On May 23rd, forty miles west of Xuzhou, at the foothills north of Xiao County.

The sky was clear, the air was quiet and dull, and eagles were flying in the sky.

The rugged mountain road spreads and disappears into the dense forest at the foot of the mountain. On the slopes in front of the mountain road, the sound of human breathing gathers together.

The smell of gunpowder wafted through the crowd, and lead bullets were pressed into the barrels of guns.

Black flags spread out, and a queue of nearly a thousand people lined up on the slope.

Luo Ye stood on the stone and looked at the eagle in the sky. There was a faint trembling sound on the ground, indicating that the enemy was coming.

This is a corner of the entire Xuzhou retreat.

Since the Jurchens launched their attack southward in the ninth year of Jianshuo, in the first half of the tenth year of Jianshuo, during the southward invasion of the Jurchen armies from the east and west, several vigorous and large-scale blocking battles broke out in the Central Plains, and the entire Jin region was destroyed.

Due to the sea of ​​​​fire, the resistance of the Guangwu Army of Daming Prefecture was also the most brutal. During this period, the resistance in Xuzhou was relatively stable. Except for the fact that it was besieged by nearly a million hungry ghosts in the winter, by the first half of the 10th year of Jian Shuo, the resistance was complete.

After Yan Zongfu and Zongbi launched an attack on the city, Xuzhou held the city for less than three months and began to evacuate in mid-May.

Compared to the 50,000 troops in Daming Prefecture who resisted for half a year and finally broke out, they were joined by more than 10,000 Chinese troops who came to the rescue, but only a few thousand people survived. The war in Xuzhou was not vigorous enough in the eyes of many faultfinders.

At least for Li Anmao, the prefect of Xuzhou who originally invited the Huaxia Army to defend the city, the Huaxia Army's 10,000 reinforcements plus the tens of thousands of troops he had raised in Xuzhou should have been at least half a year or even a year at the place where the four battles were fought.

.If he can kill himself to become a benevolent person, then his loyalty to the Wu Dynasty will be fulfilled.

However, Liu Chengzong and others had no such plan from the beginning.

Since the arrival of this 10,000-strong Chinese army in Xuzhou, they have been engaged in the evacuation of residents near Xuzhou to the south. Li Anmao was already determined to fight to the death, and did not have much opinion on the evacuation of the people. Instead, he tried his best to provide a lot of cooperation.

Later, when the hungry ghosts dispersed outside Xuzhou City, the Jurchens came to kill them, and the remaining residents in the city took advantage of the beginning of spring to head south. Liu Chengzong and the nearly 50,000 Xuzhou garrison in the city carried out a tenacious defense.

The Jurchen East Route Army of more than 300,000 people had been preparing to attack the city since the beginning of winter last year. Tens of thousands of people defended Xuzhou City for more than two months. Later, Liu Chengzong and others knocked out Li Anmao at a meeting and captured him.

took military power and announced the evacuation decision from Xuzhou.

The number of soldiers under Li Anmao's command was as many as 50,000, but their composition was complex. Some were Liu Yu's troops before, and the other were just wanderers who enlisted for food. Li Anmao mobilized more than 50,000 soldiers to build a strong momentum.

, I want to drag the Huaxia Army here, but these 50,000 people have no combat effectiveness. After the Huaxia Army arrived, they trained with these people, improved military discipline, and held talks, and then they partially increased their combat effectiveness. Now the Huaxia Army said

To leave, no one in the Xuzhou garrison was willing to obey Li Anmao's order to defend. The recruitment of tens of thousands of people who had gone through two months of war has naturally become a reality. At least during the retreat, no one dared not to do so.

Listen to the deployment of the Chinese army.

Xuzhou has been a place of four battles since ancient times. The city is located in a basin and is surrounded by mountains and rivers with complex terrain. The rugged terrain is easy to defend but difficult to attack. In order to win quickly, Zongfu Zongbi's Eastern Route Army chose to attack violently.

Rather than encircling the city into a dead end, the Jurchens surrounded the city in three columns. It was not difficult for tens of thousands of troops to break through. The subsequent evacuation process was met with fierce pursuit by the Jurchen army.

