The cavalry on both flanks beat the peasant rebels like waves, squeezing them all into the middle. And the two thousand-strong phalanx in the middle mercilessly shot down the peasant rebels with fire guns as if they were on the execution ground.

The fear of death was piled up to the extreme, and the desire for life was ignited in the hearts of those peasant rebels. I don't know who led the way first and rushed to the phalanx of the Runing army, and a large group of peasant rebels were immediately in a state of madness, and they followed and rushed over, wanting to rush out of the way here. And so, the frenzied charge shrouded in the shadow of death reappeared.

In fact, the Runing Army had already taken precautions against the trapped beasts of the peasant rebels, and they had already kept a distance of about 80 paces from the crowd of the peasant rebels. However, the intensity of this frenzied charge was not expected by the Runing army at all, and even the continuous fire could not stop the footsteps of the peasant rebels. Seeing that the situation was not good, the commander of the firecrackers immediately ordered the firecrackers to retreat to the back row, while the guns and swarms of carts that were ready to be loaded with shotguns were urgently pushed forward.

The pikemen in the first few rows of the phalanx also immediately flattened their spears and set up their gun formations. This was also the first time that the infantry of the Runing Army had fought face-to-face with the peasant rebels today, so the hearts of those pikemen were nervous with a hint of excitement.

But the frenzied crowd of the peasant rebels had thinned out under the firing of the firearms, and among them there were many women and old men, some of whom were even bare-handed, so that they could hardly be called a combat-ready army.

The Runing Army, on the other hand, twitched back and forth with spears in the front and rear rows, and the assassination actions came and went. From the air, it can be seen that the phalanx of the Runing army is like two harvesters, harvesting the soldiers of the peasant rebel army in rows like wheat in the field. The scene is one-sided.

Such a battle made the excitement of the battle of the pikemen of the Runing Army quickly disappear. It's just the inertia of long training that makes those pikemen do their movements mechanically. And their expressions gradually became numb.

When the artillery and swarms of guns from behind pushed up, a salvo of shotguns and rockets knocked out all the remaining peasant rebels. Then the loaded musketeers began to fire in rotation again, and the position of the Runing army was stuck again.

This counterattack of the peasant rebels provoked the frantic firepower of the Runing army, and the artillery that had finished firing the shotguns stopped pulling down for the time being. The artillery quickly loaded solid shells and bombarded the dense crowd of the peasant rebels, and after several rounds of bombardment, the backbone of the peasant rebels was completely broken.

At this time, it was the fire hammer hand that began to become numb. Although the war is still going on, it feels like it is killing civilians. A few peasant rebels who knew they had no hope of escaping knelt down before the soldiers of the Runing Army, and they kowtowed again and again and begged to spare their lives, some of them were gray-haired old men.

Some of the gunners of the Runing Army were a little unbearable. They all paused their firing movements and looked at the Commander of the Firebolt waiting for his orders. The leader of the firecrackers also saw this scene, but the military regulations of the Runing army were quite strict, and no one was allowed to stop fighting when the commander did not give the order to surrender.

Therefore, the Firebolt Commander can only deflect his head. He did not aim his gaze in the direction of the peasant rebels, and slashed the waist knife in his hand hard. And shouted: "Shoot! ”

……

Three more pontoon bridges were destroyed by the artillery and cavalry of the Runing Army. There were fewer routes for the peasant rebels to escape. The pushing and shoving behind had made the people on the edge of the Huai River unable to stand, and they were squeezed down the river by the crowd behind them, and the ice on the bank of the river also came with "chirp!" The sound of breaking.

Compared with the numbness of the infantry, the cavalry of the Runing Army was even more excited. The clash of horses and the trampling of horses' hooves, the stabbing of spears and the slashing of sabers, this scene of flesh and blood flying makes the tyrannical element of cavalry human nature completely aroused.

Even Tao Xin, who was on the battlefield for the first time, was in high spirits, when he led his cavalry to make two charges. Tao Xin shouted at his cavalry, "Would you like to do it again?" ”

"Good!" All the cavalry responded in unison. They lined up again, and when it was their turn, everyone immediately started to sprint again, as if they were playing a fun game.

The location of Wu Shigong's Chinese army was not far from the front line. The massacre was visible to all. Even if some people's vision was blocked by the smoke from the firecrackers, the screams and cries for help could be heard in the sky.

The victorious smiles on the faces of the officers and the soldiers gradually retracted, they were all soldiers, not butchers, and the feeling of fighting the enemy army and slaughtering unarmed civilians was very different.

However, these officers and soldiers secretly glanced at Wu Shigong again, and found that Wu Shigong's face was very calm, and he could only sigh secretly in his heart: "It seems that this Shaanxi thief has really offended the adults severely, and the adults are going to drive them all down the river!" ”

This is also Wu Shigong's side, only these officers, and they dare not disobey Wu Shigong's orders. If there were civil officials like Deng Qifan now, they might have persuaded Wu Shigong to surrender the peasant rebels.

