Anyway, Song Zhiwen also knew that his guardsmen and young men did not have much combat effectiveness. Instead of taking them on the road slowly, it was better for him to take 500 personal guards back to Xingquan Fucheng.
After returning to Xingquanfu City with five hundred soldiers and personal guards, he was immediately able to integrate many forces in the city and organize the city defense with five hundred soldiers and personal guards as the core.
As for the guardsmen and young men who were abandoned by him and hurried slowly behind, it was their luck to be able to return to Xingquan Fucheng safely. If not, they would have to die.
Of course, there is another very important reason: his own life is much more important than those of the guardsmen and young men.
He is a dignified fourth-grade magistrate, a second-grade Jinshi, a noble official who has entered the Hanlin Academy and may become an important minister in the court in the future. It is impossible for him to lose his life here like these big-headed soldiers.
So Song Zhiwen chose to run away without hesitation!
Well, we can't say running away, it's too shameful. It should be said that he took the lead and returned to Xingquan Fucheng to fight the waves, save more than 10,000 people in Xingquan Fucheng from the fire and water, and resist the attack of the puppet Tang thief army.
But even so, when Song Zhiwen arrived only five miles away with five hundred running and panting guards, he felt as if he had lost all his strength in an instant.
Because he saw a group of pseudo-Tang rebels in front of him. It seemed that they were also heading towards Xingquan City. However, these pseudo-Tang bandits were closer to Xingquan City than they were.
It's over, it's over. These damned puppet Tang rebels actually arrived at Xingquan Fucheng faster than me. Can I still return to Xingquan Fucheng now?
At the same time, Hao Bainian also discovered Song Zhiwen and others located to the southwest of them!
These Ming troops arrived so quickly!
Hao Bainian was also surprised by the retreat speed of these Ming troops. He led his troops on a quick march with light equipment, and then arrived outside Xingquanfu City at this time. According to his estimation, the speed of the Ming troops should be behind him, at least half a
It can only be reached after a while.
In this case, he would have half an hour to rest!
But now, although the Ming army arrived later than his own, strictly speaking, it was almost the same. As a result, he did not have enough rest time at all.
But even so, Hao Bainian quickly ordered the entire army to prepare for war!
Even if there is no rest time, he still has to stop these Ming troops outside Xingquanfu City, and he must not let Song Zhiwen lead the Ming troops to escape back to Xingquanfu City.
What makes him a little strange is that if the Ming army should have more than 3,000 people, why are there only more than 500 people in front of him?
The strength of these five hundred Ming troops is less than half of our own strength?
Naturally, Hao Bainian didn't know that Song Zhiwen had abandoned the rest of the Ming army and came back with 500 soldiers as personal guards. He thought that the Ming army was trying to divide the troops into two groups and attack in the east and attack in the west, so he sent these 500 people to entangle him.
Later, other main forces of the Ming army entered the city from other directions, such as from the south gate.
Therefore, on the one hand, he sent Li Chunjing to lead the 2nd Infantry Battalion and the 1st Mixed Battalion to continue on their way to intercept the Ming army that might appear in other directions, and at the same time, to guard against the Ming army rushing out of the city.
As for himself, he led the first infantry battalion as well as the grenadiers, archers, and sword and shield troops to line up to face the enemy!
He personally led more than 600 men to meet the enemy, which was enough to stop the 500 Ming army in front of him.
Song Zhiwen, who was on the opposite side, saw that the Puppet Tang Dynasty Army in front was divided into two. He also couldn't guess why the Puppet Tang Dynasty Army on the opposite side would do this. He thought that the Puppet Tang Dynasty Army was going to send people to attack the city first.
But since the pseudo-Tang bandits in front of me are arrogant and divided, is it possible for me to break through the interception of these pseudo-Tang bandits and rush into the city?
After hesitating for a while, he finally made up his mind!
If he didn't rush in, it wouldn't make much sense to escape with these five hundred people. He led the army back first to protect Xingquanfu City. If he escaped under Xingquanfu City, everything would be in vain.
It has lost its meaning.
It is certain that Xingquan City will be breached. How can I survive then?
So he took a deep breath and said loudly: "Let's rush over. As long as we rush over, we can return to Xingquan Fucheng!"
If the 500 personal guards under his command were guardsmen or young men, he would never do this, but the 500 personal guards under his command now are the main force in recruiting troops.
Their combat effectiveness is much stronger than that of the guardsmen and Qingzhuang. As long as you are determined and charge forward, there is hope.
Seeing the Ming army on the opposite side starting to form a formation and preparing to attack, Hao Bainian snorted coldly: "Looking for death!"
The New Army of the Tang Dynasty was best at frontal decisive battles. If the Ming army on the opposite side had one or two thousand men, Hao Bainian might still be worried, but the other side only had five hundred men.
As for the physical fitness of both parties, they were both very tired.
With a wave of his hand, the 1st Infantry Battalion and other teams behind him also took a defensive posture. The musketeers began to reload, the spearmen raised their spears, and the archers in the rear were also preparing to bend their bows and shoot arrows.
The sword and shield hand is at the back, ready to rush in and fight hand-to-hand at any time!
The Ming army had already launched a charge at this time!
