Soon someone came back to report that the rebels had built a trench and a wooden fence along the riverbank, with pikemen and archers in coordination. The Qing landing force did not have long weapons in their hands, and they lacked bows and arrows, so it was difficult to break through.

Zhou Chang, a young scholar standing beside Zhang Changgeng, proposed: "My lord, let's move the cannons ashore, and then use the archers to land and cooperate with the sword and shield hands, and we can break through the thief formation." ”

"Pei Gong, did you say that the cannon was so easy to carry ashore? The soldiers waded across this section of the river and landed, and you brought the cannon ashore, and the gunpowder was wet! However, archers can go ashore. It's just that the thieves have the advantage of the terrain, and we have to pay some price for the attack. Zhang Changgeng said.

Zhou Chang arched his hand and said: "My lord, if we can rescue Lord Li, our Hubei Green Camp will be worth it even if the loss is great!" As long as Lord Li breaks through the encirclement of the thieves, we can not only rescue Lord Li, but also severely damage the thieves! This battle is a crucial battle related to the fate of the imperial court! If our army wins, there will be no more thieves in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and our army can take advantage of the victory to drive down the river to expel the pirates at the mouth of the Yangtze River! If I win or lose, I will never have peace from now on! ”

Zhang Changgeng touched his beard approvingly and nodded slightly: "Pei Gong's words are true, he should have more brothers!" No matter how big the loss is, you must rescue Master Li! ”

Zhou Chang, the word Peigong, familiar with military books, a famous military strategist in the early Qing Dynasty, in real history, it was because of the green battalion trained by Zhou Peigong that he resisted Wu Sangui's army in Wuchang. It's just that Zhou Peigong is still very young at this time, and he doesn't have any actual combat experience, and he is still a rookie on the battlefield, but some of his strategic vision is not bad.

The Qing army mobilized archers to land ashore, and fired bows and arrows at the defenders, covering the sword and shield men to cut down the wooden fence. Under the suppression of the Qing archers, the spearmen of the rebel army were shot down many people. However, the Rebel Sword player immediately came up and blocked the bow and arrow. Bombardment with archers and tiger squat cannons at the same time. Relying on the advantage of the terrain, the rebels defeated the Qing archers with heavy casualties.

"My lord, this battle is related to my Qing Dynasty's national fortune! Let the brethren fight to the death to take the thief's position! Give them a big reward. Zhou Chang proposed again.

Zhang Changgeng ordered to send more Qing soldiers ashore, transfer pikemen and axe soldiers, and promised the Qing soldiers and soldiers. Someone who is the first to rush into the position of the rebel army will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver!

A large number of Qing troops landed, and the Qing warships on the river fiercely bombarded the positions of the rebels with artillery fire at the same time, and the Qing soldiers on the shore threw light arrows with bows and arrows, and the overwhelming arrows shot into the sky and fell in the formation of the rebels. In the end, a large number of Qing saber players and pikemen alternated cover with each other and launched an attack on the rebel position.

The dense jungle on the bank of the river blocked the view of the Qing gunners. Originally, the caliber of the guns on the gunboats of the Qing army was not large, and the power was small, coupled with the advantages of the rebels in the terrain, the river gunboats were actually not a big threat to the shore. What really caused the rebels a headache was the frantic attack of the Qing army in the green camp. After all, the simple fortifications on the beach on the river bank are simple fortifications, and the shallow trenches dug temporarily and the wooden fences that are simply erected are difficult to withstand the onslaught of the Qing army.

"Kill!" Another large number of Qing soldiers rushed to the wooden fence.

Qing army pikemen. The rebel pikemen behind the wooden fence stabbed at each other, and the archers took cover with arrows behind them. Shieldmen and axemen take the opportunity to chop through the wooden fence.

The tiger squat cannon sticking out from behind the wooden fence "boom" spewed dazzling fire one after another, and the shotgun raised a cloud of blood mist in the crowd of Qing soldiers. The rebels behind the wooden fence threw bottles of national surnames, threw out 10,000 enemies, and blew up the Qing soldiers in the trenches.

However, the Qing soldiers were also released, and the front row of Qing soldiers fell. Behind him, another platoon of Qing soldiers rushed up. The corpses that had fallen in front of the wooden fence were piled up higher and higher, filling in the trenches. The Qing soldiers behind rushed up, stepped on the corpses, and launched a frantic attack on the rebels. Another group of soldiers fell, and the height of the corpses was almost higher than the wooden fence.

The first fortifications of the rebels could no longer be held. So he took the initiative to retreat.

After the Qing army broke through the defensive line, it was only then that it was discovered that the rebels had built a second line of defense behind the first fortification!

Besides, Li Guoying heard the sound of artillery downstream early, but after waiting for a day, the reinforcements coming downstream still failed to break through the defense line of the rebels. And Li Guoying's sailors were blocked in the Three Gorges. The underwater piles at the bottom of the river, the rocks falling from the mountains on both sides, the artillery trebuchets on the shore, and the rebel sailors on the river were heavily blocked. Although Li Guoying had a large number of troops, because of the narrowness of the Three Gorges, the Qing army could not deploy, so it could only add fuel tactics and send them to death one after another.