But for the entire retreat plan, the Huaxia Army began to explore and deduce it last year. When the army left the city, Liu Chengzong divided the backbone of the Huaxia Army into several groups and chose rugged terrain to block and retreat in an orderly manner. Tens of thousands of Jurchen pursuers came from behind.

They came from different directions, but were beaten into a panic. On May 23, Chaoxianling, north of Xiao County, became the forward fulcrum of the entire retreat.

Over 10,000 Liaodong troops are coming from nearby. The leader is Liaodong Han general Liu Guangji. On the other hand, the Chinese army is a special regiment of nearly 1,200 people led by Luo Ye. They are an experimental unit of the Chinese Fifth Army.

The entire equipment has not experienced actual combat, but the entire special forces group is composed of veterans of the Chinese army.

This special forces regiment performed quite well in the previous Xuzhou city defense battle. They did not use the new weapons equipped by all their members because the effect in the city defense battle was not necessarily good. At this time, they chose to do it at Chaoxianling.

For defense, one is because the terrain here is the most ideal, and the other is because after the nearby friendly forces have retreated, this mountain pass is located at a prominent point on the front line, and the pressure on defense may be the greatest. There is also something that Luo Ye has not told too many people.

The third point: According to previous tactical deductions, this place is most likely to be visited by the enemy's vanguard general.

The most powerful vanguard general in the Jurchen Army was none other than the Jurchen "Fourth Prince" Jin Wushu, who almost dominated the entire Eastern Route Army's offensive posture.

In Luo Ye's opinion, this is the most suitable place for new weapons to shine.

If something can be done, he wants to get killed.

It's a pity that the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, and it's not Wushu who is killed.

This year's Jurchen South Expedition, more than ten years have passed since the first southward expedition. The east and west armies raised nearly 600,000 troops. Although it took several years of training, the Jurchen soldiers who once gained the reputation of being "invincible"

It is impossible to expand to this number. In fact, it is difficult for the new Jurchen children to join the army to reproduce the bravery they had when they fought out of the white mountains and black waters.

Therefore, the entire army was joined by many other ethnic groups, such as Bohai people, Khitan people, Xi people, Han people, etc., who were the second highest in the Jurchen country. Although in later generations, one Han people did not speak two languages, but in this era

Here, the Han people in Liaodong looked down on the southerners. In their eyes, the brave Jurchens were naturally more worthy of following. It was only natural to follow the Jurchens and achieve great fame during the southern expedition.

At this time, the status of the Han people in Liaodong was not high in the Jin Kingdom. Therefore, in order to improve their status, they had no choice but to fight tooth and nail. Liu Guangji was a fierce general under Zong Bi. He had a violent temper and was known for his strict military management and ferocious use of troops. In his military camp

Here, at first a Han slave was whipped to death every day, in order to wake up the cowardice of many Liaodong soldiers: "Those who dare not bleed will become slaves!" Later Taizong issued a decree not to kill Han slaves at will, so Liu Guangji would do it every day

If a Han slave's hands and feet were chopped off and he was seriously injured to death, given his status, he would only have to pay the penalty. In fact, under Zong Bi's protection, Liu Guangji basically did not need to pay even the fine.

Before the two sides met, Hai Dongqing and the scouts sent a message. Blocking the intersection ahead was about a thousand-man team of the Chinese Army. Since the terrain in front began to narrow, the battle would be unfavorable to the attacking side, and the Chinese Army

If you arrive first, artillery must have been arranged at a slightly higher ground. In the first wave of the attack, your side will inevitably suffer huge losses.

The first time he brought the opponent's military formation into his sight, Liu Guangji also discovered the opponent's strange long formation in the telescope. At this time, the infantry formations were mostly square formations, even though the emergence of cannons had a negative impact on the square formations.

It was a huge threat, but it was still necessary to maintain a phalanx, otherwise the battlefield would be prone to chaos and would not be able to withstand the opponent's charge. However, the array in front was only two to three rows of people, holding flashy muskets.

Such pyrotechnic weapons of the Wu Dynasty have been around for decades, but they are basically of little use. They have short range and poor power, and can easily explode their own eyes. Although since the rise of the Chinese army, all forces have changed their attitude toward gunpowder.