However, they naturally would not rush directly towards the Tang Army's phalanx, they chose to take a detour.
After all, their purpose was not to defeat the puppet Tang rebel army on the opposite side, they just wanted to escape back to Xingquan Fucheng.
Song Zhiwen was riding on his horse and saw the crowds of people on the Xingquan Mansion City three miles away. After a while, the city gate was opened halfway, and then hundreds of Ming troops rushed out.
They are here to support me!
As long as you can rush over, you can escape back to Xingquan Fucheng!
However, the next moment, he knew why the Puppet Tang thief army had divided its forces before, because the Puppet Tang thief army that had been separated was already heading towards the Ming army rushing out from the city gate, and formed a formation
The posture of the formation.
Obviously, they want to prevent friendly forces from coming out to meet them!
With this in his mind, Song Zhiwen kept urging the soldiers to speed up!
However, they tried to bypass Hao Bainian's troops, but Hao Bainian would not be stupid and let the troops stand in formation. After seeing Song Zhiwen's troops trying to bypass, he immediately said: "The whole army turns left, and the horizontal formation becomes a column.
Trot!"
If you look down from the sky at this time, in the wilderness outside Xingquan Mansion City, four square formations are slowly approaching!
The defenders in the city slowly came out, while the Tang army led by Li Chunjing formed a formation to meet the enemy.
As for the troops led by Hao Bainian and Song Zhiwen, they were moving quickly.
However, if this movement trajectory continues, Song Zhiwen and the others will not be able to bypass Hao Bainian's interception.
Because Hao Bainian and the others were always in front of Song Zhiwen's troops!
After running for a while, Song Zhiwen looked at the puppet Tang rebel army that was getting closer and closer, and then looked at the city wall of Xingquanfu City, which was only two miles away, and then he gritted his teeth and said: "Form up, let's rush over!"
He knew that he couldn't get around it, so he had to force his way through it!
If you rush through and have friendly troops to support you, you can return to Xingquan Fucheng. If you can't rush through, then everything is over!
At this time, Hao Bainian also saw Song Zhiwen in a red robe, and immediately shouted: "Stop them and capture the Song thief alive!"
Hao Bainian's voice was as loud as that of other warriors. This roar was not only heard clearly by the soldiers of the Tang Army, but also by Song Zhiwen who was two to three hundred meters away.
Immediately afterwards, the soldiers of the Tang Army also shouted slogans before the battle, and the words "The Tang Dynasty is invincible" were shouted out, like huge waves, constantly beating Song Zhiwen's heart.
It was Song Zhiwen's first time to be in battle in person, and he couldn't help but feel frightened when he heard this.
Although Song Zhiwen had personally led his troops to fight several battles against the puppet Tang rebels, he, like Li Xuan, actually spent most of his time at the rear.
At its closest point, it was still more than a hundred meters away from the battle line.
Although he was used to watching scenes of two armies fighting, when he faced such a fighting scene in person, he was still a little unaccustomed to it, and even fearful.
His feet were even a little weak and his head was a little dizzy. However, as a court official, he needed to maintain his dignity and dignity, so he held on and rode on the horse.
However, as the distance between the two sides continued to get closer, he became more and more nervous. In the end, he couldn't help but slow down his riding speed, and was surrounded by more than a dozen soldiers and fell behind.
He watched motionlessly as the soldiers in front rushed towards the formation of the pseudo-Tang traitor army!
Two hundred meters, one hundred meters away, at this time, the puppet Tang rebel army on the opposite side opened fire. Many Ming soldiers on the charge fell down, and then they continued to charge forward.
At the same time, their archers began to stop and go, bending their bows and shooting arrows to fight back.
By the time they were less than thirty meters away, the soldiers of the Ming Army were already shouting various slogans, "kill!", trying to break through the interception of the puppet Tang bandit army in front of them. For them, the only option was to rush over. Then you can survive and return to Xingquan Fucheng.
However, at this time, the officers of the two musketeers of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty also waved their command swords in unison. This is the most commonly used volley fire by the New Army of the Tang Dynasty when the enemy rushes into close range.
A salvo of nearly two hundred muskets knocked down an entire row of Ming soldiers charging at the front almost instantly, killing and injuring no less than forty or fifty people, so that a large hole instantly appeared in the charging Ming army!
At this time, the grenadiers also lit the grenades, and with the sound of bombing, the grenadiers threw the first wave of grenades!
When the explosion sounded, the musketeers and spearmen with bayonets were already striding forward and launched a countercharge towards the Ming army!
Launching a counterattack after salvoing bombs has almost become a standard tactic for the new army of the Tang Dynasty, and it is naturally very easy to use!
Song Zhiwen from behind looked at his soldiers falling down one by one, no, it should be said row by row, and finally showed a look of complete despair. He didn't even hear the voice of the soldiers beside him: "Sir, if you don't If you leave, it will be too late!"
His soldiers saw that Song Zhiwen was completely stunned and didn't react at all. Immediately, a leading soldier said: "Let's take the adults and escape!"
The next moment, these dozen soldiers who were also riding horses took the horse that was holding Song Zhiwen and fled back quickly. The speed was astonishing!