Chapter Thirty-Five: Arrayed Formation Awaits the Enemy

  The bandits arrived suddenly, and most of the officers and soldiers were completely unprepared. Only 120 soldiers under Peng Gang's command were able to make preparations in time and form a battle line in front of their own camp.

  The first to come into contact with the bandits were more than 30 servants under Hao Dazhuang, and because these servants were all riding horses, their reaction speed was also the fastest. Under Hao Dazhuang's command, more than 30 servants quickly mounted their horses and charged towards the bandits, attempting to use the impact of the horses to disrupt the bandits' charge.

  But Pang Gang, on the other hand, found that although Hao Dazhuang's idea was not wrong, it was a pity that those household troops were not real cavalry after all. At most, they could be considered as infantry riding horses, and they did not form a collective force together, but instead dispersed and took turns attacking the bandits in rotation, which gave the bandits opportunities to defeat them one by one.

  The bandits quickly held off the charge of a dozen or so bandits in front with their long guns and knocked them off their horses one by one. The family guards who lost their horses were soon overwhelmed by the hundreds of bandits. The remaining dozen or so family guards behind saw the fate of their companions and immediately became timid, reined in their horses and retreated back.

  Behind the scenes, Pang Gang shook his head secretly and learned another lesson from here. Without a combined force of cavalry, it was easy to be defeated by infantry. In the future, when he formed his own cavalry, he would definitely remember this lesson.

  After annihilating more than a dozen family members, the bandits' arrogance rose again, and under the leadership of a bandit chief, hundreds of bandits shouted and rushed towards the camp.

  "Brothers, kill the government soldiers!"

  "Charge!"

  Seeing the chaotic thieves rushing over, including Hao Da's complexion among the military officers began to change. The government army had not yet formed a battle array, and if they were to fight with the thieves in this way, it would be easy for them to be defeated by the enemy.

  Pang Gang turned his head and saw that the soldiers he had brought were already lined up behind him. He was greatly relieved, and in a deep voice said: "Gentlemen, do not panic, when the enemy comes, we will resist; when the flood comes, we will dam it. Let my troops go first this time!"

  After finishing speaking, Pang walked towards the troops who had already formed their formation behind him, drew out his curved knife and loudly shouted: "All armies listen to orders, musketeers in front, long spear holders at the back, form an array and advance!"

  Upon hearing Pang Tong's order, the drummer who had been ready at his side immediately struck the large drum he was carrying.

  "Knock knock knock knock..."

  As the heavy drumbeat sounded, one hundred and twenty soldiers divided into four rows followed the rhythm of the drumbeat with unified steps, steadily advancing forward.

  When the troops marched to within two hundred and fifty steps of the bandits, Pang Gang raised his curved knife and shouted loudly: "Halt!"

  "Whoa!" At the sound of it, all the soldiers stopped in their tracks.

  As one of the sixty bird gunners, Wang Zhi also raised his curved knife and shouted loudly: "Light the fuse! Load immediately!"

  "Hahaha..."

  As soon as Wang Zhi gave the order, sixty bird gunners simultaneously lit the fuse hanging from their necks with a torch. Holding the Lu Mi cannon horizontally in his left hand, he took the ignition powder canister with his right hand, removed the plug from the mouth of the barrel with his mouth, poured the ignition powder into the touch hole, covered it with the lid, and slightly tilted the cannon to the left with his left hand so that the touch hole was facing upwards. He then gently tapped the ignition powder into the touch hole with his right hand, causing it to meet the propellant inside the barrel. After loading the gunpowder, the bird gunner blew away the ash from the fuse and inserted it into the dragon head. With everything ready, the first row of bird gunners raised their Lu Mi cannons, aiming at the enemy in front of them, waiting for the commander's order at any moment.

  For the first time, Wang Zhi's heart was also very nervous as he commanded the battle. He raised his curved knife and looked at the bandits rushing forward, feeling that his legs were slightly trembling. Seeing the bandits had already rushed to a distance of one hundred and fifty steps, he still endured and did not give the order to fire.

  Seeing the soldiers lined up in front, the thieves couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. A fierce thief who followed behind hurriedly shouted: "Brothers, as long as we rush to the front of the soldiers, they will be finished, kill!"

  Encouraged by the bandit chief, the thieves rushed forward again.

  As the bandits had rushed to about 120 paces away, Wang Zhi's curved knife finally fell from its high position, and his mouth also let out a loud shout: "Release!"