Even if Li Guoying can break through the first line of defense of the rebel army, there is still Wushan County by the river waiting for Li Guoying. Although this county town is not big, it is built on a mountain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and chokes the throat of the Yangtze River shipping.

"Kill!" Zhao Liangdong and Wang Jinbao, two fierce generals of the Qing army, were leading a large number of Qing troops to land on the relatively gentle river beach and launch a frantic attack on the rebels stationed on the mountain.

"The Tartars are coming! The Tartars are up again! "From the hilltop position, the shouts of the observation sentries were heard.

With the shouts of the observation post, taking advantage of the short leisure on the battlefield, the Kui Dongyi soldiers who were resting in the fortifications jumped up one after another, cheered up, picked up various weapons, and walked into the defensive position. After days of fierce fighting, they repelled dozens of frantic attacks by more than ten times the number of enemies, and everyone was so tired that they couldn't hold their weapons, but everyone persevered.

"Brethren! We are tired, and so are the tartars! We are human beings, and they are flesh and blood just like us! We have the advantage of terrain, why fear the Tartars! Liu Tichun shouted and cheered for the rebels.

He Daoning, the general of the rebel army, personally stood on the front line, stretched out his bow and arrows, and aimed at a Qing soldier who rushed to the front.

Zhao Liangdong ordered Cheng Tingjun and Liang Jiaqi to be the vanguards, and led the army to launch a fierce attack on the rebel position.

"Put!" Liu Tichun yelled.

He Daoning was the first to let go of the bowstring, and a sharp arrow shot out with a whistling sound, and a Qing soldier who rushed to the front did not have time to protect the vital point with a shield, and the sharp arrow pierced his throat and fell backwards on his back.

"Kill!" In the neat roar, Liang Jiaqi, the general of the Qing army, held a broadsword and led the infantry to charge on foot. He rushed forward first, blocking the arrows shot by the rebels with a big sword in his hand, and walked straight to the rebels' position. The Qing saber player in the back raised his shield to block the chaotic arrows, and roared and charged.

A row of bird guns stretched out from the formation of the rebels in front, accompanied by a burst of gunfire like fried beans. More than a dozen Qing soldiers appeared with transparent blood holes all over their bodies, and they fell down with screams. Although the bullet did not hit Liang Jiaqi, it frightened him a lot. He couldn't care about being cool anymore, so he quickly rolled on the ground and lay on the ground. At this time, the second row of gunfire erupted from the bird guns of the rebel army, and more than a dozen green battalion Qing soldiers were beaten into a hornet's nest.

Wait until a large group of green battalion soldiers rush past us. Liang Jiaqi got up from the ground, patted the soil on his body with palpitations, and pointed forward with a big knife: "Brothers, go on!" Kill the dog! ”

On the hillside, arrows and projectiles and artillery stones flew down, and the Qing army suffered heavy casualties, and this round of attack was once again repulsed.

"The end will be a death penalty!" His face was scratched, his armor was covered with mud, and the embarrassed Liang Jiaqi knelt in front of Zhao Liangdong to plead guilty.

"Get up! It was the thieves who occupied the favorable terrain. What a sin you have! Zhao Liangdong said.

Unable to take the hill on the side of the canyon, it will be difficult for Li Guoying's fleet to rush out. Zhao Liangdong is very clear about this. But he also knew that Liang Jiaqi had tried his best. The Qing army attacked for a whole day and lost thousands of people, and if it continues to fight, I am afraid that all of Liang Jiaqi's men and horses will be lost here, and even Zhao Liangdong's own troops will lose a lot.

I thought about it for a moment. Zhao Liangdong said: "Organize a group of dead soldiers to attack!" This officer personally led his own soldiers to suppress the formation! If there is a retreater, slash! ”

"Wow!" Liang Jiaqi retreated.

In order to ensure that Li Guoying can break out of the encirclement of the rebels. Liang Jiaqi was ruthless, gathered all his own soldiers, and carefully selected more than 500 elite veterans from the green battalion soldiers to follow behind a thousand auxiliary soldiers. With Liang Jiaqi's order, the Qing army once again launched an attack on the position of the rebels.

Seeing Liang Jiaqi rushing forward with his people, Zhao Liangdong personally led more than 100 personal soldiers and 2,000 armored soldiers of the Green Battalion. Immediately behind the charge, the rebel positions were launched.

The war drums rumbled, the trumpets sounded, and the Qing army rushed to the rebel position with a shout. At the forefront were the auxiliary soldiers carrying sandbags, followed by the dead soldiers organized by Liang Jiaqi, and Zhao Liangdong followed behind. On the hillside. The rebels hid in the trenches, took advantage of the cover of the fortifications, and constantly shot feather arrow projectiles and threw rolling wooden stones, which caused the Qing soldiers on the hillside to scream, and their bodies and faces sprayed blood, and they fell down with wailing.

The Qing army auxiliaries in front were shot by arrows, hit by rolling wooden stones, and fell one after another. The Qing army auxiliaries in the back stepped on the corpse of their companion in front of them, rushed forward desperately, and after dropping the sandbag, they turned around, went to the corpse of their companion and carried the sandbag, and then rushed forward, throwing the sandbag down until they were knocked down.

