On the main battlefield, the situation of the government troops was dark and unclear.
Lu Xiangsheng and a few commanders and deputy generals stood on a raised mound and observed the battle not far away. They frowned and did not say a word.
All along, the government troops had thought that their combat strength was stronger than the bandits. A few years ago, Lu Xiangsheng could even lead thousands of government troops to hunt down tens of thousands of bandits, killing them until they fled. But this year, the situation had been reversed. Not only did the bandits dare to fight the government troops head-on, but they could also persist in fighting and break through the government troops.
A few months ago, Liu Honglie, the deputy general of the extermination team, was captured by the bandits. Not long after, the vice-generals Ai Wannian and Liu Guozhen died in battle. Following that, Cao Wenzhao, the trump card of the government army who had won every battle, was ambushed and killed by the rebel army in Qiutou Town. From then on, the rebel army's momentum soared and they no longer feared the government army.
In this battle in Ruzhou, the generals still held the idea of underestimating the rebel soldiers, but the actual situation on the battlefield made Lu Xiangsheng and the others understand: The rebel soldiers had considerable combat strength.
On the battlefield, 25,000 government troops were fighting against Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng's 37,000 infantry and cavalry. Not only were the government troops unable to defeat the rebel soldiers, but they were also at a slight disadvantage. Originally, Lu Xiangsheng and the others were prepared to defeat the rebel soldiers within two hours, but now it seemed that if this continued, the government troops would be defeated.
Lu Xiangsheng frowned and held the saber at his waist without saying a word. If this continued, he would obviously lose. Lu Xiangsheng only had Li Zhenzhen's troops left.
According to the plan, Li Zhenzhen had to hold back the old Hui soldiers after Lin Feng was defeated, so he did not charge into the stalemate and instead guarded the army on the right flank. Lu Xiangsheng wanted to send Li Zhenzhen's 3,000 soldiers into the battlefield, but he was worried that after Tianjin's soldiers were defeated by the old Hui, there would be no one to restrain the old Hui.
If there was no one to pin down the old Hui Hui, they would be able to easily flank the government troops, and the government troops would be defeated. Lu Xiangsheng was hesitating when he heard the commander of Liaodong, Zu Kuan, say,""Milord, the soldiers there are weak and might have already collapsed.. When Li Zhenzhen's soldiers were drawn out to resist the old Hui Hui, the situation would be even worse!”
Zu Kuan meant to retreat.
Hearing Zu Kuan's words, the other generals said,"
"Tianjin's soldiers won't be able to hold on for long!”
"I see that Tianjin's army has already collapsed, but the scouts haven't reported it yet!”
"My lord! The situation is terrible. Why don't we call off the troops and retreat to the camp to defend?”
"Milord, the situation is not good now. We can only retreat!”
Seeing that the situation wasn't looking good, the generals all wanted to escape.
At this moment, the two armies had already joined forces, and retreating would inevitably lead to great casualties. They might even be killed by the rebel soldiers while fleeing. However, Lu Xiangsheng knew that what the generals said made sense. Tianjin's troops were only a defense. They could not hold Old Hui back for long. If they did not retreat, it might be even harder to retreat.
Lu Xiangsheng glanced at the generals around him. His face was gloomy and hesitant.
Zu Kuan stepped forward and said,"Sir! Victory and defeat are common in a war. If we don't retreat now, we won't be able to retreat when the old Hui Hui come!”
Lu Xiangsheng took a deep breath and closed his eyes to think for a while. Then, he heard a long shout from the east.
"Report!"
Lu Xiangsheng looked at the source of the sound and saw an armored scout jumping off his horse and running quickly toward the mound. Lu Xiangsheng recognized this scout. He was an elite scout captain selected by the generals yesterday to scout the movements of the old Hui people in the east. The battle situation in the east affected the advance and retreat of the battle. The generals knew the pros and cons and specially selected the most elite scouts to investigate the situation.
The scout had returned. Something must have happened in the east.
Seeing the arrival of the scout captain, the generals sighed.
"I knew it. The horse lost!"
"Oh no, the scout is back. The east is finished, and Tianjin's army has been defeated so quickly!”
"I didn't expect the soldiers of Tianjin to be so weak!”
"I knew it! He's the one who got me killed!"
"Hurry up and leave! When the old ones come, we won't be able to retreat.”
