Outside Tongguan City, 20,000 Shun troops lined up to meet the enemy!
They had suffered heavy losses in several previous battles outside the city, and it was not easy for them to gather 20,000 troops.
Li Zicheng made final deployment on horseback.
"Zongmin, you lead a thousand cavalrymen to ambush behind the left wing and wait for an opportunity to strike."
"Zongdi led a thousand cavalrymen to ambush behind the right wing and wait for an opportunity to strike."
"Gao Yigong, Li Guo, and Gu Kecheng will lead the left, center, and right infantry armies. After entering the battlefield, do not shoot at the Ming army, but engage them in close combat as quickly as possible."
"Li Laiheng, you must guard the west gate of Tongguan. If we lose this battle, open the gate and retreat to Xi'an immediately!"
Having said this, Li Zicheng raised his head and glanced towards the east.
The sky in the distance is extremely blue, and the bright sun shining on the earth makes people feel warm and comfortable.
That was Henan, where he had fought for more than ten years.
If he loses this battle, will he still have a chance to return to Henan?
Li Zicheng didn't know and didn't want to know.
Because the most urgent task is not to let your imagination run wild, but to deploy your troops.
"Hao Yaoqi..." Li Zicheng looked at this fierce general.
"Your Majesty, I'm here!" Hao Yaoqi bowed deeply to Li Zicheng.
"I'll give you three hundred elite cavalrymen. You must find a way to get behind the Ming army and launch a surprise attack! You don't have to kill many people, but you must disrupt the situation."
"Whether we can win this battle depends entirely on you..." Li Zicheng urged his horse forward and patted Hao Yaoqi on the shoulder.
"I obey your command!" Hao Yaoqi gathered his troops and retreated from the battlefield.
After everyone left, Li Zicheng looked at the last general beside him: Ma Shiyao.
He still has 5,000 Tongguan defenders. These people are only good at defending cities but not good at field battles. Their current task is to guard the various sections of Tongguan's city walls and gates.
"Shiyao, I am very unsure! If nothing unexpected happens, we will probably lose!" Li Zicheng said with a dim look in his eyes and a low voice.
Ma Shiyao was a smart man with a straightforward personality. He asked directly, "What does the emperor want me to do?"
"After the defeat, he surrendered to the Ming army."
"Then... I know!" Ma Shiyao said seriously: "Your Majesty, withdraw your troops first, and then I will pretend to surrender to Qin Liangyu. When Qin Liangyu enters Tongguan and has not yet established a firm foothold, your Majesty will quickly return to the army and join forces with me to catch Qin Liangyu off guard."
"This way we can drive Qin Liangyu out of Guanzhong!"
"Yes, that's exactly what I thought!" Li Zicheng nodded and continued, "Since we don't know when Qin Liangyu's main force will enter Tongguan, the specific time for the counterattack will be decided by you."
"Then how do I contact the Emperor?"
"Send someone with a secret letter."
"I obey your order!"
boom!
The sound of cannon fire was heard in the Ming army’s formation.
After the cannon fire, tens of thousands of Ming troops formed a horizontal formation and launched an attack.
They marched in neat steps, with swordmen and spearmen in front, musketeers in the middle, and archers in the back.
Attack towards Tongguan step by step.
At the same time, more than 10,000 siege troops pushed siege equipment along the shallows on the bank of the Yellow River and approached Tongguan City step by step.
After several rounds of musketry and bows and arrows, the two sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
Amid the shouts and screams, blood and flesh flew everywhere.
The Shun army infantry led by Gao Yigong, Li Guo and Gu Kecheng soon showed signs of defeat.
They had been defeated repeatedly in previous battles outside the city, and the morale of the soldiers had long been worn out.
In addition, after being bombarded by the Ming army's red cannons for several days, his remaining courage was gone.
"Kill!" A row of Ming army spears stabbed several times, creating a three-meter-long gap in the Shun army's formation.
A dozen knife-wielding players waiting nearby rushed in.
After they broke into the Shun army's formation, they did not continue to attack forward, but attacked to the left and right sides respectively.
The Shun troops on both sides were concentrating on fighting the Ming troops in front of them, thinking that the troops on the flank were friendly forces and did not take them seriously at all.
Bang.
The swordsman pushed the shield in his left hand forward and stabbed the sword in his right hand through the gap in the armor.
Seven or eight Shun army spearmen fell limply to the ground.
"Kill! The Ming army is mighty!" The Ming army spearmen launched a charge through the gap.
The Shun army's swordsmen rushed forward and used shields to block spears, trying to force them back.
The Ming army did not give them any chance. The spears either stabbed their heads or their feet, forcing these swordsmen and shieldmen to retreat continuously.
Seeing that their army was showing signs of retreat, Liu Zongmin, who was ambushing on the left wing, and Yuan Zongdi, who was ambushing on the right wing, rushed out at the same time: "Kill!"
The Ming army had been prepared.
The infantry on the flanks raised their spears and thrust them diagonally into the ground to form a makeshift barricade, while the sword and shield soldiers held shields and fought with the spearmen to help them block the arrows.
The musketeers and archers in the middle and rear fired freely, forcing the cavalry to retreat.
Seeing that their attack missed, Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongde immediately retreated.
But Li Xingzhong didn't give them a chance.
Li Xingzhong received the news when Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongdi just entered the battlefield, but he did not send cavalry to support the infantry. Instead, he ambushed the cavalry on Liu and Yuan's retreat route.
Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongde had already suffered heavy losses under the attack of the Ming army's infantry, and they had no chance of fighting against Li Xingzhong's elite cavalry.
The Shun army collapsed at the first touch!
The Ming army took advantage of the situation and planned to encircle and annihilate Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongdi.
Bang!
The lead bullets fired from the three-barreled gun killed both the man and the horse.
whoosh!
Arrows fell like rain, piercing the soldiers like hedgehogs.
"Go!" Liu Zongmin shouted to the dozen or so soldiers around him while enduring the injury on his shoulder.
"General, go first, we will cover your rear!" The personal soldiers showed no fear.
"Let's go together!"
The guards looked at the dark masses of Ming cavalry not far away and smiled bitterly: "We can't leave together! It is our honor to exchange our lives for the general's life. General, leave!"
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