits broke down.

"That's not a human, that's not a human!!! Run for your life, run for your life!! That's a monster!! It's a monster!!"

Volume 288: Chapter Chapter : Cao Bianjiao Arrives

The main formation of the bandits had been disrupted. Ma Shouying and others were unable to command effectively, let alone organize an effective resistance. Although the bandits' army was large in number, most of them were refugees who had never undergone any training. They just picked up weapons and started fighting. Some of them didn't even have weapons, only broken farm tools.

Faced with such a dimensionality reduction attack, the taut string that had been supported with great effort finally broke.

The vanguard of the bandits were no longer able to resist and were defeated and retreated. More hungry soldiers had already dropped their weapons and fled.

Leaders such as Ma Shouying, Liu Xiyao, and He Jin knew that the battle situation could not be reversed and the outcome was hopeless, so they had to abandon their armies and turn their horses around with their old camp soldiers and elite troops to flee in defeat.

The bandit army can't do anything else except running, which is a necessary skill for every bandit soldier. No matter whether they win or lose, they just have to run. People have a herd mentality, and many bandits, hungry people and hungry soldiers are like sheep. They will rush forward when they see people around them rushing, and will start running when they see people around them running.

The Scarecrow did not start chasing immediately, because the battle had lasted for so long that the ammunition was being consumed crazily every minute and every second. Jiang Han's system supply warehouse was in emergency and he needed to replenish his blood first. There were so many equipment and corpses of the bandits and horses on the scene that needed to be dealt with, otherwise, a plague would breed in this June day. You know, Fengyang and Yangzhou are adjacent to each other. Fortunately, he has a special way to deal with the corpses.

"Commander, the mission is now two-fifths complete. I'll take a photo of the second mission target for you to see."

While reporting the progress of the task, Scarecrow was about to take a picture of He Yilong's head for Jiang Han to see.

"No, no, no, no, no... My dear aunt, it's dinner time now, and you sent me this. Do you expect me to eat or not?"

Good fellow, others were poisoning me late at night, but you came to me in broad daylight to feed me. I was cooking some pork elbows, and you came over with a bloody head. Isn't this a bit...

"Why? I think it is necessary to report the progress of the task in a timely manner after completion..."

The Scarecrow hasn't come to his senses yet.

"Fuck, we are a very humane team here, with a flat management system and a young team. You know, we don't have the industrialized processes of a big company. We can be casual. Here, as for the task progress receipt, just tell me. There's no need to take a photo."

Jiang Han spoke earnestly.

"....Okay, I will pay attention to this issue in the future."

"Thank you very much." Jiang Han was finally persuaded and wiped the sweat from his forehead. This guy finally didn't have to endure the scene of a bloody photo of a brain suddenly appearing in front of him.

"I will be stationed here for a while. Commander, you can dispose of the large number of corpses and equipment here as you wish."

"Let the Iron Blood Army gather them as many as possible. This is a big project, but it's done. I'll finish it after dinner."

"receive"

Following Scarecrow's order, the Iron Blood Troops began to move, collecting and gathering the torn enemy bodies on the battlefield. A small part of the troops began to track and expel the bandit group to ensure that they would not out of their sight.

Ma Shouying ran for nearly twenty miles and stopped running when he saw that the enemy had finally stopped chasing him. He ordered his men to cook and count the casualties.

Ma Shouying, Liu Xiyao, He Jin and others took a few breaths before sitting down to discuss what to do next.

Zuo Jin Wang He Jin said: "This place is very close to Hong County, only a few miles away, why don't we rob it first, and then go back to Qimei to make other plans."

Liu Xiyao said, "What else can we do if we don't go up the mountain? Now only our 10,000 horsemen have escaped. It would be great if 10,000 of the other brothers on two legs can escape back. Jiang Han has such a powerful firearm. How can we fight him?"

Even the resourceful Ma Shouying was secretly shocked. He did not expect to lose so badly in this battle. In the past, when the officers and soldiers saw that they were outnumbered, they were scared and retreated in the city and did not dare to fight. Even if they went out of the city to fight, they could at least fight back. This was completely different from Jiang Hanjun's battle. The opponent's firearms were too terrible. He and his men were completely beaten unilaterally. What's more, they saw those inexplicable monsters in the opponent's formation when they were close to them...

Thinking of this, Ma Shouying felt a little chill in his heart. He really couldn't think of how to deal with such an opponent.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Ma Shouying said, "We have suffered such a big setback this time, we must recover as soon as possible. According to what Master He said, we will rob Hong County first, then go into the mountains, and then send someone to contact the lost brothers and gather at the old place!"

The other leaders nodded after hearing this. This was the only way to do it now, so they immediately led their troops towards Hong County.

A few days later, when Cao Bianjiao arrived in Hong County, what he faced was a living hell.

The city was filled with thick smoke and most of the place had turned into steaming ruins. Many civilians had died in the fire. Thousands of people were burned and scalded in the fire, and many were seriously injured and died. The sound of crying was endless in the city and it was a tragic sight.