"Kill the dog!" The Qing long-range soldiers shouted and rushed behind the sandbag pile, under the cover of the corpses of the auxiliaries, and shot at the hill, covering the knife players to continue to charge forward.

In less than a meal, more than 1,000 Qing army auxiliaries were lost.

"Up! Pick up the sandbag and keep rushing! Liang Jiaqi shouted.

The soldiers were used as auxiliaries, carrying sandbags from the side of the auxiliaries' corpses and charging up the hill until they were defeated. After a while, Liang Jiaqi's 500 elite veterans were all killed or wounded, and even his own soldiers lost more than 50 people. But at this time, Zhao Liangdong had already rushed up, and almost everyone in Zhao Liangdong's personal army was the most ruthless archer. Back then, Zhao Liangdong personally shot and injured Zhang Xianzhong, and his archery skills can be said to be very powerful, and his own soldiers were all trained by him, so it goes without saying how powerful the level is.

"Whoosh" More than 100 Zhao Liangdong's personal soldiers stretched their bows and arrows, and the feather arrows rained down in the formation of the righteous army.

Although the rebels were hidden from trenches and ravines, the arrows that fell from the sky continued to hit the rebels as if they had eyes. Zhao Liangdong's personal soldiers were very fierce, and in a few rounds of random arrows, they shot all the more than 100 auxiliary soldiers of the righteous army who were in charge of the wolf's tooth winch shooting! In the blink of an eye, dozens of rebel auxiliaries who were responsible for pushing stones were also shot in a pool of blood.

Wang Guangxing, the general of the rebel army, shouted: "Kill those Tartar archers!" Otherwise, they'll all shoot us!" ”

Another round of arrows poured down from the sky, and dozens of sergeants were immediately shot into hedgehogs. A righteous sergeant showed his head and was about to open fire with a bird's gun, but he was killed by an arrow just as he poked his head out. A rebel archer fought back with a bow and arrows, but was shot over by the fierce archers on the opposite side.

"Shoot! Shoot these thieves for me! Zhao Liangdong looked up to the sky and smiled. Here he has no scruples, what he fears most is the elusive long-range musketeers of the Western Expeditionary Army. But because of the arrival of the Qing army in Hubei downstream, those long-range musketeers were gone, and it is estimated that they went downstream to support. Without those long-range musketeers, who could stop Zhao Liangdong's elite archers! This strong army, which shot Zhang Xianzhong and shot the collapse of Xiying, has always been the nemesis of the peasant army.

More than 100 people under Wang Guangxing's command, wielding knives and guns, rushed down the hillside, trying to get close to the Qing archers, but halfway through, they were shot in half. Before the remaining half rushed in front of Zhao Liangdong, the green battalion soldiers surrounded them and cut them all down.

"Up! Kill me! Kill all the thieves! Zhao Liangdong yelled.

"Kill!" Liang Jiaqi also jumped up and rushed forward with the last twenty or so pro-soldiers.

Zhao Liangdong's more than 500 soldiers of the Green Battalion followed closely behind, and under the cover of archers, they rushed towards the mountain.

The weapons of the rebel army were still very scarce, Wang Guangxing had no cannon in his hand, and the archers and bird gunners could not suppress Zhao Liangdong's personal soldiers, so they could only watch the Qing army kill up the mountain.

"Brothers, fight the thieves!" A thousand general jumped up, drew his knife, and was about to lead the soldiers to launch a meal charge, when a feathered arrow shot with the sound of the wind, and pierced the throat of this thousand general manager with unmistakable accuracy.

A hundred steps away, Zhao Liangdong was holding a strong bow in his hand, with a cruel smile on his face: "Another one looking for death!" ”

The Qing army rushed into the ranks of the rebels and engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the rebels. In addition to Liang Jiaqi and his own soldiers, the rest of these Qing troops were the elite trained by Zhao Liangdong, and their combat effectiveness was very strong. The two sides fought fiercely, and for every time Zhao Liangdong's men fell, the rebels had to fall at least three or four. Moreover, Zhao Liangdong's hand-to-hand combat soldiers are also followed by archers to press the formation.

"Kill!" Zhao Liangdong also personally swung his knife into the crowd of rebels. This man fought very bravely, and killed more than a dozen volunteer soldiers in an instant. Most of the rebel soldiers were killed without a single turn of strength under his sword.

In addition to the more than a dozen personal soldiers who followed Zhao Liangdong, the rest of Zhao Liangdong's personal soldiers who served as archers were replaced with heavy arrows, hid behind, and accurately shot some of the most brave elite soldiers of the rebel army with cold arrows.

The rebel army was defeated and retreated, and Zhao Liangdong was about to lead a large army to occupy all the positions near the river beach, and more Qing troops were about to land. Wang Guangxing shouted desperately: "I didn't expect Zhao Liangdong to be so powerful!" ”

"It's a pity that the sharpshooters of the Western Expeditionary Army are not here, otherwise Zhao Liangdong would not be afraid!" One of the generals lamented. (To be continued.) )