  At Wang Zhi's command, the thirty arquebusiers in the front row, who had been waiting impatiently, simultaneously pulled the triggers of their guns!

  "Bang bang bang....."

  With the sound of muffled gunfire, the bandits who were desperately rushing forward only saw waves of white smoke rising in front of them. More than a dozen brothers who were charging at the forefront fell back and flew backwards as if they had been punched by someone. Another dozen or so brothers were already lying on the ground, wailing loudly, their voices mournful beyond measure.

  At this time, another loud shout came from the front: "First row of musketeers retreat, second row come forward, fire!"

  Another burst of dull gunfire rang out, and more than 20 bandits fell to the ground.

  Seeing the plight of their companions in front, some bandits felt a surge of fear in their hearts and began to hesitate. The fierce bandit shouted encouragement: "Don't be afraid, charge forward, charge to the face of the government army, they will be defeated."

  The bandits, suppressing their fear, continued to charge forward. At this time, the fire gunners led by Wang Zhi had not yet loaded the lead bullets, and Pang Gang saw that he hastily let the long gun soldiers in the back come forward to prepare to hold on.

  "Forward, Musketeers!"

  "Forward!" With a loud command from Da Zhuang, sixty long-gun soldiers divided into two rows walked to the front of the bird gunner.

  "Protect!"

  "Whoosh!"

  Sixty long spears rose up in unison, spearheads level with the forehead, and the long spear soldiers formed a dense formation facing the rushing bandits according to their daily training.

  Just as the two sides were about to clash, a loud explosion suddenly rang out from behind. It turned out that the Ling Shan guard had brought a tiger cannon and finally opened fire. A hail of lead bullets swept across, cutting down more than a dozen bandits in front, many of whom rolled on the ground with their heads and faces covered, wailing miserably.

  A burst of cries suddenly rose from the bandit crowd, "Brother Cannon, the government troops have opened fire!"

  The robbers' courage was finally shattered by the tiger squatting cannon, and the robbers were all frightened to death, turning their heads and fleeing desperately, especially that fierce robber who escaped the fastest.

  Seeing the bandits flee, the Chinese military officers let out a sigh of relief. Hao Da laughed loudly and ordered the servants and more than a dozen night guards to mount their horses and pursue them. As Hei Tie led dozens of cavalrymen in pursuit like wolves and tigers, the faces of the Ling Shan Wei military officers all showed discontent.

  However, all the bandits dispersed and he managed to save his life, so it's not good for him to say anything.

  Watching the fleeing bandits, Pang Gang secretly compared the combat effectiveness of his own soldiers and the enemy. He found that if they engaged in single combat, his soldiers who had only been trained for a few months were not a match for those seasoned bandits. The only way to deal with them was probably by forming an array. Thinking of this, Pang Gang became even more determined to strengthen his training on battle formations.

  At this time, Hao Da turned his head and said to Pang Gang: "Pang Baihu, you also order the soldiers to behead the bandits."

  Pang Gang just knew that Hao Da was trying to show off, wanting to share some of the credit for himself. After all, if it wasn't for him leading the troops to resist the bandits' attack earlier, the camp would have been overrun by the bandits long ago. If he didn't give himself some credit, it wouldn't be right.

  Just now, Pang Gang saw Hao Da's evil appearance when he was robbing the credit for the victory, and his heart felt a bit disgusted. However, this is how the Ming army is at present. Robbing credit is still a small matter, killing the good and taking credit for it is nothing unusual. Everyone does this, if you don't do so, you will be isolated from the group.

  So Pang Gong suppressed his discontent and agreed, then ordered the logistics soldiers behind him to come forward and clear the battlefield.

  Those porters who came with the army were originally just young and strong, but had not undergone training. Although they were ordered onto the battlefield, their bodies still trembled with fear as they held their waist knives. In the end, it was only after the leader, Zhuang Tianhua, beheaded a seriously injured bandit that the porters plucked up the courage to cut off the heads of the dead bandits and put them in sacks.

  When those logistics soldiers got off the battlefield, almost everyone vomited. Looking at the vomiting soldiers, Pang Gang nodded secretly in his heart. These logistics soldiers had seen blood and would definitely become a fine army if they were trained well in the future.

  Thanks to Guigui and ZouZou, Huang BIK, Hei Yu Sha Chenbao and other little monsters for the rewards! Thanks everyone!

  Ling Ting's recommendations are too few, everyone give some recommendations, this is very important during the new book period! The second update will be at 12 noon!