It must be taken very seriously, but at least this musket has not yet shown its glory in any major battle.

Liu Guangji knew the reputation of the Huaxia Army. He frowned when he saw an incomprehensible picture. However, behind him, there was not much room for change. According to Zongbi's order, he must quickly break through the Chaoxian Ridge.

, cut into the middle of the retreating Chinese army.

Even if there are cannons, they will still shoot...

After taking a brief look at the opponent's entire defense line, Liu Guangji gritted his teeth. In such a shrinking terrain, if he wanted to attack, the opponent's cannon was the most feared weapon. But there was no other way. In past experience, the more powerful the cannon was.

, the attack must be more intense, and only by breaking through the opponent's position in one breath can we break the opponent's defensive strategy. Fortunately, we have enough manpower on our side after all.

"Damn it! A dead bird flies to the sky..." Liu Guangji spat twice on his palm, and then waved his long knife: "Blow the trumpet! All my sons, get ready for me."

The mournful sound of trumpets sounded in the mountain pass. All the armies lined up. Liu Guangji rode his horse and loudly boosted morale in front of his own army's formation. On the other side, Luo Ye's eyes were steady. He stepped down from the big stone to observe.

, came to one side of the formation, took the drumsticks, and began to beat the big drum in front of them vigorously.

The drums roared and moved with their breathing, and the soldiers in the ranks raised their guns like a forest of guns. Fighting on the battlefield, one burst of energy, two bursts of energy, two bursts, and three bursts. At this moment, both sides who are eager to quickly decide the battle will lose their morale.

Boosted to the highest level.

At three quarters of noon that day, Liu Guangji's army launched a charge. The surrounding terrain was complicated, and it was too far to outflank him. It was impossible for him to wait any longer. Driven by military orders, the forwards of the army, led by a light cavalry team, advanced

Fans poured into the slopes of the mountain pass, the sound of cannons rang out, and military columns surged up like a tide. The Liaodong army shouted hysterically and fired the first wave of arrows.

On one side of the Chinese army, facing the incoming arrows, a long queue stood motionless with their guns raised. Due to the long and narrow queue, this hasty launch did not cause many casualties, and a few people were hit by arrows.

The charge from the front surged forward, and the light cavalry separated themselves from the soldiers at the rear. The formations began to gather as the terrain shrank. Some people raised their hands high in the air.

"Hold on"

"Hold on"

…

"..."

…

"put!"

…

At the fan-shaped mountain pass, the cavalry has surged forward, and a long row of muskets has been fired. The seemingly not long array of more than sixty feet, three hundred gunshots, three hundred clusters of green smoke, and three hundred rounds of

The lead bullet crossed the ground and extended forward at the same time, and blood flowers bloomed in front.

After the muskets were fired, the soldiers squatted down quickly. With the changing drumbeats, the second team's 300 muskets were raised.

"Second team ready"

"put!"

Green smoke rises amidst countless roars.

"Hold on!"

"Third Team Preparation"

"put!"

The shrinking slope turned into a huge mouth swallowing life.

This was a corner of Xuzhou's Great Retreat. It did not stop the Jurchens from going south, and it did not attract too many people's attention at the time.

Throughout the Xuzhou retreat, Liu Chengzong took advantage of the complex terrain to launch a counterattack, defeating tens of thousands of Jurchen pursuers who tried to take credit, and harvesting thousands of Jurchen East Route Army heads. And on May 23rd,

During the battle at Tianchao Xianling, Luo Ye broke up Liu Guangji's crazy attack and launched a counterattack. At the last moment, he killed Liu Guangji, who had led the charge because of the defeat in the battle, and then dispersed the entire attacking team.

In a series of battles between the Jurchens and the Chinese army, facing the bravery of the Chinese army, the Jurchens gradually became accustomed to it.

****************

Lightning flashed instantly, and roaring thunder shook the sky.

Chengdu, thunderstorm.

In the teahouse room, Cheng Zhouhai stood by the window with a gloomy expression, listening to the boiling voices coming from the streets and squares below. A public trial had come to an end, and the curses in the crowd almost covered up the roar in the sky.

Thunder: "Kill that old thing"
To be continued...