Lu Xiangsheng had some confidence in Lin Feng, who was so confident, and hoped that he could hold on for a while. However, when he saw the captain of the scout come to report the military situation, Lu Xiangsheng knew that the victory must have been decided in the east. It was impossible to defeat the old Hui Hui. Clearly, he had already been defeated.
They had lost this battle! Now that the government troops were facing double attacks from the north and east, the situation was even worse. If Zhang Huang retreated like this, not only would he lose three to four thousand men, he would also lose six to seven thousand soldiers.
The officers were all pale, too lazy to listen to the scout. They were afraid that they would not be able to retreat after withdrawing their troops, so they gathered around Lu Xiangsheng.
"My lord! Quickly give the order to retreat."
"My lord! If we don't leave now, we'll collapse!"
"Sir, if we leave now, we can still withdraw 20,000 people!”
Lu Xiangsheng sighed and was about to speak when he saw the scout rush to the front of the generals, half-kneeling on the ground and shouting,"My lord! Good news!"
The generals felt that Li Zhi had definitely lost and were too lazy to listen to the scout. When they heard this, none of them reacted. He was still persuading Lu Xiangsheng to run.
"Milord, you go first! Use my BMW!"
Lu Xiangsheng was stunned when he heard the scout's words. He pushed aside a deputy general in front of him and asked in surprise,"Good news?"
"Great news, my lord!" The scout raised his head and said.”
Hearing this, the surrounding generals finally came back to their senses. They heard clearly that the scout had said the word "good news".
Good news? What good news? He hadn't lost yet? If he hadn't lost, why would the captain of the scout troopers come back personally?
All the generals turned around and looked at the scout captain kneeling on the ground as if he was a monster.
"Tianjin's defense has defeated the rebel soldiers. We've killed 3,800 of them. We'll kill the old Hui Hui Ma Shouying!"”
Hearing this, all the generals were stunned.
Killed 3,800 rebel soldiers? In battle array, the old Hui Hui horse guards should be beheaded? Just with the 1,300 weak soldiers of a single Defender? Was this a joke?
Lu Xiangsheng was the first to react. His face was filled with joy and surprise as he shouted,"Say it again!"
The captain shouted again,"The defense of Tianjin has already defeated the rebel soldiers and killed 3,800 of them.”
Only then did the generals come back to their senses. They stared at the scout captain with wide eyes, as if they wanted to eat him up.
"Impossible…"
"How is this possible?"
"Scouts! You must be mistaken!"
Seeing the doubts of the generals, the scout said loudly,""I saw it with my own eyes. The battlefield was littered with corpses of bandits. The soldiers of Tianjin were not injured at all, and 3,800 of them were cut off. The defense officer Li Zhi even personally showed me the corpse of the old Hui, Ma Shouying!”
When the generals heard this, they were dumbfounded. They looked at each other for a long time.
1,300 troops had defeated 30,000 of the old Hui's troops? Even if they didn't count the starving soldiers, Ma Shouying had eight thousand soldiers. The fighting strength of the raiders had soared in the past few years, and the old Hui soldiers were famous for being valiant. How long had it been since the battle started? In just a short while, they were defeated by 1,300 Tianjin troops and even their old Hui Hui was killed in the formation?
Were the soldiers of Tianjin all divine soldiers and generals?
The generals were stunned for a long time, but no one spoke. After holding it in for a long time, the generals suddenly shouted with flushed faces.
"Impossible, you must be mistaken!”
"Impossible! That one isn't that capable."
"A madman can kill an old man? Are you kidding me?"
"Scout! Do you know the punishment for lying about military intelligence?”
The generals flew into a rage out of humiliation and surrounded the captain of the scout armor. They scolded him, making the scout speechless.
However, just as the generals were shouting at the soldiers, three more scouts rushed over.
"Report!"
The generals were stunned and collectively looked at the three scouts.
"After killing the elders of the Tianjin defense formation, they have already led their troops to reinforce this place!”
Hearing this, the generals were completely speechless.
One scout might have made a mistake, but there were four scouts in these two groups. It was impossible for them to have made a mistake. Did this person really kill Old Hui? Even the most elite soldiers of the Nine Border Region and the elite soldiers under the commander did not have such combat strength! This Lin Feng was a defense officer?
The generals felt their worldview shatter in an instant.
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