In fact, Wu Shigong's heart was also hesitating. On the one hand, he really hated the losses brought by the peasant rebel army to Runing and Guide, especially the casualties of more than 1,500 soldiers and civilians defending the city brought to the Runing army in Ningling County; On the other hand, he also felt that the peasant rebels who were besieged were indeed pitiful. Most of them were honest people who had joined the peasant rebellion when they could not survive.

But just when Wu Shigong hesitated, two more pontoon bridges were interrupted by artillery. Some of the peasant rebels, who were already unable to cross the river, were desperate, and they jumped into the water to commit suicide one after another.

The peasant rebels who had already crossed the river were basically selected young and strong, and most of their families were left on this side, so seeing that their families could not get out of trouble, many peasant rebels on the other side also knelt on the ground and cried and called loudly.

The scene on both sides of the river seems to be the end of Shijie, and the separation of a river is like the separation of life and death. The peasant rebels who could not cross the river fell into the water like dumplings in a pot, and a layer of corpses immediately spread on the surface of the river.

Two more pontoon bridges were broken, and only one pontoon bridge remained in Zuihou. The pontoon bridge was crowded with people who wanted to cross the river, and the ugliness of human nature was exposed at the moment of life and death, and the women with babies in their arms and the frail old people were pushed off the bridge one after another, and only the able-bodied ones insisted on moving towards the opposite bank.

But the pontoon bridge was saved for even shorter time. All the artillery of the Runing Army was concentrated, and soon the pontoon bridge was broken again. A peasant rebel soldier on the other side of the broken bridge, apparently with his family left behind, cried for his family to come over, but when his family gritted their teeth and jumped into the river, there was only a whirlpool on the river and no one was visible.

Wu Shigong also felt the eyes around him, and he was also on pins and needles, but after a few struggles, he was still hesitating. But when Wu Shigong saw one of his cavalrymen knock a woman with a baby in her arms into the air, and the baby flew high into the chaotic crowd and disappeared in the blink of an eye, he couldn't hold back any longer.

"Hurry up and give orders! Surrender! Surrender! Wu Shigong hurriedly gave the order, and before he knew it, he was already standing on the stirrup excitedly. The soldiers who had been waiting for a long time immediately galloped to the various troops to give orders.

Feeling his gaffe, Wu Shigong sat on the back of the crazy man again, and after a long sigh to stabilize his emotions, Wu Shigong then ordered: "We are all the people of the Ming Dynasty, as long as we swear not to be thieves again, those who are injured must be treated, those who are hungry and cold must be resettled, and try to save as many people as possible!" Alas! ”

After receiving the order, all the soldiers of the Runing Army shouted in unison: "Surrender!" Surrender! They all threw down their weapons and lay on the ground! ”

The remnants of the peasant rebels did not want to resist anymore, and they all had a sense of prostration from their lives, and they collapsed to the ground, and some of them even wailed.

Seeing that it was no longer possible to pick up those who were still on the other side of the river, Zhang Xianzhong asked, "How many of us are here?" ”

"More than 70,000!" Li Dingguo, who had finally crossed the river at the Zuihou moment, replied, "But those women and children basically didn't come, and most of the property we took some time ago didn't cross the river." ”

"Ahh Zhang Xianzhong also sighed. I don't know if he is sorry for the women and children, or if he is sorry for the lost property, "Leave now!" Don't let Butcher Wu drive across the river, tell those sons and daughters by the river, and say that my eight kings will avenge them, let's go and defeat Luzhou first. If there are disobedient people who refuse to leave, they will be tied up, and the official dog on the opposite side will be about to rush over! ”

In fact, at this time, Zhang Xianzhong's heart was also very complicated, that is, he regretted those people and property who did not cross the river, and felt that he had abandoned those useless women and children, and because of the loss of these women and children, he had obtained those diehard loyalists with deep hatred, I really don't know if this thing is good or bad!

The Runing army ignored Zhang Xianzhong's troops, who were gradually disappearing on the other side, and they escorted groups of prisoners down. The spirit of those captives was completely defeated, and everyone was in a state like a group of ghosts.

Of the more than 80,000 peasant rebels who remained here, in addition to the more than 20,000 who ran away, the Runing Army only captured 20,000. The rest of the nearly 40,000 peasant rebels lost their lives in this short period of half a day.

Although after the fierce battle, the soldiers of the Runing Army were a little hungry, but seeing this Shura field full of corpses, there were no soldiers who had any appetite. Some of the new soldiers even vomited yellow water from their stomachs.

The mood of Wu Shigong and other generals also affected the entire Runing Army, and they did not have the joy after the big victory at all, and they were all silently doing the work of sweeping the tail.

Zhou Xun came to Wu Shigong's side and comforted softly: "Old commander! It's not your fault! These people are thieves! ”

Wu Shigong looked at the blood-stained earth in front of him, looked at the corpses floating on the Huai River, shook his head and said, "I don't want such a victory!" ”

The sun finally tore through the clouds and shed a ray of sunlight, and the madness of the people immediately hissed towards the ray......

(End of Volume IV) (To be continued......)