After robbing Hong County, Ma Shouying set fire to the county town in order to attract the attention of the officers and soldiers and buy time for his escape.

When the Scarecrow saw a large number of Ming troops approaching, he stopped chasing them and turned back to wait for Jiang Han to slowly deal with the remnants of the battlefield.

Cao Bianjiao ordered the local residents and soldiers to start building tents and simple shacks for the people whose houses were burned down to live in. Fortunately, it was June and the weather was not very cold. The environment had little impact on survival. Even if there were wild beasts, with so many people, they were probably here to deliver food.

During the Ming Dynasty, huge crocodiles roamed the rivers. Due to the warm period that lasted until the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the climate in the entire East Asia was very warm. This also caused the climate in the Jiangnan region to be somewhat similar to the current Guangdong and Southeast Asia. This climate gave birth to a huge species of crocodile, the Chinese Han Yu crocodile. Although it is not known why Han Yu hated crocodiles so much and gave them this name, this kind of crocodile did not become extinct until the Little Ice Age of the Ming Dynasty due to sudden climate changes. During this period, it still existed on the land of China.

This giant crocodile, which is five to six meters long, is definitely a major threat to the homeless people today. Especially since Hong County is close to the water system, Cao Bianjiao had to arrange his soldiers to settle the people first before making any plans. In a sense, Ma Shouying's strategy was successful.

"You said that the Fifth Battalion of the Gezuo is fleeing northward?"

Listening to the reports from his spies and some defeated soldiers, Cao Bianjiao was a little surprised. These people were wreaking such havoc in Fengyang. When he was following Marshal Hong before, he clearly heard that the other side was ready to move south. How come they fled back? What happened? Could it be that the generals here were not all fools, and he had misunderstood them?

"I heard that the 5th Battalion of the Left was preparing to march south to Yangzhou, but was stopped by the great thief Jiang Han, suffering heavy casualties, and was chased all the way to this place."

"Oh? Is this actually the case? Is there a quarrel among the bandit leaders?"

Cao Bianjiao followed Hong Chengchou on the journey and had not had time to understand the situation in Jiangnan. His understanding of Jiang Han was limited to the fact that he dominated Yangzhou and defeated the imperial army of 70,000. Otherwise, he just regarded him as a bandit.

"This... doesn't seem to be the case. Judging from the opinions of the people around here, this thief Jiang should not be underestimated."

The adjutant standing by didn't know how to explain to Cao Bianjiao.

"Hmm? How can you not underestimate it?"

You must take the enemy seriously when facing them. This is the combat rule that Cao Bianjiao has always adhered to. No matter what kind of enemy it is, you must go all out. Otherwise, you may be the one who dies. I didn't know much about the situation before, but it is not too late to collect intelligence now.

"According to our investigation, the people in this city seem to have a very good impression of the thief Jiang... They say that he is kind and generous, and is a rare good person. They are afraid that they will have nothing to eat, so they sent people to find them a job to make a living..."

As the deputy spoke, he carefully observed Cao Bianjiao's expression. Seeing that Cao Bianjiao's face was getting darker and darker, he slowly stopped talking.

"Sure enough, it's very tricky..."

Cao Bianjiao's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. In fact, it was not difficult for Cao Bianjiao to wipe out the bandits like the Gezuo Fifth Camp. The most important thing in suppressing bandits is how to eliminate the soil in which the bandits appear. This is the most difficult part of the process.

The reason why the bandits have never been wiped out is that once they are allowed to escape with some people, the other side will be able to pull out a large number of troops in a blink of an eye. In fact, this situation is relatively easy to solve, because the other side's behavior will cause great suffering to the local people, which also makes the people full of hatred for the bandits. When their own court officials and soldiers come together, there will be natural help from the people. It is not difficult to wipe out these bandits by simply encircling them.

The most terrifying thing is the enemy like the thief Jiang today. This kind of person dominates a certain area, but he does not rob, take human lives, plunder wealth, or kill or burn people. Instead, he begins to do good deeds and win people's hearts. You know, it is easy to get rid of thieves in the world, but it is difficult to get rid of thieves in the heart.

In Fengyang Hong County, hundreds of miles away, the other party's good reputation for charity could be spread. What was the situation in Yangzhou, the other party's base camp? Cao Bianjiao didn't dare to think about it.

It's tricky, too tricky. If the people live better under the rule of the other party than under the rule of the court, then can the court's arrival to suppress the bandits still be justified?

I'm afraid that by then, their enemy will no longer be Jiang Han alone, but the entire Yangzhou.

No, I have to pass the news to Marshal Hong as soon as possible. This thief Jiang is a powerful enemy and must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Cao Bianjiao quickly wrote a letter and sent someone to pass the message to Hong Chengchou, while he himself began to pursue the Gezuo Fifth Battalion that had fled in Fengyang.

Now that the enemy and the bandit Jiang are fighting each other, the Gezuo Fifth Battalion is obviously more seriously injured. Now we have to kill him while he is weak and lose no time to start tearing off a piece of flesh from the bandits' bodies.

Volume 289: Chapter Chapter : Wonderful Business