Right now!
The vast and boundless Bailuyuan was already filled with fighting and blood, with dust everywhere and shouts of killing shaking the sky.
Fifty thousand elite troops of the imperial court divided into three groups and attacked the rebels. The rebels, with Niu Desheng leading fifty thousand swift troops as their backbone, resisted the first round of attacks from the imperial army.
As for the remaining 200,000 troops, Li Jingang allocated 100,000 to guard the camp and another 100,000 to participate in the battle.
Fifteen thousand against fifty thousand, although the number is three times as many, but Li Jingang is well aware of the strength of the five elite battalions of the imperial court and dares not take it lightly.
In addition, the imperial army continued to arrive to reinforce from the outskirts of Bailuyuan, so Li Jingang had to leave enough reserve troops to guard against them.
On the other hand, Yang Dingguo, under the strict protection of the Leopard Camp, was in charge of the central army and commanded the flag at will.
He was surrounded by a group of staff and military advisors, and the eunuchs and imperial censors sent by the court also watched the battle.
The importance of this battle is self-evident.
Faced with the huge numerical advantage of the rebels, Yang Dingguo knew that although the elite troops of the Five Battalions were powerful, they had been out of battle for a long time and the disparity in troop strength was huge. He had to rely on precise formations and equipment advantages to defeat the core of the rebels with thundering force in order to avoid being swallowed up by the boundless sea of people.
"Flying Bear Camp! Change to a cone formation and break the enemy's left wing!" Yang Dingguo's voice was like a bell.
Rumble!
The earth trembled. The Flying Bear Battalion's one thousand armored cavalrymen, each clad in heavy armor, resembled a mobile iron fortress.
Under the leadership of a fierce general, it turned into an indestructible giant cone, carrying the momentum to crush everything, and slammed into the left wing of the rebels!
The spears are like a forest, flashing cold light.
The rebels' hastily erected wooden shields and thin leather armor shattered like paper under the impact of the heavy cavalry.
People and horses fell to the ground, and the screams of broken bones and tendons were instantly drowned out by the deafening sound of horse hooves and armor clashing.
Wherever the Bear Camp passed, they plowed a bloody passage, and the rebels' left wing began to collapse and cave in visibly.
"Eagle Camp! Encircle the enemy from both wings and divide the battlefield!" Yang Dingguo waved the flag again.
The Yingyang Camp had 10,000 infantrymen, dressed in fine armor, armed with sharp swords and tough shields, and their formation was as tight as a wall.
They followed the gap opened by the Feixiong Camp, poured in like a tide, and quickly spread out to the left and right. Their sharp swords formed a strangling net, separating the rebels who tried to close in.
Their movements were in perfect unison, and with the flash of their swords, the core force of the rebels, the "Swift Army", was still able to hold on, but the refugees who were forced to retreat in the back row fell down in large numbers.
"Longxiang, Huwei! Target the flag of General Li Jingang in the central army and go straight to Huanglong!" Yang Dingguo's goal was extremely clear - behead!
The Longxiang and Huwei battalions are mixed formations of the most elite heavy infantry and elite archers among the five battalions.
Like a giant wedge, they advanced steadily towards the huge "Li" flag in the center of the rebel army in the space torn open by Feixiong and Yingyang.
The heavy infantry were in the front, with huge shields stacked up like a moving steel wall, and long spears pierced out from the gaps in the shields like poisonous snakes.
The archers were behind, and their arrows flew over the shield wall like locusts, accurately covering the elite guards around the rebel general's flag.
Every volley was accompanied by blood and screams.
The pressure on the rebel center increased sharply and the formation began to waver.
"Hold on! Hold on for me!"
Niu Desheng shouted at the top of his lungs, brandishing his sword as he charged back and forth in the formation, trying to plug the gaps that had been torn open.
The 50,000 swift troops under his command were indeed the backbone of the rebels. Although their equipment was far inferior to that of the imperial army, most of them were desperate criminals or long-time bandits with extremely tenacious fighting will.
They took advantage of their numerical advantage and continuously squeezed the flanks of the imperial army from both wings, using simple spears, dung forks and even stones to attack the imperial army's tight formation regardless of casualties.
Every attack made the imperial army's advance heavier.
The center of the battlefield was like a huge flesh-grinding machine.
After breaking through the left wing, the Flying Bear Camp's steel torrent inevitably fell into the thick sea of rebels.
The impact of the heavy cavalry began to weaken after breaking through several lines of defense. The horses' breathing became heavy, and the knights' arms felt numb from swinging their lances.
The rebels pouring in from all directions were like ants gnawing at a giant beast, using their flesh and blood to slow down the pace of steel.
From time to time, heavy cavalry were knocked down from their horses by lassoes and spears. Once they fell off their horses, they were instantly overwhelmed by the swarming rebels.
The infantry of the Yingyang Camp were also under tremendous pressure.
They divided and surrounded part of the rebels, but were themselves surrounded by enemies that outnumbered them several times.
The blade of the sword was bent after being chopped horizontally, and the shield was covered with knife marks and arrow holes.
Some newly recruited soldiers, looking at the endless and hideous enemies before them, listening to the deafening shouts and dying cries, began to tremble with their hands holding their weapons, their eyes filled with fear.
If it weren't for the military judge supervising the battle, the strict military discipline and the bravery of the veterans around him, the front line would have been broken long ago.
"Kill one of those idiot soldiers and you'll be rewarded ten ounces of silver! Take a set of armor and keep it yours!"
The grassroots rebel leaders roared wildly, stimulating the refugees' primitive greed and desire for survival.
Countless ragged, skinny refugees, with bloodshot eyes, rushed towards the imperial army recklessly, using their bodies to consume the enemy's arrows and physical strength.
Their fighting power may be low, but their numbers are too large. They follow one after another, like surging waves, constantly impacting the dam of the imperial army, which seems solid but is actually weak in strength.
Yang Dingguo frowned.
The equipment and training advantages of the 5th Battalion were indeed fully demonstrated on the battlefield, and the initial advance was effective.
But the resilience of the rebels, especially the 50,000 Swift Army's desperate fight and the endless human consumption of refugees, far exceeded his expectations.
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